People often refer to big industrial fans by different names depending on where they are installed and what job they do. In general, these are large-diameter fans designed to move a lot of air in factories, warehouses, tunnels or underground mines. Several common terms are used, and understanding them helps you choose the right type for your application.
In large open buildings such as warehouses, logistics centres and production halls, the most famous big industrial fans are high-volume low-speed (HVLS) fans. These are huge ceiling-mounted axial fans, often 3–7 m in diameter, that rotate slowly but move a very large volume of air. HVLS fans improve comfort by circulating air gently across wide areas, reducing temperature stratification and the feeling of heat without creating strong drafts.
In tunnels, subways and underground mines, large-diameter fans are usually called tunnel fans or main mine fans. These are powerful axial flow fans engineered to drive fresh air through long underground spaces or shafts. They can be installed in series or parallel, sometimes in fan stations at the surface or underground. Their large size and high power allow them to overcome the resistance of extensive roadway networks, ventilation doors and auxiliary ducting.
General large axial fans are also widely used in industrial plants for supply and exhaust of air through big ducts or wall openings. These may be called simply large axial fans, axial flow fans or industrial axial ventilators. They are built with robust impellers and casings and can be fitted with silencers, guide vanes and control systems. In cooling towers and air-cooled condensers at power stations or petrochemical plants, large axial fans drive air through heat exchangers to remove process heat.
There are also large centrifugal fans and blowers that qualify as big industrial fans. These fans use radial or backward-curved impellers inside scroll casings to develop higher pressures for dust collection, process exhaust or pneumatic conveying. They may not look like the open propeller-style fans people picture when they say “big fan”, but they are equally large and critical, especially in cement plants, steel mills and heavy industry.
In informal language, people might simply say “large industrial fan”, “big warehouse fan” or “mine ventilation fan”. Technically, the correct name depends on the fan type (axial, centrifugal, mixed-flow), the configuration (HVLS, tunnel, main, booster) and the installation. Regardless of the label, all these big industrial fans are designed to move huge volumes of air reliably in demanding environments.
