SlipRingorWoundRotorMotors

Ivehadalove/haterelationshipwiththesemotorsforyears.
Maintenanceofthebrushgearisapaintoanymaintenance
department.Overlookorignoreitanditcomesbackandbites
you.Excessivecarbondustcancauseflashoveronstartup.On
initialstartupthevoltageontheringsisatitsmaximum(some
motorsIveworkedoncouldhaveupto3KVbetweenthem).
Carbondustwillfinditswayintoanylittlecrevice,letitbuild
upenoughandyoucanexpectanexplosion.Oncerunningthe
voltageiszerounlessthemotorisusingspeedcontrol.

Thefirstpictureshowsabasicsetup,theleftsideshowsa
standardbrushbox,therightaconstantforcebox.The
secondpictureshowsapracticalsetup.Theconstantforcebox
usesaspringsimilartotheonesusedforcableearthingbutin
thiscasetheyaretryingtouncoil.Thestandardbrushbox
isntstandard,itgotitsnamefromtheStandardBrushBox
Companymanyyearsback.
ClickhereforBrushGearMaintenance

Theslipringorwoundrotormotorisaninductionmachine
wheretherotorcomprisesasetofcoilsthatareterminatedin
slipringstowhichexternalimpedancescanbeconnected.
Thestatoristhesameasisusedwithastandardsquirrelcage
motor.

Bychangingtheimpedanceconnectedtotherotorcircuit,the
speed/currentandspeed/torquecurvescanbealtered.
Theslipringmotorisusedprimarilytostartahighinertiaload
oraloadthatrequiresaveryhighstartingtorqueacrossthefull
speedrange.Bycorrectlyselectingtheresistorsusedinthe
secondaryresistanceorliquidstarter,themotorisableto
producemaximumtorqueatarelativelylowcurrentfromzero
speedtofullspeed.
Asecondaryuseoftheslipringmotor,istoprovideameansof
speedcontrol.Becausethetorquecurveofthemotoris
effectivelymodifiedbytheresistanceconnectedtotherotor
circuit,thespeedofthemotorcanbealtered.Increasingthe
valueofresistanceontherotorcircuitwillmovethespeedof
maximumtorquedown.Iftheresistanceconnectedtothe
rotorisincreasedbeyondthepointwherethemaximumtorque
occursatzerospeed,thetorquewillbefurtherreduced.
Whenusedwithaloadthathasatorquecurvethatincreases
withspeed,themotorwilloperateatthespeedwherethe
torquedevelopedbythemotorisequaltotheloadtorque.
Reducingtheloadwillcausethemotortospeedup,and
increasingtheloadwillcausethemotortoslowdownuntilthe
loadandmotortorqueareequal.Operatedinthismanner,the
sliplossesaredissipatedinthesecondaryresistorsandcanbe
verysignificant.Thespeedregulationisalsoverypoor.

Thisisamodern(ish)Krammersystemforspeedcontrol.The
motorstartsasastandardslipringmotorusingaliquidstarter.
Withtheshortingcontacts(2)closedthespeedcontrol
contactor(4)closes,atthispointnocurrentispassingthrough
theKrammerdrive.Theshortingandliquidstartercontactors
(2&3)open,theKrammerdrivethenhascontrol.Byreducing
therotorcurrenttherotorvoltagerises,thisisusefulpower
thatisfirstrectifiedandthenconvertedto6phaseAC.The
inverterfeedsaDSd(delta/starprimary,deltasecondary)
transformer,thisinturnfeed11KVbackintothesystem.

MotorCharacteristics.

TheSlipRingmotorhastwodistinctlyseparateparts,thestator
andtherotor.Thestatorcircuitisratedaswithastandard
squirrelcagemotor.Therotorvoltageistheopencircuit
voltagewhentherotorisnotrotatingandgivestheratioofthe
turnsbetweentherotorandthestator.Theshortcircuit
currentisthecurrentflowingwhenthemotorisoperatingat
fullspeedwiththesliprings(rotor)shortedandfullloadis
appliedtothemotorshaft.

SecondaryResistanceStarters.

Thesecondaryresistancestartercomprisesacontactorto
switchthestatorandaseriesofresistorsthatareappliedtothe
rotorcircuitandgraduallyreducedinvalueasthemotor
acceleratestofullspeed.Therotorwouldnormallybeshorted
outoncethemotorisatfullspeed.Theresistorvaluesare
selectedtoprovidethetorqueprofilerequiredandaresizedto
dissipatetheslippowerduringstart.Thesecondaryresistors
canbemetallicresistorssuchaswoundresistors,plateresistors
orcastresistors.

Ortheycanbeliquidresistorsmadeupofsalinesolutionor
causticsodaorsimilar,providedthereissufficientthermal
masstoabsorbthetotalsliplossduringstart.

Iworkedonthesametypeofliquidstartershowninthe
photograph.Theywereobsoleteandcostingafortunetohave
finalcontactsmadeforthem.2500forasetofcontactswasa
bitOTT,soIcameupwiththisidea,standardTelemecanique
315Acontactorsworkingat1.7Xtheirnormalratedvoltage.
Thefinalcontactintheoriginaldesignwereslowmakingsoat
1250Atheydidntlastlong,withmysetupthecontactswere
highspeedandsodidntgeteroded.Thefinalloadcurrent
droppedfrom400A+to150A@11KV.

Toselectthevaluesoftheresistors,youneedtoknowthe
framevoltageandtheshortcircuitcurrent.Themaximum
torqueoccursapproximatelyatthepointwheretherotor
reactanceequalstheterminationresistance.Thefinalstageof
theresistanceshouldalwaysbedesignedforamaximum
torqueclosetofullspeedtopreventaverylargestepincurrent
whenshortingthefinalstageofresistance.Ifasinglestagewas
usedandthemaximumtorqueoccurredat50%speed,then
motormayaccelerateto60%speed,dependingontheload.If
therotorwasshortedatthisspeed,themotorwoulddrawa
veryhighcurrent(typicallyaround1400%FLC)andproduce
verylittletorque,andwouldmostprobablystall!

HighInertiaLoads

Slipringmotorsarecommonlyusedonhighinertialoads
becauseoftheirsuperiorstartingefficienciesandtheirability
towithstandtheinertiaoftheloads.
Whenaloadisstarted,thefullspeedkineticenergyofthat
loadisdissipatedintherotorcircuit.Withastandardcagetype
inductionmotor,thereonlysomemotorsthatcanbeusedon
highinertialoads.Mostwillsufferrotordamageduetothe
powerdissipatedbytherotor.
Withtheslipringmotor,thesecondaryresistorscanbe
selectedtoprovidetheoptimumtorquecurvesandtheycanbe
sizedtowithstandtheloadenergywithoutfailure.Startinga
highinertialoadwithastandardcagemotorwouldrequire
between500%and750%startcurrentforupto60seconds.
Startingthesamemachinewithawoundrotormotor(slipring
motor)wouldrequirearound200%currentforaround20
seconds.Amuchmoreefficientsolutionandlessstressfulon
thedistributionsystem.

StartingasaDOLmotorbyshortingtheringsoutonaslipring
motorwithahighinertialoadisnotanoptionastheload
energymustbedissipatedintherotorwindingduringstart.
Thiswillcauseinsulationfailureormorerealistically,total
destructionoftherotorwindings.Thisisnottosaythatifyou
haveamotoronatestbedyoucantshortoutthebrushesto
testrunit,withinreason.Ivetestruna100HPcranemotor
withtheringsshortedattheterminalblock.Oneadvantageof
testrunninglikethisisthebrushesarepartiallyruninbefore
itsoutshopped.