White Paper

Unbalanced voltage supply

The damaging effects on three phase induction
motors and rectifiers
Electronic control systems are the
cornerstone of efficient, modern
industrial processes. The performance
and reliability of instruments, sensors,
relays, actuators and electric motors
can all be affected by the quality of
power supplied to them.

Variable Speed Drives (VSD) that trip, programmable logic Figure 1 demonstrates an over voltage on one line, and an under
controllers (PLC) that suddenly experience faults, motors that voltage on another at the Medium Voltage (MV) or High Voltage
overheat and erroneous sensor signals can all cause interruption (HV) transformer, while the third is at specified voltage. On the
and shutdown of industrial processes. This can result in major Low Voltage (LV) secondary, not only are the Line to Neutral vol-
restart delays, product scrapping, customer dissatisfaction, tages on two phases clearly over and under by 10% respectively,
consequential losses and significant costs to business. measuring the Line to Line vectors (dashed lines) shows voltage
varying from specification.
Unbalanced voltage causes
All electrical networks suffer from power quality issues in varying This white paper deals only with the simple over and under
degrees and frequencies. Brief sags and surges are common but voltage and the influence on motors and electronic rectifiers and
networks can exhibit voltage supply irregularities that may be the consequential effects of those devices. Further reading is
present for prolonged periods of time, or are constantly present on available in other papers referencing phase angle shift that occurs
the network. Where a voltage imbalance exists on a supply with unbalanced voltage in three phase installations.
network, it is usually due to generation faults, unmatched
impedance on transformer banks, or large single phase loads on Unbalanced voltage and induction motors
the three phase network. The effect of unbalanced voltage on induction motors is widely
known by most technicians and plant engineers. Motor torque and
Customer installation produced voltage imbalances are most speed are negatively affected and the motor may produce exces-
commonly the result of single phase loads not connected evenly sive noise. The voltage imbalance can also cause an increase in
across the 3 phase system. Single phase motors, heating and current imbalance and a temperature rise far greater than the
cooling loads are very commonly connected in such a manner voltage imbalance percentage.2 We can calculate the increased
that one phase conductor carries significantly more current than temperature in an induction motor winding as a result of voltage
the other two. The Line to Neutral Voltage of one phase is lower imbalance.
that the other two. Similarly, where the majority of the load is
connected over only two phases, one Line to Neutral voltage is Voltage imbalance in a 3 phase system is expressed as a single
higher than the other two. In either case, Line to Line voltages are percentage. As in Figure 1, there may exist an under voltage and
affected. an over voltage.

+10%

-10%

MV or HV LV

Figure 1

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To calculate the system imbalance and the resulting Not only does the increased operating heat induce premature
temperature rise in the winding, the following formulae are used: expiration of the motor, excess current is also drawn with no
additional power output, therefore over-stressing the supply
cables and potentially reaching levels where the current overloads
Voltage imbalance % = (Maximum imbalance/Average voltage) * 100
and the Variable Speed Drives (VSD) over current protection will
trip.
Example:
Measured line to line voltages
VSD diodes, DC link capacitors and rectifier power supplies will
L1 - L2 = 392V (-2%) Largest imbalance = 12V
experience additional thermal stress as a result of the increased
L2 - L3 = 400V (0%)
AC line currents-to compensate for the voltage imbalance.
L3 - L1 = 412V (+3%) Average voltage = 401.33V Triplen harmonics can also be produced as a result of the
Voltage imbalance % = (12/401.33) * 100 Voltage imbalance % = 2.99% increased stress to the rectifier diodes.
Temperature rise % = 2 x (voltage imbalance %2 ) * 100
Temperature rise % = 2 x 2.992 * 100 Temperature rise % = 17.88% Unbalanced voltage and rectifiers
Figure 1 Any electronic equipment that converts AC to DC will have a
rectifier; computers, PLC’s, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS),
The table in Figure 2 demonstrates the formula above outlining and VSD’s. Rectifiers are a non-linear load where the current
the exponential winding temperature increase compared with the output waveform is not linear to the voltage input waveform.
increase in voltage imbalance. An imbalance greater than 2% is
unacceptable2 as it results in a temperature rise in the winding that
will be beyond the motors specification; the life of the motor may
be decreased. NEMA limits require no more than 5% unbalanced
voltage. Studies show that the average life expectancy of
insulation halves with every 10° of temperature increase.3

Effect of unbalanced voltage on winding temperature for 3 phase

induction motors
% Voltage imbalance %Temperature rise
2% 8%
3% 18%
4% 32%
5% 50% Figure 4: Normal line current for 1 phase of a three phase rectifier

Figure 2
The diodes in a typical rectifier switch when the switching
Three phase induction motors should be de-rated according to the threshold voltage is exceeded in the positive direction. During
chart in Figure 3.5 each half cycle, two phases will exceed the switching threshold
voltage, as one is decaying another is rising and vice versa-thus
producing two peaks in the line current draw.

When operating correctly and the voltage is balanced, the AC

supply current waveform has a double pulse per half cycle shape,
as shown in Figure 4. The area under the graph is effectively
power, in watts, required to operate the connected DC load.

Current flow cannot transfer or commutate immediately from one

diode to another in a rectifier due to supply inductance. The
rectifier begins to exhibit differing conducting modes where
varying numbers of diodes are simultaneously conducting. Further
supply imbalance results in overlap of these modes, where more
varying quantities of diodes are conducting. The angle of overlap
Figure 3 is determined by the time taken to complete commutation.4

3 White Paper Unbalanced voltage

 Most modern VSD’s found in today’s industrial plants have
a Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) rectifier, where unbalanced
voltage supplies will produce increased line current-a 100Hz
ripple on the DC bus of the VSD and a reactive power (kVAR)
increase. These phenomena can cause the VSD to trip on over
current, or under voltage on the DC bus. Technicians may have
difficulty tracing a fault as the connected load may not show any
immediate or obvious faults.

Correcting unbalanced voltage supply

It is near impossible to supply industrial plants with a perfectly
balanced voltage. As single phase loads are distributed unevenly
or switched unpredictably, the power supply system will always
Figure 5: Line current with 5% voltage imbalance
contain a degree of asymmetry and there is
little to no control of events on the transmission or distribution
The AC input line current waveform in Figure 5 represents an AC network.
voltage supply imbalance of 5%. The line current waveform starts
to look like a single pulse indicating an increased switching of the The PCS100 AVC-20 designed and manufactured by ABB, is
diodes and an increase in current through the diodes. The same purpose built to provide continuous balanced voltage at the
amount of power still needs to be supplied, therefore the area utility supply level. Whether the unbalanced voltage is a result of
under the graph must remain the same as in Figure 4, hence the an unstable network supply or unbalanced single phase loading
AC line current peak is larger. within the plant, the PCS100 AVC-20 will correct up to a 20%
unbalanced voltage continuously, even if the voltage imbalance is
permanently present on the supply.

Where the unbalanced voltage continually and randomly

fluctuates due to either network issues, or loads and faults wit-
hin the customers’ installation, the PCS100 AVC-20 will correct
the unbalanced voltage within 20 milliseconds, or less than one
cycle, and continue to correct and adjust the level of correction as
necessary to ±1% of the set nominal voltage.

The presence of an appropriately sized PCS100 AVC-20 on the

low voltage supply to your industrial plant can help to eliminate
all the issues, process interruptions, premature aging and costs
that unbalanced voltage supply to 3 phase induction motors and 3
Figure 6: Line current where one phase of the rectifier is no longer conducting phase rectifiers found in industrial plants can cause.

The larger the voltage supply imbalance, the more single pulse
shape the AC line current waveform becomes. Again, the same To find out more about ABB’s PCS100 AVC-20 solutions:
amount of watts is required so the amplitude of the waveform www.abb.com/ups
needs to increase as the duration decreases to maintain the area.
Line current significantly increases with larger voltage imbalance
as shown in Figure 6.

Increased line current flows through the diodes and associated

capacitors of the rectifier, increasing the stress on these
components and the heat generated as a result of the increased
switching load. Ripple on the supply line appears due to the high
switching frequency, which leads to the existence of
uncharacteristic triplen harmonics.1

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 2UCD401218-P
References
1.
Bollen, M. H. (2000). Understanding Power Quality
Problems: Voltage Sags and Interruptions
(1 ed.). (P. M. Anderson, Ed.) Gothenburg, Sweden: IEEE Press
2.
Christopherson, N. (n.d.). Protecting Motors From
Improper Voltages and Amperages.
Retrieved October 20, 2015:
http://web.fscj.edu: http://web.fscj.edu/Mark.Bowman/handouts
Protecting%20Motors%20 From%20Improper%20Voltages%20
and%20Amperages.pdf
3.
Gosbell, V., Perera, S., & Smith, V. (2002). Voltage Unbalance.
University of Wollongong, School of Electrical,Computer &
Telecommunications Engineering. Wollongong: University of
Wollongong. Retrieved October 20, 2015: http://www.elec.uow.
edu.au/apqrc/content/technotes/technote6.pdf
4.
Kazem, H., Zahawi, B., & Giaouris, D. (2009, February).
Modelling of Six-Pulse Rectifier Operating Under Unbalanced
Supply Conditions. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied
Sciences, 4(No. 1), 71-75. Retrieved October 21, 2015: https://
www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/damian.giaouris/pdf/Papers/jeas_860.pdf
5.
Pillay, P., Hofmann, P., & Manyage, M. (2002, December).
Derating of Induction Motors Operating With a Combination of
Unbalanced Voltages and Over or Undervoltages. IEEE Transac-
tions on Energy Conversion, 17(4), 485 - 491. Retrieved October
19,2015: http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~pillay/12.pdf

Author
Bruce Bennett
ABB Limited, DMPC
Napier, New Zealand

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