Electric Drive Systems (ELL 332) (Jan-May 2020)

Lecture-wise planning

Introduction - 2 Hrs
Dynamics of load system - 2 Hrs
Control schemes and sensing - 2 Hrs
Rating and Heating of electric motors - 2 Hrs
DC drives starting, speed control and braking - 9 Hrs
3-Phase Induction Motor starting, speed control and braking - 12 Hrs
Synchronous Motor starting, speed control and braking - 8 Hrs
Energy conservation aspects - 1 Hr
Special Machines - 4 Hrs
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Total = 42 Hrs

Evaluation

Minor Tests (2x20) - 40 Marks

Major Test - 40 Marks
Surprise Quiz - 15 Marks (Total 6 quizzes**)
Assignment - 5 Marks
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100 Marks

Attendance criterion : Minimum 75% (If attendance falls below 75%, you will get a grade one
notch lower than what you actually deserve as per your score)
** 2 quizzes before minor 1; 2 in between minor 1 and 2 and 2 after Minor 2. Each quiz will
be out of 5 marks. If you are present for 5 of them or more, then best 2 will be taken and
scaled up to 15. If you are present for less than equal to 4 quizzes, average of all quiz marks
will be taken (out of 15). i.e., marks of (Q1+Q2+Q3+Q4)*0.75

Books/References

1. G. K. Dubey, “Fundamentals of Electrical Drives”, Narosa Publishing House

2. G. K. Dubey, “Power Semiconductor Controlled Drives”, Prentice Hall, New Jersey
3. Ion Boldea and S. A. Nasar, “Electric Drives”, CRC Press
4. J. M. D. Murphy and F. G. Turnbull, “Power Electronic Control of AC Motors”,
Pergamon Press
5. S. B. Dewan, G. R. Slemon and A. Straughen, “Power Semiconductor Drives”, John
Wiley & Sons
6. N. K. De and P. K. Sen, “Electric Drives”, Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.
7. S. K. Pillai, “A First Course on Electrical Drives”, New Age International Pvt. Ltd.
Lecture 1

- Introduction to drives
- Block diagram of a drive
- Components of a drive system
- Sources, power converters, Load and Motor

COMPONENTS IN A DRIVE SYSTEM

What is the difference between a motor and drive? To a motor, if you give the required 3-phase
or single-phase or DC voltage, it will start running at a specified speed in accordance with the
load condition. In a drive, we would be able to obtain the required speed-torque characteristics.
As it is shown in Fig.1, a drive system consists of several other components such as power
converter, control unit and feedback/sensing circuits other than source, motor and load.

Source Power processor Motor Load

Control unit Feedback

Ref.

Fig. 1 Block diagram of Electric Drives System

The source can be a single phase, 3-phase or DC source of particular magnitude and frequency. For
example, 3-phase sources are available at 440V, 1.1 kV, 3.3 kV and 6.6 kV at 50 Hz. Single-phase
sources are available at 230V, 50Hz. (Why is the power frequency always between 40 to 60Hz and why is
the transmission system a 3-phase system - Think about this!).

The available source may be converted into appropriate form (DC or variable frequency AC voltage or
current) by the power processor (based on the signals received from the feedback circuits) so that the
motor runs at suitable speed as per the demand from the load system. Power processor can be a simple
rheostat or a reactor or a circuit breaker. It can be a complex power converter circuit also.

The motor can be a DC motor or an asynchronous motor or a synchronous motor. It can also be a special
machine like a stepper motor or switched reluctance motor (SRM) or permanent magnet brushless DC
(PMBLDC) motor.

The load can be a constant torque load (irrespective of speed variations) or the torque can vary with speed
(like a fan type load or viscous friction load). The load may require continuous rotation or discrete
movements (like a valve opening or closing).
The feedback mechanism will invariably consist of some transducer that converts speed, torque, current,
voltage etc. (which is to be controlled) into electrical quantities in a specific range so that it can be sensed
by the control mechanism like microprocessor or computers or analog electronic circuits. This sensed
value will be compared with a reference value inside the control unit and depending upon the error, a
control signal is generated which modifies the stimulus to the power processing unit. The stimulus can be
the firing angle in a controlled rectifier unit or the duty ratio in a chopper circuit. By adjusting this
stimulus appropriately, the error will be nullified so that the actual output approaches the reference value.

ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC DRIVES

There are electrical, mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic drives. Hydraulic drives like steam turbines and
water turbines are available at several hundreds of MW. Electric motor drives have a limitation of power
capability. Mechanical drives like IC engines etc create a huge amount of pollution. Pneumatic drives can
have leakage of air and such disadvantages. The major advantages of electric drives are:

1. No warm-up time needed; a steam turbine takes anywhere between 10 to 16 hrs. to start up from rest.
Cranking up is needed for IC engines.
2. No pollution at the location of the drive unit because electricity can be easily transmitted from a remote
location and can be utilized easily.
3. Efficiency is better than other counterparts.
4. Speed-torque characteristics can be tailor made; so it can suit any load requirement.
5. Wide ranges of speed and torque can be obtained.
6. No messy leakage of oil, gas, steam etc.
7. Control is simpler than the other types of drives; power converters are easily controllable using
electronic circuits; excellent accuracy can be attained.
8. Starting and braking can also be accurately controlled
9. Four quadrant operation can be obtained easily.

Loads can be of different types namely constant torque load, Fan type load (similar to centrifugal pumps)
or Viscous friction load.

We will look at different components of any drive system, in detail, and how to choose a drive for any
given application, in the next class.