Induction Motor Thermal Model for Optimal Air-Cooling Strategies and Monitoring

Abstract

Optimal air-cooling strategies can lead to significant energy savings to increase the energy efficiency. To analyze a thermodynamic behavior of an automated industrial plant all parts of plant should be taken into account, which is a very complex issue.  This paper proves that for passive cooling of induction motor the simple model which only takes into account the stator thermodynamic behavior is enough. One – dimensional thermal map of tested induction motor is constructed. Totally enclosed fan cooled induction motor thermodynamic model with analogous electrical scheme and mathematical equations is given. Simulation results are compared to measurements and they show that the proposed thermodynamic stator model describes the passive stator cooling process well.