Smoothflow

Smoothflow is our commitment to producing the most efficient centrifugal fans you can buy.

Most people can relate to the impact of the Kyoto summit in 1997. This shaped the political decisions of many governments and businesses forcing them to face up to the impact of CO2 emissions.

These developments encouraged RHF fans to invest in an ambitious programme to dramatically increase the efficiency of its fans to become the most energy efficient in the industry.

Inefficient energy use has a negative impact not only on the environment but also the operational costs of any business. The capital cost of any fan is dwarfed by its energy consumption over the course of its lifetime.

At RHF we chose six different designs of high efficiency fans from our existing range for examination. The designs chosen represented those most widely used within the industry. Each design was subjected to many tests consisting of modification to impellor flow lines, entry and exit angles, curvature of blades, together with inlet assemblies, casing proportions and cut-off positions. Laser cutting with an accuracy of 0.1mm coupled with our tab and slot fabrication technology played a major part in ensuring the precision of the incremental changes made to impellor flow lines – necessary for accuracy and repeatability. Other special purpose machines enabled close tolerances to be maintained, particularly with respect to the specially designed aerodynamic assemblies. We produced over 30 prototypes and carried out over 200 tests.

The results of our research and development were incredible, we observed 12% efficiency gains compared to our existing fans and those of our competitors. This increase in efficiency has become even more relevant over the last decade as energy costs have spiralled. The reality is that the energy savings from our fans far outweigh their capital cost. The majority of our customers save the capital cost of the fan within two years. Over the lifetime of the fan our customers save several times the initial capital cost.