1) INTRODUCTION

What is LV SWITCHGEAR?
The switchgear is nothing but a device whose purpose is to switch, control & protect all the equipment &
electrical circuits.

The word ‘switchgear’ is the common word incorporating the comprehensive collection of various
available gadgets like HRC fuse, ckt breaker, switch fuse parts, switch, isolators of off-load, ,devices
known as contactors, circuit breakers of earth leakage type (ELCBs) etc.
1.1) Components of Switchgear
The switchgear basically contains the devices that are used for protecting & switching. These devices are
common and are used everywhere like isolators, ckt breakers, fuse, relays, switch, controlling sections,
arrestors of lightning, current T/F, potential T/F and several connected tools.
There are many devices which are intended to function under the two common conditions which are
normal & abnormal circumstances.
There are certain gadgets which are intended only for switching of the device & not fault sensing.
Throughout the normal process, the switchgear does the work of giving permission so as to switch
generators off or on, distributors, the Xmission lines & additional equipments that are electrical in
nature. Oppositely as soon as the miscarriage (for e.g. short ckt) happens in any place in the system of
power system, there is a flowing of heavy current which passes from end to end in the apparatus, thereby
intimidating destruction to the attached devices in the system & there is disturbance in the facility provided
to customers.
Though, many a time the switchgear notices that there is a fault & immediately separates the section which
is unhealthy from the power system so that continuity of the supply could be maintained. The
terminologies of the LV Switchgear are with respect to various important parameters. These are as follows.
 Voltage
 Current
 Overload conditions and Normal Condition behavior
 The behavior of Switchgear under circumstances of Short ckt.
 Categories of Utilization.
There are various terminologies that are related with the voltage. These are Rated Voltage of operation
(Ue), Rated Voltage of insulation withstand (Ui) and Rated Voltage of Impulse Withstand (Uimp). Also
there are various terminologies that are related to current. These are Rated Current (In), Uninterrupted
Rated Current (Iu), Operational Rated Current (Ie) and Enclosed Thermal Rated Current (Ithe).
 Figure 1 LV Switchgear

2) Introduction to LV System
The diagram shown below is a SLD or single line diagram of a LV system of an industry. The electricity
board coming through transformer in many of the industries for the power supply is considered as the
primary source and also the generator present there is used as the standby source of power when the case
arise that the supply of power fails from EB or the quality of power is not in the limits which is acceptable
in that case.
So due to this individual protection devices and switching devices are used for each particular
source. The protection equipments installed in the protection of device must have a very high capacity of
breaking because the level of faults in these particular locations are very high. So the ACB is used (also
known are AIR CIRCUIT BREAKER). The main purpose of these ACB is to isolate the faulty part from
the healthy part of the system and also they do the work of protecting the bus bars which comes under
their region of protection.
In usual the capacity of the generator is much smaller than that of the rating of transformer
because of various economic factors and reasons, so due to this drawback the generator only does the
operation for loads which are critical when it is connected to power supply. It is to be noted that the
transformers and the generators do not work in synchronism because the generator is employed for the
purpose of standby power source. From the diagram below as it is seen that if the breaker number 11 and
breaker number 12 are made to close together or simultaneously then current will flow which will be
circulating in nature and if worse case is taken they can even cause the short circuit which will stop the
whole system. So to avoid the short circuit condition a new device known as the bus coupler is used. Here
it is known as the Tie Breaker, shown with the 13 number. So by this whole setup, the bus bar which is
under the generator set connects every available critical load and the bus bar which is under transformer
set connects every non critical load. From the bus bars the number of outgoing feeders for the various
loads present in the system are taken. The protection and switching device for every separate feeder is
separate. The outgoing feeders are employed by the ACB or MCCB. The main work of the breaker is to
provide backup protection to the cable which are held underground.

Figure 2 SLD or single line diagram of Industrial LV system

3) Contactors
3.1) Introduction
The spreading of loads in the domestic area of the electrical switching is most of the time related to the
purpose of lights OFF or ON, Television, Refrigerator etc. The term switchgear is enough to know about
its purpose that is to provide switching of various devices or loads in various situations i.e. abnormal
and the normal situations and also protecting against various severe hazards by its built in quality of
protection. The one device as the name calls is known as the “Contactor”.

Figure 3 Typical LT Distribution scheme

The contactor is a switch which is functioned electromagnetically. It is not operated by hand

or manually because it is designed to work remotely. This is its major quality.
The working principle of the contactor is very simple. When the voltage definite in nature is provided
or given to the coils installed across in contactor, the electromagnet present inside the coils gets
energized. The electromagnet consists of the moving and fixed parts. The fixed part has the tendency to
attract the moving part, thereby completing the electrical circuit by the help of the contact system.
The return spring present in it pushes or repels as soon as the de-energizing of the magnets takes place,
thus making the contacts open. The circuit that was completed before gets broken. This is the simple
working principle of the contactor.
Contactor’s Applications and Advantages
 Large quantity of operation of Make-Break.
 Very high capacity of break and make.
 Can be made ON or OFF remotely.
 Electrical and Mechanical Life is very high.
 Protection of no volt.
 Operating frequency is very high.

3.2) Contactor parts and their various Functions

 Padding of Rubber- This padding is given so that it absorbs the various types of shocks that
occurs during the time of opening & closing of the contactor.
 Magnets- The magnets present here are AC magnets which are laminated and also stacked
together. These magnets are used to overcome or reduce the eddy current effect. In the case of
DC, the DC frequencies are 0, so the problem of the hysteresis losses and the eddy current effect
losses are not there and so because of this no lamination is needed.

Between central limbs of the moving and the fixed magnet there is a gap which is designed for various
purposes. After millions times of the operation, when the gap starts reducing or when the magnet present
starts to bulge, it clearly indicates that the mechanical life of the contactor is about to end and now it is
the time to replace it.
 Figure 4 Gap between the limbs of both contacts

The sand paper and emery is very much avoided because it causes a decrease in the gaps between the
central limbs and thus it causes a reduction in the life of the contactor. This also causes a frequent change
of the contacts. So instead of the sand paper or emery usage of rough cloth or CRC 2-26 is preferred.

 System of Contact- An alloy made of Silver Cadmium is used to make contacts of the contactor.
They are used because of their property of good anti-welding. The gap between the magnets is
more than that of the gap present between the contacts. This make sure that the contacts present
are in closing position when or before the touch of the magnet pole face each other. This
phenomena is also termed as the contacts over travelling.
 Spring of Leaf- The leaf spring assists in the bouncing free closure of the contacts. The leaf
springs also ensures that the contacts which are moving are under some contact pressure. The
leaf springs for this purpose are installed over the bridge which is called contact carrier bridges.
 The Return Spring- The purpose of the return spring is to help the assembly of the bridge in
opening of the contacts of the contactor. The assembly of movable is made to come against the
2 springs which have stored energy in it. These 2 springs are known as the return springs.
 Terminals- The silver plated copper is the material which is used to make the terminals of the
contactor. The terminals are provided for the control ckt termination and the power ckt
termination.
  The Auxiliary Contact- The two contacts i.e. normally closed (NC) and the normally open (NO)
contacts are there for the alarm purpose and also for indication.
 Housing- Housing requires those materials which have good power of thermal withstanding and
also have very good strength of mechanical. SMC, DMC are materials used for the purpose of
housing.
 The Arc Chute- These chutes are there for the purpose of an effective arc quenching when there
is an arc which is formed when high breaking current forms in the contactor.
The Arc Formed is quenched by below methods-
 The arc formed is made to split by availability of the De-Ion Plates
 The Arc Resistance = (The Definite Resistivity x The Arc Length)/ Arc Area

The above mentioned parts of the contactor are shown below by the help of a cross section diagram of
the contactor (Figure 5). All the parts are shown with their exact location so as to understand the purpose
and role of all the parts of the contactor.

Figure 5 The Cross Section Of The Contactor.

4) MOTOR STARTERS

The common type of the load in industry is the induction motor. And in these types of loads the
percentage if seen or analyzed results that the squirrel cage motor is more than the motor which have slip
ring configuration. There are diverse ways and means of starting the motor. These are as follows.

1) The DOL or the Direct On Line Method.

2) The Star Delta Starting type.
3) The starting method of the Auto Transformer type.
4) The starter of Soft type.

a) The Direct On Line Starter- This starting technique is the most widespread type of the technique for
starting the motors due to the fact that it requires lost cost for installation and the gears used are cheap in
cost. The Direct ON Line method is used where there is a need for the great acceleration and the high
starting torque. This direct method of starting is only used where there are large motors and also where
there is enough supply to start the motor by using the direct method. It is specially used in the case where
the dip extent does not affect the performance of the device installed.

b) The Starter of Star Delta type- In the star type of the connection the winding present in the motor is
fed by the main supply first. This type of connection has a major advantage that it reduces the current and
the torque of the motor to the value which is one third of the normal value which is the case of the direct
on line starter type of starting. The below advantages of the star delta type makes it preferable above the
direct on line method of starting.

 A dip can be introduced in the voltage of the system when direct method is used because of the
very heavy inrush starting current.
 Because of the high starting torque in the direct method the damaging of the various sensitive
mechanical drives can take place.

c) Auto Transformer Starter Type- The other type of method is the use of the auto transformer for
starting the motor. This transformer has variable kind of the secondary voltages which is supplied to the
motor windings. The voltage supplied is increased voltage and is supplied when the motor has started
running. The current and the torque available here can be decreased in various smaller steps. This type
of starting has a drawback that the starting torque available is not that much high as compared to the star
delta type of starting. So because of this the auto transformer type of starting is only used in the motors
which are smaller in size. This also requires high maintenance and the arrangement is very much
complex.

d) The Soft Start Type- This is a modern technology and a very efficient technology used in the motor
which have the arrangement of the squirrel cage type. There is a soft electronic starter which helps in the
starting of the squirrel cage motor. The soft starter is often based on the microprocessor technology which
gives us the ability to vary the voltage that is supplied to the motor according to our needs without taking
the help of any type of movable mechanical parts. It also gives us the freedom to choose the amount of
the amount of the starting torque and starting current and side by side selecting the starting time also.
During the whole time of starting the motor the power supply which is given to the motor is progressively
increased so as to get a smooth start.

5) FUSES

A fuse is nothing but an electronic device whose major function is to guard the different circuits from the
fault named as over current. It also protects from the overloading thereby making sure that the circuit is
protected fully. There are varieties of fuses which are obtainable in market but they are same as far as the
function of all these fuses is concerned.

The fuse has a metallic wire of low resistance which is confined in a material which is
noncombustible. Whenever there is any occurrence of short circuit in the system or if there is any over
current or unequal load connection in the system, the thin wire which is present inside the fuse gets melted
because there is lots of heat generation due to the flow of heavy current through it. As a result, the supply
of power gets disconnected from the system which is connected. When there is the condition of normal
operation of ckt, the fuse wire present here is of very low resistance value element and so it does not
cause any affect to the normal working condition or operation of system which is connected to the supply.
 Figure Cross Section of the HRC Fuse
5.1) Advantages of Fuse

 The fuses have very high capacity of breaking. Capacity up to 100kA.

 The operation time is very less which makes them very suitable for using in the short circuit. They
have very fast capability of operation and can interrupt the fault or short circuit having the time
less than 5 mseconds.
 They are known as current limiting devices. The operating time of the fuse is very low so because
of this it does not allow the current to reach its maximum value which is known as the peak
prospective value. The energy released during this time of operation is very low and the energy
which is released during the time of operation is known as the Let Through Energy.
 The maintenance of the fuse is not required.
 Small in size. Compact in size.
 Low cost.
 The Current Time Graph of the Fuse is given below. It is seen clearly from the figure that the
current is not made to reach its original value and is interrupted in between by the fuse. There are
various parameters in the graph like the pre-arcing time, arcing time etc. The parameters are
important as far as the graph and understanding is considered. So the meaning of them are as
follows.
Pre-arcing time of Fuse- It is also known as the melting time of the fuse. This time is the time
between which the fuse element gets melted as soon the current value increases to the extent at
which fuse gets melts and also the instance at which the arc gets originated.
 Arcing Time of Fuse- It is known as the time instant between which the arc is originated and the
time instant when the arc is finally gets extinguished.
Operating Time of Fuse- It is known as the sum of both the arcing time & the Pre Arcing time.
The Prospective Current- It is the current which would have been flowed in the system or circuit
when the fuse was absent and that place was replaced by the impedance of negligible quantity
without changing the type and kind of the circuit and supply.
The Cut Off Current- It is known the maximum instantaneous current value reached by the
current when the fuse was in the working position and also when the fuse functions in such a way
so as to avert the current flowing in the circuit to reach its maximum achievable value.

Figure Current Time Graph of Fuse

6) MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker)

The Miniature Circuit Breaker is used mainly for the short circuit protection and also it provides the Over
Load Protection. This is used in those types of feeders which have low rating of the current. For e.g. the
distribution feeders and the lighting feeders. The MCB is used where the current limit is from the 0.5
ampere and the 100 ampere. The main aim of the MCB is to protect the installation of the wiring from
the various kinds of faults like the over current.
6.1) Construction- The Miniature Circuit Breaker protection is same as that of the MCCB. The MCB
consists of a bimetal which helps in the overload protection and it also has an electromagnet which helps
in the short circuit protection. The internal of the MCB is shown below. It has various parts which work
as as mechanism when the case arises for the protection of wiring from the faults.

Figure Cross Section of the MCB

The parts of the MCB are as follows

1) The Actuator Lever and Mechanism

2) The Contacts
3) The solenoid
4) The Arc Chutes
5) The Terminals
6) The Strip of bimetallic
7) The screw of calibration

6.2) The Thermal Characteristics of MCB- The given below MCB data is for the trip current and the
non-trip current of the MCB. The MCB is available in three characteristics. The characteristics are: Type
B, Type C, Type D. It is to be known that the thermal characteristics of all the types of MCBs are
common. But the magnetic thresholds of all the types are set at variable levels.

Type of Characteristics The Non Adjustable Magnetic Setting Areas of Application

Type B 3 to 5 (ln) Used in the circuits which are
sensitive in nature.
Type C 5 to 10 (ln) Used for the general applications
like lightening fans, sockets etc.
Type D 10 to 20 (ln) Used for the switching purpose
mainly for the T/Fs, capacitors,
motors etc.

The first image is the data for the current and the second image is the tripping graph of the types of the
MCB with the thermal characteristics.

Figure The MCBs Thermal and Tripping Characteristics including the Graph

6.3) Advantages of MCB-

1) The using of MCB is very simple. It can be used by anyone i.e. both unskilled and skilled
labour.
2) The MCB has a trip free mechanism installed in it.
 3) The MCB can also be used as a functional switch as per requirement.
4) MCB can also be utilized by making it to work as an isolator.
5) There are no ageing difficulties because the MCB is fully enclosed and acts like a unit.
6) The cost is not an issue when it comes to the selection of a MCB as it is cost effective.
7) The setting like the short circuit and overload setting cannot be modified or adjusted because
they are no adjustable in the MCB.

7) MCCB or Moulded Case Circuit Breaker

The MCCB is also known as the Compact version of the ACB i.e. the Air Circuit Breaker. The MCCB
is enclosed in a case which is moulded (hence given name moulded case) which is an insulating body of
the MCCB. In place of the air ckt breaker the MCCB can be utilized as a scheme of the distribution. The
MCCB comes under the factory setting and it is calibrated too and so it cannot be repaired because there
are no spare parts available for the MCCB. The maintenance of MCCB outside the factory is impossible
due to the reason stated above. The replacement is only an option left when the MCCB is not working
properly.

There are few in built protection given by the manufacturer of MCCB and those are as follows-

1) The O/L i.e. Overload Protection

2) The S/C i.e. Short-Circuit Protection
3) The Earth Fault Protection

The short circuit protection by the MCCB is given by its in built part i.e. the bimetallic strips and the O/L
or overload protection is given the MCCB by the attraction phenomena, the attraction being the magnetic
attraction.

7.1) Applications of the MCCBs: -

 In the Distribution Feeders- The MCCBs are best suited for the circuits of the outgoing & the
incoming feeders which are present on the boards of distribution.
 In the T/Fs- They act as outgoing type of breakers situated on the LT side of the Transformer
thereby giving real protection to the transformers.
 The Diesel Generating Sets- The MCCBs are used for the DG sets protection and control. They
are used against the short circuit and the overloading.
 In the DC types of loads- The MCCB has the ability to be used in both the AC types and DC
types of systems.
  Used in the UPS- the MCCBs are used for uninterrupted power supplies and also used for the
protection of the electronic components.
 Used in Motors- The MCCBs used here are installed to give the backup protection to the motors.

Figure MCCB or Moulded Case Circuit Breaker

7.2) Types of MCCBs

The MCCBs are mainly of two types-
1. The MCCB of the Conventional type- The MCCBs which are conventional in nature are also
known as the operating devices of zero crossover instant. This means that when there will be any
short circuit case arising, the MCCB will immediately clear the fault that has occurred in the time
of its 1st complete half cycle. Here the operating time of the MCCB is approximately in total for
about 15 to 20 milliseconds.
2. The MCCB of Current Limiting Type- The breaker which is current limiting must have the
very short break time so that the short ckt current which is developed does not reach its
prospective value and cause damage to the equipment. So to meet this necessity the MCCBs
installed must compete and should respond very quickly when the fault arises. The contacts must
get opened or separated in no time and this is achieved by taking help of the contact’s repulsion
principle.
8) RCCB

The RCCB is a device which in the normal conditions is used for breaking and making a circuit. It is also
used for automatically breaking the circuit as soon as the current surpasses its prearranged value.

The RCCB provides the protection against both of the indirect and the direct contacts. The
RCCB is present in 2 forms.

1) Two Pole for the 1 phase loads.

2) Four Pole available for the 3 phase loads.
The Residual Current Circuit Breaker does not provide protection against the overload and the short
circuit type of faults. When the earth leakage takes place, a small leakage current gets produced. This
leakage current returns back through the human body or through the earthing conductor which causes the
RCCB to trip. It is to be noted that the returning leakage does not go through the RCCB and takes other
path instead.

Figure RCCB schematic diagram

There are few predetermined sensitivities that are available in RCCB. These are as follows: -

1) The 30 milliAmpere – available for the domestic use or for the personal protection.
2) The 100 milliAmpere- used in the industries for the installation protection.
3) The 300 milliAmpere- also used in industries for same above purpose but they have relatively
high leakage current.
8) Introduction to Electrical Drives
The electrical drives are system which are working for the control of the motion. The electrical drives
can hire any type of the prime mover for motion control. It provides mechanical energy to the prime
movers of the electric motors, the steam turbines and the diesel engines. The drives which employ the
electrical motors are termed as the Electrical Drives. The electrical drive in other words can be defined
as the grouping of the variety of the systems which are joint for fulfilling the purpose of the control of
the motion.
8.1) The Electrical Drives Basic Components
The electric drives consist mainly five blocks which are functional. The blocks are termed as the source
of power, converter or power modulator, Motor, a load (mechanical in nature) & lastly a controller (the
controller having the control and the sensing unit).

Figure Major Components of Electrical Drives

 The required energy to the electric drive system is provided by the power source. The motor gets
interfaced by the converter which is combines with the power source & the motor is provided
with the voltage, frequency and current which is adjustable.

 The operation of complete system is well-ordered and controlled by the controller monitors. These
controllers also confirm the stability & performance of the overall system. We don’t have the
freedom to decide about the rating of the mechanical load and the power source type.
  The industrial operation nature & the source of the power collectively determines the type of the
mechanical load that will be available at the site. The selection of other components like the
motor, controllers and converters is in our hands and we can select them as per requirement.

 The converters present here performs the vital role of converting the power source electric
waveforms into the waveforms which are usable by the motor. Suppose for example if the motor
present is the series DC motor and the waveform given by the power source is in AC then the role
of the converter is to convert the AC waveform into DC. Or we can say that a rectifier is installed
in the system.

 The various important factors like the cost, performance, power level meeting are taken into
account when the selection of the motor for the particular work is done. This is done because the
load which is present requires all the factors for dynamic operations and the steady state
operations.

8.2) The Electrical Drives Classification

The electrical drives are basically classified in the following ways.

1. The Group Drive

2. The Individual Electrical Drive
3. The multi motor electrical drive

The drives above are main drives used everywhere but they can be classified further according to various
parameters.

o Drives that are Supply Based: The AC & DC Drives

o Drives that are Running Speed Based: The variable speed Drives & the Constant i.e. single speed
drives.
o Drives that are Speed Based: Multi Motor & the Single Motor Drives.
o Drives that are Control Parameters Based: Constant power & the Constant Torque Drives.

8.3) The Electrical Drives Advantages

 The environment does not gets polluted.

 The refueling or warming up the motor like the other prime movers is not required.
 There are variety of ranges available for the speed, torque and power in the electric drives.
  With new technologies like the growth of the semiconductor converters the AC motors can also
be used now in variety of the speed drives.
 The synchronous motors and the induction motors in the past were used in the speed drives which
were constant. The DC motor is used by the variable drives of speed.
8.4) The Application of the Electrical Drives
The Electric Traction is one of the greatest application of the electric drives. In other words, the
transportation from one place to the another place of the materials and humans.
The various types of tractions are: -
i) The Electrical Buses
ii) The Electrical Trains
iii) The trolleys and the tramways
iv) The vehicles that are battery driven which are charged by Solar power.

9) The Programmable Logic Controller or PLC

Many years till now the manufacturing developments in the industries is controlled by the help of various
kinds of relays. But there was a drawback that the control panel of the relays needed to be replaced on a
regular basis. The power consumption was high and the problems that were related with that were very
hard to get figured out. So to overcome from these problems and for solving these issues the PLC or the
Programmable Logic Controller was make known to.
The PLC is nothing but a digital computer which is utilized for the work of the automation
of variety of industries involving the electro-mechanical progressions. The design of these PLCs are very
special type because they have the capability to withstand intense moisture, heat, dust, cold and other
strict circumstances. A programmable microprocessor is there in the PLC. The microprocessor is
programmable and thus it can be programmed by using computers and hence the program is written in
machine code and is transferred to the PLCs by the help of a cable.

9.1) The Hardware of the PLCs

The figure below shows the overview of the PLC system. It consists of various blocks and each block is
functional, the major blocks are the Central Processing Unit, Input & Output, Memory, the unit of the
power supply and a device which is programmable (like microprocessors). The function of these above
hardware components is described below: -
a) The Central Processing Unit (CPU)- The PLC controller accomplishes variety of purposes
which also include various interface of computers, arithmetic & logical operations etc. So the
purpose of the CPU is to regularly check whether the controllers are error free or not.
b) The Memory- The Central Processing Unit uses the data which is fixed. The Read Only Memory
is the system memory and thus it contains the data once and for all i.e. the data stored is permanent
because the data present is of the operating system. The input devices and the output devices
status and information including the timers value & the counters are stored by Random Access
Memory(RAM).
c) Input or Output Section- The Sensors and switches are the devices of the field and hence they
are monitored by the input section. The motors, lights, various pumps, & other components are
tracked by the output section. The input ports are grounded on the RISC i.e. “Reduced
Instruction Set Computer.”
d) Supply of Power- The Isolated Type Supply of power is the most prevailing type of supply in
most of the PLCs. But now there are lot of PLCs which work at the 24 VDC / 220 VAC.
e) The Programmable Device- This is the device whose help is taken for the program feeding into
the processor’s memory.

Figure PLCs Hardware Components overview

9.2) Application of the PLC System

 The conveyor belt motors are stopped and started by taking the help of the PLCs.
 The PLCs are also used for the automatic starting and shut down of various components that are
critical in nature.
 They can also be used as a management system for energy.
 For the cycle automation the PLCs are frequently used.