Introduction of hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-protected IGBT modules

Market penetration of variable-frequency drives (VFD) continues to grow from year to year. Nowadays VFDs are widely used in many industrial applications. For some applications, such as paper production, mining, the rubber industry, etc., it is conceivable that power semiconductors are exposed to the impact of corrosive gases. In this publication, an overview of existing standards, covering exposure to corrosive gases, will be given. Typical application conditions with a high concentration of H2S gas are linked to ISA-S71.04-2013 categories and to the specifications of the laboratory test. The test results of the new H2S-protected IGBT modules will then be introduced.