An Indirect Current Phase Detection Method Applied to Automatic Phase Compensation Driver for 1Φ BLDC Fan Motor

Abstract

The inductance of the stator winding of BLDC motors will cause the current to lag behind the back-EMF, and the lag will result in the drop of the operating efficiency and increase the acoustic noise and vibration of the fan motor. This article proposes a low cost, simple structure, and more efficient method to perform the phase compensation. The indirect method to detect the zero-crossing point (ZCP) of the winding current will avoid the extra power loss of the current sensor. The automatic phase compensation utilizes the phase difference detection of the back-EMF and winding current and then switches the power transistors with the phase advance automatically to eliminate the current lag. The related experimental results corroborate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed driving method.

Keywords:

• single-phase brushless DC fan motors
• efficiency improvement
• phase compensation
• phase advanced control
• finite-element method (FEM)
• zero-crossing point (ZCP)
• back-EMF

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zong-Hong Tang

Zong-Hong Tang was born in Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1980. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Kun Shan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 2003 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 2011.

He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Graduate School of Engineering Science & Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C. His interests are in the BLDC/PM motor control and the circuit design of power electronics.

Yie-Tone Chen

Yie-Tone Chen (Member IEEE) received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees all in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University, Taipei Taiwan, R.O.C. Since 1993, he has been with the group of power electronics in the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, where he is now a Professor.

His research interests include the modeling and control of converters, the circuit design of power electronics, power factor correction topics, soft-switching converters, high step-up DC-DC converter and the renewable energy applications.

Chun-Lung Chiu

Chun-Lung Chiu was born in Changhua, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1976. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Huwei University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1998 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 2004 and 2009 respectively.

Dr. Chiu currently serves as the Delta Electronic, Inc., Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C. and he is a senior product manager. His research domain include the power electronics, motor drives control and thermal area, especially in the air cooling fan application, there are more than thirty patents in this area.

Ruey-Hsun Liang

Ruey-Hsun Liang (Member IEEE) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University, Taipei. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan. His research interests include power system analysis, distributed power systems, and power electronics.