Its design is fundamentally different from other belt driven units. This is because the blower head is cast and machined as a single piece with equally spaced bearings configured specifically to provide even loading from the belt drive which allows the belt to be run at much lower tension resulting in significantly reduced loads on all parts of the assembly.
In addition to fulfilling ACI’s customers’ diverse requirements, it is also at the heart of the company’s own highly successful bottle and can drying systems which are installed in the breweries and soft drinks plants of leading international companies around the world.
Performance figures:
Flow rates up to 1200CFM / 100In.SWG
Pressures up to 5.5 to 15kW
Belt Driven Blowers: Why can they fail?
i.
Idler Systems:
Belt driven blowers have been know to fail primarily due to the amount of tension on the belts (up to 300 foot-pounds of tension can be needed to help belt slippage.) For this reason some Belt Driven Blower Manufacturers have developed an ‘Automatic Belt Tensioner’ System.
However, rather than improve the situation, as well as regular belt failures, users now have the added problem of the Belt Tensioner failing as well.
The major advantage of installing an ACI EP10A is that they only have only 110 foot-pounds of tension. This means that both belts last far longer and that there is no need for an idler arm.
ii. Belt Load:
A number of Belt Driven Blower Manufacturers have designed the belts so that they are cantilevered i.e. on the pulley the belt rides with tremendous axial loads on the drive shaft.
Due to ACI’s innovative design, the EP10 has its belt-load between the bearings, therefore eliminating the cantilever effect.
iii. Bearings:
Bearings determine how long the blower can rotate without seizing up. Instead of conventional ABEC standard bearings which has been adopted by the majority of belt driven blower designs, ACI’s EP10A uses precision matched pairs of sealed, ceramic hybrid bearings.
If you require further information regarding the reliability and design of the EP10A blower, please contact ACI’s Technical Sales Department.
