UNCOVERING THE LAYERS
units or tap off units that are inserted in the busbar to connect to the load . So , we use a lot of quality purchasing procedures to make sure that our products are built to the quality standards needed for high reliability .
Secondly , there ’ s design quality and reliability . We ’ ve designed our products so essentially anyone can install it and it ' s almost impossible to make a mistake when installing .
Joints are usually the area of concern when you ' re doing an installation to make sure that each section of the busbar has joined properly . Our joints are designed in such a way that you can ' t make them improperly , so you don ' t have to worry about joint integrity as a portion of our installation so that helps a lot with the reliability .
Then , of course , we ' re using the highest reliability components for circuit breakers and connectors and meters , and so forth . And then relative to safety again it ' s about design quality , our products are designed to be safe in operation . Both UL and IEC have standards for safety and we ' ve tested our products to make sure they are safe for operation .
From a technical perspective , how does the make up of the system ensure reliability and scalability ?
One of the primary components is what type of materials you ' re using , relative to reliability . The best material for use in conducting electricity is generally copper . That ' s the most economical and has the highest sustainability so all of our products use copper conductors . And then we use aluminium housings with the insulator materials to house the copper .
Those aluminium housings are very important structurally to make sure that the busbar maintains structural integrity as mechanical loads are added to it .
But then also it provides longevity and there are no issues with painting , for instance , that you might use for steel or some of the polymer housings that are used that have less rigidity and so forth .
We use the highest quality materials to make sure that we have the highest reliability and safety .
Can you outline some of the environmental benefits of your products ?
One of the biggest factors is that when you use busbar , essentially what you ' re doing is taking a whole lot of electrical wires and compressing them into one system .
One particular measure might be the weight of the electrical material that you use to distribute power . The weight would be much lower with the busbar system as opposed to an individual conductor system because you have to add in all the insulation that ' s used in each conductor and so forth .
Also , the cross-sectional area of that conductor system would be much higher than a busbar system . That ' s important in data centres because along with special power needs there ' s also special cooling needs . Computers generate a lot of heat so there ' s a big portion of the load that ’ s used for cooling off the servers .
If you have a small cross-section area of power distribution that allows for more airflow , the more efficient the cooling is going to be . So , using busbar really enhances the cooling efficiency substantially because you have less of a blockage for the airflow .
What are the core principles to consider when selecting a top-quality busbar solution to serve long-term ongoing power needs ?
The primary consideration when you ' re selecting a vendor for any component , particularly in data centres , is reliability . This is very important . With our product , we designed it with the understanding that it can never ever lose power .
The easiest way to gauge a manufacturer ’ s ability to provide a reliable product is based on its history . So , one good thing to do is make sure that the product you ' re buying has a history , typically five years of use so you have good references from reliable sources ; other users who say ‘ yes that ' s a good product and we ' ve had no problems with it and you should use it ’. I think that ' s the most important thing to do .
Then secondly , it ’ s important to have a good engineering review of your application . While it ' s pretty simple to use , it ' s becoming a little bit more complicated because our product interacts with containment systems , for instance , so you have to make sure that your design has proper allowances for electrical and mechanical allowances to allow you to install the system and also utilise it properly .
So , establishing that your vendor has a good reliability history is most important and then making sure that you ' re using top design resources available in your application . ◊
Biography
David Skeans is the Vice President of International Sales for StarLine brand power distribution products .
The StarLine brand is owned by Legrand , a leading manufacturer of critical power distribution products for the data centre industry .
Skeans has more than 30 years of experience in critical power distribution .
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