Uninterrupted Power Supply

Recent blackouts in the US, UK and Italy have highlighted the need for a reliable power supply, particularly if you are looking after critical electrical equipment. However, mains failures are not the only aspect of a reliable power supply. You also need to cope with voltage sags and surges, transients (such as lightning strikes), high-frequency noise, harmonic distortion and frequency variation, often traced to low-quality power sources. As a recent insurance survey of electrical and electronic systems claims showed, 29% were associated with power disturbances.

Various systems can protect against some of these problems; power conditioners, automatic voltage stabilisers and standby power systems, but none offer complete protection for all, except an uninterruptible power system (UPS) with online dual conversion.

Lascom Communications can help identify the best UPS protection for your business requirements by considering these factors:

• The UPS should be able to support the load for as long as the application needs to be kept running. The main type of UPS battery used is the Valve Regulated Sealed Lead Acid (VRLA) type. A. The VRLA has a 5 or 10 year design life and is maintenance free. Runtimes up to several hours can be generated from a suitably sized battery pack or local generating set.
  
  
• The typical weight for a UPS of 200kVA power and a five minute battery is approximately 2,500kg. For remote operating locations consideration has to be given to where to house the UPS – either in a local building or specially fabricated structure. With this in mind physical constraints can become more of an issue in terms of easy access to site, security, environmental and fire control, and remote monitoring. Typical environmental problems include temperature control both during the winter and summer months in remote access cabins which can detrimentally affect the working life of both the batteries and UPS electronics.
  
  
• Manufacturer’s rating plates normally state the maximum peak load, the estimated average running load is usually half this. Such power draws however, need to be considered with future needs in mind. As technology improves and appliances are upgraded they usually result in a need for more power. If a generator supplies the power to the UPS, then the harmonic difference between the two could pose a problem. Both also have voltage regulators and if they are operating at the same time they will struggle against each other.