Protection systems for electrical infrastructure in industry
Ensuring trouble-free
production
In an industrial environment, electrically induced faults can cause
serious injury to personnel and damage machines, thus affecting the
entire production process. With an integrated technical protection
system, many risks can be eliminated.
T
o ensure the smooth operation of production
processes, modern manufacturing facilities
place particularly high demands on the reliability, flexibility, and efficiency of the electrical infrastructure. Just a few seconds without electricity
can disrupt automation systems, bring production
lines to a halt, or destroy entire production batches.
Therefore, in addition to protecting operating and
maintenance personnel from electrical accidents,
safeguarding plants and machinery against malfunctions and failures is of prime importance. Innovative protection systems from Siemens, with measures for protecting both personnel and plants, take
into consideration the changing reality of modern
systems, such as components for increasing productivity and efficiency.
End-to-end safeguarding of all equipment,
systems, and facilities
Interconnected and combinable protection components also contribute to long-term investment se10
curity. In an integrated protection system, the specific needs of industrial systems are taken into account. Fault currents of defective electrical
appliances or machines can lead to life-threatening
electric shocks as well as deadly accidents. With 30
mA RCCBs in different versions, electrical equipment can be protected from direct contact. The reliable type F offers increased unwanted tripping resistance and surge current withstand capability, as
can occur on the outgoing terminals of single-phase
converters, such as on pumps. Frequency converters or soft starters with smooth or nearly smooth
fault currents are protected against electric shock
with type B or B+.
Molded case circuit breakers reliably protect industrial plants from damage due to short circuits
and overloads. Additional functions can be provided
via the extensive range of accessories offered by
the new 3VA molded case circuit breaker from the
Sentron portfolio, including the recording of consumption data, system statuses, and fault and residual currents.
Integrated protection
system for industry
• All protective devices from a single
source – the right types in the right
versions, in accordance with
current and future standards
• Support from planning and
commissioning to operation and
service
In harsh environments, cables and wires can also
be easily damaged. Their insulation can be easily
crushed and contacts may loosen. The resulting
short circuits can sometimes cause considerable
damage to machines, shut down plants, or cause
overheating or fire. Miniature circuit breakers and
fuse systems protect cables and wires from short
circuits and overloads and provide backup protection for switchgear along with semiconductor protection.
Melting fuses, which can be easily combined with
other protective devices, provide high current limitation in case of short-circuit shutdown and high
switching capacity despite their small size. The risk
of local overheating, including fire due to dangerous arc faults, can be minimized through the use of
arc fault detection units. As a supplement to line
protection and RCCBs, these are the only protective
devices to also detect serial arc faults that could not
have been detected before. Arc fault detection devices can be retrofitted and are particularly suitable
for installation in areas at risk of fire.
Proactive protection of motors and drive
controllers
Safe operation of machinery is ideally supported
with devices that proactively protect against faults.
Residual current monitors (RCMs) issue a signal in
case of fault without shutting down the system directly. In this way, potential faults can be detected
at an early point in time and their causes rectified
before the power is cut by protection devices.
Costly downtime can be minimized, and system and
operational reliability can be increased. The values
of critical system states detected with an integrated
RCM module can be transferred to higher-level
management systems.
Sensitive power electronics in converters, rectifiers, inverters, soft starters, and static relays, which
can be found in modern drive solutions and machinery, power plants, and wind turbines, can be protected through the use of semiconductor protection
fuses. The more complex the industrial systems, the
more important it is to take the right precautions in
order to reliably and safely supply the systems with
power and protect them against failures and disturbances. An important feature of a reliable power
supply, selectivity ensures that when a fault occurs
in a series connection of several protective devices,
only the protection device installed immediately upstream from the fault location trips. In case of fault,
the downstream protective device provides additional backup protection against short circuits and
overloads. Only the directly affected part of a plant
or system is shut down, and all the other parts remain in operation. This also allows the fault to be
more easily identified and rectified. A comprehensive overvoltage protection system protects all vulnerable active line paths with suitable overvoltage
protection devices.
Siemens AG
• Innovative protective devices for
increased safety – for fire
protection, for example
In industrial
manufacturing, a reliable
energy supply is essential
in order to prevent
electrical accidents and
costly downtime
Extensive portfolio of protective components
Siemens offers the most comprehensive portfolio
of protective components for a safe and efficient
low-voltage power supply. All the components work
together smoothly and can be flexibly combined in
the modular system. INFO AND CONTACT
siemens.com/lowvoltage
siemens.com/sentron
[email protected]
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