We use our expertise and its continuous further development as a basis for our intensive research and development activities. Our basic principle: Only if we precisely understand the requirements of our customers and confront the trends of tomorrow today can we provide lasting added value to our customers. Direct communication with all of our markets and with our customers is also just as important as a constant exchange of information in international bodies, higher education and research institutions. In this way, we are constantly developing further and are happy to have our value measured by our results.
Electrical energy is generated in various large power plants, for example in hydroelectric power plants, nuclear power plants, solar parks, and with photo-voltaic systems on roofs of houses or with windmills. The energy gained in this manner is transported from the generator to the user through the power lines and corresponding transformers.
At which current values and with what technology and how the network is constructed is dependent on many factors and is handled differently in different countries. Therefore, for us, it is important to recognize all of these influences, to understand regional differences in network topology, usual strategies and technology used so that we can offer our customers the world over an optimum and sustainable solution. In interdisciplinary, globally positioned teams, we work every day to integrate trends and changes into our product and service spectrum in a timely manner.
Industry applications such as in the chemical or steel manufacturing industry place special conditions on the power supply. In the different methods of manufacturing steel, for example, steel production by means of electric arc furnace is the greatest challenge in the smelting works. The smelting process has to be optimally regulated with the aid of the electric arc in order to achieve the highest degree of effectiveness in production. An important control parameter in this is the arc voltage, which can be influenced by the tap changer in the furnace transformer. Depending on the process, many tap changer operations may also be needed in short time intervals. Also, circuit feedback such as flicker due to load fluctuation and harmonic currents can arise in the power supply network. Here, too, we believe: Due to our well-founded understanding of electricity-intensive applications, we can again and again develop new, innovative products and generate new benefits for our customers.
Tap changers are used in power transformers for voltage regulation. In order to be able to optimally offer products for every application, it is essential that the entire spectrum of power transformers be known and understood exactly, in terms of both the electrical design and the mechanical structure. We are also constantly developing our knowledge here further, sharpening our competencies in these topics, and steadily creating innovation for our customers. On the basis of our longtime and deeply reaching knowledge in the active part design, construction, and production processes area, we are a competent partner and solution provider for manufacturers and operators of power transformers.
In 1926 Dr. Bernhard Jansen invented the high-speed resistor-type tap-changer that allowed the transmission ratio of transformers to be changed under load without interruption. The fruit of his cooperation with brothers Oskar and Richard Scheubeck, the product became known around the world as the "REINHAUSEN tap changer". Since this time, we have involved ourselves in the topic of uninterrupted "current switching" for power transformers. After the oil on-load tap-changer, we were able to make a technology leap to vacuum technology as an innovative leader. In this area of competency as with all others, this also applies: As the inventor of the tap changer, we continue to set the standards in current switching, and consistently develop this and other technologies further.
In a high-voltage device such as a tap changer, there are different insulation segments. These insulation distances can be located between two conducting parts in the tap changer's insulation fluid (for example, in oil). In this, not only the insulation fluid itself, but also the distance of the components to one another and the constructive design of the components plays a deciding role. The insulation distances can however also be in "fixed substances", such as non-conducting plastics between two contacts in the oil compartment of the tap charger. Insulation coordination is the layout of insulation distances depending on the requirements of corresponding materials, the distances and the constructive design of the components.
Through comprehensive analysis and trials with available and new insulation materials, fluids and modern designs, we are also constantly further developing our expertise in this area and again and again setting new standards in insulation coordination of tap changers for the benefit of our customers.
Together with our customers, we derive regulation philosophies and algorithms from our longtime experience in transmission networks and distribution networks, and use them to generate intelligent system solutions for our customers. As a highly skilled contact for transformer installers and system operators, we are available for measurement and control tasks, and we are constantly developing our competencies in this area. In this manner, we established implementation of the IEC 61850 standard in guidance system communication and constantly provide new, intelligent control and regulation solutions for our customers.