Side channel blowers: uses in industry

How a side channel blower works

In its background section, US patent 11,815,105, granted on 14 November 2023, describes regenerative blowers, also referred to as side channel blowers, as comparatively simple, medium speed machines that regenerate the pressure cycles of their bladed impellers continuously from an inlet to an outlet to create vacuum or pressure. They move large volumes of air and other gases at pressures or vacuums lower than typical compressors and higher than centrifugal fans. In a typical blower, the impeller is mounted directly on the motor shaft and spins at the motor speed, typically about 3,000 revolutions per minute.

Industrial uses

The same background lists applications where high flow and low vacuum or pressure are required:

• pneumatic conveying; see vacuum and blowers for pneumatic conveying;
• sewage aeration and aquaculture or pond aeration;
• vacuum lifting, vacuum packaging and packing equipment; see vacuum for packaging lines;
• printing presses; see vacuum in printing and paper handling;
• dryers, dust and smoke removal and industrial vacuum systems;
• soil vapour extraction and chip removal for engraving equipment.

In medical gas systems

HTM 02-01 (2026), the NHS England guidance on medical gas pipeline systems, describes anaesthetic gas scavenging systems (AGSS) as low-pressure systems powered by an electric pump or fan, and says that electrically driven side-channel pumps are frequently used in dental vacuum systems. In Portugal, the ACSS ET 03/2006 specification (v.2024) states that anaesthetic gas extraction must be provided by side channel extraction pumps, with two pumps in automatic operation. The ULTRASEG AGSS datasheet lists side channel vacuum pumps among its features.

Side channel blowers and side channel pumps

The names are close, but a side channel pump moves liquids. Circutec, the brand name that Speck introduced on 10 June 2025 according to the manufacturer, describes side channel pumps, also known as turbine pumps, as hydraulic continuous-flow machines and a sub-type of centrifugal pump, suitable for clear to lightly contaminated liquids with no abrasive contamination or solid content, and able to deliver gas shares and self-prime.

Side channel machines that Ultra Controlo distributes

Ultra Controlo distributes and services Elmo Rietschle and Speck Pumpen, two of its five partner brands. Its Industrial 2026 catalogue lists Elmo Rietschle side-channel blowers with an output of up to 3,000 m³/h and pressures up to 1,000 mbar, and Speck Pumpen side-channel pumps with magnetic coupling, self-priming, for difficult suction conditions.