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Spring-Clamp Terminal Blocks in Combined Test Laboratories with up to 5000 A

5 December 2022

Contact-loving at High Current

In combined test labs, devices and systems for high- and medium-voltage technology are extensively and stringently tested: the required electrical specifications must be proven through comprehensive test processes for quality assurance. Security is the top priority in test labs. This applies for all areas and every process – every detail is important. Therefore, Hitachi Energy Germany AG relies on spring clamp terminal blocks instead of screw connections at the new German location of its technology center.

A modern test laboratory for high-voltage and high-current testing has been established in Karlstein am Main. This lab is part of Hitachi Energy’s global technology center. Prior to the final installation or following technical verifications, high-voltage components, which are used in electrical engineering, must be subjected to comprehensive high-voltage tests.
Specifications, like thermal and electrical strength, are tested for circuit breakers or insulators, as well as operating behavior under extreme currents and voltages. Circuit breakers must prove that they are capable of not only maintaining operating voltages, but also that they can cope with surges in case of failures. During so-called temperature-rise tests, the increase in temperature is tested at a nominal load. IDEAS, an engineering consulting company, was commissioned with the new design, installation, and equipping the test lab. IDEAS specializes in the project planning, construction and commissioning of power plants and energy systems, combined heat and power plants, power supply for data centers and drinking and wastewater systems in general.

Save Space and Time

Christian Müller, CEO of IDEAS, summarizes the commission in the following way, “A combined test lab, made from three, previously separate test stations for high-current, high-voltage, and surge voltage testing, was to be built at another location. Therefore, we re-used many of the present components, like transformers. So that the new test lab could reliably satisfy current safety regulations, comprehensive redesigns of the electrical and automation technologies were necessary – within an extremely short timeframe.”

Hitachi Energy’s resource-saving concept also includes sustainable interactions with space as a resource in itself, “More constructed space means more building materials, more sealed surfaces, higher energy expenses, larger CO2 footprints, higher costs, and so on,” states Matthias Schmalz, Head of the Technology Center DE Hitachi Energy. He adds, “We want to deal responsibly with all resources across the entire company.”

The consolidation of the previously-separated test labs necessitated a more compact construction, and there were specific guidelines for efficient use of space. “For example, the control cabinet for the high-voltage test lab could not be larger than 120 × 40 cm,” explains Müller, who then continues, “For cable cross-sections of 95 mm², there’s not much space left. In addition, the safety and calibration guidelines mandated that we had to design many measurement outputs, as well as other inputs and outputs, in the cabinet.”