Direct Drive And Belt Driven Fans

This is because of the fact that the amount of friction is greatly reduced in case of this fan when the fan is operating.

Direct drive and belt driven fans.

In a direct drive configuration the fan motor that controls the movement of the fan blades is connected either to a shaft or fan axle. On both direct drive and belt drive fans the motor has two bearings. The two bearings on direct drive fan motors which are 7 horsepower and larger are typically regreaseable. On a direct drive fan as implied by the name the fan propeller is connected directly to the shaft of the motor.

Belt drive fans have two additional bearings. Direct drive fans require fewer parts and thus usually less maintenance. While both belt and direct drive fans have been around for a long time the mainstay fan for most industrial fan applications under 250 hp has been the belt drive fan. You have a fan a motor and maybe a coupling.

Unlike the belt driven fans in case of a direct drive fan there is lesser energy loss. Direct drive fans have no power transmission loss since the propeller is directly connected to the motor shaft. Where on a belt drive fan the fan motor shaft has a pulley connected by a belt to a second pulley. Greater efficiency is the biggest pro of direct drive fan configurations.

Unlike belt driven fans there s less energy loss because there s a reduced amount of friction as the fan operates. Thus the fan blades will rotate at the same speed as the motor rotates. More often than not the maintenance cost of this kind of fan is also comparatively lower. When compared to belt drive fans which require belts sheaves and bushings direct drive is just plain simpler and maintenance folks tend to lean toward direct drive for daily maintenance.