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POWER SUPPLIES AND RECTIFIER





                  consistency and the accuracy of your coating systems. The  technology, with unit sizes up to 30,000 amps.
                  ultra-compact construction of the power sources with water  The company also has various specialty products, such
                  cooling and the variety of air-cooled power supplies smooth  as variable transformer rectifiers and AC/DC color anodizing
                  the way for new, efficient system designs.”        systems. Control options include analog (0-10 volts or 4 to
                    NAR also offers its Elexor coloring power stations, which  20 mA), Profibus, Modbus, and Ethernet among others.
                  it states can process dark colors up to 35 percent faster  Dynapower’s SCR rectifiers are also available in water-
                  than conventional power supplies can. They also process  cooled, air-cooled, or oil-cooled designs. They are offered
                  lighter colors, with repeatable exact batch color-matching.  with a deep hole-drilled, silver plated, copper bus bar.
                    They can equally shorten long coloring times for dark  Various NEMA ratings are available to meet the
                  colors, saving energy and increasing productivity; or  protection rating best suited for a user’s application,
                  lengthen short coloring times for light colors, reportedly  and there is protocol compatibility with Profinet or
                  with high process reliability. In each case, the user can de-  Ethernet/IP, and similar systems.
                  fine the color and process time required.             At the large end of the scale, the company designs and
                    Darrah Electric Co. manufactures a full range of high  manufactures thyristor rectifiers and fast switching IGBT
                  current DC power supplies, available with either air or  chopper rectifiers for large applications such as electrowin-
                  water cooling in output ratings to 50,000 amps, up to  ning, electrochemical, electrorefining, electroplating, and
                  1,000 volts DC. All standard input line voltages and fre-  other specialized applications. These are available in six,
                  quencies are offered. Each unit is made specifically to  12, 18, and 24 pulse sets with higher order combined
                  customer specifications.                           systems available.
                    Darrah’s touchscreen programmable controllers for   Each multi-pulse arrangement is in an ANSI configuration
                  plating rectifiers provide, the company says, repeatable  that is selected for the voltage/current values of the appli-
                  process control for all metal finishing applications. “These  cation. The multi-pulse criteria is selected to reduce the
                  programmable controllers will help eliminate operator error,  supply side harmonic content, reduce output DC ripple,
                  improve efficiency, and produce consistent results. The  and provide improved regulation.
                  programmable controllers will also save time, power, and  Dynapower’s high power chopper and thyristor rectifiers
                  chemicals,” Darrah states.                         are engineered, designed, manufactured, and tested to in-
                    The newest programmable controllers can easily be  ternationally recognized standards including ANSI, IEEE,
                  retrofitted to existing company rectifiers and other brands.  IEC, NEMA, UL, CSA, JEC, and others. Design capabilities
                  Simple wiring is done to replace the existing rectifier remote  include the complete High Power Transformer Rectifier
                  control the controllers can be mounted on the front door  System, which is inclusive of fully integrated operator
                  of the power supply, or placed in a remote location.  interfaces and control systems for a single unit or entire
                    From the touchscreen programmable controllers, the  multi-unit SCADA network.
                  operator will be able to choose between manual and auto-  The chopper and thyristor rectifiers may also be provided
                  matic modes. In manual mode, the operator can start, stop,  with auxiliary equipment as required by the specification,
                  and control the DC output voltage and current. In automatic  including switchgear, power factor correction, harmonic
                  mode, the operator can manage up to 12 preset recipes,  filters, heat exchangers, and free-standing cooling systems.
                  each individually named and stored.                The chopper rectifier designs consist of high-frequency
                    The controllers will also manage ampere time meters,  switching technology in a modular design package
                  batch or cycle timers, adjustable DC voltage and current  that converts the transformer secondary AC voltage to a
                  ramp, and stepped ramp processes. The control further in-  regulated output DC voltage. Larger power systems are
                  cludes a non-resettable cumulative ampere time counter.  constructed of multiple chopper modules to obtain the
                    Daily operations and results can easily be exported via  specified current requirements.
                  USB drive in Excel format, then stored or printed. The  Improved controls have made a major difference
                  controllers feature a seven-inch, 800 x 480 pixel LED screen  between today’s rectifiers and power systems, and those
                  with a user-friendly, high resolution, full-color display.  of a dozen years ago. The result is that plating and anodiz-
                    American Plating Power offers a broad selection  ing of larger or more complex parts has become easier
                  of SCR/Thyristor style rectifiers and a wide range of  and more predictable.
                  switch mode (IGBT) power supplies. All products, the  This, combined with the fact that construction and
                  company says, are designed for 24/7 operation with  assembly is often done to a higher standard than used to
                  proprietary features to ensure reliable operation in harsh  be the case, guarantees that the currently available systems
                  production environments.                           offer a high degree of reliability. The result is that metal
                    Current ranges go up to 100,000 amps, and DC voltages  plating processes are now much more controllable and
                  up to 900 VDC. Cooling methods include air, water, or oil.  predictable, and customer satisfaction has become a more
                  The company also specializes in large scale switch mode  attainable goal. n


                  34   Canadian Finishing & Coatings ManuFaCturing                           septeMber/oCtober 2020
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