Fan Selection Criteria

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

List available fan types

Know fan characteristics that are required
Understand tradeoffs when selecting a fan
Define fan efficiency

Outline
Fan Types
Basic Fan Curve
Applications
Performance Characteristics
Fan Selection
Efficiency, low noise, size, space and cost
considerations
Mechanical considerations for a given application
including balancing and vibration levels,
construction, arrangements, ruggedness, spark
resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature
resistance, bearings, motors, drives etc.

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

Centrifugal:Backward Inclined Airfoil-Blade

Name is derived from the airfoil shape of blades
Developed to provide high efficiency
Used on large HVAC and clean air industrial systems
where energy savings are of prime importance

Centrifugal:Backward Inclined or Curved Flat-Blade

Backward inclined or curved blades are single thickness or flat

Efficiency is only slightly less than airfoil blade
Similar characteristics as airfoil blade
Same HVAC applications as airfoil blade
Also for industrial applications where airfoil blade is not
acceptable because of corrosive or erosive environment

Backward Inclined or Curved Flat & Airfoil-Blade

High volume at moderate
pressure
Non-overloading power
characteristic
Stable performance
characteristic
Low noise

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

The blades are radial to the fan shaft
Generally the least efficient of the
centrifugal fans
For material handling and moderate to high
pressure industrial applications, rugged
construction
Low volume at high pressure
Large wheel diameter for a given volumehigher cost
Material handling, self cleaning
Easy to maintain
Rising Power overloading characteristic
Suitable for dirty airstream, high pressure,
high temperature and corrosive applications

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Centrifugal:
Radial Tip
The blades are radial to the fan shaft at the
outer extremity of the impeller, but gradually
slope towards the direction of wheel rotation
More efficient than the radial blade but less
than backward inclined
Offers wear resistance in mildly erosive air
streams
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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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More efficient than the panel fan

Cylindrical housing fits closely to outside diameter of blade tips
For low to medium pressure ducted HVAC systems
Also used in some low pressure industrial applications
Performance curve sometimes includes a dip to the left of peak
pressure which should be avoided

Vaneaxial Fan
Highest efficiency axial fan
Cylindrical housing fits closely to outside diameter of blade tips
The straightening vanes allow for greater efficiency and pressure
capabilities
For medium to high pressure HVAC systems. More compact than
centrifugal fans of same duty
Aerodynamic stall causes the performance curve to dip to the left of
peak pressure which should be avoided. However anti-stall options
available for both unidirectional and reversible axials

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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.
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
19 losses

Housed vs plenum
fan

SO YOU HAVE ALL THESE CHOICES

OF FANS TYPES AVAILABLEWHAT
SHOULD YOU DO TO PICK THE
RIGHT FAN FOR YOUR
APPLICATION?
Lets 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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21

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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
Efficiency)

(Inlet
Sound
Power A)

Forward
Curved- SW
(Centrifugal)

30

476

5.09

61.7

89

Backward
Airfoil SW
(Centrifugal)

36.5

650

3.82

80.0

77

3
4

Plenum

33

800

4.25

74.0

80

Tubular
Mixed Flow

27

1074

4.48

70.2

81

Tubular Vane
Axial

28

1438

4.77

65.9

86

Propeller
(Axial)

30

1998

4.92

54.4

103

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Narrowing in after main Fan Type Selection..........

FT-1

FT-1

LESS
COST

LESS
EFFICIENT

MORE
NOISY

In general, for all fan types, as first cost goes down, operating costs
(BHP) and noise go uptrade off!

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Tone at Blade Pass Frequency (Blade Tone)

Blade Pass Frequency, bpf= #blades * rpm / 60
Sound Power level, Lw, at bpf is a distinct audible tone. This
aerodynamic tone can be very annoying and is usually the worst
for radial bladed fans, followed by plenums and housed
centrifugals.
Axial fans have a high pitched tone which is not as annoying.
The bpf tone is a spike in Lw over the surrounding broadband
noise spectra.
Blade Tone Prominence is defined as the dominant energy level
of the blade tone integrated over a narrowband region of the
sound spectrum surrounding the blade tone.

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FT-2

FT-2

Blade Tone
prominence

Acoustic Engineers do not like blade tone prominence to exceed 6dB

in addition to low Sound Power Levels (Lw)

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Fan Selection based on Specific

Speed
Dimensional Specific Speed, is the fan
speed required to raise the SP by 1 iwc
with 1 cfm airflow.
Ns = N * (Q)^0.5/(SP)^0.75
Where, N = Speed (rpm)
Q = Airflow (cfm)
SP = Static pressure (iwc)
Density = 0.075 lbm/cu ft
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All fans selected at peak SE (Static Efficiency) for

Specific Speed, Ns
Type

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Specific
Speed, Ns

Max Static
Efficiency (SE%)

Forward Curved-SW
(Centrifugal)

26,300

61

Backward Airfoil-SW
(Centrifugal)

40,000

80

Plenum

50,000

75

Tubular Mixed Flow

65,800

70

Tubular Vane Axial

90,000

65

Propeller (Axial)

126,000

59

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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