UPS Device Rotation for Equal Wear and Energy Loss Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional uninterruptible power supply systems face inefficiencies and increased failure risks due to uneven operation and delayed failure detection in power conversion devices, leading to reduced efficiency and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A power conversion system with a control unit that selectively operates and stops power conversion devices in a predetermined cycle to ensure equal operation time for all devices, allowing for immediate failure detection and efficient load management based on current demand.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all uninterruptible power supply devices are continuously operated to share load current equally, then system reliability is improved, but energy loss increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit implements periodic switching of power conversion devices, where devices are alternately operated and stopped in a predetermined cycle. This periodic action allows the system to maintain reliability through device rotation while reducing energy loss during stop periods, directly resolving the contradiction between continuous operation reliability and energy efficiency.
2Loss of energy
If a fixed number of power conversion devices are operated to match load current, then energy efficiency is improved, but device failure risk increases due to continuous operation
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit rotates the operation status of power conversion devices periodically, switching between operated and stopped states. This periodic rotation ensures that no single device operates continuously, distributing wear and failure risk evenly across all devices while maintaining energy efficiency by operating only the required number of devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit proactively switches devices between operated and stopped states before failures can occur from continuous operation. This preliminary action of rotating device status prevents cumulative wear on any single device, reducing overall failure risk while maintaining efficient operation.
3Loss of energy
If power conversion devices are left unoperated for long periods, then energy loss is reduced, but failure detection is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit implements periodic switching where stopped devices are alternately activated. This periodic action serves dual purposes: reducing energy loss during stop periods and enabling failure detection when devices are activated, as the control unit can monitor operation status and detect failures during these periodic activation cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit monitors the operation status of power conversion devices and uses this feedback to detect failures. When a device is activated during periodic switching, the control unit observes its performance and can immediately detect if a failure has occurred, preventing delayed detection that would result from long unoperated periods.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces device failure rates, enhances efficiency by optimizing the number of active devices according to load current, and enables prompt detection of faulty units, thereby improving overall system reliability and performance.
Implementation Method 1
a converter converting first AC power supplied from the commercial AC power supply into direct-current (DC) power
Implementation Method 2
an inverter converting the DC power into second AC power
Data Source
AI summary
An uninterruptible power supply system includes a plurality of uninterruptible power supply devices connected in parallel between a commercial AC power supply and a load; and a control unit selecting the required number of uninterruptible power supply devices for driving the load from the plurality of uninterruptible power supply devices, to cause each selected uninterruptible power supply device to be operated and to cause each remaining uninterruptible power supply device to be stopped. This control unit changes the uninterruptible power supply devices to be operated from one to another in a predetermined cycle such that the plurality of uninterruptible power supply devices are identical in operation time to one another. Accordingly, the continuous operation time of each of the uninterruptible power supply devices can be shortened, so that failures occurring in each uninterruptible power supply device can be reduced.