GNB Industrial Power Debuts New IMS Battery Monitor
GNB Industrial Power (Lombard, IL), a division of Exide Technologies, recently introduced a stand-alone system that continuously assesses a battery's ability to provide power to critical applications, which they call the Intelligent Monitoring System (IMS). The IMS is designed to actively notify the user when the battery requires service of replacement, as well as predict the remaining standby time of a battery during a discharge. The company claims that the IMS allows a user to intelligently dispatch field generators and shed unnecessary battery loads to critical sites before power is lost. The primary markets for the device are telecommunications, UPS and electric utilities.
Key features of the IMS are continuous state-of-health prediction and notification, a time-to-empty analysis during a battery discharge, and on-site electronic record-keeping for troubleshooting and maintenance activity. The unit has a non-intrusive diagnostic approach that uses impedance trending for health analysis and assessment. It also uses single-cell voltage and impedance testing in conjunction with string-current analysis to pinpoint problems.
Other physical inputs to the monitor include individual interconnect voltage, individual interconnect impedance, string voltage and ambient temperature. The IMS measures battery temperature in as many as four locations and uses those measurements to provide a cumulative prediction. All physical inputs are continuously tested against GNB specifications.
“No other product in its price range combines the comprehensive diagnostic features of this system with the integrated knowledge input and technical expertise of GNB," claims Daivd Haupt, product manager. “The features of this system are so advanced that they, alone, set the IMS apart from traditional battery monitors. But features alone are only part of the story. For the first time, a battery manufacturer, with intimate knowledge about battery performance, has designed a monitoring system and integrated it into a cohesive battery system."
The IMS is currently available and carries a list price of $4,200.
