EXIPERIMENT 11: PERFORMANCE OF CENTRIFUGAL FAN

A. Fan Constant Speed Characteristics

Objective
 To obtain the fan characteristics for centrifugal fan at operating at constant speed.

Introduction
Fluid mechanics are usually characterized by two distinct classes: Rotodynamic and Positive
displacement machine.

Rotodynamic Machine: relative motion is required between the rotating element of the machine
(rotor or impeller) and the fluid steam. Centrifugal fans and axial fans are examples of
rotodynamic machine.

Positive Displacement Machine: the machine components mechanically displace a set of volume
of fluid. Bicycle pump is an example of positive displacement machine.

In centrifugal fan the fluid is drawn in to the center of the rotating impeller. The impeller imparts
velocity to the air stream and the air travels outwards from the center of the impeller
perpendicular to the direction of the inlet stream, and around the casing into the outlet duct. The
general relationship between the various forms of energy, based on the 1st law of
thermodynamics applied to a unit mass of fluid flowing through a control volume for constant
density expressed as:

Where: Wa is the useful work, For FM40, change in potential energy may be considered as
negligible.

Method
By taking sensor reading over a range of flow rates at constant fan speed.

Equipment
  Centrifugal Fan Demonstration Unit
 Armfield IFD7 Interface device
 Compatible PC running software

Theory
Pump manufacturers and fan system designers require a method for indicating fan performance,
to allow the correct fan to be selected for any given system and performance requirement.
Designers will wish to select a fan that will be able to produce the required flow rate and
pressure differential under typical system conditions, and also to select a fan that will operate
efficiently under normal use. A chart or graph of characteristic performance parameters plotted
against fan discharge is a common method of presenting the sort of information required.

Figure 1:Pump Characterstics Curves

Where: N = fan rotational speed
When lines of constant efficiency are superimposed on such a graph for a range of fan speeds, a
comprehensive illustration of pump performance is obtained. An example is presented below.
 Figure 2: Typical characteristic curves for a centrifugal fan

Equipment Setup
 Check that the forward curved impeller is fitted as the impeller rotates.
 Check that the sensor and power leads from the FM40 are connected to the sockets on the
front of the IFD7.
 Check that the IFD7 is connected to a suitable mains supply, and that the USB socket on
the front is connected using the lead provided to a suitable PC.
 Check that the red and green indicator lights on the front of the IFD7 are illuminated.
 Run the Armfield FM40-304 software on the PC, and check that the software indicates
‘IFD: OK’ in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
 Switch on the mains supply to the IFD7, and switch on the IFD7 using the power switch
on the front. Check that the power switch on the IFD7 is illuminated.
 On the software mimic diagram screen, select the ‘Fan On’ button to switch on the
FM40. Check that the green watchdog indicator on the mimic screen is illuminated.
 Check that the sensor readings on the software screen give sensible values. The air
velocity and the pressure readings should be zero when the fan is not moving. Zero the
pressure sensors if necessary, using the zero buttons on the mimic screen. The
temperature should be sensible given the ambient conditions in the room (typically
between 15 and 30 °C).

Procedure
 Read through the experiment before starting, to familiarize yourself with the procedure.
Set the fan speed to maximum (100%). Set the rotational speed of the fan to 2018rpm.
 Take readings for air temperature, orifice differential pressure, fan differential pressure,
and motor power by selecting the “Go” icon on the software toolbar.
  Using the maximum air velocity as a guide, select incremental values for air velocity that
will give 10-15 individual steps between minimum and maximum velocity. Close the
aperture to increase the air velocity by approximately one step. Continue to adjust the
aperture to give the required flow rate and fan speed. Select the “Go” icon.
 Repeat for the next flow velocity increment, adjusting the aperture and fan setting to give
the required values and selecting the “Go” icon to record the data once the settings are
correct.
 Continue in steps until the aperture is fully closed for the final set of data then fully open
the aperture. Note: The discharge will never reach zero. There will always be a small air
flow measured due to the action of the fan on air within the inlet and outlet ducts.
Visually monitor the outlet aperture and do not twist it past the point where the aperture
closes as this will damage the aperture.
 Fully open the aperture after recording the final set of data at the current fan setting.
 Create a new results table using the icon on the software toolbar.

 Select a new fan rotational speed, for example half the value for the first set of data.
Adjust the fan speed to 3009rpm, and note the maximum flow velocity. Select the “Go”
icon.
 Open the aperture in steps as before, making minor adjustments to the aperture at each
step until the required values are obtained before recording each set of data with the
“Go” icon. Fully open the aperture after recording the last set of data.
If time permits, additional rotational speed settings may be investigated to give a full series of
performance data. Remember to create a new results sheet for each set of data. Alternatively,
each student or set of students may take data for different rotational speeds, and the results can
then be combined.

Results
The software logs the variables such as:
 Inlet temperature (T) ℃
 Orifice differential pressure (P1) Pa
 Fan differential pressure (P2) Pa
 Fan setting %
 Fan speed (n) rpm
 Input mechanical power (Pm) w
From the above the software calculates:
o Air density (ῤ air) kg/m3
o Inlet velocity (V1) m/s
o Outlet velocity (V2) m/s
o Discharge (Qv) m3/s
 o Fan total pressure (PtF) Pa
o Output fan power (Pu) w
o Fan efficiency (Egr) %

Remember the software assumes acceleration due to gravity (g) is constant.

Table 1: Data obtained from the software with a motor speed of 2018rpm

Atm. Fan Motor Motor Inlet Density Orifice Fan Discha

Pressure( Setting Speed(r Torque( Temp. of diff. differenti rge
Kpa) (%) pm) Nm) (℃) Air(Kg/ pressure( al coeffic
m3) kPa) pressure( ient Cd
kPa)
101 57 2018 0.16 23.4 1.173 0.219 0.225 0.596
101 57 2018 0.15 23.5 1.172 0.188 0.235 0.596
101 57 2018 0.14 23.5 1.172 0.163 0.239 0.596
101 57 2018 0.13 23.5 1.172 0.142 0.246 0.596
101 57 2018 0.12 23.5 1.172 0.124 0.250 0.596
101 57 2018 0.12 23.5 1.172 0.109 0.251 0.596
101 57 2018 0.11 23.5 1.172 0.086 0.255 0.596
101 57 2018 0.10 23.5 1.172 0.068 0.255 0.596
101 57 2018 0.08 23.4 1.173 0.054 0.252 0.596
101 57 2018 0.09 23.4 1.173 0.041 0.251 0.596
101 57 2018 0.08 23.4 1.173 0.030 0.249 0.596
101 57 2018 0.07 23.4 1.173 0.022 0.251 0.596
101 57 2018 0.06 23.3 1.173 0.014 0.242 0.596
101 57 2018 0.06 23.3 1.173 0.007 0.241 0.596

Fan Outlet Pow Predict Predict Predict

Mechani Inlet Total Fan
Dischar er ed ed ed
cal Veloci Pressu Efficien
ge Veloci Outp Fan Total Power
Power ty re cy
Qv ty ut Dischar Pressur Output
Pm V1 ptF Egr
[l/s] V2 Pu ge e [W]
[W] [m/s] [kPa] [%]
[m/s] [W] [l/s] [kPa]
50.94 33.3 7.19 13.24 0.30 15.13 45.414 33.959 0.132 4.483
47.17 31.7 6.65 12.26 0.30 14.00 44.200 31.446 0.132 4.150
43.95 30.1 6.20 11.42 0.29 12.88 42.861 29.298 0.130 3.816
41.00 28.1 5.78 10.65 0.29 12.03 42.821 27.333 0.130 3.564
38.27 26.1 5.40 9.94 0.29 11.14 42.623 25.515 0.129 3.300
35.83 24.8 5.05 9.31 0.29 10.27 41.373 23.884 0.127 3.043
31.87 23.2 4.50 8.28 0.28 9.04 38.975 21.248 0.126 2.678
28.28 21.2 3.99 7.35 0.28 7.83 36.881 18.856 0.123 2.320
25.21 17.0 3.56 6.55 0.27 6.81 40.091 16.809 0.120 2.018
22.11 18.3 3.12 5.75 0.26 5.85 31.979 14.742 0.118 1.733
18.96 17.0 2.68 4.93 0.26 4.92 28.965 12.642 0.115 1.458
16.00 15.7 2.26 4.16 0.26 4.13 26.331 10.667 0.115 1.223
12.69 13.4 1.79 3.30 0.25 3.13 23.369 8.460 0.110 0.927
9.13 12.1 1.29 2.37 0.24 2.22 18.360 6.088 0.108 0.657
 Ptf(kPa)

Ptf Vs Qv for 2018rpm

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Qv(l/s)

Efficiency(%)

η Vs Qv for 2018rpm
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Qv (l/s)

Power output (W)

 Pu Vs Qv for 2018rpm
16

14

12

10

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Qv(l/s)

Power output (W)

Chart Title
0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Ptf (kPa)

Table 2: Data obtained from the software with a motor speed of 3009rpm

Atm. Fan Motor Motor Inlet Density Orifice Fan Discha

Pressure( Setting Speed(r Torque( Temp. of diff. differenti rge
Kpa) (%) pm) Nm) (℃) Air(Kg/ pressure( al coeffic
m3) kPa) pressure( ient Cd
 kPa)
101 85 3009 0.36 23.6 1.172 0.539 0.485 0.596
101 85 3009 0.35 23.4 1.173 0.476 0.514 0.596
101 85 3009 0.34 23.4 1.173 0.424 0.522 0.596
101 85 3009 0.30 23.3 1.173 0.358 0.542 0.596
101 85 3009 0.30 23.3 1.173 0.321 0.549 0.596
101 85 3009 0.28 23.4 1.173 0.264 0.553 0.596
101 85 3009 0.25 23.4 1.173 0.211 0.556 0.596
101 85 3009 0.23 23.4 1.173 0.164 0.560 0.596
101 85 3009 0.21 23.4 1.173 0.136 0.559 0.596
101 85 3009 0.19 23.4 1.173 0.102 0.551 0.596
101 85 3009 0.18 23.4 1.173 0.075 0.542 0.596
101 85 3009 0.16 23.2 1.174 0.055 0.543 0.596
101 85 3009 0.15 23.1 1.174 0.035 0.536 0.596
101 85 3009 0.14 23.1 1.174 0.020 0.533 0.596
101 85 3009 0.12 23.1 1.174 0.009 0.520 0.596

Fan Outlet Pow Predict Predict Predict

Mechani Inlet Total Fan
Dischar er ed ed ed
cal Veloci Pressu Efficien
ge Veloci Outp Fan Total Power
Power ty re cy
Qv ty ut Dischar Pressur Output
Pm V1 ptF Egr
[l/s] V2 Pu ge e [W]
[W] [m/s] [kPa] [%]
[m/s] [W] [l/s] [kPa]
79.88 113.5 11.27 20.76 0.66 52.98 46.677 53.253 0.295 15.697
75.00 111.5 10.58 19.49 0.67 50.36 45.144 49.999 0.298 14.921
70.79 106.7 9.99 18.39 0.66 46.84 43.905 47.192 0.294 13.878
65.07 95.5 9.18 16.91 0.66 42.97 45.006 43.377 0.294 12.732
61.59 93.5 8.69 16.00 0.66 40.37 43.161 41.061 0.291 11.961
55.87 86.7 7.88 14.52 0.64 35.77 41.257 37.248 0.285 10.599
50.00 77.9 7.05 12.99 0.63 31.29 40.147 33.332 0.278 9.271
44.03 72.6 6.21 11.44 0.61 27.03 37.238 29.355 0.273 8.008
40.14 67.2 5.66 10.43 0.60 24.24 36.058 26.757 0.268 7.182
34.72 60.9 4.90 9.02 0.58 20.29 33.330 23.145 0.260 6.013
29.77 57.5 4.20 7.73 0.57 16.87 29.356 19.844 0.252 5.000
25.37 51.6 3.58 6.59 0.56 14.23 27.563 16.916 0.249 4.217
20.27 46.8 2.86 5.27 0.55 11.09 23.716 13.515 0.243 3.286
15.44 43.8 2.18 4.01 0.54 8.33 18.999 10.296 0.240 2.468
10.03 37.5 1.41 2.61 0.52 5.24 13.966 6.686 0.232 1.552
Ptf( kPa)

Ptf Vs Qv for 3009rpm

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Qv(l/s)

Efficiency (%)

η Vs Qv for 3009rpm
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Qv(l/s)
Power output (W)

Pu Vs Qv for 3009rpm
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Qv (l/s)

Power output (W)

Psmotor Vs Ptf
0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Ptf(kPa)
 B. Dimensional Analysis – Introduction to Scaling
Objective
To predict the performance of a fan at a given speed from data obtained at a
different speed.
Method
By using equations obtained from dimensional analysis (the affinity laws) to
calculate the performance characteristics for the fan at the required speed, using
data obtained at a different speed.

Equipment Required

 Centrifugal Fan Demonstration Unit

 Armfield IFD7 Interface Device &
 Compatible Pc Running Software

Theory
It is not practicable to test the performance of every size of fan in a manufacturer’s
range at all speeds at which it may be designed to run. Hence a mathematical
solution is required whereby assumptions can be made as to the operating
characteristics of a fan running at one speed, impeller size, etc. from experimental
results taken at another. The use of dimensional analysis reduces the large number
of variables involved in describing the performance characteristics of rotodynamic
machines to a number of manageable dimensionless groups. The methods used for
forming these dimensionless groups will not be entered into here, but the groups
themselves are known by the following names:
Use of these affinity laws allows performance of geometrically similar fans of
different sizes or speeds to be predicted accurately enough for practical purposes.
Exact accuracy would require that effects of surface roughness of the fan, the
viscosity of the gas, etc. to be taken into account. Any two fans may be considered
geometrically similar when; They have the same number of blades or vanes; their
angular dimensions are the same and their linear dimensions are proportional.

For this exercise the same fan will be used throughout, which ensures geometric
similarity. The affinity laws are most often used to calculate changes in flow rate,
pressure and power of a fan when the size, rotational speed or gas density is
changed. Therefore, in the following affinity laws the suffix ‘1’ has been used for
initial known values and the suffix ‘2’ for the changed values and the resulting
calculated table:

Where Qv is the volume flow rate, PtF is the fan total pressure, ρ is the density, n
is the fan rotational speed, D is the impeller diameter, and Pu is the fan power
(output). These laws can be simplified when variables remain unchanged, e.g.
when only the fan speed is varied:

More generally, the relationship between two geometrically similar machines with characteristic
diameters D1 and D2 operating at rotational speeds N1 and N2 is shown in the following diagram. For any

points at which values of are the same (these are termed corresponding
points),
it follows that:

It also follows that the power coefficient and the efficiency η must also
have the same values at corresponding points.
Equipment Setup

 Check that the forward curved impeller is fitted as the impeller rotates.
Check that the outlet aperture is fully open.
 Check that the sensor and power leads from the FM40 are connected to the
sockets on the front of the IFD7.
 Check that the IFD7 is connected to a suitable mains supply, and that the
USB socket on the front is connected using the lead provided to a suitable
PC. Check that the red and green indicator lights on the front of the IFD7 are
illuminated.
 Run the Armfield FM40-304 software on the PC, and check that the
software indicates ‘IFD: OK’ in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
 Switch on the mains supply to the IFD7, and switch on the IFD7 using the
power switch on the front. Check that the power switch on the IFD7 is
illuminated.
 On the software mimic diagram screen, select the ‘Fan On’ button to switch
on the FM40. Check that the green watchdog indicator on the mimic screen
is illuminated.
 Check that the sensor readings on the software screen give sensible values.
The air velocity and the pressure readings should be zero when the fan is not
moving. Zero the pressure sensors if necessary, using the zero buttons on the
mimic screen. The temperature should be sensible given the ambient
conditions in the room (typically between 15 and 30 °C).

Procedure

 Read through the experiment before starting, to familiarize yourself with the
procedure. To allow the software to perform the required calculations
correctly, it is important to follow the procedure exactly and, in the order,
given.
 Two constant fan rotational speeds will be investigated, n = 3009rpm and n
= 2018rpm. In the first part of the exercise, data will be taken at n =
3009rpm and the software will use this data to predict the fan performance
 at n = 2018rpm. In the second part of the experiment, real data will be taken
at 2018rpm so that this can then be compared to the predicted performance
data.
 Check that the outlet aperture is fully open then set the fan to 100%. Check
that the fan operates and that the sensor readings indicated on the mimic
diagram change accordingly. Check that the fan speed indicates the required
value of 3009rpm (allow a few moments for the fan speed to stabilize after
making adjustments).
 Take readings for air temperature, orifice differential pressure, fan
differential pressure, and motor power by selecting the “Go” icon on the
software toolbar.
 The aperture will be closed to give increments in the air velocity until the
aperture is fully closed. Select a flow velocity increment that will give 10-
15 separate readings. Close the outlet aperture to give a flow decrease
approximately equal to the increment chosen, and select the “Go” icon
again.
 Continue to close the aperture to give step changes in the flow velocity,
recording the sensor data at each increment, until the aperture is fully
closed. NOTE: There will still be a small flow velocity indicated even when
the aperture is closed, as a result of the increased static pressure within the
outlet duct. When the indicated discharge is low (below 10 l/s), visually
check the aperture while closing it and avoid twisting it beyond what is
needed to close it, as this will eventually damage the aperture.

 Create a new results table using the icon on the software toolbar.
  Decrease the fan setting until the indicated rotational speed is 2018rpm
(allow a few moments for the fan speed to stabilize after making
adjustments).
 Take readings for air temperature, orifice differential pressure, fan
differential pressure, and motor power by selecting the “Go” icon on the
software toolbar.
 The aperture will be closed to give increments in the air velocity until the
aperture is fully closed. Select a flow velocity increment that will give 10-
15 separate readings. Close the outlet aperture to give a flow decrease
approximately equal to the increment chosen, and select the “Go” icon
again.
 Continue to close the aperture to give step changes in the flow velocity,
recording the sensor data at each increment, with a final set of readings
taken with the aperture fully closed (recall that the flow rate will never
actually reach zero).
 Set the fan back to 0% and switch it off using the ‘Fan On’ switch on the
mimic diagram. Save the results sheets using ‘Save As…’ from the ‘File’
menu, using a suitable filename for later retrieval such as the equipment
code, exercise letter and date.

Results

If data has been recorded and saved for the required fan rotational speeds
(3009rpm and 2018rpm) it is also possible to load these saved results into the
software without taking further measurements.