Within the engineering business, Busbars are commonplace. But what are they and what do they do? PRV Engineering pride themselves in their Busbar business and thanks to the company’s new plating facility, the future looks good, not only for PRV but for potential clients too.

What are Busbars?

In electrical power distribution, a Busbar is a strip or bar of copper, brass or aluminium that conducts electricity within a switchboard, distribution board or other electrical apparatus.

What is the function of a Busbar?

Its main purpose is to conduct electricity, not to function as a structural member. The cross-sectional size of the busbar determines the maximum amount of current that can be safely carried. Busbars can have a cross-sectional area of as little as 10 mm2 but electrical substations may use metal tubes of 50 mm in diameter (20 cm2) or more as busbars. An aluminium smelter will have very large busbars used to carry tens of thousands of amperes to the electrochemical cells that produce aluminium from molten salts.

PRV Engineering CEO Simon Jones said; “Silver and Tin plating are essential finishes for components that are designed to carry heavy electrical currents – like our Busbar business. By investing in our own new plating facility, PRV Engineering guarantees our clientele and ourselves the ability to have a firmer control over prices and lead times.”

History of PRV Engineering

PRV have been trading for over 27 years and are currently one of the fastest growing high precision engineering machining specialists in Europe. The company intends to continue in that vein and Simon said; ”Our order book continues to grow and this stabilisation to our Busbar business via the investment in our new plating facility helps to convince our loyal clients that we are here for the long term.

“Because we are in the high voltage power industry and a lot of our products are Busbars, they either require a tin-plating or a silver plating for added conductivity. In the industry we find it increasingly difficult to get the service done in an adequate time and at an adequate price. We are a one-stop shop for silver plating and busbars.

“With market forces and pressures on us to do better and to improve cost and quality, I took a decision to invest in a local company to put a silver plating line in so we could take charge of it ourselves. As from the beginning of this year we now silver plate ourselves.”

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