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 April 1-3, 2008

Motor History & Facts

The first U.S. patent for a motor Today in North America more was issued to Thomas Davenport in then 1 billion motors are in 1837. service. Motors consume 25% of electricity in North America. Electricity consumption by motors in manufacturing sector is 70%. In oil, gas and mining industries around 90%. Three phase squirrel-cage induction motors account for over 90% of the installed motor capacity.
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In 1888, Nikola Tesla patented the first AC poly-phase motor.

Various Industry Motor Applications

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

Motor Failure Rates and Cost

Motor failure rate is conservatively estimated as 3-5% per year
In Mining, Pulp and Paper industry, motor failure rate can be as high as 12%.

Motor failure cost contributors:

Repair or Replacement Removal and Installation Loss of Production

Motor failures divided in 3 groups:

Electrical Mechanical Environmental, Maintenance, & Other
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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.

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 10C for any period of time
110 100

PERCENTAGE OF LIFE (%)

90 80 70 60 50 40 A-CLASS (105 C) B-CLASS (130C)

For F class insulation, stator temperature of 165C causes motor lifetime to decrease to 50%

30 F-CLASS (155 C)
20 10 0 0 H-CLASS (180 C)

50

100

150

200

250

300

TEMPERATURE (C)

Rotor Conductors Deforming or Melting (for rotor limited - thermal limit is defined by motor stall time)
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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
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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
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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) begins to accumulate

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

C
B D

A. B. C. D.
F

Cold Running Overload Hot Running Overload Cold Locked Rotor Curve Hot Locked Rotor Curve

E. Acceleration curve @ 80% rated voltage F. Acceleration curve @100% voltage

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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 motors full load current rating, which would limit the motor overload pickup setting to a maximum of 125%.

SF 1.0 1.15

Thermal Overload Pickup 1.1 1.25

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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%

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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
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Thermal ModelHot/Cold Stall Time Ratio (HCR)

Typically 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 A

CLASS B

CLASS F

CLASS H

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.
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Hot/Cold Safe Stall Ratio

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 = 8sec From the thermal limits curves run a line perpendicular to the current axis that intersects the hot and cold curves at the stall point or LRA The Hot/cold ratio can now be calculated as follows: = 6s/8s = 0.75 If hot and cold times are not provided and only one curve is given verify with the manufacturer that it is the hot curve ( which is the worst case), then the Hot/ Cold ratio should be set to 1.0
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LRThot = 6sec LRC = 5.4FLA

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.

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Overload Curve Selection

A custom overload curve will allow the user to tailor the relays 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.

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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.

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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 unbalance Faults

Positive Sequence

Negative Sequence

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Thermal Model - Current Unbalance Bias

Equivalent heating motor current is employed to bias thermal model in response to current unbalance.

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.
TYPICAL CONSERVATIVE

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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 accounts for such things as loss of cooling or unusually high ambient temperature.
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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 Tripped

Thermal Model Cooling100% load - Running

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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.

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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.

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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 Incorrect phase rotation connection Stator turn-to-turn faults
Motor Relay

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 with a delay of 10 seconds and a trip level setting of 25% x FLA for the current unbalance trip with a delay of 5 seconds would be appropriate.
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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 conductors 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 limited.
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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 CTs 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.

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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 CTs 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 motors 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 unless the ground fault elements pickup is set high enough to disregard this error during starting
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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 CTs, 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.

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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.

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Differential Protection
Biased differential protection - six CTs:
Biased differential protection method allows for different ratios for system/line and the neutral CTs. 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.

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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 an interrupting capacity equal to or greater then the maximum available fault current or let an upstream protective device interrupt fault current.

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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 155C could have the Stator RTD Trip level be set between 140C to 145C, with 145 C being the maximum (155C - 10C hot spot) The stator RTD alarm level could be set to a level to provide a warning that the motor temperature is rising

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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.
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Conclusions
Induction & synchronous motors are valuable assets to todays 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.

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