TA200616 - Phase Control SCR 1800A 2200V | Powerex

Electrochemical Rectifiers

The TA200616 fits electrochemical rectifier duty such as chlorine electrolysis and aluminum smelting, where thousands of amperes of DC must be delivered continuously at low voltage. Its 1600-1800 A average current class per device, with 100-2200 V blocking coverage, allows rectifier bridges built from a small number of paralleled high-current legs rather than hundreds of small devices, reducing current-sharing complexity and failure points. Press-pack construction with double-side cooling supports the very high surge currents characteristic of electrochemical bus faults, improving plant availability. In service, the SCR conducts at line frequency with low switching loss, so conduction loss and thermal clamp design dominate the system architecture rather than gate drive speed.

DC Motor Drives

For large DC motor drives in steel mills, mining hoists, and paper machines, the TA200616 provides controlled rectification of the armature supply. Phase-angle control of the SCR bridge converts AC mains to an adjustable DC voltage, directly setting motor speed and torque. The device 100-2200 V blocking range covers 400 V to 690 V industrial supplies with adequate margin, and the 1600-1800 A average current class addresses armature currents of the largest machine frames. Because the SCR turns off naturally at each current zero, no forced commutation circuitry is needed, simplifying the power stage. Designers must validate the surge I2t rating against the DC breaker clearing characteristic to survive armature short-circuit events.

Soft Starters for Large Motors

In medium and high-voltage soft starters, the TA200616 performs phase-angle voltage ramping on induction motor stators to limit inrush current and mechanical stress. Its high average current rating tolerates the several-second full-ramp period, while the blocking voltage range supports standard industrial line voltages up to high-voltage systems when devices are series-stacked. The SCR must withstand dv/dt from line transients without false triggering, so RC snubbers sized to the Powerex datasheet dv/dt limits are mandatory. After the ramp, a bypass contactor usually shorts the SCR pair to eliminate conduction losses, so the device thermal design is sized for the ramp interval rather than continuous duty, reducing heatsink size significantly.

Industrial Heating Power Controllers

The TA200616 serves as the switching element in AC power controllers for resistance and induction furnace heating. By delaying the gate firing angle each half-cycle, the controller varies RMS power delivered to the heating element, holding furnace temperature with high precision. The 1600-1800 A average class covers very large multi-megawatt furnace installations, and the up to 2200 V blocking range accommodates medium-voltage supplies with series-connected devices. Because switching occurs only twice per line cycle, efficiency is high and EMI is low compared with high-frequency PWM approaches. Engineers must derate for the load power factor and verify di/dt limits at each firing event to prevent localized gate hot spots.

High-Current DC Power Supplies

Regulated DC supplies for plating, welding, and magnet coils use the TA200616 in controlled bridge topologies. The high current rating directly supports output currents in the multi-kiloampere range with a small number of devices, improving reliability and reducing paralleling losses. The wide 100-2200 V blocking range lets one hardware platform serve different input line standards by selecting the appropriate voltage code suffix. Low conduction loss at high current minimizes total heatsink volume, an important cost factor in plating rectifier fleets. Design attention should focus on busbar layout to equalize current sharing among parallel devices and on gate pulse transformers to guarantee simultaneous firing under high di/dt conditions.

HVDC and Power System Valves

In HVDC converter valves and large static var compensators, series strings of high-voltage phase control SCRs such as the TA200616 are stacked to withstand transmission-level voltages. The top-of-range 2200 V blocking capability reduces the number of series levels per valve, lowering the bill of materials and valve complexity. Line-frequency operation eliminates switching losses that would otherwise dominate valve cooling design, and the press-pack double-side-cooled construction provides the redundant surge capability required by grid-fault transients. System engineers must design static and dynamic voltage sharing networks across the series string and coordinate gate electronics at each valve potential, following the manufacturer datasheet parameters for trigger consistency.