Investigation and numerical simulation of inner-flow of an axial mineflow fan under low flow rate conditions

Because of unstable properties of axial mine flow fans working under conditions of low flow rates, the safety and reliability of fans in their operational zone is reduced. At times, serious vibration may bring about the destruction of equipment or even jeopardize the safety of entire factories. By means of oil flow visualization techniques and numerical simulation, we have investigated the inner-flow of an axial mine flow fan working under low flow rate conditions. The fundamental reasons of complex flow phenomena of the inner-flow of the flow fan under these stated conditions were revealed. At the same time and in order to improve the inner-flow under conditions of low flow rates, a blade separator and air separator were designed. From our tests we found that the blade separator and air separator are two kinds efficient methods to improve the unstable working characteristics of the axial mine flow fan operating under low flow rate conditions. The effect of the improvement of the air separator is stronger than that of the blade separator.