ABB says its AC500-CX PLC offers protection against a wide range of threats, including high and low temperatures (normally -30 to +70C), high humidity, low air pressure (altitudes of 4,000m), salt mist and hazardous gases, plus vibration and shock (acceleration of 4g from random vibrations up to 500Hz, or 2g from sinusoidal vibration). Sophisticated protective enclosures with special seals, HVAC, shock absorbers and EMC protection are no longer required, according to the company.
ABB’s AC500-XC PLC offers almost all the same modules as the original version, runs the same programme code and uses the same connection dimensions and electrical specifi cations. Users can thus migrate their solutions easily, operate control systems for both standard and extreme conditions and re-use existing panel layouts and wiring harnesses or designs.
ABB says AC500-CX adds “a modest margin” to the cost of the PLC, but that savings can be made from implementation, owing to reduced design time, a smaller system of bill-of-materials, reduced cabling, lower energy consumption plus reduced lifecycle maintenance, fi lters and repair costs.