Electrical Drives Intro
Electrical Drives Intro
Electrical Drives Intro
INTRODUCTION
Drives are employed for systems that require motion control e.g.
transportation system, fans, robots, pumps, machine tools, etc.
Prime movers are required in drive systems to provide the
movement or motion and energy that is used to provide the
motion can come from various sources: diesel engines, petrol
engines, hydraulic motors, electric motors etc.
Drives that use electric motors as the prime movers are known as
electrical drives
also possible for the power to be fed back to the sources rather
than dissipated as heat.
There are several types of motors used in electric drives choice
of type used depends on applications, cost, environmental factors
and also the type of sources available.. Broadly, they can be
classified as either DC or AC motors:
DC motors (wound or permanent magnet)
AC motors
Induction motors squirrel cage, wound rotor
Synchronous motors wound field, permanent magnet
Brushless DC motor require power electronic converters
Stepper motors require power electronic converters
Synchronous reluctance motors or switched reluctance motor
require power electronic converters .
b) Power processor or power modulator
Since the electrical sources are normally uncontrollable, it is
therefore necessary to be able to control the flow of power to the
motor this is achieved using power processor or power
modulator. With controllable sources, the motor can be reversed,
brake or can be operated with variable speed. Conventional
methods used, for example, variable impedance or relays, to
shape the voltage or current that is supplied to the motor these
methods however are inflexible and inefficient. Modern electric
drives normally used power electronic converters to
shape the desired voltage or current supplied to the motor. In
other words, the characteristic of the motors can be changed at
will. Power electronic converters have several advantages over
classical methods of power conversion, such as
c) Control Unit