Battery Sizing Basics (ECMweb)

9/25/2018 Battery Sizing Basics
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Battery Sizing Basics
Tips for sizing battery protection devices and circuit conductors in telecom
DC power systems
Shanmuga S. Pandian, SOFCON | Sep 01, 2007
      
https://www.ecmweb.com/content/battery-sizing-basics 1/22
Because stationary batteries and 48VDC power systems serve as lifelines for
telecommunication networks, the reliability of these systems is of the utmost
importance. Many system designers rely on circuit breakers in these battery
circuits to serve as the protection and isolating device. For multi-string battery
plants, the trend is to provide a disconnect circuit breaker for each battery string,
rather than using a common breaker for the entire battery bank. Individual circuit
breakers help isolate the faulty string, allowing maintenance personnel to take out
one battery string at a time.
Associated with high discharge and charging currents, the batteries in these
systems can also generate high fault current. From an electrical design point of
view, determining the rating of the disconnect circuit breaker and conductor size in
the battery circuit poses a real challenge to the system designer. Proper
understanding of the complete DC system is essential in selecting the correct rating
of circuit breaker and conductor size to provide a reliable and safe installation.
Con guration of telecom DC power systems

Figure 1 depicts the block diagram of a battery-powered DC system. The main
components are the battery, battery disconnect circuit breaker, charger-rectifier,
and the distribution board that supplies DC power to the loads, apart from
metering and the AC distribution unit. The battery and charger are connected in
parallel with the load, meaning they're always online.
Fig. 1. Block diagram of a battery-powered DC system.
Under normal conditions, the battery mode is in standby (secondary) while the
prime power source (AC power system) provides electrical energy to the loads. In
standby mode, the battery plant does not discharge its DC energy but maintains
itself at fully charged condition by consuming a very small amount of DC current.
When the prime power source is severed or the flow of rectifier DC power is
interrupted, the battery instantaneously becomes the prime source of power for the
loads, allowing no interruption of power to the loads. The battery reserve (backup
time) usually ranges from 2 to 8 hours and is user-specified in accordance with the
specific needs of the facility.
Due to the recent advancement of battery and charger technology, many plant
design variations are possible. Flexibility for future increased capacity requirement
(due to increased DC load) with minimal plant modifications is becoming a design
requirement.
Battery plant
Vented (commonly called wet or flooded) or valve-regulated (commonly referred to

as sealed) lead-acid batteries are normally used as the backup power source for
telecom power systems, due to their low operating costs. The battery string is
comprised of 24 series-connected battery cells to make 48V. The battery plants are
normally designed to support the telecom load to a final battery voltage of
1.75V/cell.
Proper design of a battery system is essential to ensure reliable protection of

critical telecom loads. Apart from battery sizing for the load demand, redundancy
is important when critical loads are to be supported. A single battery string leaves
the critical load unsupported if one cell were to fail. Therefore, a reliable battery
system requires building in redundancy rather than simply oversizing the battery.
It's preferable to have a system with two or more equal-rated parallel strings of
batteries. Some systems can have as many as 20 parallel strings to support the high
steady-state current requirement. The system is designed to allow one string of
batteries to be disconnected for maintenance purposes and still support the full
load current with a shorter reserve time. However, for not so critical loads, a single
battery string may be used, especially when an emergency backup generator is
available onsite.
Each battery string is provided with a separate disconnect circuit breaker, which
serves to isolate the faulty battery string during overcurrent conditions and
prevents problems in the string from affecting the other strings, chargers, circuit
cables, and connected DC load.
Battery charger/recti er
New compact, modular-switched mode rectifiers in battery chargers provide high

capacity in small packages and enable easy upgradeability. For the most reliable
system, the charger system is designed to have equally sized parallel rectifiers in
N+1 redundant configuration — N of which is adequate to carry the total system
load current.
During operating conditions, the parallel rectifiers provide the current consumed
by the load, the float current for the batteries, and the additional current for
recharging the batteries after a mains outage. A redundant charger-rectifier fills
two needs: battery recharging after a mains outage and continued operation if one
rectifier fails.
Fig. 2. Typical telecom DC power system with multi-string batteries and N+1 chargers.
Figure 2 shows a typical telecom DC power system with multi-string batteries and
N+1 chargers. The operating scenarios with respect to the battery circuit current
are summarized in the Table.
System operation mode with respect to AC power supply status (assuming battery chargers are healthy).
Battery circuit protective device and conductor sizing
The NEC deals with the minimum requirements for sizing the conductors and
overcurrent devices to protect the conductors, but not for protecting the battery.
The battery circuit breaker is normally installed to provide both disconnect and
protection capabilities. The operating philosophy of the DC power system
determines the design and type of overcurrent protection used. Knowledge of
circuit breakers for overcurrent protection and their ratings that are available for
DC application are also essential.
The continuous current rating of the conductor and circuit breaker in the battery
circuit are based upon the worst-case current to or from the battery, whichever is
higher. This current is determined by analyzing the battery charging and
discharging scenarios as noted in the Table The breaker trip setting must be
discharging scenarios, as noted in the Table. The breaker trip setting must be
greater than the anticipated continuous current. Industry standards suggest
increasing this value by 25% to arrive at the protection rating. The conductor
ampacity rating is also based on 125% of the continuous current, per NEC Sec.
215.3. However, the continuous current rating of the breaker cannot exceed the
final ampacity of the circuit conductor after all the correction factors are applied.
Battery disconnect circuit breaker
For a battery system with two or more parallel strings, when one string is offline
and a discharge is initiated, the disconnect breaker for the active strings must be
able to support the full system load. Similarly, the disconnect switch must be rated
suitably for the charging current when the fully discharged active strings share the
full charger output current. However, some designs do not provide for one battery
string to be offline for a long period except for a few hours shutdown for routine
maintenance, especially for systems with two or three battery strings. In this case,
all battery strings are considered “on” for component sizing.
Batteries are considered a finite source of power; however, a shorted battery has
the potential to deliver an extremely high current in a short period of time. An 800
ampere-hour battery typically can deliver about 9,000A into a short circuit. The
magnitude of short-circuit current at the point of fault in the battery circuit
depends on the battery's internal resistance and the external circuit resistance.
Often, the peak short-circuit current occurs within 5 to 15 milliseconds. Without a
reliable protection to clear the fault, a short-circuit condition can cause permanent
d h b d
https://www.ecmweb.com/content/battery-sizing-basics i i l di h i lf fi Hi h f l 7/22
damage to the battery and equipment, including the potential for fire. High fault
currents can generate excessive thermal and magnetic forces that can cause an
under-rated overcurrent device to burn or blow apart. Therefore, for reliable
protection, the DC-rated circuit breakers are generally tested to time constants of
10 milliseconds or less.
NEC Sec. 110.9 requires the equipment intended to break current at fault levels to
have an interrupting rating sufficient for the current that must be interrupted.
Therefore, the battery circuit breaker should have the interrupting capability to
clear the fault. The interrupting capacity should be more than the maximum
anticipated fault current in the battery circuit. Battery manufacturers have started
publishing the prospective short-circuit currents for the batteries in dead short
condition — the maximum fault current assuming negligible external circuit
resistance. The most conservative method is to select the circuit breaker based
upon this current.
The interrupting capability of the protection device is specified as amperes

interrupting capability (AIC) and sometimes amperes interrupting rating (AIR).
Circuit breakers typically have AIC ratings between 5,000A and 200,000A. For
very high AIC requirements, a fuse in series with a standard circuit breaker may be
a better option. This gives the convenience of a circuit breaker and the interrupting
capacity of the fuses for less than the cost of a high AIC breaker. Note: Because of
the recent trend to use many parallel battery strings of small ampere-hour ratings,
the circuit breakers are found adequate to protect the battery circuit against short-
circuit currents.
The battery breaker shall be double-pole, load break type, rated for use in a DC
circuit with overcurrent protection capability. Unlike AC, DC has no zero crossing
to help extinguish an arc. As such, DC breakers are typically larger than their AC
counterparts of similar amperage. The voltage rating should be greater than the
maximum system voltage in the circuit. Most modern overcurrent protective
devices used in the telecom industry have a 65V or 80VDC rating, with some as
high as 170VDC. But the system voltage will not normally exceed 65VDC for the
48V system, even with the raised voltage of the cells during boost charge.
Battery circuit conductor
The battery circuit conductor selected for the maximum current shall be checked
for voltage drop, which is not usually allowed to be greater than 4% per normal
design practice. Finally, it shall be ensured that the circuit conductor is protected
against the short-circuit current for the duration of fault clearance by the protective
device. The cable damage charts and formula provided by the Insulated Cable
Engineers Association (ICEA), Carrollton, Ga., are helpful in this area.
Let's look at a few typical sizing examples to help you better understand.
Example No. 1:
The telecom power system at 48VDC has one battery string of flooded lead-acid
cells rated 800 ampere-hours at an 8-hour discharge rate, which equates to a final
battery voltage of 1.75V per cell. The system requires four 100A rectifiers to provide
3+1 redundancy. The telecom equipment load is 60A.
The battery discharge current at an 8-hour rate and 1.75V/cell = 100A, per
published data of the manufacturer. However, the maximum expected discharge
current = 60A (same as the load demand).
The battery charging current after a long period power outage=full charger output
(N+1 rectifiers) - (load current) =(4×100)-60=340A. However, the load demand
current may be anywhere from 0A to 60A. Therefore, for conservative design, the
maximum charging current=4×100=400A (for zero load demand).
From the above, we can determine that the maximum battery circuit
current=charging current=400A. The battery circuit breaker sizing current = 1.25 x
charging current = 1.25 × 400A =500A. The standard rating of DC circuit breaker
is 500A.
The battery short-circuit current, per published data for the battery = 9,050A
Therefore, the recommended circuit breaker in this example=500A, 65VDC,

10,000 AIC.
Moving on to the conductor, we know the cable sizing current=1.25×400A=500A.

Therefore, two parallel conductor runs of 250kcmil each can be used, per NEC
guidelines. Note: The circuit conductor is large enough to limit the voltage drop
and withstand the short-circuit current for the duration of a fault.
Example No. 2:
The telecom power system at 48VDC has four parallel battery strings of flooded
lead-acid cells. Each string is rated 2,260 ampere-hours at an 8-hour discharge rate
for a final battery voltage of 1.75V per cell. The design provides for one battery
string to be disconnected for maintenance, while the remaining strings still support
the full load current. The system requires sixteen 100A rectifiers to provide 15+1
redundancy. The telecom equipment load is 700A.
The discharge current of one battery string at the 8-hour rate for a 1.75V/cell=
283A, per published data of the manufacturer. The maximum expected discharge
current of each battery string=700A ÷ 3 =233A (same as the load demand).
The battery charging current after a long period power outage=[full charger output
(N+1 rectifiers)] - (load current) =(16×100A) 700A=900A. However, load demand
current may be anywhere from 0A to 700A. Therefore, for a conservative design,
the maximum charging current=16×100A=1,600A (for zero load demand). This
current value must be divided among three parallel battery strings (the fourth
string is considered OFF). So the maximum charging current of each
string=1,600A ÷ 3=533A.
From the above, we can see the maximum battery circuit current=charging
current=533A. The battery circuit breaker sizing current=1.25×charging
current=1.25×533A=666A. The standard rating of a DC circuit breaker is 700A.
The battery short-circuit current, per published data for the battery=14,750A.
Therefore, the recommended circuit breaker in this example=700A, 65VDC,

15,000 AIC.
Moving onto the conductor, we know the cable sizing current=1.25×533=666A.

Therefore, two parallel conductor runs of 400kcmil each can be used, per NEC
guidelines. Note: The circuit conductor is large enough to limit the voltage drop
and withstand the short-circuit current for the duration of fault.
In summary
As the backbone for modern telecom networks, DC power systems are built of
parallel battery strings with multiple parallel-redundant chargers for reliable
system operation. Batteries are used to provide backup power in order to continue
telecom system operation during commercial (AC) power interruptions.
Design of telecom DC power systems poses new challenges for system designers, as
reliability of DC power system is essential for the telecom system to operate
without service disruptions. For proper sizing of a battery protection device and
circuit conductor, it's necessary to carefully evaluate all the operating scenarios.
The circuit components should also be rated to withstand very high short-circuit
currents that can be generated in the battery circuit.
Pandian is a project manager for the consulting engineering firm of SOFCON in

Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
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9/25/2018 Battery Sizing Basics

Battery Sizing Basics

Shanmuga S. Pandian, SOFCON | Sep 01, 2007

Con guration of telecom DC power systems

Fig. 1. Block diagram of a battery-powered DC system.

Vented (commonly called wet or flooded) or valve-regulated (commonly referred to

Proper design of a battery system is essential to ensure reliable protection of

New compact, modular-switched mode rectifiers in battery chargers provide high

Battery circuit protective device and conductor sizing

Battery disconnect circuit breaker

The interrupting capability of the protection device is specified as amperes

Battery circuit conductor

Therefore, the recommended circuit breaker in this example=500A, 65VDC,

Moving on to the conductor, we know the cable sizing current=1.25×400A=500A.

Therefore, the recommended circuit breaker in this example=700A, 65VDC,

Moving onto the conductor, we know the cable sizing current=1.25×533=666A.

Pandian is a project manager for the consulting engineering firm of SOFCON in

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The Evolution of Maintenance — Part 2 The Big Just Get Bigger

Klein Tools Announces 2018 Electrician of the Year Winner

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A resident of Jay, Fla., Adams is a fourth-generation electrician, having learned the

Related: Klein Tools Announces $250,000 Tool Scholarship

outstanding professional achievement, dedication to safety, and contributions to

Stairway Safety Project Costs: How Far is Up?

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Email address United States SIGN UP ▸

NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE > QUIZZES

Code Quiz of the Week: No. 144

Mike Holt | Sep 24, 2018

These materials are provided to us by Mike Holt Enterprises of Leesburg, Fla. To

TAGS: NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE

TOP 50 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS

2018 EC&M Top 50 Contractors

Sep 21, 2018

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EC&M's 2018 Top 20 Electrical Contractors 2017 EC&M Top 50 Contractors

Sign up for the ElectricalZone newsletter.

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Sep 21, 2018

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

For more information, read the Federal Register notice.

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Ranking Electrical Disturbances ― Part 6 of 7

A look at how harmonic waveform distortion can damage electronic LED

Philip Keebler | Sep 20, 2018

This article is Part 6 of a seven-part series on the effects of power quality

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Ranking Electrical Disturbances — Part 3 of 7 Ranking Electrical Disturbances ― Part 2

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Code Quiz: Illumination for Working Spaces Containing Battery Systems

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