Whitepaper targets harmonic mitigation

Industrial component specialist, CP Automation, has made available for download a new whitepaper that addresses a lack of industry awareness of different methods of harmonic mitigation. It is designed to educate engineers on the most appropriate solutions to mitigate the damage caused by harmonic currents and utility level voltage distortion. 

Authored by Jonas Persson, product manager at Comsys AB, the paper highlights the challenges facing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in tackling the growing problem of harmonic currents. For many years this has held the industry back; the fact that engineers struggle to identify the best solutions for their needs due to a lack of information. The overall context is to reduce harmonic loading in a drive system.

The whitepaper details the four main mitigation techniques and their associated technologies. Covering series passive, series active, shunt passive and shunt active solutions, it presents in-depth case studies of real life implementations of each as well as theoretical worked examples explaining the benefits and drawbacks.

Knowing the different types of mitigation technique to employ is essential. There are three variations of the series-passive solution alone, line reactors, series harmonic filters and multi-phase, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Choosing one over another is a decision that must be made from an informed perspective.

“Without both breadth and depth of knowledge, it is possible that the most efficient method of harmonic mitigation is being overlooked,” says John Mitchell, business development manager at CP Automation. “On top of that, there are numerous other challenges faced by engineers caused by the rise of non-linear loads, such as extra stresses on outdated equipment.”

“We hope this whitepaper will go some way to addressing the lack of information issue, which in turn will go some way to reducing the amount of harmonics related problems the wider engineering community encounters in electrical industry applications.”


To download the new whitepaper on mitigating harmonic currents, visit http://goo.gl/ikulpI

CPA launches new range of enclosures

CP Automation has today signed a new partnership with electro-mechanical expert DEM Manufacturing, to supply a leading range of Deltron heavy duty industrial enclosures. Suitable for use in harsh conditions, the new enclosures allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to use electrical equipment in various offshore and marine environments and other wet environments such as food and medical. 

Rated to a standard ingress protection of IP66 and a maximum of IP68, the range of heavy duty enclosures protect vital electronic equipment from a host of ingress types. They range from ingress by dust and high pressure jets of water to protection from complete, continuous immersion in water. Both IP66 and IP68 variants are certified to BS EN 60529:1992; IP66 for protection from jets of water and dust ingress and IP68 being fully submersible to 10m for 20 hours.

Made of LM24 die cast aluminium, the heavy duty enclosures are ideal for use in a variety of harsh conditions. These include deep water applications, such as marine as well as the renewable energy sector and offshore wind farms.

"This waterproof enclosure has all the benefits you would expect from a heavy duty component, whilst prioritising creative design and ease of installation," explained John Mitchell, CP Automation’s business development manager. "One of the key design features is protection against EMI and RFI," continued Mitchell.

"An excellent level of screening is achieved against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio-frequency interference (RFI) by enclosing the silicone seal well inside the box and ensuring a good contact between the lid and the base. In addition to this, integrated mounting holes allow the mounting bolts to be concealed within the enclosure. This results in the entire inside of the box remaining free for assembly."

The range of IP66 and IP68 heavy duty enclosures is available in plain, powder coated and nylon coated versions. All the enclosures are robust and lightweight, boasting a smooth finish with no sharp edges. Perfect for analytical, test and measurement equipment, the units are ideal for the water industry as well as for the security and lighting sectors.

All the enclosures include lid and seal as well as captive and earth screws in addition to PCB card guides and stand offs. The unit offers base plate and DIN rail mounting points and has a silicone seal rating of -60 to +200 degrees Celsius.

The powder coated version features a polyester powder coating, which is ideal for corrosion protection when facing continued outdoor UV-light and all-weather exposure. The hard finish on the powder coated unit offers superior toughness to conventional paint and is resistant to chipping, scratching and abrasions. This durable, high quality finish offers consistent surface colour and texture and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor environments.

For the harshest of environments, including the water industry, the nylon coated enclosure option is ideal. Water resistant and non-contaminating, the unit features improved chemical resistance to sea water, oil, grease, solvents and fuel. This high level of contaminant-resistance makes the unit hygienic for use in the food and medical industries.

The nylon coated unit backs up its mechanical strength with high abrasion, impact and damage protection. Its durable and corrosion resistance surface offers a hard, shiny and smooth finish with a low friction coefficient.

Dynamic brake chopper handles retrofit to any power rating and duty cycle

Following Pikatron's 2011 acquisition of TAE Antriebstechnik GmbH, CP Automation now stocks the company’s complete range of Brake Chopper Units (BCU). TAE Pikatron BCU’s provide an ideal retrofit solution for variable speed drives (VSDs) and inverters in a market where VSD manufacturers are increasingly reluctant to offer and stock add-ins to their core products. 

A key benefit of TAE Pikatron BCU’s is that they are rated at 100 percent duty of the VSD, which not all brake choppers are. Some cheaper units only provide duty as low as 30 percent. CP Automation holds in stock up to 100kW continuously rated or 360kW peak.

Using the TAE BCU’s, multiple drives on a system can all be connected to one brake chopper and resistor combination. Another benefit is that TAE Pikatron BCU’s are compact ‘fit-and-forget’ units with nothing to set up and configure. This is a strategy CP Automation has adopted with other products they specialise in including resistors, regenerative units, RFI filters and passive inductive components.

“Our product range is now very wide,” explains CP Automation business development specialist John Mitchell. “Unlike other solutions today, the TAE products don’t need multiple units configured in a master/slave design, using up valuable panel space. However, the units do have the option to be configured in master/slave mode for applications larger than 100Kw continuous.

CP Automation’s engineers help ensure each design is the most effective for the end-user application. No separate control voltage is necessary for the control board and emergency stop is possible even after a power failure because control is powered by the DC bus.

Variants of the TAE product include Fault output modules and options for 230VAC VSD’s and motion control systems, with a future range due to be released shortly for 600V AC VSDs.

The unit currently available can be used worldwide, with input bus voltage from 200-440V DC or 450-800V DC. It can also be set in the factory to switch at a pre-specified custom required voltage.

An external dynamic brake chopper can be connected to the positive and negative terminals of the DC bus of a variable speed drive (VSD), protected by ultra-fast fuses. The resistor terminals on the chopper are in turn connected to the brake resistor terminals.

The compact unit has operating, fault and standby indication using LEDs and exploits state-of-the-art insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Featuring easy start up with no adjustment necessary, the rugged metal case provides the high levels of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance and is earth and short circuit protected. When the chopper is active, minimal voltage ripple appears on the DC bus.

Brake choppers for a 230VAC Inverter with 200-440V DC bus come in nine models, which will handle continuous power from 5.5kW to 41kW, peak power from 16kW to 185kW, continuous current from 15A to 110A, and peak current from 45A to 500A.


Brake choppers for a 380-460V AC inverter with 450-800V DC bus also come in nine models to handle continuous power from 11kW to 100kW, peak power from 33kW to 360kW, continuous current from 15A to 110A, and peak current from 45A to 500A.

Active filter assures power quality

CP Automation has formed a new joint venture project with Swedish active filter manufacturer Comsys AB, a technology leader in power quality solutions. The new venture allows CP Automation to act as a complete one stop for both passive and active harmonic solutions.

Comsys AB’s products eliminate operational disturbances and promote efficient energy usage. The business is built around onsite measurements, power quality analysis and solutions based on ADF active filter core technology to optimise electrical equipment operation and minimise disturbances.

Comsys provides ADF for OEM use, helping manufacturers of industrial equipment to cut power consumption and guarantee their customers that the products will not disturb nearby equipment, complying with set standards like IEEE519, G5/4 and EN61000-2-2.

Conventional techniques for dealing with power quality problems use fixed filter banks configured to match a specific installation. At best these solutions only compensate for 60-80% of the losses due to their relatively slow response times. With the introduction of active conditioners, such as ADF, response times are brought down to microseconds.

“CP Automation is a well established partner in the automation and drives, sector, primarily in the UK but also internationally,” said Rickard Jacobson, account manager at Comsys AB.

“Our biggest market today is the provision of frequency converters to handle the problems that variable frequency drives create. This means that a player that is active and doing a good job of serving both manufacturers and systems integrators is a good match for our company.

“For the customer, benefits of working with our partnership include a reduction in production downtime, reduced overheating in attached equipment and energy savings from decreased electrical losses.

“Comsys is going to supply seven ADF P300 units for the new MAX IV science lab in Lund, Sweden. The installation is under construction and, when complete, it will be one of the most advanced facilities in the world, rivalling CERN for investigating new materials by using beamlines,” concluded Jacobson.

The ADF P300 is an advanced, computer-controlled current generator connected in parallel with the load requiring compensation. The flow of electrical current between the load and the network is measured and analysed to determine losses such as reactive displacement and/or the presence of harmonics.

Whenever necessary, ADF injects opposite phase current to cancel out harmonics and/or reactive displacement, correcting electrical behaviour. The resulting energy profile appears ideal to the rest of the grid network.


ADF functionality is achieved by using state-of-the-art signal processing and advanced control structures to direct the power flow to and from the machine. Energy can be temporarily stored in the ADF making it possible to also deliver energy back to the grid.

Automation expert acquires Midlands workspace

Tony Young and Simon Dean
outside the brand new offices in Stone.

Industrial Automation expert Euroserv Ltd has acquired an additional workshop facility in the Midlands and hired Simon Dean as workshop manager. Located near Stone, Staffordshire, the new premises will allow the company more room to grow as a business. Euroserv is the sister company of sales and service specialist CP Automation.  

Euroserv will be able to offer its services to large OEMs, including those with which the company already has business relationships in the Midlands, as well as new customers in the area. The company chose organic growth instead of acquisition.

“The original plan was to look at buying a business, but then it was decided with the team at Euroserv in Sunderland that we would strategically follow this route instead,” explained Tony Young Managing Director of CP Automation.

“In the last seven years, Euroserv has grown dramatically. We were looking at moving into an additional unit next door or to a new unit altogether because we have completely outgrown the current space in Sunderland.

“A new unit in Stone made perfect sense. After having discussions with the team in Sunderland, we decided that the long term aim is to generate more business here in the Midlands that we have not been able to service to our high standards before - due to locality.

“I'm sure we're going to be repeating the success we had when we started up in Sunderland and, in the longer term, increasing the size of the workshops in Stone,” concluded Young.

Simon Dean adds: “Having worked in the servo motor repair industry for many years, I plan to bring several customers on board. We've got good relationships with big OEMs in the country that have facilities in the Midlands.

“We want to make customers aware of what we do and to target the Midlands with our message about service and repair.”

Re SpA appoints CP Automation as sole UK distributor

Re SPA of Italy has appointed automation sales and service company CP Automation as its UK distributor. Re SPA has been designing and manufacturing automation equipment, principally for the converting, paper and cardboard, metal wire, rubber, plastic, textile and non-woven fabrics processing sectors since 1974.

Re SpA  manufactures a range of innovative industrial solutions including pneumatic brakes and clutches, calliper brakes, powder brakes, tension controllers, load cells, air expanding shafts and safety chucks, mechanical chucks, rotary unions, web guiding systems and web viewing systems.

Tony Young, director of CP Automation, said, “This appointment acknowledges our company’s expertise in the UK paper machinery converting market. The distributorship will be headed up by Paul Butterfield, our specialist of 20 years in this area.

“Re SpA’s equipment is used in a wide range of applications, wherever there is a reel to be unwound or rewound, or a laminate to be processed. Over the years, production processes, automation and the requirements of an increasingly demanding and quality-conscious market have created a series of applications for which we offer solutions.”

Consistent growth has enabled Re SPA to maintain a policy of investing in research and development, in order to offer a complete range of products. This means that it is capable of satisfying customer requirements at every stage of the laminate machining process. Collaboration with customers is a fundamental element in the process of designing innovative new products as well as solutions that can be adapted to individual customer needs.

A solid, well-organised company structure guarantees customer service throughout the working life of the product. Applications sectors include production and transformation of paper and cardboard, production of corrugated cardboard, and printing, coupling and cutting paper, cardboard and plastic films.

Production of adhesive labels, continuous forms and revenue stamps are also key sectors, as well as extrusion of plastic film for packaging, converting and packaging, production and transformation of fabrics, manufacturing and processing of nonwoven products, processing and transformation of laminates for furnishings, transformation of metal wire, processing sheet metal and aluminium sheets, and processing rubber.

Control Techniques UK appoints Integration Partner for cranes and hoists market

Control Techniques UK appoints Integration Partner for cranes and hoists market

Control Techniques UK has appointed electrical and automation maintenance company CP Automation as its Integration Partner for the UK cranes and hoists market. 

Control Technique's VSDs 

The aim of the integration partner agreement is to allow Control Techniques to improve on and standardise its levels of sales and service across the UK in specific sectors. The company sees technical capability and a thorough understanding of the market, in this case cranes and hoists, as the key requirements for a new integration partner.   

“CP Automation is a services-led supplier of products specialising in repair and field service for industrial electronic boards, PLCs, AC drives, resistors, DC drives and inverters,” said Shaun Prinsloo, UK and Ireland regional sales director for Control Techniques. “Its workshops are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and component failures and to provide a speedy professional service.

“Customers of Control Techniques will benefit from CP Automation’s experienced and highly trained team of engineers, who can provide both in-house and on-site commissioning and servicing of inverters and braking resistors such as those typically used for motors in cranes and hoists.”

Tony Young, managing director of CP Automation said, “I am delighted to have signed an Integration Partner agreement with Control Techniques. CP Automation offers a complete drive repair service. Our workshops are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and components failures. Our experienced and highly trained engineers can provide both in-house and on site services for all types of drives. We also offer a complete industrial electronic service. 

“Our training instructors are industry experienced engineers with current hands-on application experience, whose technical skills are annually assessed and updated. We provide a comprehensive selection of first class industrial automation training products, assessment services and courses to meet customers’ changing needs.” 

Shaun Prinsloo added: “Control Techniques encourages customers to work with Integration Partners, whose staffs get exactly the same training as our own.  As far as the customer is concerned, our Integration Partners can be considered as being a full extension of Control Techniques.  My goal is for Control Techniques to work alongside Integration Partners in order to provide the best service and support of any drive manufacturer in the UK.”