Page 34 - CFCM Sept-Oct-2020_Neat

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