Affinity Laws

Fan Laws & Pump Laws

Wednesday, 23 June 2021 Scholenberg International Pvt.Ltd 1

 Affinity Laws
What are Affinity Laws ??
• The Affinity laws are also known as “Fan laws”
& “Pump Laws”.
• These laws are used in Hydraulics, Hydronics &
HVAC systems.
• The Affinity Laws indicates the influence on
volume capacity, head (pressure) and/or power
consumption of a pump or fan due to:
1. change in speed of wheel - revolutions per
minute (rpm)
2. geometrically similarity - change in impeller
diameter
What do we learn from this ??
They give us an idea about the variables
that are in involved in Pump and fan
performances i.e the relationship
between the Head, Volumetric flow
rate, Shaft speed and Power.
Where do we apply this apply
laws ??
• They can be applied to Pumps, Fans &
Hydraulic Turbines.
• Affinity Laws apply to both centrifugal
& Axial flows.

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 Affinity Laws
Pump Laws

There are basically two sets Which Physical Quantities are involved in it ??
of Pump laws which consist Q --
- Flow
Flowrate
rate
of three relations each. H – Pressure/head
1. With Impeller Diameter P – Power
N – Shaft speed
held constant.
D – Impeller Diameter
2. With Shaft speed held
And 1 and 2 in
in suffix
suffix describe
describethe
thestate
statei.e
i.ewhether
whetherInitial
Initialoror
constant. Final.

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 Affinity Laws
Pump Laws Law.1: Impeller Diameter Held Constant.

Flow is proportional to the shaft :

This means that if that if either of the one quantity is

increased/decreased by ‘ x% ’ the other quantity will
also increase/decrease by ‘ x% ’.

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 Affinity Laws
Pump Laws Law.1: Impeller Diameter Held Constant.

Pressure/Head is proportional to Square of the shaft speed:

This means that if the Shaft speed is increased/ decreased by

10%, the Total Pressure/Head will increase/decrease by 21%.

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 Affinity Laws
Pump Laws Law.1: Impeller Diameter Held Constant.

Power is proportional to the cube of shaft speed:

This means that if the Shaft speed is

increased/decreased by 10%, the horsepower required
to turn the propeller will increase/decrease by 33.1%.

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 Affinity Laws
Pump Laws Law.2: Shaft Speed Held Constant.

Flow is proportional to Cube of the Impeller Diameter

Power is proportional to the Fifth power of Impeller

Diameter:

Pressure/Head is proportional to Square of the Impeller

Diameter:

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 Affinity Laws
Let’s see one example: Pump Laws

1. The pump speed is changed when the impeller size is constant. The initial flow is 100 gpm,
the initial head is 100 ft, the initial power is 5 bhp, the initial speed is 1750 rpm and the final
speed 3500 rpm.
Now,
Q1 = 100 gpm
H1 = 100 ft
P1 = 5 bhp
N1 = 1750 rpm
N2 = 3500 rpm
D = Constant.

So here we will consider the first set

of laws;

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 Affinity Laws
Let’s see one example: Pump Laws

1. The pump speed is changed when the impeller size is constant. The initial flow is 100 gpm,
the initial head is 100 ft, the initial power is 5 bhp, the initial speed is 1750 rpm and the final
speed 3500 rpm. ....continued

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 Affinity Laws
Fan Laws

Airflow is proportional to the Propeller Speed:

It states that the change in Airflow rate of a fan is proportional to the

change in speed of the propeller.

This means that if that if either of the one quantity is

increased/decreased by ‘ x% ’ the other quantity will
also increase/decrease by ‘ x% ’.

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 Affinity Laws
Fan
Fan Laws
Laws

Total Static Pressure is proportional to Square of the Speed of Propeller

It states that the change in the Total Static Pressure of the Ventilation
system will increase by the square of the change in Propeller Speed

This means that if the Propeller Speed is increased/ decreased

by 10%, the Total Pressure/Head will increase/decrease by
21%.

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 Affinity Laws
Fan Laws

Total Static Pressure is proportional to Square of the Speed of Propeller

It states that the change in Horsepower required by the Fan to turn the
Propeller will increase by the cube of the of the change in Propeller Speed

This means that if the Propeller speed is

increased/decreased by 10%, the
horsepower required to turn the propeller
will increase/decrease by 33.1%.
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 Affinity Laws
Let’s see few examples: Fan Laws

A fan produces 1000m /h at an impeller speed of 2000rpm What

is the resulting airflow if the speed was reduced to 1000rpm?
Now,
Q1 = 1000 m3/h
N1 = 2000 rpm
N2 = 1000 rpm

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 Affinity Laws
Let’s see few examples: Fan Laws

A system has a resistance of 250pa at an airflow of 500 m3/h.

What will the resistance be if we reduce the airflow to 400 m3/h?
Now,
Q1 = 500 m3/h
Q2 = 400 m3/h
H1 = 250 Pa

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 Affinity Laws
Let’s see few examples: Fan Laws

If the power input to the impeller is 500Watts delivering a volume of

1000m3/h. What is the power input when the same impeller is delivering
500m3/h ?
Now,
Q1 = 1000 m3/h
Q2 = 500 m3/h
P1 = 250 Pa

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