Electric drive

Electrical drive is define as a form of machine

equipment designed to convert electrical energy in
to mechanical energy and provide electrical control
of this process.
With the advancement of power electronics,
microprocessors and digital electronics, typical
electric drive systems nowadays are becoming more
compact, efficient, cheaper and versatile this is
shown in Figure 1.

Fig 1 modern electric drive system employing power

electronics converter

COM PONENTS OF ELECTRICAL DRIVES

The main components of a modern electrical
drive are the load, motors, power processor,
control unit and electrical source. These are
briefly discussed below
1.Motors
Motors obtain power from electrical
sources. They convert energy from
electrical to mechanical - therefore can be
regarded as energy converters.
In braking mode, the flow of power is reversed.
Depending upon the type of power converters

used, it is also possible for the power to be fed back

to the sources rather than dissipated as heat
There are several types of motors used in
electric drives choice of type used depends
on applications, cost, environmental factors and
also the type of sources available.. Broadly, they
can be classified as either DC or AC motors
they can be

Types of electric motors presently used for

speed control applications are:
1.1.DC motors

Shunt

Series

Compound

Separately excited

Switched reluctance motors

1.2. AC motors
Induction
Wound rotor synchronous
Permanent magnet synchronous
Reluctance motors

2. Power Converter
Rectifiers
Choppers
Inverters
Cycloconverters

Conventional methods used, for example, variable impedance or relays,

to shape the voltage or current that is supplied to the motor ,these methods
however are inflexible and inefficient.
Modern electric drives normally used power electronic converters to
shape the desired voltage or current supplied to the motor.
electronic converters have several advantages over classical methods
of power conversion, such as
1)More efficient since ideally no losses occur in power electronic
converters
2)Flexible voltage and current can be shaped by simply controlling
switching functions of the power converter.
3) Compact smaller, compact and higher ratings solidstate power
electronic devices are continuously being developed the prices are getting
cheaper
Converters are used to convert and possibly regulate (i.e. using closed-loop
control) the available sources to sui t the load i.e. motors.
These converters are efficient because the switches operate in either cut-off
or saturation modes Several conversion are possible

3.Controllers matching the motor and power

converter to meet the load requirements
The complexity of the control unit depends on the
desired drive performance and the type of motors
used.
A controller can be as simple as few op-amps
and/or a few digital ICs, or it can be as complex
as the combinations of several ASICs and
digital signal
processors (DSPs).

The types of the main controllers can be analog which is noisy, inflexible. However analog
circuit ideally has infinite bandwidth.
digitalimmune to noise, configurable. The
bandwidth is obviously smaller than the analog
controller's depends on sampling frequency .
DSP/microprocessor flexible, lower bandwidth
compared to above. DSPs perform faster operation
than microprocessors (multiplication in single
cycle).
With DSP/microp., complex estimations and
observers can be easily implemented.

sources
Electrical sources or power supplies provide the
energy to the electrical motors.
For high efficiency operation, the power obtained
from the electrical sources need to be regulated using
power electronic converters Power sources can be of
AC or D C in nature and normally are uncontrollable,
i.e. their magnitudes or frequencies are fixed or
depend on the sources of energy such as solar or wind.
AC source can be either three-phase or single-phase;
3-phase sources are normally for high power
applications

Advantages of Electrical Drives

A. Flexible control characteristic This is
particularly true when power electronic
converters are employed where the dynamic and
steady state characteristics of the motor can be
controlled by controlling the applied voltage or
current.
B. Available in wide range of speed, torque and
power
C. High efficiency, lower noise, low maintenance
requirements and cleaner operation
D. Electric energy is easy to be transported

load

Applications.