Chapter 7

Electrical Utilization

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 CONTENTS
• ELECTRICAL PROTECTION
• EARTHING
• ELECTRICAL WIRING

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION
• means a relay or apparatus whose function is
:
1) to detect defects or conditions of an abnormal or
dangerous nature in any electrical circuit,
apparatus or power system
2) to initiate appropriate control circuit action.

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION…CONT
• Electrical protection is a primary control for many of the electrical
key risk areas and is used to minimise the risk of:

1) Electrocution
2) Death or injury from electric shock (including from secondary causes
such as falls as a result of an electric shock)
3) Electrical burns (including burns from radiation, current flow, and
plasma. It also includes arc blast injuries)
4) Fires
5) Explosions due to gas or catastrophic failure of electrical enclosures.

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION…CONT
• The purposes of electric power system
protection devices are:
1) To detect excessive current levels in power
system conductors
2) To detect excessive current flows to earth due to
insulation failure

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION…CONT
OVERCURRENT
• damage equipment or cause fire.
• Causes:
1) installation abused
2) Badly designed
3) Modified by incompetent person
• Two categories:
– Overload current
– Short- circuit currents

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION…CONT
1) Overload Current
• Quantity of current more than twice or three
times the normal circuit current
• Protection devices:
1) FUSE
2) MCB

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FUSE

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 FUSE…CONT
REWIREABLE FUSES CARTRIDGE FUSES HIGH BREAKING
CAPACITY FUSES

ADVANTAGES - no mechanical - small physical - consistent in

moving parts size operation
- cheap initial cost - no mechanical - reliable
- low cost of moving part - discriminates
replacing element - accurate current between overload
rating currents of short
duration and high
fault current

DISADVANTAGES - deteriorate with - expensive - expensive

age - can be replaced
- element cannot with incorrect
be replaced cartridge
quickly - not suitable
- where extremely
high current may
develop
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MCB

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 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION…CONT
2) Short - Circuit Current
• Quantity of current maybe several hundred,
or even several thousand times normal
• Protection devices:
1) FUSE
2) MCB

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 EARTHING
• ground or earth
– the reference point in an electrical circuit from
which other voltages are measured
– a common return path for electric current,
– a direct physical connection to the Earth
• Purpose of earthing is to prevent contact with
a dangerous voltage if electrical insulation fails

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 EARTHING…CONT
Earthing system
• 3 types:
1) TT system
2) TN-S system
3) TN-C- system

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 EARTHING…CONT

TT-S system
– direct connection to the supply source to earth and a
direct connection of the installation metalwork to earth.

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 EARTHING…CONT

TN-S system
– supply source directly connected to earth, the installation
metalwork connected to the neutral of the supply source via
the lead sheath of the supply cable, and the neutral and
protective conductors throughout the whole system
performing separate functions.

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 EARTHING…CONT

TN-C-S system
– TN-S but the supply cable sheath is also the neutral

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 ELECTRICAL WIRING
• 2 types of electrical wiring system:
1) Ring circuit
2) Radial circuit

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 ELECTRICAL WIRING…CONT
• Ring circuit
– A cable starts at the supply point and goes to
each device in the same way as with a radial.
– The last device is connected back to the supply
so that the whole circuit forms a continuous ring.

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Ring Circuit

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 ELECTRICAL WIRING…CONT
• Radial circuit
– power is transmitted from point to point by a single length of
cable linking each point to the next.
– starts at the main switch or fuse and simply terminates at the
last connected device.
– It may branch at a connection point.
– Lighting circuits are normally wired in this way, but it may also
be used for low power socket circuits.

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Radial circuit

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