Tutorial 6 - Solutions

Problem 1

A full-bridge rectifier with three-phase input supplies a dc motor. The motor has
series armature inductance of 0.5 mH and resistance of 0.033. Rated current is
140 A, and rated output power is 30 kW at 2500 RPM. At full speed, the internal
voltage is 225 V.

(a) The converter should be able to drive this motor at full load current and
full speed. Choose an appropriate three-phase voltage (line-to-neutral
potential) from the following possible standard values: 208 V, 230 V,
480 V (all at 60 Hz). What did you consider in making this choice?
(b) What value of  would be appropriate to drive the motor at full load
torque and full load speed?
(c) The motor output power is torque times angular speed. The torque and
current are proportional. Therefore, a motor’s current rating implies a
certain torque rating. Consider this motor, driving a load which requires a
torque Tload = 10 + 0.7 Newton-metre. What value of  will produce a
speed of 1000 RPM with this load? What is the maximum speed with this
load if the torque rating is not to be exceeded? At what value of  does
this occur?

Solution

The motor generates internal EMF of 225 V at full speed, and draws 140 A at full
load. It has armature resistance of 0.033 ohms. This means its terminal voltage under
rated conditions is 225+140(0.033) = 230 V.

The average value:

mV0 
vd  sin cos 
 m

For the lowest value of V0 = 2  208 = 294.16 V, m = 6, and  = 0, <vd> = 280.9 V

The maximum average output of a three-phase bridge rectifier is higher than 230 V
for all the suggested input levels. Since power factor and filtering requirements are
better with lower phase delay angles, it would be useful to choose the lowest input
potential that meets the requirements. Therefore, we should choose 208 V line input
for this load. (a)

Now, the system can be modelled as a six-phase midpoint rectifier with 208 V line
inputs. The phase angle to achieve 230 V output is:

 = 2   60, m = 6, V0 = 294.16 V
mV0 
vd  sin cos   230
 m

1
  
 230 
  cos 1    0.61148 rad  35.035 o (b)
 6  294 .16  
 sin 
  6

 2k 
The line voltages are va ,b,c  V0 cost   , k = 0, 1, 2.
 3 
For va (k = 0), the conduction takes place for the angle range -/6 +  < t < /6 + 
and for  - /6 +  < t <  + /6 +  and for others it is shifted appropriately by
2/3 and 4/3.

The plot for  = 35:


The load torque is given as Tload = 10 + 0.7 (N-m). In case it is not clear, the
symbol  refers to the motor rotational speed in rad/s. The motor output power is
torque times angular speed, so the load power is 10 + 0.72 (watts).

The internal voltage is a linear function of speed, as noted in the example. At 1000
RPM (equivalent to 104.7 rad/s), the internal voltage will be (1000/2500)225 = 90 V.
The torque is 10+0.7(104.7) = 83.3 N-m. The load power at this speed is 10 + 0.72,
or 8722 W. The armature current must satisfy the conservation of energy relation,
VgIa = T. Therefore, the armature current is 8722/90 = 96.9 A. For 0.033 ohm
resistance, this requires the input average voltage to be (90 V) + (96.9 A)(0.033 ohms)
= 93.2 V. The angle would be
 
 93.2 
1    1.2326 rad  70.622 o (c first part)
  cos
 6  294.16 
 sin 
  6

The maximum torque corresponds to 140 A. The motor needed 96.9 A to generate
83.3 N-m, and torque is proportional to current. Therefore, at 140 A, the motor
produces (140/96.9)(83.3) = 120.3 N-m. The maximum speed with this load should
avoid exceeding this value, so 10 + 0.7max = 120.3, and max = 157.6 rad/s. This
corresponds to 1505 RPM.

2
At maximum speed (1505 RPM), the internal voltage is (1505/2500)225 = 135.4 V.
The armature drop is (140 A)(0.033 ohms) = 4.62 V, so the input voltage needs to be
140 V. The angle is

 
 140 
  cos 1    1.049 rad  60.106 o (c second part)
 6  294.16 
 sin 
  6

Problem 2

It is desired to use a superconducting energy storage system to store about

1000 MW.hr of energy (the energy produced by a large power plant in 1 hr), equal to
3.6 TJ. You have been asked to assess the power conversion requirements for this
device. It will be almost impossible to build even a superconducting system with
series resistances below 0.01 , and R will probably be much higher. This is
necessary to account for normal conductors used in connections, switches, circuit
breakers, and other components.

(a) If the superconducting inductor is to store this energy for up to 24 hr, what
is the minimum inductance that should be considered in the design? What
currents will be involved?
(b) It is intended to store the energy over about 10 hr at night, then release it
over about 2 hr each afternoon. What voltage will be necessary to change
the energy level over these time intervals? What voltage is needed to
maintain the energy storage in steady state?
(c) For noise purposes, the equivalent of a 12-phase SCR bridge is probably
the minimum that would be considered. What line-to-neutral voltage will
be needed to support the application, and to provide enough extra that 
need not be set to 0 or 180? With this choice, what is the power factor
during the nighttime energy storage process?
(d) Line inductance ought to play a role in this system. If the line inductance is
1 mH, how fast will commutation occur? How much will the average
voltage be affected at the beginning of the storage process?
(e) Can this system function with a freewheeling diode?

Solution

(a) If we allow only about 1% loss over 24 hours, the exponential e-t/  1 – t/
= 0.99. The time constant should be 2400 hours for this to occur. Thus
L/R = 2400  3600 = 8 640 000 s. Since R = 0.01 , L = 86400 H
The energy stored in the inductor 0.5  Li2 = 3.6  1012, and I = 9129 A

(b) In 10 hours, the current should rise from 0 to 9129.

vL = L(di)/(dt) = 86400  9129/(10  3600) = 21.9 kV

In 2 hours, must go from 9129 to 0.

3
 vL = L(di)/(dt) = 86400  (-9129)/(2  3600) = -109.5 kV

In steady state, drop in resistance is 9129  0.01 = 91.3 V

Need 91.3 V to maintain storage.

mV0 
(c) 12-pulse (midpoint): vout  sin cos 
 m
Need ~160 for discharge:
12V0 
vout  109500  sin cos 160 o
 12
V0 = 117.8  10 V3

Voltage is ~85 kVRMS

But it is doubled by the bridge, so what is needed is half of it
~42.5 kVln RMS

At night, 85 kV  2 = 120 kVpeak,

12 
We have 21.9 kV = (120 kV) sin cos 
 12
0.1846  cos  ,  = 79.4

mV0 I out 
The total output power is equal Pout  sin cos 
 m
2V0 I out 
The output power per line: Pout(line)  cos 
sin
 m
2
The input RMS current per line is: iin ( RMS )  I out
m
V
The input RMS line-to-neutral voltage is: v RMS  0
2
VI
The apparent power: S  v RMS  i RMS  0 out
m
Pout(line) 2 12 
The power factor: pf   sin cos   0.105
S line  12

(d) With 1 mH of line inductance, we have vL = L(di)/(dt), i = 9129 A
From (c), at  = 79.4, the peak voltage across the inductance is the
difference between successive sinusoids,
VLpeak = 120 kV  (cos(-15 + 79.4) – cos(-15 + 79.4 + 30))
= 120 kV  2  sin(15)  sin(79.4)  60 kV
60 kV = L (di)/(dt)
(di)/(dt) = 60000/0.001 = 60 A/s
Therefore 9129 A switches in 9129/60 = 152 s
At the beginning IL is small, so <v> will not be affected. That is, say, 100
A is switched in 100/60 = 1.6 s, which is short (about 0.1%) compared to
20ms/12 = 1.66ms (20 ms is the period of a 50 Hz source and 12 is the
number of phases.

4
(e) No, a freewheeling diode would prevent the reverse energy flow.