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Keeping operations running up to speed is atthe heartoftoday’s business w orld.In a 24/7 environm ent,
there’s no room for error,and giving your custom ers the m ostbang for their buck is atthe core ofm any
facility m anagem entplans.The bestw ay to ensure you supply your custom er w ith the righttechnology
for its needs is to understand the variety and capabilities ofavailable uninterruptible pow er supply
(U PS)system s.
Although U PSs have been around for decades — and the technology behind them is ever evolving — the
fundam entals ofa U PS system rem ain constant:to provide near-constantpow er to criticalsystem s w hen
the m ain source ofpow er fails by using energy stored in batteries,supercapacitors,or flyw heels.
Supercapacitors and flyw heels are less com m only used,butboth have their advantages.Flyw heels can be
used to reduce space requirem ents because there is no longer a need for battery storage.Supercapacitors
also replace the need for a battery com partm ent,butare typically used in sm aller U PS system s.Batteries
are the m ostcom m on and proven m ethod for data center U PS deploym ents.This article w illfocus on the
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battery application ofU PS system s for consistency w hen com paring the differenttopologies ofthe
system .
Related
The basics ofa U PS system consistofa battery or an energy storage device,a rectifier or pow er
converter,and a sw itch to transfer pow er from norm alto standby pow er.O ver the years,new
technologies for each com ponentofthe U PS are im plem ented to im prove efficiency and availability for
the system .The arrangem ents,technologies,and types ofcom ponents thatm ake up these different
elem ents are w hatdeterm ine the topologies,efficiency,cost,and reliability ofthe system .U nderstanding
the various topologies ofthe U PS is key w hen determ ining how resilientthe system w illbe.
Off-line or passive standby — The m ostbasic topology ofa U PS system is the off-line or passive standby
U PS.This topology connects the source directly to the load during norm alpow er.In the eventofa pow er
failure,the inverter m ustturn on and transfer pow er from the battery to the load.The tim e delay for the
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invertor to turn on can be long;therefore,this is notrecom m ended for criticalsystem s.Itis a sim ple
design consisting ofm inim alcom ponents,m aking itthe leastexpensive topology (Fig. 1).This topology
is com m on for non-criticalapplications such as hom e com puting.
Line-interactive — Line-interactive U PS system s connectthe source pow er to the load through a buffer,
w hich helps to m itigate m inor voltage variations and condition the inputpow er to the load.The battery
w illcharge w ith the inverter operating in reverse during norm aloperation.D uring a pow er failure,the
battery w illturn on,and the rectifier connected to the load w illconvertthe D C pow er from the battery
into AC pow er for the load.Itis im portantto note thatthe pow er converter is alw ays connected to the
outputofthe U PS (Fig. 2).Alw ays having the inverter on and connected to the battery provides
additionalfiltering and reduced sw itching transients.This is an efficientdesign w ith high availability,
butthe frequentuse ofthe battery can lead to prem ature battery failure.A static bypass sw itch,w hich
w illconnectthe source to the load through a differentpow er path,can be im plem ented to preventthis
prem ature failure ofthe battery.This is also considered an eco-m ode as itw illhelp reduce the energy
consum ption ofthe U PS.The high availability,sim ple design,and relatively low costm ake this system
optim alfor sm allbusinesses.
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Online or double conversion — The m ostefficientand robusttopology is the online or double conversion
U PS system .D uring norm alpow er,this system w illconnectthe source to the criticalload through a
double conversion recitifer (Fig. 3).This is essentially a filter circuitthatw illcondition the inputsignal
and provide a m ore consistentoutputsignalw ith less voltage irregularities,frequency variations,noise,
and other transientbehaviors ofthe inputsignal.Allow ing norm alpow er to flow through the filtering
circuitkeeps the inverter constantly on,w hich provides a sim ple pow er transfer from norm alpow er to
battery.W hen the pow er fails,the battery supplies pow er through the inverter and to the criticalload.
This topology has a sim ilar option for a static bypass sw itch to preventprem ature battery failure as in the
line-interactive system .This system is idealfor large data centers because ithas a high availability,can
filter the inputto provide a conditioned outputon the load,and features a resilientdesign.The costfor
this U PS system is the greatestdue to the high com plexity ofthe system .
Selection recommendations
There are m any factors to consider w hen determ ining the bestU PS system for a given facility,such as
utility pow er quality,current-connected load dem ands,and future load dem ands.An easy guide to begin
the process as to w hich U PS is rightis to look atthe IEC standard on U PS classifications.This standard
gives three classifications for U PS system s and rates each one based on its ability to handle different
voltage phenom enon.D epending on how resilientthe facility m ustbe to these faultconditions w ill
determ ine w hich type ofU PS system is bestfor the facility.The differentvoltage phenom ena are
depicted in Table 1 and range from voltage sags and brow nouts to m ore sensitive voltage phenom ena,
such as lightning and voltage distortions.
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The off-line U PS system w illbe able to handle the m ostcom m on ofvoltage faults and thus is a
Classification 3 U PS system .O utage blackouts,w hich can be caused by pow er line failure or even routine
system m aintenance,are the basic reason U PS system s have been deployed.Voltage sags and brow nouts
can be caused by overloading the system or a utility overload upstream .This is w hy it’s im portantto
assess the pow er quality from the utility to determ ine w hatthe currentload dem and on the utility is and
how often brow nouts and voltage sags occur.M ostU PS system s have been designed to handle these
com m on voltage phenom ena and w illsatisfy the Class 3 requirem entfor a U PS system .
Finally,the m ostrobustsystem — a
double conversion or online U PS
system — w illbe able to handle
lightning,transients and surges,
frequency variation,and m any other
voltage phenom ena.This stem s from
the filtering circuitthatis
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Improvements in efficiency
Efficiency is king,and using the latesttechnology can save your custom ers a lotofenergy.N ew er U PS
system s can achieve 97% or m ore efficiency;older generations only achieved 90% to 93% efficiency.
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CallisonR TKL perform ed a study com paring an existing system to new U PS technologies in a live data
center.The results show ed thatby deploying a new er,m ore efficientU PS,an energy savings ofnearly
$50,000 can be accrued over a five-year tim e fram e (Table 2).
H aving a highly efficientU PS thatm eets the needs ofthe data center can provide criticalpow er savings
and reduced costthroughoutthe life ofthe facility (Fig. 4).
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Atthe end ofthe day,rem em ber you’re dealing w ith m echanicaldevices thatcan fail.M ake sure there’s a
backup plan in place,and plan for risk.It’s criticalto plan for a redundantsystem so in the eventone
system fails another can be quickly im plem ented to preventloss ofcriticaldata.
Provide a fully m aintainable system so thatroutine m aintenance can be perform ed to extend the life of
the U PS and preventexorbitantreplacem entcosts.This w illhelp preventunforeseen outages and
potentialdow ntim e thatcan be dam aging to the data center.The m ore com plex the system ,the m ore
com ponents thatare inherentin the design.W hile itw illbe able to handle m ore faultconditions,itw ill
require m ore routine m aintenance to ensure proper operation and reduce the risk offailure.
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Final thoughts
D eterm ining w hatis bestfor the business or facility you’re supporting can depend on a lotoffactors.A
U PS system has m any topologies thatvary in resiliency,reliability,availability,and cost.U sing tools
such as the IEC guidelines can help determ ine a baseline for your custom er’s business needs and provide
an idea ofthe resiliency ofthe system you recom m end and install.Itis im portantto take the totalcostof
ow nership into consideration w hen recom m ending a U PS system as a high-efficiency,higher initialcost
system could yield higher energy savings in the future.In addition,it’s essentialto do a fullsystem cost
analysis,system perform ance,and energy analysis w hen determ ining w hich topology to deploy.
Com pleting a system study,perform ance capabilities,and a firm analysis ofw hatis desired w illbe the
m ostbeneficialw ay to assess the data center and determ ine w hich system is best.Itis im portantto
understand the pow er quality from the utility as this could resultin needing a m ore robustsystem than
previously considered.Allm anufacturers differ in design,efficiency,and reliability,so you m usttest
these system s as w ellas understand pow er studies and the perform ance reliabilities on them to
determ ine w hich w illbe m ostcosteffective w ithoutlosing availability or reliability.
Battish, P.E., is vice president, and Jennings, E.I.T, LEED Green Associate, is an electrical design
engineer with CallisonRTKL in Baltimore, Md.
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