APPLICATION

Voltage dips during start-up of large

compressor motors
by Bernhard Cronjé; - DRPA Consulting

Th

Voltage, current and speed measurements

showed that during start-up of the neighboring
compressor, the voltage drop on the bus was
excessive and that the motor was running up
too fast. Further measurements and supply
system modeling revealed that it was caused
by the combination of a high tap setting on
the neighboring compressors auto starting
transformer and certain abnormal supply
system configurations.

Background

A mine was experiencing problems with Fig. 2: Korndorffer starter arrangement.

Fig. 1: Normal supply configuration for compressor
damage to the impellors and pinions of sub station.
two 4,8 MW compressors (type A). It was
noticed that the levels of vibration on the
compressor increased progressively each
time the neighboring 4,5 MW compressor
(type B) was started. This led to the suspicion
that the machines were being damaged
by deceleration and acceleration torques
resulting from excessive voltage drops during
the start-up of the type B compressor. The
manufacturers of the type A compressors
specified maximum allowable voltage drop
of 10%. DRPA were requested to conduct a
voltage dip investigation and to evaluate
the severity of the dips under various system
conditions.

The single line diagram in Fig. 1 shows

the normal supply configuration for the
compressor sub station. Under normal
operating conditions the compressor sub
station is supplied with power from two
88/11 kV 20 MVA transformers operating in
parallel via two 11 kV overhead line (OHL)
feeders.
The type B compressor drive is an 11 kV,
4,5 MW, BBC synchronous motor and is
equipped with an auto transformer starter
panel. It is also known as a Korndorffer starter
and it reduces the stator voltage during start-
up. It also has the effect of reducing the start-
up current by the same ratio as the voltage
reduction. A simplified diagram of the motor
and starter is shown in Fig. 2.
To start the motor, the “star ” and “start”
contactors are closed applying the reduced
voltage to the motor. The run contactor
is open. When the motor has reached
Fig. 3: 11 kV bus voltage during compressor type B start-up.
full speed, the “star” contactor is opened
effectively converting the auto transformer
starter into a primary reactance starter. Next
the “run” contactor is closed to bridge the
reactance and apply full voltage to the
motor.
Measurements conducted
Two high speed power quality recorders
were used to make current and voltage
measurements simultaneously on the type
A and B compressor feeders. The recorders
were set up to measure and record the
current and voltage for the duration of the
start-up at high resolution (sampling rate
>25 kHz). RMS voltage and current values
were calculated and graphs with data at
20 ms intervals were produced. Another
recorder was set up on the motor coupling to
record the speed during start-up. The results
are shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5.
The average measured voltage drop was
6,7%. During this start-up the supply network
was not in its normal configuration. The bus
section to the third transformer was also
closed resulting in three 20 MVA supply
transformers being in parallel. The average
start-up current of 1174 A or 4,4 p.u. of rated
full load current (270 A) was higher than
expected. The motor run-up time of 9 to 10
s was also slightly faster than the expected
12 s for this machine. (The manufacturers,
ABB Switzerland quoted 12 s for 83%

energize - December 2006 - Page 38


Fig. 4: RMS current of compressor type B during start-up.
Fig. 5: Motor speed of compressor type B during start-up.
Fig. 6: Simulated 11 kV bus voltage during start-up of type B compressor.
starting voltage). These measurement results
corresponded to that of a DOL starter or a
very high tap on the starting transformer.
The oscillations observed are due to the
non-sinusoidal MMF of the machine and are
considered normal.
On a second occasion the voltage dip
measurements were repeated and this time
a voltage drop of 10,7% was recorded.
This time the supply network was in its
normal configuration i.e. two 20 MVA supply
transformers in parallel. The volt drop was
energize - December 2006 - Page 39
APPLICATION
higher than the maximum allowable
voltage drop of 10% specified for the type
A compressors.
Starter auto transformer inspection and
tests
The high start-up currents prompted further
investigation into the tap settings of the
auto transformer. The transformer taps
are internal boltable links and cannot be
inspected without draining some of the
oil, disconnecting power cables and then
opening the top cover. By injecting 525 V
on the supply of the auto transformer and
measuring the voltage on the motor side it
was established that the transformer was on
its maximum tap of 90%. A recommendation
was made to change to the 82% tap in order
to reduce the magnitude of the voltage dip
during start-up.
Supply system modeling
An accurate model of the system was
constructed in ETAP. The start-up of the
motor was then modeled with various
supply configurations. It was found that
with the existing tap settings, the voltage
drop was excessive (i.e. >10%) under
certain conditions e.g. with only one or two
supply transformers in circuit or if one of the
overhead lines trip.
Simulation results for one, two and three
supply transformers gave voltage drops
during start-up of 12%, 10% and 7%
respectively. The simulated bus voltage
during start-up with three supply transformers
is shown in Fig. 6.
The simulated value of 7% correlated well with
the measured value of 6,7%. It is therefore
important to monitor the supply configuration
and to ensure that the compressors are not
started when fault levels are too low.
Conclusions
The correct application of starter circuits
on large medium voltage motors is critical
to avoid power quality problems that can
result in costly damage to other equipment.
Accurate measurement of voltage, current
and speed during start-up can reveal a lot
about the motor and the starter circuit.
The ETAP model accurately reproduced the
measurement results and it could be seen
that it is very important to model various
supply and equipment configurations as
only certain combinations may result in
problems.
Contact Bernhard Cronje,
DRPA Consulting, Tel (011) 202-8734,
b.cronje@drasa.co.za 