Putting on a show of strength for power management

The All In One DC-UPS was used to count the number of visitors arriving in Venice for the masquerade balls and parties held as part of the Venice Carnival. Here, the integrated DC-UPS provides 24-hour operation but also manages and diagnoses the batteries. Self-diagnosis of arguably the most critical elements of the system guarantees a safe and effective system, while reducing maintenance times and costs.

Adel Systems installed the CBI1210A All-In-One DC-UPS which is used to control 34 gates around the city, allowing access to the 80,000 people who arrived in Venice for the first day of the Carnival and 100,000 the following day. The highly integrated CBI1210A made the assembly and installation easy and fast.

The robust UPS has an extended input (85 - 305Vac) for reliable, durable operation over a long period of time, even if there are changes in the supply voltage. Unlike many other products whose maximum input voltage is 264Vac, Adel System guarantees a maximum value of 305Vac.

Battery management maintains the battery in optimum condition for whichever state it is in at any given time. It recharges all battery types (Lead Acid, Gel, AGM, Li-Ion and Ni-Cd) and the system offers five charging stages and internal impedance measurement.

The battery diagnostics and the system report any malfunction via either an integrated LED, a relay to drive external circuits or the established MODbus communication protocol. The result is fast system diagnostics and reduced downtime because maintenance technicians are alerted where and when attention will be needed, avoiding stoppages.

The DC-UPS range offers a wide variety of products which can be installed in different applications – wherever the power supply must always be guaranteed, for example, emergency services communication systems, Wi-Fi hotspots for public internet access, radio links between a school and the municipality photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Power to the load is the CBI unit’s first priority which means it is not necessary to double the system power to meet application goals.

The CBI’s Power Boost mode allows the load current to be twice the rated output current continuously and three times the rated current for four seconds. This feature can be extremely useful for driving motors and other inductive loads.

The DC-UPS ensures continuous power to the load even when the battery is completely discharged. Multi-stage operation optimises and adapts to the battery status. The CBI series DC-UPS can recharge deeply discharged batteries even when their voltage is close to zero, for recharge and complete recovery of flat batteries.

The CBI series has the ability to set the length of time systems will run after the mains power has either failed or been turned off.  It also has the ability to restart a system from battery power alone, before mains has been restored. This can be controlled remotely on the modules themselves and is useful in remote installations where mains power might be supplied from a generator or other source.

Developers can use the DC-UPS, available from Relec Electronics, to develop innovative access control systems which are capable of monitoring traffic and physical movements of people in real time.