Cooling status is referred to the condition defined by a motor temperature reduction caused by a decreasing current from running condition to a less than the Full Load Amps (FLA) condition known as minimum running condition. The cooling status is also initiated by a stopped motor following a running condition.
Motor thermal status, also referred as motor thermal capacity is a parameter used to evaluate the thermal condition of the motor.
Thermal status is measured in percentage of the motor thermal limit. When a motor is stopped for a long time, the thermal status is 0% which means that zero percent of its capacity is used. At motor starting, the thermal capacity used can reach let's said 40%. If the motor has two cold starts, then the thermal capacity after these actions would be 80%. Exceeding the thermal capacity of the motor produces a loss of insulation life due to deterioration by overheating the windings.
During the cooling time, the thermal status decreases from a higher running thermal status to a lower one.
The equation of the cooling motor is given by:
where:
Thermal status is proportional to I squared and the equation can be expressed in the following form:
where:
Example
A motor with a cooling time constant of 3.5 hours is stopped with a thermal status of 90%. Calculate the time required to reach 40% motor status.
Replacing the data in the first equation gives:
The required time is 2 hours 50 minutes.
The curve below shows the motor thermal status variation with time for this example.
Ernesto Hidalgo-Tupia, Eng., M. A. Sc.
Electrical Engineer
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