Power Product of the Year
Product Name: OFI1200A Advanced conduction cooling AC/DC power supply for demanding industries
Company: POWERBOX International AB
Entry Statement
Powerbox’s OFI1200A AC/DC power supply is a ‘ground up’ design for use in industrial applications, ticking a lot of boxes in the ‘wish list’ of an end user’s requirements for such a unit. It is versatile, reliable, innovative and most importantly, it’s the perfect fit for use in contemporary applications requiring a power supply to operate with limited or no ventilation cooling, in harsh environments where electronic equipment is installed in a sealed box, in radio communication systems subject to adverse weather conditions, in outdoor displays and traffic signalling, or in indoor equipment with very strict audible noise restrictions.
Powerbox’s 1200W rated OFI1200A is an AC/DC power supply for industrial applications. Optimized for conduction cooling, the OFI1200A delivers high performance levels across a baseplate temperature range of -40 to +95 degrees C without the use of a fan. The power supply operates with a wide universal input range from 85 to 305VAC with power factor correction (PFC). Covering a large range of applications, its output voltage and current can be adjusted from near zero to the maximum allowed for each model.
Using a high efficiency topology, the typical efficiency for the 48V output unit at 230VAC input is an excellent 92%.
For applications requiring redundancy or higher power, it is possible to connect up to nine units in parallel, delivering an impressive total power level of up to 9,720W in conduction cooling mode.
Benefiting from a design optimized for conduction cooling, the OFI1200A is suitable for applications requiring a silent power solution such as in a control room. Equally, it is suitable for industrial applications when forced air ventilation is not possible due to environmental constraints. Attached to a chassis or cold plate, the OFI1200A can deliver impressive power levels with a high level of reliability.
For safety, the OFI1200A has an IN/OUT isolation of 3,000VAC and IN/FG of 2,000VAC. Output isolation to FG is 500VAC. The power supply includes over current protection with auto recovery, over voltage and over temperature protection.
The OFI1200A is certified in accordance with UL62368-1 3rd edition, cUL (equivalent to CAN/CSA-C22.2 No.62368-1), it has a full three-year warranty and conforms to the European RoHS, REACH and Low Voltage Directives. The product carries the CE, UKCA and cURus markings.
In its open frame format, the OFI1200A measures 142 x 39 x 260mm (5.59 x 1.54 x 10.36 inches) and weighs 1.2kg max. The OFI1200A is available in three versions of single output DC voltage, 12V/84A ; 28V/43A and 48V/25A.
Industrial applications such as professional lighting or even low-power electrolysers require the power supply to deliver constant current, and this must be easily adjustable. Often such equipments are operated in environments requiring the electronics to be enclosed and protected from hazards. This necessitates the power supply to offer an external control to adjust the output voltage and/or current from the maximum allowed to near zero.
Powerbox has ongoing requests for cathodic protection systems where DC current is passed through a metallic structure turning it in to a cathode, and thus corrosion resistant. It’s used in all kinds of metallic structures like bridges, docks, ships and windmills etc. The process needs to control either current or voltage, but as the load is pure resistive and not dynamic at all, the target current can be achieved by adjusting the voltage. The current/voltage is decreased over time, so freshly built structures need a higher current and over time it is reduced accordingly. But in general the power supply’s features open up other applications that have a need for a wide adjustment range.
To make it possible for customers to precisely adjust the voltage and current to suit their application, the OFI1200A offers two analogue inputs, VTRM and ITRM. Using those functions, the output voltage and current can be adjusted from near zero up to the maximum specified per model. For example, the 28V output can be adjusted from near zero volts up to 33.6V, and the output current from near zero amps up to 43A. The output voltage can also be adjusted using the provided onboard potentiometer. The advantage of a power supply that can be set to near zero is that this makes it possible to charge an empty battery using constant current control. Another example is in the electrolysis process where the load (liquid for electrolysis) impedance changes during the process. It requires a power supply to adjust its output voltage from near 0V to a certain level using constant current control. So for such applications the combination of constant current and an adjustable output voltage near zero is very important.
The extended trimming and control function simplifies the utilization of the power supply in constant voltage (CV) or constant current (CC) mode, without adding external circuitry.
In conclusion, Powerbox’s OFI1200A AC/DC power supply is a ‘ground up’ design for use in industrial applications. It’s the perfect fit for use in contemporary applications requiring a power supply to operate with limited or no ventilation cooling, in harsh environments where electronic equipment is installed in a sealed box.
