Current Advance Angle-Based Rare-Earth-Free Hybrid PMa-SyRM Drive Using Hall-Sensors for an Air-Conditioner Compressor

Air-conditioners are now widely being used in offices and domestic homes due to the rising global temperatures. Inverter-driven air-conditioners offer superior cooling performance, enhanced control, and a more compact design than non-inverter-driven air-conditioners. Further, inverter-driven air conditioners are more efficient and also cost-effective within a pay-back period. Nowadays, efficient motor drives that meet international efficiency (IE) standards are the need of the hour. Permanent magnet-assisted reluctance motor (PMa-SyRM) drives are one such feasible solution for air conditioner applications, where very less magnet volume is used thereby improving the efficiency whilst minimizing the overall cost. This paper presents a variable-speed rare-earth-free ferrite Al-Ni-Co hybrid PMa-SyRM drive for an air conditioner application. Hall-sensors are used for detection of the rotor position and a simple current advance angle based control is implemented to extract both the magnetic and reluctance torque components from the hybrid PMa-SyRM. Later, simulation studies are carried-out and the cost and the efficacy of the proposed control is compared with that of the conventional maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) control. Finally, a prototype drive is fabricated and experimental validation under various load conditions is carried-out and the results are presented.