Industrial Power Systems Handbook DONALD BEEMAN, Editor Manager, Industrial Power Engineering Industrial Engineering Seclwn General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York FIRST EDITION McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC. 1955 New York Toronto LondonChapter I py Donald Beeman, Alan Graeme Darling, and R. H. Kaufmann Short-circuit-current Calculating Procedures FUNDAMENTALS OF A-C SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENTS The determination of short-circuit currents in power distribution sys- tems is just as basic and important as the determination of load currents for the purpose of applying circuit breakers, fuses, and motor starters. The magnitude of the short-circuit current is often easier to determine than the magnitude of the load current. Calculating procedures have been so greatly simplified compared with the very complicated procedures previously used that now only simple arithmetic is required to determine the short-circuit currents in even the most complicated power systems. SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS If adequate protection is to he provided for a plant electric system, the size of the electric power system must also be considered to determine how much short-circuit current it will deliver. This is done so that cir- cuit breakers or fuses may he selected with adequate interrupting capac- ity (IC). This interrupting capacity should be high enough to open safely the maximum short-circuit current which the power system can cause to flow through a circuit breaker if a short circuit occurs in the feeder or equipment which it protects. The magnitude of the load current is determined by the amount of work that is being done and hears little relation to the size & the system supplying the load. However, the magnitude of the short-circuit current is somewhat independent of the load and is directly related to the size or '2 ‘SHORT-CIRCUIT-CURRENT CALCULATING PROCEDURES: capacity of the power source. The larger the apparatus which supplies electric power to the system, the greater the short-circuit current will be. Take a simple case: A 440-volt three-phase lo-lip motor draws about 13 amp of current at full load and will draw only this amount whether supplied by a 25-kva or a 2500-kva transformer bank. So, if only the load currents are considered when selecting motor branch circuit break- ers, a 15- or 20-amp circnit, breaker would he specified. However, the size af (he power system back of the circuit breaker has a real bearing on the amount of the short,-circuit,current. which can flow as a result of a short circuit on the load side of the circuit breaker. Hence, a much larger circuit breaker would be required to handle the short-circuit current from a 2500-kva bank than from a 25-kva bank of transformers. A simple mathematical example is shown in Fig. 1.1. These numbers MUST BE CAPABLE OF INTERRUPTING \000 AMPERES «pio AME g a a § Bs ‘5 AMP O E z 2 MOTOR LOAD E100 Vv CURRENT 100 A 5 AMP rec oe APPARENT IMPEDANCE 20 OHMS sHorT circuit current = = » ‘29 . 1000 ampEREs Zp oO 10,000 amp MUST BE CAPABLE OF INTERRUPTING 10,000 AMPERES 3 8 2 = MOTOR LOAD 2! oov ‘CURRENT 1000 & 5 AMP zy + 0.01 OHMS SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT -—-« 10,000 AMPERES Zz 0,01 200° FIG. 1.1 illustration showing that capacity of power source has more effect on short- circuit-current magnitude than load.SHORT-CIRCUIT-CURRENT CALCULATING PROCEDURES 3 have been chosen for easy calculation rather than a representation of actual system conditions. The impedance, limiting the flow of load current, consists mainly of the 20 ohms apparent impedance the motor. If a short circuit occurs at F, the only impedance to limit the flow of short-circuit current is the transformer impedance (0.1 ohm compared with 20 ohms for the motor); therefore, the short-circuit current is 1000 amp, or 200 times as great as the load current. Unless circuit breaker A can open 1000 amp, the short-circuit current will continue to flow, doing great damage. Suppose the plant grows and a larger transformer, one rated at 1000 amp, is substituted for the 100-amp unit. A short circuit at Fi (bottom in Fig. 1.1) will now be limited by only 0.01 ohm, the impedance of the larger transformer. Although the load current is still 5 amp, the short- circuit current will now he 10,000 amp, and circuit breaker A must be able to open that amount. Consequently it is necessary to consider the size of the system supplying the plant as well as the load current, to be sure that circuit breakers or fuses are selected which have adequate interrupting rating for stopping the flow of the short-circuit current. Short-circuit and load currents are analogous to the flow of water in a hydroelectric plant, shown in Fig. 1.2. The amount of water that flows under normal conditions is determined by the load on the turbines. Within limits, it makes little difference whether the reservoir behind the dam is large or small. This flow of water is comparable to the flow of load current in the distribution system in a factory. On the other hand, if the dam breaks, the amount of water that will flow will depend upon the capacity f the reservoir and will bear little relation to the load on the turbines. Whether the reservoir is large or small will make a great difference in this case. This flow of water is comparable to the flow of current through a short circuit in the distribu- tion system. The load currents do useful work, like the water that flows down the penstock through the turbine water wheel. The short-circuit currents produce unwanted effects, like the torrent that rushes madly downstream when the dam break: SOURCES GF SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENTS When determining the magnitude of short-circuit currents, it is extremely important that all sources of short-circuit current he considered and that the reactance characteristics af these sources be known There are three basic sources of short-circuit current: 1. Generators 2, Synchronous motors and synchronous condensers 3. Induction motors4 ‘SHORT-CIRCUIT-CURRENT CALCULATING PROCEDURES: All these can feed short-circuit: current into a short circuit (Fig. 1.3). Generators are driven by turbines, diesel engines, water wheels, or other types of prime movers. When a short circuit occurs on the circuit fed by agenerator, the generator continues to produce voltage because the field excitation is maintained and the prime mover drives the generator at substantially normal speed. The generated voltage produces a short- circuit current of a large magnitude which flows from the generator (or generators) to the short circuit. This flow of short-circuit current is limited only by the impedance of the generator and of the circuit between the generator and the short circuit. For a short circuit at the terminals of the generator, the current from the generator is limited only by its own. impedance. FAG. 1.2 Normal load and short-circuit currents are analogous to the conditions shown the hydroelectric plant.