Blower and aeration glossary
Definitions for terms used in blower monitoring, aeration, compressed air and industrial communications.
- Aeration
- The introduction of air into a liquid or material. In wastewater treatment it supplies oxygen to bacteria. In aquaculture it helps maintain dissolved oxygen for fish.
- Activated sludge
- A wastewater treatment process in which microorganisms break down organic matter using oxygen supplied by aeration equipment.
- Blower (rotary screw)
- A positive-displacement machine that uses two helical rotors to move air. It is commonly used for aeration, pneumatic conveying and low-pressure process air.
- Compressed air
- Air held above atmospheric pressure and used for tools, process equipment and control systems. Industrial systems commonly use rotary screw, scroll or centrifugal compressors.
- Diffuser
- A device that divides air into bubbles for transfer into water. Fouling or restriction can increase the discharge pressure required from the blower.
- Discharge pressure
- The air pressure measured at the blower outlet, usually stated in kPa or bar. Changes may indicate a restriction, leak or change in operating demand.
- Digital twin
- A 3D representation of physical equipment linked to current sensor readings. It can show equipment status, readings and maintenance information in a browser.
- Dissolved oxygen (DO)
- The concentration of oxygen dissolved in water, usually expressed in mg/L or percentage saturation. It is an important process measurement in aquaculture and wastewater treatment.
- IoT gateway
- Hardware that collects data from sensors and equipment using interfaces such as Modbus, 4-20mA and BACnet, then sends it to another system for storage and monitoring.
- Modbus
- An industrial communication protocol used by controllers, PLCs, sensors and variable-frequency drives. Modbus RTU uses serial communication and Modbus TCP uses Ethernet.
- MQTT
- A lightweight publish-and-subscribe messaging protocol commonly used to send telemetry over networks with limited bandwidth.
- Condition-based maintenance
- Maintenance planned using equipment condition and operating trends rather than fixed time intervals alone.
- RAS
- Recirculating aquaculture system. Water is filtered, treated and returned to tanks, so pumps, blowers and other life-support equipment must operate continuously.
- SCADA
- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. A class of industrial systems used to collect equipment data, display status and manage alarms.
- Specific power
- An efficiency measure expressed as electrical power per unit of delivered air. A lower value indicates less power used for the same airflow.
- Telemetry
- The automated collection and transmission of equipment measurements such as pressure, temperature, speed, voltage, current, power and flow.
- VFD
- Variable-frequency drive. An electronic controller that changes motor speed by varying the electrical frequency supplied to the motor.
- WWTP
- Wastewater treatment plant. Aeration blowers are often one of the plant's largest energy users.