09 Importance of using Surge Suppressor Importance of using Surge Suppressor 10

Cause of voltage surges in the system Mitigating Voltage Surges

Surge Suppressors are mainly used to suppress the voltage spikes or surges that occur whenever any inductive As we have seen above it is very necessary to clamp down the voltage spike as it produces damaging effects for
load is de-energized. electronic components in the system.

A general schematic of a contactor and load is shown below. The contactor is operated by an electromagnetic coil A surge suppressor is a device which is connected in parallel with the coil. During normal operation the
which is energized to close the contacts and de-energized to open them. suppressor does not conduct as the supply voltage is much below its breakdown voltage. When a switching
surge is generated the device starts conducting providing a parallel path to the excess current. This prevents the
Overload
Protection surge from propagating in the system and at the same time the spike is effectively suppressed. The device then
Three Phase
automatically resets when the overvoltage goes away. This can be clearly understood by the schematic given
L1 A
Motor
below,

L2 A

L3 “Stop” “Start” A

Contacts Operated 5 mA 30 A
B
by Contactor Coil Current Ideal Ideal
50 Ω Current 50 Ω
Source Protection Protection
Device Being Source Device Being
Contactor Overload Device Device
Coil Contacts Protected Protected

When the coil is de-energized its electromagnetic field collapses and being an inductive load it opposes this
sudden change by producing an Electromotive Force (EMF) given by, In the normal mode, the device being protected If there is a voltage or current surge, the ideal
doesn’t experience voltage or current surge events protection device becomes a perfect short-circuit
so the ideal protection device remains open. path to ground to protect the load.
di
E=L
dt
Just as de-energization of contactor coil produces a voltage spike, external voltage surges in the system can also
This is because the absolute change in current is very high and in a short duration of time. This coupled with high be damaging to the coil. In case of electronic coils like those in MNX 550-650 & MCX 45/46/47, external surges in
inductance of the coil produces a voltage spike in the system. This voltage spike is of the order 8 to 10 times of the the system may also damage the sensitive electronic components. In such cases a surge suppressor also
rated coil voltage i.e. for a coil of rated voltage 240V AC the voltage surge can reach a value of around 2kV. protects the coil from external voltage surges.

A typical surge characteristic is shown below, Now let us see the different types of surge suppressors

Types of Surge Suppressors

RC Surge Suppressor

RC surge suppressor is a resistor-capacitor in series combination which is in turn connected in parallel with the
Contactor switched off
coil. The capacitor absorbs the energy associated with voltage spike and the resistor controls the charging of the
capacitor. The values of resistor and capacitor are adjusted so as to provide efficient surge suppression.

Effects of voltage surges on the system

This voltage spike generated in the system has the potential to propagate to other components connected to the
same supply system. If the surge is not suppressed on time it will damage any sensitive electronic components MNX RC Surge Suppressor
connected to the system. Advantages

Also if any counters or logic circuits are present in the system then the voltage spike will cause them to change • Can be used with AC as well as DC circuit.
state momentarily, giving erroneous outputs. It may also damage the ICs beyond repair. • Low cost
• Simple construction
Hence it is very much imperative that the voltage spike is effectively dampened by absorbing the energy
associated with it. This is where a surge suppressor comes into the picture. MNX surge suppressors used with MNX contactor coils are RC surge suppressors

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11 Importance of using Surge Suppressor Importance of using Surge Suppressor 12
Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) Advantages

A Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) as the name suggests it is a voltage dependent resistor. The result is that an MOV • Optical Muffling
has a high resistance at low voltage and a low resistance at high voltage. The varistor is connected in parallel with • Faster response time
the coil and only conducts when the voltage across it is beyond the clamping voltage. Thus when a surge occurs • No device degradation after prolonged use
the varistor offers a low resistance path and efficiently discharges the surge. However the follow through current • No change in breakdown potential
resulting due to a voltage strike gradually degrades the varistor and hence MOVs degrade from repeated
exposure to surges. MX Mini (DC) contactors have in built diode surge suppressors.

MO contactors would soon be included with diode surge suppressors.

MDX DC contactors have diode surge suppressors. MDX 9-38 have inbuilt diode suppressor.

Following is the comparison between TVS diode and two MOVs of different
specifications

300

250
MOV Symbol Metal Oxide Varistors

Clamping Voltage (v)

TVS
200 MOVE 1
Advantages MOVE 2

• No resonance. 150
• Usage in AC and DC circuit
• Superior price to performance ratio 100
• Capacity to conduct large surges
50
MOV surge suppressors are in-built in Electronic coils of MNX 550/650 and MCX 45/46/47.
0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS) Time(ns)

The operating principle of a TVS diode is similar to that of a MOV. The device operates by providing a parallel path TVS Diodes have a significantly lower clamping voltage than the MOVs
to the excess current when the voltage goes beyond its avalanche potential i.e. when a voltage surge occurs. At
all other voltages below its clamping voltage the diode acts as an open circuit. TVS diodes are available in both As mentioned above MOV gets degraded due to repeated exposure to surges. This degradation greatly
unidirectional and bidirectional versions. impacts the leakage current, with varistor becoming more resistive after each over voltage while TVS diode
shows no such degradation
The response time of a TVS diode is much faster than a MOV and hence it provides an efficient suppression
against fast and damaging voltage transients. Also unlike MOV a TVS diode is not degraded by surges within its Device degradation also causes a shift in the breakdown voltage VBR. MOVs show a reduction in VBR after
rating. However TVS has a relatively lower energy absorbing capability as compared to a MOV. Hence TVS each surge event while no such shift is observed in TVS diode.
diodes are generally preferred for circuits with smaller current spikes.

TVS Bidirectional diode symbol TVS Diodes

Technical Articles
13 Contactor selection for 60 Hz control supply applications Contactor selection for 60 Hz control supply applications 14
Contactor coils are designed for 50 Hz supply frequency as Indian power system typically operates at 50 Hz. The following table gives the recommended 50 Hz coils to be used in 60 Hz applications for specified operating
However we do get requirement for 60 Hz coils from the international market. In some situations where a band,
dedicated 60 Hz coil is not available, the requirement can be sufficed by using a 50 Hz coil at an appropriate
voltage. The same is explained in detail below,
Range Requirement Recommended Coil Pick up Band
AC electromagnetic system in a contactor is a constant flux system. The electromagnetic force produced is
110V 60 Hz 110V 50 Hz 86 - 158V
directly proportional to the flux which in turn is a function of supply voltage, supply frequency and coil number of
turns. MNX 9-32 220V 60 Hz 220V 50 Hz 172 - 317V
240V 60 Hz 220V 50 Hz 172 - 317V
A contactor coil designed for 50 Hz or 60 Hz application, for the same supply voltage, must produce the same MNX 40-650 240V 60 Hz 220V 50 Hz 211 - 290V
amount of force. Hence, to achieve this, the basic difference between a dedicated 50 Hz and 60 Hz coil for same
voltage is the number of turns. A 240V 60 Hz coil will have lower no of turns as compared to a 240V 50 Hz coil.
Hence when selecting a 50 Hz coil for 60 Hz application, one must ensure that the rated voltage is well within the
Since a 50 Hz coil will have different number of turns than a 60 Hz coil, in order to use the same 50 Hz coil for 60 operating limits at 60 Hz and the permissible variation on the lower side must be communicated to the customer.
Hz application, the parameter that must be maintained constant in order to produce the same force is V/f
Note: MO contactors are suitable for 50 / 60 Hz. refer date sheet for pickup band

Let us further understand this with the help of an example,

MO 9 - 45 MO 50 - 300
Consider a requirement of a 240V 60 Hz coil. This requirement can be catered by a standard coil of 50 Hz such
(%Uc) 65 - 110 75 - 110
that V/f ratio remains constant. Therefore,
V1 V2 24V 16 - 27 18 - 27
=
¦1 ¦2 42V 27 - 46 32 - 46

V60hz V50Hz 48V 31 - 52 36 - 52

=
605 0 110V 72 - 121 83 - 121

240 V50Hz 220V 143 - 242 165 - 242

= Pickup
60 50 (50 Hz) 240V 156 - 264 180 - 264

Hence V50Hz = (240 x 50)/60 = 200V 320V 20 - 352 240 - 352

The nearest standard coil rating available is 220V 50 Hz. Applying the same principle of constant V/f ratio, the 360V 234 - 396 270 - 396
new voltage of 220V 50 Hz coil at 60 Hz is 264V 380V 247 - 418 285 - 418

415V 270 - 456 312 - 456

If coil operating band is considered to be 80% to 110% of rated coil voltage, the operating limits of the coil at 60 Hz
525V 341 - 577 394 - 577
will be considered at 264 V which turn out to be 211.2V to 290.4V
MO 9 - 300
Hence a 220V 50 Hz coil can be used for a 240V 60 Hz application with a voltage band of 211.2 to 290.4V (%Uc) 85 - 110

24V 20 - 26
The below table shows the new operating limits of the 50 Hz coil when used for 60 Hz applications 42V 36 - 46

48V 40 - 52
Std 50 Hz coil Coil Pick up band at 60 Hz
Range 110V 94 - 121
(voltage) Lower limit Upper limit Pickup
(60 Hz) 220V 187 - 242
110 86 158
240V 204 - 264
MNX 9-32 220 172 317
320V 272 - 352
240 187 346
360V 306 - 396
110 106 145
380V 323 - 418
MNX 40-650 220 211 290
415V 353 - 465
240 230 317
525V 446 - 577

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