The UPS People

Selecting Batteries for Your UPS

Performance of any UPS system depends largely on performance of batteries connected to it. As such selection of right type and rating of battery for your UPS is very critical. Regular maintenance of installed batteries also should be given due importance. Battery Charging Specifications and cost. In developing countries, longer backup period is required for UPS systems. As such, the investment in batteries is at times almost equal to (or even more than) the UPS. Types of Batteries Three basic types of batteries are available in the market: 1. Automotive batteries (Wet) Lead acid

Batteries are accumulators of electrical energy. Battery stores electrical energy in chemical form. Battery specification consists of their voltage and ampere-hour (AH) capacity. Thus 12v 100AH battery means one can draw 10 Amperes for about 10 hours. This relationship is actually non-liner. In other words you cannot draw 100 amperes from 100 AH battery for one hour. Typically battery manufacturers give discharge curves as per their design specification for each rating. A 12V battery typically consists of 6 cells of 2 volts each connected in series and mounted in hard rubber or PP container. Charging methods for these batteries are also specified by manufacturers and one has to follow them strictly to get maximum life out of these batteries. UPS systems provide sophisticated electronic battery charger to ensure proper charging of batteries. Charging current restrictions decide recharging time for batteries. (This specification becomes critical when you have regular long load shading periods during the day) One has to understand that battery is a consumable item and has definite life, which is much less than life of the UPS. A normal life span for well-designed lead acid battery is about 2-3 years and depends upon selection of proper ampere-hour (AH) capacity for given discharge current. Long life (5 to 6 years) batteries are available but at extra

A typical wet battery is made of positive and negative plates, made of lead and lead oxide. These plates are arranged in hard rubber or PVC container. These plates are immersed in dilute sulphuric acid serving as liquid electrolyte. The performance of these batteries greatly depends on purity of lead used in battery plates and quality of sulphuric acid used. Hence, we find that branded batteries in this category perform much better than local makes. Automotive batteries are mainly produced by manufacturers for use in automobiles, where the main function of the battery is to start the engine. This requires battery to deliver very high current to starter motor for short duration, while starting the automobile. In running condition these batteries are floated on alternator rectifier connected to engine, which charges the battery. As such it does not undergo high current discharge for longer time. Manufacturers use battery plates with less cross sectional area to serve this purpose and reduce the cost. The electrolyte evaporates during charging and discharging changing its specific gravity. We have to add distilled water at regular intervals to ensure proper performance of these batteries.

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Generally these batteries are not recommended for serious UPS installations. However if the cost constraints are stringent one can use these batteries with UPS of lower ratings. The capacity should be so selected that that the discharge current is not more than 1/100 of battery rating. 2. Stationary Tubular acid batteries (Wet) Lead

3. Sealed Maintenance free (SMF) batteries (Dry - Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries) These batteries use plates similar to wet batteries, but the electrolyte used is generally in gel form. The battery is sealed and does not require any electrolyte filling throughout its lifespan. These batteries have predicted life of fixed number of discharge cycles, typically 300 discharge cycles at 250c ambient. One discharge cycle is typically discharging battery up to 60% and charging it again at recommended charging current. In tropical countries like India, this temperature restriction cannot be achieved unless batteries are used in air-conditioned atmosphere. As such we get average life of about 200 discharge cycles. Any repairs during the life span are not possible in SMF batteries. Thus within the life span but after the guarantee period, if any battery is found faulty then it needs total replacement. These batteries are available in the capacities ranging from 7 AH to 100 AH. Few manufacturers provide factory assembled, 2 Volt stacks of these batteries (at almost double the cost) with special constructional difference to give 5 7 years life. With the constraints as explained above these batteries are recommended for backup requirements of about 20-30 minutes. Sophisticated electronic chargers are must for these batteries to avoid bursting or bulging due to overcharging. These batteries should not be kept in discharged condition for longer duration.

Tubular batteries are similar to automotive batteries but with some significant differences in their construction. These batteries have larger cross sectional area for plates and larger volume to accommodate more electrolyte. In case of UPS large current discharge is required for longer durations to support the loads. This naturally demands more cross sectional area for battery plates to give longer battery life. Tubular batteries provide this type of construction and thus are better suited for UPS applications. Provision of more electrolyte avoids frequent topping up. These batteries are available in 2V or 12V models with ampere-hour capacities ranging from 40AH -200 AH. As the volumes getting sold are increasing, local reliable sources from unorganized sector are developing in many areas for these type of batteries. A variant called Thick plate or Pasted Plate battery is also available in the market. Quality and cost wise it falls between automotive and tubular batteries. User can choose the battery after ensuring the reputation and track record of the manufacturer.

Computation of battery requirement DC voltage of any UPS is design parameter decided by UPS manufacturer. Voltages ranging from 12V to 768V (64 Batteries of 12V in series) are used by

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various manufacturers for different ratings of UPS. Keeping this trend in mind, user should always specify UPS rating and backup time requirement and leave the selection of DC voltage to the UPS manufacturer. One can further compare costs and ratings of batteries quoted by various vendors for same backup Computation of Battery Requirement: Tubular Batteries: Following parameters are design specifications for UPS and are available in catalog. UPS DC to AC efficiency = % UPS DC voltage = VDC volts. Max Output Load = W watts. (One should take actual load in case it is different than Max) Following formula is used to calculate DC input currant of UPS. UPS DC input current = IDC Amps.

I Dc =

UPSoutputWatts W Amps. .(I) = INputDCvolts VDC

Following Empirical formula is used to calculate required battery rating in Ah.

Ah 1 = Backup time in hours. ..(II) UPSDCcurrentI DC

Example: Calculate battery rating for following situation: UPS rating = 3 KVA supporting 2100 Watts. UPS DC voltage = 96 volts. (12V, 8 Batteries.) Maximum battery voltage = 12 8 = 96volts. Min battery voltage = 10.5 8 = 84volts . (Battery manufacturer will not allow discharge beyond this voltage.) So average DC voltage = (96+84)/2=90 volts. UPS efficiency = 92% Back up required = 2 hours. Using above formula (I)

I DC =

2100 = 25.36 Amps 0.92 90

Using above formula (II)

Ah 1 = 2 25.36 Ah = 3 25.36 = 76.08

Nearest available battery rating is 80 Ah. So above UPS will require 12V / 80Ah 8 batteries to give 2 hours back up. This Empirical formula takes care of nonlinear discharge characteristics of batteries and also ensures that maximum discharge current is limited to maximum permissible value as specified by battery manufacturer.

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SMF VRLA Batteries: (Sealed Maintenance free or Valve regulated Lead Acid Batteries.) For calculating required rating of these batteries, one has to first calculate IDC using same formula ( I ) as above. After knowing DC current one has to refer to discharge characteristics given by manufacturer. (Graph of back up time Vs discharge current drawn for different Ah capacities). DC voltages higher than 24V may prove to be fatal for unauthorized handling. As such the battery racks should have safety covers with lock. Battery rooms should be accessible to authorized persons only. These rooms should be well ventilated with provision for dry type fire extinguisher. Periodic visual checking for bulging, fuming, loose connections is recommended. Batteries should be connected to UPS through a manual isolating switch so that in case of emergency battery bank can be quickly disconnected from UPS. In case of wet batteries the racks should be designed to provide enough height above batteries to facilitate regular gravity checking and filling of distilled water. A periodic record in the following form if maintained helps in assessing battery performance.

Few Dos and Donts for UPS batteries Batteries should be kept as near to UPS as possible. It is always recommended that required number of batteries should be connected in series. As far as possible series parallel combination should be avoided (Series parallel combination may not ensure proper charging and equal discharging, thus could reduce life of the batteries.) As far as possible do not mix old batteries with new batteries or batteries of unequal rating, while connecting in series to avoid unequal charging. For easy maintenance and from the point of view of safety batteries should be kept in steel or wooden racks duly designed to suite the site. Such racks should be kept away from heat and any other chemical fumes or chemical storage.

Date: Battery No.

No Load voltage ( To be noted with mains and UPS output off)

On load voltage

Checked By: Specific Gravity (all cells)

Terminal & link condition

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