In electric power systems, it is very common to find problems of power quality. The flow of harmonics significantly affect the operation of three-phase induction motors, and its energy characterization becomes difficult. There are different methods in situ to estimate motor efficiency. However, it is necessary to deepen the in situ efficiency analysis under nonsinusoidal voltage conditions. In this paper, a procedure is presented based on the equivalent circuits with losses segregation and using a bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA). It allows induction motors' energy efficiency determination in field conditions with low invasiveness and working under harmonic distortion. The method was successfully tested on a 1.5 kW motor fed with significant levels of voltage harmonic.Index Terms-Bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA), harmonics, induction motor, in situ efficiency estimation.

No abstract

No abstract

This paper presents the application of a method to determine the output power, losses, and efficiency of induction motors, working in no-controlled conditions, in the presences of unbalanced and harmonics voltages. The method uses the steady state equivalent circuits, with some considerations for the analysis of motor performance, fed with unbalanced and harmonic voltages. The parameters of circuits are determined with low invasiveness, by applying a Bacterial Foraging Algorithm as technique of evolutionary search. With this, the efficiency and other operational parameters can be estimated at any operating point. The method was tested in a 12.6 kW motor working in an industrial network, with harmonics and voltage unbalanced.Index Terms--Equivalent circuits, energy management, harmonic analysis, induction motors, industrial power systems, power quality, parameter estimation, unbalanced voltage.Vladimir Sousa and Milén Balbis, are with GIOPEN of the Electrical Engineering program in Faculty of Engineering

For driving constant loads in industry, the use of direct-on-line-start permanent-magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance motors with ferrite magnets (DOL-Start-PMa-SynRM) is proposed. The bibliographic search demonstrated that this new motor has greater efficiency than one similar induction motor (IM). It was evidenced that the main element that is required for direct starting is to insert a squirrel cage into the rotor of a PMa-SynRM, which does not produce negative operational effects in a steady state. An economic evaluation was carried out in a sugar mill company, applying the differential net present value (NPV) method, and a sensitivity analysis, considering the four factors that present the most variation. It was demonstrated, by means of a Pareto diagram standardized for the NPV that the most significant factors are fuel factor, lifespan and the multiplication of both. With response surfaces that are obtained with a multilevel factorial experiment, it was determined that, by varying the factors in the ranges considered, the NPV always remains positive and higher than 2200 USD. This is mainly due to the notable difference between the efficiency of the DOL-Start-PMa-SynRM and that of the IM. Consequently, is proved that an investment in the DOL-Start-PMa-SynRM may be feasible.