External and Nested Inlet Vanes¶

Run the External and Nested Inlet Vanes MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

This MicroSim puts six numbered markers on FanPedia's industrial grade inlet vane drawings (page 139). The top drawing is a centrifugal fan with external inlet vanes, a vane ring in its own housing bolted to the inlet, and beside it a close-up photo of that vane section. The bottom drawing is a fan with nested inlet vanes, built into the inlet funnel, and beside it a close-up photo of the funnel with its vanes. Both drawings show the housing cut away and red arrows for the air turning as it enters.

The six parts are the manual handle, external inlet vanes, impeller, pre-spin, nested inlet vanes and inlet funnel. On a wide screen a label column with leader lines sits to the right of the drawing; on a narrow screen the labels move below it as a numbered list. The handle's marker sits just to its right with a short pointer, so the lever stays visible.

The quiz describes each part by its job or look ("Select the part the nested vanes are built into.") instead of naming it, in a shuffled order. You get two attempts per prompt. The first wrong answer shows a hint about where to look; the second reveals the part and counts as missed. Mastery is 5 of 6 correct on the first attempt. Explore mode is never scored.

How to Use¶

Explore mode (the starting mode). Point at a numbered marker, or Tab to it, to see the part's name and description in the panel below the drawing. Click it (or press Enter) to open it; opened parts get a ✓ in the label list and the counter shows how many of the 6 you have visited. Clicking a name in the label list opens that part too.
Quiz mode. Press Quiz. The labels and leader lines disappear and a prompt describes one part:
- Correct: "✓ Correct:" with the part name and its description; the marker turns green with a ✓ badge and its label comes back.
- Wrong on the first attempt: "✗ Not quite.", the name of the part you picked, and a hint. The hint never names the answer.
- Wrong on the second attempt: the answer is marked "Answer" and named, and the prompt counts as missed.
Press Next prompt after each answer. The toolbar shows "Parts correct: n of 6".
After the sixth prompt, the summary shows your first-attempt score, whether you reached mastery (5 of 6), and each missed prompt with its answer. Retry missed practises only the misses (not scored), Start over reshuffles and resets the score, and Back to explore returns to the labels.

Keyboard: Tab moves through the markers in number order and then the buttons; Enter or Space selects a marker. After an answer, focus moves to Next prompt, so Enter goes on.

Data label: "Drawing: FanPedia, Twin City Fan, p. 139", shown under the drawing.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://moroshek.github.io/FanTASTIC-textbook/sims/ch19-inlet-vanes-overlay/main.html"
        height="833px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Learning Objective¶

The learner will identify the external inlet vanes, nested inlet vanes, inlet funnel, manual handle, impeller and the pre-spin arrows on FanPedia's inlet vane drawings, given each part's job or look (Bloom: Remember, verb: identify).

Audience¶

Adult professional development: new application engineers, sales staff, representatives and facilities staff.

Duration¶

10 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Chapter 18, sections "Variable Inlet Vanes" and "External Inlet Vanes".
Chapter 19, section "Nested Inlet Vanes and Pre-Spin".

Activities¶

Explore (3 min): Open all six parts. Compare the two close-up photos and say where each vane ring sits: in its own bolted housing, or inside the curved entry of the funnel.
Quiz (4 min): Switch to quiz mode and find all six parts from their descriptions without going back to explore mode.
Review (3 min): Read the missed list, open those parts in explore mode, then press Start over for a new order.

Common Misconceptions Addressed¶

Nested and external inlet vanes suit the same airstreams: nested vanes are for clean air up to 600°F; external vanes are the choice for contaminated air, or high temperature air up to 600°F.
Replacing either vane set is the same job: external vanes come out as their own section; replacing nested vanes means replacing the entire inlet funnel assembly.
Inlet vanes save power by blocking the air like a damper: they pre-spin the entering air in the direction the impeller rotates, so the impeller does less work on each pound of air.

Assessment¶

First-attempt score shown in the summary as "First-attempt score: n of 6"; mastery is 5 of 6 on the first attempt.
Pointing at markers and opening infoboxes in explore mode is exploration, not evidence.
Follow-up question: a fan handles dusty exhaust and the owner wants to clean the vanes without pulling the inlet funnel. Which close-up photo shows the right vane style, and why?

References¶

FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - Twin City Fan; p. 139 holds the external and nested inlet vane drawings used here, and p. 188 describes variable inlet vanes.
FanPedia online - Twin City Fan's online version of the encyclopedia.
Chapter 19: Damper Details and Duct Connections - the section "Nested Inlet Vanes and Pre-Spin", where this MicroSim is embedded.
Chapter 18: Inlets, Outlets and Flow Control - the sections "Variable Inlet Vanes" and "External Inlet Vanes".
Flow Control Device Sorter - matches field situations to the dampers and vanes, including nested inlet vanes.