Numerical Study of the Effect of Blade Number And RPM on Axial Fan Performance

Abstract

Shipbuilding Institute of Polytechnic Surabaya (PPNS) manufactures axial fans through innovation from the independent entrepreneurship program, but further analysis is needed to determine the performance of the axial fan. A simulation-based study was conducted to determine the effect of the number of blades and RPM on the efficiency of the axial fan, with blade variations of 8 and 9, and RPM variations of 1330 and 1280. The axial fan simulation was conducted using 3D modeling based on CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). This simulation aimed to determine the effect of the number of blades and RPM on the flow coefficient and pressure generated by the axial fan, while RPM was varied to observe the performance trends of the axial fan at different speeds in relation to the flow coefficient and pressure. Based on the simulation and experimental results, the flow coefficient at RPM 1330 was 0.264545, and the experimental result was 0.265377 with an error of 0.31%. At the lowest RPM of 1180, the flow coefficient value was 0.202533, and the experimental result was 0.193156 with an error of 0.48%. for blade 8, while for blade 9, the flow coefficient at 1330 RPM is 0.240420 and at the lowest RPM of 1180 is 0.182842. Meanwhile, for static pressure at 1330 RPM, the value is 246.95 Pa and the experimental result is 246.67 Pa with an error of 0.11%, and at the lowest RPM of 1180, the value is 186.72 Pa and the experimental result is 186.67 Pa with an error of 0.03% for blade 8. while for blade 9 at 1330 RPM, the static pressure value is 214.49 Pa and at the smallest RPM of 1180, it is 162.93 Pa. This indicates that as the number of blades increases, the flow coefficient value decreases, as does the static pressure. The simulation results show that the flow coefficient and static pressure values are close to or validated by the experimental results with an error below 1%.