Up to 70% of energy consumption at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) comes from air blowers used for diffused aeration.
Selecting the right energy-efficient blower technology is essential to keep electricity costs low. Several factors impact the choice of blower technology, including physical size, airflow control and turndown capabilities, operating noise levels, maintenance requirements, and site conditions.
Centrifugal Blowers
Blowers are a crucial component of industrial processes. Whether used for pneumatic conveying systems or air movement, the right blower technology improves agility, efficiency and performance while reducing energy costs. Proper blower sizing is the key to maximizing energy savings and system reliability.
The centrifugal blower industry has evolved significantly in recent years. The most important change has been the development of packaged blowers, which combine the blower, motor, variable-frequency drive, controls, filters, silencers and isolation valves in a factory-assembled, compact, sound-attenuated enclosure.
These plug-and-play systems from providers like Delta Electronics offer cost and convenience advantages over custom-engineered, field-assembled equipment. However, these systems often don’t match the test configurations identified by the traditional ASME tests and require special knowledge to interpret and apply to M&V procedures. It has led to questions regarding their ability to represent operating energy demands.
In addition to the advancements in blower technology, the increasing demand for manufacturing projects and infrastructure development offers significant growth opportunities in the blower market. Developing economies, in particular, are expected to boost investments in the construction sector and drive the demand for centrifugal blowers.
Backward-inclined centrifugal blowers feature a curved airfoil design that creates high volumes of airflow at low pressure, and radial tip centrifugal blowers have straight radial blades perpendicular to the wheel’s rotational direction. These centrifugal blowers can withstand harsh environments and are designed to move moderate amounts of material.
Lobe Blowers
The rotary lobe blower, also called a Roots blower, operates using two rotary pistons that move in opposite directions inside a housing. The rotary motion compresses the air trapped between the rotors and pumps through to the gas discharge. A silencer is installed upstream of the blower stage to ensure a quiet operation.
Manufacturers also integrate intelligent features into their air blower designs to enhance operational efficiency and reduce maintenance requirements. Blowers with variable speed drives, for example, allow users to adjust output according to changing application needs and help minimize energy consumption. Other smart features include remote monitoring and data collection capabilities that enable businesses to track system performance and maintenance needs in real time.
With a rising focus on sustainability and energy conservation, the industrial air blower market has seen a boom in demand for energy-efficient solutions. Blower manufacturers incorporate advanced design features to minimize energy consumption, including high-efficiency motors and aerodynamic impellers.
Some manufacturers even offer hybrid blowers combining turbo technology with rotary lobes to provide the best of both worlds. The growing construction sector is another major driver of the blower industry. Many emerging countries invest in large infrastructure development projects, requiring powerful air blowers to remove gases and maintain consistent airflow and temperature.
Screw Blowers
Like spiral screw compressor technology, rotary screw blowers use male and female rotors that rotate in opposite directions and decrease the available volume between them, causing air to compress. They generally operate more economically over a wider range of turndown requirements than roots and lobe blowers.
In addition to reducing energy consumption, rotary screw blowers require less maintenance and have longer operating lives. They also feature a simple installation process and are easily integrated into a system. They are often sold as complete plug-and-play systems with a motor, variable frequency drive, controls, inlet filter and isolation valves assembled inside a sound-attenuated enclosure.
This type of integrated package reduces the total cost of ownership and is a popular choice for wastewater treatment plants, cement manufacturers, bulk vehicle operators, and other industrial users. A blower package can help lower ‘wire to air’ power consumption by up to 35-40% compared to rotary lobe or root technology, depending on the application and operating pressure required.
High-Speed Turbo Blowers
In many industries, blower technology is important in optimizing energy efficiency. A yeast production facility is one example. The fermentation process requires a consistent level of liquid in the fermenter tanks, but the height of these tanks is variable and can impact blower performance. A solution that can reliably deliver the required air for aeration while compensating for these varying liquid levels is essential for optimal energy efficiency. The answer is high-efficiency, permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) driven blowers. They provide greater operational velocity, output, and performance than induction motors while reducing power consumption significantly. The benefit is reduced maintenance costs, improved reliability and durability, reduced environmental impact, and lower operating and energy costs.
Another key trend in blower design is the introduction of advanced airflow control systems that precisely regulate airflow volumes, pressures and temperatures. These systems provide maximum energy savings by ensuring the blowers only operate when required and at peak efficiency. Other innovative features include water-cooled blowers instead of air-cooled ones to reduce drive failure risk. These are particularly useful in wastewater applications where corrosive chemicals like chlorine, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide can attack the drives components and connections.
