A Suggested Mechanism of Significant Stall Suppression Effects by Air Separator Devices in Axial Flow Fans

Abstract

Radial-vaned air separators show a strong stall suppression effect in an axial flow fans. From a survey of existing literature on the effects and the author's data, a possible mechanism for the significant effects has been proposed here. The stall suppression is suggested to have been achieved by a combination of the following several effects; (1) suction of blade and casing boundary layers and elimination of embryos of stall, (2) separation and straightening of reversed swirling flow from the main flow, (3) induction of the fan main flow toward the casing wall and enhancement of the outward inclination of meridional streamlines across the rotor blade row, thus keeping the Euler head increase in the decrease in fan flow rate, and (4) reinforcement of axi-symmetric structure of the main flow. These phenomena have been induced and enhanced by a stable vortex-ring encasing the blade tips and the air separator. These integrated effects appear to have caused the great stall suppression effect that would have been impossible by other types of stall prevention devices. Thus the author would like to name the device "tip-vortex-ring assisted stall suppression device".