Direct, on-site mobile marking for electrical installations

The increasing importance of clear marking in networked components, particularly in plant, control cabinet, and distributor construction, has made the development of mobile printing systems necessary in the field of electrical installation.

On-site marking demands are increasing, necessitating clear and consistent marking of terminals, wires, cables, equipment, and systems, as well as compliance with a growing list of standards.

Digitalization of marking processes

Phoenix Contact introduces the THERMOMARK GO thermal transfer printer. A mobile system solution that offers high flexibility, short working paths, and no accidental double processing of missing markings. The printer, software, and marking materials – THERMOMARK GO – are all integrated with the MARKING system app, allowing easy smartphone interaction with the printer.

Printer controlled via app

The THERMOMARK GO label printer uses Bluetooth technology to connect your smartphone wirelessly, allowing you to start the marking process via the free MARKING system app. Its NFC function quickly establishes a Bluetooth connection, making it convenient.

The app offers various options for creating complex markings. Allowing users to design them to their specifications within the material description. Which allows users to view the final result on the screen, ensuring a final check before printing.

Automatic material detection

The software offers numerous editing options for creating complex markings. Allowing placement and rotation of objects like text fields, symbols, or barcodes, and organizing projects in folders for efficient on-site work.

The THERMOMARK GO mobile printer offers automated material detection. Which allows users to select and adjust previously created projects based on the material inserted

The “Smart Edit” function automatically opens a menu bar, allowing users to select and adjust previously created projects based on inserted material. And it’s supported by a context-based menu navigation system.

The MARKING system app uses application wizards to guide users from material selection to finished print jobs. Ensuring standard-compliant markings even without preliminary knowledge.

Summary

The thermomark GO is a versatile marking system that offers high flexibility for professional marking of terminals, conductors, cables, equipment, and systems. It offers continuous format and pre-cut materials for conductor, cable, and equipment marking. The system is similar to a desktop marking system in terms of its functional scope. Extensive marking projects can be created and processed on the go using the MARKING system app. The THERMOMARK GO the ideal system solution for professional marking on construction sites.

For additional information, visit phoenixcontact.com/ThermomarkGo

Climate change and population growth are posing a global challenge. How to stop global warming and increase energy consumption while protecting the climate? The All Electric Society vision aims for a sustainable, affordable energy system where renewable sources, such as sun, wind, and water, are used. Researchers at Oregon State University predict that photovoltaics could cover all energy requirements globally, using less than 1% of the earth’s surface. However, achieving this energy revolution requires extensive renewable energy expansion of renewable energy and the technological approach of sector coupling.

Sector coupling

Sector coupling involves the comprehensive electrification, networking, and automation of all relevant areas of our lives and economies. Including industry, energy, mobility, infrastructure, and buildings. In the All Electric Society, these sectors are networked to create a self-controlling system that optimizes energy efficiency and energy savings by balancing loads, producers, and storage systems. This ensures stability and availability of power supply without excess capacity. Making energy storage systems a core element of sector coupling.

The role of energy storage systems in an All Electric Society

To ensure a stable power supply based on renewable sources like sun, wind, and water, reliable storage systems are necessary. There are various technologies for temporarily storing electrical energy, with the main difference being their physical principles. Mechanical storage converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. While purely electrical storage uses capacitors or inductors. Electrochemical storage uses electrochemical potentials and electrolytes to store electrical energy in batteries. Thermal storage generates heat and drives electrical generators.

Energy storage technologies

Mechanical energy storage systems, such as pumped-storage power plants and gravity storage, have low energy density and high investment costs. Making them suitable for short-term storage solutions. Capacitors are the most prominent purely electrical energy storage devices, with their high cyclic stability and ability to absorb and release energy quickly. Induction storage systems, based on deep-cooled superconducting coils, have low energy density and high operating costs, making them suitable for special applications involving extreme power peaks.

Electrochemical energy storage units, such as batteries, are classic electrochemical units characterized by electrode materials. Lithium-ion batteries have the highest market share in e-mobility and stationary applications, with over 90% market share. Redox flow batteries, which separate electrolyte from electrodes and store it in tanks, have lower energy density and higher operating costs.

Hydrogen-based technologies, such as green hydrogen, are widely used in purely chemical energy storage systems. These systems release hydrogen from a chemical bond, producing energy-rich gases or liquids like methane, methanol, kerosene, and ammonia, which can be stored, transported, and used similarly to their fossil counterparts.

Efficiency losses in the hydrogen process chain

Water electrolysis produces green hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. Further processing requires additional energy, with only some being reused. The more conversion steps, the higher energy losses that occur, which typically waste heat, reducing overall process efficiency.

Which storage systems are suitable for sector coupling?

Electrical energy from sources like the sun, wind, and water should be used directly, as efficiency losses increase generation capacity. The energy revolution is crucial for limiting climate change. Battery storage systems are preferred for storing energy quantities in the gigawatt hour range, while hydrogen-based processes are preferred for storing surplus energy over weeks or months. In industries like steel and cement production and transportation, hydrogen and hydrogen-based products are the best way forward based on current technology.

Energy storage applications

Battery storage is crucial in the mobility sector for operating electric motors and auxiliary units. In hydrogen-based mobility, batteries are used as fuel for internal combustion engines or powering fuel cells, ensuring a purely electric drive. They support fast charging and can help stabilize public distribution grids, cap peak loads, and balance renewable energy carriers. Power trading is also becoming more commercially relevant, storing energy at low producer prices for profit during high demand.

Read more about reliable components for battery storage systems.

High-speed data transmission for industrial applications

IDC predicts that by 2027, the volume of data created and replicated will reach 284 zettabytes, a 21-zero figure, threatening the Internet of Things without a nationwide broadband expansion, highlighting the need for significant data storage and replication.

The first transatlantic fiber-optic cable was operational in 1988, enabling high-speed data transmission between continents. The mid-1990s saw broadband expansion, adding more long-distance routes and moving fiberglass transmission paths closer to end devices like data centers, industrial plants, and personal computers, known as the “last mile.”

Data transmission across continents, countries, and municipalities requires high security and reliability. Speed, immunity to interference, and failsafe performance are basic requirements for industrial and semi-industrial data transmission.

The advantage of fiber optics

Fiber-optic cables (FO) transmit data in light over long distances by converting electrical signals into photon packets and sending them to the receiver via plastic or fiberglass. The light signals are then converted back into electrical signals for evaluation and processing.

This blog article explores the advantages of data transmission through fiber-optic cables over copper transmission, focusing on their characteristics.

Speed and distances

Fiber-optic cables use photons to transmit electrical signals, which are faster than electrons in copper conductors. Photons can travel up to 70% of the speed of light, with minimal signal loss. This allows for longer transmission distances of up to 50 km and data rates of up to 40 Gbps. The actual range depends on the chosen fiber-optic cable, making them suitable for long distances and large data volumes.

Reliability and security

Fiber-optic cables are reliable for data transmission due to their non-conductive cores made of glass or plastic, eliminating the need for complex shielding. They are metal-free, insensitive to EMC and ESD interference, allowing parallel use with other cables. Impedance problems and crosstalk are not issues. Fiber-optic cables with coatings protect against environmental influences in a much better way.

Fiber-optic cables offer enhanced cybersecurity due to their lack of external signals, requiring direct access via bend connectors or contact points, making them significantly more secure against eavesdropping than copper cables, despite not providing 100% protection against unauthorized access.

Costs

Fiber-optic technology has disadvantages such as complex assembly, precision, expensive equipment, complex measurement technology, and the need for well-trained specialists. Manufacturing and monitoring production are costly and require extensive expertise in this specialist field.

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Simple implementation with the PSRmodular and AXL F series

Phoenix Contact offers two series of analog signals for monitoring physical variables in process engineering systems. These signals are standardized as either a (0)/4 … 20 mA or a 0 … 10 V signal, with current signals being more robust against electromagnetic interference and having high measuring accuracy over longer cable lengths. Furthermore, the concept considers whether the sensor is powered by the evaluation module or supplied by an external source.

Consideration of load and measurement information

The analog evaluation module distinguishes between active and passive inputs, requiring external supply for passive inputs. Load consideration is crucial when engineering analog signals, and signal conditioners are recommended if it exceeds active inputs. Moreover, NAMUR recommendation NE43 defines signal levels for failure information of digital measuring transducers with analog output signals, with current values outside these limits considered invalid or failure information. The evaluation unit must provide corresponding information or respond to deviations.

Design of functional safety

Single-channel analog signal generators can be used for safety-related circuits up to SIL 2/PL d. While two-channel signal generators can be used up to SIL 3/PL e. MTTFD values can be determined based on sensor manufacturer failure rates. Furthermore, Diagnostic coverage (DC) is required for safety-related analog signals, but plausibility comparison is difficult due to measurement inaccuracies and ambient conditions. Two-channel architectures should allow short-term deviations outside the tolerance range, without impacting functional safety.

Mathematical calculations with analog values

Safety-related threshold values are monitored in applications that require the calculation or combination of different analog values. For instance, force sensors are used for load measurements on cranes and lifting devices to ensure the maximum total load is not exceeded. In addition, in FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), the safe state of a fault is determined by the maximum possible value. This allows for the configuration of safety-related automation systems.

Read more here.