Short Summary
Cost Effective,
Low Distortion, Adjustable Speed Drives
Arthur Iversen
99-34
EISG Project Title: Cost Effective, Low Distortion,
Adjustable Speed Drives
EISG Grant Number: 99-34
PIER Area: Industrial/Agriculture/Water-End-Use Efficiency
Project Manager: Arthur Iversen (408) 354-7972
Principal Investigator: George Gabor
Contact Information: (408) 354-7972; (925) 284-9529 geogabor@jps.net
Organization: Spinel LLC.
Grant Amount: $75,000
Grant Term: 12 Months
Project Description:
The purpose of this project is to research the feasibility of a new, low cost, pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter design capable of producing pure waveforms for controlling adjustable speed drive (ASD) motors. A prototype motor controller will be fabricated and tested on a three-phase 5 HP motor.
Proposed Outcomes:
· Prototype three-phase inverter capable of producing pure variable frequency sine waves with current harmonics less than 5% and efficiency greater than 92% regardless of cable length.
· Feasibility assessment based on prototype performance testing.
Anticipated Benefits:
· Low cost solution to eliminating premature ASD motor failures due to leading edge PWM pulse spikes which cause premature insulation failure.
· Eliminate or minimize costly harmonic filters and associated engineering analysis that is currently required for harmonic sensitive ASD installations.
· Significantly increase ASD market penetration which is currently only 9% due to lack of confidence in the technology.