Speed control of a 220v AC single phase motor

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hello Arduino Community.

I'm looking for help, to know if it's possible to control the speed of a small industrial motor using arduino. The motor specs are listed below

Brand/model: Siemens elmo g 2bh3 100
220v AC ~3.25A 3210rpm
0.36kW 60hz
Single phase

Motor plate in the attached file.

The motor is coupled to a blower used in a lab scale fluid bed dryer. Part of my project consists of controlling air flow via motor speed.

Until yesterday i was trying to use a vfd but somehow the speed at max frequency didn't match that of the motor connected directly to the power supply. Sadly the vfd stopped working (a capacitor blew when i was changing the frequency) and budget doesn't allow to get another vfd, so i searched and maybe an arduino project can help me.

Many thanks in advance for your time reading my post and your kind cooperation.

IMG-20180626-WA0017.jpg
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2

budget doesn't allow to get another vfd

That is in fact exactly what you need. Take this experience as a lesson in the need to pay attention to the motor and VFD specifications, and study the operating instructions.

Don't bother with Arduino.

3

Hello jremington
We actually have another vfd but since we couldn't find out why didn't it reach the max rpm, even when the wiring and programming was fine, i started looking for alternatives.

I can post the brand, model and even the manual and the settings i used in the vfd but i don't know if that would be against the rules (certainly arduino not related)

4

You are welcome to ask those questions in this forum section, but this is the Arduino forum, and your problem cannot be solved using an Arduino.

5

Basically a single phase induction motor that's not explicitly designed for speed control probably
cannot be speed controlled without risking overheating and failure.

If you want speed control, get a 3-phase motor and suitable VFD.

6

I finally decided to look at the picture of the motor plate. I see it has a capacitor, it is used to provide a phase shift to a second field winding, so the motor will turn. It will not operate with a VFD, unless you also change the value of the capacitor along with the frequency. So, no wonder your VFD died.

Paul

7

There are VFD's made for single phase motors that use PWM to control the speed, but you typically sacrifice torque and motor efficiency, and they're usually quite expensive, especially compared to a 3 phase set up.

If I were you, I'd grab a 1/2HP 3 phase motor and a single phase in / 3 phase out VFD and use that for your control. Should be able to get set up for about for $200 to $300.