Electronic Loads -4-
Basics
Today, dynamic measurements on electrochemical objects are of great interest. Modern instruments
for impedance measurements, cyclic voltammograms and pulse response experiments provide a
broad frequency range from µHz to MHz. At the same time, they provide a huge impedance range
from µ
Ω to GΩ. However, for most instruments there is one restriction left, they have a limited current
range of few Amperes. In the field of electrochemical power generation, for example, this is only
sufficient for “small” systems.
The electrochemical workstations of the Zennium family provide a current range of ±4 A (Zennium X)
and ±3 A (Zennium Pro) and measure impedances down to µ
Ω. Therefore, we provide external
devices (EL, PP-Series and XPOT) which can extend the application field of the Zennium systems.
The electronic loads EL300 and EL1000 are designed as additional potentiostats to allow dynamic
investigations on technical systems up to 100 A (EL300) and 200 A (EL1000). Their main applications
are discharging tests on (rechargeable) batteries and fuel cells.
The electronic loads are easily integrated in the Zennium system using EPC42 controller cards. All
functions are controlled directly from the Thales software. Up to 16 electronic loads may be controlled
by one Zennium system using up to 4 EPC42 cards.
EPC42
The EPC42 is able to control up to 4 external devices like the EL300/EL1000, the XPOT, and the
PP201/211/241. Up to four EPC42 cards can be used for installing a total of 16 external devices in a
Zennium system.
Each port provides analogue and digital interfaces for the communication of the external devices with
the Zennium system. The analogue part of the port feeds the device with the DC potential at a
resolution of 16 bit and the AC amplitude. Measured current and potential are sent from the external
device to the Zennium to be treated there in a same way as signals from the internal Zennium cards.
The EPC42 has a bandwidth of 250 kHz.
A bi-directional serial communication line allows to digitally control the functions and measuring
ranges of external devices.
Plug or unplug external devices only when both, Zennium AND the external devices,
are switched off. Otherwise the devices may get damaged.
Selecting an external device
All external Zennium devices are directly controlled by the Thales software. Each device has a unique
device number which is identical with the EPC42 port number. So, if a device is connected to EPC
port 3, you address it with the device number 3. Device number “0” is reserved for the internal
potentiostats of the Zennium system.
If an RMUX (relay multiplexer) card is installed, the device numbers of the external devices
(ELs/PPs/XPOTs) start with 17, not with 1, because then the device numbers 1 to 16 are reserved for
the 16 RMUX channels.
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