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A centrifugal fan is a mechanical device for moving air or other gases in a direction at an angle to the incoming fluid. Centrifugal fans often contain a ducted housing to direct outgoing air in a specific direction or across a heat sink; such a fan is also called a blower, blower fan, or squirrel-cage fan (because it looks like a hamster wheel).
The centrifugal force imparts static pressure to the air. The diverging shape of the scroll also converts a portion of the velocity pressure into static pressure. [citation needed] There are three main types of centrifugal fans: Radial-blade fans - Radial-blade fans are used for heavy dust loads.
The centrifugal design uses the centrifugal force generated by a rotating disk, with blades mounted at right angles to the disk, to impart movement to the air or gas and increase its pressure. The assembly of the hub, disk and blades is known as the fan wheel, and often includes other components with aerodynamic or structural functions.
Actual cubic feet per minute (ACFM) is a unit of volumetric flow. It is commonly used by manufacturers of blowers and compressors. [1] This is the actual gas delivery with reference to inlet conditions, whereas cubic foot per minute (CFM) is an unqualified term and should only be used in general and never accepted as a specific definition without explanation.
In these rotary implements, the affinity laws apply both to centrifugal and axial flows. The laws are derived using the Buckingham π theorem. The affinity laws are useful as they allow the prediction of the head discharge characteristic of a pump or fan from a known characteristic measured at a different speed or impeller diameter.
The fan is designed to produce a pressure difference, and hence force, to cause a flow through the fan. Factors which determine the performance of the fan include the number and shape of the blades. Fans have many applications including in wind tunnels and cooling towers. Design parameters include power, flow rate, pressure rise and efficiency. [1]
A fan may have two maps, one for the bypass (i.e. outer) section and one for the inner section which typically has longer, flatter, speed lines. Military turbofans tend to have a much higher design fan pressure ratio than civil engines. Consequently, the final (mixed) nozzle is choked at all flight speeds, over most of the throttle range.
A cross-flow fan is a centrifugal fan in which the air flows straight through the fan instead of at a right angle. The rotor of a cross-flow fan is covered to create a pressure differential. A cross-flow fan has two walls outside the impeller and a thick vortex wall inside. The radial gap decreases in the direction of the impeller rotation.