If you are looking for a blower for an industrial process, there are two kinds of blowers you have to choose from - centrifugal blower and regenerative blower. While they are very similar, they definitely differ from each other. Both blowers move air through an impeller via the rotating shaft. The air comes in through the inlet and is released at the outlet. This is what makes them similar but apart from this, they differ in terms of construction and operations.
Difference in Construction
This is perhaps the biggest difference between the two blowers that can be easily identified. The regenerative blower is configured so that the inlet and outlet are parallel and both are perpendicular to the rotating direction of the impeller. Conversely, the inlet and outlet in a centrifugal blower are also positioned perpendicular but the outlet is tangential to the impeller's direction.
Practical Difference
Practically speaking, centrifugal blowers move air via centrifugal action, forcing air to the periphery of the impeller and its housing where it is released as a steady stream in the outlet. Inside the housing is a number of fixed vanes wherein the negative pressure draws in more air. The vanes are the ones pushing the air towards the outlet. They can push even large volumes of air.
On the other hand, air is being trapped between the rotating impeller vanes by the centrifugal forces in a regenerative blower. The air is then moved to the casing. The circular air flow and the impeller's revolution are what causes the air to move in a spiral motion. With this, the air follows constant acceleration and this regeneration of air with every revolution enables regenerative blowers to create significant pressure.
Now, when it comes to uses, regenerative blowers are useful when air is needed to travel a suboptimal path following a torturous route. Conversely, centrifugal blowers are perfect for applications where a huge air volume is needed to fill a furnace with hot air.
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