TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Title

H.W. # 4

DIZON, Mark Joseph C.

EEP 543 / EE52FA1

BSEE / 5TH year

01/06/17

Engr. Ulysses Paguio

Grade

Reference(s)

http://www.help2educate.com/busbar-schemes/
 Single breaker single busbar scheme
As the name suggests, it consists of single bus bar with a number of incoming and outgoing
lines connected to it. Each line is protected by one breaker. Therefore it is called single
breaker single busbar scheme.

Advantages
 It is simplest scheme with artless protection system.

 It is cheap and economical.

Disadvantages
 It is the least reliable scheme. It cannot be used in such situation where continuous
supply of power is mandatory.
 Any fault on bus results in disconnection of power. Any maintenance on any breaker will
lead to disconnection of relevant breaker, relevant line or whole system in some cases.
 Any extension in the substation is not possible without complete shutdown of substation.
Large substation does not utilize this busbar arrangment because reliability and continuity is
critical in large substations. Single busbar scheme is only used at small substations.

Single Bus bar scheme with Bus sectionalizer

Single breaker single busbar scheme is slightly improved by dividing the bus into two
sections and connecting both sections by a coupler commonly known as bus sectionalizer.
This scheme is only effective if there are two incoming lines and outgoing lines are
distributed evenly in each section. Each section acts as separate bus and fault on one
section is confined to that section only. However each line is still protected by single
breaker.

Single breaker double busbar scheme

This scheme consists of two independent bus bars and load can be fed from either bus bar.
Each circuit is protected by single breaker. Both buses are connected to each other by
using a bus coupler or tie breaker. The operational reliability is more than single busbar
scheme.

Advantages
 Either bus can be used to feed load or both can also be used simultaneously.

 Maintenance on any bus can be carried out without interrupting the power supply.
 Bus Coupler enables the ON LOAD shifting of load from one bus to another.
Disadvantages
 It is expensive than single bus bar scheme.

 Maintenance on any breaker requires shutdown on respective line.

 Double Breaker Double busbar scheme
In this scheme, there are two independent bus bars and each line/circuit is protected by two
circuit breakers therefore it is called double breaker double bus bar scheme. There is no
bus coupler /bus tie breaker in this scheme. In normal condition, both buses are energized.
However in case of bus a failure, alternative bus can supply the power.

Advantages:
 It is the most reliable bus bar scheme.

 Any bus bar can be taken out for maintenance without disturbing power supply.
 Any breaker can be spared for maintenance while the respective line can be connected
through second breaker.
 Load can be fed from any bus bar which increases operational reliability.
Disadvantages:
 It is the most expensive bus bar scheme. Cost is double as compared to single breaker
single bus bar scheme.
 Substation utilizing this scheme requires large area.
 It requires more components than any other scheme.
Double busbar schemes are used in EHV substation whose reliability and continuity is of
very important. Substation feeding defense or strategically important areas employ this
scheme.
 Ring or Mesh Bus bar scheme
In this scheme, circuit breakers and isolators are arranged in the form of ring. Incoming and
outgoing circuits are connected between two breakers. In this scheme, number of breakers
is equal to the number of circuits. In normal condition, each circuit is fed from both sides.
During fault or maintenance, respective breaker or portion is isolated however the all the
circuits are fed from open ring.

Advantages
 Very reliable along with operational flexibility.

 Any breaker can be taken out for maintenance however all the circuits can be kept
energized.
 It is economical as compared to double bus bar scheme.
 The setting of the protective relays does not need variation for any of the operating
modes and maintenance.
Disadvantages
 In case of any fault, the ring may split into two isolated sections. Each of the section
may not have proper combination of loads and sources.
 Although it can accommodate many circuits however it is not suitable for more than 6
circuits.
This scheme can be extended or converted into one and half breaker scheme easily.
Therefore it is a normal practice in many countries that substations are built with ring/mesh
bus bar scheme initially. However, later on converted to 1.5 breaker scheme upon the
increase in number of circuits.

One and Half breaker bus bar scheme.

This scheme consists of two bus bars, both of which are normally energized. Between two
buses, three breakers and 6 isolators are connected in a row. Two lines can be connected
to each row. So total 3 breakers are protecting 2 circuits/lines. Hence each circuit/line is
protected by 1.5 breakers therefore it is called one and half (1.5) breaker bus bar scheme.
Middle breaker is common for two lines and protecting both of them.

Advantages:
 It is the second most reliable scheme after double breaker double bus bar scheme.

 Any bus bar can be spared for maintenance without interrupting power supply.
 Any breaker can be removed for maintenance while other breakers can keep energizing
the relevant line.
 There is also a possibility of operating the system with both buses out of service.
 This scheme can accommodate as many lines as required.
Disadvantages:
 The protection system and relay settings for this scheme are complex than other
schemes.
 It is comparatively expensive than other schemes except double breaker double bus bar
scheme.
 Tripping of the middle breaker trips other two breakers affecting the healthy line as well.
It is mostly used in 500kV/220kV substations. It is used where reliability and continuity of
power is required.

CONCLUSION

The physical layout of several components in lines in a substation is termed as busbar

scheme. There are different layouts or busbar schemes and its use depends on what your
design needs. Like for example. small substation does not require expensive and
complicated busbar arrangement. Therefore, I can say that the different busbar schemes
has its own pros and cons and its function depends on what the system needs.