Positive displacement blowers, also known as PD blowers, are devices that are designed to move gas or air by drawing it in through an inlet and then discharging it through the outlet at the other end of the blower. Not only are there different types of positive displacement blowers, such as blowers that use rotary vanes vs. the ones that use rotary lobes, but positive displacement blowers are also used in a wide variety of applications. Among these various applications is pneumatic conveying. Today, we’ll go over the relationship between positive displacement blowers and pneumatic conveying.
If you are not familiar with the term, pneumatic conveying refers to a system that moves bulk products through a pipe using differential pressure provided by the blower. This system is used in many industries, including the food & beverage, plastics, chemical, and power & energy industries. In other words, it’s extremely important to our modern society, and positive displacement blowers play a significant role in ensuring that bulk products like flour, sand, or chemicals can get where they need to go.
Positive displacement blowers act as the air movers in pneumatic conveying systems, though they accomplish their goal in different ways depending on the type of conveying system. For instance, a pressure conveying system refers to a system in which the blower is placed at the front end to provide higher pressure at the start and push materials through. In contrast, a vacuum conveying system has a blower placed at the end to pull the materials through. But no matter the type of system, positive displacement blowers allow bulk materials to move throughout a facility efficiently.