Fan Selection Criteria

and
Efficiency
by

John Magill
The Air Movement and Control Association
International (AMCA), has met the standards
and requirements of the Registered
Continuing Education Providers Program.
Credit earned on completion of this program
will be reported to the RCEPP. A certificate of
completion will be issued to each participant.
As such, it does not include content that may
be deemed or construed to be an approval or
endorsement by NCEES or RCEPP.
 Learning Objectives

• List available fan types

• Know fan characteristics that are required
• Understand tradeoffs when selecting a fan
• Define fan efficiency
 Outline
 Fan Types
 Basic Fan Curve
 Applications
 Performance Characteristics
 Fan Selection
 Efficiency, low noise, size, space and cost
considerations
 Mechanical considerations for a given application
including balancing and vibration levels,
construction, arrangements, ruggedness, spark
resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature
resistance, bearings, motors, drives etc.

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 Basic Fan Types
 Centrifugal
 Backward Inclined Airfoil-blade
 Backward Inclined Flat-blade
 Forward Curved Blade
 Radial Blade
 Radial Tip
 Axial
 Propeller / Panel Fan
 Tubeaxial
 Vaneaxial
 Special Designs
 Power Roof Ventilators
 Tubular Inline Centrifugal
 Mixed Flow
 Plenum/ Plug
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 Centrifugal:Backward Inclined Airfoil-Blade

 Name is derived from the “airfoil” shape of blades

 Developed to provide high efficiency
 Used on large HVAC and clean air industrial systems
where energy savings are of prime importance

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Centrifugal:Backward Inclined or Curved Flat-Blade

 Backward inclined or curved blades are single thickness or “flat”

 Efficiency is only slightly less than airfoil blade
 Similar characteristics as airfoil blade
 Same HVAC applications as airfoil blade
 Also for industrial applications where airfoil blade is not
acceptable because of corrosive or erosive environment

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Backward Inclined or Curved Flat & Airfoil-Blade

 High volume at moderate

pressure
 Non-overloading power
characteristic
 Stable performance
characteristic
 Low noise

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 Centrifugal: Forward Curved Blade
 Blades are curved forward in the
direction of rotation
 Must be properly applied to avoid
unstable operation
 Less efficient than Airfoil and
Backward Inclined
 Requires the lowest speed of any
centrifugal to move a given amount of
air
 Used for low pressure HVAC systems
 Clean air and high temperature
applications
 Typically smallest size selection
 Rising power overloading
characteristic

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 Centrifugal: Radial Blade

 The blades are ‘radial’ to the fan shaft

 Generally the least efficient of the
centrifugal fans
 For material handling and moderate to
high pressure industrial applications,
rugged construction
 Low volume at high pressure
 Large wheel diameter for a given volume-
higher cost
 Material handling, self cleaning
 Easy to maintain
 Rising Power overloading characteristic
 Suitable for dirty airstream, high pressure,
high temperature and corrosive
applications

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 Centrifugal:
Radial Tip

The blades are radial to the fan shaft at the

outer extremity of the impeller, but gradually
slope towards the direction of wheel rotation
More efficient than the radial blade but less
than backward inclined
Offers wear resistance in mildly erosive air
streams

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 Axial: Propeller or Panel Fan
 One of the most basic fan designs
 For low pressure, high volume
applications
 Often used for ventilation through a
wall
 Available in square panel or round
ring fan
 Maximum efficiency is reached near
free delivery
 Reversible blade for reversible flow
applications like jet tunnel fans
 Many axial fans can overload at
shutoff

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 Tubeaxial Fan

 More efficient than the panel fan

 Cylindrical housing fits closely to outside diameter of blade tips
 For low to medium pressure ducted HVAC systems
 Also used in some low pressure industrial applications
 Performance curve sometimes includes a dip to the left of peak
pressure which should be avoided

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 Vaneaxial Fan

 Highest efficiency axial fan

 Cylindrical housing fits closely to outside diameter of blade tips
 The straightening vanes allow for greater efficiency and pressure
capabilities
 For medium to high pressure HVAC systems. More compact than
centrifugal fans of same duty
 Aerodynamic stall causes the performance curve to dip to the left of
peak pressure which should be avoided. However anti-stall options
available for both unidirectional and reversible axials

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 Power Roof Ventilators
 A variety of backward inclined centrifugal wheels or axial
impeller designs
 Also available in upblast damper design to discharge air away
from the building
 For low pressure exhaust systems of all building types (roof
mounted)

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 Inline Centrifugal Fan
 Cylindrical housing is similar to a vaneaxial fan
 Wheel is generally an airfoil or backward inclined type
 Housing does not fit close to outer diameter of wheel
 For low and medium pressure HVAC systems or industrial
applications when an inline housing is geometrically more
convenient than a centrifugal configuration

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 Mixed Flow Fan
 Specific Speed between a centrifugal and axial fan
 Cylindrical housing is similar to a vaneaxial fan
 High volume advantages of axial fans
 Low sound, high efficiency advantages of tubular
centrifugal fans

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PLENUM / PLUG FAN
This is basically a centrifugal
wheel and inlet in a frame
without a scroll or housing. The
‘housing’ is the AHU box.
Housed vs plenum fan
Offers tremendous flexibility for
inlet and discharge in a AHU
application
More efficient than a scroll
centrifugal for high flows and low
SP. All SP rise occurs in the blade
passage
Wall clearance rules must be
followed to avoid significant
system effect losses

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 SO YOU HAVE ALL THESE CHOICES
OF FANS TYPES AVAILABLE…WHAT
SHOULD YOU DO TO PICK THE
RIGHT FAN FOR YOUR
APPLICATION?
Let’s consider a couple of examples to illustrate the
selection process from an efficiency, sound, cost and
available space perspective
All Air tests based on AMCA std 210, and Sound tests
based on AMCA std 300

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 All fans selected at peak SE (Static Efficiency) for
Airflow=10,000 cfm, Static Pressure (SP)~2 iwc
Type Dia (in) Spd (rpm) BHP SE % LwiA
(Static (Inlet
Efficiency) Sound
Power ‘A’)
Forward 30 476 5.09 61.7 89
1 Curved- SW
(Centrifugal)
Backward 36.5 650 3.82 80.0 77
2 Airfoil – SW
(Centrifugal)
Plenum 33 800 4.25 74.0 80
3
Tubular 27 1074 4.48 70.2 81
4 Mixed Flow
Tubular Vane 28 1438 4.77 65.9 86
5 Axial
Propeller 30 1998 4.92 54.4 103
6 (Axial)

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 Narrowing in after main Fan Type Selection..........
FT-1

FT-1

LESS LESS COST

EFFICIENT

MORE
NOISY

In general, for all fan types, as first cost goes down, operating costs (BHP)
and noise go up…trade off!

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 Tone at Blade Pass Frequency (Blade Tone)

 Blade Pass Frequency, bpf= #blades * rpm / 60

 Sound Power level, Lw, at bpf is a distinct audible tone. This
aerodynamic tone can be very annoying and is usually the worst
for radial bladed fans, followed by plenums and housed
centrifugals.
 Axial fans have a high pitched tone which is not as annoying.
 The bpf tone is a spike in Lw over the surrounding broadband
noise spectra.
 Blade Tone Prominence is defined as the dominant energy level
of the blade tone integrated over a narrowband region of the
sound spectrum surrounding the blade tone.

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 FT-2

FT-2

Blade Tone
prominence

Acoustic Engineers do not like blade tone prominence to exceed 6dB in

addition to low Sound Power Levels (Lw)
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 Fan Selection based on Specific
Speed
Dimensional Specific Speed, is the fan
speed required to raise the SP by 1 iwc
with 1 cfm airflow.
Ns = N * (Q)^0.5/(SP)^0.75
Where, N = Speed (rpm)
Q = Airflow (cfm)
SP = Static pressure (iwc)
Density = 0.075 lbm/cu ft

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 All fans selected at peak SE (Static Efficiency) for Specific
Speed, Ns
Type Specific Max Static
Speed, Ns Efficiency (SE%)
Forward Curved-SW 26,300 61
1 (Centrifugal)

Backward Airfoil-SW 40,000 80

2 (Centrifugal)

Plenum 50,000 75
3
Tubular Mixed Flow 65,800 70
4
Tubular Vane Axial 90,000 65
5
Propeller (Axial) 126,000 59
6

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 Summary
 Fan selection is not a trivial process for a given application.
 Example shown applies to one design operating point. The
selections will change for other operating points.
 There is no magic fan that will result in least cost, best efficiency
and low noise for a wide range of operating points.
 Compromises should be well understood upfront.
 Direct Drive (DD) selection speeds may further limit selections.
Varying width options can optimize DD selections.
 Mechanical design requirements like balancing and vibration
levels, spark and high temp resistance, corrosion resistance,
arrangements, motors, bearings, drives can further challenge
the selection process.

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