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MotorStartingOpenElectrical

MotorStarting
FromOpenElectrical

Contents
1Introduction
1.1Whydothecalculation?
1.2Whentodothecalculation?
2CalculationMethodology
2.1Step1:ConstructSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
2.2Step2:CalculateEquipmentImpedances
2.2.1NetworkFeeders
2.2.2SynchronousGenerators
2.2.3Transformers
2.2.4Cables
2.2.5StandingLoads
2.2.6Motors
2.3Step3:ReferringImpedances
2.4Step4:ConstructtheEquivalentCircuit
2.5Step5:CalculatetheInitialSourceEMF
2.6Step6:CalculateSystemVoltagesDuringMotorStart
3WorkedExample
3.1Step1:ConstructSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
3.2Step2:CalculateEquipmentImpedances
3.3Step3:ReferringImpedances
3.4Step4:ConstructtheEquivalentCircuit
3.5Step5:CalculatetheInitialSourceEMF
3.6Step6:CalculateSystemVoltagesDuringMotorStart
4ComputerSoftware
5WhatNext?

Introduction
Thisarticleconsidersthetransienteffectsofmotorstartingonthesystemvoltage.Usuallyonlythelargest
motoronabusorsystemismodelled,butthecalculationcaninprinciplebeusedforanymotor.It's
importanttonotethatmotorstartingisatransientpowerflowproblemandisnormallydoneiterativelyby
computersoftware.Howeverastaticmethodisshownhereforfirstpassestimatesonly.

Whydothecalculation?
Whenamotorisstarted,ittypicallydrawsacurrent67timesitsfullloadcurrentforashortduration
(commonlycalledthelockedrotorcurrent).Duringthistransientperiod,thesourceimpedanceisgenerally
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assumedtobefixedandtherefore,alargeincreasein
currentwillresultinalargervoltagedropacrossthe
sourceimpedance.Thismeansthattherecanbelarge
momentaryvoltagedropssystemwide,fromthepower
source(e.g.transformerorgenerator)throughthe
intermediarybuses,allthewaytothemotorterminals.
Asystemwidevoltagedropcanhaveanumberof
adverseeffects,forexample:
Equipmentwithminimumvoltage
tolerances(e.g.electronics)may
malfunctionorbehaveaberrantly
Undervoltageprotectionmaybetripped
Themotoritselfmaynotstartastorqueis
proportionaltothesquareofthestator
voltage,soareducedvoltageequalslower
torque.Inductionmotorsaretypically
designedtostartwithaterminalvoltage>80%

Figure1.Highvoltagemotor(courtesyofABB)

Whentodothecalculation?
Thiscalculationismoreorlessdonetoverifythatthelargestmotordoesnotcausesystemwideproblems
uponstarting.Thereforeitshouldbedoneafterpreliminarysystemdesigniscomplete.Thefollowing
prerequisiteinformationisrequired:
Keysinglelinediagrams
Preliminaryloadschedule
Tolerablevoltagedroplimitsduringmotorstarting,whicharetypicallyprescribedbytheclient

CalculationMethodology
ThiscalculationisbasedonstandardimpedanceformulaeandOhm'slaw.Totheauthor'sknowledge,there
arenointernationalstandardsthatgovernvoltagedropcalculationsduringmotorstart.
Itshouldbenotedthattheproposedmethodisnot100%accuratebecauseitisastaticcalculation.In
reality,thevoltagelevelsarefluctuatingduringatransientcondition,andthereforesoaretheloadcurrents
drawnbythestandingloads.Thismakesitessentiallyaloadflowproblemandamoreprecisesolution
wouldsolvetheloadflowproblemiteratively,forexampleusingtheNewtonRhapsonorGaussSiedel
algorithms.Notwithstanding,theproposedmethodissuitablyaccurateforafirstpasssolution.
Thecalculationhasthefollowingsixgeneralsteps:
Step1:Constructthesystemmodelandassembletherelevantequipmentparameters
Step2:Calculatetherelevantimpedancesforeachequipmentiteminthemodel
Step3:Referallimpedancestoareferencevoltage
Step4:Constructtheequivalentcircuitforthevoltagelevelsofinterest
Step5:Calculatetheinitialsteadystatesourceemfbeforemotorstarting
Step6:Calculatethesystemvoltagesduringmotorstart
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Step1:ConstructSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
Thefirststepistoconstructasimplifiedmodelofthesystemsinglelinediagram,andthencollectthe
relevantequipmentparameters.Themodelofthesinglelinediagramneedonlyshowthebusesofinterest
inthemotorstartingcalculation,e.g.theupstreamsourcebus,themotorbusandpossiblyanyintermediate
ordownstreambusesthatmaybeaffected.Allrunningloadsareshownaslumpedloadsexceptforthe
motortobestartedasitisassumedthatthesystemisinasteadystatebeforemotorstart.
Therelevantequipmentparameterstobecollectedareasfollows:
Networkfeeders:faultcapacityofthenetwork(VA),X/Rratioofthenetwork
Generators:perunittransientreactance,ratedgeneratorcapacity(VA)
Transformers:transformerimpedancevoltage(%),ratedtransformercapacity(VA),rated
current(A),totalcopperloss(W)
Cables:lengthofcable(m),resistanceandreactanceofcable(
)
Standingloads:ratedloadcapacity(VA),averageloadpowerfactor(pu)
Motor:fullloadcurrent(A),lockedrotorcurrent(A),ratedpower(W),fullloadpowerfactor
(pu),startingpowerfactor(pu)

Step2:CalculateEquipmentImpedances
Usingthecollectedparameters,eachoftheequipmentitemimpedancescanbecalculatedforlaterusein
themotorstartingcalculations.
NetworkFeeders
Giventheapproximatefaultlevelofthenetworkfeederattheconnectionpoint(orpointofcommon
coupling),theimpedance,resistanceandreactanceofthenetworkfeederiscalculatedasfollows:

Where

isimpedanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isresistanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isreactanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isthenominalvoltageattheconnectionpoint(Vac)
isthefaultlevelofthenetworkfeeder(VA)
isavoltagefactorwhichaccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)

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isX/Rratioofthenetworkfeeder(pu)
SynchronousGenerators
Thetransientresistanceandreactanceofasynchronousgeneratorcanbeestimatedbythefollowing:

Where

isthetransientreactanceofthegenerator()
istheresistanceofthegenerator()
isavoltagecorrectionfactor(pu)
istheperunittransientreactanceofthegenerator(pu)
isthenominalgeneratorvoltage(Vac)
isthenominalsystemvoltage(Vac)
istheratedgeneratorcapacity(VA)
istheX/Rratio,typically20for

100MVA,14.29for

100MVA,and6.67for

allgeneratorswithnominalvoltage
1kV
isavoltagefactorwhichaccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)
isthepowerfactorofthegenerator(pu)
Transformers
Theimpedance,resistanceandreactanceoftwowindingtransformerscanbecalculatedasfollows:

Where

istheimpedanceofthetransformer()
istheresistanceofthetransformer()

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isthereactanceofthetransformer()
istheimpedancevoltageofthetransformer(pu)
istheratedcapacityofthetransformer(VA)
isthenominalvoltageofthetransformeratthehighorlowvoltageside(Vac)
istheratedcurrentofthetransformeratthehighorlowvoltageside(I)
isthetotalcopperlossinthetransformerwindings(W)
Cables
CableimpedancesareusuallyquotedbymanufacturersintermsofOhmsperkm.Theseneedtobe
convertedtoOhmsbasedonthelengthofthecables:

Where

istheresistanceofthecable{)
isthereactanceofthecable{)
isthequotedresistanceofthecable{/km)
isthequotedreactanceofthecable{/km)
isthelengthofthecable{m)

StandingLoads
Standingloadsarelumpedloadscomprisingallloadsthatareoperatingonaparticularbus,excludingthe
motortobestarted.Standingloadsforeachbusneedtobecalculated.
Theimpedance,resistanceandreactanceofthestandingloadiscalculatedby:

Where

istheimpedanceofthestandingload{)
istheresistanceofthestandingload{)
isthereactanceofthestandingload{)
isthestandingloadnominalvoltage(Vac)
isthestandingloadapparentpower(VA)
istheaverageloadpowerfactor(pu)

Motors
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Themotor'stransientimpedance,resistanceandreactanceiscalculatedasfollows:

Where

istransientimpedanceofthemotor()
istransientresistanceofthemotor()
istransientreactanceofthemotor()
isratioofthelockedrotortofullloadcurrent
isthemotorlockedrotorcurrent(A)
isthemotornominalvoltage(Vac)
isthemotorratedpower(W)
isthemotorfullloadpowerfactor(pu)
isthemotorstartingpowerfactor(pu)

Step3:ReferringImpedances
Wheretherearemultiplevoltagelevels,theequipmentimpedancescalculatedearlierneedtobeconverted
toareferencevoltage(typicallytheHVside)inorderforthemtobeusedinasingleequivalentcircuit.
Thewindingratioofatransformercanbecalculatedasfollows:

Where

isthetransformerwindingratio
isthetransformernominalsecondaryvoltageattheprincipaltap(Vac)
isthetransformernominalprimaryvoltage(Vac)
isthespecifiedtapsetting(%)

Usingthewindingratio,impedances(aswellasresistancesandreactances)canbereferredtotheprimary
(HV)sideofthetransformerbythefollowingrelation:

Where

istheimpedancereferredtotheprimary(HV)side()
istheimpedanceatthesecondary(LV)side()
isthetransformerwindingratio(pu)

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Conversely,byrearrangingtheequationabove,impedancescanbereferredtotheLVside:

Step4:ConstructtheEquivalentCircuit
Theequivalentcircuitessentiallyconsistsofavoltagesource
(fromanetworkfeederorgenerator)plusasetofcomplex
impedancesrepresentingthepowersystemequipmentand
loadimpedances.
Thenextstepistosimplifythecircuitintoaformthatis
nearlytheThveninequivalentcircuit

Figure2."Near"Thveninequivalentcircuit

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9venin%27s_theorem),withacircuitcontainingonlyavoltage
source( ),sourceimpedance(
)andequivalentloadimpedance(
).
Thiscanbedoneusingthestandardformulaeforseriesandparallelimpedances,keepinginmindthatthe
rulesofcomplexarithmeticmustbeusedthroughout.Thissimplificationtoa"Near"Thveninequivalent
circuitshouldbedonebothwiththemotoroff(opencircuit)andthemotorinastartingcondition.

Step5:CalculatetheInitialSourceEMF
Assumingthatthesystemisinitiallyinasteadystatecondition,weneedtofirstcalculatetheinitialemf
producedbythepowersource(i.e.feederconnectionpointorgeneratorterminals).Thisvoltagewillbe
usedinthetransientcalculations(Step6)astheinitialsourcevoltage.
Assumptionsregardingthesteadystatecondition:
Thesourcepointofcommoncoupling(PCC)isatitsnominalvoltage
Themotorisswitchedoff
AllstandingloadsareoperatingatthecapacitycalculatedinStep2
AlltransformertapsaresetatthosespecifiedinStep2
Thesystemisatasteadystate,i.e.thereisnoswitchingtakingplacethroughoutthesystem
SinceweassumethatthereisnominalvoltageatthePCC,theinitialsourceemfcanbecalculatedby
voltagedivider:

Where

istheinitialemfofthepowersource(Vac)

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isthenominalvoltage(Vac)
isthesourceimpedance()
istheequivalentloadimpedancewiththemotorswitchedoff()

Step6:CalculateSystemVoltagesDuringMotorStart
Itisassumedinthiscalculationthatduringmotorstarting,theinitialsourceemfcalculatedinStep5
remainsconstantthatis,thepowersourcedoesnotreactduringthetransientperiod.Thisisasimplifying
assumptioninordertoavoidhavingtomodelthetransientbehaviourofthepowersource.
Next,weneedtocalculatetheoverallsystemcurrentthatissuppliedbythepowersourceduringthemotor
startingperiod.Todothis,weusethe"Near"Theveninequivalentcircuitderivedearlier,butnowinclude
themotorstartingimpedance.Anewequivalentloadimpedanceduringmotorstarting
willbe
calculated.
Thecurrentsuppliedbythepowersourceistherefore:

Where

isthesystemcurrentsuppliedbythesource(A)
istheinitialsourceemf(Vac)
istheequivalentloadimpedanceduringmotorstart()
isthesourceimpedance()

Thevoltageatthesourcepointofcommoncoupling(PCC)is:

Where

isthevoltageatthepointofcommoncoupling(Vac)
istheinitialsourceemf(Vac)
isthesystemcurrentsuppliedbythesource(A)
isthesourceimpedance()

ThedownstreamvoltagescannowbecalculatedbyvoltagedivisionandsimpleapplicationofOhm'slaw.
Specifically,we'dliketoknowthevoltageatthemotorterminalsandanybusesofinterestthatcouldbe
affected.Ensurethatthevoltagesareacceptablywithintheprescribedlimits,otherwisefurtheractionneeds
tobetaken(refertotheWhat'sNext?section).

WorkedExample
Theworkedexamplehereisaverysimplepowersystemwithtwovoltagelevelsandsuppliedbyasingle
generator.Whileunrealistic,itdoesmanagetodemonstratethekeyconceptspertainingtomotorstarting
calculations.
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Step1:ConstructSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
Thepowersystemhastwovoltagelevels,11kVand
415V,andisfedviaasingle4MVAgenerator(G1).The
11kVbushasastandingloadof950kVA(S1)andwe
wanttomodeltheeffectsofstartinga250kWmotor
(M1).Thereisastandingloadof600kVAat415V(S2),
suppliedbya1.6MVAtransformer(TX1).The
equipmentandcableparametersareasfollows:
Equipment

GeneratorG1

Parameters
=4,000kVA
=11,000V
=0.33pu
=0.85pu

GeneratorCableC1

Length=50m
Size=500mm2

Figure3.Simplifiedsystemmodelformotor
startingexample

(R=0.0522\km,X=0.0826
\km)

11kVStandingLoad
S1

MotorM1

MotorCableC2

=950kVA
=11,000V
=0.84pu

=250kW
=11,000V
=106.7A
=6.5pu
=0.85pu
=0.30pu

Length=150m
Size=35mm2
(R=0.668\km,X=0.115
\km)

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=1,600kVA
=11,000V
=415V
=0.06pu
=12,700W
=0%

TransformerTX1

TransformerCable
C3

Length=60m
Size=120mm2
(R=0.196\km,X=0.096
\km)

415VStandingLoad
S2

=600kVA
=415V
=0.80pu

Step2:CalculateEquipmentImpedances
Usingthepatametersaboveandtheequationsoutlinedearlierinthemethodology,thefollowing
impedanceswerecalculated:
Equipment

Resistance() Reactance()

GeneratorG1

0.65462

9.35457

GeneratorCableC1

0.00261

0.00413

11kVStandingLoadS1

106.98947

69.10837

MotorM1

16.77752

61.02812

MotorCableC2

0.1002

0.01725

TransformerTX1(PrimarySide)

0.60027

4.49762

TransformerCableC3

0.01176

0.00576

415VStandingLoadS2

0.22963

0.17223

Step3:ReferringImpedances
11kVwillbeusedasthereferencevoltage.Theonlyimpedancethatneedstobereferredtothisreference
voltageisthe415VStandingLoad(S2).Knowingthatthetransformerissetatprincipaltap,wecan
calculatethewindingratioandapplyittoreferthe415VStandingLoadimpedancetothe11kVside:
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Theresistanceandreactanceofthestandingloadreferredtothe11kVsideisnow,R=161.33333andX
=121.00.

Step4:ConstructtheEquivalentCircuit
Theequivalentcircuitforthesystemis
showninthefiguretotheright.The
"Near"Theveninequivalentcircuitis
alsoshown,andwenowcalculatethe
equivalentloadimpedance
inthe
steadystatecondition(i.e.withoutthe
motorandmotorcableimpedances
included):
Figure4.Equivalentcircuitformotorstartingexample

Similarlytheequivalentloadimpedanceduringmotorstarting(withthemotorimpedancesincluded)canbe
calculatedasasfollows:

Step5:CalculatetheInitialSourceEMF
Assumingthatthereisnominalvoltageatthe11kVbusinthe
steadystatecondition,theinitialgeneratoremfcanbe
calculatedbyvoltagedivider:

Figure5."Near"Theveninequivalentcircuit
formotorstartingexample
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Vac

Step6:CalculateSystemVoltagesDuringMotorStart
Nowwecancalculatethetransienteffectsofmotorstartingonthesystemvoltages.Firstly,thecurrent
suppliedbythegeneratorduringmotorstartiscalculated:

Next,thevoltageatthe11kVbuscanbefound:

Vac(or87.98%ofnominalvoltage)
Thevoltageatthemotorterminalscanthenbefoundbyvoltagedivider:

Vac(or87.92%ofnominalvoltage)
Thevoltageatthelowvoltagebusis:

Vac,thenreferredtotheLVside=
359.39Vac(or86.60%ofnominalvoltage)
Anyothervoltagesofinterestonthesystemcanbedeterminedusingthesamemethodsasabove.
Supposethatourmaximumvoltagedropatthemotorterminalsis15%.Fromabove,wehavefoundthatthe
voltagedropis12.08%atthemotorterminals.Thisisaslightlymarginalresultanditmaybeprudentto
simulatethesysteminasoftwarepackagetoconfirmtheresults.

ComputerSoftware
Motorstartingisastandardcomponentofmostpowersystemsanalysissoftware(e.g.ETAP,PTW,ERAC,
etc)andthiscalculationisreallyintendedtobedoneusingthissoftware.Thenumericalcalculation
performedbythesoftwareshouldalsosolvethepowerflowproblemthroughaniterativealgorithm(e.g.
suchasNewtonRhapson).

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WhatNext?
Iftheresultsofthecalculationconfirmthatstartingthelargestmotordoesnotcauseanyunacceptable
voltagelevelswithinthesystem,thenthat'stheendofit(orperhapsitcouldbesimulatedinapower
systemsanalysissoftwarepackagetobedoublysure!).Otherwise,theissueneedstobeaddressed,for
exampleby:
Reducethemotorstartingcurrent,e.g.viasoftstarters,stardeltastarters,etc
Reducethesourceimpedances,e.g.increasethesizeofthegenerator,transformer,supply
cables,etc
Thecalculationshouldbeperformediterativelyuntiltheresultsareacceptable.
Retrievedfrom"http://www.openelectrical.org/wiki/index.php?title=Motor_Starting"
Categories:Calculations|Motors
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon25May2014,at19:51.

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