01.25.2012 // Posted by: Dennis Zogbi // Posted in: Articles, Passives

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Traditional Motor Designs: Motor Run and Motor Start Capacitors

The primary focus of MarketEye is passive components, and therefore we look at the motor markets based upon their impact on capacitors- specifically motor run and motor start capacitors, which represent hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide polypropylene and aluminum electrolytic capacitor sales each year on a worldwide basis. Furthermore, the motor industry supports more than 50 global producers of motor capacitors in the USA, Japan, China, Europe, Korea, Canada, South Africa and Brazil.

Polypropylene MOTOR RUN capacitors are consumed in motors requiring a motor run function. Motor run capacitors are AC voltage capacitors that allow the operation of asynchronous induction motors. The use of motor run capacitors increases the energy efficiency of motors and compressors. They also significantly improve the torque response of the motor. This is particularly important for motors and compressors in continuous operation, such as those used in refrigerator and air conditioner compressor motors. But motor run capacitors are also employed in a variety of motors that are consumed in other white goods, fans and circulators, office equipment, power tools and other household and professional end-products. Motor Run capacitors are designed for continuous duty, and they are energized the entire time the motor is running.

A MOTOR START capacitor is manufactured from aluminum electrolytic capacitor technology. Start capacitors briefly increase motor starting torque and allow a motor to be cycled on and off rapidly. A start capacitor stays in the circuit long enough to rapidly bring the motor to 3/4 of full speed and is then taken out of the circuit.

Capacitors are used in single-phase motors only, with emphasis upon the Permanent Split Capacitor motor design. However, single-phase motors represent a large unit quantity of installed motors, and a large volume of new motors sold each year. The primary application for single-phase capacitor motors is in compressors for refrigerators and for air conditioners.

A Changing Motor Market: The Need for Greater Efficiency

According to primary sources in motor manufacturing, in 2011 the United States was about 6 years ahead of European and Asian motor manufacturers when it came to motor efficiency. This is because of legislation in the United States that was passed in 2006 and 2007 which prompted vendors supplying the domestic US market to adopt new motor designs.

According to primary motor manufacturers interviewed for this article- going forward, American motor manufacturers will continue to invest in variable speed drive technology with emphasis upon PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) which is an efficient way to vary the speed and power of electric motors.

The net affect for the capacitor industry will be increased unit growth, but it may be for alternative capacitor dielectrics and configurations other than the traditional plastic film motor run capacitors, and aluminum electrolytic motor start capacitors, and may grow to include ceramic capacitors because of the combination of high voltage and high capacitance required to operate single and multi-phase motor designs.

Legislation Brings Change to the Traditional Business Model

The motor markets into which motor run and motor start capacitors are sold are undergoing a transitional period, brought about by the introduction and passing into law of the EISA (The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007). However, the legislation does not impact permanent split capacitor (PSC) motors directly. The legislation, may, over time, impact the PSC market negatively, through the development and mass acceptance of electronically commutated motors and motor drive technology; however, over the next five years, the global market for PSC motors, and the run capacitors consumed in them, will continue to grow, spurred on by new demand from emerging economies outside the USA for HVAC and refrigeration compressors.

On the other hand however, it is anticipated that the Energy and Conservation ACT of 2006, will directly impact the motor run and motor start capacitor markets in February 2015 when it is implemented. According to primary motor manufacturers the motor start/motor run capacitor market will get a boost, while the motor start/induction run market will decline. Based upon the federal legislation, and beginning in 2015, motor start/induction run motors will be less efficient than motor start/motor run motors, and this is why some major capacitor vendors are promoting dual type start/run capacitors today; and why some major single phase motor manufacturers in the United States have decided to phase out capacitor start/induction run motors entirely- and “hand that production over to China and India”. The impact on the traditional aluminum electrolytic start capacitor will be negative, with many of the top motor manufacturers interviewed for this MarketEye installment noting that they will forego domestic USA production of motor start/induction run motors and transition production of single phase motors to motor start/motor run designs. This will require that capacitor manufacturers produce a dual capacitor design- a large can capacitor with both capacitor start and capacitor run capabilities, and many of the top motor capacitor vendors already offer such devices. A brief description of the American legislation impacting the indigenous American motor market is discussed below-

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. The stated purpose of the act is “to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes. Legislators believe that between 12% and 35% of all electric energy in the USA runs through electric motors (I am surprised to see how many different times that this statistic is mentioned in various trade organizations, government agencies and motor manufacturers, each of which has a different percentage for the amount of energy running through motors in the USA). Regardless, the percentage of power consumed by motors makes them an ideal target for increasing energy efficiency.

However, according to major motor vendors, the EISA legislation will have NO DIRECT IMPACT on sales of polypropylene based motor run capacitors, or aluminum electrolytic motor start capacitors. This is because the legislation does not include single-phase fractional HP motors (which is a surprise since the number of single phase motors in operation far exceeds that of poly-phase motors). However, the legislation is creating new, more efficient motor designs that may eat into the single-phase motor market over time (according to motor industry experts). These newer motors have variable speed drive technology or variations on the variable speed drive theme, and require no motor start or motor run capacitors, but do in fact require more capacitors overall- to run the drive, and these may include inverter capacitors and DC link capacitors, as well as bypass and decoupling capacitors, and input/output filtering capacitors.

Therefore, the net effect on the capacitor industry as a whole will be a positive one, but the traditional business model is changing, and capacitor manufacturers who cater to the traditional motor start and motor run models must adapt to the coming changes to survive (a classic case of business Darwinism). One example cited for the potential for change was the pool and spa motor market, which had traditionally been single-phase motor technology, but went to a more efficient ECM motor model in the USA because of STATE legislation that was prompted by the federal EISA legislation. In the USA most pool sales are in California, Florida and Arizona, and once California mandated a change in pool motor efficiency the entire industry changed its motor designs almost immediately, and effectively pushed out single-phase motors for the more efficient Electronically Commutated Motor (ECM). The pool and spa motor market is much smaller than the refrigerator and HVAC system markets, but motor manufactures use this as an example to demonstrate just how fast legislation can change a supply chain.

Appliances: A Systematic Approach to Energy Efficiency

Primary motor manufacturers also point out that many types of large home appliances (White Goods) are named in the EISA with additional recommendations expected to be made as to how to increase their energy efficiency over time. Included in these specific appliances are HVAC, refrigerator and pool motors, each of which employ a motor run capacitor in its motor assembly. However, once again, according to the motor manufacturers, the solution is one of a whole system choice, and not one focused solely on the motor assembly (single phase motors are remarkably cost efficient, and the point of sale for a large home appliance is more important than perceived savings over time; or impact on the environment). The trend as of 2011 is to focus on the materials going into the system, especially on the case metals and the winding wires, not necessarily the design of the motor. Once again, single phase motors, including split capacitor motors, are left out of the legislation and are only specifically mentioned for applications in walk-in freezers, where they are in fact recommended as a viable motor solution. The legislation is however, prompting motor manufacturers to develop more efficient motor designs based upon variable speed motor drive technology- not because of current legislation, but because of the potential for changes in future legislation.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2006

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2006 provides for an energy conservation program for certain commercial and industrial equipment (42 U.S.C. 6311–6317). And this Act targets specific single phase motors (most notably the 42,48 and 56 Frame ODP type industrial motors) and these new efficiency requirements will make it difficult for motor manufacturers to meet the new efficiency standards with a CAPACITOR START, INDUCTION RUN motor, therefore, we expect many of these CSIR type motors to move to a CAPACITOR START, CAPACITOR RUN motor to meet the US government designation for efficiency in 2015. Still however, the Permanent Split Capacitor motor business, which consume the majority of motor run capacitors in the AC fractional HP motors business worldwide were not considered in the 2006 regulations, so the largest portion of the motor capacitor business will continue to grow and will probably get a bump in 2015 as some of the motor designs convert to a capacitor start/capacitor run model (a dual capacitor design). Capacitor vendors must still convert their portfolio to include these alternative capacitors to survive, but once again, the net effect on the overall capacitor markets will be continued growth over time.

Emerging Economies: The Real PSC Motor Market Driver

According to primary sources in the motor industry, the continued driving force for the motor capacitor industry will be demand from emerging economies for basic white goods that operate off of single phase motor designs. Demand for refrigerators and air conditioners in such countries as India, Russia, China, Brazil and Turkey are growing at 6% per year, while demand from industrialized nations in the West is growing at 2.5% per year on average. This supports a market of almost 200 million units per year on a global basis, with overall growth expected in the 3% range. However, we do expect a shift in the supply chain for motor capacitors because as primary vendors noted, it is highly likely that production of single phase motors will also shift more readily to global regions where the demand for refrigerators and air conditioners is greatest, and we expect key component vendors to follow suit, including those vendors producing motor capacitors. Already we note a large number of indigenous manufacturers of motor capacitors in China and India, and emerging manufacturers in Russia and Brazil.

Summary and Conclusions:

• Legislation in the United States is having an impact on the design of motors.

• The Motor Capacitor markets which support single phase motor designs are not directly threatened by this legislation, but the overall trend toward efficiency may impact the market in the long term through the design of motors that use variable speed drives instead of motor start or motor run capacitors.

• Some motor manufacturers believe that the single phase motor markets in the USA will begin to transition to a capacitor start/capacitor run design and away from a capacitor start/induction run design beginning in 2015. This will increase demand for dual start/run capacitors.

• The development of variable speed drive technology to operate three phase motors will open up opportunities for other dielectrics including ceramic capacitors, inverter capacitors and DC link capacitors over time.

• Overall growth for motor capacitors will come primarily from emerging economies in India, Russia, Brazil, China and Turkey as their consumption of white goods begins to match their large populations. We expect a continued shift of the supply chain for single phase motors and the capacitors used in their designs to emerging economies over time to support this trend.