Avoiding Over-Voltages in Long Distance Driving of Induction Motors

E. A. Vendrusculo and J. A. Pomilio

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering State University of Campinas C.P. 6101, CEP 13081-970, Campinas, Brazil {adriano,antenor@dsce.fee.unicamp.br}
Absfracf - Driving induction motors through long cables implies that resonance phenomena will usually occur and submit the motor to over-voltages. This problem exists in industrial plants and also in sub sea oil exploitation systems. The oscillations due to the resonance are noticed in the voltage at the motor leads, along the power cable as well as in the current at the inverter output. This paper considers a system comprised of pulse width modulated voltage source inverter (PWM-VSI), long cable and induction motor. In order to outline the frequency response of the system, and identify critical frequencies, the cable electrical parameters should be estimated. Using these data the inverter switching frequency can be chosen in order to avoid the coincidence with the system resonance frequencies. As a consequence, using PWM and without additional filters, the motor voltage does not present significant over-voltages These procedures are performed on-line, allowing to adjust the inverter frequency according to the system parameters changes.

1. INTRODUCTION
The characteristics of driving an induction motor through long cables have been widely disclosed [l-61. Fig.1 shows a typical topology of this kind of system. Depending on the demanded power level, a step-up transformer could be required. Usually the cable length varies between a few tens of meters up to tens of kilometers. The latter case is typical in sub-sea oil exploitation [4,5], while the former is common in industrial plants. Undesired over-voltages that appear in the motor leads foment the study of these driving systems. The over-voltage is related with the frequency response of the long power cable [4,6]. The resonance can be excited by specific harmonic components typically present in the spectrum of PWM signals [2,7]. Nevertheless, passive filters sited either in the inverter output [8] or in the motor leads [9,10] can be used in order to mitigate the motor over-voltages. Altematively, other modulation techniques can be chosen in order to avoid excitation of the system resonance [SI.The trivial solution for this problem is to use a purely sinusoidal waveform at the system input, but this approach asks for more complex driver structures
inverter
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(multilevel) [6] and power filters, leading to a higher cost compared with custom P W M inverters. This paper proposes an alternative approach to avoid overvoltages based on the flexibility of the PWM technique rather than using more complex drivers and passive filters. A suitable switching frequency choice is suggested to solve the overvoltage problem. However, to guarantee the best switching fiequency choice, the critical frequency range of the system should be known. It can be estimated fiom computing the system's voltage transfer characteristic. The parameters that are necessary to evaluate this characteristic are on-line [2]. estimated from the cable's natural oscillation frequency 6) The oscillation can be noticed either in the current at the inverter output or in the voltage at the motor leads. A rank-based filter, called median filter [ll], commonly used in image and radar signal processing, is employed to remove the cable's oscillation frequency from the current signal. The current is preferred rather than the voltage at the motor leads, because the motor could be located either far from or in an inaccessible place. Experimental results are presented showing the overall results. Considerations about the system impedance are also presented.
11. THE SYSTEM

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A . Identification of the System Parameters

In an Inverter-Cable-Motor (ICM) system, the over-voltage phenomenon occurs due to the cable's oscillation frequency (fo).It can be measured from the inverter output current waveform when the cable is submitted to a voltage step as shown in Fig. 2. This typical PWM source applies a sequence of voltage steps and the oscillation observed at the current signal is only dictated by the cable characteristics [2]. Thus, the cable parameters can be determined fiomfo as follows [7].

transformer

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Fig. 1 Long distance driving system.

Fig. 2. Waveforms at the inverter output. Top: voltage (250Wdiv). Bottom:current (2Aldiv).

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The capacitance between two cable conductors (C), and the inductance (Le)per unit length are given by:

overlapping the fimdamental frequency in the original signal waveform. The median is shown looking like a monotonic average profile to the original signal. Some distortion would be noticed in the median since it depends on the size of a sliding window. As a simple understanding rule, so much precise is the median filtering as larger the window. Seeing as subtracting median from original signal one could observe the resulting signal around zero as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the resulting signal will have its spectrum computed through a Power Spectral Density algorithm. C. The Cable's Oscillation in thefrequency domain

where r is the radius, d is the distance between the cable conductors and I, is the cable length. These equations apply to the electromagnetic field outside the cable conductors. For a while, no consideration about the skin effect is included. Equations (1) and (2) are valid if the voltage risetime is less than the time necessary to the pulse reach the end of the cable [2].

B. Identification of the Cable's Oscillation Frequency

A median filter was implemented to identify f,. This class of non-linear filter is characterized by the inclusion of a sorting element in the signal path [Ill. The sorting operation allows suppressing impulsive noise while preserving edges and monotonic sections of signals. The superior performance of median filters arise from the fact that linear filters are frequency-oriented filters, shaping the spectrum, whereas median filters can be considered as geometrically oriented filters, shaping the local form of signals. Further, the implementation of a median filter requires a very simple digital operation [12]. Fig. 3 shows a snapshot of the inverter output current. The original signal (approximately 1/16 of 60Hz correspondent period) was measured using a Hall Effect sensor and digitized through a data acquisition system with 12 bits (4096 levels) A/D converter operating at 330kHz sampling rate. Note the high frequency oscillation due to the cable's natural oscillation and an undesirable noise
..................I . (

For many snapshots one could notice that the characteristics of the resulting signal as still being oscillatory. Therefore, the signal characteristic does not change with time and it is said to be stationary so that performing the analysis on any section of the waveform should produce representative results [ 131. The resulting signal has its spectrum estimated by the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. The average of four FFT spectra relative to four distinct snapshots is shown in Fig. 4. Note the distinguished frequency fo at 33.5 kHz and a multiple at approximately 110 kHz. The 5 kHz component is due to the residual switching frequency component, which can be observed in Fig. 3. To guarantee the absolute overcoming off, in the spectrum, the Power Spectrum Density (PSD) can be computed as shown in Fig. 5 . Finally, to complete the on line detection of the cable's natural oscillation frequency a computer routine needs simply to read the maximum value in the PSD spectrum. Since f, was determined, its value and the cable physical dimensions can be used in (1) and (2) to estimate the electrical parameters. Both FFT or PSD can be used to identify the frequency ranges free of resonances. These ranges are good loci to select the inverter switching frequency. However, this is not a completely secure approach once it is not possible to know exactly the voltage gain because the original signal (Fig. 3) presents noise that affects the FFT, as shown in Fig. 4. A better procedure is to identify f,, and using this value calculate the parameters that will be used to outline the
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Frequency [kHz] Fig. 4. FFT average of four filtered signals frequency response of the ICM system. For the ITCM (Inverter - Transformer - Cable - Motor) system, due to the transformer, the identification of the main (first) resonance frequency, fn is not sufficient to obtain the theoretical frequency response because eqs. (1) and (2) are no longer valid. 111. SYSTEM FREQUENCY RESPONSE In this section, the frequency response of the ICM and the-ITCM system are analyzed. Regarding to the motor over-voltage and inverter over-current limits, the voltage transfer function and the system input impedance are respectively analyzed. These hnctions describe the ratio between the motor and inverter voltages and the ratio between the inverter voltage and current, respectively. The cable parameters were estimated fromf, as indicated in the previous section.
A.ICMsystem

Frequency [kHz] Fig. 5. Power Spectral Density

where o is the frequency. The skin effect of the conductor parameters is taken into account using the hyperbolic terms (Rhyp and Lhyp) [14]. Traditionally, the skin effect has been assigned using Bessel functions. However, these functions are computationally hard so that hyperbolic approximations were preferred. Within acceptable accuracy these approximations are related to:

The frequency response is performed using the system modeling disclosed in [ 6 ] . It has been shown that the voltage transfer equation and the system input impedance could be respectively expressed by:

where o is the conductivity of the conductor material (for cooper ~ 5 . 7 5 ~ 1 0 ' [am]-') and p is the dielectric permeability. The skin depth of penetration (6) is frequency dependent as:

(4)
where y is the propagation constant and ( Z , ) is the cable characteristic impedance. The propagation constant is determined by:

The conductor permeability, pc, is 4 x ~ 1 0for - ~ cooper. The characteristic impedance is defined as being:

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frequency[kHz]

Fig. 6. Voltage transfer function (Gv) and input impedance (Zsys) of an actual ICM system.

frequency [kHz]

Fig. 7. Voltage transfer function (G vtr ) and input impedance (2 systr) of an actual ITCM system.

A result from a typical medium power (150 kVA) ICM system with a cable length of 8 km and conductors cross section of 34 mm2 is presented in Fig. 6 . The cable parameters are Le=360 pH/km, C=160 n F h and G=100 n S h . Clearly, an over-voltage above 4.5 p.u. is expected for a frequency of 4.5 kHz, corresponding to an impedance close to 12.5 R. As the goal of this approach is appropriately find a suitable switching frequency in order to avoid exciting the critical frequencies, previously identified through the system frequency response, an inverter switching frequency around 9kHz should be preferred since no overvoltage is expected.

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Still comparing these results with the ICM system, as the skin effect is not so important at low frequency, a larger voltage gain will result if the switching frequency is around 2.9 kHz. Correspondently, the minimum input impedance can yield over currents on the inverter. As expected, the impedance augments in the high frequency range due to the dominance of the transformer leakage inductance. IV. INVERTER SWITCHING FREQUENCY Safe limits for motor over-voltage and inverter over-current are aimed at when using the system frequency response to choose a suitable inverter switching frequency. As a first step, the switching frequency should be higher than the first critical frequency observed in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 to ICM and ITCM systems, respectively. Since the voltage transfer function and the system input impedance are derived from transcendental equations, a numerical method has been applied in order to find a suitable switching frequency. It can be accomplished using the secant method. The numerical method is applied to the voltage gain curve in the spectrum region delimited by the first critical frequency and the frequency correspondent to the first valley, The correspondent function values are stored in an array in which the frequency range is known. These values are checked in order to find the frequency in which the unit gain is obtained. Summarizing, the choice of the switching frequency can be performed on line for an ICM systems. The cable parameters n are estimated by calculating the FFT and PSD as described i section 11. Next the theoretical frequency response is computed

B.ITCM system study

Considering a medium power ITCM system, in which a step-up transformer is connected to the inverter output, the voltage transfer function and the input impedance based on [6] can respectively be dictated by equations (10) and (1 1). The transformer model is introduced considering the magnetization inductance Lo,,, the leakage inductance L, and the winding resistance R,. In very long distance applications, such as sub sea oil exploitation, the skin effect in the transformer winding can be neglected in (10) and (11). The reason is that the cable parameters are dominant over the transformer ones. Fig. 7 shows the simulation results of an ITCM system comprising a power transformer of 15OkVA and parameters Rlr=63mR, Lfr=806pH and LOfr=2.93H.The a priori known cable parameters are the same of the ICM system. Likewise in ICM, the critical frequency observed in ITCM system is due to a resonance phenomenon. The first critical frequency depends on the transformer leakage inductance is lower than in the ICM system and is approximately given by:

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using the equations of section 1 1 1and finally the switching frequency is chosen by means of the secant method. For an ITCM case, as the theoretical response cannot be determined, because the parameters cannot be directly obtained based only on the resonance frequency value, the alternative is to select the switching frequency using directly the FFT results. V.EXPEFUMENTALRESULTS

The leakage inductance ( L , p 818.4 pH), the winding resistance (R,=2.9 Q) and the magnetization inductance ( L o t ~ 6 . 4 H) were measured using regular tests (single-phase modeling) and the values were referred to the high voltage side. As the total inductance increases due to the transformer, the critical frequency decreases to approximately 1 1.2 kHz.

I ) Effect of the inverter switching frequency

Applying the secant method, the unit gain occurs for 19.3kHz. The effect of changing the switching frequency during the inverter operation is shown in Fig. 1 1 . Initially, for 3.9 kHz switching frequency, an important over-voltage is present at the motor leads. Running the proposed strategy, and using 19.4 kHz switching frequency mitigates the over voltage. A detail of the frequency transition is zoomed in Fig. 12. The significant reduction of the over-voltage is quite clear. It is noticed in Fig. 10 that the gain was approximately 1.5 for 3.9 kHz and has been attenuated to 0.9 for 19.4 kHz. However, the current at the inverter output is practically

A. ICM system
An experimental ICM system, as shown in Fig 1, using a cable of 990m length and 4mm2 cross section, driving a % HP induction motor was used to validate the proposed strategy to find a suitable inverter switching frequency in order to avoid over-voltages. The analysis of this cable's oscillation frequency indicates a critical frequency of 33.5 kHz, as shown in Fig. 5. The critical frequency is relatively high because the cable length can be considered short. Longer cables, as typical for oil exploitation, will result in lower resonance frequencies. The cable parameters were determined considering ~1.12 mm and d 4 . 6 2 mm. The capacitance is C=106 pF/m and the conductance and inductance are Gc=2.33 nS/m and L=534.6 N m , respectively. Fig. 8 shows the theoretical voltage transfer function, (Gv) calculated with the parameters above and the experimental values which were recorded with a HP Dynamic Signal Analyzer 35660A.
The frequency behaviors are quite similar i n both

results. However there is a significant error at the peak magnitude, while at the valley the results are coincident. As the goal of the search procedure (Section IV) is to find a point at the valley, the simulation results can be used. Notice the same behavior in the results for the input shown in Fig. 9. impedance (Zsys)

Fig. 8. Voltage transfer function (Gv)of an ICM system prototype: simulation (solid) and experimental results (+dot).
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B. ITCM system
A 0.8 kVA, 15OA-220Y step-up transformer was used in the ITCM prototype. For this specific experimental setup, as the transformer parameters (leakage inductance and wiring resistance) are dominant over the cable parameters, the skin effect significantly affects these transformer parameters unlike what was assumed when deriving equations (10) and (1 1). Therefore only experimental results are presented in Fig. 10. Different from the ICM system, these curves cannot be calculated on-line, as explained is section 11. The estimation of the best switching frequency has been done using the FFT, interpolating an average curve and selecting a frequency with a suitable voltage gain.

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This paper has proposed the on line determination of the critical frequency through sampling the current at the inverter output. An unusual filtering technique based on median filter and the traditional FFT spectral analyses give good results on the first critical frequency estimation. Experimental results have demonstrated that a suitable switching-frequency can be chosen in order to avoid over voltage without the use of passive filters or more sophisticatedmodulation techniques. , , , , , ..~..~~..~.-~~...~,..~...,......,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
40 50 60 70 80 90 frequency [kHz] Fig.10. Voltage transfer function (Gvtr)and input impedance (&ystr ) of an ITCM system: experimental results.

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frequency around 11 kHz would produce an unacceptable over-voltage.

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The authors wish to acknowledge the support of FAPESP (FundaGfio de Amparo B Pesquisa do Estado de S b Paulo), Project Number 96/01375-0, and the contributions of Prof. LourenGo Matias from the University of Londrina, Brazil. REFERENCES
E. Persson, "Transient Effects in Application of PWM Inverter to Induction Motors", IEEE Transaction on Indusrly Applications, pp. 1095-1 100, vol. 28, ne 5, Sept./Oct. 1992. G. Skibinski; D. Leggate; R. J. Kerkman, "Cable Characteristics and Their Influence on Motor Over-Voltages", IEEE APEC Conj Proc., pp.114-120, Feb. 1997. A. von Jouanne; P. Enjeti; W. Gray, "The Effect of Long Motor Leads on PWM Inverter Fed AC Motor Drive Systems", IEEE APEC Con$ Proc., pp.592-597, March 1995. A. C. S. de Lima; R. M. Stephan; A. Pedroso; J. Mourente, "Analysis of a Long Distance Drive for an Induction Motor", ISIE'96 Proc., pp. 867872, June 1996. R. 0. Raad; T. Henriksen; B. H. Raphael; A. Hadler-Jacobsen, "Converter-Fed Subsea Motor Drives", IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat.. vol 32, no.5,pp. 1069-1079, Sept./Oct. 1996. J. A. Pomilio; C.R. de S o w , L. Matias, P.L.D. Peres and I S . Bonatti, Driving AC Motors through a Long Cable: The Inverter Switching Strategy", IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, pp. 1441-1447, Vol. 14, Dec. 1997. G. Skibinski; D. Leggate; R. J. Kerkman, "PWM Inverters and Their Influence on Motor Over-Voltage", IEEE APEC Con$ Proc., pp.103113, Feb. 1997. A. von Jouanne; P. Enjeti; W. Gray, "Design Considerations for an Inverter Output Filter to Mitigate the Effects of Long Motor Leads in ASD Applications", IEEE APEC Con$ Proc., pp.579-585, July 1996. A. Hussein; G. Joos, "Modeling and Simulation of Traveling Waves in Induction Motor Drives", IEEE APEC Conj Proc., pp.128-133, Feb. 1997. [IO] G. Skibinski, "Design Methodology of a Cable Terminator to Reduce Reflected Voltage on ac Motors", IEEE IAS Conj Proc., pp.153-161, Sept. 1996. [ll] W. C. Karl; S. B. Leeb; L. A. Jones; J. L. Kirtley,; G. C. Verghese, "Applications of Rank-Based Filters in Power Electronics", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 7, no 3, July 1992. [I21 N. C. Gallagher; G. L. Wise, "A theoretical Analysis of the Properties of Median Filters", IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, vol. ASSP-29, n' 6, Dec. 1981. [13] D. Brook; R. J. Winne, "Signal Processing Principles and Applications", Edward Arnold Ed., 1988. [ 141 E. A. Vendrusculo; J. A. Pomilio, "Power Cable Parameters Estimation in Long Distance Driving of Electrical Machines", IEEE International Electrical Machines and Drives Conference - IEMDC99, pp. 410412, May 1999.

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Fig. 11. On line transition from 3.9kHz of switching frequency to 19.4kHz avoiding over voltages. Inverter output current (2Aldiv - t o p ) ; Motor voltage (IOOV/div -bottom). Horiz.: LOms/div
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VI. CONCLUSIONS Systems composed of induction motors fed by PWM inverters through long cables are subjected to overvoltages caused by resonance phenomena. The first critical frequency is the main reason of motor over-voltages and can clearly be noticed in the system frequency response.

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