Installation of Quiet Fan technology (QFt) developed by the Industrial Noise and Vibration Centre is reported to have provided substantial capital cost savings and reduced the power consumption of the two-storey fan and was installed within a down-time of a few hours.

Peter Wilson, INVC technical director, explains: “Traditional control techniques use palliative measures such as silencers, lagging and acoustic enclosures to try to reduce noise from centrifugal fans. We have developed a way to prevent the noise being generated in the first place by designing aerodynamic inserts that fit inside the fan casing. You can think of these as akin to the aerodynamic features used on Formula 1 cars to control airflow.”

Jim Granger, senior engineer at Schiller, comments: “…we recorded a 10dB drop in noise, which is huge. We also recorded a reduction in the power used by the ID fan after Quiet Fan technology had been installed.”

In addition to the cost and fan efficiency advantages, QFt is also ‘fit and forget’, lasting the lifetime of the fan with zero maintenance. The technology is equally applicable to all fan sizes, from a few cm in diameter up to the giant described above.