Motor Protection

1
Introduction
Three phase motors :
• Induction
• Synchronous

Main Parts of three phase motors :

• Stator
• Rotor

Winding Connection of three phase motors:

• Wye
• Delta

2
Introduction
History and Facts
• The first U.S. patent for a motor was issued
to Thomas Davenport in 1837.

• Today in U.S. more then 1 billion motors

are in service.

• Motors consume 23% of electricity in

North America.
• In 1888, Nikola Tesla patented the first
AC poly-phase motor. • Electricity consumption by motors in
manufacturing sector is 70%. In oil, gas
and mining industries around 90%.

• Three phase squirrel-cage induction

motors account for over 90% of the
installed motor capacity.

3
Motor Theory

AC Motors Convert Electric Energy into Mechanical Energy

• When a conductor is moving across a magnetic field a voltage is induced

• If the conductor is part of a closed circuit there will be a current induced

4
Motor Theory
AC Motors Convert Electric Energy into Mechanical Energy

In a motor, the induction principle is utilized in reverse

• A live conductor is placed in a magnetic field

• The conductor is influenced by a force which tries to move it through the magnetic
field

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Motor Theory
AC Motors Convert Electric Energy into Mechanical Energy

The Magnetic Field

• Rotates in the air gap between the stator and the rotor

• Has a fixed location in the stator core but its direction varies
1. Speed of direction change is determined by the frequency of the AC line
2. The field changes 60 times per second with 60 Hz power

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Motor Theory
AC Motors Convert Electric Energy into Mechanical Energy

The Magnetic Field

• When three phases are introduced in the motor three magnetic fields are introduced
1. Make up a symmetrical rotating
2. 120 degrees apart
3. Poles of opposite polarity are formed

• Speed = (frequency x 120) / # of poles

(60 Hz x 120) / 4 poles = 1800 rpm

7
Motor Thermal Modeling
Motor Downtime
 Motor initial cost could be as low as 2% of the lifetime operational cost.
 The driven process downtime in some cases is more expensive than motor.
 Motor downtime contributors are:
 Power system failures.
 Inadvertent shutdown because of human mistake or motor protection mal-operation
 Motor Failure
 Load Failure

8
Motor Thermal Modeling
Thermal Stress Causes Motor Failure
 Many of the motor failure contributors (IEEE Survey) and failed motor components (EPRI
Survey) are related to motor overheating.
 Thermal stress potentially can cause the failure of all the major motor parts: Stator, Rotor,
Bearings, Shaft and Frame.

BEARINGS
STATOR

ROTOR SHAFT

FRAME

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Preventing the Motor from Overheating

Thermally critical parts of the motor:

• Stator Windings
• Rotor
• Bearings

Risks for an overheated motor:

• Deformation of conductor bars and slots
• Degradation of stator insulation

Heating of these components depend on:

• The speed of the motor
• The load on the motor
• The materials they are made of

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Preventing the Motor from Overheating

Causes of motor heating

• Current flowing through the stator winding

resistance produces heat proportional to the square
of the current (I2t)
• Magnetization eddy currents
• Induced currents on the rotor bars
• Quality of the supply (voltage unbalance or
harmonic distortion)
• Friction on the bearings
• Lack of air flow, high ambient

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Thermal Model Analogy

Accurate Thermal Modeling must take all factors into account

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Thermal Capacity Used
The sources of thermal energy that will fill the vessel or heating the motor are:
• Ambient temperature
• Motor losses due to current unbalances and I squared T
• Motor heating due to a start

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Thermal Capacity Used
Motor cooling will be represented by:
• The vapour evaporating from the surface of the liquid when the motor is running or stopped
will represent the motors ability to dissipate heat.
• The fan is representative of the additional cooling effect of the motor’s cooling system which is
commonly a fan mounted on the motor shaft.

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Start Inhibit
Upon a start, the inrush current is above the motor’s full load current causing the thermal
capacity used within the motor to rise rapidly.
GE Multilin MPR “learn” the amount of thermal capacity required to start the motor and if the
start inhibit function is enabled, use this information in addition to the thermal capacity used
data to ensure that there is enough thermal capacity within the motor for a successful start
before a start is attempted.

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Start Inhibit Example

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Motor Thermal Modeling
Motor Thermal Limit

Typical Time-Current
&
Thermal Limit Curve

Operating beyond thermal limits will significantly reduce the life of the motor

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Motor Thermal Modeling
More than just measuring the temperature of the motor and overcurrent

RTD monitoring
• Temperature from RTDs lags actual motor temperature
• Rotor temperature is not possible through direct
measurement
• Smaller motors not equipped with RTDs

Simple overcurrent
• Ignores rotor heating from unbalanced supply
• No thermal memory
• Ignores loss of cooling and high ambient

Integrated thermal model is needed to correctly determine how hot the motor is and
provide protection
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Motor Thermal Modeling
Consists of 5 key elements

Thermal Limit Curves – running overload, stall, acceleration

Overload Pickup – for service factor motors
Unbalance Input – accounts for rotor heating

RTD Bias
correct model
loss of cooling
high ambient
hot/cold curve bias

Cooling – running and stopped cool times

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Accurate Thermal Modeling using manufacturer guidelines
Additional Protective elements
• Short circuit protection
• Ground fault protection
• Phase Current Differential Protection
• Single phase protection
• Under and Over Voltage protection
• Mechanical jam detection
• Loss of load detection
• Acceleration timer
• Starts per hour
• Time between starts

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Short Circuit Protection
The short circuit element provides protection
for excessively high over current faults. Phase
to phase and phase to ground faults are
common types of short circuits. The short
circuit trip element is coordinated with
external up stream fuses such that the element
will operate first. When a motor starts, starting
current (which is typically 6 times the FULL
LOAD Current rating of the motor) has
asymmetrical component. These asymmetrical
currents may cause one phase to see as much
as 1.7 times the normal RMS starting current.
As a result the pickup of the short circuit
element must be set hinger than the
maximum asymmetrical starting currents seen
by the phase ct’s to avoid uisance tripping. The
rule of thumb is to set the short circuit
protection pickup to a value which is at least
1.7 times the maximum expected symmetrical
starting current of the motor. This allows the
motor to start without nuisance tripping.

21
Ground Fault Protection

A ground fault is a fault that creates a path

for current to flow from one of the phases
directly to the neutral through the earth
bypassing the load. This current is
sometimes referred to as zero sequence
current. Damage to a phase conductors
insulation and internal shorts due to
moisture within the motor are common
causes of ground faults.

22
Phase Current Differential Protection
This feature consists of three instantaneous overcurrent
elements for phase differential protection. Differential
protection may be considered the first line of protection
for internal phase to phase or phase to ground faults. In
the event of such fault, the quick response of the
differential element may limit the damage that may
have otherwise occurred to the motor.
The Differential Trip element function can only be used
if both side of each stator phase are brought out of the
motor for external connection such that the phase
current going into and out of each phase can be
measured. The differential element subtracts the
current coming out of each phase from the current
going into each phase and compares the result or
difference with the differential Pickup Level. If this
difference is equal to or greater then the pickup level for
a period of time greater a user specified Delay, a trip will
occur.

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Current Unbalance or single phasing protection
The Contribution of current unbalance to the
thermal capacity used was covered earlier. Here
the magnitude of the current unbalance is used
to detect and trip the motor if a single phase
condition occurs. Single phase refers to the
situation where one of the three phases is no
longer being supplied to the motor.
If enabled, a trip and/or alarm occurs once the
unbalance magnitude exceeds the CURRENT
UNBALANCE ALARM/TRIP PICKUP for a period of
time specified by the CURRENTUNBALANCE
ALARM/TRIP DELAY. If the unbalnce level exceed
40%, or when the average motor current is
greater then 25% of the motor’s full load current
rating and current in any one phase has no
current flow, the motor is considered single
phasing and trip occurs within 2 seconds. Single
phasing protection is disabled if the unbalance
feature is turned “Off”

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Under and Over Voltage

In an under voltage condition the stator

field will be weak. To compensate for the
weak stator field the slip will increase
resulting in inreased rotor current and
rotor heating. If on the other hand the
motor is in an over voltage condition the
increased voltage produces a marginal
increase in field strength but a large
increase in stator heating. The rotor will
slip a bit less resulting in a slight
decreased rotor current. The overall result
of an under or overvoltage condition is an
increase in current and motor heating and
a reduction in overall motor performance.

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Mechanical Jam

If Enabled, the Mechanical Jam element

will operate in the following way:
After the motor has started, if any one of
the motors phase current magnitudes
exceed the Jam Pickup Level setting for a
period of time specified by the Jam Delay
setting, the relay will generate a Trip.
The pickup level for the Mechanical Jam
Trip should be set higher than the
maximum phase current that is expected
under normal operation to avoid nuisance
due to momentary load fluctuations.

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Loss of load

Loss of load can be detected in one of

two ways:
The first detection methode is the
undercurrent element:
The undercurrent element can be used to
detect a loss or derease of motor current.

The second method of load loss detection

is use the underpower element:

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ACCELERATOR

When Enable, the acceleration Timer

trip element function as follows : A
motor start is assumsed to be occuring
when the relay measures the transition
from no motor current to some value of
motor current. Typically, motor current
will rise quickly to a value in excess of
the motor’s rated full load current. At
this point, Acceleration Timer will start
to the time. If the motor’s current does
not fall below the overload curve
pickup level before the programmed
time has expired, the relay will
generate an acceleration trip.

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Starts per Hour
Starts/Hour must be set to the # of cold starts stated the data sheet

Time Between Starts

In some cases, the motor manufacturer will specify the time between motor
starts. If the information is given, the time provided on the motor data
sheets should be programmed

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