Starting Current Limiter for Three-Phase Induction Motors

Solid-state soft starters are widely utilized to lessen the high inrush starting currents and large starting torque pulsations resulting from the starting of induction motors (IMs). Applications of solid-state soft starters span across industries such as manufacturing, water treatment, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and more. Therefore, this paper provides a novel control technique for selecting the optimal soft-starting voltage profile to limit the starting current at a specified value and subsequently minimize starting torque pulsations. For 3 kW three-phase IM, the control model is implemented using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Simulation results show the efficacy of the soft starting technique under various loading conditions. Moreover, the proposed technique has the advantages of a minimal computational burden as well as good accuracy when compared to the mathematical calculations and the trial-and-error approaches.