Chapter 12: Fans and Building Air Distribution

Proper duct design and fan selection are important to avoid unnecessary
inefficiencies, unacceptable indoor air quality and noise levels, and
discomfort of the occupants.
A fan is used to move air through ducts and to induce air motion in the a space.
The centrifugal fan is the most widely used fan:

As compared to
a pump or
compressor, a
fan is to move a
relatively large
volume of air
and develop a
relatively small
amount of
pressure head.
Images of centrifugal fans

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Images of axial fans

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Types of centrifugal fans
 Fan Relations
Energy transferred from the fan to the air between the inlet and outlet of
the fan. Each term has the unit of length, referred to as head (the power
in the equations is negative based on the sign convention)
V 2
P0  P 
2gc

The total
pressure or
stagnation
P02  P01 pressure is
w
 the static
pressure
plus
dynamic
pressure.

Elevation effect in a
fan is normally
negligible, a significant
difference from a
pump.
 Fan Relations

wg: Inch of water gauge. 1 wg = 249 Pascals at 0oC = 0.00249 bar

= 0.0361 psi (lbf/in2)
Fan Relations

The pressure here is

actually pressure head
developed by the fan.
 Fan Noise

Backward-curved fan blades are generally

considered to have a lower noise.
Fan Selection- backward-curved blade fan
• The required capacity (cfm) and system total pressure head at the
design point.
• A good combination of efficiency, costs, acoustics, and physical size.
• The danger of the fan operating in the unstable (surge) region at low
flow rate (partial capacity) unless care is taken in selection and fan
speed is controlled.
The backward-curved
blade fan should
always be operated to
the right of the point of
maximum pressure for
surge consideration.
See Fig. 12-4: power
input to the fan is still
relatively high when
flow rate approaches
zero.
Fan Selection- backward-curved blade fan
• The performance is plotted
on a logarithmic scale. In this
case, a system characteristic
(S-S) is a straight line.
• Used for low, medium, and
high pressure head HVAC
systems. Highest efficiency
designs of all centrifugal
fans. For a given duty,
operate at the highest speed.
• The performance curve is
stable. The fan has a load-
limiting horse power
characteristic. Near free
delivery (zero pressure rise),
horse power is lower, and
there is no danger of
overloading the motor.

H p  kQ 2  ln( H p )  ln(kQ 2 )  ln k  2 ln Q

Fan Selection- forward-curved blade fan

• Used in low pressure head

HVAC applications, such as
furnace, central station units,
and packaged air-conditioning
equipment.
• Tends to have the lowest
efficiency and operate at the
lowest speed of the various
centrifugal fans.
• Should be applied well to
the right of the peak pressure
point.
• The horse power rises
continuously toward free
delivery, and this must be
taken into account when fan
is applied and the motor is
selected.
 Fan outlet/inlet conditions
If a fan is to be connected to a duct system through an elbow, the
complex velocity profile at the outlet should be developed into a
relatively uniform profile through a sufficiently long straight duct
between the fan outlet and the elbow. Otherwise, significant loss may
occur (particularly due to the high peak velocity at the outlet.
Fan outlet conditions

The slope is not an issue for a

straight duct
Fan outlet conditions

The lost coefficient may be

found using Table 12-5.
 Fan outlet conditions
The lost coefficient is also affected by the blast area and by the
position of the elbow.
Fan outlet conditions
The percentage of the
effective length is the
ratio of the duct length to
the one effective duct
length as shown in Table
12.2.
 Fan inlet conditions
If it is necessary to install an elbow at the inlet of the fan, additional loss may occur
which may be calculated by using Eqs. (12-7) and (12-8), but with different lost
coefficients.
Transition from rectangle
to round shape needed
for cases d&e.

Pleated elbow
System effects due to the outlet/inlet
conditions
Air Flow in Ducts

l f : Lost head
 Air Flow in Ducts
Use of pressure may be desirable

Pressure loss
Velocity Pressure
 Pressure loss due to friction

Pressure losses due to friction may be divided into

the losses associated with straight, constant area ducts
(called Major Loss in Fluid Mechanics) and those
associated with the changes in area and direction in
the duct or when the flow is divided/diverted into a
branch, which are called Dynamic Losses (In Fluid
Mechanics, they are called Minor Losses).

Major Losses may be presented in special charts as

follows:
Air Flow in Ducts-Major Loss
Air Flow in Ducts-Major Loss
Duct roughness effect

A common practice
to take into account
the roughness effect
is to use a
correction factor
that is applied to the
pressure loss
obtained for a
galvanized metal
duct (for smooth
galvanized metal
duct, f = 0.02,
defined as e =
0.0005 ft).
Circular diameter equivalents of rectangular ducts for equal friction and
capacity

(ab) 5 / 8
De  1.3
(a  b)1/ 4
In contrast
to fluid
Dynamic Losses - Air flow in fittings
mechanics,
the local
losses here
are called
dynamic
losses (not
called
minor
losses)
because of
its greater
magnitude)
Air flow in fittings
r is the radius of
the curved turn
of the vane, and
L is the extended
length of the
vane after the
curved turn
Transitions-Round to Round

In this case, the section 0 is the

outlet of the transition. A
larger angle represents a short
transition distance
Transitions-Round to Round
Special Cases
Transitions-Rectangular ducts
Zero degree
and 180 degree
result in the
same losses.
 Air flow in fittings

The loss coefficients associated with the branch and

main sections are based, respectively, on the
velocity pressures of the branch and main sections.
 When the branch flow
rate is much smaller than
the main, the flow from
Q s Q c the branch is entrained by
As Ac the flow through the
main, which increases the
total pressure of the
branch and balances
pressure loss through the
branch. So that the loss
coefficient may be
negative.

On the other hand, if the

flow rate through the
branch is much higher
than the main, the flow
through the main is
entrained by the flow
through the branch and
the total pressure through
the main is increased,
resulting in a negative
loss coefficient.
Because of the 90 degree
angle, the entrainment
effect of the small
straight flow by the large
branch flow is
diminished.
 Equivalent lengths of Fittings
It is often convenient to express the effect of fittings in terms of
equivalent length of a straight duct

Le V 2 V2
lf  f  CPv  C
D 2g 2g
Le C
 
D f

C may be found from the loss coefficient tables of fittings, f may be

approximately found from Table 12-13 (p. 434).
12 in. (30 cm)

15 ft. (4.6 m)
 Duct Design

• To deliver a specified amount of air to each diffuser in the conditioned

space at a specified total pressure.
• To ensure a reasonably quiet system.
• A low noise level is achieved by limiting the air velocity, by using
sound-absorbing duct materials or liner, and by avoiding drastic
restrictions in the duct such as nearly closed dampers.
• Generally have a pressure loss from about 0.08 in. wg per 100 ft
(0.65 Pa/m) to about 0.6 in. wg per 100 ft (5 Pa/m), depending on the
system capacity.
• Small commercial systems will operate in the lower end of the
pressure range with maximum velocities less than 1200 ft/min (6m/s).
• The duct system should be nearly free of leaks when the ducts are
outside the conditioned space.
Duct Design

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Duct Design- An Example
The loss in total
pressure selected for
the design of a duct
system is an
important
consideration to
reduce fan power.

Large commercial
and industrial duct
systems are usually
designed using
velocity (for noise
concern) or
pressure loss as a
limiting criterion.
Pressure gradient diagrams
 Duct Design – Sizing
• The equal friction method may be used for all types of
systems including small light commercial as well as large
VAV systems.

• The balance capacity method is particularly good for

constant flow systems where air flow rate to each space is
critical.

• The static regain method is useful for large constant flow

method.
 Equal-Friction Method
• The principle of the equal friction method is to make the pressure loss per
foot of duct length the same for the entire system. A desired feature of this
method is the gradual reduction of air velocity from fan to outlet, reducing the
noise problem.

• The usual procedure is to assume the velocity in the main duct adjacent to the
fan in accordance with the design criteria. The known flow rate of a longest run
then establishes the duct size and the lost pressure per unit length. This same
pressure loss per unit length is then used throughout the other runs of the system.
After sizing the system, the designer must compute the total pressure loss for
each run. Iterations may be needed if the pressure loss in any run exceeds the
maximum value permissible. This can be done by adjusting the velocity assumed
and repeating the calculation procedure. A lower velocity would reduce the
pressure loss but it would increase the duct size, which increases the first cost of
duct system. A tradeoff may be needed between these conflicting factors.

• If the layout is symmetrical with all runs from fan to diffuser approximately
the same length, this method will produce a good balanced design. If the layout
is not symmetrical, the short runs will have to be dampered to maintain a desired
flow rate to each space. This, however, may not represent a problem because
dampers are needed for VAV systems anyway.
Example 12-11

b a
 Balanced-Capacity Method
• The total pressure losses from the fan to outlets are
automatically balanced as all the outlets would have the same
space pressure. The basic principle of the method of design is to
make the loss in total pressure equal for all duct runs from fan to
outlet under required air flow rates.

• The design procedure is the same as the equal friction method

for the determination of the pressure loss of the longest run. The
procedure then switches to the sizing of the remaining runs in
terms of the same pressure loss.

• The method is particularly good for constant flow systems

where maintaining the air flow rate to each space is critical, or
when the installation of dampers in the ducts is difficult.