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High efficiency evaporator fan motors for commercial refrigeration applications.

Number: pap. 2068

Author(s) : BECKER B. R., FRICKE B. A.

Summary

Evaporator fan motors used in commercial refrigeration applications are fractional horsepower in size, responsible for moving air across the evaporator coil, and typically run at one speed. Historically, shaded-pole motors have been the most commonly used evaporator fan motors in commercial refrigeration equipment and beverage vending machines. Electronically commutated (EC) motors, also known as brushless DC motors, became widely commercialized in the late 1980s, and their use in commercial refrigeration applications has increased within the last 10 to 15 years because of economic incentives and regulatory requirements. Another motor type, the permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, offers a mid-point between shaded-pole and EC motor price and efficiency levels. A permanent magnet synchronous (PMS) AC motor that can directly use grid-supplied AC current without the need to rectify to DC, has recently been commercialized. This new motor has the potential to significantly reduce the energy consumption of evaporator fans in commercial refrigeration equipment. In this paper, the results of field demonstrations, consisting of side-by-side measurements of the power consumption of the new PMS motor technology versus shaded-pole, PSC, or EC evaporator fan motors in identical refrigerated display cases, are presented. Measured quantities include fan motor power, current, power factor, display case discharge and return air temperatures, and ambient store temperature. Initial results from the field demonstrations indicate that the new PMS motor technology is approximately 34% more energy efficient than existing EC motors and nearly 79% more energy efficient than shaded-pole motors. In addition, the new motor exhibits a power factor of approximately 0.83, which is on average 40% greater than that of existing evaporator fan motors.

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Pages: 8 p.

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Details

  • Original title: High efficiency evaporator fan motors for commercial refrigeration applications.
  • Record ID : 30018633
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2016 Purdue Conferences. 16th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2016/07/11

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