EMERSON NETWORK POWER ENSURES POWER QUALITY AND HIGH NINES AVAILABILITY FOR MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS

The UK office of Emerson Network Power, (a brand division of the US multinational Emerson Co., a global leader in power protection systems technology) recently won a contract to supply their Liebert brand Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems for military bases around the world.

For 15 sites the highly adaptable Nfinity was selected and for another location where the load required a higher VA rating and no redundancy, four models from the Hinet range were supplied. Because Nfinity and Hinet are designed for simplified set-up, these products are marketed through distributors from whom customers may simply order and take delivery. However, where the application is more complex or critical, as in this case, the distributor can offer system design and other support including liaison with Emerson’s technical team if necessary.

Eddy Alejos, Technical Director of Dynax Systems Limited, supplier of the equipment for this contract, explains some of the background to this demanding project. “The need for near 100% system up-time was the most stringent criteria in the specification, not unusual in itself where on-line power protection is necessary. However, in this particular application, the quality and continuity of the power supply is essential for the military to maintain radio and data transmissions to their ships and submarines. The client therefore had to be satisfied that the UPS system could ensure the very highest availability possible.

The Liebert units are installed in the communications rooms alongside the electronic equipment they are supporting and in many of these environments the power supply and quality can be extremely variable. Also, given the difficulties of getting engineers on-site in these isolated locations, redundancy and user configurability were the other key features required.

After considering what other major competitors had to offer our clients were confident that Dynax had the right product, technical background and other capabilities necessary to dependably fulfil this contract.

In developing Nfinity, Emerson has applied its years of technological expertise in redundant power systems for larger centralised operations to provide a cost effective support for today’s smaller localised systems in mission critical applications. The Nfinity UPS system can provide a fault tolerant network of true on-line intelligent power protection with N+x parallel redundancy, scalable from 4 to 12 kVA, for today’s sensitive electronic systems.

Modularity allows Nfinity to be used as a totally self-contained, redundant uninterruptible power source, N+x parallel redundancy being achieved by adding extra power and battery modules that equally share the electrical load. This ensures a constant source of clean power and seamless transition in the event that a module is taken off line, without compromising system integrity. The system’s wide input voltage window sustains true sine-wave output even in the most extreme environments without switching to battery back-up, thereby preserving battery life. Additional battery cabinets can be added for back-up times up to 72 hours.

Nfinity can be configured with any combination of power or battery modules to maximise redundancy and battery back-up times as required. Therefore, power capacity can be expanded, back-up runtime extended or redundancy increased by the user installing additional modules. Their “hot-swap” capability allows this to be done very simply and without disturbing connected equipment.

Redundancy can also be achieved through paired system controls, internal and external bypass and monitoring options with self-diagnostics, simplifying maintenance and troubleshooting.

All Nfinity units supplied were single phase for a power load of 8-12 kVA and had 12 slots for additional modules that are user configurable. Dynax provided system design and specification, including numbers of modules required and configuration, co-ordinated orders for the different bases and logistics. The latter required strict adherence to fixed time schedules, particularly in instances where transport to the facilities was limited, in some cases to once a month.


About Emerson Network Power
Emerson Network Power is an Emerson business which provides a full spectrum of reliable power solutions, including inbound power, connectivity, power supplies, power systems and precision cooling, backed by the largest global services organization in the power industry. These Emerson companies serve the needs of telecommunications networks, data centers, health care and industrial facilities worldwide. For more information, visit www.emersonnetworkpower.com.

About Emerson
St. Louis-based Emerson is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers in electronics and telecommunications; process control; industrial automation; heating, ventilating and air conditioning; and appliance and tools. Sales in fiscal 2003 were $14.0 billion.