Vacuum street sweeper
Actiflow simulated the airflow through the entire vehicle and inside the fan and its housing
Ravo, which is part of the international Fayat Group, is a Dutch company with more than 50 years of experience in the development and manufacturing of vacuum street sweepers. These vehicles are sold worldwide, so you probably already saw one of their machines cleaning your street.
An important component of a street sweeper is the fan that creates a low pressure inside the machine, in order to remove all kinds of garbage from the streets. Ravo wanted to know if there were still possibilities to improve the design of their fan, which is already used for many years. They also wanted to know if the same performance could also be reached with a modified design that would fit better into the available spaces inside the vehicle.
Actiflow started by simulating the airflow through the entire vehicle, and compared the simulated fan performance with the specifications of the manufacturer. As such, the CFD simulations were validated. Next, the airflow inside the fan and its housing was analyzed in detail. As a result of this analysis we could formulate several points of improvement.
In the second phase of the project, Actiflow designed a new fan, taking into account the wishes of RAVO for modified dimensions, and the points of improvement formulated in phase 1 of the project. The result of the project was a new design for the fan and its housing, with the desired dimensions, and with an improved efficiency.
