SWITCHGEARS

SWITCHGEARS : Definition
• Switchgear is a general term covering all equipment
used for :
- switching,
- protection,
- control and
- isolation in a power system.
• All equipment used for fault clearing is covered by
the term switchgear.
• Switchgears are used in Generation, Transmission
and Distribution Systems, whereas, Control Gears
are used in Consumer Circuits.
 Necessity of Switchgears

Switchgears are necessary at every

switching point in the power system
because there are several voltage levels
and fault levels which has to be
controlled and protected by accessible
switching devices and for isolation, if the
need arises.
 Principal Switchgears

Principal Switchgears are the main

equipment concerned with the
process of switching and isolating
circuits in a power system.
 Auxiliary Switchgears

Auxiliary Switchgears are secondary

or subsidiary equipment which assist
the main switchgear equipment in the
control, measurement, protection and
fault-clearing process.
 Examples of Principal Switchgears:
SWITCHING DEVICES
(a) Circuit Breakers
• (b) Isolators (Disconnector or
Disconnecting Switch)
• (c) Earthing Switches
• (d) Load Switches (Ring Main Units)
• (e) Contactors
 Examples of Auxiliary Switchgears

PROTECTION DEVICES
• (i) Protection Relays
• (j) Lightning Arresters
• (k) Feeder Pillars
• (l) Fuses.
Examples of Auxiliary Switchgears
• SENSING DEVICES
• Voltage (Potential) Transformers
• Current Transformers
Examples of Auxiliary Switchgears :

CONTROL (COMPENSATION) DEVICES

• Series Inductive Reactors
• Shunt Inductive Reactors
• Series Capacitive Reactors
• Shunt Capacitive Reactors
Examples of Auxiliary Switchgears
AUXILIARY POWER SUPPLY DEVICES
• Tripping Units (Battery Bank & Charger)
 Switch gear - It's function
SWITCHGEAR : Gear for Switching

Control & Sensing Decision Making

Switching Devices Devices Devices

Circuit breakers Current Transformers; Protective Relays

Isolators Voltage Transformers; Lightning Arresters
Reactors; Fuses
Switches
Tripping Units.
 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
a) Definition: A CB is a device capable of
making and breaking an electric circuit
under normal and abnormal conditions
such as short circuit.

b) Functions: A CB is a switching and current

interrupting device
 The CB serves two basic purposes:

i. Switching during normal operating

conditions for the purpose of operation
and maintenance.

ii. Switching during abnormal conditions

such as short circuits and interrupting
the fault current.
A circuit breaker is required to perform the
following three duties:
1. It must be capable of opening the faulty circuit
and breaking the fault current.
2. It must be capable of being closed onto a fault
3. Must be capable of carrying fault current for a
short time while another breaker is clearing the
fault.
Depending on the above duties circuit breaker has
three ratings breaking capacity, making capacity
and short time capacity.
 CLASSIFICATION OF CBs
CBs are classified according to the following
categories:
a. RATED VOLTAGE:
b. MEDIUM OF ARC EXTINCTION;
c. TYPE OF OPERATING MECHANISM;
d. TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION;
e. STRUCTURAL FORM.
 ARC-EXTINCTION MEDIA
EMPLOYED IN CBs
• (a) Atmospheric Air
• (b) Compressed Air
• (b) Dielectric Oil (Transformer Oil).
• (c) Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Gas.
• (d) Vacuum.
 CURRENT INTERRUPTION
MODES
(a) High Resistance Current Interruption Mode is
employed in all HVDC CBs and in ABCBs by the
automatic insertion of high resistance in the CB
circuit, milli-seconds, prior to current- interruption,
to divert and extinguished arcing.
(b) Zero-Point Current Interruption mode is
employed in all ac cbs by extinguishing
the arcing by the timing of the zero-
value position of the current wave form
with the rapid operation of the operating
mechanism to achieve rapid build-up of
dielectric strength of the contact space.
 FAULT CLEARING
PROCEDURE OF A CB
 FAULT-CLEARING PROCESS OF
A CIRCUIT BREAKERS
If we consider a fault occurrence and clearing
process of a circuit breaker, the following
order or sequence of operation is observed.
FAULT OCCURS: As the fault occurs, the
fault impedance being low, the currents
increases and the relay gets actuated. The
moving parts of the relay move because of
the increase in the operating torque. The
relay takes some time to close its contacts.
RELAY CONTACT CLOSES: The relay
contacts closes the trip – circuit of the circuit
breaker and the trip-coil is energised from the
control voltage supply from a battery bank of
tripping unit.
OPERATING MECHANISM OPERATES:
As the trip – coil is energized, appropriate
plunger, toggles, latches or valves are
operated, which enables the actuation of the
operating mechanism for the opening
operation to separate the circuit breaker
contacts.
ARCING: Arc is drawn between the
separating contacts, because the charged
electrons surrounding the separating contacts
tries to re-establish potential between the
contacts.
• CLEARANCE: ISOLATION: The arc is
extinguished in the circuit breaker by
appropriate suitable techniques at some
natural currents zero of a.c. wave. The
process of current interruption is completed
when the arc is extinguished, current
reaches final zero value and the arc does not
restrike again. The fault is said to be
cleared.
 BREAKING CAPACITY

It is current that a circuit breaker is capable of

breaking at a given recovery voltage under
specified conditions. The breaking capacity is
always stated at the RMS value of fault current
at the instant of contact separation. When a fault
occurs there is considerable a symmetry in the fault
current due to presence of DC component. The DC
component dies away rapidly. The contacts are
separated at DD’as shown in figure (next slide)
A typical relay circuit
 Trip circuit of circuit breakers

• Consider a simplified circuit of a typical relay as shown in the

figure (of a typical relay circuit) usually the relay circuit is a
three-phase circuit and the contact circuit of relays is very much
complicated.
• The figure shows a single phase simplified circuit to explain the
basic action of a relay.
• Let part A is the circuit to be protected. The current transformer
C.T. is connected with its primary in series with the line to be
protected. The secondary of C.T. is connected in series with the
relay coil.
• The relay contacts are the part of a trip circuit of a circuit
breaker. The trip circuit consists of a trip coil and a battery, in
addition to relay contacts. The trip circuit can operate on AC or
DC
Relay with make type contact
Relay with break type contact (using C.T.s)
 Break type
contact relay
using P.T. to
derive energy
to keep relay
coils energized
 Give a comparison of different types of Circuit
breakers to show the differences in terms of: Type,
Medium, Voltage Breaking capacity, Design
feature and any comments
Dimensions of Breaking Current
 Circuit Breakers
• A circuit breaker is an automatically operated
electrical switch designed to protect an electrical
circuit from damage caused by overloading or short
circuit.
• It protects the circuit by interrupting the current
flowing in the line, transformer etc…
• A breaker interrupts the current by mechanically
moving electrical contacts apart inside an interrupter,
causing an arc to occur that is immediately suppressed
by the high-dielectric medium inside the interrupter.
 Circuit Breakers
• A simple circuit breaker has the following
components :
– Electromagnet /bimetallic strip
– Moving Contact
– Switch
– Stationary Contact
– Upper and lower terminal
– Catch
 Circuit Breakers
 Basically the circuit breaker consist of a simple
switch connected to either an electromagnet or a
bimetallic strip.
 When the current reaches onwards to the unsafe
levels then the electricity magnetizes the
electromagnet and the electromagnet is strong
enough to pull down a metal lever connected to the
switch linkage.
 Due to this operation the entire linkage shifts, tilting
the moving contact away from the stationary contact
to break the circuit and the electricity shuts off.
 Circuit Breakers
• The figure below shows a low voltage
circuit breaker

http://circuitbreakerstips.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/circuit-breaker-
diagram.gif
 Circuit Breakers
• The most important types of circuit breakers
are the following:
– Oil circuit breakers (OCBs)
– Air-blast circuit breakers
– SF6 circuit breakers
– Vacuum Circuit breakers
 Oil circuit breakers (OCBs)
• They interrupt arc in clean oil.
• The interrupting contacts or interrupters are inside
the oil filled tanks.
• The oil here is basically used to extinguish the arc.
• The intense heat of the arc decomposes the oil and
produces gases, mainly composed of hydrogen,
generating high pressure that produces a fluid flow
through the arc carrying its energy away until its
total extension
 Advantages of OCBs
• Can be used in a range of low to high voltage.
• Dielectric strength of oil is high compared to
air.
 Disadvantages of OCBs
• Environmental hazard if oil is spilled
• Oil needs to be replaced after certain time
because with passage of time it looses its
dielectric strength.
• Oil becomes contaminated, during arc
suppression, with gases.
 SF6 Gas Circuit Breakers
• The contacts are enclosed in a sealed
chamber filled with SF6 gas.
• SF6 has very high dielectric strength, much
greater than that of oil.
• It interrupts the current faster than the
OCBs.
 Advantages of SF6 Gas Circuit
Breakers
• Gas used is non flammable
• Current is interrupted much quickly
• Equipment dimensions are comparatively
small because of the gas
 Disadvantages of SF6 Gas Circuit
Breakers
• The gas turns into liquid at very low
temperatures.
• It is difficult to maintain correct gas
pressure
Vacuum Circuit Breakers (VCBs)
• They extinguish the arc by opening the
contacts in vacuum.
• When the breaker is opened the arc is
extinguished very quickly.
 Advantages/Disadvantages of
Vacuum Circuit Breakers
• Smaller and lighter than air circuit breakers.
• Arc is extinguished very quickly
• If the vacuum leaks out you can’t vacuum
it.
• The operation life is limited.
 Air Circuit Breakers
• They use compressed air to blow out the
arc.
Advantages/Disadvantages of ACBs

• Inexpensive
• Simple installation
• Simple construction
• Simple maintenance requirements
• Large size
• Time to extinguish the arc can be large
compared to other circuit breakers
 Reclosers
➢Circuit breakers equipped with a
mechanism that can automatically close the
breaker after it has been opened due to a
fault.
➢They can be programmed to trip at specific
over current conditions and reclose at
specific time intervals.
➢Reclosers are typically set to trip and
reclose two or three times before a lock out
 Disconnect Switches
• They are used in substations or power lines.
• They are used to isolate or deenergize
equipment for maintenance purposes,
transfer load from one source to another in
planned or emergency conditions.
• They cannot interrupt load currents and so
they are opened or closed when the current
is zero.
 Disconnect Switches
• The figure below shows a disconnect switch:

http://www.joslynhivoltage.com/pdffiles/db710
-204.pdf
 Disconnect Switches
• The figure below shows another disconnect
switch:

http://www.joslynhivoltage.com/pdffiles/db710
-204.pdf
 Lightning Arresters
 The simplest lightning arresters are metallic rods
that rise above the highest point of a building,
channeling the lightning toward a ground
electrode by means of a conducting wire.
 This prevents the high current from passing
through the building itself, which might cause a
fire or endanger its occupants.
 Much more sophisticated lightning arresters are
used on electrical utility systems. They divert
lightning and high-voltage switching surges to
ground preventing the damage to the costly and
critical electrical equipment.
 Electrical Buses
• A bus is a conductor, or group of conductors,
that serves as a common connection between
two or more circuits.
• The purpose of the electrical bus in substations
is to connect equipment together.
 Fuse
• A fuse is a short piece of metal inserted in the
circuit which melts when excessive current flows
through it and thus breaks the circuit.
• The action of a fuse is based upon the heating
effect of the electric current.
• The fuse element is generally made of materials
having low melting point and high conductivity
e.g. silver, copper etc…
• It is inserted in series with the circuit to be
protected.
 Fuse
Under normal operating conditions when the
current flowing through the circuit is within the
safe limits, the heat developed in the fuse is
dissipated to the surrounding air and so the fuse
element remains at a temperature below its
melting point.

However when some fault occurs and the current

exceeds the limiting value, the heat generated due
to this excessive current cannot be dissipated fast
enough and the fuse melts and breaks the circuit.
 Fuse
• By breaking the circuit it protects the
machine or equipment from damage due to
excessive current.
 Design Principle of Fuse
• The time for blowing out of the fuse depends upon the
magnitude of the excessive current.
• Larger the current, the more rapidly the fuse will
blow.
 Advantages of Fuse
 It is the cheapest form of protection available
 It needs no maintenance
 Its action is completely automatic compared to a
circuit breaker
 It can break heavy short circuit currents without
noise or smoke
 The inverse time current characteristics of a fuse
makes it suitable for over current protection
 Minimum time of operation can be made much
shorter than with the circuit breaker.
 Disadvantages of Fuse
• Time is wasted in rewiring or replacing the
fuse.
• On heavy short circuits discrimination
between fuses in series cannot be obtained
unless there is sufficient difference in the
sizes of the fuses concerned.
– Discrimination between two fuses is said to
occur if on the occurrence of a short circuit or
over current fault, only the desired fuse
operates.
 Desirable characteristics of Fuse
• To perform its function satisfactorily the fuse
element should have the following desirable
characteristics
– Low melting point e.g. tin, lead
– High conductivity e.g. silver, copper
– Free from deterioration from oxidation e.g. silver
– Low cost e.g. lead, tin, copper
• From the above we can see that no material
possesses all the desired characteristics.
Therefore a compromise is made in the selection
of material of a fuse.
 Fuse element materials
• The most commonly used materials for fuse
are lead, tin, copper, zinc and silver.
• For small current up to 10 A tin or an alloy
of lead and tin is used for making the fuse
element.
• Zinc is used if a fuse with considerable
time-lag is required.
 Fuse element materials
• Silver is preferred despite its high cost due
to the following reasons:
– It is comparatively free form oxidation.
– It does not deteriorate when used in dry air
– Conductivity of silver is very high
 Important Terms
 Some terms which are used in analysis of fuses
are as below:
1. Current rating of fuse element: it is the
current which a fuse element can normally
carry without melting.
2. Fusing Current: It is the minimum current at
which fuse element melts and thus
disconnects the circuit protected by it.
 Important Terms
3. Fusing Factor: it is the ratio of minimum fusing
current to the current rating of the fuse element.
4. Prospective Current: it is the r.m.s value of the
first loop of the fault current obtained if the fuse
is replaced by an ordinary conductor of
negligible resistance.
5. Cut-off Current: it is the maximum value of fault
current actually reached before the fuse melts.
 Important Terms
The value of the cut off current depends upon:
◦ Current rating of the fuse
◦ Value of Prospective current
6. Pre-Arcing Time: it is the time between the
commencement if fault and the instant when
the cut off occurs. Generally a small value of
about 0.001 second.
7. Arcing time: this is the time between the end
of pre-arcing time and the instant when the
arc is extinguished.
 Important Terms
8. Total operating time: it is the sum of pre
arcing and arcing times.
9. Breaking Capacity or interrupting
capacity: is the current that a fuse is able
to interrupt without being destroyed
Figure 2 gives a clear picture of the above
mentioned terms.
 Important Terms
Figure below gives a clear picture of the
above
mentioned terms.
 Types of fuses
• Fusses may be classified into
– Low voltage fuse
– High voltage fuse
• Low Voltage Fuse: it can be further divided
into two classes
– Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse
– High rupturing capacity (H.R.C) cartridge fuse
Semi-Enclosed Rewireable Fuse
 Semi-Enclosed Rewireable Fuse: it is used where
low values of fault current are to be interrupted.
 It consists of a base and a fuse carrier. The base is
of porcelain and carries the fixed contacts to which
the incoming and outgoing phase wires are
connected.
 The fuse carrier is also of porcelain and holds the
fuse element between its terminals.
 When a fault occurs, the fuse element is blown out.
Semi-Enclosed Rewireable Fuse
• The figure below shows a semi enclosed
rewireable fuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MEM_
1957_fuseholders.jpg
 Advantages of Semi-Enclosed
Rewireable Fuse
• The detachable fuse carrier permits the
replacements of fuse element without any
danger of coming in contact with live parts.
• The cost of replacement is negligible.
 Disadvantages of Semi-Enclosed
Rewireable Fuse
• Possibility that the wire which is replaced
may of wrong size or improper material.
• This type of fuse has low breaking capacity
and cannot be used in circuits of high fault
level.
• The heating element is continuously heated
so it gets deteriorated. So the current rating
of the fuse decreases.
 High Rupturing Capacity (H.R.C)
Cartridge Fuse
• It consists of a heat resisting ceramic body
having metal end-caps to which is welded
silver current carrying element.
• The space within the body surrounding the
element is completely packed with a filling
powder.
• The filling material may be chalk, plaster of
paris, quartz or marble dust. It acts as an arc
quenching and cooling medium.
 High Rupturing Capacity (H.R.C)
Cartridge Fuse

http://www.gwsupplies.co.uk/electrica
http://www.indiamart.com/rosma- l/c/1359/industrial+fuses.htm
enterprises/

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/MM25SB3.JPG
 Advantages of High Rupturing
Capacity (H.R.C) Cartridge Fuse
• Capable of clearing high and low fault
currents
• They do not deteriorate with age.
• They have high speed of operation.
• They required no maintenance
• They are cheaper than other circuit
interrupting devices of equal breaking
capacity
 Disadvantages of High Rupturing
Capacity (H.R.C) Cartridge Fuse
• They have to be replaced after each
operation
 High Voltage Fuse
• Fuses are used on power systems up to
115,000 volts AC.
• High-voltage fuses are used to protect
instrument transformers used for electricity
metering, or for small power transformers
where the expense of a circuit breaker is not
warranted.
• For example, in distribution systems, a power
fuse may be used to protect a transformer
serving 1–3 houses.
 High Voltage Fuse
• Some of the high voltage fuses are:
– Cartridge Type HV HRC Fuse
– Liquid Type HV HRC Fuse
 Cartridge Type HV HRC Fuse
• It is similar in general construction to the
low voltage type except that some special
design features are incorporated.
• In some design the element is wound in the
shape of a helix so as to avoid corona effect
at higher voltages.
 Liquid Type HV HRC Fuse
 It consists of a glass tube filled with carbon
tetrachloride solution and sealed at both ends with
brass caps.
 The fuse wire is sealed at one end of the tube and
the other end of the wire is held by a strong spiral
spring fixed at the other end of the glass tube.
 When the current exceeds the prescribed limit, the
fuse wire is blown out.
 As the fuse melts the spring retracts part of it
through liquid director and draws it well into the
liquid.
 Liquid Type HV HRC Fuse
• The figure below shows a liquid type hv hrc
fuse.
Fuse link
cork

Liquid Director

Spring

Glass Tube
Difference Between Circuit Breaker
and Fuse
• Fuse:
– It performs both detection and interruption
functions
– It is completely automatic
– Small in size.
– Operating time is very small about 0.002 sec or
so
– Requires replacement after every operation
 Difference Between Circuit Breaker
and Fuse
• Circuit Breaker:
– It performs interruption function only, the
detection of fault is made by the relay system
– It can requires relays for automatic action
– Large in size
– Operating time is comparatively large 0.1 to 0.2 s
– No need for replacement after operation.