Despite South Africa’s sugar production industry facing several challenges, owing to an increase in imports and the subsequent negative impact on domestic sales, local machinery supplier Airgas Compressors highlights its Aerzen Delta Blower Generation 5 roots blower as a cost effective and efficient solution for the industry.

Airgas is the sole sub-Saharan Africa sub- sidiary of Germany-based blower and compressor manufacturing company Aerzener Maschinenfabrik (Aerzen) and supplies the Delta Blower Generation 5 to customers in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana, Mozambique and Kenya.

Airgas Compressors marketing coordinator Andreas Stubel tells Engineering News that the blowers help lower operational expenses because they are efficient, robust and offer low life-cycle costs.

The Aerzen Delta Blower Generation 5 series has a maximum discharge pressure of 1 000 mbar at sea level and an intake volume flow ranging from 30 m³/h to 15 000 m³/h. The blower is designed to convey air and other neutral gases and offers operational flexibility for various industrial applications.

Sugar refineries use blowers during dilute or lean phase pneumatic conveying, whereby sugar is carried through a conveying pipeline system without concern for particle reduction.

Stubel says that, because of sugar’s low melting point, Airgas recommends the use of an aftercooler with the Aerzen Delta Blower Generation 5 to reduce the high discharge air temperature.

Further, the Aerzen blower is an oil-free machine, with no oil in its conveying chamber, which eliminates contamination of the sugar being conveyed in the pneumatic system.

“Compared with competing products that perform a similar function, the Aerzen Delta Blower Generation 5 series, in combination with IE3 motor technology, is the most energy efficient roots blower on the market today,” says Stubel, adding that Aerzen is working on a highly efficient Generation 5 blower, called the E-Blower, which will be even more ecofriendly and energy efficient.

The Aerzen Delta Blower Generation 5 can be fully adapted to customer specifications by sizing the correct blower and adjusting pulley sizes and V-belt lengths.

“The company’s backup service ensures that the machines remain in prime running condition. “Blowers can be energy hogs and instal-ling energy efficient machines that are well looked after and serviced regularly reduces unnecessary expenses,” says Stubel.

He explains that, as part of its service offering, Airgas provides regular maintenance offerings for all its products, adding that, in the past year, Airgas has sold about 100 AerzenDelta Blower Generation 5 units of different sizes.