TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING STANDARD TES-P-103.03, Rev.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

2.0 BATTERY CHARGER SIZING CALCULATIONS

2.1 Substation Application

2.2 UPS Application

3.0 SAMPLE CALCULATIONS

4.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY

TESP10303R0/MAK Date of Approval: March 25, 2007 PAGE NO. 2 OF 6

TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING STANDARD TES-P-103.03, Rev. 0

1.0 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This Engineering standard establishes criteria and defines factors for sizing battery chargers
intended to be used with stationary type batteries for substations and UPS applications in the
system of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) under normal service conditions.

2.0 CHARGER SIZING CALCULATIONS

Proper sizing of the battery charger is necessary to ensure battery charging as per specific
requirements of the battery and DC auxiliary system.

2.1 Substation Application

2.1.1 The charger output DC voltage range shall be selected considering the float
and equalize voltages of the battery bank per respective TMSS and DC
auxiliary system per TES-P-119.30.

2.1.2 The ampere output rating of a 100% rated charger for substation application
shall be determined by the following equations:

AR = DM × ILC + (BIF × AHR)/RT

Where

AR = Minimum required charger output in amperes.

DM = Design margin, the factor that compensates unforeseen

future addition in D.C loads. A factor of 1.1 shall be
used.

ILC = Continuous D.C load in amperes.

BIF = Battery inefficiency factor i.e. a constant that

compensates for the battery losses. It can be taken as
1.1 for lead acid batteries and 1.4 for nickel-cadmium
battery as applicable. However this factor shall be
confirmed with the battery manufacturer.

AHR = Battery ampere hours based on 8 hours or 10 hours as

applicable.

RT = Time in hours to recharge the battery to approximately

95% of capacity. (Recharging time for 100% capacity
shall not exceed 16 hours)

However the above calculated charger output current capacity shall not be
less than the total load requirements including future expected load plus the
charging factor times the battery ampere-hour capacity. The charging factor

TESP10303R0/MAK Date of Approval: March 25, 2007 PAGE NO. 3 OF 6

TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING STANDARD TES-P-103.03, Rev. 0

shall be taken as 0.07 for lead acid batteries and 0.2 for nickel cadmium
batteries.

2.1.3 The substation chargers are sized as though the charge is delivered by a
constant current charger. The minimum required charging output as per the
above formula shall charge the battery to approximately 95% of its capacity
when a constant voltage charger is set to equalize mode.

2.1.4 The above mentioned formula is based on average charging current.

However, in practice to recharge the fully discharged battery, the initial
charging current will be much higher than the average charging current.
Accordingly, the charger size selected based on the above formula shall be
verified to ensure that the two 100% capacity chargers operating in parallel
can meet this extreme eventuality when the voltage reaches as the end
discharge voltage 1.75V/cell for lead acid battery and 1.1V/cell for the
Nickel Cadmium battery.

2.2 UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) Application

The ampere rating of charger for UPS applications shall be based on kilowatt (kW)
requirements of the inverter, and determined by following formulae.

Load kVA × PF
• kW =
IE

The ampere rating of the inverter is calculated as:

kW × 1000
• Inverter Load (A ) =
EL

Where:

EL = Minimum input battery voltage based on battery’s end-

of- discharge voltage.

PF = Power factor taken as 0.8

IE = Inverter efficiency, which is typically considered as

0.85.

The ampere rating of the charger will be calculated by the following equation:

⎛ BIF × AHR ⎞
• A R = ⎜ Inverter Load + ⎟
⎝ RT ⎠

Where BIF, AHR and RT are as indicated in clause 2.1.2.

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TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING STANDARD TES-P-103.03, Rev. 0

3.0 SAMPLE CALCULATIONS

3.1 The battery size shall be calculated as per TES-P-103.02.

Say the lead acid battery size is of 320 AH on 8 hour basis (or 350 AH on 10 hour
basis).

Based on the sizing formula given in Clause 2.1.2 above and the parameters
indicated hereunder, the ampere output rating of the charger is determined as
follows:

AHR = 320 AH based on 8 H rating (or 350 AH based on 10 H rating)

ILC = 15 Amps
RT = 12H assumed for 95% recharging.
⎛ 1.1× 320 ⎞
AR = ⎜1.1× 15 + ⎟
⎝ 12 ⎠
= 16.5 + 29.3
= 45.8 A (Or 48.58 A on 10 H rating)

As the above calculated AR is not less than the total continuous load including future
expected load plus 0.07 times the AHR (i.e. 1.1×15+0.07×350 = 41 Amps), hence
for the substations which have 320AH (or 350AH) lead acid battery as stated above,
a battery charger of 50 Amps rating shall be provided, subject to meeting the
requirements mentioned in clause 2.1.4.

3.2 The battery is sized per TES-P-103.02. Say the nickel cadmium battery size of 500
AH on 8 Hours basis (550 AH on 10 hour basis).

Based on the sizing formula given in clause 2.1.2 above and the parameters indicated
here under, the ampere output rating of the charger is determined as follows:

AHR = 500 AH based on 8 H rating (or 550 AH based on 10 H rating)

ILC = 24 Amps
RT = 12H assumed for 95% recharging
⎛ 1.4 × 500 ⎞
AR = ⎜ 24 ×1.1 + ⎟
⎝ 12 ⎠
AR = 26.4+ 58.4

AR = 84.8 A (Or 90.6 A on 10 H rating)

As the above calculated AR should not be less than the total continuous load
including future expected load plus 0.2 times the AHR (i.e. 1.1×24+0.2×550 =
137.4 Amps), hence for the substations which have 500AH (or 550AH) nickel
cadmium battery as stated above, a battery charger of 137 Amps or next rating
commercially avaiable shall be provided, subject to meeting the requirements
mentioned in clause 2.1.4.

TESP10303R0/MAK Date of Approval: March 25, 2007 PAGE NO. 5 OF 6

TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING STANDARD TES-P-103.03, Rev. 0

4.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. REA Bulletin 65-1, Design Guide for Rural Substations, 1978

2. IEEE Std 946, Recommendation Practice for Design of DC Auxiliary Power

Systems for Generating Stations.

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