STARTING METHORDS OF
THREE PHASE INDUCTION
MOTORS
DISCUSSION
1) Direct On Line starter
The simplest form of motor starter for the induction motor is the Direct On
Line starter. The DOL starter comprises a switch and an overload protection relay. The switch may be
a manually operated load break switch, but more commonly it would be an electromagnetic contactor
which can be opened by the thermal overload relay. Typically, the contactor will be controlled by
separate start and stop buttons, and an auxiliary contact is used as a hold in contact. I.e. the contactor is
electrically latched closed while the motor is operating. To start, the contactor is closed, applying full
line voltage to the motor windings. The motor will draw a very high inrush current for a very short
time, to establish the magnetic field in the iron, and then the current will be limited to the Locked
Rotor Current of the motor. The motor will develop Locked Rotor Torque and begin to accelerate
towards full speed. As the motor accelerates, the current will begin to drop, but will not drop
significantly until the motor is at a high speed, typically about 85% of synchronous speed. The actual
starting current curve is a function of the motor design, and the terminal voltage, and is totally
independent of the motor load. The motor load will affect the time taken for the motor to accelerate to
full speed and therefore the duration of the high starting current, but not the magnitude of the starting
current.
Provided the torque developed by the motor exceeds the load torque at all speeds during the start cycle,
the motor will reach full speed. If the torque delivered by the motor is less than the torque of the load
at any speed during the start cycle, the motor will cease accelerating. If the starting torque with a DOL
starter is insufficient for the load, the motor must be replaced with a motor which can develop a higher
starting torque. The acceleration torque is the torque developed by the motor minus the load torque,
and will change as the motor accelerates due to the motor speed torque curve and the load speed torque
curve. The start time is dependant on the acceleration torque and the load inertia. DOL starting results
in maximum start current and maximum start torque. This may cause an electrical problem with the
supply, or it may cause a mechanical problem with the driven load.
3) Suitability of star delta & Auto transformers
Auto transformer.
An Auto transformer starter uses an auto transformer to reduce the voltage applied to a motor during
start. The auto transformer may have a number of output taps and be set-up to provide a single stage
starter, or a multistage starter. Typically, the auto transformer would have taps at 50%, 65% and 80%
voltage, enabling the motor to be started at one or more of these settings.
There are two ways of connecting an auto transformer starter, the most obvious way is to apply full
voltage to the transformer via a contactor, and connect the motor to the tap by means of a contactor.
When the motor has accelerated to full speed, or has run out of acceleration torque, the tap contactor
opens, disconnecting the motor from the transformer and another contactor closes connecting the
motor to the supply. The transformer can now be disconnected from the supply. This format is known
as an open transition starter and is less than ideal due to the fact that the motor is disconnected for a
short period of time during the start period. While the motor is connected and accelerating, there is a
rotating magnetic field in the stator which causes flux in the rotor and thus a rotor current to flow. At
the instant the motor is disconnected, there is a magnetic field in the rotor which is spinning with-in
the stator winding. The motor acts as a generator until the rotor field decays. The voltage generated by
the motor is not synchronised to the supply, and so on reconnection to the supply, the voltage across
the contactor at closure can be as much as twice the supply voltage resulting in a very high current and
torque transient. This open transition switching is often known as the auto-reclose effect as it yields
similar characteristics to opening and closing a breaker on a supply to one or more motors. The
consequences of open transition switching can be as bad as broken shafts and stripped gears.
By a rearrangement of the power circuit, it is possible, at no extra cost, to build a closed transition
starter and thereby eliminate the current and torque transients. The closed transition auto transformer
starter is known as the Korndorffer starter. The open transition switching is achieved by reconnecting
the tap contactor between the transformer and motor, to the star connection of the transformer, hard
wiring the motor to the tap, and altering the sequence of contactor control. To start the machine, the
main contactor and the star contactors are closed applying reduced voltage to the motor. When the
motor has reached full speeds, (or run out of acceleration torque) the star contactor is opened
effectively converting the auto transformer starter into a primary reactance starter. Next the primary
reactance is bridged by a contactor applying full voltage to the motor.
At no time does the motor become disconnected from the supply.
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. The auto transformer starter is a
constant voltage starter, so the torque is reduced by the voltage reduction squared over the entire speed
range, unlike the primary resistance or primary reactance starters which are constant impedance
starters and where the start voltage is dependant on the ratio of the motor impedance to the motor plus
starter impedance. As the motor accelerates, it's impedance rises and consequently, the terminal
voltage of the motor also rises, giving a small torque increase at higher speeds.
Unlike the primary resistance and primary reactance starter, the current flowing into the motor is
different from that flowing from the supply. The supply current flows into the primary circuit of a
transformer, and the secondary current is applied to the motor. The transformer reduces the primary
current by the same ratio as the voltage reduction. If the motor is connected to the 50% tap of the
transformer, the voltage across the motor terminals will be 50%. Assuming an LRC of 600%, there
will be 300% current flowing into the motor. If 300% current flows into the motor, then the current
into the transformer will be 150%. This would suggest that the lowest starting current will be achieved
by the use of an auto transformer starter. In most instances, the load will require an increasing torque
as it accelerates, and so often a higher tap must be selected in order to accelerate the load to full speed
before the step to full voltage occurs. If a multistage transformer starter is employed, then the primary
current will certainly be lower than other forms of induction motor starter.
Applications: Blowers, Pumps, Compressors
Auto Transformer Starter Star Delta Starter
Star Delta.
The Star Delta starter can only be used with a motor which is rated for connection in delta operation at
the required line voltage, and has both ends each of the three windings available individually. At Start,
the line voltage is applied to one end of each of the three windings, with the other end bridged
together, effectively connecting the windings in a star connection. Under this connection, the voltage
across each winding is 1/(rt 3) of line voltage and so the current flowing in each winding is also
reduced by this amount. The resultant current flowing from the supply is reduced by a factor of 1/3 as
is the torque. i.e. A motor which exhibits a LRC of 600% and an LRT of 180% will exhibit
characteristics of: LRCstar of 200% and LRTstar of 60%. In some cases, this may be enough to get the
motor up to full speed, but most, as this is a constant voltage starter, the transition to full voltage will
occur at part speed resulting in a virtual DOL type start. To step to full vopanied by a very high torque
and current transient. In most situations, there would be less damage to the equipment and less
interference tltage, the star connection is opened, effectively open circuiting the motor, and the ends of
the windings are then connected to the three phase supply in a fashion to create a delta connection.
This type of starter is an open transition starter and so the switch to delta is accomo the supply if a
DOL starter was employed.
The star delta is not easily converted to a closed transition starter, and even the closed transition
(Wanchop) star delta starter still has the problem that the start voltage can not be altered. If there is
insufficient torque available in star, then it will go DOL. The star delta starter does get around the
regulations in some countries where there is a requirement for a reduced voltage starter, but in reality,
in many situations results in more severe transients than DOL. The main benefits of the star delta
starter are that it puts more money in the pockets of the switchgear supplier, and it is politically
correct.
5) Reversing the direction:
Many applications require a motor to run in both directions. In order to change the direction of motor
rotation, the direction of current flow through the windings must be changed. This is done on a three-
phase motor by reversing any two of the three motor leads.. The following illustration shows a three-
phase reversing motor circuit. It has one set of forward (F) contacts controlled by the “F” contactor,
and one set of reverse (R) contacts controlled by the “R” contactor.
When the “F” contacts are closed, current flows through the motor causing it to turn in a clockwise
direction.
When the “R” contacts are closed, current flows through the motor in the opposite direction causing it
to rotate in a counter clockwise direction. Mechanical interlocks prevent both forward and reverse
circuits from being energized at the same time.
Speed control means speed variation under open loop (feed forward) or
close loop conditions. We will discuss here only the principles and steady-state characteristics of speed
control methods. For cage-rotor induction motors, all speed control methods have to act on the stator
windings as only they are available. To start, here is the speed/slip relationship. Equation suggests that
the speed may be modified through
1. Slip S variation: through voltage reduction
2. Pole number change: through pole changing windings
3. Frequency control: through frequency converters
The voltage reduction method When reducing the stator phase (line) voltage through an
autotransformer or an ac voltage controller critical slip SK remains constant, but the peak (breakdown)
torque varies with voltage Vs squared The speed may be varied downward until the critical slip speed
is reached. However, in all cases, when increasing the slip, the rotor losses increase accordingly, so the
wider the speed control range, the poorer the energy conversion ratio. Finally, a.c voltage controllers
(soft starters) have been proposed to reduce voltage, when the load torque decreases, to reduce the flux
level in the machine and thus reduce the core losses and increase the power factor and efficiency while
stator current also decreases. In view of the above, voltage reduction has very limited potential for
speed control.
Advantage: simple & inexpensive
Disadvantage: Speed range is low, Both starting torque &max torque will decrease with decreasing
speed
The pole-changing method. Can be used with specially designed “ Pole Changing” cage type
induction motors
Frequency control: through frequency converters:
a) Constant air gap flux control, b) Constant voltage control
Advantage: Best performance, Wide speed control, High starting torque, Low starting current, Smooth
continuous control of speed
Disadvantage: Relatively expensive, Speed can only be controlled from 0 to Ns, rated
