Development of simplified in-situ fan curve measurement method using the manufacturers fan curve

A simplified in-situ fan curve measurement procedure has been developed using the manufacturers fan curve and one point (air flow and fan head) measurement. This paper presents the background theory, methodology, error analysis and step-by-step procedure developed for the practitioners. This in-situ method has been experimentally proven in full-scale air handling unit (AHU) systems. The results show that the fan curve identified using this simplified approach agrees with the fan curve identified using the point-by-point direct measurement method. Both the error analysis and the experiment show that the generated in-situ fan curve with least system resistance most closely matches the measured in-situ curve (cv-RMSE = 4.7%). The differences of the fan heads predicted by the fan curves are within the experimental error range.

► The measured fan curve is different.
► A simplified fan curve measurement procedure developed.
► This method has been proven.