AHSANULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION LAB
Experiment: 8

Experiment name: Study of different types of motor protection system

Objectives:
• To observe the connection diagram of DOL protection system and its operation.
• To observe the connection diagram of MMS protection system and its operation.
• To observe the connection diagram of Inverter protection system and its operation &
control.
Theory:
The following two basic protections are provided for every motor:
1. Thermal over load protection
2. Short circuit protection.
The switchgear used for the motor protection can also be classified into the following two groups
depending on the size of the motor:
1. For small motor (up to 150 hp), fuse and thermal over current protection are used
2. For large motors, circuit breakers and associated relays are used.
For small motors:
Short circuit protection:
Fuse will provide the short circuit protection of stator winding. The operating time current
characteristics of the fuse should be such that the fuse should not blow during the motor starting
which could be 5 to 7 times the motor full load current. The fuse should blow at current more
than those which can be interrupted by the contactors. Here we used magnetic contactor for short
circuit protection.
Over load protection:
Thermal relay should provide the overload protection. Thermal relay should not operate during
starting period of the motor. Starting period is generally considered to be 5 to 10 seconds.

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For large motor:
Overload and short circuit protection:
Over current relay and earth fault relay (either instantaneous or inverse time or both depending
on the importance of the motor) are used to protect against phase fault and earth fault on stator
winding. If the motor is very large and expensive, it is essential to provide differential protection
for the winding. The short circuit protection characteristic is set just above the maximum starting
current of the motor.

Types of motor Short Circuit O/L protection Phase unbalance

protection protection
Small motor (up to Fuse/ CB Thermal O/L relay ---
150 hp )
Large motor Differential relay + O/C relay + CB NPS relay + CB
CB

NPS Relay:
A relay which protects the electrical system from negative sequence component is called
a negative sequence relay or unbalance phase relay.

When a three phase rotating electric machine, including an alternator is connected to the
perfectly balanced three phase power system, no negative sequence current is developed in the
rotor winding. If, however, the power system is unbalanced, as usually in the case, a negative
sequence current double the system frequency is induced in the rotor winding. This naturally
causes motor rotor overheating that in the absence of this current. Flow of large amount of
negative phase sequence current in the rotor winding for long period can cause damage to the
rotor winding. Under this situation, a necessary measure must be taken to save the machine. So,
the negative phase sequence current can be used as a parameter in the design of negative
sequence protection scheme of large and expensive rotating electric machines including
generator.

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Protection Types:
• DOL (Direct on line)
• MMS (Manual motor starter)
• Y-∆ starter
• Resistance starter
• Auto transformer method
• Inverter method
• Soft starter method
DOL protection system:
In electrical engineering, a direct on line (DOL) or across the line starter starts electric motors
by applying the full line voltage to the motor terminals. This is the simplest type of motor starter.
A DOL motor starter also contain protection devices, and in some cases, condition monitoring.
Smaller sizes of direct on-line starters are manually operated; larger sizes use an
electromechanical contactor (relay) to switch the motor circuit. Solid-state direct on line starters
also exist.
A direct on line starter can be used if the high inrush current of the motor does not cause
excessive voltage drop in the supply circuit. The maximum size of a motor allowed on a direct
on line starter may be limited by the supply utility for this reason. For example, a utility may
require rural customers to use reduced-voltage starters for motors larger than 10 kW.
DOL starting is sometimes used to start small water pumps, compressors, fans and conveyor
belts. In the case of an asynchronous motor, such as the 3-phase squirrel-cage motor, the motor
will draw a high starting current until it has run up to full speed. This starting current is
commonly around six times the full load current, but may be as high as 6 to 7 times the full load
current. To reduce the inrush current, larger motors will have reduced-voltage starters or variable
speed drives in order to minimize voltage dips to the power supply.

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 VR VY VB N

Fuse

Thermal N/C
O/L relay Push
OFF

Magnetic
contactor A/C
Push
ON

M/C
COIL

DOL protection system.

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Magnetic Contactor:

MMS protection system:

MMS is the integrated form of magnetic
contactor, overload relay and a switch. You
can use an extra magnetic contactor for
remote control. The characteristics of manual
motor starter are:

• Overload protection
• Phase failure sensitiveness
• Disconnect function for safety isolation of
the installation and the supply
• Temperature compensation from -25 …
+60 °C
• Adjustable current setting for overload
protection
• Suitable for three- and single-phase
application

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Y-∆ starter Protection Scheme:
A, B, C: Magnetic Contactor
To make Y: A+B
To make ∆: A+C
LINE

Push A
ON M/C

N/C
TOR

Push
OFF

N/C N/O
Timer Timer

M/C -C M/C -B
M/C Timer N/C N/C
COIL-A 5 sec

M/C M/C
COIL-B COIL-C

Neutral

Resistance starter:
In this method, external resistances are connected in series with
each phase of stator winding during starting. This causes voltage
drop across the resistances so that voltage available across motor
terminals is reduced and hence the starting current. The starting
resistances are gradually cut out in steps (two or more steps) from
the stator circuit as the motor picks up speed. When the motor
attains rated speed, the resistances are completely cut out and full
line voltage is applied to the rotor.
This method suffers from two drawbacks. First, the reduced
voltage applied to the motor during the starting period lowers the
starting torque and hence increases the accelerating time.
Secondly, a lot of power is wasted in the starting resistances.

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Auto transformer starter:
This method also aims at connecting the induction motor to a
reduced supply at starting and then connecting it to the full
voltage as the motor picks up sufficient speed. The tapping on
the autotransformer is so set that when it is in the circuit, 65% to
80% of line voltage is applied to the motor.
At the instant of starting, the change-over switch is thrown to
“start” position. This puts the autotransformer in the circuit and
thus reduced voltage is applied to the circuit. Consequently,
starting current is limited to safe value. When the motor attains
about 80% of normal speed, the changeover switch is thrown to
“run” position. This takes out the autotransformer from the
circuit and puts the motor to full line voltage. Autotransformer
starting has several advantages viz low power loss, low starting
current and less radiated heat. For large machines (over 25 H.P.),
this method of starting is often used. This method can be used for
both star and delta connected motors.

Inverter protection system:

You can control and protect the motor using inverter. A frequency
inverter controls AC motor speed picture. The frequency inverter
converts the fixed supply frequency (50 Hz) to a variable-frequency,
variable-voltage output to enable precise motor speed control.

A variable frequency drive (VFD) is a motor control device that

protects and controls the speed of an AC induction motor. A VFD
can control the speed of the motor during the start and stop cycle, as
well as throughout the run cycle. VFDs are also referred to as
adjustable frequency drives (AFDs). VFDs are used in applications
where complete speed control is required, energy savings is a goal
and custom control is needed.

VFDs convert input power to adjustable frequency and voltage

source for controlling speed of AC induction motors. The frequency
of the power applied to an AC motor determines the motor speed.
The VFD's input power comes from the facility power network
(typically 400V, 50 Hz AC). It has a rectifier that converts network
AC power to DC power. A filter and DC bus work together to
smooth the rectified DC power and to provide clean, low ripple DC
power to the inverter, which uses DC power from the DC bus and
filter to invert an output that resembles sine wave AC power using a
pulse width modulation (PWM) technique.

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Soft Starter method:

A soft starter continuously controls the three-phase motor’s

voltage supply during the start-up phase. This way, the motor
is adjusted to the machine’s load behavior. Mechanical
operating equipment is accelerated smoothly.

Soft starters are used in applications where speed and torque

control are required only during startup (and stop if equipped
with soft stop) or where there is a need to reduce large startup
inrush currents associated with a large motor is required.
Electrical soft starters temporarily reduce voltage or current
input by reducing torque. Some soft starters may use solid-
state devices to help control the flow of the current. They can
control one to three phases, with three-phase control usually
producing better results. Most soft starters use a series of
thyristors or silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) to reduce the
voltage. In the normal OFF state, the SCRs restrict current, but
in the normal ON state, the SCRs allow current. The SCRs are
engaged during ramp up, and bypass contactors are pulled in
after maximum speed is achieved. This helps to significantly
reduce motor heating.

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Report:
1. What kind of protections is given in small and large motor?
2. How can you control the speed of a motor?
3. Draw the control circuit of resistance and auto transformer starter.
4. Why thermal over load relay is used in motor protection system?

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 Experimental Setup

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