9. Application proposals 9.

1 Surge protection for frequency converters

In principle a frequency converter consists of a rectifier, a d.c. link converter, an inverter and of the control electronics (Fig. 9.1.1). At the input of the inverter the single phase or interlinked, three-phase a.c. voltage is changed into a pulsating d.c. voltage and is pushed into the d.c. link converter that also serves as energy store (buffer). Capacitors in the d.c. link converter and the LC networks connected to earth in the a.c. line filter, can cause problems with the residual current devices (RCD) connected in series. The reason for this is often wrongly seen in the application of surge arresters. The problems, however, result from the short-term induction of fault currents by the frequency converter. These are sufficient to activate sensitive earth leakage circuit breakers (RCDs). A surgeproof RCD circuit breaker available for a tripping current In = 30 mA and a min. discharge capability of 3 kA (8/20 s) provides a remedy. By the control electronics, the inverter delivers a clocked output voltage. The higher the clock frequency of the control electronics for the pulsewidth-modulation, the more sinusoidal is the output voltage. With each cycle, a peak voltage is created that is superimposed on the curve of the fun-

INPUT L1 L2 L3

line-side converter rectifier

d.c. link bank of capacitors + C

load-side converter inverter V1 V3 V5 +

OUTPUT motor U1 V1 W1 M 3~ load

V4

V6

V2

control electronics control / regulation / monitoring / communication data Fig. 9.1.1 Schematic diagram of a frequency converter

shielded motor supply line shield is earthed on both sides over a wide area frequency converter power supply line kept as short as possible compact filter metal mounting plate connected to earth general: all cables should be kept as short as possible motor 1 1

connection to FC filter

No. 1

Type

Part No.

Constant force spring SA KRF ... 919 031 - 919 038

Fig. 9.1.2 EMC conforming shield connection of the motor supply line

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LIGHTNING PROTECTION GUIDE 227

damental frequency. This peak voltage reaches values of 1200 V and higher (according to the frequency converter). The better the simulation of the sine curve at the output, the better is the performance and control response of the motor. This means, however, that the voltage peaks appear at

the output of the frequency converter more frequently. For choosing of surge arresters, the maximum continuous operating voltage Uc has to be taken into account. It specifies the maximum permissible

d.c. link
P1 + PX PR

INPUT 3x 400V/50Hz
L1 L2 L3 L1 L2 L3

OUTPUT

U V W

M 3~

1 input signal circuit

L11 L21

power supply

charge
PC STF STR STOP RH RM RL RT JOG MRS AU CS SD RES

protective circuits alarm

A B C AM 5 FM SD SE RUN SU OL IPF FU

Processor/DSP Software Functions: PID controller Basic functions: Voltage/frequency function vector control

fault indicator analogue output Hz operating state and fault indicator

reset

operators station PU/DU

4-20 mA 3

10E 10 2 5 4 1

LCD/LED display PU/DU

No. 1 2 3
3 OUT 4

Type
DEHNguard
DG MOD 275

Part No. 952 070 952 076 920 324 + 920 320

DEHNguard S DG S 275 DEHNguard S DG S 600 BLITZDUCTOR XT BXT ML4 BE 24 + BXT BAS

1 IN 2

DEHNguardT
Blitzductor CT BCT MOD ...

Fig. 9.1.3 Structure of a frequency converter with SPD

228 LIGHTNING PROTECTION GUIDE

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operating voltage a surge protective device may be connected to. This means that surge protective devices with a correspondingly higher Uc are used at the output side of the frequency converter. This avoids faster ageing due to gradually heating of the surge protective device under normal operating conditions and the consequential voltage peaks. This heating of the arrester leads to a shorter service life and consequently to a disconnection of the surge protective device from the system to be protected. The voltage at the output of the frequency converter is variable and adjusted a little bit higher than the nominal voltage at the input. Often it is approx. + 5 % during continuous operation, in order to compensate the voltage drop at the connected line, for example. Otherwise, one can simply say that the maximum voltage at the input of the frequency converter is equal to the maximum voltage at the output of the frequency converter. The high clock frequency at the output of the frequency converter generates fieldborne interferences and therefore, requires necessarily a shield-

ed cabling so that adjacent systems are not disturbed. For shielding the motor power supply line, a bilateral shield earthing at the frequency converter and the drive motor has to be ensured. The largesurface contacting of the shield results from the EMC requirements. Advantageous is here the use of constant force springs (Fig. 9.1.2). By means of intermeshed earth-termination systems, i.e. the earth-termination system the frequency converters and the drive motor are connected to, potential differences are reduced between the parts of the installation and thus equalising currents via the shield are avoided. Figure 9.1.3 shows the use of surge protective devices Type DEHNguard on the power supply side and Type BLITZDUCTOR for 0 20 mA signals. The protective devices have to be individually adapted according to the interface. For the integration of the frequency converter into the building automation it is absolutely essential that all evaluation and communication interfaces are connected with surge protective devices in order to avoid system failures.

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