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Which Motor Is Used in a Blower?
Blowers are important for so many applications, but they come in enough variety that it can be difficult to discern which device is really the best for a given job. Understanding how the blowers work can help with decision making. For the most part, an industrial blower fan will use one of two types of motors: direct drive and drive belt. Here are the key differences between the two.
Direct Drive
As the name implies, the rotating part of the motor is directly connected to the fan of the blower — usually via a fan axle. The point of using a direct connection is to reduce the number of moving and intermediary parts between the motor and the fan. It allows for greater energy efficiency, and a direct-drive fan ultimately receives more power from the motor than other types of motors. This allows direct-drive systems to create higher pressures and move greater volumes of air per minute than any other type of motor.
The drawbacks of a direct drive motor are mostly tied to cost. The fans have to run at a higher number of RPM without a clutch or extra gears. This leads to more direct stress on the fan and requires fan components to be constructed from more expensive materials (or else lose longevity). Since direct-drive blowers are typically more costly, they are best in applications that require the additional power and efficiency. This makes them a common choice in high-pressure blowers.
Drive Belt
In a drive-belt motor, the motor is connected to a belt (no surprise there). The fan will also be connected to the belt, and it is the belt that links the two components. This is the same way your car turns your air compressor when you turn on the air conditioner. This belt assembly allows for a little more design flexibility than you can achieve with a direct-drive motor, and that flexibility leads to a unique set of pros and cons.
In most cases, belt motors take advantage of the ability to use a clutch on the fan itself. This allows the motor to run without engaging the fan, and it allows the fan to operate with multiple gears. In short, the fan can rotate at a different speed than the motor. While this will lose some efficiency, it allows for a large amount of power to be transferred to the fan with less physical stress on the fan itself.
The advantages of belt motors is that they are better suited for variable fan speeds, and they can be made for less money. They also tend to be easier and less costly to repair than direct-drive motors. Even though the belt motors have more moving parts, each individual part is replaceable. With a direct-drive motor, a single failure can destroy the entire motor.
For all of these reasons, belt-driven fans are more common in applications with high operational times. This makes them ideal for low-pressure volume blowers and some utility blowers.
The best motor for any given blower will always depend on the intended applications. When you have a clear picture of the pressure and volume involved in the blower’s workload, you can decide which is better for the job.
Visit us online at Industrial Fans Direct for a wide selection of blowers for industrial, retail, or manufacturing.