Easier Maintenance, Easier Troubleshooting with Phoenix Contact

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If you were to connect one or more wires, you may simply think of connecting them from one point to another. Well, you can do that technically. However, things could get messier than expected.

Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/belleville/59234524/in/photostream/

YES, without any prior planning on how wires are to be connected and a proper design of control cabinet layout, you may face the cable jungle, just like what you see in the photo. If you have to perform maintenance or troubleshooting on the control cabinets, this will possibly be one of your worst nightmares! It’s not only about complexity of your job but also your safety.

Not to worry, we are here to help!

Firstly, terminal blocks could be positioned in your control cabinet layout design. Terminal blocks, as a central termination point between the field wiring, provide you an easy and convenient method to group and/or distribute the wirings. This means terminal blocks could provide you with a neater control cabinet with cables.

The wide product range of terminal blocks can be found in Phoenix Contact and you can choose based on your requirements and standards.

Once terminal blocks are in your control cabinets, you can finally escape from the cable jungle. Troubleshooting should be much easier for you to manage now than ever before.

Image from: https://smartcsm.com/25-of-the-worst-electrical-panels-weve-ever-seen

Do you still think that your control cabinet is messy?

You may see the disorganised cables running around the area unmanaged. It might even look dangerous.

If this is what you see, it’s time to use cable ducts.

Even for cable ducts, Phoenix Contact provides many different types according to different situations and environments. The wide range of cable ducts enable flexible and optimum use of available space in your control cabinets.

Your working space will be significantly less cluttered with the use of terminal blocks and cable ducts now. All you need to do for maintenance and troubleshooting will then be straightforward and trouble-free.

Wait! Don’t bounce off yet! We have one more suggestion for easier maintenance, easier troubleshooting with Phoenix Contact. Let’s do a ‘Spot the Difference’ exercise! Can you find the difference between the two photos below?

Apart from messier layouts, the main difference is missing labels. Did you manage to spot those? During testing and troubleshooting, you may realise that you can’t differentiate the cables, especially when they are routed from same location. The labels will be able to help you figure out where each cable is from just by looking at the control cabinet; you won’t have to manually route back where the cable is from. Labelling not only for the wires but for the terminal blocks and other components will benefit you for your routine maintenance and repairs. Easy identification of all the components will reduce your time and effort on handling the control cabinets.

Phoenix contact has launched a series of marking materials and printers. Our printers are made user friendly with ‘simply easy’ motto. Our marking materials are developed with printing services that are widely available for:

  • Terminal blocks (not limited to Phoenix contact terminal blocks)
  • Wires (self-adhesive, clip type & with binder type)
  • Equipment (control panels, equipment tag, temp resist/proof labels, etc.)
  • Plant markings (warning labels)

Your worries and challenges for maintenance and troubleshooting of your control cabinets can now be tackled with ease.

The Narrowest Surge Protection for MCR Technology

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TERMITRAB Complete is the world’s narrowest surge protection for MCR application. This product range provides you with a complete system kit featuring an integrated status indicator and an optional remote signaling set. TERMITRAB Complete, the narrowest protective device at only at 3.5mm width.

  • Starting from 3.5 mm widths, TERMITRAB complete is the world’s narrowest surge protection solution for MCR applications
  • Status indication with remote signaling
  • System modules for all MCR applications

Pluggable surge protection for 4-conductor applications

The narrowest arrester is 6 mm wide.

TTC-6P-4 is the world’s narrowest pluggable surge protection solution for 4-conductor applications. With an overall width of 6 mm, it reliably protects your measurement and control applications from overvoltage, while requiring minimal space.

TERMITRAB Complete, your best choice of Surge Protection for all MCR Applications. With a complete portfolio ranging from Single Stage Protection to multistage Surge Protection  with integrated status indication and knife disconnect, TERMITRAB Complete SPD will give you the most holistic and comprehensive protection for your cabinet solutions.

Interested to try out all the benefits mentioned above? Get in touch with us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!

PLCnext Technology – Limitless Industry 4.0 Solutions

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We have entered the 21st Century with the birth of the Industry 4.0 era. But what exactly is Industry 4.0? There are interpretations out there such as Smart Factory, Internet of Things, Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Big DATA and Digitalization etc. It is observed that many corporations and business entities are on overdrive budgeting capex and formulating plans to adopt and embrace Industry 4.0.       

For most industries, what are the tangible and intangible benefits of digitalisation or achieving Industry 4.0? In the market, it has been revolving around these familiar hot topics: asset management, remote monitoring, machine learning, artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance to achieve world class operational excellence. In fact they are all based on 1 thing – Data. Data sets the precedence for the above. For new plants, the architecture of connectivity can be designed before construction to achieve the ability to harvest all necessary data into a single historian or platform, therefore implementation will be an easy feat. However, existing bases/plants have to face umpteen challenges.

Although existing plants do have sensors/devices that collect data, they are kept to a closed loop industry system. Moreover, a lot of the data/information collection is very manual, such as via maintenance crews going on site using handheld tools for measurement and manual recording. Compared to a new plant, it is not operationally as well as economically feasible to pause operations of an existing plant and overhaul the whole connectivity/system architecture to allow more data flow to enable Industry 4.0.  Therefore, without affecting present operation, to modernise an existing plant, a suite of smart devices is required to design a solution to help them realise Industry 4.0.

Very often, existing plants have old systems and devices running on various communication protocols, therefore it is always a challenge to harmonise and standardise the data collected. Moreover, additional devices and sensors are also required in the modernisation journey and that will increase the need for I/O points. Phoenix Contact can help clients overcome these challenges in modernising their existing plant and embarking on their digitalisation / Industry 4.0 journey, through the use of one of Phoenix Contact’s leading technologies: the PLCnext Technology. It can provide a very scalable and flexible solution that enables edge computing, possesses the ability to be an OPC UA server, provides a seamless integration of both IEC61131 and High Level Language(HLL) programming, and most importantly cybersecurity is an inherent feature of the PLCnext Technology. With these attributes, it provides an excellent platform to collate and share data on open communication protocols.   

Bundled with Phoenix Contact’s comprehensive portfolio of communication interface technology, such as gateways, wireless technology, ongoing partnership development for 5G technology as well as in house technical know-how and expertise, an enhanced connectivity one stop solution can be actualised through partnership with Phoenix Contact. This can help end users for both new and existing plants congregate all required raw data for further data manipulation such data analytics, machine learning or even Artificial Intelligence. The PLCnext Technology Platform has set itself as a gravity centre of a solution of limitless automation / Industry 4.0 Ideas.

For those who wish to embark on a digital journey of Industry 4.0, Phoenix Contact can be there to be your reliable partner.

The Future of EV (Electric Vehicles) Implementation in Singapore

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Time of Green Vehicles

It is in interesting times we live in in this year, as COVID-19 safe distancing has changed the way we travel, be it by air or public transport.

The banning of international air travel has caused the skies to be clearer and cleaner, and the limiting of public travel in a lockdown situation has also improved the air quality of those countries experiencing lockdown significantly.

  • So we ask, what does this mean in terms of transportation?
  • What can we do to make this situation a game changer? To improve on our existing infrastructure to prepare for the changing trend towards a cleaner environment and reducing the total carbon footprint transportation?

The answer is Greener Vehicles!

Singapore’s market for Public Transportation

We already have a non-polluting, efficient MRT System in place.

But let’s see the current vehicles registration content in Singapore today

Figure 1: Motor Vehicle Population in Singapore

We have a total vehicle population of 945,487 vehicles as of Sep 2020.

Hybrid Vehicles (Petrol Electric/Diesel Electric) – 48,455 units (0.5% of total)

Fully Electric (Electric Vehicles including Buses) – 1,452 units (less than 0.1% total )

Singapore signed the Kyoto Protocol in 2006 and ratified in the 2016 Agreements to bring down Singapore’s greenhouse gas emission from 0.11% of global carbon emissions.

Our main Electricity supply is from Natural Gas, the cleanest form of Fossil fuel. We are also looking to revamp our dependency on this to move into solar and other forms of energy efficient solutions, such as reducing carbon emissions from power generation and working with private organizations and the community to use energy more efficiently.

The aim being to lower carbon emission levels by 36% from the levels in 2005  by 2030. What it means, is to make Singapore’s carbon emission level to be at 0.07% instead of 0.11% of total global carbon emissions.

The immediate way is to change our vehicle population presently to from fuel-based to clean-energy-based.

The magic number is 2% of the total car population from the present number, to be converted to full Electric Drive Vehicles.

This seems like a tall order when you consider that the current EV population in 2020 is now at o.1%, assuming that our vehicle population is maintained at present levels from now to 2030.

To get to that number, we will need a full EV Population of 19,000 units to 20,000 units by 2030.

What is the single most important factor in running an EV Car?

EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS

The Singapore government needs to improve on the EV charging infrastructure if they are going to be able to support 19,000 to 20,000 full EV Cars by 2030.

There must be 1.5 EV charger per vehicle, or 1 full time charger where the owner has at home and 0.5 charger in the public charging infrastructures to be able to keep the vehicle running at all times within Singapore.

So the charging infrastructure needed will be around 28,500 EV chargers or 30,000 chargers or charging points in Singapore by 2030.

An EV car Average range is 200km on a full battery charge and most EV cars from the Sub compact (Hatch back) to saloon class have a battery of 25KW to 40KW power capacity.

To charge up this battery from 0% to 80% to sustain the usability of the battery as well as to sustain the battery life for around 6-7 years, it will take the following charging times if AC charging is required, based on the following table:

DC (Direct Current) high power charging may apply to bigger battery sizes of 50KW power and above.

But the problem with constant DC charging is that it shortens the battery life.

For example:  ZOE (Renault) Battery capacity is 22KW and distance on a full charge in single phase at 16 Amp 3-4Kw takes around 6-9 hours and 3 phase DC at 22kw takes 1 hour for 80% and 43Kw at 63 A DC is around 30 mins for 80%.

The way to go for EV Charging is by AC as that is slow charging, and will be less strenuous on the battery life.

If the EV car owner has a private car park where they have their own AC Chargers at home. And they travel a weekly distance of 200km then they will need to charge once a week (6-9 hours) or every alternate day for (1 hour to 1 hour 30 mins) on the same home charger.

Running Cost Comparison for fuel-driven car vs EV CAR (same Model type)

SOLUTIONS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE – AC CHARGING FROM PHOENIX CONTACT

So with DC charging being invariably higher in terms of cost of implementation and being less practical, what solutions do we have for AC Charging in the current existing market?

AC WALL BOXES SOLUTIONS
A picture containing indoor, green, hanging, table Description automatically generated
AC TOWER CHARGERS SOLUTIONS

  Note: Green Boxes are where our charging solutions will be applied

Our AC Chargers can be implemented across the spectrum of the infrastructure market.

What are the main advantages of our solutions?

  • Cost of Maintenance is low as components are all easily replaceable.
  • AC Power charging may be slow but we make use of the existing power supplies from the infrastructures on the power grid.
  • Load limiting software available for preventing peak hour overloading of the power grid.
  • Easily upgradeable depending on the increase in the infrastructure set up, as all components are modular.
  • Education on the solutions, training on the serviceability is easily available as any contractor for power distribution cabinets with ITC Certification in Electrical Engineering will be able to manage these solutions.
  • Easily replicated and configured in various buildings and infrastructures.

We at Phoenix Contact SEA are ready to help provide these charging infrastructure solutions in support of the growing EV Market in Singapore.

What has 2020 Taught Us?

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Take a deep breath. We are now more than three quarters of the way through 2020 – Phew. For many of us, this has been an incredibly challenging, transformative, and life changing year. For better or worse, the last nine months have changed us. And now, looking back, we can see the lessons we’ve learned – about resilience, health, nature and financial planning.

Resilience

Phoenix Contact always empowers the work flexibility of employees, allowing them to perform their work in a way in which they can manage their own time. In South East Asia, not every company was practicing this flexi-work arrangement till this pandemic landed. Due to this Covid-19, we started to stagger working hours and even work from home (WFH). During your work at the office, you would not know what your parents or kids are doing at home. WFH gives us more time to accompany our family members. Hence on, it’ll enhance your relationship with your family.  Ideally, this is the best chance to understand more about your family members. However, WFH will also bring you a negative vibe. Imagine you and your spouse start working from home, your kids stop schooling and even your parents are staying with you. Everyone is living under the same roof; Your parents may need your concern, children may need your attention and your spouse needs your help to do daily chores. As a result, this may cause disturbances in your work and no personal space for your own privacy. Day by day, this may lead to you being unable to concentrate on your work and gradually cause family conflicts.

Other than this, the year of 2020 is not a good year for planned events. A lot of events must either be postponed or cancelled due to this unexpected situation. Holiday trips, vacation plans, or even marriage plans, must be altered. This bad occurrence has stopped us from moving forward and progressing with our life goals. Therefore 2020 has taught us to be more dynamic and flexible. Always come out with a plan B and prepare for plan C when plan A is not working out. We must learn how to accept the reality and try to adapt to this new normal, as being resilient is one of the cherished values we learn in 2020. Communication and tolerance are the values that make us resilient with the surrounding people we love.

Health

Humans tend to take things for granted until they have health issues. As we can see that this pandemic makes us more certain that being healthy is everyone’s priority. The concept of health to everyone is very subjective. For some people, health is merely a trivial thing, but for others, health is everything. Health is something that once lost, we will recover. However, even after recovery, it won’t be as great as it once was. It is easy for people to control their personal health if they are disciplined, but it requires a lot of individual effort to strengthen public health in the communities.

Public health services help detect health issues as early as possible and respond appropriately to avoid the development of diseases. In the early stage of the Covid-19 outbreak, it was rare to see people wearing masks in public as they did not have the knowledge of how to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As you can see, the society and government implemented mandatory wearing of masks for everyone. Promoting how to wear the mask properly, the standard procedures, safe entry and social distancing are just some of the measures taken to combat Covid-19. It won’t be possible to defeat every disease without societal cooperation and increasing the awareness of public health in the communities. Therefore, public health awareness plays a major role in the fight against Covid-19.

Majority of health issues come from unhealthy lifestyles. A healthy lifestyle can enhance our immune system to defuse the threats of virus and bacteria. We would not know when the sickness or virus will strike us, but a good immune system can prevent the virus from infecting our body. Exercise is one good way to build a strong body. We should exercise at least 5 days per week and in between 30 minutes to 60 minutes per day. You can personally join some indoor exercise programs such as Tabata, Yoga or home gym. Since most of us will likely WFH, some of us may find it difficult to separate between work matters and family members as these two unrelated matters are now occurring under the same roof. Many of us tend to forget about their work life balance when bringing work issues back home. These unhealthy habits will lead to mental stress and increase the rate of mental problems. It’s important to segregate your work duties and your family responsibilities to create a healthy lifestyle.

Nature

Nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia’s devastating wildfire; at least 31 people have been killed in earthquakes in Turkey, a locust swarm outbreak in East Africa and the thousands of victims caused by wildfire, hurricanes and tropical storms in the U.S. It’s heartbreaking that the natural disasters happen all around the world. However, a recent global pandemic named COVID 19 has infected and killed millions of human lives. This has warned us that doomsday will come soon if we are still ungrateful to Mother Nature.

Have you ever asked yourself what am I to Mother Earth, as a contributor or destroyer of nature?  Take a minute to think about this question and you will realize human beings and nature are always linked together. Do you bring your own tableware when you decide to take away your food? Will you ever throw the plastic bottle to the recycle bin after finishing your drink? A mere of these two actions will “green” our Mother Nature during your daily lunch. These are key decisions to prolong and sustain the age of earth and ensure the next generation of human beings can live in harmony with Mother Nature. “The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”
—John Paul II

Financial Planning

With fears of a harsh credit crisis and a major collapse in economic activity, the spreading of the pandemic crashed financial & economic markets all over the world. Countries imposed tight restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the virus affecting all industries, especially the tourism and hospitality sector. The retrenchment and unemployment rates have increased dramatically, leading to the economic recession. Those affected victims without proper financial savings will face difficulty to cope with their living expenses and monthly fixed commitments. Thus, proper financial planning is one of the preparations to face this economic crisis.

We should give our budget a makeover. Reevaluate your budget to find new ways to conserve cash. WFH helps us to save the money from transport and entertainment expenses, with the extra money creating a financial cushion. Besides that, always save extra for emergency funds. Saving three to six months’ worth of expenses for an emergency fund is strongly recommended. You may start it by trimming nonessential expenses and dedicating any extra money to an emergency fund. Another alternative for financial planning is investment. If possible, invest more. Many people have seen their portfolios decrease in value, and the stock market will likely continue to experience volatility. If you can afford to, consider contributing more to your retirement savings scheme and other investment accounts. Historically, we have seen that the stock market always rebounds eventually.

What’s your perspective on 2020? Many people have been struggling, saying that 2020 is the year of crisis. John F Kennedy was quoted as saying: “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity”. Opportunities are created only when we face danger. Therefore, I always believe that every crisis will eventually create new opportunities for us. I have learnt the lessons of year 2020 and am willing to make my change. Now it’s your turn.

The Future of Smart Buildings

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For many years, building management systems (BMS) have been installed to control and monitor a portion of the building services. These systems, which tend to be expensive, are mostly used in large buildings, especially in the commercial and industrial sectors.

While offering much functionality, they have limitations in their use such as:

  1. Complex installation and configuration processes
  2. Systems are often closed and with limited evolutivity (due to their complexity)
  3. Systems are designed for operators only and not originally designed to provide services to building occupants

Smart buildings offer diversities and allow us to foresee an ultra-connected future; the challenge is to allow integration and interaction with the latest proposed solutions, in order to jointly offer a new user experience.

Phoenix Contact’s answer to the digitalization of building technology

Our IoT-based framework enables the integration of standard communication paths as well as new IP-based protocols. Thanks to open interfaces, existing systems can simply be integrated in the building management system.

The depth of the data ensures that your building projects have an intelligent and needs-based structure that is easy to expand. This applies to heating/ventilation/air conditioning, room and media systems, as well as the security concepts.

Phoenix Contact offers a broad product portfolio, ranging from easy installation to intelligent building automation. From cabling through to surge protection and the intelligent use of data in the building management system, we have intelligent products and solutions for your multi-site premises.

Controller for building infrastructure

The IoT-based ILC 2050 BI controller enables easy connection to standard as well as IP-based field devices. The data points of the technical building equipment captured and standardized at field level are defined once, and are then available to the entire system.

EMpro energy measuring devices

Our range of products for energy and performance measurements can be used to convert, record, measure, and monitor the energy parameters of your technical building equipment. The recorded consumption values provide a basis to increase the energy efficiency of your building.

Measurement and control technology

Isolate, convert, and filter signals, and monitor and control processes in the building: our measurement and control technology components cover all the tasks required for interference-free signal transmission from sensor level to control level.

Industrial communication technology

Regardless of which medium is used for the communication or that needs to be installed, we offer you the relevant solution with copper, fibre optic and wireless products.

STEP POWER power supplies for installation distributors

Use our power supplies and UPS to guarantee the highest availability of your processes. STEP POWER power supplies have been specifically developed for the building automation. They fit into installation distributors as well as flat control panels, and offer maximum energy efficiency.

Surge protection

From the incoming supply to the end device, from the data cable to the photovoltaic system – protect your devices and installations with surge protection from Phoenix Contact.

Phoenix Contact – your partner for leading edge building technology.

Annunciator Relays – MR11 / MR21

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Annunciator relays are used to indicate dangerous states and operating states in control rooms, on control panels, and in mimic diagrams. The annunciator relays from Phoenix Contact feature a convenient display area and ensure reliable operation thanks to their robust construction. They are therefore also suitable for use under harsh ambient conditions.

Semi-automatic annunciator relay

The Mauell MR 11 annunciator relay is a semi-automatic relay. Apart from the coil excitation voltage, no other auxiliary voltage is required for the visual display. This is particularly important in voltage monitoring applications. The indicator flag area is black during normal operation. The white text field appears when the relay has been triggered. The contacts also switch to the operating position. The message is acknowledged by pressing the reset button on the device front. Once the message has been acknowledged, the text field remains visible, and an additional red-white hatched indicator flag is displayed. The contacts return to the normal position. Once the malfunction has been cleared, the indicator flag automatically returns to the normal operation position. In addition to the contact function described, additional contacts can be switched directly. These contacts operate independently of the acknowledgment function. The required switching action – normally open or normally closed – is set at the factory and can be changed later.

Fully automatic annunciator relay

The Mauell MR 21 annunciator relay is also used to indicate dangerous states and operating states. It is fully automatic and there is no manual reset function. Depending on the switching action, the relay switches to the triggered position when energized/de-energized. This switches the contacts and the indicator flag marking appears. Once the malfunction has been cleared, the indicator flag automatically disappears. The contacts also return to the normal position. The required switching action – normally open or normally closed – is set at the factory and cannot be changed later.

Designs

A general distinction is made between the three designs: surface-mounted, flush-mounted and combination:

Surface-mounted

The relay includes a DIN rail fastener (35 mm) with connector plate and clamp.

Flush-mounted

This design is for switch panel mounting with clamping frame. The contact protective cap conforms to BGV A3.

Combination-mount

This design is for annunciator relays to be accommodated in one combination housing.

Upgrade Your Machine With Zero Downtime

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Unexpected power interruptions not only cause your machine losses in productivity but may also cause unforeseen damages with serious consequences. Do not take any risks; we have the ‘smart’ solution safeguards your machine with zero downtime.

Typical problems in the power supply which cause unexpected interruptions:

  • A blackout is the total loss of power in an area that results from power stations tripping. It may last from hours to days depending on the nature of the problem.
  • A brown-out (or drop in voltage) may happen to an undersized electrical power system that struggles to cope with a rise in electricity demand or voltage drop due to the starting of heavy loads. In such a situation, it may last from seconds to minutes, just like the dimming experienced by lighting when the voltage sags.
  • A fault on a power line, e.g. short-circuit. Power is automatically restored once the fault is cleared. This interruption typically last from milliseconds to seconds.

In such situations, the machine can be protected with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) solution which targets to ‘bridge the gap’ by providing sufficient backup power over time, to activate standby generators, or initiate protected system shutdown which ensures the machine protection with operational continuity and availability.

To achieve the highest machine availability, it is critical for the reliable UPS solution to build in with intelligent control and monitoring. For example, the battery management system ensures fast and safe battery charging, extended load management, and communicative at the system level with important diagnostic, preventive, and predictive information. E.g. state of charge (SOC), state of health (SOH) of battery, required charging time, and data logging.

For your machine with zero downtime, I would like to introduce our QUINT UPS with IQ technology. Intelligent UPS monitoring and control realized not only through warnings and alarm signalling but made possible through connectivity and communication with high-level controllers via industrial network interfaces.

QUINT UPS – Intelligent UPS with Industry 4.0 ready, make your machine reliable & smarter

IQ Technology for an intelligent UPS system & battery management system (BMS)

  • State of Health – reports on the remaining lifetime of the energy storage device, and warns of pending failures in good time
  • State of Charge – describe the current state of charge and the remaining energy storage life  
  • Safe & efficient charging – adapts the charging current and thereby ensures the fastest possible charging and maximises service lifetime for different battery technologies, e.g. AGM-VRLA, LiFePO4 etc.

Communicative interfaces (smart & connected device)

  • First intelligent QUINT UPS for integration into established industrial networks
    • Easy integration – Profinet, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, Modbus, USB  
    • Available in all four performance classes 5A, 10A, 20A and 40A
  • Intuitive configuration setup through UPS Config software
    • Simple monitoring & control with warnings & alarm signals setup
    • Extended load management
      • Energy monitoring
      • PC shutdown function
      • Cold-start function

QUINT CAP – Battery-less UPS solution, completely maintenance free

  • Long service life & maintenance free, thanks to double layer capacitor
  • Reliably bridge short interruptions lasting up to 30 seconds
  • Compact modular, easy retrofit & system upgrade
  • Intelligent technology for preventive monitoring
  • Wide operating temperature

Having an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) isn’t technically necessary to run your system, but by having one that can protect your application from damage will save you from heartbreak and avoidable expenses in the future. Contact us now for no obligations technical advice!

Differences between ESD and F&G Safety Relays

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There are 2 main applications of safety relays in the process industry. Phoenix Contact describes them as the Emergency Shutdown (ESD), and Fire & Gas (F&G) applications. Across the industry, there are many terms used to describe these 2 applications. In this article, we will have a look at the different terms and understand the uniqueness of each application.

Application AApplication B
Emergency Shutdown (ESD)Fire & Gas (F&G)
De-energized To Safe (DTS)Energized To Safe (ETS)
De-energize To Trip (DTT)Energize To Trip (ETT)
Normally Energized (NE)Normally De-energized (ND)
Terms to describe the 2 applications

Emergency Shutdown Application

Under normal operating conditions, a load like an electrical motor, must be continuously powered. The ESD safety relay which is used to power up a load must also be continuously powered and is described as Normally Energized (NE).

During a safety incident (e.g. the electrical motor is overheated), the load needs to be switched off to achieve a safe state. As the power status of the safety relay and load has a direct relationship, switching off (de-energizing) an ESD safety relay, will result in the load being switched off as well. Thus, the terms, De-energized To Safe (DTS) and De-energize To Trip (DTT) are used to describe this phenomenon.

Example of ESD relay application drawing

Fire & Gas Application

Under normal operating conditions, a load like a sounder and a beacon is not powered. The F&G safety relay is only required to be powered up during a safety incident and to allow the sounders and beacons to sound off the alarm and provide light signals. Under normal operating conditions, the F&G safety relay is Normally De-energized (ND).

During a safety incident (e.g. a gas leak or fire incident), the load needs to be switched on to achieve a safe state. As the power status of the safety relay and load has a direct relationship, switching on (Energizing) an F&G safety relay will result in the load being switched on as well. Thus, the terms, Energized To Safe (ETS) and Energize To Trip (ETT) are used to describe this phenomenon.

Some people might be confused by the term, Energize To Trip (ETT). This is because the word “Trip” is commonly used on circuit breakers, where “Trip” here refers to power down. However, the word “Trip” has a deeper meaning and can be used to describe the powering up and down of a load. A similar word for “Trip” is “Trigger”, and you can think of it as “Energize To Trigger”.

Example of F&G relay application drawing

Summary

The key differences between the ESD and F&G safety relays are the type of load they are connected to, the definition of a safe state and the energy state under normal operating conditions. For ESD, the loads are usually machines used in production; the definition of the safe state is to switch off the relay / load and is normally energized under normal operating conditions. For F&G, the load are usually sounders and beacons, the definition of the safe state is to switch on the relay / load and is normally de-energized under normal operating conditions.

In Phoenix Contact, we provide smart solutions for functional safety, from non-contact safety switches to complex controllers. Our applications range from machine building, the automotive industry, and the process industry. Our products are also SIL certified, which allows you to meet your project requirements easily.

Example of PxC Functional Safety Products

Embracing Technology Towards Smart Manufacturing

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is predicted to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030, after the United States, China, and the European Union. The regional development is pushed by a growing educated and young workforce, coupled with a jump in manufacturing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across ASEAN member countries.

Against the backdrop of this shift in production capacity to this region, governments in ASEAN are encouraging the adoption of 4th Industrial Revolution technologies (e.g. industrial robots, artificial intelligence, data analytics) through various initiatives to support producers of relevant technologies.

Our Machine Building Heritage

Since 1968, Phoenix Contact has been operating an in-house machine building department at Blomberg to maintain our independence from service providers. Today, this department of 260 employees provides support for all developmental and manufacturing business units worldwide. The service portfolio has started to shift from creating manually operated equipment to complex production systems. We are, therefore, very familiar with your daily challenges in this transformation process.

Robust solution to avoid costly downtimes

Tapping into the experience gained from the past decades, the following points have been identified when developing machines for our own production facilities:

Machine Safety – Safety technology is paramount in machine building. It prevents operating staff from being put at risk or damage being caused to the machine. Phoenix Contact’s comprehensive portfolio ranges from non-contact safety switches and safety relay modules to network-capable safety solutions. All our products are very easy to install and configure. This allows you to benefit from the fast and cost-effective implementation of safety-related applications.

System Reliability & Availability – There is nothing costlier than having a machine that is down. Downtimes ultimately lead to production losses and incur extremely high costs. This makes machine availability the top priority. Reliable components and high machine availability are crucial in preventing downtimes and production losses.

Ease of Installation & Servicing – Today’s machines must be able to quickly adapt to changes in the market. A modular machine concept guarantees maximum possible flexibility, while optimally coordinated product solutions are the key to keeping machine manufacturing costs as low as possible.

Utilising components with universal accessories allow a significant reduction of parts and lowering of storage costs. Such standardization simplifies start-up and maintenance for your installation engineers and service technicians.

Reliable Data Acquisition through Cloud

To maintain the competitive edge in the market, processes must be as efficient as possible and continuously improved. Decisions regarding the optimization of machines and production processes are made based on machine and system data.

The collection and evaluation of values such as flow rates, currents, or temperatures allows predictive maintenance to be carried out, thereby improving machine performance and reducing machine downtimes.

Your technology partner towards Smart Manufacturing

Making the Global Reach – Enhancing the value proposition further, the data collected can be pre‑evaluated using a PLCnext Control device and easily transferred to the Cloud. This means that you have an overview of your machine data anytime, anywhere, for optimum machine utilization and availability.