Jet Air Technologies said its Direct-Drive blower can be used by bottlers and canners for drying, vacuum, fluidized bed and aeration.
It foregoes unnecessary belts, tensioners and spindles. The new design can ensure long periods of uninterrupted performance with minimal attention by facility maintenance personnel -- providing a competitive edge over plants that employ other types of air knives the company claims.
"By harnessing the blower impeller directly to the driving motor, this new design brings the 'fewer parts means greater reliability' reality to the use of an air knife within production facilities used by bottlers, brewers, canners and vintners," Jet Air stated.
Conventional blowers use belt drives that must be replaced every three to six months. During replacement drying operations must be suspended. Because belts create a high radial load when not properly tensioned, production can also halt when bearings fail.
Jet Air's Direct-Drive technology creates no radial load at all, since the impeller is mounted directly onto the motor shaft. Air knife and blower systems from JetAir also employ a variable frequency drive, also referred to as an "inverter". The VFD eliminates the need for an additional motor starter that is required on belt drive blowers.