Design And Construction Of A Standing Fan With Both AC And DC Source

ABSTRACT

Countries like Nigeria are plagued with erratic power supply that has lingered on for decades. A major feature of the Dry Season in Nigeria is thermal discomfort which is more pronounced at night due to lack of electricity from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to operate AC powered electric fans. This research work describes the development of a rechargeable electric fan that operates on a 240V AC power source as well as a rechargeable 9V DC battery power source. The system consists of a 9V DC motor, fan blade, charging circuit, power supply unit and fabricated housing. When fully charged, the fan operates effectively well for 22 minutes after which the performance starts to fall. Charging the 9V lead acid battery used in this work requires 9hrs 15mins for complete charge. The charging circuit also incorporates a float charge and battery overcharge protector. The developed electric fan was housed in a fabricated steel housing unit. The fabricated fan compared well in terms of efficiency and functionality with the imported commercial types.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0      INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

1.2      PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.3      AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

1.4      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

1.5     LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT

1.6    APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT

1.7      ADVANTAGE OF THE PROJECT

1.8      PROBLEM OF THE PROJECT

1.9      BEENFIT OF THE PROJECT

1.10   PROJECT ORGANISATION

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1      OVERVIEW OF FAN

2.2      HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ELECTRIC FANS

2.3      REVIEW OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF FAN

2.4      DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM MAJOR COMPONENTS

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     METHODOLOGY

3.1      METHODS AND MATERIALS

3.2     CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE

3.3      ASSEMBLED DRAWING

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT ANALYSIS

4.0      TESTING AND RESULT

4.1     TESTING

4.1.1 PRE-IMPLEMENTATION TESTING

4.1.2  POST-IMPLEMENTATION TESTING

4.3      RESULT

4.4      TROUBLESHOOTING METHOD

4.5      HOW TO FIX FAN THAT HUMS

4.6      APPLICATIONS

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0      CONCLUSION

5.1      RECOMMENDATION

5.2     REFERENCES

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION

The electric fan was one of the most important electric inventions of all time. The fan is a building block of other more advanced technologies. Fans are necessary in computers, lasers, large LED lights, petrol and electric automobiles, the space station and countless other things. The fan as used in this work allows humans to build giant or underground buildings. It would be hard to imagine a world without the electric fan!

The electric fan has blades similar to a water or steam turbine. A DC drives a rotating shaft.  Sizes of fans have gotten much smaller and lighter over the years.  As engineers improved the electric motor and blade design they figured out how to get more performance out of a design that uses less copper and steel.

Rechargeable standing fan can help maintain humidity levels, protect various rooms of your house from stagnant air, and even help you sleep better at night. And that’s just the beginning. The blades force air either in or out of the room you’re trying to cool or ventilate.

• BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

Nigeria has two climatic seasons which are dry and wet season. The dry period is usually from November to March while the wet season is from April to October every year. One of the challenges associated with the dry season is thermal discomfort which can lead to increase sweating and dehydration as the relative humidity becomes low during this period owing to increase evaporation. At night, heat waves build up in homes owing to convection current. This has an adverse health impact on humans resulting from raised body temperature such as dehydration, heat cramps, heat oedema (swelling), heat synlope (fainting), heat rash, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, amongst others (Wiley 2012).

The electric fan helps to reduce these adverse health impacts caused by heat waves by getting air to people occupying a building, office, residential complex, shops or public places. However, the problem of erratic power supply that has edeviled the country for several decades has further aggravated health challenges caused by heat waves (source). There is however a Global clamour for alternative sources of energy or renewable energy. This would in no small way help militate against the challenge posed by erratic power supplies as more homes would have access to clean and cheap energy to tackle the menace of heat waves. The underlying challenge is that fans found in homes or public places are AC powered. It therefore becomes imperative to develop and fabricate an electric fan that is DC powered.

An electric fan is a machine used to create a flow within a fluid, typically a gas such as air (Cory, 2010). Electric fan gives personal thermal comfort as it is difficult to sleep comfortably in a hot weather without it. The fan known as the “Punkah” in India was first used in early 500BC (Moggyland, 2010). Schulyer Wheeler was however adjudged to have invented the first electric fan produced from two unshielded blades, powered by an electric motor and housed in a protective cage using the principle of home cooling (Finolex, 2012).

A typical electric fan is made up of blades, hub, motor, switch, guard, mount and a power cord and works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Fans produce flows with high volume and low pressure. It circulates the air and provides the pressure required to push it. Missouri (2010) observed that the most important design consideration of an electric fan is that it must impact to the air stream a  uniform velocity and pressure over its entire area. According to Wiley (2012), fans do not cool the ambient air but draw cooler air from outside especially when placed in an open space.

As earlier highlighted, to meet the yearning demand of renewable energy, there is therefore the need to develop an electric fan that is DC powered. In this work, a DC powered electric fan has been developed with the aid of a DC motor. The fan works on the principle of electromagnetic induction with the coil situated in the DC motor induced by the application of a direct current. The electric current from a DC source is connected to the motor’s electric terminals which feed electric power into the commutator through a pair of loose connector called brushes (Sinclair, 2000). The DC battery used for this work is a 9V lead acid batter which is rechargeable.

1.2                                                  PROBLEM STATEMENT

A conventional electric fan only operate whenever there is power supply, imagine in a developing country like Nigeria where the level of power supply is low – using an electric fan becomes a problem. This device came to overcome this problem of erratic power supply; it uses a rechargeable battery to sustain the fan whenever there is power failure.

1.3                                        AIM/OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The aim of the work is to design and construct an ac /dc standing fan which is powered with a 9v rechargeable battery when there is power outage that can be used for both urban and rural areas.

Also this research therefore is aimed at achieving the following objectives:

1. To minimize the problems encountered due to the lack of adequate power
2. To determine the efficiency of the design using mathematical model.

• To reduce the over reliance on alternating

1.4                                         SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJCET

After knowing in detail what a rechargeable standing fan is and how different useful it is to make appliances work at residential and industrial levels students should also know the advantages.

• Also use of rechargeable battery energy helps in saving money many people have started using rechargeable battery based devices
• AC/DC standing fan helps people who use limited amount of electricity.
• A AC/DC standing fan is more environmentally friendly.
• Though initially the installation may be costlier, in the long term it would turn out to be cheaper because it does not use power from the utility grid and may provide savings up to 30 percent on air conditioning costs.
• Also their maintenance does not cost much money

1.5                                           LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT

• Initially you need to shell out a lot of money for buying a battery and fan.
• It will work effectively and produce direct current only when the battery is fully charge.

1.6                                    APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT

1. Cool Down your Room (and yourself)

Perfect for more moderate climates, electric fans are a very inexpensive way to cool almost any room in your home. They can also be quite refreshing, as they circulate cool air throughout the room.

Portable air circulators are some of the best options for this type of use, as they are easy to move from room to room. Be sure to pay attention to the size of the room you want to cool, as some kinds work better in large rooms than others.

2. Deal with smokers

Whether you’re dealing with a small kitchen mishap or your cigar-smoke, an electric fan can be a savior. Use your pedestal or table fan  to suck up the smoky air and blow it out an open window or door. Pointed in the right direction, it can act as an exhaust.

Once the room is cleared, turn it around to blow fresh air back into the room. You don’t even need smoke in the house for this trick – it works for any room that needs ventilating.

3. Sleep easier

It can be especially difficult to sleep on a warm summer night. Typically, you have to choose between the noisy air conditioner or the uncomfortable heat. A bedroom fan can be a great alternative, as it operates much quieter than an air conditioning unit and it significantly lowers room temperature.

In addition, the cool breeze can be relaxing while you try to fall asleep. Pedestal fans are usually the best type for the bedroom and the variety of remote controlled options available make these a great addition to your home. Ceiling fans are perfect for moderate bedroom cooling too, and installed over the bed, they’re quite effective.

4. Keep humidity in check

An electric air circulator can do more than just cool. Because they ventilate the room, maintaining proper humidity levels is easy. Too much humidity can damage your home. Blowing fresh air into the room can keep the humidity levels down in your home and keep indoor areas well-ventilated. The constant circulation of air helps keep the air in your home clean as well as dry. It’s a win-win all the way around.

5. Protect your bathroom

Keep bathroom moisture levels in check with an exhaust fan. Installing an exhaust fan in the bathroom protects the interior and keeps it looking new. It also helps keep paint from peeling, doors from warping and mold from accumulating on bathroom surfaces too.

The added circulation keeps the air dryer, and helps remove bathroom moisture generated from a hot shower. These bathroom exhaust fans  help control bathroom odors and room stuffiness too.

6. Accentuate your room

A solar fan can be so much more than a functional appliance; it can also add decorative charm to your living environment. Decorative fans come in a variety of shapes and sizes and accentuate just about any room in your home. The color variety can certainly add a refreshing change of pace from the traditional models. Best of all, they work just as well as standard fans.

1.6                                ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT

1. Smaller size; fans may add some height but may reduce width and depth
2. Potentially better low-load efficiencies

1.8                                   PROBLEM OF THE PROJECT

1. Increased complexity and maintenance
2. Increased cost as fan packages may cost more than just adding material in smaller units

iii. Additional energy losses and noise when fan motors are operated in higher loads.

1.9                                          BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT

Using a rechargeable fan has lots of benefits like:

1. Rechargeable fan makes room windy and breezy.
2. Rechargeable fan can improve the décor of the rooms while delivering reliable and efficient performance.
3. Rechargeable fan are cheaper as an initial investment than an ac fan. The power consumption of a rechargeable fan is also significantly lower than an ac fan which will reduce your power bills.
4. In case of power cut rechargeable fan can be very easily used with a regular battery backup as compared to an AC fan.
5. Rechargeable fan can act as a backup in case the there is a break down in the ac fan.
6. In countries like some part of Nigeria like sokoto state, Pests, flies and mosquitoes is a problem every family deals with. Rechargeable fan can help to get rid of such insects and pests.
7. Rechargeable fan has a huge variety to choose from compared to any other cooling appliance.

1.10                                       PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION

The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:

Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to this study. In this chapter, the background of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, significance of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, scope of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, objective of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, the need (benefit) of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, limitation and problem of a rechargeable standing fan with remote, advantages of a rechargeable standing fan with remote was discussed.

Chapter two is on literature review of a rechargeable standing fan with remote. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.

Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.

Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.

Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1                                                           CONCLUSION

Attic heat is caused by the sun baking down on the roof surface. This sunlight causes the roofing material to heat up, thus transferring the heat into the attic via thermal transfer. The buildup of heat is generally dissipated by normal convection, i.e.: as the air is heated it expands and rises, flowing out of the attic through vents placed at or near the peak, while fresh air is pulled into the attic from intake vents that are generally in the eave (soffit) area. However, most roof vents are inadequate at expelling the heat and require the use of a powered vent fan to remove heat effectively. A rechargeable standing fan is an effective way to remove attic heat using only the power of the sun to run the fan. This is the major reason this work is built.

The fabricated rechargeable electric fan is novel in that it uses locally available materials for its operation. Sixty percent of the materials used in this work are recycled waste, for example, the fan blade was salvaged from a damaged and abandoned car radiator unit at a nearby local mechanic workshop. The fabricated rechargeable electric fan incorporates a battery that can be easily recharged and monitored to prevent over charging and wrong polarity connections. The fabricated electric fan can only blow air in one direction since it does not rotate. On the average, it performed well when compared to the imported commercial ones.

In this project, a standing fan powered with a 9v /200Ah was designed. The design was necessitated by the need to have a fan that could be powered with a renewable energy source. A 9v DC battery was included in the design as a source of power backup for use when there is no power supply. In order to achieve a minimum consumption of power, the fan was made not to oscillate but rather was made such that it could be manually tilted up and down to change its orientation. The design is quite effective as it blows a large volume of air (100 cfm) at low speed (500rpm). As a result the design is expected to be relatively noiseless and energy efficient.

5.2                                                 RECOMMENDATION

1. This project is designed to be used in our homes, offices and industries where the need for constant cool environment. And should be used and maintain by a qualified personnel.
2. Evaluate higher efficiency DC fan motors to optimize performance.

iii. Assess cost effectiveness of optimum motor packages in various applications.

1. Evaluate 9v rechargeable fan designs in various building