write short note on voltage source inverter fed induction motor drive

VSI Fed Induction Motor Drives

Definition: The voltage source inverter is defined as the inverter which takes a variable frequency
from a DC supply. The input voltage of the voltage source inverter remains constant, and their
output voltage is independent of the load.The magnitude of the load current depends on the nature
of the load impedance.
The figure below shows a voltage source inverter employing transistor.

The voltage source inverter use self-commutated device like MOSFET, IGBT, GTO, etc. It is
operated as a stepped-wave inverter or a pulse width modulation. When the voltage source inverter
is operated as a stepped-wave inverter, then the transistor is switched in the sequence of their
number with a time difference of T/6.
The each of the transistors is kept on for the duration of T/2, where T is the time period for one
cycle. The waveform of the line voltage is shown in the figure below. The frequency of the inverter
is varied by varying T, and the output voltage of the inverter is varied by varying DC input voltage.
When the supply is DC, then the variable DC input is obtained by connecting a chopper between
DC supply and inverter.

When the supply is AC, then the DC input voltage is obtained by connecting the controlled rectifier
between the AC supply and inverter shown in the figure below.The capacitor C filter out the
harmonics in DC link voltage.

The main drawback of the VSI induction motor drive is the large harmonics of the low frequency
in the output voltage. The harmonics increases the loss in the motor and cause the jerky motion of
the rotor at low speed.
explain in brief with net circuit diagram and related waveform the working of current source inverter fed
induction motor drive
Current Source Inverterq
Definition: The current source inverter converts the input direct current into an alternating current.
In current source inverter, the input current remains constant but this input current is adjustable.
The current source inverter is also called current fed inverter. The output voltage of the inverter is
independent of the load. The magnitude and nature of the load current depends on the nature of
load impedance.
Current Source Inverter Control
A thyristor current source inverter is shown in the figure below. The diodes D1-D6 and capacitor
C1-C6 provide commutation of thyristor T1-T6, which are fired with a phase difference of 60º in
the sequence of their number. It also shows the nature of the output current waveform. The inverter
act as a current source due to large inductance LD in DC link. The fundamental component of
motor phase current is shown in the figure below.

The torque is controlled by varying DC link current Id by changing the value of Vd. When the
supply is AC, a controlled rectifier is connected between the supply and inverter. When the supply
is, DC a chopper is interposed between the supply and inverter.

The major advantage of current source inverter is its reliability. In the case of current source
inverter a commutation failure in the same leg does not occur due to the presence of a large
inductance Ld.
In an induction motor, the rise and fall of current are very fast. This rise and fall of current provide
large motor spikes. Therefore a motor of low leakage inductance is used. The commutation
capacitance C1-C6 reduce the voltage spikes by reducing the rate of rising and fall of the current.
A large value of capacitance is required to sufficiently reduced the voltage spikes.
CYCLOCONVERTER FED TO INDUCTION MOTOR

Cyclo converter is a single stage frequency conversion device which converts fixed AC frequency
to variable AC frequency. A three phase, three pulse cyclo converter feeding a three phase
induction motor is shown below

A cyclo converter fed induction motor drive has following features:

1.The machine operates at its rated flux conditions due to voltage control is made in the converter
itself.
2.A cyclo converter operates on line commutation, the losses occurred by forced commutation is
eliminated. The converter operates at lag power factor and very poor line power factor for light
loads.
3.By modulating thyristors firing angle the high quality sinusoidal waveform is obtained at all
frequencies.
4.A cyclo converter is capable of power transfer between AC source to motor load and vice versa.
5.The operation is smooth and efficient due to less significance of torque pulsation and harmonic
losses of the machine.
6.At any power factor it can feed power to load with four quadrant operation which is simple and
straight forward.
7. The output frequency of cyclo converter is limited to one-third of input frequency. A speed
control range of 0-33% of base speed is possible.
8.It requires many thyristors for line commutation, if a thyristor fails no shut down is required and
output can be made available without any interruption.
9.Regeneration is inherent in the complete speed range.
Advantages:
1.It has reversibility and four quadrant operation
2.It is justified for large horse power applications
3.Very smooth low speed operation with the least torque ripple
4.Output voltage is replica of reference voltage
5.By using controlled rectifiers and firing angles the output voltage may be controlled

Disadvantages:
1.It requires large number of thyristors
2.At higher ratings the power factor is poor and harmonics are present in output
3.Converter operates at lagging power factor.

Applications:

1.Gearless cement mills or ball mill drives

2.Low speed, large power and reversible drive applications.
The Static Scherbius

The static scherbius drive provides the speed control of a wound rotor motor below synchronous
speed. The portion of rotor AC power is converted into DC by a diode bridge. The controlled
rectifier works as an inverter and converts the DC power back into AC and feeds it back to the AC
source. This drive has the ability of flow the power both in the positive as well as the negative
direction of the injected voltage. This increases the operating condition of the drive.
The feedback power is controlled by controlling the inverter counter emf V , which is controlled
d2

by controlling the inverter firing angle. The DC link inverter reduced the ripple in DC link current
I . The slip power of the drive is fed back to the source due to which the efficiency of the drive
d

increases.

The drive input power is the difference of the DC input power and the power fed back. Reactive
input power is the sum of the motor and input reactive power.Thus, the drive has poor power factor
throughout the range of its operation.

Where α is the inverter firing angle and n, and m are respectively

the stator to the rotor turn ratio of motor and source side to convert side turns ratio of the transformer. The
neglecting drop across the inductor.

Substituting the equation (1) and (2) in the above equation we get
where a = n/m
The maximum value of alpha is restricted to 165º for safe commutation of inverter thyristor. The
slip can be controlled from 0 to 0.966α when α is changed from 90º to 165º.The appropriate speed
range can be obtained by choosing the appropriate value of α.
The transformer is used to match the voltage from V and V . At the lowest speed required from
d1 d2

the drive, V will have the maximum value V , and it is given by

d1 d1m

Where S is the value of slip at the lowest speed. If α is restricted to 165, m is chosen such that the
m

inverter voltage has a value V when α is 165º, i.e.,

d1m

The value of m determines the highest firing angle at the lower motor speed. It also gives the
highest firing angle and the lowest reactive power at the lowest speed.
Considered the circuit of the motor, which is neglecting the magnetising branch. When referred to
DC link, resistance (sR + R ) will be 2(sR’ + R ). This gives the equivalent circuit of the drive,
s r s r

where V and V are given. R is the resistance of the DC link inductor.

d1 d2 d
If rotor copper loss is neglected

The nature of the speed torque curve is shown in the figure below.

The drive has application in pump drive which requires the speed control in the narrow range only.
The drive is widely used in medium and high power fan and pump drives, because of high
efficiency and low cost.