When it comes to choosing the right battery for your UPS system, you might come up with too many choices. To get some help while zeroing in on the best thing to suit your needs, you might consider the following factors:
Selection of battery type
By and large, batteries for UPS system are designed with cells which are interconnected. The cells might be of two types- recombination and vented.
The main categories of battery are:
- Batteries made up of Nickel-cadmium.
- Batteries made up of Lead-acid.
- Batteries made up of Lead-antimony i.e. vented cells: The batteries are equipped to the ports to:
- Hydrogen and oxygen released to the atmosphere.
- Electrolyte top by adding demineralised or distilled water.
- Recombination Cells (lead, pure lead, lead-tin batteries): 95% is the rate of gas recombination, and so water is not needed during service life. Reference to be vented on recombination batteries. They are vented and are also known as “sealed” battery.
Main types of batteries used in UPS conjunction are:
- Lead-acid batteries
- Vented lead-acid batteries.
- Vented nickel-cadmium batteries.
Above three types of batteries are produced depending on the economic factors, operating requirements of installation and service life availability durations.
Backup times and capacity level should be adapted to the user’s need.
Proposed batteries are results of collaboration of leading manufacturers.
Selection of back up time
It depends upon:
- Average duration of power system failures.
- Any available long-lasting standby power (engine-generator set, etc.)
- Application type- The typical range generally proposed is:
- Standard back up time 10, 15 or 30 minutes.
Recombination or Vented: Which Type Of Battery Is Better?
Recombination batteries appear to be the first choice of most of the UPS owners in the future. This is because:
- They require almost zero maintenance.
- They are absolutely effortless to install.
Plus, UPS installation with these batteries is possible in any types of room, including technical rooms that are not particularly favourable for batteries. However, under certain circumstances, vented batteries will be preferred. For example, it will be suitable for buyers who are looking for:
- Better service life
- Longer backup times
- Better power rating
The batteries that are vented must have to be installed in special rooms. It complies with the precise regulations and requires the appropriate maintenance time to time.
Installation methods
The battery backup time and capacity, depends upon the battery type:
Sealed type and housed in the UPS cabinet should be done.
Sealed type and housed in one to three cabinets are vented or sealed type and are made rack-mounted. For the above case the installation method may be practiced as under:
On shelves
This installation method is possibly applicable for sealed batteries among them some of them are easily made maintenance-free that are vented batteries which never requires as the topping up of their electrolyte.
Tier mounting
The installation method of the batteries that are suitable including the vented batteries that are used for particular, as filling and level checking are easily made with the help.
In cabinets
The method that is suitable for these batteries is the installation. It is easy to implement the offers to the maximum safety.
- Custom backup times
Here, these rules of thumb will generally apply:
1. Computer applications
Battery backup time must be sufficient to cover file-saving while shutting the required procedures that are made for venting and ensuring a controlled shutdown of the computer system. Usually, the department of computer determines the necessary backup time, depending on its specific requirements.
2. Industrial processes
The backup time calculation should take into account the economic cost incurred by an interruption in the process and the time required to restart.
