An accurate and economical approach for induction motor field efficiency estimation using bacterial foraging algorithm

As the demand of electrical energy increases, it is vital to replace inefficient motors with new energy efficient ones. The first step towards achieving this goal is to estimate the existing motors efficiencies accurately to determine how much energy saving will be achieved by using energy efficient motors. This paper proposes an economical and accurate approach for motor field efficiency estimation using bacterial foraging algorithm. The approach relies on the measurement of the stator current, stator voltage, input power, stator resistance and rotor speed of the motor without conducting no-load and locked-rotor tests. The BF algorithm is used to determine the equivalent circuit parameters of the motor. The efficiency is then estimated using these parameters. The advantages of the proposed method over the existing methods are simple procedure, efficiency can be estimated accurately without conducting any invasive tests and inexpensive. The approach has been tested on a 5 HP motor and the results are compared with particle swarm optimization method, immune algorithm method, torque gauge method, equivalent circuit method, slip method, current method and segregated loss method. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach can accurately estimate the field efficiency of motor. Accordingly, it is suitable for conducting energy audits and management of the motor. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.