The most important factors in assessment of industrial devices are performance and efficiency. The present study aims to investigate these features for centrifugal fans. It is intended to use a comprehensive data acquisition system to evaluate the performance and efficiency and fan system. This is done by measuring flow rate and static pressure across different sections of a pipe connected to the fan outlet. One of the most important applications of fan is in burner systems, where an appropriate ratio of oxidant to fuel flow rate obtained by adjusting the fan air flow rate. The present study tries to find an inhibiting mechanism to reduce the flow fluctuations at the outlet of the fan, and the inlet of the burner.The present report starts with an introduction to different fans and their features. General rules concerning centrifugal fans are described. Next, different standard methods for fan testing and their required equipment are explained in details. Mathematical formula and their degree of accuracy are presented. The designed test-rig and it is manufacturing procedure is explained in details. A paramount feature of this test-ring is the data acquisition system, which is designed and built during present study. In the current study, most of the measuring system is built by the author, and only the standard sensors, are used as the materials for constructing the data acquisition system.The present study focuses on detecting and diminishing pressure fluctuations in the fan out flow. Digital pressure sensor in the range of (0-50 mbar) with electrical output of (4-20 mA ) are used to detect pressure fluctuations. Pitot tubes are also used at different sections of the test rig. The stagnation pressure is measured at a standard distance of the inlet to calculate the velocity profile, from which the mass flow rate in the outlet pipe can be calculated. In order to inhibit the pressure fluctuations, honeycomb matrix of 3 mm and 5 mm characteristic dimensions. All the manufacturing and testing procedures are done based on ACMA standards. The outlet pipe diameter is chosen such that the fan diffuser diameter match the pipe, to avoid the formation of eddies at the joint section. Note that due to the speed of the acquisition system, it is possible to record data for transient cases. All the measured data can be stored as an EXCEL file. Measurements are repeated to ensure that the results are not affected by external parameters. The fan performance curve has also been obtained by measuring flow rate and static pressure in the range of fan operational data. This is done by increasing the flow rate from near zero, up to maximum opening in the fan inlet damper. Results show that using honeycombs, especially the smaller size, considerably inhibit pressure fluctuations and lead to a uniform velocity profile. Keywords: Fan,Pitot Tube,Honeycomb,Data Acquisition System.
