Direct-drive fan system with variable process control

A cooling tower system, comprising:

• a cooling tower comprising a cooling tower structure
• a first electric motor supported by the cooling tower structure and having a rotatable shaft, wherein the first electric motor comprises a variable speed and variable torque electric motor,
• a first programmable motor controller having an input for receiving AC power and an output for providing electrical signals that control one or more of the following:
• the operational speed, torque and/or rotational direction of the first motor;
• a cooling tower fan attached to the rotatable shaft of the first motor such that the fan rotates upon rotation of the rotatable shaft;
• at least one variable speed pump to displace liquid from the cooling tower to a process and then displace the liquid back to the cooling tower, wherein the pump comprises a second electric motor and one or more sensor devices of the following for providing pump status signals including flow rate, pressure and/or temperature of the liquid flowing through the pump, wherein the second electric motor comprises a variable speed and variable torque electric motor;
• a second programmable motor controller having an input for receiving AC power and an output for providing electrical signals that control one or more of the following:
• the operational speed, torque and/or rotational direction of the second electric motor;
• a signal processing device in electronic signal communication with the first and second programmable motor controllers and the sensor devices of the pump, the signal processing including a data storage resource for storing data representing a current thermal capacity of the cooling tower, the signal processing device being configured to continuously receive one or more real-time signals representing the current process demand associated with the process and/or current environmental stress and to continuously process the received real-time signals, the current thermal cooling tower capacity and pump status signals so as to (i) generate feedback signals to the first programmable motor controller so as to vary the speed, rotational direction and/or torque of the first electric motor and/or (ii) generate feedback signals to the second programmable motor controller to vary the speed, rotational direction and/or torque of the second electric motor of the pump so as to adjust the thermal cooling tower capacity in response to the changing process demand and/or changing environmental stress.

A cooling tower system, comprising:

• a cooling tower comprising a cooling tower structure;
• a first electric motor supported by the cooling tower structure and having a rotatable shaft, the first electric motor comprising a variable speed and variable torque electric motor;
• a cooling tower fan attached to the rotatable shaft such that the fan rotates upon rotation of the rotatable shaft;
• a programmable motor controller having an input for receiving AC power and an output for providing electrical signals to the first electric motor that control one or more of the following:
• the operational speed, acceleration rate, deceleration rate, rotational direction and/or the torque of the first electric motor;
• a plenum pressure sensor to sense plenum pressure and provide signals representing the sensed plenum pressure;
• at least one pump to pump the liquids from the cooling tower to a process and then back to the cooling tower, wherein pump includes a second electric motor and one or more sensor devices for providing pump status signals including the flow rate, pressure and/or temperature of the liquid flowing through the variable speed pump, wherein the second electric motor comprises a variable speed and variable torque electric motor;
• a second programmable motor controllers having an input for receiving AC power and an output for providing electrical signals to the second electric motor so as to control one or more of the following:
• the operational speed, acceleration rate, deceleration rate, rotational direction and/or the torque of the second electric motor;
• a signal processor in electronic signal communication with the first and second programmable motor controllers, the plenum pressure sensor and the sensor devices associated with the pumps, the signal processor being configured to continuously receive real-time data signals representing the current process demand associated with the process and/or changing environmental conditions and to continuously process the received real-time data signals and the operational speed, rotational direction and torque of the first and second electric motors, the pump status signals and the signals representing the sensed plenum pressure in order to (i) generate feedback signals for input to the first programmable motor controller so as to vary the speed, torque and/or rotational direction of the fan and/or (ii) generate feedback signals for input into the second programmable motor controller so as to vary speed, torque and/or rotational direction of the second electric motor of the pump in response to changing process demand conditions and/or changing environmental conditions.

A cooling tower system, comprising:

• a cooling tower structure;
• a variable speed direct-drive system supported by the cooling tower structure, the variable speed direct drive system comprising a variable speed electric motor having a rotatable shaft, wherein the motor is configured to operate in a forward direction or a reverse direction, the direct-drive system further comprising a motor controller comprising an input for receiving AC power and an output for providing electrical signals that control one or more of the following:
• the operational speed (RPM), torque and direction of rotation of the motor, the motor controller being further configured to receive feedback signals to adjust the speed and/or torque and/or direction of rotation of the motor;
• a fan attached to the rotatable shaft of the motor such that the fan rotates upon rotation of the rotatable shaft;
• at least one gas sensor to sense gas emissions and output signals indicating the presence of a gas;
• a signal acquisition and processing device to process the signals indicating the presence of gas and, in response, generate notifications that indicate the presence of the gas;
• and
• a distributed control system in electronic signal communication with the signal acquisition and processing device for receiving the notifications and routing the notifications to operators of the cooling tower system.