Key takeaway
Sonic supplies blowers and air knife systems for every phase of metal rolling, forming, fabrication, and finishing, from hot mill cooling and furnace strip quenching through shot blasting, plating, and powder coating.
Air Knife Systems for Metal Processing
Metal Rolling, Forming, Fabrication, and Finishing
One platform for every stage, from hot mill cooling to the final finish
Interested in learning more?
Tell us about your process and we'll follow up with a recommendation.
The metal line brief
Cost-Efficient Blowers and Air Knife Solutions for Metal Rolling, Forming, Fabrication, and Finishing
One platform for every stage, from hot mill cooling to the final finish
The process challenge
Metal doesn't stay dry or clean on its own between processes. Hot mill cooling, furnace strip quenching, plating rinses, shot blasting, or washer lines all leave water, scale, or debris behind at exactly the point where the next step (leveling, inspection, coating) needs a clean surface to work with. Compressed air headers have covered that gap for years, but as mill efficiencies and product qualities continue to increase, compressed air nozzles struggle to keep pace with today's priorities across wide strips and long distances, and the energy cost of running dozens of nozzles at high pressure adds up fast.
Sonic Air Systems provides integral blowers and air knife systems for every phase of metal forming: in hot mill laminar flow bank cooling blow-off, both sides of reversing mills, temper mills, after furnace strip quenching, exiting CGL skin pass, prior to X-ray, optical scanner, and following the final stages of shot blasting, annealing, pickling, leveling, polishing, and cleaning. As mill speeds increase, Sonic's performance-guaranteed systems replace conventional methods, eliminating the need for squeegee rolls, high-volume compressed air, and larger blowers with heaters. When completed metals reach the mill customers who transform those products through forming, fabrication, and finishing, Sonic has additional blower, air knife, and air nozzle designs suited to each of those processes.
- strip and plate widths covered
- 48 to 96 in
- debris carry-over reduction
- 98%
- production increase through cooling
- 80%
Process requirements
Key Takeaways
Metal processing moves through heat, water, scale, shot, and finishing stages. The airflow strategy has to leave the surface ready for whatever comes next.
Key takeaway
A stand-alone air knife system eliminated corrosion and discoloration rejects on a continuous 48"-wide aluminum strip line, replacing a legacy blower that couldn't generate enough velocity to fully strip the water.
Key takeaway
A dual-blower Sonic system reduced shot and debris carry-over into a wash line by 98% and delivered an ROI under 6 months for a major agricultural equipment manufacturer.
Key takeaway
Fixed air knives at 40,000 FPM (203.2 m/s) air velocity blow shot blast media from steel plate ranging from 48" up to 96" (2.44m) wide.
Key takeaway
A patented Rotary Air Knife System dried a regulator valve with a 0.006" (0.15mm) orifice well enough to all but eliminate false rejects in pressure testing.
Key takeaway
A blower-driven air knife cooling system increased one metal ribbon manufacturer's line speed and production rate by 80%, replacing inconsistent box-fan cooling.
Process map
Sonic Air Systems Provides Air Knife Drying Systems For:
01
Metal Rolling
- Hot Mill
- Annealing
- Tempering
- Leveling
- Galvanizing
- Pickling
03
Fabrication
- Roll Forming
- Structures
- Auto Parts
- Plumbing
- Hardware
- Lead Frames
Process control
Hot Mill and Strip Processing
In hot mill and strip processing, Sonic systems remove coolant, scale, and residual moisture as material exits rolling stands, furnaces, and quench zones. Maintaining a clean and dry strip is critical before downstream processes such as leveling, inspection, or coating. Traditional compressed air setups often struggle to deliver consistent performance across wide strips and long distances.
Downstream of the mill, continuous strip and coil applications call for the same principle at a smaller scale. A 48"-wide aluminum strip line drying tap water ahead of coiling, and a 96"-wide steel plate line knocking residual shot blast media off after descaling, both run on the same air knife platform, just sized differently to the product and the process.
Production proof
Verified Applications
Verified application
Corrosion-Free Aluminum Strip Drying: Signs and Blanks
Signs and Blanks, an Akron, Ohio sign manufacturer, needed to dry tap water at 120°F (49°C) from the top and bottom of a continuous 48"-wide aluminum strip traveling at 150 FPM prior to coiling, without slowing a line capable of 18,000 blanks per hour. Their existing blower system, built around home-made air knives, couldn't generate enough velocity to fully strip the water, and inconsistent drying was leading to discoloration and corrosion rejects. Sonic engineered a stand-alone system using four XE air knives powered by a 40 HP (29.8 kW) centrifugal blower: two knives in a chevron configuration plowed the bulk water to the sides, while two more, positioned top and bottom at 90 degrees, handled a secondary drying pass. The corrosion and quality issues were eliminated, and the strip now comes off dry enough to hold up through coiling.
Verified application
98% Debris Reduction in a Pre-Powder Coating Line: AGCO
AGCO, a global agricultural equipment manufacturer, was running a 6 ft by 8 ft (1.83m x 2.44m) monorail shot blast tunnel and wash line ahead of powder coating, with shot carry-over into the wash and rinse tanks costing hours of sump-shoveling downtime every week, on top of heavy compressed air use for blow-off. Sonic positioned stationary air nozzles and nozzle manifolds in the shot blast zone, powered by a 50 HP (37 kW) blower delivering 38,000 FPM (193 m/s) air velocity, then added a second 50 HP (37 kW) blower driving reciprocating multi-nozzle manifolds at the wash tunnel exit to strip up to 90% of surface water, including from pockets and blind holes, before the powder coat pre-heat zone. Shot and debris carry-over into the washer dropped 98%, water-related defects were eliminated, and the combined installation delivered an ROI under 6 months. Full details are in Sonic's published case study, Revolutionized Pre-Powder Coating Process with Sonic Reciprocating Multi-Nozzle Manifolds.
Verified application
Eliminating False Rejects in Precision Parts Drying: Marshall Gas Controls
Marshall Gas Controls manufactures regulators for the RV and outdoor cooking industries, with a valve orifice as small as 0.006" (0.15mm) in diameter, difficult to reach and dry completely by hand. Manual blow-off before CMM inspection wasn't drying parts completely, causing false rejects, and handheld blow-off risked abrading the gasket surface on the machined casting, which caused pressure-test rejects of its own. Sonic's patented Rotary Air Knife System, powered by a Sonic centrifugal blower, completely dries the regulator body and components as parts pass along a narrow conveyor. Marshall hit its quality targets with higher production rates, lower energy costs, and false rejects all but eliminated. Full details are in Sonic's published case study, Precision Drying with Sonic's Rotary Jet Stream Technology.
Verified application
80% Production Increase Through Better Cooling: Indium Corporation
At Indium Corporation's Utica, NY plant, thin metal solder ribbon, 2" wide by 0.01" thick (50.8mm wide by 0.25mm thick), passes through an infrared heating zone to dry solvents from a resin coating, then needs to cool from 100°F to 65°F (37.8°C to 18.3°C) before coiling, capping line speed at 5 FPM (0.025 m/s). Sonic engineered a blower and air knife cooling system using its in-line Cool Air aftercooler, producing cold air for water-less metal cooling. The system increased Indium's line speed and production rate by 80%, clearing the bottleneck that had been holding the line back, and Indium has since ordered additional Sonic systems. Full details are in Sonic's published case study, Sonic's Air Cooling Improves Heat Management.
Have a Metal Line to Talk Through?
Tell us the process stage (rolling, forming, plating, finishing), the product width and speed, and what has to happen next, and we'll help size the right system.