653-T71
Overview
The battery system used in the off-line-design Pure-Wave
UPS System has proven to be the most reliable energy
storage technology of any uninterruptible power supply in
use today. It is the culmination of a thorough design process that began over 10 years ago. The PureWave UPS
design team realized that near-flawless battery performance could be achieved by carefully managing the battery environment, operating parameters, and equalizationcharging technique. The operating conditions in conventional on-line-design three-phase UPSs compromises the
batteries, particularly in the area of periodic equalization.
Traditional lead-acid wet-cell batteries have been reasonably successful in UPS applications. But wet cells take
up significant space and require regular maintenance. And
they are quite expensive. For UPS applications up to 500
kW, wet-cell batteries can represent 30% to 40% of the
total equipment cost . . . and up to 50% of the installed
cost.
About 20 years ago, valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA)
battery technology emerged for UPS applications up to
500 kW. These batteriessometimes referred to as
sealed, maintenance-freequickly became the design of
choice. VRLA batteries can be arranged in smaller
cabinets and mounted adjacent to the UPS equipment
without special ventilation. The term valve-regulated
means the batteries are truly sealed and only vent
hydrogen if overcharged. VRLA batteries also differ from
wet cells in that the electrolyte is suspended in a paste/gel
or gauze material, eliminating the potential for spilling the
liquid, and simplifying installation. With their reduced
volume of electrolyte and thinner plates, VRLA batteries
are considerably smaller than wet cells too. The lowercost VRLA batteries appeared to be ideal for UPS
applications.
>500 K
<8 0K
100 K
Wet Lead
L ead
Acid
Acid
Pillerr
Pille
Flywheel
Flyw
hee l
50 K
<20 K
Se ale d
Sealed
VRLA
VRL A
Active
Power
Pow
er
Flywheel
Flywhe
el
PureWave
PureWave
Lead
Le ad Acid
Acid
Product
Product
Figure 1. Energy storage performance comparison.
VRLA Batteries
The vast majority of UPSs in use today utilize VRLA battery strings for applications up to 500 kW, and wet-cell
lead-acid batteries for higher-power applications and
those requiring more than 15 minutes of ride-through. In
April 2002, Energetics, Inc., of Washington, DC, presented
an extensive report, Reliability of Valve-Regulated LeadAcid Batteries for Stationary Applications, at the Electric
Energy Storage Application and Technology (EESAT)
Conclusion
The performance of the PureWave UPS battery system
surpasses that of all other energy storage systems used in
UPS applications. In addition to higher reliability, the
PureWave UPS battery system is lower in initial cost and
provides a lower life-cycle cost as well. The results show
that lead-acid batteries, properly applied, can achieve
extremely high reliability in UPS applications.
References
1)Technologies for Energy Storage by Electricity Storage Association, IEEE/Power Engineering Society Stationary Battery Committee Presentation, IEEE/PES
July 2000.
2)Reliability of Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid Batteries for
Stationary Applications by Jennifer Miller and Mindi
Farber De Anda, Energetics, Inc., Washington, DC,
EESAT 2002 Conference, April 17, 2002, San Francisco,
California.
3)High Reliability Battery-Free Power Quality Solutions
for Large Internet Data Centers by Bradley S. Walter,
Active Power Inc., Austin, Texas, EPRI PQA 2001 Conference, June 2001, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
4)CleanSource 2Battery-Free Energy Storage, Theory
of Operation by Scott Richey, Active Power Inc., Austin, Texas, EESAT 2002 Conference, April 18, 2002, San
Francisco, California.
5)Uninterrupted Power, the Key to a Bullet Proofing
Security by Alan Katz, MGE UPS Systems, Costa
Mesa, California, July 2002 issue of Battery Power
Products and Technology.