Fans, Blowers and Compressors

Used to move and compress the gas.

Fans, Blowers and compressors
•Used to move and compress the gas.
•Fans are low speed machines, generate low pressures
up to 0.04 atm.
•Blowers are high speed rotating devices, generate
pressure of about 2atm.
•Compressors generates pressure from 2atm to
several thousands atm.
•Density of gas remain constant in fans, while density
change in compressors and blowers is appreciable.
 Difference
•They are differentiated by the method used to move
the gas, and by the system pressure on which they
operate.
•Pumps- rising liquids (relatively incompressible), to
a high level of pressure and head.
•Compressors – raising a gas (compressible fluids) to
a high level of pressure
•Blowers – moving volumes of gas, with moderate
increase in pressure.
•Fans- moves large volume of gases, with low
increase in pressure.
 Fans
•Usually centrifugal and forward curved.
•In Ventilation fans, nearly all energy added is
converted to velocity energy almost none to
pressure head. Total efficiency when both
pressure and velocity head is credited is about
70% .
•Gas equipments are generally rated in terms of
standard cubic feet. One common standard is
pressure of 29.92 in Hg and temp of 32˚F . This
corresponds to volume of 359 ft3/lb mole.
 Types of Fans
1. Axial or Propeller fans
2. Centrifugal Fans
3. Mixed Flow Fans
4. Cross Flow Fans
Uses of fans and Blowers
Ventilation, Aeration, Particulate Transport, Exhaust,
Cooling, Air Cleaning, Drying.
Industries where they use?
Electric Power Production, Pollution control, metal
manufacturing, cement production, food processing,
mining and petrochemicals.
Centrifugal, Mixed flow and Axial fan respectively
 Centrifugal Fan

In this type of fan, air flow is in the radial

direction relative to the shaft. Air flow
changes its direction twice, once when
enter and second when leave.
 Mixed flow Fans

Air flows in radial

and axial direction
relative to the shaft.
 Axial fans

Air flow in axial direction.

No change in direction of
air.
 Cross flow Fans
Air flow in an inward direction and
then in an outward direction
 Centrifugal Fans
•Rotating impeller increases the speed of air and at the
impeller tip, maximum velocity is attained, which then
converted to pressure energy or head.
•These are able to produce high pressures , which
make them suitable for harsh operating conditions,
such as system at high temperature, moist or dirty air
stream and material handling.
Categorized on blade designs
Radial, Forward Curved, Backward Curved.
The pressure head of different types of fans with equal
periphery speed of the wheel are compared in the capacity.
 Types of Centrifugal fans
Radial fans
• Work on high static pressures and having an ability to handle
heavily contaminated air streams.
• Well suited for high temperatures and medium speed due to their
design

Forward curved
• Used in clean environment and operate at low temperatures
• Best suited to move large volumes of air
Backwards curved
Suited for high pressures and medium flow applications
 Axial Fans
•Move air stream along the axis of fan.
•Fans work like propeller on air plane, fan blades
generates aerodynamic lift that pressurizes the air.
•Popular in industry because in expensive, compact
and light.
Types
•Tube axial fans – operating under high pressure of
250 -400 mmWC. Efficiency is 65%. Steel housing,
Al blades, and 4 to 6 in number. 1 atm = 10332.55
mmwc
•Vane axial fans- pressures up to 500mmWC. Most
energy efficeint
Propeller fans – run at low speed and moderate
temperatures. handle large volumes of air, indoor fans
are exhaust fans and out door are cooling towers.
Efficiency is less, about 50% or less.
Fans mechanical efficiency
Volume in m3/sec * ΔP(Total pressure in mmWC)/102
* power input to the shaft(KW) *100
Air Foil
 Blowers
•Can achieve high pressures than fans.
•Used to produce vacuum pressures for industrial
vacuum systems.
Types of Blowers
Centrifugal Blowers
•Like centrifugal pumps, impeller are gear driven
rotates as fast as 15,000 rpm.
•Can be multistage, casing is narrow, and
diameter of casing and discharge scroll is large
than in centrifugal pumps.
•High speed and large diameter impellers are required
because very high heads and low density fluids are
needed to generate modest pressure ratios.
• So velocities appearing in centrifugal blowers are 10
times high than those in centrifugal pumps.
•One characteristic is that air flows tends to drop
drastically as system pressure increases which can be
disadvantage in material conveying systems that
depends on steady air volume. Because of this they
are often used in application that are not prone to
clogging.
 Positive Displacement Blowers (Lobe )
•They have rotors, which trap air and push it through
housing. These blowers provide constant volume of
air even if the system varies.
•Suited for application prone to clogging, as they
produce enough pressures to blow clogged materials.
•It is a lobe type machine operate as gear pump.
• A single stage blower can discharge gas at 0.4 to 1
atm and two stage blowers at 2 atm. Two lobes or
three lobes are common.
 Compressors
•Increases the pressure of gas by reducing its
volume.
•Similar to pumps, but it also reduces volume of
fluid.
•Gases are compressible, liquids incompressible.

•Clearance volume
•Swept Volume
•Total volume of Cylinder
•Clearance c
 Centrifugal Compressor
Uses
•In oil industry.
•Chemicals and Petrochemical Plants.
•Natural Gas Processing.
•Air conditioning, Refrigeration, Water Chillers,
HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning).
•Gas Turbine.
•Automobile Engines.
•Their applications can be from 100 horse power to
thousands of horse power.
•Can compress enormous volumes of gas or air ---- up
to 200,000cubic ft/min at inlet-----to an outlet
pressure of 20 atm.
•Inter stage cooling is required on high pressure units.
•With multistage compressors, output pressure can
be high greater than 10,000psi (69 MPa).
 Reciprocating compressors
•Operate on the same principle as reciprocating
pump.
•Only difference is, leak prevention is more difficult
and temperature rise is important.
•Cooling jackets around cylinders in which water or
refrigerant is circulated.
•Motor driven and preference is given to double
acting.
•Multi stage compressor are also used for large
compression ratio.
•Intercooler are present at each stage, in order to
maintain the temperature of gas stream to inlet
suction temperature.
•Often an after cooler is used to cool the high
pressure gas from the final stage.
•Small reciprocating compressors from 5 hp to 30 hp
are commonly seen in automotive applications.
•Large reciprocating compressor well over 1,000 hp
are commonly found in large industrial and petroleum
applications.
•Discharge pressure varies from low to very high
pressures (> 180 MPa).
Diaphragm Compressors
Compression of gases takes place by the movement of
flexible membrane.
Lobe Compressor
Turbo machinery
Machines that transfer energy between rotor and
fluid. e.g. turbines and compressors.
Compressors transfer energy from rotor to fluid
Turbines transfer energy from fluid to rotor.

Surge.
Point at which compressor cannot add enough energy
to overcome the system back pressure.
•When the pressure on compressible fluid increased
adiabatically, temperature of fluid also increases.
•Specific volume of fluid increases with temp, the
work required to compress a fluid is large than if the
compression is isothermal.
•Excessive temperature leads to problem with
lubricants, stuffing boxes and material of
construction.
•For isentropic pressure change of an ideal gas, the
temp relation is
Tb/Ta= (Pb /Pa)1-1/γ
•For a given gas, temp ratio increases with an increase
in compression ratio.
•In blowers, compression ratio is below 3 or 4,
adiabatic temp rise is not large, so no provision is
made for it.
•In compressors, compression ratio is high up to 10 or
more, and also actual compressors are not frictionless
and heat generated by friction is also absorbed by
fluid so temp rises well.
•So cooling jackets are provided.
•In small compressors, isothermal compression may
achieve.