Electronic – Is Power consumed by a motor under various load conditions constant

dc motorinduction motormotorpowersynchronous

Does a motor (dc /Induction/Synchronous ) consumes more power when operating at higher load than when operating at some lower load? Or power consumption remains constant/same in both cases?

What I think is that, Power drawn by motor should increase as we increase the load on motor.

But, someone told me that Power drawn remains constant.For example a 10 kW motor will always consume 10 kW irrespective of load on it.He said power consumed is P=3 VIpf (pf=power factor) for a 3 phase induction motor.As load increases current I increases but Power consumption remains constant as V ,pf change to compensate the increase in I in order to make power remain constant.

Please explain this.

Best Answer

Don't let inductive current lag (apparent power) confuse the issue. Ohm's law still applies.

When you apply a voltage to a motor, the resulting motion generates a "back ElectroMotive Force" against the coils; its rotation feeds back a resistance that regulates the current, in proportion to the motor speed.

If an external load reduces the speed of the motor, that "back emf" is reduced (the resistance of the motor decreases), increasing current in order to maintain the voltage, and thus power increases.