Maximizing UPS Efficiency with Thermal Monitoring

Power outages can cause significant downtime and data loss in today's fast-paced digital world, particularly in mission-critical settings such as data centers, energy hubs, hospitals, and industrial sites.

An uninterruptible power supply, also known as a UPS, is a critical component that bridges the gap when the primary power source fails. UPS systems ensure that critical organizational infrastructure remains operational when a regular power source fails or a voltage drop reduces power below a base level.

However, the types of UPS systems available vary due to the way they are manufactured. The efficiency of a UPS unit largely depends on how well it is maintained. One underutilized approach to maintaining a UPS's performance is thermal monitoring.

Types of UPS systems

1. Offline/Standby UPS: These systems remain idle until a power failure is detected. The UPS uses its battery backup to briefly power connected devices when the power goes off or instantly converts to DC battery power to connected devices before switching to AC power to operate if incoming utility power wavers from a safe voltage level. This type of UPS system is best suited to consumer electronics, security systems, household use, and small enterprises where slight disruptions won't cause severe harm or costly damage. Offline UPS systems are ideal due to their short switch-over time, which is usually measured in milliseconds.
2. Line interactive UPS: An improvement over offline UPS is the line-interactive UPS system, which offers superior efficiency and protection. Without using the battery, this system's automatic voltage regulator (AVR) guards against brownouts, surges, and other small voltage variations. This makes it more appropriate for non-mission critical equipment, entry-to-midrange servers, and sectors where power fluctuations are common.
3. Online/double conversion UPS: Online, or double conversion, UPS systems provide the best protection and a smooth transition during power outages. The system continuously transforms incoming AC power into DC power and then reconverts the DC back to AC to charge the battery and power connected devices because there is no transition period. This is designed to protect mission-critical IT equipment, making it the preferred choice for settings such as data centers and critical industries, where even the smallest disruption could result in disastrous implications.

Challenges in UPS systems

UPS systems offer crucial protection but are susceptible to issues. When working with UPS, the following are some of the most frequent problems that industries encounter:

• Battery failure: Battery-related issues are the most common reason for UPS failures. Batteries deteriorate overtime to the point where they can no longer retain charge. Inadequate upkeep of a failing battery may result in unplanned outages at crucial periods.
• Overheating: Heavy loads or extended operation can make UPS systems generate a substantial amount of heat. Inadequate monitoring and management of overheating can result in catastrophic failures, shorten battery life, and damage internal components.
• Insufficient Capacity: An overloaded UPS occurs when organizations fail to account for their systems' power needs. When the UPS is undersized for the connected load, it could trip entirely or fail to provide sufficient backup power when needed most.
• Environmental Factors: Environmental factors like dust, humidity, and temperature change can impact the effectiveness and lifespan of a UPS system. Tight environmental controls are needed to guarantee that equipment, including UPS systems, is operating at peak efficiency.

Thermal monitoring as a game-changer for UPS efficiency

UPS systems are intended to function under all circumstances, especially those installed in data centers and other mission-critical industrial settings. Heat monitoring is a crucial maintenance approach to ensure a higher degree of dependability.

• Preventing overheating: One of the primary purposes of thermal monitoring is to continuously observe the temperature of critical electrical assets, including UPS systems. Thermal monitoring systems will notify operators about an anomaly before a problem escalates, such as an abattery or inverter beginning to overheat. With a proactive maintenance approach such as thermal monitoring, the risk of overheating that can lead to unexpected failures, power outages, or, worse, fire is reduced. This enables maintenance teams to conduct more targeted inspections or repairs when necessary, before a potential issue occurs.
• Extending battery life: Temperature variations particularly affect batteries. For instance, the ideal working temperature range for lead-acid batteries, which are frequently used in UPS systems, is between 68°F and 77°F (20°C and 25°C). Regular exposure to warmer temperatures can shorten battery life. Facilities can help to preserve the atmosphere within the appropriate temperature range and extend the longevity of UPS performance by using predictive maintenance techniques such as thermal monitoring.
• Reducing maintenance costs: Manually checking UPS systems on a regular basis can be expensive and time-consuming, especially in expansive operations. Thermal monitoring systems minimize maintenance costs by helping to prevent significant repairs by alerting engineering personnel to potential problems before they occur. Thermal monitoring solutions also enable real-time monitoring and remote oversight of the UPS's health, which reduces the need for unnecessary periodical inspections.
• Maintaining reliability in critical environments: Thermal monitoring helps to increase uptime in mission-critical environments by providing real-time data and asset health notifications. In these critical settings, the smallest amount of downtime can cause significant financial losses, data corruption, and substantial reputational damage. When a critical electrical asset such as a UPS system displays the signs of an overheating component, operators can pre-empt potential issues and step in quickly to prevent the system from failing or causing severe damage.

How UPS and thermal monitoring work together in mission-critical settings

Power management is growing in complexity for mission-critical organizations, especially in data centers, where an ‘always-on’ power supply is crucial to delivering services to customers. Where organizations are responsible for mission-critical IT equipment, avoiding unplanned downtime becomes a headline objective for the organization due to the cost and detrimental effect of a power outage.

Data centers can house thousands of servers that use huge volumes of electricity and generate a vast amount of heat. UPS systems must be capable of withstanding the increasing demands of the facility to provide a stable power supply in these mission-critical environments. While the installation of a UPS system can provide some peace of mind for operators, permanently installed thermal monitoring sensors help to ensure the longevity and smooth-running of critical electrical assets.

Adopting and installing thermal monitoring technologies into mission-critical systems enables organizations to enhance their operational reliability and business resilience. Predictive maintenance such as continuous thermal monitoring (CTM) technology provides notifications when temperature anomalies occur, enabling the identification of hotspots 24x7. This gives operators advance warning as to the next maintenance measure that should be taken to curtail unexpected failures.

Some other thermal monitoring tools allow the production of heat maps and the detection of hotspots where attention is needed to avoid potential damage.

Eaton Exertherm CTM solutions

Heat is one of the biggest threats to the lifespan of UPS systems. These devices can generate significant heat during extended use or heavy loads. In critical environments such as data centers, where a short UPS failure can be costly, Exertherm's thermal monitoring solutions will continuously track the temperature of components to help prevent issues that can lead to failures.

Exertherm's Continuous Thermal Monitoring technology is an "always-on" solution that ensures the continuity of operation in critical environments. Exertherm's CTM solutions ensure optimal performance for UPS systems by continuously monitoring the temperature of critical components within the UPS. This further reduces the likelihood of unplanned downtime by detecting temperature anomalies and ultimately saves costs resulting from unnecessary maintenance or repair. 

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