Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University. Low Pressure Axial flow fans, sometimes referred to as Propeller fans, are used in a variety of industries such as oil and gas, power plants, HVAC, et cetera for cooling purposes. The size of such fans vary from as small as 6 inches, typically used in data center cooling, up to 50 feet, used in Cooling Towers and Air-cooled Condensers. With the concern about energy savings becoming grave and the government imposed standards and subsidies, designing an optimum efficiency fan has become very valuable. Research engineers have been striving hard to strike a balance between airflow produced and power consumed that will make the fan of optimum efficiency. Hence, it is very valuable for everyone dealing with axial fans to understand the various parameters involved in designing an efficient axial fan. This paper is focused on delineating the few fundamental design considerations and methodology that can be adopted for development of axial flow fans which are used in Air-cooled Heat Exchangers, Cooling Towers and Air-cooled Condensers, the size of which range from 5 feet to 50 feet. The author's intention is to direct attention to the aerodynamic sizing and optimization and only briefly cover the structural design of the fan.
