VYCON’s VDC-XXT flywheel system provides clean energy storage to protect health facilities 24/7.
VYCON’s environmentally-friendly, high-speed flywheel system is designed to provide a greener, cost-saving solution as compared to traditional Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems that are reliant upon conventional batteries.
John Jeter provides insight to HFM magazine on the benefits of flywheel technology:
HFM: How have Emergency Power Supply Systems for hospitals changed over the past few years? How have these changes benefitted hospitals?
John Jeter: There have been great improvements in the efficiency of true online double-conversion UPS systems that have increased the efficiency from a low 90% up to 96%-99%. This has been a result of some UPS manufacturers adding high-efficiency modes of operation using the system bypass circuits to achieve 99% efficiency. They are able to switch back to true online double-conversion mode in milliseconds when the utility power exceeds certain acceptable parameters. In a true online double conversion mode, advances in inverter designs have made big improvements to reach efficiencies as high as 98.5% and, equally important, to achieve efficiencies of around 94% with loads as low as 20% of the UPS rated power. The bottom line to hospitals is huge savings in energy costs with the latest UPS technology.
As part of three-phase UPS systems, there have been changes in the DC energy storage with lithium-ion batteries, and for flywheels, we have in the past two years, increased the amount of energy storage with our VDC-XXT flywheel system.
HFM: What Uninterruptible Power Supply equipment has your company recently introduced to the health care market and what are its key features?
John Jeter: VYCON’s new VDC-XXT flywheel system provides 24×7 clean energy storage to protect health facilities 24/7. Paired with three-phase UPSs, VYCON’s patented flywheel technology brings unprecedented DC power capacity using the kinetic energy of the high-speed flywheel for instantaneous and reliable power backup. Upon a power failure, the VDC-XXT will supply seamless DC energy allowing the UPS to quickly and gracefully transfer to the facility’s backup generators.
The VDC-XXT 450kW system offers the highest power density in the industry. The capability of operating at temperatures of up to 104°F (40°C) with a 20-year operational life, results in substantial savings in cooling costs. Due to the smaller footprint than battery banks, valuable real estate is freed up for more profitable health care equipment. The VDC-XXT provides a greener, cost-saving solution for health care facilities compared to UPSs that are using lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries.
VYCON’s patented technology incorporates a high-speed motor generator along with active magnetic bearings that levitate and sustain the rotor during operation. A monitoring and control system monitors system operations and performance via a graphic touchscreen panel as well as an advanced communication capability that includes operating parameters, alarm status and local and remote shutdown. These innovative technologies simplify operation while enabling the flywheel systems to charge and discharge at high rates for countless cycles that dramatically outperform legacy technologies like batteries.
The VDC-XXT, when compared to chemical batteries, offer:
- Quick Response – it can promptly store huge bursts of energy and equally rapidly return them;
- High Efficiency – charges/discharges are made with very small losses; as an electrical storage system, a flywheel can have efficiencies over 97%;
- Low Maintenance – flywheels do not require cooling nor do they pose the chemical recycling/maintenance issues of conventional batteries.
- Long Lifespan – flywheels have a typical lifespan of about 20 years, while a lead-acid battery needs to be replaced every three to seven years (and even sooner for high cycle applications);
- Substantial ROI – Save hundreds of thousands of dollars over batteries
- Green Solution – Capable of millions of full charge and discharge cycles over the life of the system with no degradation in voltage, power, or storage – unlike batteries. Flywheel technology is also considered the only green technology of the storage technologies.
HFM: What advances do you see in the near future for hospital Emergency Power Supply Systems?
In the near future, hospitals will benefit from upgrading their UPS systems to gain energy savings from the latest technology.