High speed electric drive applications, experience, potential and pitfalls-a global overview

Worldwide, current technology has opened up a wide range of new applications for electric motors. Many of these applications have traditionally employed mechanical drivers. Coincidentally, the US natural gas pipeline infrastructure is in need of massive upgrades to meet additional capacity demands. New pipelines are being planned, built and expanded worldwide to meet the needs of other emerging and expanding economies. While the use of electric motors for these high speed applications offers tremendous potential for improved efficiency and productivity at reduced cost, it also presents new challenges to electrical engineers. This paper presents the reasons that high speed electric drivers-both induction and synchronous-have become viable alternatives to traditional mechanical drivers. It also presents a review of the technologies, operating issues and opportunities involved in such applications