SL1770A Series Scienlab Power Allocation Management Solution for Battery Testing
Data Sheets
Grid Supply – The Limiting Factor for the Next Generation of Battery Test Lab Peak power vs average power:
Understanding power demand is crucial for efficient and effective laboratory operations in automotive battery pack testing. While there is a tendency to focus on peak power requirements, it is essential to shift the focus towards average power consumption, especially in larger laboratories.
Peak power demands, although significant, occur only for brief periods and can be managed with appropriate strategies. Designing a lab purely based on peak power can lead to overestimating the necessary installed power, resulting in increased costs and inefficiencies. By prioritizing average power, laboratories can achieve a more balanced and cost-effective power management, ensuring optimal performance without overshooting the installed power capacity.
The conservative approach, which ensures a safety margin, constantly provides the maximum power available at all channels but has broad limitations.
If the maximum power is required simultaneously, a grid supply would be needed that nearly no laboratory or building can provide.
In cases where the maximum power is not required, the power electronics are not in use, utilization is low, and the investment is not reasonable.
A more technologically advanced approach focuses on the specification of each device under test (DUT), including how the whole laboratory will operate, providing insights into utilization factors, peak demand in power and current, and rest times during the test sequences.
Based on these data points and the building requirement, a total need and prediction can be specified. This could include:
• Grid limitations based on the building or supply
• Peak and average power or current
• Utilization, test plans, and test definition
The Definition of the Solution:
Centralized battery laboratories bring many benefits, but they also change the components and roles of different units in the lab.
In a simplified way, it could be structured in the following way:
• Define the centralized power with the Scienlab Regenerative DC Power Units (RPU)
• Schedule and control the power allocation with the Scienlab Power Allocation Manager (PAM)
• Distribute the power in the lab with the Scienlab Power Distribution Router (PR)
• Control and measure on test bench level with the Scienlab Test Bench Control Unit (TBCU)
• Ensure intercomponent communication with the Scienlab HSI concentrator units (HSI-C)
Total power definition:
In cases where the main challenge is a limited grid supply, and the focus is on not exceeding a defined total power, the best approach is to start the laboratory definition from the centralized power.
The first step is to define the total power that should be used in the laboratory. The quantity and configurations of RPUs define the total power, including the maximum voltage required in the lab.
The next step is to define the TBCUs based on the number of channels, maximum current, and channels per test bench. In this step, it is also important to define the use cases: How should the DUTs be tested in a chamber, how many channels are needed, and will the setup change from test to test?
The PRs connect the RPUs and TBCUs, ensuring the right power is routed to the TBCUs.
The PAM handles requests and general automation, while the HSI-Cs ensure proper data transmission between lab components.