
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Buy from BEX?
Customers choose BEX because of our fast delivery, because we are easy to do business with, because of the expertise of our Technical Sales Representatives and because of our low prices. We help make our customers more competitive.
How to Buy from BEX?
BEX sells direct to customers throughout North America. You could contact your local technical sales representative or contact our sales offices:
USA: BEX, Incorporated, sales@bex.com (734)-389-0464
Canada: BEX Engineering Ltd., info@bex.com (905)-238-8920
Europe: BEX GmbH, deutschland@bex.com (49) 2154/88 70 06
Local service is managed in some areas by independent sales representatives and in other areas by factory-direct representatives.
Please enter your zip or postal code into the search tool on our Contact page here to find your local Technical Sales Representative.
How fast can I get BEX nozzles?
We ship more than 50% of all orders to customers within 24 hours and 75% under one week. We do not charge an expedite fee. Just tell us what you need and when you need it and we will do all we can to meet you delivery requirements. Of course, custom designed nozzles that we never made before or out of exotic materials, could take longer to ship.
How to choose the right nozzle?
Our Catalog 60 contains guidelines for nozzle selection as well as performance specifications for our standard nozzles. You can download Catalog 60 here or if you need help, or require a different design, please contact a Technical Sales Representative by using our Rep finder here or speak to an Applications Engineer by calling (905) 238-8920.
What variables affect spray nozzle selection?
A nozzle is a device designed to control the rate of flow, speed, direction, mass, shape, and/or the pressure of the stream of fluid flow that emerges. To optimize your spray application, many of the following application aspects should be considered:
Available Pressure: What is the fluid pressure at the nozzles, not at the pump? Consider the pressure loss through your piping system and from the number and locations of your nozzle system.
Greater pressures produce finer spray droplet sizes and greater spray impact and greater spraying distance.
Viscosity: Viscosity is a measure of the resistance to flow. Spraying fluids with a higher viscosity result in reduced atomization, reduced impact and reduced spray angle. Higher viscosities slow down the turbulent action inside a nozzle and increase capacity.
Specific Gravity: Fluids with a different specific gravity than water will yield different flow rates than what is published in our catalog. The greater the specific gravity of the fluid, the slower the velocity (or capacity) through the nozzle.
Temperature: As the fluid temperature increases, the viscosity, specific gravity, and surface tension decrease. Capacity may increase.
Surface Tension: Surface tension effects spray angle and droplet size. Higher surface tension results in less atomization and reduced spray angle and requires a higher operating pressure.
Impingement: The force of spray impact/in2. High impingement nozzles are used for cleaning and removing debris. Refer to page 6 here, of Catalog 60 for more information.
Spray Angle: Select from 0 to 360°. At low pressures, the sides may curve in because of the acceleration due to gravity. To find the width of a spray (W) at any distance (D), multiply the W/D ratio by the distance.
Spray Pattern: Select flat, full cone hollow cone, solid stream, high impact, flooding, square, rotating, CIP (clean in place) or atomized.
Flow Rate: Capacity in gallons/minute.
Velocity: The speed of the spray is dependent on the operating pressure and the degree of spray straightness as well as the specific gravity, surface tension temperature, etc. of the fluid.
Nozzle Configuration: Select nozzle construction material for compatibility to the fluid and environment, dimensions, pipe connection, assembly configuration.
How to read a BEX part number?
Why use a Tank Mixing Eductor?
BEX eductors are designed for tank immersion. Their unique venturi design enables smaller pumps to circulate very large volumes of tank solution. BEX eductors take advantage of the surrounding liquid to create a high velocity flow yield at the diffuser. As a result, they circulate up to 5X the pump output – with a discharge plume broader than the jet from a solid stream nozzle of equivalent energy. BEX eductors with ¼” to 3” ports discharge up to 1410 gallons per minute at 50 psi.
BEX eductors mix and agitate without introducing air, steam, or contaminants into the solution – a substantial advantage over other mixing devices. They have no moving parts and are engineered for continuous performance.
BEX eductors are manufactured in cast iron, 316 stainless steel, and polypropylene. BEX eductors are also manufactured in Kynar for applications demanding high mechanical strength, chemical inertness and thermal stability.
BEX eductors were engineered for the broadest range of mixing and blending applications; they are also well-suited for maintaining solution uniformity (temperature and concentration) within the tank, for suspending solids, and for sweeping debris toward a filter intake.
Tank size and shape, circulation pressure, and eductor placement and angle, all impact eductor performance. The goal is to identify the eductor that will deliver the best-possible combination of velocity, temperature distribution and flow pattern, and to install so that circulation is uniform, and solution stagnation is prevented.
How does an Eductor work?
An eductor uses a nozzle to produce a high velocity fluid jet to entrain the liquid surrounding the eductor (fluid can be either a gas or a liquid). The fluid in the nozzle jet and the entrained liquid are forced through a diffuser where the high throughput velocity creates a turbulent flow. The turbulence is very effective at mixing the fluid from the nozzle with the entrained liquid.
How many tank mixing eductors will I need for my application, and how should they be installed?
The right answer is…it depends. What needs to be accomplished and what’s the context for using the part?
There are four main components to an eductor system – the tank, the eductors, the piping and the pump. To work effectively, an eductor requires a minimum liquid velocity at the orifice of the nozzle section. If the pump is undersized, it won’t be able to push enough liquid through the eductors to maintain minimum velocity. If the piping is undersized, there will be too much resistance to flow in the system. If the piping has too many bends, it can create turbulence in the piping which increases resistance to flow and the agitation or mixing effect from the eductor will be reduced. If the tank is too large for the eductor and pump system, the optimal outcome won’t be achieved.
The right answer is…contact an Applications Engineer by calling (905) 238-8920.
How is an eductor used as a steam sparger?
A steam sparger is any device used to inject steam into a tank liquid for the purpose of heating the tank liquid. Eductors make very effective steam spargers.
When steam is used to heat a tank liquid, there is the risk of damaging the tank due to cavitation of the steam bubbles. Cavitation occurs when a steam bubble implodes. When steam is injected into a relatively cold liquid some steam bubbles cool down until they reach the temperature where water vapor liquefies. When the vapor in a bubble liquefies the volume occupied by the bubble decreases by a ratio of close to 1:1000.
Cavatation can occur very quickly and it creates a hole in the tank liquid. Liquid rushes in to fill the hole. This creates a shock wave of moving liquid very similar to the shock wave created by an explosion. Shock waves from multiple implosions are sometimes strong enough to damage a tank or its foundation.
The solution to cavitation is to break the steam up into very small bubbles to minimize the shock wave from each implosion. A BEX eductor works well as a steam sparger because of the mixing action of our diffuser. Steam is injected into the eductor and the nozzle section forms it into a high velocity jet. This jet entrains tank liquid in the normal way and the tank liquid and steam jet are mixed in the diffuser in the normal way. The mixing is so thorough that the steam bubbles in the eductor discharge are very small. As such the shock waves created when they implode aren’t strong enough to do any damage.
In order for an eductor to be effective as a steam sparger, there must be enough steam pressure supplied to the eductor to create a high velocity steam jet out of the nozzle.
Are BEX products compatible with parts from other manufacturers?
In most cases our products are directly interchangeable in both form and function with our competitor’s products. Why pay more and wait longer for theirs?