Electricity + Control August 2017

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14 Electricity + Control AUGUST 2017
The needs of system operators in the water
and wastewater industry have changed dras-
tically – there is a trend for higher packing
density in the control cabinet and consequently
ever narrower components. With ‘Termitrab com-
plete’, Phoenix Contact has launched the world’s
narrowest surge protection for MCR technology –
the narrowest devices are just 3,5 mm wide (see
Figure 1 ).
It is a characteristic of the water and waste-
water treatment industry to have numerous net-
worked processes − between field level, man-
agement level, and subsections that are usually
far apart. The requirements on planners, install-
ers, and operators of the systems are increasing
steadily. Failsafe concepts are becoming more
important due to the increasing implementation
of electromechanical and electronic components,
systems and solutions, as well as the networking
between them.
Megatrends in the market
Overvoltage concepts play an important role. Fur-
ther requirements on critical infrastructure have
also developed due to the IT security law passed
after concerns by the Federal Office for Security
in Information Technology. Two major factors are
at play: High system availability and the resulting
security of supply for the population.
As in other infrastructure fields, the trend to-
wards implementing ever smaller and more com-
pact components is also quite noticeable in the
field of water and wastewater treatment. To opti-
mise the costs of overall control cabinet manufac-
From the Sensor to the Controller
Reliable Signal Transmission in
Confined Spaces
Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Hausmann, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg
The world’s narrowest surge protection for Measurement, Control and Regulation
(MCR) technology recently launched.
ELECTRICAL PROTECTION + SAFETY
Figure 1: High safety
for persons and the
environment – ensured by
a comprehensive surge
protection with minimal
space requirements.
A lightning and surge protec-
tion concept is essential in
large water and wastewater
treatment systems−numer-
ous manufacturers offer MCR
surge protective devices for
this. Most of these protective
devices, however, do not
feature a status indicator. The
solution presented in this arti-
cle – indicates an overload on
the contactor module, and can
be queried by the control cen-
tre via the easily installed field
telecommunications function.
In this way, a surge protection
concept can be implemented
in the most confined spaces
with protective devices
featuring overall widths of 3,5
mm to 6 mm. Thanks to the
multistage protective circuit,
the three most important
performance requirements −
category D1, C2 and C1 − of
the surge protection standard
EN 61643-21 [4] are fulfilled.