electrical-engineering-portal.

com
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/motor-protection-depending-on-size-and-voltage-level
Motor protection depending on size and voltage level (on photo 3-phase asynchronous motor
LeroySomer P280 S-8, 55 kW)
Motor protection depending on size and
voltage level
Mot or prot ect ions vary widely depending on t he size of t he mot or and volt age level involved,
t hus only t he more common ones are discussed in t his t echnical art icle.
Protection Index
1. Mot or Inst ant aneous Over-current Prot ect ion
2. Mot or Timed Over-Current Prot ect ion
3. Thermal OverLoad
4. Mot or Ground Fault Prot ect ion
5. Mot or St all Prot ect ion
6. Mot or Over-Fluxing Prot ect ion
1. Motor Instantaneous Over-current Protection
Inst ant aneous over-current is usually t he result of f ault condit ions (phase t o phase, phase t o
ground), in which current f low will great ly exceed normal values. Damage due t o winding
overheat ing and burning damage associat ed wit h large f ault current s can occur wit hout t his
t ype of prot ect ion.
These t ypes of f ault s can be rapidly det ect ed by a dif f erent ial prot ect ion scheme using Core
Balance CTs as will be discussed lat er and cleared bef ore major damage result s. In t hese
sit uat ions, f ast act ing elect romagnet ic relays will be used t o t rip t he af f ect ed mot or.
Index Top
2. Motor Timed Over-Current Protection
Cont inuous operat ion of an elect ric mot or at current s marginally above it s rat ed value can
result in thermal damage t o t he mot or.
The insulat ion can be degraded, result ing in reduced mot or lif e t hrough event ual int ernal mot or
f ault s. Typically, an elect ric mot or has a service f act or rat ing list ed on it s nameplat e. This
number represent s t he cont inuous allowable load limit t hat can be maint ained wit hout
sust aining damage t o t he mot or. For example, a t ypical elect ric mot or is designed t o wit hst and
a cont inuous overload of about 15% wit hout sust aining damage and has a service f act or =
115%.
Continuous operation at or above this value will result in thermal damage. To prot ect
against mot or damage, we must ensure t hat t his condit ion is not reached, hence we must t rip
t he mot or bef ore t he overload limit (service f act or) is reached.
The relay most commonly used f or t his purpose is t he induct ion disc relay. In t his relay (Figure
1), t he current in t wo coils produces opposing magnet ic f luxes, which creat e a t orque on a disc.
As t he mot or current increases, so does t he t orque on t he disc.
When t he t orque overcomes t he spring t orque, t he disc begins t o rot at e. When t he moving
cont act meet s t he st at ionary cont act on t he disc, t he t rip will operat e.
Figure 1 - Induction Disc Relay
Tap set t ings and t ime
charact erist ic adjust ment s
can be made t o alt er t he
t ime delay of t he relay. The
major benef it of t he
induct ion disk t imed over
current relay is t hat t he
speed of rotation is
proportional to the motor
current.
Hence major over-current
condit ions will t rip t he
supply breaker almost
inst ant aneously, while
current s just above rat ed
load will cause operat ion
af t er several seconds (or
minut es).
Index Top
3. Thermal
OverLoad
Anot her common t ype of
relay used f or t imed
overload prot ect ion is a
thermal overload relay. In
t his t ype of relay, t he mot or
current or a f ract ion of t he
current t hrough a current t ransf ormer is connect ed t o an in-line heat er. Figure 2 shows a
simplif ied t hermal overload relay. The heat er (heated by I
2
R action) is used t o heat a bimet allic
st rip, which causes t he displacement of a relay cont act . A bimet allic st rip consist s of t wo
dif f erent mat erials bonded t oget her, each having dif f erent t hermal expansion propert ies.
As t he mat erials are heat ed, one side will lengt hen more t han t he ot her, causing bending.
Normal operat ing current s or short durat ion overload condit ions, will not cause t he bimet allic
element t obend enough t o change t he relay cont act posit ions.
Excessive current s will cause increased heat ing of t he bimet allic st rip, which will cause relay
cont act s t o open and/or close, t ripping t he mot or.
Figure 2 - Thermal Overload Relay
The t hermal overload relay
has an inherent react ion t ime,
since t he heat er and
bimet allic element t ake t ime
t o heat . Care must be t aken
t o mat ch t he current heat ing
charact erist ics of t he mot or
or else t he mot or could be
damaged during t he locked
rot or st art ing condit ions.
This t ype of relay can be
used f or direct protection
against excessive motor
current caused by elect rical
f ault s and mot or overloads.
Also, it is of t en used in
combinat ion wit h t he t imed
over-current prot ect ion.
Thermal overload relays using in-line heat ers and bimet allic st rips, provide an alarm in t he case
of cont inuous overload. This provides an opport unit y f or t he operat or t o correct t he problem
bef ore it reaches t rip level magnit ude.
As we have st at ed, t hermal over-load t rips can occur during repet it ive st art s on a mot or or
during mot or over-loading. Thermal overload t rips will seal-in t o prevent t he mot or cont act or
f rom closing. This lock-out will require manual reset bef ore t he mot or can be re-st art ed. The
operat or or at t endant will have t o physically conf irm t hat t he mot or has had suf f icient t ime t o
cool down and t hat t he cause f or t he overload has been removed. If t he operat or is conf ident
t hat t here is not a permanent f ault on t he mot or t he relay can be reset .
Not e however, t hat if an inst ant aneous over-current t rip has occurred, no at t empt at closing
t he mot or cont act or should be made. An inst ant aneous t rip will only occur if t here is a f ault in
t he mot or or supply cable and t his must be correct ed bef ore any at t empt t o reset t he relay.
Index Top
4. Motor Ground Fault Protection
In t he det ect ion of ground faults, as wit h t he det ect ion of inst ant aneous over-current s, it is
ext remely import ant t hat t he f ault be det ect ed and cleared quickly t o prevent equipment
damage. Insulat ion damaged by heat (f rom ext ended overload operat ion), brit t leness of
insulat ion (due t o aging), wet insulat ion or mechanically damaged insulat ion can cause ground
f ault s.
Figure 3 - Three Phase Ground Fault
Protection
Figure 4 - Single Phase Ground Fault
Protection
Ground f ault prot ect ion schemes use dif f erent ial prot ect ion t o det ect and clear t he f ault ed
equipment . For mot ors, t he common met hod is t o use a Core-Balance CT as illust rat ed in
Figure 3. The out put of t he core-balance CT will be t he dif f erence or imbalance of current
bet ween t he t hree phases.
If no ground f ault is present , no current imbalance is present ; hence no current will f low in t he
prot ect ion circuit .
If a ground f ault develops, a current imbalance
will be present and a current will f low in t he
prot ect ion circuit , causing it t o operat e t o t rip
t he supply breaker.
Figure 4 shows a similar prot ect ion scheme,
wit h each of t he windings of t he mot or
prot ect ed individually (this scheme is not
normally installed in small motors, but may
appear in the protection of very large motors).
Index Top
5. Motor Stall Protection
St alling or locking t he rot or, is a sit uat ion in which
t he circuit s of a mot or are energized but t he rotor
is not turning. Mot ors are part icularly suscept ible
t o overheat ing during st art s, due t o high current s
combined wit h low cooling air f lows (due t o t he
low speed of t he mot or, cooling f ans are delivering
only small amount s of air).
This is also why some larger mot ors have a limit on
t he number of at t empt ed mot or st art s bef ore a
cooling of f period is required. However, st all
condit ions can occur during normal operat ion. For
example, mechanical f ault s such as a seized
bearing, heavy loading or some t ype of f oreign object caught in a pump could be possible
causes of mot or st alling.
The loss of a single phase while t he mot or is not rot at ing or under high load, is anot her
sit uat ion in which a motor may stall.
The t ypical st art ing t ime of a mot or is less t han t en seconds. As long as t his st art t ime is not
Figure 5 - Stalling Relay
exceeded, no damage t o a mot or will occur due t o overheat ing f rom t he high current s.During
operat ion, a mot or could t ypically st all f or t went y secondsor more wit hout result ing in
excessive insulat ion det eriorat ion.
We use a st alling relay t o prot ect mot ors during st art s, since a st andard t hermal relay has t oo
much t ime delay. A st alling relay will allow t he mot or t o draw normal st art ing current s (which are
several t imes normal load current ) f or a short t ime, but will t rip t he mot or f or excessive t ime at
high current s.
A st alling relay uses t he operat ing principle of a t hermal overload relay, but operates faster
than a standard thermal relay.
A schemat ic represent at ion of a
st alling relay has be been provided in
Figure 5 f or ref erence.
By passing a port ion of t he mot or
current direct ly t hrough t he bimet allic
element s in t his relay, t he heat ing is
immediat e, just as would be
experienced wit hin t he windings of
t he mot or.
This t ype of relay is usually
operat ional only when t he mot or
current is above 3 times the normal
operating current and is swit ched
out when t he current is below 2 t imes
t he normal operat ing current . This
swit ching in/out is achieved by t he
use of an addit ional relay cont act .
When t he mot or is operat ing normally, t he current in t his prot ect ion scheme passes t hrough
t he resist or and bypasses t he bimet allic element s.
Index Top
6. Motor Over-Fluxing Protection
As you can recall f rom t he module on mot or t heory, t he current drawn by a mot or is roughly
proport ional t o t he core f lux required t o produce rot at ion. Moreover, t he f lux in t he core is
roughly proport ional t o t he square of t he slip speed.
I f s2
Obviously over-f luxing is most severe during t he locked rot or or st all condit ion when t he slip is
at t he maximum. The st all relay previously discussed protects against this.
However, t here is anot her condit ion where we can ent er int o a st at e of over-f luxing t he mot or.
If one of t he t hree phases of t he supply has high resist ance or is open circuit (due t o a blown
f use, loose connect ion, et c.), t hen t he magnet ic f lux becomes unbalanced and t he rot or will
begin t o slip f urt her away f rom t he st at or f ield speed.
The rot or (shaf t ) speed will decrease while t he supply current will increase causing winding
over-heat ing as well as core iron heat ing. Also int ense vibrat ion due t o unbalanced magnet ic
f orces can cause damage t o t he mot or windings and bearings.
This open-phase condit ion is oddly enough called single phasing of t he mot or, even t hough
t wo phases are st ill connect ed. If t he mot or cont inues t o operat e wit h an open supply line, t he
current in t he remaining t wo healt hy leads will exceed t wice t he current normally seen f or a
given load. This will result in rapid, uneven heat ing wit hin t he mot or and damage t o insulat ion,
windings, reduced machine lif e and t hermal dist ort ion.
If t orque required by t he load exceeds t he amount of t orque produced, t he mot or will st all. The
mot or will draw locked rot or current rat ings, which are, on average, 3-6 times full load current.
This will lead t o excessive heat ing of t he windings and will cause t he insulat ion t o be damaged.
If t he open circuit is present bef ore t he mot or st art is at t empt ed, it is unlikely t hat t he mot or will
be able t o st art rot at ing.
The phase-unbalance relay used t o prot ect against t his scenario is similar in design t o t he st all
relay, but is set f or about 20% of t he f ull load current . A rough represent at ion of t he operat ion
of t he relay is included in Figures 6 and 7 f or ref erence only.
If any one of t he phases in t he mot or loses power, t he heat er will cool down. The bimet allic
st rip will t urn, causing t he unbalance cont act s t o close and t he mot or t o be t ripped. This relay
will also prot ect against t hermal overload, as t he heat ers cause t he bimet allic st rips t o close t he
overload t rip cont act .
You will also see a compensat ing bimet al element , which will compensat e f or ambient
t emperat ure changes, t hus prevent ing unnecessary t rips.
Figure 6 - Phase Unbalance and Overload Protection
Figure 7 - Phase Unbalance and Overload Protection
Index Top
Resource: Science and Reactor
Fundamentals Electrical i CNSC
Technical Training Group