Familiarity with Fans, Blowers

and Compressors
ME-4104, Turbomachines
2016
Dr. Pradyumna Ghosh

OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION
FANS AND BLOWERS
COMPRESSORS
DYNAMIC TYPE COMPRESSORS
POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSORS
CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION
The main use of the fans, compressors
and blowers is the transportation of gases
The main item of most processes is the
compresor selection
There are wide variety of compressors so
it is crucial to define the operating
conditions before selection

Major Factors During Selection

Head or Pressure Rise

Flow Rate
Temperature Limitations
Consumption of Power
Cost

The pressure rise which is the main

difference between fans, compressors and
blowers can be stated as follows:
P(psig)
Fans
2
Blowers
2-10
Compressors
>10

FANS & BLOWERS

FANS
They are the air displacement systems
moving air continuously to moderate
pressures
Due to little change in pressure of air in
fans, air is considered to be
incompressible
They can have pressure rise up to 2 psig.

The characteristics of fans can be classified

as;
The volumetric flowrate of the gas
displaced by the fan is directly proportional
with the fan speed
The static pressure varies with the square
of the fan speed
The power consumed varies with the cube
of the fan speed

FANS

Axial

Tube

Centrifugal

Vane

Radial Forward Backward Air Foil

Blade Curved Curved

AXIAL FANS
Gas moves parallel to the axis of
rotation
There are two types of axial fans;
- Tube axial fans
- Vane axial fans

 Tube axial fans are used for wide

range of volumes at medium pressure
In vane axial fans there is air guide
vane on the discharge side and the air
flow pattern is a straight line hence
improvement in efficiency and
reducement in turbulance is observed

CENTRIFUGAL FANS
Gas stream moves
perpendicular to the axis of
rotation
They are classified as;
radial blade, forward
curved, backward curved
and air foil

wheel

RADIAL BLADE
CENTRIFUGAL FANS
They are used for pneumatic
transportation and exhausting
process gas in high resistance
systems
With relatively low capacity, they
can achive high static pressure
They can develop high pressures
with high speeds
Blades clean themselves
They are not used for ventilating
purposes

FORWARD CURVED
CENTRIFUGAL FANS
They discharge higher
volume of air at
slower fan speeds
They operate with a
moderate amount of
noise
They require little
space
They are used for
clean gases

BACKWARD CURVED
CENTRIFUGAL FANS
They develop much of
their energy directly as
pressure
They develop less velocity
heads by operating at
medium speeds
Small variations in system
volume result in small
variations in air pressure

AIR FOIL CENTRIFUGAL

FANS
They are backward
curved centrifugal
fans with an air foil
cross section
They can operate
more silently since
air forms no
turbulance while
flowing through the
wheels

BLOWERS
Blowers are used for
supplying low pressure air
up to between 2-10 psig.
They consist of two parallel
shaft rotors
They may have 2 4 lobes
The rotating shaft in the
constitution of the blower
traps some gas
The compression of the gas
in the blower is negligible

They are used for;

- Pneumatic transportation of particulate
material
- Water and waste treatment
- Providing moderate vacuum

COMPRESSORS
COMPRESSOR

Dynamic

Centrifugal Type

Axial Type

Positive Displacement

Reciprocating

Rotary

Centrifugal Compressor

Centrifugal Compressor

CENTRIFUGAL DYNAMIC
TYPE COMPRESSORS
There is flow of air in radial
direction
They are the most popular type
of compressors since they are
simple and have maintainance
free designs
They are used for wide variety
of services which are; cooling
and drying, compressing gas
or steam, supplying
combustion air to furnaces,
agitation and aeration

The advantages of centrifugal compressors

can be classified as;
- They are more efficient than reciprocating
ones
- They provide high flowrates
- They are compact, less site area
- They need lower maintainance requirements
- They are tolerant to liquid carry

The disadvantages of centrifugal

compressors can be classified as;
- They have lower capacity
- They have lower efficiency at low flow
rates

AXIAL COMPRESSORS
They have blades having air foil structure
pushes air in axial direction
They have high speed and they are large
volume compressors
They have low head

Axial Compressor

AXIAL COMPRESSOR:
SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION
Centerline

Centerline

SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION

REVIEW: PRESSURE
DISTRIBUTION

Rotor
Adds swirl to flow
Adds kinetic energy to flow
with v2
Increases total energy
carried in flow by increasing
angular momentum

Stator
Removes swirl from flow
Not a moving blade
cannot add any net energy
to flow
Converts kinetic energy
associated with swirl to
internal energy by raising
static pressure of flow
NGV adds no energy. Adds
swirl in direction of rotor
motion to lower Mach
number of flow relative to
rotor blades (improves
aerodynamics)

AXIAL COMPRESSOR
ENERGY EXCHANGE

Centerline

NGV

Rotor
Adds swirl to flow
Adds kinetic energy to
flow with v2
Increases total energy
carried in flow by
increasing angular
momentum
Stator
Removes swirl from flow
Not a moving blade
cannot add any net
energy to flow
Converts kinetic energy
associated with swirl to
internal energy by raising
static pressure of flow
NGV adds no energy.
Adds swirl in direction of
rotor motion to lower
Mach number of flow
relative to rotor blades
(improves aerodynamics)

The advantages of axial compressors;

- They have higher efficiency
- They have higher capacity (flow rate)
- They are in smaller size

The disadvantages of axial compressors;

-

They limited operating range

They are more subjected to corrosion
They are subjected to deposits
They have higher capital costs
They have lower heads

AXIAL COMPRESSOR
EXPLODED VIEW

HOW BLADES ARE ATTACHED

Combined Axial and Radial

Compressor Applications

They have flow rates ranging from 50,000 to 690,000m3/hr

They have pressure ratio ranging from 5.8 to 12.5

Multistage Integrally Geared

Compressor Applications

Flow rate ranging from 1,000 to 500,000m3/hr

Having pressure upto 100 bar

Single Stage Centrifugal

Compressor Application

Flow rate is 500,000m3/hr and having compression ratio

3 with discharge pressure 80bar

Pipeline Compressor
Applications

This is the natural gas compressor for pipeline

transportation having pressure ratio ranging from 1.05 to
1.5, shaft speed ranging from 3,000 to 13,500 rpm
anddischarge pressure ranging from 80 to 125 bar

Axial Flow Compressor

Applications

This is used in catalyst regeneration plant having flow

rate ranging from 50,000 to 1,400,000m3/hr having
pressure ratio ranging from 1.9 to 6.5

POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT
COMPRESSORS
Positive Displacement Compressors

Reciprocating Compressors

Rotary Compressors

 The two rotating components confine a

volume of gas
The volume of the pocket decreases in
rotation so pressure increases

 The rotary compressors have high range

of capacity and compression ratio
The rotary compressors are classified as;
Lobed, Helical Screw, Sliding Vane

HELICAL SCREW
COMPRESSORS
There are mainly two screws which are called
male and female
The gas is compressed between the lobes of the
screw and move along the axis to an outlet port

 These units can be; oil flooded and dry

The contamination of oil is prevented by
dry compressors
Oil flooded units are used in refrigeration
systems and plant air service

SLIDING VANE
COMPRESSORS
The gas trapped between the vanes and it
is compressed as the compartment moves
around the casing

CONCLUSIONS
The fans have wide range of flowrate
The material selection is important during
manufacturing fans
The blowers have low power and pressure
applications
The blower is less efficient method of
compression

CONCLUSIONS
When centrifugals are run at lower flow rates the
efficiencies decrease
The centrifugals are tolerant to liquid carry
The liquid with the gas can cause erosion and
severe damage in centrifugals
In axial equipment, high compression efficiency
is observed
The axial equipment is applied for high flow
andlow discharge pressures

CONCLUSIONS
The reciprocating systems are applicable for low flow
rate of high pressure ratio
The oil contamination is important in reciprocating
systems
The reciprocating systems have higher maintainance
cost
The reciprocating systems are not suited to dirty gasses
The process gases that are taken in should be clean and
dry in axial equipments
The reciprocating systems are not tolerate liquid droplets
in the suction flow

CONCLUSIONS
The screw compressor have higher initial cost
than reciprocating compressors for the same
duty
The sliding vane compressors have low
pressure applications
The sliding vane compressors operate at low
speeds
The noise level of the sliding vane compressors
is low