Dan Carnovale, Director of the Eaton Experience Centers at Eaton
Eaton’s variety of electrical circuit protection devices and innovative products like Power Defense Molded Case Circuit Breakers are advancing the industry.
For this edition of RS’s “Ask The Expert” series, we spoke with Dan Carnovale, director of the Eaton Experience Centers at Eaton. Currently located at Eaton facilities in Houston, Texas, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Raleigh, North Carolina, Eaton Experience Centers are designed to teach customers about the latest product and technology innovations in the power management industry, as well as best practices for specifying and installing these and other proven power management solutions in applications ranging from utility power systems to residential receptacles.
Eaton produces a broad range of products and services spanning 36 different categories and including connectors and relays, industrial process management solutions, circuit breakers, switches, transportation solutions, power quality solutions, and various other electronic component solutions all designed to help customers safely, effectively, efficiently, and reliably manage electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. Here, Carnovale addresses one of the many Eaton power supply product lines sold through RS: Eaton’s globally rated Power Defense™ circuit breakers.
Which of Eaton’s many electrical circuit protection devices are you most excited to introduce to engineers, electricians, and technicians who design, install, and troubleshoot utility and industrial power distribution systems?
Eaton’s Power Defense circuit breaker products are some of the most exciting circuit protection solutions we offer. These globally rated circuit breakers are available in two small-footprint product portfolios — Power Defense molded case circuit breakers (MCCBs) and Power Defense insulated case circuit breakers (ICCBs) — for easy adaptability in an extensive range of applications, and they significantly increase the safety, reliability, and efficiency of electrical distribution systems.
Both Power Defense circuit breaker portfolios feature the Arc Flash Reduction Maintenance System™, which reduces the available arc flash energy resulting from a fault by significantly reducing the time required for the breaker to respond and trip. These breakers also include zone selective interlocking designs that effectively reduce thermal and mechanical stress on distribution equipment, as well as arc flash incident energy released during phase or ground faults, by enabling the breaker closest to the fault to override customer-defined delay settings. When this system is engaged, the series’ Power Xpert Release (PXR) electronic trip units generate data that can be used to test network integrity, communicate upstream, and optimize facility performance.
Arc flash is a serious safety issue. How do Power Defense circuit breakers mitigate this danger to protect employees, customers, and end-users?
Most arc flash incidents occur when electrical technicians are working on or around equipment including panelboards, switchboards, motor control centers (MCCs), or switchgear, or making measurement on breaker control circuits and accidentally drop their tools onto higher voltage conductors. These workers often believe that they are not in danger since they are working on low-voltage circuits carrying less than 110 VAC or 12–24 VDC and, as such, often remove their protective gloves when working on small electronic devices equipped with small nuts and bolts that are difficult, if not impossible, to handle while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). But doing so exposes them to shock risks and possible arc flash burns.
Since the Power Defense circuit breakers feature Eaton’s PXR electronic trip units with premium protection, communications, and measurement capabilities, energy consumption measurements that formerly required a technician to open the breaker panel and work close to energized conductors to take measurement or monitor waveforms with bulky equipment can now be performed remotely, even halfway around the world if the expertise is there. In addition to being able to measure, volts, amps, watts, and energy consumption with no additional meters or equipment, the PXR electronic trip units embedded in Power Defense circuit breakers are also equipped with the latest microprocessor technology, including advanced, industry-first algorithms like circuit breaker health status that alert users when the power distribution circuit breaker needs to be maintained or replaced. By remotely communicating critical system data through the breaker components, the Power Defense circuit breakers significantly mitigate risk to onsite personnel, which is a great benefit to both the facility and technicians.
Eaton’s Power Defense circuit breakers are equipped with its Power Xpert Release (PXR) electronic trip units, which generate data that can be used to test network integrity, communicate upstream, and optimize facility performance,
For larger power systems, switchgear with Eaton’s Magnum power circuit breakers, available at RS, can be configured with Eaton’s Arc Quenching Magnum DS low-voltage switchgear, which acts like an airbag for the electrical system, reducing the incident energy to a survivable less than 1.2 cal/cm2 — the threshold for Category 1 PPE — and allowing electrical technicians to avoid having to don PPE while working with small electronic components and hardware. Reducing the incident energy to less than 1.2 cal/cm2 also reduces peak system stress by at least 44% and significantly reduces arc flash damage to the electrical panel, allowing it to return to service in just hours or days rather than weeks or months and minimizing facilities’ production costs.
Arc Quenching switchgear
Arc Quenching switchgear is available in rear- and front-access configurations rated for up to 600V and 6,000A of continuous current and can withstand short circuit incidents up to 100kA and quench arcs in less than four milliseconds. Like the Power Defense circuit breakers, it can also self-supervise and communicate system status updates to enhance system safety. Unlike the Power Defense circuit breakers, Arc Quenching switchgear has a one-shot device and must be replaced after it has acted. However, removing it and delaying its replacement does not render the switchgear inoperable; it just requires technicians to wear PPE for the calculated incident energy until new Arc Quenching device is installed.
Eaton’s Arc Quenching switchgear is a key tool for increasing workplace safety, reducing arc flash damage to electrical panels, protecting technicians from energized equipment injuries, and minimizing system stress and downtime.
How do you determine when Eaton breakers need to be maintained?
Eaton’s circuit breakers increase system reliability, and properly scheduled maintenance is one of the keys to maintaining this increased reliability. All power circuit breakers need to be regularly maintained to ensure that they can perform their required function when called upon, but not all breakers — or even breakers of the same type — need to be maintained on the same schedule, nor should they be since breaker wear and tear is a function of its service. As such, a regular time-based schedule is typically established for each breaker based on manufacturer recommendations and operating conditions, and Eaton breakers can provide remote diagnostics to help determine the right interval for maintenance.
Power Defense circuit breakers are also equipped with intelligent components that monitor the electrical health based on operation, temperature, and a number of other parameters known to affect their wear and tear, including the severity and number of faults they have cleared. When these parameters equal or exceed the values known to cause reliability problems, Power Defense circuit breakers can alert a remote alarm system and initiate maintenance scheduling at a time sure to minimize the impact on facilities’ production processes. In addition, trending of the maintenance trigger parameters allows facilities to order parts or entire breakers in a planned versus panicked manner to further ensure that breaker maintenance is a planned outage, not a forced outage.
Power quality is a widespread concern, particularly in facilities with variable frequency drives. How can Power Defense circuit breakers help with that issue?
Since the trip units in Power Defense circuit breakers can remotely measure voltage and current through the breaker and the resulting waveforms can be recorded and digitally transmitted to a remote power quality expert for analysis, facilities can quickly and easily get suggestions about how to reduce the harmonic content. And after a facility has implemented the suggested changes, new waveforms can be submitted to the power quality expert for review and a revised approach or approval.
Power Defense circuit breakers feature Eaton’s PXR electronic trip units so that energy consumption and power quality measurements that formerly required a technician to open the breaker panel and work close to energized conductors to take measurement or monitor waveforms with bulky equipment can now be performed remotely, even halfway around the world if the expertise is there.
Given its suite of intelligent communication and control devices, what else can Eaton Smart circuit breakers do?
Now that EVs are here to stay, businesses will have to start installing charging facilities that allow employees to charge their EVs while at work. In many such installations, the combined load of the charging EVs can exceed the electrical charging source capacity. In these cases, the total charging load must be maintained at a rate that’s equal to or less than the source capacity while simultaneously charging all the EVs, and this is a perfect application for Eaton’s new remotely controlled Green Motion EV smart breaker chargers — fast AC charging devices powered by Eaton smart breakers, which fit in standard Eaton load centers or panelboards and accommodate its BR and BAB Series circuit breakers. Eaton’s Green Motion EV smart breaker chargers combine a traditional thermal magnetic breaker with a contactor and the interface for EVs through a J1772 connector. By remotely controlling and periodically changing which contactors in these breakers are closed, the charging EVs can be grouped so that their load never exceeds the source capacity and each EV get its turn on the charging circuit. This same methodology can also be used for many other types of loads.
Eaton’s Green Motion EV smart breaker charger; an Eaton smart breaker designed to accommodate its BR Series and BAB Series circuit breakers, both available through RS Electronics and Eaton’s Smart Energy Manager app.
How can Power Defense circuit breakers help with energy management in buildings?
One of the biggest challenges to managing buildings’ energy usage is to determine how much energy is being where and when. In the past, this was a very labor-intensive process that typically included installing either temporary or permanent metering on the system, and there was no guarantee that the situation wouldn’t change when a building’s occupants changed. Eaton’s Power Defense circuit breakers’ ability to monitor voltage, current, and the associated power and power factor in each section or room of a building allows building owners to clearly see where and when energy is being used and how much is being consumed. And, since this is a continuous monitoring process, every change in energy usage can be documented and used to help building owners better manage a building’s energy usage and shift some loads to off-peak times to reduce the cost.
It appears that Eaton’s Power Defense and smart circuit breakers, as well as Eaton’s Arc Quenching switchgear, have successfully transformed the technology’s simple on/off switch design into yet another intelligent member of modern electrical systems capable of replacing or modifying user actions and, in turn, creating a safer, more reliable, and more efficient power system.
That’s right, and that’s why these breakers and systems are so exciting.
Additional Links:
- Eaton Power Defense Circuit Breakers Video
- Arc Quenching Switchgear Video
- Power Defense Circuit Breakers Product Guide
- Power Defense Circuit Breakers at RSElec.com
- Eaton Green Motion EV Smart Breaker Chargers
- Eaton Smart Breakers
- Eaton BR Series Breakers for Smart Breakers at RSElec.com
- Eaton BAB Series Breakers for Smart Breakers at RSElec.com
