You might be looking to purchase a new or replacement fan for an industrial application, or maybe you’re just looking to see what is available on the market right now. 

Whatever it is, you’ve come to the right place. At Argon, we supply a range of blowers and fans New Zealand wide. 

You might be wondering what the correct steps are to selecting the right industrial fan for your application. As we know, carefully selected, high-quality fans for industrial purposes will play a crucial role in effective air handling systems in any workplace or environment. 

 Of course, elements like price point will impact your decision-making process, but other considerations will influence your decision that you’ll need to be aware. What will the air pressure level be? What environmental challenges need to be addressed? Does your intended application require low or high airflow? 

 Below, we’ll outline what sort of questions you might need to answer and what criteria to consider when selecting the relevant application fans.

1. Supply or Extraction

There are two general types of applications for commercial/industrial applications which are either supply or extraction. Will the fan be supplying fresh air or extracting stale air? The type will have an impact on the style of fan you choose.

2. Process/Ducted vs Ventilation

The two typical commercial/industrial applications are either the process/ducted method or the ventilation method. With a process/ducted application, fans are commonly mounted in ducts or have components that provide back pressure against the fan, such as energy transfer devices, sound attenuators, fume scrubbers and mist eliminators. Process/ducted applications work in contained environments and often develop higher pressures than general ventilation fans. For general ventilation, the fan accelerates the air and moves it from one side of a space to another (i.e., through a roof or wall).

3. Type of Fan

Although there are several different types of fan you can choose from; the primary types are centrifugal, axial and mixed flow. Centrifugal fans have wheels that draw air into the fan housing and discharge it out at 90°, whereas axial fans draw in air by utilising a propeller, then discharge the air in the same direction.

4. Mounting

When you have decided on the nature of the application, this will then inform how the fan is mounted. For general ventilation, fans are typically mounted to the wall or the roof. Regarding process/ducted applications, fans are usually mounted onto a roof or a pad with the duct entering or discharging from the fan.

5. Requirements

Requirements to consider include fan performance (flow and pressure generation), accessibility (how to access the fan for inspection, maintenance/repair or replacement), efficiency, noise levels and redundancy.

Once you have considered the above factors, this will help determine the type of fan you should opt for and the size. Knowing all of this information up front will help optimise fan selection to effectively satisfy your industrial fan requirements.

For further advice and guidance, please contact our friendly team at Argon Distributors on 0508 634 341 or sales@argondistributors.co.nz