POWER SUPPLIES & GENERATOR LOOKING AT LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES Many aspects of technology for power supplies and generators have rapidly
advanced, but one aspect of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) still firmly rooted in tradition is batteries, Martin Pearce, Sales Director, Critical Power Supplies explains.
Lead acid batteries still feature dominantly as an essential part of energy storage within UPS operation. Surprisingly, despite battery advances for other electronic equipment, such as smart phones and vehicles, there has been little battery evolution here for a number of decades. So the time is ripe for the lessons learned to spill over into the critical power world. Yes, Lithium-ion batteries have already been having an impact, but what should be considered when looking at the options?
1. PRIME TIME Data, power and information desire is not going to disappear, in fact it’s rapidly accelerating, if not exceeding capability. So, every datacentre, infrastructure or building with critical power requirements has to be several steps in front and unfortunately traditional lead-acid batteries are increasingly going to struggle to meet demand.
2. SIGNIFICANT CAPACITY Delivering substantially more energy and power, Lithium-ion batteries cope better with the rising energy requirements that many operations now expect.
3. SPACE ADVANTAGES Taking up a third-or-less space than conventional lead-acid batteries means a better power to space ratio, reduced UPS footprint and importantly weight, enabling spaces to be used more effectively.
4. REDUCTION IN COOLING REQUIREMENTS
Their smaller size also means reduced cooling requirements,
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more installation flexibility and lower cooling costs.
5. REDUCED SENSITIVITY Temperature fluctuations have limited effect on lithium-ion battery life – they are able to withstand significantly wider temperatures ranges.
6. INCREASED VISIBILITY More sophisticated battery monitoring systems means energy storage and the battery’s health can be checked and potentially predict UPS failures.
7. EXTENSIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY Battery replacement (which can be costly, including extraction and installation costs alongside the hardware, not to mention system down time) can be significantly reduced as Lithium-ion batteries are expected to last far longer than the usual 10 years.
8. ENERGY RELIABILITY A UPS battery needs to kick in quickly and with quite some power, potentially only for a relatively short period of time, until the generator establishes itself. This is contrary to how other batteries operate.
9. LOWER TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)
Easily more competitive, Lithium-ion batteries may initially be more expensive to purchase, but they last almost twice as long, so their pay-back is assured. In addition, their smaller size means that they save costs in terms of the physical space and their cooling requirements. However, it is important to not just consider the field life comparison as the technology is very different.
Traditional sealed lead acid batteries also require a pressure valve for releasing hydrogen gas should the gas recharging combination cycle run away with itself, so the Lithium-ion battery also eliminates the release risk of COSH controlled chemicals and explosions.
10.MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Obviously being recyclable and not containing hazardous materials is important, but in reality, to give this a true view in terms of their environmental stance, we need to consider the entire aspect of the Lithium-ion battery and their lower energy and cooling consumption. Less energy is required to keep them charged, plus they self-discharge at a lower rate than lead acid batteries, however they do need a battery management system, which potentially consumes an equivalent amount in terms of energy.
With ASHRAE and other organisations recommending increasing data centre temperatures to save on cooling costs, Lithium-ion batteries will become a core aspect of uninterruptible power supplies. In addition, the overall design of a data centre is likely to shift, as the need for individually climate- controlled rooms is removed. The times are changing and we are on the cusp of entering a new arena in terms of UPS installation and management where it will be interesting to see what ripple effect the use of Lithium-ion batteries are going to create in data centre design.
www.criticalpowersupplies.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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