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Difference between revisions of "Uninterrupted power supply"

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'''Question:''' Hi Mario, I would like to purchase back-up power supplies. Our buildingĀ  Ā  Ā  power went out the other night 20 minutes after finishing a human biopsy trial!!Ā  While we escaped a disaster this one time, I would hate to think what could happen in the future...these are trialsĀ  Ā  Ā  are obviously expensive and hard to organize.Ā  I see there areĀ  Ā  Ā  many different types of back-up power supplies available (forĀ  Ā  Ā  example, here: http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13) Could you let me know what features the UPS (uninterrupted powerĀ  Ā  Ā  supply) should possess? Voltage, current, etc, etc.Ā  I believe IĀ  Ā  Ā  know based on the specs of the oxygraphs, but would like to verify first.
The problem with uninterrupted power supply divides in some sections:
Ā  Ā 
# UPS functional type
Online UPS means, that the output-power ist constantly generated from the battery while the battery becomes constantly loaded from
mains power. This concept ensures uninterrupted output-power even in the moment of mains powerfail.
Other concepts deliver mainspower and start generation from battery only in case of powerfail. The startup of generation may take some
(short) time. So the output-power can have dips or other deformations in the moment of powerfail, which could cause the "load" instruments
to stop working. Ā 
Choose a high-quality UPS with "online"-generation.
# UPS output voltage:
The waveform should be sinewave or stepped approximation to sinewave.
The voltage should meet the Oxy-requirements which are 110 or 230V at 50 or 60 Hz with serie A-D according to the
setting at the Oxygraph mains input. Serie E and F accept nominal voltages from 100 to 240 V 47 - 63 Hz, due to accepted tolerances
of +/- 10 % the maximum range covers 90 - 264 V.
Ā  Ā 
For the waveform of any UPS is only "close" to a sinewave its always a good idea to stay securely within these ranges and not to
explore the boundaries. The type of "rectangle"-output UPS and most cheap UPS come with the risk of interference with the loads
electronics.
# UPS Output maximum current:
The instruments powered by the UPS draw different currents at startup, at running with full load or in normal operation. The UPS needs
to limit the current to prevent its internal electronics from damage. This limitation may cause problems with the "load" instruments especially
at startup when they need to switch on transformers or to load capacitors, thus drawing inrush-currents.
Therefore an UPS with inrush capability is preferable.
Ā  Ā 
# UPS Output thermal current:
The output current will warm up the internal electronics of the UPS, which is designed for a certain maximum of continuous current.
All "load"-Instruments together may not reach this value during an experiment.
So the rated UPS output continuous current has to be higher then the sum of continuous current of all connected instruments, including
Oxygraphs, computers, monitors. Ā 
# UPS power failure buffering time
The battery of the UPS in normal operation is fully charged by the mains supply, the batteries capacity becomes only relevant in case of
mains powerfail. From fail on the battery has to deliver all the energy used by the load. The longer an experiment should be continued without
mains power the bigger batteries must be used.
Calculate more power failure buffering time than you ever plan to use. The battery will loose capacity during lifetime and the convenient use
will increase the number of "load" Instruments.
Ā  Ā 
Oxygraph power-consumption Serie E, F:
nominal mains input: 100 - 240 VĀ  47 - 63 Hz
maximum mains range: 90 - 264 V
inrush-current: depends on the mains power net impedance, at WGT-Labs we measured maximum 45 A for 5Āµs. With limited current the
inrush becomes lower in current but takes more time. We measured 8A for 50 Āµs.
maximum current: At ambient temperature 25 Ā°C with Chamber temperature set to 0Ā° the Oxygraph takes full peltier-power. Additionally the
stirrers and the TIP moving will add to a maximum of 110 W and 0,5 A at 50 Hz.Ā 
normal operation:
25 Ā° C ambient and 37Ā° C chamber lead to app. -11% peltier-power thus consuming 40 W from mains power.
25 Ā° C ambient and 5Ā°C chamber lead to ca. -66% peltier-power thus consuming 75 W from mains power.
Ā  Ā 
I use "load" instrument for all electric equipment connected to the UPS.
Even cheap UPS may work properly.
Even the most luxury UPS still can cause some complications with certain load-situations.
We can not guarantee functionality of UPS-powering of Oxygraphs.
If all the above mentioned criteria are carefully attended to we suppose experimental equipement will serve smoothly.


'''Answer:'''


Hi Chris, I fear there is not far much more then the specs to go by. I work fromĀ  home today so can`t access the serialĀ  number of your O2ks but I think this linkĀ  [http://www.oroboros.at/index.php?id=o2k-series_e-features @OROBOROS] should be helpful anyway, because old and new values are compared. Of course the typical power ratings are only useful if you assume that you already reached thermal equilibrium. Some other considerations: * switching time: In our case we use notebooks for computers, so DatLabĀ  will run some time anyway. However, once a O2k is switched off and onĀ  again WITHOUT getting any contradicting instructions from DatLab it willĀ  try to go to a hardware default temperature of 25 Ā°C. Therefore, onceĀ  there was an interruption in the power supply it is necessary toĀ  re-connect (new file) with DatLab to the O2k as soon as possible afterĀ  the power is back (switched to the alternative source).


A different approach would be to contact the people who have experiences with power supplies for O2k's on expeditions, starting with Erich himself but a.) Erich is in the Everest Base camp (presumable fighting with the power supply ) right now and b.) I think these are realy rather different questions. [[User:Fasching Mario|Fasching Mario]] 16:53, 20 March 2013 (CET)


'''
Addition:'''


Dear Mario and Chris,
Ā 
my apologies, we don't have any experience with UPS systems onĀ  expeditions. Though power stability (and even oscillations thereof) canĀ  be a real drag, as they also influence POS signal stability.
So far, we have just reconnected as Mario described in the WikiĀ  after the power came back on. If it's only a short power cut, not tooĀ  many data points are lost (depending on the experiment, of course).
I have heard of UPS systems that connect between power socket andĀ  consumer, they consist of a kind of constantly recharging battery. OnceĀ  there is a power cut, the oxygraph would be directly connected to itsĀ  battery part without having to switch, so youĀ  wouldn't have to restart and data loss could be excluded.
I'd go for something like thisā€¦.Ā 
Cheers
[[user:Fmark ]]





Revision as of 12:03, 16 April 2013

The problem with uninterrupted power supply divides in some sections:

  1. UPS functional type

Online UPS means, that the output-power ist constantly generated from the battery while the battery becomes constantly loaded from mains power. This concept ensures uninterrupted output-power even in the moment of mains powerfail. Other concepts deliver mainspower and start generation from battery only in case of powerfail. The startup of generation may take some (short) time. So the output-power can have dips or other deformations in the moment of powerfail, which could cause the "load" instruments to stop working.

Choose a high-quality UPS with "online"-generation.

  1. UPS output voltage:

The waveform should be sinewave or stepped approximation to sinewave. The voltage should meet the Oxy-requirements which are 110 or 230V at 50 or 60 Hz with serie A-D according to the setting at the Oxygraph mains input. Serie E and F accept nominal voltages from 100 to 240 V 47 - 63 Hz, due to accepted tolerances of +/- 10 % the maximum range covers 90 - 264 V.

For the waveform of any UPS is only "close" to a sinewave its always a good idea to stay securely within these ranges and not to explore the boundaries. The type of "rectangle"-output UPS and most cheap UPS come with the risk of interference with the loads electronics.

  1. UPS Output maximum current:

The instruments powered by the UPS draw different currents at startup, at running with full load or in normal operation. The UPS needs to limit the current to prevent its internal electronics from damage. This limitation may cause problems with the "load" instruments especially at startup when they need to switch on transformers or to load capacitors, thus drawing inrush-currents.

Therefore an UPS with inrush capability is preferable.

  1. UPS Output thermal current:

The output current will warm up the internal electronics of the UPS, which is designed for a certain maximum of continuous current. All "load"-Instruments together may not reach this value during an experiment.

So the rated UPS output continuous current has to be higher then the sum of continuous current of all connected instruments, including Oxygraphs, computers, monitors.

  1. UPS power failure buffering time

The battery of the UPS in normal operation is fully charged by the mains supply, the batteries capacity becomes only relevant in case of mains powerfail. From fail on the battery has to deliver all the energy used by the load. The longer an experiment should be continued without mains power the bigger batteries must be used.

Calculate more power failure buffering time than you ever plan to use. The battery will loose capacity during lifetime and the convenient use will increase the number of "load" Instruments.

Oxygraph power-consumption Serie E, F: nominal mains input: 100 - 240 V 47 - 63 Hz maximum mains range: 90 - 264 V inrush-current: depends on the mains power net impedance, at WGT-Labs we measured maximum 45 A for 5Āµs. With limited current the inrush becomes lower in current but takes more time. We measured 8A for 50 Āµs. maximum current: At ambient temperature 25 Ā°C with Chamber temperature set to 0Ā° the Oxygraph takes full peltier-power. Additionally the stirrers and the TIP moving will add to a maximum of 110 W and 0,5 A at 50 Hz. normal operation: 25 Ā° C ambient and 37Ā° C chamber lead to app. -11% peltier-power thus consuming 40 W from mains power. 25 Ā° C ambient and 5Ā°C chamber lead to ca. -66% peltier-power thus consuming 75 W from mains power.

I use "load" instrument for all electric equipment connected to the UPS.

Even cheap UPS may work properly. Even the most luxury UPS still can cause some complications with certain load-situations.

We can not guarantee functionality of UPS-powering of Oxygraphs. If all the above mentioned criteria are carefully attended to we suppose experimental equipement will serve smoothly.







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