Credit Suisse changes to nickel-cadmium batteries
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Saft Rechargeable Battery Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 28, 2000
Credit Suisse Group, the global banking and insurance group, has become the first major bank to adopt nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries to guarantee the power supply to critical computer systems.
Credit Suisse Group, the global banking and insurance group, has become the first major bank to adopt nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries to guarantee the power supply to critical computer systems.
The new Saft batteries, which have been installed at the bank's Zürich headquarters, are guaranteed for a 12-year life, giving a lower total cost than the lead-acid batteries Credit Suisse used before.
The bank had been planning to renew its lead-acid batteries every four years to ensure reliability.
A total of 26 SPH batteries, supplied by Statron, Saft's representative in Switzerland, have been installed in two computer rooms at Credit Suisse's HQ in Zürich.
Half will have a capacity of 250kVA, the others 300kVA.
Each battery provides 15 minutes of back-up power for specific systems in the event of mains power failure.
Saft, whose batteries successfully assure back-up power to critical power supplies to industry throughout the world, recommended to Credit Suisse that high-power SPH batteries would be more reliable and cost-effective than traditional low-maintenance lead-acid batteries.
Credit Suisse had experienced unpredictable failure of some lead-acid batteries, resulting in the planned four-year replacement cycle to guarantee reliability.
Saft demonstrated the performance of the SPH Ni-Cd batteries to Credit Suisse engineers at Saft's factory in Bordeaux.
The SPH cells have an advanced electrode design that gives high power output and operation within the narrow voltage "window" found in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems.
Saft's export sales manager for industrial batteries Dominique Debon said "This is a vital contract for us.
The financial industry's annual spend on protecting critical IT systems is huge, and the installed base of UPS systems predominantly use lead-acid batteries.
Now the lifetime cost and reliablity benefits of Ni-Cd technology, and the limitations of lead-acid batteries, have been recognised by a major bank, we are convinced that other financial institutions will follow suit." In common with all Ni-Cd cells, SPH cells have an inherently more reliable electrochemistry than lead-acid cells, which can suffer from unpredictable "sudden death" failure: in practice this means that in critical applications, frequent replacement of lead-acid batteries is inevitable.
SPH cells have very low maintenance requirements: they need just an annual visual check of electrolyte level, and electrolyte should not need to be topped up during its lifetime in this application.
Compared with lead-acid batteries, they are also more tolerant of electrical abuse such as overcharging, and offer better performance at extremes of temperature.
Cells are available in nominal capacities from 11Ah to 320Ah.
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