Emerson Network Power White Paper outlines strategies for battery optimisation

Emerson Network Power has released a white paper that identifies testing procedures and maintenance strategies to optimise the performance and lifespan of DC power system batteries in critical infrastructure environments.

The paper, “Battery Optimization Services: A Guide to Optimize Your Battery Maintenance”, suggests a dynamic and tailored regime of battery testing techniques, applied over the life cycle of the battery and used to develop an optimised, condition-based maintenance program. Administered properly, the paper concludes, such a program could drastically improve battery reliability and reduce investment in new batteries.

This approach combines traditional discharge testing with state-of-the-art internal resistance tests to assess the state of health of the batteries and the impact of various parameters such as battery type, age, discharge cycling and ambient temperature. The assessment would dictate the next steps of the maintenance program tailored to battery age and condition as well as specific customer needs, site criticality, and budget. A comprehensive program can help identify potential battery problems before they become critical.

“The appropriate level of investment in testing and analysis of batteries should depend on many variables, including age of the batteries, battery size and criticality of the load,” said Anders Eriksson, director of product management service for Emerson Network Power’s Energy Systems business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. “But many customers spend more than they need to on maintenance — especially in the beginning of the battery life cycle — because they fail to consider these variables and therefore repeat the same tests throughout the life cycle.”