(IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 1

Vol. XXX, No. XXX, 2009

Performance Comparison of Different Voltage Regulation Methods

Proposed for the Speed control of Capacitor-run Induction Motors
K.Samidurai1, K.Thanushkodi2
1
KarpagamCollege of Engineering, Coimbatore
swami_la@ yahoo.co.in
2
(i)
Akshaya College of Engineering & Technology, Coimbatore
thanush123gmail.com Current
drawn by
Abstract: This paper systematically investigates and compares switches in series and across the main winding of the motor
motor
the performance characteristics of variable-speed, single-phase is also proposed. In this case, the auxiliary winding of the
capacitor-run fan motor using different voltage regulation motor is fed from the supply directly as shown in Fig.2.
methods namely triac based voltage regulator, single pulse width (i)
When SPWM is used, a series switch is closed, keeping the
modulated (SPWM) ac chopper, and electronic transformer based Current
parallel switch open; drawn
the motor
by terminal voltage is
voltage regulator. It is found that the electronic transformer motor
symmetrical about the π/2 axis and variable speed is
based voltage regulator scheme has superior operating and
achieved by changing the pulse(ii)
width.
performance characteristics as compared to the other schemes.
Voltage
Experimental results show that apart from improvement in across
performance with respect to power factor and total harmonic motor

Auxiliary winding
terminals
distortion (THD) an appreciable amount of energy saving is also

Main winding
obtained in the electronic transformer based scheme.
Keywords: capacitor-run induction motor, ac choppers, triac (ii)
Voltage
based voltage regulators, electronic transformer based voltage across
regulators. motor
1 Φ AC Supply terminals
Rotor
1. Introduction Fig.1. Conventional PWM based ac chopper scheme.
Fig. 5.
The motor used for domestic fans is a capacitor-run single-

Auxiliary winding
Comparis
phase induction motor with squirrel cage rotor. The rotor a
on of Main winding
resistance in these motors is higher and is therefore, quite
current
suitable for wide range of speed control using stator voltage
and
F
control [1]. The commonly employed method of speed
i
voltage
control in domestic fan motors is the use of a variable g
resistance in series with the stator of the motor. As this 1 Φ AC Supply waveform
1
The Electronic transformer Rotor
s Eofbased scheme proposed in this
scheme is cheaper, it is popular even today. However, this is q
paper Fig.2.
has several
Proposedadvantages
PWM basedover
Electroni the other
ac chopper schemes
scheme
an inefficient method of speed control due to the power loss u
mentioned above. The circuit
ci diagram for the experimental
in the series resistance. In the triac based schemes, the triac v
set up of this scheme is shown in Fig.3.
transform
is inserted either between the a.c mains and the fan motor or S1 al S3
ere and L
in series with the main winding. The triac based schemes are n
triac
t
simple, reliable, cost effective and superior in power savings C1 ci
based C2 I/M
[2-5]. However, it suffers from various drawbacks such as Vi r Vo
schemes
c
increased harmonic content and poor power factor, especially
u
at lower output voltages. The ac chopper essentially consists it
of two switches. In general, one is connected in series with o
b
.f
the motor and the other one across the motor as shown in S2 t S4
Fig.3. Circuit diagram
h of the proposed scheme
200V/div
Fig.1 In this paper, an alternative method of connecting
e(a )
m
o
t
o
r
2 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security,
Vol. XXX, No. XXX, 2009

The electronic transformer is making use of an amplitude The steady state mathematical model of the motor consists of
modulation and phase shifting technique for achieving a the set of equations which govern its steady state operation
variable output voltage and hence the speed of the fan motor under all operating conditions. From Fig.4, the following
can be controlled. equations can be written.
An isolated high frequency link AC/AC converter is termed V = Zlm Im + Efm + Ebm – jEfa /a + jEba /a (1)
as an electronic transformer. The electronic transformer has V = ( Zla + Zc ) Ia + Efa + Eba + ja Efm - ja Ebm (2)
size and cost advantages over a conventional transformer Where:
because of high frequency operation of the magnetic core. Efm = Zf Im = Im ( Rf + jXf ) (3)
Low cost and easy availability of ferrite core material has Ebm = Zb Im = Im ( Rb + jXb) (4)
helped the implementation of high frequency link power
Efa = a2 Zf Ia = a2 Ia( Rf + jXf ) (5)
transformation [6-9].
The use of electronic transformer for speed control of single- Eba = a2 Zb Ia = a2 Ia ( Rb + jXb) (6)
phase induction motor results in improved power factor, Substituting from Equations (3) – (6) into Equations (1) and
energy saving, reduction in THD, improved efficiency and (2) yields:
improved power quality as compared to the other schemes V = ( Zlm + Zf + Zb ) Im - ja ( Zf - Zb ) I (7)
listed above. Experimental results are presented to validate 2
V = ja ( Zf - Zb ) Im + ( Zla + Zc + a ( Zf + Zb ) ) Ia
the proposed scheme. (8)
2. Capacitor – run Induction Motor Modeling The solution of Equations (7) and (8) gives the main and
2.1 Equivalent circuit auxiliary winding currents under any operating conditions.
The equivalent circuit of the capacitor - run motor based on Hence, the total motor current is obtained as:
double field revolving theory is shown in Fig.4. Where ‘a’ is I = Im + Ia (9)
the turns ratio of the auxiliary to main winding, R lm, Xlm are The net amount of power transferred across the air gap (P g) is
the resistance and leakage reactance of the main winding obtained as:
(Ω), Rla, Xla are the resistance and leakage reactance of the Pg = ( Im2 + a2 Ia2 ) ( Rf - Rb ) + 2a Im Ia ( Rf + Rb ) sin ( θa – θm )

auxiliary winding, Rc, Xc are the equivalent series (10)

resistance and reactance of the capacitor (Ω), Rf, Xf are the Where θm and θa are the phase angles of the main and

forward equivalent series resistance and leakage reactance of auxiliary winding currents, respectively.

the rotor referred to the main winding (Ω), Rb, Xb are the The electromechanical torque developed ( Tmd ) is:
Tmd = Pg / ωs (11)
backward equivalent series resistance and leakage reactance
of the rotor referred to the main winding (Ω), Im, Ia, I are the
Where ωs is the synchronous speed (rad/s). The mechanical
main, auxiliary and motor currents, respectively (A), Efm, Ebm
power developed (Pmd ) is given by:
are the self-induced voltages in the main winding by its
Pmd = ( 1 – S ) Pg (12)
forward and backward fluxes, respectively (V), aEfm, aEbm are
the mutually induced voltages in the auxiliary winding by the
Where S is the per unit slip. The output power ( Po ) is:
forward and backward fluxes of the main winding,
Po = Pmd – Prot (13)
respectively (V), Efa , Eba are the self-induced voltages in the
auxiliary winding by its forward and backward fluxes, Where Prot is the rotational losses.
respectively (V), Efa / a, Eba / a, are the mutually induced The two voltage equations (7) and (8) constitute the
voltages in the main winding by the forward and backward steady state mathematical model of the capacitor - run motor.
fluxes of the auxiliary winding, respectively (V). The solution of these equations under any operating point
2.2 Mathematical model gives the main and auxiliary winding currents. Hence, all the
performance characteristics of the motor at the particular
 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 3
Vol. XXX, No. XXX, 2009

load point can be calculated. It should be noted that transformer based scheme exhibits improved power saving
particular load point means a given value for the applied and better input power factor when compared to other
voltage and motor speed [5]. schemes over the entire speed range. Also it is observed
that in the other schemes, increased copper loss due to the

Ia harmonic currents reduces the overall efficiency of the

I Rc Rla Xla
Xc motor. At higher speeds, the THD of motor terminal
a2Rf voltage is high with triac and ac chopper based scheme;
Im Rlm Xlm Efa
Rf hence the efficiency of the motor with the proposed
Ef a2Xf (a) Electronic transformer regulator
electronic scheme remains higher over the entire range of
m Xf
speed.
V -jEfa /a
Rb a2Rb
Ebm Eba
a2Xb
Xb
+jEba /a 300mA/div
i
0[A]

Fig.4. Equivalent circuit of the motor

ii 200V/div

3. Results and analysis

0 [V]

A 230 V, 1350 r/min and 60 W rated typical

domestic fan motor is taken for analysis. For performance 10ms/div
comparison, the waveforms of voltage across the motor
terminals and the current drawn by the motor for schemes
listed above are recorded. Fig.5 shows the voltage and
current waveforms of different voltage regulation methods (i) Current drawn by motor
recorded at a fan speed of 1115 r/min. In the case of triac (i) Current drawn by motor
300mA/div
based regulators and PWM ac choppers with two different (ii) Voltage across motor terminals
i (ii) Voltage across
configurations shown in Fig.1 and 2 there is discontinuity 0[A] motor terminals
in the motor current and an appreciable amount of
200V/div
distortion in the motor terminal voltage is observed. In the Fig. 5. Comparison of current and voltage
proposed electronic transformer based scheme, as voltage waveformsii of Electronic transformer and triac
0 [V]
and current waveforms are sinusoidal, there is an based schemes
improvement in input power factor and efficiency,
reduction in THD is observed. 5ms/div
(b) Triac regulator
Subsequently certain steady-state characteristics .
are plotted as shown in Fig.6 using the values measured at
different speeds. These characteristics include input power
drawn, input power factor, source current, THD and 200/div

harmonic spectrum of motor terminal voltage. The

0[V]
characteristic curves clearly demonstrate the best
performance of the proposed electronic transformer based
scheme as compared to the other schemes. From the
1000mA/div
characteristics curves, it is seen that the electronic 0[A]

20ms/div
(c) Conventional SPWM ac chopper
4 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security,
Vol. XXX, No. XXX, 2009

(b)

200V//div

0[V]

1000mA/div
0[A]

20ms/div
(d) Proposed SPWM ac chopper
Fig.5. Comparison of measured waveforms of different (c)
voltage regulation schemes at 1115 r/min. Fig.6. Performance characteristics

It is seen that there is a saving in power of the order of 8-10

4. Conclusion
W with a single unit of electronic transformer operated The performance of different voltage regulation

motor of rating 60 watts. The use of a large number of such schemes used for speed control of capacitor-run induction

motors with the proposed electronic transformer based motors is discussed. Experimental results show that the

scheme in domestic and small-scale industries will result in electronic transformer based scheme proposed in this paper,

reasonable saving in energy over a period of time. Though has an edge over the triac and ac chopper based schemes.

the proposed scheme is little expensive, it is advisable to go Apart from improvement in performance with respect to

by the scheme as the power saving over a period of time is power factor and total harmonic distortion an appreciable

quite large. The quality of the power supply is improved with amount of energy saving is also obtained in the electronic

the proposed scheme as it reduces the THD of the system. transformer based scheme. Even though the saving in input
power is only a few watts with a single motor, the use of a
large number of capacitor-run fans in domestic and small-
scale industries will result in increased energy saving over a
period of time.

References
[1]. Paice DA. Induction motor speed control by stator
voltage control. IEEE Trans Power Appl Syst 1968; 87(2):
pp.585-91.
[2]. Cattermole DE, Davis RM, Wallace AK. The design
(a)
optimization of a split – phase fan motors with triac
voltage (speed) control. IEEE Trans Power Appl Syst
1975; 94(3): pp.778-85.
[3]. Cattermole DE, Davis RM. Triac voltage (speed) control
for improved performance of split-phase fan motors. IEEE
Trans Power Appl Syst 1975; 94(3): pp.786-91.
 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 5
Vol. XXX, No. XXX, 2009

[4]. Donald W. Novotny, and A. Frederick Fath. The 1992 and M. Tech degree in Power Systems from National
Analysis of Induction Machines Controlled by Series Institue of Technology, nng and theM.Sc (Enggree from
Connected Semiconductor Switches. IEEE Trans power Madras University, Chennai, India in 1972 and 1976
App Syst 1968; 87(2): 597-605. respectively, and the PhD degree in Electrical & Electronics
[5]. Hamid.M.B Metwally. New method for speed control of Engineering from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
single phase induction motor with improved motor in 1991.He is currently the Principal of Akshaya College of
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pp. 941-50. in Electrical & Engineering and the M.Sc (Engg) degree
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K. Samidurai received his B.E degree in

Electrical & Electronics Engineering from
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India in
Tiruchirapalli, India in 2005. Since 2005, Coimbatore, India. His research interests include computer
he has been Assistant Professor in modeling and simulation, computer networking, power
Department of Electrical & Electronics systems and power electronics.
Engineering, Karpagam College of Engineering, Coimbatore,
India. His research interests are in the areas of power quality
(PQ), energy conservation and power electronics. He is
currently working towards his PhD degree at Anna
University, Chennai, India.

Dr. K. Thanushkodi received his B.E

degree in Electrical & Engineering and the
M.Sc (Engg) degree from Madras
University, Chennai, India in 1972 and
1976 respectively, and the PhD degree in
Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Bharathiar
University, Coimbatore, India in 1991.He is currently the
Principal of Akshaya College of Engineering& Technology,