Whenever the term electric motor or generator is used, we tend to think that the speed of rotation of these machines

are totally controlled only by the applied voltage and frequency of the source current. But the speed of rotation of an electrical machine can be controlled precisely also by implementing the concept of drive. The main advantage of this concept is, the motion control is easily optimized with the help of drive. In very simple words, the systems which controls the motion of the electrical machines, are known as electrical drives. A typical drive system is assembled with aelectric motor (may be several) and a sophisticated control system that controls the rotation of the motor shaft. Now a days, this control can be be done easily with the help of software. So, the controlling becomes more and more accurate and this concept of drive also provides the ease of use. This drive system is widely used in large number of industrial and domestic applications like factories, transportation systems, textile mills, fans, pumps, motors, robots etc. Drives are employed as prime movers for diesel or petrol engines, gas or steam turbines, hydraulic motors and electric motors. Now coming to the history of electrical drives, this was first designed in Russia in the year 1838 by B.S.Iakobi, when he tested a DC electric motor supplied from a storage battery and propelled a boat. Even though the industrial adaptation occurred after many years as around 1870. Today almost everywhere the application of electric drives is seen. The very basic block diagram an electric drives is shown below. The load in the figure represents various types of equipments which consists of electric motor, like fans, pumps, washing machines etc.

Classification of Electrical Drives

The classification of electrical drives can be done depending upon the various components of the drive system. Now according to the design, the drives can be classified into three types such as single-motor drive, group motor drive and multi motor drive. The single motor types are the very basic type of drive which are mainly used in simple metal working, house hold appliances etc. Group electric drives are used in modern industries because of various complexities. Multi motor drives are used in heavy industries or where multiple motoring units are required such as railway transport. If we divide from another point of view, i) ii) these drives reversible non are of types reversible two types: and types.

This depends mainly on the capability of the drive system to alter the direction of the flux generated. So, several classification of drive is discussed above.

Parts of Electrical Drives

The diagram which shows the basic circuit design and components of a drive, also shows that, drives have some fixed parts such as, load, motor, Power modulator control unit and source. These equipments are termed asparts of drive syatem. . Now, loads can be of various types i.e they can have specific requirements and multiple conditions, which are discussed later, first of all we will discuss about the other four parts of electrical drives i.e motor, power modulators, sources and control units. Electric motors are of various types. The dc motors can be divided in four types shunt wound dc motor, series wound dc motor, compound wound dc motor and permanent magnet dc motor. And AC motors are of two types induction motors and synchronous motors. Now synchronous motors are of two types round field and permanent magnet. Induction motors are also of two types squirrel cage and wound motor. Besides all of these, stepper motors and switched reluctance motors are also considered as the parts of drive system. So, there are various types of electric motors, and they are used according to their specifications and uses. When the electrical drives were not so popular, induction and synchronous motors were usually implemented only where fixed or constant speed was the only requirement. And for variable speed drive applications, dc motors were used. But as we know that, induction motors of same rating as a dc motors have various advantages like they have lighter weight, lower cost, lower volume and there is less restriction on maximum voltage, speed and power ratings. For these reasons, the induction motors are rapidly replaced the dc motors. Moreover induction motors are mechanical stronger and requires less

maintenance. When synchronous motors are considered, wound field and permanent magnet synchronous motors have higher full load efficiency and power factor than induction motors, but the size and cost of synchronous motors are higher than induction motors for the same rating. Brush less dc motors are similar to permanent magnet synchronous motors. They are used for servo applications and now a days used as an effcient alternative to dc servo motors because they dont have the disadvantages like commentation problem. Beside of these, stepper motors are used for position control and switched reluctance motors are used for speed control. Power Modulators - are the devices which alter the nature or frequency as well as changes the intensity of power to control electrical drives. Roughly, power modulators can be classified into three types, i) Converters, ii) Variable impedance, iii) Switching circuits.

As the name suggests, converters are used to convert currents from one type to other type. Depending on the type of function, converters can be divided into 5 types -

i. ac to dc converters

ii. ac Regulators

iii. Choppers or dc-dc converters

iv. Inverters

v. Cycloconverters

AC to DC converters are used to obtain fixed dc supply from the ac supply of fixed voltage. The very basic diagram of ac to dc converters is like.

AC to DC Converter

Ac Regulators are used to obtain the regulated ac voltage, mainly auto transformers or tap changer transformers are used in this regulators.

AC to AC Converter

Choppers or dc-dc converters are used to get a variable DC voltage. Power transistors, IGBT's, GPO's, power MOSFET's are mainly used for this purpose.

DC to DC Converter

Inverters are used to get ac from dc, the operation is just opposite to that of ac to dc converters. PWM semiconductors are used to invert the current.

DC to AC Converter

Cycloconverters are used to convert the fixed frequency and fixed voltage ac into variable frequency and variable voltage ac. Thyristors are used in these converters to control the firing signals.

AC to AC Converter

Variable Impedances are used to controlling speed by varying the resistance or impedance of the circuit. But these controlling methods are used in low cost dc and ac drives. There can be two or more steps which can be controlled manually or automatically with the help of contactors. To limit the starting current inductors are used in ac motors.

Switching circuits in motors and electrical drives are used for running the motor smoothly and they also protects the machine during faults. These circuits are used for changing the quadrant of operations during the running condition of a motor. And these circuits are implemented to operate the motor and drives according to predetermined sequence, to provide interlocking, to disconnect the motor from the main circuit during any abnormal condition or faults. Sources may be of 1 phase and 3 phase. 50 Hz ac supply is the most common type of electricity supplied in India, both for domestic and commercial purpose. Synchronous motors which are fed 50 Hz supply have maximum speed up to 3000 rpm, and for getting higher speeds higher frequency supply is needed. Motors of low and medium powers are fed from 400V supply, and higher ratings like 3.3 kv, 6.6 kv, 11 kv etc are provided also. Control unit - choice of control unit depends upon the type of power modulator that is used. These are of many types, like when semiconductor converters are used, then the control unit consists of firing circuits, which employ linear devices and microprocessors.

So, the above discussion provides us a simple concept about the several parts of electrical drive.

Advantages of Electrical Drives

Electrical drives are readily used these days for controlling purpose but this is not the only the advantage of Electrical drives. There are several other advantages which are listed below -

1)

These

drives

are

available

in

wide

range

torque,

speed

and

power.

2) The control characteristics of these drives are flexible. According to load requirements these can be shaped to steady state and dynamic characteristics. As well as speed control, electric braking, gearing, starting many things can be accomplished.

3) The are adaptable to any type of operating conditions, no matter how much vigorous or rough it is. 4) They can operate in all the four quadrants of speed torque plane, which is not applicable for other prime 5) They do not pollute the movers. environment.

6) They do not need refueling or preheating, they can be started instantly and can be loaded immediately. 7) They are powered by electrical energy which is atmosphere friendly and cheap source of power. Because of the above mentioned advantages of electrical drives, they are getting more and more popular and are used in a wider range of applications. When a motor rotates, it is usually connected to load which has a rotational or translational motion. The speed of the motor may be different from that of the load. To analyze the relation among the drives and loads, the concept of Dynamics of Electrical Drives is introduced.

Motor Load System

We can describe the dynamics of electrical drive easily by the following instant. Here, J = Polar moment of inertia of motor load

Wm = Instantaneous angular velocity

T = Instantaneous value of developed motor torque

T1 = Instantaneous value of load torque referred to motor shaft

Now, from the fundamen tal torque equation -

For drives with constant inertia,

So, the above equation states that the motor torque is balanced by load torque and a dynamic torque J(dm/dt). This torque component is termed as dynamic torque as it is only present during the transient operations. From this equation, we can determine whether the drive is accelerating or decelerating. Such as during accelerating motor supplies load torque and additional torque component essentially. So, the torque, balancing the Dynamics of electrical braking is very helpful. Power rating for electrical machines indicates the required supply voltage for smooth running of that machine, it also shows the permissible maximum amount of electric current which can easily flows through the machine. And there will be a chance of breakdown in the machine if those parameters goes beyond this limit.

Electric Motor Power Rating

Similarly when we discuss about Motor power rating, we are looking for the suitable conditions where maximum efficiency is obtained from the motor. When the motor have insufficient rating, there will be frequent damages and shut downs due to over loading, and this is not intended. On the other hand, if the

power rating of a motor is decided liberally, the extra initial cost and then loss of energy due to operation below rated power makes this choice totally uneconomical. Another essential criteria of electrical motor power rating is that, during operation of motor, heat is produced and it is inevitable due to I2R loss in the circuit and friction within the motor. So, the ventilation system of the motor should be designed very carefully, to dissipate the generated heat as quickly as possible. The output power of the motor is directly related with the temperature rise, that's why it is also called thermal loading. The thermal dissipation will be ideal when the ventilation system is designed in such a way that the heat generated during the operation is equal to or less then heat dissipated by the motor to the surrounding. Now, due to the design of motors, temperature is not same everywhere inside the motor. There is a high amount of heat produced in the windings because, windings cause higher heat generation. The insulating materials used in the winding are also chosen depending on the amount of heat generated inside the motor during operation. So in the end it can be said that the main objectives of selecting and finding out motor power rating are

i. To obtain the suitable thermal model of motor and design the machine properly.

ii. Finding out motor duty class.

iii. Calculating motor ratings for various classes of duty.

We know that, when an electrical motor and drive operates, there is a generation of heat inside the motor. The amount of heat generated inside the motor should be known as accurately as possible. Thats why thermal modeling of motor is necessary. The material of the motors and the shapes and size of the motors are not unique but the generation of heat does not alter very much depending on these characteristics. So, a simple thermal model of any motor can be obtained assuming it to be a homogeneous body. The main aim of this modeling is to choose the appropriate rating of a motor so that the motor does not exceed its safe limit during operation. At time t, let the motor has following parameters

p1 = Heat developed, Joules/sec or watts

p2 = Heat dissipated to the cooling medium, watts -

W = Weight of the active parts of the machine.

h = Specific heat, Joules per Kg per 0C.

A = Cooling Surface, m2

d = Co-efficient of heat transfer, Joules/Sec/m 2/0C = Mean temperature rise oC Now, if time dt, let the temperature rise of the machine be d, Heat absorbed in the machine = (Heat generated inside the machine Heat dissipated to the surrounding cooling medicine) Whd = p1dt - p2dt................(i) Since, p2 = dA................(ii)

Substituting (ii) in (i), we get

Here, C is called the thermal capacity of the machine in watts/oC and D is the heat dissipation constant in watts/oC. When we acquire the first order differential equation of the equation -

We obtain the value of K by putting t = 0 in equation (iii) and get the solution as

So, from the above equation we can find out the rise in temperature inside a working machine, which is

very near to being accurate and if we plot a graph for the variation of temperature risk with time during heating and cooling and thus thethermal modeling of a motor gets completed.

Now a days, in almost every applications, electric motors are used, and to control them electrical drives are employed. But the operating time for all motors are not the same. Some of the motors runs all the time, and some of the motor's run time is shorter than the rest period. Depending on this, concept of motor duty class is introduced and on the basis of this duty cycles of the motor can be divided in eight categories such as

i. Continuous duty

ii. Short time duty

iii. Intermittent periodic duty

iv. Intermittent periodic duty with starting

v. Intermittent periodic duty with starting and braking

vi. Continuous duty with intermittent periodic loading

vii. Continuous duty with starting and braking

viii. Continuous duty with periodic speed changes

Continuous duty: This duty denotes that, the motor is running long enough & the motor temperature reaches the steady state value. These motors are used in Paper mill drives, Compressors, Conveyors etc.

Short time duty: In these motors, the time of operation is very low and the heating time is much lower than the cooling time. So, the motor cooks off to ambient temperature before operating again. These motors are used in crane drives, drives for house hold appliances, valve drives etc.

Intermittent periodic duty: Here the motor operates for some time and then there is rest period. In both cases, the time is insufficient to raise the temperature to steady state value or cool it off to ambient temperature. This is seen at press and drilling machine drives.

Intermittent period duty with starting: In this type of duty, there is a period of starting, which cannot be ignored and there is a heat loss at that time. After that there is running period and rest period which are not adequate to attain the steady state temperatures. This motor duty class is widely used in metal cutting and drilling tool drives, mine hoist etc.

Intermittent periodic duty with starting and braking: In this type of drives, heat loss during starting and braking cannot be ignored. So, the corresponding periods are starting period, operating period, braking period and resting period, but all the periods are too short to attain the respective steady state temperatures, these techniques are used in Billet mill drive, manipulator drive, mine hoist etc.

Continuous duty with intermittent periodic loading : In

this type of motor duty, everything is same as the periodic duty but here a no load running period is occured instead of the rest period. Pressing, cutting are the examples of this system.
Continuous duty with starting and braking: f this system. Continuous duty with periodic speed changes: In this type of motor duty, there are different running periods at different loads and speeds. But there is no rest period and all the periods are too short to attain the steady state temperatures.

Everywhere dc motors are used in large applications, the use of drives are very necessary for the smooth running and operating of these motors. TheDC motor drives are used mainly for good speed regulation, frequent starting, braking and reversing. Before enlisting the practical applications of the drives used for dc motors, we will discuss about the different operation of drives for different purposes:

We know that, normally the rotor of a dc motor is energized by the commutation process through brushes. So the maximum allowable starting current is determined by the current which can be safely carried out by the brushes without sparking. In general, the motors are such designed that they can carry almost twice of the rated current during starting condition. But for some specially designed motors, this can be almost 3-5 times of the rated current. But why so much electric current flows through the circuit of dc motors during the starting condition ?

This is because when the motor is at stand still condition, there is only a small armature resistance present in the circuit so no back emf is generated. That is why when the motor is started with full supply voltage across its terminal, there is a huge current flow through the motor, which may damage the motor because of heavy sparking across the commutators and a huge amount of heat is generated. That is the reason why some precautionary measures are taken during the starting of the DC motors. The speed of a dc motor drive is usually controlled by variable resistance method, which can be also used to limit the starting current as shown in the figure below. When the motor gains speed and the back emf increases, the resistances are cut out one by one from the circuit and therefore the current is kept within permissible limit.

Starting of DC Motor

Braking of DC Motors
Braking is a very important operation for dc motor drives. The need of decreasing the speed of a motor or stopping it totally may arise at any moment, thats when braking is applied. Braking of DC motors is basically developing a negative torque while the motor works as generator and as a result the motion of the motor is opposed. There are mainly three types of Braking of DC motors :

i. Regenerative braking ii. Dynamic or rheostat braking iii. Plugging or reverse voltage braking. Regenerative braking takes place when the generated energy is supplied to the source, or we can show this via this equation E > V and negative Ia. :

Regenerative braking characteristics of a separately excited motor

As the field flux cannot be increased beyond a rated value, so regenerative braking is possible only when the speed of motor is higher than the rated value. The speed torque characteristics is shown in the graph above. When regenerative braking occurs, the terminal voltage rises and as a result the source is relieved from supplying this amount of power. This is the reason why loads are connected across the circuit. So, it is clear that regenerative braking should be used only when there are enough loads to absorb the regenerative power. Dynamic braking is another type of braking of dc motor drives where the rotation of the armature itself causes the braking. This method is also a widely used dc motor drive system. When braking is desired, then the armature of the motor is disconnected from the source and a series resistance is introduced across the armature. Then the motor acts as a generator and current flows in the opposite direction which indicates that the field connection is reversed. The diagram for separately excited and series motor both are shown in figure below.

When braking is required to occur quickly the resistance (RB) is considered to be of some sections. As the braking occurs and the speed of the motor falls, the resistance are cut out one by one section to maintain the light average torque.

Plugging is a type of braking where the supply voltage is reserved when the need of braking arises. A resistance is also introduced in the circuit while braking takes place. When the direction of the supply voltage is reserved, then the armature current also reserves forcing the back enf to a very high value and hence braking the motor. For series motor only armature is reversed for plugging. The diagram of separately excited and series excited motors are shown in the figure.

Speed Control of DC Motor Drives

The main application of electric drives can be said as the need of Braking of DC motors . We know the equation to describe the speed of a rotating dc motor drives is as

Now, according to this equation, the speed of a motor can be controlled by the following methods

i. ii. iii.

Armature Field Armature

voltage flux resistance

control control control

Among all of these, armature voltage control is preferred because of high efficiency and good speed regulation and good transient response. But the only disadvantage of this method is that it can only operate under the rated speed, because the armature voltage cannot be allowed to exceed rated value. The speed torque curve for armature voltage control is shown below.

When speed control is required above the rated speed, field flux control is used. Normally in ordinary machines, the maximum speed can be allowed up to twice of the rated speed and for specially designed machines this can be allowed up to six times of the rated speed. The torque speed characteristics for field flux control are shown in the figure below.

Field Flux Control of DC Motor

How the armature voltage control and field flux control is made to operate below and above the rated speed is shown in the figure below.

Now, finally coming to resistance control method. Here speed is varied by wasting power in an external resistor that is connected in series with the armature. This method is not used very much because it is an inefficient method of controlling speed and it is only used in the places where the speed control time forms only a fraction of the total running time, such as traction. The speed torque curve of dc motor drives is given below.

Speed torque curves of dc motors with resistance control, Re: external resistance.

So, the application and types of dc motor drives have been discussed very easily.