Battery, fuel cell and high voltage testing made easy

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November 2001 Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration

Measuring high voltage process signals can be a challenging endeavour, requiring custom signal conditioning that can be unstable, or high priced standalone boxes that restrict system flexibility.

Engineers and scientists now have a new option for accurate analog high voltage measurements with the FieldPoint FP-AI-102 module. The new module features 12 bit resolution and expands the FieldPoint product line with the ability to handle voltage measurements up to 120 V.

FieldPoint serves manufacturing and test customers as a distributed industrial data acquisition and control solution. A typical system consists of one or more banks of modules. Each bank contains a network interface module (Ethernet, serial, Foundation Fieldbus, or wireless), and a combination of I/O modules to monitor and control voltage, current loops, discrete signals, relays, thermocouples, RTDs etc. The banks themselves include a number of features for industrial operation including: 2500 V breakdown isolation (250 V working voltage isolation) for use where dangerous voltage levels are present, a wide temperature range for operation in hostile environments, back-up power supply connections to protect against primary power failure, and hot swappable modules to simplify maintenance and minimise downtime.

These systems are either networked to a central computer or installed with a smart network module that collects information, performs calculations and feedback loops, and logs historical data. All FieldPoint analog input modules include NIST traceable calibration to assure accurate measurements, Hot PnP (plug-and-play) auto-configuration for easy configuration and installation, and onboard diagnostics for trouble-free installation and maintenance.

With the automotive industry's growing interest in fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, research into high voltage battery packs and fuel cells have gained momentum. For these applications it is ideal to monitor the voltage from each battery in a pack or from each membrane in a fuel cell stack. This information can tell researchers the health of each component and enable them to evaluate different test configurations.

Traditionally, external signal conditioning or multiple AI modules have been required to measure analog voltage signals from these high voltage battery packs or from fuel cells. The new FP-AI-102 provides battery and fuel cell test engineers with an easy-to-use FieldPoint solution. With the introduction of the FP-AI-102, with input ranges of negative 120 to positive 120 V, scientists now have the capability to easily monitor the status of these systems. The FP-AI-102 is also quite appropriate for testing the new 42 V systems being designed for automobiles.

Another key benefit of a FieldPoint system is that it inherently allows integration of other signals into a test system. For battery pack testing it is often required to monitor the temperature of each battery during charging or that a charge equalisation system be used to assure even voltage across the battery pack. FieldPoint has the capability to measure thermocouples or RTDs for temperature monitoring and to turn on and off relays for charge equalisation. The modular, user defined nature of FieldPoint and the introduction of the FP-AI-102 allows custom solutions for high voltage applications.

National Instruments

(011) 805 8197

ni.southafrica@ni.com

www.ni.com/southafrica

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Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration

Battery, fuel cell and high voltage testing made easy

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