Emergency Backup Power to a Rural Hospital in Disaster Condition

Due to frequent natural calamities, rural areas of Bangladesh are highly susceptible to natural disaster-induced power outages which are critical for certain loads like those of a rural hospital. Three-wheel electric easy bike, which is a common mode of transport in the rural areas of Bangladesh, can respond to such a power failure quickly and efficiently. This study focuses on the technical feasibility of supplying emergency backup power to critical hospital loads by using electric easy bike batteries in case of grid failure. Four easy bike batteries each with a rated capacity of 150 Ah and 60 V voltage rating are used in the study to feed a typical 3 kW rated rural hospital loads. A system is proposed to switch the hospital's electrical supply source from the power grid to the easy bike batteries in case of a power outage. The proposed system is supposed to be pre-installed in the hospital's main electrical circuit breaker panel. The system is simulated using MATLAB SIMULINK for 24 hours. The simulation results show that easy bikes can efficiently provide backup power to the hospital for a full day. The load voltage and the THD are found within the grid prescribed limit.