Selection Of Crane Duty Motors (Part 3)

electrical-engineering-portal.com /selection-of -crane-duty-motors-part-3

Ashok Parikh

S e l e cti o n O f Cr a n e Du ty Mo to r s ( O n p h o to : S i n g l e g i r d e r o ve r h e a d tr a ve l i n g cr a n e - m a x. 12.5t, 4-30m o f De m a g Cr a n e s &

Co m p o n e n ts vi a Di r e ctIn d u s tr y.co m )

Continued from second part: Selection Of Crane Duty Motors (Part 2)

Derivat ion Of Cyclic Durat ion Fact or From Dif f erent Dut y Cycles

S3 – Intermittent Periodic Duty

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N = Duration of motor operation under rated conditions
R = Duration of motor at rest and de- energised
Ø Max = Maximum temperature attained during Duty cycle

Unless otherwise specified, the duration of the duty cycle is

10 minutes. The recommended values for CDF are 25, 40
and 60 percent.

S4 – Intermittent Periodic Duty with starting

D = Duration of starting
N = Duration of motor operation under rated conditions
R = Duration of motor at rest and de- energised
Ø Max = Maximum temperature attained during Duty cycle

S 3 - In te r m i tte n t P e r i o d i c Du ty
S5 – Intermittent Periodic Duty with starting and
breaking

D = Duration of starting
N = Duration of motor operation under ratedconditions
R = Duration of motor at rest and de- energised
F = Duration for electric braking
Ø Max = Maximum temperature attained during Duty
Cycle

St art ing Of Crane Dut y Mot ors

The squirrel cage motors are started with direct- on-
line starters in most of the cranes. Few cranes,
operated more or less on continuous basis, are found
operated through a variable voltage variable
frequency (VVVF) drive.

For intermittent duty cranes, provision of VVVF would

be costly affair.

The slip- ring or wound rotor motors are usually started

by means of variable resistance in the rotor circuit to
get required starting torque at reduced starting current.
The value of external starting resistance can be
calculated as under. S 4 - In te r m i tte n t P e r i o d i c Du ty wi th s ta r ti n g

K = Constant depends on line voltage drop; varies

from 0.6 to 1.0. Generally a value 0.8 can be considered.
V R = Rotor voltage (Volts)
I R = Rotor Current
T FL = Full load torque (kg- m)

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T FL = Full load torque (kg- m)
T LR = Locked Rotor (Starting) Torque
R rt = Rotor resistance in Ohms per phase
R e xt = External rotor resistance per phase to be
added (Ohms) to get torque T LR at stand still.

Rrt is generally small compared to Rext and may be

neglected. However, if required, approximate Rrt
can be calculated by following relation:

The starting torque can be increased up to the

value of maximum torque available for that
particular design. Usually, it is possible to obtain the
starting torque as high as 2.5 times the normal
torque.

Select ion Of Mot ors

Choice of cage and wound motors may be based
on the following criteria.
S 5 – In te r m i tte n t P e r i o d i c Du ty wi th s ta r ti n g a n d b r e a ki n g

Squirrel Cage Motors may be used f or

various applications as f ollows:

The driven equipment is to be accelerated rapidly with a fixed sequence of

operation and uniform load conditions, e.g. mechanical workshop crane.
If the load conditions are almost identical for both directions of rotation, e.g. long
travel or cross travel of gantry crane.
In the cranes, which are running at single speed without speed control.
If site conditions are dusty, corrosive, these motors with totally enclosed fan cooled construction would be
robust and would provide services with least maintenance.
Where the cost factor is to be considered, as cost of cage motor is less than that of slip- ring motor;
The squirrel cage motors for crane duty are available normally up to 250M frame siz e.

Slip-ring motors may be used f or various applications as f ollows:

Where very precise speed control is required for the crane, e.g. inching, slow and fast handling of load during
hoisting and lowering, alignment of crane over a furnace opening, etc.
In case of non- uniform loading conditions and operation is to be carried out in nos. of sequences.
The cranes are required to perform large number of starting and reversals during operation.
The cranes are required starting torque of more than 2.5 times the rated torque in general.

Select ion
The crane duty motors are always supposed to operate under varying load conditions and sequential switching
due to requirement of handling materials of varied weights (i.e. loads).

Many continuous duty motors even operate under varying load conditions due to chemical process requirements.

As a common practice, where such variable loads are to be operated, a motor rating is selected based on the
highest anticipated load. However, more efficient and cost effective approach is to select the motor with optimum
rating on the basis of the load duration curve for the particular application.

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Selection made on this basis also provides equally effective and satisfactory operation.

Thus as an alternative, it is better to select the motor having rating slightly lower than the peak anticipated load and
let it be operated at overload for a short time duration, rather than selecting the motor of high rating that would
operate at full capacity for only a short period providing optimum efficiency only for that much duration. Only concern
for motors operating at higher than its rating is the thermal capacity of motor, which determines the speed of
degradation of the winding insulation.

Applications of various factors discussed in foregoing paragraphs combined with this suggestion would provide
better result. However, accurate rating is very difficult to determine for crane duty applications.

CONCLUSION
Most vital and primary technical consideration for selection of the motor for any particular application is the torque
required by the load during starting and acceleration periods, especially the relationship between the maximum
torque or breakdown torque generated by the motor and the start- up torque or locked rotor torque for both periods.

The thermal capability of motor is determined based on the duty / load cycle. Additionally, where the totally
enclosed fan cooled (TEFC) motor is operated with speed variations, the cooling may be insufficient when the motor
is operated at speeds below its rated value.

If the ambient temperature is more than 40°C, derating factor would affect the selection of motor. Good estimate
of the switching frequency can help in selecting the appropriate motor for the proposed duty cycle.

Reliability is of prime importance in all the services, however, it is general practice to grossly oversiz e the motor
unnecessarily for better reliability, which results into sub- optimal energy performance. Better understanding of the
power system and knowledge of operating parameters can certainly aid in reducing over siz ing with no adverse
effect on reliability.

Re f e re nce s :

1. Efficient Electric Motor Systems Handbook, by Todd Litmann

2. IS:12824- 1989; Types of Duty and Classes of Rating Assigned to Rotating Electrical Machines
3. The Technical Literature of Indian Motor Manufacturers

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