Electric motors: Markets, trends, and applications

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:7054286

Electric motors play an important role in nearly all sectors of the US economy. Typical motor applications range from air conditioning and appliances in the residential sector, to cooling and space heating in the commercial sector, to materials handling and processing in the industrial sectors. Motors in the residential sector consumed nearly 352 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) in 1985, in the commercial sector 279 BkWh, and the industrial sector 552 BkWh. Approximately 87% of electric motor electricity use in the industrial sector was consumed in manufacturing processes, while the process industries consumed more than half of the manufacturing sector's electric motor electricity use. The total motor population in all sectors in 1987 stood just shy of 1.02 billion, 90% of which are less than one horsepower (HP) in size. An increasing percentage of the motor population is comprised of high efficiency motors, as classified by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). High efficiency motors offer end-users greater energy and cost savings than do their standard efficiency counterparts. This report provides an overview of the history of the electric motor, a brief description of the electromechanical theory behind motor operations, and offers a statistical review of the size and distribution of the electric motor market. The report also presents data on sector motor electricity use, describes current and potential motor application opportunities, and details areas in which further research and development may be needed.

• Research Organization: Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States); Resource Dynamics Corp., Vienna, VA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPRI; Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7054286
• Report Number(s): EPRI-TR-100423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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