Introduction

NCL is an established company providing professional capacitors for demanding specialised power electronic applications and has acquired a worldwide reputation for innovation and excellence. The company is at the forefront of capacitor technology, leading the market with many of its products.

Technology

NCL uses a wide range of dielectric materials and impregnants, each being carefully selected to provide optimum operating characteristics to match customer requirements. Metallised dielectrics are used in many applications, but in some designs, due to exceptionally high currents, aluminium foil is retained as the traditional electrode.

Many designs incorporate metallised film technology, which gives advantages in weight and volume reduction over the traditional film/foil construction. Special metallising techniques are used to reduce the potential problems caused by self-healings which can occur from time to time. Whilst not normally a problem in small capacitors used on printed circuit boards, the uncontrolled energy in self-healing operations in larger capacitors can cause consequential damage and further degradation of the device. NCL has developed techniques which obviate these problems thus ensuring reliable and trouble free operation.

GTO Snubbers : NCL's range of GTO snubber capacitors utilise a combination of foil electrodes for high current requirements and low loss metallised film necessary for self-healing capability. Ultra low inductance is a feature of this range, which is a significant advantage in GTO snubber application. NCL also produces a range of high temperature GTO Snubbers for operation up to 120°C for continuous duty.

Thyristor Snubbers : An all metallised film construction designed for high peak current applications in bi-directional thyristor snubber circuits.

IGCT Protection : With the advent of GCT (Gate-Commutated Thyristor), developed from the well established GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor), NCL can offer capacitors having the necessary ultra low inductance, essential for the efficient operation of these high power, high current devices, where very high di/dt values are encountered. NCL leads the market in this particular technology.

DC Filters : DC capacitors for filtering applications incorporate "fused" metallised dielectrics to provide maximum lifetime expectancies consistent with the smallest volumes. Typically used in traction applications, where lifetime in excess of 25 years is readily achievable.

IGBT Filters : Improved manufacturing and construction techniques, differing from our standard filter capacitors, enable low inductance capacitors to be manufactured. These units complement the increasing market demands for IGBT devices, where the technology has become more established in higher voltage and power ratings.

IGBT - AC Harmonic Filters : These are manufactured using metallised film dielectric technology, especially for traction and static inverter applications. Frequently these are designed for 3 phase circuits connected either in star or delta, to cover harmonic currents up to 25kHz.

Energy Storage : NCL manufactures an extensive range of energy storage capacitors covering military, medical, industrial and research markets. These range from devices for hand held laser range finders, target designators, surgical and cosmetic lasers, magnetisers and welders to high energy density pulsed power applications.

43 Series (Hermetically sealed metal case) : NCL offers an extensive range of high temperature (120°C) cylindrical capacitors with axial leads, principally developed to meet the professional and military markets, where high stability, high reliability and long life are essential. These are available in capacitance ranges of 0.01µF to 4.7µF from 1% to 20% in four tolerance bands, and voltage ranges from 63V dc to 400V dc.

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