Synchronous Motor Drives

Open loop V/f Control of Synchronous motor

Synchronous speed is directly proportional to frequency. So that the rotor always keeps track the changes of speed.
Frequency command is given by the user. A flux control block is used which changes the stator voltage with
frequency so as to maintain constant flux for speed below base speed and constant terminal voltage for speed above
base speed. The voltage command from the flux control block and the frequency command are used to generate
PWM pulses to the Inverter for the V/f control of the synchronous motor.

Voltage Source inverter Fed Synchronous Motor Drives

Here the dc link voltage is made variable by using phase controlled rectifier. Synchronous speed is directly
proportional to frequency. Frequency command is given by the user. A flux control block is used which changes
the stator voltage with frequency so as to maintain constant flux for speed below base speed and constant terminal
voltage for speed above base speed. The voltage command from the flux control block is used to generate the
pulses to the Phase controlled rectifier. The frequency command is used to generate PWM pulses to the Inverter for
the V/f control of the synchronous motor.
Current Source Inverter Fed Synchronous Motor Drives

Large inductance present in the DC link which makes the source current fed to the inverter a constant are hence it
is a current source inverter. Here the dc link voltage is made variable by using phase controlled rectifier.
Synchronous speed is directly proportional to frequency. Frequency command is given by the user. A flux control
block is used which changes the stator voltage with frequency so as to maintain constant flux for speed below base
speed and constant terminal voltage for speed above base speed. The voltage command from the flux control block
is used to generate the pulses to the Phase controlled rectifier. The frequency command is used to generate PWM
pulses to the Inverter for the V/f control of the synchronous motor. The motor may be operated at UPF.

Cyclo converter Fed Synchronous Motor Drive

DC link converter is a two stage conversion device which provides a variable voltage, variable frequency supply.
Variable voltage, variable frequency supply is obtained from a cycloconverter which is a single stage
conversion equipment. The power circuit of a Three Phase Synchronous Motor Fed From Cycloconverter is as
shown.

Measured current from the three lines is compared with the current setting and the error in current is obtained. Also
the rotor speed is measured and compared with the set speed and the error in speed is obtained. Both the errors are
fed to the controller, which takes the input supply voltage reference. The output of the controller is fed to the firing
unit to generate the firing angles for speed control.

A Synchronous Motor Fed From Cycloconverter requires a large number of thyristors and its control circuitry is
complex. The efficiency is good and the drive has a good dynamic behaviour.
A Synchronous Motor Fed From Cycloconverter drive is attractive for low speed operation and is frequently
employed in large, low speed reversing mills requiring rapid acceleration and deceleration. Typical applications are
large gearless drives, e.g., drives for reversing mills, mine hoists, etc.

Self Controlled mode of operation of Synchronous motor drive

The drive employs two converters, which are termed here as source side converter and load side converter. The
source side converter-is a 6-pulse line-commutated thyristor converter. For a firing angle range 0 ≤ α s ≤ 90∘, it
works as a line-commutated fully controlled rectifier delivering positive Vds and positive Id, and for the range of
firing angle 90∘ ≤ αs ≤180∘ it works as a line-commutated inverter delivering negative Vds and positive Id.

For 0 ≤ αs ≤ 90∘, 90∘ ≤ αl ≤ 180∘ and with Vds > Vdl, the source side converter works as a rectifier and load side
converter as an inverter, causing power to flow from ac source to the motor, thus giving motoring operation. When
firing angles are changed such that 90∘ ≤ αs ≤ 180∘ and 0∘ ≤ αl ≤ 90∘, the load side converter operates as a rectifier
and the source side as an inverter. Consequently, the power flow reverses and machine operates in regenerative
braking. The magnitude of torque depends on (Vds — Vdl). Speed can be changed by control of line side converter
firing angles.

Self control technique of synchronous motor with constant margin angle control
Constant margin-angle control is a triggering scheme that can eliminate the commutation failure and increase the
power factor and efficiency of the motors. The described scheme does not need to detect the margin angle, but the
dc current and overlap angle are detected instead. This drive has an outer speed loop and inner current loop. The
rotor speed Wm is measured and compared with the speed command Wm*. The error is fed to the speed controller
and current limiter which gives the error in terms of current Id*. This is compared with the measured current Id
from the dc link and the error is fed to the current controller and firing circuit, which generates the angle for the
controlled rectifier. Id* is also fed to current program block via gain block. At the same time, Id* is converted to
angle error via gain block and added to angle reference and then the angle Ø is fed to current program block along
with the measured current. The output of current program block, If* is given to field control block which controls
the dc excitation. If*, Ø and Im are finally used for the computation of the angle with constant margin. With proper
phase delay it controls the firing circuit of the Inverter.
The load commutated inverter drives are in medium, High power drives. This drives are used for the starting of
large synchronous machines in gas turbine and pumped storage plants.
Power factor control of synchronous motor drive

The main aim of adjusting power factor to is to vary the field current. If the motor is operated at a power factor of
unity, the current drawn by it will have the lowest magnitude for a given input and therefore the lowest internal
copper loss. The motor voltage and current are sensed and fed to the power factor calculator. It is actual power
factor value.The computed power factor value is compared against the power factor commanded value by using
error detector. The error is amplified by the error amplifier, and its output varies the phase angle of the switches
used in the Field controlled rectifier.
Vector Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

In the Synchronous motor, electromagnetic torque is developed due to the interaction of the current carrying
conductor and magnetic field. Fig (i) shows the field axis is in quadrature with the armature mmf axis. Fig (ii)
shows the field axis making some angle with the armature mmf axis. Each and every armature conductor
experiences a force which contributes the torque.

Knowing the values of the desired torque (Tref), speed (Wc) and also voltage (Va, Vb, Vc) to which the motor is
subjected, it is possible to compute values of Id and Iq ref for the desired dynamic and steady state performance.
These currents are compared with actual currents and error values actuate the triggering circuitry which is also
influenced by measured rotor position from the rotor position sensor and measured speed from the speed encoder.
speed.
 BLDC MOTORS DRIVES
Construction

The coils are attached to the stator and the commutation is controlled by electronics. Commutation times are
provided either by position sensors or by coils Back Electromotive Force (emf) measurements. Brushless DC
motors usually consist of three main parts: a Stator, a Rotor and Hall sensors.
Stator
The BLDC motor stator is made up of laminated steel stacked up to carry the windings as shown in Figure.
Windings in a stator can be arranged in two patterns, i.e. a star pattern (Y) or delta pattern (Δ). The major
difference between the two patterns is that the Y pattern gives high torque at low speed and the Δ pattern gives low
torque at low speed. This is because in the delta configuration, half of the voltage is applied across the winding that
is not driven, thus increasing losses and in turn, efficiency and torque.
The magnetization of the permanent magnets and their displacement on the rotor is chosen so that shape of the back
emf (the voltage induced into the stator winding due to rotor movement) is trapezoidal. This allows the DC voltage
of a rectangular shape, to create a rotational field with low torque ripples. The motor can have more than one pole-
pair per phase. Proper selection of the laminated steel and windings for the construction of stator are crucial to
motor performance.
Rotor
Depending upon the application requirements, the number of poles in the rotor may vary. Increasing the number of
poles give better torque but the cost has to be reduced with the maximum possible speed. Another rotor parameter
that makes an impact on the maximum torque is the material used for the construction of permanent magnet, higher
the flux density of the material and higher the torque. The rotor in a BLDC motor consists of an even number of
permanent magnets. The number of magnetic poles in the rotor also affects the step size and torque ripple of the
motor. More poles give smaller steps and less torque ripple. Any of these PMBLM rotor configurations can be
selected on the basis of application and power rating. The flux density of the rotor is high due to the construction of
permanent magnet, hence there are no losses in rotor because of no winding present in core.
Hall Sensors
For the estimation of the rotor position, the motor is equipped with three hall sensors. These hall sensors are placed
every 120°, with these sensors, 6 different commutations are possible. Phase commutation dependson hall sensor
values. Power supply to the coils changes when hall sensor values change. With right synchronized commutations,
the torque remains nearly constant and high.

Principle of operation / Working of BLDC Motor

A typical BLDC motor with only three coils is considered. Phase commutation depends on the hall sensor values.
When motor coils are correctly supplied, a magnetic field is created and the rotor moves. The most elementary
commutation driving method used for BLDC motors is an ON-OFF scheme, a coil is either conducting or not
conducting. Only two windings are supplied at the same time and the third winding is floating. Connecting the coils
to the power and neutral bus induces the current flow. This is referred as trapezoidal commutation or block
commutation.
To command brushless DC motors, a three phase bridges is used. For motors with multiple poles the electrical
rotation does not correspond to a mechanical rotation. A four pole BLDC motor uses four electrical rotation cycles
to have one mechanical rotation. The back emf of the BLDC Motor can drive the inverter by detecting the zero
crossing point of the back emf, then commutate the inverter power switching devices. The two power switching
device turn ON at any instant for 60 degree and the commutation occurs by next pair conducted for the continuous
operation of Motor.
The strength of the magnetic field determines the force and speed of the motor. By varying the current flow through
the coils, the speed and torque of the motor can be adjusted. The most common way to control thecurrent flow is to
control the average current flow through the coils. PWM is used to adjust the average voltage and thereby the
average current, inducing the speed. Table shows the operation sequence of a BLDC motor withHall Sensors. The
proposed scheme utilizes the back emf difference between two phases for BLDC sensorless drive instead of using
the phase back emf.

Dynamic model of BLDC motor

The dynamic model is based on the following assumptions:
(i) The induced currents in the rotor due to stator harmonic fields are neglected
(ii) The iron and stray losses are neglected
(iii) The motor is considered to have three phases

The voltage equation of the stator windings are:

The mechanical equation that relates the machine's angular velocity to the developed electromagnetic torque, load
torque, and motor parameters are as follows:

Closed Loop control of PM BLDC motor

Advantages of BLDC motors
Applications of BLDC motors