Technical and Economic Evaluation of Efficiency Improvement after Rewinding in Low-Power Induction Motors: A Brazilian Case

Abstract

Nowadays the economic analysis of an induction motor’s life cycle is the clearest way to measure the viability of actions to promote energy-efficient technologies to the end user. The cost effectiveness in motors replacement by energy-efficient motors is a well-known practice that leads to energy savings, however this paper presents the cost-effectiveness of low-power induction motors which have their efficiency improved after rewinding. This process improves the investment viability and brings the greatest financial and energetic savings. In this paper, low-power induction motors are rewound and their efficiencies are measured by tests A and B from IEEE standard 112/2017. The rewound motors have better cost-effectiveness than replacement by IE3/Premium and even IE4/Super-Premium units. The rewound motors increase between 3 and 4 percentage points in relation to former efficiency and the payback is less than 2 years, regardless of the efficiency measurement method.