Electrical Services & BMS

Traction Machines

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 Traction Machine
 Geared Machine
 Gearless Machine

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 Geared Machine
 A worm and gear interposed between the
driving motor and the hoisting sheave;
 Driving motor can be a smaller, cheaper
high speed unit;
 Used for car speeds up to 2.5 m/s and a max.
rise of about 100 m;

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 Geared Machine
 Geared traction drives include:

 Single-speed ac motor;
 Two-speed ac motor;
 Variable voltage ac motor;
 Variable voltage, variable frequency ac motor;
and
 Variable voltage dc motor

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 Gearless Machine
 Machine shaft is directly connected to the
brake wheel and driving sheave;
 Elevator hoist ropes are placed around the
sheave;
 Absence of gears implies motor must run at
the same relatively low speed as the sheave;
 It is not economic for motors to operate at
low speeds;

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 Gearless Machine
 Utilised for medium and high speed
elevators, i.e. speed > 2.5 m/s;
 In the range of 2.5 – 4 m/s elevator speed, a
2:1 or 3:1, roping arrangement is generally
used;
 Above 4 m/s, motor speed is high enough
for 1:1 roping arrangement;

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 Gearless Machine
 Absence of gears implies the sheave output
torque is relatively lower;
 Generally utilised for passenger services
(not for goods) with capacity ≤ 1600 kg;
 Generally considered to be superior than
geared machine in performance aspects;
 More efficient, quieter, requires less
maintenance and has longer life;

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 Gearless Machine
 Gearless drives include:

 Variable voltage dc motor; and

 Variable voltage, variable frequency (VVVF)
ac motor

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 Arrangement of Machine,
Sheave and Ropes
 Driving force of the motor is transmitted to
the car by friction between the sheave and
the hoisting rope;
 Large friction is secured by providing
specially shaped sheave grooves;

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 Drive Control
 Acceleration and deceleration (retardation)
are accomplished by controlling the speed
of the motor;

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 Drive Control
 Speed control can be accomplished in:
 Rheostatic control of single-speed ac motor;
 Rheostatic control of 2-speed ac motor;
 Thyristor control of an ac traction motor;
 Thyristor control of a dc traction motor;
 MG set control of a dc traction motor; and
 Variable-voltage, variable-frequency (VVVF)
control of an ac traction motor.

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 Rheostatic Control of Single-
speed AC Traction Motor
 Speed control by inserting (in steps)
resistance into the motor circuit;
 Relatively rough ride with poor levelling;
 For speeds up to about 0.5 m/s, and can be
up to 0.75 m/s for very light duty loads.

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 Rheostatic Control of 2-Speed
AC Traction Motor
 2-speed motor improves the ride and
levelling;
 The ride quality is still not smooth;
 Applied for speed up to about 2 m/s where
high quality performance and floor levelling
accuracy are not of prime important

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 Rheostatic Control of AC
Traction Motor
 Rheostatic control has the disadvantages of
poor operating efficiency and high starting
current;
 Line disturbances are created and heavy
feeders are required;
 Used where economic considerations are
important and hydraulic elevator is
impractical.

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 Thyristor Control of AC
Traction Motor
 Thyristor unit provides a variable ac voltage
(but still at the frequency of the mains) to an
induction motor;
 Resultant speed control is smooth and
stepless;
 Introduces undesirable harmonics into the
power system in considerable quantity;

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 Thyristor Control of AC
Traction Motor (1)
 The system’s low power factor increases
line losses and necessitates increased feeder
sizes;
 Even with excellent control electronics, the
ride and levelling are not the highest quality;
 Applicable to low and mid-rise residential
and commercial passenger services;

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 Thyristor Control of AC
Traction Motor (2)
 Using geared machines, economic factors
offset the disadvantages.

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 Thyristor Control of DC
Traction Motor (1)
 Thyristor unit supplies variable dc voltage
to dc motor;
 Provides high quality ride and levelling
characteristics;
 Has the problems of heavy line harmonics,
low power factor and high machine room
thermal losses;

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 Thyristor Control of DC
Traction Motor (2)
 Widely used with both geared and gearless
traction dc motors.

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 MG Set Control of a DC
Traction Motor (1)
 MG set provides a variable dc voltage to dc
motor;
 Classic high quality elevator drive
arrangement;
 Found in vast majority of existing high
quality geared and gearless installations in
Hong Kong;

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 MG Set Control of a DC
Traction Motor (2)
 MG set provides a variable dc voltage to dc
motor;
 Classic high quality elevator drive
arrangement;
 Found in vast majority of existing high
quality geared and gearless installations in
Hong Kong;

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 MG Set Control of a DC
Traction Motor (3)
 Main disadvantages:
 Low overall efficiency;
 Expensive machines;
 High thermal losses in machine rooms;
 High maintenance costs for three rotating
machines; and
 High noise level.

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 MG Set Control of a DC
Traction Motor (4)
 Building with existing MG set systems are
frequently converted to thyristor control dc
motor systems;
 This maintains the excellent ride
characteristics of variable voltage dc
traction machine;

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 MG Set Control of a DC
Traction Motor (4)
 Improve system performance by replacing
the MG set with a low loss, low
maintenance, quiet thyristor power
controller.

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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (1)
 Used in many high quality new installations
in Hong Kong;
 Consists of:
 A rectifier changing the ac to dc;
 An inverter creating the variable voltage
variable frequency and 3 phase ac from dc.

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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (2)
 This ac applies to a standard induction
motor;
 By controlling both the voltage and
frequency of the input to the motor, it is
possible to provide continuously variable,
highly accurate speed control at extremely
high efficiencies throughout the full speed
range of the motor;
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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (3)
 This arrangement is what is required for
high-quality geared and gearless
installations.

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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (4)
 Its major characteristics are:
 overall system efficiency is high at all motor
speeds;
 traction motors are of economical single speed
induction type;
 motors are 10-15% smaller than equivalent
drive systems;
 system power factor is close to unity;
 line harmonics are lower than with thyristor
controls;
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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (5)
 speed control and levelling are of very high
quality (equal to dc traction motor control);
 requiring less maintenance;
 low starting current;
 system is applicable to all height and speeds;
 machine rooms are smaller, cooler, and quieter
than those using MG sets; and
 first cost is higher than the competing alternatives.

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 VVVF Control of an AC
Traction Motor (6)

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