Rating and Heating of Motors

By
Dr. P.K Biswas
Asst. Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
NIT Mizoram
Continuous duty and variable load
The temperature of the motor changes continuously when the load is variable. On
account of this, it becomes difficult to select the motor rating as per heating.
➢The analytical study of heating becomes highly complicated if the load diagram is
irregular in shape or when it has a large number of steps.
➢Therefore it becomes extremely difficult to select the motor capacity through
analysis of the load diagram due to select the motor capacity through analysis of the
load diagram due to lack of accuracy of this method.
On the other hand it is not correct to select the motor according to the lowest or
highest load because the motor would be overloaded in the first case and under
loaded in the second case. Therefore it becomes necessary to adopt suitable
methods for the determination of motor ratings.

Methods used
The four commonly used methods are:
Methods of average losses
Equivalent current method
Equivalent torque method
Equivalent power method
In case ,the two losses are equal or differ by a small amount ,the motor is selected .if
the losses differ considerably ,another motor is selected and the calculations
repeated till a motor having almost the same losses as the average losses is found.
Iit should be checked that the motor selected has a sufficient overload capacity and
starting torque.
The method of average losses dopes not take into account, the maximum
temperature rise under variable load conditions .However, this method is accurate
and reliable for determining the average temperature rise of the motor during one
work cycle.
The disadvantage of this method is that it is tedious to work with and also many a
times the efficiency curve is not readily available and the efficiency has to be
calculated by means of empirical formula which may not be accurate.
2. Equivalent Current Method
The equivalent current method is based on the assumption that the actual variable
current may be replaced by an equivalent current ieq which produces the same
losses in the motor as the actual current
 Average losses over the total period of time
W1. t1 + W2 .t 2 + .......... + Wn .t n
=
t1 + t 2 + ....... + t n + t 0

Where W1,W2…Wn are the losses that occur in the motor during the intervals
t1,t2…tn etc. No losses occur during time interval t0
For an assumed constant current Ieq which causes the same average losses over
the period of time considered, average losses can be written as (Wc + I eq 2 R)
Where Wc and R denote the constant losses(core+ mechanical losses ) and the
resistance of armature circuit of the motor.
n

W (t + t + ....... + t n )
R
i =1
 I i 2ti
Wc + I eq 2 R = c 1 2 +
t1 + t 2 + ....... + t n + t 0 t1 + t 2 + ....... + t n + t 0
 The equivalent current may not
n
R 
i =1
I i 2ti be easy to calculate especially
in cases where the current
I eq R =
2
t1 + t 2 + ....... + t n + t 0 load diagram is irregular .the
equivalent current in such
cases iscalculated from the
following expression.
An electric motor of rated power Pr subjected to its rated load continuously reaches
heated up to its permissible temperature rise after due to time. If the same motor is
to be used for short time duty, it can take up more load for a short period without
increasing the maximum permissible temperature of the motor during this period.
Let us assume that the heating of the motor is proportional to losses WL the duration
of the short time load Px is N and the heating time constant of the motor be T. The
temperature rise attained by the motor should not exceed that reached when loaded
to its continuous rating Pr.  ' m Is the permissible final temperature rise of the motor
which in fact is never reached but serves as a measure of the losses and the
permissible short time rating Px of duration N.
N
−
m =  '
m (1 − e
 )
 ' m W LX 1
= =
m W Lr −
N
(1 − e  )

WLx and WLr are the losses corresponding to the

rating Px and Pr
W Lr = W c + W cu
= W cu + W cu
= W cu (1 +  )
 Px 2
W Lx = W c + W cu ( )
Pr
Px 2
= W cu + W cu ( )
Pr
Px 2
= W cu [ + ( ) ]
Pr

Px 2
 +( )
W Lx Pr 1
= =
W Lr  +1 −
N
(1 − e  )

Px 1+ 
( ) = N
−
Pr −
(1 − e  )
Intermittent periodic duty - During a period of operation, if the speed changes in
wide limits, leading to changes in heating and cooling conditions, methods of
equivalent current, torque or power described previously can not be employed. -
Let us consider an intermittent load where the motor is alternatively subjected a
fixed load Pr ’ of duration tr and stand still condition of ts. - As the motor is
subjected to a periodic load, after the thermal steady state is reached the
temperature rise will fluctuate between a max. value θmax and a minimum value
θmin. - For this load, the motor rating should be selected such that, θmax ≤ θper
where θper is the max. permissible temperature rise of the motor.
  ' ss W LX
=
m W Lr

Px 2
 +( )
W Lx Pr
=
W Lr  +1

Px
( ) = K
Pr
THANK YOU