Written by Dipl.-Phys. Claas Rittinghaus, Product Marketing Surge Protection, Business Unit Trabtech, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg, Germany

Condition Monitoring with ImpulseCheck

Surge protective devices are safety-related components and, as such, an essential part of process plants. Information about the status and performance of these components as well as on the status of the plant itself play an important role in continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance. ImpulseCheck acquires all this information – and also enables it to be utilized in the Internet of Things.

The green “OK” notification on a typical status indicator of an SPD (Surge Protective Device), displayed on the device itself or read out by means of a remote indication contact, is not indicative of the current status of the arrester. Neither does it provide any information on the specific stress caused by surge currents and transient overvoltages since the installation of the SPD. Taking a look at the indicator during the maintenance or periodic inspection of a lightning protection system thus isn’t very meaningful. The surge protective system might fail just the next day – or in a few years’ time.

This is where ImpulseCheck, Phoenix Contact’s new system, comes into play. Surge currents and transient overvoltages discharged and limited by the SPD are detected in real time, and can then be analyzed in ImpulseAnalytics – a Proficloud application. In addition to comprehensive tools for the evaluation of the measured data, which are available to the user, the state of health (SoH) for each mode of protection is calculated for Phoenix Contact SPDs. The state of health is the current state of the arrester. As opposed to former, purely reactive replacements of surge protective equipment based on the green/red status indicator, this status information allows for the implementation of predictive maintenance plans. The efficiency of maintenance work can thus be improved, money can be saved, and system availability better protected.

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PROFICLOUD is the intelligent solution for the industry

The PROFICLOUD system enables easy and secure communication and control of machines and systems across different locations worldwide. The unique combination of the proven PROFINET standard and Cloud services offers brand new possibilities for automation, including in the Industrie 4.0 environment.

Distributed automation becomes significantly easier with the cloud system, regardless of where your network devices are located. This enables manufacturers to monitor the status of their systems installed anywhere in the world. The evaluation of the data gathered shows, for example, potential failures at an early stage, thereby saving time and money.

Your advanatges

You may extend your PROFINET network to include PROFICLOUD services, without requiring any further specialist knowledge

Maximum flexibility, thanks to automation across border, from any location, via the internet

Easy engineering, as distributed devices and PROFICLOUD network services appear in the local PROFINET network

Efficient automation, thanks to preconfigured and preprogrammed PROFICLOUD products

Secure communication, thanks to TLS encryption

Furthermore, you can call up data and store it using the cloud services. In addition to current electricity tariffs or the local time, you can also integrate weather data or complex calculations into the PROFINET application.

PHOENIX CONTACT helped shape the trend towards Ethernet-based automation technology from an early stage. Our many years of expertise influence all our products developments, from connectors to programmable logic controllers. By developing our own technology for ASICs, PROFINET controllers or PROFIsafe, we are able to be independent while still ensuring full compatibility with the standard.

Visit our website to learn more about this cloud system technology.