Why are air knives used?
Almost everything that is manufactured must be cleaned before it is packaged or printed on or painted. Prior to 1987, much of that cleaning was done using solvents that contained CFC’s. These solvents would evaporate quickly and leave behind little or no residue. Therefore, there was no need to dry the product. In 1987, the world started to cut back on the use of these solvents because of their negative effects on the health of the atmosphere. Now, most industrial cleaning is done with water-based products. These do not evaporate quickly and can leave a residue behind if they are allowed to evaporate, so there is now a need to dry the products, as well as wash them.
