The Different Types of Industrial Blowers

1. Positive Displacement Blowers

Also known as rotary lobe blowers, positive displacement blowers exist for a simple but impactful reason – they keep and release air at a specified time, pressure, velocity, and direction, using a safety valve, which is a necessary part of the blower. These can also move fluid in a certain direction, still using mechanical processes.

Its other name comes from the rotary lobe it possesses – when two propellers counter-rotate and are usually powered by electric motors.
For air or gas, a positive displacement blower works by allowing air to enter and flow through one chamber (the expanded inlet), and then allowing it to seamlessly exit through another (the decreased outlet). As mentioned, these blowers are experts at keeping airflow constantly at the same speed and flow, even with increasing or decreasing pressure.

Positive displacement blowers are usually used in petrochemical industries, and for the following tasks: sewage aeration, gas boosting, powder or pellet transfer, conveying, and flushing. This blower streamlines the flow of air without coming in contact with any of the outside air, so this is recommended for tasks that need chemical or contaminant-free air to flow.

2. Centrifugal Blowers

Another common type of blower is the centrifugal blower, which is the most frequently used type in most ventilation systems, because of its capacity to continuously transfer gas/air steadily, as well as keep out any air pollution.

They’re made of rotating impellers, which is where an airstream goes through. As more air comes in, the speed and volume increase as well, with the direction also changing as the impellers continue to operate. The fan wheel is what shifts in direction and quickens when air passes through and exits quickly – this is because more air means an increase in kinetic energy, too.

Centrifugal blowers can be made from single or multiple units, made with different blade orientations and designs (radial, backward or forward-curved). They can also offer a variety of speeds, depending on the flow rates needed, speed drives used, and shape of blades.

The main purpose of this type of blower is to create a certain amount of pressure to suck in, circulate, and release new air. It is also responsible for emitting high pressure and strong airflow from a limited amount of air/gas.

This capacity of theirs is mostly used for manufacturing tasks like drying, cooling, combustion, air conveyors, dust or toxins control, as well as small but vital everyday tasks, like gas meters, aquarium filters, and even medical equipment applications.

Other applications that make use of the centrifugal blower’s ability to produce a large volume of hot air includes temperature control, exhausting hazardous gases, chemical filtering, heating, furnaces, printing, food processing, household appliances, pollution control, incinerators, and plastic, wood or textile-making machines.

3. Regenerative blowers

This kind of blower is built with an impeller that spins to attract air that gets caught between its blades. This quick and constant motion is what drives air to be pushed forward, producing its ability to transfer large volumes of air at a modest or even low amount of pressure. They’re built with parallel inlets that are placed perpendicular to the impeller.

As its impeller spins inside its main compartment and air is pushed in and outward (this goes on until it is turned off), making this kind of blower useful for a vacuum or pressure purpose.

This blower, because it’s self-lubricated, is usually used in facilities that don’t allow oil or moisture in the air, such as food processing facilities, clinics, hospitals, or noise-sensitive working environments, and can do jobs like aeration and transportation well. Because they’re good for removing any flammable gasses or toxic chemicals in industrial air, their other purposes include dust and smoke exhaustion, sewage cleaning, engraving, vacuum packaging, dryers, printing presses, packaging, and vacuum systems.

They’re also recommended because it doesn’t get into contact with anything else, significantly decreasing its need for regular maintenance or repair.

4. High speed blowers

As the name already suggests, a high speed blower possesses very high levels of speed, resulting in equally high pressure and airflow. It is powered by a motor or electricity, and is built with impellers around the sole shaft of the blower to increase the amount of air it can take in. Despite being highly effective, they don’t produce loud sound.

They may be built differently but a high-speed blower usually consists of a valve that releases the air and a compression unit that controls the speed of the blower’s rotation. The speed and pressure can be adjusted to whatever purpose your facility might need. These common purposes may include (but are not limited to) ridding water of wastes, distillation, generating power, or brewing.

5. Helical screw blowers

Last but not least, this type of blower, compared to the positive displacement blower, can produce airflow at a higher pressure, because of its main rotor built with two lobes, and a second rotor. The two rotors expertly work together in a quieter manner, and do not touch at any point.

They are used to also move oil-free, safe air from one location to another, with its seal, rotor design suited for applications that need a smooth, steady air flow and hardly any leakage.

Their purposes include wastewater treatment, processing chemicals or cement, food or industrial processing, molding, material handling, and conveying.