EE3030

STARTING METHODS OF 3-PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR

INSTRUCTED BY: - MR. N. KANKANAMGE

NAME : M.N.S. Ariyasinghe FIELD : EE INDEX NO : 070035A DATE OF PER : DATE OF SUB : 18/12/2009

Discussion

1. The importance of employing a starting method for an 3-phase induction motor

When supply is given three phase induction motor is capable of self starting, but the heavy current it draws may affect the motor as well as the stability of the system voltage. Starting current is usually large because of inertia, characteristics of motor winding (rotor resistance low implies less back emf [k*ang.speed*field]). So this will lead the motor to absorb high current, but as the motor gains speed the emerging back EMF is capable of creating a resistance to the current flow, then the drawn current will reduce to rated current. This high starting current is bad in several ways. The high currents may damage the motor, creating high amount of heat. Also the power supply system is not ideal (has an internal impedance, Governed by the equation V = Vs - IZs), therefore this large current drawn will drop the voltage of the system, causing disturbance to other utilities. Though a starting method should reduce the starting current it should not reduce the starting torque unnecessarily, 50% more torque than the full load should be able to provide at the presence of the starting method. Over load protection and other necessary protection schemes are used in a good implementation of a staring method.

2. Construction and working principal of the DOL

Direct online starter is the simplest form exploited in motor starting which is vastly used for motors rated below than 5 hp( 3.75 KW), for which the staring currents will not be too high to directly handle with sufficient overall protection. This is a very cheap method, but has very low resistance to high starting currents.

DOL is used in low power applications like house hold water pumps, fans, compressors...etc. 1. Overload Coil (thermal overload) at a situation where motor draws excess amount of current, this will trip off and open the circuit. This will save motor from damaging it as well as preventing disturbance to the system. A heating device is located near the bi-metallic strip. When current flow through the circuit, it will heat the bi-metallic strip and will cause a mechanical tripping. But this is adjusted to withstand a reasonable amount of heat, will give the motor time to draw sufficient initial current (not very high). If the drawn current is high for a long duration it will make the system to switch off. 2. No Volt coil - is used to keep the contactor closed. This is connected in parallel across the start switch which is normally kept open in the control circuit. When the start switch is closed the no-volt coil is magnetized holding in the contactor, this will make sure that current flow continuously until the supply is given. Only when no volt coil is energized, current remain in the control circuit.

3. The short comings of the DOL starter This method can only be used for motors operating in less than 5HP, since there is no starting current controlling mechanism. There for using this in a weak supply system will cause bad interruptions to other consumers. The initial drawn high current will badly disturb a weak power system; this will be a nuisance to the other users. The current drawn may destroy the motor and the other components attached to it. The high starting torque can cause severe mechanical breakdowns, high wear of parts. So DOL starter is not to use in high power applications. 4. Star-Delta Vs auto-transformer Star Delta is a vastly adopted method for its simplicity and low cost. It is able to reduce the starting torque by 1/3 times (fixed value) of the DOL used motor starting torque. Therefore it is not suitable for drivers that need high starting torques. To use this method it is required the motor to have its terminal Brought out to the terminal box; most large motors have this option, while small ones have fixed delta connections. On the other hand using an Auto transformer is some what expensive method, but it can vary starting current as needed. So these are used where the starting torque provided stardelta method is insufficient. Here we can reduce starting torque by a desired factor K, which in turn reduce torque by K2.

5. Advantages of Rotor impedance starting method Rotor impedance starting method has many advantages over other starting methods. Here three inductive resistors are connected in series with the rotor, where this impedance's can vary smoothly manually or automatically. By this method we can effectively reduce starting torque but has higher starting torque, this is because as motor gains speed its effective impedance also increase, making external impedance to gradually decrease giving enough voltage to the motor, thus letting it produces a good torque. So that a starting torque in the range of 2 to 2.5 times the full load torque can be obtained at a starting current of 1 to 1.5 times the full load current. Also we can have the resistors generate a phase shift in the field resulting in the magnetic force acting on the rotor having a favorable angle. DOL starter is good since it can generate a high starting torque, but have no mechanism to control the starting current. While rotor impedance starting method can give good starting torques controlling heavy currents. Star Delta conversion starters are capable of controlling the current but on the cost of low starting torque. They also need a controlling part to do the Star Delta transmission. Also the transmission will cause will make a sudden jump which in turn disturb the smooth operation of the motor. Rotor impedance starter has overcome these problems; they have a good starting torque while maintaining smooth operation. Auto-transformer cost is high, since transformer part of it needs careful design and construction. Unlike in other methods since we have rotor terminal connections we can control the torque. So the rotor impedance method has a lot of advantages over other methods used in staring a motor.

6. Reversing the direction of a 3-phase induction motor Induction motors can run either clockwise or counter clockwise. We can change the rotating direction of the motor by changing the phase sequence supplied to it. This can be simply done by interchanging two supply terminals.

References

Internet (from www.wikipedia.com, www.disignenews.com) Lecture Notes

www.oneondemand.com,

www.freescale.com,