Performance and Energy Consumption of Paddle Wheel Aerator Driven by Brushless DC Motor and AC Motor: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Energy demand for paddle wheel aerator in a shrimp pond is high and brings to second highest cost of operational behind feed supply. Most of wheel aerators are driven by electric motors than diesel engines as their easy operations. The electric motors need high electrical energy to drive wheel aerators along day and night. The common type of motor used is Alternating Current (AC) or induction motor, however Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor has potential electrical energy saving which need to be explored. This study objectives to find out performance of BLDC and AC motor as paddle wheel aerator driver. The motor's performances were compared in term of operation of paddle wheel at various static loads. Both motor also challenged by On/Off running every 5 minutes, the treatment goal was to determine their reliability. Parameters observed included consumption of power, wheel rotary, torque, and efficiency, motor temperature as well. Results showed energy consumption of BLDC motor 51% lower than AC motor, and BLDC motor attained 89.99% of maximum efficiency while AC motor efficiency had 73.16%, however rotary wheel and torque both of them were similar. The On/Off treatment caused rising temperature of AC motor but did not affect the temperature of BLDC motor. Therefore, applied BLDC motor as paddle wheel aerator driver could be alternative way to reduce energy consumption without reducing its performance.