2011 IEEE International Electric Machines & Drives Conference (IEMDC)

Performance Evaluation of Induction Motor Efficiency and In-service Losses Measurement Using Standard Test Methods
He Zhang, Pericle Zanchetta, Member, IEEE, Chris Gerada, Member, IEEE, Keith Bradley, Senior Member, IEEE, Junyi Liu University of Nottingham He.Zhang@Nottingham.ac.uk environment. These conditions alter the balance of the five loss mechanisms for a given load. In this paper, the impact of some factors, including operating temperatures, voltage supply magnitude, voltage balance and load conditions, is assessed in respect of motor efficiency performance under controlled laboratory conditions. II. TEMPERATURE INFLUENCE ON EFFICIENCY All the power losses associated with an induction motor are dependent on the operating temperature. In particular, the stator conductor loss and rotor conductor loss have high sensitivity to temperature. The conductor resistance increases around 4% for temperature rise of 10 degrees based on normal ambient temperature; therefore the efficiency increases for lower ambient temperatures. The Standard tests correct the ambient temperature to a certain value, for instance, IEEE 112-B and IEC 60034-2-1 (07) requires the ambient temperature to be corrected to 25C while the CEMEP modification of IEC60034-2 (96) requires it to be corrected to 15C [3-5]. The ambient temperature for motors operated in the industrial field varies with season and location. Ambient temperatures can reasonably vary between -10C and 40C. In order to illustrate the influence of ambient temperature variation, seven motors (A-E, H, K as in Motor List Table 3) rated form 3kW to 200kW were analysed and the ambient temperature adjusted to be -10C or 40C to evaluate the change of efficiency. It was found that, on average, there is about 0.71% increase in efficiency for operation at the lower ambient temperature as shown in Fig.1.

AbstractThis

paper investigates consequences of the differences between the actual, practical operating conditions of in-service induction motors and the ideal operating conditions that apply for the Standard Type Test, following the IEEE 112-B method. In these tests, the significance of each factor influencing motor efficiency, including operating temperatures, temperature rise, voltage supply magnitude, voltage balance and different load conditions is assessed upon the motor performance. The preliminary analysis shows the ambient temperature has a noticeable influence on motor losses, especially on the conductor losses and thus efficiency. The actual part load efficiency is higher than catalogue part load efficiency figure when the motor is running at partial load continuously in the field. The voltage magnitude alters the balance of the five loss mechanisms for a particular load; one can adjust the supply voltage to improve the motor efficiency for a continuous constant load operation. The increase in losses under unbalanced voltages leads to the necessity of derating the motor. The most significant factor which influences the efficiency of motor is the determination of operational loading. Keywords-induction motor, standard test, in-service, losses

I. INTRODUCTION Electric motor driven systems account for approximately 70% of industrial electrical power consumption worldwide [1], the majority are consumed by induction motors both for fixed speed and variable speed drive (VSD) applications. Hence it is very desirable to minimize electricity consumption and the consequent carbon dioxide emissions by encouraging the use of high efficiency motors. It is estimated that more than 150 TWh of electricity annually consumed could be saved in a cost effective manner if drive systems are designed from an energy efficiency point of view [2]. Measuring the efficiency of induction motors in an industrial plant under normal in service operating conditions poses particular technical challenges as to how close the actual in-service motor operating conditions are to those used in laboratories for standard tests. These differences lead to some inaccuracies in the efficiency evaluation results. This paper focuses on looking at the differences between the laboratory type, standard test conditions and those likely to be in service. The actual efficiency of an in-service motor will be different from the nominal efficiency value measured in the laboratory, due to varying testing conditions and ambient

Fig.1 Comparison of Efficiency under Different Ambient Temperatures

978-1-4577-0061-3/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

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Another parameter affecting the efficiency is the temperature rise. The efficiency figures labeled on the nameplate or provided by the manufacturer are quoted by standard tests, which are based on full load temperature rise only. However, induction motors, operated under field conditions, might run under constant partial load. In this case, the temperature rise is lower than full load temperature rise, resulting in an actual higher efficiency compared to the standard value. In order to investigate this issue, nine motors (E-M) ranging from 55 kW to 200 kW were tested under partial loads (50% and 75% of full load). After the thermal steady state condition had been reached, the temperature rises were recorded and efficiencies were calculated based on the actual temperature rise. The results are compared with the data obtained based on full load temperature rise. All results are corrected to the same ambient temperature 25C. The partial load and full load temperature rises and efficiencies for nine motors with ratings of 55 kW, 90 kW and 200 kW of different manufacturers are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Comparison of Temperature Rise and Efficiency of Part Load Test and Standard Test Load Motor E E F F G G H H I I J J K K L L M M (%) 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 0.75 0.5 PL Eff (%) 94.84 94.42 95.36 94.84 95.93 96.19 95.63 95.3 95.61 95.05 96.46 96.31 96.47 96.17 96.3 95.75 96.5 96.4 PL = Part Load FL = Full Load FL Eff (%) 94.62 94.26 95.2 94.7 95.5 95.82 95.43 95.09 95.46 94.91 96.33 96.16 96.31 95.95 96.18 95.67 96.27 96.13 Eff Diff (%) 0.22 0.16 0.16 0.14 0.43 0.37 0.2 0.21 0.15 0.15 0.13 0.14 0.17 0.22 0.13 0.08 0.23 0.27 PL Temp Rise (C) 42.91 29.55 34.11 21.24 45.62 25.63 37.74 28.11 44.19 29.31 38.77 24.00 20.39 18.64 48.19 30.83 51.18 30.28 FL Temp Rise (C) 81.03 70.34 68.22 63.42 100.74 96.05 65.9 62.01 74.55 70.52 59.31 57.64 70.37 66.6 78.32 73.92 90.54 86.98 Temp Diff (C) 38.12 40.79 34.11 42.18 55.12 70.42 28.16 33.9 30.36 41.21 20.54 33.64 49.98 47.96 30.13 39.36 56.7

varies from 0.13% to 0.43% for 75% load and from 0.085% to 0.37% for 50% load. The variation of the motor efficiency from part load temperature rise to full load temperature rise confirms that the efficiency value from the manufacturers catalogue cannot reflect correctly the value for in-service motors. Normally, the actual part load efficiency is higher than catalogue part load efficiency figures. III. VOLTAGE INFLUENCE ON EFFICIENCY Electrical supply conditions, such as supply voltage magnitude and supply voltage imbalance, also have a significant impact on the motor losses and thus operating efficiency. Standard test conditions are idealised to have rated terminal voltage in balanced condition. The influence of voltage magnitude has been investigated by H. Auinger [1] for small size motors of 7.5 kW. In this study, a 90 kW motor (H) is tested for this work under different voltage magnitudes and two different voltage imbalance cases. The results are then compared with the case of a balanced supply with rated voltage. A. Voltage Magnitude In Europe, the industrial three-phase power supply is generally in a range of 380 V to 415 V with 400V being the norm. Standard motors are designed for a voltage range from 380-420 V 5% additional tolerance. The impact of the voltage magnitude on the efficiency of motor (H) is presented in Fig. 2. It shows that supply voltage magnitude affects the efficiency curve of the induction motor considerably. For a certain load point, changing the magnitude of the operating voltage within the specified range alone can increase or decrease (depending on the starting point) the efficiency by 1.4% for this motor. This is a very significant change. For the same load point, increasing supply voltage results in reduced stator current. Consequently, the conductor loss and stray load loss are reduced. Core loss will increase with voltage boost. Therefore, there is no simple rule for how the voltage affects the efficiency curve as it depends on load and the relative magnitude of core and joule losses. For a continuous constant load operation, one can adjust the supply voltage to improve the motor operation efficiency.
96.00

95.00 Efficiency (%)

43.09

94.00

As illustrated in the Table 1, for a motor running at reduced partial load, the temperature rise declined significantly. The temperature rise reduction is between 20C and 54C for 75% load and 34C to 70C for 50% load compared to the full load temperature rise. Consequently, the efficiencies of these induction motors operating under these conditions are higher compared to the data provided by the manufacturers and obtained from the Standard test. The efficiency difference

93.00

92.00 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% Load Points

400 V 380 V 360 V 420 V 440 V

Fig. 2 Efficiency for Different Voltage Magnitude

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B. Voltage Imbalances All nameplate information provided by manufacturers, is derived from standard tests which require a balanced power supply. For example, IEEE 112-B requires that the voltage variation must not exceed 0.5%. In practice, even though the voltages are quite well balanced at the generator terminals during a standard test, the voltages at the point of utilisation can become unbalanced due to unequal system impedances of three-phase transmission and distribution system, unequal distribution of single-phase loads, phase to phase loads and unbalanced three-phase loads [6-8]. Induction motors are designed to have certain tolerance towards unbalanced voltage, but their performances will be compromised if the unbalance is excessive. British standard BS-4999 [9] requires that motors should deliver rated power when fed continuously from a supply with a voltage unbalance factor (VUF) of 2%. In order to study the impact of an unbalanced voltage supply on a three-phase induction motor, motor (H) is thoroughly tested under balanced and unbalanced voltage supply for comparison. The supply voltage conditions and resulting current are listed in Table 2.
Table2 Three Cases of Voltage Imbalance VUF= Voltage Unbalance Factor LVUR= Line Voltages Unbalance Ratio PVUR= phase voltage unbalance in percent Balanced Unbalanced Unbalanced case case1
232.190 233.14 119.74

different for each graph for clarity. Under the two different unbalance cases, (VUF=0.89% and VUF=1.82%) a different degree of extra temperature rise is obtained.
100 90 80 Temperature (C) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 5000 10000 15000 Time (s) Balance Unbalance cas e 1 Unbalance cas e 2 20000 25000 30000

Fig. 3 Comparison of Temperature Rise for Three Voltage Supply Case

Voltage

case2

To prevent overheating causing damage to the motor, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recommends an induction motor de-rating factor as a function of unbalanced condition [10]. The extra temperature rise and unbalanced three phase currents result in extra losses in the motor, especially conductor losses and stray load loss. Even a 1.82% imbalance factor results in a drop in maximum efficiency of 0.24% for this motor. IV. LOAD INFLUENCE AND MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY The efficiency of an induction motor is load dependent as shown in Fig. 4. Some manufacturers provide efficiency against load curves in their catalogue, which makes it possible to optimise the motor operating load point to yield the maximum efficiency. In fact, the maximum efficiency is not likely to occur at rated load. To accommodate load fluctuations and voltage imbalance, most motor manufacturers design their motor to give the maximum efficiency around 60-80% load. Operating a motor under over load or under light load can cause the efficiency to decrease distinctly. Therefore, knowing the value of the maximum efficiency load point is important. The five components of the motor loss can be divided into two groups according to their load dependencies (1). Windage and friction losses Pwf and core loss

Va

231.410 231.22 119.99

235.840
237 .31 119 .48 223.63 237.90

Vb
Vc

231.59 239 .99 226.26 239.04

V positive
Vnegative
VUF (%) LVUR (%) PVUR (%)

231.41 0.12 0.052 0.045 0.079 162.23 162.54 162.75

230.52 2.01 0.89 0.79 1.85 171.93 155.97 154.77

232.23 4.22 1.82 1.59 3.72 183.77 150.70 152.33

I ab
I bc I ca

The negative sequence voltage component has a significant impact on motor performance. Temperature rise tests have been carried out when the motor is running under 75% load and 100% load and the motor is allowed to reach the thermal stability. The 75% load test is first conducted and followed immediately by the 100% load. At the end of each run, a full set of part load tests were carried out according to IEC 60034-2 (07). Temperature measurements are taken every 2 seconds by six PT100 sensors which are equally spaced in the end winding, and each phase has two PT100 sensors. Fig. 3 shows the average temperature rise curves of motor (H) in the previous three supply cases. The starting point in time is set to be

Pcore are normally assumed to be constant throughout the

whole load region, while stator copper loss Ps , rotor copper loss Pr , and stray load loss PLL are load dependent. Note however that IEC 60034-2 (07) does allow for what is normally quite a small variation in the so called constant loss term with load. The effect however is quite small on the maximum efficiency value.

Ploss = Ps + Pr + Pstray + Pcore + Pwf = ( I s2 Rs + I r2 Rs + kI r2 ) + ( Pcore + Pwf )

(1)

915

In conjunction with motor input power,

Pinput = Vs I s cos
The efficiency can be expressed:

(2)

The maximum efficiency can be simply estimated only by no load test without separating equation (7).

Pcore and Pwf from the following

Vs I s cos [( I s2 Rs + I r2 Rr + kI r2 ) + ( Pcore + Pwf )] Vs I s cos

max =

Pinput 2 Pcore + Pwf ) Pinput

(7)

(3) To investigate the maximum efficiency, some approximate assumptions have to be made. The stator current I s is the vector sum of the rotor current I r and the magnetizing current

I m . For larger motors under load conditions, I m is assumed to be constant and relatively smaller than I s , resulting in I r is close to I s in magnitude. With the approximation,
motor efficiency

The remarkable benefit is that the estimation is only based on constant loss and it also eliminates the necessity to carry out any complicated measurement to segregate the stray loss. However, full tests are required to determine just exactly at what load the maximum efficiency occurs. V. CONCLUSIONS This paper has addressed the induction motor testing issues arising from the applications of standard testing methods in laboratory and in field conditions. The motor operating conditions, including voltage magnitude, voltage imbalance, temperature, loading and load variation have evident impacts on motor efficiency and power losses. It has shown that these factors each results in significant deviations of motor losses and efficiencies compared to the standard values. This paper investigates consequences of the differences between the actual, practical operating conditions of in-service induction motors and the ideal operating conditions that apply for the Standard Type Test, following the IEEE 112-B method. In these tests, the significance of each influence parameter, including operating temperatures, temperature rise, voltage supply magnitude, voltage balance and different load conditions is assessed upon the motor performance. The preliminary analysis shows the ambient temperature has a noticeable influence on motor losses, especially on the conductor losses and thus efficiency. The actual part load efficiency is higher than catalogue part load efficiency figure when the motor is running at partial load continuously in the field. The voltage magnitude alters the balance of the five loss mechanisms for a particular load; one can adjust the supply voltage to improve the motor efficiency for a continuous constant load operation. The increase in losses under unbalanced voltages leads to the necessity of derating the motor. It is concluded that standard tests are not applicable to those in-service induction motors because some presumptions do not hold true in practice. The most significant factor which influences the estimation of motor power consumption in the field is the determination of loading, which is experimentally difficult when the motor is in operation.

can

be expressed as a function of stator

current Is:

Vs I s cos [ I s2 ( Rs + Rr + k ) + ( Pcore + Pwf )] Vs I s cos

(4)

Equation (4) is continuous and monotonic; thereby the maximum efficiency max occurs when:

=0 I s
Consequently,

(5)

Ps + Pr + Pstray = Pcore + Pwf

(6)

As a result, the maximum efficiency occurs when the load dependent loss components are equal to the load independent losses. The results can be verified by IEEE-112 method B tests as shown in Fig. 4 for Motor H, which illustrates distinctly that the maximum efficiency can be obtained at the load when the load dependent loss are equal to load independent loss. The maximum efficiency for this motor is about 0.4 percent higher than rated efficiency.

VI. REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] Fig. 4. Load Dependency of Motor Efficiency H. Auinger, Efficiency of electric motors under practical conditions, Power Engineering Journal June 2001. CEMEP, "Voluntary Agreement of CEMEP," 1999. IEEE, Std, and 112-2004, "IEEE Standard Test Procedure for Polyphase Induction Motors and Generators," Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Nov. 2004.

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[4]

IEC60034-2, "Rotating electrical machines-Part 2-1: Standard methods for determining losses and efficiency from tests (excluding machines for traction vehicles)," 2007. [5] IEC60034-2, "Methods for Determining Losses and Efficiency of Rotating Electrical Machinery From Tests (excluding machines for traction vehicles)," 1996. [6] Ching-Yin Lee; , "Effects of unbalanced voltage on the operation performance of a three-phase induction motor," Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on , vol.14, no.2, pp.202-208, Jun 1999 [7] Kersting, W.H.; , "Causes and effects of unbalanced voltages serving an induction motor," Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on , vol.37, no.1, pp.165-170, Jan/Feb 2001 [8] Faiz, J.; Ebrahimpour, H.; Pillay, P.; , "Influence of unbalanced voltage on the steady-state performance of a three-phase squirrel-cage induction motor," Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on , vol.19, no.4, pp. 657662, Dec. 2004 [9] BS 4999 "General requirements for rotating electrical machines. " [10] NEMA Standard MG 1-2009 Motors and Generators

VII. APPENDIX
Table 3 Tested Motor List Motor List A B C D E F G H I J K L M Power (kW) 3.0 7.5 11 30 55 55 55 90 90 90 200 200 200 Voltage (V) 400 460 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 Current (A) 6.2 12.5 19.2 55.2 98 96 94.3 159 158 155 351 340 346

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