How To Find The Right Fan

In order to prevent negative effects from unsuitable products, EBM-Papst offers reliable software for fan selection: the EBM-Papst Fanscout. He supports planners and manufacturers in air conditioning and ventilation technology to find the optimal product for individual applications. The software takes into account up to five different operating points and works with real measured values. The difference between the calculated operating data and the real measured data is so small that the TÜV Süd of the software confirms the highest accuracy class. This gives users absolutely reliable and, above all, the most accurate data. It is not the performance of the individual fan components that is measured, but the fan as a holistic system consisting of fan impeller, EC drive motor and integrated control electronics,true to the “wire-to-air” principle - from the electrical connection to the available air output.

Picture gallery

Picture gallery with 6 pictures

Tailored selection of fans operated in parallel

An exemplary selection process shows how easy it is to design fans operated in parallel - so-called fangrids - with the fanscout. After an initial technical discussion, the EBM-Pope initially preselects the fans in question and creates a so-called fanscout collection. Together with the actual software, the user can already select fans. It is now possible to enter up to five different operating points. With the respective operating times in these operating points over the year, the usage profile is obtained, which is then used as the basis for the calculation. With this method, the annual energy consumption and thus the expected operating costs are shown. This is much more accurate than the current method,perform the calculation based on the rarely reached maximum operating point.

Thermal management

Centrifugal fans for the extreme

The desired redundancy can be set to determine the system's reliability. This parameter specifies how many fans can be switched off without falling below the required volume flow. On the one hand, the reserve of the remaining fans must be large enough to compensate for the lack of air from the fans that are not in operation. On the other hand, it must also be possible to compensate for the amount of air that flows back through the standing fans. A distinction is made between the variant with an existing backflow flap, i.e. no backflow, and without a backflow flap. This is also shown in the fan scout.

In addition, the installation spaces that are available for installation can also be specified. This is particularly helpful in tight spaces, because this function takes into account pressure losses that arise when fans are installed too close to walls or other fans. The desired fan type and the total number of fans to be installed can then be limited.

Detailed information about possible options

Based on the entered parameters, the fanscout calculates various possible Fangrid combinations and sorts them according to their energy efficiency. In addition to the energy consumption, the results table provides information about the recommended fan type, the number of fans working in parallel and the speed factor. This indicates how far the operating speed of the selected fans deviates from the nominal speed of the fans and is therefore a measure of the “reserves” of the selection. For each fan combination, the air output, the intake power and the efficiency are graphically displayed as a map. The specified operating points are also entered in the characteristic diagrams and their proportionate operating time is visualized by the size of the points.The fanscout also provides information about the noise for the possible fan combinations. It shows the sound power of a fan for each operating point - either on the suction or pressure side.

Psychoacoustics

How should the fan sound?

Thermal management

Design and produce in an energy-efficient manner

An overview of life cycle costs

In order to make the evaluation of the different options even more meaningful for the user, the fan scout additionally offers the possibility to determine the life cycle costs of the combination in question. For this purpose, the power consumption of the fans in the respective operating points is multiplied by the operating time and the electricity costs and added up. The result is the pure operating costs of the system over a given period. By additionally entering the procurement, installation and service costs, the total costs of the Fangrid are shown over time. (sh)

* Uwe Sigloch is Head of Market Management for Ventilation and Air Conditioning at ebm-papst Mulfingen.