Maximum Power Criterion

Figure 1. An approximate equivalent circuit on a per-phase basis of a balanced three phase induction motor.

 From the equivalent circuit as given in Figure 1. the rotor current is

𝐕𝟏
𝐈𝟐 = (1.1)
𝐑 𝐞 +𝐉𝐗 𝐞 +𝐑 𝟐 (𝟏−𝐬)/𝐬

Where
𝐑 𝐞 = 𝑹𝟏 + 𝑹𝟐
𝐗 𝐞 = 𝑿𝟏 + 𝑿𝟐
 The power developed by the three-phase induction motor is
𝟑𝐕𝟏 𝟐 𝐑 𝟐 (𝟏−𝐬)/𝐬
𝐏𝐝 = (1.2)
𝐑 𝐞 𝟐 +𝐗 𝐞 𝟐 +(𝐑 𝟐 (𝟏−𝐬)/𝐬)𝟐 +𝟐𝐑 𝐞 𝐑 𝟐 (𝟏−𝐬)/𝐬

From the above equation it is evident that the power developed by a three phase
induction motor is a function of slip. Therefore, we can determine the slip 𝑆𝑝 at
which the power developed by the motor is maximum by differentiating the
above equation and setting the derivative equal to zero. After differentiating and
canceling most of the terms, we obtain
𝟐
𝟐 𝟐 𝐑𝟐
𝐑𝐞 + 𝐗𝐞 = [ (𝟏 − 𝐒𝐩 )]
𝐒𝐩

Or (1.3)
𝐑𝟐
𝐙𝐞 = (𝟏 − 𝐒𝐩 )
𝐒𝐩

where 𝑍𝑒 is the magnitude of the equivalent impedance of the stator and the
rotor windings at rest. That is
𝐙𝐞 = |𝑹𝒆 + 𝑱𝑿𝒆 |
 Equation (1.3) states that the power developed by a three-phase induction motor
is maximum when the equivalent load (dynamic) resistance is equal to the
magnitude of the standstill impedance of the motor. This, of course, is the well-
known result we obtained from the maximum power transfer theorem during
the study of electrical circuit theory.

 From Eq. (1.3) we obtain the slip at which the induction motor develops
maximum power as
𝐑𝟐
𝐒𝐩 =
𝐑 𝟐 + 𝐙𝐞
 Substituting for the slip in Eq. (1.2) we obtain an expression for the maximum
power developed by a three-phase induction motor a

𝟑 𝐕𝟏 𝟐
𝐏𝐝𝐦 = [ ]
𝟐 𝐑 𝐞 + 𝐙𝐞
The net power output, however, is less than the power developed by an
amount equal to the rotational loss of the motor.