4673 – A Switched Reluctance Motor in a Variable-Speed Pumping Application PDF

A variable-speed pumping system based on a switched reluctance motor (SRM) and a centrifugal pump was developed, and it is intended to be used in heat pump or similar applications. A ground-source heat pump (GSHP) uses a centrifugal pump to circulate water in an underground loop using water as a means to transfer heat from the ground to room air inside a building or vice versa. SRMs are appearing as alternative actuators in many engineering applications because of their simple construction, reliability, and low manufacturing and maintenance costs. In general, an SRM, its power converter, and control strategy have to be adequately designed or selected and integrated in order for the entire system to operate efficiently and satisfactorily. The special application of an SRM in this project was to drive a centrifugal pump required to operate efficiently at all speeds—in particular, at low and medium speeds. The SRM-based variable-speed pumping system was experimentally tested and demonstrated potential to save energy in central system GSHP or similar applications.

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