FD fans can be used in many different industries, but not literally in every situation and not without careful selection. An FD (forced draft) fan is a combustion air fan, so it is most relevant wherever you have boilers, furnaces, kilns, dryers or heaters that burn fuel. The basic function—supplying and controlling combustion air—is similar across applications, but the details of pressure, temperature, dust loading and safety requirements vary from industry to industry.
In the power generation and utility sector, FD fans are standard equipment on steam boilers fired by coal, oil, gas or biomass. They supply primary and secondary air to burners, working together with ID fans to maintain furnace pressure and flue-gas flow. These fans must handle large volumes of air, respond to load changes and operate reliably for long periods, making energy efficiency and robust construction very important.
In heavy industries such as steel, cement, glass and non-ferrous metallurgy, FD fans are used on process furnaces, rotary kilns and high-temperature dryers. Here, they deliver combustion air and sometimes cooling air for critical zones. Conditions may involve high dust loading, abrasive particles and high ambient temperatures, so FD fans must be engineered with suitable materials, wear protection and sealing. These same industries often supply equipment to mining operations, so FD fans indirectly support many mine-site processes.
FD fans also appear in chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper and food industries, wherever there are fired heaters, waste incinerators, lime kilns or large drying systems. In some cases, they supply air for thermal oxidisers or environmental control systems that destroy volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other pollutants. Each sector has its own codes, standards and safety practices that influence how FD fans are designed and installed.
However, FD fans are not needed in applications that do not involve combustion. For example, general building ventilation, mine main fans, tunnel ventilation and simple warehouse exhaust usually use axial or centrifugal ventilation fans rather than FD fans. In these cases, the objective is to move fresh air, remove heat or dilute contaminants rather than to feed a flame.
In summary, FD fans can be used across many industries—power, steel, cement, glass, chemicals, pulp and paper, food processing and more—whenever controlled combustion air is required. They are not universal fans for every ventilation task, and they must be selected, rated and protected according to the specific fuels, temperatures, dust levels and safety standards of each industry.
