Posted on April 16th, 2025 by Carrier Vibrating
Air knife systems use highly effective pneumatic technology that is suitable for multiple applications. The high-velocity airstream of an air knife proves effective for blow-off, cleaning, drying, and regulating the flow of liquids. Using a centrifugal blower, an air knife blasts concentrated air at high speeds through slots within the blower to achieve the velocity and volume needed. Air knife technology provides a practical and energy-efficient means to regulate or remove contaminants from surfaces. Though most air knife systems are static and act upon products while conveyed, some utilize a mobile version. An industrial air knife is a plenum chamber with a slot from which pressurized air flows. The velocity of the airstream that exits this pressurized chamber creates the air knife.
How Air Knife Technology Assists Material Separation
The chief air knife function is to separate heavier from lighter materials, with these systems particularly useful for recycling operations. Usually, they use a vibratory feeder to convey material across a pressurized airstream, with gravity and vibratory action drawing heavier materials to the bottom of the conveyor’s bed. The air knife blows lighter-weight materials into a separation hopper, collecting lighter metals like aluminum via a belt. Even lighter materials like dust, paper, and plastics are collected within an exhaust system.
Benefits of air knife technology include:
- Control: The airstream for an air knife can be regulated precisely to sort materials, reducing the chance of materials ending up in the wrong recycling stream.
- Energy efficiency: Air knife systems generally require much less energy to run than mechanical separation techniques.
- Environmental advantages: Air knife technology helps reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills by enhancing capabilities for extracting valuable materials in recycling operations.
- Flexibility: Can handle various materials, including discarded construction material, glass, metals and alloys, municipal waste, packaging, paper, plastic film, and other recyclable waste.
- Low cost: The simple design and efficient nature of air knife systems entails fewer operational costs than chemical or mechanical separation methods, making them more cost-effective.
- Lower labor expenses: Using an air knife minimizes the need for manual labor in sorting, lessening risk to workers from potentially toxic waste.
- Precision: An air knife can be fine-tuned to sort material with specific properties, enabling greater accuracy during separation.
- Productivity: Air knife technology allows the processing more significant volumes of materials in less time.
- Scalability: Air knife technology is easy to scale up or down, effective for both smaller and larger recycling operations.
- Speed: High-velocity airstreams enable quicker material separation.
An air knife removes oxidation and other impurities from metal alloys, helping recover other recyclable materials within a waste stream. Air knife technology recovers about 95 percent of aluminum scrap with relatively low capital investments and minimal energy use, making it vital to modern waste management.
Carrier Air Knife System
Carrier Vibrating Equipment Inc. makes an air knife separator system that can be tailored to any customer’s needs. To learn more about these separator systems and their potential uses, along with our other material handling equipment, contact Carrier today.
