Specifying and rating fans Horsepower and noise have become important to the specification of air-cooler fans. Here are the relationships needed to incorporate these criteria into the specification. ‘John Glass, Happy Dis. of Thana Technology, Ine. CD Although fan-rating procedures differ from one manufacturer to another, they all serve the same pur- pose: to specify the best fan for an application. In some Donati ato F cases, the best will be the least expensive fan that can deliver the required amount of air at the specified oper- ating conditions; but in many instances, particularly when low energy and noise requirements are important, the least expensive will not be the best ‘When horsepower and noise must be included in fan evaluation, specification becomes complicated. Never- theless, both power and noise reduction are becoming ‘more important for air-cooler fans; and these two fac- tors can virtually control the design of the entire air cooler. ‘When high power costs and long payout periods emphasize costs of the required horsepower, it should be reduced so as to keep the total of operating costs plus investment costs to a minimum, Horsepower can be usually cut in four ways: 1. Design the air cooler with fairly low air velocity across the bundles, to hold down the pressure loss and thus the static pressure at the fan outlet. 2, Increase the tube pitch of the air-cooler bundles to reduce the pressure loss 3. Increase, up to a point of optimum efficiency, the diameter of the fan, so as to reduce the velocity-head | loss, and thus the horsepower. 4, Increase the fan efficiency by such a design ‘method as the use of more blades. As for noise, the casiest way to reduce it is to reduce blade-tip speed, The effect is indicated by the general formulas included in the new proposed revision of the API (American Petroleum Inst.) “Guideline on Noise” for predicting noise levels: '@ For induced-draft fans, the sound-pressure level, BA, at 3 ft below the air-cooler bundles is: | dBA = 63 + 301g 7 + 10 log hp + 20 log D 4 For forced-draft fans, this formula is: | BA = 66 + 30 log V + 10 log hp + 20 log D Ce ene On | 120 GICAL ENGINEERING ARGH DTMaximum 45, | Sisporsion ‘angle ec ees where: hp D fan tip speed, 0.001 ft/min fan horsepower fan diameter, ft ‘These formulas show that when noise requirements are strict, it is best to use fairly large fans with low horsepower, running at low rpm. This will usually re- quire more fan blades than normal, and a larger chord-width. Basic variables With so many restrictions affecting fan specification and design, it becomes important to identify the basic wariables in rating a fan, There are six: one or two of them independent, three or four related to the air-cooler design, and one dependent only on the design criteria tsed for the fa ‘The one variable that is always independent of the design is elevation, which affect the air density (Fig. 1) Also, air temperature can be an independent variable, depending only on plant location, for a forced-craft fan; but it becomes dependent on the air cooler design if an _induced-draft system is selected. “The three other variables that depend on the air cooler are: (1) actual ft?/min that the fan should de- liver, (2) pressure drop across the bundle, and (3) fan diameter. Finally, the variable depending solely on fan design is Forced draft Fan power, hp/100 ft? of baretube surface 18. 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 Overall heat trenstarcoofiien, Bt/(h)( 1°) De cca ‘GHESGAL ENGINEERING ARGH, nd 12Fan ecuiremen: ‘ingot 225,00 ae Sin premareB80 nO, ‘Breton 000 fer” 062 Tempest (@rV100°F factor 946) ES] Liedbteaemnge Soden Eb 70 Gunintecorec en honepowe 3)? Saxaetse 2 So £3 zi Be Et Ee En Sroorcaunn a bic gt se ° oo 150 200 | 250 300 360 400 ‘Airflow through fan, 1,000 f/in, st standard density 450 Corea un tar speed. A maximum tip-speed of 12,000 ft/min is usually ‘maintained for fans over 5 oF 6 ft dia.; but this tip speed may be reduced to decrease noise. Induced vs. forced cbaft (air temperate): An. accurate comparison of induced vs. forced-draft systems requires a completely optimized design for each type, so that a decision between the two is usually made early in the project, based on factors related to the plant site (see p. 116), In general, the induced-draft design offers bet- ter air distribution over the bundles, and closer control of the process fluid outlet temperature; but induced- draft fans are more difficult to service (since they are not accessible from below), their brake horsepower is higher, and the design is lightly more expensive. Also, induced-draft fans should not be used where the outlet air temperature is much above 200°F, Pressure drop acrass the bundle: This depends on the bundle design (see p. 117, and Table II, p. 110). Fan dianeter: An air cooler must be sized so that a fan or fans occupy at least 40% of the area served, in order for the air to reach all portions of the bundle, Thus, the bay size should be selected so that a fan or fans of sufficient diameter may be used to get the required coverage. The latest edition of API 661, “Air-Cooled Heat 122 [SO Elevation above ae level 1,000 9 2,000 4,000 6,000 sity ratio chert 1 Density 0.9 Pounds per cubic foot 99 08 ‘or 06 08 Wn We 7 Density rig, dy sir -%0 50 100 “Temperature in degrees F 160 Density ato, dry air 1s Velocity presture (2) in. HO. 408 081 tB 3/4 6 38 900 1,000, 1,00 2,000 2,800 3,000, Velocity (V1 in feet per minute (fom) ‘exchangers for General Refinery Services,” recommends 4 maximum dispersion angle between fan and bundle of 45 deg, (see Fig. 2). It may be necessary to use larger fans to achieve this angle than would be required for 40% coveray The fan diameter is also related to the number per bay. Using longer and narrower bays, with two or more fans per bay (see Table II, p. 110), permits operation with one fan while the other is shut down for mainte- nance. Also, a two-fan bay provides a greater degree of temperature control, assuming that no other means (i.e, louvres, etc.) is used. Fan rating procedures An approximate fan horsepower can be obtained from an estimated bare-tube surface (Table II, p. 110) and Fig. 3 above. More precisely, the horsepower is: ‘bhp = (acem)(rP)/(6,356)(eff,) wp = vse + vP vp = 1.27(acrw)/(fan dia.)® — (hub dia,)?) where: Tp = discharge pressure of fan, in. of water sr = air static pressure, or pressure loss across the bundle, in. of water 200 8,000 12 10 4,000