Professional Documents
Culture Documents
May, 2014
F17/29036/2009
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
1) I understand what plagiarism is and I am aware of the university policy in this regard.
2) I declare that this final year project report is my original work and has not been submitted
elsewhere for examination, award of a degree or publication. Where other people’s work
or my own work has been used, this has properly been acknowledged and referenced in
accordance with the University of Nairobi’s requirements.
3) I have not sought or used the services of any professional agencies to produce this work.
4) I have not allowed, and shall not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of
passing it off as his/her own work.
5) I understand that any false claim in respect of this work shall result in disciplinary action,
in accordance with University anti-plagiarism policy.
Signature: ………………………………………………………………………………………
Date: ……………………………………………………………………………………………
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DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to my mother and sister for the moral and financial support and also to
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I wish to thank the God for guiding me and being by my side throughout my
studies
I acknowledge the input by my supervisor, Dr. H.Ouma, for the useful comments and
suggestions which have led to the improvement of this project and for the guidance and moral
An assemblage of this nature could never have been attempted without reference to and
inspiration from the works of others whose details are mentioned in reference section. I also
Last but not the least to all of my friends and classmates who were patiently extended all sorts of
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ABSTRACT
This project is carried out to investigate the viability of and analyze relative power conception of
a system to supply DC power directly to selected office/ household electronic devices commonly
connected to the main supply for operation, maintaining operation from the mains but on power
It is basically a means to maintain power supply to devices connected to the mains thereby
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ......................................................................................................... ii
DEDICATION............................................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 4
2.4 AC RECTIFICATION..................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 3 ...............................................................................................................................................27
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DESIGN..................................................................................................................................................27
CHAPTER 4 ...............................................................................................................................................41
CHAPTER 5 ...............................................................................................................................................47
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................... 47
RECOMMENDATION ......................................................................................................................48
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 49
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LIST OF FIGURES
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
DC – DIRECT CURRENT
AC – ALTERNATING CURRENT
IC – INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
I – CURRENT
V – VOLTAGE
R – RESISTANCE
L – INDUCTANCE
I/P – INPUT
O/P – OUTPUT
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
load when input source, typically the main source power fails. It provides near-instantaneous
1. Transients – occur due to lightning, switching of power network which may result in
2. Momentary over- and under- voltage which may be due to large changes of loads in
power systems.
introduced in the supply line due to lighting, power network switching, continuous
The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is the best solution to power conditioning for critical
loads, such as real-time data processing computers, air route traffic, control centers, industrial
process control system because they are very sensitive to the nature of power supply for their
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1.2PROBLEM STATEMENT
To eliminate the problem of power outages and data loss by maintaining power to the critical
loads. To try and reduce or eliminate the whole process of double conversion method of
accepting AC, rectifying to DC for passing through the rechargeable battery, then inverting back
supply DC power directly to selected electronic devices commonly connected to the main
supply.
2. Designing a circuit that incorporates all the key components required in the design of
a UPS.
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3. Comparison between results of experimental & hardware is used for analysis &
verification.
1.5 JUSTIFICATION
To analyze and test showing that many ac units can operate from dc without modification
making it possible to apply DC ups for existing computers specially designed for dc operation.
Chapter one gives the introduction to the project, the project objectives and the
project scope.
Chapter Two is the literature review which describes the dc uninterruptible power
Chapter three gives a complete design, description, roles and rating of dc power
supply components.
power supply.
Chapter Five gives the conclusion of the whole project, if the objective and scope of
the project were achieved. It outlines the future works. The project ends by
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
There are several types of UPS systems; these include the on-line, line-interactive. An online
UPS uses a double conversion method of accepting AC, rectifying to DC for passing through the
A line-interactive UPS maintains the inverter in line and redirects the battery’s DC current path
from the normal charging mode to supplying current when power is lost. In a standby (off-line)
system the load is powered directly by the input power and the backup power circuitry is only
invoked when the utility power fails. The offline UPS provides surge protection and battery
backup.
Basically, the online UPS is the same as in the line-interactive UPS. It typically costs more due
UPS due to the rectifier driving the inverter even when AC powered.
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In this case we need to rectify the AC power into DC power so as to directly supply DC to the
equipment. The charge stored in the battery on power outage can be supplied directly to the
equipment.
For the Kenyan case, the system designed should supply power to the load at 240 Vrms and
50Hzfrequency.
This system cannot provide complete power protection and the mode of operation has to be
changed on power failure, i.e. from line to battery and as such its application is restricted to small
Though the system is simple and economical, it has a major disadvantage that if some fault
develops in the charger or rectifier the whole system gets out of order and no power is available
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Battery- to store the power to be used when the mains are not available
An automatic transfer switch- to switch the load between the mains and backup power
convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy or vice versa for rechargeable batteries. A
rechargeable battery is made up of several cells. Since a single cell is basically 2 Volt, 12Volt
means it contains 6 cells. The reliable operation of UPS systems depends on the battery to a large
extent. If the battery is not well selected the overall life of the system is affected. When a battery
is connected to the load, energy stored in it gets utilized, this is known as ‘discharging of
battery’. The energy stored gets depleted after some time leaving a discharged battery. The
battery can be given energy from an external source to restore its energy again in a process called
The voltage and ampere-hour capacity of batteries required for UPS systems depend on; KVA of
load connected to UPS and load power factor, required back-up time, recommended battery
voltage range, minimum allowable v/cell after discharge. The choice of number of cells and its
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Batteries can be categorized in terms of the materials used to build them. They differ in terms of
capacity, cost and area of usage. In this categorization, there are 4 major types;
Lead-Acid Battery
Nickel-Cadmium(Ni-Cd) Battery
Lead-acid batteries are the most common batteries in the world today. The firstLead acid
batteries were developed by a French physician Gaston Plante in 1859 and are the oldest and
most widely used electrical storage units. They can take a fair amount of abuse, high discharge
rates and fast charging, but need to be maintained at full charge when not used to ensure that
degeneration of their plates and depth of their discharge is not compromised. For long term
storage lead acid battery has the most favorable characteristics, losing 40% of their charge over
Lead-acid batteries are used extensively in power systems today as reliable sources of power.
This is because of their cells characteristics. Advantages offered by them compared to other
Low cost
High reliability
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They have a higher discharge rate thus can deliver higher currents
Recyclable
Columbic charge efficiency is only 70%but can be 85% to 90% for special
designs
If not charge properly, they are in danger of overheating thus not suitable for
fast charging
They must be stored in charged state once the electrolyte has been introduced to
A basic lead acid battery is composed of a lead dioxide cathode, sponge metallic lead anode and
sulfuric acid electrolyte. However, there are two main types of lead- acid batteries
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However there has been further development in this technology over the years to yield other
1. Lead calcium batteries- lead acid battery modified by adding calcium to the
electrolyte
2. Lead antimony batteries- lead acid battery with electrodes modified by adding
antimony
3. Valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries or sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries-
gassing thus prolonging battery life and easing maintenance. It has a specially
designed electrolyte that reduces gassing by stopping the release of oxygen and
hydrogen into the atmosphere. This is done by a recombination system that involves a
catalyst that causes the released oxygen and hydrogen to recombine into water. The
valves are for letting gas escape only under extreme conditions. Its commonly used
lead acid battery because of the following advantages over other types of lead acid
batteries
They can deliver very high currents and can be left on trickle or float charge for
prolonged periods.
Sealed-lead acid batteries are generally used in emergency power back-ups and in
telecommunication equipment. The following are the most commonly used sealed lead acid
batteries
6V/4.3Ah
12V/6.5Ah
12V/7Ah
12V/7.6Ah
All these batteries require 20 hour charging. To maximize their performance and life, constant
Lead-acid batteries are rated in terms of how much current the battery can supply for a fixed
period of time. Battery capacity is rated in ampere-hour (Ah). Generally Ah value is based on 8
hours discharge time. The capacity of a battery depends on the number of plates used in each cell
of the battery. For example a 15 plate battery will have 90Ah and a 21 plate battery will have
150Ah rating
A 200Ah battery can provide the load current of 25A for 8 hours (200/8=25). The battery can
supply less current for long period or more current for a shorter period. For example, from table
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1 below, an 180Ah battery can supply the given current for given the number of hours
continuously.
CURRENT(AMPERES) TIME(HOURS)
1 180
2 90
3 60
4 45
5 36
6 30
8 22.5
10 18
12 15
15 12
20 9
25 7.2
30 6
40 4.5
60 3
90 2
120 1.5
150 1.2
180 1
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A battery charger is a device used to put energy into a cell or (rechargeable battery) by forcing an
electric current through it. Battery chargers typically have two tasks to accomplish.
A key factor in prolonging battery life and obtaining optimum performance from it is proper
charging environment. This is only possible if the charging current and voltage are properly
To maintain capacity on a fully charged battery, a constant voltage is applied. The voltage must
be high enough to compensate for self-discharge, yet not too high as to cause excessive over-
Charging a battery is a matter of replenishing the depleted supply of energy that the battery has
lost during discharge or use. This replenishing process can be accomplished by different charger
implementations depending on the type of battery to be charged and there advantages and
disadvantages.
Controlled charging is very important because the life expectancy of a battery is decreased by
reducing the amount of overcharging and deep discharging. Over charging causes grid corrosion
on the positive plates and gassing that exhausts the electrolyte,while discharging to deep causes
the negative plate to form sulfate. In addition to decreasing the battery’s life, these adverse
Constant voltage charging is one of the most common methods of charging lead acid batteries.
The idea behind this approach is to keep a constant voltage across the terminals of the battery at
all times.
Initially, a large current is drawn from the voltage source, but as the battery charges and
increases its internal voltage, the current slowly fold and decays exponentially. When the battery
is brought up to a potential full charge, which is usually considered around 13.8V, the charging
voltage is dropped down to a lower value that will provide a trickle.The charger maintains the
The main advantage of this method is that it provides a way to return a large bulk of the charge
The main drawback of this charger is that to complete a full charge would take a much longer
time since the current is exponentially decreased as the battery charges. A prolonged charging
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Constant current charging is another simple yet effective method for charging lead acidbatteries.
A current source is used to drive a uniform current through thebattery in a direction opposite of
discharge.A constant current source is very easy to implement; therefore, the final solution
The major disadvantage to this approach of this method is that the battery is always being
charged at a constant rate and when it is close to being fully charged, the charger would force
MULTI-STAGE CHARGERS
Multistage chargers combines the advantages of both constant current and constant voltage
chargers in the charging of a battery to achieve maximum charge time, with minimum damage to
the charging cell thus prolonging battery life and performance. The stages are:
The Charger starts charging at a small current of about 2mA to bring the battery voltage to a safe
threshold voltage of about 10 volts. This has effect of removing loose sulfate formed during deep
The charger changes to constant current charging of 2 to 2.5A whenthe battery voltage has
reached the threshold voltage and charges until the battery voltage reaches about 14.4V.
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The charger holds the battery at 14.4V and the current slowly reduces.When the current reaches
at 0.5 C (C= Battery Capacity), this pointcalled the Switching Point. The Switching Point is one
of the greatfeatures of this battery charger that it can adjust the currentautomatically according to
The charger maintains the battery voltage at 13.8V and current slowly reduces to zero. Charger
can be left connected indefinitely without harming the battery.If the battery voltage drops to
13.8V, the charger changes from anymode to Constant Current mode and restart charging. The
This four-stage charging technique takes advantage of the speed of a fast charge, but only when
within safe charge levels. Once the battery is beyond the margin of error created by fast
charging, the trickle charge takes over. This was the scheme we chose for our system.
As much as multi-stage charger in terms of its features is the best way to charge a battery to
maximize its life and capacity, for the complexity and the control logic needed to implement this
kindof solution is complex and is only possible through specially designed charging controller
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2.4 AC RECTIFICATION
The first step in charging a battery is to rectify the AC mains supply to Dc supply and regulate it
to charge the battery. From the figure below, a regulated DC supply consists of:
2.4.1 Transformer
It steps down high voltage AC mains to low voltage AC. In this step the voltage is still AC.
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2.4.2 Rectifier
Diode rectifiers are known as uncontrolled rectifiers because for a fixed value of ac input for low
This is an example of a full wave rectifier that has 4 diodes connected in two cycles; positive half
cycle and the negative half cycle. In the positive half cycles two diodes say D3 and D4 are
forward biased and conduct, while the remaining two diodes D1 and D2 are reverse biased and
behave as open circuits. During negative half cycle, diodes D1 and D2 are forward biased and
conduct while D3 and D4 are reverse biased and behave as open circuits.As shown in the
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Ithas two diodes connected in parallel with the load. The load current flows from A to C
through D1 and R. During the positive half cycle diode D1 is forward biased and D2 is
reverse biased. During negative half cycle D2 is forward biased and D1 is reverse biased.
The load current flows from B to C through D2 and R. The directionof load current during
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The peak inverse voltage in bridge circuit is half of that in full wave circuit
More voltage drop, more losses, poor efficiency & poor voltage regulation as
bridge circuit 2 diodes are always in circuit while in centre tapped only one
CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS
Rectifier circuits that are using thyristors are known as controlled rectifiers. This is due to the
reason that by changing the firing angle of thyristor the output dc voltage can be controlled. The
thyristor can be triggered at any angle α in the positive half cycle. The thyristor blocks during the
negative cycle. Just before triggering the voltage across the thyristor is the same as the input.
During conduction the voltage drop across the thyristor is only about 1V. Since thyristors are
available in high voltage, high current rating, controlled rectifiers are mostly used in many high
powered device.
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The uncontrolled rectifier has a higher efficiency, better power factor and lower input current
Rectifier should be properly sized to satisfactorily perform these two tasks: Supply the line at full
The function of this capacitor, known as a reservoir capacitor (or smoothing capacitor) is to
lessen the variation in (or 'smooth') the rectified AC output voltage waveform from the bridge.
There is still some variation, known as ripple. One explanation of 'smoothing' is that the
capacitor provides a low impedance path to the AC component of the output, reducing the AC
voltage across, and AC current through, the resistive load. In less technical terms, any drop in the
output voltage and current of the bridge tends to be cancelled by loss of charge in the capacitor.
This charge flows out as additional current through the load. Thus the change of load current and
voltage is reduced relative to what would occur without the capacitor. Increases of voltage
correspondingly store excess charge in the capacitor, thus moderating the change in output
voltage / current.
The filter removes ripple from the dc supply to provide a stabilized smooth dc supply to the load.
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2.4.4 VOLTAGE REGULATOR- this maintains the DC output to the required constant level.
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2.5 RELAY
A relay is an electrical switch that uses an electromagnet to move the switch from the OFF to ON
position instead of a person moving the switch. It takes a relatively small amount of power to
turn on a relay but the relay can control something that draws much more power.
Relays (and switches) come in different configurations. The most common is Single Pole Single
Throw (SPST) is the simplest with only two contacts. Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) has
three contacts. The contacts are usually labeled Common (COM), Normally Open (NO), and
The Normally Closed contact will be connected to the Common contact when no power is
applied to the coil. The Normally Open contact will be open (i.e. not connected) when no power
is applied to the coil. When the coil is energized the Common is connected to the Normally Open
contact and the Normally Closed contact is left floating. The Double Pole versions are the same
as the Single Pole version except there are two switches that open and close together.
The relay selected should have contacts that can handle the voltage and current requirements of
the load. Keeping in mind that some loads (such as motors) draw much more current when first
turned on than they do at steady state. For example if you want to turn on the AC units with a
12VDC power supply get a 12VDC coil or if with 240VAC get a 240VAC coil. Note: Coils will
A Relay has limited lifetime (number of times it can open and close before failure) this expected
lifetime is usually given in the relay datasheet. If the relay won't be used much (say to control the
headlights on a car) a 20,000 cycle lifetime would last about 18 years if used three times a day. If
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the same relay was used to control a home AC unit which switches on and off much more often
it would wear out in a few years. Some relays have lifetimes of over a million cycles.
A relay coil is not only an electromagnet but it's also an inductor. When power is applied to the
coil the current in the coil builds up and levels off at its rated current (depends on the DC
resistance of the coil, I = V/R). Some energy is now stored in the coil's magnetic field (E =
05LI2). When the current in the coil is turned off this stored energy has to go somewhere. The
voltage across the coil quickly increase trying to keep the current in the coil flowing in the same
direction (V = Ldi/dt). This voltage spike can reach hundreds or thousands of volts and can
By adding a fly back diode the current has a path to continue flowing through coil until the
stored energy is used up. The diode also clamps the voltage across the coil to about 0.7V
protecting the electronics. The stored energy dissipates quickly in the diode (E = V*I*t). The
current stops flowing and the relay turns off. The diode should be able to handle the coil current
for a short time and switch relatively fast. Note: A resistor or zener diode can be placed in series
with the diode to use up the stored energy quicker. This increases the amplitude of the voltage
spike above 0.7V but the energy is used up quicker (i.e. the voltage spike won't last as long).
Usually it doesn't matter if the relay takes 1ms or 100ms to turn off. Modern relay however are
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2.6.1 INTRODUCTION
[15] In comparison the direct current uninterruptible power supply, the DC UPS, offers the
unsurpassed opportunity of simple parallel redundancy and direct contact between the load and
the backup battery. Besides the obvious advantages of vastly increased reliability the DC UPS
also excels in energy conservation and economy, simply by being simple, straightforward and
[15] The DC UPS is very simple in implementation and operation. The only parameter which
requires management and supervision is the voltage. This concept provides direct connection of
the battery to the load, which is a great advantage for reliable service. In AC UPS, an ac bypass
[15] The total efficiency of a direct current system can be made greater than in present ac
systems owing to elimination of the extra conversion step of the inverters. The centralization of
rectifiers and PFC circuits can be made more efficient than when each single device includes
[14, 15] Now, due to IT/telecom convergence, AC UPS is introduced on a large scale in
telecommunication systems and other mission critical use, reliability has become more important
for UPS technology than before. In the INTELEC® white paper from 1998, “Powering the
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was made comparing the AC UPS with the DC UPS as used in their respective standard
UPS. In large-scale operation and use, this difference will give a valuable contribution to overall
performance and economy on system level for the operators and the public, when using internet.
This comparison was done in 1998 and for 48 VDC. The same topology is valid for 350 VDC
2.6.5 CONCLUSION
It is shown that in most fields studied the DC UPS compares advantageously over AC UPS.
Because of the advances in electronics, a mains frequency inverter is seldom a necessary part of
a UPS system. Such an inverter in the UPS system contributes negatively to efficiency, cost and
reliability of the system. Various types of by-pass switches often included also make the system
The simple implementation of DC UPS systems makes better use of energy and other resources
which in the end will contribute to meeting the challenge of global warming as well as it gives
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CHAPTER 3
DESIGN
In this chapter, the process of designing the dc ups was met and explained. The project aimed to
design an uninterruptible dc supply at all times. The system was also to charge and protect the
battery.
When mains supply was available the systems was to work by connecting the load to the mains
supply and also charge the battery. When the mains supply was not available, the system had to
supply the DC power to the load. All these was to happen without human intervention (an
automatic system)
4. A relay switch – to switch the utility power and the inverter power across the load
HB1 HB3
IO1 IO2 IO1 IO2
BATTERY CHARGER
HB4 HB6
IO1 IO3 IO1
IO2
MAIN SUPPLY
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The different sections will first be designed differently then combined to give the final circuit.
The operation of the circuit will be clearly explained. The designed circuit will then be simulated
using Proteus 7 Professional software’s where it would analyze and tested to verify if it meets the
desire specifications.
The circuit will then tested on a bread-board and then assemble on PCB where physical
The rechargeable battery used in this dc ups system design required constant charging to keep
the battery fully charged. Since lead acid batteries are easily available in the local market, this
project was designed based on their characteristics. To charge this battery, the AC mains supply
was rectified and converted into a DC supply. These DC supply was then used to charge the
battery. The flow chart in figure 3.2 below details this process.
V1
12 V
STEP DOWN TRANSFORMER FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER SMOOTHING FILTER REGULATOR BATTERY CHARGER INDICATOR
In this design a Transformer, bridge rectifier and smoothing capacitor were used in main charger
circuit to obtain DC voltage. LM317 voltage regulator with a comparator was then used to obtain
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controlled charge. To indicate battery charge level, LM3914 integrated circuit and Led’s were
used.
3.2 RECTIFICATION
This module converts the AC input of 230Volts, to a usable DC output greater than 17V for the
charger circuit. The design includes an internal transformer, bridge rectifier and a filter capacitor.
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3.3 TRANSFORMER
The physical behavior of electricity is that it flows from high voltage to low voltage. We want
the current to flow from the transformer to battery. If the transformer voltage is lower than
battery voltage, the opposite situation will take place (the current will flow from the battery to
transformer). Although the pass transistor in the circuit will not let this happen, neither the
Since the battery voltage was 12V. The minimum supply from the transformer would be 12V
plus 3V regulator drop plus 1.4Vrectifier drop (2 diodes) plus 10% safety.
A step down of between 18V to 20V was therefore sufficient since current limitation was
handled by the regulator. It was not dangerous to use higher powers since the regulator can
handle up to 40V but using lower power will not be sufficient to charge to battery.
The Power of the 18V transformer is related to current of the battery to be charged. For example,
the current of a 10watt 18v transformer is 0.55A (10/18=0.555A) from the equation current
equals to power/voltage. As said in chapter 2the charging current is approximately 1/10 and 1/20
Therefore, 0.55 times 10 equals to 5.5 and 0.55 times 20 equals to 11.Since it will be closer to
Table 2 below relates different Ah of a 12V battery and the minimum watts of a transformer.
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BATTERY TRANSFORMER
12V, 1.3Ah 3W
12V, 2.2Ah 4W
12V, 4Ah 6W
In this design, the secondary voltage was taken to be 24V since such transformers are locally
available. To get a 20VAC voltage from 240VAC, the secondary to primary turn ratio of the
transformer was given by:
V1÷ = 240÷ 24 = 10
The transformer utilization factor is the ratio of DC load power to the Ac rating of the secondary.
. = ÷
The next stage in the AC/DC conversion process involved inverting the negative cycles of the
AC input. This process required the use of a full wave rectifier diode bridge. The required
specification for the bridge rectifier was based on the input voltage and current. The rectifier
would have to be able to handle the peak voltage of 20V as well as 2 A that the charging circuit
would be pulling. The 2W04G rectifier was used for simulation purposes.
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= 0.9 × 24 = 21.6
3.5 FILTER
Next the value of the capacitance needed to minimize the voltage ripple was to be found. The Ac
output from the transformer consisted of 24Vrms at 50Hz. The regulator would be drawing a
maximum current of 2A to charge the battery. The required minimum capacitor value was
=
× × ×
I out= Imax = 1.5A. This was based on the fact that the current that a lead acid battery starts
gassing when charged with is 2A. Therefore considering that this is a constant voltage charger,
1.5A can be considered to be the maximum current that can be allowed through to the battery.
= 1.5/ (2*50*0.484*24)
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General Description
The full charger feedback control circuit implements a three stage charger algorithm: constant
current state, constant voltage full charge state, and constant voltage float charges state. This
circuit will require an input voltage of at least 17 volts to output the 14.7V for charging because
The comparator is used to provide feedback of the current that the battery is drawing from the
circuit: as the battery charges, the current drawn decreases. The current sensing resistor is used to
convert that current into voltage, which can be used to compare to a reference within the circuit.
This will be the logic needed for the state switching mechanism. The full charge state will
provide 14.7V or 2.45V/Cell on the battery and float charge will provide 13.8V or 2.3V/Cell.
The current limiting of the voltage regulator will force the current to 3A. The charger will
continuously pump this 3A until the battery current falls below the limit of 500mA. This will
bring the voltage of the battery above the reference point, therefore causing the comparator to
turn on the transistor switch, pulling the output voltage to the float charging level.
The charging voltage of a lead acid battery is between 2.3-2.4V per 2V cell. So, for 12V battery
6 2.3=13.9V~ ℎ ℎ
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Our circuit will include an LM350, 3-Amp, adjustable voltage regulator, but since the model for
this regulator was not available in proteus, a comparable adjustable regulator LM117/317HV
The input to the regulator was chosen to be at least two volts higher above the set output voltage.
In the figure above the resistor values were chosen so that the voltage regulator is configured to
the output 14.5V DC for testing purposes only. An interesting note, the simulator applies a 1.3V
potential between the adjustment and the output pins. This somewhat varies from the
specification of the LM117/317HV, which tries to maintain 1.25V across the same pins. Using
the simulator’s voltage across R1, the voltage was calculated to be 14.5V:
Controlling the output voltage to the battery is an essential part of multi-stage charging circuitry.
Adding a transistor will act as a switch to ground, and therefore vary the equivalent resistance of
When the “switch” is turned on, R5 is connected to ground, putting it in parallel with
R4. This lowers the equivalent resistance of both resistors, and therefore lowers the voltage
across both of them. Since the voltage is lower, the total output voltage is brought down the same
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1.25V/250Ohms=.005 A
Simulating the circuit the output voltage was measured to be 13.8 and 15.1 V when it was
completely off. This .4V difference is due to the fact that the potential difference between the
adjusting terminal and the output pin is 1.3V rather than 1.25V; therefore producing a larger
current, while increasing the output voltage. Another possible reason could be the voltage drop
across the transistor which does not completely pull the resistor to ground when it is on, and also
Providing automatic switching based on voltage level was implemented using a comparator. The
logical state change happens when the battery reaches a certain potential below the full charging
voltage.
The current through R1 and R5 was calculated to be 5 mA. Breaking the 250Ohm resistor into
240Ohm resistor in series with a 10Ohm, provides a 50mV reference below the output voltage.
This reference is used as the negative input for the comparator, and the battery voltage as the
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positive input. Whenever the battery charge is greater than the reference point, the comparator
turns on the transistor, and therefore lowers the output voltage to the float charger state.
This final step was to build the complete circuit. It proved to be a challenging task.
Even though logically the circuit made sense, we were unable to get the expected output. After
trying to appease the simulator for long hours, we came to the conclusion that our analysis is
probably correct and that feedback loop through the current sensing resistor R6, added enough
complexity to the circuit that the simulator did not provide an accurate answer.
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Maximum room temperature, Ta= 27 degrees if the heat sink is outside the casing or 40 degrees
Maximum permissible thermal resistance for the heat sink, Rth= (Tj-Ta)/P
For the heat sink inside the casing Rth= 150-40÷ 15 = 7.33 /
To be able to observe the level of charge in the battery, a circuit of displaying that was required.
A simple and cheap way of doing that was using LEDS and an LED driver the circuit in figure
3.6 below was therefore designed to observe battery charge condition. The LM3914 is designed
for 12V battery since for higher input voltage values, the LM3914 LED driver integrated circuit
There are ten led’s pins on the LM3914 IC integrated circuit therefore the design had 10 LEDS
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From the LM3914 datasheet, the LEDS are to be connected to 1,18,17,16,15,14,13,12,11,10. Pin
numbers 2 and 8 are to be connected to ground; pin 3 is to be connected positive voltage. Pins 4
and 6 were connected pot 1 which is a 5k potentiometer which would be adjusted to in order to
make the minimum acting voltage. This pot 1 is connected to ground (First pin of pot 1
connected to pin number 6, second pin of pot 1 connected to number 4 and third pin of pot 1
connected to ground).
Pin number 5 is input signal and was connected to pot 2 (20k potentiometer) in order to make a
maximum acting voltage adjustment. The pot was connected positive voltage (First pin and
second pin of potconnected to positive voltage and third pin of pot 2 connected topin number 5).
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Pin number 7which is reference was connected top in number 6.Pin number 9 is used to choose
either dot or bar mode. In order to makethis choice, jumper is put between pin number 9 and
+voltage. Monitor is on bar mode, whenjumper is connected. When jumper is removed, that is
The diode D4 is to protect the circuit in the event of reverse polarity connection of the battery.
Voltage ratio between comparators is equal. Minimum acting point was adjusted by RV2 (5k).
By this process of adjustment led which is connected pin number 1 should lit up for minimum set
voltage value this value was taken to be 10V. Maximum acting point of monitor circuit is
adjusted by Rv1 (20k). In this case led which was connected to number 10 should lit up during
adjustment process. This maximum voltage was 13.9V, the value at which the battery is fully
charged. Thusminimum and maximum values which circuit will measure are set accordingly.
In this design, 3 red, 4 yellow and 3 green LEDS were used. The red LEDs were connected to
pin 1, 18 and 17 of LM3914. The yellow LEDS were connected to pin 13 to 17 of LM3914. The
The difference between two measured voltages (minimum and maximum) is divided intoten
equal pieces inside LM3914. The first LED (red) will lit up at 10% of that difference and the last
It was chosen 10Vfor minimum value when only the first RED LED lights and 13.9V
formaximum valuewhen LED lights’ meaning the battery is fully charged during charging
process. It was chosen 12.5v as the value at which the red to yellow LEDs light.
By this circuit one could be able to see and determine the state of charge of the battery.
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To be able to switch the load between the mains power and the battery power, a relay was used.
Based on the expected current to be sourced by the load (2.5A), a double pole double throw
(DPDT) 5pin, 5A relay was selected. The relay was IEC255, 12Vdc coil, capable of switching a
240V AC, 5A or 28V DC 5A power. An AC coil relay would also work well but since there was
To be able to switch between the two power sources without human intervention, the coil pins
were connected the mains power source. Since the relay coil is 12V DC, DC power source was
tapped from the outputs of the rectifier used in the charging of the battery. The mains power lines
were connected to normally open pins. The battery power lines were connected to normally
By this connection, when the mains were available, the relay coil would be energized thus the
common pins connected to normally open pins. The load would therefore be connected to the
mains. When the mains were not available, the relay coil would be de-energized thus the
common pins would be connected normally closed pins thus the load connected to the inverter
power.
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CHAPTER 4
The circuit was simulated and the filtered dc wave forms and the regulated charging were as
shown in figure 4.0 below. From the filtered waveform, the level of ripple was minimized by the
filter capacitor.
From the filtered waveform, the level of ripple was minimized by the filter capacitor. The blue
waveform indicated the filtered waveform. The yellow waveform indicated that the battery was
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The charging circuit was connected to a load which in this case was anAC/DC supply radio
requiring 6V DC supply upon lack of mains supply. This was done via a 7806 voltage regulator
voltage level. The LM78XX series of three terminal regulators is available with several fixed
The circuit was run in simulation program(Proteus Isis), the following figures aretaken from this
program.
adjustment led which is connected top in number 1 is lit up for minimum voltage value.
Maximum acting point of monitor circuit is adjusted by P2 (5k). In this case led which is
connected top in number 10 is lit up during adjustment process. These adjustments are done
more one time. The minimum and maximum values which circuit will measure are applied
accordingly. The adjustment is made with P1 and P2. Voltage ratio between comparators is
equal. Difference between two measured voltages is divided into ten equal pieces inside
LM3914. To understand working principle of the circuit it is necessary to look into pins and
The simulated charge indicator was as seen in figure 4.1.below. When the battery voltage was
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When the battery was 12.5v only the red and yellow LEDs lit up. When the battery was 10v only
As seen below from the attached actual results, the simulated and actual results the battery
charger and indicator were tested and worked as expected. In the first case below the charger
indicator was connected to a 14.4v DC supply which is the maximum. And in the second setup
shown below the charge indicator was connected to a battery with a charge of 12.4v therefore the
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When the circuit was connected to an actual lead acid battery charged at 12.4v the red and
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
This project intended to design of an uninterruptible DC power supply. The project aimed at
investigating the viability of a system to supply DC power directly to selected office/ household
electronic devices commonly connected to the main supply for operation. The project was to
meet the desired objectives. Although the design didn’t meet all the objectives, some of them
were met.
The first stage was to design a battery charger that would charge and protect the battery. This
was designed. The battery charger was able to charge the battery and also indicate the level of
charge in the battery. Multistage charging was implemented, by adding a transistor which acted
as a switch to ground and therefore by varying the equivalent resistance providing control over
the voltage regulator. Automatic switching based on voltage level was implemented using a
comparator, whereby the logic state change happens when the battery reaches a certain potential
The second stage was to design a battery monitor. The charge indicator helped to be able to
determine the level of charge in the battery. When the battery voltage was below 11v only the
red Led lit indicating low voltage. When the battery voltage was above 12v the red and yellow
Led’s lit and when the battery voltage was fully charged, all the Led’s lit.
The final stage was to design an automatic transfer switch to transfer the load between battery
power and mains power. Using a double pole double throw relay, the load could be successfully
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be switched between the battery power and the mains power without human intervention. In this
design, the mains power was given priority over the inverter power, therefore so long as the
mains were available, the load would be connected to them. The load would only be connected to
RECOMMENDATION
Although this design went a long way in designing an uninterruptible DC supply, some
objectives were not met. A simple lead acid battery charger system was designed successfully.
The proposed charger can work in constant voltage or constant current mode although constant
voltage mode is the most preferred. The battery charger has many advantages like successful 3-
stage charging, over charge protection, battery discharge protection and a simple design.
However the battery charger would be difficult to operate in hotter temperatures. Further we can
improve the heat sink to dissipate the heat better and also indicators can be designed to indicate
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REFERENCES
NewJersey,
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay
4. Introduction to Power Electronics. By Hart, D, Upper Saddle River and NJ: Prentice Hal
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery
7. http://www.mpoweruk.com/leadacid.htm
9. Introductory electronics devices and circuits 7th addition by Robert .T. Paynter
14. IntelecAdhoc group, the INTELEC® white paper, “Powering the Internet, Datacom
15. “Comparison of the AC UPS and the DC UPS solutions for critical loads” rev F, Dec 20,
2007
16. Dr. B.R. Gupta and VandanaSinghal “Power Electronics” sixth edition 2010
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19. http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Sealed_Lead_Acid_Battery_Applications
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