ebm-papst Fans, Blowers and Technology

by Steve Berestecky, Director - Business Development.

Ever wonder why a room bright with natural light makes you feel happy? Or why you feel more sluggish on gray days? Human beings use all of their senses to interact with and interpret the environment. What we see, feel or taste may affect our physiological, emotional and psychological condition. The same thing goes with our reaction toward lighting. What we see in an environment will be interpreted by our brains and set our moods and feelings.

Light can and does affect our decision-making. In retail, lighting influences the consumer’s decision on what and if to purchase.  In healthcare, the use of light and colors can have a positive impact on a patient’s attitude and outlook. In architecture, lighting has a dramatic psychological effect on how individuals perceive a space and how we feel and act when we are in it. And in advertising, lighting has a demonstrable effect on what captures our attention. 

To create a psychologically positive space, it is important for the team of architects and lighting designers to make the lighting environment relevant to the purpose of the space. Lighting designers consider several things in creating a psychologically suitable environment: 

1. The number of lights – They must provide enough lights around the space so that people can recognize which spots are off-limits as well as feel secure as they explore the space. 

2. The mood – The proper ambience will evoke the desired mood in people entering the space. 

3. The concept – The lighting must represent the purpose of the space. To make it more interesting, some decorative lights may be added. 

The science behind the findings 

Over a century ago, English pioneer and nurse Florence Nightingale was one of the first to recognize light as “necessary for a faster recovery” of the patient undergoing medical care. Since then, numerous research efforts have demonstrated the impact of light on human well-being. American oculist and light therapist Jacob Liberman, for example, observed that, under optimal lighting conditions, office workers were able to concentrate up to eight hours – but only remaining fully focused for two hours when exposed to artificial light. British psychologist Angela Wright, who explored the correlation between light, color and patterns of behavior, noted that light can produce specific psychological reactions, such as a feeling of ease.  

Biological effects of light 

Light exerts considerable influence on specific biochemical processes within our body. The hypothalamus (part of the nervous and endocrine system in the brain) “translates” light into more or less stimulating messages for the nervous system. Depending on its intensity, light can have either an energizing or calming effect. This explains why most of us feel lively and fresh during a sunny day and tired during a cloudy day. It also accounts for why our biological clock is closely connected to the daily cycle of day and night, or why some people experience seasonal mood variations. Closed-off rooms, such as examination rooms and those used for medical interventions, mostly lack adequate stimulating light, putting both patients and health care professionals into a type of “biological darkness”.  

Color temperature and our mood 

A color’s “temperature” also affects our mood. Every light source exhibits a physical characteristic referred to as color temperature”, which is usually measured in kelvins (K). Color temperature permits various shades of light to be distinguished from each other – higher color temperatures (5000 K or more) are perceived as “cool” (blue and green tones), whereas lower color temperatures (2700–3000 K) appear to be “warm” (yellow and red tones). Firelight (amber 1800 K) is a universally attractive color temperature and one often sought in environments where a soothing and relaxed effect is desired. 

Bright future for LEDs 

Recent advancements in LED development and manufacturing create an enormous opportunity for multiple marketplaces to be re-invented and positively affected by thoughtful and strategic lighting designs – designs taking full advantage of the multiple tools now available to specifiers and designers. Commerce, quality of healthcare, enjoyment of the workplace and home are all potential winners in the exciting new age of modern, solid-state lighting.    

To take LED lighting to the next level of performance and life expectancy, Active Cooling plays a key part. The Solid State Lighting Industry demands the highest reliability components as part of any product design.  ebm-papst designs and manufactures high reliability fans with life expectancies common to 10-20 year life spans, far exceeding all other luminaire components such as drivers and LEDs themselves.    

For high lumen applications, the need for an Active solution is common. Lighting designers are challenged with creating quality products with industry leading reliability.   ebm-papst compact designs, along with extensive lifetimes and optimized low acoustic noise provide an excellent solution.    

To learn more about the benefits of LED lighting and Active Cooling solutions, contact Steve Berestecky at 508-274-7575 or email at Stephen.berestecky@us.ebmpapst.com

by Phil Hartman, Senior Director - Marketing, ebm-papst Inc.

Among ebm-papst’s strengths are our expertise and service in diverse markets, as well as a broad range of quality air-moving solutions. But with our far reach comes a challenge: ensuring our website visitors don’t get lost in their online search for products relevant to the industry or industries they serve.

A first-time visitor to our website may not be familiar enough with our products and part numbers to know which one(s) he should consider for a new design. So how are we helping visitors better navigate and find the air-moving devices that are relevant to the market they serve? The answer is our new Market Solutions Tool.  

How it works

Users can quickly identify their market segment of interest and a relevant application, then click through to product information and data sheets for relevant fans, blowers and accessories. Let’s say your company manufactures boilers and you want to see which blowers are available for consideration in your new boiler design. You can simply mouse over the “Heating” icon, select “Boilers” from the drop-down menu, then choose “Condensing” or “Non-Condensing” to access catalogues of relevant air moving devices and accessories. After review of the data, a part number can easily be selected.

For those who are familiar with our products, there is still the “Products” tab on the homepage that can be utilized to find data sheets for particular air-moving devices. And as always, technical assistance is just an e-mail or phone call away.

So… what do you think?
Whether you are a first-time or repeat visitor to our website, after you’ve had a chance to experience our Market Solutions Tool, let us know what you think. Did we achieve our goal of easier and quicker navigation to product selection? We welcome your feedback – leave a comment below.

By Peter Kimmett, Business Development Manager – IT/Telecom, ebm-papst Inc.

With an all-time high demand for rapid deployment of IT and Telecommunications equipment-cooling solutions, sometimes there’s a tendency for equipment manufacturers and integrators to assume all fans are equal and that it’s safe to choose the lowest priced fan for up-front savings.  What is overlooked sometimes is the Total Cost of Ownership, where sometimes a product with higher up-front costs ends up costing less to maintain in the long run than a cheaper product.  Technical specifications such as power draw / energy savings and L10 (bearing life) data should be reviewed, as well as commercial aspects such as service & support available from the manufacturer.  Spotting a deal that’s ‘Too good to be true’ isn’t always easy.  Most fan suppliers have many years of experience and their products go through extensive testing prior to production.  But, sometimes the tests are based only on samples that are hand built by meticulous engineers in an environment that is tightly controlled, versus having a product made on an assembly line, which can lead to actual data that is inferior to the original estimate.   The costs of going the cheap-and-dirty route aren’t always worth the initially attractive prices.  Here are some things to consider when choosing a cooling solution:

Low quality equipment = unforeseen failures

-          Early and unexpected failures that likely could occur range anywhere from bearings and/or lubricant failures to electronic components being a potential weak spot to improper design and non-automated manufacturing defects. 

-          The potentially high fallout rates of cooling equipment due to early failures can lead to premature replacements during production or in the field.

Unreliable components = higher replacement costs

-          IT/Telecom equipment production builds must order new cooling equipment, which requires additional manufacturing time.

-          System tests must be repeated or equipment burn-in needs to be redone. Some of these tests take anywhere from an hour for system level testing to 24 hours for burn-in.

Replacement = re-installation and re-testing

-          Almost all IT/Telecommunications equipment is required to run 24/7.  Any downtime can be detrimental in this market resulting in loss of cell signal or your favorite website not functioning.  This downtime can result in loss of revenue or loss of customers.

-          If IT/Telecom cooling equipment fails in the field, a replacement fan or fan tray needs to be sent out with a technician to do all replacements and associated testing to ensure proper performance. Every time a technician needs to go into the field, the IT/telecom operator’s costs escalate.

Costs to determine ‘what went wrong’ adds up

-          Failed cooling units that are retuned from the field must be shipped back to the OEM for initial failure analysis – this adds on additional costs in shipping and lab analysis time.

-          If the failure is due to a fan issue, the fan is shipped back to the fan supplier for additional analysis. This requires additional lab time to determine the root cause.

Unforeseen costs are hard to document – but they’ll erode your profitability every time

-          Sending out field technicians. Re-manufacturing product. Re-testing and burning-in replacement equipment. Lab analyses. Shipping costs.

-          All of these unanticipated costs are very difficult to track and measure but will certainly affect your bottom line.

By choosing a dependable supplier and partner at the beginning of your project, many of these unforeseen scenarios can be avoided.

·         Manufacturers of dependable cooling equipment offer the IT/Telecom market products that have been rigorously tested and certified to the industry’s highest performance standards. This translates to higher yield rates per installation and virtually eliminates the need for repetitive back-end, unforeseen costs.

·         Getting quality equipment in the first place also reduces the number of technicians that need to be sent in the field for early failures.

·         Choosing a long lasting cooling product helps reduce the number of replacements over the lifetime of the product installation.

·          Look beyond a supplier’s catalogue.  Ask for additional technical information that validates the expected life time that is published.  How were the figures calculated?

Have you experienced any of the above cooling failure nightmares in your IT/Telecom application? If so, how did you resolve them? What solutions did you choose moving forward? We welcome your feedback in the comments box below.

by Lou Moffa, Market Manager - Refrigeration

Your next purchase of a food item has many thought-provoking questions attached to it. Is it a healthy choice for your daily diet? Is it organic? Is it is free of chemicals? Is it locally grown? Does it negatively impact the environment?  Your decision to choose a particular food product over another helps you promote a healthy lifestyle and contribute to a healthy planet.

ebm-papst is now helping you make the same smart choices for our planet when choosing fans for your air-moving applications. Working closely with our plastics supplier, we have developed a material called epylen, a custom, wood/plastic composite "biomaterial" that reduces the amount of petroleum products that need to be sourced.

epylen vs. 100 percent polypropylene plastic material

epylen has the same mechanical functionality as the originally specified 100 percent polypropylene plastic material but a significantly lower overall impact on the environment. The wood fibers used are not just added "filler" in the base polypropylene materials that would be exposed on the surface; rather, the fibers are totally encapsulated during the molding process so that the end result is an injection-molded plastic that has the same appearance and surface finish as the original material. In side-by-side comparisons of the two materials, it is difficult to tell the difference.

Housing material made of epylen in its natural color.

But you know us. We of course did not settle for simply a similar-looking material.

Our in-house and third-party testing has proven that the epylen material will not harbor any fungi or bacterial growth, will not weaken from long-term UV exposure, is stable at elevated temperatures, has passed our impact, vibration and thermal shock tests and is resistant to degradation when exposed to common industrial chemicals. Even with all these impressive results, the most frequently asked question when explaining this material to new users is whether it will attract termites! I’m happy to report that termites are not interested in this product, making the epylen material completely suitable for use in the same environments as the original plastic.  

Keeping it Green(Tech)

Keeping with our GreenTech philosophy, the wood material selected for use in epylen has been through a very selective process. The wood is only from renewable sources that are harvested in an environmentally-responsible manner and do not contain any added fertilizers or pesticides.Harvesting is performed in small batches to lessen environmental impact. 

epylen is currently being used in the wall ring of our W1G200 series ESM fans, which are designed for use in commercial refrigeration equipment. Other products will begin to phase in epylen material as well. Our goal is to replace 15 percent of the plastic used in our fans with epylen by 2015.

epylen - the new wood/plastic composite material from ebm-papst.

All of these changes do result in a more costly material than the 100% polypropylene material, but as part of our dedication to the environment, ebm-papst is offering this material at no added cost to the end user.

Please feel free to contact us for more information!

Groundbreaking ceremony for modern test center in St. Georgen, Germany

ebm-papst, the world's leading manufacturer of fans and motors, is investing in a new test center in St. Georgen and thus further reinforcing the company's position at the cutting edge of technology. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Wednesday, July 17th.

Groundbreaking ceremony at the new ebm-papst test center, Dr. Michael Schmitz (ebm-papst), Michael Rieger (mayor St. Georgen), Dirk Schallock, Rainer Hundsdörfer, Thomas Wagner (all ebm-papst)

"Our products and concepts are expected to satisfy ever higher standards with regard to performance, reliability and noise levels. We are rising to these technical challenges with highly qualified development work," says Rainer Hundsdörfer, Chairman of Board of Directors of the ebm-papst Group. The new test facility makes it possible to measure the aerodynamic and acoustic data of the fans at the same time.

The test center is to be constructed on the so-called room within a room principle. In other words, the measurement area is a suspended construction mechanically isolated from the building. This enables extremely accurate measurements to be taken without any interference from vibration for example.

The new test facility will permit the measurement of ebm-papst products in their application environment, for instance in vehicles or in IT and telecommunications devices. The company will then also be ideally equipped to perform psychoacoustic noise analysis in the future. Very slight differences in the frequency characteristics are sometimes enough to determine whether a noise of the same volume is considered to be a nuisance or pleasant. "Knowledge about positive acoustic sensations can give us a definite competitive edge," explains Dirk Schallock, Managing Director of the ebm-papst subsidiary in St. Georgen.

"But it is equally important to analyse the flow characteristics of new products and constantly enhance their performance and energy efficiency," as Schallock points out.

The investment will amount to a volume of more than two million euro. The test center is scheduled to open in the second half of 2014 and will secure the future of highly qualified ebm-papst jobs at the company's technology base in St. Georgen.

By Matt Menard, Market Manager - Air Conditioning

Building owners view their HVAC system as a necessary evil. Tenants / patients / guests don’t want to hear it or see it, and the system better keep everyone in that building comfortable (an impossible task).  Hot/cold complaints rank #1 on calls into the facilities maintenance department. The HVAC system is the largest utility consumer in a building, mainly due to inefficient motors and compressors. In the eyes of a building owner, the HVAC system should be hidden, silent, efficient and fail-proof.   When the time comes for the HVAC system to be replaced or retrofit, there are many opportunities to improve the system.

These improvements can bring ‘value’ to the building owner in the following ways:  

1.       Energy Savings:  In an average commercial office building, the HVAC system is the largest consumer of electricity, accounting for 40% of the electric bill on an annual basis. Designing and installing an HVAC system that utilizes energy efficient equipment is one of the most logical and effective ways to slash operating costs in a commercial building.  For the past 20+ years, most HVAC manufacturers have put energy efficiency near the top of the R&D priority list developing and utilizing technologies that provide significant improvements in efficiency.  EC technology from ebm-papst is the perfect fit for OEM’s as they strive for higher efficiency, replacing inefficient motors with the most efficient motor technology and integrated speed-control. Many retrofit projects result in energy reduction by 25%, with some extreme cases exceeding 40%.  When combined with government and utility sponsored low-cost financing and rebates for installing efficient systems, building owners will be presented with compelling ROI’s for choosing high-efficiency systems. 

2.       Improved Performance: The hospital of 30 years ago had 1 patient per room and very little technological equipment outside of an X-Ray machine. Today’s hospitals have double the beds, hundreds of computers for the staff, and high-tech tools including CAT & PET scanners and robotic surgical machinery.  All of these changes have one thing in common: they produce enormous amounts of heat.  A 30 year-old HVAC system in a hospital is likely to be undersized and strained, which won’t provide the best environment for the hospital. When a retrofit is performed on the HVAC system, the increased need for cooling capacity and changes to the air distribution system need to be taken into account to create a comfortable and safe environment for all staff and patients The UConn Health Center Bioscience Connecticut facility is being replaced due to inefficient and inadequate mechanical facilities in the existing buildings.    

3.       Better System Control: Even the best and most efficient HVAC systems will operate poorly and inefficiently if not controlled properly.  The ability to control different ‘zones’ within a building allows for the HVAC system to constantly adjust airflow and temperature based on the needs of that zone at any given time. With EC technology from ebm-papst, fan speed can be modulated to provide accurate control and energy savings.  For example, at noon an office cafeteria requires high-volume conditioned air to serve the lunch crowd. At 2:00, all of those people have vacated the cafeteria and are back to their desks, so little airflow is required.  Decreasing fan speed for that zone reduces airflow and the refrigeration system can operate at a lower capacity, both saving energy.  A properly designed and installed automated controls system allows for adjustments to be made in all zones based on time of day, day of the week, current weather, occupancy, etc.  These adjustments and decisions are done automatically and consistently by the computer-based system without the need for human input, keeping all building occupants comfortable at all times in all areas of the building.  In addition to improved comfort, the building automation system can help save enormous amounts of energy as the HVAC system will supply only what is required in specific zones, as opposed to full-blast in all zones at all times. 

4.       Increase in Asset Value: In the commercial real estate market, a building owner’s business is the building. The value of this building can be measured in two ways: revenue generated by the building, and asset value of the building.  Improving any part of the building, including retrofitting the HVAC system with a modern efficient design, increases the value of that asset immediately. In other words, if the building were sold, a premium would be paid for the building with the modern HVAC system than that of the antiquated, inefficient system.  In another case where the building owner retains the property, a modern HVAC system can help with revenue as a premium lease rate can be negotiated due to the efficiency and comfort provided to the tenant. 

5.       Being Green:  Efficient buildings and “Being Green” can bring value to a building owner that cannot be immediately measured in dollars and cents. “Green” and “Sustainability” are very common marketing campaigns being utilized by companies to promote their global citizenship.  Possibly included in these campaigns is the commitment to own/lease buildings that meet certain Green/Energy guidelines. Building owners can take advantage of this market segment with the choices they make in creating energy efficient buildings, and many times charge a premium to clients.

Did we miss anything? Please share your thoughts below!

Armin Hauer, Advanced Technology Manager

An article in a recent issue of Sustainable Business examines the potential impact of the uncertain supply of rare earth magnets on manufacturing EC motors, noting that EC technology is reliant on rare earth elements. But this isn’t always the case…  

The manufacturers of electric motors struggle to predict the future costs of rare earth elements. As a result, user circles often regard permanently excited electric motors, which are particularly energy-efficient, as expensive. But highly efficient electric drives don’t necessarily depend on strong rare earth magnets. For example, "simple", cost-effective and – above all – readily available ferrite magnets suffice for energy-saving EC fan motors with an external rotor design. In some cases, these reach motor efficiencies of more than 90 percent.

How an EC motor works

A brushless DC drive (BLDC motor), a BLPM motor or an electronically commutated (EC) motor – exactly which motors are in the rare earth element discussion? These are all actually different names for permanently excited synchronous motors. These motors use electronic drives that are either AC line-powered or that use DC power supplies. The BLDC/BLPM motors usually operate with square-wave currents (block commutation). In contrast, EC motors can operate with both square-wave currents and with sinusoidal currents (sinusoidal commutation). The latter method achieves a significant noise and vibration reduction over the block commutation method. The design with sinusoidal currents corresponds to the classic synchronous motor.

Exploded view: The permanently excited synchronous motor, also called brushless direct current motor or EC motor.

An EC motor always requires a drive electronic that includes an inverter for the control of sequential and reversing current flows in all cores of the armature. This electronic commutation determines the strength and rotational speed of the resulting magnetic field that the armature generates. The permanent magnet rotor responds by revolving synchronously with the rotary field of the armature. In contrast, the speed of AC line-powered asynchronous motors depends on the frequency of the supply voltage and on the motor load. The torque-speed characteristic of an EC motor mimics a DC shunt motor, because both motor voltage and shaft speed, as well as motor current and shaft torque, correlate linearly. The angular rotor position is continuously determined by either sensor hardware in the motor, or the inverter senses the so-called counter-electromotive force and the motor currents for resolving the position mathematically. The idle motor speed depends on the applied voltage and the number of turns of the armature windings. Within the physical parameters of output power, torque and temperature exposure, nearly arbitrary motor speeds can be reached slip-free and synchronously with the rotating magnetic field. These speeds are completely independent of the AC line frequency.

Dynamic requirements determine magnet choice

As a result of their unique motor characteristics, external rotor EC fans seldom need strong rare earth elements. That type of magnetic quality is really only needed to minimize the moment of inertia for very dynamic servo motors.

Why our EC motors don’t need rare earth magnets

ebm-papst GreenTech EC motors for energy-efficient fans remain undisturbed by rare earth element scarcity, because the armature of a GreenTech EC motor is located inside and is surrounded by the rotor.

Cutaway: Centrifugal fan with external rotor motor.

Our energy-efficient fans remain undisturbed by rare earth element scarcity because the arrangement with external rotor motor achieves a higher torque than an internal rotor motor of the same size, magnet system and magnet thickness. An internal rotor motor has a restricted magnet volume, a reduced air gap surface and smaller radius. External rotor motors that use hard ferrite magnets cleverly applied to fans and blowers attain torque and efficiency levels that internal rotor motors can achieve only with rare earth magnets, due to limited volume and size.

A fan motor design with an external rotor has an additional advantage: The fan impeller mounts directly to the outer rotor, directly to the motor "housing". The result is a compact axial length and superior self-cooling of the external rotor motor.

To further discuss how our EC motors are different, contact us.

Dr Jürgen Schöne, R&D Director of Aerodynamics and Motor Technology at ebm-papst Mulfingen,Werner Müller, Manager of Motor Development at ebm-papst Mulfingen, Armin Hauer, Advanced Technology Manager at ebm-papst Inc.

By Armin Hauer, Advanced Technology Manager 

Two weeks ago, I joined my German ebm-papst colleagues Katrin Schaake, Wolfgang Laufer and hundreds of scientists, researchers and engineers who swarmed San Antonio to attend three powerhouse events from June 3 - 7:     

• The Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA) engineering conference    

• The International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI)’s annual technical congress with several hundred papers and meetings of 20 committees

• The ASME International Gas Turbine Institute’s TurboExpo 2013, which hosted vendors from 12 countries 

As a longtime corporate member, ebm-papst has actively participated in AMCA’s events and worked on its committees. Because fans and turbomachinery play an important role in aircraft engines, power plant turbines and many other applications that would be discussed at IGTI and ASME, this year AMCA decided to co-locate and co-time its conference to allow cross-pollination of ideas and expertise with the other two events. 

The scope of fan sizes explored during the AMCA conference spanned 3.6  to 157 in., speeds from 750 to 10,500 rpm, and absorbed power from 30 W to 20 MW. We fan engineers loved it! 

The AMCA schedule included Wolfgang’s presentation, “Numerical Investigation of Axial Fans in Serial Connection,” that discussed his team’s research on two-stage setups of compact cooling fans, which are used widely in electronic telecom and computing equipment. These connected fans operate mostly at part load. If one fan fails, the remaining fan will speed up to avoid a local pressure drop or recirculation in the application. 

Using 3D numerical methods, the ebm-papst team of aerodynamics engineers, led by Wolfgang, studied various two-stage set-ups of axial fans with 85 mm impeller diameters. The goal was to measure and compare steady and unsteady calculations of different serial fan configurations and compare results. 

Our team proved how a proper arrangement of two axial fans will increase both fan pressure rise and flow rate. This type of arrangement would benefit air flow through the system & enhance cooling.

Dr. Michael Schmitz, manager of aerodynamics and simulation research and development at ebm-papst-St. Georgen, is a member of IGTI’s recently created Fans and Blowers Committee. The papers sponsored by this committee highlighted fan technologies in hovercrafts and fan sound reduction techniques for locomotives. One researcher provided bio mimetic studies involving fan blades with leading-edge bumps similar to the tubercles of humpback whales. Another analyzed the tip-clearance noise of axial fans, comparing experiments with numerical simulation. Another IGTI paper discussed inverse design methodology for fans and blowers driven by a genetic algorithm. 

Other topics presented at the conference included computational fan development, innovations such as a carbon-fiber bladed fan for abrasive air streams and a pair of fire-resistant, reversible tunnel ventilation fans. 

Presentations also addressed the all-important testing and certification of fans. In addition to electrical safety, air performance, sound, overspeed, balance and vibration requirements, some fans must undergo seismic pre-qualification or high-temperature stress testing. 

A talk about permanent magnet fan motors provided a welcome refresher. In 2004, ebm-papst Inc. won the AHR Expo Innovation Award for incorporating magnetic drive technology in fans up to 50 in. diameter and 12 kW electrical input, which expanded products to a wide variety of HVAC/R applications that can benefit from these advances.  The exhibition rounded off our days with hands-on demonstrations, follow-up discussions and networking opportunities. 

Next year’s Turboexpo takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, and we’re already looking forward to participating. 

What innovations in fan technology are benefiting your business environment? What areas can be improved for your application’s air-moving requirements? We’d love to hear from you – leave a comment and message below.

The fifteenth "Product of the Year" was presented on March 14, 2013, and ebm-papst achieved first place with the high-performance DV6300 diagonal compact fan.

Readers of Elektronik and elektroniknet.de chose the DV6300 as the 2013 Product of the Year in the category "Electrical Engineering" from among 111 nominated products. The award recognises the most innovative and ground-breaking products in the industry. Peter Metzger, Manager of Business Development and Marketing for ebm-papst St. Georgen GmbH & Co. KG, accepted the distinction at the awards ceremony in Munich: "We are gratified to receive this recognition from the readers of Elektronik. The DV6300 demonstrates how we are setting new standards in state-of-the-art development and production methods."

The winning product from ebm-papst has an electronically controlled S-Force motor with additional options such as temperature regulation, active motor cooling and filter monitoring with signal output for filter change. The diagonal compact fan is ideal for applications with strict requirements regarding air performance with high backpressure, limited installation space and a low operating noise level.

by Lou Moffa, Market Manager - Refrigeration

Our definition of "Giant" is continually evolving here at ebm-papst.  Our new W3GZ50 series EC axial fan has a 1250mm (49.2 inch) blade diameter and is currently the world's largest diameter EC air mover with integrated electronics!

Just like the other products in our EC giant line up, this new axial fan was designed from the beginning to be energy efficient, simple to use and able to be installed in a variety of air moving applications.  It can easily be customized by the end user so that it is a perfect match for use with refrigeration condensers, chiller applications or large scale ventilation applications.  Its large size allows you to reduce the number of smaller fans used.

A complete fan assembly like the W3GZ50 series streamlines your purchasing and inventory requirements.  The complete fan assembly has a motor, blade, venturi and finger guard that have all been designed to work together for maximum efficiency and eliminates the need to work with multiple vendors and patch together a fan assembly from various manufacturers.  A complete assembly can simplify your production line by reducing wiring and installation time.  

This air mover has an impressive list of features to match its size. 

-Air performance- the direct drive motor and blade combination are able to produce over 38,000 CFM and can operate efficiently with backpressure levels of up to 0.8 inches of water.

-Factory balanced blade - the rotating motor and blades are balanced as a complete assembly on the production floor to insure a smooth operation.

-Accepts traditional control inputs - So that you can fully speed control this fan in your application, our integrated electronics will accept a variety of control inputs.   For a simple set up, this means that you can use either a 0-10VDC input, 0-100% PWM input, or a 4-20mA input from an outside controller to completely vary the speed of the fan. 

-RS485 Modbus RTU protocol ready - Many of the previously mute devices that are part of our daily lives are starting to become vocal whether we like it or not!  Our cars, heating systems and even our home refrigerators are now capable of telling us what condition they are in with texts and e mails.  Our lineup of EC Giants that are over 500 Watts are ready to be heard as well!  If you would like this fan to be a vocal participant in your assembly, it is simple to establish two-way communication using the on board RS485 Modbus RTU protocol.   Not only can you command it what RPM to run at, but you can obtain the run hours, the specific alarm status, internal motor temperature and many other bits of information that will keep you informed and up to date for critical applications.   Our ongoing partnerships with key worldwide controls manufacturers make incorporating  digital communication  easier than ever before. 

-Built in PID controller- for ultimate flexibility, our built in process controller allows you to program this unit to run independently without the need for a separate process controller to handle common field tasks.  For example, when programmed to operate in closed loop sensor mode with your supplied temperature, pressure or other sensor, the fan will maintain a process specific set point.  Simply set the sensor parameters and how quickly you want the fan to respond and the process controller will take it from there.  The set point can be either entered using software to prevent unauthorized changes or from an accessible potentiometer for simple adjustments by anyone in the field.  This powerful feature is a perfect way to reduce components in your overall assembly.  Even if you choose to not use this feature as the main process controller, it can easily be programmed and can remain dormant in the background as a back up to the main process controller.

These are just some of the advanced features that this exciting new product has to help simplify your larger air moving projects.  

We welcome you to come see this impressive fan and all of our equally advanced products on display at the AHR Expo in Dallas.

Visit us at Booth #2967 at AHR Expo at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas on January 28-30, 2013 

Please contact us for additional information at Marketing@us.ebmpapst.com