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Film capacitor series keeps its cool even at 150°C

High-temp film capacitor, stays cool up to 150°C.

The Exxelia Dearborn 880P series of metalised Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) Film Capacitors is designed to keep cool when things get hot. With an operating temperature range of -55 to +150°C, they experience no derating for DC operations and none in AC operations up to +125°C.

This enables them to function at full capacity in extreme heat applications. The ability to operate at such high temperatures can eliminate the need for a cooling system within the design, thus reducing overall design time, weight and space.

PPS is a high-temperature, low-loss dielectric film used in the 880P series of wrap-and-fill capacitors. This allows them to feature superior electrical characteristics over an extremely wide temperature range and maintain excellent capacitance stability in one rugged, lightweight package. It performs consistently well in commercial applications such as in power supplies and in more demanding applications, such as in avionics, on a congested control or instrumentation panel.

The series features a capacitance range of 0.0047 to 10.0µF and voltage ratings from 50 to 400VDC with precision tolerances as low as ±¼% through ±10% yielding greater accuracy of capacitance. It is also a customisable unit with voltage maximums of 700 – 800VDC at 125°C maximum (higher voltages are available at reduced capacitance).

Made in the USA, the units are highly durable and capable of withstanding a five-pound pull force on lead axis. They are non-polar and demonstrate low loss factor, good voltage breakdown strength and high insulation resistance (low leak current) – and are completely stable over normal temperatures, voltages and frequency ranges. These characteristics allow the 880P series capacitors to deliver high performance in a variety of applications such as DC timing circuits, low- to high-frequency AC applications, and pulse or energy discharge uses.

Additionally, the package has axial leads with moisture-resistant, flame-retardant epoxy end seals and an outer tape covering for maximum performance.

Published on 04 Sep 2017 by Marion Van de Graaf

Exxelia onboard Solar Orbiter

Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency mission, was launched on an Atlas V rocket 411 (AV-087) from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:03 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9 2020. The satellite reached its first working orbit around the Sun, called “halo orbit” and is ready to begin its first scientific observation campaign. The campaign will last six months, during which time the 55 payloads will be turned on one by one and tested before being used to perform scientific observations. Solar Orbiter is a highly complex scientific laboratory. Deploying such a mission is a one-of-a-kind achievement! The mission will take years and is one of the most highly anticipated scientific experiments of our time. And you know what they say: your best work comes when you're up against the toughest challenges. Unfortunately, these challenges aren't only in labs, but also in space. To study the Sun and its activity like never before, scientists are sending a probe into orbit around it. Solar Orbiter will be facing temperatures of up to 500°C, which is usually not survivable for complex equipment. But do you know what's even more challenging than getting data from a 500°C hot solar environment? Getting that data with expensive equipment that doesn't work, because you don't have enough reliable components at your disposal! That's why we, at Exxelia, were so happy when we heard that thousands of our capacitors and magnetics were chosen by the European Space Agency to achieve this mission; we're talking about components that will keep working in those kinds of harsh environments! They will help scientists better understand energy flow and particle acceleration within our own solar system and beyond. Shockingly, the Sun is mostly a mystery. We have some understanding of its composition, but it's unclear how the phenomena we see happen. Solar Orbiter is going to help us get a better idea of what makes the Sun tick by taking some of the most detailed images and observations of our star ever taken. Among the instruments on Solar Orbiter are: a Wide-Angle Imager and a Coronal Imager. Each will provide high-resolution images—an order of magnitude higher than those captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory—and spectacular views of the Sun's polar regions. The Wide-Angle Imager will capture images in five wavelengths, while the Coronal Imager will use seven wavelengths to observe phenomena that affect the upper layers of the solar atmosphere, such as magnetic fields and plasma flows. Our capacitors and magnetics are critical for stabilizing and powering these instruments on their mission to explore our home star! They need to be able to perform in a very hostile environment with temperatures ranging from -150°C (-238°F) to 500°C (932°F). Temperatures will reach their highest during the closest flybys of the Sun—which will take place as close as 15 million kilometers (about 93 million miles) from its surface. Our space capacitors and magnetics are capable of withstanding such high temperatures. They'll even keep functioning in cryogenic conditions, as low as -150°C (-238°F). These components are also very durable, which makes them perfectly suited for this mission.     Choosing the right capacitors for such a mission was not easy. The requirements and technical constraints were very strict. We had also to support and select the materials that could handle the launch vibrations and the shock of the rocket launching phase, we also had to achieve a very long life and high reliability in order to succeed in the mission. This project proves that our EXXELIA components are incredibly reliable and have nothing to envy to other electronic components on the market. Several other tests have been conducted by ESA in this project such as solar radiation, thermal shock... Exxelia ESA QLP Products Onboard Solar Orbiter : 14,400 CNC chips ceramic capacitors 14,400 CEC chips ceramic capacitors 520 of our CNC stacks ceramic capacitors 470 SESI QPL Inductors 380 MSCI RF Inductors  287 ESA qualified CTC21/E Tantalum Capacitors 50 ESA Film Capacitors PM94

What is a capacitor ?

▲ WHAT IS A CAPACITOR ?   Definition from the dictionnary: « Capacitor »: Device able to accumulate charges and to relaunch them in a very short time.    > See our capacitors in catalog    What it really is: It's an electrical component made of 2 conductive armatures (called electrodes) separated by an isolating layer. Its main property is to store electrical charges on its armatures. There is a direct link between the voltage put on the capacitor and the value of the charge at the armatures This coefficient C, the capacitance, is the value caracterizing mathematically the capacitors. As we can identifie a direct link between U and I in the capacitor we can caracterize it as a dipole this way: 3 main dipoles : In the physical reality:   Contacts with the PCB (terminations) + Other internal contact suh as the metallic contacts, or the physical internal resistivity of the used materials. → Resistance in the circuit   Other losses due mainly to the leads → inductive effect in the circuit. Example of possible caracterization: That’s why the Esr is always written « at a certain frequency »  which should be the resonnance frequency. This is also why the capacitors have frequency optimal ranges. The higher the resonance frequency is, the higher the frequencies are withstanded by the capacitor.   In terms of energy Efficient energy is Ec.   In reality E= Ec+Er+Ei with: Ec = Energy due to the ideal capacitor Er = Energy to the ESR Ei = Energy due to the leakage.   So Er and Ei are caracterized by heating (Joule effect). So even if that’s not always a key paramter, the lower the esr the better it is for the circuit.                                                                                                                                                                               If the capacitor is polarized : If the capacitor is not polarized : > See our capacitors in catalog   ▲ MAIN CARACTERISTICS 1) Voltages (V) 2) Capacitance of Capacitor   3) Capacitance / volume 4) Tan Delta / ESR   5) Price of the function Whatever the function, the price of capacitors is important ! A cheap function does not mean a cheap product: 10 caps at 10€ is less expensive than 1 cap at 50€ …    > See our capacitors in catalog   ▲ FINAL OVERVIEW   Technology                                         Benefits of capacitors                          Constrains  Aluminum The least expensive The highest energy density Polarized Difficulties in storage High ESR and tan Delta Lowest temperature range  Ceramic   Ideal for high frequencies The biggest range of values (CAPA voltage)   Highest Price of the functions Low energy density Low values of capacitance  Film Highest ripple curents Highest voltages Lowest ESR and tan Delta Most expensive Lowest energy density High price of the function  Tantalum Lower ESR than aluminum, Good energy density and price of the function Polarized Solid can burn High ESR and tan Delta       > See our capacitors in catalog
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