XP Power 10A Hold-up Module Reduces Capacitance Required by Over 80%

XP Power announced the MTH100 hold-up module designed for maintaining short-term power to critical avionic and vetronic systems in the event of power dropouts. These encapsulated modules significantly reduce the amount of bulk hold capacitance required, often by as much as 80%.

The MTH100 is designed for use in systems with an input current up to 10A. The charger output voltage can be programmed allowing it to work with both military and industrial dc-dc converters. Accommodating a wide input range of +10 to +40Vdc, the MTH100 module automatically detects the input drop-out and initiates extended hold-up utilizing capacitors charged to a high voltage.

Charging the capacitors to a higher voltage than the nominal system voltage of +28Vdc, typically +36 or +45Vdc, significantly reduces the amount of capacitance required. Consider a power supply system that needs to operate through a power dropout of 200ms while supporting a 30W load without interruption using a dc-dc converter with a minimum input of 10V. Without a hold-up module, if the power dropout occurs at 16Vin, the system would need over 90,000µF of capacitance. Using the MTH100 module, the system needs only 7,000µF of capacitance, or 92% less. According to XP, this results in cost, weight and board space savings, a great aid to engineers faced with the challenge of squeezing large numbers of bulky components into every reducing system spaces while meeting dropout and hold-up criteria.

Measuring just 40 x 26 x 12.7mm (1.57 x 1.02 x 0.5 inches), the base plate cooled MTH100 module is typically 98% efficient, operate across the temperature range of -55 to +100°C.

The MTH100 is priced $179.40 each in OEM quantities.