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Battery management systems minimize the risk
of battery failures many times over
A High Level of Safety
Oliver
Heggelbacher *
More and more often, battery management systems
make manual monitoring obsolete. They are primarily used with stationary,
multiple-cell battery systems of high power UPS units and DC power
supplies. PowerProtect Batt, the newly developed accessory by MASTERGUARD
continuously measures the battery voltage at block or cell levels
during the whole service life period. Thus, critical states are
detected early and the risk of battery failure is minimized by preventative
maintenance measures.
Ensuring the availability of the battery in the case of power failure
requires the permanent monitoring of its current state. PowerProtect
Batt provides this protection in a comprehensive and reliable manner
unequaled by any manual check system. PowerProtect Batt is able
to completely obtain and file the "life history" of any
given battery. Faults and aging effects can be detected and repaired
early. This constitutes an indispensable service factor when high
demands are placed on the reliability of the UPS, as in the case
of large-scale data centers.
Diagnosis - Report - Alarm
PowerProtect Batt is the continual advancement of the MASTERGUARD
battery management being used in more than 500 power supply systems
worldwide. The latest hardware and software components allow, depending
on the prevailing requirements, the most different configurations.
The patented battery measuring modules BMM/BVM for the single block
monitoring on 2V, 4V, 6V or 12 volt level make up the core of the
monitoring system. Every module monitors up to 8 battery blocks.
By interconnecting several measuring modules, there is almost no
restriction to the battery arrangements that can be monitored. The
module control and the transfer of the measured data are done via
optical fiber. This ensures the complete electrical insulation of
the analyzing unit from dangerously high battery voltages.
The state of the battery back-up is crucial in determining the availability of UPS systems. The battery management system PowerProtect Batt detects and records critical developments as soon as they appear and alarms its users.
After the conversion of the optical signals, the measured data
accumulates via a serial data link in the central analyzing station.
This station is best placed in the server or control room. Here
the software component PP Archive comes into use, which allows the
compressed long-time storage of all measured values and additional
information, so that even a period of several years can be easily
documented. The measurements usually take place at 10-second intervals,
whether the battery is charged, discharged or at rest. The accumulating
data is manageable. Even after monitoring a large UPS battery for
its 10-year service life period, the estimated amount of data will
be less than 250MB, which can easily be stored on one CD. The access
to measuring and diagnosing data, as well as the display of alarm
messages take place via the visualization and analyze component
PowerProtect Graph. The data can also be checked via network/LAN,
i.e. from a control room. The monitoring system may also be integrated
into an existing building control system by installing a battery
alarm indicator via dry contacts.
Minimizing the risk
Many battery manufacturers make regular checks and documentation
of measurements an important part of their operating manuals. Using
PowerProtect Batt, these important monitoring tasks can be performed
much easier than by manual checks. At the same time, harmful operating
states (e.g. gassing or deep discharge) are detected early and faulty
battery blocks (e.g. with cell short-circuits) can be diagnosed
and located. Thus, PowerProtect Batt minimizes the risk of battery
failure especially in mission critical applications. Early intervention
provides a high level of safety for the uninterruptible power supply.
For further information please contact:
www.fuh-edv.de
*Oliver Heggelbacher, an active partner of the Nuremberg company
Flachmann & Heggelbacher, has been playing an important part
in the development of PowerProtect Batt. Flachmann & Heggelbacher
was founded in 1998 and specializes in software solutions for industrial
applications. Among others, the company works together with the
Fraunhofer IIS Institute in the field of industrial image processing.
For further informations:
www.fuh-edv.de
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