© 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

PROJECT TITLE
The Simulation of Auto-Reclose Single-Phase Supply Circuit Breaker with SMS Notification
by Using Proteus Simulation Software

ABSTRACT
Power system protection is a branch of power electrical engineering studies. This

scheme is devised in the system in order to provide safety to the electrical appliances as well

as the human’s life, while ensuring power continuity to the consumers and to improve the

reliability of the system. While most power system engineers are looking forward in

improving the power system energy transfer efficiency, the protection system shall not be

overlook and left behind. This area of study is useful in order to improve the efficiency and

reliability of certain type of protection devices. ELR is one of the protection devices which

have several traits which can be taken advantage. It is a device which similar to the RCD or

ELCB but with extra functionality. By taking the ELR as the main subject of the project, it

can be enhanced by upgrading it with several features. This project will heighten the ELR to

another level by adding the auto re-closes and SMS notification functionality to it. Since the

whole project is modeled through the simulation software only, it is important to ensure that

the simulation is successfully done so that it can be proven by fact that it is possible to be

implemented into physical model in the near future. This project will not only improve the

protection scheme reliability but also the person in-charged quality of life.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

INTRODUCTION
I. BACKGROUND OF STUDY
An electrical power system has to be designed with the ability to meet a certain area
demands and future expected demands. The energy generated by the utility has to be
sufficient and continuous which means able to run without interruptions to fulfill the
consumers satisfaction [1]. The reliability of a system is determined by ensuring there is no
major breakdown occurrence as to reduce repairing cost and long duration of service
breakdown. To achieve such motive, it is important to include the protection scheme to the
system as to limit the outage, interruption or the defective effects [1].

As described by Chapman, a fault is any failures that interfere with the normal flow
of the current to loads. A fault occurs when there is a path forming between lives phases or
on between of live and neutral phases with very low impedance. Hence, the current flowing
through the path is very high in value and dangerous to the human being. The fault
occurrence factor can be literally described as due to the lightning strike or switching surge
which causing overvoltage to the system. The insulation failure is also one of the
contributions to such problem [2].

In addition to that, a protective device is needed to protect the system from fault. A
protective device is a type of device which delivers a signal to isolate the faulty part of the
system from the main supply [1]. The purpose of doing so is to safeguard the entire system
which to ensure its reliability, to minimize the fault as to minimize the repairing cost, and to
provide safety to the consumer and the appliances themselves [1]. To perform system
protection duty, it can be selected based on the selectivity, stability, sensitivity and speed
qualities [1].

While in a normal protective installation, there will be of two types; residual current
protection (RCD) and overcurrent protection. The IEE Regulation has recognized the
application of the RCD in the consumers’ installation as auxiliary protection in the event of
basic protection failure. The overcurrent protection scheme is actually the basic protection
that should be installed in the consumers’ mains equipment. It is located in the live
conductors and in the form of fuses and circuit breakers. It will isolate the supply from going
to the load if the current drawn is higher than the rated value [3].

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

Earth leakage is a condition whereby there is current leakage from a chassis to the
earth for a continuous time. Normally, the chassis of certain electrical appliances are always
connected to the earth through the ‘green’ cable. Thus, if there is any insulation failure of the
appliance itself which in contact with its chassis, the leakage current will be discarded
through the earthing conductor and the over-current relay will cut-off the system. However, if
the leakage current is too small, the over-current relay might unable to detect it and fails to
operate. This is the part where the earth leakage relay comes into rescue [4].

An earth leakage relay or current balanced relay is a relay which working based on
the principle of the core current balance or having the similar concept as RCD [4]. During
normal operation, the phase current and the neutral current will be equal and in phase. The
toroid in use will sense the current of both conductors which flowing through it. If there is
fault incident, the neutral phase current is not equal to the live phase anymore. Thus, there
will be flux which will induce the current in the toroid to activate the safety relay. The relay
will trip the main supply from the load and providing safety to the user [1].

A microcontroller is actually a smaller scale of a computer. It is similar to the

microprocessor but with limited capability but powerful enough to be applied for some useful
applications. It might be not able to crunch huge numbers but it has excellent input/output
capability. The perk of being smaller in size is what most system engineers are looking for
especially for the simplicity of their design. Due to its peripherals such as digital or analog
I/O, counter, timer and other sophisticated functions, it is able to interface with a lot of
devices such as switches, LCDs, motors, LEDs, PCs and etc. [5].

A GSM modem is practically a specialized modem that operates based on TELCO

subscription and able to communicate through wireless environment. Its functionality is
similar to the mobile phone but lack of other human interface devices such as LCD screen
and buttons to operate it. Instead of having all that, it only has a serial or USB connector
which to interface with the PC. A GSM modem is general used for sending and receiving
data or SMS. The connection between the modem and the TELCO is done via dial-up
connection which is similar to the older generation of modem [6].

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

II. PROBLEM STATEMENT

A human body is a complex and delicate system. All of the movements either
voluntarily or involuntarily are controlled by the nerves system. Very small electrical signals
are traveling between the central nervous system or and the muscles to stimulate the muscles
to enable all of the regular human motions [3]. The composition of the human body itself is
considerably special as it has both insulating and conducting material. Even though the tissue
is made of dielectric material which is able to block the current flow, the blood and other
bodily fluid is made of liquid which will enable the current flow through the blood vessels.

To support that evidence, it is important to install protective scheme in the consumers’

premises. If there is any contact between a human body and the electrical appliances which
having leakage current flowing through it, the body’s normal operation might interrupted.
The body movement might be impaired and unable release the contact with the live conductor
which will cause shock [3]. The electrical shock will cause severe injury and is fatal to that
person’s life. But, with the help of the protection system, this incident can be avoided as the
system will be isolated as soon as the fault is discovered.

But sometimes, under normal operation there will be temporary overcurrent which
caused by the transient response of the system which related to the load operation. This type
of condition is not seriously dangerous to the system as well as the human being. But due to
it, the switchgear of the protection will be triggered and isolating the supply from the whole
system. The cut-off is unnecessary needed and is considered as a hassle as the authorized
personnel has to go the site to operate the switchgear back to its normal condition as to
restore the power supply back to the system.

This is the situation whereby the automatic control system will come in handy. The
idea of designing an auto re-close circuit breaker is coming up as the thought to overcome the
conventional manual operation of the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is specifically
designed to restore back the supply after certain duration of time after tripping for the first
time. The delay time is purposely set as to ensure that the temporary fault is cleared out first
before it re-closes the main circuit back. To make the system more efficient, it is equipped
with an SMS notification to notify the person in-charged the tripping for their track-of-record.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

III. OBJECTIVES
The realization of this project is the aim to design and simulate the auto-reclose single-
phase supply circuit breaker with SMS notification that requires the pursuit of the
following objectives;
1. To study and understand the circuit breaker (Earth Leakage Relay) principle of
operation, the behavior of the additional automatic re-close and SMS notification
functions to the user of the circuit breaker during fault occurrence.
2. To design the circuit by using Proteus simulation software.
3. To construct the programming structure for the microcontroller (PIC16F887) of the
control circuit by using MPLAB program codes compiler.
4. To create an environment for the wireless GSM networking communication for the
devices to communicate with each other.

IV. SCOPE OF WORK/LIMITATIONS

The scope of work for this project will cover all of circuit designing and simulation
aspect. The fundamental concept of the protection device will be studied first as to select
which type of protection device is suitable for the project. As it turns out, the earth leakage
relay (ELR) is chosen due to its flexible design and characteristics which are good for the
auxiliary protection for the domestic power supply installation. Other type of switchgear such
as over-current circuit breaker is also possible but it can be bulkier and will become less
efficient as its original physical needs to be modified to add additional custom circuit.

Furthermore, the project also needs a simulation software which having a broad
components library to fulfil the simulation requirements. Proteus circuit simulation software
is chosen as it has some of the capabilities which to ensure the simulation can be run
smoothly. But it is sure having some drawbacks too. The components library does not
provide the ELR device and the magnetic contactor which needed to be design manually as to
emulate them and try to resemble them in the actual circuit. The fault condition is also needed
to be replaced with a similar environment as to emulate the protective response of the circuit.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

Apart from that, the GSM modem and cellular phone modules simulation is the most
challenging part to be simulated. Both of the devices are communicating to each other
wirelessly or through the GSM band which is not possible to be simulated with the normal
end-user simulation software. They are also considerably complex to be designed manually
and the schematics are also not open for the public due to the intellectual property legal
rights. As to ensure it can happen, the GSM simulation will need special treatment for the
alternative.

As for the firmware codes structuring design, the use of the GSM modem or module
interfacing will need more complex instructions. Thanks to the PIC16F887 complex and
sophisticated functionality, the GSM module can be interfaced directly to the microcontroller
serial/UART connection port. This port is primarily dedicated for the communication
between the microcontroller and the GSM modem. LCD interfacing of the microcontroller is
also making the instructions becoming more complex. The need of additional library for the
LCD program structure is crucial as to ensure it is behaving accordingly.

V. SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY
The study of the power system protection scheme in the consumers’ unit is very
important as it is vital to maintain safe operation of the supply to the user while keeping the
electrical energy supply reliability at its best. By implementing such idea, the workload of the
person in-charged for the protection device can be reduced and it will require lesser attention
than before unless if it has been tripped twice. The effort of informing the fault occurrence to
the person in-charged is also greatly reduced as the faulty condition will be reported
automatically and immediately to him without the need of third party to get involved.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

METHODOLOGY
I. OVERVIEW
The methodology of the project is involving with a lot of things. As to realize this
project into reality, it will require two semesters of project duration to accomplish it. Initially,
the intended project will be proposed to the project supervisor for approval. Normally,
supervisor will give out some opinions on adding additional material about the project so that
it can meet the minimum requirement for the syllabus and relevant enough to proceed with.
Once the project title is revised, it is ready to be proposed as a formal proposal and be
submitted within the required period.

After that, some literature review about the project is done as to improve better
understanding towards the idea of the project. The review will give a lot of ideas on; which
protection scheme devices to choose from and the fundamental idea of it, how to interface the
protection device with the microcontroller and the GSM module, what type of
microcontroller is suitable for that condition, the programming language that is going to be
used, the type of program compiler for the structural codes programming, and last but not
least the most suitable simulation software for the circuit design and simulation.

All of the mentioned criteria before are very important as they are the most vital part
in ensuring the project to success. The simulation software which is chosen for this project is
the Proteus simulation software as it is able to cater most of the project needs especially for
the GSM module part which is considerably rare to be found. The PIC16F887 is chosen as
the controller because it is cheap, robust and extensive. The native C programming and
MPLAB compiler are chosen due to its flexibility and it is being widely used for the
embedded design platform.

Once all of the materials are ready, the circuit is ready to be designed for its
schematics. The structural programming of the circuit will come into second after the circuit
design is complete. After the codes are already being compiled, they can be downloaded into
schematic for the simulation process. The output of the simulation is observed as to compare
it with the expected results. If the design is behaving properly, it means that the project is
successful. But if the output of the project does not similar to the expected, some
troubleshooting works are needed as to mitigate the errors.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

After all of the hard works, the project technical paper and thesis documentation can
be start immediately. The thesis will include all of the project progress right from the
beginning until the very end of it. If any problems from the project are discovered, the factors
of the problems, the workarounds, future improvements and recommendations have to be
addressed as well. This information would be useful for the readers especially if they are
using the project as reference and looking for any solutions. The thesis also will be used as a
supportive document during the project presentation.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

Start

Meeting with project supervisor

Preparing project title

Further discussion with project supervisor for

the project feasibility

No
Does the project
feasible?

Yes

Literature review and project findings

on protection devices, embedded
designs, programming languages,
simulation software types

Picking up suitable criteria for the

project requirements.
Simulation software: Proteus
Microcontroller type: PIC16F887
Programming language: Native C
Compiler type: MPLAB Hi-TECH C

Project system and concept design

through schematics and structural
programming

Project system and concept simulation

Gaining results from the simulation

Yes No
Does the result
as expected?

Technical paper writing and submission Design troubleshooting

Technical paper presentation

Thesis writing documentation and submission

End
Figure 1: Project methodology flow-chart

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

II. PROJECT SIMULATION CONCEPT

As mentioned before, the proposed project is to simulate the auto-reclose single-phase
supply circuit breaker with SMS notification. The project is actually taking advantage of the
earth leakage relay (ELR) as the fault detector of a single-phase supply system and tripping it.
Apart from that, the microcontroller is being manipulated for interfacing with the GSM
modem and delivering a notification message to the consumer as well as to re-close the
supply system back to the load. The circuit will re-close for the first time of tripping only.
After that, it won’t be restored and the consumer will be notified for further action.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

Start

ELR main circuit current

balance checking through the
toroid

Balanced
Is the current
balance?

Unbalanced

Trip the main circuit supply

ELR sends main circuit

tripping signal to the
microcontroller

Tripping number counter

How many times

of tripping?
First time Second time

LCD status: “Trip No: 1” LCD status: “Trip No: 2”

GSM modem sends SMS to the consumer.

GSM modem sends SMS to the consumer.
SMS message: “Circuit breaker is tripped
SMS message: “Circuit breaker is tripped
for the first time and auto re-close is
for the second time and waiting for service”
imminent”

Wait for 10s to clear the fault

End

Trigger relay 1 to open the

ELR’s supply for 10s to reset it

Close relay 1 to reconnect the

ELR’s supply

The ELR is now reset and

resuming normal operation

Figure 2: Project simulation concept methodology flow-chart

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

PROJECT SCHEDULING

Months
Activities September October November December January February March April May June July
2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014
Meeting with

Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Project
Supervisor
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Initial Project Wk 4
Title
Preparation
Project
Proposal
Preparation
and Submission
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Literature
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Review and

Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Project

Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Findings
System and

Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Concept
Design

Wk 2
Wk1
System and

Wk 1
Wk 2
Concept
Simulation

Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Technical
Paper Writing
and Submission
Technical
Paper
Presentation

Wk 2
Documentation

Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1

Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
and Thesis
Writing

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

CONCLUSION

As the conclusion, the main objective of the project is to simulate the auto-reclose
single-phase supply circuit breaker with SMS notification. The circuit will be designed in the
Proteus simulation software and the simulation will also run through it. While the structural
programming codes for the microcontroller will be designed and written in the MPLAB Hi-
TECH C compiler before being downloaded to the Proteus simulation software. As a result of
that, the simulation result will determine either the objective of the project is achievable or
not. If the circuit is behaving as expected whereby it is able to re-close the main supply
circuit without any operator’s attendance and able to notify the person in-charged remotely,
this means that the project can be modeled into the real hardware. This device will be very
useful as it can reduce the person in-charged workloads, maintain continuity of the supply,
keeping the person in-charged informed for maintenance and suitable to fit for the buildings
in the remote area.

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 © 2013 Ahmad Fikri Bin Mohd Fauzi

REFERENCES

[1] M. B. Les Hewitson, Ben Ramesh, Practical Power Systems Protection. Netherland:
Newnes-Elsevier, 2004.
[2] S. J. Chapman, Electric Machinery and Power System Fundamentals, International
Edition ed. New York, USA: McGraw Hill Higher Educations, 2002.
[3] T. Linsley, Advanced Electrical Installation Work, Fifth Edition ed. Oxford, UK:
Newnes-Elsevier, 2008.
[4] S. R. B. Y. G. Paithankar, Fundamentals of Power System Protection. New Delhi,
India: Prentice-Hall India, 2003.
[5] T. Wilmhurst, Designing Embedded Systems with PIC Microcontrollers, First Edition
ed. Oxford, UK: Newnes-Elsevier, 2007.
[6] K. W. Weng. (2010) Control and Monitoring via SMS. Robot Head to Toe. 45.

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