controlling electyrical cycles

[Cjones]

I have searched to find a thread similar to this without luck. I work in 3rd world countries (230 VAC 50 Hertz) that cannot provide a constant voltage or cycle with any regularity.

What can I do to maintain a constant 50 hertz power delivery? I have data centers that continually lose equipment and we find that we have anywhere from 45 to 65 hertz variance on the incoming power. I might add that we also receive anywhere from 150 to 380 VAC from time to time.

I am looking for a way to maintain a proper 50 hertz.

 

[zbang]

With swings that large, the only way to keep the utilization voltage/freq. constant would be to make your own A/C, and from what you say (45-65Hz, 150-380v) I think that means installing your own generators. How big a load are you talking about? (I would expect a data center to already have UPS and maybe local generation already. It does not?)

At first I was going to suggest a dual-conversion UPS with it's own freq. standard and that will ignore the incoming line freq. but I think the voltage swings are too great for even the most accommodating UPS to handle.

Most modern computer supplies are fairly voltage- and frequency- agnostic, so depending on how fast the voltage changes, and regulator might help. OTOH those can be frequency sensitive, too. And even the best supplies don't work when the voltage drops to zero or exceeds their max by 50%.

 

[petersonra]

I have searched to find a thread similar to this without luck. I work in 3rd world countries (230 VAC 50 Hertz) that cannot provide a constant voltage or cycle with any regularity.

What can I do to maintain a constant 50 hertz power delivery? I have data centers that continually lose equipment and we find that we have anywhere from 45 to 65 hertz variance on the incoming power. I might add that we also receive anywhere from 150 to 380 VAC from time to time.

I am looking for a way to maintain a proper 50 hertz.

I would be more concerned with the voltage fluctuations than the frequency changes.

I guess the place to start is to ask what you mean by "data center". In the US that might mean a place with hundreds or thousands of racks of servers in a dark building with redundant everything just to deal with the possibility of losing a utility.

I don't think you can readily tack on something to "fix" this issue in such a facility. it really has to be thought out up front by someone who understands the problem.

Now if you are talking about a "data center" that is just a closet with a few server racks in it, that is much easier.