The Curious Definition Of

“Fan Static Pressure” PART-1

Mat Ansari PE

Many HV AC e ngi ne e r s w o r k the ir e ntir e car e e r s and r e tir e

w itho ut r e aliz ing that w hat the y alw ays t ho ugh t o f as Fan Sta tic
Pr e ssur e is no t h o w ASHR AE, AM C A o r the fan ma nufact ur e r 's
de fine Fan Sta tic Pr e ssur e (FSP ). T he co nce pt o f Fan S tat ic
Pr e ssur e is a pur e ly "de fine d" o n e – the r e is no dir e ct
me asur e me nt in the fie ld tha t co r r e spo nds to "Fan Stat ic
Pr e ssur e ". FSP i s co mmo nly co n f use d by E ngi ne e r s w ith t he Fan
Stat ic Pr e ssur e R ise o r Duct Sta tic Pr e ssur e R ise .
N o t unde r stand i ng w hat the te r m Fan Sta tic Pr e ssur e
me ans is r e spo n sible fo r tw o ki n ds o f mis take s c o mmo nly ma de
by Eng ine e r s w he n de aling w it h f ans :
T h e f ir s t is t h a t a f t e r f ig u r in g o u t a l l t h e d u c t s y s t e m
lo s s e s , w h ic h a r e T o t a l P r e s s u r e lo s s e s , t h e E n g in e e r e n d s u p in
t h e F a n S t a t ic P r e s s u r e t a b le f o r s e l e c t in g f a n s .

T h e s ec o n d is t h a t t h e w r o n g d a t a f r o m t h e f ie ld is
g a t h e r e d a n d t h e n a n a t t e m p t ( u n s u c c e s s f u l) is m a d e t o
r e c o n c ile t h is f ie l d d a t a w it h t h e f a n c u r v e p r o v id e d b y t h e
manufacturer.

T his po st w ill ad dr e ss bo th the se mista ke s and s u gge st ho w

to avo id the m. ( Actua lly the se c o nd mis take is d e alt he r e in
Par t-1 and the fi r st in Par t -2 ).
T he be st w ay to intr o duce t he co nce pt o f F SP is t o fir st
po int o u t w hat it is no t . L e t me sho w yo u a co up le o f fa n an d
duct s yste m ske t che s that w il l pr o ve use ful in un de r standin g
this sub je ct.
Fig ur e -1 be lo w , i s a fan a nd d uct ske tch w he r e th e
inle t /o utle t duc t dime nsio n s mat c h the fan in le t/o utle t o pe n ing
dime nsio n s.
 L e t me be gin w i t h stat ing tha t , F an Sta tic Pr e ssur e in
Fig ur e -1 is no t ( 3 - (-2 ) ) o r 5 .0 ".
If th is sur pr ise s yo u the n t his Po st is e spe ci all y a ddr e sse d
to yo u and a fte r r e ading t his yo u w ill be tte r unde r stand the
co nce pt o f F SP a s it a ppl ie s to st andalo ne fan s . ( We ar e no t
discuss ing air - ha ndli ng uni ts o r p ackage d un its ).

NOTE: All pressures in this post are in Inches of Water Column ( ″WC).

Abbr e viat io ns Us e d In T his Po st:

 In Fi gur e -1 , F SP R = DSPR , be cau se fo r simpl ici ty w e have
assume d t he inle t/ o ut le t du ct d im e nsio ns mat ch t he fan
inle t /o utle t di me nsio ns .
L e t us lo o k at a n o the r e xample , a nd th is time t he duct
siz e s and the fa n co nne ctio n siz e s do no t matc h and t he r e fo re
tr ansit io ns ar e r e quir e d. We w il l make an assu m ptio n he r e that
the T o tal Pr e ssu r e lo ss thr o ugh t he adde d tr ans it i o n fit tin gs is
ne glig ib le . (I f n o t, the n w e w o ul d be fo r ce d to ac co unt fo r “ Fan
Syste m Ef fe cts ” , and t hat is a to pic b y i tse lf fo r o ur Engine e r ’ s
N o te bo o k Se r ie s. We w ill s tay c le ar o f it i n t his p o st.)

R e fe r to Figur e -2 . He r e again y o u se e that Duc t Stat ic

Pr e ssur e R ise is n o t Fan Sta tic Pr e ssur e .
W e ar e fr e que ntly tr yin g to r e co ncile r e adings fr o m the
fie ld w i th the fa n cur ve s fr o m th e manufact ur e r and
misun de r stand in g o f the te r m F S P can ma ke thi s an im po ssib le
task.
 W he n a fan ma n ufactur e r use s t he te r m FAN ST A T IC
PR ESSUR E , he m e ans so me thin g ve r y spe cific , an d in his li ngo i t
is de fine d as fo l l o w s:

Fan St atic Pressure ≡ Fan Total Pressure – Fan V elocity Pre ssure
FS P = FT P - FVP

W hy th is w e ir d d e finit io n? We w i ll ge t in to tha t i n par t -2

o f this po st. B ut fo r no w w e ne ed to clar i fy w ha t FT P and FV P
ar e , and w hat da ta sho ul d be r e ad in the fie l d so that the fan
o pe r ating po i nt c an be plo t te d o n the fan c ur ve . (Assu me that
o ur te chnici an h as do ne a go o d j o b o f tr ave r sing, and t he r e w as
a go o d str aig ht s e ctio n o f duc t to r e a d – so the fl o w (cfm)
r e ading is no t an issue .)
L e t us lo o k at th e te r ms o n the r i ght h and s ide o f this
e quatio n.

Fan Total Pressure, FTP :

T he r e is no co nfusio n he r e , FT P i s a ve r y simp le c o nce pt
and is de fine d a s :

FT P = T otal Pr e ssur e at fan outle t - T ota l Pr e ssur e at fan inl e t

FT P = T P out – T P in

So w e ar e go ing to take T o tal Pr e ssur e r e adings w ith a n

impac t tu be at t he inle t a nd o u tl e t o f the fan . ( A s a s i d e n o t e ,
Total Pressure readings are always more reliable than Static Pressure
readings for reasons that will be discussed in an upcoming blog.)

T he alge br aic d if fe r e nce be tw ee n the o utle t and i nle t T o tal

Pr e ssur e s w ill g i ve us FT P.

Fan Velocity Pressure , FVP:

Fan Ve lo c ity Pr e ssur e is de f ine d as the Ve lo ci ty P r e ssur e at
the FAN O UT L ET plane .

FVP = VP out

FVP is a lmo st a l w ays a calc ulate d num be r . T he be st w ay

fo r fie ld te chn ici ans to fi nd FVP a t any give n f lo w is to f ir st
de te r mine the Fa n O utle t Ve lo cit y by d ivi din g the actual
me asur e d flo w b y the Fa n O ut le t Ar e a pr o vide d in the fan
submi tta l da ta.
T he n:

FVP = V P out = (Outle t Ve locity/4005 ) 2

N o w putti ng it a l l to ge the r :

FS P = (FT P – FVP) = T P out – T P in – FVP

Fo r Fig ur e -1 w e have :

(Duct Outle t ar e a = Fan Outle t are a), T he r e fore FVP = VP 2

FS P = 4 – ( - 1.5) – 1 = 4.5″

Fo r Fig ur e -2 w e have :

FS P = 4 – ( - 1.5) – 1 = 4.5″

N o te that w e di d no t use t he duc t ve lo cit y pr e ssu r e VP 2 o f

Fig ur e -2 . (R e me mbe r the de fin iti o n calls fo r FVP to be
subtr acte d , w hic h is the ve lo cit y at the fa n o ut le t . ) N o te also
that the F SP r e m aine d sta ble e ve n tho ug h t he duc t siz e s
change d.
It is o b vio us no w that if w e w e r e to mistake the Duct
Stat ic Pr e ssur e R ise DSPR (6 ″ ) o r the Fan Stat ic Pr e ssur e R ise
FSPR (5 ″ ) fo r FS P the n w e w o uld be mak in g a b ig e r r or . It is
har d e no ugh to match ac tua l fie l d data to the fa n cur ve w itho u t
addin g t his e r r o r in t he mix .
In clo si ng Par t -1 o f this po st, I w o uld l ik e to ur ge yo u to
se le ct yo ur fans base d o n the Fa n T o tal Pr e ssur e , FT P. T h is w i ll
simp lify bo th fan se le ctio n an d tr o uble sho o tin g . T his w ho le FS P
co nfusio n is by p asse d. In o ne o f my pr e vio us po sts “ Duc t
Syste m L o sse s A r e T o tal Pr e ssur e L o sse s ” , I have e xplaine d ho w
all yo ur ca lcu lati o ns ar e T P base d anyw ay . T h is m ake s it m uch
e asie r to match fans w it h t he T o tal Pr e ssur e duty the y w il l be
aske d to do .
 Fo r fan se le ctio n table s that li st FSP but no t FT P , w e can
e asily f ind FT P a s fo llo w s : Almo st al l fan tab le s list Fan O utle t
Ve lo city fo r liste d flo w r ate s. So all w e have to d o is co nve r t
this ve lo city to V e lo city Pr e ssur e and ad d i t back t o the co lumn
FSP he adin g. Fo r e xample if u nd e r 3 .0 ″ FSP w e have 2 0 00 FPM
o utle t ve lo ci ty, t he n w e ar e actually in the 3 .2 5 ″ FT P co lu mn.
(T he Ve lo city Pr e ssur e o f 0 .2 5 ″ is adde d to 3 .0 ″ FSP to ge t
FT P.)
In co nclu sio n th e thr e e impo r tan t po in ts to r e me mbe r fr o m
this Par t -1 o f t h e Po st ar e as fo ll o w s:

1 . Fan T o tal Pr e ssur e is de fine d as :

T o tal Pr e ssur e at f an o ut le t - T o t al Pr e ssur e at fa n in le t

2 . Fan S tat ic Pr e ss ur e is de fine d as :

Fan T o tal Pr e ssur e – Fan Ve lo city Pr e ssur e
It is ≠ the s tat i c pr e ssur e r ise fr o m fan in le t to fan o ut le t

3 . Fan Ve lo c ity Pr e ssur e is de fine d as:

T he Ve lo city Pr e ssur e at the F an O utl e t

In Par t -2 o f this Po st w e ar e go ing to take a c lo se r lo o k at

the FS P and FT P and t he ir r e latio nship unde r d iffe r e nt fan and
duct co n fig ur atio ns. A lt ho ugh Pa r t -2 w ill be in te r e sting fo r
tho se inte r e ste d fan pr e ssur e r e latio nsh ips, it is n o t ne ar ly as
impo r tan t as t hi s Par t -1 co nte n t fo r yo ung HV AC e ngine e r s to
maste r . Ω