Pre-Commissioning Checks of Electrical Motor Used to Run Air Compressor.

Air compressor is the utility which consumes maximum electric power in any engineering plant.Air compressor can be driven by the DG Set also,but it is very expensive option comparing to driven by electric motor.maximum plants used electric driven air compressor for compressed air purpose.It is also most important to know about electricals & instrumentations used in air compressor.If you have no knowledge about electricals then it will be very diffcult to run air compressor sometimes.You will get some knowledge from this post,which contains general information about the electricals used with air compressor.

Induction Motor,Squirrel cage or wound rotor (Slipring) type,of various ratings & suitable motor starting gears,are employed according to the capacity of the Air Compressor.These may be of Low Voltage (LV) or High Voltage (HV) grade,depending upon the requirment.

It is most important to install electric motor with proper check-ups.If your electric motor installed properly,then you are rest assured that you will get maximum working life and trouble free operation.Follow below

pre-commissioning checks to get best result from electric motor.

01)Check Name Plate details of electric motor & Starter,both the specification should match each other.It is most important to match Rotor Volts (RV) andRotor Amps (RA) of Slipring Motor.

02)Inspect for any transit damages.If found any damage,report the nature of damage to the nearest office of compressor manufacturer if purchased with Air Compressor or Motor manufacturer if purchased seperately.The delay in reporting the matter would involve considerable problems to claim the damages from insurance authorities or the concerned equipment manufacturers.

03)Perior to installation,the motor should be stored in a clean,dry place.The motor parts have a protective coat of anti-rust preservative which should notbe removed during normal storage period.In case of long storage,periodic examinations should be carried out and fresh preservative applied,if requiredafter any rust or moisture has been removed.

04)Before putting the electric motor into operation,measure the insulation resistance between the motor winding & frame with Megger.A 500 volt meggeris required for low voltage motor.The insulation resistance must above 2 megohms,if found below the value,motor should be "Dried Out".Insulation resistance of Starter should not be less than 20 megohms.

05)If motor is stored for more than 8 months period,then before starting the electric motor ,the bearing cover should be removed and the grease in the bearing cover should be pressed with thumbs between the race of the bearings.If any detorioration of grease is apparant,the old grease should be removed and new grease pressed into the bearings & housing.