Course Name: Maintenance and Testing of Electrical Machines

Week No.: 06 Lecture No: 18

Topic Name: Speed control of Induction motor

Objectives:
● To understand the parameters governing the speed of an induction motor
● To study methods for Speed control of Induction motor
● Gain knowledge of application of Speed control of Induction motor for industrial
use.

Introduction
The slip of an induction motor varies in a narrow band from no load to full load and hence the
induction motors are considered as constant speed motors. So, the induction motor is suitable
for most of the industrial applications which do not require speed control for example motor
used for irrigation pump operation. However, few techniques are available to control the speed
of an induction motor, still induction motor drive is inferior to DC motor drive, where smooth
control of speed over a wide range is easily possible.

The Synchronous speed of resultant rotating magnetic field is given by and the Slip

is given by:

= (1-s) (1)

From equation (1) it is clear that Number of poles of the winding and the supply frequency
determines the synchronous speed of resultant rotating field. The rotor simply tries to catch the
synchronous speed of this rotating magnetic field. If somehow the synchronous speed can be
altered, the motor speed will change accordingly.
We know that the torque produced by an induction motor is directly proportional to the square of
the applied voltage to the stator. So, the variation in stator supply voltage can also be used for
speed control of induction motor. The voltage control method is a simple and economical way to
control the speed of an induction motor by adjusting the voltage supplied to it.
Understanding the effect of rotor resistance on slip torque characteristics of an induction motor,
rotor resistance control may also be used to change the speed, however this is applicable to
only slip ring induction motor.
Thus, the speed control of the induction motor can be achieved by:
From Stator Side
i. Changing the number of poles of the stator winding.
ii. Changing the frequency of the applied voltage.
iii. Changing Stator voltage.
From Rotor side
iv. Changing rotor circuit resistance.
v. Secondary Foreign Voltage Control.
Apart from these methods, Cascaded operation of Induction motors also provides speed control.

Speed Control by changing the number of poles.

This method is mainly applicable to squirrel cage motors because a cage winding automatically
adopts the same number of poles as the stator. This method of speed control is not suitable for
wound rotor motors due to complications involved in simultaneous switching in both stator and
rotor winding to change the number of poles.
The number of pole pairs in the stator can be changed as follows:
(a) by providing multiple stator windings- In this method, two or more independent windings
are placed in the stator slots. Each winding is designed for different number of poles. The
supply is connected to any one winding at a time. If the winding having 4 pole configuration is
energized with 50 Hz supply it will produce rotating magnetic field of 1,500 rpm synchronous
speed. Now if the supply is disconnected and applied to the other set which is wound for 6 poles
(suppose). This time the synchronous speed of rotating field will be 1000 rpm. The rotor speed
will vary accordingly. Stator may be designed for three or four set of such independent windings.
With the help of selector switch provision for slow, medium and high speed can be obtained by
connecting any particular set at a time.
(b) by using consequent pole technique: In this method, the number of poles can be altered
by placing one or two independent windings on the stator and changing the number of poles by
changing the interconnections of primary coils.
Let us assume six coils as shown in Figure 1, where a phase winding consisting of 6 coils
marked as 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 is divided into two groups. In first group, coils 1,3 and 5 are
connected in series with end points marked as ‘a’ and ‘b’. In second group, the coils 2, 4 and 6
are connected in series with end terminals ‘c’ and ‘d’. Coils of these groups can be connected
either in series or parallel, shown in Fig 1. (b) and (c), respectively. With this connection, the
stator winding will create 6-poles.

Fig.1 Stator phase connection for 6 poles

Fig.2. Stator phase connection for 12 poles

Now, if the direction of flow of current through the coils of group a-b is reversed as shown in Fig.
2(a), then all coils of this set will produce north poles. Fluxes which are coming out of these
north poles will now find path through the inter-pole-spaces for going out, hence south poles will
be formed in inter pole space and the stator will experience presence of 12 poles. The required
direction of current through coils can be obtained by connecting the two sections a-b and c-d
either in series or in parallel as shown in Fig. 2(b) and (c). Thus, each phase of machine winding
has two coil groups, a-b and c-d, which can be connected either in series or in parallel for both
pole numbers 6 and 12.

Speed Control by Changing the frequency of the applied voltage.

This method of controlling the speed of a three-phase induction motor allows for a broad range
of speeds with smooth transitions between them. However, the main challenge lies in providing
a variable frequency supply. The necessary auxiliary equipment for this purpose leads to high
initial costs, increased maintenance, and reduced overall efficiency. Consequently, this method
is not commonly used for general speed control applications. Despite its complexity, the method
is highly advantageous in specific situations where its extensive, smoothly variable speed range
and effective speed regulation are particularly valuable.

Speed Control by Changing Stator voltage.

This speed control method uses a constant frequency with a variable supply voltage. It involves
adjusting the voltage applied to the stator to change the speed of an induction motor.
This approach is straightforward, inexpensive initially, and has low maintenance costs.
However, it is limited in its application due to several factors:
(i) operating at voltages higher than the rated voltage is constrained by magnetic
saturation,
(ii) a significant voltage change is needed for only a small change in speed,
(iii) the torque produced decreases significantly with reduced supply voltage, and the motor
may stop if the load torque exceeds the motor's pull-out torque at the lower voltage, and
(iv) the method offers only a narrow range of speed control, particularly in reducing speeds
from the rated speed.
The effect of change in voltage on speed torque characteristics is shown if Fig.3.It is obvious
that with the reduction in applied voltage for load having load curve like Fan, the speed drops to
an extent.
 Fig.3 Effect of change in voltage on speed torque characteristics
Typically, this speed control method is applied to loads where the required torque decreases
substantially as speed is reduced, such as small squirrel cage motors driving fans. Variable
voltage can be achieved using saturable reactors, variacs, or tap-changing transformers.

Speed Control by Changing rotor circuit resistance.

Wound rotor motors are typically started with additional resistances connected in the secondary
circuit, which are gradually bypassed as the motor accelerates. If these resistances are properly
selected and designed for continuous use, they can both start the motor and control its speed.
This method is exclusive to wound rotor motors as there is no provision of insertion of
resistance in cage type motor. The smoothness of speed control is dependent on the number of
available resistance steps. It allows for speed control only below the base speed. The range of
speed control varies with the load and is not constant. Speed variation is limited to a range
between 50% and 100% of the base speed.

Speed control through Secondary Foreign Voltage Control.

In this method, the speed of an induction motor is regulated by injecting a slip frequency voltage
into the secondary circuit. When the injected voltage is in phase with the induced electromotive
force (EMF) in the secondary circuit, it effectively reduces the resistance in that circuit, leading
to a decrease in slip and an increase in speed. This allows for achieving super-synchronous
speeds also. Conversely, if the injected voltage is out of phase with the induced EMF, it acts as
if increasing the resistance in the secondary circuit, which results in higher slip and reduced
speed. This technique offers a broad range of speed control by incorporating frequency-
converting equipment in the rotor circuit.
While this method addresses the issues of lower efficiency and poor speed regulation, it is more
expensive due to the need for one or more auxiliary machines to inject the slip frequency EMF.
As a result, it is typically used for very large motors, such as those found in steel mills.

Speed Control by Cascaded operation

In this method, at least two motors are needed, with one of them being a wound rotor motor.
These motors can be mechanically linked to drive a shared load. By connecting the stator
winding of one motor (the wound rotor motor) to a 3-phase AC supply and linking its rotor
winding to the stator winding of the second motor, the speed of the combined setup will be
influenced by the sum or difference of the number of poles in the two motors. Typically, the rotor
output of the first motor is connected to the stator of the second motor so that the rotating
magnetic fields in both motors are aligned in the same direction. Under this arrangement, the
resulting speed is determined by the following formula.

and for differential cascading with usual notation.

Summary:
Thus, we have seen that speed control of the induction motor can be achieved by:
From Stator Side
i. Changing the number of poles of the stator winding.
ii. Changing the frequency of the applied voltage.
iii. Changing Stator voltage.
From Rotor side
iv. Changing rotor circuit resistance.
v. Secondary Foreign Voltage Control.

References:
https://www.eeeguide.com/speed-control-of-three-phase-induction-motor/