Diode Modules

In situations where the power being supplied is critical and the loss of power could be dangerous, it is necessary to use two power supplies.  One would be the primary supply and the other would be used as a backup in case the primary supply fails. This configuration is referred to as a redundant power supply. 

A standard power supply works by taking a certain kind of power, converting and conditioning it, and providing the correct voltage level in a specific situation. One example of this would be taking 120VAC and converting it to 24VDC, which is used for more sensitive equipment such as PLC’s, ethernet switches and radios. There are some situations where the loss of power to some of these types of components, such as a PLC, would be devastating to a critical process. An example of this would be in oil refineries, where loss of power to critical infrastructure and control equipment could potentially jeopardize the safety of workers in the plant.

In these types of scenarios, it is imperative that power is not lost to the important electrical equipment. Therefore, redundant power supplies are almost always used. If standard power supplies are being used, then an additional diode redundancy module will be needed. The diode module is able to monitor the power that is being supplied by the primary power supply. If the voltage that is being supplied changes enough, either up or down, to a point where it could potentially alter the function of the hardware it is supplying power to, then it will switch from the primary supply to the secondary, backup supply. It makes this change seamlessly, without any loss of power to the critical hardware in the system. Once the primary supply voltage has been regulated, the diode module will then switch power back to the primary supply.