Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
and
Efficiency
by
John Magill
The Air Movement and Control Association
International (AMCA), has met the standards
and requirements of the Registered
Continuing Education Providers Program.
Credit earned on completion of this program
will be reported to the RCEPP. A certificate of
completion will be issued to each participant.
As such, it does not include content that may
be deemed or construed to be an approval or
endorsement by NCEES or RCEPP.
Learning Objectives
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Basic Fan Types
Centrifugal
Backward Inclined Airfoil-blade
Backward Inclined Flat-blade
Forward Curved Blade
Radial Blade
Radial Tip
Axial
Propeller / Panel Fan
Tubeaxial
Vaneaxial
Special Designs
Power Roof Ventilators
Tubular Inline Centrifugal
Mixed Flow
Plenum/ Plug
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Centrifugal:Backward Inclined Airfoil-Blade
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Centrifugal:Backward Inclined or Curved Flat-Blade
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Backward Inclined or Curved Flat & Airfoil-Blade
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Centrifugal: Forward Curved Blade
Blades are curved forward in the
direction of rotation
Must be properly applied to avoid
unstable operation
Less efficient than Airfoil and
Backward Inclined
Requires the lowest speed of any
centrifugal to move a given amount of
air
Used for low pressure HVAC systems
Clean air and high temperature
applications
Typically smallest size selection
Rising power overloading
characteristic
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Centrifugal: Radial Blade
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Centrifugal:
Radial Tip
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Axial: Propeller or Panel Fan
One of the most basic fan designs
For low pressure, high volume
applications
Often used for ventilation through a
wall
Available in square panel or round
ring fan
Maximum efficiency is reached near
free delivery
Reversible blade for reversible flow
applications like jet tunnel fans
Many axial fans can overload at
shutoff
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Tubeaxial Fan
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Vaneaxial Fan
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Power Roof Ventilators
A variety of backward inclined centrifugal wheels or axial
impeller designs
Also available in upblast damper design to discharge air away
from the building
For low pressure exhaust systems of all building types (roof
mounted)
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Inline Centrifugal Fan
Cylindrical housing is similar to a vaneaxial fan
Wheel is generally an airfoil or backward inclined type
Housing does not fit close to outer diameter of wheel
For low and medium pressure HVAC systems or industrial
applications when an inline housing is geometrically more
convenient than a centrifugal configuration
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Mixed Flow Fan
Specific Speed between a centrifugal and axial fan
Cylindrical housing is similar to a vaneaxial fan
High volume advantages of axial fans
Low sound, high efficiency advantages of tubular
centrifugal fans
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PLENUM / PLUG FAN
This is basically a centrifugal
wheel and inlet in a frame
without a scroll or housing. The
‘housing’ is the AHU box.
Housed vs plenum fan
Offers tremendous flexibility for
inlet and discharge in a AHU
application
More efficient than a scroll
centrifugal for high flows and low
SP. All SP rise occurs in the blade
passage
Wall clearance rules must be
followed to avoid significant
system effect losses
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SO YOU HAVE ALL THESE CHOICES
OF FANS TYPES AVAILABLE…WHAT
SHOULD YOU DO TO PICK THE
RIGHT FAN FOR YOUR
APPLICATION?
Let’s consider a couple of examples to illustrate the
selection process from an efficiency, sound, cost and
available space perspective
All Air tests based on AMCA std 210, and Sound tests
based on AMCA std 300
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All fans selected at peak SE (Static Efficiency) for
Airflow=10,000 cfm, Static Pressure (SP)~2 iwc
Type Dia (in) Spd (rpm) BHP SE % LwiA
(Static (Inlet
Efficiency) Sound
Power ‘A’)
Forward 30 476 5.09 61.7 89
1 Curved- SW
(Centrifugal)
Backward 36.5 650 3.82 80.0 77
2 Airfoil – SW
(Centrifugal)
Plenum 33 800 4.25 74.0 80
3
Tubular 27 1074 4.48 70.2 81
4 Mixed Flow
Tubular Vane 28 1438 4.77 65.9 86
5 Axial
Propeller 30 1998 4.92 54.4 103
6 (Axial)
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Narrowing in after main Fan Type Selection..........
FT-1
FT-1
MORE
NOISY
In general, for all fan types, as first cost goes down, operating costs (BHP)
and noise go up…trade off!
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Tone at Blade Pass Frequency (Blade Tone)
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FT-2
FT-2
Blade Tone
prominence
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All fans selected at peak SE (Static Efficiency) for Specific
Speed, Ns
Type Specific Max Static
Speed, Ns Efficiency (SE%)
Forward Curved-SW 26,300 61
1 (Centrifugal)
Plenum 50,000 75
3
Tubular Mixed Flow 65,800 70
4
Tubular Vane Axial 90,000 65
5
Propeller (Axial) 126,000 59
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Summary
Fan selection is not a trivial process for a given application.
Example shown applies to one design operating point. The
selections will change for other operating points.
There is no magic fan that will result in least cost, best efficiency
and low noise for a wide range of operating points.
Compromises should be well understood upfront.
Direct Drive (DD) selection speeds may further limit selections.
Varying width options can optimize DD selections.
Mechanical design requirements like balancing and vibration
levels, spark and high temp resistance, corrosion resistance,
arrangements, motors, bearings, drives can further challenge
the selection process.
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