LT SWITCHGEAR 15.

CHAPTER-15

LT SWITCHGEAR

SNO.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

BUS BAR ARRANGEMENT

CHANGE OVER SCHEME
CONTROL AND AUX. SUPPLY BUS LAYOUT
PROTECTIVE RELAYS AT INCOMERS AND BUSCOUPLERS
EARTHING OF SWITCHGEARS
SWITCHING OF LOADS
AIR CIRCUIT BREAKERS
PROTECTIVE THERMAL RELAYS AND FUSES

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.2

TOPIC LT SWITCH GEAR BUS BARS ARRANGEMENT.

A typical bus bar arrangement of LT switch is shown in fig-14. There are 02 sources of
3d power supply, one no. from transformer #1 & other from transformer #2. The 3d
supply terminals of transformers are connected to incoming terminals individual breakers
i.e Tr#1 to Q1 and Tr #2 to Q3 through Aluminum/copper strips, 3 core cables. If
aluminum or copper strips are used than these strips housed in a duct. Called bus duct, the
out going terminals of the breakers are connected to the horizontal bus bars of their
individual section. Called section A & B. By switching On the breaker Q1 & Q3 the
power supply can be fed to section-A and B respectively. The buss bar (Horizontal) of
section-A&B extended upto their extreme end of their section. To connected the bus
section-A&B a switch issued called bus coupler Q2. These type of bus bar arrangement
called single bus, sectionalized bus bar arrangement.
There are number of sets of vertical dropper bus bars in each section which are connected
to each phase of the horizontal main bus bars. The size of vertical bus bars is smaller
than the main bus bares as connected load to each set of vertical bus bars is less than
main bus bar.
The power supply tapped from these vertical bus bars for outgoing feeders.
If any source of supply fails, the power supply to that section can be fed from other
source of supply by switch on the bus coupler Q2.
A green colour bus bar in lower portion of switch R runs through out the MCC/PCC
called earthing bus bar which is connected to a external earthing pit/grid with a
MS/GIstrip.

(SNO-110)
TOPIC: CHANGE OVER SCHEME.
Change over means to feed both the section A & B from one source if these sections
earlier fed from individual source or to feed the individual section from own source if
earlier both the section fed from one source.
There are 02 types of change over schemes.

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.3

1.
2.

Live bus change over

Dead bus change over
1. Live bus change Over Scheme: This change over scheme is only applicable when
source 1&2 are synchronized. For this change over methods is given below:
Example: Suppose initially both the sections fed from individual source and assume that
both sources are synchronized. Now we want to shift total load of section A&B on
source-2. First of all switch on the bus coupler Q2 and then switch off the I/C-1 (Q1) in
this method there is no interruption of power in section-A
2.
Dead bus change over: This change over scheme is applicable when source
1&2 are fed from different sources say source-1 from grid powr and source-2 from own
generator (Non synchronized)
Example: Suppose we want to feed both the section from source 1, we also
assume that initially both the section A&B are fed from individual source. Method: Ist of
all switch off the I/C-2 after that switch on the Bus coupler Q2 (Q3). In this method there
is a interruption of supply in section-B.
Normally in the change over scheme any 02 breakers out of 03 permitted for
ON. To achieve this interlocks are provided in closing circuit of the breakers. To
switch on the third breaker a synchronous check relay contact defects these inter locks i.e,
it only permit when both the sources are synchronized.
Closing circuit of the I/C Breakers (Q1 & Q3)

Explanation of Closing Circuit of Incomers.

1.

Local/Remote switch This switch is used whether breaker to be closed from local or
remote.

2.

Spring return switch used to give momentary closing command.

3.

CC Closing coil is used for closing the breaker.

4.

94 (Anti pump relay). It is used to permit the closing command once.

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.4

5.

B-(I/L) defect relay). It is energized by synchronized. Check relay it defects the I/L to
close the breaker in case of live change over condition for I/Cs breaker closing.

i)
ii)
iii)

In coming voltage should be .80% of system voltage it is mounted by U/V 1 relay.

Any incomer breaker and bus coupler (Q2) was not tripped fault.
Breaker is in service position.
CLOSING CIRCUIT OF BUS COUPLER (Q2)

Explanation of closing circuit of Bus coupler

1.
2.

Auto manual switch It used to close the breaker manually or auto

Other functions are same as in case of incomers.
An auto mode bus coupler closing circuit checked the following conditions.

A)

Any other Incomer tripped/off due to any reason e.g tripping of upstream breaker.

B)

Incomer is not tripped on fault of that section i.e No bus fault.

C)

The voltage of that bus less than 30% i.e no voltage in that bus this condition is
monitored by relay U/V-6 or U/V-4 as the case may be
Example: Suppose up stream of Incomer #1 switch Off. The voltage at Incomer #1 and
at corresponding bus will become zero. It is monitored by relay U/V-1 and U/K4. The
relay U/V-1 will give the tripping command to Incomer #1. The auto closing circuit will
check Incomer #1 is Off Yes.
Bus-A No fault Yes
Bus-B Voltage 780% - Yes
Bus-A Voltage , 30% - Yes
If all the condition fulfilled the bus coupler will close an auto mode.

The tripping circuit almost same for incomers and bus coupler except under voltage trip,
this command is generated by U/V-1 & U/V-2 incase of under voltage for I/C-1 & I/C-2
and up-stream trip.

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.5

The breaker will trip in following condition

1.
2.
3.
4.

By manual spring return switch

Fault in any bus
Up-stream of incomers become off
Incomer became under voltage due to other reasons.

(SNO-111)
TOPIC: CONTROL AND AUX.SUPPLY BUS LAYOUT.
In PCC/MCC the breakers and electromagnetic contractor type feeders used to fed
the power supply to the bus bars, motors or to other external loads. To switch On/Off
these breakers and contractors reliable control supply is needed. In case of breaker 02
nos 220 VDC needed, 01 for tripping circuit of the breaker and one for closing circuit and
spring charging motor. In breakers the tripping and closing achieved by energizing 02
nos electromagnetic coils 01 for tripping and other for closing which release the spring
mechanism by attracting a plunger as the case may be.
In case of contact feeder ( for motor) a mov AC supply is used to energize the
contact electromagnetic coil which attract a plunger. The 3 poles of contact mechanically
coupled with this plunger. These 3 poles make through the 3 supply to the motors. To
meet these requirements different type of supply bus bards are also provided throughout
the MCC/PCC and run along horizontal bus bar but in a isolated compartment. The
power supply to these bus bars fed from reliable sources e.g mov DC battery bank, 1 d
AC source.
The purpose of these bus bars are (ref. Fig no.15)
1.
2.
3.
4.

MOV DC bus bar for tapping the tripping supply of the breakers.
MODC bus bar for tapping the closing and spring charging motor supply.
MOV AC bus bar for tapping the contactor feeders control supply in service position.
MOVAC bus for space heater in PCC/MCC Panels and test control supply for contactor
feeders in test position.

SWITCHING OF LOADS
Switching equipment must clearly be suitable for switching normal and when required abnormal conditions
of the circuit in which it is situated. All circuits consist of series/parallel arrangements of resistance,
reactance and capacitance and during switching these components will produce resonances of different
forms. The switching equipment must therefore be capable of safety withstanding these resonant

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.6
conditions during the switching operation.
encountered.

The switching conditions described below are regularly

NORMAL SWITCHING CONDITIONS

1.

Shunt Capacitor Bank switching: When switching a shunt capacitor bank the load is purely
capacitive. The source side of the circuit breaker will include bus bar capacitance to earth, this
being small compared with the load capacitance and series reactance. The energy stored in the
load capacitor is discharged to the bus bar shunt capacitance and series inductance to cause a high
frequency oscillation. Large currents will flow across the opening contact gap and damage to are
control devices may occur.

2.

Overhead Line and Cable Switching: Both overhead line and cable switching conditions present
problems similar to those of capacitor switching.
In the case of over head line there will be distributed capacitance between the phases and to earth
along the line, interspersed with distributed line inductance. The load current is again small and
its interruption is probable at the first available current zero. This will leave a charge on the line
which may result in a travelling wave propagating along the line to the far end where it will reflect
and return to the circuit breaker.
A further problem may occur when switch an over head line which is terminated at an unloaded
transformer. The combination of line capacitance and x-mer reactance then may cause high
frequency oscillations with phase to earth over voltages in excess of 3 pv. Over head line
switching regimes usually prohibit the switching of such circuits.
With cable switching the condition is similar to over head line switching except the capacitance
values significantly higher than those associated with the over head line will be encountered.

3.

Transformer Magnetizing Current Switching: We know that circuit breakers generally clear on
cessation of flow of current i.e at a natural zero current. When interrupting very low values of
current this may hot always be the case and the arc extinction mechanisms may force the arc to
extinguish before the current reaches its natural zero. This phenomenon is referred to as current
chopping, since the voltage appearing across the circuit is proportional to the rate of change of
current times and inductive of the circuit, very high voltages may occur as a result of current
chopping. This phenomenon occurs when switching low inductive currents, as for example may
occur when switching the magnetizing current of a x-mer. The transient voltage in fact oscillate at
a frequency determined by the x-mer magnetizing inductance and winding capacitance. The
oscillation will be damped by eddy and current hysterics losses in the x-mer. Over voltages of the
order of 3 P.V may be generated.

4.

Shunt Reactor Switching Shunt reactors are often used to compensate for the capacitance of
highly loaded lines. They may be frequently switched depending on the line loading regimes.
Shunt reactor switching presents overuse switching conditions for a circuit breaker and frequent
maintenance may be necessary.

5.

Series Reactor Switching: Series reactors are same times used to limit the short circuit fault
capacity between the two connected sections of a supply system should a fault occur on the circuit
side of the reactor this would cause a relatively high frequency transient on the reactor side of the
circuit breaker and a low frequency oscillation on the bus bar side. Thus circuit breakers for series
reactor switching duties need to be tested for these specific conditions.

6.

Disconnector Switching: Whilst disconnectors generally have only to switch the small capacitive
currents associated with a section of bus bar between the disconnector and circuit breaker, this can
cause certain problems. Firstly, the disconnector must be capable of satisfactorily switching the

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.7
maximum value of capacitive current likely to be encountered causing contact or dielectric
deterioration. Secondly contacts of a disconnector are generally slow in operation and when
switching very low values of capacitive current, very many re-ignitions may occur.
Disconnectors are also commonly used to transfer load (current from one bus bar to an adjacent
parallel connected bus bar. Under these conditions the disconnector may have to make and break
full load current with a voltage across its contacts equal to the impedance drop around the parallel
circuit. Whilst this may only be some tens of volts contact burning can result.
7.

Earth Switch/Switching: Since earth switches are only applied to a de-energised circuit they
should not under normal conditions, be required to make or break current. However, when an
over head line is taken out of service and where work is required on the line, it is necessary to
earth the line at both ends.

ABNORMAL SWITCHING CONDITIONS

The main difference of a circuit breaker compared with other mechanical switching devices is its ability to
satisfactorily clear abnormal circuit conditions as may occur for example when a short circuit occurs on the
down stream side of the circuit breaker. Under these conditions the circuit is mainly inductive and the short
circuit current bags the system voltage by almost 90 degree. This means that when the current passes
through a zero point the voltage across the opening circuit breaker contacts is at or near its peak value. The
arc extinguishing process must therefore be such as to ensure that at a suitable current zero, sufficient
dielectric strength has built upto withstand this peak voltage. For an air blast or gas blast SF6 circuit
breaker this will usually occur at or before the second available current zero. For oil circuit breakers
several current zeros may pass before arc extinction occurs. This situation is covered in international
specifications by calling for short circuit tests at 100%, 60^, 30% and 10% of the circuit breaker current
with the transient recovery voltage parameters being specified for each value of short circuit test current.
An additional complication arises when the ratio of inductance to resistance can be high for example for
faults close to transformer terminals. This causes the a.c current to contain a large decaying d.c component
of current. When the CB contacts open, this decaying d.c current may not have reached zero and the CB
will be required to clear an a.c current off-set from the zero line. This is referred to as an asymmetrical
short circuit current.
A similar situation might arise when a circuit breaker is required to close against a short circuit when the
system reactance to resistance ratio (X/R) is igh. A large d.c current in the initial part of the a.c current
wave may occur and the d.c current peak, may in theory reach 2x52 Inax. For typical X/R ratios, the peak
current is in practice, nearer to 1.8x52 Imax and it is this value which the CB must satisfactorily close
against. As large mechanical forces will result from the electromagnetic effects of the peak short circuit
current, the CB operating mechanism must have sufficient energy to overcome these forces.
A further onerous condition may occur for a fault a short distance along an over head line whereby the line
impedance is such as to reduce the short circuit current to some 75 95% of its rated value. This is termed
a short line fault condition. Again specifications require transmission circuit breakers to be tested for this
condition.

COURSE SR.NO.107
AIR CIRCUIT BREAKERS
The arc interruption in oil is due to the generation of hydrogen gas because of the decomposition of oil. No,
doubt, arc interruption properties of hydrogen are much superior to air, but air has several advantages as an
arc extinguishing medium as compared to oil. They are;

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.8

1.

Fire risk and maintenance associated with the use of oil are eliminated.

2.

Arcing products in air are generally completely removed whereas oil deteriorates with successive
breaking operation. Therefore, the expense of regular oil replacement is avoided.

3.

Heavy mechanical stresses set up by gas pressure and oil movement are absent.

4.

Relatively inferior arc extinguishing properties of air may be offset by using various principles of
arc control and operating air at high pressures.
This is why except for a certain medium range of voltages, ACBs are widely used for the low
voltage circuits as well as the highest transmission voltages.
Simple ACBs which do not incorporate any arc control devices are used for low voltages below
1KV. These breakers usually have two pairs

Of contacts per phase. The main pair of contact carries the current under normal operating
conditions and is made of copper. The additional pair actually becomes the arcing electrode as the
circuit breaker is opened and are made of carbon because the vaporization and distortion of the
contacts due to the heat of the arc are confined to these contacts and therefore, the material used
for the contacts should be non volatile. The main contacts separate while the arcing pair is still in
contact and the arc is therefore, initiated only when the arcing pair separate.
The principle of operation of these breakers is based on the high resistance method in which the
arc resistance is increased in time to such a high value that it forces the current to reach zero
without possibility of arc being restruck thereafter. The arc resistance may be increased due to
any of all the deionizing methods i.e cooling, lengthening and splitting of the arc.
ARC CHUTE AIR CIRCUIT BREAKERS:
In this case the arc is extinguished by lengthening and increasing the voltage gradient i.e power
loss of the arc. The arc discharge is moved upward by both thermal and electromagnetic effects
(as shown in figure). This is then driven into a chute consisting of splitters and baffles. The
splitters increase the length of the arc even further and the baffles give improved cooling. In this
breaker relatively high arc resistance is obtained near current zeros. This effect plays an important
role in obtaining high breaking capacity by modifying the circuit p.f near current zero such that the
voltage available to re-strike the arc is appreciably less than the peak value. A disadvantage of arc
principle is the inefficiency at low currents where the electromagnetic fields are weak. The chute
itself is not necessarily less efficient in its lengthening and de-ionizing

LT SWITCHGEAR 15.9

Action than at high currents, but the movement of the arc into the chute tends to become slower
and high speed interruption is less assured.