DUSTY ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ON LIFESPAN OF THE INDUCTION MOTORS STATOR WINDING

Abstract

Large quantity of asynchronous motors work in heavily dusted environments. On the end-winding insulation of the motors to 55 kW operating in the mining and smelting enterprise there is a 3 cm dust layer, which may lead to the asynchronous motor end-winding local overheat and consequent early breakdown. Contemporary literature allocates insufficient consideration to the issue of studying the impact the winding dust pollution has on the motor lifespan; for the most part they are experimental researches. The article investigates and establishes correlation relationship between the additional winding heating and the end-winding dust layer thickness. The investigation considers the induction motor winding to be a homogeneous solid and assumes the motor thermal conditions steady inasmuch as the winding insulation dust-cover forming time is much greater than the motor-heating time constant. The obtained expression permits determining the winding dust level by temperature variations; the dependence has linear character. Neither the motor type, size, nor the capacity do affect the local insulation overheating since the temperature difference between the windings being dust laden does not exceed 10 % for asynchronous motors of various capacity. The authors develop an appliance that enables the winding dustiness level monitoring and signals of necessity for the preventive cleaning measures implementation. The appliance operation principle is based on measuring results comparison of the two temperature-sensing devices mounted on the end-winding: one – in the upper part, and the other – in the bottom. The differential in the sensors reading-out allows estimating the dust layer sedimentation on the end-winding. A patent of invention has been issued on the investigation results.

Keywords

• induction motor
• dust
• high temperature
• dust layer
• winding
• temperature sensor