2/4-POLE Split-Phase Capacitor Motor for Small Compressors: A Comprehensive Motor Characterization

Compressor electric motor drives play a key role in the energy consumption of residential refrigerators. Electrical efficiency, robustness to starting and overloads and speed variation range define the performance of compressor electric motor drives. Between the lowest cost fixed-speed split-phase capacitor grid-connected induction motor, with lower efficiency, and the higher efficiency grid-connected cage permanent-magnet (PM) rotor split-phase capacitor motor and the inverter fed variable speed PM synchronous motor of highest initial costs, we introduce in this paper a 2 speed grid-connected motor drive. The proposed topology uses a separate split-phase winding, cage-PM-4-pole rotor synchronous motor (PMSM) for low speed (4 poles) and a single-phase (main) winding for 2-pole operation. The tentative target is 85% efficiency at 50 W output for 4-poles (low speed) PMSM operation with good starting and about 60% efficiency in 2-pole (high speed) induction motor operation at 100 W, with smooth transients from low to high speed under full torque load. Circuit models for steady state and for transients with dedicated Matlab codes have been developed, with key FEM validation, to substantiate full scale experiments, and an optimal design methodology embedding both operation modes was put forward, as main theoretical contributions.