Mains frequency

Due to historical developments, a mains frequency of 50 Hz is used in Europe, Asia, Australia, most of Africa and parts of South America, while a mains frequency of 60 Hz has become established for the public power grids in North America. The specification of the mains frequency is necessary for the selection of the electric drive. For pumps that are operated with single-phase or three-phase motors without a frequency converter, the synchronous motor speed changes in the same ratio as the frequencies, i.e. from 50 to 60 Hz by a factor of 1.2. In accordance with the affinity laws, this also changes the pump’s performance data. A frequency converter is often used to adapt the performance data to the operating point. The electrical energy drawn at the mains frequency is converted into a voltage with a different frequency in order to change the motor speed.

Number of Pole Pairs

nsync = synchronous speed f = frequency of the 3-phase power supply p = number of pole pairs of the 3-phase motor Kindly note that the above noted relation results in revs per second if the frequency unit is Hz.
Pole pair numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6
Synchronous speed (at 50 Hz) n [rpm] 3000 1500 1000 750 600 500
Synchronous speed (at 60 Hz) n [rpm] 3600 1800 1200 900 720 600
The rated full-load speed of three phase asynchronous motors is, due to slip, a few percent below the synchronous speed.