ASANSOL INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT – POLYTECHNIC

ASANSOL

2.4.2 L.V.- Air circuit breakers (ACB),miniature circuit breakers ( M C B ) , Moulded case circuit breakers ( M
C C B ) , Earth leakage circuit breaker ( E L C B or R C CB ), Comparison of fuse & MCCB 2.5 Selection of
MCCB for motor. 2.6 Selection and rating of circuit breakers - breaking capacity, making capacity, rated
operating duty, rated voltage. 2.7 Elementary idea of Auto-reclosing.

Pre-test:

1. What do you mean by LV circuit breaker?

2. What is the difference between air circuit breaker and air blast circuit breaker?
3. What is the full form of MCCB, ELCB and RCCB?
4. What do you mean by arc chute in air circuit breaker?
Introduction: A low - voltage circuit breaker is one which is suited for circuits rated at 600 volts or
lower. Low-voltage types are common in domestic, commercial and industrial application, and include: MCB)
(Miniature circuit breaker), Molded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB) and Earth leakage circuit breaker ( E L C B
or R C CB ).
Main body:

Air circuit breaker:

Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) is an electrical device used to provide Over current and short-circuit protection for
electric circuits over 800 Amps to 10K Amps. These are usually used in low voltage applications below 450V.
We can find these systems in Distribution Panels (below 450V). Air circuit breaker is circuit operation breaker
that operates in the air as an arc extinguishing medium, at a given atmospheric pressure.

The air circuit breaker, operated within the voltage level 1 KV, does not require any arc control device. These
breakers normally have two pairs of contacts. The main pair of contacts carries the current at normal load and
these contacts are made of copper. The additional pair is the arcing contact and is made of carbon. When circuit
breaker is being opened, the main contacts open first and during opening of main contacts the arcing contacts
are still in touch with each other. As the current gets, a parallel low resistive path through the arcing contact
during opening of main contacts, there will not be any arcing in the main contact. The arcing is only initiated
when finally the arcing contacts are separated. The each of the arc contacts is fitted with an arc runner which
helps, the arc discharge to move upward due to both thermal and electromagnetic effects as shown in the figure.
As the arc is driven upward it enters in the arc chute, consisting of splitters. The arc in chute will become
colder, lengthen and split hence arc voltage becomes much larger than system voltage at the time of operation
of air circuit breaker, and therefore the arc is quenched finally during the current zero.
 Although these types of circuit breakers have
become obsolete for medium voltage application, but they are still preferable choice for high current rating in
low voltage application.

MCB:

MCBs or Miniature Circuit Breakers are electromechanical devices which protect an electrical circuit from an
over current. The over current, in an electrical circuit, may result from short circuit, overload or faulty design.
An MCB is a better alternative to a Fuse since it does not require replacement once an overload is detected.
Unlike fuse, an MCB can be easily reset and thus offers improved operational safety and greater convenience
without incurring large operating cost.
The principal of operation is simple. An MCB functions by interrupting the continuity of electrical flow
through the circuit once a fault is detected. In simple terms MCB is a switch which automatically turns off when
the current flowing through it passes the maximum allowable limit. Generally MCB are designed to protect
against over current and over temperature faults (over heating).

There are two contacts one is fixed and the other moveable. When the current exceeds the predefined limit a
solenoid forces the moveable contact to open (i.e., disconnect from the fixed contact) and the MCB turns off
thereby stopping the current to flow in the circuit. In order to restart the flow of current the MCB is manually
turned on. This mechanism is used to protect from the faults arising due to over current or over load.
To protect against fault arising due to over heating or increase in temperature a bi-metallic strip is used. MCBs
are generally designed to trip within 2.5 millisecond when an over current fault arises. In case of temperature
rise or over heating it may take 2 seconds to 2 minutes for the MCB to trip.
MCCB

Moulded Case Circuit Breakers are electromechanical devices which protect a circuit from Overcurrent and
Short Circuit. They provide Overcurrent and Short Circuit Protection for circuits ranging from 63 Amps up to
3000 Amps.
Moulded case circuit breakers generally have a
  Thermal element for over current and
 Magnetic element for short circuit release which has to operate faster.
MCCBs are manufactured such that end user will not have access to internal workings of the over-current
protection device. Generally constructed of two pieces of heavy-duty electrically insulated plastic, these two
halves are riveted together to form the whole. Inside the plastic shell is a series of thermal elements and a
Spring-loaded trigger. When the thermal element gets too warm, from an over current situation, the spring trips,
which in turn will shut off the electrical circuit.
ELCB and RCCB
ELCB is short form of Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker which is a Residual Current
device (RCD). RCCB is also another synonym for ELCB definition of which is Residual Current Operating
Circuit Breaker.
A Residual Current Device (RCCB, ELCB, RCBO etc.) is a device that is designed to provide protection
against electrical fires by cutting off the flow of electric automatically when it senses a 'leakage' of electric
current from a circuit.
Operating principle :
Working Principle of Voltage ELCB:
Voltage ELCB is a voltage operated device. It has a coil and if the voltage across the coil exceeds a
predetermined value such as 50 V, the current through the coil will be sufficient enough to trip the circuit.

Voltage ELCB is connected in between the metallic part of equipment and the Earth. If we take an example of
insulation failure, then the voltage across the coil of Voltage ELCB will drive enough current to cut the power
supply till the manually reset.

Working Principle of Current ELCB:

The working of Current ELCB is quite interesting but easy. Current operated ELCB is also known as Residual
Current Device, RCD. A Residual Current Device (RCD) has a toroidal iron core over which phase and neutral
windings are wound. A search coil is also wound on the same iron core which in turn is connected to the trip
coil. Figure below shows the constructional detail of RCD or Current ELCB.
 Under normal operating condition, the current through the phase winding and neutral winding are same but both
the windings are wound in such a manner to oppose the mmfs of each other, therefore net mmf in the toroidal
iron core will be zero. Let us consider a condition where earth leakage current exists in the load side. In this
case the current through the phase and neutral will no longer be equal rather phase current will be more than the
neutral current. Thus mmf produced by phase winding will be more than the mmf produced by neutral winding
because of which a net mmf will exist in the toroidal iron core.

Net mmf in Core = mmf by phase winding – mmf by neutral winding

This net mmf in the core will link with the Search Coil and as the mmf is changing in nature (current is AC), an
emf will be induced across the terminals of the Search Coil. This emf will in turn drive a current through the
Trip Coil which will pull (because of current flow through the Trip Coil, it will behave as an electromagnet and
hence will pull the lever to open contact) the supply contacts to isolate the power supply. Notice that Current
ELCB works on Residual Current that is the reason it is also called Residual Current Device.
Advantages of MCB over fuse:

1. MCB is more sensitive to current than fuse. It detects any abnormality in the current flow and
automatically switches off the electrical circuit.
2. In case of MCB, the faulty zone of electrical circuit can be easily identified. Faulty circuit trips to
the off position. On the other hand in case of fuse, the complete fuse wire needs to be checked by
opening fuse grip for confirming the faulty zone.
3. With MCB it is very simple to resume to the supply. You just need to push the knob of MCB back
to on position. But in case of fuse, the entire fuse wire needs to be replaced.
4. MCB provides a better interface with the help of knob than a fuse. In case of fuse the compete handle
needs to be taken care out.
5. Handling MCB is electrically safer than handling a fuse.
6. MCB is reusable and hence has less maintenance and replacement cost. Whereas a fuse needs to be
replaced whenever it goes faulty.

MCCBs are used for overload, short circuit, earth fault and neutral protections. However selection parameters
change with respect to the loads & applications. Typical Selection parameters:
 Current rating
 Breaking capacity
 Type of protection- Thermal or Micro processor based
 System voltage
Selection of MCCB for motor:
 Motor starting current is one of the most important electrical parameter of motor to understand its electrical
characteristics. The current drawn by the motor in different phases is shown in the diagram below.
 Sub transient phase
 Transient phase
 Steady state operation.

During the initial phase of motor starting, there exists a sub transient current, which is generally known
as inrush current or peak current. The duration of this current is generally in milliseconds.
This current is due to magnetising inrush component of the motor starting current. While selecting an MCCB
for motor application, it is recommended that the instantaneous release setting in the MCCB is set to a value
higher than the highest anticipated magnetising inrush current, while switching-on the motor.
The values for Magnetising inrush current (sub transient phase) are higher in case of high efficiency motors as
compared to standard efficiency motors. Basically for energy efficient motors, X/R ratio of the system is higher
hence the asymmetry component is also higher. By theoretical and empirical means it is established that the
maximum ratio between peak and LRC can go upto 2.5 for high efficiency motors.

Different selection and rating of circuit breaker:

Breaking capacity: This is the maximum short circuit current which a circuit breaker can withstand before it,
finally cleared by opening its contacts. Hence short circuit breaking capacity or short circuit breaking current
of circuit breaker is defined as maximum current can flow through the breaker from time of occurring short
circuit to the time of clearing the short circuit without any permanent damage in the CB.
The value of short circuit breaking current is expressed in RMS.
Making capacity: The short circuit making capacity of circuit breaker is expressed in peak value not in rms
value like breaking capacity. As the rated short circuit making current of circuit breaker is expressed in
maximum peak value, it is always more than rated short circuit breaking current of circuit breaker. Normally
value of short circuit making current is 2.5 times more than short circuit breaking current.
Rated operating duty: This is mechanical duty requirement of circuit breaker operating mechanism. The
sequence of rated operating duty of a circuit breaker has been specified as
Where, O indicates opening operationofCB.CO represents closing operation time which is immediately
followed by an opening operation without any intentional time delay.
t' is time between two operations which is necessary to restore the initial conditions and / or to prevent undue
heating of conducting parts of circuit breaker. t = 0.3 sec for circuit breaker intended for first auto re closing
duty, if not otherwise specified. Suppose rated duty circle of a circuit breaker is

This means, an opening operation of circuit breaker is followed by a closing operation after a time interval of
0.3 sec, and then the circuit breaker again opens without any intentional time delay. After this opening operation
the CB is again closed after 3 minutes and then instantly trips without any intentional time delay.

Rated voltage. Rated voltage of circuit breaker depends upon its insulation system. For below 400 KV
systems, the circuit breaker is designed to withstand 10% above the normal system voltage. For above or equal
400 KV system the insulation of circuit breaker should be capable of withstanding 5% above the normal system
voltage. That means, rated voltage of circuit breaker corresponds to the highest system voltage.
Elementary idea of Auto-reclosing:

Electric power distribution, a recloser, or autorecloser, is a circuit breaker equipped with a mechanism that can
automatically close the breaker after it has been opened due to a fault. Reclosers are used on overhead
distribution systems to detect and interrupt momentary faults. Since many short-circuit on overhead lines clear
themselves, a recloser improves service continuity by automatically restoring power to the line after a
momentary fault.
In order to prevent damage, each station along the network is protected with circuit breakers or fuses which will
turn off power in the event of a short circuit. This presents a major problem dealing with transient events. For
instance, a tree limb that is blown off a tree during a windstorm and lands on the line may cause a short circuit
that could cause damage. However, the fault will quickly clear itself as the limb falls to the ground. If the only
protection system is the breakers at the distribution centres, large areas of the grid would be blacked out while
the repair crew resets the breakers.
Reclosers address this problem by further dividing up the network into smaller sections. For instance, the city
grid example above might be equipped with reclosers at every branch point on the network. Reclosers, because
of their position in the network, handle much less power than the breakers at the feeder stations, and therefore
can be set to trip at much lower power levels. This means that a single event on the grid will cut off only the
section handled by the single recloser, long before the feeder station would notice a problem. A normal breaker
could also be used for this role, but because they are distributed geographically throughout the grid, as opposed
to being centralized at feeder stations, resetting a breaker might take considerable time. For this reason,
reclosers are used to automatically re-connect after a brief interval. There is a strong likelihood that the fault
will be gone when the power is restored. If the fault is still present, the recloser opens again.
Summary:

1. A low - voltage circuit breaker is one which is suited for circuits rated at 600 volts or lower.

2. Low-voltage types are common in domestic, commercial and industrial application, and include:
MCB) (Miniature circuit breaker), Molded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB) and Earth leakage
circuit breaker ( E L C B or R C CB ).
3. Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) is an electrical device used to provide Over current and short-circuit
protection for electric circuits over 800 Amps to 10K Amps.
4. MCBs or Miniature Circuit Breakers are electromechanical devices which protect an electrical
circuit from an over current.
5. Moulded Case Circuit Breakers are electromechanical devices which provide Over current and
Short Circuit Protection for circuits ranging from 63 Amps up to 3000 Amps.
6. ELCB is short form of Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker which is a Residual Current
device (RCD). RCCB is also another synonym for ELCB definition of which is Residual
Current Operating Circuit Breaker
 7. A Residual Current Device (RCCB, ELCB, RCBO etc.) is a device that is designed to provide
protection against electrical fires by cutting off the flow of electric automatically when it senses
a 'leakage' of electric current from a circuit.
8. Breaking capacity of a circuit breaker is the maximum short circuit current which a circuit
breaker can withstand before it, finally cleared by opening its contacts.
9. The value of short circuit breaking current is expressed in RMS
10. The short circuit making capacity of circuit breaker is expressed in peak value not in rms
value like breaking capacity.
11. Normally value of short circuit making current is 2.5 times more than short circuit breaking
current.

Post-test:

1. What is the difference between MCB and MCCB?

2. What is the difference between MCCB and fuse?
3. Write short notes on selection and rating parameters of CB.

Home assignment:

1. What is the difference between ELCB and RCCB?

2. Write short notes on elementary idea of reclosing.