Fan array fan section in air-handling systems
First Claim
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1. A fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, comprising:
- an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building;
a fan array of at least three fan units positioned in the air handling compartment, the fan units configured to be ON and OFF, wherein the fan units that are ON have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building,wherein the air handling compartment includes multiple chambers arranged in an array where at least a portion of the chambers are stacked adjacent one another in at least one row or column, wherein the fan units are positioned in corresponding chambers of the air handling compartment; and
an array controller programmed to meet a first air demand by operating all of the fan units at a first fan speed and to meet a second air demand by operating a subset of the fan units at the first fan speed.
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Abstract
A fan array fan section in an air-handling system includes a plurality of fan units arranged in a fan array and positioned within an air-handling compartment. One preferred embodiment may include an array controller programmed to operate the plurality of fan units at peak efficiency. The plurality of fan units may be arranged in a true array configuration, a spaced pattern array configuration, a checker board array configuration, rows slightly offset array configuration, columns slightly offset array configuration, or a staggered array configuration.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, comprising:
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an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building; a fan array of at least three fan units positioned in the air handling compartment, the fan units configured to be ON and OFF, wherein the fan units that are ON have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building, wherein the air handling compartment includes multiple chambers arranged in an array where at least a portion of the chambers are stacked adjacent one another in at least one row or column, wherein the fan units are positioned in corresponding chambers of the air handling compartment; and an array controller programmed to meet a first air demand by operating all of the fan units at a first fan speed and to meet a second air demand by operating a subset of the fan units at the first fan speed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, comprising:
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an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building; a fan array of at least three fan units positioned in the air handling compartment, the fan units configured to be ON and OFF, wherein the fan units that are ON have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building, wherein the air handling compartment includes multiple chambers arranged in an array where at least a portion of the chambers are stacked adjacent one another in at least one row or column, wherein the fan units are positioned in corresponding chambers of the air handling compartment; and an array controller programmed; to operate all of the fan units on-line to meet a first air demand of the building; and to take at least one of the fan units off-line, while operating at least a portion of the fan units on-line, to meet a second air demand of the building, wherein the fan units that are on-line are operated at a same speed when meeting both the first and second air demands.
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32. A method for providing a fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, comprising:
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providing an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building; providing a fan array of fan units, wherein the fan units that are on-line have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building; operating all of the fan units, as a full-array-on-line set, to meet a first air demand of the building; while at least one of the fan units is removed or off-line, operating a sub-set of the fan units, as a partial-array-on-line sub-set, to meet a second air demand of the building, where active fan units in the full-array-on-line set and partial-array-on-line sub-set are operated at a common speed; and automatically taking off-line and on-line individual fan units.
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33. A method for providing a fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, comprising:
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providing an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building; providing a fan array of fan units, wherein, the fan units that are on-line have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building; operating all of the fan units, as a full-array-on-line set, to meet a first air demand of the building; and while at least one of the fan units is removed or off-line, operating a sub-set of the fan units, as a partial-array-on-line sub-set, to meet a second air demand of the building, where active fan units in the full-array-on-line set and partial-array-on-line sub-set are operated at a common speed. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for providing a fan array fan section in an air-handling system to supply air to a building, the method comprising:
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providing an air handling compartment having a discharge plenum configured to deliver air to a ventilation system for at least a portion of the building; providing a fan array of fan units positioned in the air handling compartment, the fan units configured to be ON and OFF, wherein the fan units that are ON have sufficient air flow capacity to at least meet a specified air capacity for at least the portion of the building; including multiple chambers, in the air handling compartment, arranged in an array where at least a portion of the chambers are stacked adjacent one another in at least one row or column; positioning the fan units in corresponding chambers of the air handling compartment; and configuring an array controller to meet a first air demand by operating all of the fan units at a first fan speed and to meet a second air demand by operating a subset of the fan units at the first fan speed. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification