E-T-A electronic circuit protectors now ATEX approved

E-T-A Circuit Breakers, quality designer and manufacturer of a broad range of electro- mechanical and electronic products for circuit protection, has now obtained ATEX approval for special versions of its ESX10 and ESX10-T electronic overcurrent protection products for automation applications. Designed to reduce costly downtime and danger to personnel on production lines, the ESX10 can be plugged directly into an E-T-A Module 17plus power distribution socket which is mountable on a DIN/EN rail, while the ESX10-T is for direct rail mounting. The ATEX-approved 3G category of ESX10 and ESX10-T are intended for the use in Ex zone 2, making them particularly useful for applications in process control in the chemical, petroleum and gas industries.The compact E-T-A ESX10 and ESX10-T Electronic Circuit Breakers are just 12.5mm wide and both provide electronic overcurrent protection for 24V DC (and 12V DC ESX10-T only) control circuits with load currents from 0.5A to 12A. In the event of overload or a short circuit, the faulty load will be disconnected electronically by means of a mosfet in the output circuit of the protector. They provide the best possible protection for loads, such as controls, sensors, transformers and solenoid valves, which are fed by switch-mode power supplies or battery-buffered power supplies.The E-T-A ESX10/ESX10-T provide active current limitation to 1.8 or 1.5 times its rated current. This allows capacitive loads of up to 20,000μF or lamp loads to be switched on without affecting other loads on the power supply. At the same time, this electronic active current limitation responds much faster to overload or short circuit conditions than switch-mode power supplies: it will shutdown electronically a single faulty output, while allowing all other load circuits connected to the same SMPS to continue working as normal.

 
Status indication is provided by a multicolour LED plus an integral short-circuit proof status output or potential-free signal contact. In the event of an overload or short circuit, the load circuit may be re-activated by a manual ON/OFF button, or, as an option, electronically via a re-set input. The ON/OFF button also allows manual disconnection when starting up a system or during maintenance.

E-T-A designs and manufactures a broad range of electro-mechanical and electronic products for circuit protection, control and instrumentation, including the world’s largest range of circuit breakers for equipment (CBEs). E-T-A equipment is specified and installed by a wide variety of industrial OEMs and end-users, with key markets including air, sea and land transport, process control, computers and communications, medical equipment, domestic appliances, machine tools and robotics.

E-T-A is an international company with headquarters in Altdorf, Germany and production facilities in several other countries, together with marketing, sales and technical operations throughout the industrial world. Its European, North American and Far Eastern markets are served by some 1,300 employees.