UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) ,also known as a continuous

Power supply(CPS) or a battery backup is a device which maintains
a continuous supply of electrical power to connected equipment by
supplying power from a separate source when utility power is not
available. It differs from and auxiliary or emergency power system
or standby generator , which does not provide instant protection
from a momentary power interruption. A ups , however ,can be
used to provide uninterrupted power to equipment, typically for
5-15 minutes until an auxiliary power supply can be turned on,
Utility power restored, or equipment safely sut down.
While not limited to safeguarding any particular type of
Equipment, a ups is typically used to protect computers, data centers,
Telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where
An unexpected power disruption could cause injuries , fatalities , serious
business disruption or data loss. Ups units come in sizes ranging from units
Which will back up a single computer without monitor (around 200 VA) to
Units which will power entire data centers or building( several megawatt).
COMMON POWER PROBLEMS

There are various common power problems that ups units are used
To correct . they are as follows
power failure Total loss of utility power , with possibility of severe
transient conditions upon failure and restoration ; causes electrical
equipment to stop working.
voltage sag transient under voltage; causes flickering of lights.
voltage spike- transient over voltage i.e. spike or peak ; causes
wear or acute damage to electronic equipment.
under voltage low line voltage for an extended period of time; causes
overheating in motors.
over voltage- increased voltage for an extended period of time; causes
light bulbs to fail.
line noise distortion superimposed on the power waveform ; causes
electro magnetic interference.
Ups units are divided into categories based on which of the above problems
they address.
ELEMENTS Of UPS

The main elements of ups are rectifier, battery , inverter, static switches ,
filter, automatic voltage regulator. The rectifier converts AC to DC. This DC
supply charges the battery & also feeds the inverter. The filter removes ripples
from the dc supply. The static switches connect / disconnect the requires.
The automatic voltage regulator keeps the o/p ac voltage constant. It uses
-ve feedback to maintain constant o/p voltage. Present day ups uses pulse width
Modulated inverter because the o/p of such an inverter is perfect sine wave.
The battery works as a standby source of power supply. It can be either

Lead acid battery or nicked battery.

TECHNOLOGIES

The general categories of modern ups system are on-line, line-interactive

and standby or offline.
ON- LINE / DOUBLE- CONVERSION

The online ups is ideal for environments where electrical isolation is

necessary or for equipment that is very sensitive to power fluctuation.
Although once previously reserved for very large installation of 10kw
Or more, advance in technology have permitted it to now be available
as a common consumer device , supplying 500 watts or less. The online
ups is generally more expensive but may be necessary when power environment is
noisy such as in industrial settings , for larger equipment loads like data centers
or when operation from an extended run up backup generator is necessary.. it is
called a double conversion ups due to the rectifier directly driving the inverter ,even
when powered from normal ac current.
In an online ups, the battery are always connected to the inverter ,so
That no power transfer switches are necessary . when power loss occur the
The rectifier simply drops out of the circuit and the batteries keep the power
Steady and unchanged . when power is restored, the rectifier resumes carrying
Most of the load and begins charging the batteries though the charge current
May be limited to prevent the high power rectifier from overheating the batteries
and boiling off the electrolyte.
LINE-INTERACTIVE

The line-interactive ups is similar in operation to a standby ups ,but with the
addition Of a multi-tap variable voltage autotransformer. This is a special type of
electrical Transformer that can add or subtract powered coils of wire, thereby
increasing or decreasing the magnetic field and the output voltage of the
transformer.
This type of ups is able to tolerate continuous under voltage brownouts and
over voltage surges without consuming the limited reserve battery power. It
instead compensate by auto selecting different power taps on the autotransformer.
Changing the autotransformer tap can cause a very brief power disruption , so
The ups may chirp for a moment , as it briefly switches to battery before changing
the selected power tap.
Autotransformers can be engineered to cover a wide range of varying i/p
Voltages, but this also increase the number of taps and size, weight complexity

and expense of the ups. It is common for the autotransformer to only cover a range
from about 90v to 140v for 120v power, then switch to battery if the voltage goes
much higher or lower than that range.
In low voltage conditions the ups will use more current than normal so
it may need a higher current circuit than a normal device. For example to power
a 1000 watt device at 120 volts , the ups will draw 8.32 amp. If brownout occurs
and the voltage drop to 100volts , the ups will draw 10amp. to compensate. This
also works in reverse, so that in an over voltage condition ,the ups will need fewer
amps of current.
OFF-LINE/STANDBY

The offline/standby ups offers only the most basic features, providing surge
Protection and battery backup .usually the standby ups offers no battery capacity
monitoring or self test capability , making it the least reliable type of ups since it
could fail at any moment without warning . these are also the least expensive ,
selling for as little as US$40 . The sps may be worse than using nothing at all ,
because it gives the user a false sense of security of being assured protection that
may not work when needed the most.
With this type of ups, a users equipment is normally connected directly to
incoming utility power with the same voltage transient clamping devices used in a
Common surge protected plug strip connected across the power line. When the
incoming Utility voltage falls below a predetermined level the sps turns on its
internal DC_AC Inverter circuitry , which is powered from an internal storage
battery .The sps then mechanically switches the connected equipment on to its
DC_AC inverter output. The switch over time is stated by most manufacturers as
being less then 4 millisecond but typically can be as long 25 millisecond depending
on the amount of time it takes the standby ups to detect the lost utility voltage

.
HYBRID TOPOLOGY / DOUBLE CONVERSION ON DEMAND.
Recently there have been hybrid topology ups hitting the marketplace. These hybrid designs
Dont have an official designation , although one name used by Hp and Eaton is double
Conversion on demand. This style of ups is targeted towards high efficiency application
while Still maintaining the features and protection level offered by double conversion.
A hybrid ups operates as an offline ups when power condition are within a certain
Preset window. This allows the ups to achieve very high efficiency rating . when the power
Condition fluctuate outside of the predefined windows ,the ups switches to online
operation .In double conversion mode the ups can adjust for voltage variation without
having to use
battery power ,can filter out line noise and control frequency. Example of his ups design are
the HPR8000.
FERRO RESSONANT

Ferro Resonant units operate in the same way as a standby ups unit with the
exception that a Ferro resonant transformer is used to filter the output. This
transformer is design to hold energy long enough to cover the time between
switching from line power to battery power and effectively eliminates the transfer
time. Many Ferro resonant ups
are 90-93% efficient and offer excellent isolation.
This used to be the dominate type of ups and is limited to around the
15kva range. These units are mainly used in some industrial setting due to the
robust nature Of the ups . Many Ferro resonant ups utilizing controlled Ferro
technology
DC POWER

A ups design powering dc equipment is very similar to an online ups, except that it
Does not need an output inverter, and often the powered device does not need a
power supply , rather than converting AC to DC to charge batteries ,then dc to ac to
power the external device , and then back to dc inside the powered device, some
equipment accepts dc power directly and allows one or more conversion steps to be
eliminated . this equipment is more commonly known as a rectifier.
Many system used in telecommunication use 48 volt dc power because it
is not considered a high voltage by most electrical codes and is exempt from many
safety regulation such as being installed in conduit and junction boxes . Dc has
typically been the dominant power source for telecommunication and Ac has
typically been the dominant source for computers and servers.
There has been much experimentation with 48v dc power for computer
servers in the hope of reducing the like hood of failure and the cost of equipment.
However , to supply the same amount of power the current must be greater than an
equivalent 120v or 240v circuit and greater current requires larger conductor and
more energy to be lost as heat.
High voltage DC is finding use in some data center application and
allows for small power conductor but is subjected to the more complex electrical
code rules for safe containment of high voltages.
ROTARY
A rotary ups uses the inertia of a high mass spinning flywheel to provide short term ride
through In the event of power loss. The flywheel also acts as a buffer against power spike
and sags, since Such short time power events are not able to appreciable affect the
rotational speed. of the high Mass flywheel . It is also one of the oldest design predating
vacuum tube and integrated circuit.
It can be considered to be online since it spins continuously under normal
conditions. However unlike an electronic double conversion ups, it is only capable of
providing reserved power for a few second before the flywheel slowed and the protection
fails . it traditionally used in conjunction with standby diesel generator providing backup
power only for the brief period of time the engine needs to start running and stabilized its
output.
The rotary ups generally reserved for application needing more than 10000
watts Of protection to justify the expense of an extremely large and heavy power system
that can Only be transported by forklift . A larger flywheel or multiple flywheels operating
in parallel will Increase the reserved running time but at greatly increasing cost due to the
size and weight of the Precision balanced flywheel.
Because the flywheel are a mechanical power source it is not necessary to use

an electric motor or generator as an intermediary between it and a diesel engine design to

provide emergency power . by using a transmission gear box , the rotational inertia of the
flywheel can be used to directly start up a diesel engine and once running the diesel engine
can be used to directly spin the flywheel . Multiple flywheel can likewise be connected in
parallel through mechanical countershaft without need for separate motor and generators
for each flywheel.
APPLICATION

The basic technology of ups hardware can have many forms when applied for
different purposes . Any of the technologies may be recombined as redundant
systems or design
for special needs.
MULTIPLE REDUNDANCY

Many computer servers offers the option of redundant power supplies , so that in
the event of one power supply failing , one or more other power supplies are able to
power the load .This is a critical point each power supply must be able to power the
entire server by itself.
Redundancy is further enhanced by plugging each power supply in to
a circuit .
while it is common practice by uninformed people to plug each of
these individual power supply in to single ups , redundant protection can be
extended further yet by connecting each power supply to its own ups . this provides
double protection from both a power supply failure and a ups failure , so that
continue operation is assured.
OUTDOOR USE

When a ups system is placed outdoors , it should have some specific features that
guarantee that it can tolerate weather with a minimal to none effect on
performance. Factors such as temperature , humidity, rain and snow among other
should be considered by the manufacturer when designing an outdoor ups system .
operating temperature ranges for outdoor ups system could be around -40 .c to
55.c.
outdoor ups system can be pole , ground or host mounted. Outdoor
environment could mean extreme cold , in which case the outdoor ups system should
include a battery heater mat , or extreme heat , in which case the outdoor ups
system should include a fan system or an air conditioning system.