Air Systems makes breathing-rated air pump compressors, breathing air filtration systems, ventilation fans, and other serious products of a similar nature.
I came across this Air Systems cooling box, which they describe as low-cost even at over $700, and found it to be a simple but clever approach to cooling down compressed air.
Advertisement
They say that with input temperatures of up to 180°F, they can get the output air down to around 50°F. 20 lbs of ice provides 4-8 hours of cooling. There’s a built-in condensate drain, adjustable regulator, pressure gauge, final filter, and safety gauge, all in an Igloo roller cooler.
To be perfectly clear, I have no idea how this is meant to be used. I guess with breathable air that’s too warm?
I find the design to be particularly imitable.
Compressed air blower coolers, used for clearing chips and cooling down machinery tooling, require quite a lot of air output – 15 CFM at 80 to 100 PSI. You need a rather beefy compressor to use them. I remember reading about other downsides. I’ve been using plain compressed air, but I immediately saw the potential in type of compressed air cool-down system, at least for once in a while uses when bit and work cooling is very important.
This idea isn’t as elegant, but it sure looks easy to duplicate in a DIY project.
Advertisement
There’s an Igloo cooler, quick connect input and output fittings, air regulation and gauge components, and what looks to be a couple of dozen feet of tubing strapped to the cooler’s walls.
Make sense. Fill it with ice, and the tubing will conduct heat away from the compressed air and to the ice, cooling the air.
Well, you need 20 lbs of ice. Maybe less if you have smaller air cooling needs. So it doesn’t seem like a use-it-daily type of thing for DIYers.
File this away as a potential solution to a problem or need that might arise in the future.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Cr8ondt
WHAT THE ^^%^&%?!@!# $740!!!!!!! um ya that’s all I gotta say.
Bruce
Have no need for it, but I can see the utility if you actually need air supplied chem suits or respirators. It’s pretty easy to get a diesel powered compressor just about anywhere, getting a cooling setup to keep your workers from falling over while they run around in 100 degree heat in a rubber suit, that can be a little harder.
matt
Google igloo sparge tanks for home brewing. Exact same concept. Maybe $75 in parts, including cooler?
Pencil Neck
If a person is smart enough to know they need such an item, then said person should be smart enough to build one.
Wouldn’t metal tubing exchange heat better than rubber/plastic tubing?
fred
Vortex tube coolers have been used for similar purposes . They can be used for spot cooling of electronics and as Bruce says for supplying cool air to chem or kiln entry suits. But just don’t hook these up to any old compressor that may supply particulate or lubricating-oil mist along with air. You really need a dry-air compressor system rated to deliver breathable air.
Vortex tubes come from companies like Vortec (Vortec.com) , Airtx, and Exair to name a few
The other approach to worker cooling is the use of ice vests or jackets – or as many of us do – just sweat and let some BTU’s be carried away by the latent heat (enthalpy)of vaporization.
fred
Here is one link to a vortex tube used in a cooling vest:
http://www.vortec.com/personal-air-conditioners
Hang Fire
“I find the design to be particularly imitable.”
Thanks for the chuckle. I had a similar thought the moment I saw the picture.
Nathan
at 700 I expected them to do the following
1) use brass or some metal tube bent clean on the insides for better heat transfer
and
2) remove the igloo name off the box.
now for 200 I’d think that was about correct. Practicality – it makes sense if you need the function but this is ridiculous.
Nathan
OH and side note. when I first say the picture – that’s not what I thought it was going to be.
I was thinking you put ice in – plugged up some shop air – regulated down a tick – and it pushed out the other side cold in a diffuser.
IE like a poor man’s make shift quick AC unit. Now that, I could also get behind again for about 200 or less.
Lance
Perhaps air tools work better with cold air than with hot air?
In which case, a simple air-to-air heat exchanger would drop the compressor output air to near ambient temps without the overpriced cooler.
Why do I get the feeling this contraption has a very specific and well defined purpose, and that the marketing effort just isn’t delivering the message?
I could see a contraption like this being practical for chilling beer between the keg and the spout, instead of chilling the whole keg.
Chip
Hi. I have a sprayfoam insulation company and that is one job where a tool like this would be very useful.
We spray 130 degree foam up onto sloped attic roofs in the summer. As if that weren’t hot enough already, the chemical reaction is exothermic, the foam is an excellent insulator to hold all that heat in, and our heads are often at the highest and therefore hottest point of the attic.
Cool air blowing into our fresh air hoods would be a godsend. The high cost is probably because it is a specialty product that needs to meet OSHA standards. The reason it is not copper is probably also that copper tubing would not meet safety standards for breathing air.
Of course the high cost may just be good old fashioned corporate greed, lol. Graco charges well over a hundred bucks for the dozen or so o-rings needed to disassemble and clean one of thier foam guns.
fred
why not try this:
http://www.honeywellsafety.com/Products/Respiratory_Protection/Vortex_Tube_for_Supplied_Air_Hoods.aspx?site=/usa
Chip
That’s a neat device. It’s for high pressure supplied air systems and I think it works by bleeding off some air and thereby cooling the rest. Finding any real-world reviews or even basic information about specialized tools like this is very difficult for me.
Unfortunately I run Bullard free air pumps, a low pressure system, and this won’t work for me anyway. Thank you for the suggestion!
fred
You are right – as I understand the device it takes advantage of the Joule-Thompson effect – so there has to be a pressure drop. Bullard also sells these devices – perhaps for their higher pressure air pumps
Nathan
Interesting didn’t know that foam stuff was that hot. This could work for you. I’d still want SS tubing in the cooler though or or something better than vinyl.
taras
Copper is fine for breathing air. It just has to be cleaned prior to use. Cleaned then capped copper tubes are used in the making of oxygen supply lines transport medical oxygen within buildings.
KokoTheTalkingApe
As it happens, I am selling a box that does exactly what this thing does (and actually resembles it to a remarkable extent) for the low, low price of $699 (plus shipping). Built to order. Any mildew stains inside, or Broncos stickers on the outside, will not affect functioning.
DH
Worth it for the Broncos stickers alone.
Go Broncos! Superbowl 50 Champs 🙂
ChrisP
Do you make really big ones so I can use my ex mother in law instead of ice?
T
Excellent.
Michael
??
JoeM
This is not what I thought it would be. I was hoping it was an Air-Compressor powered Refrigerator. I was curious, then I read what it was and was deeply disappointed.
I could build that in a heartbeat, or less. In fact, I could build dozens of them for that price, and they’d last much longer.
That’s just ridiculous. I see a market need, but that’s extortion.
Ca
http://www.airsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41&Itemid=90
Todd
Maybe this has an application for someone doing HVLP spraying? I’ve considered some home-brew setup on my HVLP turbine since the high temp air can cause the finish to dry before it reaches the item esp. on hot days.
SiSiX
I’m sure you all could pick up the NIOSH rated breathing air components and put them together and get it approved AND put your life on the line for less than $700. Feel free to, it’s just breathing you know, nothing vital or anything important you know. I can’t see anywhere that oil, or off gassing from any of the hoses, fittings, gaskets, or anything else, under pressure, supplied to a closed system would cause any issues. 😉
SiSiX
Side note: If you ever have knee surgery, the pump/cooler assembly (rather than icing your knee) is generally a Thermos style cooler with a pump either placed in it or put inline with the hoses that attach to the fittings attached to the side of the cooler. And that’s an actual medical device.