Research on models for estimating aerodynamic and energy consumption performance of fan filter units (FFUs)

Fan filter units have been widely applied in various cleanrooms and consumed massive energy and operation cost. A large number of tests were required for evaluating the aerodynamic performance of FFUs. On the other hand, the performance of FFUs would be changed during their service life and they may not work at energy efficient points. However, there was no method estimating the aerodynamic and energy consumption performance for FFUs to reduce unnecessary tests and help adjusting FFUs to work at energy efficient points. In the current research work, models for estimating the aerodynamic and energy consumption performance of FFUs were built by adopting the fan similarity law, which can be used to predict parameters including the airflow rate, input power, static pressure aerodynamic efficiency and energy performance index for FFUs at different rotation speeds and working points based on certain tested parameters. Laboratory tests for four FFUs were conducted to validate built models. The biases of estimated parameters from tested parameters were detailed. Results show that built models were able to estimate accurately the parameters of FFUs at different rotation speeds and with different filters with deviations lower than 5%. According to the analysis for estimation biases, it was suggested to conduct the estimation using built models under certain conditions to reduce deviations, including choosing parameters at the max rotation speed as known values, estimating parameters at working points with rotation speed greater than 70% of the max speed and external static pressure between 50 Pa and 150 Pa. •Similarity law of fans used to build models for estimating performances of FFUs.•FFU performance at different rotation speeds and with different filters considered.•Comprehensive laboratory tests for four FFUs conducted to validate built models.•Built models can predict well performances of FFUs with deviations lower than 5%.