Je veux savoir à propos de…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 188 / Friday, October 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules may consider whether to specify additional design characteristics e.g., fan impeller blade tip diameter to identify ACFHs that would be in the scope of any potential test procedures.
Issue 4: DOE requests comments on whether it should consider limiting the scope of any potential test procedure for ACFHs based on the fans impeller blade tip diameter, or any other physical design characteristic. DOE seeks information to support any potential exclusions from the scope of potential test procedures.
C. Test Procedure for ACFHs As noted, there are currently no DOE
test procedures for ACFHs.
1. Industry Standards DOEs established practice is to adopt industry standards as DOE test procedures unless such methodology would be unduly burdensome to conduct or would not produce test results that reflect the energy efficiency, energy use, water use as specified in EPCA or estimated operating costs of that product during a representative average use cycle. 10 CFR 431.4; 10 CFR
part 430 subpart C appendix A section 8c. In cases where the industry standard does not meet EPCA statutory criteria for test procedures, DOE will make modifications through the rulemaking process to these standards as the DOE test procedure.
AMCA 21421 provides methods to establish the fan electrical input power FEP in kilowatts kW and fan energy index 13 FEI for various categories of fans, either by: 1 The measurement of the electrical input power to the fan i.e., a wire-to-air test; or by 2 the measurement of the fan shaft power and the application of calculation algorithms to reflect additional motor, transmission, or control energy use. AMCA 21421
references AMCA 23015 14 as the industry test procedure to follow when conducting performance measurements on air circulating fans, including ACFHs.
Issue 5: DOE seeks feedback on whether AMCA 21421 and AMCA
13 The FEI of a fan at a given operating point is a dimensionless index defined as the FEP kW of a theoretical reference fan described in Section 5 of AMCA 21421, divided by the actual FEP kW of the fan at the same operating point as described in Section 6 of AMCA 24121. See section 4 of AMCA
21421.
14 AMCA 23015 provides methods for conducting laboratory tests to determine the performance characteristics of circulating fans including the FEP in Watts W, speed in RPM, pressure in inch of mercury, airflow in cfm, thrust in pound force lbf, efficacy in cfm/W, and overall efficiency in lbf/W.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:18 Sep 30, 2021

Jkt 256001

23015 would be appropriate for adoption in a potential Federal test procedure for ACFHs. If using AMCA
21421 and AMCA 23015 is not appropriate, DOE seeks input on how AMCA 21421 and AMCA 23015
should be amended and why, and on any other industry test standard that would be more appropriate.
Issue 6: DOE seeks information and data to assist in evaluating the repeatability and reproducibility of AMCA 21421 and AMCA 23015 as applied to ACFHs. DOE seeks input on whether any changes to AMCA 21421
and AMCA 23015 are needed to increase its repeatability and reproducibility.
Issue 7: DOE seeks information on whether changes to AMCA 21421 and AMCA 23015 are needed to allow for representative energy efficiency ratings for ACFHs, and whether such changes would increase test burden.
2. Metric AMCA 21421 provides uniform methods to determine the FEP and FEI
of a fan at a given duty point.15 As explained, FEP describes the electrical input power of a fan in kilowatts.
AMCA 21421 defines FEI as the ratio of the electrical input power of a reference fan to the electrical input power of the actual fan for which the FEI is calculated, both established at the same duty point. FEI is a dimensionless index designed to facilitate the evaluation of a fans performance against a reference fan. Section 5 of AMCA 21421 provides the equations necessary to calculate the reference fan electrical input power as a function of airflow and pressure.
AMCA 23015 provides methods to determine the FEP of air circulating fans including ACFHs as well as efficacy i.e., amount of flow per unit of electrical input power produced in cubic feet per minute per watt cfm/
W and overall efficiency i.e., amount of thrust per unit of electrical input power produced in pound-force per watt lbf/W.
DOE is reviewing the metrics in AMCA 21421 and AMCA 23015 and is interested in collecting additional information that would help evaluate use of these metrics in a Federal test procedure.
Issue 8: DOE requests comment on whether the FEP metric obtained in accordance with AMCA 21421 is appropriate for adoption in the Federal 15 A duty point is characterized by a given airflow and pressure and has a corresponding operating speed. AMCA 214 provides methods to establish the FEP and FEI at any duty point within the operating range of the fan.

PO 00000

Frm 00006

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

54415

test procedure for ACFHs, and on whether any changes are necessary to allow for more representative energy efficiency ratings, and whether these changes would increase test burden. If the metrics on AMCA 21421 are not appropriate, DOE seeks input on how the metrics should be amended and why, and on any other metrics that would be more appropriate.
Specifically, DOE requests comment on whether it should consider other performance metrics as measured by AMCA 23015, such as efficacy and overall efficiency.
3. Sampling DOE provides sampling provisions for determining represented values of energy use or efficiency of a covered product or equipment. See generally 10
CFR part 429 and 10 CFR part 431.
These sampling provisions provide uniform statistical methods that require testing a sample of units that is large enough to account for reasonable manufacturing variability among individual units of a basic model, or variability in the test methodology, such that the test results for the overall sample will be reasonably representative of the efficiency of that basic model.
The basic model concept allows manufacturers to group like models for the purpose of DOEs certification requirements, thereby reducing the burden placed on manufacturers by streamlining the amount of testing they must do to rate the energy use or efficiency of their product. DOEs current regulations provide equipmentspecific basic model definitions, which typically state that models within the same basic model group have essentially identical energy or water use characteristics.16
The general sampling requirement currently applicable to all covered products and equipment provides that a sample of sufficient size must be randomly selected and tested and that, unless otherwise specified, a minimum of two units must be tested to certify a basic model. 10 CFR 429.11. This minimum is implicit in the requirement to calculate a meanan averagewhich requires at least two values.
Manufacturers can increase their sample size to narrow the margin of error.
Issue 9: DOE seeks information on whether the statistical sampling plans used for other commercial and industrial equipment at 10 CFR part 429
16 See 10 CFR 431.12, 431.62, 431.82, 431.102, 431.132, 431.152, 431.202, 431.222, 431.242, 431.262, 431.292, 431.302, 431.322, 431.442, and 431.462.

E:FRFM01OCP1.SGM

01OCP1