Power Protection and UPS Blog

According to this week’s news, it’s doom and gloom for the future of food. We’re running out of wheat, rice, soya - and  curry Chefs!

That last one’s a real problem for me (he says jokingly)! Apparently, changes in the imigration laws in the UK (in particular), are making it difficult for Indian restaurants and Balti houses to source genuine, authentic and experienced cooks! Yikes! 

As far as grains and pulses go, climate change and global warming are being blamed for poor harvests around the world but an even darker threat is lurking just around the corner. Yes, you guessed it - Biofuels!

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which became law in December, mandates the use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 and almost half of that will come from grain-based (corn and wheat) ethanol. In North American this is great news for the corn-growing states that will now, I fear, intensify production but not for food for fuel, easier to produce, less regulated and (I imagine) more profitable. My worry, which I have touched on before in this blog, is that food production will suffer at the hands of politics and capital gain from Biofuel production where it is being produced to replace fossil-fuel derived products (Petrol and Diesel) for vehicles.

What has this got to do with power protection? Well, firstly, did you know that the processes currently used to produce ethanol are energy intensive and thus add to, not negate, the issue of increasing demand for energy? Secondly, biofuels are being used in fuel cells, which can replace UPS batteries as an alternative back-up source. The technology is available now and whilst the origins of the fuel may be questionable, they offer a number of key advantages: harmless emissions, longer design life, less maintenance, reduced heat output and in many cases cheaper lifetime running costs.

The Power Protection Guide talks about fuel cells and their use in UPS installation.

I was disappointed to learn that the UK’s first Energy Saving day ended with no noticeable reduction in the country’s electricity use. Disappointed but not wholly surprised.

E-day, which started at 1800hrs on Wednesday 27th February 2008 and finished at the same time on 28th was supposed to encourage people to switch off electrical devices they did not need but instead National Grid recorded a 0.01% increase in electricity consumption despite the event being backed by campaign groups such as Greenpeace, Christian Aid and the RSPB, plus major energy companies EDF, e.on and Scottish Power.

I’m not surprised it was a flop for several reasons; firstly, it received little publicity. Secondly, why schedule it in the middle of winter and in the middle of the working week!? Other than not leaving the TV, or other electrical equipment on standby, what devices, machinery or equipment can people do without during their normal working life? It is a symptom of modern society that everything is powered by electricity and most professionals and businesses are unable (and unwilling) to go back to manual operation.

Thirdly (and this is contentious one), I believe that saving the planet from global warming is too big an issue for people to swallow and is therefore not the right one to ‘incentivise’ them to save energy. Of course, I care about the environment (many of my blog entries lay testament to that) but I believe people’s apathy towards this event is very telling. Do they really believe it’s possible to save the planet? Or, do most people feel it is too late anyway, the damage has already been done? The pleasures of living in an ‘always on/always connected’ world are too strong to worry about tomorrow. Some people think saving the planet is not up to us but in the hands of ’the Gods’, a religious icon or ethereal power?

I believe the best and only way to ‘incentivise’ people, particularly business people, into saving energy is through the wallet. Make the core issue saving money and the secondary issue about the planet and you will more likely motivate the masses. Environmental issues are far more of a pr story than money saving ones but the people behind such initiatives as this need to ask themselves why they are doing it - is it really to save the planet or to get publicity? and there lies the rub I fear.

At Riello UPS we take energy saving seriously from an environmental perspective and economic one. Many of our customers, particularly large data centres, are demanding that energy saving innovation be incorporated into UPS technology and we’ve responded by designing units with low input current distortion, maximum input power factor, progressive rectifier start-up and battery care systems to optimize performance that will all combine towards savings in running costs and total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the product. We feel this is a practical step towards saving the planet.

For more information about energy saving UPS visit: Riello UPS

I was reading the cover story of December’s InformationAge at the weekend: Crossed Wires – Myths and Misconceptions of IT’s Energy Crisis, and I was horrified by some of the controversial views and opinions expressed therein. In my mind the article fell short of addressing the so called ‘Myths and Misconceptions’ but rather replaced them with even more perilous and unproven ones.  

Basically, it focuses on data centres and how they are wasting vast amounts of energy. There are some companies out there ripping up the rule book, apparently, in terms of cooling requirements, power protection, conversion, and ambient temperature!  

I agree that there is a pressing need to address the problem of excessive power consumption in data centres but to do it by such radical measures as fresh-air cooling, the elimination of UPS and running at temperatures from five to 50 degrees centigrade is going to create more chaos and cost far more, replacing damaged equipment and compensating for down time, in the long run than sensible energy-efficiency measures.  Fresh air cooling, for example, may introduce contamination and even humidity that has the potential to damage sensitive data centre equipment or lead to expensive wear-and-tear.  The argument raised in the article around UPS suggests that it adds to energy wastage as a result of the necessary power conversion back and forth from AC to DC. Some experts believe that data centres can be run completely on DC power to avoid this.  This is not true: firstly, today’s UPS are designed to be hugely efficient and help project the life of computer equipment through conditioning of the voltage current as well as providing essential power protection and continuity of critical systems. Running only on DC power would require unfeasible amounts of copper wiring. The argument about temperature is also flawed: computer equipment can withstand fluctuations outside of the recommended 20-24 degrees centigrade but anything that contains consumables, fans and batteries, will be severely compromised by such practices. Fans will be continually over exerted in high ambient temperatures and batteries will need replacing more frequently at anything above or below this recommendation.  

It doesn’t take much downtime to cripple a business these days. Energy efficiency and intelligent power management should go hand-in-hand with power protection not instead of. See Riello UPS for more information on power protection and energy efficiency.

‘Tis the season to be jolly – and why not?  You’ve worked hard all year; you deserve to ease off the peddle in December. Trouble is, that’s when people often become less vigilant and succumb to the distractions of the season; parties, shopping, planning the holiday, tying up loose ends and so on. It takes the focus away from power continuity and power protection and it is then that Murphy’s Law dictates something is bound to go wrong. So, here are a few simple steps to ensure your season goes with a bang but that you don’t end up powerless:  

• Now is a good time to test your UPS system under load conditions to ensure it is working and can provide the capacity you need to keep critical systems up and running.
• Check cables and connectors for wear-and-tear and replace any that are worn or loose.
• Check that all critical equipment is connected into the UPS feed and that non-essential kit is not (remember: printers should not be plugged directly into any UPS as they can cause a surge on start-up and are usually categorised as non-essential).
• Check and test UPS batteries and battery strings and if necessary refresh with new ones.
• Check all other consumables such as fans and filters.
• If an alternative power supply (Diesel generator, fuel cell of flywheel) is on-site, include it in a test scenario, check fuel supplies and replenish if necessary ensuring there is plenty in store (fuel prices sometimes increase in winter and it may be difficult to source supplies particularly over the holiday period).
• If you have remote monitoring software installed, make sure it is the latest version and test communications equipment and cables. Check messages can be sent and received. 

 The Power Protection Guide covers all aspects of operating UPS systems including testing and maintenance.  Merry Christmas!

This has got to be one of the most amazing gagdets for any computer techie - a fuel cell laptop battery. Powered from methanol this could be one of the first real applications for fuel cell technology aimed at mass market users. Riello UPS is involved in a number of fuel cell projects where it is applying its expertise in inverter and power technologies. Replacements for the traditional sealed lead acid battery could be just round the corner - perhaps within 5 to 10 years we will see easily affordable solutions in the market place.

The following link provides a really good description of a fuel cell. It is published by the US Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy department. I do not know if there is a British equivalent body but the article and concept makes for fascinating reading, especially after the BBC documentary on Chernobyl last night. The World Nuclear Association website has some useful links on this and a number of related subjects.

Energy consumption is rising at such a high rate in the UK - 19% between 1990 and 2001. This dramatic rate of increase is one of the main reasons why we have a power protection industry and why we as an industry must constantly strive for better operating efficiencies in our UPS.

This technology called ‘Fuel Cells’ is fast changing and could be one of the big paradigm shifters in how we provide energy in the years to come. To those outside this specialist field, many of the pitfalls and problems are unknown of course. But as any industry starts to move up the life cycle curve greater access is provided to such information.

Here is one such piece. Fuel cells are suspectible to carbon monoxide poisioning which causes a ‘bottleneck’ inside the device. I also did not realise that fuel cells operate with such high internal core temperatures. Nuvant Systems Inc now offers single fuel cells on-line through its e-commerce facility. Are we moving closer to a replacement for the good old sealed lead acid battery that dominates the uninterruptible power supply industry ?

This is one of those great sites on the internet - How Stuff Works. I came across it looking for information on batteries and how they work. This piece helps those wanting a basic understanding. When we run our Riello UPS Seminars we always get questions on batteries. They are one of the most common items in a UPS to fail and yet the easiest to ignor from a maintenance view point.

Another page of interest is the one covering Fuel Cells - still very expensive but I suspect that we will seem them used in Uninterruptible Power Supplies within the next five years.

DEFRA has recently published a new report covering ‘Hazardous Waste Regulations - List of waste regulations 2005″.

Sites producing hazardous waste in England and Wales from 16 July 2005 must inform the Regulator - The Environment Agency. Exclusions include offices, shops, farms, schools/colleges, prisons, residential, and nursing homes, hospitals, dental, veterinary and other medical, practices, premises used by charities and places used for the purpose of collecting waste electrical and electronic equipment do not need to notify if they produce less than 200kg of hazardous waste.

The batteries we use in our UPS and standby power systems are classified as hazardous waste. This means that any site that cannot be excluded must notify the Regulator. It is an offence to remove waste from a site that has not been notified to the Regulator both for the site, and the removal company.

Riello Galatrek has an environmental management system certified to ISO 14001. As part of the approach to environmental management the company is a registered Waste Carrier (NOW/269999/CB ), Waste Management Company - storage of waste (NAP653) and Mobile Service Operator (NCC322). The last registration – Mobile Service Operator - allows Riello Galatrek to take hazardous waste up to 200kg from customer sites. Above 200kg the customer site itself must be notified to the Regulator.

To notify the Regulator the following information is needed:
1. The number of employees (within a range)
2. Your Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC 2003) - UPS are SIC 51.86.
3. Companies House registration number (if you are Ltd or Plc)
4. A valid e-mail address

Contact details are:
Telephone 08708 502858
Website The Environment Agency
Website forms to register your site as a waste producer.

Alternatively you can ask your Waste Management contractor - for example Riello Galatrek - to notify on your behalf but you are held responsible for the accuracy of the information provided and the registering company is responsible for your annual site license. The fees for notifying range from £18 for electronic forms, £23 for telephoned information and £28 for written forms.

Due to the annual license and accuracy of information issues, Riello Galatrek has taken the view that sites producing over 200kg of waste per annum must be responsible for notifying the Regulator directly.

The Ninth Grove Fuel Cell Symposium takes place between 4-6 October 2005 at the QEII Centre, London. siGEN appear to be specialists whose mission is to lead the field in the design and implementation of commercial Fuel Cell power solutions. There newsletter covers a range of applications and case studies for alternative energies. Fuel cells are still too expensive an option to use in Uninterruptible Power Supplies which continue to rely on Sealed Lead Acid technologies.