Auto Changeover in Power Plants and Induction motor performance

Dr. K Rajamani Bina Mitra

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Mumbai Larson & Toubro Ltd, Mumbai

1.0 Introduction
In a thermal power plant, power distribution follows a unitized and a station concept.
All the auxiliaries, which are required to run for the successful operation of the unit,
are connected to unit buses. All auxiliaries that cater to services which are common
to the station are connected to station buses.

On interruption of supply to various buses, changeover from one supply to the other
is resorted to, based on the functional requirement.

This article covers types of changeover schemes and related philosophies. Principles
behind fast transfer, in-phase transfer and slow transfer are explained. Analytical
expressions characterizing dynamic performance of induction motor performance
during such changeover are given. Site measurements of run down characteristics of
large induction motor are presented and compared with theoretical values. The
article ends with remarks on features of reacceleration schemes.

2.0 System Description

A typical SLD of auxiliary system in conventional Power Plant (without Generator

Circuit breaker (GCB)) is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1 SLD of Auxiliary System in Power Plant (Without GCB)

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The Unit Auxiliary Transformers (UAT) derive power from the generator terminals
and deliver it to the unit buses (Buses 1 & 2). The Station transformers (ST) derive
power from EHV buses and delivers to the station buses (Buses 3 to 6).

3.0 Manual Live Changeover

During start up of a unit, there is no power at the generator terminals. During this
time the unit bus is fed from the station transformer through the station bus and the
respective station to unit ties. Post synchronization, when the unit reaches
approximately 30 % load, the supply to unit bus is switched over to unit transformer
without interruption. This changeover is done manually with appropriate provisions to
ensure synchronism between the station to unit tie breaker (Bkr B) and the incoming
supply (Bkr A). In this changeover the two supplies are momentarily paralleled and
thereafter the tie (Bkr B) is automatically tripped. This changeover is called “Manual
Live changeover”. It is essentially a “make before break” scheme. Standard schemes
for same are available.

4.0 Need for Fast Auto changeover in power plant auxiliary system

4.1 In a power station, boiler takes longest time to start up, typically six to eight hours.
Therefore, after a unit trip under certain conditions, practices have evolved in which
the boilers are kept in operation to give an opportunity to the operation personnel to
determine whether the unit can be brought back quickly or it will take a long time to
fix the problem. In case of the later, the boiler is then hand tripped.

4.2 The faults in the unit are classified as Class A, Class B and Class C.

(i) Class A trip involves a serious electrical fault like differential, stator earth fault
etc and is considered to be the most onerous in terms of the shock on the unit.
Since it involves electrical faults that can result in extensive damage to
equipment, connections from both generator and EHV bus(Bkr E) are
immediately switched off to limit the damage at the fault point and also to
isolate the healthy system. Hence the unit (turbine, generator and boiler) has to
be tripped.

(ii) Class B primarily relates to mechanical problems. There is no electrical fault.

This results in tripping of turbine followed by generator on reverse power.

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(iii) Class C involves basically un-cleared system related problems in grid like
under/over frequency, under/over voltage, etc. This does not necessitate
tripping of the unit. Only Bkr E is tripped. The unit operates on house load in
‘islanded mode’.

4.3 In Class B / C trip, it is desirable to keep the boiler operational. This is to enable the
operations staff to bring back the unit quickly if the problem can be identified and
fixed in a short time. Normally the system is provided with HP-LP bypass system
through which the steam cycle is maintained. To sustain the steam cycle, it is
important that the related auxiliaries should run without any interruption. Auto-
changeover schemes ensure restoration of power supply to critical motors at the
earliest for uninterrupted boiler operation.

In passing, it may be mentioned that island operation of large thermal units only on
house load (about 8%) after Class C trip has not been a success in most of the cases
in actual practice due to boiler controllability issues in spite of providing HP-LP
bypass and adequately sized condenser. Class C trip can be eliminated which has
only doubtful practical utility.

5.0 Auto Changeover Scheme for Unit bus in plants without GCB

5.1 Refer Fig.1, once the generator trip, unit bus lose its normal source of supply as EHV
breaker is also tripped in this case. To maintain uninterrupted power supply to the
auxiliaries (mainly motor loads) it is required to switchover to the healthy station
source. This switchover has to be very fast otherwise the decaying bus voltage would
cause all the connected auxiliaries to trip. Bus voltage and frequency profile for a unit
bus after unit tripping as recorded at power plant site is shown in Fig.2.

Fig.2 Bus Voltage and Frequency profile of 6.6kV Unit Bus

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5.2 As explained above, it is important to maintain power supply to the auxiliaries in
Class B and C trips. This is achieved by FBT (Fast Bus Transfer) scheme features of
which are explained very succinctly in [2]. Most manufacturers offer FBT scheme with
following features.

5.2.1 Fast transfer: The transfer is effected within 10 cycles (as per ANSI C50.41-2000).
Two alternatives are possible.

5.2.1.1 Closed transition – This is implemented by triggering the closing of the ST tie breaker
through the Class B and C trip initiating contacts. After ST breaker ‘closed’ signal is
received, open command for UAT breaker is given. The permissive for the transition
is usually obtained from synchro-check relay which compares voltage and angle of
UAT bus with that of ST bus. The value addition by synchro-check in this application
is a little suspect for following reasons.

(a) Fast transfer is required under Class B / C trip. This does not involve any electrical
fault on UAT bus. In this case, differential voltage between UAT bus and ST bus is
expected to be well within limits permitting transfer.

(b) Since the entire transfer sequence is executed in 5 to 6 cycles with modern high
speed breakers, for compatibility, synchro check relay operation should be much
faster in the region of 1 cycle. Most of the conventional check synchronizing relays
are too slow to respond before which transfer has already taken place.

5.2.1.2 Open transition – This comes in two flavours, simultaneous transfer and cascade
transfer. In simultaneous transfer, tripping command for UAT breaker (A &C) and
closing command of ST breaker (B & D) are initiated simultaneously. Typical tripping
time is 3 to 4 cycles and closing time is 5 to 6 cycles. Thus the unit bus is without any
external connection for a dead time of about 2 cycles. In cascade transfer, tripping
command of UAT breaker is given and closing command for ST breaker is initiated
after ensuring that UAT breaker is open. Here the unit bus is without any external
supply for a dead time of about 8 cycles. The transfer is supervised by high speed
check synchronizing relay which permits closing of SUT breaker. Check
synchronizing relay permissive is issued after comparing UAT bus voltage and ST
bus voltage. In majority of cases, fast transfer within 8 cycles is successful.

The author’s company prefers close transition but open transition is also adopted in
many utilities.

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5.2.2 In-phase transfer: The success of fast transfer depends on voltage decay
characteristics of induction motors connected to the UAT bus and inter-motor
dynamics. There is a possibility that within the initial time window of 8 cycles, the
UAT bus voltage might have fallen below set value or angular difference might have
exceeded set value. In this case fast transfer fails and this initiates in-phase transfer.
In this case, the relay calculates the best instance at which closing command of ST
breaker is to be issued so that when ST breaker closes, ST bus voltage will be
almost in phase with decaying UAT voltage. This is based on solution of analytical
equations. Decaying UAT bus voltage phasor, target ST bus voltage phasor and
closing time of ST breaker are modeled when solving the equation. In phase transfer
is also supervised by check synchronizing relay. The in-phase transfer can be
declared really successful only if the transfer is effected in the first instance when
UAT bus voltage is almost in phase with ST bus voltage after failure of fast transfer.
The typical window for in-phase transfer is 8 to 20 cycles.

5.2.3 Slow transfer – it could be based on voltage or time. If voltage based, change over is
effected after the bus voltage has fallen below 30%. If the terminal voltage has fallen
below 30%, induction motor is ‘electrically dead’ and can be reclosed to alternate
supply without danger of excessive transient torques. In time based, time delay of
say 2 sec is given before switching to alternate supply. Slow transfer is in effect the
conventional auto-change over scheme employed at all buses and all voltage levels.

5.3 The fast transfer (including in-phase transfer) is carried out at the highest voltage
level of the auxiliary system. The downstream system automatically derives the
benefit of the fast transfer.

Where there are two MV levels like 11 and 3.3 KV (Fig 1), fast transfer is effected
only at the 11kV level and not at both 11 KV and 3.3 KV levels.

There is always an element of uncertainty in a fast transfer scheme, as there are too
many variables which need to converge at a very short time. If this is done at two
levels (simultaneously) the probability of failure increases.

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Let us illustrate with the following:
(i) Fast transfer at 11 kV only.
a) If it is successful, then it is successful at all the downstream levels
including 3.3 kV and 415V levels.
b) If it is not successful, then the boiler trips.

(ii) Fast transfer at 11 kV and 3.3 kV level

a) If it is successful at 11 kV and 3.3 kV - effect is as mentioned in (i) a)
above.
b) If it successful at 11 KV and not at 3.3 kV, then the boiler trips as many
vital auxiliaries are connected at 3.3. kV
c) If it is not successful at 11 kV and successful at 3.3 kV, then also the
boiler trips, as important auxiliaries are connected at 11 kV.
5.3 From the above it can be seen that the probability of unsuccessful fast transfer is more
when we have changeover at two levels compared to when we have it at one (higher)
level. In Class A tripping, even though the boiler is also tripped out, some auxiliaries
must run for safe shutdown of the unit like ID fan and its related system, lube oil pumps,
turbine auxiliary oil pump etc. There is no problem as such if the supply to these
auxiliaries suffers a momentary interruption of couple of seconds. Critical auxiliaries are
automatically / manually restarted once the power supply to the bus is restored by slow
transfer and continued till the unit is safely shut down.

6.0 Auto Changeover Scheme for Unit bus for plants with GCB

6.1 As per latest trends, generator circuit breaker (GCB) is provided between generator
and its generator transformer. GCB is the synchronizing breaker. Refer Fig.3 for
single line diagram. With provision of GCB, requirement of station transformer for
startup power is not mandatory. The startup power for auxiliaries connected to Unit
bus can be obtained by back charging GT.

Fig.3 SLD of Auxiliary System in Power Plant (With GCB)

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6.2 On tripping the GCB the generator gets isolated but the power supply to the Unit bus
remains uninterrupted, which is a great advantage compared to the scheme without
GCB.
6.3 In plant with GCB the trip classification of unit protection (Generator, GT and UAT) is
slightly modified. Class A trip is further divided into two types: Class A-1 trip and
Class A-2 trip.
6.3.1 Class A-1: This refers to faults in GT, UAT and bus duct upstream of GCB, shown as
‘U’ in Fig 4.

Fig.4 Zones for Unit Protection

In this case, turbine is tripped, turbine valves are closed; GCB is tripped, EHV
breaker (both Main and Tie breaker for one and half breaker scheme or Main and
transfer breaker for two main and transfer bus system), UAT LV breakers and
generator field breaker are tripped without intentional time delay, initiating
simultaneously GCB and EHV breaker failure. The auxiliaries are not maintained as it
may involve serious electrical fault. Power is restored to unit bus by slow transfer.
Only the auxiliaries required for safe shutdown are restored. The action and effect
are same as that for scheme without GCB except for one crucial difference. In case
without GCB, the fault continues to be fed by generator even after field breaker is
opened due to residual magnetism present. The generator residual voltage decay
time constant is considerable during which time fault current (though decaying) is
maintained. In Fig 18 of Ref [3], residual voltage decay time constant of 250MW
generator as measured at site is 10.4 sec. In case with GCB, immediately after
tripping of EHV breaker and GCB, current at the point of fault is zero.

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6.3.2 Class A-2: This refers to faults in generator or bus duct up to GCB, shown as ‘L’ in
Fig 4. In this case, turbine is tripped, turbine valves closed; GCB and field breaker
tripped without intentional time delay, initiating simultaneously GCB breaker failure.
The auxiliaries are fed through unit transformer by back charging of GT. Thus in
Class A-2 trip we are able to maintain uninterrupted power to the Unit bus naturally
which was not possible in the scheme without GCB.

6.4 Class B trip also leads to generator breaker (GCB) tripping.

6.5 Therefore in a GCB scheme when a unit trips on generator or mechanical fault as in
Class A-2 or Class B, power supply to unit bus is maintained without the need of fast
transfer unlike the scheme without GCB where a fast transfer is required for similar
contingency to maintain boiler auxiliaries. Also 90% of unit trips occur due to Class B
or Class A-2 trip in practice. Thus fast transfer is not relevant for units with GCB.

6.6 Slow change over and Manual live changeover are provided as in conventional
plants.

7.0 Auto Changeover Scheme for other buses

7.1 The power supply distribution system in a power plant is generally based on the logic
of 2 x 100% redundancy. All load centres or buses are supplied with two feeders and
related transformers as applicable. The bus configuration is generally two bus
sections with a bus-coupler breaker normally open. Each incomer and the related
transformer is connected to one bus section and rated to cater to the full load of both
the bus sections. Auto changeover is provided in these buses to changeover to the
healthy bus by closing the bus coupler, should there be any interruption in any of the
incoming feeder.

7.2 Unit bus is the only bus where the normal power supply can be interrupted due to a
non- electrical reason (Class B) subsequent to generator trip. Power interruption to
rest of the buses happens only due to electrical fault in the vicinity, (other than
manually initiated interruption). This subtle nuance shall be well understood by
design engineers.

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The effect of an electrical fault is manifested by a severe voltage dip. Let us take an
example of any 3.3 KV bus. This bus will experience a voltage dip due to any of the
faults listed below (Refer Fig 5):

Fig.5 Different Fault locations causing voltage dip

(i) The incoming feeder and the equipment of the upstream bus (F1).

(ii) The upstream switchgear busbar (F2).

(iii) Fault in any outgoing feeder of the 11kV and 3.3 kV bus (F3).

(iv) Fault in the incomer connecting to the subject 3.3 KV bus (F4)..

The primary protection is expected to clear the fault that causes the voltage dip within
at the most 200 msec. With coordination interval of 300 msec, auto-changeover to
healthy bus is initiated after a minimum time delay of 500 msec. Auto-change over is
initiated by time delayed under voltage signal giving enough time for high speed over
current protection to operate first and clear the fault.

7.3 The incomer breaker of the affected section has to be tripped first before the bus
coupler is closed due to an auto-changeover. Other wise the upstream fault may be
fed by the “changed over” healthy source causing it also to trip. It is always ‘break
before make’ transfer.

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7.4 An electrical fault immediately causes the voltage to collapse. The above mentioned
time duration for fault clearance and incomer tripping will cause all the motors
connected to the affected bus to pull out. Under this condition if the bus coupler
closes, all the motors will start up at the same time. The cumulative start up current
of all the motors may cause the healthy incomer to trip on overcurrent. Thus, it is a
standard practice to trip the connected motors except may be one or two very vital
ones, before the auto-changeover is effected. The standard time adopted in power
stations is voltage below 70% with 1.5 sec time delay to trip out the selected motors.
The bus coupler is closed after 2 sec. The time and voltage settings can vary a bit
from utility to utility and depending on the protection and relaying scheme.

7.5 Therefore, “slow changeover” is adopted for all buses except for Unit bus. In this type
of changeover the voltage of the outgoing is nearly zero and all the motors on the
bus are tripped. Thus synchro-check between the outgoing and incoming supply is
not required.

7.6 It has been found that with the above change-over timing no unit tripping takes place
as the auxiliaries are evenly distributed in both the buses. An automatic rundown
brings the unit to partial load if required. Thereafter the unit is brought back to full
load through automatic switching on the required auxiliaries through DCS.

8.0 Induction motor voltage decay characteristics after supply disconnection

As seen from above discussion, two types of changeover are adopted in power
plants. One is fast transfer (including in-phase transfer) when the decaying bus
voltage and incoming supply are in ‘reasonable’ synchronism. This ensures that
transient motor torque is not excessive and well below the Pullout torque (typically
300%).

Another is auto-changeover which can be termed as slow transfer where motors are
tripped and dead bus is ensured before changeover. To understand logic behind
slow transfer scheme, it is essential to understand induction motor dynamics under
loss of supply conditions. To illustrate the concept, dynamics of a single motor under
stator open circuit condition is given below.

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8.1 Equivalent Circuit of Induction Motor

The conventional equivalent circuit of induction motor is shown in Fig 6. The

nomenclature used is given below:

Fig.6 Equivalent Circuit for Induction Motor

XM = Magnetising reactance

XS = Stator leakage reactance

XR = Rotor leakage reactance

XRR = Rotor self reactance = XR + XM

S = Operating slip
SF = Full load slip

RR = Rotor resistance = SF

RS = Stator resistance = 0 (very small, can be ignored)

The per unit values for the parameters of equivalent circuit can be found from
generally available name plate details. For example,
Starting Current, ΙS = 600% = 6 pu

No load Current, ΙO = 30% = 0.3 pu

Full load slip, SF = 0.5% = 0.005 pu

From the above,
XS + XR = 1 / ΙS = 0.1666 pu

XS = XR = 0.0833 pu

XM = 1 / ΙO = 3.3333 pu

XRR = XR + XM = 3.4166 pu

RR = SF = 0.5% = 0.005 pu

RS = 0

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8.2 Analysis
Assume that the motor is running at specified load. At time t = 0, the motor is tripped.
The stator current instantly falls to zero. The rotor current circulates in the path
shown in Fig 6 and will decay as per the open circuit time constant τO which is
defined by:
τO = LRR / RR …… (1)
LRR = Rotor self inductance = XRR / (2πƒ)
= 3.4166 / 314.17 = 0.0109 PU
τO = 0.0109 / 0.005 = 2.18 sec
ΙR(t) = ΙRO exp(-t / τO ) .. … (2)

The internal flux (ψ) in the machine is proportional to rotor current.

ψ(t) = ƒ[ΙR(t)]

When the supply to motor is cut off, the machine also slows down with time. The rate
of decay of machine speed ω is inversely proportional to the inertia of the rotor. The
voltage developed across the stator terminal (so called residual voltage) is given by:
VO(t) = ω(t) x ƒ [ΙR(t)] ..… (3)
In the worst case, we assume the motor has infinite inertia and thus ignore reduction
in motor speed during coasting down period. The motor is deemed to be electrically
dead or inert when the internal emf of the motor is less than 30%. In this case, full
voltage can be applied to the stator without causing damage to the motor.

If the internal voltage is in phase with supply voltage,

ΔV = Differential voltage applied to motor = 1.0 - (0.3) = 0.7pu.
2
ΔT = Peak electrical torque ∝ V = 0.49pu.
Even if the internal emf is 180° out of phase with incoming supply,
ΔV = Differential voltage applied to motor = 1.0 - (-0.3) = 1.3pu.
2
ΔT = Peak electrical torque ∝ V = 1.69pu.
This is less than typical Pullout torque of 300%.
From Eqn (2),
{ΙR(t) / ΙRO} = exp(-t / τO )
The time for rotor current to fall to 30% of initial value is given by
0.3 = exp(-t / 2.18 )
t = 2.6 sec

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The rotor current, internal flux and terminal voltage will fall below 30% within 2.6
seconds. The above is based on constant speed assumption. If the motor speed
decay is also taken into account, the terminal voltage decay will be even faster (Eqn
3). Hence calculations based on decay of only rotor current (and hence the flux) will
give pessimistic results compared to the results when speed decay is also factored
in. Hence the mechanical inertia can be ignored safely in judging residual voltage
decay. Also, the electrical time constant is of the order of 1 to 4 seconds. The
mechanical time constant is very much higher. The motor is electrically dead much
earlier than mechanically it is at rest. Site recorded values given in Fig.2 also
substantiates the theory. Even a low inertia motor may take a minute for its speed to
fall below 30% unless the breaking load torque is excessive.

In case of LT motors, typical values are given below:

Starting current = 700%
No Load current = 70%
Full load slip = 1%
Open circuit time constant (τO) evaluated based on Eqn (1) is 0.5 sec. Terminal
voltage decay is much faster typically less than one second for LT motors.

More detailed information on induction motor dynamics is given in Ref [1]. As a test
case, the residual voltage decay characteristic with ‘normal’ inertia constant for motor
& drive (J) was simulated. The simulation was repeated with inertia of the machine
increased ten times (10J). The results are given in Fig 7.

Fig.7 Speed and Voltage Decay Characteristics

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It can be seen that voltage decay is almost the same in both cases whilst the speed
decay is markedly different.
For simplicity sake, one motor case is considered to illustrate the basic concepts. In
actual practice, a number of motors are connected to a bus. During loss of supply,
bus voltage decay is even faster due to exchange of energy among connected
motors.
The notion that voltage decay will take a very long time for high inertia motors is a
myth. The type of load (fan or pump) corresponding to high or low inertia does not
have significant bearing on electrical (voltage) decay characteristic.

8.3 Field test

A field test was carried out in one of the power plants of Author’s company to
investigate voltage (internal emf) decay characteristics of large induction motor. The
aim was to correlate experimental results with theoretical prediction. The time taken
for internal emf to die down to, say 30%, represents the time required for motor to
become electrically dead or inert. The motor then can then be safely switched to
another supply without causing damage to motor.

8.3.1 Set up and site results

The Single Line Diagram of relevant portion of network is shown in Fig. 8.

Fig.8 SLD for BFP motor bus

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Since there is only one motor (BFP) on the bus 1SC, tripping of incomer breaker (Bkr
Ι/C) results in cutting off supply to motor. The PT on Bus 1SC measures the decay of
internal emf of the motor. The emf decay characteristics captured by meter is shown in
Fig 9.

Fig.9 EMF decay characteristics of BFP Motor

Initial Voltage: 3.851 KV

Time to reach 30% voltage (3.851 x 0.3 = 1.155 KV) = 3.3 sec
8.3.2 Theoretical analysis
The major parameters of BFP motor are given below:
Rated Voltage: 6.6kV
Rated output: 9MW
Full load speed: 1495RPM
Starting current: 600%
No Load current: 30%
Full load slip: 0.3333%

Based on the above name plate data, following the approach described in Cl 8.2,
Open circuit time constant of the motor τO = 3.263 sec
Time to reach 30% of initial value = 3.9 sec

The above reasonably matches with site measurements.

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9.0 Reacceleration Scheme

After loss of supply to the bus, motors controlled by breakers are tripped by under
voltage lock out relay. After slow transfer supply to affected bus is restored. Through
DCS, commands are issued to close relevant motor breakers as per process / safe
shut down requirements. By the time slow transfer is complete, motors are
electrically dead. Hence closing of breakers does not need any synchro check
facility. In some power plants, single phase PT is provided on every motor feeder on
the line side to monitor residual voltage before closing the breaker. Provision of
single phase PT is not required in case the breaker is reclosed after a couple of
seconds.

In case of contactor controlled motors, unless special care is taken, the normal
contactors ‘naturally drop out’ within half a cycle after dip in bus voltage either due to
electrical fault or loss of supply. In a reacceleration scheme, the control circuit of
motor starter scheme is designed to have a ‘ride through’ during momentary power
supply disconnection for critical drives. The motor contactor is held during
momentary supply dip / disconnection so that the power supply is reapplied to the
motor automatically without human intervention. This is achieved with two timers in
the control circuit.
One timer is an off delay timer which latches on the motor contactor and avoid
dropping it off. The off delay timer is usually set based on the expected power supply
restoration time. It is of the order of a few seconds in case of power plant auxiliary
system where even with slow transfer supply is restored within 2 to 4 seconds.
Another is on delay timer which decides the instant at which motor should start after
resumption of power supply. This ensures that all the motors in the plant is not
starting at the same time causing voltage dip on the supply bus. The priority of motor
starting is decided by the process requirement.
In modern numerical relays, reacceleration feature is provided. External timers are
not required in schemes with numerical relays. The timers are achieved in
reacceleration feature algorithm of the relay. “Restart time” parameter in relay defines
the off delay timer setting. “Restart delay” parameter defines the on delay timer
setting. In [4] features of reacceleration schemes as applicable to process plants are
described in detail.

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10.0 Conclusions
10.1 Auxiliary system of power thermal power plant without GCB,

(a) All UAT buses are equipped with fast transfer, in-phase transfer and slow transfer
schemes initiated by Class B trip (Class C trip can be eliminated due to its doubtful
utility in practice).

(b) It is recommended to have fast transfer schemes only at the highest voltage level
UAT buses.

(c) Other buses are equipped with conventional auto-change over scheme which is slow
transfer.

10.2 Auxiliary system of power thermal power plant with GCB,

(a) Fast transfer including in-phase transfer is not provided.

(b) All buses are equipped with conventional auto-change over scheme which is slow
transfer.

10.3 In case of fast transfer, the switch over to alternate source is effected within a few (2
to 8) cycles. This is to ensure that neither the terminal voltage of motor has fallen
down substantially nor the phase angle shifted significantly from incoming supply.
Out of phase synchronising that may result in excessive transient electrical torque is
avoided. This is the corner stone of fast transfer schemes.

10.4 When a bus with number of induction motors looses power supply, the bus voltage
decays from initial value to zero depending on open circuit time constant of motor
and inter- motor dynamics. The open circuit time constant is typically 1 to 4 sec
depending on motor parameters. The motor is ‘electrically dead’ if its terminal voltage
is less than 30%. Reapplication of voltage is permissible under this condition which
will not result in large transient torque. The time take for motor terminal voltage to fall
below 30% is of the order of a few seconds. The mechanical time constants are
orders of magnitude higher. Hence the motor becomes ‘electrically dead’ even
though its speed has not fallen down substantially (just inert rotating mass). When
alternate supply is applied as soon as the motor is electrically dead, the motor has to
accelerate, not from zero speed, but from significant speed (say 70%) to full load
speed (typically 99%). This results in very short starting time. This is the basis for
slow change over and reacceleration schemes.

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10.5 Analytical expression for estimating voltage decay time is given. This is verified with
actual site measurements.

10.6 Salient features of ‘Reacceleration Schemes’ are briefly explained.

11.0 Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to D Guha for his valuable guidance and immense
contribution during design and implementation of fast transfer and auto-change over
schemes in various power plants. BFP run down characteristics were obtained at site
due to efforts of Mahesh Bhadoria and his team in one of the power plants.

12.0 References
[1] “Induction motor performance during fast transfer”, K Rajamani and M V Hariharan,
Proceedings of VI national Power System Conference, Bombay, June 1990.
[2] “Motor Bus Transfer Applications Issues and Considerations”, Jon Gardell & Dale
Fredrickson, J9 Working Group Report, IEEE Power System Relay Committee,
May 2012.
[3] “Evaluation of generator parameters by online testing”, K Rajamani and Bina Mitra,
IEEMA Journal, February 2008, pp 68 – 82
[4] “Motor Reacceleration to Improve Process Uptime”, Lubomir Sevov, et al, IEEE
Trans Industrial Applications, Jan/Feb 2016, pp 684 – 691

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