Software speeds breaker specification

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 23, 2003

Rockwell Automation has formed a business partnership with Amtech, the leading supplier of electrical design software for electrical contractors, engineers and consultants.

Rockwell Automation has formed a business partnership with Amtech, the leading supplier of electrical design software for electrical contractors, engineers and consultants.

Amtech software design packages are widely used in industry to originate electrical power distribution diagrams, calculate cable and busbar sizes and display the tripping characteristics of protective devices to enable the correct type of discrimination to be established.

The new partnership means that full details of the Allen-Bradley 140M motor protective circuit breakers and 193-E3 electronic motor protection relays are included on the latest versions of Amtech software.

Existing Amtech 2003 users can obtain upgrades either by downloading from the web or by requesting the latest upgrade CD.

The Allen-Bradley 140M is a current limiting circuit breaker that provides Type-2 short circuit co-ordination to IEC947-4 -1.

Rated at up to 45A, it is available in three versions: motor protection (precise overload protection), starter protection (only short-circuit protection) and transformer protection.

Designing an electrical distribution network can be a time consuming task, with great care being required to select correctly rated protective devices.

The designer has to ensure that in the event of a fault condition anywhere in the network, only the affected part of the network is isolated.

If the devices are not selected correctly, faults can rapidly escalate causing large parts of a network to be shut down unnecessarily.

The Amtech Prodesign packages allow the designer to configure a distribution network based on the supply rating and individual loads.

Any calculations required for busbar and cabling sizes are completed in seconds, saving the engineer a significant amount of time.

An extensive database of distribution devices gives the designer a wide choice of options and provides line drawings and electrical characteristics for each device.

Individual paths to loads can be examined and the characteristics for all the devices are graphically displayed, to ensure there are no discrimination problems.

The software will also help determine the correctly rated Allen-Bradley 193-E3 electronic motor protection relay.

These intelligent devices have built in DeviceNet connectivity and offer a range of preventive maintenance tools, and diagnostic capabilities.

They also provide immediate ground fault detection to prevent damage to the motor due to insulation failure.

The software allows the time/current curves to be displayed for each trip class (5S30), this enables the characteristics of the 193-E3 to be matched to any other protective devices to provide optimum protection.

Specification and commissioning reports can be easily produced for each device in pdf format, enabling them to be easily e-mailed to an engineer on site or printed out.

The report shows the location and setting of any adjustable parameters, enabling a complete network to be quickly configured.

There are around 14,000 users of Amtech software and these include leading design consultants, large industrial users and the utilities.

Designs are produced to BS7671 and also take into account the requirements of the Electricity at Work Regulations.

There is also a range of packages for electrical contractors, which can be used to produce ECA and NICEIC documentation.

Amtech provides full support for its software including training packages, technical help and secure areas on the web for upgrades.

By adding Allen-Bradley 140M circuit breakers and 193-E3 motor protection relays to the Amtech software packages, Rockwell Automation has provided an important new option for engineers and designers, making it easy to select the right circuit breaker and motor protection relay combination for almost any application - in just seconds.