A motor primer. I

Much has been written about applying motors on variable-speed drives, high-speed rigid shaft motors, impact on API Standard 541, motor diagnostics, etc. Most of these papers and articles assume that the reader has significant knowledge of motor theory and operation. However, this assumption is overly optimistic, considering that few if any, colleges teach motor theory today and that application experience at motor user locations has been reduced. This paper is the first of a series of papers. The authors present induction motor theory and application information with an extensive reference list that will help engineers understand such questions as: what causes a motor to make noise? Why is a medium-voltage motor different than a low-voltage motor? How should a motor be grounded? etc. This paper serves as a valuable reference for those who apply and specify motors.