Digitalisation World: Shining A Light On UPS For Lab Equipment

Reliability is essential in a UPS for lab equipment. Find out why our Multi Sentry is making its mark at the UK’s national synchrotron facility.

Diamond Light Source is an essential scientific facility used by more than 7,000 academics and industry researchers a year. It is home to a synchrotron, a half a kilometre circumference device that works like a huge microscope.

digitalisation world magazine logoRays produced by this giant particle accelerator are diverted into laboratories known as ‘beamlines’, where they’re used in vital work to develop new medicines and treatments or engineer innovative technologies.

Leading news portal Digitalisation World explains how the essential power protection required to keep this vital facility up and running has been upgraded to new UPS for lab equipment provided by Riello UPS.

The piece explains the precision behind the 31 separate beamlines. Each must be calibrated through numerous machines. If electricity is even disrupted in the slightest, the whole process is ruined and must be started from scratch. If this ever happens, a beamline can be offline for up to a fortnight. That’s vital research time lost.

Massive Microscopes

Oxfordshire-based Diamond Light Source also houses eight electron microscopes. The heating element in the tip of this intricate machinery is so sensitive to heat that it’ll be destroyed if the power is turned off – or lost – without it cooling down first.

As you can imagine, the facility demands the maximum uptime guaranteed by the highest levels of critical power protection. Through Riello UPS authorised reseller Specialist Power Systems, a new UPS for lab equipment was commissioned for the world-class research hub.

Comprising more than 40 Multi Sentry uninterruptible power supplies, the parallel-redundant installation offers complete protection against power failure. It also incorporates open protocol communications, which ensures it’s easier for Diamond Light Source to monitor loads and battery autonomy. The facility’s previous UPS system was closed protocol and manufacturer-dependent.

Due to the hectic schedule of research undertaken at the 600-staff facility, downtime to install the laboratory equipment backup power solution was minimal. The work was initially scheduled over a six-month spell, with three-week-long shutdowns interrupting eight weeks of uptime.

However, the work was actually completed in just three months, not only reducing possible downtime but also delivering cost savings. All this was achieved without any power loss during the entire implementation.

Learn more about why the Multi Sentry proved the best UPS for lab equipment