Commercial and industrial business owners in Australia are aware that storms of savage strength may affect any portion of the country at any moment. These storms hit different areas, often with minimal warning.

Most power networks in the country are developed to withstand intense weather, but inclement weather may impact overhead electricity lines. Utility companies have emergency plans in place, and engineers prepared to take care of situations as they arise. However, the operators of some data centres with critical loads must take specific actions to ensure uninterrupted electricity for their systems under most conditions.

Why You Need Reliable UPS

Any system you integrate should contain a provision for any power cuts that last a few hours or maybe days, in addition to the ones of only seconds’ or moments’ duration. It also requires an onsite generator to back up the UPS, as most of the battery functions are finite and vulnerable to overridden by an extended blackout.

Also, there’s absolutely no purpose in having battery connections that aren’t matched by efficient air-conditioning. This is required to maintain safe operating temperatures within the UPS through the blackout. The initial step would be to ensure that UPSs and generators complement each other in performance. The next is to make sure they synchronise easily and safely in case of a power failure.

The UPS Is Critical

If a data centre is considered to be mission-critical, it will almost surely have an internet UPS. Through standard ‘mains OK’ functionality, the incoming electricity flows throughout the UPS rectifier and inverter parts before hitting the load. It usually means the load is continually protected from all mains-borne noise, brownouts, surges, spikes and some other aberrations. These protections are in place in addition to protection from short-term electricity cuts. Under these conditions, the UPS offers complete protection with no support from the generator, which stays on standby.

However, in case the uninterruptible supply system detects that an ongoing blackout is proving to be a danger to its battery function, it might indicate a critical burden. This enables it to shut down quickly. Alternately, if segregating the information processing source isn’t feasible, the UPS would start interacting with an onsite generator.

The UPS’s function is to keep the power source constant until the generator starts, stabilises and takes over effortlessly as the interim power supply. In case that the generator is properly sized to the requirement, the UPS will consider it to be a mains replacement for recharging its battery. It will provide the necessary power until the mains electricity is restored. This duration could be indefinite, subject only to continued access of fuel to the generator.

Custom UPS Systems

To properly specify an optimally-matched UPS or generator system, it is vital to look more carefully at the generator attributes and prerequisites. Most data centres and mission-critical systems need custom UPS systems. The generator converts fuel to electric energy. Although gas-powered generators do exist, standard diesel generators are ordinarily used for baseload and standby software in data centres; it’s what we will consider here:

• The motor is quite similar to those in massive trucks and trailers and requires the same care. It has to be well-preserved with a reliable gas supply at all times.
• The battery has to be healthy enough to guarantee reliable starting on-demand, while oil and rust levels should be routinely checked.
• The motor drives an alternator that converts the mechanical power to an alternating source. This output- the voltage amplitude and equilibrium are controlled by an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) whereas the frequency is dependent on the motor speed.
• A regulator modulates the quantity of fuel fed into the motor, and more gas equals increased frequency and speed.
• Both mechanical and digital regulators are readily available. Mechanical regulators that utilise turning and springs weights and are more affordable than digital variants. But due to their mechanical nature, they are not as responsive and supply less secure motor and voltage frequency regulation.
• A digital regulator counts teeth to the alternator’s flywheel because it moves, and modulates the gas flow accordingly.
• Electronic regulators are extremely responsive and provide a very stable rate and frequency regulation. Consequently, they are specified for standby generators meant for use with UPS systems.

If you want to know anything more about any of our custom UPS products and services, don’t hesitate to contact us at KaRaTec Power Supply Pty. You can give us a call at 612 9808 1127 or use this contact us form and we will respond within the shortest possible time to help you with the guidance and information you need.

Thanks for reading,
Karatec Power Supply Pty
612 9808 1127