Application of 4-quadrant DC drives in two selected systems

A four-quadrant or multiple-quadrant operation is required in industrial as well as commercial

applications. These applications require both driving and braking, i.e., motoring and generating capability.

Some of these applications include electric traction systems, cranes and lifts, cable laying winders, and
engine test loading systems.

The different quadrant operations drive the motor with normal as well as reversal of both voltage and
currents so as to run as well as to break the motor either in forward or reverse directions.

A DC motor may operate in one or more modes (or quadrant) in variable speed applications. The major
advantage of using DC motor is that the ease of its control.

The speed of the DC motor is controlled by applying a variable DC input for below rated speed control.
For above rated speeds, the motor is controlled by applying variable current through its field winding

The torque of a DC motor is proportional to the armature current which in turn depends on the difference
between back emf and applied voltage.

Therefore, it is possible to make the motor to develop positive or negative torque simply by controlling
the applied voltage to a greater or lesser than the back emf.

Thus an armature controlled DC machine is inherently capable of operating different modes or quadrants,
generally it is known as four-quadrant operation of a motor.

In multi-quadrant operation or four quadrant operation, motor accelerates or decelerates depending on

whether motor torque is lesser or greater than load torque.

During motor acceleration, it should supply not only the load torque, but an additional component of load
current to overcome the inertia.

Motor positive torque produces the acceleration in forward direction. In this, the motor speed is positive
when the motor is rotating in forward direction.

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During motor deceleration, the resultant or dynamic torque has a negative sign. This torque assists with
motor developed torque and maintains the motion by extracting the energy from stored energy.

Hence the motor torque is considered as negative if it produces deceleration. A motor can be controlled
in such a way that it operates in two cases; motor action and braking action.

Motor action converts the electric energy into mechanical energy and it produces forward motion, hence
it called as motoring action, whereas braking action converts mechanical energy to electrical energy which
gives forward braking motion, it is termed as generator.

Similarly, these two actions are performed in case motor operating in reverse direction, i.e., (reverse
motoring and reverse braking actions).

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Four quadrant operation of a motor driving a hoist load

This hoist consists of a cage with or without any load. A rope, generally made up of a steel wire is wounded
on a drum to raise the cage and a balance weight.

This balance weight or counterweight magnitude is greater than that of empty cage, but less than the
loaded cage.

For each quadrant of operation, direction of rotation, w, load torque, TL, and motor torque Tm are shown
in figure. Consider that the load torque is constant and independent of motor speed.

Loaded cage moving up

This is the first quadrant operation of the hoist in which the loaded cage is moving upwards. Due to the
upward movement, the direction of rotation of motor, w will be in anticlockwise direction, i.e., positive
speed. Here the load torque acts in opposite direction to the direction of motor rotation.

Therefore, to raise the hoist to upwards, the motor torque, Tm must act in the same direction of motor
speed, w. So both motor speed and motor torque will be positive.

To make these as positive, the power taken from the supply should be positive. This is called forward
motoring.

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Empty cage moving up

This is the quadrant-2 operation of the hoist in which unloaded cage is moving upwards. As said above,
the counterweight is heavier than the unloaded cage and hence hoist can move upwards at a dangerous
speed.

To prevent this, motor must produce a torque in the opposite direction of motor speed, w in order to
produce brake to the motor.

Therefore, the motor torque, Tm will be negative and motor speed, w will be positive. Since the speed of
the hoist is positive, it receives the power from the supply and hence the power is positive. This quadrant
operation is called forward braking.

Empty cage moving down

This is the quadrant-3 operation where empty cage is hoisting down as shown in figure. The downward
journey of empty cage is prevented by the torque exerted by the counterweight. So the direction of motor
torque, Tm should be in the same direction of motor rotation w.

Due to the downward movement of the cage, the direction of rotation is reversed, i.e., w is negative and
hence Tm is also negative.

Since the machine acting as motor in reverse direction, it receives the power from the supply and hence
power is positive. This quadrant operation is called reverse motoring.

Loaded cage moving down

In this quadrant, loaded cage is moving downwards. Since the loaded cage is moving downward (of which
weight is more than counterweight), the motion takes place without use of any motor.

But there will be a chance to go downward at a dangerous speed because of loaded cage. To limit the
speed of the cage within a safe range, the electrical machine must act as a brake.

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In this the direction of the motor, w is negative and hence the motor torque Tm is positive to decrease
the speed of the motor. Thus the power is negative that means the electrical machine delivering power
to the supply.

This phenomenon is called as regenerative action. This quadrant operation is called reverse braking.

It is to be noted that the electrical machine acts as a motor in 1st and 2nd quadrants and acts as a
generator in 3rd and 4th quadrants.

But the motor should be separately excited DC motor or three-phase AC induction motor to operate in
these four different modes.

Four quadrant operation of a Class E-chopper drives

Dc motor drives are widely used to control the speed for acceleration and deceleration. In Class E chopper
appications,4-quadrant DC drives are used. In this application the load is active (ie, Motor load). The
motor's direction of rotation can be reversed without reversing the polarity of its excitation.

Class E-chopper Circuit Diagram

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The load to operate in first quadrant (forward motoring), the switches T1 and T4 are operated. Here, the
switch T1 is switched whereas switch T4 is kept on. Therefore, both the voltage and current across and
through the load are positive rotating the motor in forward direction. Now, the speed of the motor can
be varied by varying the duty cycle of the switch T1. As the duty cycle varies, the voltage across the
armature of motor varies proportionally thereby varying the motor speed as the N is proportion to
armature voltage.

Now to apply brake to the motor electrically, the chopper is to be operated in second quadrant. This can
be done by operating switch T2. When the switch T2 is on, the inertial energy of the motor is stored in the
armature inductance, the voltage across the inductor increases. Once the switch is turned off, the voltage
across inductor adds with the back EMF of the motor feeding the inertial energy back to the source
through freewheeling diodes D1 and D4. For the energy to be fed back to the source, the combined voltage
of inductor and back EMF should be more than source voltage (Vs). If the inertial energy of the motor is
feedback to source, it is called regenerative braking and if dissipated in a resistor, it is called electrical
braking. In the quadrant, the motor is in forward regenerative mode.

To operate the chopper in the third quadrant, switches T3 and T2 are to be operated. Here, switch T3 is
switched and switch T2 is kept on. Now the voltage and current across and through the load are negative
driving the motor in reverse direction. Also the speed of the motor can be varied by varying the duty cycle
(D) of the switch T3. In this quadrant, the motor is in reverse motoring mode.

Now to operate the motor in fourth quadrant, only switch T4 is operated. With the switch T4 turned on,
the voltage across the armature inductance increases. When the switch T4 is turned off, voltage across
the inductor adds to the back EMF. If the combined voltage is more than source voltage, the inertial energy
is fed back to the supply.

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Use of brushless DC motor drives in Electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are at least twice as efficient as conventional vehicles. So we are encouraging more
electric vehicles than conventional vehicles. Inthis system an idea of retrofitting the conventional vehicles
to electric vehicles is proposed. A BLDC motor drive and its controller can be designed as per the weight
and torque specifications on existing conventional vehicles. This will reduce the costbecause existing
conventional vehicles are transformed to electric vehicles with required specification. BLDC motor is
proposed because it has high torque, high efficiency, reduced noise, easy speed control and longer
lifetime. As the name suggests brushless dc motor does not have brushes and they are commuted
electronically. BLDC motors are known for their high durability due to simplicity in design and high rpm
capabilities. They have both small and large applications. The motor is controlled by a motor controller .
The motor controllers need rotor position to control the motor. Some type of controllers use hall effect
sensors or rotary encoder to sense the rotor position. Others measure the back emf in the undriven coils
to infer the rotor position. It contains three output terminals which are controlled by logic circuits.
Advanced controllers use microcontroller to manage acceleration and speed.

Main Block Diagram

The BLDC motor is energized by lead- acid battery. Accelerator consist of a varistor. The varistor output
wills according to the acceleration and this output will fed to the controller. The signal from the
accelerator is the reference signal. The hall sensors mounted on the BLDC Motor will provide the actual
speed of the motor. These two signals are compared in the controller and the power output from the
chopper drive is varied. The signal from the chopper is fed back to the motor. According to the power
output from the chopper drive the motor speed can be controlled.

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Application of Scalar VSI type induction motor drives

Induction motors have higher power densities and are mechanically more robust, which make them
the ideal motor in many applications. Squirrel-cage induction motors fed VSI is standard in traction
applications. Scalar control technique controls the parameter of amplitude of voltage. Output torque
of IM is dependent on the square of terminal voltage. To increase torque an increase in voltage is done
in voltage control technique. The most widely used IM is squirrel cage motor because of its advantages
such as mechanical robustness, simple construction and less maintenance. But the problem is that
terminal voltage has a limit which is crossed will lead to a negative effect on insulation and operation of
motor. Scalar control is a cheap, but stable control technique, easy to implement, low performance,
simple control technique.

Use of scalar control is limited to applications where the performance requirements in terms of
dynamic behavior of the system are less stringent, such as pumps, fans, centrifuges, conveyors,
mixers, and some types of machine tools. The speed of the motor cannot be controlled precisely,
because the rotor speed will be slightly less than the synchronous speed and that in this scheme the
stator frequency and hence the synchronous speed is the only control variable.

Rotor resistance method in which resistance is connected in rotor side externally such that when value of
this resistance is altered it will change speed of motor. The main drawback of this method is its poor
efficiency due to additional losses because of added resistance. Another method of speed control is EMF
Injection Method which is most popular for slip ring type IM. In this method, speed is controlled by
supplying emf to the rotor circuit from external circuit. The main drawback of this technique is that the
frequency of supply is equal to the speed of rotor, and rotor speed is dependent on slip. Hence is very
difficult to supply EMF to the rotor and circuit is very complex.

Voltage Source Inverter is generally used for speed control by varying frequency and voltage. Scalar
control techniques were found to give poor dynamic responses for inverter-fed induction motor speed
control. PWM inverters are quite popular in industrial applications. PWM techniques are characterized
by constant amplitude pulses. The width of these pulses is however modulated to obtain inverter output
voltage control and to reduce its harmonic content. To improve speed control performance of the
scalar control method, an encoder or speed tachometer is required to feedback the rotor angle or
rotor speed signal and compensate the slip frequency.

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However, it is expensive and destroys the mechanical robustness of the induction motor. So these are
the limitation of scalar control which is overcome by Field orientated control for induction motor
drive.

Application of CSI type induction motor drives

CSI is used in many applications due to its flexibility, reliability and commutation. CSI operates on closed
loop and capable of generation, by using CSI variable frequency is obtained.

The variable frequency control of an induction motor can also be obtained using CSI. The inductor is
connected in series with the input.

 By varying the thyristors conduction periods and Inverter, the DC current is converted into a three
phase current source.
 The stator current is a function of rotor frequency, by keeping flux constant the magnitude of
stator is controlled by the rotor frequency.
 When supply is AC the controlled rectifier converts it into variable DC, if the supply is DC the
chopper manages the circuit.
 From the circuit diagram for commutation of six thyristors the circuit is provided with six diodes
and six capacitors.
 The six thyristors are triggered with a phase difference of 180°. The diodes are used for
preventing discharge of capacitors through load.

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Now a day’s mostly the voltage source inverter fed induction motors are used in many applications. For
medium voltage applications like underground mines, electrical submergible pumps and ventilating
pumps. The electrical submersible pump, typically called an ESP, is an efficient and reliable artificial-lift
method for lifting moderate to high volumes of fluids from wellbores. These volumes range from a low of
24 to as much as 24,600 m3/d(cubic meter per day).
The ESP’s main components include:

 Multistage centrifugal pump

 Three-phase induction motor
 Seal-chamber section
 Power cable
 Surface controls

the components are normally tubing hung from the wellhead with the pump on top and the motor
attached below.

Below figure shows a tubing-hung unit with the downhole components comprising of:

 A multistage centrifugal pump with either an integral intake or separate, bolt-on intake
 A seal-chamber section
 A three-phase induction motor, with or without a sensor package

The rest of the system includes a surface control package and a three-phase power cable running
downhole to the motor. Because of the ESP’s unique application requirement in deep, relatively small-
bore casings, the equipment designer and manufacturer are required to maximize the lift of the pump
and the power output of the motor as a function of the diameter and length of the unit. Therefore, the
equipment is typically long and slender. The components are manufactured in varying lengths up to
approximately 30 ft, and for certain applications, either the pump, seal, or motor can be multiple
components connected in series.

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