AIR MOVEMENT Direct-Drive Applications - Advantages of direct-drive versus belt-drive apoplications

摘要

In the commercial and industrial marketplace, fan manufacturers are providing two types of fan drivers, belt-drive or direct-drive. Historically, belt-driven fans were preferred in most air moving applications, leaving little demand for direct-drive fan units. The belt-drive arrangement offered fan users greater performance flexibility and allowed the most economical motor selection for the specified application. In addition, belt-drive units allowed the fan user the ability to change performance requirements in the field at a reasonable cost. Although the belt-driven fans offered the fan user this flexibility, belt-drives had a downside: increased drive and bearing maintenance requirements, as well as drive losses, which decreased fan efficiency. However, due in part to cheap energy, these issues were not enough to cause users to change to direct-drive fans.