LECON SYSTEMS

Effects of unbalance voltage on induction motor current and its

operation performance

K.V. Vamsi Krishna

Lecon Systems

Power system unbalance is a common phenomenon in electrical grids especially in case

of 11KV systems. Reasons for unbalance are

• Incomplete transposition of transmission lines

• Open delta transformer connections
• Single phase loads
• Blown fuses on capacitor banks
• Railway traction loads

Induction motor being the most popular one in the industry, it is very important to carry
out studies about the effects of power quality in the efficiency and reliability of induction
motors. The paper tries to study the effect of voltage unbalance on the motor 3-phase
currents. It further studies heating in the motor windings and necessary derating that is
required. It also studies the effect of voltage unbalance on the motor torque, efficiency.

Methodology of analysis

• To study the voltage unbalance we resolve the motor unbalance 3-phase voltages
in to positive sequence voltages and negative sequence voltages by the method of
symmetrical components.
• We apply this positive sequence and negative sequence voltages to respective
induction motor equivalent circuits.
• We arrive at positive sequence current and negative sequence current.
• Then we arrive at 3Φ currents and current unbalance factor.
• We study the effect of voltage unbalance on reduction in motor torque and its
additional heating, and reduced efficiency.

Definitions of voltage unbalance:

Line voltage unbalance LVUR (%) ratio is defined as

…..(1)

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Phase voltage unbalance ratio PVUR(%) is defined as

……(2)

Voltage unbalance factor VUF% is defined as:

…….(3)

Where

…….(4)

…….(5)

Positive and Negative sequence equivalent circuits

If the voltages applied to the terminals of a three phase induction motor are unbalanced,
the motor performance will be modified. The most direct approach to the problem is by
the analysis of the set of unbalanced voltages into two symmetrical sets of balanced
voltages of positive and negative phase-sequence respectively. Each set produces
corresponding balanced currents, and the synthesis of the two sets of current vectors
represents the actual currents produced in the three stator phases by the original
unbalanced voltages. The behaviour of the machine to the positive -sequence voltage is
essentially the same as for normal balanced operation. The negative sequence voltages
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however, set up a reverse rotating field, so that if the rotor slip is S with respect to the
positive sequence field, it will be (2-S) relative to the negative sequence field. The
equivalent circuits of the induction motor for each sequence are shown in figures 1 and
2.The motor behaves as the addition of two separate motors, one running at slip S with a
terminal voltage of V1 per phase and the other running with a slip of (2-S) and a terminal
voltage of V2 .

Fig 1

Fig 2

Where

V1 Positive sequence voltage

V2 Negative sequence voltage
Ip Positive sequence current
In Negative sequence current
X1 stator reactance
X’2 rotor reactance referred to stator
R1 stator resistance
R’2 rotor resistance referred to stator
Xm magnetizing reactance
S slip

The positive and negative sequence currents are functions of their sequence voltages, the
motor parameters and the slip S. Thus using the equation given below the currents Ip and
In are obtained using the respective sequence voltages and motor parameters and
including the dependence of slip.

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…….(6)

Xm value is neglected.

…….(7)

Using the Positive and negative sequence currents the three phase stator currents can be
found and the current unbalance factor can be found by using the formula below.

Current unbalance factor % CUF :

It is defined as the ratio of negative sequence current (In) and positive sequence current
(Ip).

…….(8)
The 3 phase stator currents currents can be found by using the symmetrical components
method as below. Where Ia, Ib and Ic are the stator currents in a, b and c phases
respectively.

Ia = Ip+ In

Ib = aIp + a2In

Ic = a2Ip + aIn ……(9)

The reduction of output power and motor torque due to unbalance voltage can be studied
from fig 2 and fig 3 as follows

…….(10)

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In the above equation for power output of the motor component (1) is the power output on
the balanced condition i.e. when there is only positive sequence component exist and the
component (2) is the power due to negative sequence component alone. We can see that
the output power gets reduced due to negative sequence current.

………(11)
Note the reduction in output torque due to the negative sequence current where ωsyn is
the synchronous speed. Using the equation above and by equivalent circuits in fig 1 and
fig 2 the positive and negative sequence torque-speed curves may be plotted as shown in
fig 3.The upper curve is the torque due to positive sequence component of current and the
lower curve is the torque due to negative sequence component of current.

The positive sequence torque resembles the torque of an induction motor operating from a
balanced supply. Normal operation is between zero speed and synchronous speed. The
counter rotating field produced by the negative sequence currents produces a negative
sequence torque, with a peak in 3rd quadrant. The net shaft torque produced by the
machine will be somewhat less than that produced by a balanced supply i.e. the entire
envelope of the torque speed curve is reduced.

Torque (Nm)

-ns1 ns1
500
-
Speed (rpm)

Fig 3

Effects of negative sequence component on performance of induction motor:

• The motor will take longer time to run up .

• Increases the thermal stress in the motor which lead to loss in life.

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• The net torque is reduced and if full load is still demanded, then the motor will be
forced to operate at a higher slip, thus increasing the rotor losses and heat
dissipation.
• The reduction in the peak torque reduces the ability of motor to ride through dips
and sags, thus affecting the stability of the entire system.

Premature failure can only be prevented by derating of the machine to allow it to operate
within the thermal limitations.

Derating of the induction machine:

In order to prevent the motor overheating due to unbalanced voltages the motor has to be
operated below its rated output power which is called derating of the induction motor. As
per NEMA guidelines, operating a motor for any length of time at voltage unbalance
above 5% is not recommended. Any amount of unbalance makes a motor run hotter. The
NEMA standard says that once unbalance reaches 5%, the temperature begins to rise so
fast that protection from damage becomes impractical. The simplest protection as
proposed by the NEMA standard, is to derate the motor-to reduce its output horsepower
load so it can tolerate the extra heating imposed by the unbalanced supply. one of the way
to develop a derating curve is as below.

Based on NEMA’s tests on variety of motors for balanced voltages suggests that

……(12)

And when voltages are unbalanced, the percent increase in temperature rise equals about
twice the square of the percent voltage unbalance. This can be defined by the following
relation:

…..(13)

The above relation can be used to find the percent load for operating under various
unbalanced conditions (percent unbalance).the derating necessary to hold the temperature
rise to the machine specifications can be determined. This derating curve for unbalance is
given in fig 4.At 5% unbalance for example the motor should not operate at more than
77% of its rated output.

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Fig 4 1

0.9

Derating 0.8
Factor (%)
0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Voltage unbalance (%)

The above phenomenon can be explained through the following example

A 3-phase 7.5 KW, 220V (L-L), 60Hz, 6 pole star connected induction motor is
considered and has the following parameters:

R1=0.294Ω
R2'=0.144Ω
X1=0.503Ω
X2'=0.209Ω
Xm=13.25Ω

The method of symmetrical components is used to do the calculations where ‘a’ is an

operator having value 1∟120.

The 3 phase unbalance voltages applied to the above induction motor are considered as

Va=127∟0
Vb=110∟120
Vc=100∟240.

The phase voltage unbalance factor i.e. PVUR(%) is calculated by using equation (2) and
the value obtained is 13.39%.

The positive sequence voltage and negative sequence voltages are calculated by using
equations (4) and (5). The values obtained w.r.t. R phase are V1=112∟0 Volts and
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V2=7.88∟-21.4 Volts. The voltage unbalance factor VUF (%) is calculated by using the
equation (3) and the value obtained is 7.03%.

The positive sequence voltage is applied to the positive sequence equivalent circuit in
fig1by taking slip S=0.03 and positive sequence current (Ip) is calculated by using the
equation (6) and the value of Ip=22.72∟-26.24 amps.

Similarly negative sequence voltage is calculated and is applied to negative sequence

equivalent circuit in fig2 by taking slip S=0.03 and the negative sequence current is
calculated by using the equation (7) and the value of In=9.899∟-84.16 amps.

The three phase currents of induction motor are calculated by using equation (9) and their
values are Ia=29.20∟-42.92 amps and Ib=28.72∟111.49amps and Ic=12.83∟-
147amps.The current unbalance factor is calculated by using equation (8) and its value is
43.56%.

Conclusion:

• Even a small voltage unbalance will result in large current unbalance during
the running of motor by a factor of 6 times.
• Negative phase sequence components will lead to heating of motor
• Negative phase sequence currents leads to reduction in motor output torque.
• Motor is forced to run at higher slip leading to increased rotor loss and
reduced efficiency.
• Electricity boards should look in to this phenomenon seriously where
irrigation pump sets suffer the voltage imbalance, even 1% loss of efficiency
for the country like India would mean a great loss. 5 HP irrigation pump sets
with a quantity of 6 Lakh approximate, the loss of power would be 22MW and
annual wastage of Rs.47.5 millions (At 3 Rs/unit, 4 Hrs of Pump working and
6 month’s season).

Acknowledgement:

We sincerely thank Shri Prafulla Deo for his guidance in preparing this paper.

References:

• M.G.Say “The performance and design of alternating current machines”.

• Yaw-Juen Wang, “Analysis of effects of three phase voltage unbalance on
induction motors with Emphasis on the Angle of the complex voltage
unbalance factor”, IEEE Transaction on energy conversion ,Vol 16,No3
,September2001
• Enrique Quipse, ”Influence of unbalanced and waveform voltage on the
performance characteristics of three phase induction motor”.
• Ching-Yin Lee, “Effects of unbalanced voltage on the operation performance
of a three phase induction motor”. IEEE Transaction on energy conversion
,Vol 14,No2 ,June 1999.

LECON SYSTEMS, G34, Kushal Garden Arcade, 1A, II Phase, Peenya Industrial Area, Bangalore-58. Ph: 080-39283220-4, email:engineering@leconsystem.com