The heart of a dust extraction system is the fan, its design to best suit the system, workshop demand and associated power management technology. With this in mind, whether designing a new turnkey solution, selection of a Fercell factory refurbished system upgrade or as is sometimes the case, the upgrade of an existing onsite system access to Fercell fan technology can make such a noticeable improvement.

With business growth come increased system demand leading eventually to the need to address the extraction fan capability. With a wide range of fans in the standard Fercell range, there is a fan to suit most every industrial application. However, Fercell has the flexibility to provide bespoke units which meet customer’s special requirements.

Fercell Engineering is synonymous with wood waste and dust extraction Systems. Whether complete factory turnkey projects or a standalone solution, with more than 37 years serving the wood-working industry and having built an enviable reputation, Fercell is proud of its track record of consistently deliver on time, to budget – right every time.

Fercell fans are designed for tough wood-working industry applications, featuring various impeller designs, delivering optimum performance and efficiency. Inclusion of modern power control technology adds further savings as does damper and slide valve considerations.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Impellors
The key component of any fan set is the impellor, its design effects performance, noise output, efficiency and determines suitable applications. The Fercell range of fan sets incorporates three different industry-proven impeller designs.
• Radial blade: specially designed for the transportation, medium pressure, of a heavyweight airborne material, including dust, shavings and chips.
• Forward blade: the multi-vane, forward blade impellor is designed for clean air applications with high flow pressure resistance. Manufactured from lightweight steel, for slower speeds, they have a closed configuration and are not self-cleaning. Dynamically balanced for vibration-free operation, they have a medium peak efficiency of up to 68%.
• Backward blade: the most efficient impeller design, capable of high speeds, for transportation of low to medium weight airborne material, including sanding dust, saw and CNC dust, shavings and chippings. A backward-bladed impellor is partially self-cleaning and manufactured from heavy gauge steel with closed oblique blade. Dynamically balanced for stable vibration-free operation, delivering and efficiency is as high as 88%.

Drive arrangements
In essence there are two main drive systems adopted by the industry being direct drive and belt drive. The simplicity of the direct drive results in lower capital expenditure and operating costs as there are no shafts, bearings, belts or guards to maintain. The performance is set to the motor duty and therefore direct drive units are not flexible, and for this reason they are usually used on smaller fan sets.

However the belt drive alternative is mainly used for larger fan sets. They have improved energy efficiency and increased flexibility, with drive configuration of shafts, bearings, belts and pulleys enabling alternations to impeller speeds.

Energy efficient
Integral to production throughput, product quality and health and safety requirements the issue of increasing importance is energy efficiency. Fercell fan sets can be supplied with frequency inverter drives, and when combined with an integrated PLC control system (incorporating electro-pneumatic valve technology automatically isolating ports when not in use) large scale energy reductions with quick ROI can be achieved.

Fercell standards
Design and systems standardisation, using BS and EU standards for bearings, drives and seals to ensure easy maintenance and interchangeability. Fercell’s high standards result in a UK-manufactured quality solution to include design to manufacturing systems, construction materials and hardwearing anti-corrosive paints and finishing solutions. 

Potential customers are invited to discuss requirement with Fercell’s manufacturer-trained engineers by calling the customer support team.