ABB’s Emax 2 successfully type tested by enclosure manufacturer Rolla

Rolla manufactures the enclosures and busbar systems that are eventually developed as motor control centres, switchboards and power distribution units for industrial users. Many of its enclosures are destined for the water industry in the UK but it supplies switchgear and switchboards for the offshore, oil and gas, chemical, nuclear, and data centre industries, around the world.

Rolla was the first UK enclosure manufacturer to test ABB’s new Emax 2 low-voltage circuit breaker and offer the switchgear as part of a panel certified to IEC 61439 for low-voltage switchgear and control panels and assemblies.

Testing of a new panel is a long process, which starts many months before the panel is delivered to a specialist testing facility. It requires significant investment in time and resources and, because of their expertise in the mechanical design and construction of panels, enclosure manufacturers have a lot of influence with panel builders that specify low-voltage components.

As the first enclosure maker to type test the new Emax 2, Rolla was also one of the first to experience the performance of the switchgear first hand. And by being the first to develop and test enclosures for the new circuit breaker, Rolla will also benefit from the first orders as its customers start to adopt the breaker.

Furthermore, the introduction of the new breaker offers Rolla the opportunity to extend into new markets. Its previous maximum fault current rating was 80 kA, but this has been expanded to 100 kA through the testing programme. This is a bold move that opens up new markets for Rolla and its project partner Boulting Technology, the supplier of electrical control systems.

As Roger Greenwood, director at Rolla said: “For us it was a natural progression to migrate to the new breaker. We just put the certification in place and the testing has expanded our fault rating so that we will have opportunities in new markets.”