Air Blowers and compressed air are the two main ways manufacturers create high-velocity air for drying, cleaning and blow-off. For continuous duties, a blower-driven Air Knife System is typically 7–9 times cheaper to run.
Air Blowers and compressed air are the two main ways manufacturers create high-velocity air for drying, cleaning and blow-off. For continuous duties, a blower-driven Air Knife System is typically 7–9 times cheaper to run.
A: The difference is how far each one raises the pressure of the air. An air compressor squeezes air to around 6–7 bar and stores it, which takes a lot of energy. An Air Blower moves a much larger volume of air at much lower pressure, around 140 mbar for most Air Knife drying, so a blower-driven Air Knife System uses around 80% less energy than compressed air for the same job.
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That figure comes from our energy savings calculator: a 2,500mm Air Knife line at 140 mbar, run by an 11kW PX1500 instead of 84kW of compressor, 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, at £0.25/kWh.
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A blower supplies Air Knives with air at the low pressure they need instead of 6–7 bar, so it uses around 80% less energy than compressed air.
Compare compressed air and Air Blowers
The warranty comes as standard on all our blowers, and routine servicing is limited to periodic air filter and drive belt replacement.
Read our compressed air FAQs
76% electricity
12% maintenance
12% equipment and installation
Cost of owning a typical compressor over 10 years.[2]
Calculate your own savingsMost of the energy you pay for to make compressed air never reaches the job: the overall efficiency of a typical compressed air system can be as low as 10–15%[3]. A Centrifugal Blower compresses air only slightly, so far less is lost on the way.
| Industrial Application | Compressed Air | Blower System |
|---|---|---|
| Intermittent Air Flow | Compressed air can be the best solution if airflow is required intermittently, and your process only needs a 5-second blow-off every minute. | Whilst blowers operate continuously, intermittent air flow is possible with the use of solenoid air valves. |
| Continuous Air Flow | Not suitable for applications which require an airflow of more than 5 seconds every minute. | Concentrated, energy-efficient air flow that can run continuously, 24/7, at very low costs. |
| Blow-off | Only effective at targeted, close-range blow-off, which makes it ineffective for most industries. | Low pressure, high-velocity air flow suitable for a wide range of blow-off applications. |
| Contamination | Because compressed air has to be cooled, some fluid (oil and/or water) is ejected in the airstream, which affects drying applications. | Generates clean air with no water or oil in the system, so the expelled air is dry. It can also form protective "air curtain" barriers. |
| Moisture Regulation | Costly to run continuously, and it is difficult to achieve the precision that moisture regulation needs. | Air flow is easily directed to form an "air curtain": a laminar air flow that adheres to surfaces, so it can remove or regulate moisture as needed. |
| Large Products | Small air outlet slots make the size and energy needed to deliver air over longer lengths disproportionately large. | Air Knives built to custom lengths in 10mm increments, up to 5.5 metres in aluminium and 4.5 metres in stainless steel. Air Knives at these lengths easily handle drying, blow-off, moisture and contamination control on large products. |
Air Blowers and compressed air both create high-speed air streams for industrial use, but they suit different jobs. Air Blowers work at a much lower pressure ratio than air compressors, making them cheaper and more energy-efficient to run.
Each Air Knife System we design and install is customised to meet the specific needs of your application.
An industrial Air Blower supplies a continuous, high volume of clean, oil-free air at low pressure. Connected to Air Knives, Nozzles or Manifolds, it is used for drying, cleaning, blow-off and cooling on production lines.
Yes, for most continuous drying, cleaning and blow-off. Where air is needed for more than about 5 seconds every minute, a blower-driven Air Knife System does the same job and is typically 7–9 times cheaper to run than compressed air.
Yes, but only slightly. A Centrifugal Blower raises the pressure of air by a fraction of a bar, around 140 mbar for most Air Knife drying, while a compressor raises it to 6–7 bar.
What is an Air Blower?
An Air Blower is a device that increases the speed and volume of air. Air Blowers come in different forms (regenerative blowers, positive displacement blowers for example), and SolvAir’s Air Knife Systems use Centrifugal Blowers. The air from an Air Blower is highly effective for cooling, cleaning, blow-off and removing or regulating moisture, and Air Blowers are particularly energy efficient.
What are the parts of a Centrifugal Air Blower?
Centrifugal Air Blowers typically include a fan housing, inlet and outlet ducts, a driveshaft, a drive mechanism and, most importantly, impellers. Impellers are rotors that increase air pressure and air flow, and in an Air Blower they are driven by an electric motor.
As air enters the centre of the impeller it is divided between the impeller blades. The spinning impeller accelerates this air outwards using centrifugal force, and the blower housing then slows (diffuses) the high-velocity air to create pressure. An impeller works in the opposite way to a turbine, which extracts energy from a moving fluid such as air and lowers its pressure.
What is compressed air?
Compressed air is ordinary atmospheric air that has been reduced in volume, and is then kept at this smaller size in a pressurised chamber. It is typically used in two main ways: as an energy source and for blowing.
How is compressed air created?
Atmospheric air (air at the pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere) is trapped in a container, and the space inside the container is then reduced. This forces the air molecules closer together, so the air takes up less volume and its pressure rises. The container then holds the air at that pressure.
Compressed air is made up of the same molecules as atmospheric air, held at this reduced volume. The link between that volume and pressure is Boyle’s Law: at a constant temperature, halving the volume of a gas doubles its pressure.
Air compressors
An air compressor is the machine that reduces the volume of atmospheric air to create compressed air.
Air compressors are available for low, medium and high pressures, up to 70 bar (over 1000 psi, pounds per square inch) and beyond. Most factory compressed air systems run at around 6–7 bar.
Our free consultations and site visits often find compressed air that is poorly configured or used inefficiently, like the examples below. In these cases Air Blowers offer substantial long-term cost savings and increased performance. Contact us for more details.
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No case studies in that industry yet. Tell us about your process and we'll find the closest match.
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