we are nema
Improving Electric Motor
Energy Efficiency
Daniel E. Delaney, Agency and Regulatory Manager, Regal Beloit Motors
and Chair, NEMA Motors and Generators Section
I
began my career in electric motors in 1999 as a motor design engineer. I
worked on several electric motor platforms including industrial ac and dc
motors, as well as ac commercial and residential motors. I’ve been involved
with the design of electric motors from thousands of horsepower to one
watt, and applications ranging from dockside cranes and mining drag lines to
residential appliances and bathroom vent fan motors.
Early in my career, I was given an opportunity to manage
product offerings for Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL),
Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and the Conformité
Européenne (CE). Presented with this challenge, I did what
every good young engineer must do when “volun-told,”
and that was to immerse myself in NEMA, International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE), UL, and CSA standards. These
standards provided me with industry guidance on aspects such
as product safety, design performance, energy performance, and
mechanical design.
Shortly thereafter, I found fellow engineers asking me to review
their existing and new motor designs to ensure they complied
with the latest national and international standards. As my
knowledge of standards evolved, I became motivated
to see that the future development of standards
also evolved with the latest technology
advancements, safety improvements, and
regulatory expansions.
Once you participate in developing a
standard or two, it is very common
to be asked to participate in related
standards development. Before you
know it, someone is referring to you as
an industry “expert” and asking you to
write an article for a trade magazine or
to present the latest standard revision at
an industry conference. Participation in these
industry standards and conferences has greatly
increased my knowledge of the motor industry and has
built strong relationships that have been immeasurable for both
my employer and my career. One example of my involvement
in industry standards has been the evolution of electric motor
energy efficiency standards and regulations. In the late 1970s,
NEMA developed the baseline for energy-efficient electric
motor requirements. As these NEMA requirements matured,
the Department of Energy (DOE) initiated regulation—the
Energy Policy Act of 1992—around these minimum efficiency
requirements.
Each time DOE considered expansion of the regulation,
multiple electric motor standards—NEMA, IEEE, CSA, and
IEC—were consulted for determination of efficiency levels, test
methods, design performance criteria, and motor nameplate
labelling. It has been possible through multiple standards
participation by my peers and me to harmonize many of these
global requirements, thus simplifying their implementation;
however, this work is never complete.
To promote continued harmonization, I agreed to be an IEC
convener of an international working group committee (IECEE
WG2D) focused on global harmonization of motor energyefficiency requirements. As the induction motor efficiency
standards are nearing maturity, efforts have begun to focus
on the efficiency determination of motor-driven systems,
which include the variable frequency drive, the
electric motor, and the driven systems.
Over the past six months, I have been
serving on an international (IEC TC22G
WG18) working group of variable frequency
inverter drive, motor, and motor-driven
system manufacturers to develop the future
for testing and determination of motordriven system efficiencies. ei
NEMA electroindustry • January 2015 13