Design and implementation of an electronic fan regulator for reduced harmonics and ripple free speed

Abstract

A ceiling fan regulator is needed to control the speed of a ceiling fan. With the development of power electronic switching devices, electronic (triac based) fan regulator has been introduced to the market by ceiling fan manufacturers. Compared to old fan controlling methods like inductive and resistive fan controller, this method offers advantages like low power dissipation, compactness, step-less control etc. Since this electronic fan regulator controls the effective voltage to the ceiling fan by chopping the waveform, it generates current and voltage harmonics. Speed ripples, low power factor issues, humming noises, mechanical oscillations, additional heating of the ceiling fan can be observed because of these low quality waveforms. This research investigated a suitable power electronic based fan regulator for reduced harmonics and ripple free speed. The study was carried out by choosing 6 different power electronic based single phase motor controlling methods and examining their technical aspects and market competitiveness as a ceiling fan regulator. Out of these 6 methods, DC chopper fed controller showed comparatively a best possible solution for above mentioned problems. Moreover, the simulation results were validated by implementing a prototype of a DC chopper fed controller. Unlike traditional electronic fan regulator, proposed method feeds the current continuously to the load. Thereby it reduces the speed ripples of the motor. Also FFT results suggests that the input, output current and voltage harmonics are significantly less in the proposed method compared to traditional electronic fan regulator. Since the production cost of the proposed fan regulator is around Rs. 1870/= (2021 figure), and it involves smart remote controlling facility, the prototype can also be developed as a market competitive product