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2011IEEE

BY RAJIV KUMAR, DOUGLAS REED,ROBERT MORRIS, & SAMUEL TERRY

T

HEUNDERWRITERSLABORATORIES(UL)845standardforlow-voltage(LV)motorcontrolcenters(MCCs)requiresashort-circuitwithstand rating on the bus for only threecycles. The LV power-circuit breakers are typically rated forup to 30 cycles short delay, which can be greater than the UL845 short-circuit withstand test requirements. The trip set-tings on these LV power-circuit breakers may include short-timedelaythatcanresultintheMCC-enduringfaultcurrentsfor much more than the three cycles for which it is rated. Inthis article, it is proposed that MCC bus designed and testedfor higher number of cycles of withstand can address theabove potential issue by offering better coordination and saferpowerdistributiondesignoptions.

Motor Control Centers

Typically, the MCC assemblies in the United States are ULlisted. UL requires the short-circuit withstand ratings forthese MCCs to meet the UL 845 standard that requires athree-cycle, three-phase short-circuit test on a horizontaland vertical bus for predetermined levels of short-circuitcurrent such as 42, 65, and 100 kA [1]. However, MCCs

 Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2010.939638 Date of publication: 4 March 2011

Short-circuit higher-withstand requirement in MCCs

 © CREATAS

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can sometimes be fed from LV power-circuit breakerslocated in the LV switchgear ahead of or in an MCC line upand, sometimes, without a corresponding main circuitbreaker at the MCC. The short-time delay on the powerbreakers could result in the MCC bus enduring fault cur-rents greater than three cycles, which leads to the question:Is the MCC designed to meet the present UL 845 short-cir-cuit withstand requirement adequatefor allthe MCC powerdistribution applications today? It should be noted that, incomparison, the global International Electrotechnical Com-mission (IEC) standard for LV controlgear–MCC products(IEC60439-1) states that the short-circuitwithstand ratingis assumed to be as high as 60-cycle duration, unless other-wisestated by the manufacturer [2].Traditional MCC configurations generally use moldedcase circuit breakers (MCCBs) with instantaneous trip thatare rated for a short-circuit withstand rating of three cycles(per UL Standard 489). Recent revisions to National Elec-tric Code (NEC) require that for certain critical systems allovercurrent protective devices are to be selectively coordi-nated with all supply-side overcurrent protective devices inthe system, which would be difficult to accomplish withMCCB as the associated time delays could exceed the lowwithstand ratings of MCCB [3]. The required time delaysfor selective coordination would also exceed the withstandratings of MCC buses that are designed just to meet the UL845 withstand requirement. This leads to the question:What type of MCC construction andconfiguration is suitable for selectivecoordinationneedsofcriticalsystems?

Limitations of the ExistingWithstand Rating

Protective DeviceCoordination Challenges

Figure 1 shows an MCC power distri-bution one line, where the low-voltagesubstation feeder (LVSUB-FDR) is an800-A LV power-circuit breaker feed-ingtheMCC,andMCC-busisatypicalthree-cycle withstand-rated bus. Cir-cuit breakers MCC-main, MCC-FDR,and panel board (PNLBD)-main are of MCCB type, where MCC-main is the800-A MCC main circuit breaker;MCC-FDR is the 200-A MCC feedercircuit breaker feeding a downstreampanel board, and PNLBD-main is the200-A main circuit breaker of thepanel board. Figure 2 shows the cor-responding protective device curvesfor this configuration. LVSUB-FDRsettings include a short-time delayof 0.2 s and an instantaneous settingof eight times the plug setting. Itcan be seen from the coordinationcurves in Figure 2 that it can be chal-lenging for the fixed-curve MCCB tocoordinate with each other [4]. Also,MCCB can be difficult to coordinatewith LV power-circuit breakers due

LVSUB-BusLVSUB-FDR (Power CB)CBL-01MCC-Main (MCCB)MCC-BusMCC-FDR (MCCB)CBL-02PNLBD-Main (MCCB)PNLBD-BusPanel Board

1

One line: MCCB configuration.

1,000100200-A TripMCCB200-A TripMCCBPNLBD-Main (MCCB)600-A TripMCCB800 A Sensor800 A PlugLTPU 1

×

, LTD 7STPU 4

×

, STD 0.2INST 8

×

T i  m e (   s  )  

1010.100.010.51101001,00010,000100,000Current in AmperesMCC-Main (MCCB)LVSUB-FDR (Power CB)MCC-FDR (MCCB)

2

Device curves: MCCB configuration.

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toMCCBlow-withstandratings,thusrequiringaninstanta-neous dial or an instantaneous override. Typically, theMCCB-adjustable instantaneous setting has a maximumsetting of ten times trip rating or is equipped with instan-taneous overrides that are approximately 10–15 times theframe ampere rating. This limitation, in combination withthree-cycle withstand rating of a traditional MCC bus,makes it difficult to achieve selective coordination for thisMCC power-distribution scenario.It should be noted that, from a selective coordinationstandpoint, it is not required by 2008 NEC articles 700.27701.18 for breakers that are in series with each other in abranch circuit to coordinate, as the load outage impact isthe same regardless of which of the breakers in series tripsfirst [3]. So, LVSUB-FDR and MCC-main are not requiredto coordinate as well as MCC-FDR and PNLBD-main.However, as can be seen from Figure 2, it is difficult toselectively coordinate MCC-FDR and PNLBD-main withMCC-main and LVSUB-FDR due to the nature of MCCBcurve characteristics.

NEC-Selective Coordination Requirements

Articles 620.62, 700.27, 701.18, and 517.26 of NEC 2008requirethesystemovercurrentdevicesforelevators,emergencysystems, legally required standby systems, and health-carefacilities to be selectively coordinatedwith the supply side overcurrent pro-tective devices [3]. In addition, thenew section 708.54 for critical opera-tions power systems requires selectivecoordination. The objective of thisNEC requirement is to ensure betterpower system reliability for criticalsystems, where the safety of humanlife can be compromised upon a poweroutage. Based on the discussions inthe previous sections of this article, weknow thatitcan be difficulttoachieveselective coordination for these criticalsystemswithatraditional MCCpowerdistribution consisting of three-cyclewithstand rated bus and MCCBs con-nected in series. It should be notedthat the NEC-mandated selective co-ordination over the entire protectivedevice range, in many cases, can sig-nificantly increase the level of avail-able arc-flash energy, with a resultingincrease in potential for safety to per-sonnelanddamagetoequipment.

Benefits of Higher Withstand Ratings

Improved Selectivity Using LV Power-Circuit Breakers in MCC

Figure 3 shows an MCC power distri-bution one line that is similar tothe one-line configuration shown inFigure 1, with the difference beingthat the MCC-bus is assumed to beratedfor30-cyclewithstand,andcircuit

LVSUB-BusLVSUB-FDR (Power CB)CBL-01MCC-Main (MCCB)MCC-BusMCC-FDR (Power CB)CBL-02PNLBD-Main (MCCB)PNLBD-BusPanel Board

3

One line: power breakers configuration.

1,00010010Sensor 600 A, Plug 600 ALTPU 0.8, LTD 7STPU 8, STD 0.4INST DisabledSensor 200 A, Plug 200 ALTPU 1, LTD 24STPU 14, STD 0.3INST DisabledSensor 600 A, Plug 600 ALTPU 1, LTD 7STPU 8, STD 0.5INST Disabled10.100.010.51101001,00010,000100,000Current in Amperes

T i  m e (   s  )  

LVSUB-FDR (Power CB)MCC Main (Power CB)MCC FDR (Power CB)PNLBD_Main (MCCB)

4

200-A TripINST Fixed

Device curves: LV power-circuit breakers configuration.

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