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Battery testing

Battery testing

Battery testing

(OP)
I'm posting this here because many of you used batteries for control power.

I have dozens of battery banks.  Most of them are flooded- cell lead-acid, and we use them for power for UPS systems at compressor stations on a pipeline.

Here's the question:  How much trust are users putting in the relatively recent battery test technology such as the Biddle BITE or Alber CellCorder?  Are any users taking the data from these technologies and using it in place of the older "Load test every five years" from the IEEE standard?

We regularly exercise our UPS by killing commercial power and watching the station ride through the outage until the backup generator starts, and we have regularly scheduled inspection and an annual maintenance regimen which uses the CellCorder.

Like many other companies, though, there's an emphasis on cost-cutting and load-banking forty-odd battery banks is a big cost.

I'm interested in the thoughts from you folks.

old field guy

RE: Battery testing

I don't think there is a simple one answer fits all on the on the trust question, because the question you are really asking is how risky is a bet on a lesser test. Well, how much is at risk in your situation if you have a battery failure (dollar wise, management scrutiny-wise and disruption to the business)?  The answer I believe needs to be based in part the trust factor you asked about, and the question of how much is at stake in case of a failure and increasingly conservative based on the age of the batteries versus their design life.

Have been using an Alber CRT-300 Model in recent years on our customer's batteries which is a wide base of battery age vintages (the oldest being 23 year old flooded cells in the 3300AH range, at really critical site that we finally got the customer to replace in the past year), size, and, a increasingly fewer flooded cell and more AGM technologies. Prior to using the Alber we were dyed in the wool, hard believers in having to do load tests.  

We are using the Alber measurements for approximately 60 customer sites for twice a year tests and for some critical accounts 4 times a year. Experience to date indicates it to be a reliable indicator of escalating battery deterioration. i.e. you start seeing very notable, escalating increases in battery internal resistance, prior to outright failure to the point that the batteries would not carry the load..

But when the above starts occurring, we follow up with the load test, loading the batteries to plant load and a minimum of 60% if not the full run time duration requirement, to know how much actual run time capability is left. And at this point, we make sure the customer management chain is aware of the fact that they have a deteriorating battery plant even if the load test shows it will still carry the load. They then have the decision of risk exposure and capital expenditure to make on a schedule they can live with.   

My comments above are strictly related to the Alber (and its test methodology) which actually places a DC load on each cell and computes the internal resistance based on the voltage drop,  versus some of the testers that use a low frequency  AC signal. We chose the Alber after doing extensive reading on the subject and, some in depth discussion with the engineers at two of the major battery manufacturers that we have a good working relationship with. It might be worth something to also mention that it was a bid on a telephone battery system maintenance contract for two nuclear power plants that got us into using the Alber. The bid required this type of test methodology, although not specifying Alber by name. But, in researching Alber, apparently their history is in the nuclear power industry and was mentioned by name by one of the battery manufacturers we talked to.  

Although the Alber was suggested to us by one of the battery manufacturers we spoke with, none of them will consider any type of warranty compensation except based on data obtained from an actual load test.

I guess the final answer is approach this as a risk management problem in the whole and make sure your management team is in the accountability loop for any decision made.    


   

RE: Battery testing

We use the cellcorder for battery commissioning. I think it's fine for monitoring too, but I'm still not sure I would trust anything but periodic load tests for truly critical applications.

Alan
----
"It's always fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney

RE: Battery testing

I think you need to go back and ask what is the requirment for the battery bank, and what is the test going to prove.

If you are turing off the charger and seeing that the battery bank can ride through the outage, assuming the final voltage is acceptable, you are proving the batterys can do as you expect.

The problem with a deep discharge test is it does cause some damage to the battery bank, and loss of life. So if you can prove the battery bank in other means then why not do so.

An other problem is some of the NERC standards ask that you must state your reasoning for the testing standard you design. This is where the default IEEE standard is eazy to state your reasoning, versis another home made testing standard.

No I haven't seen the other testing standards, but I would like to hear more.

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