Welcome to the April edition of Power Systems Design Europe. One of the megatrends in the world today, at least for the western world, is the reshoring of manufacturing. A large amount of our production capabilities had been offshored to China and other areas of the Far East in the last half century, and thanks mainly to the economic hit from the supply chain disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders across Europe and the US now want to ensure that the reins of their economies are in their own hands as much as possible. In practice, this means that huge quantities of investment has been set aside to build manufacturing plants. Reshoring also has the secondary benefit of creating well paid jobs for the citizens of those countries. Finally, it comes at a times when there is a genuine industrial revolution with the electrification of industry, AI and the IoT.
Electrification is the subject of the first article in this month’s Industry Special Report. The electrification of transport is very important, as burning fossil fuels for transportation creates an enormous quantity of carbon emissions, and almost all western governments have signed up to the Paris Agreements to cut their own emissions. The electrification of transport is the lowest hanging fruit that will help them meet these goals. While EVs are doing a good job in the replacement of ICE vehicles on land, in the air things are much more difficult. Firstly, the decision has to be made on whether electrification is the most suitable technology for that purpose, or should we look at other forms of low carbon propulsion, such as hydrogen? If electrification is chosen, there are other factors to consider that are not found in designs at sea level, for example, there is more chance of arcing occurring at altitude. The article, submitted by WireMasters, looks at one particular aspect of the electrification of flight, wiring. The cabling used in air transport must be light and compact, while still suppressing arcing and meeting other challenges. The feature looks at aircraft wiring and the new materials that may help make electrification the better choice.
The second feature in the Special Report this month was contributed by Melexis. HVAC and water are essential to industry. Metering is required to ensure that equipment is operating as effectively as possible, and in the case of the water industry, leaks are kept to a minimum. Sensors are key to accurate measurement in metering, but both the HVAC and water industries are tough on electronics. The article investigates Melexis’ MEMS-based Triphibian technology, and how it can form the basis of an effective metering solution, while being rugged enough to operate for the lifetime of the equipment.
As well as the Special Report, this month’s magazine also features general articles of interest to power engineers in our Tech Focus section, as well as the latest news and views from the industry.
Best Regards,
Ally Winning
European Editor, PSD
Ally@powersystemsdesign.com
