FANS AND

BLOWERS

JAY PANNA
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
SVNIT SURAT
FAN
The basic purpose of fan is to move a mass of gas
or vapour at the desired velocity.
For achieving this object there is a slight increase in
the gas pressure across the fan rotor or impeller.
The total pressure developed by the fans is of the
order of a few millimetres of water gauge.
Broadly speaking, the function of a fan is to propel,
displace, or move air or gas.
BLOWER
A blower which is referred to as a fan in some
literature delivers the gas or air with an
appreciable rise in pressure to overcome some
kind of resistance in the flow.
In some applications they develop pressure of the
order of 1000 mm WG or more.
In contrast to fans and blowers, compressors
develop moderate to high pressure.
Some low pressure compressor are referred to as
blowers.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FANS, BLOWER
AND COMPRESSOR
As per American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
the specific ratio the ratio of the discharge pressure over
the suction pressure is used for defining the fans, blowers
and compressors.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FANS, BLOWER AND COMPRESSOR
Equipment Specific Ratio Pressure rise
(mmWg)
Fans Up to 1.11 1136
Blowers 1.11 to 1.20 1136 2066
Compressors more than 1.20
TYPES
Axial Flow: Air flows through the impeller parallel
to, and at a constant distance from the axis.
Centrifugal or radial flow: Air enters parallel to
the axis of the fan and turns through 900 and is
discharged radially through the blades.
Mixed flow: Air enters parallel to the axis of the
fan and turns through an angle which may range
from 300 to 900.
FAN APPLICATIONS

POWER PLANTS
Forced draft and induced draft fans are used to raise the pressure of air
and flue gases necessary to overcome the draft losses in the flow
passages of a steam boiler plant.

The range of pressure rise is approximately 200 to 1600 mm W.G.

Both F.D. and I.D. fans can be either of the axial or centrifugal type and
generally driven by electric motors

Some large fans absorb over one megawatt of power.

COOLING TOWER
Large quantities of the
condenser circulating water are
cooled in cooling towers.

fans for this application are

generally of the large axial type,
developing a low pressure rise
and higher air flow rates.

A typical fan of 20 m diameter

develop 12 mm W.G. at about
3000 m3/s at 75 rpm.

Cooling tower fans can also be

employed as either F.D. or I.D.
COOLING OF I.C. ENGINES
COOLING OF MOTORS
The fans for cooling electric
motors and generators are
generally mounted on the
extensions of their main
shafts.

A hydrogen- cooled sealed

alternator has two axial fans
at the two ends of its rotor as
shown in fig.

The fan has a comparatively

large number of aerofoil
blades. The fans cool the
windings by hydrogen on
them. The hydrogen in turn is
cooled by circulating water.
AIR CIRCULATION AND MINE
VENTILATION
Fans of various ratings are used to circulate
air in air-conditioning systems.

Fans and blowers employed for the

ventilation of mines and tunnels are heavy
duty fans.

The rating of fans for mine ventilation can be

obtained from the number of workers in the
mine and total resistance to be overcome.

Each man require about 6 m3 of air per

minute.

A large mine fan absorbs 2500 kW for

delivering 30000 m3/min of air.
CENTRIFUGAL FANS AND BLOWERS
A large number of fans and
blowers for high pressure
applications are of the
centrifugal type.

Air or gas enters the impeller

axially through the inlet
nozzle which provides slight
acceleration to the air before
its entry to the impeller.
The main components of a centrifugal blower
BACKWARD CURVED BLADES
As shown in fig an impeller which has backward-
swept blades, ie the blades are inclined away
from the direction of motion.
The static pressure rise in the rotor results from
the centrifugal energy and diffusion of the
relative flow.
Backward blade impeller are employed for lower
pressure and lower flow rates.
The width to diameter ratio of such impeller is
small (b/D = 0.05 to 0.2) and the number of
blades employed is between 6 to 17.
Backward-inclined fans are more efficient than
forward-curved fans. Backward-inclined fans are
known as "non-overloading" because changes in
static pressure do not overload the motor.
RADIAL BLADES
Fig shows two arrangements
for radial-tipped blade impeller.
Radial fans are industrial
workhorses because of their
high static pressures (upto
1400 mm WC) and ability to
handle heavily contaminated
airstreams. Because of their
simple design, radial fans are
well suited for high
temperatures and medium
blade tip speeds.
FORWARD-SWEPT BLADES
When the blades are
inclined in the direction of
motion, they are referred to
as forward-swept blades.
Forward-curved fans are
used in clean environments
and operate at lower
temperatures. They are
well suited for low speed
and high-airflow work -
they are best suited for
moving large volumes of
air against relatively low
pressures.
DRUM TYPE FAN
A drum type fan is shown in
fig.

It has a large number of

short- chord forward-swept
blades.

The inside diameter can be

kept large giving a large
inlet flow area. Therefore
such an impeller is suitable
for relatively large flow
rates.
CROSS FLOW FANS
The air enters the outer
periphery of the impeller
on one side and leaves
at the other as shown in
fig.
AXIAL FLOW FANS AND BLOWERS
Air flows through the
impeller parallel to and
at a constant distance
from the axis.

In the simple type

axial flow fan stage
consists of a rotor
made up of a number
of blades fitted to hub.

The action of rotor

causes an increase in
the pressure of air or
gas across it.
STAGE WITH
UPSTREAM GUIDE
VANES
Upstream guide vanes are used to
eliminate swirl at the rotor exit.
The UGVs accelerate the flow and
supply the rotor with a flow having
negative swirl.
The action of the rotor cancels or
removes this swirl
STAGE WITH
DOWNSTREAM GUIDE
VANES
The absolute velocity vector at the
exit has a swirl component which is
removed by the down stream guide
vanes
 STAGE WITH UPSTREAM AND
DOWNSTREAM GUIDE VANES
The pressure drop and acceleration in UGVs are
equal in magnitude to the pressure rise and
deceleration in the DGVs.
Therefore the pressure rise in the rotor is
identical with the stage pressure rise.
PERFORMANCE OF AXIAL FANS