STARTING METHOD OF 3 PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR

Discussion
1. Purpose of employing a starting method for a 3 phase induction motor

The current drawn at the start up of an induction motor is somewhat higher than that drawn while in operation. The need for a starter on therefore is to provide starting but to reduce heavy starting currents and provide overload and no-voltage protection. There are several methods employed as starting methods. Direct Online Starting Star Delta starting Autotransformer starting Primary resistor starting

2. Construction and working principle of the DOL with a circuit schematic diagram

This is the most simple and the inexpensive method of staring a squirrel cage induction motor. The motor is switched on directly to full supply voltage. The initial starting current is large and that is approximately 5 to 7 times the rated current. That is to establish the magnetic field in the iron and then the current will be limited to the Locked Rotor Current of the motor. During acceleration the drawn current will not exhibit a significant drop till around 85% of the synchronous speed. The starting torque is 0.75 to 2 times the full load torque. To avoid excessive supply voltage drops because of large starting currents the method is restricted to motors with small power requirement such as 5kW.

The motor starter is used with push button switches, relays, isolators, circuit breakers and interlock switches. The DOL starter is divided in to two main parts; namely control circuit and power circuit. The latter connects the motor terminals to the power supply and it is the circuit handling higher voltages. The control circuit handles lower voltages and is electrically isolated from the power circuit. Electromechanical relays (modern versions use electronic relays) and push button switches of the control circuit energizes the starter. This may be a manual load break switch or a circuit breaker. Generally it would be an electromagnetic contactor opened by thermal overload relay under fault conditions. The contactor will be controlled by different start-stop buttons.

In situations where both forward motoring and reversing is required (provided that the motor supports both actions) some motors employ two DOL starters. These are used in water pumps and compressors.

3. The shortcomings of the DOL starter In this particular method the start time is dependent on the acceleration torque and the load inertia. Starting current is quite large (between 3 to 8 times the full load current). No specific method is there to control the current as well. Because of large starting current used to start the motor there will also be a large voltage drop cross the distribution line. Because of this reason DOL is more suitable for small motors that do not draw high current from the systems. Drawing exceptional amounts of currents may affect the other appliances connected to the power supply and output of motors employing this method is around 7.5kW. To reduce the starting current of medium and large sized cage motors, starting voltage is reduced.

4. Suitability of Star-Delta and Auto Transformer Starting methods Star Delta Method This can be only used with a motor operating in delta connected supply. Further it should have both end of each of the 3 windings individually available. When the motor begins rotation the connection is in star connection. As the speed increases and reaches normal level the switch is thrown to running position opening the star connection. This change is done either automatically or manually. In manual mode switching is done using relays. When an automatic system is employed a centrifugal switch connected to the rotating parts of the motor or a timer circuit that will assume rated speed delay will make relevant changes in the connection. The timer delay can be adjusted to the will. But as there maybe judgment errors, most proper way is to use a centrifugal switch. Phase voltage of star connection is reduced to 1/3 of that of the DOC values in Delta. The starting torque is reduced to 1/3 of corresponding Delta value. This method is not suitable for applications using high voltages because of the requirement of the excessive number of stator runs required in delta connection.

The major problem with this method is that the reduced voltage level is in a single stage and is fixed. Sometimes this voltage is not ideal, the torque it produces (65% of full load torque) may be too small and the motor stalls or does not give complete acceleration, or if it is too great the motor still starts with a pronounced snatch. The star/delta transition will produce a second current and torque peak which is almost the equivalent of having two direct-on-line starts. On some loads the motor sometimes almost stalls during this transition time. This method of starting does however have the advantage of being a low cost and simple solution if its limitations can be tolerated.

Auto Transformer Method In this method an auto transformer is used to reduce voltage applied during starting of a motor. There are two methods of connecting the auto transformer starter. One is to apply the full voltage across the transformer via a contactor and connect the motors using taps. This method is known as the open transition starter and the voltage across the contactor at closure can be twice the supply voltage. When the motor is done accelerating, tap contactors open disconnecting the transformer from the motor and another contractor connects the motor to the power supply. In this method the motor is disconnected for a short period of time during the starting. By the time motor disconnects the magnetic field in the field winding is in existence making it to behave as a generator. When the motor is connected back to the supply, voltage generated is not synchronized to the supply. This may result in very high current and torque transients. This open transition switching is known as auto-re-close effect since it yields similar characteristics to opening and closing a breaker to a supply of one or more motors. Owing to these characteristics of the system, adverse effects such as broken shafts and stripped gears are likely to occur. Close transition is the second method. It is also known as Korndorfer starting method. The advantage of this method is that the current and torque can be adjusted to required level by taking the appropriate tapping. Although more expensive, it is better in flexibility and posses good starting characteristics compared to DOL and star- Delta methods. The transformer is generally only intermittent rated for the starting duty, and so the frequency and duration of the starts is limited. With a transformer starter, it is relatively easy to change taps and thereby increase the starting voltage if a higher torque is required. Autotransformer starter is relatively low in cost and simple. For a 2000 hp, 4.16kV motor, an autotransformer starter costs about

66% of a similarly sized solid-state starter. Features now found with autotransformer starters include solid-state motor protection relays and vacuum contactors. While these starters may have complex equipment, they operate on a concept much simpler than solid-state starters. Disadvantages of the autotransformer starter include its non-continuous. Acceleration is noncontinuous because the torque developed by the motor is practically constant during the initial starting period and then changes to another value after the transition period. With the typical three taps, the autotransformer starter was historically the most flexible of reduced voltage starters until the advent of the solid-state starter. However, its flexibility pales in comparison to the solid-state starter.

5. What is the method of reversing the direction of a 3 phase induction motor? Evidently, one must reverse the rotation of the rotating magnetic field in the motor in order to reverse a motor. This can be accomplished by reversing the connections of any two motor terminal connections.

6. What are the advantages of rotor impedance starting method and compare with other alternatives? By inserting three resistors or inductors of appropriate value in series with the motor, the starting current can be reduced by any desired extent, but only at the expense of a disproportionate reduction in starting torque. For example, if the current is reduced to half its DOL value, the motor voltage will be halved, so the torque (which is proportional to the square of the voltage see later) will be reduced to only 25% of its DOL value. This approach is thus less attractive in terms of torque per ampere of supply current than the star/delta method.

One attractive feature, however, is that as the motor speed increases and its effective impedance rises, the volt drop across the extra impedance reduces, so the motor voltage rises progressively with the speed, thereby giving more torque. When the motor is up to speed, the added impedance is shorted-out by means of a contactor. Variable-resistance starters (manually or motor operated) are sometimes used with small motors where a smooth jerk-free start is required, for example in film or textile lines.