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Jasco’s transient filtration system reduces ‘dirty power’ in electrical systems

MARCO DA SILVA
The Jtamer system can be deployed on all equipment to reduce the creation and transmission of dirty power within a company’s electrical systems

MARCO DA SILVA The Jtamer system can be deployed on all equipment to reduce the creation and transmission of dirty power within a company’s electrical systems

16th October 2015

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Transient voltage anomalies, which occur within microseconds and create distortions in single- and three-phase alternating current, can cause damage to equipment and electronic circuitry, leading to unexpected shutdowns or failures of mining equipment and their control systems, says South African technology firm electrical division Jasco Power MD Marco da Silva.

A versatile transient filtration system, developed for the mining industry, provides robust protection against dirty power (the common name for harmonics and transient anomalies) either from the external grid or from internal sources. The system costs about one-tenth or less of an isolation transformer and, although it cannot and should not replace an isolation transformer, it offers similar benefits.

“Our Jasco Jtamer system is not a replacement for isolation transformers, but is deployed on all equipment to reduce the creation and transmission of dirty power within a com- pany’s electrical systems.”

The lunch box-sized system, also known as a frequency attenuation device, is a matrix of snubber filters that reduces the noise created on the electrical current by other equipment in a company’s system and dirty power common in all utility grids.

While isolation transformers must be sized according to the application, the filtration device can be deployed as a standard-sized component, making it easy to install and replace. The Jtamer system has a guarantee of three to five years, and will be replaced free of charge, should one fail during this time.

“Transients typically affect the delicate circuitry of control systems, such as programmable logic controllers and interface panels, leading to unexpected and more frequent failures, but they also cause increased heat in cables and within equipment,” Da Silva explains.

Transients are difficult to measure, unless a high-level scope is used, but add to the failure-rate of equipment, increasing service and replacement costs.

Nonlinear loading equipment, which include typical industrial equipment, such as welding machines, furnaces, presses and general manufacturing equipment, cause ephemeral changes in the electrical current – up to one-million transient events an hour on a typical 50 Hz system.

Transients are common, almost ubiquitous, in electrical systems, as the use of electricity by equipment in industry causes distortions, called noise, that propagate throughout the electrical grid – meaning that companies using electricity cause noise for other users on the grid.

A copper mine in Peru deployed these snubber filtration systems on its main grid connections and large industrial equipment, which reduced the dirty power caused by its own equipment on site and also reduced the strain on and heat in their transformers and distribution boards.

Da Silva notes that the Jtamer systems should be wired in parallel to the equipment it must protect and that the technology relies on effectively earthed contacts to provide protection.

The system should also be placed in a cool area, such as within a shaded distribution board and not next to equipment that produces excessive heat, as the system and other related components tend to heat up during operation and snubbering mode.

Since the system is in parallel to the load and not part of the load, a single-sized system can protect many different-sized equipment. An added benefit is that the filtration system also acts as a high-level, fast-responding Class II lightning protection device, he says.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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