Sep 1 2007
Chloride’s extensive experience and expertise in providing power protection for mission critical applications led to it being commissioned to design and install a robust system for Diamond Light Source - the biggest scientific facility to have been built in the UK for over 40 years. Built on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Diamond Light Source has at its heart a giant machine called a synchrotron - a series of ‘super microscopes’ - housed in a futuristic doughnut-shaped building covering the area of five football pitches. This is a particle accelerator using electrons to generate powerful light through a beamline to enable scientists to look inside matter at the molecular and atomic scale.
The synchrotron light at Diamond Light Source can be diverted into a number of specific experimental stations that are located around the 560 metre circumference of the main ring for conducting material and other scientific testing. Currently there are seven cutting edge experimental stations/beamlines, with funding secured for another fifteen. It is anticipated that the facility will ultimately host up to forty, supporting the life, physical and environmental sciences.
Chloride was commissioned to design and install a total solution for critical power protection at this complex site which is being shared by the scientific community and industrial users. Beamline time is at a premium so maximum power availability is vital to support the integrity of data acquisition and the functioning of control systems and building services.
Following an extensive review of the facility and its power protection requirement, Chloride project engineers have built a high-integrity 2.1MVA Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) network to protect and maintain power integrity throughout the site.
The scientific beamlines, data acquisition and the Control and Instrumentation area from which the synchrotron is operated are being protected by a total of seventeen 100kVA UPS units from Chloride’s advanced 90-NET Series. These state-of-the-art UPS units feature Digital Vector Control, which enables all overloads, frequency variations, transient disturbances, brief interruptions and blackouts to be eliminated in real time. Ten times quicker than current analogue methods, 90-NET is a high reliability solution for the protection of mission critical loads with outstanding performance. A significant benefit for Diamond Light Source is its power conditioning function, as sensitive electronic equipment operated at the site needs to run on clean, conditioned power at all times.
The back-up power to smaller systems throughout the main building and also communications and data cabinets within auxiliary offices has been achieved using Chloride 70-NET 30kVA UPS units. Due to their quiet operation and compatibility with a wide range of communication interfaces, they integrate perfectly into computing environments. They are also well proven in delivering secure power protection in critical environments including networks, industrial applications and management systems.
As part of its total power protection package, Chloride offers customers a range of support service options including monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance. At Diamond Light Source, Chloride’s proprietary ManageUPS CIO software package is being employed to simplify the central management of the whole UPS system. This high integrity monitoring tool is easy to set up and can be operated with minimal training by those responsible for ICT infrastructure and the power systems foundation that supports it.
Effective monitoring is the key to maintaining awareness of the status of the power infrastructure and receiving alerts to any condition or variable with the potential to adversely impact on load operation or the readiness of stand-by systems.
ManageUPS CIO provides the means of overseeing the entire critical power infrastructure, whether it is within a single facility, at remote sites or across an enterprise-wide network. It comes with a variety of features designed to enhance appreciation and communication of data. A multi-level pin map helps visualise problem locations with geographic maps, floor plans, visio drawings and even digital photographs of specific installations. The alarm view function automatically organises UPS devices by current alarm type. There are also Smart Groups rules-based containers for dynamic inventory analysis and silent condition monitoring with e-mail exchange notification.
Chloride’s Connectivity team completed a site asset audit to establish an inventory of which UPS were in which location. Once this had been done the team installed and configured all the ManageUPS interface modules before preparing the digitised floor plans, and geo maps needed to reflect the client’s installation. Further on site services included setting up of the CIO server and end user training complete to ensure that the client was fully equipped to utilise this new monitoring tool.
The adoption of ManageUPS CIO software means that there is a very relieved electrical engineer at Diamond Light Source who doesn’t need to walk 13km every day to individually check upon the operating status of each UPS!
Diamond Light Source is installing a building management system which will include an interface to CIO via BACnet IP protocol to allow the facilities team to also monitor the UPS systems on the central building management system.
The value of Chloride’s ManageUPS CIO software for large projects and complex facilities is becoming widely acknowledged and leading to its implementation in a number of major installations. It is, for example, being successfully used in the new terminal at Dubai International Airport overseeing all 500+ individual UPS connected directly to the premises LAN via ManageUPS net adapters (Ethernet connection with embedded SNMP/WEB functionality). Information from ManageUPS CIO servers is retrieved by the Building Information System (BIS) via BACnet IP protocol. The BIS then sends selective information to the airport building management system (BMS) and flight control system (IS) that monitor baggage handling systems / check-in and other operational activities.
Easy as it is to install and set up ManageUPS CIO monitoring software, some end users choose to outsource the complete supervision and responsibility for the health of their UPS network to vendors offering a full service capability. As a total solutions provider, Chloride offers a full range of professional service options through its Chloride Harath engineering arm. These services include maintenance contracts, continuous system monitoring, diagnostics and emergency response with on-site and/or telephone-based support.