Maximum Availability Hybrid AC and DC Energy Systems for Mission Critical

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Service Providers

M. Grossoni1 E. Cevenini2 , C. Bertolini2 , R. Huempfner2 , J.L. Despres3 , F. Gueguen3
1

Telecom Italia

Chloride Power Protection

Abstract:
Customers that operate or depend on ICT service
provision, like Internet Data Centres or High Bandwidth
Switching Centres, often require mission critical availability.
Various aspects of power protection system design and
implementation must be carefully considered to ensure that
this requirement is met. The type of power supply required by
the various appliances is changing: in the past the ACsupplied ICT devices were the majority, but the trend will
lead to a predominance of the DC-supplied devices in the near
future, especially in the TLC applications.
In the present day ICT high-technology major sites, different
devices requiring either DC or AC power supply coexist.
The use of DC and AC hybrid emergency power system
designed with the latest technology is key. Redundancy of
rectifiers, separated battery banks are among the major
standpoints. For the AC supply utilization of vector control
techniques, modular redundancy and advanced design of
static switching architectures have to be considered.
A significant portion of system failures is caused by problems
in the distribution rather than by the failure of the power
sources themselves [1].
It is shown that using a hybrid system is the most effective
way of protecting the whole no-break power distribution.
The monitoring of each power supply device in the no-break
distribution is centralized.
Guidelines are proposed and their application is shown
through real life case studies.

1. Introduction
Reliability and availability are the driving concepts
behind the TLC and IT Mission Critical Systems design
process. The need for an uninterruptible power supply for
the above systems is the inspiration for the research and the
improvement of the best technology.
Dependent upon Optical fiber systems, internet Data
Centres, and Telecommunication plants, there exist a
number of electronic devices which are in constant and
rapid evolution. Up to a few years ago most of electronic
devices were AC devices, whereas the majority of the
today/tomorrows electronic devices are both DC and AC
devices, with different percentages depending on the
installation scope. Uninterruptible power supply systems
are moving towards hybrid systems.
For this reason, today it is necessary to supply both DC and
AC devices, both of which with as high a reliability factor
as possible.

Chloride Telecom Systems

The objective of this paper is, therefore, to provide an

overview of some different configurations currently
available.
Design requires knowledge of and attention to the
following points:

Different power supplies

Behaviour of different devices
Different environments

These three variables are instrumental in the high

availability level in the design of complex installations.
Experience with large IDC/TLC systems points to Hybrid
Systems for their reliability.
2. AC Power Supply Systems - UPS
UPS are the most widely used AC Power supply
Systems. UPS systems rely on double conversion
technology (AC/DC/AC) and on battery packages.
This double conversion structure is the most tried and
trusted power supply for mission critical AC loads.
See [1] for any further information.
3. AC/DC/AC/DC Power Supply
Fig. 1.a, illustrates the triple conversion uninterruptible
power supply architecture. The objective is to analyse and
to highlight its weak points. In the diagram it is possible to
see the double conversion chain, typical to UPS systems,
and a double, AC/DC, power distribution. The DC devices
are supplied by a triple conversion energy chain.
The first double conversion (AC/DC/AC) might be
represented by a UPS, while the distribution downstream of
the UPS is a DC power supply system (i.e. 48 V TLC
rectifier).
Therefore, the reliability of this system is heavily affected
by the power conversion chain, which illustrates the first
weak point. Generally, it is advisable to avoid a
configuration like this one. The triple conversion shown is
a significant weak point in that it can cause the following
critical events:

Low rectifier short circuit current

Single DC power supply source
No batteries on DC power distribution

The following is a discussion of the above mentioned

critical events.

3.2 Single DC Power Supply Branch

A number of redundant rectifiers may well be useless

Fig. 1 Triple Conversion Architecture

3.1 Rectifier short circuit current

The rectifier short circuit current of this system is very
low. Fig. 1.b illustrates the rectifier voltage-current curve.
The short circuit current is near to the rectifier current
limit. When the load requires a high current (in case of
an overload or short circuit event) beyond the Ilim the
rectifier behaves like a current generator: voltage = 0,
current = Icc. This is, naturally, a bottle neck for this
installation. This very limited current doesnt allow for
good magneto/thermic selectivity downstream of the
rectifier.
Batteries downstream of the rectifier could handle the
higher current required by the load. In this configuration
the batteries are installed in the UPS. The available current
is only that supplied by the rectifier. The power supply
chain may depend upon various weak points that could
provoke the failure of the whole system.
Even installing batteries in the DC bus, to provide a higher
short circuit current, would be a non effective solution in
terms of cost and reliability of a larger system.
For these reasons it is advisable to design DC/AC Power
Supply Systems taking into consideration the above
mentioned Hybrid Systems.

when supplied by a single power source.

There follow some good design rules for electrical power
supply distribution:

The distribution architecture must be designed to

guarantee the power supply continuity to the load
- No bottle neck -

An important consideration is the distribution,

upstream
and
downstream
from
the
uninterruptible system

If a fault occurs on the main power distribution

upstream from the UPS system the continuity must not
be compromised.
It is highly advisable to provide:

A redundant upstream distribution with

recovery times (Gensets), depending on
autonomy.
A redundant downstream distribution
recovery times compatible with the
requirements.

long
UPS
with
load

Any fault occurring in the Single Point of Failure causes a

fault to the downstream load even if the UPS system is
redundant.

This means that a bottle neck is created there by

rendering nearly useless the system upstream. In fact, even
with a reliable redundant UPS system having a long battery
autonomy, a rectifier fault is enough to compromise the
whole DC distribution.

If a fault occurs on the downstream DC devices the

energy available is about 10 times the nominal value. The
batteries are installed downstream of the rectifier on the
DC link. It is no longer possible to have the system
behaviour shown in fig. 1.b.

Fig. 2 Hybrid System Outline

3.3 Redundant Rectifiers with no Batteries

The biggest problem of the above illustrated
configuration is that rectifier redundancy is completely
useless if it cannot rely on batteries on the DC link.
Fig. 1.c illustrates the no batteries rectifier configuration.
The main problem is the very low short circuit current
capability.
As said before this doesnt allow for good
magneto/thermic selectivity downstream of the rectifier.
Also, the system represented has difficulty in excluding a
faulty rectifier. To exclude a rectifier the internal protection
devices must open the circuit (fuses). It is then obvious
how difficult it is to blow a protection device with a very
low Icc overload capability.
4. Hybrid System
Fig. 2.a illustrates the hybrid system outline, object of
this paper. This is the ideal solution for DC/AC power
supply. At first glance this system appears as a simplified
system, more suitable for DC power applications and
doesnt display any of the weak points seen above.
A hybrid system can support very large short circuit
current.

The greater of energy amount means that the individual DC

devices protections will blow, in case of a fault, thereby
excluding the faulty DC device.
The batteries can also supply AC devices, if necessary, by
using Inverters. The inverter behaviour wont be the same
as at the UPS output because of the low DC voltage. In this
case the inverter works with 48 V on the DC link while in
UPS system 500 Vdc is available for the inverter input. It
is, then, clear that performances are very different and that
inverter installed on the 48 V DC link can supply only low
power devices.
The solution shown in fig. 2.b is the key to a large
installation in which it is necessary to supply many high
power DC and AC devices at the same time.
The system shown in fig. 2.b avoids all that bottle necks
shown in the first architecture.
While AC devices are supplied from redundant sources DC
devices are supplied from redundant rectifiers, fig. 2.c.
IDC plant UPS systems deliver continuous energy mainly
to switching, transmitting and IT devices with important
stability characteristics (voltage and frequency invariance).
The uninterruptible power supply is not requested for all
the IDC support loads. Certain loads do not require
continuity (short time switching) but a large energy
reserve. This could be available in short, but not negligible,

times, such as when a generator is used as reserve supply.

A typical example of this kind of load are air conditioning
devices. These must work in order to maintain the correct
environmental conditions required by the electronic TLC
devices. Air conditioning devices could, however, be
inactive for some minutes without affecting the
environmental thermal balance. In this case the energy
reserve given by the generator is used to support them
during long interruptions in the public distribution.
The different loads described require mainly DC power
supply (48 V). Different voltages have been used in the
past but are now obsolete. The power supply distribution
characteristics at the customer site are specified by ETSI
standards [5]. These require that, for TLC devices, the
voltage must not fall below 40,5 V . The installations that
have been taken into consideration are IDC/TLC
installations, therefore a number of AC devices are also
installed. Some of these will require uninterruptible power
supply, some will be powered from energy reserve systems
and some IDC systems will be Mission Critical. There
must be no interruptions whatsoever in supply.
This kind of power supply is of course provided by
inverter and UPS systems. The first guarantee an autonomy
calculated on the whole TLC installation, the autonomy of
UPS systems ranges from a few minutes to two or three
hours. Both systems are equipped with static switches. This
allows automatic switching from inverter line to main
distribution line without any interruption, in case of
inverter fault.
However, it is important to give to the load the most correct
power source:

48 Vdc Inverter AC non critical low power

devices
UPS power supply AC critical high power
devices

Internet Data Centres, obviously, are Mission Critical

loads. These should be supplied by UPS architectures.
UPS systems provide highly reliable power supply. This by
using parallel configuration i.e. N+1 and On-Line static
switches.
Advanced distributed UPS parallel system provide a
downstream high fault current (HFC). Each UPS is
equipped with a static switch so that N+1 static switches
are available in case of a short circuit event.
In [1] are presented various UPS + static switch
configuration for Mission Critical loads.
Generators are used for the reserve supply. These cannot
guarantee no-break continuity, as their switching times
(starting time) could be in the order of a few minutes. More
than 90% of public distribution interruptions last less than
15 minutes. For this reason is advisable to set a delayed
starting time thus avoiding that even short interruptions
cause the generator to start up.
The reserve power supply source (generator), upstream
from the Hybrid system, is used for both ICT devices
powering and for air conditioning. In some cases it could
be used also for domestic loads. To avoid generator
overload it is possible to design the battery recharging

rectifier so as to limit the current due to the available

energy reserve power.
The devices described are the ICT main power supply
installation components. A complete system would include
distribution links and cabinets.
4.1 Reliability and Maintainability Comparison
A simple yet significant comparison in reliability of the
AC and DC power supplies to the load can be carried out
among the systems shown in fig. 1.a and fig. 2.b (only the
AC section powered by the UPS is taken into account). For
the triple conversion system depicted in fig. 1.a, the MTBF
of the AC and DC power supplies are:

MTBF AC = MTBFUPS
MTBF DC =

(1)

MTBF R MTBFUPS
MTBF R + MTBFUPS

(2)

where MTBFR is the mean time between failures of the DC

48 V rectifier system, MTBFUPS refers to the AC/AC UPS
system. For the hybrid system described in the previous
paragraph, the MTBF of the AC (UPS derived only) is the
same as in (1), while MTBF of the DC power supply is:

MTBFDC = MTBFR + MTBF BDC

MTBFR MTBF BDC

MTBFR + MTBF BDC

(3)

where MTBFBDC refers to the 48 V battery bank. The

reliability of this battery bank was assumed to be 5 times
greater than that of the battery used in UPS system,
because of the higher number of series connected cells in
UPS, due to higher DC voltage, respect to 48 V banks.
Furthermore, some TLC plant owners/designers prefer to
install two parallel battery blocks to provide the required
battery capacity (Ah), thus allowing battery redundancy.
Using MTBF values collected and calculated by the authors
(more details are shown in [1]) it can be seen that MTBFDC
obtained in (3) is more than 4 times than that obtained in
(2).
Also, there is an important difference in maintainability
between the two systems: while in the system shown in fig.
1 both DC and AC distributions are not backed up by the
batteries when the UPS is in bypass mode, in the hybrid
system in fig. 2.b AC and DC systems can be serviced
separately; moreover, the 48 V rectifier system can be
maintained while DC distribution is powered by the
dedicated battery for the back up time allowed.
5. Case Study
The case study taken into considerations regard
IDC/TLC systems. There follows some points illustrated by
the case study:

AC redundancy (parallel systems)

DC redundancy (rectifier redundancy)

AC HFC (high fault current) capability
Unique remote monitoring system for DC and AC
systems

A=

MTBF
MTBF + MTTR

(4)

Fig. 3 Hybrid System Case Study

AC redundancy is made possible by UPS parallel systems.

These last could be a centralized or distributed parallel. The
centralized system allows a much larger fault clearing
current (HFC). The size of the system static switch depends
on the total power of the load. Today many solutions exist
for absolute power supply availability [1] depending on
the load requirements.
Fig. 3 illustrates the IDC/TLC case study power supply
configuration. In this architecture both AC and DC systems
are used. AC redundancy is obtained by using a two UPS
centralized parallel system. The loads powered by the UPS
are high power loads. DC redundancy can be obtained by
using smart rectifiers on the DC link. The DC link has a
high fault clearing current, as stated above. The DC link is
equipped with inverters rated for low power AC loads.
The main advantages in using a hybrid configuration, as
shown in fig. 3, are the greater availability of the whole
system and its reliability. All the weak points of the triple
conversion architecture have been avoided. This
configuration adds flexibility to plant management.
Furthermore, while the MTBF value is a parameter of
the products (project accuracy and production quality),
MTTR value allows the system recovery time to be known.
This last value is, of course, fundamental in the availability
calculation:

The ideal availability (A=1) depends on high MTBF and

low MTTR values. Having a single provider of the remote
monitoring system helps to reduce the MTTR value,
increasing the system availability which is the goal for all
the IDC/TLC plant power supplies.
6. Conclusions
Systems with both UPS and rectifier provide very high
power quality with greater reliability.
Results follow:

AC/DC redundancy advantages

Maximum AC conversion capability
Maximum DC reliability

Therefore the hybrid system is the key solution. The system

allows separate handling of AC and DC power sources so
to obtain advantages from both the architectures.
Telecom Italia, the main Italian TLC service provider, uses
hybrid systems for powering IDC/TLC plants. The choice
is inherent in the higher availability values compared with
the triple conversion solution.
Moreover, hybrid system have positive effects on the
operative cost of the plant. A global power protection
supplier is able either to provide AC/AC and DC/AC
systems for hybrid solutions and to provide joint

maintenance policies for the various types of no-break

power supplies (24h, 365d remote monitoring and rapid
field service). This kind of approach helps ICT service
providers to save costs by outsourcing maintenance without
losing field service quality. This illustrates how system
management cost can be reduced.
The availability percentage is the key to evaluating
technical progress and system architectures. In the past this
value was 99.9 (three-nines), today it is, on average, 99.99
(four nines) and the goal for the near future is to achieve a
consistent 99.9999 (six-nines) percentage value. The
centralized AC (IDC) and DC (TLC) systems could be
managed by using a remote monitoring system (such as
LIFE 2000, the 24h 365d Chloride remote monitoring
station). This provides high availability because of the
single system remote monitoring and cost reductions by
using one supplier for the whole system.
7. Acknowledgemnt
The authors would like to thank Ing. Giuseppe Calzetti
of Telecom Italia for valuable discussion on hybrid power
supply systems.
8. References
[1]

M. Grossoni,, R. Huempfner, E. Cevenini, C. Bertolini, J.

Profeta, Internet Data Centres (IDC): Design considerations
for mission critical power system performance.. Conference
proceedings of INTELEC 2001 (Twenty-third International
Telecommunications Energy Conference)

[2]

Charles E. Ebeling, Reliability and

Maintainability Engineering, Mc Graw Hill, 1997

[3]

W. Pitt Turner IV, P.E. and Kenneth G. Brill. Industry

standard tier classifications define site in frastructure
performance, White paper, The UPTime Institute, 2001

[4]

The Eurobat Guide, 2000

[5]

M. Grossoni, G. Calzetti Evoluzione dellenergia nelle

telecomunicazioni, CSC paper 1/02, Chloride Power
Protection
2002