Loss Minimization Control of Linear Induction Motor Drive for Linear Metros

The linear induction motor (LIM) drive in linear metros suffers heavily from low efficiency due to its large air-gap length and the partial load conditions, where high loss appears in both the LIM and the inverter when a constant excitation current is generally required. Worse still, the end-effects, including both the transversal edge-effect and longitudinal end-effect, would lead to the decrease of magnetizing inductance and the increase of secondary resistance, resulting in extra loss and further deterioration of drive efficiency. To reduce the loss of the LIM drive, this paper proposes a novel loss model based loss minimization control (LMC) scheme for LIM drives. First, in the equivalent circuit and the mathematical model of LIM, four coefficients are introduced to evaluate the influence of the end-effects. Based on a thorough analysis of the LIM copper and core losses, together with the inverter conduction and switching losses, a novel integrated loss model of LIM drive is then developed, and an improved LMC scheme to obtain the optimal solution online is proposed to minimize the loss of the LIM drive. The proposed control method is successfully implemented in a 3-kW LIM drive prototype. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by the experimental results.