3/6/2018

CENTRIFUGAL
FANS, BLOWERS
AND
COMPRESSOR

Hernandez , Sydney A.
Legion , Donald Rey A.
Noche , John Paul C.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Fan?. . . . . . . . . . 3
Centrifugal fan. . . . . . . . . 3
Parts of centrifugal fan.. . . . . . . 4
Types of centrifugal fans. . . . . . . 4
Radial fans. . . . . . . . . . 5
Forward-curved fans. . . . . . . . 5
Backward-inclined fans. . . . . . . 6
BLOWER. . . . . . . . . . 8
COMPRESSOR. . . . . . . . . 9
Performance of centrifugal fan. . . . . . 9
PERFORMANCE OF BLOWER. . . . . . 11
Types of compressor. . . . . . . . 11
Reciprocating compressor (single-acting). . . . 11
Rotary-vane compressor. . . . . . . 12
Rotary-scroll compressor. . . . . . . 13
Rotary-screw compressor. . . . . . . 14
Centrifugal compressor. . . . . . . 15
Fan in parallel. . . . . . . . . 18
Fan in series. . . . . . . . . . 19
Types of fan. . . . . . . . . . 20
Propeller fan. . . . . . . . . . 20
Centrifugal fan. . . . . . . . . 20

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Forward curved centrifugal. . . . . . . 21
Vane axial. . . . . . . . . . 22
Mixed flow inline. . . . . . . . . 22
Radial, radial tipped. . . . . . . . 23
Paddle wheel. . . . . . . . . . 24
Plenum. . . . . . . . . . . 24
Inline fans. . . . . . . . . . 25
Applications of fan. . . . . . . . 25

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What is Fan?
 Any device that produces a current of air by the
movement of broad surfaces can be called fan
 Fans are similar in many respects to pump . Both are
turbomachines that transfer energy to a flowing fluid.
It is easy to distinguish between fans and pumps:
pump handle liquids ;fans handle gasses.

Centrifugal fan
 A centrifugal fan is a
mechanical device for
moving air or other
gases .
 The earliest mention of
centrifugal fans was in
1556 by Georg pawer ,
where he shows how
such fans were used to ventilate mines .

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Parts of centrifugal fan

Types of centrifugal fans

 Radial fans
 Forward-curved fans
 Backward-inclined fans

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Radial fans
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-curved fans
Forward-curved fans are
used in clean environments
and operate at lower
temperatures. They are well
suited for low tip speed and
high-airflow work - they are
best suited for moving large
volumes of air against
relatively low pressures.5

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Backward-inclined fans
Backward-inclined fans are
more efficient than forward-
curved fans. Backward
inclined fans reach their
peak power consumption
and then power demand
drops off well within their
useable airflow range.
Backward-inclined fans are
known as "nonoverloading"
because changes in static
pressure do not overload
the motor.

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BLOWER
 Blowers can achieve much higher pressures than
fans, as high as 1.20
kg/cm2. They are also
used to produce
negative pressures for
industrial vacuum
systems. Major types
are: centrifugal blower
and positive-
displacement blower.
 Centrifugal blowers
look more like
centrifugal pumps than fans. The impeller
is typically gear-driven and rotates as fast
as 15,000 rpm. In multi-stage blowers,
air is accelerated as it passes through
each impeller. In single-stage blower, air
does not take many turns, and hence it
is more efficient.

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COMPRESSOR
 A compressor is a
mechanical device
that increases the
pressure of a gas by
reducing its volume .
 Compressors are
similar to pumps ;
both increase the
pressure

Performance of centrifugal fan

 In the case of
centrifugal fans, the
hub-to-tip ratios (ratio
of inner-toouter
impeller diameter)
the tip angles (angle
at which forward or
backward curved
blades are curved at
the blade tip - at the
base the blades are
always oriented in
the direction of flow), and the blade width determine
the pressure developed by the fan.

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  Forward curved fans have large hub-to-tip ratios
compared to backward curved fans and produce
lower pressure.
 Radial fans can be made with different heel-to-tip
ratios to produce different pressures.
 At both design and off-design points, backward-
curved fans provide the most stable operation. Also,
the power required by most backward –curved fans
will decrease at flow higher than design values. A
similar effect can be obtained by using inlet guide
vanes instead of replacing the impeller with different
tip angles. Radial fans are simple in construction and
are preferable for high-pressure applications.
 Forward curved fans, however, are less efficient than
backward curved fans and power rises continuously
with flow. Thus, they are generally more expensive to
operate despite their lower first cost.
 Among centrifugal fan designs, aerofoil designs
provide the highest efficiency (up to 10% higher than
backward curved blades), but their use is limited to
clean, dust-free air. Axial-flow fans produce lower
pressure than centrifugal fans, and exhibit a dip in
pressure before reaching the peak pressure point.
Axial-flow fans equipped with adjustable / variable
pitch blades are also available to meet varying flow
requirements.
PERFORMANCE OF BLOWER
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Types of compressor

Reciprocating compressor
(single-acting)
A reciprocating compressor
is also called a piston
compressor which adopts
the back and forth piston
motion in a cylinder
synchronized with suction
and discharge valves to
compress the vaporized
refrigerant from a low
pressure and temperature to
a high pressure and
temperature. The motion of the piston is achieved via a
crankshaft which converts motor rotations to piston
reciprocations.
Applications
Based on the characteristics of the reciprocating
compressor, it can be used in the following applications:
• Household refrigerator and freezer with welded
hermetic type

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 • Residential and commercial air conditioning and
refrigeration applications (open, semi-hermetic and
welded hermetic)
Rotary-vane compressor
A rotary-vane compressor is
also known as a rotary piston
compressor because the
function of the vane is similar
to that of a piston. The fixed
casing is known as a cylinder.
The vane splits the space
between the cylinder and the
rolling piston into two sections
(suction and discharge). As
the rolling piston rotates, these
two volumes are increased
and decreased to achieve gas
suction, compression and
discharge. This compressor
type can also be sub-classified by the drive speed
(constant and variable) and number of vanes. Each
operation cycle includes five actions: start, suction,
compression, discharge and end. Each crankshaft
rotation can achieve these five actions by average. The
capacity can be adjusted through cylinder unloading or
inverter drive.
Applications

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 • Appliances such as household refrigerators and
freezers
• Residential air conditioning and heat pump products
below 5 tons (17.6 kW)
Rotary-scroll compressor
Compared with rotary-vane
compressor, a rotary-scroll
compressor is used to
compress larger volumes of
gaseous refrigerant to a higher
pressure and temperature via a
fixed and orbital scroll . The
cool vapor refrigerant is drawn
in from outside the fixed scroll,
then compressed in between
the fixed and the orbital scroll,
and finally the compressed
refrigerant is discharged from
the center of the fixed scroll
with a continuous displacement. The rotary-scroll
compressor can be sub-classified by the drive speed
(constant and variable).
Applications
• This compressor type is normally used for commercial
air conditioning and refrigeration applications which
requires compressor capacity from 5 to 10 tons (18-
35 kW).
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Rotary-screw compressor
A rotary-screw compressor uses rotors to compress larger
volumes of gaseous
refrigerant to a high
pressure and
temperature . The
compression is
performed by male and
female rotors that reduce
the refrigerant gas
volume as they rotate.
Cool vapor refrigerant
enters from the suction
port, is forced by the
meshing rotors through
the threads as the
screws rotate, and exits
at the discharge port with
high pressure and temperature. The rotary-screw
compressor can be sub-classified by the quantity of
screws (single, twin and multi). The capacity can be
adjusted through an inverter drive.
Applications
• Screw compressors have been developed to compete
with large reciprocating and small centrifugal
compressors in both air conditioning and refrigeration
markets. It is used for commercial and industrial air

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 conditioning and refrigeration applications with a
capacity range from 20 to 750 tons (70-2,637 kW).
Centrifugal compressor
A centrifugal
compressor is
also called a
turbo or a radial
compressor
which
compresses
refrigerant to a
high pressure
and temperature
by adding
kinetic energy to
the cool vapor
refrigerant via
rotating impellers . The cool vapor refrigerant is forced to
pass into and through the impeller, and the impeller forces
the fluid to spin faster and faster. The high-speed
refrigerant gas is then forced to pass through the diffuser
where the refrigerant gas volume expands as its speed
decreases. This process converts the kinetic energy of
the high-speed low-pressure gas to a low-speed higher-
pressure gas. The higher the impeller speed, the higher
the pressure. Unlike the reciprocating piston compressor
that has different actions for every stroke (i.e. suction,
compression, discharge), centrifugal compressors perform
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these actions continuously and concurrently. The capacity
can be adjusted through an inverter drive and inlet guide
vane.
Applications
• A centrifugal compressor is best suited for large
cooling applications above 200 tons (700 kW), and is
the most popular compressor type for commercial and
industrial air conditioning and refrigeration systems. It
competes with screw compressors and large
reciprocating compressors

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Fan in parallel
• The parallel
operation is defined
as using two or more
fans side by side.
• The volume air flow
of two fans in
parallel will be
double in the free-air
condition only. If the
parallel fans are
applied to the higher
system resistance
situation, the high system
resistance that enclosure has, the less increase in
flow results with parallel fan operation. Thus, this type
of application is only recommended for the low
system resistance situation -- when the fans can
operate near free delivery

Fan in series

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 • The series operation is defined as using two or more
fans in series.
• The static pressure capacity of two fans in series can
be doubled at zero air flow condition, but do not
increase the airflow in
the free-air situation.
An additional fan in
series increases the
volume flow in a
higher static pressure
enclosure. Thus, in
series operation, the
best results are
achieved in systems
with high resistance.

Types of fan

Propeller fan
Propeller fans may have
many different blade shapes
and number of blades. They

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generally have relatively small hubs. They may or may not
have a housing. Housings are in the form of a panel with
an orifice in it. The panel is mounted in a wall so that air
does not re-circulate from the discharge back to the inlet.
Pressures are normally less than one inch of static
pressure with very high flow rate. These fans are best
suited for circulating air, supplying and exhausting clean
ambient air from/to large spaces.

Centrifugal fan
• These fans are the
most efficient of the
centrifugal designs.
Static efficiencies
peak at around 80
percent and occur
around 60 percent of
free delivery. Their
performance
characteristic curve is
stable over a wide
range. The fan
horsepower curve is non-overloading. The fan design
is suitable for all forms of control methods.

Forward curved centrifugal

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 • This fan is generally
wider with shallow
scooped blades
making it well suited
for handling high
flow rates at low
pressures. The
design is limited
primarily to lower
speeds and
temperatures due to
stress levels. Some
designs incorporate
internal struts for
added stiffness during starts and stops.

Vane axial
• These fans are well
suited for high flow
rates at low to
moderate pressures
up to six inches of
water. There are
several blade
variations as to
shape, numbers and
whether they are

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 fixed, adjustable or controllable blade pitch. The fans
are characterized with large hubs and straightening
vanes. The airflow is straight through, saving space
Mixed flow inline
• The wheel design is a
combination of axial
and centrifugal
components. It
operates most
efficiently in the range
between a vane axial
and a centrifugal
satisfying applications
for moderate flow rates
and moderate
pressures. The
housing is similar to a vane axial incorporating guide
vanes and straight through flow thus saving space.
The fan’s main advantages are its lower sound levels
and high operating efficiencies.
Radial, radial tipped
• These fans have
efficiencies in the 60 to
75 percent range and
have a higher pressure
characteristic than most
fans. The horsepower

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 curve rises constantly from shut-off to free delivery.
Due to turbulence and the blade shape, these fans
can handle contaminants in the air stream. Wheels
often incorporate wear protection for longer life.
These fans can be modified or designed to
accommodate high temperature

Paddle wheel
• This design is used primarily for
conveying material. It is normally
very rugged in design in order to
accommodate impact forces and
limit fatigue cracks. Shafts and
bearings are typically oversized
for durability. Density calculations
should not only reflect the air but
the material passing through the
fan for horsepower predictions to
be accurate. Efficiencies are relatively low.
Plenum

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 • The primary purpose is to
pressurize a compartment
or plenum forcing a uniform
flow of air downstream
from a higher to a lower
pressure region. It is less
efficient than a housed unit
but is well suited for saving
space and minimizing
ductwork configurations.

Inline fans
• Inline fans may utilize a
centrifugal, mixed flow or
axial type wheel in a
round tube or square

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 shaped housing. When supplied with a centrifugal
wheel and guide vanes within the tube, the term
“tubular centrifugal” is normally used. When supplied
with a mixed flow type wheel, the term “mixed flow” is
normally used. When supplied with an axial type
wheel without guide vanes, the term “tube axial” is
normally used

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