5/23/2016

TheBasicsOfCircuitBreakerTrippingUnits|EEP

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TheBasicsOfCircuitBreakerTrippingUnits

The Basics Of Circuit Breaker Tripping Units (on photo: Siemens molded case circuit breaker 'Sentron'
Series 400 Amp Frame - 400 Amp Trip)

Circuitbreakerreleases/Trippingunits
The main objective of circuit breaker tripping units and protective functions in general is to detect faults and to selectively isolate faulted parts of the system. It
must also permit short clearance times to limit the fault power and the effect of arcing faults.
The protective function of the circuit breaker in the power distribution system is determined by the selection of the appropriate release (see Figure 1). Releases can
be divided into:
Thermal-magnetic tripping units TMTU, also called electromechanical releases and
Electronic tripping units ETU
Figure 1 Variants of circuit breaker tripping curves

Thermalmagnetictrippingunits//
The thermomagnetic trip unit consists of two parts:
The thermal trip unit Made up by a bimetal thermal device which actuates the opening of a circuit breaker with a delay depending on the overcurrent value. This
trip unit is intended for the protection against overloads.
The magnetic trip unit Made up by an electromagnetic device, with fixed (fixed instantaneous trip) or adjustable (adjustable instantaneous trip) threshold, which
actuates the instantaneous trip of the circuit breaker on a pre-determined overcurrent value (multiple of the In) with a constant trip time (about some tens of
milliseconds). This trip unit is intended for the protection against short circuit.
Figure 2 TM thermal-magnetic and MA magnetic tripping units

Go back to CB tripping units

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Electronictrippingunits//
The electronic trip units instead use a microprocessor to process the current signal and operate the circuit breaker opening in case of fault. In addition to this,
electronic tripping units offer more tripping criteria which are not feasible with electromechanical releases.
By digital processing of the signal, they provide the following protection functions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Long time-delay trip function (ANSI code: 51, AC time overcurrent relay)
Short time-delay trip function (ANSI code: 51, AC time overcurrent relay)
Instantaneous trip function (ANSI code: 50, instantaneous overcurrent relay)
Ground-fault trip function (ANSI code: 51 N, AC time earth fault overcurrent relay).

Figure 3 Microprocessor tripping unit (Overloads: Long time protection (Ir) Short-circuits: Short-time protection (Isd) Short-circuits: Instantaneous protection (Ii), Additional ground fault
protection (Ig) and Neutral protection)
1. Overload protection
Designation: L (LT: long-time delay), previously a-release.
Depending on the type of release, inverse-time-delay overload releases are also available with optional characteristic curves.
This adjustable function simulates the effect of a bimetal conductor in a thermal-magnetic circuit breaker. It reacts to overload conditions and determines how much
current the circuit breaker will carry continuously.
The nominal pickup point where a circuit breaker trip unit detects an overload is at 1.075 times the selected ampere rating. After the circuit breaker has picked up,
it will not trip until the delay determined by the long-time delay adjustment has been achieved.

2. Neutral conductor protection

Inverse-time-delay overload releases for neutral conductors are available in a 50% or 100% ratio of the overload release. The neutral must have specific
protection if:
It is reduced in size compared to the phases
Nonlinear loads generating third order harmonics are installed
It may be necessary to cut off the neutral for functional reasons (multiple source diagram) or safety reasons (working with power off).

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3. Shortcircuit protection, instantaneous

Designation: I (INST: instantaneous), previously n-release
Depending on the application, I-releases can either be used with a fixed or an adjustable release current Ii as well as with a switch-off or non-switch-off function.
The instantaneous pickup function simulates the magnetic characteristic of a thermal-magnetic circuit breaker. This function trips the circuit breaker with no
intentional time delay.
In circuit breakers with both short-time and instantaneous pickup, the instantaneous pickup will override the short-time pickup if the instantaneous pickup is set at
the same or lower setting than the short-time pickup.

4. Shortcircuit protection, delayed

Designation: S (ST: short-time delay), previously z-release.
To be used for a time adjustment of protective functions in series. Besides the standard curves and settings, there are also optional functions for special applications:
Definite-time overcurrent releases
For this standard S function, the desired delay time (tsd) is defined as of a set current value (threshold Isd) (definite time, similar to the function of definite-time
overcurrent-time protection (DMT) at the medium voltage level).
Inverse-time overcurrent releases
In this optional S function, the product of I2t is always constant. In general, this function is used to improve the selectivity response (inverse time, similar to the
function of inverse-time overcurrent-time protection at the medium voltage level.

5. Earthfault protection
Designation: G (GF: ground fault), previously g-release.
Besides the standard function (definite-time) an optional function (I2t = current-dependent delay) is also available.

Figure 4 Ground-fault Characteristic Curve

The ground-fault function is divided into pickup and delay components (see Figure 4). The pickup portion determines at what point the circuit breaker will begin
detecting a ground fault.

The delay adjustment determines how long the circuit breaker will delay tripping after a ground-fault has been detected. It is supplied with both an It IN and an It OUT
function on the circuit breakers.

In a circuit breaker with the ground-fault function, there is a maximum unrestrained ground-fault delay provided. This delay determines the maximum amount of time
the circuit breaker will delay during a ground-fault condition when not restrained by a downstream breaker. The maximum delay is shown by a single line and stays
constant for all ground-fault delay switch settings.

6. Faultcurrent protection
Designation: RCD (residual current device), previously also DI (differential current interrupter).
It detects differential fault currents up to 3 A, similar to the FI function for personal protection (max. 500 mA).
Go back to CB tripping units
References //
Planning of Electric Power Distribution Technical Principles by SIEMENS
Circuit Breaker Characteristic Trip Curves and Coordination by Schneider Electric
Low Voltage Circuit Breakers complying with the Standards UL 489 and UL 1066 by ABB

RecommendedEEstuff//

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Sharewithengineers//
AboutAuthor//
Edvard Csanyi
Edvard - Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for design of LV high power busbar trunking (<6300A) in
power substations, buildings and industry fascilities. Designing of LV/MV switchgears.Professional in AutoCAD programming and webdesign.Present on Google+
2016 EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | 58 queries in 0.252 seconds.
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