Integra Energy Saving ROI Document

Introduction
This document is intended to provide background information into calculating the
amount of energy savings possible with Integra having the optimisation feature
enabled.

Optimisation

In order to understand the optimisation feature within the Integra we must first
understand workings of the three phase induction motor. All three phase squirrel cage
motors have an efficiency of less than unity. The input power is always greater than
the shaft power, the difference between the two make up the motors loss. This can be
described as the cost of turning electrical energy into kinetic energy.
The loss consists of electrical and mechanical components, the former is partly load
and non load dependant. In order to further understand the nature of these losses we
must split them into their individual components.

Mechanical Loss

The mechanical losses consist of the following components.

 Friction in the bearings

 Internal turbulence in the air gap between rotor and stator
caused by rotor end bars.
 The power absorbed by the cooling fan

The above losses are not load dependant and can be considered to be constant and are
approximately 15% of the full load total loss. They cannot be reduced except by
lowering the speed of the motor, which is fixed by the supply frequency.

Electrical Loss

The electrical losses can be divided into two types, fixed losses and load dependant
losses.
Fixed losses are magnetisation or ‘Iron’ losses and are derived from the current
needed to provide the torque producing magnetic field within the motor. They are
independent of load and are voltage dependant; so therefore are fixed at a constant
supply voltage. These losses account for approximately 35% of the total loss.

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The load dependant losses are I²R ‘Copper’ loss and ‘Stray’ loss which increase
roughly in proportion with load. At full load they account for approximately 50% of
the total full load loss. Please see Figure 1.

In order for Integra to optimise the motor must generally be running at less than 60%
load.

100
Total Losses
90 Figure 1
80 Iron Loss
% Full Load Losses

70
Copper Loss
60
Mechanical Loss
50
40
30
20
10
0
25 50 75 100
% Full Load Power

Typical Losses in a 3 Phase Induction Motor

Optimisation of Motor Losses

When working at or near full load, the typical 3-phase induction motor is relatively
efficient, achieving efficiencies of between 75% to 94% depending on the rating and
design of the motor. However, as shown in Figure 2 motor efficiency can fall
dramatically when the load falls to less than 60% of rated output. In fact, very few
motors actually experience consistent fully rated operation, the vast majority operate
at much lower loads due to either over-sizing (a very frequent situation), or natural
load variations.
In applications where motor loads are varied, the sophisticated imbedded software
within Integra will produce energy savings in partly loaded motors.

Less sophisticated starters remain at full conduction and the motor then behaves as if
it were connected directly to the mains supply. However, at part load and at full
mains voltage, induction motors always have excess magnetising current. By
detecting the load at any instant, and adjusting the motor terminal voltage

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accordingly, Integra is able to save some of the excitation energy and load loss,
improving motor Power Factor when the motor is running inefficiently at part load.

Motor Efficiency

100
Figure 2
90
% Motor Efficiency

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
25 50 75 100
% Full Motor Load

Generally larger motors tend to be more efficient than their smaller mass produced
low power versions. This is purely down to economics as there are higher profit
margins available in large motors to use higher quality materials. In recent times
manufacturers have been introducing high efficiency motors which employ various
technologies such as low loss steels for laminations and rotor designs which reduce
iron loss, higher cross sectional areas for the windings which lower the I²R loss
enabling them to operate at 95% and more efficiency’s. However, there is a ‘trade off’
as high efficiency designs tend to have less starting torque and higher starting current
than there more common brothers.

There are also considerable mechanical issues that prevent modern high efficiency
motors being retrofitted to existing machinery which will be covered elsewhere in this
document.
Despite many governmental programs around the world to promote high efficiency
motors they account for only around 1-2% of the installed base of ‘standard’ motors
which remain the motor of choice for most plant engineers.

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Table 1 is a guide to typical motor efficiency verses kilowatt rating of the average
installed motor base. However, if name plate motor efficiency is available the figure
from the actual motor should be entered into the Suresense ROI [return on
investment] calculation rather than the typical figure.

Table 1

Motor kW Motor Full Load

Rating Efficiency %
2.2 75
4 77
5.5 81
7.5 82
11 83
15 84
22 85
30 86
37 87
45 87
55 87
75 88
90 89
110 90
132 91
150 91
185 92
225 92
250 93
315 93
355 94
450 94
630 94.5
800 95

Higher than nominal supply network voltages and the number of motor poles will
have a further additional negative effect on overall motor efficiency, also further
efficiency drops can be expected if the motor has been rewound during its working
life.
If the number of motor poles is 6 or higher deduct 1% from the motor efficiency.
If the motor has been re-wound deduct a further 1.5% from the motor efficiency.

Example
A 150kW 6 pole motor (1000RPM@50Hz) which has been re-wound would have a
new efficiency of approximately 88.5%.

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How much energy can be saved?

The following table, Table 2 shows typical percentage saving of total motor losses
verses load when using the optimisation feature within the INTEGRA.

Table 2

% Motor Load % of Total Motor

Loss Saved
5 21.5
10 19
15 16.5
20 11
25 7.5
30 7
35 6.2
40 5.5
45 5
50 4
55 3.5
60 2

Example

Consider a 55kW motor running at 20% load for 50% of the duty cycle and 70%
loads for 50% of the duty cycle.

1. The motor runs 24 hours per day, 5 days per week = 6240 hours per year.
2. Motor runs at 20% load for 3120 hrs/per year and 70% load for 3120 hrs/per
year. No savings possible at 70% load.
3. The motor has a full load efficiency of 87%.
4. The electrical power required to deliver the shaft power of 55kW is
55/0.87=63.21kW. The total motor loss being 63.21-55=8.21kW.
5. The percentage of the total loss than can be saved at 20% load is 11%. See
table 2.

Actual kW saved =8.21*0.11=0.903kW

With a typical energy cost of £0.13 per kWh this equates to £366.26 saving in
electricity costs based on 3120 Hrs running time per year.

£366.26=0.903*3120*0.13

In the United States the ROI from optimisation can be greatly enhanced due to the
difference between design operating voltage and typical supply voltage which is often

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480V or more for a design of 460V. This means that motors are often running with
their cores saturated resulting in lower motor efficiency due to the additional I²R loss
being generated by the higher running currents. This can result in total losses being
50% higher than normal.

Power savings made during starting

The soft start effect will often reduce the starting current to a level of between 2 and 4
times the motors full load current (FLC). Direct on line ‘DOL’ starting current is
generally between 6 and 10 times the motors nominal current. This can reduce the
motors peak kVA demand by around 50%, enabling the user to reduce their supply
requirements accordingly depending on the number of motors controlled and their kW
rating.
Because motor torque is proportional to the square of the applied voltage reducing the
torque during starting will extend the acceleration time considerably, reducing any
‘peak’ kW savings that may be gained.
This may not be the case if peak demand is calculated on the highest single peak event
– these methods of measurement can measure peaks over a short period – sometimes
just a few seconds.

Generally, kW savings are not usually possible during starting.

Other power savings related to optimisation

Further savings are made due to the overall current reduction in the supply system
which would have an effect on the I²R cable losses. These savings are directly related
to the impedance of the supply system and would be very difficult to calculate without
all the necessary parameters being known so should not considered.

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How to determine motor loading

Direct measurement method

For this method use the Eniscope data recorder to measure actual motor kW
consumption. Then take the motor efficiency value from the motor name plate or from
Table1 if not available and perform the following calculation. The calculated figure is
then entered into the ROI calculation.

Motor Load% = Measured Motor Load (kW) x 100

Motor Full Load (kW)

Example

A 55kW motor was measured and its consumption was 17kW.

The motors actual kW consumption at full load was calculated as 55/0.87=63.21kW
(shaft power/efficiency).

Motor Load% = 17 x 100 = 26.89%

63.21

Problems in retrofitting high efficiency motors

The reduction in starting torque associated with high efficiency motors may require
the specifying engineer to use a larger motor than would normally be required if a
standard motor were used.
This would of course negate any efficiency savings that would have been made.
Mechanically there are also issues as newer motors will inevitably be metric frame
sizes or may indeed be a frame size smaller due to advances in design. The ensuing
problems of frame size, shaft size and alignment can often make the task too daunting
to consider.
This may be why the take up of high efficiency motors has been far slower than
expected.

Accuracy of calculations

Although we believe the assumptions and calculations within the Suresense

calculation to be reasonably correct we would recommend it is used as a guide only.
Actual measurements using a suitable energy analyser such as the Eniscope data
recorder should be used to endorse any calculated figures.