Capacitor-based UPS
First Claim
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1. An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) comprising:
- at least one energy storage module having a plurality of capacitive elements connected in series;
input circuitry for providing electrical power from an input to the at least one energy storage module;
output circuit for providing electrical power from the at least one energy storage module to an output; and
capacity-measuring circuitry in communication with the at least one capacitive element to;
measure a first and a second voltage across the plurality of capacitive elements, the measurement of the second voltage occurring at a time Δ
t after the measurement of the first voltage,measure a current through the plurality of capacitive elements over the time Δ
t;
calculate a capacitance of the plurality of capacitive elements based on the measured first and second voltages and the measured current;
derive an amount of remaining energy in the at least one energy storage module from the calculated capacitance; and
output an estimated amount of real-time hold time remaining in the at least one energy storage module based on an amount of electrical power being provided on the output circuit from the at least one energy storage module and the derived amount of remaining energy in the at least on energy storage module.
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Abstract
The present invention generally relates to the field of uninterruptable power supplies (UPSs) and more specifically, to UPSs using supercapacitors (also may be referred to as ultracapacitors) and/or other capacitor and/or battery elements. In an embodiment, a UPS of the present invention can individually regulate the charging of its capacitive elements to avoid overcharging and/or achieve a more efficient charge state.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) comprising:
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at least one energy storage module having a plurality of capacitive elements connected in series; input circuitry for providing electrical power from an input to the at least one energy storage module; output circuit for providing electrical power from the at least one energy storage module to an output; and capacity-measuring circuitry in communication with the at least one capacitive element to; measure a first and a second voltage across the plurality of capacitive elements, the measurement of the second voltage occurring at a time Δ
t after the measurement of the first voltage,measure a current through the plurality of capacitive elements over the time Δ
t;calculate a capacitance of the plurality of capacitive elements based on the measured first and second voltages and the measured current; derive an amount of remaining energy in the at least one energy storage module from the calculated capacitance; and output an estimated amount of real-time hold time remaining in the at least one energy storage module based on an amount of electrical power being provided on the output circuit from the at least one energy storage module and the derived amount of remaining energy in the at least on energy storage module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification