NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND VALIDATION OF

BLADELESS FAN USING COMMERCIAL CFD CODE

SECOND REVIEW REPORT

B. Tech Mechanical Engineering

by

KAARTHICK RAHUL S (15BME0626)

School of Mechanical Engineering

MARCH 2019 (Poject Title here)

:
Project ID Winter2019/SMEC/B.Tech/Mechanical/B18INCFD014

Date of Review 05/03/2019

Prof. THUNDIL KARUPPA RAJ R
VIT Guide
Student 1
Project Team Members
1. Name: KAARTHICK RAHUL S
2. Reg. No: 15BME0626
3. Email: kaarthickrahul.s2015@vit.ac.in
4. Mobile: 9790250454

Guide’s Remarks

Name and Signature of the

guide

Comments of Reviewer(s)

Name and Signature of the

Reviewer
 Table of Contents

Chapter Description Pg. No.

Abstract 1

Chapter - I Introduction

1.1 Introduction 2

1.2 Working of AC system in a car 3

1.3 Components of AC system in a 4

car
1.4 Objectives of the work 4

1.5 Objectives of the work 5

Chapter - II Methodology & Experimental Procedure

2.1 Methodology 6

2.2 Work to be done 9

2.3 Gantt chart 10

2.4 References 10
Abstract

A bladeless fan blows air from a ring with no external blades. Its vanes are hidden in its base
and directs the collected airflow through a hollow tube or toroid or aerofoil, blowing a thin
high-velocity smooth airflow from holes or a continuous slot across the surface of the tube. In
this study, a bladeless fan is designed and numerical simulation is done using CFD codes to
determine its validity and also to know about the flow characteristics of the air flowing
through the bladeless fan.

Keywords: Bladeless fan, aerofoil, CFD, numerical simulation, flow characteristics

 CHAPTER –I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Nowadays, axial and radial fans are employed for various applications such as cooling
systems, air conditioning, and ventilation of underground spaces. The aerodynamic
performance of fans has been improved by increasing advancements in Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) and economic growth offering different types of fans with various
applications and higher efficiency. In 2009, a new fan whose appearance and performance
were different from conventional fans was invented. The main differences of this fan with
respect to conventional fans (axial and radial fans) are the multiplying intake air flow and
lack of observable impeller. This fan, namely the Bladeless/Air Multiplier fan, was named on
the basis of the two mentioned features. Currently, this fan is manufactured for domestic
applications with a diameter of 30 cm. There are two typical fans widely used: axial and
radial types, however Bladeless fans are completely distinct from those fans from a
mechanism aspect. Bladeless fans are similar to centrifugal fans in terms of radial impellers
for intake air and also similar to axial fans in terms of preparing higher rate of outlet airflow.
Although studies about Bladeless fan are rare in the literature, numerous experimental and
numerical studies have been performed on the axial and centrifugal fans. Although the
Bladeless fan was invented in 2009, until now the aerodynamic performance of this fan has
not been studied numerically or experimentally for different conditions. This fan is designed
for home applications with a diameter of 30 cm and the only available geometric information
is mentioned in patent documentation. The turbulence in the Bladeless fan is simulated by
the standard k–e turbulence model. In order to design the cross section of a Bladeless fan,
Eppler 473 aerofoil, shown below in Fig.1, is chosen among standard aerofoils. The Eppler
473 aerofoil is selected because it is an appropriate aerofoil for low Reynolds numbers and
the high similarity of this aerofoil profile to the original cross section.

Fig.1 An Eppler 473 aerofoil

1.2 Working of the Air Conditioning System in a car

A vehicle’s air conditioning system does not create cold air. It actually takes the heat and
moisture out of the air that is already in your car, leaving behind cooler air. Having a good
understanding of how the components work can help to explain the methods of repairs in the
air conditioning system.

The freon/refrigerant resides in the a/c system. The a/c compressor initiates the high-side of
the system where it is compresses the freon/refrigerant into a high-pressure state causing it
to liquefy. It travels through the high-pressure lines to the condenser. The condenser which
is similar to a small radiator, puts the liquid in contact with fresh air on the outside of the
vehicle, which absorbs the heat from the liquid. It then flows into the expansion valve or
orifice tube where it is restricted and becomes gaseous into the low-pressure side of the a/c
system. Then it flows into the receiver dryer/accumulator that contains a desiccant bag to
remove and collect unwanted moisture/water and impurities. The clean gaseous
freon/refrigerant then travels through the tubing into the evaporator (that is usually located
in the passenger compartment of the dash). Freon/refrigerant in its gaseous state is now able
to absorb heat from the air passing through the evaporator fins, leaving behind the cooler air.
Fans blow this cooler dry air into the car’s cabin. The refrigerant travels back to the
compressor in the suction hose of the a/c system to get compressed back into the high-
pressure gas and begin the process again.

The freon/refrigerant also carries dispersed oil that helps to keep the air-conditioning
compressor lubricated while operating. Freon/refrigerant staying charged or in a full state is
crucial to the proper operation and lubrication of the a/c compressor. R-12 used to be the
commonly used freon/refrigerant up to 1993. All vehicles that were produced in 1994 and
later were required by the Environmental Protection Agency to be equipped with R-134
freon/refrigerant, which was determined to be better for the environment. There were also
stricter regulations enforced against the leakage and handling of refrigerant/freon and the
repairing of a vehicles a/c system.

If the freon/refrigerant level gets low, the a/c system can still operate, even though it may
lose some of its cooling effect, or it can shorten the cycle of operation, and it can cause damage
due to the compressor not being properly lubricated while operating. Checking pressures of
the a/c system while in operation can give an indication of low freon/refrigerant, but it cannot
tell you how low the refrigerant is. If the freon/refrigerant level is low, it is due to a leak that
has developed in the system.

If you’re a/c system is not working properly, it is a good idea to have your trusted repair
facility perform some basic checks. Check the operation of the compressor, it’s clutches and
belts, check the high and low pressures of the system while operating, check proper control
panel operation, check heater blower fan and engine cooling fan operation, check for
restrictions in the system, check for proper air flow through the condenser and evaporator,
check for any obvious leaks.
1.3 Components of the Air Conditioning System

Compressor: The compressor is a pump driven by a belt attached to the engine's crankshaft.
When the refrigerant is drawn into the compressor, it is in a low-pressure gaseous form. Once
the gas is inside the pump, the compressor lives up to its name. The belt drives the pump,
which puts the gas under pressure and forces it out to the condenser. Compressors cannot
compress liquids, only gasses. You'll see as we go through the system that there are other
parts whose job it is to capture any water that accidentally makes into the AC loop.

Condenser: The condenser is basically a radiator, and it serves the same purpose as the one
in your car: to radiate heat out of the system. The refrigerant enters the condenser as a
pressurized gas from the compressor. The process of pressurizing the gas and moving it to
the condenser creates heat, but air flowing around the twisting tubes of the condenser cool
the refrigerant down until it forms a liquid again. Imagine steam cooling down and condensing
back into water, and you've got the idea. The liquid refrigerant is now a high-pressure liquid
and nearly ready to cool the car.

Receiver-Dryer: But first, the refrigerant needs to be prepped for the evaporator. As it moves
out of the condenser, the liquid goes through a little reservoir installed in the line. This
receiver-dryer contains desiccants, small granules that attract water. In the receiver-dryer,
they remove any water that has entered the system. If the water is allowed to remain and
possibly form ice crystals, it can damage the air conditioning system.

Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV): Here, the system changes from the high-pressure side to
the low-pressure side. If you were to touch this part of the system, you'd feel it change from
hot to cold. This system is illustrated below in Fig.2.

The high-pressure liquid refrigerant flows from the receiver-dryer through the expansion
valve, where it is allowed to expand. This expansion reduces the pressure on the refrigerant,
so it can move into the evaporator. The valve senses pressure and regulates the flow of
refrigerant, which allows the system to operate steadily, but the moving parts of the valve can
wear out and sometimes require replacement.

Some vehicles have an orifice tube rather than an expansion valve, but it serves the same
purpose in allowing the refrigerant to expand and the pressure to be lowered before the liquid
enters the evaporator. The orifice tube allows refrigerant to flow at a constant rate and has
no moving parts, but it can become clogged with debris over time. Systems with an orifice
tube automatically turn the AC system on and off to regulate the flow of refrigerant to the
evaporator.

Evaporator: While all the other parts of the system are located in the engine compartment,
this one is in the cabin, usually above the footwell on the passenger side. It also looks like a
radiator, with its coil of tubes and fins, but its job is to absorb heat rather than dissipate it.

Refrigerant enters the evaporator coil as a cold, low-pressure liquid, ideally at 32 degrees
Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), which is why you don't want any water in the system. The
refrigerant doesn't freeze at this temperature, but it does have a very low boiling point. The
heat in the cabin of the car is enough to make the R-134a in the evaporator boil and become
a gas again, just like water turning back to steam. In its gaseous form, refrigerant can absorb
a lot of heat.

The gas moves out of the evaporator -- and out of the passenger compartment of the car,
taking the heat with it. A fan blowing over the outside of the evaporator coil blows cool air
into the passenger compartment. The refrigerant in gas form then enters the compressor,
where it is pressurized and the whole process starts all over again.

If the system uses an orifice tube, there will be an accumulator between the evaporator and
the compressor. This system is illustrated below in Fig.3. An orifice tube sometimes lets too
much refrigerant into the evaporator and it doesn't all boil. Since the compressor cannot
compress liquid, only gas, the accumulator traps any excess liquid before it can get into the
compressor.

The evaporator also takes humidity out of the air in the car, which helps you feel cool. Water
in the air condenses on the evaporator coil, along with dirt and pollen and anything else
floating around in the cabin. When you stop the car and see water dripping underneath, it's
probably the water from the AC evaporator and nothing to worry about.

Fig 2. Orifice tube and accumulator system Fig 3. Expansion valve and receiver system

1.4 Objectives of the Work

 Modelling different configurations for the bladeless fans.
 Analysing each model separately with respect to its corresponding blower.
 Choosing the best out of the experimented models.
 Creating a new model with the required configurations.
 Experimentation and validation is done on the newly created model.
 Numerical simulation is done to check the results obtained from the experimentation.
 CHAPTER –II

METHODOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

2.1 Methodology

For the experimental verification, a bladeless fan and a blower of same input flow rate and
diameter is chosen. An anemometer which measures the velocity of air in a confined flow, is
used to measure the flow rate of the output flow from both the bladeless fan and the blower
at intervals of 10 cm from the centre of both the components. The experimental conditions
are given below in Table 1. The aerofoil from Fig 4. given below is used to make the ring of the
bladeless fan. The experimental setup is given below in Fig.5 below.

Table 1

PARAMETER DIMENSION

Room temperature 25°C

Room pressure 1 atm

Inlet flow rate 14 l/s

Diameter of the bladeless fan and the blower 14 cm

No slip condition is assigned to the room floor and Bladeless side wall and a free
boundary with zero relative pressure was assigned.

Fig.4 The specifications of the aerofoil

 Fig.5 Experimental setup

The anemometer was kept at intervals of 10 cm from the centre of the bladeless fan and the
blower and the corresponding output flow rate velocity was measured and the following
results were obtained which can be seen from table 2 and table 3 respectively.

Table 2. Bladeless fan

Distance from the centre of the fan (cm) V in (l/s) V out (l/s) Factor M (V out/ V in)
10 14 22.21 1.586428571
20 14 22.19 1.585
30 14 22.01 1.572142857
40 14 21.96 1.568571429
50 14 21.84 1.56
60 14 21.71 1.550714286
70 14 21.67 1.547857143
80 14 21.54 1.538571429

Table 3. Blower

Distance from the centre of the blower V in V out Factor M (V out/ V

(cm) (l/s) (l/s) in)
10 14 13.99 0.999285714
20 14 13.91 0.993571429
30 14 13.84 0.988571429
40 14 13.78 0.984285714
50 14 13.69 0.977857143
60 14 13.61 0.972142857
70 14 13.57 0.969285714
80 14 13.48 0.962857143
From the results it can be seen that the output flow rate of the bladeless fan is higher than the
output flow rate of the blower for the same input flow rate. This is due to the fact of two
physical processes know as inducement and entrainment. Due to this the air from behind the
ring and also the surrounding air near the base of the bladeless fan is pushed in the direction
of the flow and therefore the output flow rate increases. this principle can be used in the air
conditioning system in a car. The evaporator has a blower to provide the cooled air into the
car. This blower can be replaced with a bladeless fan so that we can get a higher amount of
cold air than the input which thereby, increases the overall efficiency of the air conditioning
system compared to when a blower is being used. There is a continuous and a gentle supply
of air cold air without any noise and disturbances. Also, when the heavy blower is replaced
with a lighter bladeless fan, the overall weight of the total air conditioning system also
reduces, which in turn is advantageous for the car.

The upper ring (Fig.6) and the complete bladeless fan (Fig.7) are shown below, which was
modelled using Solidworks are shown below.

Fig.6 The upper ring diameter of 14 cm with the aerofoil profile

 Fig.7 Bladeless fan modelled using Solidworks

2.2 Work to be done

The experimental results are obtained and verified with the real-world values. The results are
then used later for numerical validation. The bladeless fan which was used for
experimentation is then modelled using Solidworks software with the same dimensions
which was used in the experimentation part. The modelled bladeless fan is then simulated
with the same experimental conditions under which it was tested and by providing the
necessary input and boundary conditions to the simulated model, results are obtained from
the simulation. The results obtained from the simulation is compared with the experimental
results. Any deviations from both the values are noted and can be explained with the available
facts and data. The results are then extrapolated to higher values for different conditions and
further data can be collected from these simulations which can be used for future references
and experimentations. A report is written based on the results which is then submitted for
verification and authentication.
2.3 Gantt chart

Fig.8 shown below represents the Gantt chart for the project.

Fig.8 Gantt chart

2.4 References

1. Baoling C, Guoqi L, Peifeng L, Yingzi J, Yongjun H, Zhe L. Numerical Simulation on Flow

Field of Bladeless Fan. InASME 2014 4th Joint US-European Fluids Engineering Division
Summer Meeting collocated with the ASME 2014 12th International Conference on
Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels 2014 Aug 3 (pp. V01BT10A035-
V01BT10A035). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

2. Farhanieh B, Jafari M, Afshin H, Bozorgasareh H. Numerical aerodynamic evaluation and

noise investigation of a bladeless fan. Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics. 2015 Jan
1;8(1):133-42.

3. Li H, Deng HS, Lai YB. Numerical and experimental research on the outlet flow field for the
air multiplier. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2016 Jan 25;93:652-9.

4. Jafari M, Afshin H, Farhanieh B, Sojoudi A. Numerical investigation of geometric parameter

effects on the aerodynamic performance of a Bladeless fan. Alexandria Engineering
Journal. 2016 Mar 1;55(1):223-33.

5. Li H, Jin XH, Deng HS, Lai YB. Experimental investigation on the outlet flow field structure
and the influence of Reynolds number on the outlet flow field for a bladeless fan. Applied
Thermal Engineering. 2016 May 5;100:972-8.