A novel starting method with reactive power compensation for induction motors

Abstract

This paper investigates several traditional startup methods for induction motors. Since a large starting current and a reactive power may lead to a deep voltage drop and cause a potential damage to induction motors and other devices in the same power grid, a novel starting method is proposed for induction motors based on the autotransformer and the magnetically controlled reactor (ATMCR). Then, a reactive power dynamical compensation strategy is developed to improve the power factor and overcome the voltage drop effectively. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that the starting current of induction motors is reduced in the starting period and compensate the reactive power simultaneously. In simulation, a parameter identification method is presented to deal with simulation parameters and the motor's nameplate parameters inconsistencies problem. Finally, simulation and experiment are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.