Electrical Operated Fan for Cooling System on Agricultural Tractors

Rathish Maller Babu; Manikandan S; Nageshwara Rao P

doi:10.4271/2019-26-0079

Internal combustion engines involve various parasitic losses on vehicle level like that of Cooling Fans, Hydraulic pumps, Air compressors and Alternators. Because of which the available output power for applications is limited.

The replacement of an existing mechanical Fan, which is driven by the engine crankshaft, by an electrically operated Fan reduces the engine frictional losses (Fan drag) resulting in a power gain. Fuel saved because of nil fan drag is available as a useful power for application.

Mechanical fans operate on a fixed drive ratio with engine speeds and is directly proportional. Electrical fans can operate on constant speeds and is independent of engine speeds. There is a benefit of higher air-flow on max torque speeds which is not possible with a mechanical driven fan. There is no compromise in engine cooling performance, since the fan can now be placed suitably in the best airflow zone by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.

Unlike Mechanical fans which are unidirectional, electrical fans can operate both clockwise/counter-clockwise with the reverse polarity in the electrical circuit. This feature acts as a blower to keep the heat exchanger cores free from clogging during husk applications in field, which cause airflow restriction on a conventional puller type fans.

There was 3% improvement in PTO power and torque with the configuration, complimenting good fuel economy improvement on overall tractor applications.

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Electrical Operated Fan for Cooling System on Agricultural Tractors 2019-26-0079

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