Huestis’ Down Drafter’s application addresses the concerns of the tubing extrusion business where avoiding blow back or disturbances of the water field or trough is as it is dried is crucial for the clean room environment and must be minimized.

The Huestis’ Down Drafter air wiper was created to answer a variety of issues within the manufacturing realm. Huestis’ Down Drafter’s first application was to address the medical tubing extrusion business where avoiding blow back or disturbances of the water field or trough is as it is dried is crucial for the clean room environment and must be minimized. Thus the company started with a rear exiting 45 degree angle down drain with a threaded reversible 3/8” opening.

Further testing led to another need and another discovery in other extrusion businesses, where today’s higher process speeds require ganging multiple air wipers together in an enclosure or mounting to obtain effective drying. Because most air wipers blow liquid to the rear from a 90 degree opening or drain/exhaust, they blow water back onto moving product as it exits from the previous air wipers in line, diminishing the drying effect. This led to the development of the Huestis Industrial’s next generation “Down Drafter” air wiper. It has a ¾ “ bottom center drain that is threaded, allowing the customer to use a fitting and attach a hose or pipe to return liquid back to process without an enclosure if desired. It also has the company’s patented nozzle jets both in the front and rear of the air wiper to minimize blowback, increasing performance and keeping product much drier than standard air wipers.

Huestis also found in-field testing that it has much better performance at high speeds over the standard designs and still offers greatly reduced air consumption. There is a metering air valve that allows the customer to tune and balance the air flow between the front and rear jets for the best results of each product. These units are offered from 1/16” (1.6mm) up to 1.25” (31.8mm).