Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.

130140 (2008)
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
OF CENTRIFUGAL FAN BY USING CFD
Xiaomin Liu*, Qun Dang and Guang Xi
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University
Xian, Shaanxi, Peoples Republic of China 710049
* E-Mail: liuxm@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (Corresponding Author)

ABSTRACT: The flow in a centrifugal impeller is simulated firstly by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with the
Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the performance curves are then obtained. Effect of the match between the inlet
duct and the impeller inlet on the performance of the centrifugal fan is studied numerically. Based on the numerical
analysis, the flow characteristics of a centrifugal fan including an inlet duct, an impeller, a diffuser and a volute are
predicted. The impeller consists of twelve blades. The numerical results indicate that the leakage loss is produced by the
circular flow occurring in the shroud outside. At the same time, the flow is found to have returned to the upstream of the
volute. Because of the interaction between the impeller and the volute, the flow parameters along the circumference in
the impeller outlet and the volute inlet are not uniform. Also, the flow in each impeller passage is different apparently.
Compared with the impeller, the efficiency of the centrifugal fan drops by about 34%. According to the calculated
results, the linkage profile between the inlet duct and the impeller inlet is redesigned. The linkage smoothness is
favorable to performance improvement and a wider range of operation of the fan. Finally, the effects of the straight
shroud with different inclined angles on the performance of the fan are studied. In a reasonable range of inclined angles,
the performance of the fan is enhanced by selecting a straight shroud and the difficulties in manufacturing the fans are
lessened.
Keywords: centrifugal fan, shroud, volute, numerical simulation

1. INTRODUCTION
Centrifugal fans are widely used in the domain of
power and energy source, environment, chemical
engineering, aviation and space flight and so on.
With the expansion of its use in industry, the
centrifugal fan is developed towards the direction of
high efficiency and energy saving. The new design
method is seeking to shorten the design period and
improve its performance. Research findings show
that the best method of improving the performance
of the fan is to understand exactly the three
dimensional turbulent flow in the centrifugal fan,
including its occurrence and development.
Zhang, Chen and Xu (2000) applied the streamline
curvature method to simulate the flow in S
2
stream
surface. Chen, Zhang and Cui (2000) investigated
the incompressible and compressible inviscid flow
in a centrifugal fan using the quasi-orthogonal plane
method. The results show that the quasi-orthogonal
plane method has higher precision for the numerical
solution of the three-dimensional flow field. Wang,
Zhang and Cui (1997) adopted the two-dimensional
incompressible ideal flow model and the turbulence
boundary layer formulation to calculate the internal
flow field for a multi-blade centrifugal fan.
Epureanu, Hall and Dowell (2001) used the coupled
viscous and inviscid models to predict the flow in
the impeller. Zhu et al. (1994) developed a finite
element discretization method for the stream
function-vortex equations. The method was used to
compute the quasi-three-dimensional flow in
turbine machines. In the above calculations, the
effect of fluid viscosity on the flow characteristics
was not considered. Liu et al. (2000) studied
numerically the three-dimensional turbulence flow
in a shrouded centrifugal backswept impeller by
using two different turbulence models. At the same
time, a comparison was made between the
computational solutions and the previous
experimental measurements. The result showed that
under the design conditions, the main flow velocity
and the secondary flow in the impeller were well
predicted by the two models. Pan et al. (1998)
evaluated the performance of a centrifugal fan
volute by solving the standard turbulence k
Received: 18 Jun. 2007; Revised: 4 Sep. 2007; Accepted: 16 Oct. 2007
130
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
model and compared it with the experimental
results. Hillewaert and Van den Braembussche
(1999) studied numerically the interaction between
the impeller and the volute in a centrifugal fan. For
a simple model of the centrifugal fan, such as an
impeller passage, a volute or impeller-volute, the
numerical results could not predict accurately the
flow instability and non-uniformity because the
flow was assumed to be steady, symmetric and
periodic during the numerical calculation. Through
numerical simulation, Wu et al. (2006) analyzed the
three-dimensional flow field of a centrifugal fan.
Some design parameters were optimized to ensure
better performance of centrifugation in terms of the
calculated results. Hou (2006) carried out a
numerical study on the inner flow field of a multi-
blade centrifugal fan using Reynolds-averaged
Navier-Stokes equations and RNG turbulence
model. Some important flow phenomena were
predicted. Combined with experimental studies,
effects of the blade inlet angle and the impeller tip
clearance on the flow efficiency were investigated.
These are useful for the optimum design of the
multi-blade centrifugal fan.
k
With the rapid development of calculation methods
and computer techniques, the complete three-
dimensional numerical method is applied to the
inner flow simulation of a centrifugal fan. Research
efforts have been made to simulate complicated
three-dimensional viscous flows by using different
numerical methods and to study unstable flows
(Li, Wu and Zhao, 2001; Seo, Kim and
Kang, 2003; Chima, 1985; Chernobrovkin and
Lakshminarayana, 1999; Tan and Yuan, 2003; Hah
and Wennerstorm, 1991; Xi, Gao and Wang, 2002;
Chen, 2003). The results obtained improved greatly
the design of impeller machines.
In this paper, the flow in an impeller passage is
firstly simulated by using a numerical model.
According to the calculated results, the linkage
profile between the inlet duct and the impeller inlet
is redesigned to improve the performance of the
fan. Then the flow in an integrated centrifugal fan
including an inlet duct, an impeller, a diffuser and a
volute is analyzed. Compared with an impeller, the
efficiency of the centrifugal fan drops by about 3
4% because of the flow loss in the volute. Some
methods for improving the performance of the fan
are provided and discussed. Finally, the effects of a
straight shroud with different inclined angles on the
performance of the centrifugal fan are investigated.
2. NUMERICAL METHOD
For numerical simulations, the commercial CFD
code

Fine/Turbo 6.2.1, which employed the finite
volume formulation and the structured mesh, was
adopted to solve the Reynolds-averaged Navier-
Stokes equations together with the Spalart-Allmaras
turbulence model.
In this study, the Spalart-Allmaras model is used for
the flow in a centrifugal fan. In its original form, the
Spalart-Allmaras model is effectively a low-
Reynolds number model, requiring the viscous-
affected region of the boundary layer to be properly
resolved. However, the Spalart-Allmaras model has
been modified to include wall functions when the
mesh resolution is not sufficiently fine. This might
make it the best choice for a relatively crude
simulation on coarse meshes when the accurate
turbulent flow computations are not critical.
Furthermore, the near wall gradients of the
transported variables in the model are much smaller
than those in the model. This might make the
model less sensitive to numerical errors when non-
layered meshes are used near walls. As an
intervenient model between the Baldwin-Lomax
algebra model and the turbulence model, the
Spalart-Allmaras model is a relatively simple one-
equation model that solves a modeled transport
equation for the kinetic eddy viscosity. This
embodies a relatively new class of one-equation
models for which the calculation of the length scale
related to the local shear layer thickness is
unnecessary. It is widely adopted in numerical
simulations because of its robustness and capability
of dealing with complicated flow problems. It is
also gaining popularity in turbomachinery
applications. In terms of computation, the Spalart-
Allmaras model is the least expensive turbulence
model since only one turbulence transport equation
is solved. Also its validity has been tested and
proven in turbomachiney applications (NUMECA
International, 2004).
k
k
In a relative Cartesian coordinate system, the
integral form of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes
equation in a control volume is:

= +

C.V C.S C.V

STdV dS F dV
t
U

(1)
131
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
Here
(
T
w v, u, , U = ) (2)
The flux consists of the inviscid flux
inv
F

and the
viscous flux
vis
F

+ +
=
uw
uv
k p u
u
F
inv
x 3
2
2
;

+ +
=
vw
k p v
vu
v
F
inv
y
3
2
2

+ +
=
k p w
wv
wu
w
F
inv
z
3
2
2

(3)

=
xz
xy
xx
vis
x

F
0

(4)

=
yz
yy
yx vis
y

F
0

=
zz
zy
zx
vis
z

F
0

In Eq. (3), ( is the velocity vector. p is the

pressure term. k is the turbulent kinetic energy,
whose value can be derived from the turbulence
intensity or from the wall shear stress. From the
turbulence intensity, the turbulent kinetic energy k
can be calculated when considering an isotropic
turbulence:
) w v, u,
2
2
' '
2
3

= u k (5)
Here, is the streamwise fluctuating velocity. ' ' u
If the wall shear stress is known, the wall function
can be used to define the fully turbulent flow.

wall
C

k = (6)
Here, , is the wall shear stress and 09 . 0 =

C
wall

is the fluid density.
In Eq. (4), the fluid viscosity stress term is a
quadratic tensor; [ is defined by:
ij

]
[ ] ( )

+ = I
T
eff

3
2
(7)
where the effective fluid viscosity coefficient is
consisted of the fluid molecular viscosity
coefficient and the turbulence viscosity
coefficient . Also
eff

t
I is the unit matrix.
For turbulence viscosity coefficient,
1
~
v t
f v = (8)
Here,
1
3
3
1
v
v
c x
x
f
+
= (9)
v
v
x
~
= (10)
The solved variable
~
is calculated by:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Q v v c v v c v

v V
t
v

+ + + = +

~ ~ ~
1
1
~
~
2 2

(11)
( ) ( )
2
1 1
~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

= =
d
v
f c s v c v D v v P v Q
w w
(12)
Here,
2
2 2
3
~
~
v v
f
d k
v
sf s + = (13)
( )
3
2
2
1
1
v
v
x/c
f
+
= (14)
( )( )
x
f xf
f
v v
v
2 1
3
1 1 +
= (15)
6
1
6
3
6
6
3
1

+
+
=
w
w
w
c g
c
g f (16)
( ) r r c r g
w
+ =
6
2
(17)
2 2 ~
~
s d k
v
r = (18)

c
k
c
c

w
2
2
1
1
1+
+ = (19)
and
and
Also is the nearest distance to the solid wall.
, 3 . 0
2
=
w
c
, 1355 . 0
2
c
d
, 0 . 2
3
=
w
c
, 6220 . 0 =
, 1 . 7
1
=
v
c
41 . 0 =
, 0 . 5
2
=
v
c
. 3 / 2 =
1
=

c k
s is
the vorticity. V

is the fluid velocity. Q is the

source term.
A closed system of flow control equations is
obtained by combining the Reynolds-averaged
Navier-Stokes equations and the turbulence model
equation. Here, equations (11) and (12) are used to
calculate the turbulence viscosity at each point. In
the calculation, 0
~
= v is set on the solid wall; at the
inlet boundary, v
~
is obtained according to the
132
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
given vortex viscosity coefficient; at the outlet, v
~
is
obtained by interpolation.
Compared with the or turbulence
model, the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model has
the merits of small workload and numerical stability
in calculation. It can satisfy the design requirement
of the centrifugal fan. In addition, the variable
function of the model equation is linear with respect
to the distance to the wall in the logarithm region,
so coarse meshes can be adopted for the flow at low
Reynolds number. This is one of the reasons why
the Spalart-Allmaras model is selected for the
study.
k k
For the numerical discretization, the time-dependent
method is used to solve the Reynolds-averaged
Navier-Stokes equations. When the flow equation is
discretized in space, an ordinary differential
equation for the unsteady term is established. The
explicit fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is used to
obtain the steady solution. In solving the equations,
the multi-grid technique is adopted to accelerate the
convergence speed.
3. NUMERICAL RESULTS
3.1 Simulation of an impeller and the inlet
profile improvement
The main parameters of the centrifugal fan are
shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Main parameters of the centrifugal fan.
impeller inlet diameter (mm) 888
impeller outlet diameter (mm) 1200
inlet blade height (mm) 404
outlet blade height (mm) 300
inlet set angle ( ) 21
outlet set angle ( ) 45
blade number 12
rotate speed (rpm) 960
fluid density (kg/m
3
) 1.2
inlet total pressure (Pa) 101325
inlet total temperature (K) 293
volume flux (m
3
/s) 16.8
working fluid Air

For the calculation, the mesh program
IGG/AutoGrid is used to generate the non-uniform
meshes. The meshes are clustered near the walls of
the blade, the shroud and the hub. The C-type
meshes are introduced in the region of R= 0. The
O-type meshes are introduced around the blade. The
butterfly-type meshes are introduced at the impeller
inlet and the structured H-type meshes in other
regions. For an impeller passage, the calculation
regions include the inlet duct, the impeller flow
passage constituted by two blades and the impeller
outlet. The total number of nodes is 430,000. The
computational grids are shown in Fig. 1. The flow
is simulated using a Pentium 4 computer with a
CPU of 2.40 GHz and EMS memory of 512 M. For
one flow rate condition, the runtime is about 4
hours. At the inlet boundary, the inlet total
temperature and total pressure are given. The inlet
flow is axial. At the impeller outlet boundary, to
ensure the overall continuity requirement being
satisfied, the mass flow boundary condition is
adopted. On the walls, the no slip boundary
condition is used.

Fig. 1 The computational grids for a single blade.
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Flow Coefficient
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
/
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

C
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t
0.00
0.03
0.06
0.09
0.12
0.15
p
o
w
e
r

C
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t
Efficiency
Pressure Coefficient
Power Coefficient

Fig. 2 Performance curves of the centrifugal fan
obtained by numerical simulations.
133
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
134
The performance curves of the centrifugal fan are
obtained by numerical simulations. The efficiency,
the pressure coefficient and the power coefficient
dependencies are provided in Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 shows the streamline distribution on the
meridional plane under the design conditions of the
original centrifugal fan. When the fluid enters into
the inlet duct, the flow is firstly converged and then
diffused. During the convergent process, the static
pressure decreases and the velocity increases. At the
linkage of the inlet duct and the impeller inlet, the
flow turns from the axial direction to the radial
direction. It is seen from Fig. 3 that the flow
separation occurring at the turning brings large flow
loss and decreases the impeller efficiency. In the
design process, a good match of the inlet duct and
the impeller inlet should be guaranteed to avoid this
flow loss. For the original centrifugal fan, the
shroud profile is a single arc whose radius is
216 mm. The radius of the outlet profile of the inlet
duct is 120 mm. The flow state deteriorates and the
flow is separated at the inlet of impeller because of
the notable difference in radius measurements.


Fig. 3 Streamline distribution on the meridional plane
of the original fan.
To improve the performance of the fan, the impeller
inlet profile is not changed. The linkage profile
between the inlet duct and the impeller inlet is
redesigned by using C spline to smooth the flow
from the inlet duct to the impeller. The coordinate
of each point on the linkage profile is shown in
Table 2.

Through numerical calculation of the inner flow in
the improved centrifugal fan, it is seen from the
streamline distribution on the meridional plane
shown in Fig. 4 that the vortices are eliminated at
the linkage between the inlet duct and the impeller
inlet. Also the flow state is meliorated. Fig. 5 shows
the performance curves of the centrifugal fan with
the original linkage profile and the improved
linkage profile. It is seen that the total pressure and
the efficiency increase apparently. Compared with
the original centrifugal fan, the maximum
efficiency is moved to the higher flow rate region.
Fig. 4 Streamline distribution on the meridional plane
of the improved fan.


Table 2 Coordinate of each point on the linkage profile.
Radial
coordinate(mm)
407.14 405.41 401.71 396.47 392.08 387.56 384.55 383.03 384.13 388.27
Axial
coordinate(mm)
590.96 588.93 584.32 576.87 569.34 559.24 548.90 536.67 521.39 506.56
Radial
coordinate(mm)
392.64 396.29 401.56 407.23 413.87 420.26 427.62 432.87 438.68
Axial
coordinate(mm)
496.70 490.07 481.85 473.29 462.94 452.62 440.28 431.12 420.60
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0
Qv/(m3/s)
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
Primary
Improved

1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0
Qv/(m3/s)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
/
(
P
a
)
Primary
Improved

Fig. 5 Comparison of the performances of the original fan and the improved fan.
3.2 Numerical simulation of an integrated
centrifugal fan
Because of the interactions among impeller,
diffuser, volute and its asymmetric configuration,
the flow in the centrifugal fan is very complicated
and asymmetric. So it is necessary to simulate the
flow in an integrated fan to understand well and
truly the inner flow characteristics. In this paper, the
calculation region of the integrated fan consists of
the inlet duct, the impeller, the vaneless diffuser and
the volute. The blade number is 12. The total
number of nodes is 1,720,000. The flow is
simulated on the same computer. For one flow rate
condition, the runtime is about 20 hours. Given in
Fig. 6 is the velocity distribution along the
circumferential direction at the impeller outlet. It is
seen clearly that the distribution is non-uniform.
Fig. 7 shows that the efficiency varies with flow
rate. The performance of the fan decreases because
of the flow loss in the volute. The efficiency of the
centrifugal fan drops by about 34% when the
performance of the integrated fan is evaluated
numerically.
The fan volute studied in this paper is a rectangular
volute with broad width. The ratio of the volute
width to the impeller outlet width ranges from 2.5
to 4.0. For convenience of analyzing the flow in the
volute, the flow cross-section in the volute is shown
in Fig. 8. Region II and III belong to the rectangular
volute with broad width, especially region III is
conterminous in the circumferential direction from
0 to 360.

Fig. 6 Velocity distribution along the circumferential
direction at the impeller outlet.
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0
Qv/(m3/s)
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
Single Passage
Integrated Fan

Fig. 7 Efficiency versus flow rate for the centrifugal
fan.
135
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)

Fig. 8 Flow cross-section in the volute.


Fig. 9 Streamline distribution in the volute region III.
Fig. 9 shows the streamline distribution in the
volute region III. It is seen that the circumfluence
occurs near the shroud side in the region of 0
o
90
o

and 90
o
180
o
. The large leak loss and the flow loss
are produced by this circumfluence. To improve the
performance of the fan, we suggest adding a
commutating equipment to the volute region III to
suppress the circumfluence. In order to provide
some helpful references for the design of the
commutating equipment, we need to analyze in
detail the flow characteristics in the fan volute.
The velocity vectors on the radial cross-section
when = 0, 90, 180 and 270 are shown in
Fig. 10. In the range of = 090, the flow field of
region I is uniform. On the interface between region
II and III, vortices are found. With increasing,
the region occupied by the vortices is enlarged. At
the same time, new vortices are induced in region I.
When equals to 180, the strengths of vortices in
region I are enhanced. It is seen that the flow
separation is distinct at the impeller outlet. With the
flow developing towards the volute downstream
direction, the vortices are dissipated and weakened.
When equals to 270, the flow field calms down
gradually.
region I
3.3 Effects of the straight shroud with different
inclined angles on the performance of the fan
In the process of fan manufacturing, the utilization
of straight shrouds can lower the machining
difficulty and increase the machining efficiency and
the production competitiveness. So in this paper,
the fan shroud is changed from arc to straight line.
Effects of a straight shroud with different inclined
angles on the performance of the fan are
investigated numerically. The inclined angles are
29, 31, 33, 35 and 37 respectively. When
equals to 34.8, in the case of straight and arc
shrouds, the impeller inlet widths are the same. So
= 34.8 is defined as the equivalent inclined angle

eq
.
In figures 11(a) and 10(b), the meridional planes of
the centrifugal fan with the arc shroud and the
straight shroud are shown respectively. The cone-
shaped inlet duct is used. The linkage profile
between the inlet duct and the straight shroud is
confirmed by C spline curve. The arc transition is
used from the impeller outlet to the radial
extension. For the arc shroud, the radius of the arc
shroud R is 216 mm. For the straight shroud, r is the
radius of the spline curve linking the inlet duct and
the straight shroud. Also b is the impeller inlet
width in the axial direction.
The performances of the centrifugal fan with
different inclined angles of the straight shroud
obtained by numerical calculation are shown in
Fig. 12. It is seen that when equals to 35, which
is roughly equal to the equivalent inclined angle

eq
, the efficiency of the fan with the straight
shroud is almost the same as the efficiency of the
fan with the arc shroud. The result shows that the
inclined angle of the shroud has an important effect
on the performance of the centrifugal fan. When the
inclined angle is less than the equivalent inclined
angle
eq
, the efficiency of the fan with the straight
shroud is greater than that with the arc shroud.
Especially under high flow rate condition, the
regi on III
region II b
2

D
2

136
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
137
efficiency improvement is notable. When equals
to 31, the efficiency of the fan impeller is
maximum under the design condition. However,
when the inclined angle is greater than the
equivalent inclined angle
eq
, the efficiency of the
fan drops apparently.



(a) =0 (b) =90 (c) =180 (d) =270
Fig. 10 Velocity vectors on the radial cross-sections in the volute.











0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0
Qv/(m3/s)
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
Arc shroud
Straight Shroud (theta=29deg)
Straight Shroud (theta=31deg)
Straight Shroud (theta=33deg)
Straight Shroud (theta=35deg)
Straight Shroud (theta=37deg)

(a) the arc shroud


(b) the straight shroud
Fig. 12 Effects of the straight shroud with different
inclined angles on the efficiency of the fan. Fig. 11 The meridional planes of the centrifugal fan.
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
Given in Fig. 13 are the streamline distributions on
the meridional planes for different flow rates when
= 31. Under the operating condition of small
flow rate (Q= 12.7 m
3
/s), the flow separation occurs
at the leading edge of the straight shroud. Under the
operating condition of larger flow rate
(Q= 14.0 m
3
/s, 16.6 m
3
/s), because of the large flow
inertia, the flow separation is suppressed. Inside the
impeller, the streamline distribution is even.
In Fig. 14, streamline distributions on the
meridional planes for different inclined angles are
shown. By comparing the flow characteristics for
different inclined angles, the results indicate that the
inclined angle has an important effect on the
performance of the fan. When the inclined angle is
increased to = 37, even under the design
condition, flow separation is still found at the
leading edge of the straight shroud. Combined with
Fig. 12, in which the performance curves of the fan
are obtained by numerical simulations, it is seen
that when the inclined angle is smaller than the
equivalent inclined angle
eq
, the efficiency
increases in the operating region of high flow rate
and decreases in the operating region of low flow
rate. When the inclined angle is larger than the
equivalent inclined angle
eq
, the efficiency
decreases because of the flow separation loss. So
from the flow dynamics point of view, the inclined
angle of the straight shroud must be selected
properly to avoid large flow separation loss. From
the design point of view, for the precondition of
satisfying production demands, r/ b should be
optimized to achieve the favorable match between
the inlet duct and the shroud leading edge.



(a) Q = 12.7 m
3
/s (b) Q = 14.0 m
3
/s (c) Q = 16.6 m
3
/s
Fig. 13 Streamline distributions on the meridional planes for different flow rates when = 31.

(a) = 29 (b) = 31 (c) = 37
Fig. 14 Streamline distributions on the meridional planes for different inclined angles under the design condition.

138
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
4. CONCLUSIONS
The CFD method is used to analyze numerically the
flow inside the centrifugal fan. Effects of the
linkage profile between the inlet duct and the
impeller inlet and the straight shroud with different
inclined angles are investigated. According to the
numerical results, the following conclusions are
drawn:
1. The match between the inlet duct and the
impeller inlet has a great influence on the
performance of the fan. The smooth linkage can
decrease effectively the flow separation loss
and improve the performance of the fan.
2. Non-uniform flow occurs in the circumferential
direction at the volute inlet. The performance of
the centrifugal fan decreases and the efficiency
drops by about 34% because of the flow loss
in the volute. It is advisable to add a
commutating equipment to control the
circumfluence.
3. When a straight shroud is adopted in a
centrifugal fan, it is important to select the
inclined angle of the straight shroud properly.
In a reasonable range of inclined angles, the
performance of the fan increases and otherwise
decreases.
NOMENCLATURE
Flow coefficient
60 4
2 2
2
n D
D

Q
Q =
Total pressure coefficient
2
2
60

=
n D

P
P
air
tF

Power coefficient

Q P
N

=
Efficiency
M
Q P

V tF
=
Pressure
tF
P (Difference of total
pressure at the inlet
and the outlet, Pa )
Torque M ( m N )
Volume flux
V
Q ( /s m
3
)
Rotate speed 60 / 2n ( rad/s ) =
Impeller outlet diameter
2
D ( m)
REFERENCES
1. Chen Huaixiu et al. (2003). Improvement of
Centrifugal Fan Design Using 3-D Numerical
Simulation. Fan Technology 2:68.
2. Chen Qian, Zhang Benzhao, Cui Liangcheng
(2000). A Numerical Method of Arbitrary
Quasi-orthogonal Plane for 3-D Flow in
Centrifugal Fans. Journal of Hangzhou Institute
of Applied Engineering 12: supplement: 2123.
3. Chernobrovkin A, Lakshminarayana B (1999).
Development and Validation of Navier-Stokes
Procedure for Turbomachinery Unsteady Flow.
AIAA Journal 37(5):557563.
4. Chima RV (1985). Inviscid and Viscous Flows
in Cascades with an Explicit Multiple-Grid
Algoritlun. AIAA Journal 23(10):15561563.
5. Epureanu BI, Hall KC, Dowell EH (2001).
Reduced-Order Models of Unsteady Viscous
Flows in Turbomachinery Using Viscous-
Inviscid Coupling. Journal of Fluids and
Structures 15(2):255273.
6. Hah C, Wennerstorm AJ (1991). Three-
Dimensional Flowfields inside a Transonic
Compressor with Swept Blades. Journal of
Turbomachinery 113:241250.
7. Hillewaert K, Van den Braembussche RA
(1999). Numerical Simulation of Impeller-
Volute Interaction in Centrifugal Compressors.
Journal of Turbomachinery 121(3):603608.
8. Hou Shuqiang (2006). Numerical Simulation of
the Inner Flow Field in the Centrifugal fan.
MSc Dissertation of Zhejiang University.
9. Li Haifeng, Wu Yulin, Zhao Zhimei (2001).
The Determination of Centrifugal Pump
Impeller's Design with Three-Dimensional
Turbulent Flow Simulation. Fluidmachinery
29(9):1821.
10. Liu Zhengxian et al. (2000). Computational and
Experimental Investigation of 3-D Turbulent
Flow Field in Centrifugal Impeller.
Fluidmachinery 28(4):912.
11. NUMECA International (2004). Fine/Turbo
6.2.1 NUMECA User Manual.
12. Pan D, Sakai T, Wilson M, Whitfield M (1998).
A Computational and Experimental Evaluation
of the Performance of a Centrifugal Fan Volute.
139
Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics Vol. 2, No. 2 (2008)
140
Proceedings of the I MECH E, Part A: Journal
of Power and Energy 212(4):235246.
13. Seo SJ, Kim KY, Kang SH (2003). Calculations
of Three-Dimensional Viscous Flow in a
Multiblade Centrifugal Fan by Modeling Blade
Forces. Proceedings of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineer, Part A: Power and
Energy 217(3):87297.
14. Tan Dazhi, Yuan Xin (2003). Application of
Higher-Order High Resolution Scheme for
Turbulence Flow in Centrifugal Impeller Passage.
Turbine Technology 45(3):139141.
15. Wang Chanxing, Zhang Benzhao, Cui
Liangcheng (1997). Simulation of the Inner
Flow Field of Multi-blade Fan. Fan Technology
4:69.
16. Wu Xiaogang, et al. (2006). Numerical
Simulation of Three-Dimensional Flowfield of
Centrifugal Fan. Journal of Pingdingshan
Institute of Technology 15(2):2224.
17. Xi Guang, Gao Limin, Wang Shangjin (2002).
Numerical Simulation of 3-D Viscous Flow
Field in a Centrifugal Compressor Stage.
Journal of Engineering Thermophysics
23(1):4951.
18. Zhang Li, Chen Hanping, Xu Zhong (2000). A
Quasi-3D Numerical Analysis of a Centrifugal
Compressor Impeller. Fan Technology 5:37.
19. Zhu Gang, et al. (1994). A Modified Taylor-
Galerkin FEM for Flow Computation in
Turbomachinery. Shanghai Journal of
Mechanics 15(4):5863.