A parallel redundancy, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) solution based on APC (American Power Conversion) Silcon UPS equipment has been installed by UPS specialist Square One Power Solutions and its agent, Schultz Power Systems, at the East London plant of DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA).
The installation at DCSA's East London plant data centre was carried out as a joint venture between Schultz Power Systems of East London and Square One Power Solutions, the national UPS arm of the JSE-listed Square One Solutions Group.
In 2002 DCSA installed two 60kW APC Silcon UPSs to run its data centre in East London. When DCSA required more data centre space and decided to build a second data centre, the UPS was an easy choice and the APC Silcon range was at the top of the list.
Because of the critical nature of the data centre in terms of the overall plant operation, its computer systems require a power supply of exceptionally high quality and reliability. A new parallel UPS system was installed in the second data centre at DCSA and formed part of a complete LAN upgrade to support the existing network devices as well as to position DCSA for the upcoming manufacture in 2006 of the new right-hand drive Mercedes Benz C-class.
"Our solution for the data centre had to take into account the importance of uptime to Daimler Chrysler. Square One Power is a High Power Partner of APC and thus we were able to design a UPS system based upon two new generation APC Silcon 80kW 3-phase units operating in parallel redundant mode and with two backup batteries linked for longer run time and additional reliability," says Simon Schultz, managing director of Schultz Power Systems.
A number of advantages are gained from parallel redundant configurations. In a two-unit system, the units not only share the load equally but they double the overload capacity of the system. The DCSA system can support a 400% overload. Should a unit fail, it disconnects completely from the common output connection, leaving the remaining unit supplying the load.
The parallel redundancy design also allows one of the units to be taken out of service for maintenance without affecting the security of the load to the data centre.
Schultz says these new generation UPS units are extremely efficient with very high input power factors and low input distortion. "Running costs are therefore lower and the units are also 'diesel-friendly' requiring much less power from the standby diesel generator sets compared to the original units. A special software package provides intelligent power monitoring capabilities.
"The Silcon UPS units employ Delta conversion online technology that realises bottom line benefits for users through reduced installation, wiring, air conditioning, harmonic distortion and maintenance costs as well as lower energy consumption."
Share
Square One Power Solutions is a national UPS company, an APC High Power Partner and a member of the JSE-listed Square One Solutions Group. It provides power solutions for the SOHO, PCA and SME network environment, telecommunications, medical, security, lighting and general industry as well as major corporations and government.
The Square One Solutions Group focuses on providing IT-based business enabling solutions. The company has a national footprint and more than 18 years of experience of the South African market. Square One offers value-based solutions centred around biometric authentication; integrated wireless and mobile applications; enterprise storage and backup/recovery; enterprise power; coding and marking; and enterprise LAN, WAN and infrastructure for the corporate, SME and government markets. The company also distributes document solutions, colour input and output devices and provides 24x7 national support and service.
Editorial contacts