Technical Bulletin

TBN006.0/1998

SYSTEM SURGE, FAN SURGE AND PARALLELING

The three main reasons for unstable
airflow in a fan systems are (1) System
surge, (2) Fan Surge and (3) Paralleling.
System Surge
System surge occurs when the system
resistance and fan performance curves
do not intersect at a distinct point but
rather over a range of volumes and
pressures. This situation does not occur
with backward inclined (BI), airfoil (AF),
and radial fans. However, it can occur
with a forward curve centrifugal fan
when operating, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

System Surge

In this situation, because the fan curve

and system curve are almost parallel, the
operating point can be over a range of
airflow and static pressures. This will
result in unstable operation known as
system surge, pulsation, or pumping.
System surge should not be confused
with paralleling, which can only occur
when two fans are installed in parallel.

Fig. 2

Fan Surge
Fan surge is different from system surge,
they may or may not occur at the same
time. (Fig.2)

Fan Surge Explanation

existed, flow would be from the high

pressure point to the low pressure
point. This is opposite from the
direction air normally flows through the
fan. The only thing that keeps the air
moving in the proper direction is the
whirling of the blades.

For any fan, the point of minimum

pressure occurs at the center of rotation
of the fan wheel and the maximum
pressure occurs just at the discharge
side of the wheel. If the wheel were not
turning and this pressure differential

Stall occurs unless there is sufficient air

entering the fan wheel to completely fill
the space between the blades.

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This shows up in Fig. 3 as fluctuation in
air volume and pressure. This surge can
both felt and heard and occurs in nearly
all fan types, to varying degrees, as
block-tight static pressure is approached.
The radial blade is a notable exception.
While the magnitude of surge varies for
different type of fans, (being greatest for
airfoil and least for forward curve),the
pressure fluctuation close to block-tight
may be on the order of 10%. For
example, a fan in surge developing
about 600 Pa of total static pressure
might have pressure fluctuation of
600/10 of an Pa. This explains why a
large fan in surge is in tolerable.
Equipment room walls have been
cracked from the vibration of ducts
serving a fan in surge.

Fig. 3

Fan Surge

Selections should not be made to the left

of the surge point on the fan curve.
This point, which defines a system curve
when all operating speeds of the fan are
considered, varies for different fan
installations.
For
instance,
stable
operation can be obtained much further
to the left when the fan is installed in an
ideal laboratory type situation. These
conditions, of course are seldom
encountered in field applications.
Consequently, most manufacturers do
not catalogue operating ranges all the
way to the surge line.
Fig. 4

However, since the catalogue cut-off

point is basically one of engineering
judgment,
conservative
catalogue
performance data will provide operating
ranges, which will allow stable operation
with any reasonable field ductwork
design.

Unbalanced Parallel Operation

only in a multiple fan installation

connected with either a common inlet
or common discharge, or both in the
same system, particularly when large
volume of air must be removed. The
combined air flow-pressure curve in this
case is obtained by adding the airflow
capacity of each fan at the same
pressure. (Fig. 5)

PARALLELING
The third cause for unstable operation is
paralleling, (Fig. 4), which can occur

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Fig. 5

Parallel Fan Operation

The total performance of the multiple

fans will be less than the theoretical sum
it inlet condition are restricted or the
flow into the inlets is not straight.

and could cause a motor overload if the

fans are individually driven. This
unbalanced flow condition tends to
reverse readily the result that the fans
will intermittently load and unload. This
pulsing often generates noise and
vibration and may cause damage to the
fans, ductwork or driving motors.

Some fans have a positive slope in the

pressure-air volume curve to the left of
the peak pressure point. If fans operating
in parallel are selected in the region of
this positive slope, unstable operation
may result.

This requires the installation of scroll

volume (outlet volume) dampers (Fig.
6). It serves to change the shape of the
fan scroll and thus, for each position of
the damper, there is a corresponding
different performance curve.

The closed loop to the left of the peak

pressure point is the result of plotting all
the possible combinations of air volume
at each pressure. If the system curve
intersects the combined air volumepressure curve in the area enclosed by
the loop, more than one point of
operation is possible. This may cause
one of the fans to handle more of the air

The fan curve resulting from various

positions of the outlet volume dampers
is shown in Fig. 7. The purpose is to
change the fan curve sufficiently such
that the sum of the difference curve will

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intersect the single fan curve at A and
provide
stable
operation.
The
performance may be reduced slightly
and a corresponding increase in RPM
should be made to achieve the specified
conditions. However, this is rarely done
since difference is typically negligible.
To correct, the scroll volume damper is
merely pushed down on both fans until
the static pressure and noise level
pulsation disappear. Generally, they are
then left in this position permanently.
The curve generated by the damper at
this point is so shaped that the sum of
the differences curve intersects at only
one point.

Fig. 6

Effect Of Scroll Dampers

Fans operated in parallel should be of

the same type, size and speed otherwise
undesirable performance complications
may result. It is strongly advised that the
advice of the fan manufacturer be sought
when considering the use of fans in
parallel.
The use of axial flow fans in parallel
presents very real potential noise
problems unless special measures are
taken at the design stage; add-on noise
control is not normally possible.
A noise problem often encountered with
fans operating in parallel is beating. This
is caused by slight difference in speed of
rotation of the two theoretically identical
fans. The resulting low frequency
beating noise can be very annoying and
difficult to eliminate. The problem can
be likened to the stroboscopic effect of a
fluorescent light illuminating a rotating
wheel with a slight difference between
the frequencies of rotating of the wheel
and the AC supply to the light.

Fig. 7

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Elimination Of Paralleling