Development of water jacket cooled motor and its applications in cement industry

Many researchers have shown a strong correlation between environmental protection and the life of electric motors. In harsh environments like those found in the cement industry, a motor needs adequate protection against airborne dust to operate at a safe temperature to prevent early winding insulation failure. Water jacket cooled motors are great candidates for such applications because of their superior heat transfer capability and protection against foreign particles. In addition, unlike traditional motors, water jacket cooled motors offer tremendous space savings because of the integrated heat exchanger within the motor frame, which leads to a compact motor with high power output/volume ratio. This can be attractive especially for cement plants with limited space or for replacing/upgrading motors inside existing infrastructures. This paper presents the design and tests of an 825 kW (1106 HP) water jacket cooled induction motor. Load tests were performed at different power ratings to characterize the thermal capability and the actual loss values of the machine. Lastly, applications for water jacket motors will be discussed to evaluate the feasibility of this technology in the cement industry.