Issues in the Control of the Switched Reluctance Motor During Continuous Conduction

Previous work has shown that the constant power speed range (CPSR) of the switched reluctance motor is infinite when continuous conduction is allowed during high-speed operation Control required to achieve this, can be similar to low speed control commonly used for SRM motors such as setting an advance angle, a dwell angle and a set point for a current regulator. Dwell interval slightly greater than 50% of the duration of each stroke, insures sustainable continuous conduction and current buildup to current regulator set point. It is shown that there is a clear optimum advance angle which maximizes the energy conversion. Developed power can be controlled by raising or lowering the current regulator set-point. As developed power is proportional to the motor current magnitude, high efficiency under full as well as partial load conditions is achieved. Maximum steady state efficiency can be achieved by using minimum dwell but the dynamic response may be sluggish. It is shown that dynamic response can be increased by temporary increases in dwell, and once a new steady state is reached, dwell can be set back to the minimum value to maximize the efficiency.