The present disclosure concerns a process for detecting errors in the cabling between three phase Mains, a soft starter and a three phase motor and more precisely to diagnose a wrong wiring of a “delta-inside” wiring of a three phase motor connected to a soft starter device.
An asynchronous electric motor with three phases can be controlled by a starter device, mainly a soft starter device, in several ways. The cabling between the three phases of the motor and the starter device can notably be configured in a “Y” configuration that is three phases plus neutral or a ‘delta’ configuration. In the delta configuration, a configuration “line-delta” and a configuration called “delta-inside” are both possible.
In the configuration “line-delta”, the thyristors of the starter device are connected to the summits of the three branches of the delta configuration of the windings of the motor.
In the “delta-inside” configuration such as in
This configuration is simple to produce, however when the motor and the soft starter device are not close to one another, cabling errors are common. One of the errors consists, for example, in inverting two phases. Another error consists, for example, in short-circuiting one or more windings of the motor. In such case, the winding is looped back on itself.
Document US2008/0088990 A1 provides a method for controlling an asynchronous electric motor comprising three windings distributed over three branches in a delta configuration, the motor being controlled by a soft starter device comprising power semiconductors directly connected in series with the three branches of the delta configuration of the windings of the motor. The method comprises application of a voltage in a first branch of the delta, after a priming delay, priming of the semiconductor of the first branch, measurement of the electrical current generated within the first branch during the priming operation, determination of the configuration of the cabling of the first branch as a function of the measured electrical current. The sequence is then repeated in the other branches if no overcurrent or undercurrent is measured in a previous branch. This method is an active method since it uses injecting currents in the branches to check the wiring.
Such active sequence method is efficient but may not be used by a client who needs only to test the cabling and does not want to inject currents in the motor phases.
The goal of the present disclosure is to provide a diagnostic process for detecting errors in a motor cabling of a delta-inside cabling of a soft starter and motor and more precisely to diagnose a wrong wiring of the delta wiring of such a three phase motor with soft starter connection without priming the semiconductors in the soft starter device and without injecting currents in the motor windings. The process comprises a passive diagnostic function which can be launched by an operator once it has done the wiring of the motor. This function may also be launched prior to a run order of the motor to check the wiring and to avoid possible peaks of current or wrong rotation direction at a motor run order.
More precisely, the present disclosure concerns a diagnostic process for detecting errors in a cabling of a three phase motor in a “delta-inside” configuration with a soft starter to a three phases power supply, comprising,
Such a diagnostic process has the advantage of allowing to test the
The diagnostic process may comprise a test of presence of a run order in order to permit to start the motor, upon detection of a correct cabling.
In case Dirmains, the Mains voltage rotation direction, is equal to the motor rotation direction Dirmotor then the formula
θdiff=θmotor−θmains−θsync+Dirmotor×θvs−Dirmains×θsyncA
In such alternatives θsync is an observer angle delay, θsyncA is a Mains Voltage sign hardware measurement delay, θvs is a Motor Voltage sign hardware measurement delay introduced when the voltage measurement is limited to the sign of the voltage, where Dirmotor=1 when the three motor voltage phases rotate in direct direction and Dirmotor=−1 when said motor phase voltages rotate in reverse direction and where Dirmains=1 when the three Mains voltage phases rotate in direct direction and Dirmains=1 when they rotate in reverse direction.
The sequence of tests may be conducted on θdiff value to determine the status of the cabling and the results of said tests may comprise diagnostic codes according to the determination of such status of the cabling.
A first test of said sequence may comprise checking whether a first condition C1 where θdiff is greater than
and lower than
is satisfied, wherein, in case the result of such first test is positive, a display code for a correct wiring is emitted and a motor run order is executed when present, and wherein in case the result of such first test is negative a further test is executed or in case the firth test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
A second test of said sequence may comprise checking whether a second condition C2 where θdiff is greater than
and lower than
is satisfied, wherein, in case the result of said second test is positive a display code for a first reversed triangle condition is emitted and the process is stopped an wherein in case the result is negative a further test is executed or in case the second test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
A third test of said sequence may comprise checking whether a third condition C3 where θdiff is greater than 2π−ε and lower than 2π+ε is satisfied, wherein in case the result of said third test is positive a display code for a second reversed triangle condition is emitted and the process is stopped an wherein in case the result is negative a further test is executed or in case the third test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
A fourth test of said sequence may comprise checking whether a fourth condition C4 where θdiff is greater than
and lower than
is satisfied, wherein in case the result of said fourth test is positive a display code for a winding V looped back on itself is emitted and the process is stopped an wherein in case the result is negative a further test is executed or in case the fourth test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
A fifth test of said sequence comprises checking whether a fifth condition C5 where θdiff is greater than π−ε and lower than π+ε is satisfied, wherein in case the result of said fifth test is positive, a display code for a winding W looped back on itself is emitted and the process is stopped an wherein in case the result is negative a further test is executed or in case the fifth test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
A sixth test of said sequence comprises checking whether a sixth condition C6 where θdiff is greater than and lower than
and lower than
is satisfied, wherein in case the result of said fifth test is positive a display code for a winding U looped back on itself is emitted and the process is stopped an wherein in case the result is negative a further test is executed or in case the sixth test is the last test of the test sequence a display code wiring unknown is emitted.
In these tests, ε is a limit error value which, as there is six possible values for θdiff, should have a maximal value of 30° as 360/6/2=30°. For convenience, ε may be set between
allowing to have between ±30° and 10° angle tolerance around θdiff and preferably
corresponding to a 20° angle tolerance.
The diagnostic process may comprise at least a step of translating said display codes into plain language explanations and displaying said plain language explanations and/or a step of displaying said display code.
Depending on the size of an available display either display codes are displayed or plain language explanations are displayed.
The results of said test process may be transferred to a remote survey system or remote control device provided with display means for displaying said status of said cabling.
The diagnostic process may further comprise a test of presence of voltages (VU, VV, VW) on the motor phases (U, V, W) prior to initiating a correct cabling test sequence.
The present disclosure concerns also a soft starter device comprising a processor, Mains voltage sensors on Mains inputs of motor control thyristors, motor voltage sensors on motor outputs of said thyristors, analog to digital conversion means associated to the processor for measuring the Mains phases voltages and the motor phase voltages, first observer means for measuring the Mains phases rotation angle, second observer means for measuring the motor phases rotation angle, said processor being further configured for implementing the diagnostic process of any one of the preceding claims upon receipt of a test order from a remote control device.
The present disclosure also concerns a software program configured for executing the disclosed diagnostic process when executed by a processor.
The present disclosure also concerns a non-volatile support on which such software program is recorded.
A detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention will be discussed hereunder in reference to the attached drawings where:
As said above,
In such configuration, each motor winding UM, VM, WM is connected in series with a respective thyristor T1, T2, T3 so that branches (UM, T1); (VM, T2) and (WM, T3) are created. The Power phases L1, L2, L3 are connected in triangle with said branches, the phase L1 is connected to thyristor T1 at T1L connection and winding WM at W2 connection, the phase L2 is connected to Thyristor T2 at T2L connection and winding UM at U2 connection and the phase L3 is connected to thyristor T3 at T3L connection and winding VM at V2 connection.
The soft starter device 2 is under control of a controller 10 here having an input keyboard 11, for sending commands to the soft starter, and a display 12, the display 12 allowing to display information on the status of the soft starter and motor.
In the present disclosure, the microcontroller 21 is connected to voltage sensors 22a, 22b, 22c on the inputs T1L, T2L, T3L of the thyristors and comprises a first observer circuit or function 32 to measure the Mains phase θmains from the phases L1 L2 L3 on the three phase power supply 4 side. The microcontroller 21 is also connected to voltage sensors 23a, 23b, 23c on the outputs T1U, T2V, T3W of the thyristors and comprises a second observer circuit or function 33 to measure the motor phase θmotor from the phases U, V, W, on the motor side.
Upon powering of the Mains phases L1, L2, L3, the microcontroller 21 is configured to measure a phase difference between θmains and θmotor phases without initiating the thyristors T1, T2, T3 in order to characterize the good or bad cabling and allow to diagnostic the wiring fault origin.
Considering that cabling between the thyristors and motor is correct due to the simple coding of the outputs of the soft starter and motor winding terminals, there are six possible wiring combinations on the motor to Mains return wirings:
Several cablings are shown in,
It should be noted that the circular representation is shown with voltage vectors VU, VV, VW Mains voltages and V1, V2, V3 Motor voltages in a same orthonormal representation and according to the same convention for measurements of Mains voltages and Motor voltages, that is phase to phase on both sides of the soft starter or phase to neutral on both sides of the soft starter. In case different measurements are done, e.g. is phase to phase on a first side and phase to neutral on the other side a
addition or subtraction, depending on which measurement is done phase to phase and which measurement is done phase to neutral, has to be done to come back to the same representation. This would cause the following tests to consider this plus or minus
value in the comparison depending on which voltage measurement is phase to phase and which voltage measurement is phase to neutral.
Another point is that the calculations are done modulo 2π and that in case the rotation direction between the motor and the Mains is reversed, the differential angle will be θdiff=θMotor−(π−θMains).
The correct cabling configuration a) is described in
In such case, the diagram 102 provides identical rotation direction between the motor Dir Motor and the power supply DirMains. The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle θmotor (θM) and the Mains rotation angle θmains(θA) is then as in 103:
A first phase inversion configuration b) is described in
In such case, the diagram 112 provides identical rotation direction between the motor DirMotor and the power supply DirMains. The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle θmotor and the Mains rotation angle θmains is then as in 113:
The all windings looped back on themselves configuration c) is described in
In such case, the diagram 122 provides identical rotation direction between the motor RM and the power supply RA. However, rotation of the motor is not possible.
The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle θmotor and the Mains rotation angle θmains is then as in 123:
θdiff=0
A first looped back on itself configuration d) where the branch (VM, T2) 131b is looped back is described in
In such case, the diagram 132 provides reverse rotation direction between the motor RM and the power supply RA. The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle θmotor and the Mains rotation angle θmains is then as in 133:
A second one winding looped back on itself configuration d) where the branch (WM, T3) 141c is looped back on itself is described in
In such case, the diagram 142 provides reverse rotation direction between the motor RM and the power supply RA. The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle θmotor and the Mains rotation angle θmains is then as in 143:
θdiff=π
A third one winding looped back on itself configuration d) where the branch (UM, T1) 151a is looped back on itself is described in
In such case, the diagram 152 provides also reverse rotation direction between the motor RM and the power supply RA. The differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle motor and the Mains rotation angle θmains is then as in 153:
Then as can be seen, the measurement of the differential angle between the electrical motor rotation angle and the Mains rotation angle allows to detect a wrong cabling and tell the user which of the connections line is/are not correct.
The diagnostic function can be launched by the customer or test person when the wiring in finished and after power up of the power supply 4.
The diagnostic function may also be launched at each startup, to protect the motor and avoid overcurrent fault which can stress the thyristor and trip the protections before the soft starter device.
Thanks to the diagnostic, it is also possible to check that the direction of rotation of the motor corresponds to the rotation direction of the Mains phases in case there is no inversion of cable between the output of starter T1U, T2V and T3W and the motor U1, V1, W1.
In addition, by connecting the Mains in the correct order, L1, L2, L3 respectively connected to U1, V1, W1 through the thyristors of the starter 2, the customer can easily know the direction of rotation of the correctly wired motor as seen hereunder.
The diagnostic process comprises, as exemplified in the flowchart of
A first test 210 is done to ensure that three Mains voltages V1, V2, V3 with expected dephasing between each three Mains voltages and that and three motor voltages VU, VV, VW are present with expected dephasing between each three voltages. If it is not the case a warning “Bad Mains/Motor” is issued at step 410 of
If the result of the test 210 is correct, a further test 220 on the Mains and Motor frequency and on the phase observer (sometimes called PLL function) convergence (“MainsPObserverConverg“;” MotorPObserverConverg”) is lead in order to ensure computing θdiff with correct θmains and θmotor values. The observer convergence test consist in verifying that the observer error is below a certain threshold.
At the end of this test, if one of the test results is negative, the sequence is started again unless and end of temporisation ENDT 205 is reached such end of temporisation 215 issuing and error ERR.
The convergence of the observers is correct, a step 230 of reading of the values of θmains Mains angle, θmotor motor angle, Dirmains, direction of rotation of the Mains, Dirmotor direction of rotation of the motor by the soft starter processor 21 is done.
A test on the motor rotation angle versus Mains rotation angle is then done at step 240.
In case the Mains rotation direction Dirmains is equal to the motor rotation direction Dirmotor, the equation:
θdiff=θmotor−θmains−θsync+Dirmotor×θVs−Dirmains×θsyncA
is calculated at step 250 where θsync is the observer angle delay and where θsyncA is the delay introduced by the Mains Voltage sign measurement hardware and θVs is the delay introduced by the Motor Voltage sign measurement hardware in the soft starter processor when the voltage measurement is limited to the sign of the voltage.
is calculated at step 260.
is tested where ε is a tolerance limit value which, as there is six possible values for θdiff, should have a maximal value of
that is 30° as 360/6/2=30°. A minimum value of 10° for ε may also be considered but for simplicity, ε It is set at about
that is 20° allowing to have ±20° angle tolerance around θdiff exact value and 20° between each six 40° zones.
If the first condition is satisfied, as in
If the first condition is not satisfied, a second test on the second condition C2:
is done at step 320.
If the second condition is satisfied, as in
If the second condition is not satisfied, a third test on a third condition condition C3:
0−ε<θdiff
and
θdiff<0+ε
Is done at step 330.
If such third condition is satisfied, a display code Deltawiring=312 for a reverse cabling 3-1-2 corresponding to all windings looped back on themselves situation of
If such third condition is not satisfied, a fourth test on a fourth condition C4:
Is done at step 340.
If such fourth condition is satisfied, a display code DeltaWiring=32 for the winding V looped back on itself, as in
If such fourth condition is not satisfied a fifth test on a fifth condition C5:
π−ε<θdiff
and
θdiff<π+ε
is done at step 350.
If such fifth condition is satisfied a display code DeltaWiring=31 for a winding W looped back on itself, as in
If such fifth condition is not satisfied a sixth test on a sixth condition C6:
is done at step 360.
If this sixth and last condition is satisfied a display code DeltaWiring=21 for a winding U looped back on itself, as in
If not a display code DeltaWiring=UNK for unknown cabling is emitted at step 370.
All positive test return to step 380 where is tested the presence of a run order in the correct delta wiring condition.
It should be noted that a fixed & is chosen for simplicity but & could also be variable.
The test sequence is then easily made with the only request of powering the Mains three phases and the soft starter device.
The Delta Wiring codes “DeltaWiring” are only illustrative and may be changed or replaced by detailed explanations on the errors found in case a large display connected to the soft starter device permits to provide explanations and possibly guidance for correcting the defects.
The scope of protection of the invention is defined by the hereunder claims. The hereabove description is only illustrative and as said before, the test sequence can be run after cabling the system to complete the quality controls but can also be launched when a start order is emitted prior to running the motor in order to confirm that the circuit is correct. In addition, the order of the tests in the test sequence may be modified.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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22305115 | Feb 2022 | EP | regional |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6038114 | Johnson | Mar 2000 | A |
20070013326 | Kling et al. | Jan 2007 | A1 |
20080088990 | Malrait et al. | Apr 2008 | A1 |
20100327790 | Nolemo | Dec 2010 | A1 |
Entry |
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European Search Report and Search Opinion dated Jul. 25, 2022 for corresponding European Patent Application No. EP22305115.2, 5 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230243889 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |