Fans
Purpose:
To supply the necessary static pressure to
move air in a
ventilation or exhaust
system.
Basic classifications of air moving devices:
Ejectors
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Ejectors
Low operating efficiencies.
Used only for special material handling applications (corrosive
material, flammable material, hot or sticky material).
Used when not desirable to have contaminated air passing
directly through the air moving device.
Used for air streams containing materials that might degrade
fan performance.
Used in pneumatic conveying systems.
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Primary air moving devices used in industrial applications
Basic groups of fans are:
Axial fans
Centrifugal fans (home furnaces, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners)
Special type fans
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Axial Fans
Propeller fans:
Moves air against low static pressures (less than 1 wg)
Commonly used for general ventilation
Very sensitive to added resistance
Blade types:
Disc blade
Propeller blade
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Centrifugal Fans
1. Forward curved impellers:
Blades curve towards the direction of rotation.
Fans have low space requirements and low tip speeds.
Used against low to moderate static pressures.
Not recommended for dust or particulate that would adhere to
2.
3.
blades.
Radial impellers:
Blades are in a radial direction from the hub.
Fan have medium tip speeds.
Radial blade shape resist material build up.
Can handle either clean or dirty air.
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Fan Selection
Considerations for fan selection are :
1. Capacity:
2. Air stream:
Material handled through fan.
Small amount of smoke or dust - backward inclined
centrifugal or axial fan is selected.
Light dust fume or moisture - backward inclined or radial
fan is preferred.
Heavy particulate loading - radial fan is selected.
Explosive or flammable material.
Spark resistant construction is used.
Explosion proof motor is used.
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Fan Selection
3. Physical Limitations:
Fan size is determined by
Performance requirements
Inlet size and location
Fan weight
The most efficient fan size may not fit the physical space
available.
4. Drive arrangements:
Electric motor is the power source of fans.
Unlike packaged fans, for larger units the motor is
coupled directly to the fan or indirectly by a belt drive.
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Fan Selection
Standard drive arrangements are:
Direct drive:
Offers more compact assembly and assures constant fan speed.
Fan speeds are limited to available motor speeds.
Belt drive:
Offers flexibility in changing the fan speed.
Important in applications where changes in system capacity or
pressure requirements are needed.
5. Noise:
Generated by turbulence within he fan housing.
White noise which is a mixture of all frequencies is mostly
produced.
Radial blade fans produce a pure tone at a frequency BPF.
BPF = rpm * n * CF.
Where:
BPF - blade passage frequency.
RPM - rotational rate.
N - number of blades.
CF - conversion factor, 1/60.
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Fan Selection
6. Safety and accessories:
Safety guards are required at inlet, outlet, shaft, drive
and cleanout doors.
Accessories help in future maintenance requirements.
Flow control can be done using dampers.
Outlet dampers:
Mounted on the fan outlet.
Adds resistance to the system when partially closed.
Inlet dampers:
Mounted on the fan inlet.
Pre-spins air into the impeller.
Lowers operating horsepower.
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Fan Selection
Various factors effecting fan selection are:
Volume required (cfm)
Fan static pressure
Type of material handled
Explosive or inflammable material
Direct driven vs belt driven
Space limitations
Noise
Operating temperature
Efficiency
Corrosive applications
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Rating Tables
Fan size and operating RPM and BHP can be obtained from these
tables
Tables are based on the following pressure relationships
FanTP = TP out - TP in = (SP out + VP out) - (SP in + VP in)
FanSP = FanTP - VP out = SP out - SP in - VP in
Refer to IV manual, table 6-1 (page 6-14)
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Point of Operation
Fan and system have variable performance characteristics which can
be represented graphically.
Point of operation is the single point at the intersection of fan curve
and system curve.
Fan Performance Curves:
Curve represents fan performance variables plotted against flow rate.
Curve is specific to a fan of given size operating at a single rotation
rate ( RPM ).
Even with size and rotation rate fixed, power and pressure
requirements vary over a range of flow rates.
System Requirement Curves:
Duct system pressure varies with volumetric flow rate.
Curve represents the variation of pressure plotted against volumetric
flow rate.
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Fan Laws
Useful when changes in fan performance are required.
Principles relate the performance variables for any
homologous series of fans.
Predict the effect of varying size, speed, capacity,
pressure and power requirement as follows:
Q2 = Q1 (size2/size1)3 (rpm2/rpm1).
P2 = P1 (size2/size1)2 (rpm2/rpm1)2 2/ 1.
PWR2 = PWR1 (size2/size1)5 (rpm2/rpm1)3 2/ 1.
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