LECTURE 3

THE CONTENTS OF THIS LECTURE ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1.0 THEORETICAL HEAD CHARACTERISTICS OF A

CENTRIFUGAL FAN

2.0 THEORETICAL POWER CHARACTERISTICS OF

CENTRIFUGAL FAN

3.0 ACTUAL HEAD CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRIFUGAL

FAN

4.0 EFFICIENCIES ASSOCIATED WITH A FAN

REFERENCES

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1.0 THEORETICAL HEAD CHARACTERISTICS OF A CENTRIFUGAL FAN

The theoretical characteristic of a centrifugal fan can be expressed by the

expression

U22 U2 VR2 Cot 2

He2 =
g

The theoretical characteristic can be drawn by plotting H against VR2. This will
give the theoretical head characteristic of the fan

U22 U2 VR2 Cot 2

He2 = -
g g

U2 VR2 Cot 2 U22

He2 + =
g g

2 U2 VR2 Cot 2 g
+ =1
U2
2 g U22
g

2 VR2
+ =1
U2
2 U2 tan 2
g

This equation is of the form
+
= 1 which is the equation of a straight line.

U22
Here 2 intercept is and VR2 intercept is U2 tan 2
g

Now, we can draw the theoretical characteristics for forward bladed, radial
bladed and backward bladed centrifugal fan as shown in Fig. 1.

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Fig. 1 Theoretical head characteristics (after Misra, 1986)

When air enters the impeller with pre-rotation, then at the inlet we have,

U21 U1 VR1 Cot 1

He1 =
g

This equation is also the equation of the straight line and it can be reduced to
the form

1 VR1
+ = 1 ---------------------------------(1)
U2
1 U1 tan 1
g

Again the characteristics are similar to those for outlet conditions for 1 = ,
2

1> and 1 <
2 2

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Now, Equation (1) can be suitably plotted on the He VR2 diagram by suitably
converting VR1 in the form of VR2 using the relation:

1 2 2
=
2 1 1

Here,

B1 and B2 are the widths of the impeller at the inlet and outlet respectively.

Now,

He = He2 He1

Thus the head characteristic of the fan (He) can be obtained for various values of
VR2 and plotting He against VR2

2.0 THEORETICAL POWER CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRIFUGAL FAN

The theoretical power input to the fan is given by the relation:

Pe = He (Q g)

Now,

Q = 2 r2 B VR2

Pe = VR2 He (2 r2 g) B

Let K =2 r2 g B

Pe = K VR2 He --------------------------------------(2)

K = Constant depending on the impeller and the density of air

U22 U2 VR2 Cot 2

Now, substituting the value of He2 = in Eqn. (2) we get,
g

U22 U2 VR2 Cot 2

Pe = K VR2 ( )
g

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 U22 VR2 U2 V2R2 Cot 2
Pe = K (
g
)

Now, if we plot this power against the capacity or VR2, we can get the theoretical
power characteristics. This is shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the

theoretical power characteristics of the radial bladed centrifugal fan ( 2 = ) is
2
a straight line passing through the origin. The theoretical characteristics of

forward bladed centrifugal fan ( 2 > ) is a parabola above the straight line
2

and that of backward bladed centrifugal fan ( 2 < ) is a parabola below the
2
straight line (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Theoretical power characteristics (after Misra, 1986)

3.0 ACTUAL HEAD CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRIFUGAL FAN

As we have seen in Section 1.0 of this Lecture, the theoretical head

characteristics of centrifugal fan show a linear pressure volume relationships.
But in an actual fan, there are several losses which result in the actual pressure-
volume curves to lie below the theoretical characteristics.

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Fig. 3 shows a typical pressure-volume characteristic curve for a backward
bladed centrifugal fan. Both the theoretical and actual characteristics are shown
in Fig. 3. As can be seen, there are frictional losses. This frictional loss is
because of the viscous drag of the fluid on the faces of the vanes. A diffuser
effect occurs in the diverging area available for flow as the fluid moves through
the impeller. This results in further loss of energy.

Fig. 3 Effect of different losses on the head characteristics of backward

bladed centrifugal fan (after McPherson, 1993)

There are eddy losses also. In order to transmit mechanical work, the pressure
on the front face of the vane is greater than that on the back. Due to this, the
fluid velocity close to the trailing face is higher than that near the front face.
Because of this, there is an asymmetric distribution of fluid velocity between two
successive vanes at any given radius causing eddy losses.

The shock losses mainly occur at the inlet. It is due to sudden change of around
90as the fluid enters the eye of the impeller.

The combined effect of all these losses on the three types of centrifugal fan will
result in a characteristic curve as shown in Fig. 4.

Page 6 of 8
Fig. 4 Actual pressure and power characteristics of centrifugal fans
(after McPherson, 1993)

4.0 EFFICIENCIES ASSOCIATED WITH A FAN

Efficiencies

Hydraulic Volumetric Mechanical Total/static

Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency

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 o Hydraulic efficiency (h) is the ratio of the available head to the total input
head
o Volumetric efficiency (v) is the ratio of developed air quantity in the fan
to the sum of developed and leakage quantity
o Mechanical efficiency (m) is the ratio of power absorbed by the impeller
(output power) to the power required to drive the shaft (input power)

Total efficiency () is the product of above 3 efficiencies

REFERENCES

Banerjee S.P. (2003); Mine Ventilation; Lovely Prakashan, Dhanbad, India.

Hartman, H. L., Mutmansky, J. M. & Wang, Y. J. (1982); Mine Ventilation and
Air Conditioning; John Wiley & Sons, New York.

McPherson, M. J. (1993); Subsurface Ventilation and Environmental

Engineering; Chapman & Hall, London.

Misra G.B. (1986); Mine Environment and Ventilation; Oxford University

Press, Calcutta, India.

Vutukuri, V. S. & Lama, R. D. (1986); Environmental Engineering in Mines;

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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