By Srabani Sen
Industrial UPS systems are moving towards higher efficiencies, smaller footprints and increased reliability. These are also becoming more environment-friendly, and can be remotely managed and controlled.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013: The industrial UPS systems market is continually evolving. Recent trends indicate a shift towards energy efficient products with high power density; detailed monitoring of UPS systems through LCD displays; products that can be remotely managed and controlled; and systems that come in compact sizes with modular construction. Also, a centralised UPS system is preferred over a distributed version.
Today, the conventional UPS systems are being replaced with modular and transformerless UPS systems as the consumers demand more cost effective, energy efficient and innovative products. With the ever increasing energy costs, companies are fast adopting green methods to reach out to their customers.
Industrial UPS systems are of two types—there are those required for sophisticated process control applications at data centres, and those required for operating the machines. Today, customers look for a single-point solution for their total power protection needs, be it for data centres or manufacturing facilities. Hence, UPS suppliers are now becoming total power solutions providers. Shares Suhas Joshi, director, Delta Power Solutions (India) Pvt Ltd, “Today, customers expect customised solutions to meet specific needs, which vary from customer to customer, industry to industry and vertical to vertical. Therefore, they prefer vendors who can integrate UPS systems with batteries, alternate sources like DG sets, and static or automatic transfer switches to provide complete power protection.”
What’s latest in the market?
The new types of UPS systems that are replacing the conventional versions include:
Modular UPS systems: These flexible or scalable systems offer very high levels of efficiencies, small footprints, and green power with very low MTTR (mean time to repair). Modular UPS systems use multiple UPS systems in a parallel redundant configuration placed in a cabinet with centralised or decentralised batteries.
Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd
Su-Kam Power Systems recently launched its Multiplexer-10, a new generation modular UPS system of 10 kVA modules, which can be scaled up to 100 kVA. It also launched the Multiplexer–25, which is a 25 kVA/kW modular UPS system that can be scaled up to 500 kVA/kW. Says Kunwer Sachdev, managing director, Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd, “The unique features of these modular systems are true modularity, high efficiency, true green power, centralised static switches and batteries, smallest footprint, and the highest power density.”
Delta Power Solutions has also introduced the Modulon DPH, which is a three phase UPS system with modular architecture. Scaling from 25 kW up to 200 kW in a standard 48.26 cm rack enclosure, the Modulon DPH supports ultimate availability for data centre operations. The Modulon DPH supports N+X redundancy in a single enclosure without requiring an extra UPS, resulting in huge capital and space savings while retaining the flexibility to expand in tune to business growth. Expansion is achieved by paralleling up to four units of the Modulon DPH.
Rotary UPS systems: These systems use kinetic energy of the flywheel in place of the DC power of batteries and are mainly used when the requirement is in MWs. A flywheel is also known as a ‘mechanical battery’ and energy storage system, and is used to perform the traditional role of battery sets within a standby power application.
Riello PCI India Pvt Ltd has launched one such UPS system— the Master MHF series, which is scaleable. It was launched last year by incorporating a VDC or VDC-XE flywheel. The UPS is ideal for ECO targeted data centres looking to achieve the lowest possible power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratios and highest operational resilience. The VDC series of UPS flywheels stores kinetic energy in the form of a rotating mass (spinning at 36,000 RPM) within a sealed container. The UPS system provides a number of advantages over more traditional battery enabled systems, such as increased efficiency, a compact footprint (up to a 50 per cent reduction), lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and almost instantaneous recharge time. A single flywheel module provides sufficient runtime for the start up of a local standby generator with the UPS providing an uninterruptible source of clean, stable power. The entire system can be scaled for resilient power (N+x) and runtime through the parallel operation of additional UPS and/or flywheel modules, along with a small battery pack if required, for additional resilience.
Regenerative UPS systems: For regulated power, most computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines depend upon various power conditioners. However, these are not sufficient to address the critical power requirements of CNC machines, because these machines produce a regenerative load, where power is fed back to source during traction. This calls for a unique UPS system design, which is regenerative, to ensure the UPS is safe from such loads and also that energy is fed back to the grid during traction, rather than being wasted.
The Four Quadrant Liebert RG UPS system by Emerson Network Power offers regulated power along with continuity, and it also addresses the issues related to regenerative braking. Shares Venkat Rao, country manager, medium and large UPS systems, Emerson Network Power, “Liebert RG UPS allows regenerative power to flow back smoothly to the utility, without causing any interruptions or damages to the UPS as well as other connected load.”
Transformerless UPS systems:These UPS products have been introduced into the market to meet the need for lighter, more compact, three-phase UPS systems. Transformerless UPS designs utilise developments in power and control electronics technology to eliminate the need for an isolation transformer on the output of the inverter. Advancements in power semiconductors and controls have also allowed the PWM (pulse width modulation) switching frequencies to increase, allowing the use of IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistors) within the rectifier stage.
Last year, Uniline Energy Systems launched IGBT rectifier based UPS systems, both with and without isolation transformers. The advantage of this product is that its input power factor (PF) is 0.99, resulting in low electricity loss. The use of green energy results in less pollution; the total harmonic distortion of the input current waveform (THDi) is less than 3 per cent. These UPS systems are available in three modes—ECO mode, EPO mode and EPS mode.
In ECO mode, in case of a power failure, load is transferred within
10 ms. In EPS mode, the UPS system can also be used as a inverter—the load is generally on the mains and in case of a changeover, the load is transferred in less than 100 ms. The EPO mode allows the UPS system to go off completely in case of any fault.
These systems come with the advantage of a common battery bank, which allows 2-3 UPS systems to be operated using one set of batteries.
Launched in January 2012, the IGBT charger based industrial UPS systems by upsINVERTER.com have the superior three card architecture and the ability to save up to 40 per cent more energy. These new industrial UPS systems have a touch screen TFT display and the option for online monitoring. Says Yogesh Dua, director, upsINVERTER.com, “This product has received an overwhelming response from its customers across the nation. It has some unique features like Internet connectivity. When connected to the Internet, the system gives its user the freedom to monitor its working from anywhere in the world on any type of Internet linked device, be it a desktop, laptop or smartphone.”
The models in the Master HP series are available up to 600 kVA. They have been brought out by Riello PCI India, as a further evolution of the Riello Master MPS series, with the additional advantages offered by an IGBT based rectifier assembly. This feature further reduces the impact of the UPS on the local supply and simplifies installation in places where there is a limited power capacity. The HP series features low impact current distortion (less than 2.5 per cent), a high input power factor of 0.99, a compact footprint, and reduced weight.
The newly launched Liebert 80-NET by Emerson Network Power also features a transformer free design with full lGBT double conversion technology, which allows it to deliver extraordinary savings on installation and running costs, while at the same time providing first class load protection. Liebert 80-NET also features a full lGBT rectifier allowing for reductions in the size of generator sets, circuit protection, cabling and transformers.
Delta Power Solutions also recently launched the Amplon IN series single phase 1-3 kVA UPS system with an inbuilt isolation transformer, particularly targeted at IT/ telecom applications in rural and remote areas. Amplon IN provides for galvanic isolated neutral to the loads, thereby enabling full power protection to critical telecom equipment. This series is designed for short as well as long backup time requirements with the addition of external batteries. An inbuilt high level charger shortens the recharging period and increases the availability of power.
Recently, Consul Consolidated Pvt Ltd upgraded its IGBT rectifier UPS range, AS series to 600 kVA capacity along with new remote monitoring features like simple network management protocol (SNMP) and modbus. The UPS system uses IGBT and PWM inverter technology which provides the load with perfect sine wave voltage. With a power factor of less than 0.99 and crest factor of 3:1, the UPS system is compatible with non-linear loads with high crest factor. Informs NP Krishnan, director, marketing, Consul Consolidated, “These UPS systems have a smaller footprint, higher efficiency and need a smaller size generator. The green systems have enhanced capacity and can handle any type of load including surge/inductive loads and regenerative loads. In addition, they also do error logging and remote monitoring.”
This year, Volta Powerlink Pvt Ltd launched its new ST series of online double conversion UPS systems that have a capacity of 1 kVA to 200 kVA. The ST series has a THDi less than 3 per cent at linear load and a backup time of a minimum of 15 minutes, going up to 8 hours. Shares Sandeep Agarwal, director, Volta Powerlink, “The new ST series has a single PCB which is easily serviceable, and the latest protections with alarms and metering. It is also customisable—the output voltage can be customised to 110 V and the output frequency can be modified to 60 Hz.”
Says Sanjay Agarwal, managing director, Karvin Power Systems, “This UPS system has an inbuilt paralleling and phase sequence reversal protection. It has a better efficiency and load taking capacity than the previous models.”
Buying tips
Certain important points need to be kept in mind while buying an industrial UPS system.
Analyse your requirements: A buyer should check the actual surge and running load, the type of load, the nature of risks (critical factor), the frequency of power failures and other environment conditions, and accordingly select the right UPS with a suitable configuration. Says Sandeep Agarwal, “There is no single UPS type that is ideal for all applications, given the variety of UPS topologies available in the market today. Therefore, a user must study the advantages and disadvantages of each type.”
According to RK Bansal, managing director, Uniline Energy Systems, it is a must for a user to have a load study of the area, where the UPS needs to be installed, done by a qualified engineer. The main reason is that the customers are not always aware of the exact requirement of current. “They may ask for a 40 kVA system while their requirement could be more or less,” he says.
After sales service: In order to ensure the proper working of a UPS system, timely service either by the dealer or the manufacturing company is required. Therefore, some companies provide replacement warranties along with their product, while others provide the option of regular and timely visits to check for any problems in the device. Shares Suhas Joshi, “Today, customers are looking at immediate 24/7 support and it is important to assure them that if anything happens to the UPS, it will be taken care of immediately.”
Determine the operating costs: A buyer must look for the product or technology that results in lower operating costs. There is a large difference in operating costs between high technology, transformer free UPS systems and other versions.
Other factors: The UPS system should have a low THDi, so that your mains are not polluted.
Also, batteries are the most critical component in the reliability of any UPS system; therefore, the battery charging technologies should ensure maximisation of battery life with little or no maintenance.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
