6/28/2017 L&TMPSNegativeSequenceProtectionforACMotors

NEGATIVESEQUENCEPROTECTIONFORACMOTORS

1.0NeedforNegativeSequenceProtection

Primary cause of motor failure is excessive heating, which if sustained over long time periods will
resultinmotorburnout.Overheatingalsoreducesthelifeofmotor.Ifamotoriscontinuouslyover
heatedbyjust10degrees,itslifecangetreducedbyalmost50%.

Over heating normally occurs due to over current, which in turn may be due to over loads or locked
rotorconditionorlowvoltageorphasefailureorrepeatstartsorphaseunbalance.

Bimetallic relays are most economical solution for heating due to over loads. However they suffer
from inherent deficiencies like poor accuracy, rigid inverse time characteristics, poor repeatability
etc. They are totally insensitive to current unbalance, which is one of the major contributors to over
heatinginmotors.

Thoughthethreephasemotorissupposedtobeabalancedload,currentunbalanceoccursfrequently
inmotorfeedersduetofollowing:

a)voltageunbalanceinthefeedersupply
b)phasereversal
c)singlephasing
Current unbalance in a motor is best represented by the presence of excessive negative sequence
component in the motor current. Consequently it is necessary to protect motors against negative
sequence.

2.0SupplyUnbalance&Sequencecomponents:

When the power supply to the motor is unbalanced, the unbalanced voltage and the resulting
unbalancedcurrentsinthethreephasescanberesolvedintothreebalancedcomponentsasfollows:

a)PositiveSequencecomponent:Thiscomponentisinthesamephasesequenceasthatofthemotor
current. All its three phases are perfectly balanced they are equal in magnitude and are displaced
by 120 degrees. The positive sequence component represents the amount of balance in the power
supplyandconsequentlyisinstrumentalindeliveringusefulpower.

b) Negative Sequence component : This component has a phase sequence opposite to that of the
motor current hence the name negative sequence. It represents the amount of unbalance in the
feeder . All its three phases are perfectly balanced they are equal in magnitude and are displaced
by 120 degrees. This component does not produce useful power however by being present it
contributestothelossesandcausestemperaturerise.

c)ZeroSequencecomponent:This,ifpresent,representsextentofearthfaultinthefeeder.Allits
threephasesareinthesamedirection.

3.0EffectofUnbalanceinMotors:

3.1 When the supply voltage is unbalanced, the positive sequence component reduces and results in
lowpowerdelivery.

Anunbalanceofonly5%(Rphase=415V,Yphase=415V,Bphase=436V)canreducetheout
put by 25%, even though the motor continues to draw the same current as at the time of balanced
condition. This means that the motor current has to increase under unbalanced condition in order to
deliverthesamepower.Thisincreasewillresultinmotorheating.

3.2 During supply unbalance, negative sequence currents flow through the stator windings. This

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results in induction of negative sequence voltage in the rotor windings. Since the rotor is short
circuited, this will result in abnormal current flow in the rotor and damage the rotor winding. A
voltageunbalanceoftheorderof3%canincreasetheheatingbynearly20%intherotor.

3.3 The negative sequence impedance of the motor is approximately same as the locked rotor
impedance which in turn is approximately one sixth of normal motor impedance. Due to this even
smallvoltageunbalancecanproducelargenegativesequencecurrentinthemotor.

3.4 The frequency of the negative sequence current induced in the rotor will be equal to (supply
frequency) x (2slip) Hz. This is due to the fact that it is revolving in the opposite direction . This
frequency will be typically around 99 Hz during normal motor operation . Due to skin effect, high
frequency negative sequence currents encounter high rotor resistance. This inturn results in over
heating.Theincreasedresistanceistypically5timesthenormalpositivesequenceresistance.

4.0ReasonsforUnbalance:

Voltageunbalancecanbeduetomanyreasons.Theseincludeunsymmetricalloading,blownfusesin
capacitorbanksandsinglephasing.

5.0Singlephasing:

Single phasing causes worst kind of unbalance it produces equal amount of positive and negative
sequencecomponents.Theprimecausesforsinglephasingare:

a)brokenorburnoutofconnectingleadstomotor
b)blownfuses
c)faultycontactinswitchingelement

Tounderstandtheeffectofsinglephasinginmotors,considertheconditionshownbelow.

ItcanbeseenthatthecurrentinwindingCwillbelargerthanthatinAandBandconsequentlyitwill
burnout.Typicalcurrentsinthewindingsareshownbelow>



MotorCurrent(%offull Currentinwindingswhensinglephasinghas
load) occured
3phase LinesL1&
WindingA&B WindingC
current L3
50 80 50 108
55 90 58 118
60 102 62 131
65 120 70 147
70 130 79 161
75 147 87 180
80 165 95 198
85 180 102 215
90 200 111 235
95 222 120 258
100 243 129 285


Fromtheabovetable,wecanseethatinamotorrunningat50%load,onsinglephasinginL2,

a)thehealthylinesL1andL3willcarry80%offullload
b)thewindingswillcarry50%offullload
c)thewindingCcarriesmorethantwicefullload(108%)

A thermal over load relay in this case , will not trip since it is seeing only 80% current in healthy
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6/28/2017 L&TMPSNegativeSequenceProtectionforACMotors

lines L1 & L3 while the winding C is already over stressed. This situation gets worse with increasing
loadsatthetimeofsinglephasing.

Anegativesequencecalculationwouldhavehelpedinthiscase.

6.0Phasereversal:

Phase reversal in a motor can be very dangerous the motor will run in the opposite direction
resultinginseveredamagetogearboxes,materialflowproblemsandhazardtooperatingpersonnel.

Phase reversal in a motor feeder produces a negative sequence of nearly 100% and is well detected
byarelaywithnegativesequenceprotection.

Considering the above details, it can be easily concluded that a motor protection relay will
provideaneffectiveprotectiontothemotoronlywhenitisequippedtomeasurethenegative
sequencecomponentlevelinthemotorfeeder.

R.Seshadri

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