Motor Protection Principles

Arijit Banerjee, Arvind Tiwari- GE Global Research

Jakov Vico, Craig Wester- GE Multilin

Presented at 2008 Texas A&M Protective Relaying Conference – College

Station, TX
Motor History & Facts
• The first U.S. patent for a • Today in North America more
motor was issued to Thomas then 1 billion motors are in
Davenport in 1837. service.

• Motors consume 25% of

electricity in North America.

• Electricity consumption by
• In 1888, Nikola Tesla motors in manufacturing
patented the first AC poly- sector is 70%. In oil, gas and
phase motor. mining industries around
90%.

• Three phase squirrel-cage

induction motors account for
over 90% of the installed
motor capacity.
2
Various Industry Motor Applications

• Fans, Blowers
• Pumps, Compressors
• Grinders, Chippers
• Conveyors, Shredders
• Crushers, Mixers
• Cranes, Extruders
• Refiners, Chillers

3
 Motor Failure Rates and Cost
• Motor failure rate is
IEEE STUDY EPRI STUDY AVERAGE
conservatively estimated as 3-
FAILURE CONTRIBUTOR % FAILED COMPONENT % %
5% per year 4.20% 23.00
Persistent Overload Stator Ground Insulation
• In Mining, Pulp and Paper Normal Deterioration 26.40% Turn Insulation 4.00
Electrical
Related Failures
industry, motor failure rate Bracing 3.00
can be as high as 12%. Core 1.00
Cage 5.00 33%
• Motor failure cost contributors: Electrical Related Total 30.60% Electrical Related Total 36.00%
High Vibration 15.50% Sleeve Bearings 16.00
• Repair or Replacement 15.20% 8.00
Mechanical
Poor Lubrication Antifriction Bearings
Related Failures
• Removal and Installation Trust Bearings 5.00
• Loss of Production Rotor Shaft 2.00
1.00
Mechanical Related
Rotor Core
Mechanical Related
31%
• Motor failures divided in 3 Total
30.70%
Total
32.00%
groups: High Ambient Temp. 3 Bearing Seals 6.00
• Electrical Abnormal Moisture 5.8 Oil Leakege 3.00 Environmental,
Maintanence &
• Mechanical Abnormal Voltage 1.5 Frame 1.00
Other Reasons
Abnormal Frequency 0.6 Wedges 1.00
• Environmental, Maintenance, 4.2
Related Failures
Abrasive Chemicals
& Other Poor Ventilation Cooling 3.9
Other Reasons 19.7 Other Components 21.00
Environmental Related & Maintanence Related &
36%
38.70% 32.00%
Other Reasons: Total Other Parts: Total

4
Thermal Stress Causes Motor
Failure
• Most of the motor failure contributors and failed motor
components are related to motor overheating.

• Thermal stress potentially can cause the failure of all the major
motor parts: Stator, Rotor, Bearings, Shaft and Frame.

5
Risks for an Overheated Motor

• Stator Windings Insulation Degradation (for stator limited motors)

Insulation lifetime decreases by half if motor operating
temperature exceeds thermal limit by 10ºC for any period
of time 110
PERCENTAGE OF LIFE (%)

100

90
For F class
A B F H insulation, stator
80
temperature of
70 165ºC causes
60
motor lifetime to
decrease to 50%
50
A-CLASS (105 ºC)
40
B-CLASS (130ºC)
30
F-CLASS (155 ºC)
20
H-CLASS (180 ºC)
10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
TEMPERATURE (ºC)

• Rotor Conductors Deforming or Melting (for rotor limited - thermal

limit is defined by motor stall time)
6
Motor Electrical Protection
• Thermal Overload
• Process Caused (Excessive load)
• High Ambient Conditions (Hot, Blocked Ventilation)
• Power Supply Issues (Voltage/Current Unbalance,
Harmonics)

• Phase Fault
• Ground Fault
• Abnormal Operating Conditions
• Over & Under Voltage
• Underfrequency
• Voltage and Current Unbalance
• Load Loss
• Jamming
• Jogging
7
Overload Protection - Thermal
Model
A motor can run overloaded without a fault in motor or supply
A primary motor protective element of the motor protection
relay is the thermal overload element and this is
accomplished through motor thermal image modeling. This
model must account for thermal process in the motor while
motor is starting, running at normal load, running overloaded
and stopped. Algorithm of the thermal model integrates both
stator and rotor heating into a single model.

• Main Factors and Elements Comprising

the Thermal Model are:
• Overload Pickup Level
• Overload Curve
• Running & Stopped Cooling Time Constants
• Hot/Cold Stall Time Ratio
• RTD & Unbalance Biasing
• Motor State Machine
8
Thermal Model - Motor States
• Motor Stopped:
Current < “0” threshold & contactor/breaker is open.

• Motor Starting:
Previous state is “Stopped” & Current > “0” threshold.
Motor current must increase to the level higher than
overload pickup within seconds otherwise motor algorithm
will declare the “Running” state.

• Motor Running:
Previous state is “Starting” or “Overloading” & Current
drops below overload pickup level.

• Motor Overloading:
Previous state is “Running” & Current raises above
overload pickup level. Thermal Capacity Used (TCU) 9
Motor Thermal Limit Curves
• Thermal Limit of the model is dictated by overload curve
constructed in the motor protection device in the
reference to thermal damage curves normally supplied
by motor manufacturer.
• Motor protection device is equipped with set of standard
curves and capable to construct customized curves for
any motor application.
Thermal Limit Curves:
A
A. Cold Running Overload
C
B. Hot Running Overload
B
C. Cold Locked Rotor Curve
D D. Hot Locked Rotor Curve
E. Acceleration curve @ 80%
E F
rated voltage
F. Acceleration curve @100%
voltage
10
Thermal Overload Pickup
• Set to the maximum allowed by
the service factor of the motor.

• Set slightly above the motor

service factor by 8-10% to
account for measuring errors
• If RTD Biasing of Thermal Model
is used, thermal overload
setting can be set higher
• Note: motor feeder cables are
normally sized at 1.25 times SF Thermal Overload
motor’s full load current rating, Pickup
which would limit the motor 1.0 1.1
overload pickup setting to a 1.15 1.25
maximum of 125%.

11
Thermal Model – Thermal Capacity
Used
• Thermal Capacity Used (TCU) is a criterion selected in
thermal model to evaluate thermal condition of the
motor.
• TCU is defined as percentage of motor thermal limit
utilized during motor operation.
• A running motor will have some level of thermal capacity
used due to Motor Losses.
• Thermal Trip when Thermal Capacity Used equals 100%

12
Overload Curve Selection for
Thermal Model

Overload Curve
Set the overload curve below cold thermal limit and above hot
thermal limit
If only hot curve is provided by mfgr, then must set below hot thermal
limit 13
Thermal Model–Hot/Cold Stall Time
Ratio
• Typically(HCR)
motor manufacturer provides the values of the locked
rotor thermal limits for 2 motor conditions:
• COLD : motor @ ambient temperature
• HOT : motor @ rated temperature for specific class and service
• factor.
NEMA standard temperature rises for motors up to 1500HP and
Service Factors 1 and 1.15 respectively.

AMBIENT CLASS CLASS B CLASS F CLASS H

A
• When motor is running below overload pickup, the TCU will rise or
fall to value based on average current and HCR. HCR is used to
calculate level of TCU by relay, at which motor will settle for current
below overload pickup.
14
Hot/Cold Safe Stall Ratio

LRTHOT
HCR=
LRTCOLD

Hot/Cold Ratio
= 30/35
=> 0.86

Overload Curve
Method
• If the thermal limits curves are being used
to determine the HOT/COLD ratio proceed as
follows:

LRTcold = • From the thermal limits curves run a line

8sec perpendicular to the current axis that
intersects the hot and cold curves at the
LRThot = stall point or LRA
6sec • The Hot/cold ratio can now be calculated as
LRC = follows:
5.4FLA = 6s/8s = 0.75
• If hot and cold times are not provided and
only one curve is given verify with the
15
Overload Curve Selection
If the motor starting
current begins to
infringe on the thermal
damage curves or if the
motor is called upon to
drive a high inertia load
such that the
acceleration time
exceeds the safe stall
time, custom or voltage
dependent overload
curve may be required.

16
Overload Curve Selection
A custom overload curve
will allow the user to
tailor the relay’s thermal
damage curve to the
motor such that a
successful start can
occur without
compromising protection
while at the same time
utilizing the motor to its
full potential during the
running condition.

17
Thermal Model Behavior - Long
Starts
• Issue Duration of a high inertia load start is longer than the
allowed motor safe stall time.

• For these starts, thermal model must account for the current change
during acceleration and also use the acceleration thermal limits for
TCU calculations.

• Motor thermal limit is growing along with motor rotation speed during
acceleration.

• Starting current is proportional to system voltage during motor

acceleration, thus voltage could be a good indication of the current
level corresponding to the locked rotor conditions.

• Voltage dependant dynamic thermal limit curve is employed to

enhance the thermal model algorithm.

• Motor relay will shift acceleration

thermal limit curve linearly
and constantly based on
measured line voltage during
a motor start.
18
Thermal Model - Current
Unbalance Bias
Negative sequence currents (or unbalanced phase
currents) will cause additional rotor heating that will be
accounted for in Thermal Model.
• Main causes of current unbalance
• Blown fuses
• Loose connections
• Stator turn-to-turn faults
• System voltage distortion and unbalanc
• Faults
Positive Sequence

Negative Sequence 19
Thermal Model - Current Unbalance
Bias
• Equivalent heating motor current is employed to bias
thermal model in response to current unbalance.

2
IEQ = IM × (1+ K × (I2 I1 )2)

• Im - real motor current; K - unbalance bias factor; I1 & I2 -

positive and negative sequence components of motor
current.
• K factor reflects the degree of extra heating caused by the
negative sequence component of the motor current.
• IEEE guidelines for typical and conservative estimates of K.
2
K = 175 ILRC TYPICA
L
2
K = 230 ILRC CONSERVATIVE

20
Thermal Model – RTD Bias
• Accelerate thermal trip for
hot stator windings
• RTD bias model determines the
Thermal Capacity Used based on
the temperature of the Stator and
is separate from the overload
model for calculating Thermal
Capacity Used.
• Motor relay will use the
calculated thermal capacity
unless the RTD thermal capacity
is higher.
• This function will not trip the
motor at the max point temp
unless the average current is
greater than the overload pickup
setting
• RTD biasing is a back up
protection element which 21
Thermal Model - Motor Cooling
• Motor cooling is characterized by separate cooling time
constants (CTC) for running and stopped motor states.
Typical ratio of the stopped to running CTC is 2/1
• It takes the motor typically 5 time constants to cool.

Thermal Model Cooling Motor Thermal Model Cooling100% load -

Tripped Running

22
Overvoltage Protection
• The overall result of an overvoltage condition is a
decrease in load current and poor power factor.
• Although old motors had robust design, new motors
are designed close to saturation point for better
utilization of core materials and increasing the V/Hz
ratio cause saturation of air gap flux leading to
motor heating.
• The overvoltage element should be set to 110% of
the motors nameplate unless otherwise started in
the data sheets.

23
Undervoltage Protection
• The overall result of an undervoltage condition is an increase
in current and motor heating and a reduction in overall motor
performance.

• The undervoltage protection element can be thought of as

backup protection for the thermal overload element. In some
cases, if an undervoltage condition exists it may be desirable
to trip the motor faster than thermal overload element.

• The undervoltage trip should be set to 90% of nameplate

unless otherwise stated on the motor data sheets.

• Motors that are connected to the same source/bus may

experience a temporary undervoltage, when one of motors
starts. To override this temporary voltage sags, a time delay
setpoint should be set greater than the motor starting time.

24
Unbalance Protection
• Indication of unbalance  negative sequence current /
voltage
• Unbalance causes motor stress and temperature rise
• Current unbalance in a motor is result of unequal line
voltages
• Unbalanced supply, blown fuse, single-phasing

• Current unbalance can also be present due to:

• Loose or bad connections
Motor Relay
• Incorrect phase rotation connection
• Stator turn-to-turn faults

• For a typical three-phase induction motor:

• 1% voltage unbalance (V2) relates to 6% current unbalance (I2)
• For small and medium sized motors, only current transformers (CTs)
are available and no voltage transformers (VTs). Measure current
unbalance and protect motor.
• The heating effect caused by current unbalance will be protected by
enabling the unbalance input to the thermal model
• For example, a setting of 10% x FLA for the current unbalance alarm 25
Ground Fault Protection

• A ground fault is a fault that creates

a path for current to flow from one of
the phases directly to the neutral
through the earth bypassing the load

• Ground faults in a motor occur:

• When its phase conductor’s insulation is
damaged for example due to voltage
stress, moisture or internal fault occurs
between the conductor and ground

• To limit the level of the ground fault

current connect an impedance
between the supplies neutral and
ground. This impedance can be in
the form of a resistor or grounding
transformer sized to ensure
maximum ground fault current is
26
Ground Fault Protection
Zero Sequence CT Connection
• Best method
• Most sensitive & inherent noise
immunity

• All phase conductors are passed through the window of the same
CT referred to as the zero sequence CT
• Under normal circumstances, the three phase currents will sum to
zero resulting in an output of zero from the Zero Sequence CT’s
secondary.
• If one of the motors phases were to shorted to ground, the sum of
the phase currents would no longer equal zero causing a current to
flow in the secondary of the zero sequence. This current would be
detected by the motor relay as a ground fault.

27
Ground Fault Protection
Residual Ground Fault Connection
• Less sensitive
• Drawbacks due to asymmetrical
starting current and un-matched CTs

• For large cables that cannot be fit through the zero sequence CT’s
window, the residual ground fault configuration can be used.
• This configuration is inherently less sensitive than that of the zero
sequence configuration owing to the fact that the CTs are not
perfectly matched.
• During motor starting, the motor’s phase currents typically rise to
magnitudes excess of 6 times motors full load current and are
asymmetrical.
• The combination of non perfectly matched CTs and relative large
phase current magnitudes produce a false residual current. This
current will be misinterpreted by the motor relay as a ground fault 28
Differential Protection
• Differential protection may be considered the first line of
protection for internal phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground
faults. In the event of such faults, the quick response of
the differential element may limit the damage that may
have otherwise occurred to the motor.

Core balance method:

• Two sets of CT’s, one at the
beginning of the motor feeder, and
the other at the neutral point
• Alternatively, one set of three core-
balance CTs can also be used
• The differential element subtracts
the current coming out of each phase
from the current going into each
phase and compares the result or
difference with the differential pickup
level.

29
Differential Protection

Summation method with six

CTs:
• If six CTs are used in a summing
configuration, during motor starting,
the values from the two CTs on each
phase may not be equal as the CTs
are not perfectly identical and
asymmetrical currents may cause
the CTs on each phase to have
different outputs.
• To prevent nuisance tripping in this
configuration, the differential level
may have to be set less sensitive, or
the differential time delay may have
to be extended to ride through the
problem period during motor
starting.
• The running differential delay can
then be fine tuned to an application
such that it responds very fast and is
sensitive to low differential current
levels. 30
Differential Protection

Biased differential protection -

six CTs:
• Biased differential protection method
allows for different ratios for
system/line and the neutral CT’s.
• This method has a dual slope
characteristic. Main purpose of the
percent-slope characteristic is to
prevent a mis-operation caused by
unbalances between CTs during
external faults. CT unbalances arise as
a result of CT accuracy errors or CT
saturation.
• Characteristic allows for very sensitive
settings when the fault current is low
and less sensitive settings when the
fault current is high and CT
performance may produce incorrect
operating signals.

31
Short Circuit Protection
• The short circuit element provides
protection for excessively high
overcurrent faults
• Phase-to-phase and phase-to-
ground faults are common types of
short circuits
• When a motor starts, the starting
current (which is typically 6 times
the Full Load Current) has
asymmetrical components . These
asymmetrical currents may cause
one phase to see as much as 1.7
times the RMS starting current.
• To avoid nuisance tripping during
starting, set the the short circuit
protection pick up to a value at least
1.7 times the maximum expected
symmetrical starting current of
motor.
• The breaker or contactor must have 32
Stator RTD Protection
• A simple method to determine the
heating within the motor is to
monitor the stator with RTDs.
• Stator RTD trip level should be set
at or below the maximum
temperature rating of the insulation.
• For example, a motor with class F
insulation that has a temperature
rating of 155°C could have the
Stator RTD Trip level be set between
140°C to 145°C, with 145° C being
the maximum (155°C - 10°C hot
spot)
• The stator RTD alarm level could be
set to a level to provide a warning
that the motor temperature is rising

33
Additional Protection Methods

• Start Inhibit
This function will limit starts when the motor is already
hot.

• Starts/Hour

• Time Between Starts (Jogging)

• Bearing RTD Protection

• Acceleration Trip
Set higher than the maximum starting time to avoid
nuisance tripping when the voltage is lower or for
varying loads during acceleration. 34
Conclusions
• Induction & synchronous motors are valuable assets
to today’s industrial facilities.
• The temperature rise of motor dictates its life
• When applied, thermal protection can prevent loss
of motor life
• Additional protection elements such as overvoltage,
undervoltage, unbalance, ground fault, differential,
short circuit and stator RTD supplement the thermal
model protection and provide complete motor
protection.

35