Axial Flow Fans

Axial flow fans are particularly versatile, being used in a wide range of
applications in industry and in Mining and Tunnel ventilation. Their main
attribute compared with centrifugal fans is that they are capable of
efficiently delivering very large flow volumes at low pressures (high
specific speed). At the other end of the spectrum they are able to deliver
sufficiently high pressures for boiler draft applications and as high speed
multi-stage compressors in gas turbines they produce high compression
ratios.
Although axial flow fans can be selected for most applications there are
certain practical issues that limit their use to high volume, low pressure
duties and the specialised applications mentioned above. The more
sophisticated axial flow fans are quite complex to build, requiring
castings and special tooling and are less robust than centrifugal fans
when there is dust in the fluid stream. On the other hand small tubeaxial fans are usually less expensive than their centrifugal counterparts
when initial tooling investment is discounted.
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Axial Fan Selection and Design
While the non-dimensional fan laws apply equally to centrifugal and axial
fans, the geometry of the latter machine lends itself to a different
selection approach. Most axial flow fans are designed on the freevortex principle which effectively means that there is no radial pressure
gradient within the impeller, the pressure rise being equal at all radii from

the hub to the tip. In axial flow fans the pressure rise is generally set by
the hub peripheral speed and the volume is proportional to the swept
area of the blades, which in turn is governed by the tip diameter of the
impeller.
The more sophisticated vane-axial fans have both rotor and stator vanes
designed to work together to produce a high efficiency performance over
a range of blade pitch angles. These fans usually have an efficient
diffuser to convert as much of the velocity pressure component to static
pressure as practicable or as required by the application.
The performance characteristic of axial flow fans is significantly different
from centrifugal fans. The main difference is a more sharply defined stall
at peak pressure and potentially damaging pressure fluctuations when
the fan operates in the stall region.
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Axial Fan Control
The most efficient way to mechanically control the output of an axial flow
fan is to vary the blade pitch. There are generally three options in this
regard:
1. Individual adjustment of each blade.
2. Simultaneous adjustment of all blades while the fan is stationary
using a single point activated mechanism. This system is relatively
unusual.

3. On line actuation of the blade pitch using a special purpose

hydraulic actuator. This allows the fan output to be modulated
when the fan is running to suit load demands.
Fixed pitch axial flow fans can also be effectively controlled by variable
inlet vanes (VIVs) bolted to the inlet, although this is less efficient than
automatically varying the blade pitch angle..
Speed control works equally well on axial flow fans and centrifugal fans,
particularly those in systems with parabolic or square law resistance
characteristics. While speed control maintains the maximum fan
efficiency through a full range of part loads, the cost and efficiency of the
speed regulation equipment often dictates that one of the other methods
is more practical. However, variable frequency drives (VFD) are
becoming more common, are costing less and larger capacities are
increasingly available
Argus Fans has the ability to design custom fans of any size and speed
on an as-required basis. There is at present no detailed information
available on a pre-determined range of fan sizes. Complete axial fan
designs, both fixed pitch and adjustable pitch, can be developed on a
cost-plus basis, once the parameters of the performance envelope have
been established by the client. Total efficiencies of 88% have been
confirmed by independent tests using the unique Argus Fans blade
profiles.
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Axial Fan Types

A wide range of axial fan types are outlined below. Although not all
those listed are available in the Argus technology package, a description
is given of most kinds in the interest of completeness.
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Propeller Fans
These are a special type of axial flow fan used almost exclusively to
provide cooling airflow over large finned tube heat exchangers. These
fans are often several meters in diameter, they rotate relatively slowly
and the blades are usually made from composite material such as Fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP), such as those normally used on Cooling
Tower fans.
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Tube-Axial Fans
The simplest form of axial flow fans comprising an axial type impeller
mounted in a basic cylindrical housing. The impeller is usually mounted
directly on the motor shaft and the motor, in turn, is mounted on a folded
metal base within the housing. In some cases the fans are belt driven
with the motor mounted on a bracket outside the housing.
Tube axial fans have no provision for recovering the residual tangential
component of velocity leaving the impeller and are less efficient than
other types but this is offset by simplicity and low cost. They have a wide

range of application in ventilation and cooling in industrial and

commercial buildings, are used in both fixed locations and as portable
units. A special case is the jet fan used in vehicular tunnels. In that
application, the fans must be certified to continue operation for a limited
time in event of a fire where they are exposed to high temperatures.
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Vane-Axial Fans Pre-set Pitch and Fixed Pitch
Vane-axial fans are high efficiency machines that are unmatched in high
specific speed (high volume, lower pressure) applications by other fan
types. Vane-axial fans have matched downstream stator vanes that
convert the tangential component of the velocity leaving the impeller to
the axial direction at a higher static pressure and reduced absolute
velocity. Effectively this functions as a vaned diffuser although the term
is usually reserved for centrifugal machines. In addition long diffusers
are often added to improve the overall efficiency, especially on large
Mine fans.
Vane-axial types are the most common in higher capacity applications
where highest possible efficiency (running costs) outweighs the higher
initial capital cost.
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Contra-Rotating Axial Flow Fans
These are essentially a pair of tube axial fans in series but arranged in a
special way with impellers rotating in opposite directions so that the

output velocity is axial. The end result is a pressure rise that is more
than double that of the individual fans. Contra-rotating tube-axial fans
are used mostly in mining and tunnel driving ventilation where their
higher pressure can deliver air over longer distances.
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Adjustable Pitch
All fans in the smaller axial flow range are constructed with a two-piece
aluminium hub and separate cast airfoil section blades. This allows the
blade pitch to be set manually to suit the application and allows blades
to be adjusted to allow future changes in the capacity, provided the
power increase is within the capacity of the installed motor. The
standard blade material is aluminium alloy.
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Auto-Variable Pitch (or Controllable Pitch) Axial Flow
Fans:
This is a special type of axial flow fan that is often used for forced draft
and primary air in large power boilers and sometimes also used for
induced draft duty with erosion protection with high efficiency
Electrostatic Precipitators installed ahead of the fan. In this case the
blades are supported on heavy duty thrust bearings to handle the very
large centrifugal forces. The pitch is modulated by means of an integral
hydraulic actuator powered through a rotating union or similar
arrangement. The positioning of the blades is done by a pilot actuator.

These large capacity auto-variable axial flow fans have high efficiency
over a wide range of part loads which makes them particularly attractive
for Power Station applications. At this stage AFI does not include autovariable axial flow fans in their technology package.