Inasmuch as most ventilation systems are designed as mechanical ventilation systems that utilize various kinds of fans, a knowledge of the types of fans in use will be of value in selection of ventilation fans. Fans are used to create a pressure differential that causes air to flow in a system. They generally incorporate one of several types of impellers mounted in an appropriate housing or enclosure. An electric motor usually drives the impeller to move the air.
Two types of fans are commonly used in air-handling and air-moving systems:
axial and centrifugal. They differ in the direction of airflow through the impeller.
Centrifugal fans are enclosed in a scroll-shaped housing, which is designed for efficient airstream energy transfer. This type of fan has the most versatility and low first cost and is the workhorse of the industry. Impeller blades may be radial, forward-curved, backward-inclined, or airfoil. When large volumes of air are moved, airfoil or backward-inclined blades are preferable because of higher efficiencies.
For smaller volumes of air, forward, curved blades are used with satisfactory results. Centrifugal fans are manufactured with capacities of up to 500,000 ft3 /min and can operate against pressures up to 30 in water gage.
Axial-flow fans are versatile and sometimes less costly than centrifugal fans.
The use of axial fans is steadily increasing, because of the availability of controllable-pitch units, with increased emphasis on energy savings. Substantial energy savings can be realized by varying the blade pitch to meet specific duty loads. Axial fans develop static pressure by changing the velocity of the air through the impeller and converting it into static pressure. Axial fans are quite noisy and are generally used by industry where the noise level can be tolerated. When used for HVAC installations, sound attenuators are almost always used in series with the fan for noise abatement. Tubeaxial and vaneaxial are modifications of the axialflow fan.
Propeller-type fans are also axial fans and are produced in many sizes and shapes. Small units are used for small jobs, such as kitchen exhausts, toilet exhausts, and air-cooled condensers. Larger units are used by industry for ventilation and heat removal in large industrial buildings. Such units have capacities of up to 200,000 ft3 /min of air. Propeller-type fans are limited to operating pressures of about 1â„2 in water gage maximum, and are usually much noisier than centrifugal fans of equal capacities.
Vaneaxial fans are available with capacities up to 175,000 ft3 /min and can operate at pressures up to 12 in water gage. Tubeaxial fans can operate against pressures of only 1 in water gage with only slightly lower capacities.
In addition to the axial and centrifugal fan classifications, a third class for special designs exists. This classification covers tubular centrifugal fans and axialcentrifugal, power roof ventilators. The tubular centrifugal type is often used as a return-air fan in low-pressure HVAC systems. Air is discharged from the impeller in the same way as in standard centrifugal fans and then changed 90 in direction through straightening vanes. Tubular centrifugal fans are manufactured with capacities of more than 250,000 ft3 /min of air and may operate at pressures up to 12 in water gage.
Power roof ventilators are usually roof mounted and utilize either centrifugal or axial blade fans. Both types are generally used in low-pressure exhaust systems for factories, warehouses, etc. They are available in capacities up to about 30,000 ft3 /min. They are, however, limited to operation at a maximum pressure of about 1â„2 in water gage. Powered roof ventilators are also low in first cost and low in operating costs. They can provide positive exhaust ventilation in a space, which is a definite advantage over gravity-type exhaust units. The centrifugal unit is somewhat quieter than the axial-flow type.
Fans vary widely in shapes and sizes, motor arrangements and space requirements.
Fan performance characteristics (variation of static pressure and brake horsepower) with changes in the airflow rate (ft3 /min) are available from fan manufacturers and are presented in tabular form or as fan curves.
Dampers. Dampers are mechanical devices that are installed in a moving airstream in a duct to reduce the flow of the stream. They, in effect, purposely produce a pressure drop (when installed) in a duct by substantially reducing the free area of the duct.
Two types of dampers are commonly used by HVAC designers, parallel blade and opposed blade. In both types, the blades are linked together so that a rotation force applied to one shaft simultaneously rotates all blades. The rotation of the blades opens or closes the ducts free area from 0 to 100% and determines the flow rate.
Dampers are used often as opening and closing devices. For this purpose, parallel dampers are preferred.
When dampers are installed in ducts and are adjusted in a certain position to produce a desired flow rate downstream, opposed-blade dampers are preferred.
When dampers are used for this purpose, the operation is called balancing.
Once the system is balanced and the airflows in all branch ducts are design airflows, the damper positions are not changed until some future change in the system occurs. However, in automatic temperature-control systems, both openingand- closing and balancing dampers are commonly used. In complex systems, dampers may be modulated to compensate for increased pressure drop by filter loading and to maintain constant supply-air quantity in the system.
Filters. All air-handling units should be provided with filter boxes. Removal of dust from the conditioned air not only lowers building maintenance costs and creates a healthier atmosphere but prevents the cooling and heating coils from becoming blocked up.
Air filters come in a number of standard sizes and thicknesses. The filter area should be such that the air velocity across the filters does not exceed 350 ft /min for low-velocity filters or 550 ft /min for high-velocity filters. Thus, the minimum filter area in square feet to be provided equals the airflow, ft3 /min, divided by the maximum air velocity across the filters, ft /min.
Most air filters are of either the throwaway or cleanable type. Both these types will fit a standard filter rack.
Electrostatic filters are usually employed in industrial installations, where a higher percentage of dust removal must be obtained. Check with manufacturers ratings for particle-size removal, capacity, and static-pressure loss; also check electric service required. These units generally are used in combination with regular throwaway or cleanable air filters, which take out the large particles, while the charged electrostatic plates remove the smaller ones. See also Art. 13.6.
