Insulation Monitoring Devices

Insulation monitoring devices (IMDs) continuously check the insulation resistance in ungrounded electrical systems (IT systems). They detect early signs of insulation faults, preventing electric shock, equipment damage, and fires without immediate system shutdowns. In today’s tech-driven world, insulation monitoring enhances safety, reduces energy waste, and supports sustainable, smart electrical grids.

Key Uses:

• Hospitals (operating rooms), manufacturing, data centers, electric vehicles, mining, and transportation.

Advantages:

• Early Fault Detection: Prevents costly repairs and downtime.
• Safety: Protects people and equipment.
• Continuous Operation: Systems can keep running after the first fault, allowing repairs without downtime.

Insulation Fault Location

Insulation fault location (IFL) systems quickly and accurately detect the exact location of faults in ungrounded electrical systems (IT systems). They work by continuously monitoring the system and identifying where insulation breakdowns occur, allowing for fast, targeted repairs. IFL supports the growing need for uninterrupted power in industries relying on advanced technology, smart grids, and renewable energy systems.

Advantages:

• Fast Detection: Pinpoints the fault location, reducing the time needed for diagnosis.
• Minimal Downtime: Systems can remain operational during fault detection, ensuring uninterrupted service.
• Improved Safety: Prevents hazardous conditions by addressing faults before they escalate.

Residual Current Monitoring

Residual current monitoring (RCM) systems continuously measure the difference between the incoming and outgoing electrical current in a circuit. If a difference (residual current) occurs, it indicates a potential leakage, which can pose a shock or fire hazard. With the increased reliance on electrical systems, RCM ensures safety, energy efficiency, and compliance with modern electrical safety standards.

Key Uses:

• Hospitals, industrial plants, residential buildings, data centers, and anywhere safety is critical, especially in grounded systems.

Advantages:

• Enhanced Safety: Detects even minor current leaks that could cause electric shock or fires.
• Early Detection: Identifies issues before they lead to serious faults, allowing preventative maintenance.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduces downtime by avoiding unexpected failures through continuous monitoring.

Neutral Grounding Resistance (NGR) Monitoring

NGR monitoring ensures the proper functioning of resistance grounding systems by measuring the current flowing through the neutral grounding resistor. This resistor limits fault current in case of a ground fault, protecting equipment and reducing the risk of shock or fire in medium and high-voltage systems.

Key Uses:

• Power plants, industrial systems, mining, and utilities where medium or high-voltage systems are present.

Advantages:

• Fault Detection: Identifies ground faults and ensures the resistor is functioning properly.
• Prevents Equipment Damage: Limits fault currents, protecting electrical equipment from damage.
• Increased Safety: Reduces the risk of electric shock and fire by controlling fault currents.

Power Quality

Power Quality focus on monitoring and improving the electrical power supply to maintain efficiency and safety in complex systems. These products help ensure stable voltage, minimize harmonic distortions, and address power factor issues, which are vital for industrial plants, hospitals, and renewable energy systems.

Key Offerings and Quality Aspects:

1. Power Quality Monitoring: Bender provides solutions for continuous monitoring of power quality parameters such as voltage, frequency, and harmonic content, helping to prevent equipment damage and system inefficiencies.
2. Residual Current Monitoring: Bender's systems detect leakage currents in ungrounded systems (IT systems), contributing to early fault detection and enhancing operational safety.
3. Active Filters: These devices correct harmonic distortions, improving power factor and ensuring efficient use of energy.
4. Energy Monitoring Systems: Bender’s systems provide detailed energy consumption analysis, helping industries optimize power usage and reduce costs.

These products benefit industries by maintaining stable power quality, improving energy efficiency, and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.

Measuring and Monitoring Relays

Bender's measuring and monitoring relays are designed to ensure the safe and efficient operation of electrical systems by detecting and reporting abnormalities, ensuring early intervention before failures or hazards occur. Industries such as power generation, manufacturing, data centers, and hospitals benefit from Bender’s monitoring relays due to their high reliability and precision.

Key Functions and Features:

1. Voltage and Current Monitoring: These relays continuously monitor parameters like voltage, current, and frequency, ensuring the system operates within safe limits. They protect equipment from overvoltage, under voltage, or phase imbalances.
2. Insulation Monitoring: For ungrounded systems, these relays help detect insulation faults, preventing potential hazards such as electric shocks or fires.
3. Earth Fault Monitoring: These relays detect earth (ground) faults in grounded systems, providing early warnings to reduce downtime and equipment damage.
4. Temperature Monitoring: Bender’s relays can monitor temperature in motors, transformers, and other equipment, ensuring that components do not overheat, thus extending their lifespan.

Benefits:

• Safety: Early detection of faults improves safety for operators and reduces the risk of accidents.
• Reduced Downtime: Continuous monitoring allows for scheduled maintenance rather than unexpected system shutdowns.
• Cost-Efficiency: Prevents major failures, which can be costly to repair.

Communication Devices Solutions

Bender's communication solutions facilitate the seamless integration of their electrical monitoring and safety devices into larger systems. These solutions enable real-time data transfer, monitoring, and control, ensuring efficient operation and fast fault detection across complex installations.

Key Features:

1. Remote Monitoring: Bender devices can be connected to centralized control systems, allowing operators to monitor insulation resistance, current, voltage, and fault conditions from a remote location. This reduces the need for on-site inspections.
2. Networking Capabilities: Bender systems support communication over Ethernet, Modbus, PROFIBUS, and other industry-standard protocols, enabling easy integration with existing networks and ensuring compatibility with other devices.
3. Data Logging and Reporting: Communication solutions allow for continuous data logging, providing detailed reports on system performance, which can be accessed remotely for troubleshooting and analysis.
4. Centralized Control: Multiple Bender devices can be linked to a single interface, allowing operators to manage large-scale electrical systems from a central location.

Benefits:

• Real-Time Fault Detection: Immediate alerts for faults allow for quick response, reducing downtime and equipment damage.
• System Integration: These solutions help industries incorporate Bender devices into broader energy management systems for optimized control.
• Increased Efficiency: By automating monitoring and control, communication solutions improve operational efficiency and reduce labor costs.

Operator Control Panels

Operator control panels are essential components in industrial and electrical systems, providing users with a centralized interface to monitor and control various processes and equipment. These panels are designed to enhance operational efficiency and safety in various applications, including power generation, manufacturing, and building management. Operator control panels are increasingly relevant as industries move towards automation and smart technologies. They play a crucial role where connectivity and data analytics are vital for optimizing processes and enhancing safety. In sectors like energy management, manufacturing, and transportation, these panels contribute to increased efficiency and reduced operational risks​

Uses:

• Monitor system performance (voltage, current, temperature).
• Control equipment operations (start, stop, adjust settings).
• Indicate alarms and faults for quick responses.
• Log data for performance analysis.

Advantages:

• Centralized Control: Streamlines operations and improves response times.
• Enhanced Safety: Immediate access to critical information for rapid intervention.
• User-Friendly: Often equipped with touchscreens for ease of use.
• Remote Access: Some panels allow monitoring and control from off-site.

Switching Equipment and IPS

Switching Equipment includes devices like circuit breakers and switches that control the flow of electricity in power systems, providing essential functions such as:

• Control: Regulating power distribution.
• Protection: Safeguarding against overloads and faults.
• Isolation: Allowing for safe maintenance.

Integrated Protection Systems (IPS) enhance switching equipment by offering comprehensive monitoring and automated fault response, which includes:

• Real-Time Monitoring: Early fault detection to prevent issues.
• Automated Isolation: Minimizing damage and downtime during faults.
• Enhanced Safety: Providing detailed diagnostics and alerts for better management.

Test Engineering

For more than 40 years, the "Bender tester" has been a well-known term for quality and longevity in the area of fully automated electrical safety testers. The product line UNIMET® stands for standard-compliant tests and measurements, easy operation, wide interface variety and high-quality service.

UNIMET® provides safety for medical electrical devices used for mobile service visits and for manufacturers of medical equipment.

Current Transformer

Current Transformer (CT) is an electrical device used to measure alternating current (AC) in power systems. It operates on the principle of electromagnetic induction, stepping down high currents to lower, manageable values for measurement and monitoring.

Key Functions:

• Current Measurement: Converts high current levels to lower values for use in meters, relays, and other measuring instruments.
• Protection: Provides isolation between high voltage systems and measuring devices, ensuring safety during operation.
• Monitoring: Enables real-time monitoring of electrical systems for better management and fault detection.

Advantages:

• Accuracy: CTs provide precise current measurements, essential for effective system monitoring and protection.
• Safety: They allow high-voltage current measurements without direct exposure, enhancing operator safety.
• Versatility: Used in various applications, including substations, distribution networks, and industrial power systems.

System Components

Coupling devices for insulation monitoring at high voltages, analogue measuring instruments, power supply units, interface converters and interface repeaters.

Charge Controller

The intelligence of an AC charging station or an AC charging infrastructure is largely determined by the charge controller used. A smart charge controller has the primary task of controlling and monitoring the charging process of an electrical vehicle.

The features that characterize a smart charge controller include communication with a backend system and the associated authorization of users, as well as the efficient distribution of load currents by means of dynamic load management to prevent an overload of the existing AC system.

Charging Station

As an expert in the field of electric mobility, Bender provides a range of innovative products, technical support services for electric and hybrid vehicle technology in the field of charging infrastructure.

On-board insulation monitoring devices forewarn of developing electrical faults before they become critical. These devices are proven and used in Formula 1, Formula E, Hybrid Bus and OEM vehicle applications.

For AC (Mode 3) and DC (Mode 4) charging of electric vehicles, we provide a range of regulatory compliant components and solutions. Complete charging stations, charge controllers and complementary accessories such as product-specific sensors are available from Bender.

If you are looking to develop and market your own charging station but do not have the technical knowledge, we offer our support and expertise. Bender has customized solutions that can be integrated into their products to enable a shorter time to market for your products.