There has been a lot of noise in the fan industry over the past couple of months surrounding the impending 2013 ErP regulations and how they will impact Australian providers.
From January 1, 2013, new efficiency targets for fans come into force under the European Union’s Energy-related Products (ErP) Directive, which means some fan types will no longer carry a CE mark.
Products without a CE mark cannot be exported into the EU and will have to be taken off the European market.
The regulations will tighten further in 2015 and is part of the EU’s pledge to reduce its Comissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020, as documented in the Kyoto Protocol.
The ErP Directive affects axial, centrifugal (forward and backward curved), cross-flow and diagonal fans with a power input of between 125W and 500kW and it is down to the fan manufacturer to assess their own products to determine if they pass or fail.
The new regulations apply to the complete fan impeller and motor combination. This includes both external rotor motor designs and separate impeller and motor combinations, where the fan is driven by a shaft or drive belt.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who combine a motor with an impeller in their product will have to ensure their fan system is ErP compliant.
What applies to fans also applies in principle to electric motors, a situation that has created some misunderstandings.
In this context there is Electric motors must achieve at least efficiency class IE2 from June 2011 in accordance with European Union Implementation Directive No. 2009/640/EC (ErP Directive).
The directive defines a “motor” as an “electric single speed, three-phase 50 Hz or 50/60 Hz, squirrel cage induction motor that has 2, 4 or 6-poles, a rated voltage of up to 1000 V, a rated output between 0.75 kW and 375 kW, rated on the basis of continuous operation”.
EC external rotor motors like the ones used to drive energy-efficient fans are not subject to this directive. However, their efficiency is comparable with the values required by the directive.
Here, it becomes clear that EC motors already substantially exceed the efficiency levels required.
OEMs need to ensure their fan systems are compliant and anyone who sources separate motors and impellers and combines them into a fan system is deemed to be a fan manufacturer under the ErP Directive.
As a result, these manufacturers will also have to test their fans to ensure they comply with the regulations.
For each fan type, there is a corresponding formula to calculate whether a fan meets the minimum efficiency requirement.
The formula is known as “GreenTech” and compared to conventional fans with AC motors, GreenTech EC fans attain a much greater efficiency, as high as 50 per cent.
They also operate quietly due to optimised speed level techniques and the aerodynamic design of the impellers.
ebm-papst represenatives are available to provide more detail as ebm-papst EC fans already meet the 2015 standard or visit: http://www.ebmpapst.com.au/en/products/product_news/erp2015_2/erp2015_3.html
