Articles
Selecting Ring Blowers for Aeration of Wastewater/Effulent/Sewage Treatment Plants
In modern days of "GREEN ENVIORNMENT" WASTEWATER / SEWAGE / EFFULENT TREATMENT PLANTS have become integral & important component of most industrial and residential projects.
This has put pressures on to consultants, designers & suppliers of such plants to simplify the process & improve productivity at low capital & running costs. One of the most important design considerations of such plants is "Effective Aeration".
Traditional solutions for aeration have been mechanical systems and positive displacement blowers, such as lobe (Roots) blowers and compressors. In more recent times RING BLOWERS (Also known as Regenerative, Side channel, Turbine, Turbo, Vortex Blowers) have found better acceptance for this application. We will look of at the reasons why RING BLOWERS are fast replacing lobe (Roots) blowers.
For easier understanding, we will look at simple construction and easy working of RING BLOWERS. Most RING BLOWERS on markets are made from finely machined pressure die casted Aluminium Alloy components. This feature produces compact, light weight and yet sturdy RING BLOWERS.
Blower consists of finely machined body, within which open impeller rotates. Impeller is mounted directly on to extended motor shaft. Motor is directly fitted on to blower body. When balanced impeller rotates within very close confines of blower body, energy is repeatedly imparted to air, which is drawn from atmosphere through silencer. Thus energised air molecules (pressurised air) are delivered on delivery side, again through silencer.
As the balanced impeller runs freely within body on two greased & sealed bearings at two ends, there are no contact parts causing noise, wear or requiring lubrication. Now let us look at advantages offered by RING BLOWERS.
Ring Blower Advantages
- Energy Efficiency
- Developing pressures higher than required for applications, wastes energy. RING BLOWERS have been engineered to deliver the ideal pressure and flow for properly sized duty conditions at point of use.
- Low maintenance and high reliability. Fewer moving parts reduce wear, tear, maintenance and downtime to promote sustained blower reliability. Unlike competing technologies incorporating necessary sliding vanes, valves and pistons, the only contacting moving parts inside a RING BLOWER are two permanently sealed ball-bearing assemblies.
- Green performance. RING BLOWER supply clean air and are free of oil, excess moisture and other compressor-induced contaminants. They further eliminate any need for expensive, high-maintenance outlet filters and dryers or special water and oil traps.
Salient Features
With pressures up to 10 psig, water aeration applications can be aerated up to 18-ft depths and provide a quiet, maintenance-free, oil-free air option to positive-displacement and multistage centrifugal blowers. Today’s state-of-the-art RING BLOWERS operate within OSHA standards without requiring costly and bulky muffler arrangements.
Motors on RING BLOWERS are mounted into the housing, eliminating the need for V-belt or coupling drives. Permanently sealed motor bearings with 20,000- to 25,000-hour life eliminate the need for oil reserve levels and keep running whether with 8-hour-per-day or 24-hour continuous operation.
RING BLOWERS offer simplicity in motion. A noncontacting impeller spins within housing without need for replacement or service. The blowers contain no complex or close tolerance lobes, timing gears, elaborate oil reserves or multiple-stage bearing systems.
Oil-free air is another key advantage. Air exiting a RING BLOWER is the same air entering the inlet. With permanently sealed bearings (no oil reserve to maintain), there is no possible oil contamination, allowing cleaned water to exit the system more quickly.
The versatility of RING BLOWER allows for a variety of motor options, including high-efficiency, variable-speed, explosion-proof and totally enclosed, fan-cooled models.
Some More Considerations
Depending on needs and preferences, additional options for RING BLOWERS may be appropriate. For example, it may be critical to measure correct air flow to help fine-tune a system for optimized efficiency. An airflow meter will allow for direct readings in SCFM. (Basic models can yield accuracy within 2% at standard conditions.) Meters can help in trouble-shooting, too. For systems in which channelling or plugging can occur, a noted diversion in measured CFM may signal an otherwise unseen system change likely requiring attention.
Airflow meters additionally can play a role in balancing multipiping systems. When evacuating CFM from more than one pipe, differently run lengths or end-system impedance may cause one pipe to handle more CFM than the others. With an accurate and timely CFM reading, piping can then be balanced by bleeding air in/out or by creating extra impedance.
Users may want to investigate inlet/outlet mufflers or filter silencers in areas where reduced sound levels may be required; an inlet filter – normally used in pressure systems – to protect the blower and the air distribution system from dust, other airborne particles and contaminants; or gauges dedicated for measuring pressure, vacuum and temperature in various ranges. All can contribute to ideal system performance and reliability.