Where You Need to UPS Systems

For the purpose of this article, I am talking about line interactive UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) for the support of electronic equipment, not those used to support special pieces of equipment such as our operating lights

The requirements for UPS in healthcare buildings is defined in HTM2011. However, this document was published in 1992 and a lot has changed since then. More and more equipment uses computers and electronic systems that will not tolerate even partial failure of the mains electricity supply. The time taken to change over from the mains supply to the hospital's generator systems is too great for this type of equipment to maintain its function. On the other side of the coin, UPS systems have become much more sophisticated and affordable so there is no excuse for not providing a safe back up supply. In this article, I have tried to lay out the written advice such as it exists at the moment and to go on to explain a common sense approach to deciding what UPS systems should be provided.

HTM2011 states that UPS should be considered for areas where life-support power equipment is in use. Such systems should have at least 1 hour battery duration, have an alarm panel, should be provided with a manual by-pass switch and should be connected to the “essential supply circuit”. It also specifies UPS should be used for computer supplies.

Further useful guidance is given in The IEE Wiring Regulations, Guidance Note 7 “Special Locations”. This specifically lists the areas that require an emergency power supply with a change over time of less than 0.5 seconds.

The latest issue of the IEE regulations require UPS for medical lighting to have 3 hour duration rather than the 1 hour set out in HTM2011.

We have recently discussed the requirements for UPS with NHS Estates. The current advice is that there is no definitive document that fully lists the areas where UPS should be provided in healthcare buildings. HTM2011 and Guidance Note 7 should be used but the general rule is that if you are not sure, a risk assessment should be carried out to decide what is needed.

In practical terms the decision to install UPS is not that difficult. Common sense dictates where electronic and life support equipment is likely to be used in healthcare buildings. If such equipment in not provided with its own internal or dedicated emergency power supply, it must be provided with UPS.

There are lots of UPS systems around that have been designed for use in offices and factories. Most have been designed to run computers for controlled shutdown in the event of power failure. Many of these systems are fundamentally unsuitable for use in the healthcare environment.

We at Brandon Medical, have used our knowledge of medical power supply requirements to develop a UPS system specifically tailored to healthcare buildings. The result is our new Innovation Series BXi UPS system in standard sizes of 1 kVA to 6 kVA (we can configure supplies up to 125 kVA).

We have designed all our systems to provide battery durations in excess of the minimum requirements set out in HTM2011 and IEE Guidance Note 7 of 1 hour or 3 hours. Even longer durations can be specified.

We know maintenance is a major issue in healthcare buildings so we have virtually designed it out. The major maintenance issue with UPS is changing the batteries which is potentially dangerous and should only be performed by trained staff. Our new BXi systems feature “plug & play” battery modules that can safely be changed by un-skilled staff while the system is running in normal operation mode. This gives a substantial saving in time and money.

BXi provides extra security of supply with a dual input feature as standard. The systems automatically switch from the primary input supply to the second input if the primary supply fails. You can connect to 2 different area distribution boards so that power is maintained if there is a fault on one circuit, you can connect to 2 different phases to protect against the loss of one phase or you can use the second input to connect to an emergency generator system.

We have also designed in extra security of output. The output can be divided into essential and non-essential supplies. The BXi systems can be switched to essential only in the event of a long term power cut to preserve battery power for the most important services. An application for this feature would be in operating theatres where life support equipment would be connected to the essential supply and medical power tools might be connected to the non-essential supply.

The BXi systems all come with comprehensive monitoring software. The units are connected into your computer network and any problems are automatically alarmed to your PC.

Last but not least, we know that space is often at a premium in critical care areas so we have design the systems to be extremely compact and easy to mount. They can be mounted vertically or horizontally, free standing or will slot straight into a 19” rack. Multiple units key lock together.