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Abstract—Common methods used to start ac induction motors methods used for both soft start and VFD starting are explained.
driving high-inertia loads include across-the-line starting and A special emphasis is placed on the motor losses and heating for
reduced-voltage starting by autotransformer, wye–delta, or each of these starting methods. Finally, factors which should be
resistor/reactor. Application of these methods is generally well
documented and understood. However, with the increased use of considered when choosing a starter are discussed and recom-
electronic soft starters and variable-frequency drives, applications mendations given.
can be markedly different. This paper reviews the aforementioned
methods and explains the benefits and limitations of each. The II. METHODS OF STARTING INDUCTION MOTORS
effect of high-inertia loads on both acceleration time and motor
heating is examined. A case history of starting a centrifuge with Methods of starting ac induction motors can be broken
an electronic soft starter is studied. Finally, a comparison of all of down into four basic categories: Full-voltage (across-the-line)
the methods is presented with recommendations on choosing the starting, electromechanical reduced-voltage starting, solid-state
proper starter given.
reduced-voltage starting, and VFD starting. Electromechanical
Index Terms—Inertia, motors, soft start, starting, variable-fre- reduced-voltage starting has been in existence nearly as long as
quency drives. the induction motor itself. This starting method encompasses
autotransformer starting, wye–delta (star–delta) starting, and
I. INTRODUCTION resistor/reactor starting. Each of these methods requires the use
of some type of mechanical switch or contact. Electromechan-
if the voltage dips too much. Furthermore, this inrush current With autotransformer starting, a tapped transformer is used
induces large magnetic forces in the stator windings, which to supply reduced voltage to the motor. Typically, as the motor
actually try to force the windings to move and distort. This gains speed, the taps are changed to increase the voltage to the
transitory force can eventually lead to deterioration of the motor terminals. However, this switching of voltage can result
insulation between the windings, especially if adequate coil in a high spike of current during this transitory period of opera-
head bracing techniques are not employed. tion. The magnitude of this spike is dependent upon the motor
Full-voltage starting produces the greatest amount of starting speed and current when the switching occurs. There is a torque
torque. High starting torque is generally desired when trying to transient associated with this current peak which again may cause
start a high-inertia load in order to limit the acceleration time. problems for the driven equipment. Note that this phenomenon
However, in certain cases, this high starting torque may damage is not present if closed transition starting is used where the circuit
the mechanical system. Gears or chains might be broken or dam- is never actually opened during the switching operation. One big
aged. Strain or slippage may reduce belt life. Gearboxes are also advantagefromthepowersystemstandpointisthatthelinecurrent
put under a greater stress and are subject to more abuse. Voltage on the distribution side of the autotransformer is reduced by the
drop on the system must be carefully studied and the breaker/re- square of the voltage ratio at the power system input. For the other
lays need to be coordinated with upstream devices to prevent methods mentioned in this section, the line current varies directly.
nuisance tripping of these devices during startup. If the voltage However, autotransformer starting is a more costly method than
drop limitation for the system is exceeded, other methods of either wye–delta or resistor/reactor starting.
starting should be considered. Beyond the initial shock of in- The second type of electromechanical reduced-voltage
rush current and torque, this type of starting does result in a starting that is used extensively is wye-start, delta-run. This is
smooth acceleration characteristic with the shortest acceleration particularly true for motor voltages of less than 1000 V. With
time, which offers an advantage over some of the other available this type of starting method, a normally delta-connected stator
methods of starting. is connected in wye during the initial startup phase. It is most
common for the motor to reach full speed before the transition
B. Electromechanical Reduced-Voltage Starting to the delta connection is made. However, it is possible for
the connection to be switched from wye to delta as the motor
Another popular method of starting which is used to limit
approaches 50%–60% of full-load speed. This essentially
inrush current is reduced-voltage starting. With any type of
applies full voltage to the motor at this point. The advantage
reduced-voltage starting, the theoretical current drawn by
of connecting the stator in wye is that only times rated
the motor decreases linearly with decreasing voltage. (The
voltage is applied to the phase windings. This results in only
exception is VFD starting where the frequency changes as
1/3 of nominal current draw, but reduces the starting torque
well as the voltage. This is a special topic and is discussed
by a factor of three as well. When the stator connection is
more thoroughly in a later section.) Similarly, the torque is
switched from wye to delta, a transitory current arises which
theoretically reduced by the square of the percent voltage ratio,
can often be equal to or greater than the peak current seen with
(i.e., 80% reduced voltage results in (0.8) = 0.64 or 64% of
across-the-line starting. Again, this current and resulting torque
nominal motor torque). Although the motor torque and current
transient is present only if open transition is used and is not a
are dependent upon many factors such as saturation, deep bar
problem for closed transition switching. A drawback of this
effect, and skin effect, a good approximation of the current
method is that it requires the neutrals of the motor, in addition
and torque at any speed and reduced voltage condition may be
to the normal line leads, to be externally connected (six leads).
found by using the following equations:
Thus, this starter is not an option for use with a motor that was
(1) originally constructed with only three leads.
(2) Fig. 1(a) and (b) illustrates the relative magnitudes of torque
and current for both wye and delta configurations. Both NEMA
where Design B-type and Design C-type motor curves are shown for
current at reduced voltage; comparative purposes. Note the very low amount of torque
rated current; available on the wye connection for the Design B characteristic.
reduced voltage; This low amount of available starting torque is an important
rated voltage; issue to keep in mind when this type of starting method is being
reduced torque; considered.
rated torque. Wye-delta starting requires additional contactors in the
Note that the proportion constants used as exponents in the starter, which drives up the cost of the equipment. Two cable
above equations are factors developed from locked-rotor satu- runs to the field have to be installed in order to perform
ration testing and are applicable to the majority of induction mo- wye-delta switching and starters must be interlocked in order
tors. to prevent catastrophic failure. Again, there is additional heat
Electromechanical reduced-voltage starting can be achieved generated that must be taken into account at the starter, the
in the folowing three ways: lead cable, and at the motor. This system is relatively simple
1) autotransformer; to operate, but adjusting the starting characteristics is not an
2) wye–delta; option once the system is installed. Overload protection needs
3) primary resistor/reactor. to be designed for both the wye and delta connections.
MCELVEEN AND TONEY: STARTING HIGH-INERTIA LOADS 139
(a)
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Waveshapes for 0 and 90 firing angles.
Fig. 4. Voltage and current characteristics for a typical voltage ramp soft start.
Fig. 7. Voltage and current characteristics for a typical current limit soft start.
Fig. 5. Acceleration time versus voltage ramp. cuit is used to adjust the voltage in order to maintain the current
at a constant level.
the current tends to ramp up at a rate similar to the voltage. This Figs. 8 and 9 show acceleration times and motor heating re-
characteristic is due to the fact that the current magnitude does sults for various current limits. Fig. 8 demonstrates how the ac-
not decrease dramatically until the motor reaches breakdown celeration time increases with decreasing the current limit to
speed. In Fig. 4, breakdown r/min is reached at approximately the motor. As less current is supplied to the motor, less starting
48 s. torque is produced, which results in increased acceleration time.
Figs. 5 and 6 show acceleration times and motor heating re- Fig. 9 illustrates how both the rotor and stator temperature
sults for various voltage ramps. In each figure, the first three rises are affected by decreasing the current limit. Because there
bars are the calculated data for an initial voltage of 2080, a final is less available torque under limited current conditions, the ten-
voltage of 4160, and various ramp times from 15 to 60 s. The dency is to believe that increased motor heating may result.
full-voltage starting results are also given in column four for However, due to the fact that the current is reduced, both the
comparison. rotor and stator losses are decreased. In addition to this
The second general type of soft starting is current-limit decrease in losses, the acceleration time is extended, allowing
starting. In this case, the user can set a predefined maximum for more of the heat generated to be dissipated to the frame
current that will be supplied to the motor (usually given in and surrounding atmosphere. Thus, the reduced current leads
percentage of full-load amperes). The starter control circuit not to increased heating, but rather to a cooler acceleration for
will sense the load current or motor back EMF and alter the the motor. However, when implementing any type of reduced
firing angle of the SCRs in order to adjust the voltage at every voltage starting the application engineer must be sure not to re-
point to whatever value is necessary in order to maintain the duce the motor torque to a point which would result in the motor
current at the desired level. As mentioned before, this reduced stalling. In this case, motor damage would be likely to occur.
current results in a torque reduction by an exponent of 2.2. Electronic soft starters are typically more expensive than the
Care must be taken not to set the current limit to a value that other starting means discussed previously, but may provide a
will reduce the starting capability of the motor too much. If this lower total cost of ownership over the life of the motor. There are
happens, excessive motor heating will result, which may lead limitations to the distance that the starters can be installed from
to premature failure. the motor and harmonics do exist as described above. How-
Fig. 7 shows typical voltage and current characteristics for a ever, most soft starters are bypassed once the motor reaches full
current-limit-type start. Notice how data from the feedback cir- speed, so exposure to the harmonics is limited.
MCELVEEN AND TONEY: STARTING HIGH-INERTIA LOADS 141
the ratio of the stator resistance to the rotor resistance as fol- TABLE I
lows: VARIOUS STARTING METHODS SUMMARY
(5)
where
stator energy during speed interval (kW s);
ratio of stator to rotor resistance during speed in-
terval;
rotor energy during given interval (kW s).
This method can be derived from the motor equivalent circuit,
given that the magnetizing branch is ignored. The losses are
proportional to the relative magnitudes of the rotor and stator
resistances. Thus, once the rotor energy has been calculated, the
stator energy can be easily obtained using (5).
The second method is to calculate the total losses asso-
ciated with the stator windings as shown in
TABLE II
(6) TEST DATA SUMMARY
where
stator losses during speed interval (kW);
stator current during speed interval (amperes);
stator resistance during speed interval (ohms).
Again, by multiplying the total stator losses by the accelera-
tion time, the total energy can be obtained. of 225% of full-load amperes. It was critical to be able to calcu-
Once the energy that must be dissipated by both the rotor and late the heating that would be experienced by both the rotor and
stator has been determined, the corresponding temperature rises stator while accelerating this large inertia under reduced torque
are found by dividing the kW s by the specific heat ( ) of the conditions.
material and the total weight of the material. It is important to For this reason, a computer program was developed which
note that temperature rises calculated in this fashion are by ab- could simulate the torque produced and the current drawn by
sorption only; that is, all the heat is assumed to go into either the the motor at every point during the acceleration time period. By
stator windings or rotor bars and no heat dissipation is assumed. knowing the torque output of the motor at the reduced current
For acceleration times of only a few seconds, this method is sat- conditions, the acceleration time and motor heating can be cal-
isfactory. For longer acceleration times, the actual temperature culated. Using this program, it was determined that the motor
rises will be lower since conduction, convection, and radiation would be suitable to start this load with the specified current
will dissipate heat. In this case, it is common practice to cor- limit without overheating either the rotor or stator. Data was
rect the calculated temperature rise by applying reduction fac- taken during the actual startup of the motor/load combination
tors that have been determined experimentally. to test the accuracy of the program. Table II summarizes the re-
Table I summarizes the acceleration time, locked-rotor sults of this startup. Unfortunately, due to plant limitations and
torque, locked rotor amperes, stator rise/start, and rotor the fact that this was a totally enclosed machine, actual rotor
rise/start for each starting method given above. The motor used temperatures could not be recorded.
in each calculation is a 500-hp TEFC high-torque (Design C)
four-pole 4160-V motor. The load inertia used was 30 000 lb ft V. TORQUE EFFICIENCY (TE)
and the load curve was assumed to be linear from 0 to 1800
TE has been used in the past to describe a motor’s torque
r/min, with 190 lb ft of torque required at full-load speed.
per ampere ratio. This ratio is a measure of how much output
Note that Design C-type rotors are not suited for inverter duty
torque is supplied by a motor for a particular current level. For
applications due to the harmonic losses and excessive heating in
example, if motor A supplies 200% of full load torque at locked
the small, upper cage. However, this fact has been disregarded
rotor and draws 650% of full-load amperes, its torque efficiency
for the sake of comparison. Analyzing starting methods, not
would be 200/650 = 0.308 or 30.8%. On the other hand, if motor
motor design, is the main focus of this paper.
B supplies the same 200% of full-load torque at locked rotor
and draws only 450% of full load amperes, its torque efficiency
IV. CASE HISTORY (CENTRIFUGE STARTUP) would be 200/450 = 0.444 or 44.4%.
The load was a chemical plant centrifuge with 30 000 lb ft TE can be a major factor when using current limit starting.
of inertia. It was determined that belt slippage and decreased Special rotor bar shapes and materials and winding configu-
life would be a problem if some type of reduced voltage/torque rations are used to achieve a high TE ratio. A motor with a
starting was not used. Also, reducing the current draw during higher value of torque efficiency would produce more starting
startup would be a benefit. The soft-start manufacturer specified torque for a given current limit than a motor with a lower TE
a motor that would accelerate the centrifuge with a current limit value. Thus, if a soft starter were being used on a high-inertia or
MCELVEEN AND TONEY: STARTING HIGH-INERTIA LOADS 143
heavy-load application, a motor with a high TE ratio may be de- TABLE III
sired. Design C-type motors generally have a high TE ratio as RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY
compared to Design B-type motors. Some easier applications,
such as pumps and compressors may not need a special high TE
motor. Whether or not a special motor is needed is very appli-
cation dependent.
VFDs offer the highest torque efficiency available. Because
VFDs operate on the right-hand side of breakdown, the torque
produced is roughly proportionate to the current drawn. For ex-
ample, to produce 150% of full-load torque, only about 150% of
full-load current is needed. This results in a torque efficiency of
approximately 150/150 = 1.0 or 100%. For this reason, among
others, VFD starting is the best method when current is limited
and maximum starting torque is required.
starters previously mentioned make them a superb choice for [3] A. N. Eliasen, “High-inertia drive motors and their starting characteris-
starting high-inertia loads. tics,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. 99, pp. 1472–1482, July/Aug.
1980.
[4] J. F. Heidbreder, “Induction motor temperature characteristics,”
VIII. CONCLUSION presented at the AIEE Fall Meeting, 1955, Paper 55-761.
[5] J. H. Dymond, “Stall time, acceleration time, frequency of starting: The
Various methods of starting are available for use with high- myths and the facts,” presented at the IEEE Petroleum and Chemical
inertia loads. Motor heating, acceleration time, and total cost of Industry Technical Conf., 1991, Paper PCIC-91-03.