Design and performance of low-pressure reversible axial fan with doubly curved profiles of blades

Abstract

Reversible axial fans are used to achieve air (gas) flow in both directions. An axial fan only has an impeller that can achieve the reverse flow by changing the direction of the impeller rotation. In order to obtain the same performance for both directions, the profiles of the impeller blades should be completely symmetrical, in the shape of the ellipse. This paper presents the design and performance for a reversible axial fan with blades that have a slightly doubly curved profile. The shape of the profile, whose design is shown here, was previously obtained on the basis of the numerical simulation in the profile cascade. For the experimental tests, an axial reversible fan model with double curved profiles of the blades was made. Fan performance was obtained by testing a fan for three blade positions on a standard test installation. The performance curves were compared with the performance of the reversible axial fan blades with straight profiles. The fan with doubly curved profile blades achieved a greater increase in pressure and flow than the fan with straight profiles, with approximately the same efficiency. Low pressure axial reversible fans are used in drying chambers for wood and such a design can achieve higher drying efficiency.