A novel PC based performance measurement tool for prime movers

Induction motors are the workhorse of modern industry. Three-phase induction motors are the most common and frequently encountered machines in industry because of their simple design, rugged, low-price, easy maintenance and wide range of power ratings ranging from fractional horsepower to 10 MW. A low cost technique based on principle of motion is presented here to measure torque against speed of a three phase induction machine run on no-load. A simple Visual C# program can give an excellent graphic user interface (GUI) and provide many utilities to capture electrical motor performance during starting by using PC. It is interesting to note that this same technique can be used to measure starting torque of any prime mover such as single phase motor, diesel/petrol engine, wind/steam or gas turbine. Finally the availability of advanced electronics and computer software and use of microcontrollers, DSP has simplified and extended our ability to measure and analyse motor characteristics to improve performance as well as detect anomaly as a quality control procedure.