"Even second place is an excellent award for our 3-phase active PFC solution, and we’re pleased to be among the top 3 in this category," said Jochen Breuer, sales engineer at ebm-papst Mulfingen.

To minimize trouble with harmonics in parallel operation of EC centrifugal fans, ebm-papst developed a solution in which a harmonic filter is already integrated in the fan. This solution, 3-phase active PFC, converts the pulsed input current of the EC motors into a sinusoidal current. The current is then shifted so that it is in phase with the voltage, permitting emergency power supplies, power electronics, switches, wiring and protective devices to be designed smaller and more cost-effectively thanks to the nearly ideal current characteristics.