The Benefits of BiPlane™ Louver Dampers for Isolation and Control
A damper is a multi-element flow control device used for industrial airflow regulation. Poor airflow management can have many detrimental performance effects, such as increased energy costs, more frequent maintenance, and lower process efficiency. There are many different damper designs, and each is ideally suited to a specific application. This article will focus specifically on the unique Forney BiPlaneTM Louver damper, which has numerous benefits when compared to traditional designs.
The BiPlaneTM Louver damper is designed to provide both isolation and flow control functions to air handling systems. Listed below are some unique features and functions of the BiPlaneTM Louver damper design and a brief explanation of how these functions solve some problems typically faced with dampers in general.
Through-Blade Airflow: The blades of a BiPlaneTM damper do not have the airfoil design typical of other more-traditional dampers. Instead, the blades resemble the wings of a biplane. The blades allow air to pass through instead of around them. This significantly reduces the pressure drop across the damper.
Sloped Sealing Seat: In horizontal installations, particulate matter like dust may build up near the sealing seat of the damper. This dust can build up to the point at which it can prevent the effective sealing of the damper. The Forney BiPlaneTM design has a sloped seal seat that prevents the build-up of dust, ensuring reliable sealing.
Variable Blade Thickness: The blade thickness or blade chord can be changed to account for specific system operating conditions. For example, high-pressure air flow will require thicker blades to prevent them from deforming under the differential pressure across the damper.
Superior Sealing: The Forney BiPlaneTM Louver damper can be configured with seal air which pressurizes the cavity inside the blades of the damper. If no seal air system is incorporated, the damper still has better sealing capability when compared to conventional, airless-sealing damper designs.
Applications and Use Cases
The BiPlane™ Louver damper is used for both flow control and isolation. This makes it useful in a wide range of applications, some of which are listed below:
Furnace and boiler draft
Flue gas
HRSG Bypass
HVAC systems
Gas turbine inlet and outlet
Fan inlet
Scrubbers
Precipitators
Types of Dampers
Forney offers a range of standard damper systems in addition to the BiPlaneTM Louver damper, as listed below:
Louver Dampers: Louver dampers are typically used to balance or control airflow. The louvers can be in a parallel or an opposed blade configuration.
Guillotine Dampers: These dampers are primarily used for isolation and not for controlling airflow. Guillotine dampers are available for round or rectangular ducting and can have a single or double-blade arrangement.
Round Dampers: A round damper is available in a range of configurations, including BiPlaneTM, louver, and zero-leak o-ring. These dampers can include replaceable seals made from a corrosion-resistant material.
BiPlaneTM LouverDampers: These dampers have a louver design that allows airflow through the blade. These dampers are used for flow control and isolation and are available in round or rectangular configurations.
BiPlane™ Dampers
BiPlaneTM dampers are designed with a range of features that improve their reliability, cost, and maintenance requirements when compared to standard double-louver dampers.
1. Actuating Torque: The BiPlaneTM louver design needs approximately half the torque of a comparable standard louver damper.
2. High-Temperature Operation: The BiPlaneTM Louver damper is thermally elastic, which means that when operated at elevated temperatures, it will still perform as required.
3. Small Form Factor: The air-sealed BiPlaneTM Louver damper has a smaller form factor when compared to a double-louver design as the blades themselves are pressurized as per Figure 2 below:
4. Low Weight: Optimized blade design with an internal cavity reduces overall damper weight.
5. Reduced Pressure Drop: BiPlaneTM louvers have the lowest pressure drop of any other type of louver. This is due to the BiPlaneTM blade allowing airflow through the center.
Reliable BiPlane™ Louver Dampers with Forney
The Forney BiPlaneTM Louver damper design is the most reliable louver-style airflow control and isolation solution. It has the added benefits of increased process efficiency, reduced maintenance, and lower energy requirements. These benefits are due to the unique louver design that not only allows air to flow through it in the open position but also allows for a low-profile system for high-pressure air sealing.
Contact a Forney representative today to learn more about how our BiPlaneTM damper can provide reliable airflow control and isolation for your plant.
Forney Corporation has over 93 years of experience manufacturing the safest and most reliable combustion equipment for more than 1,000 power plants in over 100 countries. Customers have proved the quality and durability of Forney’s state-of-the-art front-end combustion components in many industries across the globe. Forney igniters, burners, burner management systems, flame detectors, dampers, and duct burners have provided efficiencies and cost savings for plant operators in electric utilities, chemical processing, pulp & paper, and cement industries.
