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Event: IHAA – Bi-annual conference

Date: 2018/09/2018

Place: Seattle, WA, USA Presented by: Frank Munk

Rectifiers and Controllers –

Update on the Latest!

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Why this presentation?

1. When it comes to new technologies I am often asking myself:

- Never heard about it – Did I miss something?

- What it this new technology about?

- Is this new technology suitable for my application?

- Industrial environment

- Robustness

- Services

2. What could be our benefit?

- Will we save on operation cost (Energy, Maintenance)?

- Will we become more productive?

- How can we make use of this new technology in the company?

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Drivers of developments

1. Making available

- Inventions lead to new products which make new applications available and

spin off to other industries

2. Making it more robust

- A new product needs to be reliable to keep operating costs low

3. Improving function

- Getting control to adjust it to the dynamics of the application

4. Improving performance

- Increasing power density to lower costs

5. Searching for new solutions to improve 2, 3, or 4 or changing needs

- Exploring new ideas to adapt to changing demands

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One of the first DC power sources using the

Dynamo principle Making available

Source: Frank Munk – Edison summer estate Fort Myers, Florida

Driver: We need light

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Ward - Leonard – converter

First controllable DC power source

Converter: Left hand side DC generator, right hand side three phase motor

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umformer#/media/File:Rotierender_Umformer.jpg

Improving function

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Improving performance and function

1. Tube based rectifiers – Power conversion by electronics instead of a mechanical system

2. Solid state or diode rectifiers – Semiconductor material for conversion instead of tubes

Tap switch, reactors or Variac transformer for control

3. Thyristors or SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) – Semiconductor for conversion and control

Improving the performance of rectifiers by introducing new more powerful components to

reduce the number of components.

Combing functions to reduce the number of components

Increasing power by using liquid cooling at the component instead of an indirect air or oil

cooling around the component

Source: Google – Photos Tubes, Solid state, SCR

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Reducing size and weight by using a

Switch Mode Power Supply design to convert

AC into DC power

Driving factors which sparked the development of a new power

conversion technology years ago:

- Better process control by controlling process conditions for each part

instead of a bulk of parts (Reactor design instead of tank design)

- Less space to include a new line into the same building

- Less weight to ease installation work and reduce installation cost

- Predictive maintenance to reduce or avoid non-productive time (Interface)

- Reducing operation cost by reducing energy cost and improving efficiency

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Is the SMPS design ready for my application?

We opened up a SMPS design and manufacturing center almost 30 years ago. We have been

supplying SMPS rectifiers since then to various industries, in particular the plating industry.

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Trafo

SCR - Thyristor

Output: DC current

(Option) Ripple filter

Input: 3 x 380 - 480 V/ 50 – 60 Hz Primary Secondary

AC DC

Source: https://www.sunpower-uk.com/glossary/what-is-switch-mode-power-supply/

Design comparison – Traditional versus SMPS

SMPS

design

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Solid state rectifier – Variac control

Coolin

gofcom

ponets

Solid state rectifier – SCR control

Coolin

gofcom

ponents

SMPS – IGBT based

Co

olin

go

fco

mp

on

en

ts

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Co

ol

in

go

fc

om

po

ne

nt

s

Function block diagram - SMPS

Water or air

cooling

Note:

For all rectifier suppliers the backbone of

the SMPS, also called IGBT technology,

is a single power module which is put in

parallel or series to get to the required

output power

Air cooling

SMPS - Modular design to get more power

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Better process control by controlling process condition for each part instead of a bulk of parts

(Reactor design instead of tank design) – Modules are placed in one cabinet

Solutions now achievable by SMPS

6 x 25 V/1000 A in one cabinet – individual controlled and independent from each other

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Less space required to include a new line into the same building –

Less than ¼ of the volume and less than ½ of the foot print

Solutions now achievable by SMPS

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Less weight to ease installation work and reduce installation cost –

Less than 1 /3 of the weight – 25 V/ 4000 - > 5000 A

Solutions now achievable by SMPS

Power upgrade became an option now

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Components required for a traditional

1,000 – 10,000 A rectifier

Components needed for an SMPS – IGBT

based rectifier module 500 – 1500 A

rectifier module

Where there is light there is shadow - Complexity

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Electronic components also follow a life cycle and don‘t last forever

Conclusion:

The risk of a failure is increased for SMPS versus traditional rectifiers because

more components and power modules are needed to achieve the same power.

Life cycle graph of an electronic component

Early failure during

burn in or testing

Sudden failure

which happens

randomly

End of life:

Failures

happen more

regular

Time

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System reliability –Productivity, operation cost are influenced by the number of modules

Conclusion:

The risk of failure is increased by the power of n, n being the number of modules

n: Number

of modules

average component reliability R

Syste

m r

elia

bili

ty R

S

Presumption: System consist of n elements of the same,

with the same reliability Ri = R -> RS = Rn

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SMPS - higher efficiency

Energy cost saving makes your ROI –

Are you sure?

Efficiency graph shown in a rectifier

leaflet of an SMPS supplier

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SMPS and SCR can both offer a high efficiency

The SCR design makes the difference

Same efficiency graph updated by us

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SMPS and SCR efficiency is ranging between

80 - 90 % for anodizing rectifiers already

Graph updated by us

30 %

80 %

Don’t get mislead by a graph

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Summary

Yes SMPS rectifiers offer new alternative ways to improve your

process productivity but space and energy cost saving might not help

you to reduce your operation cost

Achtung!New school:

Multiple modules together to get to the same

output power level of a traditional rectifier.

Old school:

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Trends in control systems

1. PLC system on process level become more and more affordable

- Complex algorithm can be stored in the controller

- IoT ready interface on board

2. Touch panel systems became more robust and can now simplify operation

- Mobile phone generation has different needs

3. Enter your “destination”, the goal you like to achieve, and let the controller do the job

to give you extra time for other work

4. Know what you did to find the root cause of a problem if needed

5. Interface with the IT world of your company – Make process information available

- IoT also means that data become more easily available

- Big data analysis algorithm allow you to do better next time

6. Online information and remote access for a better service

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Dedicated process controllers are used in manual

lines or integrated into fully automated lines

Making process data available and

using expert know how in automated

lines

Increase productivity, improve

quality in manual lines

--

Expert know how is made available

for other tasks in production

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4th generation of process controllers for

aluminum anodizing and coloring applications

1. More versatility to be able to do more than just one alloy

2. More process information to allow online-monitoring (trend lines)

3. Simplifying complex programming to design a treatment program

to the alloy needs

4. Remote monitoring, remote access offering IoT ready interfaces

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Touch panel display simplifies operation

1st step:

Select a mode:

Manual or automatic

(complex program)2nd step:

Select a program using the

program library 3rd step:

Start and monitor the process

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Know what you are doing or what happen –

A graph can help

Process overview

Program overview

What happen?

“Online”-screen – Live

data and history data

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Industry 4.0 / Internet of Things

Smart network on process level

Office IT

networkRemote access

manager

Operational Technology (OT) network

Process level networkHardware and software which changes the physical

process through direct monitoring and/or control of

physical devices such as pumps and rectifiers

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IT and OT start to collaborate

The new process controller should be IoT ready which

means that they can be integrated into an OT network

structure to make process data and system status

information data available to other levels in the network and

the company

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Summary

• SMPS rectifiers are not new to the industry they are available for

about 30 years but due to the given capacity they are commonly

just in the plating industry

• Energy efficiency was not the driver for the SMPS development. It

was space and control of rather a part than a batch which drove the

development.

• Traditional rectifier designs can reach efficiency levels of 80 – 90 %

as well

• SMPS have an excellent power factor but create high harmonics and

can trigger oscillations in the factory due to the none linear load

current – Watch out for impedance limits by the rectifier supplier

• SMPS have side effects (Lifetime, System reliability, Harmonics)

• New process controllers can do complex recipes and become

easier to handle

• IT and OT world start to collaborate to improve the productivity

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Congratulations

- You made it!

If you have any questions or

comments please approach us

fm@munk.de - www.rectifier.com