Mic a e Issued by Electrical Systems & Equipment, LARSEN & TOUBRO, Powal Campus, Mumbai 400 072 In an electrical installation, loads are connected to the power source via multiple switching & protective devices, In any well co-ordinated distribution system, it is normally desired that: 1. The fault should be cleared immediately on its occurrence by a device closest to the location of fault, 2. Only the faulty section is isolated 3. Healthy feeders are not unnecessarily isolated due to, a fault elsewhere, thus ensuring continuity of the service in the unaffected zone 4, Total safety to the user & installation is ensured 5. The system is stressed least and the extent of outage / power interruption is kept toa minimum. 6. Life of the interrupting device is not misused The term “Discrimination” (otherwise also known as selectivity) implies " co-ordination of the operating characteristics of two or more protective devices so that on incidence of a fault, the device intended to operate do so while the other(s) does (do) not. in simple terms, under any over-current fault, only the nearest protective device will open and no other upstream devices should open. October-December 2009 <= MrT. K. Tripathy ‘Switchgear Design & Development Center Discrimination between circuit breakers installed at different levels (upstream or downstream) need to be ensured both for overload & short circuit faults With the current technology & design, simpler to achieve discrimination between Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) to another Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) t is relatively Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) to Moulded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB) Moulded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB) to Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) ila TUR eaHowever, discrimination between two MCCBs is more difficult & limited in most cases. This article briefly describes different concepts of discrimination and the impact on the safety & reliability of the installation DIA Mee ws aa Cal OVERLOAD FAULT Discrimination is achieved under overload fault conditions due to use of circuit breakers of different ratings at upstream & downstream location. For achieving proper co-ordination under overload faults, the circuit breaker must be selected so that the time- current characteristic of the upstream breaker lies above the time-current characteristic of the downstream breaker in the overload zone. Care should be taken in doing over current setting in the circuit breakers as the time-current characteristic is a function of the over currentsetting SHORT CIRCUIT FAULT Discrimination under short circuit condition can be of three types: 1. Current Discrimination This type of discrimination is the result of the difference between the magnetic thresholds (instantaneous trip setting) of the successive circuit breakers. Discrimination can be achieved for all faults lower than the instantaneous trip setting of the upstream circuit breaker. This can give total discrimination in case the impedance between the ‘two circuit breakers is very high. This type of discrimination is feasible only at the final distribution points. ‘As the discrimination limit current is low (limited by the instantaneous trip setting of upstream circuit breaker), discrimination is mostly partial 2. Time Disc ation In this case, a definite time delay is set in the sensing of protection release of the upstream circuit breaker. Hence all the faults are always cleared by the downstream circuit breaker as the upstream breaker will wait till the set delay time. In case the evel] eee LN Fal Cen! a 4 ere Seen an i ie Current based Se] aaa aa) iscrimination - Current based _— as i on = cory aa cro i fo vee ey feces ee Discrimination - Time base or i eet lass > cat. B with ew rating i oo Instantaneous ho nce SEC og LUitation- Need Cat. B breaker with Cees Discrimination - Energy based in a. Poem arco pCa ed Serer 2. No effect on upstream device during faut tobe ensureddownstream breaker fails to clear by then, the upstream breaker trips & offers the protection. The time delay setting can be progressively increased in the circuit breakers as it gets closer to the supply source This is the most effective & foolproof method of discrimination for all levels of faults. This is very easy to determine & implement and does not need in-depth study. In this case, there is no limit on number of circuit breakers that can be connected one after other (in series) to get total discrimination. ‘The limitations posed by time based discrimination are: “ The upstream circuit breaker must have a short Circuit short time withstand capacity (ew) for the maximum possible time delay. The value of lw must bbe equal to or higher than the maximum possible short circuit current at the pointof use. “ The time delay setting in upstream circuit breaker will also delay the tripping of circuit breaker for all faults downstream. This can result in higher thermal & electro-dynamic stresses in the installation. This may call for over dimensioning of cables & other components in the system. However, this effect can be minimised by using circuit breakers with zone selectivity feature ® This limits the use of faster current limiting devices only to the lowest level of the radial system 3. Energy Discrimination In energy based discrimination, the upstream & downstream devices operate based on the fault energy seen by the units under short circuit faults. The discrimination is achieved based on the quantum of arc energy seen & the amount of eneray required to operate the device. An ideal example of energy based discrimination is HRC fuses. DTU ie tins} It is possible to achieve all the above types of discrimination between upstream and downstream MCC s at different levels of short circuit fault current and with varying degree of reliability. Current discrimination : While the current discrimination between MCC8s is simple and easy to verify, the fault currents upto which discrimination can, be achieved, is limited Time discrimination : The circuit breaker standards (WEC60947-2/1S13947-2) has clearly defined the requirements of discrimination. & classified the circuit breakers separately. The circuit breakers are classified as follows UTILISATION CATEGORY (A) The circuit breakers which are not intended to have selectivity (discrimination) can be classified as Utilisation category A type. These circuit breakers will have no time delay & must operate instantaneously on occurrence of a fault to give the user highest level of safety & protection. UTILISATION CATEGORY (B) The circuit breakers, which are intended to have selectivity (discrimination), are classified as Utilisation category B type. These circuit breakers will have definite time delay & hence must have a short time withstand duty (lew). These circuit breakers are expected to wait tillthe set time delay before operating on a fault. The above classification clearly indicates that in case discrimination/selectivity is required in any installation, Circuit breaker with utilisation category 8 must be used. Circuit breaker with utilisation category A can not be Used as the upstream device for the purpose of having time based discrimination, By default, all MCCBs are utilisation category A type & all ACBs are utilisation category B type. It is also important to note that most modern MCCBs are current limiting type & thus are of Utilisation category A type. Hence MCCBs with utilization category A are not meant to offer time discrimination. IEC/IS standard does recognise the need for time discrimination between MCCBs, but indirectly recommends use of non-limiting MCCB on the upstream, Energy discrimination : Taking a clue from energy discrimination between fuses, the possibility has been attempted in certain MCCB to achieve energy based discrimination with Utilisation category A type MCCBs.As per the claim, the discrimination is based on eneray dissipation during the fault clearance in the arcing chamber of the MCCBs. When a fault takes place, both Upstream & downstream MCCBs sense the fault & contacts of both current limiting MCCBs open However, only the mechanism of downstream MCCB trips due to the arc energy dissipation and the pressure developed inside the arc chamber. The upstream MCCB does not trp as the energy dissipated is not sufficient to ‘rip its mechanism & the contacts of this MCCB reclose back. Thus energy discrimination is claimed between ‘two current limiting MCCBs provided the ratio of Upstream MICCB rating to downstream MCCB rating is maintained at minimum 2.5 & ratio between the trip Unitrating of 1.6 times. However, it is important to note that such energy discrimination system (for MCCBs) is too dangerous in any installation due to following reasons: > The upstream MCCB contacts open for all faults & reciose back. It is a known fact that in case the contacts of aMCC8 open on a fault, there is going to be severe arcing. If the contacts do not open fully & reclose back, it can either lead to welding of contact orsevere erosion of contact buttons. This will reduce ‘the fault life of the upstream MCCB bya large extent, & call for too early and costly replacement. “ As the contacts of upstream MCCBs open on all ‘faults, al the other healthy feeders connected to this upstream MCCB will have very large momentary voltage drop, which can lead to malfunctioning of various loads (including motors). * Both upstream & downstream MCCBs have to be inspected ater every fault to ensure the healthiness of the MCCBs to clear any future fault. This can pose ‘a major safety problem as the maintenance personnel will not realize that they also need to look atthe upstream MCB, © The user has to rely only on the manufacturer's claim as it is impossible to verify the discrimination theoretically. Such claims largely depend on the interaction between the two particular devices placed in series in a very dynamic situation Hence it appears that even if such a system can discriminate for one or two faults, it's capability to offer discrimination & safe operation on subsequent, faults canbe questioned. The classic example of eneray discrimination is with HRC fuses where the upstream fuse will not at all react upto a certain fault energy & hence does not deteriorate while ensuring proper discrimination. Thisis possible in case of fuse as the fuse standard clearly defines the limits of fusing & non- fusing energy levels (unlike the circuit breaker standard). Hence a user can someway check the possibility of discrimination & not fully rely only on the assurance of the manufacturer. SUMMARY The choice is of which type of co-ordination to use in any installation is strictly related to the network & design parameters. Its finally decided by making series of compromises in which the objectives in terms of reliability & practical requirement. are balanced against cost & the acceptable risk limits, Its ideal to have an installation with Cat B device on upstream & Cat A device on downstream to get the complete and failsafe discrimination. A judicious selection can also be done with MCCBs in most cases to, offer partial discrimination (10 to 20 kA) which can, ke care of the practical faults at different points of installation, This can help the user to optimize the size & ost of the installation while safeguarding the system against dangerous condition in day to day operations —+«—« + For futher detais on this subject, please contact > Eloctcal Systoms & Equipment, Larsen & Toubro, Sak-Vinar Road, PO. Box 8901, Powal, Mumbai 400 072 “Tel #91-22-0705 1748/2867 * Fax: 022-6708 1024" E-mait sm@ntebg.com ) 8866/4540 Fax ( Printed by Pintnia Offset A. Ltd,0 202, ShaimarIndusiral Esa, Matunga (Eas), Mumbai 40 018. Te 2407 7990/ \ 2402 4709 Emel: pds6@rectmalcom The views expressed ths magazine or not necessary ose ‘nsf || of the management of Larsen & Toubro The contonts of this magazine should not be roproducted without the ‘anton permission ofthe Elfor. Not for sale-only for ciculaion among the customers. Edlfarial Coordinators : Mahendra Gehio, ter ) | Swat Rangaraian Hama Shan