ecoPOWER® HYBRID VENTILATOR

The world’s first, true hybrid ventilator. Combining reliability and performance.

CSR Edmonds manufacturer of the Hurricane® industrial ventilator, have developed a patented hybrid vent design that uses electronic commutating motor technology located in the top of the Hurricane® ventilator.

The design allows the vent to spin freely under wind load and provide the same exhaust rate as the traditional Hurricane vent. The free area of the throat is NOT impeded, unlike current vent/fan combinations. When required the vent can be powered which provides a huge boost to the flow rate, at an extraordinarily high efficiency; 110m3/hr/watt of energy – far more energy efficient than any conventional powered fan.

The guaranteed exhaust rate regardless of wind speed or ‘stack effect’ can be controlled by digital measurement of a range of physical properties or chemical entities including temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, etc.

With a very low operational noise, the EcoPower is ideal for use in homes, offices or factories.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPENDABLE VENTILATION

Ample research is available to show that adequate fresh air exchange is crucial for workers, students
and home occupants to perform at their best. A well designed ventilation scheme can:

1. 
   'ecopower® utilises an electronic commutating (EC) motor installed in the head of the ventilator to enable motorised boost
   during periods of low wind speed or special ventilation needs.'

   lower temperatures in homes and buildings during summer by cooling roof spaces and even removing trapped
   ceiling heat through ceiling grilles;
   
   
2. improve air quality by lowering impurity levels caused by human respiration and chemical emissions – mainly volatile
   organic compounds (VOCs) – from carpets, furniture, paints, cleaning products and the like. Long-term exposure to VOCs causes sick building syndrome, in which building occupants experience rising levels of eye, nose and throat irritation, headache and allergic reactions. Under requirements to maintain a safe working environment, many factories now need adequate fresh air exchange to remove gaseous, process emissions and/or heat build up.

 

IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS

Growing environmental concerns demand that ventilation requirements be met by the most energy efficient means available.
Wind turbine ventilators can perform this function well, however for reliability they depend on favourable wind conditions, which
are not always present when temperatures are extreme. They are, in effect, ‘slaves to the vagaries of wind’.

CSR Edmonds has developed and secured intellectual property rights for the world’s first true hybrid ventilator. The ecopower® is both a wind driven and motorised ventilator with the capacity to operate by wind alone or by both wind and electrical power simultaneously.

ecopower® – TRUE HYBRID VENTILATION

ecopower® utilises an electronic commutating (EC) motor installed in the head of the ventilator to enable motorised boost during periods of low wind speed or special ventilation needs. The motor can be activated by any digital measure, such as temperature, humidity gas concentration level etc. The standard product is controlled manually by a switch (not included).
Unlike previous attempts to produce a hybrid mechanical/wind vent, ecopower® has no motor and fan blade in the throat of the vent. This is extremely important. Research using AS4740:2000 (Performance of Natural Ventilators) has shown clearly that any obstruction in the throat of a wind ventilator will greatly decrease vent performance under wind load. The level of flow reduction can be 40% or greater. Also, axial fans located in the throat of wind vents can produce significant noise levels. Ecopower® is one large direct drive centrifugal fan. The bearing system of the motor becomes the bearing system of the ventilator. This means that the vent can be free spinning under wind load or power activated as conditions require. The use of an EC motor ensures that the best energy efficiency features available are factored into the product design.

PRODUCT RANGE

ecopower® is presently available as standard product in four sizes, viz 100mm, 150mm, 400mm and 600mm throat sizes with 900mm due for launch by December 2008.

EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE

Under mechanical operation, flow rates are 3 - 4 times greater than comparable size wind ventilators yet the flow rate per watt of input power (specific flow rate - a measure of operational energy efficiency) is superior to all comparable size mechanical fans while noise levels are considerably lower.

Table 1.

Model	Power Source	Weight of Head	Noise dB(A) @ 3m	Flow Rate m³/hr	Max. Power Usage (W)	Min. Specific Flow Rate m³/hr
100mm	12V	2.1kg	N/A	99	3.6	27.5
150mm	12V	2.5kg	N/A	198	10.0	19.8
400mm	200-277V AC	7.6kg	46	2400	67.2	38
600mm	200-277V AC	14.4kg	49	4250	116	41
900mm	200-277V AC	30kg	45.5	10000	260	46

 

PERFORMANCE UNDER WIND POWER ALONE

The results in Table 2 show performance of ecopower® in wind mode alone (without mechanical operation) compared with normal wind powered Hurricane turbines when tested to AS4740:2000 - Australian and New Zealand Standard for Natural Ventilators. The results show clearly that ecopower® provides exhaust rates about 10% greater that standard Hurricane vents under wind power due to less throat blockage in ecopower®

Table 2.

Model	Flow rate for Hurricane at 10.8km/hr wind speed and stack pressure 3.37 Pa - m³/hr	Flow rate for ecopower at 10.8km/hr wind speed and stack pressure 3.37 Pa - m³/hr
400mm	779	865
600mm	1153	1246
900mm	2601	Not Determined

 

BENEFITS OF ecopower®

ecopower® offers the following unique benefits which make it the product of its era for providing many 'green' solutions:

• Optional powered ventilation without reducing the performance of wind exhaust rates (which occurs in older hybrid vent attempts where motors and fan blades where installed in the throat - the pathway for air travel.
  
  
• Extraordinary levels of energy efficiency in power mode.
  
  
• Very low operational noise compared to equivalent capacity mechanical fans.
  
  
• A guarantee of ventilation rate when required. Not dependent on the vagaries of wind flow.
  
  
• Advanced German motor technology.
  
  
• Light weight compared with equivalant capacity mechanical vents.
  
  
• Single phase (EP400 & EP600) and low voltage (EP100 & EP150) power allows simple electrical connection
  
  

 

APPLICATIONS OF ecopower®

The likely range of potential applications for ecopower® are unlimited but include:

Remote Toilet Systems

Removal of gaseous by-products from hybrid, composting an chemical toilet systems. Already Gough Plastics, a very successful
North Queensland manufacturer of remote toilet systems is using the ecopower® EP100 to reliably remove odours from their highly successful solar powered, hybrid toilet systems due to its (1) dependable flow rate, (2) long life, (3) low maintenance, (4) high corrosion resistance and, (5) high energy efficiency (crucial when relying on solar power).

 

School Classrooms

In many states of Australia it is Government policy to use various means of ventilation to improve classroom conditions during summer rather than rely on energy intensive air conditioning. However the performance of wind turbine ventilators is always subject to wind conditions. The use of wind turbines with fan power assist has been used but these products have lower wind turbine extract rates due to throat blockage and are significant power users. ecopower® will provide unimpeded wind performance with low energy power boost option. When used in conjunction with EC Damper Grilles, ecopower® provides a means of efficiently ventilating individual classrooms directly to freshen air and remove trapped heat.

 

Electronic Control Cabinets

Rail authorities have trialed the use of ecopower® for cooling of electronics in signaling control cabinets to improve system reliability. Results to-date have been impressive with low energy usage a feature of ecopower®. A Substitute for Powered Ventilation Powered ventilators have been used for ventilation purposes in many factory and commercial applications. Although they may adequately achieve air movement requirements, they do so with;

1. High energy consumption and often the need to use 3 phase power

2. High noise levels often exceeding 60dB(A) @ 3m

The ecopower® overcomes these limitations significantly by employing low speed, high energy efficient hybrid technology.

 

Homes

Trials conducted by CSR Edmonds have shown very promising results for use of ecopower® technology in homes to remove heat.

In conjunction with proper insulation levels, this technology could significantly reduce energy usage for cooling in homes.

The following figure is an example of the heat removal rates of the Hurricane H400 & the ecopower® EP400 for varying ambient conditions. It shows the greater capacity of the ecopower® EP400 to remove heat compared with equivalent sized wind driven ventilators.