The ability to keep data centers up and running has required healthcare facilities to rely on generators – and, to fill the 10- to 15-second gap between when the main power system goes down and the generator kicks in, batteries.

But an increasing number of end users are considering flywheel technology for that intermediary step. Flywheels store the kinetic energy gained from the main power supply and use that to provide the energy for those crucial seconds before the generator takes over.

Frank DeLattre, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Pentadyne, which produces lightweight carbon fiber flywheels, said the use of the flywheel as an uninterrupted power supply is a growing trend among the healthcare market segment.

“A lot of it is driven by the criticality of data for the hospital,” he said. Hospitals treat data with the same intense care with which they treat the patient, he said.

Although flywheels are more expensive than traditional batteries, those who supply them say their reliability and environmentally friendly configuration make them ideal for healthcare settings.

“We find that within the power quality market there are a few applications where reliability supersedes any other buying concern, including cost,” said Louis Romo, vice president of sales and marketing at Vycon, a steel flywheel producer.

“What our system does is it stores energy, like a chemical battery, but it is able to charge and discharge multiple times with no life-limiting effects while also accurately informing the customer of its status, number of times it has been discharged and for how long each discharge occurred,” he said.

DeLattre said the continual use of batteries weakens them, but there’s no clear indicator until the battery fails.

Return on investment with flywheel technology comes two to three years down the road, said DeLattre and Romo.

“When the time comes to replace the battery (in two to three years), that is when the flywheel cost advantage kicks in,” said DeLattre. But it may even be sooner because batteries require ongoing maintenance, he said.

Other advantages attributed to flywheels are space savings and lack of disposal costs associated with batteries.

Both men said most users new to flywheels tend to use the technology in conjunction with their existing battery backup systems. “We propose that under their existing method of backup power, using redundant battery cabinets, the front line battery system be replaced by a flywheel,” said Romo. “This method allows (us) to show the capabilities of the flywheel without changing the reliability scheme currently in place.”

Rich Davidson, director of support services at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, said in the month the hospital has used Pentadyne’s flywheel to back up generators for data and building automation systems after a building expansion, the experience has been problem-free. The flywheel takes up just one-third of the space allotted for a backup power supply and is saving money on maintenance because there are no batteries to replace, he said.

He said the engineering firm that recommended flywheel over batteries “is always looking for emerging technology.”