Bladeless ceiling fan speeds up cooling while saving energy

A new UFO-shaped fan that can generate twice as much airflow while using only half of the energy compared to a conventional ceiling fan, has been developed by NTU scientists.

It has a 12-watt LED as a lamp and Ultraviolet (UV) LEDs that can disinfect the fan, killing viruses, bacteria and fungi while in operation to minimize spread of diseases. The fan is now sold in Singapore by Vortec, a spin-off company from the Energy Research Institute @NTU and incubated by NTUitive, the university’s innovation and enterprise company.

Working on the principles of a vortex, the Vortec fan sucks cool air from the ground and hurls it outwards like an umbrella so that people at the periphery are also kept cool. This is unlike the conventional ceiling fans with multiple blades which only blow air downwards, where those who are at the peripheries of its range won’t feel as cool as people underneath it.

Developed over the last 10 years by ERI@N co-director Choo Fook Hoong, a leading expert in the field of energy management, data analytics and air-conditioning systems, Vortec has since been installed and tested at the NTU Smart Campus, including two F&B outlets and the atrium at Innovation Centre.