International Appliance Manufacturing 2008 - (Page 30) Novel Fan Design Offers Energy Savings To Refrigeration Market John Belko, Senior Product Design Engineer, A. O. Smith Electrical Products Company, USA Patented PAX Scientific™ technology applied to evaporator fans coupled with A. O. Smith motor produces significant power reduction. Motivation In many industries, consumer awareness, preference, and federal regulations are challenging manufacturers to develop more energy efficient products. A small reduction in the energy consumption of an electrical appliance can yield tremendous savings when used in millions of homes. In refrigeration, achieving ENERGY-STAR ® efficiency levels places a premium on developing reduced power components such as evaporator (evap) and condenser motor/fan systems. A more efficient evap stage also reduces loading on other large energy draw components in the refrigeration cycle. Thus, the power contribution of the evap component is especially important to overall refrigerator energy usage. Energy savings at the evaporator stage also afford the manufacturer greater flexibility in choosing and designing other components of the refrigeration system. While traditionally comprising an axial fan with C-frame (skeleton) motor, previous attempts to Figure 1: PAX fan for evaporator applications reduce evap power consumption have been costly, as evidenced by the development of the brushless DC (BLDC) motor. Also, pressure and flow characteristics of the evap system must remain similar as energy savings are sought. If airflow is 30 International Appliance Manufacturing 2008
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