Company A manufactures control panels for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and machine tool manufacturers. The company faced many challenges with the fans used in their control panels. Mr. S, head of company's design and engineering department, explains.
"The performance of an AC fan depends on the frequency of the power supply in that area. In some cases, equipment that can be cooled by a single fan when operated at 60 Hz is insufficiently cooled at 50 Hz, and a second fan was installed to provide extra cooling. To comply with the customer's power conditions, control panels are lined up according to voltage, such as 100 V and 200 V. The process of selection and management of the fan was time-consuming as the fan selection depends on the input voltage. It was also necessary to store multiple AC fans for different power supplies as maintenance parts for when customers needed to replace the fans in their equipment."
In response to these issues, Company A began to consider using DC fans.
"We had high expectations for DC fans because its characteristics do not change depending on the power supply conditions as AC fans do, but the drawback was that a separate DC power supply is required and assembly is time-consuming," said Mr. S.
Despite his interest in replacing it to DC fans, Mr. S. continued to gather information.
Seeking a solution, Mr. S was interested in the San Ace ø172 x 150 x 51 mm ACDC fan of SANYO DENKI.
"We focused on the fact that the AC power supply can provide the features of a DC fan without a separate DC power supply, thanks to a miniaturized ACDC conversion circuit mounted inside. The ACDC fan, like the combination of a DC power supply and a DC fan, does not vary in performance with frequency, so stable cooling performance can be obtained whether the frequency is 50 Hz or 60 Hz. And, the wide operating voltage range of 90 to 264 VAC allows for use with either 100 or 200 VAC," he said.
Mr. S immediately contacted SANYO DENKI to discuss his problems, and started to evaluate samples.
"We confirmed that the cooling performance was as stable as expected and soon decided to use the San Ace ø172 x 150 x 51 mm ACDC fan. By consolidating to one type of fan, we were able to reduce the man-hours required for selection and management." In addition, the newly introduced fan has brought about an additional benefit to Company A.
"The new ACDC fan has lower power consumption and longer life than the conventional AC fan. Since AC fans are used in the control panels of so many facilities and production lines, their overall energy-saving effect is significant, and can contribute to energy conservation in a decarbonized society. Furthermore, its longer life compared to AC fans prolonged the replacement period compared to conventional fans, and reduced maintenance man-hours.
We also provide power receiving and distribution panels, which are often used in harsh environments, including outdoors, so it is also appealing that SANYO DENKI have a lineup of waterproof type. And, you can also change the fan speed by using a PWM control function, which opens up the concept of products that further promise energy savings. Now that we have evaluated the ACDC fan and understood its advantages, we now intend to further replace the AC fan. We would be happy to discuss with SANYO DENKI again in the future," said Mr. S.
Date of publication: February 18, 2022
