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How to make lift/elevator’s users tension-free in case of power failures? Answer is in ERD

Have you experienced a power outage when you were in a moving lift/elevator that stopped with a sudden jerk at society or hospital or business house or listened about it?  What panic you observed there. I was trapped once in the cabin of our society’s lift with my little daughter. She was very terrified when the lift stopped suddenly with darkness between the two floors. And the situation can become worse in the closed lift if there are pregnant women, children, senior citizens, and patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.

But there is a fullproof solution to this horrifying situation and claustrophobia of people if lifts/elevators are attached with Emergency Rescue Device (ERD). An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) is an electronic and electrical apparatus that provides emergency power back up to the lift or elevators with almost zero switching time when the input power source or mains power supply fails suddenly. The power supply outage can be due to a fault, shortage of power, Natural Disaster, or Fire.

ERD, ARD & Generator As Lift Power Backup

An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) differs from an auxiliary or any other power backup system like Generator and Automatic Rescue Device (ARD). No Generator or existing ARD system available in the market can provide smooth operation of elevators like an ERD during a critical period of a power failure, fire, or earthquake.

Generator as Power Backup for Lift 

There are two types of generator sets, Automatic Genset & Manual Genset, attached with the Control Panel that supply current to the motor for the movement of Lift/Elevator upward and downward. If the power supply fails due to any reason like power shortage, Fire, or Natural disaster, the Automatic Genset takes 45 Sec to 1 minute to provide power to the lift. Whereas in the same situation, Manual Genset takes 2 to 5 minutes to restore the power supply. Here we can think of a horrible and terrifying situation if there are Children, Pregnant women, Sr. Citizens, or critical patients on the 11th Floor and the lift stops suddenly with a waiting time of 45 Sec to 5 Minutes to resume power by Generator.

Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) as Power Backup for Lift

An Automatic Rescue Device (ARD)is a device used to stop the lift first when the main power supply is cut suddenly and rechecks all the circuits to confirm if everything is okay. This process takes at least 45 Sec and then it moves the lift to the next lower or upper floor with a lot of jerks and turbulence. It causes different problems to heart patients and pregnant women can have long terms issues in that state. It also damages the electronic mechanism of the device and becomes one of the major causes of the lift’s costly maintenance.

What is Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) & how it differs from ARD and DG? 

An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) is an electronic and electrical apparatus based on future technology developed by collective efforts of qualified and experienced electronic, electrical, and computer hardware & software engineers. An ERD provides emergency power to the lifts/elevators with a 3-phase power supply, when the mains power fails. It differs from any other emergency power system, like a generator or ARD, because it provides near-instantaneous protection from input power cut by supplying electric current stored in batteries with zero switching time.

The technology used in the development of ERD is different from inverter technology. The ERD technology is specially designed for lift loads only.  It takes care of the regenerative load and the switching time is almost zero. As a result, the lift/ elevator does not come to know of the switching from one load to another.

What are the features of the Emergency Rescue Device (ERD)?

In a nutshell, the ERD has different features like a lift emergency power backup, for examples:

  • It provides smooth running if the power supply goes off suddenly.
  • It gets off at any floor without any sudden jerk.
  • There is no fear and claustrophobia in the mind of lift users inside the cabin.
  • There is a panel inside the lift to show the status of power and its back up.
  • There is no chance of damage of elevators for the sudden stop or excess current at the start. And finally
  • It provides complete peace of mind to lift’s users whether they use it in high-rise apartments or hospitals, or business offices.

What are the key benefits of ERD? 

There are various benefits of ERD if it is attached to a control panel which supplies current to the electric motor to move the lift up or down:

1. ERD Protects Lift Users Life

When people are stuck in closed lifts/elevators due to sudden power outage, it creates a fear psychosis through claustrophobia and they feel choked despite proper ventilation in the lift. According to the American Journal of Psychology, this can aggravate serious and life-threatening situations for the lifts’ occupants, especially kids, pregnant women, elders, disabled, and serious patients.  This small time-lapse of 30 to 45 seconds can lead to panic and horrible situations like fainting of occupants to such a situation that can trigger cardiac arrest.

2. ERD Prevents Apparatus Damages

The switching time of most Diesel Generators to supply backup current to lift control panel is relatively sluggish from 90 seconds to 5 minutes or more that causes lift electronic parts damages. But in the case of ERD, the switching time is almost zero that prevents damage to the lift’s electronic mechanisms in the long run.

3. ERD Saves Lift’s Users from Disaster

An ERD provides an uninterruptible electronically controlled software program-based power supply to the lifts in all scenarios. It includes natural disasters like Fire, Earthquake, and Grid Failure, especially for high risers in urban areas. For example, in case of fire main power supply is cut and survivors on the upper floors can come down with the help of the ERD power supply and saving them from any untoward happenings.

4. ERD will be the only power backup in future  (Add-on Point)

ERD will become the only option for power backup because generators emit particulate matter containing burnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NO2). These hydrocarbons and NO2 add to air pollution. If the generator is in bad condition, it can also emit unburnt hydrocarbons, which are even worse for the environment. They also produce noise. So generators are getting banned in most of the cities in future as pollution is a big challenge for the future generations. Moreover, ERD can give as much power back up as required by the generator without any rest.

Thus ERD-enabled lifts eliminate the most horrible situation while providing disaster resilience to the buildings, users, and operators. And it saves the lives of lift users in an economical and environment-friendly manner that no generator or existing ARD system can provide.

Advantages of ERD in Brief 

  • ERD is environment friendly as it does not produce air pollution, noise pollution, or vibration and it can be solar-powered.
  • ERD is developed and based on Disaster Response Management System. It maintains Fire Safety norms for the lifts and protects against Lift accidents due to power failure and earthquake.
  • ERD is cost-effective in the market if compared with the size and load of UPS’s cost. It has less running cost of electricity and longer life of its Batteries.
  • It can provide the backup time to run the lifts from 10 cycles of lift operations to 2,000 cycles depending on the load capacity of ERD attached to the control panel. And the one cycle counts for the complete one operation of the lifts from ground to top floor and top floor to ground floor.
  • Lithium batteries can also be used in ERD for saving space and maintaining the longevity of battery life and reduction of the battery’s weight.
  • The ERD is technologically designed to put on solar charge controller externally for saving the electricity cost and providing complete green solution prescribed by the green building norms.
  • Thus, ERD is the “All in One” Power Backup Solution for Lifts and Elevators that works with minimal human intervention and saves lives, apparatus, lifts, cost, and environment.
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