CHAPTER 3

SPEED CONTROL OF AC MOTOR

 INDUCTION MOTORS (IM)
• About 65% of the electric energy in
the United States is consumed by
electric motors.
• In the industrial sector alone, about The difference between the rotor
75% of the total energy is consumed
by motors, and over 90% of them are speed (n or w) and the synchronous
induction machines. speed (ns or ws) is known as the
• The main reasons for the popularity of slip s
the induction machines are that they
are rugged, reliable, easy to maintain,
and relatively inexpensive.
• Their power densities (output power
to weight) are higher than those for
DC motors.
 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OF IM
• The rotor current can be
computed as;

Represents the
load of the motor,
which includes
the mechanical
and rotational
loads.

V is the phase voltage

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPEED CONTROL OF IM
 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPEED CONTROL OF IM
• By examining this equation, one can • There are other useful and effective
conclude that the speed 𝜔(or slip s) techniques for speed control,
can be controlled if at least one of the although it is not evident by
following variables or parameters is examining as shown. Among them
altered: are:
1. armature or rotor resistance • 5. rotor voltage injection
2. armature or rotor inductance • 6. slip energy recovery
3. magnitude of terminal voltage • 7. voltage/frequency control
4. frequency of terminal voltage
POWER FLOW OF THE INDUCTION MOTOR
 SPEED CONTROL OF IM

The speed control by adjusting stator voltage

 The speed control by adjusting supply
frequency
 The speed control by voltage/frequency (v/f)
control
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY ADJUSTING THE
STATOR VOLTAGE
• Several techniques can be used to change the
stator voltage of the motor.
• One of them is using SCR connected back to
back as shown. The circuit configuration of
phase control is a full wave.
• In this circuit, the induction motor is
connected to a three-phase supply voltage via
back-to-back SCR pairs.
• For each phase, one SCR conducts the current
in one direction (from the source to the
motor), and the other SCR conducts the
current in the second half of the cycle (from Three Phase AC Voltage Controller circuits for:
motor to source). (a) Delta connection; (b) Star Connection

• If the triggering of these SCRs is controlled,

the voltage across the stator terminals can
change from zero to almost full voltage.
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY ADJUSTING THE
STATOR VOLTAGE

• As seen in equation above, the torque of the

motor is proportional to the square of its
stator voltage.
• For the same slip and frequency, a small
change in motor voltage results in a relatively
large change in torque.
• A 10% reduction in voltage causes a 19%
reduction in developed torque as well as the
starting and maximum torques.
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY ADJUSTING THE
STATOR VOLTAGE
• The figure shows two curves for two different
values of the stator voltage. (Note that the slip
at the maximum torque remains unchanged
since it is not a function of voltage).
• For normal operation in the linear region, the
figure shows that the motor speed can be
modestly changed when the voltage is altered.
• However, a wide range of speed control cannot
be accomplished by this technique.
• Nevertheless, it is an excellent method for
reducing starting current and increasing
efficiency during light loading conditions.
• The starting current is reduced since it is
directly proportional to the stator voltage.
Keep in mind that the terminal voltage cannot exceed the
• The losses are reduced, particularly core losses,
which are proportional to the square of the rated value to prevent the damage of the windings'
voltage. insulation. Thus, this technique is only suitable for speed
reduction below the rated speed.
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY ADJUSTING THE
SUPPLY FREQUENCY
• In steady state, the induction motor operates
in the small-slip region, where the speed of
the motor is always close to the synchronous
speed of the rotating flux.
• Since the synchronous speed is directly
proportional to the frequency of the stator
voltage, any change in frequency results in an
equivalent change in motor speed.
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY ADJUSTING THE
SUPPLY FREQUENCY
• The effect of frequency on motor
current is given
• Frequency manipulation appears to
be an effective method for speed
control that requires a simple dc/ac
converter with variable switching
intervals.

However, there are severe limitations to this method: very low

frequencies may cause motor damage due to excessive currents,
and large frequencies may stall the motor.
 CONTROLLING SPEED BY VOLTAGE/FREQUENCY
CONTROL
• The change in voltage and frequency is a
powerful method for speed control.
• Note that both frequency and voltage can
change simultaneously by the pulse-width
modulation technique.
• This type of control is common for
induction motors. There are several
variations where the v/f ratio is also
adjusted to provide a special operating
performance.
• The most common method, though, is
the fixed v/f ratio.
• It is clear that when the v/f ratio is
constant, the maximum torque is
unchanged.
SLIP ENERGY RECOVERY
 SLIP ENERGY RECOVERY
• Most of the input electric power 𝑃𝑖𝑛 is converted to
mechanical power 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 to support the load. • The speed reduction is due to the extra power
dissipated in the rotor circuit, which results in
• However, part of 𝑃𝑖𝑛 is lost in the resistive element of less mechanical power for the load.
the stator circuit 𝑃𝑐𝑢1.
• We can still use this principle to reduce the
• The rest is power transmitted to the rotor via the air motor speed, but instead of dissipating the extra
gap 𝑃𝑔 . power in the rotor resistance, we send it back to
• At high speeds, most of 𝑃𝑔 is converted to mechanical the source.
developed power 𝑃𝑑 = (1 − 𝑠)𝑃𝑔 • This method is known as Slip Energy Recovery
• The rest is known as the slip power 𝑃𝑠 = 𝑠𝑃𝑔 . (SER) or Static Scherbius Drive.
• Slip power is an electrical power dissipated in the rotor
resistance in the form of rotor copper losses 𝑃𝑐𝑢2 .
• Slip power 𝑃𝑠 , can be substantial at low speeds.
• When a resistance in the rotor circuit is used to reduce
the motor speed, the efficiency of the motor is 𝑃𝑠
substantially reduced.
 SLIP ENERGY RECOVERY
• In the rotor resistance control
method, the slip power in the rotor
circuit is wasted as I2R losses during
the low-speed operation.
• The efficiency is also reduced.
• The slip power from the rotor
circuit can be recovered and fed
back to the AC source so as to
utilize it outside the motor.
• Thus, the overall efficiency of the
drive system can be increased.
 SLIP ENERGY RECOVERY
• And finally, the new speed for SER can be
• It is shows that by adjusting the triggering
found as
angle of the dc/ac converter can control the
speed of the machine.
• The range of α is from π/2 to π . In this range,
the induction machine operates as a motor
where the speed is less than the synchronous
• And the current of the motor speed.

where

𝑉𝑠 rms line- to-line voltage

where 𝑁1 and 𝑁2 are the number of turns of the stator and
rotor windings, respectively
where 𝛼 is the triggering angle of the dc/ac converter,
measured from the zero crossing of the line-to-line voltage
 SLIP ENERGY RECOVERY
Power flow chart of induction
motor under energy recovery

• With SER, the slip power is divided into the copper

losses of the rotor and the recovery power 𝑃𝑟 .
• The recovery power is injected back to the source.
• Thus, the actual power delivered by the source is
the input power required by the motor minus 𝑃𝑟 .
THANK YOU