Power Electronics and Energy

Wilhelm Westermann in Unna/Westphalia in 1948 created and established WIMA Germany. They make High Technology, Specialized Passive Components. These are Plastic film capacitors, Paper capacitors and Supercapacitors.

WIMA - Specialized and Custom Capacitors

The capacitors that need special mention are RFI and Snubber Capacitors. They also make Intermediate Circuit Capacitors or DC-Link capacitors, that can replace Electrolytics in SMPS or DC/AC Drives.

These capacitors are especially designed to attenuate voltage spikes on GTO (Gate-Turn-Off) Thyristors and IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor). They are manufactured in dry-type technology with a dielectric of metalized polypropylene film and encapsulated in a cylindrical plastic case sealed with self-extinguishing polyurethane resin.

These caps have Very low self-inductance and High pulse reliability (snubber). High rms current carrying capability (HF filter). Value Ratings upto 100uF and 1KV available.

GTO Capacitors - WIMA

The Double Layer Capacitors developed by WIMA are storage capacitors with highest capacitance values in the Farad range. They are among others suited to serve as batteries, can deliver considerably higher currents for a short time, however, and are maintenance free.

SuperCapacitors - WIMA

Despite the limitations of its maximum operating voltage of 2.5 V, several cells can be built up to enormous capacitance of the desired voltage by means of series or parallel connection (cascade). When cascading SuperCaps, the voltage of single cells must not exceed 2.5 V (decomposition of the electrolyte!)

 

A Korean Company in the Manufacture of LED Lighting products, RF Solutions, SoC, Discrete Devices for RF. Tantalum and EDLC capacitors.

Vinatech - EDLC Supercap and RF Components

Hy-Cap single cell model is divided into two categories: EDLC(Electric Double Layer Capacitor), featuringa higher power, and Hybrid Capacitor,featuring a higher energy density.

Hy-Cap is an energy storage device that stores instantly a large volume of electric energy and supplies instantly or continuously higher current, by the mechanism of absorbing and de-absorbing electric charge.

Carbon solutions

VINATech is the only producer in the world of catalyst support and catalysts for fuel cells and MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly).All of these products are based on the company's patented CNF materials technology

Vinatech Co. Ltd.
15 Unam-ro, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, 561-202, Korea (837-1 Palbok-Dong 2-ga)

"Hermetically sealed Evans Hybrid Capacitor and Capattery devices have numerous patented features that provide demonstrated advantages over standard capacitor technologies."

Evans Capacitor - High Energy Density Caps - https://www.evanscap.com/

"Evans maintains the highest levels of quality, and is fully compliant with ISO 9001 and AS9001 standards." The unique chemistry and construction  provide 5 to 10 times the volumetric energy  density of aluminum electrolytic capacitors.

Technical Papers of Evans Capacitor

The Littlest Big Capacitor - An Evans Hybrid - Presented at the Fifth International Seminar on Double Layer Capacitors and Similar Energy Storage Devices, December 4-6, 1995

Capattery - SuperCapacitor - Designed for longer duration power hold-up and memory back-up applications.  Full operating temperature range of -55C to 85C

High energy density, up to 3 joules per cc, High reliability, 25 yrs., >1,000,000 cycles

Hybrid capacitors provide very high power and energy from devices much smaller and lighter than electrically equivalent tantalum wet, tantalum chip, or aluminum electrolytic capacitors.

Typical applications replace standard military capacitors, or augment batteries and power supplies where size, weight, reliability and quality are important factors of component selection.

Evans Capacitor Company
72 Boyd Ave, East Providence RI 02914, USA.

Now we have smps in most everything. AC Adapters and CFL lamps and many Home Consumer Electronics. The Failures of these units are on the rise. The Cooper transformers are out, but the SMPS reliability is falling.

Designing and manufacturing a SMPS facing a 230V input constantly, is not easy. You cannot Mutz your way in this, in a cost-cutting spree of this Vital Organ, just to have a competitive advantage of 'a lower cost product' (read cheap).


 

Now 230 V AC 50 Hz is not what you think it has, it has EMI-RFI, Inductive Kickback Spikes from the neighborhood, resonating and ringing with the RLC network that your home wiring forms. Lightning and Atmospheric Static that may strike at the weakest part on the SMPS. Wrong wiring, 3 phase mess ups. short circuits, falling tree branches, thunderstorm. Your SMPS is facing the Real Harsh Cruel world and the best part, they left off the Security Department to keep costs low. The critters in the box get zapped for no fault of theirs.

There is one difficult way out of this, we move to a 24V DC standard within the house, it is safe and the Box outside the house faces all the Electrical Environment Variables and Unpredictability. This box that charges the battery and steps down the mains voltage can be protected well. Protection on this one unit, protects all the equipment in the Home or office. This is the Civilized way electricity should be used in Homes and Offices. Easy to integrate with Alternative energy. Factories can have all the High Voltage they want.

When a good technical collaborator is involved, quality is given due respect, the products are affordable yet robust. Some firms cut off vital circuitry (these happen in mechanical, electrical and chemical field too) to keep the product cost low. These products will work well in a Mains conditioned environment which is only affordable in some companies and never at homes.

The Security system consists of something that a Surge Protector from Belkin has. Let us see the traditional way, We need Gas Discharge Tube Lightning Arrestors. Then Varistors, Thermistors, X and Y caps and the Common Mode Choke Coils. A high voltage and high current fast acting fuse or trip circuit. Overrating of Mosfet and caps that face the high voltages. Using HV Back-to-Back zeners with fuses. Snubber Plastic HV self healing caps and Fast Switching diodes to absorb the inductive spikes.

Do it within the budget you have. SMPS should withstand 1.2KV microsecond pulses. 600V millisecond pulses and 400V for a few seconds. 300V AC for many minutes. Else let us go 24V Standard.

Other Protection devices your house or lab may needs to have. CVT - Constant Voltage Transformer, 1:1 Isolation Transformer, Servo Motorized Auto-transformer Stabilizer, Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker, HV-Relay Trip Circuit, Overload Current Relay Trip Circuit, MCB, Switched Triac or Relay, Copper Transformer Stabilizer with Layer or Layer Primary Insulation to protect against high voltage. This transformer should have earth shield, guarded terminals, primary windings should not slip layers, Vacuum Impregnated. 

May the Earth be good to you ! - Means - the earthing in your Home of Office should be excellent and do not compromise on Wiring Insulation and Switchgear. Let the wires outside have concrete gutters which are closed so that water or rodents do not get to the cables.

Read more at my Power Electronics Section

A ThunderBolt Zapped near our Home. The Power Shut down, The Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker ELCB tripped. The Problem was a Mains Strip Board, It was the Puncture and Short of Y-Caps. 

The caps that were used are very good caps 630V DC rated, but not approved Y-Caps. And five other similar boards have survived, The Board that was zapped is 12 Years Old. It was the same board that had given some problem in the Kitchen a year back.

The cap who Broke Down saved other equipments, saved my day. The lightning bolt was so loud, it woke me up, in sound sleep. I am sure even a Good Y-Cap would have failed, The Bolt from the Blue was a Big one.

This reminds me of a friend of mine who used to Troubleshoot equipment by Sniffing. I saw him sniff out with his nose, Shorted Tantalum Caps in A Genrad Danbridge. Genrad means General Radio, And the LCR bridge was Huge made of discretes and Simple ICs.

One thing leads to another, the Celestial Spark has ignited old Memories. The Chain Reaction Reminds me of another being who could identify Metals by Tasting-Sniffing. He would detect Platinum and Gold, wires and Plating in Old Valves and Antique Telecom Equipment.