POWERENG 2009
PID Controlled Synchronous Motor for Power Factor
Correction
Ramazan Bayindir*, Ilhami Colak*, Ersan Kabalci**, Alper Gorgun*
Gazi Electrical Machines and Energy Control (GEMEC) Group
* Department of Electrical Education, Faculty of Technical Education, Gazi University, Besevler, Ankara 06500, Turkey
** Department of Technical Programs, Vocational College of Haci Bektas, Nevsehir University, Hacibektas, Nevsehir-Turkey
icolak@gazi.edu.tr, bayindir@gazi.edu.tr, ekabalci@gazi.edu.tr, alpergorgun01@gmail.com
Abstract- In this paper, a synchronous motor controlled by a
PID based on a PIC 18F452 microcontroller has been studied
under three different working conditions using varying excitation
currents. Due to the complexity of PID parameters such as
integrative and derivative terms, their conversion to digital
systems has proven difficult. Hence, the collection of errors in a
specified time period has been multiplied be means of a sampling
period rather than complex integral algorithms. The difference
between the error rate and its previous value has been divided
into a sampling period to obtain the derivative operation.
Therefore, a PID controlled algorithm has been embedded into a
microcontroller which is easily implemented without complex
algorithms. In addition, the design of this study includes an LCD
based visual interface, allowing users to instantly monitor the
current, the voltage and the power factor of the synchronous
motor.
I. INTRODUCTION
Synchronous motors have ohmic, inductive and capacitive
operational characteristics when their excitation current is
changed. Papers and studies about various control applications
of synchronous motors can be found in the literature [1], [2],
[3]. The uses of PIDs in synchronous motor control are
classified into two main applications. In the first application,
the control parameters of a PID algorithm can be stable during
the operation or adjusted to an optimum value according to
obtained measurements. This control method is defined at a
basic level of PID control. The most widely seen problem of
this method is that the system may not be efficiently controlled
when the parameters are changed [4].The second application
differs from the first type with regard to the requirement for
obtaining parameters simultaneously. The controllers in this
group are referred to as nonlinear multiple-order controllers
because they do not require stable parameters. Each controller
of this algorithm is designed for various aims, which gives this
type of control structure a most significant advantage. Thus,
control algorithms become simpler, more accurate, faster, and
more sensitive [5]. In closed-loop control systems, timing is
the most important factor for sensing error-correction response
functions. In addition, since the derivative and integrative
operations performed by the microprocessor require huge
amounts of time and memory, the frequency response of the
system will be decreased critically when encountering instant
errors. Besides, it is also probable that the system may become
uncontrollable or begin oscillating and is therefore unable to
hold the reference value during the time interval mentioned
above [6].
978-1-4244-2291-3/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE 408
Lisbon, Portugal, March 18-20, 2009
II. THE APPLICATION OF A PID CONTROLLER TO A PIC18F452
MICROCONTROLLER
While defining a controller, the specifications of system
characteristics such as the velocity, the response time, the
sensitivity and the tolerance are investigated. The algorithms of
the control systems are classified into two main types: open
loop algorithms and closed loop algorithms, but there are lots
of rigid differences between these algorithms. In open loop
algorithms, there are no adjustable control parameters or
feedback loops. In addition to this, correction of output values
is not performed. The open loop algorithms are not preferred in
industrial control systems due to these disadvantages. In closed
loop algorithms, the error is minimized by measuring instant
values continuously and adjusted for stabilizing values. The
closed loop algorithms are widely used in industrial control
systems owing to these corrector characteristics [7]. A closed
loop system can be formalized as given in 1.
e(t ) = r (t ) − y (t ) (1)
Where, r(t) defines the magnitude of input and y(t) defines
the feedback information while e(t) is error rate in a first order
linear control system. It is clearly seen in (1) that the error rate
is the difference between input magnitude and the feedback
information of the system being controlled.
The three different main controllers used in control systems
are defined as proportional (P), integral (I) and derivative (D).
The PID control algorithm is;
de(t )
r (t ) = Kpe(t ) + Ki ³ e(t ) + Kd (2)
dt
The integral and derivative controllers have been structured
in C programming language as an algorithm which is
dependent on error measurement and downloaded to a 18F452
microcontroller to digitize the system. The integral controller
of 18F452 is given in (3).The Ts variable in (3) defines the
sampling period of the microcontroller. The derivative
equivalent of the microcontroller is seen in (4),
t n
³ e(t )dt ≅ Ts¦ e(n) (3)
0 0
POWERENG 2009 Lisbon, Portugal, March 18-20, 2009

de(t ) e(n) − e( n − 1)
≅ (4)
dt Ts
The designed system’s PID control algorithm is obtained by
using (3) and (4) and given in (5) by rearranging,
n e(n) − e(n − 1)
r (t ) = Kpe(t ) + KiTs ¦ e(n) + Kd (5)
0 Ts

III. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

A. The Optimization of PID Parameters
The main problem met during the PID design is defining the
Kp, Ki and Kd parameters because they change their
specifications according to criteria and time domain. Hence,
the effects of Kp, Ki and Kd on the system are necessary. In
PID control, the derivative and integrative effects will be
eliminated by taking the values of Ki and Kd as zero.
Increasing the value of Kp causes an increase on n natural Fig. 1. The flowchart of PIC18F452
frequency while the system is working as mentioned above.
The increase of natural frequency n decreases the damping The first step of this technique is elimination of the
coefficient, , and in this way, rise time is shortened. However, integrative and derivative effects of the controller by turning
the decreased damping coefficient () causes the reference the integral and derivative gain potentiometers off. The second
value to be exceeded. Consequently, capture of the reference step is to increase the value of the proportional gain
time value is diminished while an increase of Kp causes the potentiometer until the system achieves oscillation. By
reference value to exceed the time limit (toc). Adding the Ki assuming the gain at oscillation conditions as Ku and interval
controller to the system raises the degree of the system once. of oscillation as Pu, control parameters have been calculated
While Ki is increased, exceeded values increase rapidly as rise for critical gain and critical period using (6)-(8) as known as
time shortens. In addition, adding derivative controller Kd to the Ziegler-Nichols method in Table II [13].
the system will increase the parameter  and this change limits
exceeded values for rise time and the system operates in a Kp = 0.6 Ku (6)
stable region. The microprocessor algorithms of Kp, Ki and Kd Kp
coefficients are given in Table I [8]. Ti = 0.5Pu = (7)
Ki
TABLE I Kd
PID ALGORITHM ADJUSTMENT
Td = 0.125Pu = (8)
Kp
Exceed in Exceed is Exceed is
While
demand limit large short
In the experimental study, the system has saved the
calculated values and applied the most appropriate parameters
toc in to the IGBT module [14]. A large control signal is required to
demanded
demand Ki  or Kd  Ki  or Kd  catch the intended reference values rapidly. It has been
value
limit
achieved using the proportional coefficient at a higher level.
toc large Kp  (go to first line when demanded value
achieved) The integrative coefficient Ki must be at a lower level to
toc short Kp  (go to next line when demanded value prevent exceeding the limit when the intended reference is
achieved) captured.
Lower Kp and higher Ki values are required to protect the
B. Design of PID Controller stability of the system at the moment of equivalency between
reference and intended values.
The PID algorithm may be obtained using several methods
TABLE II
[9], [10]. An analytical calculation method is an alternative to a ZIEGLER-NICHOLS PARAMETERS
manually-designed trial and error method which requires a
Controller
modular rule base [11], [12]. The control parameters of the Type
Kp Ti Td
designed system have been defined by three identical
P 0.5* Ku  0
potentiometers connected to Analog to Digital Convertor pins
of a PIC 18F452, and are adjusted by the user according to the I 0.45 * K u 0.833* Pu 0
Ziegler-Nichols closed loop method (Fig. 1). D 0.6 * Ku 0.5 * Pu 0.125 * Pu

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POWERENG 2009
The proportional gain Kp, integrative gain Ki and derivative
gain Kd have been adjusted according to the requirements of
the system by using the software developed. In the study, the
current and voltage of a phase have been obtained by
measurement circuits which consists of an LA55P current
transformer and a 220/6 V voltage transformer as seen in Fig.
2.
These values have been transferred to the AD converter pins
of the microprocessor by using the AD536 true RMS to DC
converter. A zero-crossing detector has been used to measure
the power factor and the frequency. The obtained values have
been processed by the PIC 18F452, and the current, the
voltage, the frequency and the power factor values have been
displayed on the LCD panel. The Mitsubishi 2MBI150N-60
IGBT module has been used to adjust the excitation current of
(a)
Fig. 2. The designed sensing circuits ( a) voltage sensing circuit and (b) current sensing circuit with LA55-P
Fig. 3. The block diagram of the designed system containing the microprocessor and the LCD monitoring blocks
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Lisbon, Portugal, March 18-20, 2009
the synchronous motor which is capable of conducting 150A
and up to 400V.
After defining Kp, Ki and Kd values, the processor assumes
the parameters as reference values which are displayed on the
LCD. The microprocessor generates switching frequency by
acquiring the excitation current of the motor, and calculates the
power factor by comparing the difference between current and
voltage. The comparison of calculated power factor (PF) and a
reference has been used to detect the error signal. At the final
step, the obtained error signal has been applied to the PID
algorithm to adjust the magnitude of PWM. In experimental
studies, the grid has been loaded with various ohmic, inductive
and capacitive loads while the synchronous motor is operating
at a defined Cos reference value.
(b)
POWERENG 2009 Lisbon, Portugal, March 18-20, 2009

It has been observed that load current changes in the motor

affect the power factor, which is dependent on excitation
current. The block diagram of the designed system is depicted
in Fig.3 and synchronous motor parameters are given in Table voltage
III as seen below.
current
TABLE III
SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR PARAMETERS

I Iu Speed Cos Power Weight

V (Volt)
(A) (A) (rpm) ϕ (kVA) (kg)

400-231
5.8-10 2.25 1500 0.8 4 156
λ−Δ

C. The Measurement Results

The grid was loaded by using various De-Lorenzo brand Fig. 4. Asynchronous working mode of Synchronous motor
load groups that were classified as DL 1017R ohmic load, DL
1017L inductive load and DL 1017C capacitive load. The
measurements were performed with 7 level load variations as
shown in Table IV. The motor was operated in asynchronous
mode initially. The measured load current and voltage voltage
waveforms are shown in Fig.4. The load current has been
measured over “m” point of the LA-55P current transformer as current
seen in Fig.2b. The current transformer’s conversion ratio was
1000:1 to attenuate the measured current. In the current sensing
circuit, a maximum obtainable value of 10A was limited to
4.7V by a noninverting amplifier at the output of the LA-55P
current transformer, and then applied to microprocessor. A
similar circuit was used to convert a maximum voltage value of
275V to 4.7V.
TABLE IV
DE-LORENZO LOAD LEVELS
Level
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5st 6th 7th Fig.5. Synchronous working mode with no load
Load

50.02 Hz operation frequency and 1.0 for PF. The load current
R () 1050 750 435 300 213 150 123
was rapidly decreased in synchronous mode when the
excitation current was applied.
L (H) 4.46 3.19 1.84 1.27 0.90 0.64 0.52
The grid was loaded with 1st level ohmic and 3rd level
C (F) 2 3 5 8 10 13 18 inductive loads as given in Table IV and the experiment result
is shown in Fig.6. Under this condition, the parameters of the
synchronous motor were measured as 1.96A for the terminal
The asynchronous working mode of the synchronous motor
current, 239.5V for the terminal voltage, 50.15 Hz operation
is shown in Fig.4. The experimental results of various load
frequency and 1.0 for PF.
conditions are seen in Fig.5, Fig.6 and Fig.7 while P.F. is 1.
The regular sinusodial curves depict the voltage and the Fig.7 shows the working conditions while the grid was
oscillating curves show the current in the following figures. loaded with 3rd level ohmic and 4th level inductive load as seen
in Table IV. Under this condition, parameters of the
In the asynchronous working mode seen in Fig.4, the
synchronous motor were measured as 3.04A for the terminal
parameters of the synchronous motor were measured as 8.34A
current, 239.2V for the terminal voltage, 50.13 Hz operation
for the terminal current, 229.3V for the terminal voltage, 49.91
frequency and 1 for PF.
Hz operation frequency and 0.06 for PF.The synchronous
operation mode was performed by applying an excitation
current to the motor as the reference value of Cos was 1.0.
In the synchronous operation at no load mode seen in Fig.5,
the parameters of synchronous motor were measured as 0.98A
for the terminal current, 240.06V for the terminal voltage,

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POWERENG 2009 Lisbon, Portugal, March 18-20, 2009

REFERENCES
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Fig.7. Synchronous working mode with ohmic and inductive load

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The paper has described an automatic adjusting procedure to
determine PID parameters for PID control of a synchronous
motor. In this approach, operations are performed by summing
of all error values at a fixed time interval and multiplying them
with a sampling period instead of integrative work. In addition,
equivalency is used in place of a derivative operation to
calculate the difference between the error and its previous
value, and then dividing the result by sampling period.
Therefore, a PID controlled algorithm has been embedded into
a microcontroller and then implemented easily without
requiring complex algorithms. In addition, design of this study
includes an LCD based visual interface allowing users to
instantly monitor the current, the voltage and the power factor
of the synchronous motor. Results show the effectiveness of
the methodology and a way of using power factor correction in
a synchronous motor. Furthermore, the optimization method
can be used and applied to obtain improved closed loop
performance for different systems.

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