ID1042

Proceedings of 2009 IEEE International Conference on

Applied Superconductivity and Electromagnetic Devices
Chengdu, China, September 25-27, 2009

Energy Management Method of Supercapacitors

Storage System for UPS Applications
Xuhua Gao, Sibo Wang, Tongzhen Wei
Department of Advanced Technology of Electric Power System
Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China
gaoxuhua@mail.iee.ac.cn, wangsibo@mail.iee.ac.cn, tzwei@mail.iee.ac.cn
AbstractFor some kinds of motor drive systems, such as the
variable-pitch wind power system, the back-up power needs to
output very high power in a short time to meet the emergency.
And the work temperature range and cycle life is required more
strictly. Supercapacitors are very suitable to be the energy
storage component due to its advantages of high power density,
high charging speed and extremely high cycling capability.
However, the energy density of supercapacitor is relatively low,
so the energy management method of supercapacitors based UPS
is very important to increase the energy usage efficiency. In this
paper the finite state machines theory is applied as management
method for supercapacitors based uninterruptable power supply
(UPS). Design procedure is discussed in detail. Finally, the
simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the
design.

according to the discharge of supercapacitors the DC voltage

will be kept stable for about one minute.

Keywords-supercapacitor; finite state machines; UPS; energy

management

I.

INTRODUCTION

Supercapacitors have drawn more and more attention on

energy storage systems because of its advantages of high
power density, high charging speed and extremely high cycling
capability [1,2]. For some motor driver systems, such as the
variable-pitch wind power system, the back-up power needs to
output very high power in a short time to meet the emergency.
And the work temperature range and cycle life is required more
strickly. Supercapacitors are very suitable for such application
and more and more supercapcitors based UPS appear [3,4].
The character of high power density and low energy density of
supercapacitors is ideal for UPS device which needs high
power in shor-term. Compared to batteries for UPS the
supercapacitors has an unparalleled advantage with wide
operating temperature range, the cycle of life as high as 50
million times and truly maintenance-free.
But the energy management method of supercapacitors
based UPS is rarely been discussed. And for the low energy
density character of supercapacitors the energy management
for supercapcitors is particularly important.
II.

THE ENERGY FLOW OF SUPERCAPACITORS BASED UPS

A. The Topology of Supercapacitors Based UPS

The topology is shown in Fig. 1. The main circuit is
composited by the Bi-directional DC-DC converter. When
emergency happens such as the grid voltage drops rapidly,

978-1-4244-3687-3/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE

Figure 1. The topology of supercapacitors based UPS.

B. The Energy Flow of Supercapacitors Based UPS

There are mainly three keys to the supercapacitors based
UPS. First, the grid charges to supercapacitors; second, the
supercapacitors should maintain a state of full charge; third,
only when the power grid fails the UPS devices are in
operation, or the UPS devices are in standby mode.
There are mainly three kinds of energy flow as follows.
First, the power grid supplies to the supercapacitors based on
UPS and the critical load at the same time. As shown in Fig.
2(a), when the supercapacitors are in the state of low charge
and low terminal voltage the power grid must charge to the
supercapcitors. As the result of previous failure of the power
grid the supercapacitors discharge deeply and the terminal
voltage is low, so at the beginning the charge current should be
high and when the terminal voltage goes highly as a certain
level the charge goes as a trickle mode until the terminal
voltage reaches the highest level. Second, the power grid only
supply to the critical load. As shown in Fig. 2(b), when the
supercapacitors are in the state of full charge and the power
grid in the normal operation the superpacitors based UPS are in
standby mode. Third, the supercapacitors discharge to the

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critical load. As shown in Fig. 2(c), when the failure of the grid
happens the supercapacitors discharge to the critical load. At
this time the terminal voltage must be detected to protect the
supercapcitors from over discharge.

level storage the high-current charge should be used and when

the supercapacitors are charged as close to full storage level the
small-current charge should be used. Due to the existence of
the supercapacitor equivalent series resistance there is a gap
between expected energy storage and the real energy storage of
supercapcitors when the terminal voltage is reached as
expected level. And the charge current is higher the gap is
bigger.
In the lab 164 supercapcitors are chosen for UPS. And the
ESR is 164 4 m = 0.656 , if the charge current is 10 A the
voltage drop of ESR is 6.56 V. So when the terminal voltage of
the supercapacitors reaches as rated voltage (Ubank = 164 4 =
229.6 V) the real voltage is 229.6 6.56 = 223.04 V. The loss
of energy is shown in (1) and about 5.97 % energy is lost as
shown in (2). Wloss is the energy loss, Cuc is equivalent
capacitance of supercapacitors and Usc is equivalent terminal
voltage of ideal supercapacitors
1
1 3000
2
2
2
2
Wloss = Cuc (Ubank Usc ) =
(229.6 223.04 ) = 27158.4J
2
2 164

(1)

Figure 2. Three kinds of energy flow of supercapacitors based UPS.

III.

THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT

A. The Finite State Machines Theory

In this paper the finite state machines theory is applied as
management method for supercapacitors based UPS. Finite
state machines theory is an integral part of system theory which
has been used in the computer science and information science
fields [5,6]. A finite state machine contains a finite number of
states, but in any given moment it can only be in one state. The
system changes the status by the incident. In power electronic
circuits the system status corresponds to open and turn-off
mode combinations of all the switches. So it can be divided
into different work status as specific finite state machines.
B. The Finite State Table for Supercapacitors Based UPS
As shown in Fig. 1 there are two switches and then 2n
statuses are given. As shown in Table I, when S1 on and S2 off
the supercapcitors based UPS is on charging status when S1 off
and S2 on the device is on discharging status; when S1 and S2
are both off the device is on standby status; and it is an error
status and not allowed when S1 and S2 both on.
TABLE I.

THE STATE TABLE OF SUPERCAPACITORS BASED UPS

The status of
switch tubes

The status
of system

S1

S2

The specific
description

00

off

off

standby mode

01

off

on

discharge mode

10
11

on
on

off
on

charge mode
error status

According
to the analysis of the energy flow for
supercapacitors based UPS when the supercapcitors are in low

W
27158.4
loss
100% =
100% = 5.97% (2)
1 3000
1 C U 2
2
223.04

uc
sc
2
2 164

There is too much energy loss if charged by high current.

But if the charge current is 2 A, when the terminal voltage
reach as rated voltage 229.6 V the real voltage is 229.6
0.656 2 = 228.288 V, and the lost is shown in (3) and only
1.15 % energy is lost as shown in (4)
1 3000
Wloss =
(229.62 228.2882 ) = 5494.656 J
2 164

(3)

W
5494.656
loss
100% =
100% = 1.15% (4)
1 3000
1 C U 2
sc

228.2882
2 uc
2 164

So according to the above analysis the status of smallcurrent charge is essential. The finite state table for
supercapacitors based UPS can be improved as Table II shows.
TABLE II.

THE IMPROVED STATE TABLE OF SUPERCAPACITORS BASED

UPS
The status of
switch tubes
S1
S2

The specific
description

00

off

off

standby mode

01

off

on

on

off

on

on

discharge mode
high-current
charge mode
small-current
charge mode
error status

The status
of system

100
101
11

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C. The Energy Management Under Finite State Machines

Theory for Supercapacitors Based UPS
The status transition graph is described in Fig. 3.

3) 01 to 100
The status is transited from discharge mode to high-current
charge mode. The incident is
U dc > U DcH i gh

&

U bank < U bank 3

(7)

where Ubank3 is the voltage which is used to judge whether the

high-current charge is needed. When the terminal voltage of
supercapcitors is below Ubank3, it is shown that the storage of
the energy is lower and the high-current charge is needed.
4) 100 to 01
The status is transited from high-current charge mode to
discharge mode. The incident is
U dc < U DcLow & U bank > U bankLow

Figure 3. The state transition graph of supercapacitors based UPS.

1) 00 to 01
The status of supercapcitors based UPS is transited from
standby mode to discharge mode. And the incident is
U dc < U DcLow & U bank > U bankLow

(5)

where Udc is the DC bus voltage of the motor drive system.

UDcLow is the setting voltage which is used to judge whether the
grid has failure. When the DC bus voltage is below the set
voltage it is known that the grid has failure. UbackLow is the
discharge termination voltage of the supercapcitors system.
When the terminal voltage of the supercapacitors is below
UbackLow, it is not allowed to discharge any more. As shown in
(5), the incident of status 00 to 01 is that the DC bus voltage is
below the grid failure judge voltage and the terminal voltage of
supercapcictors must be higher than the discharge termination
voltage.
2) 01 to 00
The status is transited from discharge mode to standby
mode. The incident is
U dc > U DcHigh & U bank > U bank1

(6)

where UDcHigh is the voltage which is used to judge whether the

grid become normal. When the DC bus voltage is higher than
UDcHigh it is known that the grid has become normal. Ubank1 is
the voltage of supercapcitors when they are in full energy
storage state. When the terminal voltage of supercapacitors is
higher than Ubank1 it is known that the supercapcitors are in full
energy storage state. As shown in (6), the incident of status 01
to 00 is that the DC bus voltage is higher than grid becomingnormal voltage and the terminal voltage of supercapcitors is
higher than full energy storage state voltage. The status
transition shows that the last discharge time of the system is
very short, the energy consumption is almost negligible and the
supercapacitors still keep full energy storage state.

(8)

The status transition from 100 to 01 shows that the grid has
failure and the UPS device works. The incidents 4) and 1) are
same. In another word no mater what status the UPS device is
in, if the grid voltage failure has come and the terminal voltage
of supercapcitors is higher than the discharge termination
voltage the status must changes to 01.
5) 101 to 01
The status is transited from small current charge mode to
discharge mode. The incident is equal to 4) and 1).
6) 01 to 101
The status is transited from discharge mode to small-current
charge mode. The incident is
U dc > U DcHigh

& U bank > U bank 2

(9)

where Ubank2 is the voltage which is used to judge whether the

small-current charge is needed. When the terminal voltage is
higher than Ubank2 in charge process it is shown that the storage
of supercapacitors is higher and the small-current charge
should be taken. As shown in (9), the status transition from 01
to 101 shows that the last discharge time of UPS device is not
long, the energy consumption is less and the energy storage
level is relatively high. So the small-current charge can be
taken directly.
7) 100 to 101
The status is transited from high-current charge mode to
small-current charge mode. The incident is
U dc > U DcHigh

& U bank 2 < U bank < U bank1

(10)

The status transition from 100 to 101 is to get full storage

state for superpacacitors.
8) 00 to 101
The status is transited from standby mode to small-current
charge mode. The incident is equal to 7). The status transition
from 00 to 101 is to supplement energy for supercapacitors. As
the result of leakage current of supercapacitors the energy loss
occurs when UPS device is in standby mode.

70

9) 101 to 00
The status is transited from small current charge mode to
standby mode. The incident is
U dc > U DcHigh

& U bank > U bankHigh

supercapacitors drops from 280 V to 145 V and the discharge

current accordingly rises from 21 A to 42 A.

(11)

where UbankHigh is the charge termination voltage. When the

terminal voltage is higher than UbankHigh in charge process the
charge must stop.
IV.

THE SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT

A. The Simulation
Simulations have been done in PSIM software
environment. The simulation circuit is shown in Fig. 4. In the
simulation the pure resistance load is chosen which can
consume 6Kw power. The analog circuit of power grid failure
can generate the signal to cut off the connection of the grid and
the motor drive circuit. The bi-directional DC-DC converter is
composed by buck circuit and boost circuit which are parallel.
The inductance of buck circuit is 2.8 mH and the inductance of
boost circuit is 1.8 mH. Two hundred supercapacitors are in
series. The equivalent capacitance is 15 F and the equivalent
series resistance is 0.656 . The DC bus voltage, the terminal
voltage of supercapacitors, the inductance current of buck
circuit and the inductance of boost circuit are collected by the
control and drive circuit.

Figure 5. The discharge waveform of supercapacitors based UPS.


Figure 6. The instant waveform when the grid has failure.

Figure 4. The simulation circuit of supercapacitors based UPS in PSIM.

In Fig. 5 at 1 second, the analog circuit of power grid

failure cuts off the grid and the UPS supercapacitors based
UPS are put into operation. The DC bus voltage can be kept at
about 480 V for about one minute. The terminal voltage of

In Fig. 6 the instantaneous waveforms of the DC bus

voltage, the terminal voltage of supercapacitors and the
discharge current are enlarged when the grid begins to have
failure. At 1 s the grid is cut off and the DC bus voltage begins
to drop. When the DC voltage drops below 460 V the
supercapacitors begin to discharge and the DC bus voltage can
be kept stable as 480 V. It is worth noting that the terminal
voltage of supercapacitors changes greatly at this moment. This
phenomenon is caused by the equivalent series resistance of
superpacacitors. At this moment the discharge current is large
and the voltage of the equivalent series resistance is generated.
The terminal voltage of supercapcitors drop happens. With the
discharge current reducing the terminal voltage of

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supercapacitors increases. But for the long term with the

energy consumption the terminal voltage eventually becomes
smaller.

The discharge power of UPS device reaches as 6 kW and the

discharge time is about 60 s.

Figure 8. The waveforms of DC bus voltage and inductance current when the
UPS on discharge mode.

Figure 9. The terminal voltage of supercapapcitors when the UPS is on

discharge mode.

Figure 7. The state transition waveforms between three kinds of modes.

In Fig. 7 the first is the DC bus voltage waveform, the

second is the terminal voltage of superpapacitors waveform,
the third is the inductance current of buck circuit and the fourth
is the inductance current of boost circuit. At the beginning with
the grid normal the supercapacitors are charged by large
current (Ibuck = 10 A). At 1.4 s the large current charge mode of
UPS device changes to small current charge mode (Ibuck = 2 A).
At 4 seconds the grid has failure and it is cut off. The mode of
UPS device changes from small current charge mode to
discharge mode and the DC bus voltage can be kept as 480V.
At 6 second the grid becomes normal. At this moment because
the energy storage of supercapacitors is low the mode of UPS
device changes from the discharge mode to large current
charge mode.
B. The Experiment
Experiments have been done. In the experiment, adjusting
the self-coupling transformer to simulate the power grid failure,
the resistance load is chosen, and 200 supercapacitors are
chosen. The DC bus voltage waveform and the inductance
current waveform of bi-directional converter is shown in Fig. 8
when the UPS device is discharging. And the terminal of
voltage of supercapacitors is shown in Fig. 9. At the beginning
the UPS device is in standby mode. The DC bus voltage is 510
V and the terminal voltage of supercapcitors is 260 V. When
the DC bus voltage is below 460 V the supercapacitors based
UPS is in operation to maintain the DC voltage at 460 V. With
the terminal voltage of supercapactiros dropping the boost
inductance current is increasing. At last the terminal voltage
drops to 190 V and the discharge current increases to 31 A.

V.

CONCLUSION

In this paper the finite state machines theory is applied as

energy management method of supercapacitors storage systems
for UPS applications. The work mode is divided into 9 modes
and the incident for every mode is discussed in detail.
According to the simulation and experimental results
supercapacitors based UPS have good performance by the
finite state machines control method.
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