Unlike other fan arrays available today, a FANWALL^® system is more than off-the-shelf fans and motors arranged in an array. It incorporates FANWALL TECHNOLOGY—innovated and manufactured specifically for fan array systems—to create an integrated system of state-of-the-art fans, motors, cabinetry, controls, and accessories. These components have been successfully blended to match new construction and retrofit application requirements, while providing:

• Redundancy
• Quiet and vibration-free operation
• Optimized energy efficiency from design minimum to maximum flow
• Low cost maintenance and service

Since 2003, more than 40,000 FANWALL cubes have been installed and are successfully moving over 250 million cfm throughout the world. Applications for FANWALL TECHNOLOGY range from office, education and hospitality facilities, to facilities with critical requirements such as hospitals, data centers, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

FANWALL TECHNOLOGY originated from HUNTAIR^® ceiling grid systems used in cleanroom applications. The smaller fans and motors distributed throughout the grid are ideal for providing the even airflow distribution required for a cleanroom environment, a compact footprint for ceiling mounting, as well as redundancy and easy serviceability to minimize revenue risk associated with downtime.

These same benefits can also be applied to any air handler system, particularly where a critical failure would result in significant risk to capital equipment or revenue losses. However, the characteristics and constraints of an air handler cabinet differ from a cleanroom environment, requiring significant R&D before the concept would become the reality of FANWALL TECHNOLOGY. In doing so, HUNTAIR examined every aspect of the individual fan cubes and their interaction together—throwing out the book on conventional fan metrics to design a completely new system optimized for fan array applications, including:

• Custom fan wheel designs and inlet cones to optimize airflow efficiency and minimize turbulence. The fan wheels are AMCA certified at 72% efficiency, which is 7% to 9% higher than comparably sized fans offered by others and equivalent to much larger fans.
• Multiple fan wheel sizes and motor combinations to provide flexibility in meeting airflow requirements and create an even piston of air within the constraints of the air handler cabinet dimensions. Fans are available in seven sizes from 10 to 22 inches to closely match airflow requirements. Expanded horsepower (hp) motor selections provide the ability to closely match the design hp for peak efficiency throughout the operating range of the air handler.
• A robust cube design and silencing system (called a Coplanar Silencer^®) to minimize sound and vibration.
• Damper selections to minimize pressure drop and block-off plates that eliminate backdraft air in fans that are off.
• Control algorithms to optimize performance in variable airflow applications.

Fan System Upgrades Using FANWALL TECHNOLOGY

In lieu of a complete air handler replacement, a fan system upgrade using a FANWALL system can be the most cost effective solution for avoiding the cost and business disruption caused by the failure of an existing air handler that is reaching the end of its useful life. And the resulting energy savings can be 40% or more. 

Access limitations are often a barrier because the replacement cannot be accomplished without the time and expense of a major tear-out and reconstruction project.  A FANWALL system can minimize this and other barriers.

• An air handler cabinet can retain its integrity well beyond fans, coils and other components, allowing it to be retained with a new FANWALL system and other components such as coils, dampers, etc. This can essentially result in a new, more efficient air handler in the existing skin.
• The modular design of a FANWALL system allows individual cubes to be navigated through a standard 3-foot door and assembled inside the existing air handler cabinet.
• There is no need to have a crane on site as is often the case with larger conventional fans.
• The performance of the new system can be upgraded to better match actual capacity and airflow requirements.
• Design flaws—such as component access issues—can also be addressed.
• Ancillary components such as sound attenuators and air blenders that created static pressure penalties in the old system can be removed.
• All of this often can occur over a weekend or during unoccupied time frames to minimize downtime or disruption of normal business.

To learn more about what FANWALL TECHNOLOGY can do for your project, contact our local Ventrol Representative or order our FANWALL TECHNOLOGY brochure or FANWALL TECHNOLOGY retrofit brochure or visit www.fanwalltechnology.com.