Simulation And Testing Of Induction Motors ...

AC motors have gained wide ranging applications in the present day scenario. Adoption of innovatively designed speed control mechanisms in the industrial sector has revolutionized these drives. Now-a-days the industrial sector has a well organized power supply system, wherein motors used for specific industrial applications are not subjected to abrupt supply variations. Thus their operating conditions remain nearly the same throughout their life span. There are certain areas like the agricultural sector which use AC motors without any speed control mechanisms. In the agricultural sector, water pumps are used for irrigating small tracts of land from tube wells or open wells. Small and marginal farmers with lands along the banks of rivers have open wells even today with irrigation pumps. The three phase AC motors which are coupled to these pumps are subjected to a wide power supply voltage fluctuations depending on their distance from the distribution transformers. Supply voltages at motor terminals are never constant throughout the day and night. They are subjected to wide voltage fluctuations during different periods of the day and night. The most common problem faced by farmers is the burnout of motors. In order to ascertain the main reasons for burnout of motors used in irrigation pumps, an experimental model was set up and relevant tests were carried out by simulating field conditions inside the laboratory. A detailed study of the results obtained by laboratory simulation helped us in arriving at certain useful conclusions that could provide possible reasons for burnout of motors.