Complex Electronic Protection for Low-voltage Three-phase Induction Motors

Low-voltage three-phase induction motors are most often used in industrial electric drives. Electric motors must be protected by electric and/or electronic devices against: short-circuit, overloads, asymmetrical currents, two-phase voltage operation, under-voltage, and over-temperature. To design the electronic protection currents, voltages and temperature must be measured to determine whether they fall within normal limits. The electronic protection was design into low capacity PLC. The paper presents the designs and analysis of complex electronic protection for general purpose low-voltage three-phase induction motors. The electronic protection has Hall transducers and conversion electronic devices for AC currents to DC voltages, AC voltages to DC voltage, temperature to DC voltage, a low capacity PLC, switches, motor’s power contactors, and signalling lamps has been developed. Experiments with complex electronic protection, for different faults are presented. The proposed protection has the advantages of incorporating all usual protections future for the low-voltage three-phase induction motors.