New Industry Products

Three-Phase Film Capacitors for PFC and AC-Filtering

March 17, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

AVX Corporation has released the new FLB Series medium power film capacitors. Packaged in a cylindrical aluminum can with terminals that enable direct, three-phase, internal wire connection, FLB Series capacitors are comprised of metallized polypropylene dielectric imbued with a soft polyurethane resin. FLB Series capacitors feature a dual safety system consisting of an overpressure disconnector and self-healing technology, as well as exhibit high ripple current and extremely high dielectric strength in operating temperatures spanning -40 to +80 degrees C. Target applications for the series include: power factor correction and output AC filtering in power converters, UPS systems, solar and wind inverters, and motor drives.

“FLB Series three-phase film capacitors provide high contact reliability and long lifetimes and are rated for high voltages than other, comparable capacitor technologies, significantly extending the range of applications for which they’re ideal solutions,” said Gilles Terzulli, worldwide marketing manager, power film capacitors, AVX.

AVX’s RoHS-compliant FLB Series three-phase, medium power film capacitors are available in nine case sizes, six voltages spanning 230-690Vac, capacitance values spanning 3*20.3µF to 3*335µF, and three capacitance tolerances (±5%, ±10%, ±20%). Optimized for ac voltage performance, the series also exhibits high overvoltage capabilities as a result of its self-healing properties. Additionally, unlike aluminum electrolytic capacitors, FLB Series polypropylene capacitors do not have a catastrophic failure mode, as film capacitors simply experience a parametric loss of capacitance of approximately 5%, which both negates the risk of short-circuiting and enables continued functionality. Lifetime for the series is 100,000 hours at rated voltage and 70 degrees C. Lead time for the series is approximately eight weeks.