(5) Fan Starting Requirements: Fan equipment inertia
must be overcome in order to bring the fan up to speed.
The time taken to accelerate the fan to full speed must
be within the motor winding limitations or the life
of the motor will be reduced. It is important to know
the inertia moment for fan, gear reducer and coupling
shaft, the speed torque curve for fan including the
efficiency of fan system and gear reducer, the motor
capability (acceleration torque = pull up torque), and
allowable starting time for the motor and the starter.
The inertia of an driver
indicates the energy required to keep the system running.
However, starting or accelerating the system requires
extra energy. The torque required to accelerate a body
is equal to the WR2 of the body, times the
change in rpm, divided by 308 times the interval (in
second) in which this acceleration takes places:
Accelerating Torque, Tacc
= WR2 x N / (308 x t) (lb-ft)
Where,
N: Change in rpm
W: Weight in lbs
R: Radius of Gyration
t: Time of Acceleration in seconds
WR2: Inertia Moment
308: This constant is derived by transferring linear
motion to angular motion, and considering acceleration
due to gravity.
The fan is reached to the
full speed of fan in 3-5 seconds. This means that it
takes 3-5 seconds motor to reach the full speed of motor.
The time that it takes to accelerate an induction motor
from zero to full speed may be found from the following
equation.
Motor Starting Time
= (WRm2 + WRs2
+ WRg2 + WRf2)
x N / (308 x Tacc) (second)
Where,
WR2: Moment of Inertia
WRm2: Inertia of Motor (lb-ft2)
WRs2: Inertia of Shaft (lb-ft2)
WRg2: Inertia of Gearbox (lb-ft2)
at the speed of motor
WRf2: Inertia of Fan (lb-ft2)
at the speed of motor
Tacc (Average Accelerating Torque) = 0.8
x {(Ts + Tm)} / 2 - TL
= Pull Up Torque
Ts: Starting Torque
Tm: Maximum Torque (= Breakdown Torque)
TL: Full Load Torque
N: Motor Speed
Since the moment of inertia
of fan is in reference to the fan shaft speed, it should
be converted to the motor speed by the following relationship:
WRf2
at motor speed = WRf2 at fan speed
x (1/Gear Ratio)2
In order to find the total
time required to accelerate the motor and mechanical
equipment of cooling tower, the area between the motor
speed-torque curve and the fan speed-torque curve which
is including the efficiencies of gear reducer and cooling
tower system, is divided into strips, the ends of which
approximate straight lines. Each strip corresponds to
a speed increment which takes place within a definite
time interval.
Let's calculate the acceleration
torque and horsepower about below sample.
- ● WR2 of Motor:
64.3 lb-ft2 (1,770 RPM, 3 seconds of acceleration
time)
- ● WR2 of Shaft:
2.4 lb-ft2
- ● WR2 of Gear
Reducer: 4.350 lb-ft2at high speed shaft
(or 852.60 lb-ft2 at low speed shaft)
- ● WR2 of Fan:
34,260 lb-ft2
- ● Gear Reduction Ratio:
14.0:1
Then, Equivalent WR2=
64.3 + 2.4 + 852.6 (1/14.0)2 + 34,260 (1/14.0)
2 = 245.85 lb-ft2
Now, accelerating torque
can be determined:
Tacc = (Equivalent
WR2 x N) / (308 x t)
= (245.85 x 1,770) / (308 x 3)
= 470.94 lb-ft
(Note that the engineers always have to check the acceleration
torque of motor for maintaining the starting time required
and the motor life service.)
Now, horsepower to accelerate
is:
HPacc = (Tacc
x N) / 5250
= 470.94 x 1,770 / 5250
= 158.77 hp
From this, the size of the
motor which will accelerate and run the load can be
determined. Losses must be considered here. Throughout
these example, we have assumed no losses due to friction,
heat, etc. Obviously, there are friction losses, and
if, say 10% of power is lost, it at be made up.
HPLosses = (10%)
x (HPacc)
= 10% x 158.77 = 15.88
Therefore, total horsepower
is:
HPTotal = HPacc
+ HPLosses
= 158.77 + 15.88 = 174.65 or approximately 175 HP
Thus, it takes 175 horsepower
to accelerate and run this system.
4) Motor Input Power Rating
The horse power shown on
the fan rating sheet is the net shaft break horsepower
that the fan requires. Thus, the necessary input motor
power must be calculated referring factors below.
- ● Motor efficiency
- ● Gear reducer drive efficiency
- ● System efficiency
Motor efficiencies are obtained
from motor manufacturers and usually range from 0.85
to 0.96. Gear reducer drive efficiencies range typically
0.92 to 0.97. System efficiencies are more difficult
to assess. As you see the footnote of fan rating sheet,
Hudson fans are tested in nearly perfect conditions
of very close tip clearance, good inlet conditions and
minimal obstructions from beams. It is likely the actual
tower system will not be as ideal as Hudson's performance
curve conditions. Unless you have compared your system
to Hudson's one by means of wind tunnel or other method,
we suggest using a system efficiency of 0.95.
Since actual operating conditions
of commercial equipment will vary from wind tunnel test
conditions, proper environmental correction factors
must be applied to both total pressure and horsepower.
These environmental factors include inlet and exit air
flow conditions, tip clearance, obstructions to air
flow, plenum geometry, etc. Therefore actual fan efficiencies
will be different from those indicated unless the actual
environmental system is equivalent to the test conditions.
Input Horsepower = BHP
/ (Effm x Effg x Effs)
Where,
Effm: Motor efficiency
Effg: Gear reducer efficiency
Effs: System efficiency
Air horsepower which is the
actual output of the fan is calculated by:
HPAir = Total
Pressure x CFM / (6356 x Efficiency)
5) Motor Output Power Rating
- ● Power required = Fan BHP
/ (Efficiencies of Fan System and Gear Reducer)
- ● Minimum Power to be installed
= Power required x 1.10 of Design Margin
In case of previous sample
job,
Power required = 139.8 hp
/ (0.95 of fan system efficiency x 0.95 of gear reducer
efficiency)
= 154.90 hp
Minimum Power to be installed
= 154.90 x 1.1 of design margin
= 170.39 hp
Therefore, the next available
size of motor power is 175 hp.
6) Consequent Pole Speed
Controls
This is limited to the case
of using the polypole change motor. Pole changing is
handled by switching circuits that resemble some of
those controls. The choice of which motor type to use
depends on the speed versus torque requirements of the
driven load. In the application of the cooling tower
axial fan, the type of load is a variable torque, since
the fan power required at the low speed is reduced to
a cubic speed ratio (= low speed/high speed). The actual
circuit used will require a three-terminal contactor
for one speed and a five-terminal contactor for the
other. There are three classes of consequent pole motors
depending on their intended service. The NEMA has standardized
the terms as follows:
- ● Constant Torque Motor:
This control is to obtain the same rated torque at
both high and low speed. These motors are connected
in parallel wye for high speed and series delta for
low speed.
- ● Constant Horsepower Motor:
This control is to obtain the same rated power at
both high and low speed. These motors are connected
in-series delta for high speed and parallel wye for
low speed.
- ● Variable Torque Motor:
This is to obtain the rated torque directly proportional
to speed at either high or low speed. These motors
are connected in parallel wye for high speed and series
wye for low speed.
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