The Antonov AN-148 is the First Commercial Aircraft to Operate with Ground Fault Interrupters (GFI) Enhanced by Arc Fault Detection (AFD)

October 29, 2008

Valence, France – Crouzet, a global business unit of Custom Sensors & Technologies (CST), is pleased to announce that Antonov will incorporate Crouzet’s Arc and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter/Breaker (AGFCB) into their AN-148 regional jet aircraft.

The 115VAC, 400Hz AGFCB will be used to mitigate arching in the vicinity of the fuel tanks and inside of the fuel tanks (SFAR88 recommendation) as well as protecting carbon composite structure arching damage. The integration of arc fault protection and ground fault protection in a single circuit breaker actually speeds up aircraft certification, going beyond SFAR88 by meeting:

• EASA CS-25 Book2, AMC 25.981(a) fuel tank ignition precautions
• FAA-PART 25, AC25.981-1B fuel tank ignition precautions

According to Dominique-Robert Meux, Business Engineer and Product Manager for Crouzet Aeronautic Protective Devices, “Traditional Ground Fault Interrupters (GFI) measure current leakage to the airframe and open the line as soon as maximum current limit has been read by the current transformer. The weakness of the traditional GFI is that it does not capture line-to-line arching and series arching downstream of the breaker, whereas Crouzet’s AGFCB does.” He further adds, “The AGFCB extends arching mitigation which is compelled by SFAE88 for fuel tanks which has been highly recommended.”

Crouzet’s AGFCB combines the safety of standard circuit breakers and high specification accuracy electronics to mitigate arching. Each standard thermal circuit breaker is equipped with an electronic board dedicated to capturing arc phenomena. The electronic board analyzes the current waveform in real time to detect if the arching phenomena are occurring.

About Crouzet

Crouzet, headquartered in France, has about 1800 employees with a presence in more than 40 countries. Now known as a specialist brand, Crouzet is focused on added value and customization for integrators and equipment manufacturers and serves markets such as medical, elevators and lifts, food processing, lighting, water treatment, entertainment, plastic injection/extrusion and office equipment. Crouzet brand SSRs are manufactured by Crydom Inc., a subsidiary company of Custom Sensors and Technologies.
www.crouzet.com
www.crouzet-usa.com

About Custom Sensors & Technologies

Headquartered in Moorpark, Calif., Custom Sensors & Technologies (CST) was formed from the combination of Kavlico, Crouzet, Crydom and former divisions of BEI Technologies. CST provides sensors, controls and actuation products to the industrial, transportation, and military and aerospace markets. www.cstsensors.com

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