Daniel Pfenniger | 6 Jun 2012 19:33
Picon
Picon
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation

holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de wrote:
>
>> The Dyson bladeless and silent fans are based om a different principle,
>> a cylindrical thin air layer carries along the inner air column, the
>> air flow is then laminar (http://www.dyson.com/store/fans.asp).
>
> Which is not good if your trying to cool stuff.....

Well, the fans we are discussing expel air *out* of the box so the
heat carried by the air doesn't care about the downstream laminar or
turbulent state of the airflow.

However noise generation does depend on the airflow state, since the
acoustic power is proportional to the 8th power of the turbulence eddy
speed (Lighthill 1952, 1954).  This is why jet planes are noisy, as
their turbulence is almost sonic.  The airplane or helicopter propeller
tips, or the fan blade ends move closer to the sound speed, so most
of the sound is generated there.

The conclusion is that to keep a computer quiet one has advantage to use
large fans rotating at low speed.  For the same air/heat output one gets
much less noise, especially if the airflow is laminar.

	Dan

Lux, Jim (337C | 6 Jun 2012 19:28
Picon
Picon
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation

I'm not sure that the acoustic noise from fans is from the actual aerodynamic noises (e.g. not like a jet
engine, or the pressure/shock waves from the blades).  The blade tips are probably operating in a low speed
incompressible flow regime.  

For low speed fans typical of this application, noise is much more from incidental flow behavior and
mechanical transmission (e.g. the airflow from the blade hitting a stationary object and creating a
pulsed flow which then hits the package side and makes it vibrate).  There's also surprisingly high noise
in some fans from the DC brushless motor (a cheap controller uses square edge pulses to the windings, so the
torque has pulses, which then are mechanically transmitted to the housing.. a nice "whine" source for a
little 6000 rpm motor with a lot of poles)

Actually, not all fans are set up to suck out of the box.    Blowing in works better for heat transfer (you're
pushing cold dense air, rather than sucking warm undense air)..  Most test equipment uses the "suck in
through a filter and pressurize the box" design approach.  I think PCs evolved the other way because the
single fan was in the power supply, and you didn't want to blow hot air, preheated by the power supply,
through the rest of the system.   So it is set up as an "exhaust from PS box" fan.

And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable
speed, to boot)

Jim Lux

-----Original Message-----
From: beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org [mailto:beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Pfenniger
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:33 AM
To: holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de
Cc: Beowulf Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation

holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de wrote:
(Continue reading)

Nathan Moore | 6 Jun 2012 19:36
Picon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation

Actually, not all fans are set up to suck out of the box.    

Ha!
 
Blowing in works better for heat transfer (you're pushing cold dense air, rather than sucking warm undense air)..  Most test equipment uses the "suck in through a filter and pressurize the box" design approach.  I think PCs evolved the other way because the single fan was in the power supply, and you didn't want to blow hot air, preheated by the power supply, through the rest of the system.   So it is set up as an "exhaust from PS box" fan.

And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable speed, to boot)

Jim Lux

-----Original Message-----
From: beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org [mailto:beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Pfenniger
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:33 AM
To: holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de
Cc: Beowulf Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation

holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de wrote:
>
>> The Dyson bladeless and silent fans are based om a different
>> principle, a cylindrical thin air layer carries along the inner air
>> column, the air flow is then laminar (http://www.dyson.com/store/fans.asp).
>
> Which is not good if your trying to cool stuff.....

Well, the fans we are discussing expel air *out* of the box so the heat carried by the air doesn't care about the downstream laminar or turbulent state of the airflow.

However noise generation does depend on the airflow state, since the acoustic power is proportional to the 8th power of the turbulence eddy speed (Lighthill 1952, 1954).  This is why jet planes are noisy, as their turbulence is almost sonic.  The airplane or helicopter propeller tips, or the fan blade ends move closer to the sound speed, so most of the sound is generated there.

The conclusion is that to keep a computer quiet one has advantage to use large fans rotating at low speed.  For the same air/heat output one gets much less noise, especially if the airflow is laminar.


       Dan






_______________________________________________
Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf <at> beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
_______________________________________________
Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf <at> beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing
To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf



--
- - - - - - -   - - - - - - -   - - - - - - -
Nathan Moore
Winona, MN
- - - - - - -   - - - - - - -   - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -   - - - - - - -   - - - - - - -

<div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote">Actually, not all fans are set up to suck out of the box. &nbsp; &nbsp;</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>Ha!</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote">Blowing in works better for heat transfer (you're pushing cold dense air, rather than sucking warm undense air).. &nbsp;Most test equipment uses the "suck in through a filter and pressurize the box" design approach. &nbsp;I think PCs evolved the other way because the single fan was in the power supply, and you didn't want to blow hot air, preheated by the power supply, through the rest of the system. &nbsp; So it is set up as an "exhaust from PS box" fan.<br><br>
And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable speed, to boot)<br><span class="HOEnZb"><br>
Jim Lux<br></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org">beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org">beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org</a>] On Behalf Of Daniel Pfenniger<br>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:33 AM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de">holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de</a><br>
Cc: Beowulf Mailing List<br>
Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation<br><br><a href="mailto:holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de">holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de</a> wrote:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; The Dyson bladeless and silent fans are based om a different<br>
&gt;&gt; principle, a cylindrical thin air layer carries along the inner air<br>
&gt;&gt; column, the air flow is then laminar (<a href="http://www.dyson.com/store/fans.asp" target="_blank">http://www.dyson.com/store/fans.asp</a>).<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Which is not good if your trying to cool stuff.....<br><br>
Well, the fans we are discussing expel air *out* of the box so the heat carried by the air doesn't care about the downstream laminar or turbulent state of the airflow.<br><br>
However noise generation does depend on the airflow state, since the acoustic power is proportional to the 8th power of the turbulence eddy speed (Lighthill 1952, 1954). &nbsp;This is why jet planes are noisy, as their turbulence is almost sonic. &nbsp;The airplane or helicopter propeller tips, or the fan blade ends move closer to the sound speed, so most of the sound is generated there.<br><br>
The conclusion is that to keep a computer quiet one has advantage to use large fans rotating at low speed. &nbsp;For the same air/heat output one gets much less noise, especially if the airflow is laminar.<br><br><br>
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Dan<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
</div></div>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br>
Beowulf mailing list, <a href="mailto:Beowulf <at> beowulf.org">Beowulf <at> beowulf.org</a> sponsored by Penguin Computing To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit <a href="http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf" target="_blank">http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf</a><br>

_______________________________________________<br>
Beowulf mailing list, <a href="mailto:Beowulf <at> beowulf.org">Beowulf <at> beowulf.org</a> sponsored by Penguin Computing<br>
To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit <a href="http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf" target="_blank">http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf</a><br>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>- - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - - <br>Nathan Moore<br>Winona, MN<div>- - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - -</div>
<div>- - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - -&nbsp;&nbsp; - - - - - - -</div>
<br>
</div>
Vincent Diepeveen | 6 Jun 2012 19:45
Picon
Picon
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation


On Jun 6, 2012, at 7:28 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:

> I'm not sure that the acoustic noise from fans is from the actual  
> aerodynamic noises (e.g. not like a jet engine, or the pressure/ 
> shock waves from the blades).  The blade tips are probably  
> operating in a low speed incompressible flow regime.
>
> For low speed fans typical of this application, noise is much more  
> from incidental flow behavior and mechanical transmission (e.g. the  
> airflow from the blade hitting a stationary object and creating a  
> pulsed flow which then hits the package side and makes it  
> vibrate).  There's also surprisingly high noise in some fans from  
> the DC brushless motor (a cheap controller uses square edge pulses  
> to the windings, so the torque has pulses, which then are  
> mechanically transmitted to the housing.. a nice "whine" source for  
> a little 6000 rpm motor with a lot of poles)
>
> Actually, not all fans are set up to suck out of the box.     
> Blowing in works better for heat transfer (you're pushing cold  
> dense air, rather than sucking warm undense air)..  Most test  
> equipment uses the "suck in through a filter and pressurize the  
> box" design approach.  I think PCs evolved the other way because  
> the single fan was in the power supply, and you didn't want to blow  
> hot air, preheated by the power supply, through the rest of the  
> system.   So it is set up as an "exhaust from PS box" fan.

Exhausting for PC's is most effective for what you probably call 'low  
airspeed' fans when i measured some years ago with a dual k7 machine.
It was far more effective than blowing in some air.

The ballgame changes when you blow in at some massive mercilious CFM  
as getting the lower temperature sooner to the cpu is going to make
  a difference then. This is not so interesting for computers though.

I blew in with far over moped sounds using some delta fans.

Yet it's already cooled really well by then so not such an  
interesting difference.

At that huge blow in rate, it was very effective indeed, yet that  
difference i could only measure when total overkilling the machine
with those fans.

Actually the machines thin aluminium started to bend under that huge  
airpressure, but i figured that out only long after the
experiment, but that's for another time to discuss :)

>
> And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my  
> desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable speed, to boot)
>

When i googled on centrifugal fans, i saw huge prices in the hundreds  
of dollars.

Would mean the centrifugal fans are more expensive than the entire  
cluster which seems a tad odd.

So it's gonna be the cheapskate cardboard solution with some duct  
tape and glue and relative cheap fans.

> Jim Lux
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: beowulf-bounces <at> beowulf.org [mailto:beowulf- 
> bounces <at> beowulf.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Pfenniger
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:33 AM
> To: holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de
> Cc: Beowulf Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation
>
> holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de wrote:
>>
>>> The Dyson bladeless and silent fans are based om a different
>>> principle, a cylindrical thin air layer carries along the inner air
>>> column, the air flow is then laminar (http://www.dyson.com/store/ 
>>> fans.asp).
>>
>> Which is not good if your trying to cool stuff.....
>
> Well, the fans we are discussing expel air *out* of the box so the  
> heat carried by the air doesn't care about the downstream laminar  
> or turbulent state of the airflow.
>
> However noise generation does depend on the airflow state, since  
> the acoustic power is proportional to the 8th power of the  
> turbulence eddy speed (Lighthill 1952, 1954).  This is why jet  
> planes are noisy, as their turbulence is almost sonic.  The  
> airplane or helicopter propeller tips, or the fan blade ends move  
> closer to the sound speed, so most of the sound is generated there.
>
> The conclusion is that to keep a computer quiet one has advantage  
> to use large fans rotating at low speed.  For the same air/heat  
> output one gets much less noise, especially if the airflow is laminar.
>
>
> 	Dan
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf <at> beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin  
> Computing To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe)  
> visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
> _______________________________________________
> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf <at> beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin  
> Computing
> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit  
> http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf

Lux, Jim (337C | 6 Jun 2012 22:07
Picon
Picon
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation


-----Original Message-----
From: Vincent Diepeveen [mailto:diep <at> xs4all.nl] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:46 AM
To: Lux, Jim (337C)
Cc: Daniel.Pfenniger <at> unige.ch; holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de; Beowulf Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation

On Jun 6, 2012, at 7:28 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:
> And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my  
> desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable speed, to boot)
>

When i googled on centrifugal fans, i saw huge prices in the hundreds  
of dollars.

Would mean the centrifugal fans are more expensive than the entire  
cluster which seems a tad odd.

So it's gonna be the cheapskate cardboard solution with some duct  
tape and glue and relative cheap fans.

---

The fan in my dell is plastic and cheap.. I've seen them surplus for under $5..

But what you want is often sold as a "squirrel cage blower"..

The advantages are:
a) good performance against backpressure
b) lots of very small blades, so the "blade repetition rate" noise is high frequency, low amplitude and
easily absorbed
c) they give decent performance at low rotation rates (500-1000 RPM)

they are the dominant device used in, for instance, heating and airconditioning.

A good cheap source is from automotive scrap yards.  The blower that pushes the air through the heater core
and all the various ducts in a car is well suited to pushing a lot of air through a lot of loss.  12VDC
typically.  Make sure you get the housing too, not just the squirrel cage and motor. This may require a bit of
hacksawing on modern cars.

Ones from upscale cars are quieter than more downscale cars.  So find that Mercedes scrap, not the stuff from
the DDR (Do Trabants even have heaters, or do you wear your good socialist overcoat)

Here's a typical item on eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Squirrel-Cage-Shaded-Pole-Blower-Fan-220-CFM-Dayton-60-available-/190685633240?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c65bfdad8

Here's a 12VDC one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/454-CFM-12-VOLT-DC-SPAL-007-A42-32D-3-SPEED-CAB-FAN-BLOWER-16-1406-/270917027943?_trksid=p4340.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D555000%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D10%26meid%3D8950398135996031222%26pid%3D100009%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D1

I've also seen somewhat larger versions of this as an appliance.. plastic housing, designed to be set on the
floor to blow air for cooling or helping to dry  recently mopped floors or wet carpets.

Here's one from a computer
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=16-1151&catname=electric

I should point out that they make these in huge sizes (as in 1 million CFM) for applications like underground
mine ventilation
Prentice Bisbal | 6 Jun 2012 22:18
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation


On 06/06/2012 04:07 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:
>
>
>
> I've also seen somewhat larger versions of this as an appliance.. plastic housing, designed to be set on
the floor to blow air for cooling or helping to dry  recently mopped floors or wet carpets.
>
>

You should be able to get one of these plastic housing ones from a
janitorial supply company or an emergency services supply company.
Janitors use them to dry wet floors, and firefighters use them to vent a
house when CO limits are too high, or there's too much smoke in a house.

You can get one from McMaster-Carr for $346.67 or $451.67. Click on
"portable blowers" in the link below:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-air-blowers/

--
Prentice

Vincent Diepeveen | 7 Jun 2012 08:47
Picon
Picon
Favicon

Re: Desktop fan reccommendation

This is all huge decibel junk man.
So any centrifugal fan is out of the question if it produces that  
much noise right next to my desk :)

In general spoken i don't understand why so many persons accept from  
manufacturers those huge soundlevels.

The fans i got here, the 18 CM ones are 700 RPM  <at>  19 decibel, you  
don't hear them.
The 1500 RPM aerocools 12 CM, you do hear them, but with their own  
rubbers and 1.5 meters away it's acceptable noise,
though it depends upon the heatsinks you got a lot and i had to buy  
some floor isolating material that absorbs a lot of decibels,
to quiet down things more.

Requirement 1 is : it must be low noise of course.

Would be very bad to have something of 60-100 decibel next to  
professional sound equipment.

On Jun 6, 2012, at 10:07 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:

>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vincent Diepeveen [mailto:diep <at> xs4all.nl]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:46 AM
> To: Lux, Jim (337C)
> Cc: Daniel.Pfenniger <at> unige.ch; holway <at> th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de;  
> Beowulf Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Desktop fan reccommendation
>
>
> On Jun 6, 2012, at 7:28 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:
>> And a lot of higher performance PCs (like the Dell sitting on my
>> desk) use centrifugal fans (with variable speed, to boot)
>>
>
> When i googled on centrifugal fans, i saw huge prices in the hundreds
> of dollars.
>
> Would mean the centrifugal fans are more expensive than the entire
> cluster which seems a tad odd.
>
> So it's gonna be the cheapskate cardboard solution with some duct
> tape and glue and relative cheap fans.
>
> ---
>
> The fan in my dell is plastic and cheap.. I've seen them surplus  
> for under $5..
>
> But what you want is often sold as a "squirrel cage blower"..
>
> The advantages are:
> a) good performance against backpressure
> b) lots of very small blades, so the "blade repetition rate" noise  
> is high frequency, low amplitude and easily absorbed
> c) they give decent performance at low rotation rates (500-1000 RPM)
>
> they are the dominant device used in, for instance, heating and  
> airconditioning.
>
> A good cheap source is from automotive scrap yards.  The blower  
> that pushes the air through the heater core and all the various  
> ducts in a car is well suited to pushing a lot of air through a lot  
> of loss.  12VDC typically.  Make sure you get the housing too, not  
> just the squirrel cage and motor. This may require a bit of  
> hacksawing on modern cars.
>
> Ones from upscale cars are quieter than more downscale cars.  So  
> find that Mercedes scrap, not the stuff from the DDR (Do Trabants  
> even have heaters, or do you wear your good socialist overcoat)
>
>
> Here's a typical item on eBay
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Squirrel-Cage-Shaded-Pole-Blower-Fan-220- 
> CFM-Dayton-60-available-/190685633240? 
> pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c65bfdad8
>
> Here's a 12VDC one
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/454-CFM-12-VOLT-DC-SPAL-007-A42-32D-3-SPEED- 
> CAB-FAN-BLOWER-16-1406-/270917027943? 
> _trksid=p4340.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D555000%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao% 
> 3D1%26asc%3D10%26meid%3D8950398135996031222%26pid%3D100009%26prg% 
> 3D1005%26rk%3D1
>
>
> I've also seen somewhat larger versions of this as an appliance..  
> plastic housing, designed to be set on the floor to blow air for  
> cooling or helping to dry  recently mopped floors or wet carpets.
>
> Here's one from a computer
> http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=16-1151&catname=electric
>
> I should point out that they make these in huge sizes (as in 1  
> million CFM) for applications like underground mine ventilation


Gmane