What it is and what it does
The Siemens SENTRON 3VA1096-2ED46-0AA0 is a 4-pole molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) rated for line protection, built around a TM210 thermal-magnetic trip unit. It's sized for 16 A continuous at 40 °C and holds that rating all the way up to 55 °C — only starts derating to 15 A at 60 °C and above. That means it handles warm panel environments without losing headroom. Interrupting capacity is the headline here: 52.5 kA at 240 V, dropping to 32 kA at 415 V, and still 7.5 kA at 690 V. That's serious fault-clearing ability for a 16 A frame — it will safely interrupt a high-energy short without cascading upstream. The 800 V rated insulation voltage confirms it's built for 690 V systems with margin.
Where it fits in the panel
This breaker occupies a 101.6 mm wide, 130 mm tall, 70 mm deep footprint — standard for the 3VA family. It's a panel-mount device, not a DIN-rail snap-on, so you'll need to account for mounting hardware and bus-bar connections. The front face carries an IP40 rating, meaning it's protected against tools and wires over 1 mm, but not sealed against moisture — keep it inside a closed enclosure.
What the TM210 trip means for coordination
The TM210 designation means a thermal-magnetic trip with a fixed thermal pickup at 16 A and a magnetic short-circuit pickup that's adjustable across a range (typically 5–10x In for this family). That gives you some selectivity headroom downstream — you can set the magnetic threshold high enough to ride through motor inrush without nuisance tripping, while still clearing a bolted fault fast.