UPSs – A CRUCIAL BUSINESS CONSIDERATION
By George Senzere , solutions engineering manager , Schneider Electric
South Africa is currently plagued by a fragile power grid that is putting tremendous pressure on business and the local economy . And the ( unfortunate ) reality is this will remain the status quo for the next few months , with various news outlets reporting expected load shedding till August .
However , it is not only the lack of power supply that is impacting businesses but also grid instability that leads to surges , spikes and brown outs which can all severely damage costly equipment and impact business continuity .
Uninterrupted Power Supply ( UPS ) solutions have become a wellestablished part of local organisations and households ’ efforts to create some form of energy supply normality in times of load shedding and other interruptions .
But in order to understand and get the most from a UPS it is also important to contextualise its role within the overall stable supply of power during periods of interruption . For one , UPS solutions provide clean power which is critical when protecting critical and sensitive equipment .
Second , most UPSs run in conjunction with generator installations ; it forms the important first part of realising continuous and clean power supply . It provides immediate and uninterrupted power during those first vital seconds or minutes until the generators take over , which in turn deliver electricity for prolonged periods of time .
On its own In some instances , UPSs are the only power supply option – generators are noisy which means that in regulated environments such as office complexes it may not be allowed . Here , UPS solutions therefore play a bigger role as it will be the only source of power to critical systems during load shedding and other instances of power outages .
The logical question is then , will UPSs be able to handle the load so to speak ? The short answer is yes , depending on the required load – therefore kilowatt power – a good UPS solution can support equipment for a prolonged period and for at least four hours , which is the average length of time we experience during scheduled load shedding .
What this , however , will entail is installing a UPS solution with the requisite additional batteries that can be sized to support load of different sizes . And while it is a feasible solution , it can become very costly particularly if the business in question requires a considerable amount of power , say close to a megawatt for example .
Practically , an abovementioned UPS solution will be able to provide power to an office block and critical medical facilities such as theatres during load shedding . However , a factory line will need more than UPSs as it requires a massive amount of power to run optimally . Here , as mentioned , it is recommended that the UPS solution is combined with generators .
Therefore , in order to gain the most out of your UPS investment , consideration must be given to its application and ultimately the load it must be able to support .
Clean power A UPS is by design a provider of clean energy . As previously mentioned , it protects equipment against power supply instability due to its large input voltage window which allows for considerable fluctuation in power supply from the grid . Despite the fluctuation it will continue to provide clean energy to the equipment it is connected to .
There are several UPS topologies available , however , double online conversion offers the ultimate in clean provider . It receives the power from the grid , stores it in direct current and then coverts it back into indirect current which is then supplied to the connected equipment .
What this means is the power goes through a double conversion , ensuring that it is clean when supplied by the UPS . This is crucial when using critical and sensitive equipment and will contribute not only the use but longevity of these critical systems . With increased innovation we are also seeing other UPS operating modes improve efficiencies up to 99 % while still providing class 1 , no-break power protection for connected equipment .
Ultimately , UPSs offer more than meets the eye – it forms a fundamental part of a robust and stable power supply system and ensure that the electricity provided is clean , a very real consideration when protecting business assets .
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34 • African Mining • June 2021 www . africanmining . co . za