Troubleshooting the most typical winding problems of three phase electric motors
It’s always important to identify the real cause of burned windings and not just to replace the electric motor. Motor windings have a different appearance in all these failure situations: single-phase burnout, overload, unbalanced voltage,… Read more
Dec 21, 2020 | Edvard
The most used types of single-phase motors in the world
You should know that single-phase motors are rarely rated above 5 kW. Fractional-kilowatt motors, most of which are single-phase, account for 80−90% of the total number of motors manufactured and for 20−30% of the total… Read more
Nov 23, 2020 | Edvard
Mastering Motor Control Center (MCC): Wiring diagrams and equipment from zero to hero
Motor control center (MCC) was introduced back in 1937 to place different motor starters in one cabinet to save space. It is a modular cabinet that supplies and controls motors, which is usually a tailor-made…...
PREMIUM Membership Required
This technical article/guide requires a Premium Membership. Get access to all premium HV/MV/LV technical articles, electrical engineering guides, and papers. Check out each plan's benefits and choose the membership plan that works best for you or your organization.You can choose an annually based Plus, Pro, or Enterprise membership plan.Log InSign Up
Nov 02, 2020 | Salem Alshahrani
The essentials of electrical systems in cement plants
Many young engineers consider cement plants pretty complicated because of their weird technology. The reason probably lies in the fact that you cannot understand all those technologies unless you worked in such a plant and… Read more
Sep 14, 2020 | Edvard
Protection of three-phase motors from unbalance (loss of phase and phase rotation)
The most common cause of unbalance for three-phase motors is the loss of phase resulting from an open fuse, circuit breaker, connector, or damaged conductor. Unbalances in other connected loads can also affect the motor…. Read more
Aug 10, 2020 | Edvard
The art of designing the auxiliary system of a power plant
Power plant auxiliary system is usually pretty complicated and consists of dozen of motors, transformers, capacitor banks, variable frequency drives, PLCs, and other electrical devices. Therefore, protection relaying cannot be simple, and it requires special… Read more
Feb 24, 2020 | Edvard
The basics of fault protection for medium voltage motors
In principle, the protection of medium voltage motors is similar to low voltage motors, but the requirements are more demanding. Being closer to the utility source, medium-voltage motors are more susceptible to voltage sags and… Read more
Dec 16, 2019 | Edvard
How can a PLC and VFD be used for pump control (power and control circuits)
For the last several decades, every engineering task related to process control is realized by the use of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). If we are talking about induction motor control, which is the most common…...
PREMIUM Membership Required
This technical article/guide requires a Premium Membership. Get access to all premium HV/MV/LV technical articles, electrical engineering guides, and papers. Check out each plan's benefits and choose the membership plan that works best for you or your organization.You can choose an annually based Plus, Pro, or Enterprise membership plan.Log InSign Up
Nov 27, 2019 | Miodrag Kokotovic
Medium voltage soft starter for heavy-duty motor control (operation and special applications)
A soft starter is an electronic motor controller used on three phase medium voltage squirrel cage induction motors. During motor starting, the soft starter controls the voltage or current supplied to the motor. Motor start… Read more
Nov 18, 2019 | Edvard
The wiring diagram and physical layout of the equipment inside the motor control centre
This article will provide a description of most important equipment and working principle of a real case motor control centre (MCC). That is an usual name for a switchboard with purpose of power supply and…...
PREMIUM Membership Required
This technical article/guide requires a Premium Membership. Get access to all premium HV/MV/LV technical articles, electrical engineering guides, and papers. Check out each plan's benefits and choose the membership plan that works best for you or your organization.You can choose an annually based Plus, Pro, or Enterprise membership plan.Log InSign Up
Nov 14, 2019 | Miodrag Kokotovic
How to know if you set the correct current on a motor thermal overload relay
The full-load current at a given voltage indicated on the nameplate is normative for setting the overload relay. Because of the variable voltages around the world, motors for pumps are made to be used at… Read more
Sep 19, 2018 | Edvard
Earth fault protection of an AC motor in four different earthing systems
One of the most common faults to occur on a motor is a stator winding fault. Whatever the initial form of the fault (phase phase, etc.) or the cause (cyclic overheating, etc.), the presence of… Read more
Sep 10, 2018 | Edvard
Practical tips on how not to burnout an electric motor
There are many reasons why an electric motor could start heating up. For example, when another starting duty is used than the informed one on the motor nameplate this may result in motor overheating and… Read more
Aug 15, 2018 | Edvard
Why Raise the Power Factor? The Basics Every Electrical Engineer Should Understand.
A low power factor causes poor system efficiency. The total apparent power must be supplied by the electric utility. With a low power factor, or a high-kilovar component, additional generating losses occur throughout the system…. Read more
Jun 06, 2018 | Edvard
Protecting Motor From External Network Disturbances (Unbalance, V/Hz-ratio and Re-Energizing)
Unbalance in the supply voltage is typically due to a broken phase condition somewhere in the upstream network. This may result from single-phase fuse failure or pole discrepancy of a circuit breaker or a disconnector…. Read more
Jan 29, 2018 | Edvard
