Electric motors are the most popular item of rotating equipment found in industry today, with hundreds of millions in service across all industrial sectors.

However, with ever increasing energy costs, reducing the energy losses of such devices is becoming an important aspect of plant operating profitability and a main key performance driver for many companies.

Misalignment, imbalance and debris/contamination all create additional heat within the motor and have an adverse effect on the motors operating performance and running costs. A general rule is that, for every 10 degrees Celsius increase in operating temperature, the life of the equipment is reduced by half.

Motor Circuit Analysis (MCA) can be used to evaluate the windings for contamination. Frequent cleaning of a motor’s intake and cooling fins is especially important in dirty environments as tests confirm that even severe duty, generously rated and oversized motors can quickly fail in such conditions. However, motor windings coated with contaminants will also incur significant motor life reduction, as airflow is impaired and insulation life falls to typically 25% of normal life expectancy.

It therefore makes sense for plants to implement periodic electric motor/generator maintenance and cleaning regimes, as this will have a significant positive impact on a company’s bottom line.