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The Basics of Uninterruptible Power Supplies


Electrical Construction and Maintenance
Rajan Battish, P.E. Katlyn Jennings
Fri, 2016-01-22 15:23

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 .

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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.

Types of UPS topologies

There are three key types ofU PS system configurations.

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 .

A Classification 2 U PS,or the line-


interactive type design,w illbe able
to handle m ore com plex voltage
phenom enon,such as undervoltage
and overvoltage.Since the battery is
consistently connected to the load,it
can handle instantaneous faults that
occur w ith overvoltage and
undervoltage.In contrast,the off-line
U PS system (being directly
connected to the load)w illnotbe
able to handle this condition,and the
source w illsee these conditions.

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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im plem ented in the topology ofthis


system .This filtering circuit
conditions the pow er before itgets to
the criticalload,thus protecting the
load from upstream faults and
voltage distortions.This design has
the m ostprotection to the critical
load from voltage irregularities and
pow er quality factors.IEC places this
system as a Classification 1 U PS
system .

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.

N ew er technologies allow for m ore efficientconversion ofpow er from AC to D C and back.Silicon-


controlled rectifier (SCR )technology is very com m on in older system s butrequires a transform er thatis
inefficientand takes up additionalspace.N ew er system s im plem enta three-stage insulated gate bipolar
transistor (IG BT)technology thatallow s for a refined,efficientdesign,w hich does notrequire a
transform er.This reduces losses through the transform er and size ofunitas w ellas m aintenance
expenses.O ther system s are im plem enting a six-stage IG BT technology thatw illfurther enhance the
efficiency and buffer capacity ofthe U PS system .

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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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Key items to keep in mind

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.

Source URL: http://ecm w eb.com /pow er-quality/basics-uninterruptible-pow er-supplies

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