Considering the applications and the electrical industry’s intricate nature, you will find numerous basic industrial electronic components that are utilized for constructing circuits and laying down electrical plans for industrial uses. No circuit or electrical plan can be complete without including such essential electrical equipment. Some of these basic electrical equipment include resistors, contactors, capacitors, and inductors.
This article has listed a brief overview of four of the most important equipment of an effective electrical plan and its characteristics.
Important Electrical Equipment Parts And Components
1. Resistors
In most integrated circuits offered by the electrical industry, you will find resistors. Such devices have a passive two-terminal, which resists current flow. Typically, resistors can be found in most basic electronic circuits, and on the basis of power ratings as well as resistance values, they get graded.
Resistors offer an effective way to control the current and voltage in your electrical circuit. Even though resistors have several applications, some of their most common functions are:
- Resistor-capacitor networks
- Dividing voltage
- Controlling the current flow
2. Contactors
Contactors are electrical devices that are generally used for high-power applications. They do so by allowing a lower voltage current to switch to a high-power circuit and are usually both larger and built for heavy-duty applications than control relays. Due to their built, contactors can easily switch higher power loads on and off for thousands of cycles.
Typically, standard control relays have contact ratings of 10A or less at 250Vac, or lesser. Whereas on the other hand, contactors carry higher contact ratings that reach hundreds of amps and are generally rated for operation at 600Vac.
A common category of electrical industry equipment, contactors, consists of devices designed to meet the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. The IEC standard contactors offer compact and modular configurations, which are available in various electrical sizes. However, while exploring options in contactors, you must only look for components that match the application requirements and complies with all applicable codes and safety regulations.
3. Inductors
Inductors, or reactors, are the docile components of an electrical circuit. An inductors’ primary function is to store energy in its magnetic field and return it to the circuit when needed.
Indictors usually consist of just a coil, or a wire wrapped around the core, for example, a magnet. So, when current passes through the inductor, a magnetic field gets created. The magnetic field created by the primary inductor affects the secondary inductor when they are placed close to each other, which enabled transformers’ invention.
Though inductors are beneficial, it’s challenging to integrate them into electrical circuits because of their size as it increased the weight and space ratio. Thus, for integrated circuits, resistors are used as an alternative.
Some common applications of inductors in industries are:
- Filtering in tuned circuits
- Used as chokes
- Ferrite beads
- Proximity sensors
- Induction motors
- Transformers
- Energy storage
4. Integrated Circuits
Integrated circuits are devices that are made up of all the components required in an electrical circuit. It consists of transistors, contactors, diodes, and other such equipment, all of which get unified into one unit. Being the building blocks of modern electric devices, including computers, watches, and smartphones, integrated circuits have countless applications.
However, the primary purpose of integrated circuits is to enhance the electrical devices’ efficiency and reduce manufacturing expenses. With continual advancements in the field of technology, integrated circuits have become exceptionally sophisticated, due to which personal computers, smartphones, laptops, and other consumer electronics are getting better and cheaper day by day.
The Way Forward
We hope this article gave you a basic understanding of some of the essential electric equipment and their importance. Suppose you want to get an in-depth understanding of such electrical components and equipment. In that case, we recommend you reach out to a certified professional or a service provider to seek expert guidance. They are equipped with the proper technical expertise and knowledge to help you understand the different equipment, determine your unique needs, and recommend appropriate solutions!