A Case Study of Energy Saving Effort in Capacitor Motor Applications

A CASE STUDY OF ENERGY SAVING EFFORT IN CAPACITOR MOTOR APPLICATIONS Rini Nur Hasanah
Abstract: This paper presents an example of energy saving measure in a capacitor motor application. Inspired by one of the famous patents of Frank Nola of NASA, a TRIAC has been chosen as a power converter to implement the energy saving algorithm. A simple electronic circuit has been built to fire the TRIAC, and for instructional purposes, an example of electronic components choice to be used has been included. Results of laboratory experiment show that the use of TRIAC to reduce energy consumption is justified if capacitor motors work at reduced load for a large part of their operating time, enabling furthermore a sound economic consideration. This is due to the reduction in effective input voltage, bringing about a reduction in input power, and also improvement in power factor as well as in motor efficiency. Keywords: Energy saving, Capacitor motor, TRIAC
Worldwide energy shortage brings significant impacts on almost all branches of science fields. Many efforts are done to cope with this problem and moreover to increase the energy supply security. Many experts are engaged in searching for methods to produce more energy, to save energy and even to use energy more rationally. Wise use of energy will not only support energy conservation but sometimes also provide attractive financial rewards. In developed countries, consumption of electric energy is dominated by electric motors. Their use covers many sectors such as industrial, commercial, transportation, communication, public and household sectors. Electric motors consume over half of the electric energy generated by the power stations, almost three-fourth of the electrical consumption in industry and almost half of the commercial electrical consumption in developed countries. Motors are by far the most important type of electric loads, and consequently become one of the main targets to achieve significant energy saving. As motors are the largest users of electric energy, even small efficiency improvements will bring about a huge amount of electric energy saving. Owing to their simple and robust construction, the asynchronous motors, and especially those of squirrel-cage types, represent about 90-95% of the electrical energy consumption of electric motors, which is equivalent to about 53% of total electrical energy consumption [Almeida, et al., 1997]. They are widely used as electrical drives in industrial, commercial, public service, traction and domestic applications. It is a fact that a large portion of these motors operates below their efficient range of part-loads. Motor efficiency drops off sharply when it operates below 40 percent part-load [Almeida, et al., 1997]. These facts pronounce the importance of energy saving efforts in electric motor domain. The distribution of motors by part-loads and applications is shown in Table 1, whereas the distribution based on their horsepower category is shown in Table 2 [US DOE, 1998].
Rini Nur Hasanah adalah adalah dosen Jurusan Teknik Elektro Fakultas Teknik Universitas Brawijaya Malang
JURNAL ILMU-ILMU TEKNIK - SISTEM , Vol. 6 No.3
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Table 1. Distribution of Motors by Part-Loads and Applications Application Part Load Involving fluid processes (percentage of full-load) Air Compressor Fan Pump < 40% 15% 30% 39% 40 to 120% 84% 69% 56% > 120% 1% 1% 4% Table 2. Loading by Horsepower Part Load (percentage of full-load) < 40% 40 to 120% > 120% 1-5 HP 42% 54% 4% 6-20 HP 48% 51% 1%
Others 55% 43% 2%
All 44% 53% 2%
Horsepower category 21-50 51- 100 101- 200 HP HP HP 39% 45% 24% 60% 54% 75% 1% 0% 1%
200+ HP 40% 58% 2%
Those tables show that the distribution of part-loads does not vary consistently with the size of motor. On the contrary, the proportion of motors that are under-loaded (less than 40% of full-load) does vary by motor applications. When they are under-loaded, it is likely that the system as a whole is operating far from its best operating point [PTR, 2007]. A total energy saving effort in an electrical motor-driven system should comprise efforts on each of the following important components: Incoming power, for instance by raising power supply quality Motor control, by improving motor speed control Electric motor, by correctly sizing the motor or the use of higher efficiency motors Coupling, by using better mechanical transmission and improving maintenance practices Load, by use of load management and cycling, raising efficiency of end-use devices (e.g. fan, pump, compressor, etc.) Process, for example by applying process optimization techniques. Owing to the importance of induction motors, this paper is aimed at contributing to energy saving efforts, especially in the field of low power induction motors, more specifically in capacitor motor applications (figure 1).
Figure 1. Two-phase-with-capacitor motor used in a circulation pump
A thought contribution in this paper is kept in perspective by taking into

A Case Study of Energy Saving Effort In Capacitor Motor Applications
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consideration the energy saving potential during the motor operation. Every effort to save energy in motor application can be made by always attempting to use energy only as much as what needed during its operation [Abbondanti and Brennen, 1975; Vas, 1993; Abbondanti, 1975; Basset and Potter, 1935]. In this paper, it is achieved through the reduction of its input electrical energy by taking the benefit of a TRIAC semiconductor component. METHODE Being inspired by one of the famous patents of Frank Nola of NASA, Nola patent US4052648, a TRIAC has been chosen as power converter to implement the energy saving algorithm. The method consists in reducing the input voltage to motor when it is operating at less than full load. A TRIAC enables this purpose due to the possibility to vary its firing angle. A simple electronic circuit has been built to fire the TRIAC, and for instructional purposes, an example of electronic components choice to be used has been included. A laboratory experiment has been carried out to show the potential energy saving obtained and to emphasize the justification for reducing energy consumption in capacitor motors working at reduced load for a large part of their operating time. DESIGN RESULTS System Design In this design, TRIAC to be used to reduce the capacitor motor input power is placed in its input line (figure 2).
Figure 2. Circuit schema of a capacitor motor
The specifications of capacitor motor used in the experiment (M672LEME) is shown in the table 3, whereas its related parameters and firing angles needed for various loading conditions are shown in the table 4 and table 5 respectively.
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Table 3. The Specifications of Capacitor Motor M672LEME Used in Experiment

Rated power Rated speed Number of poles Rated frequency Rated voltage Rated current Capacitor Power factor Efficiency Relative starting torque Relative starting current Motor weight Motor inertia 750 1425 4 50 220 5.30 20 0.91 71.0 0.2 3.8 14.5 0.003 [W] [rpm] [-] [Hz] [V] [A] [ F] [-] [%] [-] [-] [kg] [kg-m2]
Table 4. The Parameters of Capacitor Motor M672LEME Used in Experiment Parameters Main winding resistance RM Main winding leakage reactance xlM M-referred magnetising reactance Xmm Auxiliary winding resistance RA Auxiliary winding leakage reactance xlA A-referred magnetising reactance Xma Ratio a=Na/Nm M-referred rotor resistance Rrm M-referred rotor reactance xlrm A-referred rotor resistance Rra A-referred rotor reactance xlra in [ ] 4.87 3.974 71.132 17.264 23.273 125.825 1.33 3.454 3.974 6.11 7.03
Table 5. The Firing Angles Needed for Various Loading Conditions of Capacitor Motor
M672LEME
Desired torque [p.u.] 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 Needed voltage [p.u.] 1 0.948 0.894 0.836 0.775 0.707 0.632 0.547 Firing angle needed [degree] 37.16o 54.5o 66.25o 75.75o 85o 93.75o 102.5o 112o Extinction angle resulted [degree] 217.16o 216.5o 216.25o 214.75o 215o 213.75o 212.5o 211o
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Desired torque [p.u.] 0.2 0.1
Needed voltage [p.u.] 0.447 0.316
Firing angle needed [degree] 122.5o 136.5o
Extinction angle resulted [degree] 208.5o 205.5o
Control Circuit Controlling circuit used to trigger TRIAC is composed of an electronic circuit used to generate a single impulse in each voltage-wave alternation. The composing parts of this electronic circuit are shown in the figures 3-6 respectively.
Figure 3. Full-Wave Rectifier producing input signals to Voltage Comparator
During each voltage wave alternation, TRIAC will be triggered with a singlepulse resulted from a dual multi-vibrator. This multi-vibrator produces two pulses, one is of fixed pulse-width, while the other is of variable pulse-width. The fixedwidth pulse is used to inject an impulse to trigger TRIAC, whereas the variable one is used to vary the triggering delay from zero-crossing time of voltage wave.
Figure 4. Voltage Comparator producing input signal to Multivibrator
The multi-vibrator has a square-wave input signal resulted with a comparator from a full-wave rectified sinusoidal signal. The sinusoidal input signal to the rectifier is obtained from the supply voltage using a step-down transformer. To get the direct voltage to supply the TRIAC triggering circuit, the output of transformer is rectified with a converter. This way enables the TRIAC triggering circuit to operate with a voltage level far below that of the motor.
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Figure 5. Multivibrator producing input signal to triac
Figure 6. Multivibrator output to trigger triac
Some values of resistor, which is applied in series to a potentiometer of 100 k being used to vary the firing angle delay, are presented in the table 6. Their related minimum and maximum delays possible starting from the beginning of delaying pulse are also shown. In order that the desired range of firing-angle change can still be covered, the TRIAC triggering circuit used in experiment employs a series resistor of 22K. The actual delay-angle must take into account the delaying-pulse width and the change in voltage reference value used in the comparator.
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Table 6. The External Resistance Values and Their Associated Minimum and Maximum Delays Rext [Ohm] 5.6 K 10 K 22 K 33 K 47 K 56 K Minimum delay [ms] [degree] 0.2 3.6 0.4 7.2 1.0 18 1.4 25.2 2.0 36 0.2 3.6 Maximum delay [ms] [degree] 4.6 82.8 4.8 86.4 5.2 93.6 5.6 100.8 6.4 115.2 4.4 79.2
The evolution of signal waveforms used to result in TRIAC triggering pulses is shown through the figures 7-11 consecutively.
Figure 7. The output waveform of step-down transformer
Figure 8. The output waveform of full-wave rectifier
Figure 9. The output waveform of voltage comparator
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Figure 10. The output waveform of dual-multivibrator at minimum delay condition
Figure 11. The output waveform of dual-multivibrator at maximum delay condition
EXPERIMENT RESULTS The prototype of TRIAC system used in the capacitor motor under consideration is shown in the figure 12, whereas the resulted reduction of input power is shown in Table 7. Some load-torque values were taken, while maintaining the operation speed constant. In general input power reduction is possible to do in induction motor without sacrificing its main task, being represented by a constant value of operation speed, as shown in Table 7. The use of TRIAC to reduce the input voltage in capacitor motor applications is advantageous, especially for motor operating at reduced-load condition. Better power factor condition is also resulted, which means that less losses condition is obtained. This is a favorable condition from electricity producers point of view and also that of consumer. Better efficiency is also resulted, even though the efficiency improvement is not so good as that obtained by using reduced input voltage. This is due to the harmonics caused by the TRIAC use.
Figure 12. An induction motor with a prototype of TRIAC system for input voltage control
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Table 7. Experiment Results of Capacitor Motor Equipped with Triac for Various Loading Conditions Firing angle Vin Iin Pin pf TL n Pout [deg] [V] [A] [W] [-] [Nm] [rpm] [W] [%] 126 98.5 2.77 212 0.777 1.0054 1441 144 67.79 117 139.8 3.72 425 0.820 2.043 1441.6 300 70.69 99 168 4.34 624 0.855 3.002 1440.6 445 71.29 72 193.6 4.72 812 0.887 4.049 1441.6 603 74.29 18 217.8 5.08 996 0.899 5.029 1441.3 751 75.41
The steady-state input current waves of capacitor motor for some different values of load torque can be seen on the figure 13 - 17. The related TRIAC firing angle can be taken out from each figure, which may also be read in Table 7.
abscissa : 5 ms/unit; ordinate : 5 mA/unit Figure 13. Steady-state input current of a capacitor motor equipped with TRIAC at 20% of rated load
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abscissa : 5 ms/unit; ordinate : 5 mA/unit Figure 17. Steady-state input current of a capacitor motor equipped with TRIAC at rated load
In the figure 17, it is shown that at rated load a pure sinusoidal input current was not obtained as it should be. It was caused by the possible minimum value of resistor in series with potentiometer used in the multi-vibrator to control TRIAC firing angle. As a consequence of the choice and availability of component values, besides that the use of TRIAC is not designated for motor operating at rated load, minimum TRIAC firing angle was deliberately made greater than its load angle. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK The experiment on capacitor motor is representative enough to give a good comprehension on how TRIAC works to save energy in induction motor. A contribution to energy saving improvement in low power induction motors application has been proposed by adapting the supply energy to motor load conditions, opening the possibility of using various modes of control. To conclude, the use of TRIAC to reduce electric energy consumption is justified in induction motors operating at reduced load for a large part of their operating time. This is due to the reduction in effective input voltage, which will bring about a reduction in input power, and also improvement in power factor as well as in motor efficiency. Even if a low power motor represents small energy saving potentiality, the very high number of such motors globally represents an important amount of energy. Many of these motors are used more or less permanently at reduced load, such as heating circulation pumps motors, household drives like fans, compressors for refrigerators, industrial conditioning systems, and so on. To extend the application, adaptation by TRIAC using electronic control with appropriate energy saving algorithms for reduced load requires several conditions which are: low cost, large quantities of such devices; solutions with a very low harmonic rejection; and political sensitivity to the importance of such saving necessity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank The Swiss Federal Commission of Scholarship, the formerly Laboratory of Electromechanics and Electrical Machines (LEME), and the Laboratory of Integrated Actuators (LAI) of the Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, for having financed and made possible the accomplishment of my researches some results of which are presented in this paper.
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REFERENCES Abbondanti, A. 1975. Method of Flux Control in Induction Motors Driven by Variable Frequency, Variable Voltage Supplies. IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications. Vol. IA-11, No. 5, Sept/Oct 1975, pp. 177-184. Abbondanti, A., and Brennen, M.B. 1975. Variable Speed Induction Motor Drives Use Electronic Slip Calculator Based on Motor Voltages and Currents. IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications. Vol. IA-11, No. 5, Sept/Oct 1975, pp. 483488. Almeida, A de., Bertoldi, P., Leonhard, W. 1997. Energy Efficiency Improvements in Electric Motors and Drives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Basset, E.D., Potter, F.M. 1935. Capacitive for Induction Generators. Electrical Engineering (AIEE Trans.). Vol. 54. May 1935, pp. 540-545. Product and Technology Reviews, PTR #17, August 2007, page 2. Available: http://www.energyideas.org/documents/factsheets/PTR/MotorVoltageControllers.pdf U.S. DOEs Office of Industrial Technology. Motor Challenge, 1998. Available: http://www.oit.doe.gov/bestpractices/motors/ [Online] Vas, P. 1993. Parameter Estimation, Condition Monitoring, and Diagnosis of Electrical Machines. New York: Oxford University Press.

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A CASE STUDY OF ENERGY SAVING EFFORT IN CAPACITOR MOTOR APPLICATIONS Rini Nur Hasanah

JURNAL ILMU-ILMU TEKNIK - SISTEM , Vol. 6 No.3

Others 55% 43% 2%

All 44% 53% 2%

200+ HP 40% 58% 2%

Figure 1. Two-phase-with-capacitor motor used in a circulation pump

A thought contribution in this paper is kept in perspective by taking into

JURNAL ILMU-ILMU TEKNIK - SISTEM , Vol. 6 No.3

Figure 2. Circuit schema of a capacitor motor