Editor’s choice
SIMPLIFYING BATTERY MANAGEMENT FOR DUAL VOLTAGE SYSTEMS
Power supplies are often limited in field environments as most of the telemetry industry uses 24V or 12V systems, which can be a challenge when designing battery backup systems. When instrumentation and radio communication devices run on different voltage supplies, having technology that can adapt to the different voltage requirements is convenient and cost-effective. Here, Ian Loudon, international marketing and sales manager at remote monitoring specialist Omniflex, outlines the advantages of dual voltage power supply.
P
roviding both 24V and 12V in battery standby systems can be expensive and inconvenient. Telemetry equipment is often used in the field to relay informa- tion back to control systems, but one of the big challenges is there can often be disparity between radio and instrumentation equip- ment power supply voltages.
Radio equipment is often powered on 12V DC supply – the most readily available batteries. However, analytical equipment, control relays and others often require 24V DC. Traditionally, companies would use two power supplies to address this issue. This brings about complexity with more wiring and more maintenance time as this may involve twice the amount of time checking on any signals and twice the cost in cabling.
Traditionally this would require two power supply chargers and batteries for remote moni- toring, therefore adding more components to the system. In addition, the draw on the 12V DC system is different to the 24V DC system, which drains the batteries at different rates and makes maintaining them a challenge.
Many teams would carry back up batteries with them, but the most common back up battery is the sealed lead acid because it’s relatively cheap and readily available. In high ambient temperature condi- tions, however, a charger will even at trickle charge damage the batteries and shorten their lifespan. All sealed lead acid battery manufacturers specify a maximum charging current for the correct life and safe operation of sealed lead acid batteries. The PTL120C-D takes battery protection to a new level by providing a temperature sensor input – where the sensor is attached to the battery – which allows the charge controller to compensate charging rate according to temperature of the battery extending the battery life significantly. This maximum charging current for a battery is based upon the Ampere-hour capacity of the battery.
10
Many conventional switch mode power supplies do not control their maximum delivered current and can cause batteries to be charged from flat with current levels that exceed the manufacturer’s recommendation.
In addition, during prolonged power outages, back-up batteries will eventually discharge. If the load remains connected, the batteries can enter their “deep” discharge phase, which can cause irreparable damage to the batteries, and reduce their capacity and life expectancy.
To simplify the challenges of remote monitoring Omniflex has developed a single product solution by developing a power supply with the PTL120C-D dual voltage charger – with both 12V and 24V DC output. It provides true split rail battery charging for balanced
charging to both batteries even when 12V loads are tapped from the battery set.
This protects the batteries from any deep discharge events, containing mains output that is connected as an alarm to indicate loss of primary power – notifying a supervisory system. The battery level is monitored through the charger and the load can be put to prevent damage, alerting a specialist to fix the problem. With a simplified design through a compact single unit solution, this makes maintenance easier and flexible by avoiding the necessity for certified wiremen to change power supply through a mains safe IEC connector.
Omniflex
www.omniflex.com November 2024 Instrumentation Monthly
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
