Publication

Abstract : Electronically Commutated Brushless DC (EC-BLDC) motor driven fan is an integral part of the Air Handling Unit (AHU). Maintenance of AHU is difficult as it is placed in remote location and high to reach areas. Evaluating the health of the system during its operation helps in recognizing the possible failures associated with the system at an earlier stage. Efficient maintenance, reliable operation and accurate detection of incipient faults with sufficient lead time are the motivation factors for condition monitoring. Condition monitoring technologies in industrial automation lead to increase in productivity, reduce investment for maintenance and increase in energy efficiency. In this paper, the real time data of BLDC fans such as actual speed, DC link voltage, current and temperatures of motor and the entire module are acquired and the performance of EC-BLDC motor and other associated operating parameters are analyzed. For acquiring real time data, a communication processor with MODBUS protocol is used. With the help of a Virtual Instrumentation software, the acquired data are continuously monitored. The analysis of pre-fault data helps in identification of root cause of the fault occurrences in air handling unit. This annotated time series data collected using the methodology described in this work can be used for prediction of anomalies as recommended in the Industrial Internet Consortium(IIC) Analytics framework.