Alltec Corporation News & Articles
Gain Control of your Equipment's Power Quality: Eliminate Critical and Costly Downtime
Product-Spotlight by Alltec Corporation
Monday January 11, 2010
In the technologically progressive world that we live in today, companies rely more heavily than ever on sensitive electronic equipment. Technology is becoming faster, smaller, & more efficient. In exchange for faster speed, however, electronics are becoming increasingly susceptible to surges. In response to this demand Alltec Corporation has created PowerTrip® Surge Protection Devices (SPDs).
PowerTrip® Surge Protection Devices reduce the magnitude of random, high energy, short duration electrical power anomalies. These occurrences are typically caused by atmospheric phenomena (such as lightning strikes), utility switching, inductive loads, and more. Over 80% of transient activity is internally generated, and it is estimated that electrical transients cost US companies more than $26 billion per year in damages and losses. High energy spikes take place and can damage equipment such as computers, instrumentation, and process controllers often without causing noticeable physical damage to components. This can cause system upset, lost data and data lines, erroneous signals and false system operations.
The installation of Surge Protection Devices (SPDs) is essential to reduce the risk of personal injury, physical equipment damage, and loss of operations. PowerTrip® surge suppressors provide ultimate protection for modern sensitive microprocessors based equipment in the harshest of transient environments. These applications are being used in residential homes, telecommunication facilities, information technology buildings, automation controls, oil & gas industries, wind farms, and much more. PowerTrip® SPDs are designed with “Discrete All Mode Protection” to eliminate the transient voltage between all possible modes: L-L, L-N, L-G, and N-G. The ultimate goal of our approach is to keep sites and systems operating safely, reliably,
PowerTrip® devices are available for AC and DC power, telephone/data, and RF cabling protection. Experienced engineers will assist you in choosing the correct product for your application. Our expert installation team will make certain that your products are installed correctly, ensuring that sites and systems are operating safely and reliably.
Surge Suppression Technology
Voltage Responsive Circuit Technology provides the best suppression of high energy impulses and operates at a fixed low let-through voltage. In addition to the fixed system, Frequency Responsive Circuit Technology has thresholds which track the AC & DC sinewave and are able to respond to any transient activity on the system at whatever polarity and phase angle it occurs; it filters all frequency disturbances other than 50/60 Hz. PowerTrip® SPD products are engineered to meet the demanding requirements of countless applications.
PowerTrip ® Features
- Withstands repeated transients
- Quick response and recovery time
- Tight nominal clamping levels
- Frequency Responsive Circuitry and EMI/RFI filtering capabilities
- Surge Counters, Audible Alarms and Dry Relay Contacts
- Array of NEMA rated enclosures
- Fail Safe
- Thermal Insulation
Compliance
• ANSI/UL 1449 3rd Edition Listed and UL 1283 Listed
• IEEE C62.41-2002 and C62.41.2-2002 Tested Standards
• NEMA LS-1 (1992)
Transient Voltage Sources
• Power company & load switching
• Generator switching
• HVAC equipment
• Industrial equipment
• Fluorescent lights
• Elevators
• Switching of inductive loads
• Lightning activity
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Why protect an automatic transfer switch?
Articles by Alltec Corporation
Monday April 27, 2009
Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) surge protection is critical for the operation of the switch. The modern ATS has circuit boards, electronic controls, relays and sensors that are sensitive to transients. Transient damage to an ATS switch and/or controller can result in failure of the ATS to perform during an electrical crisis. Cumulative damage level transients can cause minor problems in the programming or logic controls for the switch resulting in the false operation of the transfer switch and operation of the generator when no problem exists, or the failure to make the transfer in the event of an actual crisis. Catastrophic damage can destroy the switch and/or controller and take the entire system off-line.
There are four main sources of potential transient damage that can impact an ATS. The first, and most common, is the utility power line. Lightning, generator switching at the utility power station or sub-station, capacitor bank switching on the grid, or nearby facilities producing their own large transients can cause catastrophic as well as cumulative level transients at the ATS. A properly installed Surge Protective Device (SPD) at the power utility line side of the ATS can prevent the damage from this source.
The second source of transients is the generator, or back-up power source line. The quality of the power produced by a back-up generator is dependent on many factors. The age of the generator and motor, the quality and frequency of the maintenance performed on the motor and generator, the load to capacity ratio of the generator, how frequently the generator is run and for how long, the quality and maintenance of the connections from the generator to the ATS, and more all have an impact on the ability of the generator to provide clean quality power to the electrical system during a power utility outage. Problems in any of these areas can result in the generator producing transients with the capability of causing everything from a minor nuisance to catastrophic failure. A properly installed SPD at the generator load side of the ATS can prevent the damage from this source.
The third source of transients is the down line electrical system. Internally generated transients can travel back up line to the ATS and cause cumulative as well as catastrophic damage to the switch and controller. A properly installed SPD at the load side line of the ATS can prevent the damage from this source.
The last source of transients is the actual physical switch within the ATS itself. The blades that switch from the power utility line input to the generator line input will cause arcing and transients when they disconnect from one and make contact with the other. A properly installed SPD at the blades of the ATS can prevent the damage from this source.
View More: Articles, Surge-Suppression
Why protect a UPS with an SPD?
Articles by Alltec Corporation
Monday April 27, 2009
"I have a UPS, why do I need a TVSS?" For over 15 years this has been a common objection dealt with on a regular basis. Following are a facts about UPS systems and its susceptibility issues as wel as some comments from IEEE.
A UPS provides secondary or backup power in the event of loss of utility power. A UPS protects electrical and electronic systems, process controllers, and data against the loss of the primary power source, which is the utility company.
Many UPS’ incorporate relatively low energy and low pulse life Category A or B surge suppression. This low energy built-in surge suppression may protect the UPS and its connected load from a limited number of small hits, but it should not be relied upon as a transient solution. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognized this problem and stated in Section 9.11 of IEEE Std 1100-1992 that a networked Transient Voltage Surge Suppression device and UPS TVSS protection is required.
There are two basic types of UPS systems. First is the rotary UPS which has a motor connected to the primary power source, which is used to turn an alternator which generates the AC output to power selected loads, along with a battery bank. The other type is the electronic or static UPS. This type of units relies upon inverters and rectifiers to generate the AC sine wave and is supported by a bank of batteries to achieve the desired run times. Within this category you find stand-by, line interactive and double conversion types of UPS’.
Transient Susceptibility of the UPS
- Protecting the Rotary UPS Transient protection is recommended at the input to the rotary UPS to protect the motor windings, (and rectifier/charger and inverter when present), static switch, and bypass path to the loads. Additionally, protection at the output is recommended to protect the sensitive loads from the inductive transients developed in the generator inductance and/or inductive loads served by the rotary UPS as these loads are cycled on and off.
- Protecting the electronic UPS Transient protection is recommended at the input to all electronic loads and the UPS is no exception. The AC-to-DC converter, the static bypass switch, and to a lesser extent the DC-to-AC inverter, are all susceptible to transient damage. Sensitive and transient susceptible electronic control circuitry constantly monitors the status of the UPS and the input and output AC power of the UPS. This circuitry is used to determine if the UPS should be delivering power from the batteries and DC-AC converter: or, if the UPS should switch to the bypass mode and deliver AC from the secondary source which is usually the utility AC power. Additionally, when the UPS is in the bypass mode for maintenance or due to failure, the sensitive loads should also be protected against transient disruption, degradation, and damage from the transients appearing on the secondary AC source or utility power.
The IEEE Standard 1100-1992 states the networked TVSS protection is needed, and UPS TVSS protection as follows:
- Service entrance protection Section 9.11 of IEEE Std. 1100-1992: "… A listed and properly rated TVSS should also be applied to each individual or set of electrical conductors (e.g. power, voice, data) penetrating any of the six sides forming a structure."
- Premise electrical system lightning/surge protection Section 9.12 of IEEE Std. 1100-1992: "… it is recommended that additional TVSS be applied to downstream electrical switch boards and panel boards if they support electronic load equipment."
- UPS surge protection Section 9.11.3 UPS surge protection: "Lightning and other transient voltage producing phenomena are harmful to most UPS equipment and to sensitive electronic load equipment (e.g. via an unprotected static-switch bypass around the UPS). Therefore, it is recommended practice that both the rectifier-charger input circuit to the UPS and the associated UPS bypass circuits (including the manual maintenance bypass circuit) be equipped with effective Category B TVSS protection as specified in IEEE Std. C62.41-1991…"
IEEE standard 1100-1992 assumes that a TVSS protection network is in place when discussing UPS surge and transient protection.
The requirement that the service entrance and down stream switchboards and panel boards are properly protected with TVSS is assumed to be met. Additionally, Category B TVSS protection is required for the rectifier-charger input circuit and the associated UPS bypass circuits.
- Built-in UPS transient voltage suppression: Today, many UPS manufacturers provide low level lightning and surge protection. A typical UPS designed to power a computer may claim the UPS passes ANSI/IEEE C62.41-2002 Category A and/or Category B test waveforms. In general, one would assume that the UPS survives these transients, since there is no pass or fail in the ANSI/IEEE C62.412002. The adequacy of this built-in surge suppression to protect the connected load(s), the let-through voltages, the energy handling capability, and the number of hits of a given amplitude for the various transient waveforms that the built-in surge suppression will survive are not in general provided by the UPS manufacturer.
If a protected load is of sufficient value to an organization to protect against power outages with a UPS, the UPS and the vital load should also be protected against transient disruption, degradation, and damage.
Conclusion
A Transient Voltage Surge Suppression unit placed on line in front of the UPS will protect the investment in the UPS and the connected computer equipment. During maintenance and downtime on the UPS, the TVSS will filter out the transients and surges from the line during the static bypass mode or maintenance by-pass mode of operation, thus protecting the connected computer equipment from damage. The UPS itself will benefit with fewer maintenance problems and less downtime.
With the investment in sophisticated computer equipment and a UPS unit, the customer has already committed to keeping the system operational on a continuing basis. The additional investment in the TVSS is minimal by comparison. The additional protection can be significant in terms of preventing even one downtime incident, which at today’s costs can run some companies as much as $78,000 per hour according to studies conducted and published by Computer Technology Review magazine.
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DC Transient Voltage Surge Suppression
Surge-Suppression by Alltec Corporation
Thursday December 11, 2008
Extremely low let through voltage performance for DC Surge Supprssion
Today enterprises rely more heavily than ever on high speed mission critical electrical equipment. The tradeoff for faster speed, however, is that equipment is becoming increasingly more susceptible to electrical surges. The PowerTrip® Model PTE-OT (DC) devices provide the most unique transient protection available for series connected individual applications. These premier products offer safety at locations. They are extremely effective in limiting transients generated at the facility, yet strong enough for first line protection.
Alltec’s DC TVSS unit is that it has a 25 year unlimited free replacement warranty, and it is paramount in the industry. It has twice the Maximum Surge Current capacity of other TVSS products, maintains operational integrity under severe conditions, and dramatically reduces software confusion. Applications include remote cameras, solar power system controllers, PLC controllers, RTU data collection & acquisition equipment, DC Power supplies & distribution systems, & DC fed communication and control equipment.
Since 1991, Alltec Corporation has offered a comprehensive facility protection approach to solving the world’s most difficult lightning, grounding, and power quality problems. As “Solution Providers for an Energized World ™,” their highly qualified engineers continuously innovate new products and services in order to implement the best possible solutions. PowerTrip®’s DC Transient Voltage Surge Suppression products offer the highest level of protection possible to meet these needs. Please contact their US office for more information on their extensive line of products and services.
View More: Surge-Suppression, Product-Spotlight
Eliminate Critical and Costly Industrial Downtime
Articles by Alltec Corporation
Thursday November 20, 2008
In harsh industrial environments maximization of operations is imperative. The downtime, damage, & destruction caused to mission critical systems costs businesses billions of dollars each year. In response to this crucial demand, Alltec Corporation introduces new PowerTrip® PTM Series 160kA, 240kA, and 320kA per phase surge protection devices. This Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS) is specifically designed for heavy duty applications such as: Oil & Gas Industries, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plants, Waste and H2O Treatment Facilities, Mining Operations, and Large Scale Commercial/Industrial Manufacturing Lines. PowerTrip® surge suppressors provide the level of safety needed to provide facility-wide protection.
PowerTrip® products feature industry leading let-through voltage performance & rapid response time. This product offers a variety of enclosure types, a free 5 year replacement warranty, and multiple fusing options. Circuit encapsulation and thermally fused components, as well as a high energy exposure ANSI/IEEE Location/Category rating make PowerTrip® an industry leader. There is also a wide voltage range including: 1,000 V, 1,500 V, 2,000V, 2,500V, 3,000V, 3,500V, 4,160BV, & 6900OV. PowerTrip® is a key aspect of Alltec Corporation’s Protection Pyramid™, a three-step program to success for comprehensive facility protection to keep sites and systems operating safely and reliably.
Since 1991, Alltec Corporation’s worldwide presence has fostered dynamic progression in the ability to provide optimal solutions for protection against lightning strikes, grounding problems, & power quality issues. PowerTrip® PTM Series Medium Voltage TVSS products are some of the latest additions in Alltec’s quest to implement paramount & cost effective solutions to their customer’s needs. Please contact their US office for more information on their extensive line of products and services.
View More: Articles, Surge-Suppression
