Frank: It is not clear why your requirement is for such constant rpm (must be 
between 59 and 61 rpm to satisfy some standard??) 

Crispin is correct that a synchronous motor can do that with simple gearing - 
but your 1/3 hp motor at 1725 rpm is almost certainly an induction motor. 
Except for clocks, almost all industrial motors are induction - as Andrew was 
describing (they are much cheaper). 

With a speed sensor, voltage control, and the right set of gears, you can 
probably get the constant 60 rpm you want with your existing induction motor. I 
presume such speed controllers are on the market at reasonable cost. It may be 
cheaper to buy the synchronous type of motor if you have to maintain a 
specified speed. If you get the synchronous motor, your deviation from 60 rpm 
will be measured probably in thousandths or millionths of a cycle - not +/- one 
cycle. This is courtesy of your local electrical supplier, who gets fined a lot 
if the grid frequency is ever off by very much 

Ron 
(taught a motor course once) 


----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Shields" <[email protected]> 
To: "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <[email protected]> 
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 2:48:56 PM 
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Calculating the RPM 




Dear Crispin and Kevin, 



I wonder what they consider ‘full load’ when rating the motor. Must be some 
torque percentage of the HP value or something? 



Way more complicated than I thought. Electronic slippage (?) Interesting along 
with calculating the speed based on 60 cycles per sec ….. 



Thanks 

For the info. 



Frank 







From: Stoves [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of 
Crispin Pemberton-Pigott 
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 11:15 AM 
To: 'Discussion of biomass cooking stoves' 
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Calculating the RPM 



Dear Frank 





The motor will not slow down under no load if you drop the voltage because it 
is a synchronous motor. You would have to change the frequency of the AC to 
change the speed. 



That said, if it was lowered enough the motor couldn’t ‘keep up’ to the 60 
cycle synchronous rotation and would slip, slowing down as a result, however 
that slippage is strongly dependent on the load which would be really 
inconvenient. Being a square box the speed would actually change 4 times per 
rotation as the load alternately came and went. 



I suspect that the motor is rated at 1725 RPM under full load not actually ‘all 
the time’. Under no load it might be very close to 1800 (60 cycles per second * 
60 seconds per minute / 2 sets of windings gives 1800). 



As it is geared down so much I suspect the motor will not be working hard at 
all. Given that you want about a 30:1 reduction and there is a general rule 
that you should not step down more than 7:1 at a time, I suggest you get 2 sets 
of 1-1/2” and 8” pulleys in series which will give you 28.4:1. 



If your speed is 1725, the shaft will turn at 60.64 under load. That is pretty 
close. It might go a tiny bit faster but the pulleys are not all that accurate 
anyway so you would have to measure it to know. It is slow enough you can count 
while watching. 



With such an installation you should use Goodyear belts (the ones that are fan 
belts but look like they have big teeth). If you drop the voltage it will only 
have to slip a little (magnetically speaking) in order to drop one or two RPM 
but it will fluctuate a little during the turn because the box is square. 



I have a book here for calculating how much power can be transmitted through 
the belt contact angle on the small pulley based on their centre distances, if 
it matters. I don’t think it will. Pick a centre distance that matches a common 
belt. 



Regards 

Crispin 






Dear Frank 





1: Box shape and diameter are VERY important. At "critical speed", for a given 
combination of rotational speed and container diameter, centrifugal force will 
hold the pellets stationary against the container wall, and there will be zero 
tumbling and pellet wear. A machine running at say 95% critical speed will 
create very little abrasion, but a machine running at say 60% of critical Speed 
will create a great deal of abrasion effect, because of the cascading action. 





2: Do you want to turn the drum/container/box for a fixed time, OR a fixed 
number of revolutions? 





3: One could calculate the required HP, but the simplest and least costly thing 
is to try the 1/3 HP motor, and if it does not overheat after say 4 consecutive 
tests, it is good for the job. If it does overheat, then you have proven that 
you need a bigger motor. 





Best wishes, 





Kevin 




----- Original Message ----- 


From: Frank Shields 


To: 'Discussion of biomass cooking stoves' 


Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 2:30 PM 


Subject: [Stoves] Calculating the RPM 




Greetings Stovers, 



Building equipment for determining the hardness of pellets and biochar I need 
something to turn a 9 kg box at a speed of 60 RPM +/- 1. 

I have a 1/3 rd HP motor that is rated at 1725 RPM 

Fitted with a 2” pulley attached to the motor and going to an 8” pulley gives 
me a shaft turning 431 RPM 

Then another 2” pulley going to an 8” pulley on another shaft gives me 108 RPM 

I plan to adjust the 108 down to 60 using a voltage regulator. 





Is this a good plan? 

And is there another factor I need to include for the weight of the box I am 
turning? 



Thanks 



Frank 





Frank Shields 

Control Laboratories, Inc. 

42 Hangar Way 

Watsonville, CA 95076 

(831) 724-5422 tel 

(831) 724-3188 fax 

www.controllabs.com 







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