Sure Controls is proud to announce new EPack Power Controllers by Eurotherm are available to all our customers. This new product was designed for efficient power control for electrical heating applications and fast integration. To help our customers learn more, we asked Sure Controls Technical Support Specialist Tanner Wideen the following common questions about the new product and its benefits to manufacturers.
Q: How would you describe the Eurotherm EPack?
A: The EPack is an SCR power controller. It can be thought of like a switch, turning power on and off to a variety of applications. It can be controlled by a logic or analog signal from a controller or PLC, or through digital communications. It can be configured to operate in different firing modes for different applications, with a wide selection of current ratings.
Q: How can a manufacturer benefit from using the EPack?
A: There are many different benefits the EPack can provide. It can be customized to work in many different applications through the graphical wiring feature. It has the capability of having custom alarms set up to alert someone if something is wrong.
The EPack also has features like predictive load management, or PLM, which can lower energy use by keeping power usage consistent. Another benefit of the EPack is the ability to select what firing mode is used. Depending on the application, the user can select zero cross, phase angle, burst, or a hybrid firing mode. Partial load failure, or PLF, is a feature in the EPack that can monitor for partial failures in a heating system. This would notify the user if heaters are degrading or if one heater in a series of heaters has failed.
Q: What type of manufacturers do you think would most benefit from using the Eurotherm EPack?
A: Any manufacturer that is heating their process could use EPacks and would benefit in different ways. Manufacturers using ovens for heat treating, or that use IR heaters are good examples.
Q: Eurotherm reports that the EPack can reduce a manufacturer’s electricity bill by 5 percent. Is this true for manufacturers across all industries? Or is it specific to a certain sector?
A: The energy savings from the EPack can vary for every manufacturer. It depends on what type of power control they were using before the EPack and how the EPack is implemented in their system. If a manufacturer is able to use burst firing in their process instead of phase angle, that alone can provide significant savings. Predictive load management can also save energy by controlling peak power demand.
Q: Where can I go to learn more?
A: Sure Controls is proud to be your local Eurotherm integrator. You can always reach out to us with questions. To learn more about the EPack, make sure to check out this overview.
