Development of external rotor single-phase PM BLDC motor based drive for ceiling fan

Permanent magnet brushless dc (PM BLDC) motors offer various advantages such as high efficiency, compactness and easy controllability which are absolutely beneficial in domestic appliances. Ceiling fans, in general, are driven by single-phase induction motors with an overall system efficiency of about 30%. This paper presents the design, analysis, and development of a 170 V, 20 W, 360 rpm, single-phase PM BLDC motor meant for use in ceiling fan, which becomes a cost effective high efficiency solution for this high volume domestic appliance. The developed motor, on testing gave an efficiency of about 50% when fitted to a ceiling fan delivering the same air delivery.