Analysing Battery Cabinet and Battery Racks

For quite a time, there have been talks on whether the battery should be installed or cabinets or on racks. Both these options have their advantages as well as disadvantages based on certain points.

What are Battery Cabinet and Battery Racks?

Generally speaking, the battery cabinet is used for integrating the batteries, thereby facilitating the racking as well as the chargers to an indoor or outdoor enclosure. The battery cabinets usually can be made either with battery or battery charging combinations. After installation, the batteries can easily be installed on shelves or pull-out drawers.

On the other hand, Battery Racks are the spaces that could be easily modifiable to fit in any battery cells. The battery racks can easily accommodate a diverse range of batteries including flooded, sealed, vertical, or horizontal.

There are a number of factors in respect to which the debate between Battery Cabinets vs Battery Racks could be solved.

Size

Battery cabinet mountings are basically used when the cell utilize power below 100 AH is needed. It is important to note that larger batteries would require more rack configurations. Hence single or muti-cells utilizing power above 100 AH are mounted on the battery racks. There are no rigid rules for utilising battery racks.

Type of Technology Used

As per the use of battery racks in UAE, the flooded batteries, or wet cell, or Vented Lead Acid batteries, which are used in UPS are generally mounted on the racks. On the other hand, as per the usage of battery cabinets in UAE, Valve regulated Lead Acid batteries are often mounted on the cabinets.

Place of Installation

Batteries that are generally installed on the open battery racks, usually require a separate battery room. At times, these battery racks are installed along with the UPS in the same room. Contrary to this, relatively smaller UPS systems, having power up to 250 KVA are installed in the battery cabinets. In appearance, these batteries are quite similar to that of racks commonly used for computer equipment.

Safety Concerns

When it comes to safety, the battery racks are quite dangerous, as the voltage from these racks could be lethal for the person who comes in contact. Hence, to ensure proper safety, these battery racks must be installed in the battery rooms. Only the authorized trained personnel should deal with such battery racks.

The same rule applies for the battery cabinet as well. Only the skilled and trained personnel should deal with the battery cabinets. Owing to the fact, these batteries have a comparatively less power, compared to the racks, they could be installed in the computer rooms. However, proper safety measures should be taken care of.

Electrical requirements

As per the manufacturers of Industrial Battery Cabinet, the battery racks should ideally be close to the UPS, while the battery cabinets should be adjacent to the set-up of the UPS. The reason why battery racks should be close is that the longer cables would lead to a high voltage drop and greater chances of short circuit. To prevent this, the battery rack should be close to UPS.

Ease of Use

When it comes to the convenience of usage, the battery cabinets seem to be easy to use as these cabinets are placed next to each other. Contrary to this, the battery racks might be inconvenient owing to the fact that they are installed in separate rooms.

Seismic Factors

Be it a battery cabinet or a battery rack, they should be resistant to the earthquakes to ensure proper safety. Battery racks are resistant to earthquakes when they are secured properly to a concrete floor. When considering battery cabinets, methods such as strapping and under-floor frames could be adopted in order to make them seismic resistant.

Ideal Temperature

In the case of battery racks, room temperature and normal room ventilation would suffice the purpose of cooling down the batteries. In the case of battery cabinets, however, no cooling is necessary as these cabinets operate in a warm space.

Thus, in all these aspects the battery racks and battery cabinets differ from each other.