Industrial Drives & its

Applications
Introduction
 Electrical Drives
Motion control is required in Industrial and domestic applications
System employed for Motion control are called drives
Drives employ prime movers such as diesel or petrol engines, gas or steam
turbines, steam engines, motors for supplying mechanical energy for motion
control
Drives employing electric motors are known as electric drives
Block diagram of an electric Drive
 Block diagram of an electric Drive

Load is a machinery designed to accomplish a given task

Power Modulator performs one or more of the following functions
i) Modulates flow of power from source to the motor
ii) During transient operations restricts source & motor currents within permissible value
iii) Converts electrical energy of the source in the form suitable to the motor
iv) Selects the mode of operation of the motor
 Block diagram of an electric Drive

Controls for power modulator are built in control unit

It generates command for the protection of power modulator and motor
Input command signal, which adjusts the operating point of the drive, forms an
input to the control unit
Advantages of Electrical drives
 Parts of Electrical Drives
❏ Load
❏ Motor
❏ Power Modulator
❏ Control Unit
❏ Source
 Parts of Electrical Drives

Electric Motors:
● DC Motors
● Shunt
● Series
● Compound
● Permanent Magnet
● Induction Motors
● Squirrel Cage
● Wound Rotor
● Synchronous Motor
● Wound Field
● Permanent Magnet
● BLDC Motor
● Stepper Motor
● Switched Reluctance Motor
Power Sources
❏ Fixed voltage and fixed frequency ac
❏ Fixed voltage dc
For control of dc motors we require variable dc voltage
For control of ac motors we require either variable voltage ac or variable frequency variable voltage ac
This can be met by
1 ac to dc converters
2 ac Voltage Controllers
3 Choppers or dc-dc converters
4 Inverters
5 Cycloconverters
Power Modulator
❏ Converters
❏ Variable Impedances
❏ Switching circuits
Converters
Converts electrical energy in the form suitable to the motor
It restricts source & motor currents within permissible values
Selects the mode of operation of the motor,i.e. Motoring or braking
 AC Voltage Controllers or AC Regulators
Employed to get variable ac voltage of the same frequency from a source of fixed
ac voltage
Fig (a) Controller gives a fixed ac voltage supply
Fig (b) Controller gives variable ac voltage with few discrete steps.
Fig (c ) Controller employs a thyristorised voltage controller
Fig(d)- Few old drives employ magnetic amplifier to get variable voltage ac from
fixed voltage ac
Semiconductor Chopper
Used to get variable voltage dc from a fixed voltage dc.Output voltage can
be varied steplessly by controlling the duty ratio of the device by low power
signals from control unit
Inverters
Employed to get variable frequency as supply from a dc supply
For control of ac motor, voltage/current should also be controlled along with
frequency which can be achieved by varying the input dc voltage
Output voltage and current have stepped waveform and have substantial amount
of harmonics
Variable frequency & variable voltage ac is obtained from fixed voltage dc when
the inverter is controlled by PWM
PWM reduces harmonics in the output voltage
 Cycloconverters
Converts fixed voltage and frequency ac to variable voltage and variable
frequency ac
Built using thyristors & controlled from a low power control unit
Cycloconverters
 Variable Impedances
Used for the control of low cost dc and ac drives & are needed for dynamic
braking for drives
Have 2 or more steps and can be controlled manually or automatically with the
help of contactors
In high power applications liquid rheostats known as slip regulators are used
Inductor with 2 steps used for limiting starting current of ac motors
 Switching Circuits
Switching operations required to achieve the following
❏ Changing motor connections to change its quadrant operation
❏ For changing motor circuit parameters in discrete steps
❏ For operating motors and drives according to a predetermined sequence
❏ To provide interlocking to prevent maloperation
❏ To disconnect motor when abnormal operating conditions occur
❏ Operations carried out by high power electromagnetic relays know as
contactors
 Control Unit
Controls for power modulator provided in the control unit
When semiconductor converters are used control unit consists of firing circuits,
microprocessors etc.
For control of switching circuits function of control unit to provide sequencing &
interlocking
When control is complex programmable Logic Controllers are used
 Choice of Electrical Drives
Steady state operation requirements
Transient operation requirements
Requirements related to the source
Capital & running cost, maintenance needs, life
Space & weight restrictions any
Environment and location
Reliability