BATTERY,POWER PLANT &

EARTHING
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
 The power plant of any telecommunication
system is usually referred as the ‘heart’ of
the installation since the communication
system can function only as long as
power supply is available. Failure of power
supply system in any installation renders
the communication facilities offered by it
to be instantly paralyzed.
 
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The support power system in
BSNL
• Power plant:
To convert ac input into desired dc
output (-48 V dc)
• Battery system:
To give a back up supply load in case
commercial supply is not available.
• DG Set:
Alternative supply to battery backup.
The power plant has the capability to
recharge the battery once as
discharged.
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Requirement of Power
Supply:
 Reliability of the components of the
power plant and continuity of the power
supply.
 The power fed to the exchange
equipment should be free from noise or
hum and to telegraph equipment from
large ripple harmonics.

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 SECONDARY CELL CONSTRUCTION
(Lead Acid Accumulator)

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VRLA Technology – A brief
review of Chemical Reaction
 Maintenance free, valve-regulated lead-
acid (VRLA) batteries ensure a reliable
effective and user friendly source of
power. It is spill proof and explosion
resistant and there is no need to add
water or to clean terminals. It has low
self-discharge rate which eliminates the
need for equalizing charges.
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VRLA Technology – A brief
review of Chemical Reaction
 The electrode in all lead acid batteries,
including VRLA battery is basically identical.
As the battery is discharged the lead dioxide
positive active material and the spongy lead
negative active material react with the
sulphuric acid electrolyte to form lead
sulphate and water. During charging, this
process is reversed.
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VRLA Technology – Various
capacities of Batteries
 120 AH, 400 AH, 600 AH, 1000AH, 1500 AH,
2000 AH, 2500 AH, 3000 AH, 4000 AH & 5000
AH.

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VRLA works on the principle of
constant voltage charging
 Normally the voltage per cell is set at
2.23 V (Total float voltage is 53.5V)
and boost charge volt is set at 2.3 V per
cell (55.2 V).
 Battery capacity(AH) = Discharge
current (A ) × Discharge Duration time
(hours).

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 MONITORING OF VRLA
BATTERIES
 Periodic physical inspection of each cell
of the battery for cracks and leaking etc.
 Discharge of battery for a short duration
and recording the voltages of each cell in
the string.
 Measurement of a mark deviation (>30%)
in the impedance or conductance of the
cell as compared to the one recorded at the
time of commissioning.
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 Measurement & recording of cell temp.
periodically.
 Float Voltage of cells & its comparison
with the mid point voltage.
 Float current in fully charged battery.

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MONITORING OF VRLA BATTERIES

 Float voltage of cells and its

comparison with the mid point voltage.
The float voltage should be set to
2.25V per cell and change to 2.3V per
cell taking the adjustment factor of 3
mV/cell per degree centigrade

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MONITORING OF VRLA
BATTERIES
 CURRENT IN FULLY CHARGED
BATTERY SHALL NOT DRAW A
CURRENT MORE THAN 400mA at
27 DEGREE CENTIGRADE. IF IT
DRAWS MORE THEN 400mA, it
needs investigation

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Life of Battery
 Life of Assets was revised in the
year 2001and the present norms
for life of battery is:
 Batteries upto 200 AH: 4 years
 Batteries more than 200 AH: 6
years

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Implementation of low voltage cut
off and surge protection features
in power plants
 Surge protection feature is available in
new power plants. Old p/ps were to be
upgraded through respective
manufacturers.

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Maintenance Schedule of
VRLA batteries
 Daily: Temperature and voltage of a pilot cell and all the cells
as far as
 possible. The pilot cell should be cyclically selected on
monthly basis.
 Monthly: Voltage of each cell during partial discharge.
 Float current measurement
 Physic al verification
 Quarterly: Ensure the tightness of terminal bolts to 11Nm
/100Lb inch
 Conductance measurement
 Apply boost charge for 24Hrs.
 Yearly : Test discharge the batteries @ C10 and measure the
time battery
 sustains the load till any of the cells fallls to 1.75V.

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 Some Do’s and Dont’s for the
maintenance of VRLA
Batteries
 Do’s
• Clean the batteries as and when dust
accumulates.
• Keep the batteries away from heat source,
sparks, fire etc.,
• Keep the battery room neat and clean
• Charge the batteries once in every six months @
2.30 vpc for 24hrs, if stored for longer periods
• Wherever cables are used ensure using proper
cable size andcrimping of the lug to the cable.

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 Do’s
• Tighten all terminal bolts to 11 Nm (100 Lb.-inch)
• Re- torque all the terminal bolts once in every six
months.After any discharge, recharge the
batteries when power restores.
• Always use calibrated instruments for
measurements.
• Keep the batteries in Air-conditioned environment,
wherever possible.

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 . Don’ts

• Do
not add water or acid.
• Do
not tamper the safety valves.
• Do
not over tighten the terminal bolts.
• Do
not allow any metal objects to rest on the battery or fall
across the battery terminals.
• Do not mix the batteries of different capacities or makes.
• Do not combine ordinary conventional batteries with VRLA
batteries.
• Do not install physically damaged cells.
• Do not dump any waste materials in the battery room.

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Conventional Power plant

 The power plant is used to rectify the

ac input supply to desired output dc (-
48v). The conventional power plants
which were in use earlier were based
on SCRsor Ferro-resonant techniques..

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 Problems of the conventional types
of power plant :

 1. Very large size,

 2. Large weight
 3. Lower efficiency.
 4. No scope for modular expansion

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The salient feature of
SMPS PP-
 To get rid of all these problems now SMPS
power plant are used.
 In these systems, the conversion of AC to
DC is accomplished in two stages

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The salient feature of
SMPS PP-
 First Stage conversion:
The input AC voltage is directly rectified to
high voltage DC.
 Second Stage Conversion:
• Rectified high voltage DC is stored in a
capacitor.
• High voltage DC is then converted into a
very high frequency AC (20 KHz and higher)
by means of very powerful and fast semi-
conductor switching devices.

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The salient feature of
SMPS PP-

• High frequency AC is stepped down to

the required level, by means of a small
high frequency transformer.
• Stepped down AC is rectified to DC of
desired voltage and filtered by means of
high frequency filters.

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 Advantages of SMPS Power
Plant:
 1. Due to high frequency the size of
transformers and chokes is reduced to 10
to15% of the conventional SCR/Thyristor
controlled power plants. This makes the power
plant compact due to which a lot of saving in
floor area is achieved.

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 Advantages of SMPS Power
Plant:
 2. The batteries (both VRLA as well as flooded
Lead acid) are more prone to temperature
variations . As most of the SMPS Power Plants
employ microprocessor control techniques, the
introduction of temperature compensation
logic for batteries has become simple and
easier.

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 Advantages of SMPS Power
Plant
 3. Being small and light in weight, fit perfectly
in modular concept.Up-gradation of the
capacity in modular system is easy; simply
plugging-in the additional modules adds to the
capacity, with the limit of ultimate capacity
and does not require the replacement of
existing Power Plant as in the case of
conventional Power Plants.
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 Advantages of SMPS Power
Plant
 4.These Power Plants have very high reliability and
therefore are less prone to
faults, which result in low operating cost.
 5. SMPS offer a very improved Power Factor (near
unity) making the system more efficient and make
easy to comply with state electricity board’s
P.F.norms.
 6. These power systems are suitable for VRLA
batteries.

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 Temperature:-

 Every 10 degree rise in battery temperature

doubles the chemical reaction in the battery &
capacity becomes half. The SMPS power plant
takes care of the temperature by reducing the
charging voltage but still it is important to
measure individual cell temp. There is
temperature compensation in SMPS PP and it
is 3mV per degree raise in temp.
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SMPS(Switched Mode Power
Supply)
 Static p/p: 15 years
 SMPSp/p :15 years

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 EARTHING
PPurposes of Earthing
AApart from protection from hazardous stray
currents in electrical equipment in Telecom.
circuits and equipments, earthing is provided for the
Following purposes:
11. Reduction of Crosstalk and Noise
22. Used as return path for the conductors in
some circuits.

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 EARTHING
 

3 3. Protection of costly apparatus and persons

against foreign voltages and leakage currents
from power wirings to the metallic frame of the
equipment
  4. Protection of buildings and equipments
from lighting strikes.
5. It is used to effect reliability of power as it helps
to provide stability of voltage conditions preventing
excess fluctuations and providing a measure of
protection against lighting.

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 Earth Electrodes :

 Three types of earth electrodes are

commonly used for earthing systems.
 1)   Rod electrodes
 2)    Plate electrodes
 3)     Strip electrodes

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  Instruction for monitoring of
earth resistance were issued from
Corporate office.
As per the instruction:
•E/R is to be measured every six months.
•Earth resistance should be less than 0.5 Ώ
for electronic xges
•One dry season must be included in these
two occasions.
•For lightning prone area, it should be
measured every month.
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 As per the instruction:

•Wherever, it is beyond limits, it should be

immediately brought within limits.
•Procedure for laying earth resistance may be
followed as prescribed in the latest issue of EI on
Protection earthing I-001.
•Reduction in card failure has been observed by
improving the earth resistance.
 
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 Thank You

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