Wire-to-water efficiency improvement water heater circulators using innovative electric drivetrains

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Servo motors used in pumps or other industrial applications is currently a niche technology in many countries, but they are increasingly expected to form an important role in a "low carbon" future. This is largely because a future of rapidly decarbonised electricity supply is imagined, in which using electricity via high efficiency pumps is one of the lowest carbon options. The higher the pump efficiency; the lower its carbon foot print as it will require less fossil fuel to be burned to operate it.This project presents a promising solution to the problem of the bad environmental impacts of the induction motor based water pumps. Due to the low wire-to-water efficiency of the current residential water heaters (Around 30%); a high energy cost is paid by every household in North America and even worldwide. The contribution of this project comes in two folds; the first is the development of a mapping algorithm that relates the pressure head (H) and the water flow rate (Q) to a corresponding torque ad speed under the chart of Best Efficiency Point (BEP), which was programmed to the controller, the second is the development of a cost effective Brushless DC (BLDC) motor through extensive numerical analysis technique. The proposed motor solution designs the BLDC with minimal pulsating torque by comparing two different designs. The new controller is based on a modified field oriented control (FOC). The controller PCB is of 2-layers to offer a cost effective solution. The proposed pump eliminates the need of a battery for the controller as the control voltage is fed directly from the line together with the motor. The motor simulation model and the controller design procedure will be developed with simulation results of two possible prototypes. An experimental prototype will be built for a 150W residential pump and preliminary results will be given to highlight the merits of the work.