News 7
ErP: Is EC the easy solution?
THE INVENTOR OF EC technology, Gert Haeussermann, coined a phrase when it was first introduced to try to allay the fears of the new technology, writes Geoff Lockwood, technical director at ebm- papst.
Haeussermann often quoted ‘EC is easy’ to counter the fear of the perceived complexity of the then new technology. In recent years this phrase has taken on a new meaning as many believe that EC is the easy way to meet the new EU ecodesign requirements for fans.
But this masks other solutions and innovations as great ways in meeting the ever rising challenge for higher energy efficient fans. Changing the motor of a fan from a low efficient AC motor to an EC motor is a simple way to increase the overall efficiency of the fan, especially if the motor is an external rotor motor. Modern EC technology is often so small it fits in the same space as the old AC motor. However, fan manufacturers are doing a lot more than just changing the motor.
EC technology is not new and has been an established motor technology in the market place for more than 10 years.
It is undeserved to think that the fan industry has done nothing else ever since. The industry invests
millions of Euros each year in all aspects of fan technology, not just motor technology. The ebm-papst group for example invested €86m last year and more went into aerodynamic research than EC technology.
The fan industry continually develops ever more energy efficient fans, and today’s investments are moving aerodynamic research beyond text book design.
Impellers are no longer designed using standard
rules. Now they are developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and then challenging those models with empirical analysis by tracking flow trajectory of individual molecules of air through the fan using lasers.
The acquired knowledge from this analysis is then used to adapt the theoretical CFD ever closer to reality. The R&D team can then think radically and investigate their new ideas with ever more reliable computational tools. Ebm-papst’s own RadiCal centrifugal fan is an example how engineers have pushed the boundaries of fan technology. The shape came from a better understanding of the fluid flow through the fan.
The objective was not just lower energy consumption but also lower noise. The result, spurred on by the challenges of the ecodesign directive, is a significantly more energy efficient centrifugal fan that meets the ErP limits with AC motor technology. So what about EC
technology? It is the icing on the cake that adds to the success of the large investment in fan aerodynamics and in many ways EC is an easy solution.
However, the industry is not relying on just this one solution, and will continue to innovate fan technology and strive for even greater energy efficiency.
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ACR News February 2015
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