ELECTRICAL DRIVES

INTRODUCTION
Drives are employed for systems that require motion control e.g.
transportation system, fans, robots, pumps, machine tools, etc.
Prime movers are required in drive systems to provide the
movement or motion and energy that is used to provide the
motion can come from various sources: diesel engines, petrol
engines, hydraulic motors, electric motors etc.
Drives that use electric motors as the prime movers are known as
electrical drives

There are several advantages of electrical drives:

a. Flexible control characteristic This is particularly true when
power electronic
converters are employed where the dynamic and steady state
characteristics of
the motor can be controlled by controlling
the applied voltage or current.
b. Available in wide range of speed, torque and power
c. High efficiency, lower noise, low maintenance requirements
and cleaner operation
d. Electric energy is easy to be transported.

With the advancement of power electronics, microprocessors and

digital electronics, typical electric drive systems nowadays are
becoming more compact, efficient, cheaper and versatile this is
shown in Figure 1. The voltage and current applied to the motor

can be changed at will by employing power electronic converters.

AC motor is no longer limited to application where only AC source
is available, however, it can also be used when the power source
available is DC or vice versa.

Modern Electric drive system employing power electronic

converters

PARTS OF ELECTRICAL DRIVES

The main components of a modern electrical drive are
- Motors
- Power processor or power modulator
- Control unit
- Electrical source.
These are briefly discussed below.
a) Motors
Motors obtain power from electrical sources. They convert energy
from electrical to mechanical - therefore can be regarded as
energy converters. In braking mode, the flow of power is
reversed. Depending upon the type of power converters used, it is

also possible for the power to be fed back to the sources rather
than dissipated as heat.
There are several types of motors used in electric drives choice
of type used depends on applications, cost, environmental factors
and also the type of sources available.. Broadly, they can be
classified as either DC or AC motors:
DC motors (wound or permanent magnet)
AC motors
Induction motors squirrel cage, wound rotor
Synchronous motors wound field, permanent magnet
Brushless DC motor require power electronic converters
Stepper motors require power electronic converters
Synchronous reluctance motors or switched reluctance motor
require power electronic converters .
b) Power processor or power modulator
Since the electrical sources are normally uncontrollable, it is
therefore necessary to be able to control the flow of power to the
motor this is achieved using power processor or power
modulator. With controllable sources, the motor can be reversed,
brake or can be operated with variable speed. Conventional
methods used, for example, variable impedance or relays, to
shape the voltage or current that is supplied to the motor these
methods however are inflexible and inefficient. Modern electric
drives normally used power electronic converters to
shape the desired voltage or current supplied to the motor. In
other words, the characteristic of the motors can be changed at
will. Power electronic converters have several advantages over
classical methods of power conversion, such as

 More efficient since ideally no losses occur in power electronic

converters .
Flexible voltage and current can be shaped by simply
controlling switching functions of the power converter .
Compact smaller, compact and higher ratings solidstate
power electronic devices are continuously being developed the
prices are getting cheaper.
Converters are used to convert and possibly regulate (i.e. using
closed-loop control) the available sources to suit the load i.e.
motors. These converters are efficient because the switches
operate in either cut-off or saturation modes .
Several conversion are possible:

c) Control Unit

The complexity of the control unit depends on the desired drive

performance and the type of motors used. A controller can be as
simple as few op-amps and/or a few digital ICs, or it can be as
complex as the combinations of several ASICs and digital signal
processors (DSPs).
The types of the main controllers can be:

analog - which is noisy, inflexible. However analog circuit ideally

has infinite bandwidth.
digital immune to noise, configurable. The bandwidth is
obviously smaller than the analog controllers depends on
sampling frequency
DSP/microprocessor flexible, lower bandwidth compared to
above. DSPs perform faster operation than microprocessors
(multiplication in single cycle). With DSP/microp., complex
estimations and observers can be easily implemented.
d) Source
Electrical sources or power supplies provide the energy to the
electrical motors. For high efficiency operation, the power
obtained from the electrical sources need to be regulated using
power electronic converters .

Power sources can be of AC or DC in nature and normally are

uncontrollable, i.e. their magnitudes or frequencies are fixed or
depend on the sources of energy such as solar or wind. AC source
can be either three-phase or single-phase; 3-phase sources are
normally for high power applications.
CHOICE OF ELECTRIC DRIVES

There can be several factors that affect the selection of different

configuration of electrical drive system such as:
a) Torque and speed profile - determine the ratings of converters
and the quadrant of operation required.
b) Capital and running cost Drive systems will vary in terms of
start-up cost and running cost, e.g. maintenance.
c) Space and weight restrictions
d) Environment and location .