Quant voltage regulatos, like our previous development, is a 220/230V AC voltage regulato based on double conversion pulse-duration modulation without energy storage, with advanced protection. Completely redesigned, in fact, it has become the second generation of this type of regulatos.
The task was to reach a new level of regulation quality, improve consumer properties, improve logistics and simplify installation at the consumer’s place. For this purpose, different solutions than in previous developments are used.
The main indicators that were paid attention to:
- Increased overload capacity.
- Expansion of the regulation range (low band).
- Protection of the regulator and its loads from voltage surges in grids, which becomes more and more relevant every year.
- Resistance to emergencies with sudden voltage surges up to 0.4 kV and above, while protecting the load.
- Quality of regulation especially in very “weak” grids, with high internal resistance («week» connections).
- Silence during regulator operation.
- Weight and dimensions of the product, which is important for logistics, installation and placement of the regulator.
- Compliance with the traditional expectations of dealers and consumers who are already familiar with the products of our team.
- Improving failure statistics, which is especially important when increasing the maximum overload current.
- External attractiveness, special design and finishing of the housing is important because due to small size and quietness the consumer often places the device in a visible zone of the house / apartment.
What new have been done technologically and technically to achieve the results (the list is far from complete, since almost everything was changed).
To increase the reliability of the device in difficult operating conditions (power surges caused by disconnection of powerful consumers or short circuits/arc drawing) we have traditionally used an electronic input voltage limiter, which does not allow the input voltage to rise above 500 V, which is safe for the regulator, and the regulator then regulates it to normal (not more than 311V of peak voltage at 220V output). But to improve the reliability and parameters of the device a more powerful low-inductive resistive energy absorber of own production is used, and in QUANT the energy that is safely absorbed before turning off the device, increased from about 2 kJ to 10 kJ. This makes it possible to respond safely even to the appearance of phase voltage due to neutral wire disruption and generally make the device more tolerant to surges on the input, and the shutdown of the input circuit breaker – a real rarity. Tested in practice just in the conditions of “neighbors-manufacturers”, when in the first generation machines the breaker triggered due to powerful machines in the neighborhood and a weak grid; slowing down the reaction with a powerful absorber for the third year successfully solves this lind of a problem.
In order to achieve several indicators at once: reduction of dimensions and weight, reduction of internal heating, silence, increase of overload capacity, own winding products (power reactors and filters) on the basis of carbonyl iron were developed and produced. With losses less than at ferrite-based reactor chokes, their power capacity increased by about 5 times at the same mass, and it became possible to increase the overload current (and even leave a reserve for feeding).
Maximum peak current for 11-18 kW QUANT models in overload is up to 170A versus 110A in the models of first generation.
Because of the new filters, noise is greatly reduced (there is nothing to make noise) even at poor harmonic form of power in the grid and on currents above rated (on overload).
The design is radically redesigned – the main emphasis is on modularity of devices that gives stability at production, more rigid quality control (both the assembly/adjustment of the modules and the product as a whole are monitored). The cooling scheme has been changed, and now the devices, even when operating 24/365 at nominal load and ambient temperature up to +35°C, have a reserve of overheating of about 20°C, and the thermal protection threshold, traditionally for our team as been left at 80°C, not 100-110°C, as is usually done in powerful electronics. Reducing the operating temperature exponentially increases the service life of device, which is necessary to ensure a long warranty period.
For any powerful RF-PDM device, the overload mode is the most dangerous. We have always paid special attention to this, and since in the second generation we increased the allowable overcurrents, we also applied new solutions in terms of current limitation, which increase reliability in this critical, non-standard for devices mode.
The algorithm of basic voltage regulation has been changed. The form of the output voltage with a curved shape at the input is improved, but most importantly – the stability on the worst lines with high resistance is also improved; this expands the use of these devices even in cases where the regulator was considered useless (of course, if the grid simply does not provide the required power, then the situation has not yet been solved, it will be in the third generation of devices).
The range of allowable input voltages is greatly expanded “down”. Regulation of almost up to 80V input voltage (90 V on the nameplate, with a reserve to correct the form), and “pulling” with a sag of the output by 5% is possible even up to 75V input voltage (with a larger voltage sag – up to 56V standard or up to 25V in agreement with the customer on very weak lines).
Most of the internal functions of the device have been given to processors (STM32), which allowed to flexibly expand the functionality without a radical redesign of the device, including, which is very important, to keep up with the deteriorating quality of power lines every year and respond to special requests and wishes of customers in a timely manner.
The elimination of the DC component of the voltage, if it is present in the input line, is introduced. A separate module brings the DC component to a small value – about 20-30 mV, even if it was 5-7V at the input, which is very rare, but even 1-2V damage devices with transformer power supplies, for example, high-quality sound amplifiers and other equipment for high-quality sound (humming, sometimes heating, deterioration of sound quality is removed).
Also the operation of voltage-sensitive equipment (for example audio, video equipment) is improved by improved output filtering, in the second generation of devices requirements for it are same as to special devices for Hi-End audio regenerators/voltage regulators.
The size of the case is almost 2 times smaller than before.
The weight is also significantly reduced to simplify logistics – even 18 kW device can be sent by Nova Poshta (Нова Пошта) to the office up to 15 kg, and weight of a device up to 9 kW (small model, in the near futureis planned to be up to 11 kW) will not more than 11 kg.
Since the reliability of a high-quality regulator is determined mainly by the correct calculation of the durability of its components, and the decisive factor is its ability to withstand emergencies in the supply line – the improvement in protective properties that occurred in the second generation of QUANT regulators, simultaneously improved the reliability of the regulator, and the loads under its protection, and the both design and actual durability.