Fan (machine)

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This article is about mechanical fans. For hand-powered fans, see Hand fan. For other uses,
see Fan (disambiguation).

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A typical electric fan

Fans are used to force air into low and high bypass jet engines, seen here on a Boeing 777-300.

A fan is a powered machine used to create flow within a fluid, typically a gas such

as air. A fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades which act on the air.
The rotating assembly of blades and hub is known as an impeller, rotor, or runner.
Usually, it is contained within some form of housing or case. [1] This may direct the airflow
or increase safety by preventing objects from contacting the fan blades. Most fans are
powered by electric motors, but other sources of power may be used,
including hydraulic motors, handcranks, and internal combustion engines.
Mechanically, a fan can be any revolving vane or vanes used for producing currents of
air. Fans produce air flows with high volume and low pressure (although higher
than ambient pressure), as opposed to compressors which produce high pressures at a
comparatively low volume. A fan blade will often rotate when exposed to an air fluid
stream, and devices that take advantage of this, such as anemometers and wind
turbines, often have designs similar to that of a fan.
Further information: centrifugal compressor

Typical applications include climate control and personal thermal comfort (e.g., an

electric table or floor fan), vehicle engine cooling systems (e.g., in front of a radiator),
machinery cooling systems (e.g., inside computers and audio power amplifiers),
ventilation, fume extraction, winnowing (e.g., separating chaff of cereal grains),
removing dust (e.g. sucking as in a vacuum cleaner), drying (usually in combination with
a heat source) and providing draft for a fire.
While fans are often used to cool people, they do not actually cool air (electric fans may
warm it slightly due to the warming of their motors), but work by evaporative
cooling of sweat and increased heat convection into the surrounding air due to the
airflow from the fans. Thus, fans may become ineffective at cooling the body if the
surrounding air is near body temperature and contains high humidity. A fan blade is
generally made of wood, plastic, or metal.