Optimum pole configuration of variable speed AC induction motors

Sometimes a user who is familiar with fixed speed AC induction motors may specify a variable speed AC requirement with a preconception of the number of motor poles. This is appropriate in the case of an application where the motor will be run “across-the-line”, and is expected to run at the same speed and load as provided on inverter operation. If, on the other hand, “bypass” operation is not required, a more optimal choice of motor designs might be available. For example, an application requiring 3000 or 3600 RPM operation would demand a two-pole motor design if bypass (at 50 or 60 Hz) must be provided. However, when bypass is not required, it is often the case that a smaller motor can be provided in a four-pole design (utilizing 100 or 120 Hz base frequency) compared to a two-pole configuration. Another aspect of applying adjustable frequency power supplies to AC induction motors is that it allows an essentially infinite number of possible “base speeds”, including base speeds in excess of 3600 RPM. In this paper the author discusses the number of poles required for fixed speed AC motors, DC motors, and adjustable frequency AC motors. Motor performance issues are also discussed     

New airborne scanning lidar system: applications for atmospheric remote sensing

A new scanning airborne-aerosol lidar system that has the potential to be a valuable atmospheric remote-sensing tool has been developed. The system has the ability to scan both parallel and perpendicular to an aircraft's flight path, and this ability permits both the three-dimensional rendering of the aerosol structure below the aircraft and the measurement of aerosol extinction and optical depth. The system has been integrated into a NASA P-3 aircraft and during a recent flight was used to acquire excellent data with both scanning modes. The system design, the application of the across-track scanning data to the study of the atmospheric boundary layer, and the computation of optical depth derived from along-track scan data are reported.     

Metabolic endoradiotherapy with P32 in skeletal metastases from breast neoplasms. Note I

22 patients suffering from breast neoplasia with particularly painful bone metastasis were treated with radiophosphorus. Only occasionally was an evident recalcification condition encountered and survival, although exceptional in some cases, did not deviate from normal. On the basis, also, of clinical and experimental observations reported in the literature, it is held that the use of 32P in metabolic radiotherapy of bone metastases is worthwhile and is justified because of the encouraging successes obtained, especially in pain remission.     

Reclaimed wastewater: impact on soil-plant system under tropical conditions

This study investigated the ionic speciation of reclaimed urban wastewater (RWW), and the impact of increasing RWW irrigation rates on soil properties and plant nutrition under field conditions. Most RWW elements (>66%) are readily available as NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, SO₄²⁻, Cl⁻, H₃BO₃, Mn²⁺ and Zn²⁺, but in imbalanced proportion for plant nutrition. Lead, Cd, Cr and Al in RWW are mostly bounded with DOM or OH⁻.^.Irrigation with RWW decreased soil acidity, which is beneficial to the acidic tropical soil. Although RWW irrigation builds exchangeable Na⁺ up, the excessive Na⁺ was leached out of the soil profile after a rainy summer season (>400 mm). Benefits of the disposal of RWW to the soil under tropical conditions were discussed, however, the over irrigation with RWW (>100% of crop evapotranspiration) led to a nutritional imbalance, accumulating S and leading to a plant deficiency of P and K.     

Upper tropospheric temperature measurements with the use of a Raman lidar

Upper tropospheric temperature profiles were measured with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scanning Raman lidar five months after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. To derive temperatures in regions of high aerosol content, the aerosol transmission is calculated for the Raman N(2) return signals under cloud-free conditions. The lidar-derived aerosol backscattering ratio and an estimate of the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio were used to compute the aerosol transmission. With a model reference temperature at 25 km, temperature profiles with a root-mean-square difference between the lidar and radiosonde temperatures of <2 K were obtained over an altitude range of 5-10 km for a 10-min integrated measurement with 300-m resolution.     

Observation of Raman scattering by cloud droplets in the atmosphere

In a recent field campaign, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scanning Raman lidar measured, in the water vapor channel, Raman scattering from low-level clouds well in excess of 100% relative humidity. The excess scattering has been interpreted to be spontaneous Raman scattering by liquid water in the cloud droplets. A review of research on Raman scattering by microspheres indicates that the technique may provide a remote method to observe cloud liquid water. The clouds studied appear, from Mie scattering, to have two distinct layers with only the upper layer showing significant Raman scattering from liquid water in the droplets.     

Effect of surge voltage risetime on the insulation of low-voltagemachines fed by PWM converters

This paper investigates the repetitive surge-voltage withstand of low-voltage mush-wound machines operated on adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) using insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) semiconductor technology. Historical work on surge testing of motor insulation has focused on one or more of the following aspects: (1) large horsepower motors; (2) medium-voltage form-wound motors; (3) single-shot impulse-type transients; or (4) low-voltage machines with surge risetimes >200 ns. IGBT drives can have risetimes of 50-200 ns. Thus, a new study on electrical stress of insulation systems due to the nonlinear voltage distribution of mush-wound motors when subjected to repetitive steep dV/dt square-pulse waveforms (rather than impulse wave testing) is presented. Magnitude and risetime of the repetitive ASD surge-voltage transient induced on the machine terminals is reviewed first. Next, surge propagation into the winding was investigated to identify maximum voltage stress points on the conductor insulation. Potential failure mechanisms observed at these points are then discussed. The significance of decreasing surge risetime and increasing cable lengths on internal nonlinear voltage distribution is studied with experimental results from a 7.5-hp motor with a tapped stator winding