Whether 1000 RPM is “good” for a fan depends entirely on the fan’s size, design and duty point. Fan performance is a combination of diameter, speed and blade shape. A well-designed large-diameter fan at 1000 RPM can deliver excellent airflow for industrial plants and mines, while a small fan at the same speed may produce only modest flow.
On 50 Hz power systems, 1000 RPM is close to the full-load speed of a 6-pole induction motor. Many industrial and mining fans use 4-pole motors (around 1500 RPM) or 6-pole motors (around 1000 RPM). The lower speed option is often chosen when engineers want to reduce noise, vibration and mechanical stress, or when there is enough space for a larger impeller to compensate for the lower speed.
Fan laws show that for the same fan size, airflow is roughly proportional to speed, pressure is proportional to speed squared and power is proportional to speed cubed. That means if you slow a given fan from 1500 RPM to 1000 RPM, airflow and pressure will fall, but power and noise drop dramatically. If you instead increase the diameter and keep 1000 RPM, you can recover the required duty with a quieter and often more efficient machine—provided the site can accommodate the larger casing.
In mining and industrial ventilation, 1000 RPM is frequently a very good compromise. Main fans, booster fans and large process fans sometimes run at or near this speed when low noise and long bearing life are priorities. Lower tip speeds reduce aerodynamic noise, and slower rotation is gentler on bearings, couplings and foundations. This can be especially valuable for continuous-duty fans that must run for years in harsh environments.
However, 1000 RPM is not automatically good in every situation. Where space is tight or very high pressure is required, a smaller, faster fan at 1500 or 3000 RPM may be more practical. Conversely, where strict noise limits apply or where very large flows are needed, even lower speeds with larger diameters may be preferred.
In summary, 1000 RPM is a perfectly normal and often advantageous speed for many industrial and mining fans, as long as the fan diameter, blade design and system resistance are correctly matched to deliver the required airflow and pressure.
