Importance of motor protection in modern industries
Credit to Author: Atin Chhabra| Date: Wed, 22 May 2019 04:43:09 +0000
The basic idea behind electric motors is pretty simple – supply electricity at one end and a metal rod or an axle at the other end, which will provide you with power to drive a machine. This traditional form of generating electricity has now been in existence for more than 200 years and is now an advanced technical breakthrough in the field of power generation and industrial automation.
The manufacturing industry in today’s market dominates the industrial sphere. In this sector, a major portion of power is consumed to convert raw materials into finished goods. It is a mandatory resource, as over 50% of the work in today’s manufacturing plant is attained by electric motors or new-age servo motors. As per a research study to understand the electricity consumption trends, this percentage will continue to increase to sustain the production rate in the future.
Thus, it’s not really all that surprising that the production and manufacturing sector is dependent on electric motors. It’s essential to ensure that motors and motor starters are adequately protected. If you follow this, then it will provide you with maximum operating time and cut down on any chance of outages. With these complex industrial setups, improperly protected motors might result in unexpected production downtime, losses, and breakdowns in the machinery.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, over the last few decades, a major amount of resources have been deployed to make the operating systems even more efficient. The control manufacturers are mainly involved in the development of improved and cost-effective motor protection devices.
Moreover, to ensure motor protection, overload relays are used in circuits to protect motors and motor conductors. This saves the system from any damage caused by prolonged periods of overcurrent circuit conditions. Some of the functions of these relays are:
- It allows harmless, temporary overloads (like in the case of motor starters) without disrupting the circuit.
- They trip and open a circuit if the current is high enough to cause motor damage over a while.
- It can reset once the overload is removed. If the motors are exposed to the increased levels of continuous current and prolonged periods at locked rotor condition, severe damage to the motor and motor circuit conductors might occur.
The motors can be damaged or destroyed under any of the following conditions:
- High or low supply voltage
- Phase unbalance
- Continuous excessive loading
- Single-phasing
- Jam or stall conditions
- Ground/earth faults
- Mechanical failures like seized motor bearing or binding mechanical linkages
In the end, the integration of proper servo motors can turn out to be quite beneficial, as it will ensure that the system of power management is optimised to the fullest. This will ensure that little to no problems are faced by businesses further down the line, ultimately leading to a situation where the goal of proper power management can be accomplished very quickly.
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