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Zone4info.comEarthFaultProtectiveDevices
Zone4info.comEarthFaultProtectiveDevices
EarthFaultProtectiveDevices
PostedbymusabahnasyMay1
a)ResidualCurrentOperatedDevices(RCD)AnRCDincorporatestwocomponentitems.Acore
balancetransformerassemblywithawindingforeachrecognizingtheoutofbalancecurrentthatthe
faultproducesinthemainconductors.Thisinducesacurrentthatisusedtooperatethetripping
mechanismofacontactsystem.Foroperatingcurrentsof05Aormore,theoutputfromsucha
trausformerassemblycanoperateaconventionaltripcoildirectly.Forlowervaluesofoperatingcurrent,
itisnecessarytointerposealeaydevice,eithermagneticorsolidstate.
Devicesforloadcurrentsgreaterthan100Ausuallycompriseaseparatetransformerassemblywitha
circuitbreakerorcontactrelay,mountedtogetherwithinacommonenclosure.Devicesforloadcurrents
below100Ausuallyincludethetransformerandcontactsystemwithinthesamesingleunit,whichis
thendescribedasaresidualcurrentoperatedcircuitbreaker(RCB).SuchanRCBshouldbeconsidered
aparticulartypeofRCBalthoughitisthemostusualform.
Awidechoiceofoperatingcurrentsisavilable(typicalvaluesarebetween10mAand20A)RCB'sare
normallynonadjustablewhilstRCD'sareoftenmanufacturedsothatoneofseveraloperatingcurrents
maybechosen.Singlephaseandmultiphasedeviceswithorwithoutintegralovercurrentfacilitiesare
available.
Whereresidualcurrentbreakersof30mAoperatingcurrentorlessarebeingused,thereisachoice
betweendevicesthatareentirelyelectromechanicalinoperationandthosethatemployasolidstate
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Zone4info.comEarthFaultProtectiveDevices
detector.Theelectromechanicaltypesaregenerallysmallandcompactandwilloperateonthepower
beingfedtothefaultalonewhereasthesolidstatetypewhichtendtobebulkiertorequireapower
supplytoensureoperation.Wherethispowersupplyisderivedfromthemains,itmaybenecessaryto
takeaddedprecautionagainstfailuresofpartofthatmainssupply.Devicessuitablefortimegradingare
morelikelytobeofthesolidstateformasarethosehavinghigherthroughfaultcapacity.
AtestdeviceisincorporatedtoallowtheoperationoftheRCDtobechecked.Operationofthisdevice
createsanoutofbalanceconditionwithinthedevice.TrippingoftheRCDbymeansofthetestdevice
establishesthefollowing:
1)theintegrityoftheelectricalandmechanicalelementsofthetrippingdeviceand
2)thatthedeviceisoperatingatapproximatelythecorrectorderofoperatingcurrent.
Itshouldbenotedthatthetestdevicedoesnotprovideameansofcheckingthecontinuityofthe
earthingleadortheearthcontinuityconductor,nordoesitimposeanytestontheearthelectrodeorany
otherpartoftheearthingcircuit.
AlthoughanRCDwilloperateoncurrentsequaltoorexceedingitsoperatingcurrent,itshouldbenoted
thatitwillonlyrestrictthetimeforwhichafaultcurrentflows.Itcannotrestrictthemagnitudeofthe
faultcurrentwhichdependssolelyonthecircuitconditions.
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