9.

Busbar Impedance Page 1

9. Busbar Impedance

VoltDrop

Inductance Formulae

Capacitance Formulae

Geometric Mean Distance Formulae

The busbar reactance is not normally sufficiently large to affect the total reactance of a power system and hence is not included in
the calculations when establishing the short-circuit currents and reactive volt drops within a power system. The exception to this is
when considering certain heavy current industrial applications such as furnaces, welding sets, or roll heating equipment for steel
mills. In these cases the reactance may be required to be known for control purposes, or to obtain busbar arrangements to give
minimum or balanced reactance. This may be important because of its effect on both volt drop and power factor, and hence on
the generating plant kVA requirement per kW of load, or on the tariffs payable where the power is purchased from outside.

The busbar impedance is made up of three components: resistance, inductance and capacitance. The values of these
components are given an ohmic value which in the case of inductance and capacitance is dependent on the frequency of the
system. They are defined as follows:

Resistance:

where R f = resistance at frequency f (Hz), W

R o = d.c. resistance

S = skin effect ratio

K = proximity ratio

Inductance:

where XL = inductive reactance, W

f = frequency, Hz

L = inductance, H

Capacitance:

where Xc = capacitive reactance, W

f = frequency, Hz

C = capacitance, F

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9. Busbar Impedance Page 2

Impedance:

where X = X L - XC

The value of XC is usually very much smaller than XL, and XL is usually much larger than R f . The value of X is taken to be positive
with the sign of XL - XC to indicate whether the system has a positive or negative power factor.

Volt Drop

The volt drop in a busbar system is estimated as follows from the usual formula:

V B = I ZB

where VB = volt drop, V

I = current flowing in the conductor, A

ZB = busbar impedance, W

However, to find the magnitude of the load voltage VL available, the busbar volt drop VB must be subtracted vectorially from the
supply voltage VS:

VS = supply voltage, V qL = angle of load, °

VB = busbar volt drop, V fB = angle of busbar, °

VL = load voltage, V R B = busbar resistance, W

I = current, A X B = busbar reactance, W

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The apparent volt drop in the busbar trunking, phase to neutral, is given by:

Multiply by Ö 3 for phase to phase volt drop.

The above formula gives a very close approximation as long as the busbar system volt drop remains small in comparison to the
system voltage.

http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/busbars/pub22-copper-for-busbars/sec9.htm 3/18/2012 6:27:18 AM