Fan Motor Research Articles

Active noise control for centrifugal and axial fans

Fans are widely used in industry for heat dissipation or airflow production. It is achieved by driving a motor of fan to rotate a number of blades. Most industrial fans can be categorized into one of two general types: centrifugal fans and axial fans. However, fan noise is loud when the motor speed is high. This article develops using active noise control (ANC) system to reduce noise from both centrifugal and axial fans. By integrating loudspeakers and microphones, we present multiple-channel feedback ANC structure with the filtered-X least mean square (FXLMS) algorithm to simultaneously reduce noise from the inlet and the outlet of the fans. Several realtime experiments verify that the proposed method and experimental setup not only reduces the narrowband noise but also achieves the global cancellation of the fan noise.

Challenges for On-Site Automated Ultrasonic Phased Array Inspection of Composite Aircraft

Aircraft maintenance represents 10-20% of the overall operating cost, and heavy C-check and D-check maintenance demands NDT inspection of 100% skin area of composite material fuselages. Delamination and low velocity Barely Visible Impact Damages (BVID) are typical in-service damages found in skin causing small to large sub-surface damages with little or no surface indication. These damages are difficult to detect during manual visual inspection. Conventional manual ultrasonic and advanced Phased Array (PA) scanning of skin followed by data interpretation and analysis for damage sizing is time consuming and cost-inefficient for on-site application; hence a potential task to be automated or robotized. Automated PA inspection by magnetic-adhesion based manipulators, crawlers and scanners have led to rapid inspection rates and lowering the cost of inspection in oil and gas sectors. The composite skin surfaces are painted, smooth and non-magnetic, which invalidates the use of current magnetic adhesion based crawlers for inspection. Despite some previous efforts, the development of automated PA inspection of skin surfaces using a mobile robot is still an unsolved problem. This work is a part of ongoing EU-H2020 project ‘CompInnova’ which aims to develop an integrated NDT approach using combined PA and Infrared Thermography inspection of the fuselage-skin through separate inspection modules mounted on a mobile robot, that will lead to cost-effective combination for on-site automated inspection. A novel vortex based wheeled mobile robot was developed for traversing over the fuselage using adhesion forces generated by means of Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) motors [4]. This robot was designed to carry a PA NDT module [4], but with restrictions on payload (1 Kg.) and minimum water couplant usage requirements. Thus this work presents the development challenges of the PA module for automated PA inspection and to meet the requirements for its integration with robot. PA inspection results obtained by robotic scanning of laminates with impact damages, are evaluated for assessing the functionality and performance of the PA module.

Development of a virtual fan airflow meter for electronically commutated motor fan systems

Airflow measurement is essential to efficiently operate air handling units (AHUs) in commercial buildings. Due to the space and cost limitations for physical meters, many virtual airflow meters have been developed for induction motor driven fan systems. On the other hand, electronically commutated motor (ECM) fans have been widely applied in AHUs. However, the applicability of virtual airflow meters to ECM fan systems remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a virtual airflow meter for ECM fan systems using measured fan head and motor input power and speed. First, a virtual airflow meter model is developed by referring to an ECM fan energy model and the corresponding calibration procedure is established, then the developed model is calibrated using the manufacturer data of a 7,865 m3/h ECM fan, including fan airflow rate, head and motor input power at different motor speeds, and validated in a test AHU with an array of four calibrated ECM fans. The validation result shows that the developed meter can accurately calculate the total AHU airflow rate with the root mean squared error of 660 m3/h and the normalized root mean squared error of 4%.

Improvement of a cement rotary kiln performance using artificial neural network

In order to investigate the effect of parameters and system optimization, the processes must be modeled first. Cement rotary kiln systems are complex because of non-linear, time invariant and full of behavioral uncertainty where the mathematical modeling of the plant is impossible. Artificial neural network (ANN) is one of the best tools for improving the performance of such processes. In this study, the operational data from a cement factory are gathered and the relationships between variables analyzed via using ANN via MATLAB toolbox. ANN proposed 2.7 and 865 rpm for kiln and fan motor speed respectively and 4599.7 Ncm/h for total grate flowrate as optimum values. This research shows that using ANN for improving the performance of rotary kiln is effective and by optimization of operational parameters through ANN and applying them in the rotary kiln, higher production in the cement industry is accessible.

Comparison Between Coreless and Yokeless Stator Designs in Fully-Superconducting Propulsion Motors

Hybrid electric propulsion could be the solution to the ambitious environmental targets of the aerospace industry. Fully-superconducting machines have the potential to deliver the step-change in specific torque, power, and efficiency capabilities required for large civil transport aircraft applications. However, fully-superconducting machines are still in their infancy. This article investigates the electromagnetic design of two different stator design concepts for an ac fully-superconducting machine for an aerospace distributed fan motor application. A benchmark aerospace specification of 1 MW was chosen and the design of a conventional permanent-magnet machine was used to assess the performance of the two equivalent fully-superconducting ac motor designs. Following the guidelines from an experimental study of the losses in a small ac stator prototype with MgB2 coils, a fully-superconducting air-cored stator design and a new yokeless stator design are proposed. Both ac superconducting machine designs use superconducting bulk magnets mounted on a rotor core and an MgB2 superconducting stator winding. This article discusses the key design issues of the two stator layouts in relation to the current aerospace targets for efficiency and power density.

Vibration Diagnosis of Fan Motor Excited by Swing Motion

Vibration Diagnosis of Fan Motor Excited by Swing Motion

Understanding of vibration and noise characteristics of inverter-driven fan motors and proposal of sound quality improvement methods

Understanding of vibration and noise characteristics of inverter-driven fan motors and proposal of sound quality improvement methods

Application of Magnetic Metal 3-D Printing on the Integration of Axial-Flow Impeller Fan Motor Design

This article aims to implement a fan motor design with an airfoil-shaped rotor via the newly developed 3-D printing method. This integrated design is originated from a flux-switching permanent magnet motor, in which the motor rotor can directly produce airflow without any external impellers. Such a design and manufacturing process can effectively enhance the robustness of the fan motor structure and increase its power density. This article adopts 3-D finite element analysis for electromagnetic and fluid field simulation. Moreover, a new metal 3-D printing method with a low core loss feature during high frequency operation is applied. Finally, the experimental results with a prototype are presented to verify the designed performance.

Development of an efficiency model for electronically commutated motor fan systems in air handling units

Motor-driven fan systems in air handling units (AHUs) account for 15.9% of the electricity consumption in commercial buildings. Currently electronically commutated motors (ECMs) have seen increasing applications to replace induction motors for energy savings. While efficiency models for motor-driven fan systems are essential for building energy management, there is no valid efficiency model for ECM fan systems. Therefore, this paper is to develop and validate an efficiency model for ECM fan systems, which can be applied to evaluate the motor input power at given fan airflow rate and head. First, an efficiency model is developed and calibrated using the manufacturer data of a 5.2 kW ECM fan. Innovatively a fan efficiency correction coefficient is introduced to consider the bias of affinity laws and the correlation between motor efficiency and motor shaft power is verified. Then the calibrated efficiency model is validated in an AHU with an array of four calibrated ECM fans. It was found that the proposed fan efficiency correction coefficient can improve the fan efficiency model accuracy by 20% at 20% rated motor speed. Moreover, the validation results show that the developed efficiency model can accurately evaluate the motor input power with an error of 0.096 kW or 1.8%.

Fair weather electric field meter for atmospheric science platforms

A miniature field meter is described for measuring fair weather electric fields (of magnitude ~100 Vm-1). It is a brushless field mill constructed from machine-cut parts, driven by a computer fan motor. It resolves fair weather fields at ~1 mV per (Vm−1), with a time response of 0.65 s. It implements self-calibration through combining a mechanical shutter with a programmable bipolar calibration electrode. It has a mass of 86 g, dimensions 4 cm × 4 cm x 8 cm and consumes <100 mA at 6 V. This design will facilitate new climate-related measurements using balloons and remotely piloted aircraft.

Axial Magnetic Force Analysis and Optimized Design for Single-Phase BLDC Slim Fan Motors

The typical manner to generate the axial magnetic force is to utilize the magnetic path design by upward magnet offset (UMO) that is the permanent magnet (PM) shifted upward relative to the stator in the single-phase BLDC slim fan motors. The other special method is to increase a permeable material, with an air-gap (AG <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">i-m</sub> ), under the PM to generate the axial magnetic force. The axial magnetic force and its ripples are the important factors in the slim fan design and will further affect the performances of the acoustic noise and axial vibration. In this article, a magnetic circuit model is constructed to execute the mathematical theoretical analysis of the magnetic field. The trait of the phase opposition between the magnetic force ripples generated in the stator core and lower iron plate is used to optimize the ripple of the total axial magnetic force by the offset effect, and in the meantime, to remain the desirous average value. A 3-D model is created to execute the finite-element analysis and simulation. The cross-matching simulation among the different degrees of UMO and AGi-m is executed and an optimized model is defined. A solid model of a slim fan motor is verified in the practical experiment, and the results present the effectiveness in the reduction of acoustic noise and vibration.

An improved part-load airflow and power model for fan-powered terminal units with electronically commutated motors

Part-load performance models for fans driven by electronically commutated motors in fan-powered terminal units were developed based on the analysis of data from 36 series and parallel units provided by four manufacturers. Fan motors ranged from 0.33 to 1 hp (249 to 746 W) and maximum external static pressures from 0.5 to 0.75 in. w.g. (125 to 188 Pa). Part-load performance was estimated from the intersection of the duct system and fan curves. The intersection of the two curves determined the external static pressure for estimating both fan airflow and power. Part-load airflow and power fractions were then estimated by using the airflow and power at the maximum airflow controller setting as the reference. The part-load curve tracked close to the fan law curve at airflow fractions above 0.4. The deviation between the two curves was 18.8% at an airflow fraction of 0.4 and increased at lower airflow fractions. The power consumption of motor controller may contribute to the deviation from the fan law curve at airflow fractions below 0.4. The model can estimate the part-load performance for fan-powered terminal units with electronically commutated motors in building simulation programs considering the wide range in fan motor sizes and maximum static pressures in the dataset.

Determination of the real energy efficiency of the inlet ventilation air heater and air curtain

The energy efficiency of the heater depends on the U-value at certain energy costs. The article considers the calculation method for the heater performance efficiency in the inlet ventilation and air curtain of the garages for 100 and 75 motor vehicles of the largest industrial enterprise rendering transport services in transportation of loose cargoes, including ores and metal-containing products, large-sized and heavy cargoes, hazardous cargoes etc. The ventilation systems of the surveyed garages are combined with air heating. In order to determine the efficiency of the air handling units, the heat carrier flow through the heater, heat carrier temperature and the air temperature at the inlet and outlet of the air heater, the flow of heated air and the phase currents through the fan motor have been measured. Basing on the instrumental measurements carried out, the calculation results for the air heater thermal performance and the air consumption have been presented, and the determination method for the real U-value and the thermal efficiency of the examined heaters has been provided. Recommendations have also been made to improve their performance. This method is an important hands-on recommendation for the engineers serving air handling units and for the departments developing energy-saving activities for industrial enterprises.

Electromagnetic analysis of fully superconducting motor for electric aircraft

In order to reduce carbon emissions, there is considerable interest in all-electric aircraft for transportation. Fully superconductor motors will be required to meet the high specific weight requirements, which are >10 kW/kg for the NASA N3-X plane. This paper summarizes the results of electromagnetic analysis generated using the FEMM magnetics code, along with the Lua scripting language, to determine the optimum motor configuration for a 4 MW, 3000 rpm fan motor. In considering ac loss, the analysis assumes Bi-2212 stator windings and both iron-tooth and air-core designs are considered. The best selected case consists of an 8-pole configuration utilizing an armature current density of 100 A/mm2.

Experimental detection of defects in variable speed fan bearing using stator current monitoring

This article presents an experimental contribution to detect and diagnose mechanical faults, including bearing faults, which are the cause of most faults in single or variable speed fan motor systems. For this, we proceed to the extraction of the characteristics appearing in the supply current signal of the diagnostic system, by the application of three complementary approaches. During our experimental study, we found that one of the best methods for diagnosing single or multiple mechanical faults in induction motor systems is MCSA (Motors Current Signature Analysis), to which we applied the FFT (Fast Fourier transform) spectral analysis completed by the park vector approach orbital (OPVA) applied to the components of the current stator vector. In order to confirm the reliability of our diagnosis, these two approaches have been supplemented by the Gabor spectrogram (STFT). The practical validation of this plural methodology, in the case of a bearing degradation, was carried out on a variable speed fan motor of 0.25 HP. The results obtained by this fault detection technique are satisfactory and interesting because they make it possible to anticipate breakdowns and, therefore, to program and control the maintenance costs of industrial systems without affecting production.

Optimized design of permanent magnet brushless DC motor for ceiling fan applications

The objective of this research to design a compact electrical motor for a ceiling fan to save more electric power. Presently, single phase induction motor is used for ceiling fan application. Losses generated by single phase induction are more and hence efficiency is lower. In addition, overload is not handled by single phase induction motor whereas DC models can handle a lot of overload quite easily. In induction motor, the rotor frequency is lesser than stator frequency i.e rotor frequency is slip times the stator frequency. AC induction motor uses capacitor in anyone of its phases to excite and rotate the machine, so it is larger in size. In this paper, the axial flux type of permanent magnet machine configuration is selected to propose the optimum design of ceiling fan machine. The proposed configuration has single stator and single rotor for the axial flux permanent magnet Brushless Direct current Motor (BLDC) machine. By using the magnet software, the analysis of proposed machine has been done in terms of various aspects such as the induced voltage, phase current and air gap flux density.

Analisa Tingkat Resiko pada Komponen Pembangkit Listrik di Kota Balikpapan Dengan Metode FMEA

Company X is a power plant that supplies Balikpapan city electricity. In order to maintain the availability of electricity, regular maintenance is carried out, predictive, preventive and corrective maintenance in company X. The maintenance scheme of each component is based on the level of risk and priority scale. In this study, the determination of the level of risk and priority scale for each component uses Failure Mode And Effect Analysis (FMEA). The subject of the research was the W20V320 engine type diesel fuel component in the X power plant in Balikpapan City. Maintenance data for 2 years, 2017 and 2018, with 420 failure modes from 67 components used as research data. Engines are grouped into 12 systems and each system has a RPN (Risk Priority Number) value. In the RPN the Severity, Occurance, and Detection values are arranged based on company X's condition at the time the report is written. The highest RPN value is found in the Radiator Motor Fan component in the Radiator system and the LO Separator component in the Lube Oil Supply System which is 144. Components with an RPN value> 40 receive predictive and preventive maintenance services, while components with an RPN value 40 mendapatkan jensi perawatan prediktif dan preventif, sedangkan komponen dengan nilai RPN<20 mendapatkan perawatan corrective. Kata kunci : FMEA, Maintenance, RPN

Investigation into Operating Conditions of a Dry Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower at the TETs-12 Cogeneration Power Station of PAO Mosenergo

The results of the comprehensive investigation into operation of a dry mechanical draft cooling tower (DMDCT) of a PGU-220 power unit at the TETs-12 cogeneration power station of PAO Mosenergo are presented. Thermal performance of the main and auxiliary DMDCTs and their individual sections is examined. To determine the cooling-air flowrate, a rake consisting of 11 velocity transducers and thermocouples was installed at the fan outlet above the fan diffuser of the examined section. The DMDCT heat balances calculated on the basis of water- and cooling-air conditions agree with each other with a maximum error of 8%. The overall thermal performance indices of the main and auxiliary DMDCTs were lower than those specified by the supplier. Performance of DMDCT fans was investigated at different blade angles α. According to our calculations, the effect of better fan performance in terms of an increase in the power of a steam turbine in a combined-cycle unit at α > 15° does not compensate for an increase in the power consumption of fan motors and even reduces the amount of delivered power. Therefore, the range of α = 10°–15° for the fans of the main DMDCT may be considered optimal. As to the auxiliary cooling tower, an increase in the air flow at α = 17° can offer a wider operation range for the fans at high ambient air temperatures, which is important considering limitations on the supply temperature (below 35°С) of the auxiliary equipment cooling water. The investigation of DMDCT operation during the cold season yielded the dependence of the minimum heat load of DMDCT, required for its safe operation, on the ambient air temperature. The study into the performance of the humidification system revealed that its efficiency is inadequate. The best solution to this problem is to replace the normal humidification nozzles with nozzles with smaller diameter holes to improve water dispersion that will prevent the water drops from falling onto the ground and improve the efficiency of the humidification system while decreasing the water flow to the humidification nozzles.

Prototype Design of CO2, CH4 and SO2 Toxic Gas Detectors in the Room Using Microcontroller-Based Fuzzy Logic

This study discusses how to design a prototype of a CO2, CH4 and SO2 gas detector in the room using three MQ135, MQ136 and MQ7 gas sensors. CO2, CH4 and SO2 gases are types of gases that are categorized as dangerous to humans if they are often exposed directly and have an impact on the health of the person and can cause death if they are too often exposed to these three gases. CO2, CH4 and SO2 are generated from gases coming out of a vacuum, a volcanic area containing sulfur sulfur levels. The human health impacts exposed cause acute respiratory problems. The research made prototype of CO2, CH4 and S02 toxin detectors equipped with three sensors. This device developed a sensor that is used to detect gas in closed air using a gas sensor by adding a gas pollutant suction system to the three sensors of various types based on the level of gas sensitivity. The results of testing the CO2, CH4 and SO2 gas gauges using the fire extinguisher test, residual manure, peat and sulfur powder using sensors MQ 135, MQ 136 and MQ2 with fuzzy rule base logic for motor speed produce levels of gas content close to hazardous, hazardous, very dangerous fund man., DC Fan motor speed output as a neutralizing room conditions approaching the danger level of the fan will automatically rotate to suck the gas content in it, the more dangerous the gas content in the room, the faster the DC fan motor speed will be to neutralize the gas inside.Keywords:

PORTABLE SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM WITH INBUILT PV MODULE FOR STANDALONE FORCED CONVECTION OPERATION

A portable solar drying system with inbuilt PV module has been designed, fabricated and installed at Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of Engineering &amp; Technology, Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. It is having a 1.1304 m2 absorber area and 3 m2 drying area. The dryer could accommodate 10 numbers of trays of size 0.3 m2). The brushless direct current (BLDC) motor fans of two 3 W capacity were operated directly from the energy generated by the PV panel of 10 W capacity installed in the solar dryer. As a part of the single batch load test performance analysis was tested using 3 kg of freshly harvested Fenugreek, Spinach, Chilli. After 6 h drying, 75 to 90 % of moisture has been removed where the solar radiation intensity measured was between 600-800 W/m2. Thus it is concluded that besides decreasing the overall transportation costs, the solar dryer with on-site efficient drying capability of food crops is highly beneficial in reducing the damage of produce and could retain sufficient nutrients.