Load bank

A load bank is a component in electrical engineering . It represents an electrical load unit and is z. B. used for setting, testing and maintenance as well as the technical acceptance of generators. For this purpose, load tests are carried out with continuous operation as well as load activation and deactivation.

Depending on the type and purpose of use, a load bank exists e.g. B. from heating resistors (ohmic load power factor ) and is additionally equipped with coils for ohmic and inductive load applications (power factor between 0.8 and 1.0), which provide the inductive load. The electrical energy is converted into thermal heat and discharged to the outside by means of one or more fans in order to prevent the resistors and / or coils from overheating. ${\displaystyle \cos \,\varphi =1{,}0}$ ${\displaystyle \cos \,\varphi }$

Depending on the application and type of design, load banks are manufactured in different sizes and dimensions. These range z. B. from loads from 10 kW as transportable units up to a few megawatts in container construction. In order to be able to provide high performance, it is also possible to connect two or more load banks to one another on the control side, depending on the manufacturer and type of design.

This network can then be operated by the operator as a unit with a controller. In order to ensure the operational safety of load banks, they are equipped with various safety devices to prevent personal injury and an overload situation of the unit.

Depending on the manufacturer and control variant, it is possible to have various freely configurable measured values ​​recorded by the load bank during the entire test process and to save them in electronic form for later evaluation. This data can then be used to create graphically displayed curves for load activation and deactivation and use them for acceptance reports. Depending on the design, load banks can be operated without an upstream transformer , with generator-side output voltages of 380  volts , 50  Hertz to 480 volts, 60 Hertz. With an output voltage on the generator side in the voltage range greater than 480 volts, 60 Hertz, a transformer can be connected between the generator and the load bank in order to enable a load test of these generators.