Air Blowers are essential in many industries, for example when manufacturing processes need air that is high-speed, high-velocity, and continuous.
The air generated by Air Blowers is clean and oil free. This makes it suitable for uses where moisture contamination can be a problem, such as with manufacturing processes that need to remove or regulate liquid on objects, such as with electronics,, or where the air is needed to create a clean and sterile environment, such as with food and drinks packaging.
Air Blowers come in different forms, with regenerative (low pressure, medium flow), positive displacement (high pressure, low flow), and centrifugal (very low pressure, high flow) being three of the main types in operation today.
Regenerative blowers are low pressure, medium flow blowers that move air using “non-positive displacement”. This means that instead of trapping air, regenerative blowers include a ring of space between their blades and housing.
This means that some of the air can escape past the first set of blades, and make contact with a second set of blades. So, although regenerative blowers are fairly compact, their setup means they are able to move large quantities of air.
In contrast to regenerative blowers, positive displacement, or “rotary air blowers”, are high pressure low flow blowers that do use positive displacement, where air is trapped.
These blowers create flow by having rotors that rotate in opposite directions, drawing air in and confining it to the area between the rotors.
This is in a chamber, which increases as the rotors operate. The air trapped in the chamber is constant, which is how positive displacement blowers are able to create a constant operating flow. The confined air is then expelled through an outlet.
Centrifugal blowers are very low pressure, high flow blowers, that are different to positive displacement blowers in that they are impeller-based blowers.
The output from impeller-based blowers varies with pressure, and this is not the case with positive displacement blowers, where their output is constant despite changes in pressure.
Although regeneration blowers are also impeller-based blowers, centrifugal blowers are different in how their impellers are arranged and used. Centrifugal blowers draw air in at the centre, creating moving air by using the centrifugal forces of their impellers.
Centrifugal Air Blowers are highly effective in many manufacturing processes, such as where cooling, cleaning, blow-off, drying and moisture regulation is needed.
The key parts of Centrifugal Air Blowers are their impellers, or rotors. These are integral to how the blower increases air pressure and creates air flow.
Air enters the centre of the impellers, and then is divided between the impeller blades. This increases the volume of the air stream, and increases the speed of the air using centrifugal force. The high-velocity air that is accelerated as a result is then contained in the blower housing, creating pressure.
The rotating impellers create, essentially, a vacuum. This pulls air through the blades, pushing it out the other side.
This means that whilst air velocity - the measure of the distance and speed air is travelling (usually defined in meters per second) - is fixed, the mass flow rate - the mass of air passing a point in the system (usually defined in kilograms/pounds per second) - is not.
So, this is how Centrifugal Air Blowers can use lower flows to create higher velocity, and so operate at a low-pressure ratio. This makes Centrifugal Blowers lower cost to run than compressed air systems.
Centrifugal Air Blowers use the kinetic energy of their impellers to increase the volume of an air stream. In short, they work by transferring energy between their impellers and the air.
Maintaining low pressure is key to how Centrifugal Air Blowers work. Blower systems are tested to ensure this is the case using two different pressure measurements - local pressure - the pressure at a specific point - and cumulative pressure - the total pressure from the entire system.
Centrifugal blowers, as well as the impellers, also include fan housing, inlet and outlet ducts, driveshaft and the drive mechanism.
Crucial to a centrifugal blower design are the features of the impeller blade, including the angle, length and speed of rotation. These are the key variables that controls the quantity of air able to move through the blower, as well as the air speed, and air volume.
SolvAir are the UK and European distribution centre for Paxton Centrifugal Air Blowers. Compact, quiet and efficient, weighing less than 15kg without motor, Paxton Centrifugal Air Blowers come with an industry-leading 3 year warranty, and are available in different power ratings.
XT Series Centrifugal Air Blowers are the smallest blowers in the Paxton range, and they are highly efficient at delivering all types of air applications, including drying. The XT includes an auto-tension belt drive, to enhance performance and extend their service life. The XT Series Blowers are available in 2.2kw and 4kw models.
The AT Series Centrifugal Air Blowers are powerful, low noise blowers. The AT Series Blowers come in a range of power ratings, from 5.5kw to 15kw.
Paxton’s PX Series Centrifugal Blowers are the newest model available. They are Paxton’s most efficient blower, and the blower impellers and scrolls have been re-engineered, improving aerodynamics to generate 33% more airflow per horsepower input in comparison to other high efficiency centrifugal blowers.
SolvAir offer free consultations, where we test your current set up to see if Air Blowers could improve your energy efficiency compared to compressed air.
We also offer free guidance and testing on our full range of Air Devices to see if your current installation is running to maximum effectiveness.
For more details, or to discuss any aspects of Air Blowers, or our Air Knife Systems, please contact us
Call +44(0)1473 320 307 or click below to request your free consultation.
