Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference on ID8282

Applied Superconductivity and Electromagnetic Devices

Tianjin, China, April 15-18, 2018

An Approach to Minimize the Motor Starting Voltage

Dip Using Voltage Support DG Controller
Sumaiya Hasan*, Kashem M. Muttaqi Sukumar Kamalasadan
School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Engineering, University of Wollongong The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
NSW 2522, Australia Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA
*msh671@uowmail.edu.au skamalas@uncc.edu

Abstract—Direct Online (DOL) starting inrush current of II. VOLTAGE DIP DUE TO INDUCTION MOTOR AND
induction motor creates voltage dip throughout the distribution RESTORATION BY VSDG
network. This is one of the main causes of disruption of nearby
sensitive equipment. This paper analyses the characteristics of A. Severity of Voltage Dip during Motor Starting
voltage dip due to the DOL starting induction motor and The typical characteristics of an induction motor starting
explores an approach for mitigating the voltage dip using voltage voltage dip is shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that this type of
support distributed generation (VSDG). A control strategy to dip has a voltage sensitive zone 1 for a period of 0.1s when the
mitigate the motor start transient and to restore the network
voltage magnitude falls below 0.9 pu and a voltage sensitive
voltage quickly is proposed. Simulation studies are carried out in
Zone 2 when voltage magnitude pulls up from 0.9 pu to 0.95
order to validate the theoretical framework. It is shown that
VSDG can restore the motor starting transient voltage dip
pu before reaching the steady state condition. Within Zone-2
quicker than a voltage regulator or an on-load tap changer the voltage magnitude increases slowly. The recovery time
(OLTC). depends on a number of factors related to several system
conditions: strong or weak network, motor size, motor type,
Keywords-Motor start transient; voltage sag/dip; voltage type of load connected with the motor, location of motor etc.
support distributed generation Hence before designing any mitigation scheme we need to
perform system study in order to quantify the voltage change in
I. INTRODUCTION the network, and to keep the change within acceptable supply
limits. Also this study can determine if the proposed supply
Voltage dip is defined as the reduction of rms voltage arrangements are adequate to start the motor.
between 0.1 pu and 0.9 pu for a duration of 0.5 cycle to 1
minute [1]. Voltage dip is the predominant cause of disruption
to the sensitive equipment used by both commercial and
industrial customers. Due to widespread impact, it is
considered as the most frequently experienced power quality
problem by the customers. Dips are usually caused by faults in
power system or the connection of a heavy load and starting an
induction motor at any place within the network. Most of the Figure 1. Induction motor starting transient voltage dip.
previous research study on voltage dip considered power B. Voltage Dip Restoration with DG
system faults. Only few studies focused on investigating
voltage dip, due to induction motor starting [2]-[3].
Usually, large motors are directly connected to the supply
line and start as DOL (Direct Online) in order to acquire
constant speed, operational simplicity and reduced cost.
However, the starting current requires to produce starting
torque may be 8 to 10 times the full load current which creates
voltage dip at motor terminal. Motor starting voltage dip is
typically longer in duration (greater than 30 cycles) and lower Figure 2. Single line diagram of the test distribution network (LV side).
in magnitude compared to fault-induced voltage dip (0.5 to 30 To calculate the voltage at neighboring bus during motor
cycles). 60%-80% of world's electricity is used for running starting, the distribution network presented in Fig. 2 is
induction motors in domestic and industrial appliances, such as analyzed. A total N number of buses is shown in the model,
driving pumps, fans, compressors, elevators and industrial
where the induction motor (M) is connected at the bus x with
machinery of various types. So the frequency of occurrence of
motor starting dip is higher compare to fault-induced dip. This motor impedance Zm. At bus k, there is a sensitive load (SE)
means that the cost of the mitigation for motor starting dip is which may trip if voltage magnitude is below the threshold
higher. The objective of this paper is: a) to analyze the voltage value. The DG is connected at the bus (N+1). Along with
dip which may occur during connection of the induction motor generating real (P) power, DG units are capable of providing
to the network, and b) to investigate the effectiveness of DG as ancillary services such as reactive (Q) power injection, voltage
low cost voltage support source during motor start. dip compensation and harmonic filtering [4]. This paper aims

This research is supported by the Australian Government Research

Training Program Scholarship and also the Australian Research Council
(ARC) through the ARC Linkage Project.

978-1-5386-2494-4/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1

to investigate the advantages of voltage support DG (VSDG)
in overcoming motor starting transient voltage dip over the
currently available voltage regulating equipment, e.g. voltage
regulator , tap changer etc.
C. Design of VSDG Controller
In order to operate VSDG to provide voltage support during
motor starting, we need to design an appropriate DG
controller. DG can be operated in three different modes: real
(P), reactive (Q) or both real and reactive (P-Q) modes,
depending on reactive power capacity and DG operating cost
[5]. To generate only real power (P), field excitation is kept
constant and the fuel injection is changed to get the maximum
P. For reactive power (Q) injection, only field excitation needs
to be changed, keeping fuel input fixed. The operating modes
of the DG controller are shown in Fig. 3.
Figure 3. DG controller operating mode.
For normal operating condition, DG generates only real
power, P with unity power factor. During motor starting at
remote end feeder, DG operates at PQ mode up to the
maximum capacity. On the other hand, motor closer to the
substation experiences less severe dip, which can be mitigated
by operating DG with minimum real power injection and
changing the operating mode to minimum to maximum
reactive power injection, for small to large voltage dip
mitigation respectively. The control action can be
implemented by a PI controller as discussed in [5].
III. CASE STUDY
A. Motor Start in LV Distribution Systems(0.4kV)
The impact on low voltage (LV) distribution network during
motor starting voltage dip is investigated on a 0.4kV, 400m
long distribution feeder connected with a 11/0.4kV, 500 kVA
transformer. The 7/2.0AAC distribution cable parameter is
used for the 400V feeder. The motor size selected for this
study is 160 kW with 200kW load connected to the feeder. To
investigate the worst case scenario, the motor is placed at the
remote end of the feeder. Simulations are carried out by
changing the motor locations. To support the motor starting
voltage, a 150 kVA synchronous DG is connected at the PCC.
B. Results and Discussions for LV Distribution System
Simulation result is presented in Fig. 4(a) to demonstrate the
voltage dips during the motor start at different locations in the
LV network. At the steady state, there is also always a drop in
system voltage as there is no voltage regulating device
installed in the network. When motor is connected to the
network the steady state voltage of the feeder also drops a
certain value depending on motor size and distance. Under
worst case condition, when motor is placed at 350 m away
from the transformer, 25% reduction in voltage at the motor
terminal is measured for a longer duration. If the motor is
moved towards the source the dip becomes shallow, however,
none of the feeder is able to restore the voltage above the
voltage dip sensitivity zone. This analysis will help to
determine the type of mitigation scheme that would be optimal
to avoid sensitive equipment disruption.
(a) (b)
Figure 4. Voltage dip with (a) different distances, (b) restoration using DG.
Fig. 4(b) shows that DG can successfully improve the
motor terminal voltage to a satisfactory level if a 300 kVA DG
is placed closer to the remote end motor. If the motor is closer
to the source, a smaller DG (e.g. 150kVA) can restore the
voltage to a safe level even if the DG is far away from the
motor. When the motor is close to the source, the restoration
of voltage dip is found to be faster than the motor located in
the remote location. It is shown in Fig.4 (b) that DG can
restore the voltage dip from 86.5% to 95% within 0.1 sec.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper analyzes the impacts of motor starting dip and
develops a fast restoration strategy with voltage support DG.
The main problem with motor transient voltage dip is that it
has a sharp initial transient with longer restoration time while
dip magnitude is quite shallow for most of the dip duration.
From the results, it can be seen that DG integration supports
the voltage during steady state as well as transient conditions.
The proposed control strategy for the DG controller is found
to be promising for the fast mitigation of motor start transients
in MV network where there is a shortage of reactive power
support. Also in LV network where customers experience low
voltage this approach will be very beneficial.
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