The new DCT880 is ABB's first thyristor power controller for the precise control of resistive or inductive heating elements and infrared radiators in applications for annealing, drying, melting or heating in the glass, plastics or metal industries. The devices are available in eight compact sizes from 20 amps to 4,100 amps. Thanks to integrated three-phase current measurement, all load configurations such as star, delta, economy and single-phase control through to reactive power-optimized transformer control can be implemented. The variety of control methods (phase angle control, wave packet, half-wave control as well as I, U, P and I² control) means that even demanding applications with short control times or high hot/cold ratios can be controlled dynamically and precisely. In addition, the DCT880 load management reduces load peaks and thus enables energy costs to be reduced. The integrated Codesys programming, free process controllers and support for all common fieldbuses promise the user a high degree of flexibility.