Factory Functionality
Over the past couple years, there’s been an increasing trend toward new power supply products that have some sort of application or industry focus. That means supplies that include special performance specs or tailored packaging intended for a specific application area such as industrial control and factory automation.
Often the unsung heroes of any embedded system design, power supplies are critical enablers for meeting today’s needs. As embedded systems pack ever more intelligence into smaller spaces, power has direct implications on the size, cooling and mobility of any system. To keep pace, power supply vendors continue to roll out more efficient products, new partitioning strategies and more compact solutions. In tandem to those trends, there’s a growing demand to reduce size, weight and power of system electronics. Driving those demands is a desire to fit more functionality in the same space or into a smaller footprint.
If you look at the power supply products released over the last 12 months, there’s been a definite uptick in new products that have some sort of application or industry focus. While this hasn’t diminished the role of general-purpose power supplies, the trend has been toward supplies that include either certifications, special performance specs or tailored packaging intended for a specific application area such as industrial control and factory automation (Figure 1).
An example of special power supply features for industrial systems is XP Power’s CMP250 series of high peak-power AC-DC power supply units. The supplies provide a highly flexible combination of electrical and thermal characteristics. These power supplies deliver up to 500W of peak power for up to 60 seconds, as well as providing up to 250W of continuous convection-cooled power. This flexibility makes the series well suited for motor applications and other electromechanical loads without the need for fan cooling, removing unwanted audible noise, across a range of applications.
TDK’s TPS4000-24 is industrial power supply is likewise well suited for use in many industrial settings. Its high voltage, three-phase input avoids the requirement for costly step-down transformers and assists phase load current balancing. Meanwhile, the PQU650 series from Murata boast cooling options suited to factory automation applications, with forced air- and convection-cooled ambient ratings. No system fans are required up to 450W up to 50°C temperatures, and only 300 LFM forced air-cooling is needed for 650W at 50°C.
Power supplies require special cooling and high levels of ruggedness in order to operate in industrial system environments.
5W AC-DC Converter Boasts Wide Input Voltage Range
Aimtec’s AMEL5-277NZ is an encapsulated 5W AC-DC converter that has been designed to offer greater economies of scale due to greater production automation, leading to improved reliability and performance. Offering a wide industrial input voltage range of 85-305VAC and an output voltage range from 3.3-24V, this series offers a temperature range of -40°C to +70°C.
• Universal Input: 85-305VAC/
100-430VDC
• Operating temperature range:
-40°C to +70°C
• High isolation voltage: 4,000VAC
• Regulated output; Low ripple and noise: 100mVp-p, max.
• Output short circuit, over-current, over-voltage protection
• Input voltage: 85-305VAC
• Output voltage: 3.3V, 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 24V
AMEL5-277NZ datasheet
AC-DC Supplies Meet
Green Power Demands
CUI’s VOF open frame AC-DC power supply series delivers higher efficiency and improved no-load performance to meet the growing demand for green power technology. Featuring industry standard footprints, the VOF’s efficient design, compact size and high reliability make these power supplies well suited for a range of consumer, industrial and ITE applications.
• 6W to 550W
• Industry standard footprints
• Efficiency up to 94%
• ITE safety certifications
• Power densities up to 30 W/in.3
• Low no-load power consumption
• Operating temperatures, from
-40°C to 70°C
• Isolation of 4,000 VA
650W AC-DC Supplies Offer Cooling Options
The PQU650 series from Murata are open-frame, 650 W-rated AC-DC power supplies. Murata says the PQU650 series offers the highest power-density product on the market, with forced air- and convection-cooled ambient ratings. The power supplies offer a multitude of standard features including wide output voltage adjustment range, auxiliary power rails and a high transient capability.
• Input voltage range of 90-264 VAC
• Efficiency up to 95%
• No system fan requirements up to 450W up to 50°C
• 300 LFM forced air-cooling for 650W at 50°C
• Certified to EN 60960 and IEC 60601 3rd Edition medical standards
• Safety approval to UL/cUL/IEC/EN 62368-1 (60950-1), TUV IEC/EN 60335-1 & CE Marking
PQU650 datasheet
High Isolation AC-DC Modules for Industrial Automation
The RAC04-K/277 series from RECOM delivers 4W of continuous output power (6W peak) in harsh industrial and household environments. These modules deliver full load output power from -40°C to 75°C across the entire input range of 80VAC to 305VAC and are certified for operation with power derating up to 90°C air ambient. They have international safety and EMC certifications for industrial, domestic, ITE and household applications
• 80-305VAC input voltage range
• 150% peak power capability
• Wide temperature range:
-40°C to +90°C
• No load power consumption
4,080W Supply Operates from Delta and Wye Inputs
The TDK-Lambda brand TPS4000-24 power supply extends the TDK’s existing 3000W rated TPS series. Delivering up to 4080W output power (24V at 170A) in a 2U high package, the TPS series operates from a wide range Delta or Wye 350-528VAC 3-phase phase input. This industrial power supply is well suited for use in many applications including test and measurement equipment, semiconductor fabrication, additive manufacturing, printers, lasers and RF power amplifiers. The high voltage, three-phase input avoids the requirement for costly step-down transformers and assists phase load current balancing.
• 400/440/480VAC (nominal) 3-phase Delta or Wye
• Voltage and current programming
• -40°C (start up) to +70°C operation
• PMBus communication
• 92% typical efficiency
• Built in ORing FETs and Active I share for parallel operation
TPS4000-24 datasheet
3 Phase 5kW AC-DC Supply is Software Configurable
XP Power’s CMP250 is a series of high peak-power AC-DC power supply units developed to support a wide range of healthcare, industrial and IT applications. With a highly flexible combination of electrical and thermal characteristics, these power supplies deliver up to 500W of peak power for up to 60 seconds, as well as providing up to 250W of continuous convection-cooled power.
• 250W convection-cooled rating
• 500W peak power
• IT and medical safety (BF) approvals
• U Channel 4"×7.5" package
• 80-300VAC input voltage
• 5V/1.5A Standby and 12 V/0.6A auxiliary
• AC OK signal, inhibit
• Current share
CMP250 datasheet
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Jeff served as Editor-in-Chief for both LinuxGizmos.com and its sister publication, Circuit Cellar magazine 6/2017—3/2022. In nearly three decades of covering the embedded electronics and computing industry, Jeff has also held senior editorial positions at EE Times, Computer Design, Electronic Design, Embedded Systems Development, and COTS Journal. His knowledge spans a broad range of electronics and computing topics, including CPUs, MCUs, memory, storage, graphics, power supplies, software development, and real-time OSes.
