Method of operating a protection device, associated computer program product, protection device and electrical installation

1. A method of operating a protection device arranged between an electrical three-phase power source and at least one electric motor, the method comprising:

for each of the three phases of the power source, acquiring over time a corresponding phase current flowing from the power source to the at least one electric motor;

based on the acquired phase currents of the three phases, detecting a current stage of each of the at least one electric motor, among an off stage, an initial stage successive to the off stage, an intermediate stage successive to the initial stage and a steady-state stage successive to the intermediate stage; and

calculating an active threshold value depending on the detected stage of each of the at least one electric motor, the active threshold value during the intermediate stage varying according to a predetermined decreasing function over time,

wherein the method further includes

for the at least one electric motor, reading a corresponding nominal current and a corresponding starting current stored in a memory;

applying a predetermined transformation to the acquired phase currents to obtain a positive sequence component, a negative sequence component and a zero sequence component; and

wherein the detecting comprises detecting that the at least one electric motor is in the initial stage if:

during a first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a change in value that is higher than the starting current; and

after the first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a value that is larger than an offset current value; and

after the first predetermined time interval, each phase current displays a value that is larger than the offset current value; and

during a second predetermined time interval, the negative sequence component displays a transient increase in value, the negative sequence component displaying a value that is larger than a predetermined fraction of the offset current value; and

the positive sequence component is larger than the sum of the negative sequence component and of the zero sequence component.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the protection device comprises a controllable switch configured to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source, the method further comprising the sending a control signal to the switch to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source if at least one phase current is larger than the active threshold value.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, at a given time, the offset current value is equal to the vector sum of the nominal currents of each of the at least one electric motor in the steady-state stage at the given time and of a current that is representative of a power supply required by loads connected to the power source.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the active threshold value during the steady-state stage is equal to the result of multiplying the offset current value by a security coefficient, the security coefficient being larger than one.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detecting comprises detecting that the at least one electric motor is in the intermediate stage if:

the previous stage is the initial stage; and

over a third predetermined time interval, the absolute value of the difference between the value of the positive sequence component at the beginning of the initial stage and the current value of the positive sequence component decreases.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detecting comprises detecting that the at least one electric motor is in the steady-state stage if:

the previous stage is the intermediate stage; and

over a fourth predetermined time interval, the standard deviation of the positive sequence component relative to the initial value of the positive sequence component in the current stage is lower than a predetermined standard deviation.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the protection device comprises a controllable switch configured to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source, the method further comprising sending a control signal to the switch to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source if:

the positive sequence component, respectively the negative sequence component, displays a value that is larger than a predetermined fraction of the positive sequence component, respectively the negative sequence component, acquired during a fifth predetermined time interval at the beginning of the starting stage; and

the positive sequence component is lower than the sum of the negative sequence component and of the zero sequence component.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the protection device comprises a controllable switch configured to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source, the method further comprising sending a control signal to the switch to disconnect the at least one electric motor from the power source if:

the positive sequence component is lower than the sum of the negative sequence component and of the zero sequence component; and

each phase current is larger than the offset current value.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, if a number of electric motors is larger than or equal to two, the electric motors are controlled to start sequentially according to a startup sequence.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a calculator circuit, cause the calculator circuit to perform a method comprising:

for each phase of a three-phase power source, acquiring over time a corresponding phase current flowing from the power source to at least one electric motor;

based on the acquired phase currents of the three-phase power source, detecting a current stage of each of the at least one electric motor, among an off stage, an initial stage successive to the off stage, an intermediate stage successive to the initial stage and a steady-state stage successive to the intermediate stage; and

calculating an active threshold value depending on the detected stage of each of the at least one electric motor, the active threshold value during the intermediate stage varying according to a predetermined decreasing function over time,

wherein the method further includes

for the at least one electric motor, reading a corresponding nominal current and a corresponding starting current stored in a memory;

applying a predetermined transformation to the acquired phase currents to obtain a positive sequence component, a negative sequence component and a zero sequence component; and

wherein the detecting comprises detecting that the at least one electric motor is in the initial stage if:

during a first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a change in value that is higher than the starting current; and

after the first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a value that is larger than an offset current value; and

after the first predetermined time interval, each phase current displays a value that is larger than the offset current value; and

during a second predetermined time interval, the negative sequence component displays a transient increase in value, the negative sequence component displaying a value that is larger than a predetermined fraction of the offset current value; and

the positive sequence component is larger than the sum of the negative sequence component and of the zero sequence component.

11. A protection device configured to be arranged between an electrical three-phase power source and at least one electric motor, comprising:

an acquisition module configured to acquire over time, for each phase of the three-phase power source, a corresponding phase current flowing from the power source to the at least one electric motor;

a calculator configured to detect a present stage of each of the at least one electric motor, the current stage being one of an off stage, an initial stage successive to the off stage, an intermediate stage successive to the initial stage and a steady-state stage successive to the intermediate stage, based on the acquired phase currents from the three-phase power source, the calculator being further configured to calculate an active threshold value depending on the detected stage of the at least one electric motor, the active threshold value during the intermediate stage varying according to a predetermined decreasing function over time,

wherein the calculator is further configured to

for the at least one electric motor, read a corresponding nominal current and a corresponding starting current stored in a memory,

apply a predetermined transformation to the acquired phase currents to obtain a positive sequence component, a negative sequence component and a zero sequence component; and

wherein the calculator is configured to detect that the at least one electric motor is in the initial stage if:

during a first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a change in value that is higher than the starting current, and

after the first predetermined time interval, the positive sequence component displays a value that is larger than an offset current value; and

after the first predetermined time interval, each phase current displays a value that is larger than the offset current value; and

during a second predetermined time interval, the negative sequence component displays a transient increase in value, the negative sequence component displaying a value that is larger than a predetermined fraction of the offset current value; and

the positive sequence component is larger than the sum of the negative sequence component and of the zero sequence component.