DC Motors: 2.0 Objectives
DC Motors: 2.0 Objectives
DC Motors: 2.0 Objectives
2. DC MOTORS
2.0 Objectives
The objective of this chapter is to introduce the following topics related to dc motors: Different types of dc motors and their characteristics Starting and speed control of dc motors Braking methods Efficiency and testing Applications
2. 1 Introduction
The dc motor is similar to a dc generator; in fact, the same machine can act as a generator or a motor. In a generator the emf generated is greater than the terminal voltage, whereas in a motor the generated emf, known as counter emf or back emf, is less than the terminal voltage. The motor converts electric energy to mechanical energy, the reverse process is that of the generator. DC generators are rarely used, but the dc motors are widely used in many industrial applications that demand a high degree of flexibility in the control of speed and torque.
where VL = line supply voltage Ec = counter (generated) emf. It is obvious that the counter emf is proportional to the speed of rotation and the field flux. When the motor is at rest, the counter emf is zero and so the starting current is given by Istart = VL/Ra (2.2)
Fig 2.1 Circuit diagram of dc motors: (a) Shunt motor; (b) Series motor; (c) Compound motor, long shunt. We know that T = Pd (2.5) where T is the torque developed. Therefore the torque developed by the dc motor is given by T = EcIa/ = k Ia (2.6)
From the above equation it is clear that the speed of rotation of a dc motor is directly proportional to the applied voltage and inversely proportional to the field current (flux).
Ia
Ia
(a) (b) Fig. 2.2 (a) Speed-current characteristic of dc motors (b) Torque-current characteristic of dc motors The flux and hence the back emf (counter emf) of a dc machine is nonlinear function of its magnetomotive force (mmf). Therefore, anything that changes the mmf in a machine will have nonlinear effect on the back emf and hence on the speed and torque
of the machine. If we neglect the saturation effect of magnetization curve then the relations will be linear. In most discussion the saturation effect is neglected. 2.6.2 Speed control of shunt motor There are two methods of speed control of shunt motors, namely armature control and field control. Armature control According to (2.7), if the flux per pole is kept constant (field with fixed excitation), the speed depends only on the counter emf or mainly on the supply voltage (Armature resistance being very small). One way to control the speed of a dc motor by armature control is to place a resistance in series with the armature. The voltage drop in the resistance reduces the armature voltage. This method enables us to reduce the speed below its nominal speed. This is only recommended for smaller machines because a lot of power is wasted in the resistance. Also the speed regulation is poor for a fixed setting of the resistance. Another way to control the speed by armature control is to vary the supply voltage to the armature by solid state devices such as thyristors. For armature voltage control, the flux in the motor is constant, so the maximum torque in the motor is Tmax = k Ia,max (2.8) This maximum torque is constant regardless of the speed of the motor. Since the power output is given by P = T , the maximum, power of the motor at any speed under voltage control is directly proportional to the operating speed. Field control According to (2.7), we can also vary the speed of a dc motor by varying the field flux. If the line supply voltage is maintained constant the speed is inversely proportional to the flux, . This method of speed control is frequently used when the motor has to run above the normal speed. To control the flux we vary the field current by connecting a rheostat in series with the field. Under this type of control, as the increase in speed is achieved by decreasing the flux, the induced torque limit must decrease in order to keep the armature current within limit. Since the torque limit decreases as the speed increases, the maximum power out of a dc shunt motor under field control is constant, while the maximum torque varies as the reciprocal of the motors speed.
Tmax Tmax constant Pmax constant Va Control Rf Control nbase Pmax Tmax constant Pmax =Tmax Rf Control Speed, n Pmax constant
Va Control nbase
Speed, n
Fig. 2.3 Power and torque limits as a function of speed under armature and filed controls
2.6.3 Reversing the direction of rotation The direction of the rotation may be reversed by reversing either (1) the armature connection or (2) the shunt and series field connection (but not both). 2.6.4 The effect of an open field circuit If the filed is open-circuited the field flux will drop down to the residual flux and the back emf would also drop. This will cause a large armature current and the resulting induced torque would be quite a bit higher than the load torque. Therefore, the motor speed will increase to a large value. The motor speed keeps going up unless a corrective action is taken. Example 1 A 240-V shunt motor runs at 850 rpm when the armature current is 70 A. The armature circuit resistance is 0.1 . Calculate the required resistance to be placed in series with the armature to reduce the speed to 650 rpm when the armature current is then 50 A. Solution Initial counter emf at 850 rpm, Ec1 = 240 70x0.1 = 233 V Counter emf at 650 rpm, Ec2 = 233x650/850 = 178.2 V The total voltage drop in the armature circuit VL Ec = 240 178.2 = 61.8 V The total armature circuit resistance = 61.8/50 = 1.236 The additional resistance to be added = 1.236 0.1 = 1.136 Example 2 A 240-V shunt motor runs at 800 rpm at no-load. Determine the resistance to be placed in series with the field so that the motor runs at 950 rpm when taking an armature current 20 A. Field resistance is 160 and the armature resistance is 0.4 . Assume that the pole flux is proportional to the field current. Solution At no-load assume armature current is zero. Therefore Ec = 240 V The field current, If = 240/160 = 1.5 A At the changed speed the armature current = 20 A Therefore, counter emf at 950 rpm, Ec = 240 20x0.4 = 232 V As speed, n = k Ec/If
n' E c ' I f = ; therefore n Ec I f ' 950 232 x1.5 = 800 240 xI f '
If = 1.221 A The total field circuit resistance = 240/1.221 = 197 The resistance to be added to the field circuit = 197 160 = 37 .
2.6.5 Starting of a shunt motor If we apply full voltage to stationary shunt motor, the starting current in the armature will be very high (because the counter emf is zero) and the machine will be burnt. All dc motors must, therefore, be provided with a means to limit the starting current to reasonable value, usually between 1.5 and twice full-load current. One method is to place a rheostat in series with the armature. The resistance is gradually reduced as the motor accelerates and is eventually eliminated when the machine has attained full speed. In modern practice, a starting resistor is made up of a series of pieces, each of which is removed from the motor circuit in succession as the motor speeds up, in order to limit the current in the motor to a safe value while never reducing it too low a value for rapid acceleration. Figure 2.4 shows a shunt motor with a three-segment starting resistor that can be cut out of the circuit one segment at a time by closing the contactors 1A, 2A, and 3A. To design a motor starter, the size and number of resistor segments necessary to limit the starting current to its desired bounds should be picked up, as a first step. The second step is to design a control circuit that shuts the resistor bypass contacts automatically at the proper time to remove those parts of the resistor from the circuit.
Rstart Ra 1A 2A 3A
Fig. 2.4 A shunt motor with a starting resistor Some older dc motors use manual starters wherein the resistances are gradually cut out of the circuit by an operator. Two such manual starters namely threepoint starter and four-point starter are shown in Fig. 2.5.
The selection of the size and number of resistor segments needed for an automatic starter is explained by means of an example below. Example 3 A 100-hp 250-V, 350-A shunt motor has an armature resistance of 0.05 . An automatic starter circuit is to be designed for the motor. The starter should limit the motor starting current to twice its rated value and the resistance stage is cut when the current falls to the rated value. How many stages of starting resistance are needed and what is the resistance of each step? At what voltage should each stage of the starting resistance be cut out? Solution The starting resistor must be selected so that the starting current is twice the rated current. As the motor starts to speed up, an internal generated voltage Ea will be produced and the current flow to the armature is reduced. When the current falls to rated current, a section of the starting resistor must be taken out to increase the starting current to twice the rated value. As motor continues to speed up, Ea continues to rise and armature current again starts to fall. When the current falls to rated current again, another section of the starting resistor must be taken out to increase the starting current to twice the rated value. This process is repeated until all the segments of the starting resistor is cut out. How many steps are required to accomplish the current limiting? To find out, define Rtot as the original resistance in the starting circuit. Rtot = R1+ R2+ R3 + . . . + Ra (2.9)
Let Rtot,i be the total resistance left in the circuit after i stages of resistances have been cut out, i.e., Rtot,i = Ri+1 + . . . + Ra (2.10)
To limit the starting current to Imax (in this example Imax = twice the rated current)
Rtot = VL I max
(2.11)
At the first stage, resistance R1 must be switched out of the circuit when the current Ia falls to V Ec Ia = L = I min (In this example Imin = rated current) (2.12) Rtot After switching R1 out, the armature current must jump to
Ia = VL Ec = I max Rtot ,1
(2.13)
At the time of switching the speed and hence the back emf cannot change instantaneously. Therefore from (2.12) and (2.13),
I min Rtot =V L E c = I max Rtot ,1
(2.15)
By direct extension the resistance left in the circuit after nth stage is switched out is
Rtot ,n I = min I max Rtot
n
(2.16)
The starting process is completed when Rtot,n is less than or equal to Ra. At this point Ra can limit the current to the desired value all by itself. At the boundary where Ra = Rtot,n
Ra = Rtot,n I = m in Rto t I m ax
n
Ra Rto t
I = m in I m ax
(2.17)
n=
Rtot
)
(2.18)
I max
Solving the above equation for n and rounding up to the next integer value, we will get the number of stages.
I min = 0.5 and Rtot = VL/Imax = 250/700 = 0.357 I max So from (2.18) n = 2.84 Therefore, number of stages required will be 3
The total resistance at the time of starting Rtot = R1+ R2+ R3 + Ra = 0.357 From (2.15) Rtot,1 = R2+ R3+ Ra= 0.357 x 0.5 = 0.1785 Similarly Rtot,2 = R3+ Ra = 0.08925 Therefore, R1 = 0.1785 ; R2 = 0.08925 ; R3 = 0.03925 The first stage resistance R1 is cut out when the current reaches Imin = 350 A. From (2.12) 350 = (VL Ec)/Rtot = (250 Ec)/0.357 and hence Ec = 125 V Therefore, the first stage resistance R1 is cut out when Ec = 125 V The second stage resistance R2 is cut out when the current reaches Imin = 350 A again. That is 350 = (VL Ec)/Rtot,1 = (250 Ec)/0.1785 and hence Ec = 187.5 V Therefore, the second stage resistance R2 is cut out when Ec = 187.5 V
Similarly, the third stage resistance R3 is cut out when Ec = 218.75 V When the third stage resistance is cut out the armature current is given by Ia = (250 218.75)/0.05 = 625 A which is less than the allowed max current of 700 A The armature current variation during starting will be as shown in Fig. 2.6.
700 A
350 A
t1
t2
t3
Fig. 2.6 Armature current during starting Once the starting resistances have been selected, the method of closing the shorting contacts to ensure that the resistances are closed at the correct moment should be incorporated. One scheme using the time delay relays is shown in Fig. 2.7. In the figure fuses (F1, F2, F3, F4), push button switches (stop, start), relay coils (circles) and relay contacts (parallel lines). The contacts are of two types, normally open and normally closed contacts. OL represents overload trip device and TD represents time delay relay which will operate after a present time delay. M is the main relay. FL is the field circuit relay which will operate and disconnect the supply to main relay when the field current reduces to a very small value. The sequence of operation begins when the start button is pressed. The time delay relays are set to operate at time t1, t2 and t3.
Ra Rsr Ea+
+ VL
2.7.1 Load Characteristics (Torque-speed characteristic) In series motor the flux is directly proportional to the load current (armature current), at least until saturation is reached. As the load on the motor increases flux increases too and hence the speed of the motor decreases. In series motor T = k Ia ; = cIa ; Hence T = kcIa2 (2.20) In other words, the induced torque is proportional to the square of the armature current. We have seen earlier that the relation between speed and back emf is given by Ec = k As flux in the series motor is proportional to armature current Ec = kcIa Also, Ec = VL Ia (Ra + Rsr) (2.22) (2.23) (2.21)
(2.24)
Notice that for an unsaturated series motor the speed is inversely proportional to the square root of the torque. This ideal speed-torque characteristic is given in Fig. 2.9.
Fig. 2.9 The torque-speed characteristic of a dc series motor When the series motor starts up, the armature current is higher than the normal, with the result the flux also greater than normal. Therefore the starting torque of the seriestedmotor is considerably greater than that of a shunt motor. At light ra loads the armature current and the flux are small. The weaker field causes the motor to run faster than the normal speed. At no-load the speed may rise to a dangerously high value. For this reason we never operate a series motor at no-load. T T
ra ted
Tstart
2.7.2 Speed control The speed of the series motor is controlled either by changing the terminal voltage of the motor or by inserting a resistor in the motor circuit. If the terminal voltage is increased the speed will increase for a given torque. (Refer to (2.24)). The speed control by insertion of resistor will produce a large power loss in the resistor and hence it is used only for intermittent periods during the start-up of some motors. The variable terminal voltage can be obtained easily by SCR-based control circuits.
The techniques available for the control of speed in a cumulatively compounded dc motor are the same as those available for a shunt motor. The differentially Cumulatively compounded compounded motor is almost never used.
Shunt
To calculate the efficiency of a dc motor all the losses in the machine must be calculated. The five types of losses occurring in dc machines have been explained in Chapter 1. These losses are subtracted from the input of the motor to calculate the T T the power output and hencerated efficiency. Example 4 A 10-hp, 230-V shunt motor takes a full-load current of 40 A. The armature and field resistance are 0.25 and 230 , respectively. The mechanical losses are 380 W. Calculate the efficiency of the motor.
Solution Input power Field current = 230/230 = 1 A Field copper loss Armature current = 40 1 = 39 A Armature copper loss Mechanical losses Total losses Power output (9200 990) Efficiency = 8210/9200 = 89.24 % = 230 x 40 = 230 x 1 = 9200 W = 230 W 380 W 380 W 990 W 8210 W
= 392 x 0.25 = = = =
2.10 Testing
2.10.1 Swinburnes Test (No-load test) In this test the machine is run as a shunt motor on no load at rated speed with rated applied voltage. The rated voltage V, the no load current I0, and the filed current If are measured. The armature resistance Ra is measured by conducting a separate blocked rotor test. As the no load current is very small it is assumed that the no load input to the machine is equal to the core plus mechanical losses. Therefore the core losses plus mechanical losses are given by Pc + Pmech = V(If + I0) (2.25)
For a shunt motor, the input to the machine at an armature current, Ia is given by Pi = V(If + Ia) The armature copper loss = Ia2 Ra Therefore, the power output is given by Po = V(If + Ia) V(If + I0) - Ia2 Ra Therefore, efficiency of the motor is (2.28) (2.26) (2.27)
P V(I f + I 0 ) + I a R a = o = 1 Pi V(I f + I 0 )
(2.29)
When the machine is running as a generator the power output is given by Po = V(Ia If) The power input is (power output + losses) Pi = V(Ia If) + V(If + I0) + Ia2 Ra = V(Ia + I0) + Ia2 Ra (2.31) (2.30)
Therefore
(2.32)
The value obtained for efficiency by this method is usually greater than the actual efficiency. 2.10.2 Kapp-Hopkinson Test A more accurate method of predicting the efficiency is the Kapp-Hopkinson Test, in which two similar machines are mechanically coupled and electrically connected back-to-back as shown in Fig. 2.11. IL IfB IB B IA A IfA V
Fig. 2.11. Connection diagram for Kapp-Hopkinson test Machine A is run up to normal speed as a motor with machine B unexcited. Excitation to machine B is then connected and the field current adjusted so that the induced voltage is equal to the system voltage. Machine B is then connected to the system; increasing the excitation of machine B while decreasing the excitation of machine A so that the speed is unchanged, machine A can be made to operate as a motor while machine B is operating as a generator. In this situation, the supply voltage provides total losses. Assume to be efficiency of each machine, it follows that Generator input = Motor output = (motor input) = VIA Generator output = VIB = (Generator input) = 2 VIA I = B Therefore, VIB = 2 VIA IA
(2.33)
When the efficiencies of the two machines are not the same, the efficiency is calculated as follows. The total fixed losses of the system is given by P = VIL (IA2 RAa + IB2 RBa) (2.34) where RAa and RBa are the armature resistances of machine A and B respectively. The fixed loss of each machine is (P/2), because the machines are similar. With the input power of the motor being (VIA + VIfA) and the output power from the generator being VIB, the efficiency is given as
Motor efficiency = 2 ( p / 2) + I A RaA + VI fA Output of Motor Motor Losses =1 =1 (2.35) Intput of Motor Intput of Motor V ( I A + I fA ) Generator efficiency = VI B Generator Output Generator Output = = Generator Intput Generator Output + Losses V ( I B + I fB ) + ( P / 2) + I B 2 RB which can be written as Generator efficiency = 1
( P / 2) + I B RB + VI fB V ( I B + I fB ) + ( P / 2) + I B RB
2
(2.36)
We can stop the motor very quickly by using a method known as plugging. It consists of suddenly reversing the armature current by reversing the terminal voltage V t of the source. As soon the voltage is reversed, the net voltage acting on the armature circuit becomes (Ea + Vt). This net voltage will produce enormous reverse current, perhaps 50 times greater than the full-load armature current. This large current may damage the motor. To prevent this, we must limit the reverse current by introducing a resistor in series with the reversing circuit. When the machine reaches zero speed we must immediately open the armature circuit, otherwise it will begin to run in reverse direction.