Industrial Fan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Industrial fan For more details on this topic, see Centrifugal compres- through the central hole . Inlet and outlet ducting are of- sor. ten attached to the fan’s housing, to supply and/or exhaust the air or gas to the industry’s requirements. Industrial fans and blowers are machines whose pri- There are many varieties of centrifugal fans, which may mary function is to provide a large flow of air or gas to have fan wheels that range from less than a foot (0.3 me- various processes of many industries. This is achieved by ters) to over 16 feet (5 m) in diameter. rotating a number of blades, connected to a hub and shaft, and driven by a motor or turbine. The flow rates of these fans range from approximately 200 to 2,000,000 cubic 2.2 Axial fans feet (5.7 to 57000 cubic meters) per minute. A blower is another name for a fan that operates where the resistance For more details on this topic, see Axial fan. to the flow is primarily on the downstream side of the fan. The axial design uses axial forces to achieve the move- ment of the air or gas, spinning a central hub with blades 1 Functions and industries extending radially from its outer diameter. The fluid is moved parallel to the fan wheel’s shaft, or axis of rota- tion. The axial fan wheel is often contained within a short There are many uses for the continuous flow of air or gas section of cylindrical ductwork, to which inlet and outlet that industrial fans generate, including combustion, ven- ducting can be connected. tilation, aeration, particulate transport, exhaust, cooling, air-cleaning, and drying, to name a few. The industries Axial fan types have fan wheels with diameters that usu- served include electrical power production, pollution con- ally range from less than a foot (0.3 meters) to over 30 trol, metal manufacturing and processing, cement pro- feet (9 m), although axial cooling tower fan wheels may duction, mining, petrochemical, food processing, cryo- exceed 41 feet(12.5 m) in diameter. [1] genics, and clean rooms. In general, axial fans are used where the principal require- ment is for a large volume of flow, and the centrifugal de- sign where both flow and higher pressures are required. 2 Centrifugal fans and axial fans Most industrial fans may be categorized into one of two 3 Design paths general types: centrifugal fans and axial fans. There are several paths to determining a fan design for an application. 2.1 Centrifugal fans For industries where the application requirements do not For more details on this topic, see Centrifugal fan. vary greatly and applicable fan designs have diameters of around 4 feet (1.2 meters) or less, a standard or pre- engineered design might be selected. The centrifugal design uses the centrifugal force gener- ated by a rotating disk, with blades mounted at right an- When the application involves more complex specifica- gles to the disk, to impart movement to the air or gas tions or a larger fan, then a design based on an existing and increase its pressure. The assembly of the hub, disk model configuration will often satisfy the requirements. and blades is known as the fan wheel, and often includes Many model configurations already cover the range of other components with aerodynamic or structural func- current industry processes. An appropriate model from tions. The centrifugal fan wheel is typically contained the fan company’s catalogue is selected, and the com- within a scroll-shaped fan housing, resembling the shell pany’s engineers apply design rules to calculate the di- of the nautilus sea creature with a central hole. The air mensions and select options and material for the desired or gas inside the spinning fan is thrown off the outside of performance, strength and operating environment. the wheel, to an outlet at the housing’s largest diameter. Some applications require a dedicated, custom configu- This simultaneously draws more air or gas into the wheel ration for a fan design to satisfy all specifications. 1 2 4 FAN SUB-CATEGORIES All industrial fan designs must be accurately engineered capability with average efficiency. They are often fitted to meet performance specifications while maintaining with erosion-resistant liners to extend rotor life. The structural integrity. For each application, there are spe- housing design is compact to minimize the floor space cific flow and pressure requirements. Depending on requirement. the application, the fan may be subject to high rotating speeds, an operating environment with corrosive chemi- Radial Tipped – These fans have wheels that are cals or abrasive air streams, and extreme temperatures. backward curved, but in a way slightly different from Larger fans and higher speeds produce greater forces backward curved fans. Backward curved fans’ have on the rotating structures; for safety and reliability, the wheels whose blades curve outward, while radial-tip fans’ design must eliminate excessive stresses and excitable blades are curved inward and radial at their tips (hence resonant frequencies. Computer modeling programs for the name “radial tip”), while still in a backwardly-curved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element configuration. Their curvature can also be thought of analysis (FEA) are often employed in the design process, as radial at the tips but gradually sloping toward the in addition to laboratory scale model testing. Even af- direction of rotation. This rugged design is used in ter the fan is built the verification might continue, using high-volume flow rate applications when the pressure fan performance testing for flow and pressure, strain gage requirement is rather high and erosion resistance is testing for stresses and tests to record the fan’s resonant necessary. It offers medium efficiencies. A common frequencies. application is the dirty side of a baghouse or precipitator. The design is more compact than airfoil, backward curved or backward inclined fans. 4 Fan sub-categories Paddle-Wheel – This is an open impeller design without Fan types and their sub-categories are industry standard, shrouds. Although the efficiency is not high, this fan recognized by all major fan producers. [2] is well suited for applications with extremely high dust loading. It can be offered with field-replaceable blade liners from ceramic tiles or tungsten carbide. This fan 4.1 Centrifugal fan sub-categories may also be used in high-temperature applications. Any of these fan sub-types can be built with long- Forward-Curve – This “squirrel cage” impeller gener- lasting erosion-resistant liners. ates the highest volume flow rate (for a given tip speed) Airfoil (Air Foil) – Used for a wide range of applications of all the centrifugal fans. Therefore, it often has the in many industries, fans with hollow, airfoil-profiled advantage of offering the smallest physical package blades are designed for use in airstreams where high available for a given application. This type of fan is efficiency and quiet operation are required. They are commonly used in high-temperature furnaces. However, used extensively for continuous service at ambient and these fans can only be used for conveying air with low elevated temperatures in forced and induced draft appli- dust loading because they are the most sensitive to cations in the metals, chemical, power generation, paper, particle build-up, but also due to the large number of rock products, glass, resource recovery, incineration and blades that forward-curve wheels require. other industries throughout the world. Industrial Exhausters – This is a relatively inexpen- Backward Curve – These fans have efficiencies nearly sive, medium-duty, steeply inclined flat-bladed fan for as high as the airfoil design. An advantage is that exhausting gases, conveying chips, etc. their single-thickness, curved plate blades prevent the possibility of dust particle buildup inside the blade, as Pre-engineered Fans (PE) – A series of fans of varying may occur with perforated airfoil blades. The robust blade shapes that are usually available in only standard design allows high tip-speed operation, and therefore this sizes. Because they are pre-engineered these fans fan is often used in high-pressure applications. may be available with relatively short delivery times. Often, pre-engineered rotors with various blade shapes Backward Inclined – These fans have simple flat blades, may be installed into a common housing. These are backwardly inclined to match the velocity pattern of often available in a wide range of volume and pressure the air passing through the fan wheel for high-efficiency requirements to meet the needs of many applications. operation. These fans are typically used in high-volume, relatively low-pressure, clean air applications. Pressure Blowers – These are high-pressure, low- volume blowers used in combustion air applications in Radial Blade – The flat blades of this type are arranged furnaces or to provide “blow-off” air for clearing and/or in a radial pattern. These rugged fans offer high pressure drying applications. 3 ameters, for low pressures and large volumes of airflow. Surgeless Blowers – These high-pressure, low-volume Applications are in wet mechanical cooling towers, air- blowers have a reduced tendency for “surging” (peri- cooled steam condensers, air-cooled heat exchangers, ra- odic variation of flow rate) even at severely reduced diators, or similar air-cooled applications. fan speeds. This allows extreme turndown (low-flow) Mixed-flow fans - The gas flow patterns these fans pro- without significant pulsation. duce resemble a combination of axial and centrifugal pat- terns, although the fan wheels often appear similar to cen- Mechanical Vapor Recovery Blowers -These specially trifugal wheels. There are various types of mixed-flow designed centrifugal fans are designed to increase tem- fans, including gas-tight high-pressure fans and blowers.