Released in 2022, the all-in-one protection and control relay REX610 is the latest addition to ABB’s Relion® product family. With innovative simplicity at the fore, REX610 is a pure plug-and-play solution with installed hardware modules unlocking all available functionality. REX610 can easily adapt to changing protection, communication and network requirements for the lifetime of the relay. This makes REX610 futureproofed for the evolving grid – a flexible and cost-effective choice that supports safe, smart and sustainable electrification as distribution networks continue to grow in size and complexity. In its first functionality upgrade, REX610 adds motor and arc protection to its application coverage to ensure people and processes are optimally protected.
Protecting people and processes against arcs
An electric arc in a switchgear panel may have disastrous consequences, posing a serious threat to switchgear operators and maintenance personnel. The fierce heat from the arc can also destroy valuable equipment resulting in prolonged and costly process downtime. Although most arcs can be prevented through proper maintenance, arcs may still occur due to human error during maintenance or animals entering the switchgear panel.
The new arc protection module allows REX610 to detect arc faults in air-insulated low-voltage or medium-voltage metal clad switchgear in just a fraction of a second, either based on light or light safeguarded by current measurement. Immediate detection of an arc fault is crucial to minimizing the damage and making sure process downtime is kept to a minimum.
Keeping motors running in industry
Motors are exposed to a variety of disturbances and stress during their lifetime that negatively impact the thermal ageing rate, eventually causing insulation failure and even motor breakdown. The result is production downtime, which translates into immediate financial losses. Motor protection limits these effects, prolongs the lifetime of the motor, minimizes the impact on industrial processes, and maximizes the return on investment.
Adding motor protection makes it possible for REX610 to keep asynchronous low and medium-voltage motors responsible for critical processes running to minimize production downtime. REX610 offers full protection both during motor start-up and normal run, including abnormal situations. It prevents the rotor and the motor from overheating, which otherwise might cause premature insulation failure of the windings and eventually destroy the motor, detects sudden loss of loads to prevent harming personnel, and calculates the accumulated operation time to facilitate scheduling of service, to mention a few.
With the release of new functionality, REX610 is now also capable of measuring frequency, three-phase power and energy, as well as sequence voltage.
To learn more about the latest developments in REX610, please register for the webinar on June 20. For further details on REX610, please visit the REX610 product page and REX610 campaign page, and use our novel intuitive and easy-to-use e-business platform, ABB Relays-Online, to further explore and create your unique REX610 relay.
