AXIAL FLOW FAN TEST RIG
Sajid Momin(SC22M019), A.K Sinha (SC22M020), Kishore(SC22M023), Mithuna Lingaraj(SC2M024), Rahul Kumar
(SC22M027), Rajath(SC22M028), S.P Chakrin(SC22M029)
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
Thiruvananthapuram, India
Abstract—An experiment was conducted to study the perfor- II. E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP
mance characteristics of a typical axial flow fan using a test rig in
Thermal and Propulsion lab at IIST consisting of a suction-type The test rig (Fig.1) consists of a suction type axial flow
axial flow fan. Pressure taps are provided at the fan’s hub and tip fan driven by a standard AC motor with a variable frequency
to evaluate the various pressure heads. The fan was driven by a
variable frequency drive 5HP capacity AC motor. Seven readings drive. Inlet guide vanes, outlet guide vanes, and load vanes are
were taken varying the RPM at equal intervals. In turn, we were provided with facilities for adjusting the position (angle) of the
able to estimate fan efficiency by varying the RPM of a motor vanes. At both upstream and downstream of the fan, holes are
that provides input power to the fan.
Keywords—
IGV - Inlet guide vanes
OGV - Outlet guide vanes
Po - Power output
Pi - power input
hw - velocity head in cm
ho - delivery head
hs - suction head
I. I NTRODUCTION
Fig. 1: Photograph of the experimental set-up
Axial flow fans find application in wide range of field
viz. process cooling in systems or machinery, ventilation in provided with suitable mounting attachments to enable probe
warehouses, factories, engines, blowers, wind tunnels, cooling to traverse in a radial direction. A straight probe is provided
towers etc. In an axial fan the flow movers parallel to the shaft for this purpose. At the inlet duct, a standard Prandtl type
axis about which the blades rotate. Axial fans work similar to Pitot-Static probe is provided to measure the flow rate through
an aircraft wing, which possesses an airfoil shape and produce the fan(see Fig.2). Both probes are provided with scales and
lift. Due to the airfoil shape of the wing, the air above and protractor to determine the location and the orientation of the
below it are divided and have different air velocities. This probe from a standard reference.
is because the air in above section travels farther than air
in the bottom section. The air above has a high air velocity,
which produces a high dynamic force and low static pressure.
Against this, the air in the below section has low air velocity
and produces a high static pressure. These pressure differences
create the lift. Now coming to the axial fan, the blades of the
propellers act like wings and they push air forward, thereby
causing a lift. As a result of this lift, the air is propelled, as
well as pushed back. The speed of air continues to increase
up to a point even after the air leaves the fan. The airflow is
great at the exit than at the entry point. In general, the axial
flow fans are suitable for large flow rates with relatively low
pressure gains. The axial flow fan test rig at IIST is designed
for determining the performance characteristics of a typical
axial flow fan. Fig. 2: Front view of Axial Fan with the Pitot Static tube
A multi-limb manometer is provided (as shown in Fig.3) to open limb provides a reference atmosphere water col-
measure the following: static pressure at the hub and tip at umn height. The pressure at that station is noted down.
the 4 stations, the static and dynamic pressure of the straight For the limbs connected to the probe, the difference
probe, and the Pitot-Static probe. The fan is driven by a between the water column heights directly gives the
variable frequency drive of 5HP capacity with a speed range velocity head.
of 0-2800 RPM. An energy meter is used to measure the input 6) Repeat the above procedure for different speed condi-
power. The motor output power (for the fan input power) is tions of the motor and note down the readings.
calculated by assuming the motor efficiency. A non-contact 7) Switch off the motor after decreasing its speed slowly.
type tachometer is provided to measure the fan rpm directly. 8) Tabulate the observations and calculate the required
values.
9) Plot the necessary curves.
III. T HEORY
To calculate the efficiency of the Axial flow fan, Fan Input
power is assumed as Motor output power. The efficiency of
VFD and Motor is considered as 80%.
To determine the input power:
3600n
Input power to the motor = kt
Fig. 3: Manometer Panel Where K= Energy meter constant (1600 imp/kW-hr)
t = Time for ‘n’ revolution in seconds
Motor output Power = (0.8 × 3600 × 10)/(N × t)kW
Specifications Fan Input Power, Pi = Motor output
Over all dimensions of Test Rig:
To determine the Fan Output power:
Length = 1.6m
Width = 1m
Flow rate, Q = A × V m3 /s
Height = 1.5m 2
Maximum Pressure developed by the fan = 80mm of WG q A = 0.135m
Where, Inlet area,
ρw ×hw
Maximum flow delivered = 2.3m3 /s Velocity, V = 2g ρa ×100
where ρw is density of water, ρa is density of air
Technical specifications of the fan: Hw = Velocity head in cm of water Static pressure head
Fan Blades = 8 off air foil section Inlet across the fan,
guide vanes(IGV) = 8off flat plate section Outlet h = (Delivery head – Suction head)m of water
guide vanes(OGV) = 8 flat plate section Delivery head, ho = Atm−P3 T +Atm−P
2
3H
m of water
Atm−P2 T +Atm−P2 H
Load vanes = 8 off flat plate section Suction head, hs = 2 m of water
ρ×g×h
Pressure taps are provided at the hub and tip at the following Fan output power, Po = 1000 kW
4 stations: Po
The efficiency of the axial flow fan, η = Pi
1) Upstream of IGV.
2) In-between IGV and Rotor.
3) In-between Rotor and OGV. IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
4) Downstream of OGV. Observation values are shown in Table.I. Based on the
readings from the experiment, volume flow rate(Q), total
Procedure efficiency(η), fan input(Pi ) and output power(Po ) are calcu-
1) Connect the multi-limb manometer limbs to the various lated and are tabulated in Table.I.
static pressure taps of the rig and the two probes. Then For analysing the performance of the axial fan, different
fill the manometer reservoir with water. machine parameters are plotted versus volume flow rate of the
2) Switch on the control panel with the motor speed control fan. Fig.4 shows pressure head variation with volume flow rate
at minimum. of air going inside the fan. Fan speed and input power variation
3) Slowly increase the motor speed to a required test speed. with respect to volume flow rate is also shown in Fig.5 and
4) Note the time taken for 10 pulses in energy meter. Fig.6. All the above parameters shows linear variation with
5) Start taking reading from the manometer (water column volume flow rate. It could be concluded from the plots that
heights) with one of the limbs open to atmosphere. The with increasing input power fan speed increases which results
S.No Fan Time for 10 Static pressure rise across the fan(cm of water) Pitot tube reading Static Flow Fan input Fan Efficiency
speed rev of en- pres- rate Q power Pi output η
N(rpm) ergy meter sure (m3 /s) (kW) power
disc t(sec) head h Po (kW)
(m of
water)
P2 T P2 H P3 T P3 H h1 h2 Hw
1 1000 87 11.8 11.7 11 11.5 2 1.7 0.3 0.005 0.935 0.207 0.046 0.222
2 1200 61 12 11.9 10.8 11.5 2.1 1.6 0.5 0.008 1.208 0.295 0.095 0.321
3 1400 37 12.4 12.2 10.7 11.5 2.2 1.5 0.7 0.012 1.429 0.486 0.168 0.345
4 1600 28.355 12.6 12.4 10.5 11.5 2.3 1.4 0.9 0.015 1.621 0.635 0.239 0.376
5 1800 21.645 12.9 12.4 10.2 11.5 2.4 1.3 1.1 0.018 1.792 0.831 0.316 0.380
6 2000 16.345 13.1 12.55 9.6 11.4 2.5 1.2 1.3 0.0235 1.948 1.101 0.449 0.408
7 2200 12.005 13.4 12.8 9.3 11.4 2.7 1 1.7 0.0275 2.228 1.499 0.601 0.401
TABLE I: Observation Table
in increased flow rate inside the fan. The resultant effect is
seen in the increases pressure head.
Fig. 6: Input Power versus Flow rate
Fig. 4: Head versus Flow rate
Fan Speed(N) - 2200rpm
Time for 10 rev. of energy meter disc (t) = 87s
P2 T = 13.4cm P3 T = 9.3cm
P2 H = 12.8cm P3 H = 11.4 cm
h1 = 27mm h2 = 10mm
K = 1600 imp/kW-hr
Solution-
Hw = h2 - h1 = 17mm
h = Static pressure head across the fan
h = Delivery head - Suction head
h = h0 - hs
Fig. 5: Fan speed versus Flow rate
The mean efficiency of the Axial fan came out to be 35.04% Atm − P3 T + Atm − P3 H
h0 =
V. C ONCLUSION 2
From the experimental observation and the data obtained for
a given specification of a typical axial flow fan for calculating
h0 = 14cm
efficiency for speed range from 1004 rpm to 2200 rpm. We
observed that with the rise in the RPM of the axial flow fan
there is a corresponding raise in the Pressure head, flow rate
and the efficiency respectively. The maximum efficiency we Atm − P2 T + Atm − P2 H
hs =
found was 40.08 percent at 2200 rpm. 2
A PPENDIX
Sample Calculation- hs = 10.35cm
therefore h = 0.0275mm
A = 0.135m2 (given)
p
V = 2 × g × Ha
s
ρ w × Hw
V = 2g
ρa
V = 16.50083m/s
Q=A×V
Q = 2.2227613m3 /s
0.8 × 3600 × 10
Pi =
K ×t
Pi = 1.499375KW
ρ×g×Q×h
P0 =
1000
P0 = 0.600954KW
P0
η= × 100
Pi
η = 40.0803%
