ELECTRICAL DESIGN- Lecture - 8

Ar. Farheen
IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY DEVICES

 The safety features are inbuilt with electric power distribution. The current
is to flow through the path it is expected to pass and should not take
another path through which it is not expected to pass.
 Under abnormal condition there can be failure of insulations and current
will flow through the undesired path which can cause damage to
equipments and more important the safety of the user.
 The very high currents caused by short circuit situation can cause lots of
damage to electrical installation. Protective devices are needed to break
short-circuit and overload currents.
 Circuit breakers and fuses are protective devices that control the power
going to a particular route of wiring. In case of an overload or a short on
that circuit, the breaker or fuse trips and automatically shuts off power to
that circuit. Fuses are the commonly used protection devices to protect
components like wires, transformers electronics circuit modules against
overload. The general idea of the fuse is that it "burns fuse link" when
current gets higher than it's rating and thus stops the current flowing.
TYPES OF SAFETY DEVICES……..

 Fuse
 Circuit breakers( MCB, MCCB & ELCB)
 Earthing

Basically two types of protections are provided in the power supply system of
domestic consumers.
a. Protection from over current.
b. Protection from leakage current due to failure of insulation or inadvertent
contact with live conductors by the user.

The fuse is provided only on the live wire

TYPES OF FAULT……..

 OVER CURRENT :One type of situation that wiring needs to be protected

against is over current. The electrical wiring is rated for certain maximum
current. If you try to pull more current through it, the wiring will heat
considerably. When the wiring heats too much, it will cause the melting of
cable insulation, cause fire if there is something flammable near cable and
even melt the copper conductors in the cable. So protection is needed to
guarantee that in case of something tries to pull too much current through
mains wiring, this cannot happen for any long time until the fuse blows and
stops the current.
 SHORT CIRCUIT: Many people are familiar with a "short circuit", which is a
type of fault that occurs when two conductors of an electric circuit touch each
other. The current flow caused by a short circuit is usually high and rapid and
is quickly detected and halted by conventional circuit protective devices, such
as fuses or circuit breakers.
TYPES OF FAULT……..

 GROUND FAULTS: Ground faults are one type of problem when the
insulation fails.

 An unintentional electric path

between a source of current and a
grounded surface is referred to as a
"ground-fault." Ground faults
occur when current is leaking
somewhere, in effect, electricity is
escaping to the ground. How it
leaks is very important.
 If your body provides a path to the
ground for this leakage, you could
be injured, burned, severely
shocked, or electrocuted.
PROTECTION AGAINST OVER CURRENT……..

The protective circuit or device must be fast acting and isolate the faulty part
of the circuit immediately. It also helps in isolating only required part of the
circuit without affecting the remaining circuit during maintenance. The
following devices are usually used to provide the necessary protection:
 Fuses
 Relays
 Miniature circuit breakers (MCB)
 Earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCB)
FUSES……..

 Fuse is a wire of short length having low melting point which gives
protection against excessive current. This excessive current may be due
to over load or short circuit.
 Under normal working condition the current flowing through the circuit
is within safe limit. But when some faults such as short circuit occurs the
current exceeds the safe limit value, the fuse wire gets heated and melts.
This will cause breaking of the circuit.
 After one fusing operation, fuse wire must be rewired with the same size
wire.
 Fuse fit for household appliances.
• Appliances up to 700 Watts = 3 Amp fuse
• Appliances between 700 and 1000 Watts = 5 Amp fuse
• Appliances over 1000 Watts = 13 Amp fuse
MATERIAL FOR FUSE WIRES……..
 The material used for fuse wires must have the following characteristics
 Low melting point
 Low ohmic losses
 High conductivity
 Lower rate of deterioration
 MATERIALS USED:
 Silver
 Tin
 Lead
 Copper
 Zinc
 Aluminium
 Alloy of lead and tin ( lead 37% and tin 63%) used for small
currents (<10A)
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FUSES……..
 SUPPLY MAIN FUSE:
 Provided by the supplier
 Placed just after service meter and sealed.
 Rating as per the load current of the consumer.
 CONSUMER MAIN FUSE
 Rating slightly less than the supply main fuse.
 Placed after consumer main switch.
 SUB-CIRCUIT FUSES
 Separate fuse is provided for each branch circuit.
 POINT FUSES
 Every light and plug point is provided with its individual fuse.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS……..
 MINIMUM FUSING CURRENT
 Minimum value of current at which fuse wire melts. It depends
on the material characteristics, length, diameter, cross-sectional
area of the fuse element and the type of enclosure used.
 CURRENT RATING OF FUSE ELEMENT
 Current which the fuse wire can normally carry without
overheating or melting.
 It depends on the following factors: Permissible temperature rise
of the contacts of the fuse holder and the fuse material and
Degree of deterioration due to oxidation
 Less than minimum fusing current
 FUSING FACTOR
 It is the ratio of the minimum fusing current to the rated current.
It is always greater than unity.
 DETERMINATION OF SIZE OF FUSE WIRE
 Maximum current rating of circuit
 Current rating of the smallest cable in the circuit protected by
the fuse

ROUND TYPE FUSE UNITS……..

 Material: porcelain or Bakelite
 Two separated wire terminals for holding fuse wire between them.
 Disadvantages:
 One of the terminal always energised
 Appreciable arc take place on fault. Unusable after 2-3 arc.
KITKAT TYPE FUSE UNITS……..
 MATERIAL: The porcelain and glaze shall be white or cream in colour
 RATED VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY: The fuses shall be suitable for
continuous operation at AC 415 V and frequency 50 Hz
 RATED CURRENTS: The rated currents of fuses units shall be
16/32/63/100/200 Amps
 APPLICATION: The most commonly used fuse in 'house wiring' and
small current circuit
KITKAT TYPE FUSE UNITS……..
 It consist of a porcelain base carrying the fixed contacts to which the
incoming and out going live or phase wires are connected and a porcelain
fuse carrier holding the fuse element, consisting of one or more strands
of fuse wire, stretched between its terminals. The fuse carrier is a
separate part and can be taken out or inserted in the base without risk,
even without opening the main switch.
 If fuse holder or carrier gets damaged during use, it may be replaced
without replacing the complete unit.
 The fuse wire may be of lead, tinned copper, aluminum or an alloy of tin-
lead.
 The actual fusing current will be about twice the rated current. When two
or more fuse wire are used, the wires should be kept apart and are rating
factor of 0.7 to 0.8 should be employed to arrive at the total fuse rating.
KITKAT TYPE FUSE UNITS……..
 On occurrence of a fault, the fuse element blows off and the circuit is
interrupted. The fuse carrier is pulled out, the blown out fuse element
is replaced by new one and the supply can is resorted by re-inserting
the fuse carrier in the base. Though such fuses have the advantage of
easy removal or replacement without any danger of coming into the
contact with a live part and negligible replacement cost.
 DISADVANTAGES:
 It normally melts on 50 % to 100
% excessive overload. The melting
current cannot be accurately
predicted.
 It takes time to rewire the fuse
 Standard fuse wire should be
always made available
TOTALLY ENCLOSED OR CARTIDGES TYPE FUSE.……..

 The fuse element is enclosed in a totally enclosed container and is

provided with metal contacts on both sides.
 These fuses are further classified as
 D-type
 Link type
 Knife blade
 bolted type

Cross section of a screw-type fuse

holder with Diazed fuse
D- TYPE CARTRIDGES FUSES.……..
 MATERIAL: a tube with metal end caps at both ends. The tube is usually
made of glass with no filling material
 RATED VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY: The fuses shall be suitable for
continuous operation at 4k A for 2 and 4ampere fuses the 16k A for 63 A
fuses
 RATED CURRENTS: The rated currents of fuses units shall be 6, 16, 32,
and 63 amperes.
 APPLICATION: Cartridge fuses are mainly: used in various
electrical and electronic equipment.
D- TYPE CARTRIDGES FUSES.……..
 MECHANISM:
 The fuse wire is placed inside the tube, connected between the end
caps.
 Since the tube is made of glass, the fuse element can be easily
inspected for breakage.
 When the fuse is blown, the whole cartridge has to be replaced.

 ADVANTAGES:
 quick and easy replacement
 the fuse rating is marked on the
end cap of the cartridge
 D-type cartridge fuse have none
of the drawbacks of the
rewireable fuses. Their operation
is reliable
D- TYPE CARTRIDGES FUSES.……..
 MATERIAL: This is a completely enclosed cartridge
type of fuse. These fuses are screwed or linked in the
circuit. High Rupturing Capacity (HRC) fuse consists of
a porcelain tube, with metal end caps and fixing tags
 RATED VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY: Generally it
is used in the high power circuits.
 RATED CURRENTS: Perefered ratings of HRC
fuses are 2 ,4, 6, 10, 16, 25, 30, 50, 63,
80, 100,125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500,
630,800, 1000 and 1,250 amperes
 APPLICATION: Where large number of
concentrations of powers are concerned, as in the
modern distribution system, it is essential that
fuses should have a definite known breaking
capacity and also this breaking capacity should
have a high value.
LINK- TYPE OR HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY(HRC) FUSES.……..

 High rupturing capacity cartridge fuse, commonly

called HRCcartridge fuses , have been designed a
nd developed after intensive research by
manufactures and supply engineers in his
direction.
 The usual fusing factor for the link fuses is 1.45
the fuses for special applications may have as low
as a fusing factor as 1.2
 MECHANISM:
The fuse element is held inside the tube between
the end caps and the tube is filled with silica sand
or granulated quartz. When the fuse element
blows, the silica inside the tube prevent the
formation of an arc, and thus avoids the possibility
of fire hazards.
LINK- TYPE OR HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY(HRC) FUSES.……..

 ADVANTAGES:
 It is very reliable
 It has an enclosed fuse wire, therefore no
chance its arc doing any damage to the
surroundings.
 It has low temperature rise at rated load.
 Maintenance free.

 DISADVANTAGES:
 It is costly
 Take time to replace the
fuse
LINK- TYPE OR HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY(HRC) FUSES.……..

 KNIFE BLAD TYPE HRC FUSE

 it can be replaced on a live circuit at no
load with the help of a special insulated
fuse puller.

 BOLTED TYPE HRC LINK FUSE

 it has two conducting plates on either
ends.
 These are bolted on the plates of the fuse
base.
 Such a fuse needs an additional switch so
that the fuse can be taken out without
getting a shock.
CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
 A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to
protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit.
 Its basic function is to detect a fault condition and, by interrupting
continuity, to immediately discontinue electrical flow.
 Unlike a fuse, which operates once and then has to be replaced, a circuit
breaker can be reset (either manually or automatically) to resume normal
operation.
 Circuit breakers are made in varying sizes, from small devices that protect
an individual household appliance up to large switchgear designed to protect
high voltage circuits feeding an entire city.
 These are of two types:
 MCB
 ELCB
MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
 MCB is miniature circuit breaker. It is automatic in action. When excessive
current passes through the circuit, handle of MCB will moves down and thus
trips the circuit.
 After one such an operation we can manually reset the supply by solving the
fault in that circuit.
 Thus rewiring fault size fuse wire in the case of fuse can be avoided by using
MCBs.
MECHANISM:
 The overload protection is achieved by a thermal trip mechanism using a
bimetallic strip.
 An electromagnetic trip mechanism is also incorporated for instantaneous
tripping in the event of a short circuit.
MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
 When there is a sudden increase in current due to a short circuit, the circuit
should open immediately, but the bimetallic strip does not respond quickly.
 In this case, the solenoid attracts the plunger and thus triggers the trip
mechanism.
 After clearing the fault, the MCB can be switched on manually.
MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
 Fig. shows the current path in a typical miniature circuit breaker when it is in
the 'on' position.
 The current passes through a solenoid coil and a bimetallic strip.
 When an overload condition persists for a few seconds, the bimetallic strip
bends and triggers the trip mechanism.
 The principle of operation
of an MCB is based on the
following two principles
 Thermal operation
 Magnetic operation
 MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
APPLICATIONS:
 MCBs are preferred over fuses mainly because there is no need of rewiring the
fuse wire or replacing the cartridge.
 MCBs are available in a range of 0.5A to 63A normal operating current and
for the entire range, the, physical dimensions are almost identical.
ADVANTAGES
 Instantaneous opening of the contact on short circuit faults
 Can be designed to operate even for very small overload currents
 They can be quickly reset by hand
 They cannot be reclosed if fault persist
 In many cases they preferred over fuses as there is no need to rewire it.
EARTH LEAKAGE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..

 The earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) is a protective device, which will
automatically trip, when there is an earth leakage within the installation. It is
also known as residual current circuit breaker (RCCB).
 It works on the current balance principle.
 The main part is a core consisting of three windings. Here one winding carries
the phase current, the other winding carries the neutral current and the third
winding to the tripping circuit.
 Under normal operating conditions the net flux in the core is zero as such no
emf induced in the trip coil.
 However, when earth fault occurs, the phase and neutral current varies, the net
flux in the core will be different and as such, emf is induced in the trip coil and
it is energized.
 It then opens the circuit. The functioning of the ELCB can be checked using a
switch.
EARTH LEAKAGE CIRCUIT BREAKER.……..
 EARTHING.……..
 Thus earthing is to connect any electrical equipment to earth with a very low
resistance wire, making it to attain earth’s potential. The wire is usually connected
to a copper plate placed at a depth of 2.5 to 3meters from the ground level.
 The earth resistance is affected by the following factors:
 Material properties of the earth wire and the electrode
 Temperature and moisture content of the soil
 Depth of the pit
 Quantity of the charcoal used
 Necessity of Earthing:
 To protect the operating personnel from danger of shock in case they come in
contact with the charged frame due to defective insulation.
 To maintain the line voltage constant under unbalanced load condition.
 Protection of the equipments
 Protection of large buildings and all machines fed from overhead lines against
lightning.
EARTHING.……..
EARTHING.……..
EARTHING.……..
METHODS OF EARTHING.……..
 The important methods of earthing are
 THE PLATE EARTHING
 THE PIPE EARTHING
 The earth resistance for copper wire is 1 ohm and that of G I wire less
than 3 ohms.
 The earth resistance should be kept as low as possible so that the
neutral of any electrical system, which is earthed, is maintained
almost at the earth potential.
 The typical value of the earth resistance at powerhouse is 0. 5 ohm
and that at substation is 1 ohm.
 METHODS OF EARTHING.……..
PLATE EARTHING
 In this method a copper plate of 60cm x 60cm x 3.18cm or a GI plate of the
size 60cm x 60cm x 6.35cm is used for earthing.
 The plate is placed vertically down inside the ground at a depth of 3m and is
embedded in alternate layers of coal and salt for a thickness of 15 cm.
 In addition, water is poured for keeping the earth electrode resistance value
well below a maximum of 5 ohms.
 The earth wire is securely bolted to the earth plate.
 A cement masonry chamber is built with a cast iron cover for easy regular
maintenance.
METHODS OF EARTHING.……..
 METHODS OF EARTHING.……..
PIPE EARTHING
 Earth electrode made of a GI (galvanized) iron pipe of 38mm in diameter
and length of 2m (depending on the current) with 12mm holes on the
surface is placed upright at a depth of 4.75m in a permanently wet ground.
 To keep the value of the earth resistance at the desired level, the area (15
cms) surrounding the GI pipe is filled with a mixture of salt and coal.
 The efficiency of the earthing system is improved by pouring water through
the funnel periodically.
 The GI earth wires of sufficient cross- sectional area are run through a
12.7mm diameter pipe (at 60cms below) from the 19mm diameter pipe and
secured tightly at the top as shown in the following figure.
METHODS OF EARTHING.……..