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The best silo blower or compressor for your financial capabilities

When you are looking for the right silo blower or compressor solution for your pneumatic conveying system, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the wealth of information out there. You can find many different types of blowers and compressors: From no-frills, reliable blowers to state-of-the-art, super-efficient compressors with amazing connectivity options.

So which solution should you choose? The answer appears to be simple: The one that is right for you.

While that seems obvious, it can be a bit more challenging than it sounds – because you not only have to know your system and your specific needs, you then also have to find the right compressed air partner.

Understanding your compressed air needs

Silos on a distribution plant for cement

To find out which type of blower you need, your first have to look at three parameters: The required air pressure (in the case of pneumatic conveying systems this likely means either low or medium pressure), the required flow, and the anticipated running hours. The answers to these questions will help you figure out which type of blower you need. After you’ve determined the size of the compressed air installation you need for your pneumatic conveying and silo (un)loading applications, you may find that there are multiple options (technologies) available within that specific size range. Let’s have a closer look at two types of silo blower technologies that are commonly used for pneumatic conveying applications up to 1.5 bar(g):

Rotary lobe blowers: These blowers offer a low-cost, easy-to-use, and dependable option for operations requiring a low volume of low pressure compressed air for a limited number of hours. These positive displacement blowers are known for their reliability – even in tough conditions. This means they are very suited for several pneumatic conveying applications. Their simple design makes them easy to maintain, and a low noise emission contributes to their user-friendliness.
Screw blowers: These blowers are much more energy-efficient than lobe blowers. As a result, in applications with high compressed air demand, they can quickly make up for their higher investment costs with energy savings.

This means that, as a rule of thumb, you want to consider screw blowers if your silo blower will be used intensely (multiple hours a day). And the higher the pressure or flow required, the more interesting in will become to go for the more energy-efficient screw blower. For a solution above 1.5 bar(g), silo compressor, for your dilute phase conveying applications, you should choose an oil-free low pressure screw compressor. When you are looking for a dense phase conveying solution, you need to look at the material you are conveying. If you are conveying a sensitive material, you’ll want to avoid oil contamination at all costs. An oil-free low pressure screw compressor (up to 4 bar) will be the best solution for your system. If you are dealing with non-sensitive materials, the alternative would be to go for an oil-injected screw compressor.

Finding the right compressed air expert

Once you have a general idea which technology and blower are probably best for you, it’s time to talk to the experts.

An expert should be able to provide you with additional advice, check if the existing compressed air system, or the one you have in mind, is the best one for your process and help you identify factors you may have overlooked.

We can to offer you a solution that works for you and not the other way around. Thanks to our comprehensive portfolio, we can really look at your system’s needs without being limited by the solutions we have on offer. Together, we will look at your blower’s anticipated lifecycle costs, with a special emphasis on energy expenses. If one of our energy-efficient products will offer you the lowest total cost of ownership, then we will explain to you how and when you can recoup the higher initial investment. However, if your operating hours or your compressed air demand is too low for this to make sense, then we will tell you.

Discover our solutions

ZL (VSD) oil-free lobe blowers

The simplicity and proven design of our ZL oil-free lobe blowers make them the perfect match for installations in harsh environments.

ZS (VSD+) oil-free rotary screw blowers

Save up to 30% on energy by using our 100% certified oil-free variable speed drive (VSD+) ZS screw blower.

ZE 3 OEM_installation outdoor truck unloading_portrait

ZE&ZA (VSD) low pressure oil-free screw compressors

ZE&ZA low-pressure oil-free screw technology gives high performance even in heavy duty conditions. For low pressure air systems.

oil-lubricated screw compressor GA 160 VSD refrigerant air dryer FD 870 VSD, control unit Optimizer 4.0

GA (VSD) oil-injected screw compressors series

Our market-leading GA oil-injected rotary screw compressor deliver outstanding performance, high productivity and low cost of ownership - even in the harshest environments