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BSEE V / EE 104 C3
Fuses
History
The oldest and simplest of all protective devices, it is a level detector
and is both the sensor and interrupting device. It is installed in series with
the equipment that is to be protected and operates by melting a fusible
element in response to the overcurrent flow.
Earlier reference to the history of fuse development came to light,
Edward Nairne in an era of electrostatic electricity during 1774 was trying to
safely discharge Leyden bottles whose operation is similar to capacitors
using wires whose length is related to the stored energy, acting like a resistor
but when the discharge currents were too high, the wire acted like a fuse
which resulted to the wire disintegrating into small balls that are unduloid in
shape.[1]
Another early reference to fuses can be found on the paper presented
by A. C. Cockburn to the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1887 when W. H.
Preece stated that platinum wires had been used as fuses to protect
submarine cables since 1864 and Sir David Salomons referred to the use of
fuses in 1874. Several number of development in fuses can be seen in the
succeeding years, during these times fuses were usually mounted in wooden
boxes, the individual elements were not otherwise enclosed. It is in May 1880
that T. A. Edison patented a fuse in which the wire element was enclosed in a
glass envelope in order to protect the surroundings from the effects of the
disruption during operation (i.e. melting, etc...). S. P. Thompson in 1879
produced what he described as an improved form of fuse or cut-out which
utilizes a ball of an alloy of lead and tin or some other conducting material of
low melting point, C. V. Boys and H. H. Cunyngham in 1883 designed a
variation on Thompsons design which utilizes two leaf springs which were
soldered at their inner tips where the strips will flex on opposite directions at
a particular current. A variation of Edisons devices was introduced by W. M.
Mordey in 1890 wherein the glass envelope was wholly or partially filled with
finely divided, semiconducting or badly conducting material which should
preferably be incombustible or non-flammable for the purpose of arc
extinction and heat transfer. In the 1900s the Zed fuse by the Siemens
Brothers was popular. The fuses were fitted into distribution boards and often
with pleasing aesthetic appearance with indicators.[1]
Characteristics and Operation
The melting time is inversely proportional to the magnitude of the
current flowing in the fuse. It can only be used once since the fusible link is
destroyed in the process of interrupting the current flow. Fuses operates with
a maximum short-circuit current rating, and may only be able to interrupt
currents up to that point or have the ability to limit the magnitude of the
short-circuit current by interrupting the flow before reaching the said
maximum rating.[2]
Fuse characteristics vary considerably depending on the manufacture
and the specifics must be obtained from the manufacturers appropriate
literature i.e. dimension, special features, packaging and fusible material,
markings/indicators, operating temperature, rated voltage, breaking
capacity, current rating, and speed.
Typically, the time-current characteristic curves of fuses are presented
in the form of minimum melt and total clearing times. Minimum melt is the
time between initiation of a large current that is enough to cause the fusible
element in the fuse to melt and the instant that arcing occurs. Total clearing
time is the total time from the beginning of an overcurrent to the final circuit
[8]
Coordination
The voltage rating of a fuse must be at least equal the circuit voltage.
It can be higher but never lower. Every fuse has a specific ampere rating. In
selecting the ampere rating of a fuse, consideration must be given to the
type of load and code requirements. The ampere rating of a fuse should
normally not exceed current carrying capacity of the circuit. However, there
are some specific circumstances where the ampere rating is permitted to be
greater than the current carrying capacity of the circuit. A typical example is
the motor circuit; a dual- element fuse is generally permitted to be sized up
to 175% and non-time delay fuses up to 300% of the motor full- load
amperes. Generally, the ampere rating of a fuse and switch combination
should be selected at 125% of the load current (this usually corresponds to
the circuit capacity which is also selected at 125% of the load current). There
are exceptions such as when the fuse-switch combination is approved for
continuous operation at 100% of its rating.[11]
Downstream fuse referred as the protecting fuse should operate
before the upstream fuse referred as the protected fuse. Total clearing time
of the protecting fuse should be less than the damage time of the protected
fuse which is 75% of the minimum melt time. Use of Fuse-Fuse coordination
table provides maximum fault currents that the protecting and protected
fuse are coordinated.[5]
Advantages
Disadvantages
Classifications
circuit current to build up to its full value, can let an immense amount
of destructive short-circuit heat energy thru before opening the circuit
(Left).[11]
[9]
Packaging Fuses are available in several packages: cartridge,
blade/spade/plug-in, surface mount, axial, radial, thru-hole types.
[15]
Switch-Fuse Combination - Switch-fuse combinations are three-pole
switches comprising a functional unit of load switch and currentlimiting fuse. The scope of application of these combinations is
predominantly in transformer protection systems where it covers the
range of small and medium ratings. The standard specification of the
switch-fuse combinations governs complete protection, i.e. all fault
currents above a permissible overload range (usually 1.5 times the
rated capacity of the transformer) up to the rated short circuit breaking
current are reliably controlled.[16]
[16]
Circuit Breakers
The circuit breaker is both a switching device and a overcurrent
protective device designed to open a circuit automatically on a
predetermined overcurrent and close a circuit of non-automatic means or
automatic means.[5]
The first installed circuit breaker was in 1898 at the L Street Plant of
Boston Electric Light Company (later known as Boston Edison). It was
designed by L. L. Elden and is an open tank circuit breaker with upwardmotion operation and is mounted on a panel. The oil was used to dampen
the heat generated from the arc forming between the two open contacts.
Granville Woods improved upon the design of a circuit breaker at that time
and invented the automatic circuit breaker in 1900.[3]
Cutter Manufacturing Company was the first manufacturer of circuit
breakers in 1904. The product became an industry success and was
promoted as the Inverse Time Element breaker (I-T-E breaker). But it was not
until 1921 that Merlin Gerin manufactured the first high voltage oil circuit
breakers and in 1925 that the NEC required circuit breakers to be enclosed
and externally operable. Westinghouse began marketing their modern
molded case air circuit breajer ub 1832, and in 1935 Square D with Schneider
Electric as parent company manufactured the first circuit breakers for home
use. Plug-in circuit breakers were introduced later in 1951 by that same
company.[3]
Specification standards for circuit breakers did not appear until 1922
leaving a period of 40 years for creative improvisation from electricians and
inventors alike. The standards placed boundaries on maximum heat
experienced by the breaker and prohibited devices that resulted in flamethrowing to reduce fire hazards.
An early form of circuit breaker was described by Thomas Edison in an
1879 patent application, although his commercial power distribution system
used fuses.Its purpose was to protect lighting circuit wiring from accidental
short circuits and overloads. A modern miniature circuit breaker similar to the
ones now in use was patented by Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1924. Hugo Stotz,
an engineer who had sold his company to BBC, was credited as the inventor
on DRP (Deutsches Reichspatent) 458392 Stotz's invention was the
forerunner of the modern thermal-magnetic breaker commonly used in
household load centers to this day. Interconnection of multiple generator
sources into an electrical grid required development of circuit breakers with
increasing voltage ratings and increased ability to safely interrupt the
increasing short circuit currents produced by networks. Simple air-break
manual switches produced hazardous arcs when interrupting high currents;
these gave way to oil-enclosed contacts, and various forms using directed
flow of pressurized air, or of pressurized oil, to cool and interrupt the arc. By
1935, the specially constructed circuit breakers used at the Boulder Dam
project use eight series breaks and pressurized oil flow to interrupt faults of
up to 2,500 MVA, in three cycles of the AC power frequency.[17]
Characteristics and Operation
The circuit breaker isolates the fault by interrupting the current at or
near a current zero. At the present, an extra high voltage (EHV) circuit
breaker can interrupt fault currents of the order of 10 5 A at system voltages
up to 800kV. It can do this as quickly as the first current zero after the
initiation of a fault although it is more common to interrupt at the second or
third current zero. As the circuit breaker contacts move, there is a race
between the establishment of the dielectric strength of the interrupting
medium and the rate at which the recovery voltage reappears across the
breaker. If the recovery voltage wins the race, the arc re-ignites and the
breaker must wait for the next current zero when the contacts are farther
apart.[2]
A circuit breaker mainly consists of fixed contacts and moving
contacts, in normal operating conditions the two contacts are physically
connected to each other due to applied mechanical pressure on the moving
contacts. Potential energy is stored in a circuit breaker via its operating
means (i.e. deforming metal spring, compressed air, hydraulic pressure,
etc...) which is released if the switching signal is given to the breaker. A
tripping coil and close coil is also present in circuit breakers wherein if
energized by switching pulse which if energized displaces the moving
contacts.[4] Both the breaker contacts and operating mechanism are
immersed in arc quenching medium. One of the first designs and is still in
common use incorporates a tank of oil with oil as the medium. The oil has a
dual purpose which is that it serves as the insulation between the tank which
is at ground potential and the main contacts which are at line potential, also
it serves as cooling medium to quench the arc when the contacts open to
interrupt the load or fault current.[2]
[18]
There are a variety of circuit breaker characteristics from its operating
voltage level of EHV, HV, MV, and LV; interrupting medium of oil, gas, air, or
vacuum; insulating medium of oil, air, gas, or solid dielectric; the operating
mechanism using impulse coil solenoid, spring, motor, pneumatic, or
hydraulic results in a high degree of flexibility at different voltage levels,
faster operation, better insulating material and arc quenching systems. Each
user has unique requirements for the choice of circuit breaker and no one
design can be identified as the best or preferred design.[2] Proper selection
and application is required for coordination of circuit breakers. Continuous
current and pick-up current settings should not be higher than necessary and
must be within the requirements of the PEC. Time delay should override
transient over currents and to coordinate with downstream protective
devices. Instantaneous trip should be set to avoid nuisance tripping.[5]
Coordination
The circuit breaker must detect a fault condition; in low voltage circuit
breakers this is usually done within the breaker enclosure. Circuit breakers
for large currents or high voltages are usually arranged with protective relay
pilot devices to sense a fault condition and to operate the trip opening
mechanism. The trip solenoid that releases the latch is usually energized by
a separate battery, although some high-voltage circuit breakers are selfcontained with current transformers, protective relays and an internal control
power source. Once a fault is detected, the circuit breaker contacts must
open to interrupt the circuit; some mechanically-stored energy (using
something such as springs or compressed air) contained within the breaker is
used to separate the contacts, although some of the energy required may be
obtained from the fault current itself. Small circuit breakers may be manually
operated, larger units have solenoids to trip the mechanism, and electric
motors to restore energy to the springs. The circuit breaker contacts must
carry the load current without excessive heating, and must also withstand
the heat of the arc produced when interrupting (opening) the circuit.
Contacts are made of copper or copper alloys, silver alloys and other highly
conductive materials. Service life of the contacts is limited by the erosion of
contact material due to arcing while interrupting the current. Miniature and
molded-case circuit breakers are usually discarded when the contacts have
worn, but power circuit breakers and high-voltage circuit breakers have
replaceable contacts. When a current is interrupted, an arc is generated. This
arc must be contained, cooled and extinguished in a controlled way, so that
the gap between the contacts can again withstand the voltage in the circuit.
Different circuit breakers use vacuum, air, insulating gas or oil as the
medium the arc forms in.[20]
Advantages
Resettable/Multiple-use.
Both a switching device and an overcurrent protective device.
Able to simultaneously disconnect all phase conductors.
Internal parts are enclosed and not exposed.
Relatively more reliable.
Relatively smaller in size than fuses.
Some types have electronic trips that allows adjustment on trip curve
to suite needs.
Provides easier ground fault protection.
Disadvantages
Generally:
Inflammable.
Possibility of forming explosive mixture with air.
Periodical reconditioning or replacement is required.
Classifications
[19]
The DIN rail-mounted thermal-magnetic miniature circuit breaker is the
most common style in modern domestic consumer units and
commercial electrical distribution boards throughout Europe. The
design includes the following components:
1. Actuator lever - used to manually trip and reset the circuit
breaker. Also indicates the status of the circuit breaker (On or
Off/tripped). Most breakers are designed so they can still trip
even if the lever is held or locked in the "on" position. This is
sometimes referred to as "free trip" or "positive trip" operation.
2. Actuator mechanism - forces the contacts together or apart.
3. Contacts - allow current when touching and break the current
when moved apart.
4. Terminals
5. Bimetallic strip - separates contacts in response to smaller,
longer-term overcurrents.
6. Calibration screw - allows the manufacturer to precisely adjust
the trip current of the device after assembly.
7. Solenoid - separates contacts rapidly in response to high
overcurrents.
8. Arc divider/extinguisher.[19]
Molded CB - rated current up to 2,500 A. Thermal or thermalmagnetic operation. Trip current may be adjustable in larger ratings.
[19]
Magnetic CB - uses a solenoid (electromagnet) wherein the pulling
force
increases
with
the
current.
Certain
designs
utilize
electromagnetic forces in addition to those of the solenoid. The circuit
breaker contacts are held closed by a latch. As the current in the
solenoid increases beyond the rating of the circuit breaker, the
solenoid's pull releases the latch, which lets the contacts open by
spring action. Some magnetic breakers incorporate a hydraulic time
delay feature using a viscous fluid. A spring restrains the core until the
current exceeds the breaker rating. During an overload, the speed of
the solenoid motion is restricted by the fluid. The delay permits brief
current surges beyond normal running current for motor starting,
energizing equipment, etc. Short circuit currents provide sufficient
solenoid force to release the latch regardless of core position thus
bypassing the delay feature. Ambient temperature affects the time
delay but does not affect the current rating of a magnetic breaker.[19]
Thermal CB - found in most distribution boards, incorporate both
techniques with the electromagnet responding instantaneously to large
surges in current (short circuits) and the bimetallic strip responding to
less extreme but longer-term over-current conditions. The thermal
portion of the circuit breaker provides an "inverse time" response
feature, which trips the circuit breaker sooner for larger overcurrents
but allows smaller overloads to persist for a longer time. On very large
over-currents during a short-circuit, the magnetic element trips the
circuit breaker with no intentional additional delay.[19]
Medium Voltage CB - rated between 1 and 72 kV may be assembled
into metal-enclosed switchgear line ups for indoor use, or may be
individual components installed outdoors in a substation.[19]
High Voltage CB - usually thought to be 72.5 kV or higher, according
to a recent definition by the International Electro-technical Commission
(IEC). High-voltage breakers are nearly always solenoid-operated, with
current sensing protective relays operated through current
transformers. In substations the protective relay scheme can be
complex, protecting equipment and buses from various types of
overload or ground/earth fault.[19]
Vacuum CB - With rated current up to 6,300 A, and higher for
generator circuit breakers. These breakers interrupt the current by
creating and extinguishing the arc in a vacuum container - aka "bottle".
Long life bellows are designed to travel the 6-10 mm the contacts must
part. These are generally applied for voltages up to about 40,500 V,
which corresponds roughly to the medium-voltage range of power
systems. Vacuum circuit breakers tend to have longer life expectancies
between overhaul than do air circuit breakers.[19]
The operation of opening and closing of current carrying contacts
and associated arc interruption take place in a vacuum chamber in the
breaker which is called vacuum interrupter. The vacuum interrupter
consists of a steel arc chamber in the centre symmetrically arranged
ceramic insulators. The vacuum pressure inside a vacuum interrupter
is normally maintained at 10-6 bar.[20]
The material used for current carrying contacts plays an
important role in the performance of the vacuum circuit breaker. CuCr
is the most ideal material to make VCB contacts. Vacuum interrupter
technology was first introduced in the year of 1960. But still it is a
developing technology. As time goes on, the size of the vacuum
interrupter is being reducing from its early 1960s size due to different
technical developments in this field of engineering. The contact
geometry is also improving with time, from butt contact of early days it
gradually changes to spiral shape, cup shape and axial magnetic field
contact. The vacuum circuit breaker is today recognized as most
reliable current interruption technology for medium voltage switchgear.
It requires minimum maintenance compared to other circuit breaker
technologies.[20]
[21]
Air CB - Rated current up to 6,300 A and higher for generator circuit
breakers. Trip characteristics are often fully adjustable including
configurable trip thresholds and delays. Usually electronically
controlled, though some models are microprocessor controlled via an
integral electronic trip unit. Often used for main power distribution in
large industrial plant, where the breakers are arranged in draw-out
enclosures for ease of maintenance.[19]
The working principle of this breaker is rather different from
those in any other types of circuit breakers. The main aim of all kind of
circuit breaker is to prevent the reestablishment of arcing after current
zero by creating a situation where in the contact gap will withstand the
system recovery voltage. The air circuit breaker does the same but in
different manner. For interrupting arc it creates an arc voltage in
excess of the supply voltage. Arc voltage is defined as the minimum
voltage required maintaining the arc. This circuit breaker increases the
arc voltage by mainly three different ways; It may increase the arc
voltage by cooling the arc plasma. As the temperature of arc plasma is
decreased, the mobility of the particle in arc plasma is reduced, hence
more voltage gradient is required to maintain the arc. It may increase
the arc voltage by lengthening the arc path. As the length of arc path is
increased, the resistance of the path is increased, and hence to
maintain the same arc current more voltage is required to be applied
across the arc path. That means arc voltage is increased. Splitting up
the arc into a number of series arcs also increases the arc voltage.[20]
1. Plain Air CB - The air circuit breaker, operated within the voltage
level 1 KV, does not require any arc control device. The main pair
of contacts carries the current at normal load and these contacts
are made of copper. The additional pair is the arcing contact and
is made of carbon. When circuit breaker is being opened, the
main contacts open first and during opening of main contacts the
arcing contacts are still in touch with each other. As the current
gets, a parallel low resistive path through the arcing contact
during opening of main contacts, there will not be any arcing in
the main contact. The arcing is only initiated when finally the
arcing contacts are separated. The each of the arc contacts is
fitted with an arc runner which helps, the arc discharge to move
[20]
Oil CB - mineral oil has better insulating property than air. In oil circuit
breaker the fixed contact and moving contact are immerged inside the
insulating oil. Whenever there is a separation of current carrying
contacts in the oil, the arc in circuit breaker is initialized at the moment
of separation of contacts, and due to this arc the oil is vaporized and
decomposed in mostly hydrogen gas and ultimately creates a
hydrogen bubble around the arc. This highly compressed gas bubble
around the arc prevents re-striking of the arc after current reaches zero
crossing of the cycle. The oil circuit breaker is the one of the oldest
type of circuit breakers.[20]
The operation of oil circuit breaker is quite simple lets have a
discussion. When the current carrying contacts in the oil are separated
an arc is established in between the separated contacts. Actually,
when separation of contacts has just started, distance between the
current contacts is small as a result the voltage gradient between
contacts becomes high. This high voltage gradient between the
contacts ionized the oil and consequently initiates arcing between the
contacts. This arc will produce a large amount of heat in surrounding
oil and vaporizes the oil and decomposes the oil in mostly hydrogen
and a small amount of methane, ethylene and acetylene. The
hydrogen gas cannot remain in molecular form and it is broken into its
atomic form releasing lot of heat. The arc temperature may reach up to
5000 K. Due to this high temperature the gas is liberated surround the
arc very rapidly and forms an excessively fast growing gas bubble
around the arc. It is found that the mixture of gases occupies a
volume about one thousand times that of the oil decomposed. From
this figure we can assume how fast the gas bubble around the arc will
grow in size. If this growing gas bubble around the arc is compressed
by any means then rate of de ionization process of ionized gaseous
media in between the contacts will accelerate which rapidly increase
the dielectric strength between the contacts and consequently the arc
will be quenched at zero crossing of the current cycle. This is the basic
operation of oil circuit breaker. In addition to that cooling effect of
hydrogen gas surround the arc path also helps, the quick arc
quenching in oil circuit breaker.[20]
Types:
1. Bulk Oil CB - where oil is used as arc quenching media as well as
insulating media between current carrying contacts and earthed
parts of the breaker. The oil used here is same as transformer
insulating oil.
[20]
When the current carrying contacts in the oil are separated
an arc is established in between the separated contacts. This arc
will produce rapidly growing gas bubble around the arc. As the
moving contact move away from fixed contact the length of arc
is increased as a result the resistance of the arc increases. The
increased resistance causes lowering the temperature and hence
reducing the formation of gasses surround the arc. The arc
quenching in bulk oil circuit breaker takes place when current
passes through zero crossing. If we go through the arc quenching
phenomenon more thoroughly we will find many other factors
effects the arc quenching in bulk oil circuit breaker. As the gas
bubble is enclosed by the oil inside the totally air tight vessel,
the oil surround it will apply high pressure on the bubble, which
results highly compressed gas around the arc. As the pressure is
increased the de ionization of gas increases which helps the arc
quenching. The cooling effect of hydrogen gas also helps in arc
quenching in oil circuit breaker.
Types:
Single Break - In single break bulk oil circuit breaker there
is one pair of current carrying contacts for each phase of
power circuit. The each pair of current carrying contacts in
this bulk oil circuit breaker consists of one fixed contact and
one moving contact. Fixed contact is stationary contact and
moving contact moves away from fixed contact during
opening of the circuit breaker. As the moving contact is
being moved away from fixed contact the arc is produced
[20]
Outdoor/Indoor CB
Spring/Pneumatic/Hydraulic CB
Protective Relays
[24]
Electromechanical protective relays operate by either magnetic
attraction, or magnetic induction. Unlike switching type electromechanical
relays with fixed and usually ill-defined operating voltage thresholds and
operating times, protective relays have well-established, selectable and
[25]
These all or some specific contacts the relay change their state when
actuating parameters are applied to the relay. That means open contacts
become closed and closed contacts become open. In electromagnetic relay
these closing and opening of relay contacts are done by electromagnetic
action of a solenoid. In mechanical relay these closing and opening of relay
contacts are done by mechanical displacement of different gear level
system. In static relay it is mainly done by semiconductor switches like
thyristor. In digital relay on and off state can be referred as 1 and 0 state.[23]
The need to act quickly to protect circuits and equipment as well as the
general public often requires protective relays to respond and trip a breaker
within a few thousandths of a second. In some instances these clearance
times are prescribed in legislation or operating rules.[6] A maintenance or
testing program is used to determine the performance and availability of
protection systems.[22]
In a large installation of electromechanical relays, it would be difficult
to determine which device originated the signal that tripped the circuit. This
information is useful to operating personnel to determine the likely cause of
the fault and to prevent its re-occurrence. Relays may be fitted with a
"target" or "flag" unit, which is released when the relay operates, to display a
distinctive colored signal when the relay has tripped.[22]
Advantages
derived from a separate supply, not from the signal circuits. Static
relays eliminated or reduced contact bounce, and could provide fast
operation, long life and low maintenance.[22]
Digital - Digital protective relays were in their infancy during the late
1960s. An experimental digital protection system was tested in the lab
and in the field in the early 1970s. Unlike the relays mentioned above,
digital protective relays have two main parts: hardware and software.
The worlds first commercially available digital protective relay was
introduced to the power industry in 1984. In spite of the developments
of complex algorithms for implementing protection functions the
microprocessor based-relays marketed in the 1980s did not incorporate
them.[22]
Numerical - The distinction between digital and numerical protection
relay rests on points of fine technical detail, and is rarely found in areas
other than Protection. Numerical relays are the product of the
advances in technology from digital relays. Generally, there are several
different types of numerical protection relays. Each type, however,
shares a similar architecture, thus enabling designers to build an entire
system solution that is based on a relatively small number of flexible
components. They use high speed processors executing appropriate
algorithms. Most numerical relays are also multifunctional and have
multiple setting groups each often with tens or hundreds of settings.
[22]
From Function:
Overcurrent - a type of protective relay which operates when the
load current exceeds a pickup value. The ANSI device number is 50 for
an instantaneous over current (IOC) or a Definite Time Overcurrent
(DTOC) In a typical application the over current relay is connected to a
current transformer and calibrated to operate at or above a specific
current level.[22]
Distance - differ in principle from other forms of protection in that
their performance is not governed by the magnitude of the current or
voltage in the protected circuit but rather on the ratio of these two
quantities.Distance relays are actually double actuating quantity
relays with one coil energized by voltage and other coil by current.The
current element produces a positive or pick up torque while the
voltage element produces a negative or reset torque.The relay
operates only when the V/I ratio falls below a predetermined value(or
set value).During a fault on the transmission line the fault current
increases and the voltage at the fault point decreases.The V/I ratio is
measured at the location of CTs and PTs.The voltage at the PT location
depends on the distance between the PT and the fault.If the measured
voltage is lesser, that means the fault is nearer and vice-versa.Hence
the protection called Distance relay.[22]
Directional - uses an additional polarizing source of voltage or current
to determine the direction of a fault. Directional elements respond to
the phase shift between a polarizing quantity and an operate quantity.
The fault can be located upstream or downstream of the relay's
location, allowing appropriate protective devices to be operated inside
or outside of the zone of protection.[22]
Synchronism Check - provides a contact closure when the frequency
and phase of two sources are similar to within some tolerance margin.
A "synch check" relay is often applied where two power systems are
interconnected, such as at a switchyard connecting two power grids,
or at a generator circuit breaker to ensure the generator is
synchronized to the system before connecting it.[22]
Instrument Transformers
Primary of C.T. is having very few turns. Sometimes bar primary is also
used. Primary is connected in series with the power circuit. Therefore,
sometimes it also called series transformer. The secondary is having large
no. of turns. Secondary is connected directly to an ammeter. As the ammeter
is having very small resistance. Hence, the secondary of current transformer
operates almost in short circuited condition. One terminal of secondary is
earthed to avoid the large voltage on secondary with respect to earth. Which
in turns reduce the chances of insulation breakdown and also protect the
operator against high voltage. More ever before disconnecting the ammeter,
secondary is short circuited through a switch S as shown in figure above to
avoid the high voltage build up across the secondary.[28]
Potential Transformers
Voltage transformers (VT), also called potential transformers (PT), are a
parallel connected type of instrument transformer. They are designed to
present negligible load to the supply being measured and have an accurate
voltage ratio and phase relationship to enable accurate secondary connected
metering.[27]
Potential transformer is used to step down the voltage of power system
to a lower level to make is feasible to be measured by small rating voltmeter
i.e. 110 120 V voltmeter. A typical connection diagram of a potential
transformer is showing figure below.
[32]
Sectionalizers are an economical solution to sectionalizing large
outdoor networks, and often used in locations where coordination with other
devices is difficult. Sectionalizers are suitable for use on outdoor medium
voltage overhead distribution networks, in conjunction with automatic circuit
recloser protection.[29] The sectionalizer is a self-contained, circuit-opening
device used in conjunction with source-side protective devices, such as
reclosers or circuit breakers, to automatically isolate faulted sections of
electrical distribution systems. Power to operate the control circuitry and the
mechanism is obtained from the line through the sensing-current
transformers. No auxiliary power supply, external connections, or external
equipment is required.[31]
delay and one reclose; if the last attempt is not successful, the recloser will
lock out and require human intervention to reset. If the fault is a permanent
fault (downed wires, tree limbs lying on the wires, etc.) the autorecloser will
exhaust its pre-programmed attempts to re-energize the line and remain
tripped off until manually commanded to try again. About 80-90% of faults
on overhead power lines are transient and can be cured by autoreclosing.
The result is increased availability of supply.[30]
Reclosers may cooperate with down-stream protective devices called
sectionalizers, usually a disconnector or cutouts equipped with a tripping
mechanism triggered by a counter or a timer. A sectionalizer is generally not
rated to interrupt fault current and is therefore cheaper than a recloser. Each
sectionalizer detects and counts fault current interruptions by the recloser
(or circuit breaker). After a pre-determined number of interruptions, the
sectionalizer will open, thereby isolating the faulty section of the circuit,
allowing the recloser to restore supply to the other non-fault sections.[30]
Advantages
Reclosers:
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