ZAHNER EL1002 User manual

( )
30/06/2022

Electronic Load

Electronic Load
1 Electronic Load EL1002 ............................................................................ 4
1.1 Packing List.......................................................................................... 4
2 Caution.......................................................................................................5
3 Introduction................................................................................................7
3.1 Modular Concept –Extension to ZENNIUM Series Potentiostat ......7
3.1.1 EL1002 Electronic Load..................................................................7
3.1.2 EPC42 Controller Card...................................................................8
3.2 Stand-Alone Mode ............................................................................. 9
4 Operation Basics......................................................................................10
4.1 Signals & Connections.......................................................................10
4.1.1 Conductor Rails ..............................................................................11
4.1.2 Safety Interlock............................................................................. 12
4.1.3 Signal LEDs & Buzzer ................................................................... 12
4.2 Operation Steps ................................................................................13
5 Thales Software.......................................................................................15
6 Cell Connection Fundamentals...............................................................19
6.1 Contact Resistance............................................................................19
6.2 4-Electrode Cell Connection Scheme............................................. 20
6.3 Two-Electrode Cell Connection Scheme.........................................21
6.4 Parasitic Inductances....................................................................... 22
7 Connection Configurations .................................................................... 25
7.1 Applications for the EL1002 without external devices.................... 26
7.1.1 Full cell configuration (Standard Kelvin Scheme) .....................26
7.1.2 Half-cell configuration –Cathode...............................................27
7.1.3 Half-cell configuration –Anode ..................................................27
7.1.4 Partial cell configuration ..............................................................28

Electronic Load
7.2 General notes for applications with external supply or load.......... 29
7.3 Applications with an additional DC load...........................................31
7.3.1 DUT connected to the EL1002 with an additional DC load
using the EXT+ terminal ........................................................................ 31
7.3.2 DUT connected to the EL1002 with a parallel DC load.......... 32
7.4 Applications with an additional power supply in series.................. 34
7.4.1 Charging batteries ....................................................................... 34
7.4.2 Electrolysis of fuel cells.............................................................. 36
7.4.3 Compensation for voltage drop (Zero Volt Option).................37
7.5 Applications with an additional power supply in parallel using the
EXT+ terminal.......................................................................................... 39
7.5.1 Charging........................................................................................ 40
7.5.2 Discharging ................................................................................... 41
7.5.3 State of charge (SoC)..................................................................42
7.5.4 Summary parallel power supply with PAD4............................. 43
8 Specifications ......................................................................................... 44
8.1 Ranges and tolerances..................................................................... 44
8.2 General specifications...................................................................... 45
8.3 Safe operation conditions................................................................ 46

Electronic Load -4-
1Electronic Load EL1002
Zahner products are carefully manufactured, calibrated and tested to ensure our
high-quality standard. Packing of the electronic load EL1002 and accessories is
done with great care to avoid damage during transport. Upon receipt of the Zahner
shipment, please check the device and accessories to make sure they are intact. If
a product is damaged during shipment, please immediately contact your Zahner’s
service partner.
1.1 Packing List
EL1002
EPC42 cable
Sense cable (Lemosa plug to blue & green twisted cables)
USB cable
Power cord
USB Stick:
oCalibration report
oCalibration data
oThis manual (pdf)
Zahner Analysis license key
This manual

Electronic Load -5-
2Caution
Please read the risk assessment document before operating the potentiostat.
Prevent the inputs of the potentiostat from electrostatic discharge (ESD)! ESD may
damage the potentiostat. ESD-related damages are not covered by the warranty of
the potentiostat. The user must make sure to discharge his-/herself from any
electrical charge before touching the potentiostat (TIP: use grounded ESD-matts).
Zahner’s potentiostats require a warm-up time of 30 minutes for optimum
performance.
Do not connect active objects such as batteries or fuel cells to the power outputs
of the potentiostat when the potentiostat is switched off! This may damage the
potentiostat.
To drive high currents with the EL1002, the customer must use a cable
recommended for high current applications and fix it to the terminals with suitable
cable lugs.
Pay attention to the wire connections and strictly follow the guidelines of this
manual. Accidentally reversed polarity may damage your device.
During operation the potential on the positive (+) terminal of the EL1002 should be
at least 1 V higher than the negative (–) terminal.
Always turn ON the EL1002 after turning on the external load or external power
supply.
No current should flow through the electronic load immediately after turning on the
electronic load, before the the startup calibration is finished.
Always turn OFF the EL1002 prior to the external load or external power supply.
Properly connect the EPC42 cable with the electronic load by using screws.
Accidental unplugging of the EPC42 cable during operation may damage your
device.
When working with high currents, remove all metallic jewelry/watches which can
possibly create short circuits.

Electronic Load -6-
Don’t touch the electrical connections during operation.
Never apply potentials exceeding 100 V using the EL1002.
The maximum current through the positive (+) terminal of EL1002 must never
exceed 200 A.
The maximum current through the shunt/current measurement unit of the EL1002
must never exceed 680 A.
The cables must be as short and thick as possible.
During EL1002 start up and calibration, do not sink external DC current.

Electronic Load -7-
3Introduction
Zahner’s electronic load EL1002 can be used as an extension to the ZENNIUM
series potentiostats or in a stand-alone configuration. In the following sections,
both scenarios are discussed.
3.1 Modular Concept –Extension to ZENNIUM Series Potentiostat
3.1.1 EL1002 Electronic Load
Dynamic measurements (e.g. impedance spectroscopy) on electrochemical objects
is a topic of high interest in the field of electrochemistry. Modern EIS instruments
cover a broad frequency range from µHz to MHz and can handle impedances
ranging from µΩ to GΩ. However, the maximum applied current is mostly limited to
a few amperes. For many applications in the field of batteries and fuel cells,
measurements at high currents are desired. For the ZENNIUM series potentiostats,
the current range can be significantly extended using Zahner’s electronic load
EL1002.
The EL1002 is a single quadrant potentiostat (it can sink but cannot source current)
and is designed to be used as an extension of the ZENNIUM potentiostat to
investigate high power electrochemical systems. The highly dynamic EL1002 load
is optimized for galvanostatic EIS measurements up to 100 kHz on energy storage
and conversion devices such as proton-exchange membrane (PEM) and solid oxide
(SO) fuel cells.
The EL1002 allows for power dissipation of up to 1 kW in terms of voltages up to
100 V and currents up to 200 A. In combination with a third-party instrument
(electronic loads or sources), measurements at higher currents (up to 680 A) can
be carried out. Moreover, the EL1002 setup can be combined in different ways with
power supplies to allow for measurements on electrolyzers and large format
batteries.
Equipping our Zennium workstation setup with our parallel measurement channel
cards (PAD4) upgrades the EL1002 to the optimal instrument for all kinds of stack
measurements on batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers. For the connection of the
EL1002 with the ZENNIUM potentiostat, an EPC42 interface card is used.

Electronic Load -8-
3.1.2 EPC42 Controller Card
An EPC42 card has 4 connection ports by which up to 4 power potentiostats
(PP2X2 and/or XPOT2) or electronic loads (EL1002) can be connected. Up to four
EPC42 cards can be installed in a ZENNIUM series potentiostats. Therefore, a total
of up to 16 external devices (PP2X2, XPOT2, EL1002) can be connected to a
ZENNIUM series potentiostat with four EPC42 cards.
Each port of the EPC42 card provides analogue and digital interfaces for the
communication between the electronic load and the ZENNIUM potentiostat. The
analogue part of the port feeds the electronic load with a signal which dictates DC
voltage as well as AC amplitude at a resolution of 16 bit. The current and voltage
signals measured by the electronic load are forwarded via the digital part of the
port to the ZENNIUM, where they are processed in the same way as the signals
from the internal cards. This means the signals are quantized with up to 32 bits.
The EPC42 card provides a bandwidth of 250 kHz.
A bi-directional serial communication line allows to digitally control the external
potentiostat functions and measuring ranges.
External power potentiostats or loads connected to the ZENNIUM series
potentiostats can only be operated sequentially. Simultaneously controlling
multiple power potentiostats is not possible.
Never plug or unplug the D-SUB connector at the backside of the electronic load
while the ZENNIUM is switched on. Otherwise, the devices and the object may be
damaged. It is recommended to fix the D-SUB connector with the screws to
prevent accidental unplugging.

Electronic Load -9-
3.2 Stand-Alone Mode
Zahner’s power potentiostats or electronic loads (PP2X2, XPOT2, EL1002) can also
be operated in stand-alone mode, for which a Windows 10/11 or Linux computer is
necessary. For software updates, Windows 10/11 is required and the use of a virtual
machine is not permitted. The application of a USB hub for connecting the device
is not recommended.
The potentiostats are controlled in stand-alone mode by the Zahner-Lab. In stand-
alone mode, DC measurements are possible (charging/discharging experiments,
constant current/potential).
The PP2X2/XPOT2/EL1002 potentiostat can also be controlled with other third-
party software (e.g., Python, and C++). This allows for the integration in already
established experimental setups. The potentiostats provide serial interfaces via
two USB serial ports which can be used to communicate with the potentiostat via
the SCPI protocol.
In the future, it is planned that the ethernet interface will be activated via a free
software update.
Zahner has prepared a GitHub library for controlling the PP2X2/XPOT2/EL1002
potentiostats with Python via SCPI:
https://github.com/Zahner-elektrik/zahner_potentiostat
And a GitHub repository with examples using the library:
https://github.com/Zahner-elektrik/Zahner-Remote-Python
The API documentation can be found at:
https://doc.zahner.de/zahner_potentiostat