96% energy savings with switch to Air Knife system

The Problem

At their Chirk plant in North Wales, Kronospan, the world’s leading wood based panel producer, used a compressed air system (comprising a combination of pierced airlines and plastic jet nozzles) to remove dust and manufacturing debris from laminated flooring panels before passing under a quality control, inspection camera. Performance of this system depended upon consistent volumes of air supply and effective filtering in the supply line to remove moisture and particulates. Linear throughput on the line of 2.620 x 2.070 laminated panels is 39metres/min.

The Solution

With projected energy savings that provide payback within nine months followed by on-going cost savings of 96%, the switch from compressed air to a blower powered air knife was an easy decision.

The Outcome

The new air knife system achieves the cleaning requirements effectively by delivering a more controllable and better direction of air flow whilst avoiding potential product contamination with an integral air filter. In addition, maintenance is minimised and noise levels are reduced. However, the principal driver for the change to an air knife was the high operating cost.

“These days, cost saving is the primary justification for investment in new production systems. The new ACI blower powered air knife amply satisfies this criteria as regards operating costs whilst also minimising maintenance requirements and reducing noise levels.” Jason Dwan, Manufacturing Manager, Kronospan.

 

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Air Knife Systems

ACI Air Knife Systems are blower-driven solutions that increase production efficiencies and save you significant running costs. Our air knife systems have a uniform slot design that projects an uninterrupted sheet of precisely controlled, high velocity air – thereby supplying a powerful flow across the entire surface of the product being processed.