A MATLAB application for monitoring the operation and power quality of electrical machines

Abstract

Efficient simulation and control tools for electrical machines is an important issue for engineering education and research. This paper presents a MATLAB application to characterize and analyze the electrical-mechanical behaviour of electrical machines. The study is carried out in the laboratory of the University of Almeria (Spain) and has been specifically designed to monitor the operation and power quality of electrical machines. It consists of several test benches that allows different configurations for the electrical machines in the laboratory. The electrical machines are controlled using an automated and adjustable frequency AC drive. The MATLAB application communicates with the adjustable frequency AC drive via standard industrial communication protocols and opensource libraries in real-time in order to adjust some input parameters (start, stop, motor speed, etc.) Furthermore, the application displays some important output parameters, such as the RMS voltage, RMS current, active power, speed and torque. In addition, this framework is also designed to monitor power quality and to analyze the operation of the electrical machines, including the chance of applying advanced techniques for prediction and correction of rotating electrical machines maintenance.