DC Power System

DC POWER SYSTEM
 DC power system

SCOPE OF TRAINING
• Why do we use DC power?
• DC system –
• Definition of electrical terms
• Electrical basic equations
• DC power system –
Elements and fundamental operation
• Battery management
 DC power system

WHY DC POWER?
• Provide a reliable power supply for telecom industry.
• Telecom equipment must operate when AC supply is absent.
• DC energy can be stored on batteries and used when AC power
is absent.
• A DC power system is 100% uninterruptible.
• The DC power supply is a filter for noise (EMC, surge etc) that
is present on the mains supply.
WHY DC POWER

(ii) Negative voltages are safer for human body while doing

Telecom activities.

(ii) Lightning may cause positive voltages in the equipment circuitry.

In that case, negative voltages (lack of electrons) neutralize

positive charges and prevent excessive heat.

 DC power system

WATER ANALOGY

• A dam in a river is a good representation of a battery. The

pressure across the dam represents the voltage on the battery.

• A pump that pumps water into the dam is a god representation of

a rectifier that pumps current into a battery.

• The water represents the current in an electrical circuit.

• The pipe that the water flows through is a good representation of

resistance.
 Water = Current
PUMP =
RECTIFIER Pipe = Resistance

DAM =
BATTERY
DEFINITION OF ELECTRICAL TERMS

Current: A flow of electrical charge caused by an

potential difference. Current is measured in
Amps (A).
Voltage: The differences in potential between two points
that causes electrical charge to flow. Voltage is
measured in Volts (V)
Resistance: The opposition to the flow of current.
Resistance is measured in ohms ()
Power: The time rate at which energy is transmitted to
the time rate of doing work. Power is
measured in Watts (W)
 DC power system
Energy: The ability to do work. Energy is measured
in joules (J)
Efficiency: The ratio of the output power to the input
power. Usually measured in percentage (%)
Power The derivation between the AC current and
Factor: the AC voltage. Power factor is a number
between 0 and 1. The power factor or any
equipment should be close to 1.
 DC power system

ELECTRICAL BASIC EQUATIONS

• Ohms law:
Voltage = Current x Resistance

• Power calculation:
Power = Voltage x Current

• Energy calculation:
Energy = Power x time
 DC power system
Power system building blocks
UPS
AC/DC
BATTERY
DC/AC
INVERTER AC
DC/AC LOAD
AC INPUT POWER
PROTECTION DISTRIBUTION
Control
AC switch Module
TELECOM
board
EQUIPMENT
RECTIFIER
#1
RECTIFIER
#2
LVBD
G
SURGE
PROTECTION RECTIFIER
#n
DIESEL BATTERIES
GENERATOR REDUNDANT
RECTIFIER
SYSTEM BATTERY
AC/DC DISTRIBUTION
 DC power system
The elements in a Power system
AC Switch The AC input to the power system is taken
board: from the switch board
Diesel The diesel generator is a small power plant
generator: that generate AC current. The generator is
used as a standby power, that will be
connected when mains fail. The generator
can be connected manually or automatically.
AC input Circuit breakers for protection of individual
protection: rectifiers.
Surge Protection against surge and voltage spikes
protection: on the AC supply.
 DC power system
DC rectifier The rectifier system converts the current
system: from AC to DC. The system consist of
rectifiers and a control and monitoring unit
Rectifiers: The rectifiers converts AC to DC.

DC
AC
Control and The control unit monitors all the essential
monitoring parameters in the system (voltage, current
unit: and alarms). Parameters can also be
changed from the unit.
Power Fuses of circuit breakers for distribution of
distribution DC power to the telecom equipment.
 DC power system
Batteries The batteries stores the energy for use when
the AC mains fail

LVBD Low voltage battery disconnect (LVBD) is

used for disconnecting the batteries before
they are damaged due to deep discharge.

Battery Fuses for protection of individual battery

distribution: banks against short circuit.

UPS Converts power from AC to DC and back to

AC again. The UPS usually have a small
battery bank on the DC side
Inverter Converts from DC to AC. Used for AC load
that require long battery backup.
 System operation
Current flow in a system – Normal
operation
• MAINS INPUT OK
• LOAD SUPPLIED BY THE RECTIFIER SYSTEM
• BATTERIES ON FLOAT CHARGE.

AC RECTIFIER TELECOM
SYSTEM EQUIPMENT
INPUT

BATTERY
BANK
 System operation
Current flow in a system – Mains fail
• MAINS INPUT FAILED (ABSENT)
• LOAD SUPPLIED BY THE BATTERIES
• BATTERIES ARE DISCHARGING

AC RECTIFIER TELECOM
SYSTEM EQUIPMENT
INPUT

BATTERY
BANK
 System operation
Current flow in a system – Mains restored
• MAINS INPUT OK
• LOAD SUPPLIED BY THE RECTIFIER SYSTEM
• BATTERIES ARE RECHARGING

AC RECTIFIER TELECOM
SYSTEM EQUIPMENT
INPUT

BATTERY
BANK
 System operation
Voltage sequence:
U Mains failure
54.5

43.2 Mains
resume
Disconnect
Voltage

t
Float Battery Battery - - - w/current
charge discharge recharge limitation
 CONSTANT OUTPUT POWER

• Modern telecom equipment behaves as a constant

power load
• A constant power rectifier system will regulate the
voltage – current ratio to give constant power output.
• Constant power rectifiers will a increased recharge
capacity for the batteries (15- 20%).
 Constant power
Constant output power rectifier and constant
current rectifier.

60
Load Voltage (V)

50
40
Standard
30
20 Constant power
10
0
0 50 100 150
Load current (%)
 Battery management
Battery management – definitions
Float The recommended charge voltage to be
voltage: applied to a battery under normal conditions
Battery A group of battery cells linked in series to
string produce the operating voltage.
Capacity Is the electrical energy stored in the battery
and is measured in ampere hours (Ah)
C10 The nominal capacity referred to a 10 hours
discharge rate
 Battery management

Equalising A high voltage is applied to the batteries in

batteries: order to equalise the cell voltage on a string
of batteries
Boost voltage Is a voltage higher than the float voltage for
fast charging or equalising of batteries
Temperature A technique that change the battery voltage
compensation as a function of battery temperature. This
technique will increase the lifetime of the
batteries and the rate of change is usually
specified by the battery manufacturer
 BATTERY MANAGEMENT - WHY

• Ensure long lifetime of batteries. This is done

by correct float voltage, temperature
compensated charging and temperature
controlled environment.
• Prevent batteries from being damaged due to
deep discharge. Low voltage battery disconnect
is used to prevent deep discharge & damage to
the load equipment
 Battery management
Open Circuit Voltage in relation to state of
charge of the cell.
VDC

2.15
Open Circuit Voltage (per cell)l

2.10

2.05

2.00

1.95

1.90
0 25 50 State of charge (%) 75 100
 Battery management
Float Voltage versus temperature
VDC
2.38

2.36

2.34
Volt per cell

2.32

2.30

2.28

2.26

2.24

2.22
-10 0 10 Temp (ºC) 20 30 40
 Battery management
Battery capacity versus temperature
VDC
110

105
Available capacity (%)

100

95

90

85

80

75

70
5 10 15 Temp (ºC) 20 25 30