On Efficiency and Performance Improvement of Three-Phase Induction Motors in Refrigeration and HVAC Applications

This paper describes the method for improving efficiency and performance of three phase induction motors used in refrigeration and HVAC applications. With stricter regulations for green energy, there is strong push to improve motor efficiencies, reliability and durability for building equipment and appliances, which often entail a compromise or trade-offs on costs, product functionality features and system redundancies. In this paper, a simplified loss segregation approach is applied to fixed-speed small horsepower evaporator and condenser motors to show its usefulness and relevance as an effective tool for performance benchmarking and design evaluation. Experimental results are presented to validate the approach, and to show its application to variable speed chiller systems.