3/18/2017 TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)

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LibraryArticlesTheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/100
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LITERATURE

TECHNICALDATA
TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,
3DREVITDRAWINGS SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)
APPLICATIONARTICLES December1st,1999

CodesandStandards
DamperApplications
EnergyRecovery
Applications
FanApplications
KitchenApplications
LouverApplications
MakeUpAirApplications
TechnicalInformation
INDUSTRYARTICLES
PROJECTPROFILES
Engineersanddesignerswhoselectandspecifyfansshouldhaveagoodbasicknowledgeofthe
contentofthisarticle.Anunderstandingofthesesubjectsisvitalforverifyingtheoriginalfan
selection,troubleshootingaftertheinstallation,andunderstandingfutureflexibility.
Fanperformancetables
Manufacturerstypicallypublishcatalogscontainingperformanceorratingtablesforeachspecific
fansize.Thesetablesareprintedinacompactformat,showingonlytheminimuminformation
necessarytoselectafantomatchadesiredperformance.Performancetablesareveryeasytouse
formakinganinitialselection,andinmostcases,onlyincludestableoperatingpoints.
Ratingtablesarepublishedinoneoftwobasicformatsarrangedwithpressurecolumns
androwsofeitherRPMorCFM.Atthebottomofthetable,qualifyingstatementsdescribe
howthefanwastestedandwhatlossesareincludedintheperformancerating.Inmany
cases,thesetablesalsoshowsoundratingsineithersonesorLwA.

VIDEOS UsingthePerformanceTables
PODCASTS Thefollowingisaportionofatypicalperformancetableaspublishedforlowtomediumpressure
FAQS fans.Thistableiscommontomostcentrifugalandaxialfansusedforroofmounting,wallmounting
andinlineapplications.
INDUSTRYLINKS
Tousethetable,findtherequiredstaticpressureontheupperhorizontalaxis(example
.375SP),thenreaddownthestaticpressurecolumnandfindtherequiredCFM(example
13791CFM).DirectlybelowtheCFMistherequiredBHPforthatperformance(example
1.99).Alsoshowninthisexampleisthesoundratingfortheselectedperformance(11.7
sones).ReadingtotheleftoftheselectedCFM,youwillfindthefanRPM,themotorsize
andthemodelidentifier.

Thefollowingperformancetableistypcialforhigherpressurefans,suchashoused
centrifugalfans.Thereareindividualtablesforeachfansizeandwheeltype.Inmost
cases,thesetableswillhaveshadedareasrepresentingClassI,IIandIIIRPMlimits.To
usethistable,findtherequiredCFMalongtheleftverticalaxis(example14,000CFM),
thenmovehorizontallytotherighttotherequiredstaticpressurecolumn(example6.00
SP).Atthisintersection,youcanreadboththefanRPMandtheBHP(example1277RPM
and16.8BHP).Noticethesepointsarelocatedonthelightlyshadedportionofthetable,
indicatingthataClassIIfanisrequired.

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3/18/2017 TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)

Withtheuseofelectronicfanselectionprogramsthetrendistofurtherreducetheamount
ofprinteddataandtoprintonlyarangeofperformanceforeachfansize.There'slittle
doubtthatagoodelectronicselectionprogramsuchasCAPScanpinpointaprecise
selectionwithminimaleffort.

It'salsobecomingcommontosee
fanperformancecurves(actuallya
familyofRPMcurves)coveringthe
fullrangeofperformanceprintedon
thesameoradjacentpagetothe
performancetable.Thisformat
providesaquicksnapshotofthe
totalcapabilitiesofonegivenfan
modelandsize.Locatethedesired
flowalongthexaxisandthe
specifiedpressureontheleftyaxis.
Atthepointofintersection,youcan
determinetheapproximateFan
RPMrequired.Tofindthemotorsizerequired,moveupwardtotheclosestHPline(dotted
line).Youcanquicklyreviewchartsforseveraldifferentfansizestodeterminethemost
desirableselection.

FanCurves
Oneofthemostvaluablepiecesofinformationsuppliedbyfanmanufacturersisthefan
performancecurve.Curvesarenormallysuppliedforeachspecificfanonagivenproject.These
curvesshowtherelationshipbetweenthequantityofairafanwilldeliverandthepressure
generatedatvariousairquantities.Thecurvesalsoshowhorsepowerforagivenquantityofflow.
Figure1representstheperformanceforagivenfan
sizeandRPM.Theflowscaleispresentedalongthex
axis.Thepressurescaleispresentedalongthelefty
axis.FindtherequiredCFMandmoveverticallytothe
SPcurve.Readhorizontallytothelefttoreadthe
pressureatthatflow.

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3/18/2017 TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)
Figure2illustratestheeffectsofspeedchange.
Accordingtothefanlaws,CFMvariesdirectlywith
RPM.Theresultofreducingthespeedisasimilar
curveinalowerposition.Increasingspeedresultsina
similarcurveinahigherposition.

Figure3illutratestheadditionoftheBHPcurve.The
powerscaleispresentedalongtherightyaxis.Find
thevolumeontheSPcurveandmoveverticallyto
theBHPcurve.Atthisintersection,movehorizontally
totherighthandscaletoreadtheBHPatthatflow.

Thecurveshapesinfigures13aretypicalofcentrifugalwheels.Otherimpellertypeshave
bothfanandpowercurveshapesthatvaryfromthoseshown.However,theprincipleof
readingthecurvesisthesame.

SystemResistanceCurves
Systemresistancecurvesareagraphicalrepresentationof
howasystemreactstoagivenairflow.Thesystemresistance
isthesumofallpressurelossesthroughtheduct,allelbows,
filters,dampers,coilsandanyotherdevicethatresistsflow.
Figure4showsthatthesystemcurvealwaysstartsatthe
originwhereflowandpressurearezero.Thefanwilloperate
atthepointwherethesystemresistancecurveintersectsthe
fancurve.Foraconstantsystem,withnochangeindamper
settings,etc.thepressureatagivenflowvariesasthesquare
oftheairflow.

Theonlytimetheshapeofthesystemresistancecurve
changesiswhenthesystemphysicallychanges.Forinstance,
ifadamperisopened,thesystemresistanceisreduced.The
resultisalowerpressuredrop.Closingadamper,orwhen
filtersbecomedirty,increasesthesystemsresistance.

Figure5illustrateshowthesystemresistance
curvechangeswithadecreaseoranincreasein
resistance.Thenewcurveshowsthatasthe
systemsresistancechanges,sodoestheair
volumethesystempressureataconstantfan
RPM.

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3/18/2017 TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)
Figure6:isasampleprintoutfrom
Greenheck'sCAPSprogramfora
specificfanselection.This
illustratesthefancurve,theBHP
curve,thesystemdesigncurve,
plusafansurgecurve.Fan
selectioncloseto,ortotheleftof
thesurgecurve,isnot
recommended.Referringtothis
surgecurveaidsthedesignerin
selectingfansthatarestableand
willnotgointosurgewithaminor
changetothesystem.

Wehavelearnedthatafancurveistheseriesofpointsatwhichagivenfanmodeland
sizecanoperateataconstantRPM.Thesystemresistancecurveistheseriesofpointsat
whichthesystemcanoperate.Theoperatingpointiswherethesetwocurvesintersect.
AnychangestothefanRPMwillcausethepointofoperationtomovealongthesystem
curveandchangestothesystemresistancewillcausethepointofoperationtomoveupor
downthefancurve.

FanLaws
Ournextstepistounderstandfanlaws.Fanlaws,canbeusedtoaccuratelypredictchanges
(assumingthefandiameterandairdensityareconstant).
Fanlawequations

Subscript1:Describestheexistingconditions
Subscript2:Describesthenewconditions

Thefollowingexampleistypicalofhowthefanlawsareapplied:

Afaninstalledinafixedsystemisoperatingat:

CFM=10,000
SP=1.50"
BHP=5.00
RPM=1,000

WhatRPMisrequiredtomove25%moreair(12,500CFM)throughthissystem?
NOTE:Youcanviewthisexampleaseithertheinstallationnowdesiresmoreairthan
planned,orthebalancingreportshowed25%lessairthanspecified.

Byrearrangingthecfmfanlaw:

Thecorrespondingstaticpressureis:

TheresultingBHPis:

Accordingtothefanlaws,inordertousetheoriginalfan,thespeedmustbeincreased
from1000RPMto1250RPM,themotormustbechangedfroma5HPto10HP.

Figure7illustratesfan
curvesforboththe
originalandnewfan
performance.

Important:ChecktomakesurethatthenewRPMdoesnotexceedthemaximumallowable
RPMfortheexistingfan.MaximumRPMsareshowninfancatalogs.Youshouldconsult
thefanmanufacturerforadditionalinformationorifyouwouldliketoreviewthe
application.

MoredetailedinformationonthesesubjectscanbefoundinbothAMCAandASHRAE
publications.

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3/18/2017 TheBasicsofFanPerformanceTables,FanCurves,SystemResistanceCurvesandFanLaws(FA/10099)

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