ETAP 5.

Battery Sizing &

Discharge

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc.

 When does a battery kick in?
• Load in DC System exceeds the battery
charger capacity

• Output of the battery charger is interrupted

• AC Power is lost [generally the worst case

scenario]

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 2
 IEEE 485- Definitions
• Battery Duty Cycle
– The load that the battery is expected to supply for a
specified period of time (sum of all individual loads)
• Cell Size
– Rated capacity of a lead acid battery or number of
positive plates in a cell
• Period
– Time interval for which the load is assumed to be
constant
• Vpc
– Volts per cell (individual cell voltage)
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 3
 Types of Loads
• Constant Power
– As battery voltage decreases, their current increases.

• Constant Resistance
– As battery voltage decreases, their current also
decreases.

• Constant Current
– Load current is invariant to battery voltage changes.

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 4
 Duty Cycle Classification
• Continuous Load (Non-Random)
– Non-random loads
– Normally carried by the battery charger
– Includes lighting, converters, indicating lights,
communications systems, continuously operating motors
• Non-Continuous Load (Random or Non-Random)
– Emergency pumps
– MOV operations
– Critical ventilation system motors
– Fire protection systems actuators
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 5
 Duty Cycle Classification
• Momentary Loads (Random or Non-Random)
– Loads with duration that do not exceed more than
one minute
– MOV with stroke of less than a minute
– Field flashing of generators
– Motor starting currents
– Inrush currents (solenoids, relay coils, etc)

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 6
 Individual Load Duty Cycles
• Static Loads

• Motor loads

• DC Lump Loads

• Elementary Elementary Diagram

• DC to AC Inverters

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 7
 Guidelines for Battery Duty
Cycles
• All duty cycle periods (constant load) must
be higher or equal to one minute
• First identify the non-random load battery
duty cycle
• Find worst case scenario
• Include the random load duty cycle
• Final battery duty cycle becomes a
conservative combination of the two
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 8
 Duty Cycle Example A

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 9
 Duty Cycle Example B

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 10
 Battery Modeling
• Battery voltage based on manufacturer
battery discharge characteristic curves
• Enter battery characteristic curves in battery
library
• Interpolation / extrapolation is performed to
obtain battery size and discharge voltage
profile
• Different interpolation methods to obtain Vpc
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 11
 Characteristic Curves
Battery Characteristic Curves

1.5
1000.00
1.6
1.67
100.00 1.75
Time (min.)

1.78
1.81
10.00 1.84
1.88
1.92
1.00
1.96
10.00 100.00 1000.00
Amps per Positive Plate

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 12
 Interpolation Methods

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 13
 Battery Sizing Study Case
• Load Summation
– Adds all the load duty cycles
– Generally more conservative for systems with more
constant resistance loads
• Load Flow Method
– Adds all the load duty cycles, but performs a load flow
calculation at every time step to account for system
losses (more realistic results)
– Generally more conservative for systems with more
constant power loads
– Load model type based on load type or duty cycle type
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 14
 • Load Duty Cycles
– 5 different system duty cycles
• Correction factors
– Battery minimum temperature
– Aging compensation
– Initial capacity
– Design margin
• Voltage Requirements
– Maximum system voltage deviation (charging voltage)
– Minimum system voltage deviation (depends on final
Vpc)
– Battery minimum discharge voltage (final Vpc)

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 15
 Battery Discharge Page
• Vd Calculation Parameters
– Time step and maximum voltage limit
• Correction Factors
– Same as battery sizing (no design margin)
• Load Flow Parameters
– Iterations
– Precision
– Initial conditions and motor load handling
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 16
 Duty Cycle Span Options
Options
•Two Existing Options Moved from Ini File to Study Case
•New Option Added – One-minute Span for Battery only

One-minute Span for Battery only

•Calculating Battery Discharging Current – Use One-Minute
Spanned Duty Cycle To Get Conservative Battery Voltage

•Calculating System Voltage – Use Battery Voltage Calculated

above to Run Load Flow with User Specified Duty Cycle for
Individual Loads To Get More Accurate System Voltage
Profile

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 17
 Displayed Results
• Tabulated results for battery voltage, bus
voltage and power flows through the entire
system
• One-line diagram displayed results (similar
to DC load flow)
• Complete set of plots that include battery
voltage, current, discharged AH and system
flows

Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 18
 Things to Consider
• Obtain as many battery characteristic curves
as possible
• Obtain specific curves for battery model and
type
• Understand limitations of interpolation
methods
• Use most conservative approach for your
system (load flow method or load
summation)
Copyright 2003 Operation Technology, Inc. – Workshop Notes: Battery Sizing & Discharge Slide 19