Measure motor efficiency to understand VFD's

value
Multi-phase ac induction motors have traditionally dominated the electric
motor industry. The industry has improved overall motor efficiency in each
subsequent NEMA-MG 1 motor standard revision. To make sense of motor
efficiency, one must understand what efficiency losses are attributed to.
John Yoon, PE, LEED AP

03/04/2015

Electric motor driven systems represent more than a third of the total
electricity demand for the United States and between 43% and 46%
globally, according to the International Energy Agency.
Total motor energy usage for the industrial sector outstrips
commercial usage by roughly 3:1. Of total power used by motors
worldwide, approximately 68% is used by medium-sized motors from
1 to 500 hp, which covers the vast majority of motors used in building
systems.
Multi-phase ac induction motors have traditionally dominated the
electric motor industry. The industry has improved overall motor
efficiency in each subsequent NEMA-MG 1 motor standard revision.
To make sense of motor efficiency, one must understand what
efficiency losses are attributed to. Motor losses can be assigned to
four major categories:
1. Electrical losses: I2R conduction losses in the stator and rotor
that increase dramatically with increased current. This can be
improved by reducing the resistance of the stator windings and
rotor squirrel cage.
2. Magnetic losses: Hysteresis/eddy current in the steel
laminations. This can be improved by improving the metallurgy
of the steel.
3. Mechanical losses: Friction in bearing system, parasitic loads
like cooling fans in totally enclosed fan-cooled (TEFC) motors,
etc.
4. Stray load losses: Flux leakage/irregularities in the rotor/stator
air gap. This can be improved by improved precision in
manufacturing

Of these losses, I2R losses dramatically outweigh the other

categories. I2R losses manifest themselves as increased heat, so by
addressing these, other losses such as cooling fan motor losses in
TEFC designs can be indirectly affected.
In most applications, operating cost dramatically outweighs the cost
of the motor itself during its useful service life. Unfortunately, in
typical building systems we typically size motors to accommodate the
worst-case loads, which generally represent a very small percentage
of total operating hours. If that motor were to run at full speed,
regardless of the load, an incredible amount of power would be
wasted. However, through the affinity laws, we know that power
varies in relationship to speed by the following formula for centrifugal
loads:
hp2 = hp1 (rpm2/rpm1)3
Based on this formula, if a load can be accommodated by a slower
speed, you can dramatically reduce the power that the motor needs
to produce.
To illustrate this relationship, lets apply this concept to a simplified
load profile using a 7.5 hp, 1800 rpm motor (see Table 1). If the
average speed required by our theoretical load was of 75% of full
load speed, the average power required would be 3.16 hp. Using
equipment costs from an online electrical distributor specializing in
induction motors and VFDs, and defining a few variables including
electrical cost per kWh and hours of operation, we can get a rough
comparison of the cost of the equipment compared to the energy cost
and the return on investment.
All induction motors have a base speed (synchronous speed) that is
directly proportional to the quantity of magnetic poles in the motor's
design (generally between 2 and 8) and the frequency of the
electrical source (60 Hz in North America):
ac motor synchronous speeds (60 Hz)
Poles
2
4
6
8

Speed (rpm)
3600
1800
1200
900

However, the speed of the rotor always slightly lags the speed of the
rotating magnetic field in the statorit's always trying to catch up.
That difference between the synchronous speed and that actual
speed of the rotor is known as slip. Reductions in the resistance of
the stator and rotor reduce I2R losses but also result in less slip.
Unfortunately, slip is directly related to the amount of torque that a
motor of a given design can produce. As such, high inertia loads with
greater starting torque requirements generally necessitate NEMA
motor designs with lower efficiency. (See Table 2 for NEMA design
designations.) Stator designs with lower I2R losses also typically have
higher locked rotor current.
Limits on motor efficiency
The overall efficiency improvements to this point in time have been
limited to optimizations and not revolutionary changes in existing
induction motor designs. The greatest recent jump in industry motor
efficiency is attributed to EISA-2007 mandating NEMA Premium
motor standards for all general-purpose, 1- to 200-hp, 3-phase
motors rated to 600 V.
While even greater efficiencies are possible, the improvements up to
this point have been incremental and, if anything, will only start to
level off without dramatic changes in the basic motor design. For
example, the difference in efficiency between EPAct compliant and
NEMA Premium motors is generally only 1% to 3% (see Table 3).
These diminishing returns would suggest that if major increases in
system efficiency are desired, other motor technologies should be
entertained, or more importantly, other elements of the system such
as control by VFDs should be more greatly emphasized.
How do you improve efficiency in VFDs?
You can't consistently quantify efficiency if there's no industry-wide
standard to measure it. Losses in VFDs are generally attributed to
conduction (electrical current flowing through the device) and
switching losses (the power lost by switching the transistors on/off
during operation of the VFD's input rectifier and output inverter
sections). Theoretically, VFD manufacturers can address efficiency
by optimizing these aspects of the VFDs design. In general, most
manufacturers will quote mid-90% efficiency for their newer VFD
designs.

While VFD designs continue to evolvethe introduction of sixthgeneration insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), which can offer
roughly 20% relative reduction in overall switching losses compared
to earlier IBGT designsits difficult for specifying engineers to
quantify exactly how these designs affect our overall system
efficiency. Direct manufacturer-to-manufacturer comparisons are
academic without a true testing standard.
Although a VFD manufacturers quoted efficiency can allow for a
ballpark efficiency estimate of motor-VFD system, numerous
variables can impact actual system efficiency. Examples include
variables such as the carrier frequency at which a motor is operated
or the NEMA design type of the motor being used.
Ultimately, until the appropriate standards are developed, increasing
system efficiency is best addressed by focusing on the fundamentals:
Understand the speed and torque characteristics of the load
Understand overall load profile/duty cycle
Specify right-sized equipment that can reliably meet those
project parameters
Control it so it performs only the amount of work needed and
no more.
The energy savings associated with properly addressing these load
management concepts overshadow the few percentage points of
efficiency that may exist between different manufacturers VFDs.
However, it's inevitable that VFD standards will eventually be
developed similar to those currently in place for induction motors.
John Yoon is the senior staff electrical engineer for McGuire
Engineers. He has 20 years of experience in the design of electrical
distribution systems.
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