Fifteenth National Power Systems Conference (NPSC), IIT Bombay, December 2008

Application of AC motors and drives in Steel

Industries
A K Paul, I Banerjee, B K Santra and N Neogi
Abstract - This paper deals with a few major application of AC
motors and drives with special controls in steel plants.
Application of AC drives for electrically operated overhead
crane have been discussed in details. Application of AC drives
has reduced the maintenance expenses and a large amount of
power is saved. AC power is also used for high frequency
welding and other special applications. Large numbers of high
power AC motors are used in steel industries which require
control of speed to suit the process requirement. In a steel
plant, power electronics plays an important role in process
improvement and dimensional control of rolled products.
Proper selection of drives not only saves electrical energy but
also produce quality products. Advancements in the field of
drives and control techniques are responsible for improvements
in the quality and yield of steel products.

II.

A. VVVF drive for crane application

Conventional AC operated EOT cranes uses slip ring
induction motor whose rotor windings are connected to
power resistance in 4 to 5 steps by power contactors.
Reversing is done by changing the phase sequence of the
stator supply through line contactors. Braking is achieved by
plugging operation. A crane control system has been
developed and implemented using variable voltage variable
frequency drive and a programmable controller. The main
advantage achieved are precise positioning of the object,
reduction in electrical energy consumption by regenerative
braking, increased motor life by applying low voltage at the
starting and thus reducing in rush current .

Index Terms: Cyclo converter for rolling stand motor, Electro

magnetic stirrer, Power Factor correction, VVVF Drive for
Crane.

I.

AC DRIVES FOR CRANE

A crane with following details has been taken for

experimentation with adjustable frequency drive.
Capacity : Main Hoist 30 T
Auxiliary Hoist: 5 T
Current Collector: Gravity collector, Festoon with double
collector arrangement.
Speed : Traveling
: 80 m/min
Traversing
: 40 m/min
Main hoist
: 8 m/min
Aux. hoist
: 20 m/min

INTRODUCTION

The integrated steel plants are having very large capacity

motors and power electronics devices, which are used during
processing of steel. The process of manufacturing steel
products from iron ore involves Raw material preparation,
Primary reduction, Refining, Casting, Hot and Cold rolling,
Surface coating etc. Energy such as gas and electric power is
required in each of these processes. The motors used in the
primary area (Coke oven, Blast furnace, Steel melting shop)
do not require speed regulation of high order; on the other
hand motors used in finishing mills require speed regulation
of high accuracy.

The motor details are shown in Table-1

The basic requirement of crane drives are (i) Bi directional
movement of the motors, (ii) Regenerative braking facilities,
(iii) Controlled acceleration to reduce the load swing, (iv)
Precise positioning of the load, (v) Torque at Zero speed and
(vi) Safety features.

In most of the steel plant applications, variable speed was

obtained through DC motors driven four quadrant
converters. During modernization, the DC motors and drives
are replaced by AC motors and drives.

A VVVF drive, operated in four quadrant operation and

consisting of one three phase forward converter, one three
phase reverse converter and one transistor based inverter
unit has been developed for crane application. The inverter
output is fed to the stator winding and the rotor windings are
shorted at the slip ring. The reference speed is set to the
speed regulator unit. The drive accepts 0 to + 10 V DC as set
point for forward movement and 0 to 10 V DC for reverse
movement. No pulse tacho / encoder are connected to the LT
/ CT motor for speed feedback. The speed feedback is taken
as (1-s).ns. The value of ns depends on the output frequency
of the inverter.

Large AC power is also used for induction heating in ladle

furnace during secondary refining of steel, high frequency
heating during welding process in a pipe plant. Control of
this power is very important for process control. These
controls are done by application of power electronics.
AC drives are used mostly in primary area (Raw material
handling, Sinter plant, Steel melting shop) in steel plant.
Variable speed AC drives are used in soaking pits and reheat
furnaces. AC motors of very high capacities (4 MW in Sinter
plant and 14.4 MW in the prime mover of MG set in Plate
Mill) are used in steel plants. A few applications are given in
this paper.

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Fifteenth National Power Systems Conference (NPSC), IIT Bombay, December 2008

Each motor of the crane has to sustain 20 nos of start / stop

operation in an hour.
Table-1: Motor details
Motors
Nos Power
in kW
Long Travel

23.5

Speed
in
RPM
965

Cross Travel

5.5

965

415

Main hoist

30

730

415

Aux. hoist

10

736

415

B.

Stator
voltage

Type

415

Slip
Ring
Slip
Ring
Slip
Ring
Slip
Ring

ii) Precise positioning of the hook at very low speed

operation is possible. With rotor resistance control
operator has to reverse the motor a few times for
positioning
iii) During braking, the drive regenerates and power is fed
back to busbar through current collector
iv) All controls and safety interlocks are done in a
Programmable controller and thereby the panel size is
small.
v) Easy of maintenance as the faults are indicated on the
display board
vi) High starting torque.
Table-2: LT drive steady state behavior
Master
Speed
Reference Motor
Controller reference frequency Speed
Position
voltage
of drive
in
from PLC
RPM
Neutral
0.0
0.0
0
Left-1
-1.8
9.1
175
(RBY)
Left-2
-3.7
18.3
351
(RBY)
Left-3
-7.0
35.0
675
(RBY)
Left-4
-10.0
50.0
960
(RBY)
Right-1
1.8
9.1
174
(RYB)
Right-2
3.7
18.3
349
(RYB)
Right-3
7.0
35.0
675
(RYB)
Right-4
10.0
50.0
958
(RYB)

LT Drive capacity selected;

Motor: 23.5 kW X 2 Nos.

VVVF drive capacity: 120 kVA
Type: Four quadrant operation with regenerative facility
Converter unit: 3 Phase thyristor bridge
Inverter unit: 2 series connected power transistor with anti
parallel diode.
DC link capacitor: electrolytic type
Continuous output: 150 kVA
Rated current: 165 Amps
Overload capacity: 50% for 60 sec
LT Drive steady state behavior is shown in Table-2.
C.

LT Drive acceleration time

During initial trial period, the acceleration time was kept at

15 sec. After several trials it was reduced to 8 sec. It was
observed that further reduction of time swings the load
heavily and load starts oscillating.
D.

LT drive deceleration time

During initial trial period, the acceleration time was kept at

40 sec. After several trials it was reduced to 10 sec. It was
observed that further reduction of time swings the load
heavily and load starts oscillating.
E.

III.

0.0
25.6
24.6
23.4
23.0
25.4
24.3
23.1
22.4

AC DRIVE FOR ROLLING STAND

MOTOR

AC synchronous motors are used for driving the roughing

stand rolls in a rolling mill. Synchronous motors are used
when power requirement is very high and speed of rolling is
low. The R0/V0 stand motors of Hot Strip Mill of Rourkela
Steel Plant are synchronous motor. These motors are driven
by cyclo converter. The capacity of R0 stand motors are 3
MW x 2 Nos, 953 Volt, 1121 Amps, 70 RPM. The capacity
of V0 stand motors are 1 MW X 2 Nos at 953 volt. The
cyclo converter output frequency is 5-15 Hz. The following
technological benefits have been obtained from these drives;
i) Speed regulation is precise
ii) The control system is having high dynamic response

LT drive transient behavior

LT motor transient current

Position-0 to Position-1 Acceleration current 76 Amps
Position-1 to Position-2, Acceleration current 48 Amps
Position-2 to Position-3, Acceleration current 36 Amps
Position-3 to Position-4, Acceleration current 32 Amps
F.

Steady state
current of
both motors

Technological Benefits

The following are the technological benefit over

conventional rotor resistance control
i) Savings in electrical power as there is no loss in rotor
resistance

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Fifteenth National Power Systems Conference (NPSC), IIT Bombay, December 2008

iii) The over load capacity of the drive is very high and
hence the number of tripping due to over load is very
less.
IV.

V.

SPECIAL APPLICATION

Other than drive system, there are several special

applications where power electronics is used in steel plants.
A few of them are described below:

AC DRIVE REQUIREMENT FOR LARGE

MACHINES

A.

A. Exhauster of Sinter Plant II of Durgapur Steel Plant

Electro magnetic stirrer

During casting of billets and blooms the liquid steel is stirred

to improve the quality of cast product. A stirrer acts like a
stator of an AC motor. It is fed by 3 phase or 2 phase power
supply and a rotating magnetic field is created. The rotating
magnetic field induces a torque in the liquid steel of the
billet or bloom passing through the mould. The liquid steel
acts like a rotor of an AC motor and rotates around the axis
of the cast products in a plane perpendicular to the casting
direction.

The Sinter Plant-II of DSP has two exhausters to suck air

through sinter machine. The suction pressure is around 1500
mm WC. The installed electrical load is 21 MW. The
average energy consumption at rated capacity is 13-14 MW,
out of which 8 MW is consumed in the exhausters. The
power line frequency varies from 49 to 53 Hz. When the
frequency is high (say 53 Hz), motor speed increases to 1060
RPM and the blade speed increases to 1442 RPM. With this
speed load on the exhauster motor increases and
consequently stator current increases. When the current
increases above safe limit, the motor trips. Such a trip causes
a delay of around 1 hour. Each synchronous motor is rated
for 4670 kVA, Stator 11kV, 244 A, Rotor 78 V, 295 A,
Cos = 0.9. During high frequency, the load on the
machine is reduced by closing the damper in the suction line.

Coil

These synchronous motors are excited in such a way that it

draws leading current so that the overall power factor of the
plant is nearer to unity.

Coil

A variable frequency drive to suit this motor capacity shall

help to control the suction by varying the supply frequency.
This shall stabilize the plant.
B. Compressors of Oxygen Plant of Durgapur Steel Plant

Fig. 1 - Principle of
rotative stirring

The capacity of oxygen plant is 700 t/day. The plant consists

of two numbers of air separation units each of capacity 350
t/day. There are two air compressors for 2 air separation
unit. Each air compressor is driven by synchronous motor of
rating 11 kV, 6 MW, 0.9 pf lead. There are three oxygen
compressors, driven by synchronous motor of rating 11 kV,
1700 kW, 0.9 pf lead. There are two nitrogen compressors
driven by induction motor of rating 11 kV, 1320 kW. At
higher frequency above 50 Hz, the plant becomes unstable.
The plant is made stable by changing vent and by this way
specific power consumption increases. There is no provision
for regulating the speed of the compressors at higher
frequency.

A rotating stirrer induces axial symmetrical forces creating a

torque over the whole section of the liquid pool, whatever
the size of the liquid pool is and even if the strand is not
centered inside the stirrer. It follows that all the forces
induces within the whole section of the liquid pool and
consequently the full power induced inside liquid pool
contributes to the stirring of the liquid steel. The frequency
of the supply varies from 3-10 Hz depending on the stirrer.
The principle of rotating stirrer is shown in Fig.1.
The scheme for generating the rotating magnetic field
consists of converting AC power to DC power and then DC
power to a variable frequency AC power. The main units are
(i) Converter transformer, (ii) Diode bridge for AC to DC
and (iii) Inverter bridge for DC to AC. A schematic diagram
of the power line is shown in Fig 2. A stirrer system installed
in continuous casting plant of DSP is having the following
specification.

Variable frequency drives to suit these motor capacities shall

help to control the process by varying the supply frequency.

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Fifteenth National Power Systems Conference (NPSC), IIT Bombay, December 2008

Converter: Input 415 V + 10%, Output 350 V, 180 kVA, 400

A

plant of DSP, has been tuned to achieve minimum stator

current. The result shows a decrease in stator current and
elimination of unwanted tripping during high frequency. A
typical curve is shown in Fig 4.

Coil: 100 kVA at 400 A

350V

Driver

Driver

415V, 3-Ph

473 V

Driver

V
To stirrer coil

Fig. 2 - Power Scheme of electro magnetic stirrer

B. Variable voltage fixed frequency inverter for magnetic
amplifier replacement
A system has been developed for a three-phase AC to single
phase AC inverter that produces a regulated AC voltage as
per the reference voltage. These inverters are having several
applications in steel rolling mill where the speeds of
successive stands are to be proportional in steady state and
in transient conditions. The system consists of a converter
transformer, three-phase diode rectifier, DC link capacitors,
control voltage generation scheme, a single-phase inverter
and an inverter transformer. The application of such an
inverter has been demonstrated in wire rod mill of Bhilai
Steel Plant. The similar inverter can be used for control
application in a continuous rolling mill. A single line
diagram of the rectifier inverter system is shown in Fig 3.
VI.

VII.

CONCLUSION

Very large capacity motors are used in steel industries. It

requires various types of special drives to meet the quality
requirement. Power Electronics and control system requires
implementation in steel industries to sustain the customers
quality requirement.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to the Electro Technical Lab
department of Bhilai, Durgapur & Bokaro Steel Plant and
Electronics Engineering Department of Rourkela Steel Plant
for extending detailed information in preparing this paper.
The authors express their gratitude to the management of
SAIL for the support provided in preparation of this paper.

TECHNO ECONOMIC IMPACT

References

A. Tuning of excitation of large synchronous machine for

Power factor correction

[1] Frederick L Hoadley, AC drive for critical

applications, Iron and Steel Engineer, November 1994,
pp 30-35.
[2] Thomas F Lowery, David W Petro Application
Consideration for PWM Inverter Fed Low Voltage
Induction Motors, IEEE transaction s on Industry
applications, Vol 30, No 2, March / April 1994, pp 286293.

In a synchronous motor, delivering constant mechanical

power when energized from a source of constant voltage and
constant frequency, the stator current is a function of field
excitation. At unity power factor, current drawn in the HT
line is minimum. The excitation of 4 MW, 11 kV
synchronous motor, used as a suction device in the sinter

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Fifteenth National Power Systems Conference (NPSC), IIT Bombay, December 2008

415 V, 3 , 50 Hz.

415 / 315 V
4.4 KVA, Y-

T1

HRC Fuse, 16 A

Diode 600 V 20 A

e=f (Vc)

Vc

Vf

HRC Fuse, 32 A
IGBT
MODULE

TEST
VOLTAGE
FIRING
MODULE
FREQENCY
SET

175 / 175 V
1.75 KVA

T2

175 V, 10 A,
50 Hz.
Fig. 3 - Single line diagram of the rectifier inverter system

Stator Current in Amps

[3] Prashant Gupta, Asoke Kumar Paul, S Bhattacharya, N

Neogi and D Mukherjee, Design of digital controller
for tension control of coiler drive in tandem cold rolling
mill, Published in Steel India, Vol 27, No 1, April
2004, page 10-14.
235
230
225
220
215
210
205
210

230

250

[4] A. K. Paul, S. Mazumdar, B. K. Santra and G. J.

Mahajan, Status of power Electronics in SAIL,
Presented in National Workshop on Power Electronics,
Industry academic interaction. Held at IISc, Bangalore,
23-24 July, 1998.
[5] A. K. Paul, S. C. Khan, G. J. Mahajan, S. Mishra, N.
Neogi, G. S. Sangar and S. Sinha. On-line control of
looping in a wire rod mill. Published in ASIA Steel,
1996.
[6] A. K. Paul, M. Gangadharan, S. Mazumdar, N. Neogi.
AC Operated EOT Crane Control with Variable
Voltage Variable Frequency Drive. Proceedings of
IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics,
Drives & Energy systems for Industrial growth. Held at
IIT, Delhi, 8-11 January, 1996.

270

Rotor current in Amps

The authors are with Research & Development Centre for Iron and
Steel, Steel Authority of India Limited, Ranchi 834002. E-mail:
akpaul@sail-rdcis.com

Fig.4 - Variation of Stator current with rotor

current

163