transformer

Pole-mounted single-phase transformer with center-tapped secondary. A grounded conductor is used as one leg of the primary feeder.

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core, and thus a varying magnetic field through the secondary winding. This varying magnetic field induces a varying electromotive force (EMF) or "voltage" in the secondary winding. This effect is called mutual induction.
If a load is connected to the secondary, an electric current will flow in the secondary winding and electrical energy will be transferred from the primary circuit through the transformer to the load. In an ideal transformer, the induced voltage in the secondary winding (V_S) is in proportion to the primary voltage (V_P), and is given by the ratio of the number of turns in the secondary (N_S) to the number of turns in the primary (N_P) as follows:

By appropriate selection of the ratio of turns, a transformer thus allows an alternating current (AC) voltage to be "stepped up" by making N_S greater than N_P, or "stepped down" by making N_S less than N_P.
In the vast majority of transformers, the coils are wound around a ferromagnetic core, air-core transformers being a notable exception.
Transformers come in a range of sizes from a thumbnail-sized coupling transformer hidden inside a stage microphone to huge units weighing hundreds of tons used to interconnect portions of national power grids. All operate with the same basic principles, although the range of designs is wide. While new technologies have eliminated the need for transformers in some electronic circuits, transformers are still found in nearly all electronic devices designed for household ("mains") voltage. Transformers are essential for high voltage power transmission, which makes long distance transmission economically practical.

History

Discovery

Michael Faraday discovered the principle of induction, Faraday's induction law, in 1831 and did the first experiments with induction between coils of wire, including building a pair of coils on a toroidal closed magnetic core. ^[1]

Induction coils

The first type of transformer to see wide use was the induction coil, invented by Rev. Nicholas Callan of Maynooth College, Ireland in 1836. He was one of the first researchers to realize that the more turns the secondary winding has in relation to the primary winding, the larger the increase in EMF. Induction coils evolved from scientists' and inventors' efforts to get higher voltages from batteries. Since batteries produce direct current (DC) rather than alternating current (AC), induction coils relied upon vibrating electrical contacts that regularly interrupted the current in the primary to create the flux changes necessary for induction. Between the 1830s and the 1870s, efforts to build better induction coils, mostly by trial and error, slowly revealed the basic principles of transformers.
In 1876, Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov invented a lighting system based on a set of induction coils where the primary windings were connected to a source of alternating current and the secondary windings could be connected to several "electric candles" (arc lamps) of his own design.^[2][3] The coils Yablochkov employed functioned essentially as transformers.^[2]
Induction coils with open magnetic circuits are inefficient for transfer of power to loads. Until about 1880 the paradigm for AC power transmission from a high voltage supply to a low voltage load was a series circuit. Open-core transformers with a ratio near 1:1 were connected with their primaries in series to allow use of a high voltage for transmission while presenting a low voltage to the lamps. The inherent flaw in this method was that turning off a single lamp affected the voltage supplied to all others on the same circuit. Many adjustable transformer designs were introduced to compensate for this problematic characteristic of the series circuit, including those employing methods of adjusting the core or bypassing the magnetic flux around part of a coil.^[4]
In 1878, the Ganz Company in Hungary began manufacturing equipment for electric lighting, and by 1883 had installed over fifty systems in Austria-Hungary. Their systems used alternating current exclusively, and included those comprising both arc and incandescent lamps, along with generators and other equipment.^[5]
Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs first exhibited a device with an open iron core called a "secondary generator" in London in 1882, then sold the idea to the Westinghouse company in the United States.^[6] They also exhibited the invention in Turin, Italy in 1884, where it was adopted for an electric lighting system.^[7] However, the efficiency of their open-core bipolar apparatus remained low.^[8]
Efficient, practical transformer designs did not appear until the 1880s, but within a decade the transformer would be instrumental in the "War of Currents", and in seeing AC distribution systems triumph over their DC counterparts, a position in which they have remained dominant ever since.^[9]

Closed-core lighting transformers

The prototypes of the world's first high efficiency transformers (the so-called Ganz "ZBD") (Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, 1884–1885)

Between 1884 and 1885, Ganz Company engineers Károly Zipernowsky, Ottó Bláthy and Miksa Déri had determined that open-core devices were impracticable, as they were incapable of reliably regulating voltage. In their joint patent application for the "Z.B.D." transformers, they described the design of two with no poles: the "closed-core" and the "shell-core" transformers. In the closed-core type, the primary and secondary windings were wound around a closed iron ring; in the shell type, the windings were passed through the iron core. In both designs, the magnetic flux linking the primary and secondary windings traveled almost entirely within the iron core, with no intentional path through air. When employed in electric distribution systems, this revolutionary design concept would finally make it technically and economically feasible to provide electric power for lighting in homes, businesses and public spaces.^[10][11] Bláthy had suggested the use of closed-cores, Zipernowsky the use of shunt connections, and Déri had performed the experiments.^[12] Bláthy also discovered the transformer formula, Vs/Vp = Ns/Np,^{[citation needed]} and electrical and electronic systems the world over continue to rely on the principles of the original Z.B.D. transformers. The inventors also popularized the word "transformer" to describe a device for altering the EMF of an electric current,^[10][13] although the term had already been in use by 1882.^[14][15]

Stanley's 1886 design for adjustable gap open-core induction coils^[16]

George Westinghouse had bought Gaulard and Gibbs' patents in 1885, and had purchased an option on the Z.B.D. design. He entrusted engineer William Stanley with the building of a device for commercial use.^[17] Stanley's first patented design was for induction coils with single cores of soft iron and adjustable gaps to regulate the EMF present in the secondary winding. (See drawing at left.)^[16] This design was first used commercially in 1886.^[9] But Westinghouse soon had his team working on a design whose core comprised a stack of thin "E-shaped" iron plates, separated individually or in pairs by thin sheets of paper or other insulating material. Prewound copper coils could then be slid into place, and straight iron plates laid in to create a closed magnetic circuit. Westinghouse applied for a patent for the new design in December 1886; it was granted in July 1887.^[12][18]
Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky developed the first three-phase transformer in 1889.^{[citation needed]} In 1891 Nikola Tesla invented the Tesla coil, an air-cored, dual-tuned resonant transformer for generating very high voltages at high frequency.^[19][20] Audio frequency transformers (at the time called repeating coils) were used by the earliest experimenters in the development of the telephone.^{[citation needed]}

Basic principles

The transformer is based on two principles: firstly, that an electric current can produce a magnetic field (electromagnetism) and secondly that a changing magnetic field within a coil of wire induces a voltage across the ends of the coil (electromagnetic induction). Changing the current in the primary coil changes the magnetic flux that is developed. The changing magnetic flux induces a voltage in the secondary coil.

An ideal transformer

An ideal transformer is shown in the adjacent figure. Current passing through the primary coil creates a magnetic field. The primary and secondary coils are wrapped around a core of very high magnetic permeability, such as iron, so that most of the magnetic flux passes through both primary and secondary coils.

Induction law

The voltage induced across the secondary coil may be calculated from Faraday's law of induction, which states that:

where V_S is the instantaneous voltage, N_S is the number of turns in the secondary coil and Φ equals the magnetic flux through one turn of the coil. If the turns of the coil are oriented perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, the flux is the product of the magnetic field strength B and the area A through which it cuts. The area is constant, being equal to the cross-sectional area of the transformer core, whereas the magnetic field varies with time according to the excitation of the primary. Since the same magnetic flux passes through both the primary and secondary coils in an ideal transformer,^[21] the instantaneous voltage across the primary winding equals

Taking the ratio of the two equations for V_S and V_P gives the basic equation^[22] for stepping up or stepping down the voltage

Ideal power equation

The ideal transformer as a circuit element

If the secondary coil is attached to a load that allows current to flow, electrical power is transmitted from the primary circuit to the secondary circuit. Ideally, the transformer is perfectly efficient; all the incoming energy is transformed from the primary circuit to the magnetic field and into the secondary circuit. If this condition is met, the incoming electric power must equal the outgoing power.

P_incoming = I_PV_P = P_outgoing = I_SV_S

giving the ideal transformer equation

Transformers are efficient so this formula is a reasonable approximation.
If the voltage is increased, then the current is decreased by the same factor. The impedance in one circuit is transformed by the square of the turns ratio.^[21] For example, if an impedance Z_S is attached across the terminals of the secondary coil, it appears to the primary circuit to have an impedance of . This relationship is reciprocal, so that the impedance Z_P of the primary circuit appears to the secondary to be .

Detailed operation

The simplified description above neglects several practical factors, in particular the primary current required to establish a magnetic field in the core, and the contribution to the field due to current in the secondary circuit.
Models of an ideal transformer typically assume a core of negligible reluctance with two windings of zero resistance.^[23] When a voltage is applied to the primary winding, a small current flows, driving flux around the magnetic circuit of the core.^[23] The current required to create the flux is termed the magnetizing current; since the ideal core has been assumed to have near-zero reluctance, the magnetizing current is negligible, although still required to create the magnetic field.
The changing magnetic field induces an electromotive force (EMF) across each winding.^[24] Since the ideal windings have no impedance, they have no associated voltage drop, and so the voltages V_P and V_S measured at the terminals of the transformer, are equal to the corresponding EMFs. The primary EMF, acting as it does in opposition to the primary voltage, is sometimes termed the "back EMF".^[25] This is due to Lenz's law which states that the induction of EMF would always be such that it will oppose development of any such change in magnetic field.

Practical considerations

Leakage flux

Leakage flux of a transformer

Main article: Leakage inductance

The ideal transformer model assumes that all flux generated by the primary winding links all the turns of every winding, including itself. In practice, some flux traverses paths that take it outside the windings.^[26] Such flux is termed leakage flux, and results in leakage inductance in series with the mutually coupled transformer windings.^[25] Leakage results in energy being alternately stored in and discharged from the magnetic fields with each cycle of the power supply. It is not directly a power loss (see "Stray losses" below), but results in inferior voltage regulation, causing the secondary voltage to fail to be directly proportional to the primary, particularly under heavy load.^[26] Transformers are therefore normally designed to have very low leakage inductance.
However, in some applications, leakage can be a desirable property, and long magnetic paths, air gaps, or magnetic bypass shunts may be deliberately introduced to a transformer's design to limit the short-circuit current it will supply.^[25] Leaky transformers may be used to supply loads that exhibit negative resistance, such as electric arcs, mercury vapor lamps, and neon signs; or for safely handling loads that become periodically short-circuited such as electric arc welders.^[27] Air gaps are also used to keep a transformer from saturating, especially audio-frequency transformers in circuits that have a direct current flowing through the windings.

Effect of frequency

The time-derivative term in Faraday's Law shows that the flux in the core is the integral with respect to time of the applied voltage.^[28] Hypothetically an ideal transformer would work with direct-current excitation, with the core flux increasing linearly with time.^[29] In practice, the flux would rise to the point where magnetic saturation of the core occurs, causing a huge increase in the magnetizing current and overheating the transformer. All practical transformers must therefore operate with alternating (or pulsed) current.^[29]

Transformer universal EMF equation
If the flux in the core is sinusoidal, the relationship for either winding between its rms Voltage of the winding E, and the supply frequency f, number of turns N, core cross-sectional area a and peak magnetic flux density B is given by the universal EMF equation:^[23]

The EMF of a transformer at a given flux density increases with frequency.^[23] By operating at higher frequencies, transformers can be physically more compact because a given core is able to transfer more power without reaching saturation, and fewer turns are needed to achieve the same impedance. However properties such as core loss and conductor skin effect also increase with frequency. Aircraft and military equipment employ 400 Hz power supplies which reduce core and winding weight.^[30]
Operation of a transformer at its designed voltage but at a higher frequency than intended will lead to reduced magnetizing current; at lower frequency, the magnetizing current will increase. Operation of a transformer at other than its design frequency may require assessment of voltages, losses, and cooling to establish if safe operation is practical. For example, transformers may need to be equipped with "volts per hertz" over-excitation relays to protect the transformer from overvoltage at higher than rated frequency.
Knowledge of natural frequencies of transformer windings is of importance for the determination of the transient response of the windings to impulse and switching surge voltages.

Energy losses

An ideal transformer would have no energy losses, and would be 100% efficient. In practical transformers energy is dissipated in the windings, core, and surrounding structures. Larger transformers are generally more efficient, and those rated for electricity distribution usually perform better than 98%.^[31]
Experimental transformers using superconducting windings achieve efficiencies of 99.85%,^[32] While the increase in efficiency is small, when applied to large heavily-loaded transformers the annual savings in energy losses are significant.
A small transformer, such as a plug-in "wall-wart" or power adapter type used for low-power consumer electronics, may be no more than 85% efficient, with considerable loss even when not supplying any load. Though individual power loss is small, the aggregate losses from the very large number of such devices is coming under increased scrutiny.^[33]
The losses vary with load current, and may be expressed as "no-load" or "full-load" loss. Winding resistance dominates load losses, whereas hysteresis and eddy currents losses contribute to over 99% of the no-load loss. The no-load loss can be significant, meaning that even an idle transformer constitutes a drain on an electrical supply, which encourages development of low-loss transformers (also see energy efficient transformer).^[34]
Transformer losses are divided into losses in the windings, termed copper loss, and those in the magnetic circuit, termed iron loss. Losses in the transformer arise from:

Winding resistance

Current flowing through the windings causes resistive heating of the conductors. At higher frequencies, skin effect and proximity effect create additional winding resistance and losses.

Hysteresis losses

Each time the magnetic field is reversed, a small amount of energy is lost due to hysteresis within the core. For a given core material, the loss is proportional to the frequency, and is a function of the peak flux density to which it is subjected.^[34]

Eddy currents

Ferromagnetic materials are also good conductors, and a solid core made from such a material also constitutes a single short-circuited turn throughout its entire length. Eddy currents therefore circulate within the core in a plane normal to the flux, and are responsible for resistive heating of the core material. The eddy current loss is a complex function of the square of supply frequency and inverse square of the material thickness.^[34]

Magnetostriction

Magnetic flux in a ferromagnetic material, such as the core, causes it to physically expand and contract slightly with each cycle of the magnetic field, an effect known as magnetostriction. This produces the buzzing sound commonly associated with transformers,^[22] and in turn causes losses due to frictional heating in susceptible cores.

Mechanical losses

In addition to magnetostriction, the alternating magnetic field causes fluctuating electromagnetic forces between the primary and secondary windings. These incite vibrations within nearby metalwork, adding to the buzzing noise, and consuming a small amount of power.^[35]

Stray losses

Leakage inductance is by itself largely lossless, since energy supplied to its magnetic fields is returned to the supply with the next half-cycle. However, any leakage flux that intercepts nearby conductive materials such as the transformer's support structure will give rise to eddy currents and be converted to heat.^[36] There are also radiative losses due to the oscillating magnetic field, but these are usually small.

Dot Convention

It is common in transformer schematic symbols for there to be a dot at the end of each coil within a transformer, particularly for transformers with multiple windings on either or both of the primary and secondary sides. The purpose of the dots is to indicate the direction of each winding relative to the other windings in the transformer. Voltages at the dot end of each winding are in phase, while current flowing into the dot end of a primary coil will result in current flowing out of the dot end of a secondary coil.

Equivalent circuit

The physical limitations of the practical transformer may be brought together as an equivalent circuit model (shown below) built around an ideal lossless transformer.^[37] Power loss in the windings is current-dependent and is represented as in-series resistances R_P and R_S. Flux leakage results in a fraction of the applied voltage dropped without contributing to the mutual coupling, and thus can be modeled as reactances of each leakage inductance X_P and X_S in series with the perfectly-coupled region.
Iron losses are caused mostly by hysteresis and eddy current effects in the core, and are proportional to the square of the core flux for operation at a given frequency.^[38] Since the core flux is proportional to the applied voltage, the iron loss can be represented by a resistance R_C in parallel with the ideal transformer.
A core with finite permeability requires a magnetizing current I_M to maintain the mutual flux in the core. The magnetizing current is in phase with the flux; saturation effects cause the relationship between the two to be non-linear, but for simplicity this effect tends to be ignored in most circuit equivalents.^[38] With a sinusoidal supply, the core flux lags the induced EMF by 90° and this effect can be modeled as a magnetizing reactance (reactance of an effective inductance) X_M in parallel with the core loss component. R_C and X_M are sometimes together termed the magnetizing branch of the model. If the secondary winding is made open-circuit, the current I₀ taken by the magnetizing branch represents the transformer's no-load current.^[37]
The secondary impedance R_S and X_S is frequently moved (or "referred") to the primary side after multiplying the components by the impedance scaling factor .

Transformer equivalent circuit, with secondary impedances referred to the primary side

The resulting model is sometimes termed the "exact equivalent circuit", though it retains a number of approximations, such as an assumption of linearity.^[37] Analysis may be simplified by moving the magnetizing branch to the left of the primary impedance, an implicit assumption that the magnetizing current is low, and then summing primary and referred secondary impedances, resulting in so-called equivalent impedance.
The parameters of equivalent circuit of a transformer can be calculated from the results of two transformer tests: open-circuit test and short-circuit test.

Types

A wide variety of transformer designs are used for different applications, though they share several common features. Important common transformer types include:

Autotransformer

An autotransformer with a sliding brush contact

An autotransformer has only a single winding with two end terminals, plus a third at an intermediate tap point. The primary voltage is applied across two of the terminals, and the secondary voltage taken from one of these and the third terminal. The primary and secondary circuits therefore have a number of windings turns in common.^[39] Since the volts-per-turn is the same in both windings, each develops a voltage in proportion to its number of turns. An adjustable autotransformer is made by exposing part of the winding coils and making the secondary connection through a sliding brush, giving a variable turns ratio. ^[40] Such a device is often referred to as a variac.

Polyphase transformers

Three-phase step-down transformer mounted between two utility poles

For three-phase supplies, a bank of three individual single-phase transformers can be used, or all three phases can be incorporated as a single three-phase transformer. In this case, the magnetic circuits are connected together, the core thus containing a three-phase flow of flux.^[41] A number of winding configurations are possible, giving rise to different attributes and phase shifts.^[42] One particular polyphase configuration is the zigzag transformer, used for grounding and in the suppression of harmonic currents.^[43]

Leakage transformers

Leakage transformer

A leakage transformer, also called a stray-field transformer, has a significantly higher leakage inductance than other transformers, sometimes increased by a magnetic bypass or shunt in its core between primary and secondary, which is sometimes adjustable with a set screw. This provides a transformer with an inherent current limitation due to the loose coupling between its primary and the secondary windings. The output and input currents are low enough to prevent thermal overload under all load conditions—even if the secondary is shorted.
Leakage transformers are used for arc welding and high voltage discharge lamps (neon lamps and cold cathode fluorescent lamps, which are series-connected up to 7.5 kV AC). It acts then both as a voltage transformer and as a magnetic ballast.
Other applications are short-circuit-proof extra-low voltage transformers for toys or doorbell installations.

Resonant transformers

A resonant transformer is a kind of the leakage transformer. It uses the leakage inductance of its secondary windings in combination with external capacitors, to create one or more resonant circuits. Resonant transformers such as the Tesla coil can generate very high voltages without arcing, and are able to provide much higher current than electrostatic high-voltage generation machines such as the Van de Graaff generator.^[44] One of the applications of the resonant transformer is for the CCFL inverter. Another application of the resonant transformer is to couple between stages of a superheterodyne receiver, where the selectivity of the receiver is provided by tuned transformers in the intermediate-frequency amplifiers.^[45]

Audio transformers

Main article: Transformer types#Audio transformers

Audio transformers are those specifically designed for use in audio circuits. They can be used to block radio frequency interference or the DC component of an audio signal, to split or combine audio signals, or to provide impedance matching between high and low impedance circuits, such as between a high impedance tube (valve) amplifier output and a low impedance loudspeaker, or between a high impedance instrument output and the low impedance input of a mixing console.
Such transformers were originally designed to connect different telephone systems to one another while keeping their respective power supplies isolated, and are still commonly used to interconnect professional audio systems or system components.
Being magnetic devices, audio transformers are susceptible to external magnetic fields such as those generated by AC current-carrying conductors. "Hum" is a term commonly used to describe unwanted signals originating from the "mains" power supply (typically 50 or 60 Hz). Audio transformers used for low-level signals, such as those from microphones, often included shielding to protect against extraneous magnetically-coupled signals.

Instrument transformers

Instrument transformers are used for measuring voltage and current in electrical power systems, and for power system protection and control. where a voltage or current is too large to be conveniently used by an instrument, it can be scaled down to a standardized, low value. Instrument transformers isolate measurement, protection and control circuitry from the high currents or voltages present on the circuits being measured or controlled.

Current transformers, designed for placing around conductors

A current transformer is a transformer designed to provide a current in its secondary coil proportional to the current flowing in its primary coil. ^[46]
Voltage transformers (VTs), also referred to as "potential transformers" (PTs), are designed to have an accurately-known transformation ratio in both magnitude and phase, over a range of measuring circuit impedances. A voltage transformer is intended to present a negligible load to the supply being measured. The low secondary voltage allows protective relay equipment and measuring instruments to be operated at a lower voltages.^[47]
Both current and voltage instrument transformers are designed to have predictable characteristics on overloads. Proper operation of over-current protection relays requires that current transformers provide a predictable transformation ratio even during a short-circuit.

Classification

Transformers can be classified in different ways:

• By power capacity: from a fraction of a volt-ampere (VA) to over a thousand MVA;
• By frequency range: power-, audio-, or radio frequency;
• By voltage class: from a few volts to hundreds of kilovolts;
• By cooling type: air cooled, oil filled, fan cooled, or water cooled;
• By application: such as power supply, impedance matching, output voltage and current stabilizer, or circuit isolation;
• By end purpose: distribution, rectifier, arc furnace, amplifier output;
• By winding turns ratio: step-up, step-down, isolating (equal or near-equal ratio), variable.

Construction

Cores

Laminated core transformer showing edge of laminations at top of photo

Laminated steel cores

Transformers for use at power or audio frequencies typically have cores made of high permeability silicon steel.^[48] The steel has a permeability many times that of free space, and the core thus serves to greatly reduce the magnetizing current, and confine the flux to a path which closely couples the windings.^[49] Early transformer developers soon realized that cores constructed from solid iron resulted in prohibitive eddy-current losses, and their designs mitigated this effect with cores consisting of bundles of insulated iron wires.^[6] Later designs constructed the core by stacking layers of thin steel laminations, a principle that has remained in use. Each lamination is insulated from its neighbors by a thin non-conducting layer of insulation.^[41] The universal transformer equation indicates a minimum cross-sectional area for the core to avoid saturation.
The effect of laminations is to confine eddy currents to highly elliptical paths that enclose little flux, and so reduce their magnitude. Thinner laminations reduce losses,^[48] but are more laborious and expensive to construct.^[50] Thin laminations are generally used on high frequency transformers, with some types of very thin steel laminations able to operate up to 10 kHz.

Laminating the core greatly reduces eddy-current losses

One common design of laminated core is made from interleaved stacks of E-shaped steel sheets capped with I-shaped pieces, leading to its name of "E-I transformer".^[50] Such a design tends to exhibit more losses, but is very economical to manufacture. The cut-core or C-core type is made by winding a steel strip around a rectangular form and then bonding the layers together. It is then cut in two, forming two C shapes, and the core assembled by binding the two C halves together with a steel strap.^[50] They have the advantage that the flux is always oriented parallel to the metal grains, reducing reluctance.
A steel core's remanence means that it retains a static magnetic field when power is removed. When power is then reapplied, the residual field will cause a high inrush current until the effect of the remaining magnetism is reduced, usually after a few cycles of the applied alternating current.^[51] Overcurrent protection devices such as fuses must be selected to allow this harmless inrush to pass. On transformers connected to long, overhead power transmission lines, induced currents due to geomagnetic disturbances during solar storms can cause saturation of the core and operation of transformer protection devices.^[52]
Distribution transformers can achieve low no-load losses by using cores made with low-loss high-permeability silicon steel or amorphous (non-crystalline) metal alloy. The higher initial cost of the core material is offset over the life of the transformer by its lower losses at light load.^[53]

Solid cores

Powdered iron cores are used in circuits (such as switch-mode power supplies) that operate above main frequencies and up to a few tens of kilohertz. These materials combine high magnetic permeability with high bulk electrical resistivity. For frequencies extending beyond the VHF band, cores made from non-conductive magnetic ceramic materials called ferrites are common.^[50] Some radio-frequency transformers also have movable cores (sometimes called 'slugs') which allow adjustment of the coupling coefficient (and bandwidth) of tuned radio-frequency circuits.

Toroidal cores

Small toroidal core transformer

Toroidal transformers are built around a ring-shaped core, which, depending on operating frequency, is made from a long strip of silicon steel or permalloy wound into a coil, powdered iron, or ferrite.^[54] A strip construction ensures that the grain boundaries are optimally aligned, improving the transformer's efficiency by reducing the core's reluctance. The closed ring shape eliminates air gaps inherent in the construction of an E-I core.^[27] The cross-section of the ring is usually square or rectangular, but more expensive cores with circular cross-sections are also available. The primary and secondary coils are often wound concentrically to cover the entire surface of the core. This minimizes the length of wire needed, and also provides screening to minimize the core's magnetic field from generating electromagnetic interference.
Toroidal transformers are more efficient than the cheaper laminated E-I types for a similar power level. Other advantages compared to E-I types, include smaller size (about half), lower weight (about half), less mechanical hum (making them superior in audio amplifiers), lower exterior magnetic field (about one tenth), low off-load losses (making them more efficient in standby circuits), single-bolt mounting, and greater choice of shapes. The main disadvantages are higher cost and limited power capacity (see "Classification" above).
Ferrite toroidal cores are used at higher frequencies, typically between a few tens of kilohertz to hundreds of megahertz, to reduce losses, physical size, and weight of switch-mode power supplies. A drawback of toroidal transformer construction is the higher cost of windings. As a consequence, toroidal transformers are uncommon above ratings of a few kVA. Small distribution transformers may achieve some of the benefits of a toroidal core by splitting it and forcing it open, then inserting a bobbin containing primary and secondary windings.

Air cores

A physical core is not an absolute requisite and a functioning transformer can be produced simply by placing the windings in close proximity to each other, an arrangement termed an "air-core" transformer. The air which comprises the magnetic circuit is essentially lossless, and so an air-core transformer eliminates loss due to hysteresis in the core material.^[25] The leakage inductance is inevitably high, resulting in very poor regulation, and so such designs are unsuitable for use in power distribution.^[25] They have however very high bandwidth, and are frequently employed in radio-frequency applications,^[55] for which a satisfactory coupling coefficient is maintained by carefully overlapping the primary and secondary windings. They're also used for resonant transformers such as Tesla coils where they can achieve reasonably low loss in spite of the high leakage inductance.

Windings

Windings are usually arranged concentrically to minimize flux leakage.

Cut view through transformer windings. White: insulator. Green spiral: Grain oriented silicon steel. Black: Primary winding made of oxygen-free copper. Red: Secondary winding. Top left: Toroidal transformer. Right: C-core, but E-core would be similar. The black windings are made of film. Top: Equally low capacitance between all ends of both windings. Since most cores are at least moderately conductive they also need insulation. Bottom: Lowest capacitance for one end of the secondary winding needed for low-power high-voltage transformers. Bottom left: Reduction of leakage inductance would lead to increase of capacitance.

The conducting material used for the windings depends upon the application, but in all cases the individual turns must be electrically insulated from each other to ensure that the current travels throughout every turn.^[28] For small power and signal transformers, in which currents are low and the potential difference between adjacent turns is small, the coils are often wound from enameled magnet wire, such as Formvar wire. Larger power transformers operating at high voltages may be wound with copper rectangular strip conductors insulated by oil-impregnated paper and blocks of pressboard.^[56]
High-frequency transformers operating in the tens to hundreds of kilohertz often have windings made of braided Litz wire to minimize the skin-effect and proximity effect losses.^[28] Large power transformers use multiple-stranded conductors as well, since even at low power frequencies non-uniform distribution of current would otherwise exist in high-current windings.^[56] Each strand is individually insulated, and the strands are arranged so that at certain points in the winding, or throughout the whole winding, each portion occupies different relative positions in the complete conductor. The transposition equalizes the current flowing in each strand of the conductor, and reduces eddy current losses in the winding itself. The stranded conductor is also more flexible than a solid conductor of similar size, aiding manufacture.^[56]
For signal transformers, the windings may be arranged in a way to minimize leakage inductance and stray capacitance to improve high-frequency response. This can be done by splitting up each coil into sections, and those sections placed in layers between the sections of the other winding. This is known as a stacked type or interleaved winding.
Both the primary and secondary windings on power transformers may have external connections, called taps, to intermediate points on the winding to allow selection of the voltage ratio. The taps may be connected to an automatic on-load tap changer for voltage regulation of distribution circuits. Audio-frequency transformers, used for the distribution of audio to public address loudspeakers, have taps to allow adjustment of impedance to each speaker. A center-tapped transformer is often used in the output stage of an audio power amplifier in a push-pull circuit. Modulation transformers in AM transmitters are very similar.
Certain transformers have the windings protected by epoxy resin. By impregnating the transformer with epoxy under a vacuum, one can replace air spaces within the windings with epoxy, thus sealing the windings and helping to prevent the possible formation of corona and absorption of dirt or water. This produces transformers more suited to damp or dirty environments, but at increased manufacturing cost.^[57]

Coolant

Cut away view of three-phase oil-cooled transformer. The oil reservoir is visible at the top. Radiative fins aid the dissipation of heat.

High temperatures will damage the winding insulation.^[58] Small transformers do not generate significant heat and are cooled by air circulation and radiation of heat. Power transformers rated up to several hundred kVA can be adequately cooled by natural convective air-cooling, sometimes assisted by fans.^[59] In larger transformers, part of the design problem is removal of heat. Some power transformers are immersed in transformer oil that both cools and insulates the windings.^[60] The oil is a highly refined mineral oil that remains stable at transformer operating temperature. Indoor liquid-filled transformers must use a non-flammable liquid, or must be located in fire resistant rooms.^[61] Air-cooled dry transformers are preferred for indoor applications even at capacity ratings where oil-cooled construction would be more economical, because their cost is offset by the reduced building construction cost.
The oil-filled tank often has radiators through which the oil circulates by natural convection; some large transformers employ forced circulation of the oil by electric pumps, aided by external fans or water-cooled heat exchangers.^[60] Oil-filled transformers undergo prolonged drying processes to ensure that the transformer is completely free of water vapor before the cooling oil is introduced. This helps prevent electrical breakdown under load. Oil-filled transformers may be equipped with Buchholz relays, which detect gas evolved during internal arcing and rapidly de-energize the transformer to avert catastrophic failure.^[51]
Polychlorinated biphenyls have properties that once favored their use as a coolant, though concerns over their environmental persistence led to a widespread ban on their use.^[62] Today, non-toxic, stable silicone-based oils, or fluorinated hydrocarbons may be used where the expense of a fire-resistant liquid offsets additional building cost for a transformer vault.^[58][61] Before 1977, even transformers that were nominally filled only with mineral oils may also have been contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls at 10-20 ppm. Since mineral oil and PCB fluid mix, maintenance equipment used for both PCB and oil-filled transformers could carry over small amounts of PCB, contaminating oil-filled transformers. ^[63]
Some "dry" transformers (containing no liquid) are enclosed in sealed, pressurized tanks and cooled by nitrogen or sulfur hexafluoride gas.^[58]
Experimental power transformers in the 2 MVA range have been built with superconducting windings which eliminates the copper losses, but not the core steel loss. These are cooled by liquid nitrogen or helium.^[64]

Terminals

Very small transformers will have wire leads connected directly to the ends of the coils, and brought out to the base of the unit for circuit connections. Larger transformers may have heavy bolted terminals, bus bars or high-voltage insulated bushings made of polymers or porcelain. A large bushing can be a complex structure since it must provide careful control of the electric field gradient without letting the transformer leak oil.^[65]

Applications

A major application of transformers is to increase voltage before transmitting electrical energy over long distances through wires. Wires have resistance and so dissipate electrical energy at a rate proportional to the square of the current through the wire. By transforming electrical power to a high-voltage (and therefore low-current) form for transmission and back again afterward, transformers enable economic transmission of power over long distances. Consequently, transformers have shaped the electricity supply industry, permitting generation to be located remotely from points of demand.^[66] All but a tiny fraction of the world's electrical power has passed through a series of transformers by the time it reaches the consumer.^[36]
Transformers are also used extensively in electronic products to step down the supply voltage to a level suitable for the low voltage circuits they contain. The transformer also electrically isolates the end user from contact with the supply voltage.
Signal and audio transformers are used to couple stages of amplifiers and to match devices such as microphones and record players to the input of amplifiers. Audio transformers allowed telephone circuits to carry on a two-way conversation over a single pair of wires. A balun transformer converts a signal that is referenced to ground to a signal that has balanced voltages to ground, such as between external cables and internal circuits.

distributed control system (DCS)

A distributed control system (DCS) refers to a control system usually of a manufacturing system, process or any kind of dynamic system, in which the controller elements are not central in location (like the brain) but are distributed throughout the system with each component sub-system controlled by one or more controllers. The entire system of controllers is connected by networks for communication and monitoring.
DCS is a very broad term used in a variety of industries, to monitor and control distributed equipment.

• Electrical power grids and electrical generation plants
• Environmental control systems
• Traffic signals
• Water management systems
• Oil refining plants
• Chemical plants
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing
• Sensor networks
• Dry cargo and bulk oil carrier ships

Elements

A DCS typically uses custom designed processors as controllers and uses both proprietary interconnections and Communications protocol for communication. Input & output modules form component parts of the DCS. The processor receives information from input modules and sends information to output modules. The input modules receive information from input instruments in the process (a.k.a. field) and transmit instructions to the output instruments in the field. Computer buses or electrical buses connect the processor and modules through multiplexer or demultiplexers. Buses also connect the distributed controllers with the central controller and finally to the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) or control consoles. See Process Automation System.
Elements of a distributed control system may directly connect to physical equipment such as switches, pumps and valves or may work through an intermediate system such as a SCADA system.

Applications

Distributed Control Systems (DCSs) are dedicated systems used to control manufacturing processes that are continuous or batch-oriented, such as oil refining, petrochemicals, central station power generation, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage manufacturing, cement production, steelmaking, and papermaking. DCSs are connected to sensors and actuators and use setpoint control to control the flow of material through the plant. The most common example is a setpoint control loop consisting of a pressure sensor, controller, and control valve. Pressure or flow measurements are transmitted to the controller, usually through the aid of a signal conditioning Input/Output (I/O) device. When the measured variable reaches a certain point, the controller instructs a valve or actuation device to open or close until the fluidic flow process reaches the desired setpoint. Large oil refineries have many thousands of I/O points and employ very large DCSs. Processes are not limited to fluidic flow through pipes, however, and can also include things like paper machines and their associated variable speed drives and motor control centers, cement kilns, mining operations, ore processing facilities, and many others.
A typical DCS consists of functionally and/or geographically distributed digital controllers capable of executing from 1 to 256 or more regulatory control loops in one control box. The input/output devices (I/O) can be integral with the controller or located remotely via a field network. Today’s controllers have extensive computational capabilities and, in addition to proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) control, can generally perform logic and sequential control.
DCSs may employ one or several workstations and can be configured at the workstation or by an off-line personal computer. Local communication is handled by a control network with transmission over twisted pair, coaxial, or fiber optic cable. A server and/or applications processor may be included in the system for extra computational, data collection, and reporting capability.

History

Early minicomputers were used in the control of industrial processes since the beginning of the 1960s. The IBM 1800, for example, was an early computer that had input/output hardware to gather process signals in a plant for conversion from field contact levels (for digital points) and analog signals to the digital domain.
The first industrial control computer system was built 1959 at the Texaco Port Arthur, Texas, refinery with an RW-300 of the Ramo-Wooldridge Company ^[1].
The DCS was introduced in 1975. Both Honeywell and Japanese electrical engineering firm Yokogawa introduced their own independently produced DCSs at roughly the same time, with the TDC 2000 and CENTUM^[2] systems, respectively. US-based Bristol also introduced their UCS 3000 universal controller in 1975. In 1980, Bailey (now part of ABB^[3]) introduced the NETWORK 90 system. Also in 1980, Fischer & Porter Company (now also part of ABB^[4]) introduced DCI-4000 (DCI stands for Distributed Control Instrumentation).
The DCS largely came about due to the increased availability of microcomputers and the proliferation of microprocessors in the world of process control. Computers had already been applied to process automation for some time in the form of both Direct Digital Control (DDC) and Set Point Control. In the early 1970s Taylor Instrument Company, (now part of ABB) developed the 1010 system, Foxboro the FOX1 system and Bailey Controls the 1055 systems. All of these were DDC applications implemented within mini-computers (DEC PDP 11, Varian Data Machines, MODCOMP etc) and connected to proprietary Input/Output hardware. Sophisticated (for the time) continuous as well as batch control was implemented in this way. A more conservative approach was Set Point Control , where process computers supervised clusters of analog process controllers. A CRT-based workstation provided visibility into the process using text and crude character graphics. Availability of a fully functional graphical user interface was a way away.
Central to the DCS model was the inclusion of control function blocks. Function blocks evolved from early, more primitive DDC concepts of "Table Driven" software. One of the first embodiments of object-oriented software, function blocks were self contained "blocks" of code that emulated analog hardware control components and performed tasks that were essential to process control, such as execution of PID algorithms. Function blocks continue to endure as the predominant method of control for DCS suppliers, and are supported by key technologies such as Foundation Fieldbus^[5] today.
Digital communication between distributed controllers, workstations and other computing elements (peer to peer access) was one of the primary advantages of the DCS. Attention was duly focused on the networks, which provided the all-important lines of communication that, for process applications, had to incorporate specific functions such as determinism and redundancy. As a result, many suppliers embraced the IEEE 802.4 networking standard. This decision set the stage for the wave of migrations necessary when information technology moved into process automation and IEEE 802.3 rather than IEEE 802.4 prevailed as the control LAN.

The Network Centric Era of the 1980s

The DCS brought distributed intelligence to the plant and established the presence of computers and microprocessors in process control, but it still did not provide the reach and openness necessary to unify plant resource requirements. In many cases, the DCS was merely a digital replacement of the same functionality provided by analog controllers and a panelboard display. This was embodied in The Purdue Reference Model (PRM) that was developed to define Manufacturing Operations Management relationships. PRM later formed the basis for ISA95 standards activities today.
In the 1980s, users began to look at DCSs as more than just basic process control. A very early example of a Direct Digital Control DCS was completed by the Australian business Midac in 1981-1982 using R-Tec Australian designed hardware. The system installed at the University of Melbourne used a serial communications network, connecting campus buildings back to a control room "front end". Each remote unit ran 2 Z80 microprocessors whilst the front end ran 11 in a Parallel Processing configuration with paged common memory to share tasks and could run up to 20,000 concurrent controls objects.
It was believed that if openness could be achieved and greater amounts of data could be shared throughout the enterprise that even greater things could be achieved. The first attempts to increase the openness of DCSs resulted in the adoption of the predominant operating system of the day: UNIX. UNIX and its companion networking technology TCP-IP were developed by the Department of Defense for openness, which was precisely the issue the process industries were looking to resolve.
As a result suppliers also began to adopt Ethernet-based networks with their own proprietary protocol layers. The full TCP/IP standard was not implemented, but the use of Ethernet made it possible to implement the first instances of object management and global data access technology. The 1980s also witnessed the first PLCs integrated into the DCS infrastructure. Plant-wide historians also emerged to capitalize on the extended reach of automation systems. The first DCS supplier to adopt UNIX and Ethernet networking technologies was Foxboro, who introduced the I/A Series system in 1987.

The Application Centric Era of the 1990s

The drive toward openness in the 1980s gained momentum through the 1990s with the increased adoption of Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and IT standards. Probably the biggest transition undertaken during this time was the move from the UNIX operating system to the Windows environment. While the realm of the real time operating system (RTOS) for control applications remains dominated by real time commercial variants of UNIX or proprietary operating systems, everything above real-time control has made the transition to Windows.
The introduction of Microsoft at the desktop and server layers resulted in the development of technologies such as OLE for Process Control (OPC), which is now a de facto industry connectivity standard. Internet technology also began to make its mark in automation and the DCS world, with most DCS HMI supporting Internet connectivity. The '90s were also known for the "Fieldbus Wars", where rival organizations competed to define what would become the IEC fieldbus standard for digital communication with field instrumentation instead of 4-20 milliamp analog communications. The first fieldbus installations occurred in the 1990s. Towards the end of the decade, the technology began to develop significant momentum, with the market consolidated around Foundation Fieldbus and Profibus PA for process automation applications. Some suppliers built new systems from the ground up to maximize functionality with fieldbus, such as ABB with System 800xA^[6], Emerson Process Management^[7] with the DeltaV control system, Siemens^[8] with the Simatic PCS7^[9] and azbil^[10] from Yamatake with the Harmonas-DEO system.
The impact of COTS, however, was most pronounced at the hardware layer. For years, the primary business of DCS suppliers had been the supply of large amounts of hardware, particularly I/O and controllers. The initial proliferation of DCSs required the installation of prodigious amounts of this hardware, most of it manufactured from the bottom up by DCS suppliers. Standard computer components from manufacturers such as Intel and Motorola, however, made it cost prohibitive for DCS suppliers to continue making their own components, workstations, and networking hardware.
As the suppliers made the transition to COTS components, they also discovered that the hardware market was shrinking fast. COTS not only resulted in lower manufacturing costs for the supplier, but also steadily decreasing prices for the end users, who were also becoming increasingly vocal over what they perceived to be unduly high hardware costs. Some suppliers that were previously stronger in the PLC business, such as Rockwell Automation, Siemens, were able to leverage their expertise in manufacturing control hardware to enter the DCS marketplace with cost effective offerings, while the stability/scalability/reliability and functionality of these emerging systems are still improving. The traditional DCS suppliers introduced new generation DCS System based on the latest Communication and IEC Standards, which resulting in a trend of combining the traditional concepts/functionalities for PLC and DCS into a one for all solution -- named "Process Automation System". The gaps among the various systems remain at the areas such as: the database integrity, pre-engineering functionality, system maturity, communication transparency and reliability. While it is expected the cost ratio is relatively the same (the more powerful the systems are, the more expensive they will be), the reality of the automation business is often operating strategically case by case. The current next evolution step is called Collaborative Process Automation Systems.
To compound the issue, suppliers were also realizing that the hardware market was becoming saturated. The lifecycle of hardware components such as I/O and wiring is also typically in the range of 15 to over 20 years, making for a challenging replacement market. Many of the older systems that were installed in the 1970s and 1980s are still in use today, and there is a considerable installed base of systems in the market that are approaching the end of their useful life. Developed industrial economies in North America, Europe, and Japan already had many thousands of DCSs installed, and with few if any new plants being built, the market for new hardware was shifting rapidly to smaller, albeit faster growing regions such as China, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Because of the shrinking hardware business, suppliers began to make the challenging transition from a hardware-based business model to one based on software and value-added services. It is a transition that is still being made today. The applications portfolio offered by suppliers expanded considerably in the '90s to include areas such as production management, model-based control, real-time optimization, Plant Asset Management (PAM), Real Time Performance Management (RPM) tools, alarm management, and many others. To obtain the true value from these applications, however, often requires a considerable service content, which the suppliers also provide. DCS supplier such as azbil known as Yamatake services have also expanded in scope to the point where many suppliers can act as Main Automation Contractors (MACs), providing a single point of responsibility for all automation-related facets of a project.

Industrial control system (ICS)

Industrial control system (ICS) is a general term that encompasses several types of control systems, including supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, distributed control systems (DCS), and other smaller control system configurations such as skid-mounted programmable logic controllers (PLC) often found in the industrial sectors and critical infrastructures.
ICSs are typically used in industries such as electrical, water, oil and gas, data. Based on information received from remote stations, automated or operator-driven supervisory commands can be pushed to remote station control devices, which are often referred to as field devices. Field devices control local operations such as opening and closing valves and breakers, collecting data from sensor systems, and monitoring the local environment for alarm conditions.

A historical perspective

Industrial control system technology has evolved over the past three to four decades. DCS systems generally refer to the particular functional distributed control system design that exist in industrial process plants (e.g., oil and gas, refining, chemical, pharmaceutical, some food and beverage, water and wastewater, pulp and paper, utility power, mining, metals). The DCS concept came about from a need to gather data and control the systems on a large campus in real time on high-bandwidth, low-latency data networks. It is common for loop controls to extend all the way to the top level controllers in a DCS, as everything works in real time. These systems evolved from a need to extend pneumatic control systems beyond just a small cell area of a refinery.
The PLC (programmable logic controller) evolved out of a need to replace racks of relays in ladder form. The latter were not particularly reliable, were difficult to rewire, and were difficult to diagnose. PLC control tends to be used in very regular, high-speed binary controls, such as controlling a high-speed printing press. Originally, PLC equipment did not have remote I/O racks, and many couldn't even perform more than rudimentary analog controls.
SCADA's history is rooted in distribution applications, such as power, natural gas, and water pipelines, where there is a need to gather remote data through potentially unreliable or intermittent low-bandwidth/high-latency links. SCADA systems use open-loop control with sites that are widely separated geographically. A SCADA system uses RTUs (remote terminal units, also referred to as remote telemetry units) to send supervisory data back to a control center. Most RTU systems always did have some limited capacity to handle local controls while the master station is not available. However, over the years RTU systems have grown more and more capable of handling local controls.
The boundaries between these system definitions are blurring as time goes on. The technical limits that drove the designs of these various systems are no longer as much of an issue. Many PLC platforms can now perform quite well as a small DCS, using remote I/O and analog control loops, and are able to communicate supervisory data. It is not uncommon to have telecommunications infrastructure that is so responsive and reliable that some SCADA systems actually manage closed loop control over long distances. With the increasing speed of today's processors, many DCS products have a full line of PLC-like subsystems that weren't offered when they were initially developed.
This has led to the concept of a PAC (programmable automation controller or process automation controller). It is an amalgamation of these three concepts. Time and the market will determine whether this can simplify some of the terminology and confusion that surrounds these concepts today.

Programmable logic controller

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PLC & input/output arrangements

A programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or lighting fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines. Unlike general-purpose computers, the PLC is designed for multiple inputs and output arrangements, extended temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise, and resistance to vibration and impact. Programs to control machine operation are typically stored in battery-backed or non-volatile memory. A PLC is an example of a real time system since output results must be produced in response to input conditions within a bounded time, otherwise unintended operation will result.

History

Origin

The PLC was invented in response to the needs of the American automotive manufacturing industry. Programmable controllers were initially adopted by the automotive industry where software revision replaced the re-wiring of hard-wired control panels when production models changed.
Before the PLC, control, sequencing, and safety interlock logic for manufacturing automobiles was accomplished using hundreds or thousands of relays, cam timers, and drum sequencers and dedicated closed-loop controllers. The process for updating such facilities for the yearly model change-over was very time consuming and expensive, as electricians needed to indiviually rewire each and every relay.
In 1968 GM Hydramatic (the automatic transmission division of General Motors) issued a request for proposal for an electronic replacement for hard-wired relay systems.
The winning proposal came from Bedford Associates of Bedford, Massachusetts. The first PLC, designated the 084 because it was Bedford Associates' eighty-fourth project, was the result. Bedford Associates started a new company dedicated to developing, manufacturing, selling, and servicing this new product: Modicon, which stood for MOdular DIgital CONtroller. One of the people who worked on that project was Dick Morley, who is considered to be the "father" of the PLC. The Modicon brand was sold in 1977 to Gould Electronics, and later acquired by German Company AEG and then by French Schneider Electric, the current owner.
One of the very first 084 models built is now on display at Modicon's headquarters in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was presented to Modicon by GM, when the unit was retired after nearly twenty years of uninterrupted service. Modicon used the 84 moniker at the end of its product range until the 984 made its appearance.
The automotive industry is still one of the largest users of PLCs.

Development

Early PLCs were designed to replace relay logic systems. These PLCs were programmed in "ladder logic", which strongly resembles a schematic diagram of relay logic. This program notation was chosen to reduce training demands for the existing technicians. Other early PLCs used a form of instruction list programming, based on a stack-based logic solver.
Modern PLCs can be programmed in a variety of ways, from ladder logic to more traditional programming languages such as BASIC and C. Another method is State Logic, a very high-level programming language designed to program PLCs based on state transition diagrams.

Programming

Early PLCs, up to the mid-1980s, were programmed using proprietary programming panels or special-purpose programming terminals, which often had dedicated function keys representing the various logical elements of PLC programs. Programs were stored on cassette tape cartridges. Facilities for printing and documentation were very minimal due to lack of memory capacity. The very oldest PLCs used non-volatile magnetic core memory.

Functionality

The functionality of the PLC has evolved over the years to include sequential relay control, motion control, process control, distributed control systems and networking. The data handling, storage, processing power and communication capabilities of some modern PLCs are approximately equivalent to desktop computers. PLC-like programming combined with remote I/O hardware, allow a general-purpose desktop computer to overlap some PLCs in certain applications.^{[dubious – discuss]}

PLC Topics

Features

Control panel with PLC (grey elements in the center). The unit consists of separate elements, from left to right; power supply, controller, relay units for in- and output

The main difference from other computers is that PLCs are armored for severe conditions (such as dust, moisture, heat, cold) and have the facility for extensive input/output (I/O) arrangements. These connect the PLC to sensors and actuators. PLCs read limit switches, analog process variables (such as temperature and pressure), and the positions of complex positioning systems. Some use machine vision. On the actuator side, PLCs operate electric motors, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, magnetic relays, solenoids, or analog outputs. The input/output arrangements may be built into a simple PLC, or the PLC may have external I/O modules attached to a computer network that plugs into the PLC.

System scale

A small PLC will have a fixed number of connections built in for inputs and outputs. Typically, expansions are available if the base model has insufficient I/O.
Modular PLCs have a chassis (also called a rack) into which are placed modules with different functions. The processor and selection of I/O modules is customised for the particular application. Several racks can be administered by a single processor, and may have thousands of inputs and outputs. A special high speed serial I/O link is used so that racks can be distributed away from the processor, reducing the wiring costs for large plants.

User interface

See also: List of human-computer interaction topics

PLCs may need to interact with people for the purpose of configuration, alarm reporting or everyday control.
A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is employed for this purpose. HMIs are also referred to as MMIs (Man Machine Interface) and GUI (Graphical User Interface).
A simple system may use buttons and lights to interact with the user. Text displays are available as well as graphical touch screens. More complex systems use a programming and monitoring software installed on a computer, with the PLC connected via a communication interface.

[edit] Communications

PLCs have built in communications ports usually 9-Pin RS232, and optionally for RS485 and Ethernet. Modbus, BACnet or DF1 is usually included as one of the communications protocols. Others' options include various fieldbuses such as DeviceNet or Profibus. Other communications protocols that may be used are listed in the List of automation protocols.
Most modern PLCs can communicate over a network to some other system, such as a computer running a SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system or web browser.
PLCs used in larger I/O systems may have peer-to-peer (P2P) communication between processors. This allows separate parts of a complex process to have individual control while allowing the subsystems to co-ordinate over the communication link. These communication links are also often used for HMI devices such as keypads or PC-type workstations. Some of today's PLCs can communicate over a wide range of media including RS-485, Coaxial, and even Ethernet.

Programming

PLC programs are typically written in a special application on a personal computer, then downloaded by a direct-connection cable or over a network to the PLC. The program is stored in the PLC either in battery-backed-up RAM or some other non-volatile flash memory. Often, a single PLC can be programmed to replace thousands of relays.
Under the IEC 61131-3 standard, PLCs can be programmed using standards-based programming languages. A graphical programming notation called Sequential Function Charts is available on certain programmable controllers. Initially most PLC's utilized Ladder Logic Diagram Programming, a model which emulated electromechanical control panel devices (such as the contact and coils of relays) which PLC's replaced. This model remains common today.
IEC 61131-3 currently defines five programming languages for programmable control systems: FBD (Function block diagram), LD (Ladder diagram), ST (Structured text, similar to the Pascal programming language), IL (Instruction list, similar to assembly language) and SFC (Sequential function chart). These techniques emphasize logical organization of operations.
While the fundamental concepts of PLC programming are common to all manufacturers, differences in I/O addressing, memory organization and instruction sets mean that PLC programs are never perfectly interchangeable between different makers. Even within the same product line of a single manufacturer, different models may not be directly compatible.

PLC compared with other control systems

PLCs are well-adapted to a range of automation tasks. These are typically industrial processes in manufacturing where the cost of developing and maintaining the automation system is high relative to the total cost of the automation, and where changes to the system would be expected during its operational life. PLCs contain input and output devices compatible with industrial pilot devices and controls; little electrical design is required, and the design problem centers on expressing the desired sequence of operations. PLC applications are typically highly customized systems so the cost of a packaged PLC is low compared to the cost of a specific custom-built controller design. On the other hand, in the case of mass-produced goods, customized control systems are economic due to the lower cost of the components, which can be optimally chosen instead of a "generic" solution, and where the non-recurring engineering charges are spread over thousands or millions of units.
For high volume or very simple fixed automation tasks, different techniques are used. For example, a consumer dishwasher would be controlled by an electromechanical cam timer costing only a few dollars in production quantities.
A microcontroller-based design would be appropriate where hundreds or thousands of units will be produced and so the development cost (design of power supplies and input/output hardware) can be spread over many sales, and where the end-user would not need to alter the control. Automotive applications are an example; millions of units are built each year, and very few end-users alter the programming of these controllers. However, some specialty vehicles such as transit busses economically use PLCs instead of custom-designed controls, because the volumes are low and the development cost would be uneconomic.
Very complex process control, such as used in the chemical industry, may require algorithms and performance beyond the capability of even high-performance PLCs. Very high-speed or precision controls may also require customized solutions; for example, aircraft flight controls.
Programmable controllers are widely used in motion control, positioning control and torque control. Some manufacturers produce motion control units to be integrated with PLC so that G-code (involving a CNC machine) can be used to instruct machine movements.^{[citation needed]}
PLCs may include logic for single-variable feedback analog control loop, a "proportional, integral, derivative" or "PID controller." A PID loop could be used to control the temperature of a manufacturing process, for example. Historically PLCs were usually configured with only a few analog control loops; where processes required hundreds or thousands of loops, a distributed control system (DCS) would instead be used. As PLCs have become more powerful, the boundary between DCS and PLC applications has become less distinct.
PLCs have similar functionality as Remote Terminal Units. An RTU, however, usually does not support control algorithms or control loops. As hardware rapidly becomes more powerful and cheaper, RTUs, PLCs and DCSs are increasingly beginning to overlap in responsibilities, and many vendors sell RTUs with PLC-like features and vice versa. The industry has standardized on the IEC 61131-3 functional block language for creating programs to run on RTUs and PLCs, although nearly all vendors also offer proprietary alternatives and associated development environments.

Digital and analog signals

Digital or discrete signals behave as binary switches, yielding simply an On or Off signal (1 or 0, True or False, respectively). Push buttons, limit switches, and photoelectric sensors are examples of devices providing a discrete signal. Discrete signals are sent using either voltage or current, where a specific range is designated as On and another as Off. For example, a PLC might use 24 V DC I/O, with values above 22 V DC representing On, values below 2VDC representing Off, and intermediate values undefined. Initially, PLCs had only discrete I/O.
Analog signals are like volume controls, with a range of values between zero and full-scale. These are typically interpreted as integer values (counts) by the PLC, with various ranges of accuracy depending on the device and the number of bits available to store the data. As PLCs typically use 16-bit signed binary processors, the integer values are limited between -32,768 and +32,767. Pressure, temperature, flow, and weight are often represented by analog signals. Analog signals can use voltage or current with a magnitude proportional to the value of the process signal. For example, an analog 4-20 mA or 0 - 10 V input would be converted into an integer value of 0 - 32767.
Current inputs are less sensitive to electrical noise (i.e. from welders or electric motor starts) than voltage inputs.

[edit] Example

As an example, say a facility needs to store water in a tank. The water is drawn from the tank by another system, as needed, and our example system must manage the water level in the tank.
Using only digital signals, the PLC has two digital inputs from float switches (Low Level and High Level). When the water level is above the switch it closes a contact and passes a signal to an input. The PLC uses a digital output to open and close the inlet valve into the tank.
When the water level drops enough so that the Low Level float switch is off (down), the PLC will open the valve to let more water in. Once the water level rises enough so that the High Level switch is on (up), the PLC will shut the inlet to stop the water from overflowing. This rung is an example of seal in logic. The output is sealed in until some condition breaks the circuit.

|                                                             |
|   Low Level      High Level                 Fill Valve      |
|------[/]------|------[/]----------------------(OUT)---------|
|               |                                             |
|               |                                             |
|               |                                             |
|   Fill Valve  |                                             |
|------[ ]------|                                             |
|                                                             |
|                                                             |

An analog system might use a water pressure sensor or a load cell, and an adjustable (throttling) dripping out of the tank, the valve adjusts to slowly drip water back into the tank.
In this system, to avoid 'flutter' adjustments that can wear out the valve, many PLCs incorporate "hysteresis" which essentially creates a "deadband" of activity. A technician adjusts this deadband so the valve moves only for a significant change in rate. This will in turn minimize the motion of the valve, and reduce its wear.
A real system might combine both approaches, using float switches and simple valves to prevent spills, and a rate sensor and rate valve to optimize refill rates and prevent water hammer. Backup and maintenance methods can make a real system very complicated.

ANSI Device Numbers

In the design of electrical power systems, the ANSI Standard Device Numbers denote what features a protective device supports (such as a relay or circuit breaker). These types of devices protect electrical systems and components from damage when an unwanted event occurs, such as an electrical fault. Device numbers are used to identify the functions of devices

List of Device Numbers and Acronyms

• 1 - Master Element
• 2 - Time Delay Starting or Closing Relay
• 3 - Checking or Interlocking Relay
• 4 - Master Contactor
• 5 - Stopping Device
• 6 - Starting Circuit Breaker
• 7 - Rate of Change Relay
• 8 - Control Power Disconnecting Device
• 9 - Reversing Device
• 10 - Unit Sequence Switch
• 11 - Multi-function Device
• 12 - Overspeed Device
• 13 - Synchronous-speed Device
• 14 - Underspeed Device
• 15 - Speed - or Frequency, Matching Device
• 16 - Data Communications Device (see note 5)
• 17 - Shunting or Discharge Switch
• 18 - Accelerating or Decelerating Device
• 19 - Starting to Running Transition Contactor
• 20 - Electrically Operated Valve
• 21 - Distance Relay
• 22 - Equalizer Circuit Breaker
• 23 - Temperature Control Device
• 24 - Volts Per Hertz Relay
• 25 - Synchronizing or Synchronism-Check Device
• 26 - Apparatus Thermal Device
• 27 - Undervoltage Relay
• 28 - Flame Detector
• 29 - Isolating Contactor or Switch
• 30 - Annunciator Relay
• 31 - Separate Excitation Device
• 32 - Directional Power Relay
• 33 - Position Switch
• 34 - Master Sequence Device
• 35 - Brush-Operating or Slip-Ring Short-Circuiting Device
• 36 - Polarity or Polarizing Voltage Devices
• 37 - Undercurrent or Underpower Relay
• 38 - Bearing Protective Device
• 39 - Mechanical Condition Monitor
• 40 - Field (over/under excitation) Relay
• 41 - Field Circuit Breaker
• 42 - Running Circuit Breaker
• 43 - Manual Transfer or Selector Device
• 44 - Unit Sequence Starting Relay
• 45 - Abnormal Atmospheric Condition Monitor
• 46 - Reverse-phase or Phase-Balance Current Relay
• 47 - Phase-Sequence or Phase-Balance Voltage Relay
• 48 - Incomplete Sequence Relay
• 49 - Machine or Transformer, Thermal Relay
• 50 - Instantaneous Overcurrent Relay
• 51 - AC Inverse Time Overcurrent Relay
• 52 - AC Circuit Breaker
• 53 - Exciter or DC Generator Relay
• 54 - Turning Gear Engaging Device
• 55 - Power Factor Relay
• 56 - Field Application Relay
• 57 - Short-Circuiting or Grounding (Earthing) Device
• 58 - Rectification Failure Relay
• 59 - Overvoltage Relay
• 60 - Voltage or Current Balance Relay
• 61 - Density Switch or Sensor
• 62 - Time-Delay Stopping or Opening Relay
• 63 - Pressure Switch
• 64 - Ground (Earth) Detector Relay
• 65 - Governor
• 66 - Notching or Jogging Device
• 67 - AC Directional Overcurrent Relay
• 68 - Blocking or "Out-of-Step" Relay
• 69 - Permissive Control Device
• 70 - Rheostat
• 71 - Liquid Level Switch
• 72 - DC Circuit Breaker
• 73 - Load-Resistor Contactor
• 74 - Alarm Relay
• 75 - Position Changing Mechanism
• 76 - DC Overcurrent Relay
• 77 - Telemetering Device
• 78 - Phase-Angle Measuring Relay
• 79 - AC Reclosing Relay
• 80 - Flow Switch
• 81 - Frequency Relay
• 82 - DC Reclosing Relay
• 83 - Automatic Selective Control or Transfer Relay
• 84 - Operating Mechanism
• 85 - Communications,Carrier or Pilot-Wire Relay
• 86 - Lockout Relay
• 87 - Differential Protective Relay
• 88 - Auxiliary Motor or Motor Generator
• 89 - Line Switch
• 90 - Regulating Device
• 91 - Voltage Directional Relay
• 92 - Voltage and Power Directional Relay
• 93 - Field Changing Contactor
• 94 - Tripping or Trip-Free Relay
• 95 - For specific applications where other numbers are not suitable
• 96 - For specific applications where other numbers are not suitable
• 97 - For specific applications where other numbers are not suitable
• 98 - For specific applications where other numbers are not suitable
• 99 - For specific applications where other numbers are not suitable
• AFD - Arc Flash Detector
• CLK - Clock or Timing Source
• DDR - Dynamic Disturbance Recorder
• DFR - Digital Fault Recorder
• ENV - Environmental Data
• HIZ - High Impedance Fault Detector
• HMI - Human Machine Interface
• HST - Historian
• LGC - Scheme Logic
• MET - Substation Metering
• PDC - Phasor Data Concentrator
• PMU - Phasor Measurement Unit
• PQM - Power Quality Monitor
• RIO - Remote Input/Output Device
• RTU - Remote Terminal Unit/Data Concentrator
• SER - Sequence of Events Recorder
• TCM - Trip Circuit Monitor
• SOTF - Switch On To Fault

Note 1: A suffix letter may be used with the device number; for example, suffix N is used if the device is connected to a Neutral wire (example: 59N in Siemens Relay is used for protection against Neutral Displacement); and suffixes X,Y,Z are used for auxiliary devices. Similarly, the "G" suffix denotes a "ground", hence a "51G" being a time overcurrent ground relay^[1].
Note 2: A suffix number may also be used with a device number: numbers are used to distinguish multiple "same" devices in the same equipment such as 51-1, 51-2.^[2]
Note 3: Device numbers may be combined if the device provides multiple functions, such as the instantaneous/time-delay AC over current relay denoted as 50/51^[2]
Note 4: For function descriptions, refer to IEEE standards reference library or American Standards C37.2 2008. For understanding and learning application of these devices, many technical reference books have been published and are available. These device numbers and their application are typically in the domain of electrical engineers, specifically power generation, transmission or distribution system engineers in regards to safely controlling and protecting users and equipment^[2]
Note 5: For device 16, the suffix letters further define the device: the first suffix letter is S for Serial or E for Ethernet. The subsequent letters are: C Security Processing Function VPN, Encryption F Firewall or message Filter M Network Managed Function R Router S Switch T Telephone Component. So a managed Ethernet switch would be 16ESM