Battery Power - Winter 2014 - (Page 8)
Feature
UPS Goes Green to Save Green
David Chetham-Strode, WW Product Manager Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions
HP
With space and energy conservation key topics among IT
and facilities decision makers, UPS manufacturers are continually striving to design smaller products with fewer parts, lower
cost, easier recycling and less weight. This delicate balance of
innovative engineering combined with supply chain component
and materials selection seeks to achieve a green energy solution,
facilitating improvements in recycling, energy conservation and
heat management.
Some UPSs now include energy-saving features such as
real-time clocks (RTCs), which allow accurately timed, programmed shutdown and restart of protected devices even in the
event of a power outage. Data center managers are discovering
additional green advantages through the use of UPS power
management software that is compatible in today's energyefficient virtualized environments. Still others are reaping the
rewards from new UPS topologies that can contribute significantly to greener data centers.
One relatively new engineering design in power protection
includes the minimally switched line-interactive (MST) UPS
topology. This design abandons the use of voltage regulation
transformers used in traditional line interactive topology UPSs
to afford numerous advantages for users going green, and saving green.
Overall, MST UPSs offer a smaller environmental footprint via:
* Maximized power efficiency to use less energy,
* Longer battery life that diminishes recycling turns,
* Wise use of scarce commodity products,
* Better thermal management resulting in less strain on
cooling systems.
REDUCE
Less Is More - No More Heavy Transformers
Most line-interactive UPS topology designs rely on a large,
low-frequency transformer to briefly buck- and boost-regulate
fluctuating utility power to protected devices. Though using a
voltage regulating transformer is sufficient for many applications, there are also many drawbacks, including unnecessary
weight, use of costly and scarce commodity components (such
as copper), jagged voltage regulation and excessive dependence
on the UPS battery during the voltage-regulation phase.
On the other hand, minimally switched UPSs offer key
advantages for IT managers looking to meet today's green
demands. This topology abandons the low frequency voltage
transformer and its drawbacks and instead implements high-frequency magnetics and pulse-width-modulation switching power
designs to maximize power efficiency and enhance battery life.
8
Battery Power * Winter 2014
Figure 1. Block Diagram Typical LI with Transformer
Figure 2. Block Diagram MST UPS
OPTIMIZE
No More Tap Dancing
When the utility line input changes above or below nominal
levels (120 volts for example), the UPS compensates by either
boosting up or bucking down the input voltage to regulate
toward the ideal 120 volts. During this process, transformerbased line interactive UPS include several taps on the transformer, which doesn't allow for a smooth resolution of voltage.
These taps are similar to rungs on a ladder going up and down.
The mechanical relays that switch from one tap (or rung) to
another, either buck or boost the voltage. The regulation in this
manner is typically +6/-10 percent between transitions, large
steps. The drawback is that the number of taps is usually limited to a handful. With only a few taps available, the transition
of going up or down is not continuous as these steps are fixed.
The ratio from the input to output of this transformer therefore
is based on how many of these taps are available making the
resolution of this buck and boost somewhat rough. In addition,
the mechanical relays included in these UPSs are notorious for
their unpredictability.
MST topology overcomes these challenges with its high-frequency electronic/high-frequency switching. This advantage creates smooth and continuous, dynamic buck and boost regulation
regardless of what the voltage variation is on the input. Digital
technology within MST allows processing without mechanical
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Battery Power - Winter 2014
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‘Nanopetals’ for Sensors, Batteries
Growth in Battery Industry Sparks the Need for Battery Innovation Center
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