Industrial Wide-temperature UPS Systems Increase Wastewater Facility Reliability and Lower Maintenance Costs

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1 3Sixty Mission Critical Industrial Wide-temperature UPS Systems Increase Wastewater Facility Reliability and Lower Maintenance Costs

2 Industrial Wide-temperature UPS Systems Increase Wastewater Facility Reliability and Lower Maintenance Costs Introduction Clean, reliable water resources are essential for growth in the United States. Municipal wastewater facilities across the U.S. are treating and recycling water resources to deliver portable water to millions of residential and commercial customers. However, water supplies have declined, especially in drought-stricken areas in the Southwest and costs have thereby increased. Local water treatment facilities are the key to effectively manage, recycle and distribute this precious resource. This is driving an increased focus on enhancing the performance of equipment through new thinking and advanced designs. Automated Process and Reliability Challenges The modern water treatment plant uses a large number of automated processes. The distributed treatment process is controlled through the use of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Large numbers of Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) control the pumps, valves, meters, cameras, water sampling and other vital processes that are distributed throughout the treatment facility. For reference, an RTU is a Remote Terminal Unit, which is a microprocessor-controlled electronic device that interfaces objects in the real world to a SCADA network process control system. The RTUs are located in enclosures throughout the facility. Connected to the main SCADA control center, the RTUs are often located as far as a mile away from the main treatment facility. The control center houses the main SCADA server, operations, maintenance, IT, engineering and other staff necessary to operate the water treatment plant.

3 The Role of AC Power SCADA automated processes and plant security systems are totally dependent on reliable sources of AC power. Microprocessor-based SCADA and security systems are power sensitive and rely on a high-quality electrical power source that is protected from outages. Due to the presence of large motors and pumps connected to a facility s power system, the utility power supplied to the plant can become compromised polluted with voltage sags, high voltage transients and over-voltage conditions. Utility power can also experience short or long-term outages in addition to destructive high-voltage transients. UPSs are not Created Equal: Office-Grade vs. Industrial-Grade Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are commonly used to condition power to SCADA and other critical equipment in a wastewater facility. The UPS systems are often installed outdoors and exposed to the elements. Office-Grade UPS: Facts and costs Costly downtime due to improperly using office-grade UPSs in these harsh environments is common. Premature failure of office-grade UPS units isn t surprising. The electronics and batteries in these types of UPSs are not designed to operate reliably in the high-temperature and corrosive gas environments present in water treatment plants. Failure of these UPSs in these environments is quite high, requiring unscheduled maintenance and frequent battery replacements, and thereby increasing operational costs. Online, Industrial-Grade UPS: Features that make the difference With the ever-present need to increase uptime and reduce costs, water treatment facilities are finding a solid solution by installing true online industrial UPSs that condition power to the SCADA systems, provide hour-long power backup and operate reliably in very unforgiving industrial settings. In contrast to office-grade UPS, a double-conversion online industrial UPS is specifically designed for these harsh environments. The following is a discussion of important key features:

4 #1: Rugged Design and Wide Operating Temperature The wide operating temperature range of -4 F to 131 F, or an ultra-wide range of -22 F to 149 F, is essential for water treatment plants where outdoor installation and high temperature are common. The electronics plastics and batteries should be agency certified (UL, cul, CE, etc.) to operate in this temperature range. The higher-grade components used in its critical circuitry assure reliable operation over the wide temperature range. There is also more efficient internal cooling and battery thermal insulation. A plant requires this wide operating temperature range of equipment. Installing a low cost, office-grade UPS that is only rated to operate in modest temperature-controlled places is not recommended. #2 Wide-temperature Batteries Heat is the great destroyer of typical UPS batteries. The industrial UPS with next generation 12- year VRLA batteries enable these units to perform optionally, ever after 4 years. The batteries have this superior 12-year rated service life in a 25 C (77 F) environment. They have a 4-year service life when exposed to a 50 C (122 F) environment three times longer than the older VRLA batteries used in an office grade UPS (which typically last only last 9 months). In terms of return on investment (ROI) online, industrial-grade UPSs with these rugged batteries more than pay for themselves. Even in the summer heat, the batteries are still going strong. #3: Agency-Certification: UL 1778 and UL 508 It is critical to select an industrial UPS that is agency certified (UL, cul, CE) to operate within the specified temperature range. Many industrial UPS are not agency-certified. Also, UL 508 is a requirement for UPS installed in an industrial control panel. Without UL 508, many code inspectors require UPS units to be moved to a protected environment and hardwired to the control panel. This can be costly. #4: NEMA 3R and 4-Rated Enclosures As a power protected environment is key to the reliability of most electronic equipment, some online UPS manufacturers, like Falcon Electric, offer their products in turnkey systems, pre-packaged inside NEMA 3R (figure 1) and environmentally controlled NEMA 4 rated enclosures. For NEMA 3-rated systems, the UPS must be paired with robust Figure 1. Falcon Electric s preconfigured NEMA 3R industrial hightemperature UPS system.

5 batteries having a wide operational temperature range. This may not be required in NEMA 4 rated enclosures where 12-year long life batteries can be used. These turnkey systems are a fast, cost effective solution to deploying wide-temperature range, high level power conditioning and backup into the difficult environment of water treatment plants. #5: Communications Options SCADA systems in water plants may require a UPS to include communications options, such as an SNMP/HTTP agent card. This allows for remote UPS monitoring and management via 10/100BaseT, GSM/GPRS Cellular, G and RS-232/RS-422/RS-485. In other cases, a dry contact relay card option is required. Conclusion Not all online UPS systems are created equal. Only double-conversion online industrial-grade UPS models offer the high level of reliability, power conditioning and battery backup protection that the SCADA hardware distributed throughout a water treatment plant demands. Plants must use care and select industrial-grade, online UPS solutions that will not only eliminate and protect against power pollution, but also offer long-term reliability and lower operational costs.