EMC for Installers

The integration of electronics in large systems and installations steadily increases, consider for example the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things. Power consumption decreases while the operating speed increases making equipment potentially more vulnerable for interference. The responsibility of the installer is shifting towards that of the system integrator, requiring more in-depth knowledge to achieve and maintain EMC during the technical and economical lifespan of the system or installation and the distinction between both diminishes.

EMC for Installers: Electromagnetic Compatibility of Systems and Installations combines an integral risk based approached to EMC design and management with robust technical measures. Written by two experts, who both started nearly three decades ago in EMC, it provides guidance to those new in the field and servers as reference to those with experience.

The book starts with the basic concept of EMC and evolves gradually towards more difficult topics. Particular attention is given to grounding concepts and the protection of cabling and wiring. This book puts a strong focus on passive means that are widely available for each installer: cable conduits used for cable routing can be exploited for significant improvement of the EMC-behavior of the system or installation. In addition, it will be explained how to use standard metallic enclosures to enhance the EMC-performance. For most demanding situations shielded rooms and shielding cabinets are explained. This book describes pre-compliance and full-compliance testing tailored to large systems. Templates and checklists are provided for both risk and management and test management.

• Electromagnetic compatibility explained as simple as possible, without over-simplifying.








• Practical approach, with hands-on demonstrations based on an example installation.











• Learn how to exploit cable conduits, used for cable routing anyway, to improve the EMC performance of an installation.











• Learn how to exploit standard metallic enclosures to improve EMC in systems.











• Design of power distribution networks to minimize disturbing fields.











• Toolbox and templates for managing and sustaining EMC over a long lifetime.

Dr.ir. Mark van Helvoort, PMP, PBA

Dr.Ir. Mark van Helvoort, PMP, PBA, is as program manager at Philips responsible for public-private partnerships related to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MRI Scanners are complex systems with an inherently challenging electromagnetic environment. As project manager he is currently involved in investigating the coexistence of active medical implantable devices and MRI. Before this function he was as hardware architect responsible for system EMC design and as group leader he has been responsible for RF electronics. Before joining Philips in 1999 he was with AMP (currently TE Connectivity) where he was responsible for very high speed connector simulations, investigations related to automotive wire harnessing and EMC aspects of premises networks. He was responsible for the installation of EMC test lab for automotive components. He received his Ph.D. from Eindhoven University in 1995. His thesis described grounding structures for the EMC protection of cabling and wiring. Parts of his thesis were adapted for publication in a Dutch journal for installers ("Installatie Journaal"). In 2011 Dr.Ir. van Helvoort and Melenhorst B.Sc. authored a Dutch book on EMC "EMC van Installaties – Op weg naar eletromagnetische compatibiliteit". In total Dr.Ir. van Helvoort, at the time of writing, holds 77 publications and 27 patents. He is a senior member of IEEE.

Mathieu Melenhorst, B.Sc., is a seasoned building service consultant specialized in electromagnetic phenomena at Sweco, the Netherlands with a track record in electromagnetic compatibility of large installations and complex systems. In his current role he is responsible in a wide variety of projects for preventing electromagnetic interaction between equipment and between equipment and humans (EMC and EMF), electrostatic discharge (ESD), lightning protection, stray current management (corrosion prevention) and power quality. Before joining Sweco, Mathieu Melenhorst worked at Alewijnse on marine systems, at Croon Elektrotechniek on infrastructural projects as specialist in EMC and Lightning. At Thales Nederland he was involved as EMC engineer in radar and optical systems for naval vessels and at FEI/Philips Electron Optics (currently Thermo Fisher Scientific) as EMC designer for electron microscopy systems. Mathieu has written a good number of technical papers, including a book on EMC in Dutch, together with Mark van Helvoort. He is member of the Dutch ESD-EMC society and a gifted speaker at seminars.