Dust Collector Fans & Blowers
AirPro // Applications
Centrifugal Fans for Industrial Dust Collection Applications
Industrial fans are essential components of most dust collection applications. Dust collector fans either push air (forced draft) or suck air (induced draft) through the system. The dust collector fan conveys the air and particulates through the dust collection system to remove nuisance or process dust from the industrial air flow. This improves the quality and safety of the air in the system.
Different types of dust collectors, like fabric filter baghouses and cartridges, call for different types of fans. Your application environment and air flow will determine the best fan technology, arrangement, and accessories to use.
Primary Industries for Dust Collection Fans & Blowers
The preliminary indicator of the application environment is the industry of operation. Many industries use dust collector fans in their systems, including:
- Industrial Processing
- Food & Beverage Manufacturing
- Agricultural/Grain Processing
- Metal Fabrication & Machining
- Mining & Mineral Processing
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Lumber & Woodshop
The industry application is a factor in determining what type of system and dust collector fan to select. For example, grain processing applications require a baghouse dust collector, which in turn calls for a high CFM industrial fan to enable a higher volume of airflow through the filter. Most industries use smaller, more efficient cartridge collectors, which allow for other fan options based on what kind of material the system is processing.
Dust Collector Fan Selection & Specification
There are several things to consider when choosing the most effective fan, including the level of dust loading, clean-side or dirty-side, airflow, and static pressure. Below are common fan types for each application.
Fan Types for Clean Air
Most dust collector fans are on the clean side. In this case, they only need to move clean air, as the systems will remove the dust and contaminants before the air goes through the fan.
Fan Types for Dust-Laden Air
Other fans actually need to handle the contaminants. Our self-cleaning radial-tipped fan with curved radial blades and industrial exhausters with partially backward-inclined blades are ideal for handling contaminants without material build-up in the fan.
FEATURED FAN
Dust Collection Fan for Coffee Roasting Plant
Designed and built with robust construction and heavy-duty industrial-strength materials, the backward curved model handles high air volume, high static pressure, and high static efficiencies with spark resistance and minimized energy costs.
The coffee roasting process consists of several steps, including burning off the chaff from the outside of the coffee beans. Industrial coffee producers use dust collector fans to remove the light particulate chaff, leaving the roasted beans to continue through production.
- Product Type: BCHS (backward curved)
- Description: Class 4, Arr. 1, 150ºF max temp design
- Performance: 19,200 CFM @ 19″ wg static pressure
- Features: Custom-designed; 100 HP motor; inlet box; belt drive with unitary base
Dust Collector Fan Arrangements
Fan arrangements specify how the motors mount to and drive the fans. Dust collector fans can use both direct drive and belt drive options. Smaller cartridge collectors often use direct drive “top mount” fans, where the fans mount directly to the top of the collector. Larger units and baghouse collectors will use ground-mounted fans installed on foundations separate from the collectors.
Basic guidelines for dust collector fan arrangements:
On the rotary dryer supply fan, the motor size determines the arrangement, typically an Arrangement 1 belt-drive motor up to about 250HP. When the motor gets bigger than about 250HP, which is common, we would use an Arrangement 8 direct-drive motor. These are the arrangement options:
Arrangement 1: This direct-drive motor with a unitary base will tend to be best in systems requiring 50-200 HP.
Arrangement 4: This is a ground-mounted direct-drive motor with a pedestal base for a larger system.
Arrangement 4V: A direct-drive motor for most small fans up to about 50 HP, where the fan will mount directly on top of the dust collector.
Arrangement 8: This is a direct-drive motor for large fans >200 HP.
Arrangement 9: A belt-driven motor option that mounts to the side of the fan pedestal rather than a unitary base to save space.
Dust Collector Fan Accessories & Design
Dust collector fans often require accessory items and customization for optimal performance and maintenance.
Accessory & Design Considerations
- Dampers or variable frequency drives (VFDs) for additional speed control and operating efficiency
- Inlet box if space is tight for the ductwork
- Inlet silencer for noise control on the fan inlet
- Vibration isolators to help the blower stay in balance
- Split housing for easier maintenance access to the fan wheel and shaft
- Spark resistance, as some gas and dust can be flammable
- Vibration and temperature sensors to monitor bearing and fan health and prevent unplanned outages
- Proper installation and maintenance to ensure safe startup and operations
Talk with Our Dust Collection Application Engineers
f you feel overwhelmed by all this information, don’t despair! We have a team of application engineers who are happy to talk with you and select the best fan for your application. You can call 715-365-3267, email fans@airprofan.com, or send us your information, and one of our engineers will connect with you.
