A Critical Review of Stall Control Techniques in Industrial Fans

Abstract

This paper reviews modelling and interpretation advances of industrial fan stall phenomena, related stall detection methods, and control technologies. Competing theories have helped engineers refine fan stability and control technology. With the development of these theories, three major issues have emerged. In this paper, we first consider the interplay between aerodynamic perturbations and instability inception. An understanding of the key physical phenomena that occurs with stall inception is critical to alleviate stall by design or through active or passive control methods. We then review the use of passive and active control strategies to improve fan stability. Whilst historically compressor design engineers have used passive control techniques, recent technologies have prompted them to install high-response stall detection and control systems that provide industrial fan designers with new insight into how they may detect and control stall. Finally, the paper reviews the methods and prospects for early stall detection to complement control systems with a warning capability. Engineers may use an effective real-time stall warning system to extend a fan's operating range by allowing it to operate safely at a reduced stall margin. This may also enable the fan to operate in service at a more efficient point on its characteristic.

Experimental study of the unsteady vibration signature for a Sirocco fan unit

“…Both POD and SDP techniques are used to complement previous efforts of the research group, according to different previous publications. [19][20][21][22] It can be considered in the frame of previous works by the same working team, see for instance, Velarde-Sua´rez et al, 9 Ballesteros-Tajadura et al 11,19 Gonza´lez et al 20,21 and Delgado et al 22 Regarding the SDP method, interesting recent contributions are those by Bianchi et al 18 and Wu et al, 23 for slightly different machines and Shibata et al 17 for a generic rotating machine.…”

“…14 15 Regarding the diagnosis of failures in fans, a number of very important frequencies are numbered in Chen et al 13 as theoretical values. Failure characteristics or diagnostic indexes cannot be defined quantitatively, but other failure characteristics are clearly observed, as explained in Shi et al 16 On the other hand, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) has been established as the standard method to obtain the corresponding spectra revealing its composition in the frequency domain, see examples in Lu et al 14 and Shi et al 16 Nevertheless, some other methods are available in the literature, see for instance Shibata et al 17 and Bianchi et al, 18 and may also be considered as relevant tools.…”

Intelligent Prediction of Fan Rotation Stall in Power Plants Based on Pressure Sensor Data Measured In-Situ

“…If the onsite of a rotation stall can be accurately predicted in advance, active control methods can be used to adjust the flow field conditions, thus avoiding the occurrence of rotation stalls, and guaranteeing the stable working operation of the fan [11,14]. …”

A Computational Study on the Performance Improvement of Low-Speed Axial Flow Fans with Microplates

“…These techniques are mainly classified as active or passive methods based on energy expenditure. Bianchi et al (2013) gave an overview of control techniques for industrial fans.…”