Re: How to calculate the braking resistor & wattage value for a 3.

7 KW 3 phase invert
DC:
Unlike most AC motors, when removed from its power supply a DC motor can act like an electrical
generator due to its permanent magnet.
The idea here is to disconnect the motor from its power supply and connect it to the braking resistors
instead. The DC motor will then use its
rotational inertia to produce electricity, which does work by heating the braking resistors. This uses up
the energy stored in the rotational
inertia of the motor, bringing it to a stop.

A logical extension of dynamic braking is the concept of regenerative braking, which uses the
electricity to charge a battery instead of wasting
it as heat energy. The battery power can then be used for other things, such as restarting the motor.

AC:
Most AC motors do not act as generators when disconnected from the power supply. To electrically
brake an AC motor requires either a DC injection
brake or a variable frequency drive to provide dynamic braking. DC injection braking, applying DC
voltage to the stator windings, is the simpler of the
two options but is harder on the motor. Braking resistors are not involved in DC injection braking.

Dynamic braking of an AC motor is achieved by providing a slower frequency of electric current to the
motor than that which would be necessary
to maintain its current speed. For example, the synchronous speed of a 2 pole motor fed by a 60 Hertz
power supply would be 3600 RPM.
While the motor is at this speed, feeding it with a power supply operating at less than 60 Hertz creates
a magnetic field in the stator which rotates
slower than the rotor is rotating, and the drag produced will begin to slow the rotor down.

Although the AC motor does not have a permanent magnet in the rotor, it does have an induced
magnetic field in the rotor, created by the rotating
magnetic field in the stator. The energy lost in the difference between the stator and rotor speeds
backfeeds into the VFD, which raises the voltage
on the DC bus in the VFD. The greater the difference between the output of the VFD and the rotor's
actual speed, the more energy will be backfed
into the VFD. This means that if the VFD tries to dynamically brake the motor too quickly, the voltage
on the DC bus will raise too high and damage
the VFD. Most VFDs will shut down as a safety feature before this happens, and the motor will coast to
a stop by friction alone.

This is where the braking resistors come in. The braking resistors act as an additional load on the DC
bus, which helps to drain the excess voltage
and keep it within safe tolerances. With appropriately sized braking resistors, the motor can be
brought to a stop much more quickly without raising
the voltage on the DC bus to unsafe levels.

In both the AC and DC cases, the smaller the resistance of the braking resistors, the larger the load it
creates and the faster the motor can be stopped.
However, less resistance means more current can pass through the resistor, and more current means
more heat is produced. The extra heat must be
dissipated by heat sinks, or reduced by using multiple resistors in parallel which share the load. Either
option drives up the cost of the braking resistor
system, so it is important to size them correctly for a given application.

text: Everything2.com by rootbeer277 Mon Feb 02 2004

Regenerative variable-frequency drives

Regenerative AC drives have the capacity to recover the braking energy of a load moving faster than
the designated motor speed (an overhauling load)
and return it to the power system.
Line regenerative variable frequency drives, showing capacitors (top cylinders) and inductors
attached, which filter the regenerated power.

Cycloconverters and current-source inverters inherently allow return of energy from the load to the
line, while voltage-source inverters require an
additional converter to return energy to the supply.

Regeneration is only useful in variable-frequency drives where the value of the recovered energy is
large compared to the extra cost of a regenerative
system, and if the system requires frequent braking and starting. An example would be conveyor belt
drives for manufacturing, which stop every few
minutes.
While stopped, parts are assembled correctly; once that is done, the belt moves on. Another example
is a crane, where the hoist motor stops and
reverses frequently, and braking is required to slow the load during lowering.
Regenerative variable-frequency drives are widely used where speed control of overhauling loads is
required.

Text: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_drive

The motor slows the load down, the VFD controls the motor to make this happen, and the brake
resistor is a place that can use the electricity
generated by the slowing operation.
If the slowing is gradual enough, then the generated electricity is less than the losses in the VFD and
motor; so the resistor never sees any of the
energy or regenerative circuit can handle generated energy so that DC-bus voltage dont rise too high ,
in these cases brake-resistor is not needed.

Some VDF`s has an Internal Dynamic Brake Resistor and can handle braking torque for short periods.
Usually in smaller VDF´s ( < 20kW).