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Fan and Duct System Analysis:

A vaneaxial fan is delivering 650 cfm of outdoor air at a total pressure differential of 1.12 in. wg at
standard air conditions via a dedicated ventilation system as shown below, while it is operating at 1000
rpm.
(a) Determine the minimum power required to run the vaneaxial fan.
(b) Determine a possible actual shaft power required to run the vaneaxial fan.
(c) Determine the static pressure differential raised by the vaneaxial fan.
(d) If the fan speed is increased to 1500 rpm, determine the new fan flow rate, fan total pressure rise, fan
static pressure rise, and fan power required.
(e) Sketch the total pressure, power and efficiency characteristic for both speeds on the same graph with
a system characteristic.
(f) Repeat parts (a) to (c) if the system will be moved to an elevation of 5000 ft above sea level.
Vaneaxial fan:
Hub ratio = 0.7
Pleated 90 elbow, r/D = 1.5:
0 1 2 3 4 D = 12 in.

Inlet grille: 5
open to Discharge duct:
atmospheric Transition:
D = 12 in. 6
pressure Inlet duct: A0/A1 = 0.694
L = 300 ft
D = 12 in. 7  = 45
L = 150 ft
Straight duct: 8
D = 10 in. Round ceiling diffuser:
Drawing not to scale open to atmospheric
L = 150 ft
pressure

Assumptions: 1) steady flow, steady state conditions, 2) standard air conditions (70°F, 29.92 in. Hg)
with std = 0.075 lbm/ft3.

(a) The minimum power required to run the fan is given by Eq. 12-2:
m 0.0361lbf / in 2 144 in 2
Wt  P0  QP0  650 cfm 1.12 in. wg 
 
 in. wg ft 2
ft  lbf Btu 60 min
 3778
min 778.28 ft  lbf hr
Btu hp
 291  0.114 hp
hr 2545 Btu / hr

(b) Since typical efficiency of a vaneaxial fan is 70-80%, we will assume a 75% efficiency. Therefore, a
possible actual shaft power required to run the fan is, using Eq. 12-4a:
W 0.114hp
W sh  t   0.153 hp
t 0.75

(c) The static pressure differential raised by the fan can be obtained as follows:
Ps  Ps ,1  Ps , 2  P0,1  Pv ,1   P0, 2  Pv , 2   P0,1  P0, 2   Pv ,1  Pv , 2   P0  Pv ,1  Pv , 2  2 1
However, in this application, the fan will need to draw outdoor air from the atmosphere
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which is usually considered to have negligible velocity, i.e. V2 = 0 m/s. Therefore, Pv , 2  0 .

At the fan outlet, the velocity pressure is
2 2 2
 V1   Q1   4Q1 
Pv ,1   
   
2 

 
2 
(based on assumption #2)
 4005   4005 A1   4005 D1 
 4650 cfm  
2

 Pv ,1     0.0427 in. wg
2 
 4005 1 ft  

Therefore, the static pressure differential raised by the fan is

Ps  P0  Pv ,1  1.12  0.0427  1.08 in. wg

(d) Due to change of fan speed, the fan laws described on page 398 of the textbook can be applied:

Flow rate of the fan:

Q 2 rpm 2 rpm 2 1500
  Q 2  Q 1  650 cfm   975 cfm
Q 1 rpm1 rpm 2 1000

Total pressure raised by the fan:

2 2 2
P2  rpm2   rpm2   1500 
   P0, 2  P0,1    1.12 in. wg    2.52 in. wg
P1  rpm1   rpm1   1000 

Static pressure raised by the fan:

2 2 2
P2  rpm2   rpm2   1500 
   Ps , 2  Ps ,1    1.08 in. wg    2.43 in. wg
P1  rpm1   rpm1   1000 

Shaft power required by the fan:

3 3 3
W 2  rpm2   rpm   1500 
    W sh, 2  W sh,1  2
  0.153 hp    0.516 hp
W1  rpm1   rpm1   1000 

(e)
P0 Wsh , 
rpm2
fan power curves Wsh , 2  0.516 hp
rpm1 Wsh,1  0.153 hp
ductwork resistance curve
P0, 2  2.52 in. wg
P0,1  1.12 in. wg
fan pressure curves

 2  1  75%
rpm2
fan efficiency curves rpm1 rpm2 rpm1

Q1 Q 2
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(f) (a) The corrected minimum power required to run the fan at 5000 ft can be found on page 406 in the
textbook:
 P
W t  W std  W std b (assume ideal gas law for atmospheric air at the same T)
 std Pb , std

The barometric pressure at 5000 ft can be calculated using Eq. (3-4), as follows:
Pb  29.42 in. Hg  0.0009 H  29.42 in. Hg  0.00095000 ft   24.92 in. Hg

Therefore, the minimum power required to run the fan at 5000 ft is

P 24.92 in. Hg
W t  W std b  0.114 hp   0.0950 hp
Pb , std 29.92 in. Hg

(f) (b) A possible actual shaft power required to run the fan at 5000 ft is, using Eq. 12-4a:
W 0.0950hp
W sh  t   0.127 hp
t 0.75

(f) (c) At the fan outlet, the velocity pressure (Eq. (12-8)) is
 V1 
2
 Q1 
2
 4Q1 
2 2 1
Pv ,1           
2 

2 
k  1097 A 1   1097  D 1 

P 24.92 in. Hg 70.52 lbf / ft 2 lbm

where   b   0.06215 3
Ra T  ft  lbf  1 in. Hg ft
 53.352 70  460  R
 lbm   R 
lbm  4650 cfm  
2

 Pv ,1   0.06215 3    0.03537 in. wg
2 
 ft  1097 1 ft  

The corrected total pressure raised by the fan at 5000 ft can be found on page 406 in the
textbook:
 P 24.92 in. Hg
P0  P0, std  P0, std b  1.12 in. wg   0.9328 in. wg
 std Pb, std 29.92 in. Hg

Therefore, the static pressure differential raised by the fan at 5000 ft is

Ps  P0  Pv ,1  0.9328  0.03537  0.897 in. wg