Manufacturing
SolvAir's precision-engineered Air Solutions improve industrial cleaning, offering energy savings and better product quality.
Central Wire Industries (CWI) cleans wire products in dip tanks of water and acid, where rinse water was diluting the acid baths and ineffective air systems failed to dry the wire. SolvAir resolved the issues with a custom Air Knife System with PX1500 11kW blowers, which removed liquids, prevented cross-contamination and eliminated the unreliable heated stage.
CWI’s wire cleaning process faced multiple issues. The wire products pass through dip tanks for water and acid treatment, and rinse water from the first stage was diluting the acid baths. The existing air systems used custom Nozzle Manifolds converted from spraying jets to air blowing jets, and they did not deliver enough air flow to remove the liquids from the products, so acid levels gradually rose in the final rinse. An additional heated stage was introduced, but water dripping onto the heating elements caused malfunctions, further compromising quality and increasing costs.
These issues led to inconsistent product quality, with residual water causing corrosion and interfering with subsequent processes. The inefficient air systems and additional heated stage significantly increased energy and maintenance costs, and heater failures due to water damage led to production bottlenecks and safety concerns.
SolvAir engineered a custom Air Knife System with PX1500 11kW blowers and strategically placed Air Knives, replacing the converted Nozzle Manifolds with 1219mm Air Knives that provide a laminar stream of air across the full width of each stage. A single top Air Knife spans the whole water bath to remove the water carried over from the first rinse, and for the acid and final rinse stages, where there was no space for Air Knives above and below the wire inside the tanks, SolvAir designed a new Air Knife enclosure outside them, with a small drip tray to contain the rinse solution.
This system effectively removed liquids, prevented all cross-contamination and eliminated the unreliable heated stage. Noise-reducing enclosures were also added to meet health and safety standards: noise from the Blower Enclosure is below the 85dBA threshold, and the Air Knife enclosure controls the noise of the final blow-off stage.
The success of our Air Knife installation at CWI underscores the versatility of SolvAir’s engineered solutions. By eliminating cross-contamination and improving drying efficiency, we’ve helped CWI achieve consistent quality across their wire treatment process and reduced operational costs.
Steve Hand Sales Engineer | SolvAir
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Trusted by manufacturers across the globe, SolvAir's Air Knife Systems are proven across the world's most demanding production lines.
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SolvAir were approached by Rail Operators on the East Coast of England looking for an Air Knife System solution that would work with a washing system to improve the quality and reliability of their trains across four seasons of weather. The Operators wanted in particular to minimise disruption when temperatures dropped below freezing, as for example this could result in door seals freezing.
Talk it through with a SolvAir engineer. If compressed air is anywhere in your cleaning, drying or blow-off process, the savings case usually writes itself.
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