2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)

A New Reactive-Power-Based Model Reference

Adaptive Controller for Online Rotor Time Constant
Identification of Induction Motors

Pengpeng Cao, Xing Zhang, Shuying Yang, Haoyuan Li

School of Electrical Engineering and Automation
Hefei University of Technology
Hefei, China
[email protected]

Abstract—Reactive power, which is inherently independent of of stator resistance and has no requirement for the flux
stator resistance, can be used to form a Model Reference calculation. Reference [4] discussed the advantages and
Adaptive Controller (MRAC) to estimate the rotor time constant limitations of reactive power model from different
in an indirect field orientation controlled induction motor drive. perspectives, such as convergence, load dependency,
In this paper, the steady-state reactive power error caused by sensitivity to detuning. The stability analysis of the reactive
rotor time constant mismatch is analyzed in detail. Then a power model was studied in detail with Popov hyperstability
modified reactive power model is presented based on theory [1]. However, in this paper the case when the stator
Lyapunov’s theorem. The stator frequency is incorporated in the frequency is less than 0 was not taken into consideration.
adaptive scheme to get per-unit value of reactive power error,
thus, the close convergence rate of the rotor time constant is Based on the analysis of the steady-state reactive power
achieved at high speeds and low speeds. Furthermore, this error, we conclude that the reactive power model is not
confirms the estimation is available in four quadrants of applicable in four quadrants application directly and has
operation. Experimental results have verified the effectiveness of different convergence rates at different speeds. To avoid the
the proposed method. drawbacks existing in the method, we propose a modified
reactive power model based on Lyapunov’s theorem.
Keywords—rotor time constant; reactive power; model
reference adaptive controller; four quadrants of operation; This paper is organized as follows. In Section II, the
Lyapunov’s theorem limitation of reactive power model is discussed. In Section III,
we propose a modified reactive power model for the rotor time
I. INTRODUCTION constant online estimation based on Lyapunov’s theorem.
Experimental results are described in Section IV. Conclusions
The indirect field orientation (IFO)-controlled induction are given in Section V.
motor (IM) drive is popular in high performance application
because of its simplicity and fast dynamic response [1]. While
motor inductances can be updated according to the II. IM MODEL AND REACTIVE-POWER-BASED MRAC
magnetizing curve, the rotor resistance and hence the rotor In the synchronization reference frame, the IFO-controlled
time constant (Tr), which is used to realize the field orientation, induction motor model can be described as:
varies when the temperature changes [2]. The deviation of Tr
from its true value leads to an error in the estimation of rotor Lm L
us = Rs is + σ Ls Dis + jωeσ Ls is + jωe ψ r + m Dψ r (1)
flux position, resulting in coupling between the control of Lr Lr
torque and flux and deteriorating the response of the drive
Lm 1
system [3]. Dψ r = i − * ψ r − jωsψ r
* s
(2)
Tr Tr
Many online rotor time constant schemes have been
designed. Among them, MRAC-based rotor time constant isq
estimate method is widely applied, due to its simple structure ωs = ωe − ωr = (3)
isd Tr
and easy realization [4]. Kinds of MRAC with various
reference quantities, e.g., q-axis rotor flux [4], d-axis voltage where is, ψr, us are stator current, rotor flux, stator voltage,
[5], reactive power [1], [6], have been developed. The reactive- respectively; Lm, Ls, Lr are magnetizing inductance, stator
power-based MRAC is attractive as the method is independent inductance, rotor inductance, respectively; Rs is stator
resistance; ωe ωr ωs are stator frequency, electrical rotor speed

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978-1-5090-1210-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)

and slip frequency, respectively; σ is the leakage coefficient; Lm

Tr and Tr* are the rotor time constant used in slip frequency usd = Rs isd − ωeσ Ls isq − ωe ψ rq
Lr
calculation and its actual value; D signifies the derivation. (10)
Lm
In this paper, the reference values to the current controller, usq = Rs isq + ωeσ Ls isd + ωe
ψ rd
rather than the measured values, are used in the calculation of Lr
slip frequency. This is common practice in standard IFO and Substituting (10) in (7) and subtracting (8) from (7), the
reduces the noise content of stator frequency. The rotor time expression of reactive power error is:
constant detuning has a considerable effect on the IM drive
2
system. The error of the rotor flux and the reactive power is T∗ 
investigated. In steady state, by neglecting the derivation in 1−  r 
(2) and solving for ψr, we can obtain the expression for rotor Qerr = ωe (1 − σ ) Ls is2q is2d  Tr  (11)
2
linkages as:  Tr∗  2 2
  isq + isd
Tr∗ 2  Tr 
is2d + isq From (11), we can observe that when stator frequency is
Tr
ψ rd = Lm isd 2
less than 0, the reactive-power-based MRAC for Tr estimation
 Tr∗  2 2 technique will be unstable.
  isq + isd
 Tr 
(4) III. ADAPTIVE SCHEME FOR ROTOR TIME CONSTANT
T∗ ESTIMATION
isd isq − r isd isq
Tr Firstly, rephrasing the dynamic induction model as:
ψ rq = Lm isd 2
T  2 ∗
2
  isq + isd
r d  is   is 
T
 r  ψ  = A ψ  + Bus (12)
dt  r   r
Then the rotor flux error caused by the rotor time constant where
error is made as:
 Lm Lm 
Tr∗  Tr∗ 
− 1  − Rss I 2 − ωe J 2 σ Ls LrTr
I − ωr
∗ 2
σ Ls Lr
J2 

Tr  Tr  A= ;
ψ r∗d − ψ rd = Lm isd is2q (5)  Lm 1 
 Tr∗  2
2
 I2 − ∗ I 2 − ωs J 2 
2
  isq + isd  Tr∗ Tr 
T
 r  T
where ψr = Lmisd.  1   R L2m 
B= I 2 O2  ; Rss =  s + ∗ 
;
Therefore we can get:  σ Ls   σ Ls σ Ls LrTr 
1 1  1 0  0 −1 0 0
I2 =  ; J2 =  ; O2 = 
(ψ ∗
)
− ψ rd  − ∗  > 0
rd (6)
0 1 
 
1 0  0 0
.
 Tr Tr 
Now, we suppose two different IM models: the rotor time
Equation (6) is particularly important, as we shall see in constant in the reference model, shown as (13), is the actual
Section III. value of the motor, while in the adjustable model (12), the
rotor time constant remains to be unknown and estimated. For
A. Reactive Power-based MRAC both models, the rotor speed and the commanded currents are
The reactive power used in the reference model and the the same. Then, Lyapunov’s theorem is utilized to derive the
adjustable model can be expressed as: adaptive scheme.
Qref = isd usq − isq usd (7) d  isref   isref 
ψ  = Aref ψ  + Bref usref (13)
Qest = ωe Ls is2d + ωeσ Ls is2q (8) dt  rref   rref 
The adaptive scheme for rotor time constant is: Just like the process of the adaptive scheme for rotor
speed presented in [7], estimation error of the stator current
1 1 and rotor flux is described by the following equation.
= + k p Qerr + ki  Qerr dt (9)
Tr Trini e = Ae e + W (14)
where the reactive power error is obtained as Qerr = Qref - Qest ,
Trini is the initial value of rotor time constant. where
 Δi   i − i 
Solving for us in (1), the d-axis and q-axis voltage in e =  s  =  s sref  ;
steady state can be expressed as:  Δψ r  ψ r − ψ rref 
 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)

 Lm Lm   ωc 0 ≤ ωe ≤ ωc
 − Rss I 2 − ωr J 2 σ Ls LrTr
I − ωr
∗ 2
σ Ls Lr
J2  
kω =  ωe ωe > ωc (21)
Ae =  ;
 Lm 1  −ω − ωc ≤ ωe < 0
 I2 − ∗ I2   c
 Tr∗ Tr  and kp, ki is the positive gain, ωc is the cutoff frequency.
 us − usref  Typical choices are between 0.05 and 0.2 per unit of the rated
 − ωs J 2 is + ωsref J 2 isref  frequency.
W =  σ Ls .
 −ωs J 2ψ r + ωsref J 2ψ rref 
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
We define the following Lyapunov function candidate.
A laboratory prototype is developed to experimentally
2 verify the proposed algorithm. The parameters of the motor
1 1  are available in Table I.
V = eT e +  − ∗  / λ (15)
 Tr Tr 
where λ is a positive constant. TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF IM MOTOR

The time derivative of V becomes: Rated parameters Values Rated parameters Values
Rated power 6KW Stator resistance 1.022Ω
1 1 
( )
V = eT AeT + Ae e − 2 Lm isq  − ∗ ψ rq + Rated voltage 380V Rotor resistance 0.833Ω
 Tr Tr  Rated frequency 50Hz Stator inductance 133.41mH
1 1  (16) Rated current 10.7A Rotor inductance 133.41mH
 − ∗
T Tr  d 1
2 r
Rated motor speed 1445rpm Excitation inductance 128.4mH

λ dt Tr Rated torque 40 NM Pole pairs 2

Compared Ae with A, we can find that Ae is the state As shown in Fig. 1, excellent performance of the proposed
matrix when the slip frequency of IM is zero, thus, (AeT + Ae) estimator is demonstrated. From Fig. 2, it is shown that the
is negative-semidefinite. Then, from (16), we can introduce a proposed scheme can realize the rotor time constant updating
positive parameter P and find the following adaptive scheme correctly even though the stator frequency is less than 0.
for the rotor time constant estimation. Meanwhile, we can find that close convergence of Tr is
achieved from Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
1 1 
 − ∗
1 1  Tr Tr  d 1
P − Lm isq  − ∗ ψ rq +  = 0 (17)
 Tr Tr  λ dt Tr
When the parameter P is nonnegative, equation (17)
satisfies the Lyapunov’s theorem and confirms the stability of
the system. From (5), the parameter P can be defined as:

( )(
P = Lm isd ψ r∗d − ψ rd 1 / Tr − 1 / Tr∗ ) (18)
Substituting (10) and (18) in (17), we can get:

d 1 isd usq − isq usd − ωe Ls is2d − ωeσ Ls is2q

= λ Lr (19)
dt Tr ωe
Equation (19) is the modified adaptive scheme for the
rotor time constant estimation based on Lyapunov’s theorem.
Apart from the advantages of the reactive power model, the
incorporation of the stator frequency makes it be available in
four quadrants situation. Actually, the stator frequency may
be zero, while division by zero is not allowed in the program.
Meanwhile, in order to improve the speed of the rotor time
constant updating, the following proportional and integral
adaptive scheme is used practically.

1 kp k
= ΔQ + i  ΔQdt (20)
Tr kω kω
Fig. 1 Experimental results for online identification of Tr and reactive power
where curves, 1200 r/min, 12 A
 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)

[7] H. Kubota and K. Matsuse, “Speed sensorless field-oriented control of

induction motor with rotor resistance adaptation,” IEEE Trans. Ind.
Appl.,vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 1219–1224, Sep./Oct. 1994.

Fig. 2 Experimental results for online identification of Tr and reactive power

curves, -150 r/min, -12 A

V. CONCLUSION
This paper has presented a modified reactive power model
for estimating the rotor time constant of an induction motor
based on the Lyapunov’s theorem. The proposed method can
be applied to four quadrants of operation. Moreover, the close
convergence rate of the rotor time constant can be achieved at
different speeds. The effectiveness of the algorithm has been
verified using experimentation.

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