Power Engineering: Busbar size and calculation https://bralpowerassociate.blogspot.com/2013/10/busbar-size-and-calcula...

busbar at typically at 0.5 or 1 m centers. Tap-off units are plugged in along the length of FOLLOWERS Report abuse
the busbar to supply a load; this could be a sub distribution board or, in a factory, to
Followers (222)
individual machines. Tap-offs can normally be added or removed with busbar live, Next
eliminating production down time.
7. Installed vertically the same systems can be used for rising-mains applications, with tap-
offs feeding individual floors. Certified fire barriers are available at points where the
busbar passes through a floor slab. Protection devices such as fuses, switchfuses or circuit
breakers are located along the busbar run, reducing the need for large distribution boards
and the large quantities of distribution cables running to and from installed equipment.
8. Very compact so provides space savings.
9. Where aesthetics have to be considered, busbar trunking can be installed with natural
galvanized, aluminium, or painted finish. Special colours to match switchboards or a
specific colour scheme are also available on request.
10. Busbar trunking has several key advantages over conventional forms of power
distribution including: -
11. (a) Reduced, onsite installation times when compared to hard-wired systems thus leading
to cost savings.
a. Increased flexibility in design and versatility with regard to future
modifications.
b. Increased safety features brought about by the use of high quality, LABELS
manufactured components, which provide greater safety and peace of mind transformer metal content
for specifies, contractors and end-users.
12. Uneven distribution of current takes place where multiple runs of cables are used in
parallel.
13. Busbar trunking has tap-off points at regular intervals along each length to allow power to
be taken off and distributed to where it is needed. Because it is fully self-contained it
needs only to be mechanically mounted and electrically connected to be operational.
14. For higher ratings of power distribution we need to have multiple runs of cable. In such
conditions unbalanced distribution of current takes place and causing overheating of some
cable. This is completely avoided in the BTS systems.
15. When multiple runs of cables are used it often leads to improper end connections thereby
causing overheating of contacts, burning of cables ends, and is a major cause of fire. This
is completely avoided in Bus Bar Trunking systems.
Current carrying capacity
The current-carrying capacity of a busbar is usually determined by the maximum
temperature at which the bar is permitted to operate, as defined by national and
international standards such as British Standard BS 159, American Standard ANSI
C37.20, etc. These standards give maximum temperature rises as well as maximum
ambient temperatures.
BS 159 stipulates a maximum temperature rise of 50°C above a 24 hour mean ambient
temperature of up to 35°C, and a peak ambient temperature of 40°C.
ANSI C37.20 alternatively permits a temperature rise of 65°C above a maximum ambient
of 40°C, provided that silver-plated (or acceptable alternative) bolted terminations are
used. If not, a temperature rise of 30°C is allowed.
A very approximate method of estimating the current carrying capacity of a copper busbar
is to assume a current density of 2 A/mm2 (1250 A/in2) in still air. This method should
only be used to estimate a likely size of busbar, the final size being chosen after
consideration has been given to the calculation methods. Refer catalogue of
manufacturers.
The more popular thumb rule being followed in India is to assume current density of 1.0
Amps / Sq.mm for Aluminium and 1.6 Amps for Copper for any standard rectangular
conductor profile.
Standard size of bus bar
Sr. Application Cable busbar
area
1 Number of One circuit per floor. Just one circuit can cover all floors.
circuits Hence for a 20-floor
building, you need 20
circuits.
2 Main Need 1 outgoing for Need only 1 outgoing for each riser.
Switchboard each circuit. Hence 20 Lower cost and size of main panel.
nos. MCCB outgoings.

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Higher cost and larger

space requirement in
electrical room
3 Shaft Size Using 4 core cables, Typical size of 1600A riser is
and considering 1 185mm x 180mm. Leads to big
cable per feeder, you savings on riser shaft size, and hence
need 20 cables on the more usable floor area on every
lowest floor. Large floor.
space required for
cables/ cable tray.
4 Fire & safety The high concentration The volume of insulating materials
of insulating materials used in trunking is reduced to a
used in cables and minimum so combustive energy is
conductors involves a considerably lower than cables. The
very high level of insulating materials used do not
combustive energy. release corrosive or toxic gases in
the event of a fire. Once the source
of the fire is removed, these
materials are extinguished in a few
seconds so that the effect of the fire
is minimised
5 Future load on any floor By providing extra tap off slots on
expansion exceeds initial plan, each floor at the design stage, owner
owner has to run an only has to procure a tap off box and
additional cable from a plug it in wherever additional load is
spare feeder on main required. As the plug in can be done
board to that floor. live, there is no shut down required
for any of the existing clients /
circuits. Future Flexibility.
6 Fault Limited by conductor Much higher – typically a 1600 A
withstand size of each circuit. riser has a fault withstand capability
levels of 60 to 70 kA. Safer in an electrical
fault.
7 Installation Much longer Each riser on a 20-floor building can
time be installed in approximately 2 to 3
days.
8 Voltage drop High impedance if you Much lower impedance. Hence
choose cable size substantially lower voltage drop.
based on each floor
current rating.

Busbars Reduce System Costs

A laminated busbar will lower manufacturing costs by decreasing assembly time as well
as internal material handling costs. Various conductors are terminated at customer
specified locations to eliminate the guesswork usually associated with assembly operating
procedures. A reduced parts count will reduce ordering, material handling and inventory
costs.
Bus bars Improve Reliability
Laminated bus bars can help your organization build quality into processes. The
reduction of wiring errors results in fewer reworks, lower service costs and lower quality
costs.
Bus bars Increase Capacitance
Increased capacitance results in decreasing characteristic impedance. This will ultimately
lead to greater effective signal suppression and noise elimination. Keeping the dielectrics
thin and using dielectrics with a high relative K factor will increase capacitance.
Eliminate Wiring Errors
By replacing a standard cable harnesses with bus bars, the possibility for miss-wirings is
eliminated. Wiring harnesses have high failure rates relative to bus bars, which have
virtually none. These problems are very costly to repair. Adding bus bars to your systems
is effective insurance.
Bus bars Lower Inductance
Any conductor carrying current will develop an electromagnetic field. The use of thin
parallel conductors with a thin dielectric laminated together minimizes the effect of
inductance on electrical circuits. Magnetic flux cancellation is maximized when opposing
potentials are laminated together. Laminated bus bars have been designed to reduce the

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proximity effect in many semiconductor applications as well as applications that involve

high electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Bus bars Lower Impedance
Increasing the capacitance and reducing the inductance is a determining factor in
eliminating noise. Keeping the dielectric thickness to a minimum will accomplish the
highly desired low impedance.
Bus bars Provide Denser Packaging
The use of wide, thin conductors laminated together led to decreased space requirements.
Laminated bus bars have helped decrease total system size and cost.
Bus bars Provide Wider Variety of Interconnection Methods
The flexibility of bus bars has allowed an unlimited number of interconnection styles to
choose from. Bushings, embossments, and fasten tabs are most commonly used.
Bus bars Improve Thermal Characteristics
The wide, thin conductors are favourable to allowing better airflow in systems. As
package sizes decrease, the cost of removing heat from systems has greatly increased. A
bus bar cannot only reduce the overall size required, but it can also improve airflow with
its sleek design.
Material: The copper will be of ETP grade as per DIN 13601-2002 and with oxygen free
copper.
Chemical composition: Purity of copper will be as per DIN EN 13601:2002. Copper +
Silver 99.90% min.
Typical example
Rating Current: 3200Amp.
System:415Vac, TPN, 50Hz.
Fault Level: 50KA. For 1 Sec.
Operation Temp:40° C rise over 45 ° C ambient.

CONSIDERATION
Enclosure size: 1400 mm. wide X 400mm. height
Bus bar Size: 2:200x10 per Ph., 1:200x10 for Neutral.
Bus bar material: Electrolytic gr. Al. (IS 63401/AA6101)

Short Circuit Rating

-upto 400A rated current: 25KA for 1 sec.
-600 to 1000A rated current: 50KA for 1 sec.
-1250 to 2000A rated current: 65-100KA for 1 sec.
-2500 to 5000A rated current: 100-225KA for 1 sec.

The minimum cross section needed in sqmm for busbar in various common cases can be
listed as below-

Material Fault level Withstand time

(KA)
1 sec. 200 msec. 40 ms. 10 ms.
35 443 198 89 44
Aluminium 50 633 283 127 63
65 823 368 165 82

35 285 127 57 28
Copper 50 407 182 81 41
65 528 236 106 53

Let us select a busbar with an example:

1) Aluminium busbar for 2000A, 35 kA for 1 sec withstand – From the table the
minimum cross-section needed would be 443 mm2. Thus we can select a 100mm x 5mm
busbar as the minimum cross-section. Considering a current density of 1A/ mm2 by
considering temperature as well as skin effect, we shall require 4 x 100mm x 5mm
busbars for this case.

2) Copper busbar for 2000A, 35 kA for 1 sec withstand – From the table the minimum
cross-section needed would be 285 mm2. Thus we can select a 60mm x 5mm busbar as

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the minimum cross-section. Considering a current density of 1.6A/ mm2 by considering

temperature as well as skin effect, we shall require 4 x 60mm x 5mm busbars for this
case.

Thus, by using the above formula and table, we can easily select busbars for our
switchboards.
Size in Area Weight current carrying capacity in amp ( copper ) at 35 deg.C
mm sqmm / km AC ( no. of bus) DC ( no. of bus)
I II III II II I II III II II
12X2 24 0.209 110 200 115 205
15X2 30 0.262 140 200 145 245
15X3 75 0.396 170 300 175 305
20X2 40 0.351 185 315 190 325
20X3 60 0.529 220 380 225 390
20X5 100 0.882 295 500 300 510
25X3 75 0.663 270 460 275 470
25X5 125 1.11 350 600 355 610
30X3 90 0.796 315 540 320 560
30X5 150 1.33 400 700 410 720
40X3 120 1.06 420 710 430 740
40X5 200 1.77 520 900 530 930
40X10 400 3.55 760 1350 1850 2500 770 1400 2000
50X5 250 2.22 630 1100 1650 2100 650 1150 1750
50X10 500 4.44 920 1600 2250 3000 960 1700 2500
60X5 300 2.66 760 1250 1760 2400 780 1300 1900 2500
60X10 600 5.33 1060 1900 2600 3500 1100 2000 2800 3600
80X5 400 3.55 970 1700 2300 3000 1000 1800 2500 3200
80X10 800 7.11 1380 2300 3100 4200 1450 2600 3700 4800
100X5 500 4.44 1200 2050 2850 3500 1250 2250 3150 4050
100X1 1000 8.89 1700 2800 3650 5000 1800 3200 4500 5800
0
120X1 1200 10.7 2000 3100 4100 5700 2150 3700 5200 6700
0
160X1 1600 14.2 2500 3900 5300 7300 2800 4800 6900 9000
0
200X1 2000 17.8 3000 4750 6350 8800 3400 6000 8500 1000
0 0

Temperature rise

During the short circuiting, the bus bar should be able to withstand the thermal as well as
mechanical stress. When a sort circuiting takes place, the temperature rise is directly
proportional to the squire of the rms value of the fault current. The duration of short
circuiting is very small i.e. one second till the breakers opens and clears the fault. The
heat dissipation through convection and radiation during this short duration is negligible
and all the heat is observed by the busbar itself. The temperature rise due to the fault can
be calculated by applying the formulae.

T = K (I/A) 2 (1+αθ) 10-2

T=temperature rise per second
A= conductor cross section area
α = temperature coefficient of resistivity at 20 deg.C/deg.C
= 0 .00393 for copper
= 0 .00386 for aluminium
K = constant
=0.52 for copper
=1.166 for aluminium
θ = temperature of the conductor at the instant at which the temperature rise is being
calculated.

Typical calculation

Rated current = 1000A

Fault current = 50KA for 1 sec
Permissible temperature rise= 40 deg.C

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