ABB Oy Utilize temperature reserve

Tools team of motors with variable speed drives

Dept. Status Date Author Approved Revision Page

ENT00 21.01.2016 Kari Ranta B 1/3

Introduction and motivation

Within 30…40 years the thermal design of standard induction motors has experienced a
radical change. Earlier it was bad design and low utilization of materials if the
temperature rise of motor was less than 80 °C. Now the demand of high efficiency will
force the designer to use more and better iron and conductor materials and also effective
cooling. The end result is that the temperature rise with nominal load is less than 80 °C.
Together with rated ambient temperature 40°C the stator winding temperature is much
less than 120°C.

On the catalogues the motors are labelled traditionally as B or F temperature rise. The
insulation system and materials are normally good for Class F temperatures to guarantee
long lifetime of motors.

Intention of authority and regulators

The biggest drivers for mandatory Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) levels
for electric motors are the government’s targets to cut CO2 emissions and electricity
demand. The whole value chain, from manufacturer up to end user, must be aware of the
legislation in order to meet local requirements and additionally save energy and reduce
carbon footprint.

When motors are running 24h/7d per week - year after year - the energy cost tend to be
main part of total cost. In this case it is natural to use best possible motors and in power
levels, where the efficiency is best. This applies the variable speed drives applications
too. To compute the losses of motor is relatively easy because the winding temperature
of motor is same as during type test.

Writers of standard has noticed a problem

Writers of standard have noticed a problem when applying high efficiency motors
everywhere. IEC 60034-30-1: “Users should select the efficiency class in accordance with
a given application depending on the actual operating hours. It may not be energy efficient
to select motors of a high efficiency class for intermittent or short time duty due to
increased inertia and start-up losses.”

ABB DriveSize proposal

This proposal is to utilize the measured temperature rise of ABB standard induction
motors when used together with ABB frequency converters. These motors are known in
DriveSize by IEC 34 catalog motors. As the world market leader, ABB advocated the
need for efficiency in motors, and high efficiency products have formed the core of its
portfolio for many years. The core of ABB’s Process performance range is based on full
range in IE2, IE3 and IE4 motors.

In this document we call the difference between the maximum temperature rise value and
real, measured lower value “temperature reserve of motor”. This reserve is not a global
ABB Oy Utilize temperature reserve
Tools team of motors with variable speed drives
Dept. Status Date Author Approved Revision Page

ENT00 21.01.2016 Kari Ranta B 2/3

parameter but is individually given to each motor and supply voltage. The reserves are
measured during type tests of motors.

ABB MotSize4.5 has used measured temperature rise for restamping of DOL motors.

When applying the motors with frequency converter ”loadability” torque curve is basic
concept. At curve the temperature rise will stay at nominal value at all frequencies. It is
widely known that especially the smaller motors do not really warm up to 80°C or 105°C
above ambient. Nowadays the requirement is to design even lower loss motors and due
to physical reasons it means the winding temperatures are getting lower. This is already
visible with IE3 and IE4 motors. The last one includes also some reservation for bearings.

When selecting an induction motor to continuous duty and the energy savings in mind, the
catalog data should be used. This way the package efficiency will be the highest.
Sometimes even oversizing of motor makes sense. Also for ATEX -motors conservative
rules are required. In these cases the temperature reserve of motor is kept in its original
DOL and design value. We will offer this option as default with DriveSize.

But if compact or minimum size of IEC34 motor is the key selection criteria, then a motor
having low measured temperature rise potentially could handle thermally more load than
with current rules without exceeding Class B or Class F class limits. This business
segment is large as well and includes for example many OEM customers and more cyclic
applications and machinery drives. In this case the designed temperature reserve is
utilized without excessive and harmful winding temperatures. Instead of standard
temperatures 80°C and 105°C we use as target temperatures 78°C and 95°C. The
drawback is that motor losses are higher and conventional loss computing is not available.

ABB can bring this potential benefit to ABB customers. So this would mean that ABB
have competitive advantage of competitors, who does not have type test information and
knowledge available yet. If for example the real temperature rise is only 55ºC then the
difference is about
78/55 = 1,19

This square root equation is result from the following facts: the most motor loss
components are dependent on square of current but not all, some of them are instead
load independent and the heat loss transfer from windings to ambient is considered linear.
The linear behaviour means that when losses increase x % then the temperature rise will
increase with same amount x %.

As a conclusion, this motor is able to handle 19% more load compared to a motor with
assumed temperature rise of Class B. Considering the time constants this means much
higher torque RMS values than rated. This is real advantage to customers provided the
annual running hours are low. This is technological development.

How implemented
User shall set maximum temperature with letters B and F as usual. And user shall select
whether he prefers to “keep temperature reserve intact” or “utilize temperature reserve”.
User will see the measured temperature rise (original data) of motor. For example:
Temperature rise °C: 55
ABB Oy Utilize temperature reserve
Tools team of motors with variable speed drives
Dept. Status Date Author Approved Revision Page

ENT00 21.01.2016 Kari Ranta B 3/3

DriveSize automatically computes scaling factor if “utilize” is selected and automatically

get the loadability curve scaled upwards considering also the ambient temperature setting
30….80 ºC and altitude value. User will see the resulting loadability torque and power on
results. And user gets the graph, specification and everything on Motor Technical Data
Sheet.