Material Handling Blowers

Material handling blowers are used for the purpose of conveying the material types such as grain particles. Blower equipment is used for purposes like material handling, the transferring of material.

Most widely used material handling blowers are centrifugal blowers and pneumatic blowers, like the type the Custom Fans of Australia build. The word pneumatic stands for air, these blower types are operated by the action of air; the centrifugal blowers work under the action of centrifugation force which is applied by the impeller of the blower.

Material Handling Blower Phases

Different phases of materials are handled in industry. Theses phases include liquid, solids and semi solids i.e. mixture of solids and liquids. If the material being handled is in liquid phase or in semi solid phase then centrifugal blowers are suitable for use. Impellers inside the centrifugal blower are the acting element which imparts force to the fluid; the fluid then comes under the action of centrifugal force as it moves forward with an increased pressure.

In material handling blowers, the pressure of the outlet stream is more than the inlet stream—which is known as positive pressure. The highest will be the positive pressure; further fluid under this process can be moved. If the material is somewhat sticky or viscous, then the power required by the blower would be much higher in overcoming the viscous forces. For that reason the larger impellers with the more powerful motor is required.

For the solid phases of material handling, the pneumatic blowers are mostly used. These blowers incorporate air usage for pressurizing the in-fluent stream. Even the wet material, wet solid particles can also be easily transferred from one point to other location. The solid particles are even dried when conveyed through blowers.

Material Handling Impellers

Selection of type of impeller for the blower depends upon the type of material being handled. If the material is corrosive in nature, then it is the best to select the blower in which the impeller doesn’t come in contact with the material–the corrosive factor should be eliminated. Similarly for precautionary purposes, the casing of the blower along with its impeller is first passed through the galvanizing process where they are galvanized. The galvanizing of steel or metals help the metal to become immune to corrosion and stains.

The selection blower type for the material handling purpose solely depends upon the kind, size and quantity of material being transferred. Material handling blowers should be operated at sufficient minimum velocity or critical velocity, below which the material settles down. If the material settles down, the phenomenon is referred to saltation and if this settling of material occurs along the vertical plane of axis, this phenomenon is known as choking.

Material Particles and Saltation

Saltation is a horizontal deposition of material which occurs when pressure is created by the impeller; it is insufficient to overcome the gravitational forces acting upon the material particles. Under both of these conditions, efficiency of the blower reduces greatly. In saltation, the efficiency reduces; still, there is a way for the material to pass through. However in case of chocking, all of the spaces are reserved, thus leaving behind no room for the material to pass. In these cases, cleaning of blowers is directly required; otherwise, there is a chance that the blowing equipment might damage and the process might stop.

There are different ways to increase the capacity and efficiency of the blowers. These include:

  • Selection of suitable blower type
  • Minimizing the number of bends in the ducts
  • Shortening of total distance
  • Minimizing of flex hose lengths
  • And reducing the pressure drops.

Material handling blowers are used to process different type of material in industry: to chop, trim different materials such as cardboard, sawdust, wood shavings, grain, corrugated paper manure, and shredded metals.