An Introduction to Electrical Drives

BEF35803
ELECTRIC DRIVES
 Contents
1) Introduction
2) Advantages of Electrical Drives
3) Parts of Electrical Drives
4) Choice of Electrical Drives
5) Status of DC and AC Drives
 Introduction
• Motion control is required in large number of
industrial and domestic applications.
• E.g. Transportation system, rolling mills, paper
machines, textile mills, machine tools, fans, pumps,
robots, washing machines, etc.
Light Rapid Transit (LRT)

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

 Electric Vehicle (EV)

High-power AC Drives for Offshore

Gas & Oil Applications
Toilet paper machine
 Introduction
• System employed for motion control are called
DRIVES.
• May employ any of the prime mover (e.g. petrol
or diesel engines, gas or steam turbines,
hydraulic motor, and ELECTRICAL MOTOR) to
supply mechanical energy for motion control.
• Drives employing electrical motors are known as
electrical drives.
 Introduction
• A typical block diagram of an electrical drives is
shown in Figure 1.

Power
Source Motor Load
modulator

Control Sensing
unit unit

Input command

Figure 1 – Block diagram of an electrical drive

 Introduction
• Load is a machinery designed to complete a
given task (e.g. pump, fans or robot).
• Load requirements is specified in terms of
speed and torque demands.
• A motor is chosen based on its speed-torque
characteristics and capabilities compatible to
the load requirement.
Introduction
 Introduction
• The function of power modulators are as follows:
 Modulates flow of power from source to
the motor.
 Restrict source and motor currents within
permissible value during transient
operation.
 Converts electrical energy from the source
to the form that is suitable to the motor.
 Select the mode of operation of the motor,
i.e. motoring or braking.
Quadrants of speed-torque plane
 Advantages of Electrical Drives
The advantages of electrical drives are as follows:
1. Flexible control characteristic.
2. Available in wide range of torque, speed and power.
3. Electric motors have high efficiency, low no load
losses and considerable short time overloading
capability.
4. Adaptable to almost any operating conditions.
5. Can operate in all quadrants of speed-torque plane.
6. No need to refuel or warm up the motor.
7. Powered by electrical energy.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
Electrical drives have the following important parts:
a. Electrical motors.
b. Power modulator.
c. Sources.
d. Control unit.
e. Load (with wide variations).
 Parts of Electrical Drives
a. Electrical motors
• Commonly used motors in electrical drives are:
 DC motors: shunt, series, compound, permanent magnet.
 Induction motors: squirrel-cage, wound rotor, linear.
 Synchronous motors: wound field, permanent magnet.
 Brushless DC motors
 Stepper motor .
 Switched reluctance.
• In the past, induction and synchronous machine
were mainly employed for constant speed drive
applications.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
a. Electrical motors
• In the past, variable speed drive (VSD) applications
were either too costly or had very poor efficiency.
• Then, VSD applications were dominated by DC
motors.
• Nowadays, AC motor are also employed for
variable speed drive applications due to the
development of semiconductor converters (e.g.
thyristors, power transistors, IGBTs and GTOs).
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators
• Power modulators can be classified as follows:
• Converters.
• Variable impedances.
• Switching circuits.
• Some drives employed more than one of these
modulators.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter
• The needs for a converter arises when nature of the
available electrical power is different than what is
required for the motor.
• Power sources are usually of the following types:
• Fixed voltage and fixed frequency AC.
• Fixed voltage DC.
• DC motor requires variable DC voltages.
• AC motor requires either fixed frequency variable
voltage AC or variable frequency and variable voltage
AC.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter
These converters and their combinations are used in
practice to achieve the requirement of the motor:
• AC to DC converters (rectifier).
• AC voltage controllers (AC regulators).
• DC to DC converters (chopper).
• DC to AC converters (inverter).
• Cycloconverters.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter >Rectifier

Figure 2 - Typical rectifiers used in practice for electrical drive applications.

 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter >AC Regulators

Same frequency
at the output

Figure 3 - Typical AC regulators used in practice for electrical drive applications.

 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter >Chopper

Figure 4 - Typical choppers used in practice for electrical drive applications.

 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter >Inverter

Harmonic in introduced

Figure 5 - Typical inverters used in practice for electrical drive applications.

 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Converter > Cycloconverters

Figure 6 - Typical cycloconverters used in practice for

electrical drive applications.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Variableimpedances
• There are two types of variable impedances used in
practice. They are listed as follows:
 Variable resistors:
 Commonly used for the control of low cost DC and AC drives.
 Also required for dynamic braking of drives.
 Have several steps that can be controlled using contactors.
 Variable inductors:
 Usually available in two steps (full and zero).
 Used to limit the starting current of AC motors.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
b. Power modulators > Switchingcircuits
• Required to achieve any one of the following:
 To change the mode of operation of the motor.
 For automatic starting and braking control.
 To operate motors and drives according to a
predetermined sequence.
 To provide interlocking to prevent maloperation.
 To disconnect motor during abnormal operating
situation.
• Usually carried out by using high power
electromagnetic relays known as contactors.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
c. Sources
• In Malaysia, 1-phase and 3-phase AC supplies are readily
available.
• Low power drives are fed from 1-phase source due to
economic factor.
• Higher power drive applications are powered by 3-phase
source.
• Drives are powered either directly or through converter link.
• Voltage rating that are available in Malaysia for drive
applications are as follows:
 1-phase: 240V, 50Hz.
 3-phase: 415V, 3.3kV, 6.6kV, 11kV, 33kV.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
c. Sources
• In aircraft and space applications, 400Hz AC supply is
typically used to achieve high power to weight ratio for
motors.
• For main line traction applications, a high voltage supply is
preferred because of economy.
• In Malaysia, the voltage level of main line traction
applications are as
follows:
 750V DC – RapidKL (Kelana Jaya LRT–Gombak).
 25kV AC, 50Hz – KTM (Sungai Gadut–Tanjung
Malim/Port Klang-Batu Caves).
• Some drives are powered by battery (e.g. fork lift).
 Parts of Electrical Drives
c. Sources

Figure 7a – 750V DC Figure 7b – 25kV AC Figure 7c – Drive

used by 50Hz used by application for
RapidKL KTM forklift powered by
battery
 Parts of Electrical Drives
c. Sources
• Although choice of a motor depends on the types
of supply available for the application, there are
many other factor to be considered.
• Therefore, a DC motor may be preferred over AC
motor even when AC supply are available, vice
versa.
• Limitation – cost, weight, size, complexity, etc.
 Parts of Electrical Drives
d. Control unit
• Provides control for a power modulator.
• The type of control unit required depends on the
power modulator used.
• For semiconductor converters:
 The control unit will consists of firing circuits.
 Employ linear, digital integrated circuit or microprocessor.
• For switching circuits:
 Function of control unit will be to provide sequencing and
interlocking.
 Choices of Electrical Drives
Selection of an electrical drives depends on a number
of factor listed as follows:
• Steady-state operation requirement:
 Nature of speed-torque characteristic, speed
regulation, quadrant of operation, ratings etc.
• Transient operation requirement:
 Value of acceleration and deceleration, starting, braking
and reversing performance.
• Requirement related to the sources:
 Type of source, voltage fluctuation, power factor etc.
 Choices of Electrical Drives
Selection of an electrical drives depends on a number
of factor listed as follows (cont.):
• Capital and running cost, maintenance
requirement, and life cycles.
• Space and weight restrictions.
• Environmental and location.
• Reliability.
 Status of DC and AC Drives
• In the past, induction and synchronous motor
drives were mainly used in fixed speed
applications.
• Variable speed were dominated by the DC motor drives.
• Later, variable speed induction motor drives were
developed and they were efficient and could match the
performance of DC drives.
• Due to the advantages of squirrel-cage induction
motor over DC motor, the induction motor drives
were predicted to replace the DC drives in variable
speed drive applications.
 Status of DC and AC Drives
• However, the prediction was not materialized
until today due to the following reasons:
 The induction motor drive was very expensive.
 The technology of DC drives was well established.
 AC drives were not reliable as DC drives.
 The development of power electronics improve the
reliability and performance of variable speed AC
drives. These developments also led to similar
improvement to DC drives.
 Review
• What are the advantages of electrical drives?
• State essential parts of electrical drives. What are the
functions of a power modulator?
• Write a brief note on the motors employed in variable
speed drives.
• State and explain the functions of various converters.
• Write a brief note on the sources employed in electrical
drives.
• What are the main factors which decide the choice of
electrical drives for a given application?
• What is the status of DC and AC drives?