IEEE ICSET 2010

6-9 Dec 2010, Kandy, Sri Lanka

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for

Ceiling Fan
Chuan-Sheng Liu *, Jonq-Chin Hwang **, and Po-Cheng, Chen *
* National Formosa University, 64,Wen-Hua Rd, Huwei, Yunlin 632, Taiwan,
** National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, jchwang@mouse.ee.ntust.edu.tw, Taiwan

Abstract-- This paper proposes the improvements of

the new structure of a Permanent Magnet II. MOTOR DESIGN
Synchronous Motor (PMSM) for the ceiling fan. The
new type ceiling fan is first designed by using PMSM A. Basic Requirement
theory and the six-step wave form for the purpose of The basic requirement of the PMSM of the ceiling fan
the manufacture cost reduction. The energy also can is limited under the commercialization. The operating
be saved at least 50% when the new type motor is condition of the PMSM motor is listed as follow：
compared to the conventional fan based on the • Input Power : AC source 110V or 220V
induction motor. The cogging torque also can be
improvement by using the sin back EMF voltage. The • Speed Range : 90 rpm to 200 rpm
new PMSM is required to meet both of the basic • Speed Change: At least 3 step( 100rpm for low
ceiling fan control and the cost reduction. speed. 160rmp for mid speed, and 200 rpm for hi
speed)
Index Terms-- PMSM ， Ceiling Fan ， cogging
torque The PMSM motor and the flux analysis is designed as
an external-rotor motor with 8 poles and 12 slots shown
as in fig. 1. There are 12 single layer coils on the 12 slots
I. INTRODUCTION
for the reduction of the assembly line. The inverter will
The conventional ceiling fan based on the induction provide the 3 phase current on those coils, then the fan
motor is popular. Those split-phase induction motor are motor has the rotating torque [7].
external rotor machines with large diameter and large size.
They are usually low-cost machines and operated at high
slip, therefore, the ceiling fan have poor performance.
The performance of the external-rotor split-phase
induction motor has been improved by using the 2-D
finite element analysis [1]. However, the pulsating torque
and efficient of the fan is still a problem.
For the energy conservation reason, the development
and commercialization of high efficiency electric motor is
required for the ceiling fan. In order to reduce the
consumption of the electric energy, the PMSM with high Fig.1. motor cross section (8 poles, 12slots), the stator is
efficiency can be a good motor for the ceiling fan [2]. internal to rotor and each slot will contain single layer
The PMSM also has many advantages like high winding. The rotor contains the number of 8 poles.
efficiency, compact volume and less noise. In this paper,
the new type ceiling fan motor is first designed by using The fig.2 shows the compare of the input power
the PMSM theory [3-6]. The energy will be saved when between two motors. During any of the operation speed,
the new type motor is compared to the conventional the energy saving of the new PMSM is about 50%.
induction motor fan. However, the rotation noise of the
PMSM is limited when the ceiling fan is operating in the
house. The new PMSM with the low cogging torque is
also required to meet both of the basic ceiling fan control.

FIG.2. THE ENERGY SAVING OF THE PMSM MOTOR IS

ABOUT 50%.
This work was sponsored by the National Science Council, Taiwan,
R. O. C., Project number 98-2218-E-150-005.

978-1-4244-7191-1/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

 The fig.3 shows the compare of the diameter and the
weight between two motors. The PMSP motor weighted
3 kg is much smaller than the traditional ceiling fan
motor about 6 kg.

Fig. 6 the phase current with rectangular shape

Fig.3 the picture of the PMSM motor and the traditional

fan motor

B. Improvements of PMSM with Low Cogging Torque Fig. 7 the sin wave current and harmonics

In order to improve the cogging torque for the 8-pole

PMSM motor for the ceiling fan, both of sin back EMF
and the sine wave form currents are required. The shape
of the surface permanent magnet is designed to obtain the
induced voltage waveform which is approach to sin
waveform. Fig.4 shows the sin back EMF voltage of the
ceiling fan.

Fig 8 the noise reduction compared with the

rectangular shape current and sin wave form currents

III. EXPERIMENTATION

A. The Conventional Ceiling Fan

Fig.4 Three Phase Voltages with the sin wave form for The conventional ceiling fan based on split-phase
the new PMSM motor induction motor is listed under the single phase power
supply 110V or 220V. The consumption of the electric
The cogging torque also can be improved by using the power corresponding to 3 steps speed control is listed in
sin wave form currents with respect to the sin back EMF the table 1.
voltage. The structure of the driver system for the speed
control is shown in fig.5. speed Speed Power P.F. Volt Current
(rpm) (W) ( cos θ ) (V) (A)
Low 100 19 0.52 220 0.16
Mid. 160 42 0.78 220 0.24
Hi. 200 65 0.996 220 0.29
Table 1：The test result of the conventional ceiling fan

During the hi-speed operation, the consumption

Fig.5 The driver system of the ceiling fan power with the unit power factor (P.F.) is about 65W
show as in fig.9. When the fan operates in mid-speed, the
Two kinds of the control algorithm are adopted for the current is leading the input voltage 30 degree. This shows
evaluation of the cogging and the noise reduction. that the good product of the convention ceiling fan has a
Operating in hi-speed, the phase current harmonics with good power factor.
rectangular shape is shown in fig.6 and the sin wave form
current harmonics is shown in fig.7 on the same PMSM
ceiling fan. The noise of two kinds of currents is shown
in fig.8. The noise reduction of the sin current is about
2dB to 5dB.
 Fig.13 shows that the relation ship between the control
signals such as the hall sensor (Ha), Vgs of the MOSFET,
Vds of the MOSFET, and phase currents ( i a ). The
above wave form of currents fits to those in the theory.

Fig.9. The input voltage (golden line:100V/div) and input

current (Blue line: 0.2A/div) operating in hi-speed control
B. The new PMSM Ceiling Fan
The new PMSM ceiling fan is design an external rotor
motor. The picture of the motor with the driver circuit is
shown in fig.8.

Fig.12. Currents wave form (ia, ib, ic (1A/div)) and line

voltage Vab (40V/div) of the motor, operating in the hi-
speed.
Fig.10. The picture of the motor with the driver circuit

The consumption of the electric power is concerned. The

rotation speed of the PMSM is adjusted to be those of the
conventional ceiling fan. The table 2 shows the input
power corresponding to the 3 fixed rotation speeds. The
fig.11, show the compare of the input power between two
motors. During any of the operation speed, the energy
saving of the new PMSM is about 50%. However, the
power factor correction is also required to improve the
power factor.

Speed Speed Power PF Volt Current

(rpm) (W) (cosθ) (V) (A) Fig.13. The phase current ia(Blue:2A/div) and those
Low 100 9 0.383 110 0.14 control signals such as Ha (green:5V/div)、Vgs (pink:
mid 160 20 0.425 110 0.35 20V/div)、Vds (golden: 20V/div).
hi 200 38 0.432 110 0.42
Table 2： The test results of the PMSM IV. CONCLUSIONS
For the energy conservation, the new PMSM motor is
designed as an external-rotor motor with the low cogging
torque. The energy can be saved at least 50%, when the
new type motor is compared to the conventional fan
based on the induction motor. The cogging torque and the
noise of the motor also can be improvement by using the
sin back EMF voltage with sin wave form current.
In this paper, the new PMSM meets both of the basic
requirement of the fan speed control and the cost
Fig.11.The energy saving of the new PMSM is about 50%. reduction. The price of the motor is also cost effective.

The torque of the ceiling fan is almost constant, when the ACKNOWLEDGMENT
fan is operating in fixed speed. Operating in the hi-speed, The author’s thanks for the support of the National
the currents, shown in fig.12, are similar to those ideal Science Council, Taiwan, R. O. C.. Project number 98-
currents. 2218-E-150-005 and 98-2622-E-150-067-CC3.
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