Motor Control Center (MCC)
A motor control center (MCC) is an assembly of one or more enclosed sections having a common power bus and principally containing motor control units. Motor control centers are in modern practice a factory assembly of several motor starters. A motor control center can include variable frequency drives, programmable controllers, and metering and may also be the electrical service entrance for the building. Motor control centers are usually used for low voltage three-phase alternating current motors from 230 volts to 600 volts. Medium-voltage motor control centers are made for large motors running at 2300 V to around 15000 V, using vacuum contactors for switching and with separate compartments for power switching and control.
Motor control centers are used in many industrial and commercial applications. Where very dusty or corrosive processes are used, the motor control center may be installed in a separate air-conditioned room, but often an MCC will be on the factory floor adjacent to the machinery controlled.
A motor control center consists of one or more vertical metal cabinet sections with power bus and provision for plug-in mounting of individual motor controllers. Very large controllers may be bolted in place but smaller controllers can be unplugged from the cabinet for testing or maintenance. Each motor controller contains a contactor or a solid-state motor controller, overload relays to protect the motor, fuses or a circuit breaker to provide short-circuit protection, and a disconnecting switch to isolate the motor circuit. Three-phase power enters each controller through separable connectors. The motor is wired to terminals in the controller. Motor control centers provide wire ways for field control and power cables.
Each motor controller in an MCC can be specified with a range of options such as separate control transformers, pilot lamps, control switches, extra control terminal blocks, various types of bi-metal and solid-state overload protection relays, or various classes of power fuses or types of circuit breakers. A motor control center can either be supplied ready for the customer to connect all field wiring, or can be an engineered assembly with internal control and interlocking wiring to a central control terminal panel board or programmable controller.
Motor control centers (MCC) usually sit on floors, which are often required to have a fire-resistance rating. Firestops may be required for cables that penetrate fire-rated floors and walls.
Motor controller
A motor controller is a device or group of devices that serves to govern in some predetermined manner the performance of an electric motor.[1] A motor controller might include a manual or automatic means for starting and stopping the motor, selecting forward or reverse rotation, selecting and regulating the speed, regulating or limiting the torque, and protecting against overloads and faults.[2]
Applications
Every electric motor has to have some sort of controller. The motor controller will have differing features and complexity depending on the task that the motor will be performing.
The simplest case is a switch to connect a motor to a power source, such as in small appliances or power tools. The switch may be manually operated or may be a relay or contactor connected to some form of sensor to automatically start and stop the motor. The switch may have several positions to select different connections of the motor. This may allow reduced-voltage starting of the motor, reversing control or selection of multiple speeds. Overload and overcurrent protection may be omitted in very small motor controllers, which rely on the supplying circuit to have overcurrent protection. Small motors may have built-in overload devices to automatically open the circuit on overload. Larger motors have a protective overload relay or temperature sensing relay included in the controller and fuses or circuit breakers for overcurrent protection. An automatic motor controller may also include limit switches or other devices to protect the driven machinery.
More complex motor controllers may be used to accurately control the speed and torque of the connected motor (or motors) and may be part of closed loop control systems for precise positioning of a driven machine. For example, a numerically controlled lathe will accurately position the cutting tool according to a preprogrammed profile and compensate for varying load conditions and perturbing forces to maintain tool position.
Types of motor controllers
Motor controllers can be manually, remotely or automatically operated. They may include only the means for starting and stopping the motor or they may include other functions.
An electric motor controller can be classified by the type of motor it is to drive such as permanent magnet, servo, series, separately excited, and alternating current.
A motor controller is connected to a power source such as a battery pack or power supply, and control circuitry in the form of analog or digital input signals.