TH I RTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

ILL SWITCHBOARDS
By F. M. LOHNING
Introduction
With the growth of electric power in sugar mills and their interconnection with local electricity authorities, i t is perhaps opportune to
review switchboard design and operation and to suggest that sugar mill
electricians check fault levels and ensure that switchboards and switchgear
are adequately rated. The paper is also written with the intention of
stimulating discussion as to the type of electrical switchboards required
by the sugar industry.
It must be remembered that switchboards which were built many
years ago may be wholly inadequate for the fault levels existing today.
They could disintegrate under a direct short circuit with the possibility of
fire and complete shutdown of mill operations. To avoid such a possibility
fault levels should be calculated and the method outlined in this paper
will enable a rapid evaluation to be made.

*GeneratorShort Circuit
Consider the synchronous generator in Figure 2 , from the point of
view of short circuit. At the instant of short circuit the flux remains
unchanged and thus currents are induced in the main field winding FW
and damper winding DW. I t is these currents which give rise respectively
t o the concept of transient and sub-transient reactance as shown by the
curve of alternator short circuit current with time in Figure 2.
Whilst it can be argued that the switchgear should be designed for
the instantaneous maximum short circuit current, it must be realized
that relays and circuit breakers require time to operate and therefore the
current resulting from sub-transient reactance (due to the damper winding)
is not of such great importance, because the time constant is so shorta few cycles. The more prolonged short circuit current as determined by
the transient reactance is more realistic. This figure is around 15 per cent
for smaller machines up to about five megawatts. In view of the fact
that the subtransient reactance produces too large a figure for short
circuit current and the transient reactance a figure perhaps somewhat on
the low side i t is considered that the short circuit current on which
calculations should be based is that occurring say half a cycle after

K M

Fig. l-Alternator

on short circuit.

THIRTY-SECOND CONFERmCE

Fig. 2-AC

component of alternator short circuit current.

initiation of the short circuit, i.e. after 0.01 seconds. This treatment gives
rise to the concept of a s h r t circuit constant and for almost all alternators
this figure is from 5 to 7. Thus a 3 MVA alternator with a short circuit
constant of 6 would deliver 18 MVA just after the instant of short circuit
and this would be used in short circuit calculations.

At this point i t is opportune to introduce the concept of an infinite

busbar. An infinite busbar is one in which the short circuit current drawn
does not alter the voltage. In all practical circuits some impedance must
be present but these can be simplified by considering then as an infinite
bus and series impedance.
A transformer is of course, simply treated as a series impedance, and
the short circuit power in MVA on an infinite bus is given by:
Y X 100

PSIC
=

---

m''

where .P = rated MVA of transformer

2% = percent impedance of transformer
For example, an l l k V network with a fault level of 250 MVA can
be considered as an infinite bus and a series impedance of

etworks
Consider now a network followed by a transformer. The fault level

P, on the load side of the transformer is calculated as follows:-

1965

TH I RTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

The network on the line side of the transformer is represented as:

/Nf/N/E

BUS

The transformer on an infinite bus would give an impedance referred

to the high tension side of:

The two impedances are in series so that :

- EN2 ZN +ZT
from which, dividing by E N 2

ZN

Mill Circuits "

Consider now a typical mill circuit as shown in Figure 3.
The rupturing capacities for generator breakers G, and G, and feeder
breakers F, to F, are found as follows:

THIRTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

Fig. 3-Typical

The network P,
fault level

= 250

main circuit in a sugar mill.

MVA

Transformer fault level on an

infinite bus is :
.0
PT=---5/100=20MVA

'2 = 20 250 = 18.5 MVA

P,+PT
20+250
Fault MVA generated
by the 1500 kVA alternator is: Pgl=l.5 X 6=9 MVA
Fault MVA generated
by the 2500 kVA alternator is: Pg2=2.5 ~ 5 = 1 2 . 5MVA
Thus the rating of breakers F, to F, must be at least 18.5+9+12.5=
4OMVA
The rating of the circuit breaker G, must be at least equal to
~h~~ p,

= .-l=

The rating of circuit breaker G, must be at least equal to:

18.5+9=27.5 MVA
and the feeder breakers, F,-F,, were
of an old board, were quite inadequate,
and if it were not possible or convenient to replace F,---F, in the immediate
future, then a solution would be to use a reactor at the point X.
Assuming the feeder breakers F,-F, can handle a maximum of 20
VA and not the bus MVA of 40 then the rating of the reactor is found
from :

from which
so that
Apart from inserting a reactor, there are various other ways in which
to view the problem of old boards with inadequate breakers, A simple

1965

THI RTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

67

solution is to back them up with h.r.c. fuses. Another solution is to grade

the protection, use a tie breaker at X and ensure that the tie breaker
always opens before the breakers F,-F,
for fault currents in excess of
the capacity of the latter breakers. The reactor, is of course, the safest
but the most expensive way and might be used to protect a relatively
new board having a considerable number of inadequate circuit breakers,
which could only be replaced at prohibitive cost. The tie breaker and or
fuses are adequate where it is planned to replace the board as soon as
funds become available.

Sectionalizing
The above comments assume that sectionalizing the bus is not
possible; but this may sometimes be arranged without much inconvenience.
The circuit of Figure 3 would then be as shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 4-.--Sectionalized board of Figure 3.

The disadvantages of this arrangement are obvious-the full power

of the 1500 MVA machine is not utilized and in the event of a shut down
of the 1500 kVA machine no power is available to feeders F,-F,. Perhaps
a second interconnection of 500 kVA (as shown dotted) could be considered
as insurance against outages.

Double Busbars
The logical trend of these ideas leads to proposals for a double bus
system as shown in Figure 6. From discussion with electricians in the
industry, this arrangement is desirable, if not essential, for flexibility.
Type of Board
In reviewing the type of board desired by the mills, it is quite obvious
that the trend is not only to dead front cubicle type gear, but to individual
"compartmentation" of bus section, breakers etc. This applies not only to
main power house switchboards but also to motor control distribution
centres. In the latter case it will be interesting to have the sugar industry's
reaction to the completely with-drawable gear which is gaining favour in

L . r UOUBLC BUS.

Fig. 5-Switchboard

with duplicate bus.

other industries such as mines, and iron and steel mills. Changeover trucks
have the advantage that shut downs are limited to a few minutes. Standardization of truck dimensions allows easy changeover of circuits to
accommodate larger motors when required.
I t is now generally agreed that 3.3kV as recommended by the author
in 1960[1] is, on purely economic grounds, the best generation voltage for
a mill. Whilst a mill may have no 3.3kV plant to begin with this is no
reason to continue with costly low tension reticulation. The solution is to
generate at 3.3kV and transform with a unit transformer direct to 41SV.
All new motors of large horsepower can then be placed direct on the
3.3kV circuit.

Fig. 6-Typical

mill circliit with h.t. and 1.t. generation and three winding
transformer.

1965

THIRTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

69

An interesting solution for connection of the generators at 415V and

3.3 kVand the network at l l k V is to employ a three winding transformer
as shown in Figure 6. This arrangement allows maximum flexibility for
connection of feeders to generators and interconnection with the supply
network. In some cases when returning power to the network it is desirable
to have a single generator operating separately from the mill network.
Another point worthy of note is the possible introduction of selective
tripping when power is in short supply. i.e. the automatic tripping of all
non-essential load. During the slack all circuits can be energized for testing
purposes.
Fault Calculations with .T. and L.T. Generation
To illustrate the method of calculating fault levels for a mill with a
3.3kV interconnection the circuit shown in Figure 7 will be considered.

Fig. 7-4ircuit for fault calculation in mill with Lt. and h.t. generation.
Short circuit power of benerator 1 is l .O X 5 = 5MVA.
Short circuit power of generator 2 is 0.75 X 6 = 4.5MVA.
Short circuit power of generator 3 is 2.5 X 6 = 15MVA.

The short circuit capacity of the feeder breakers on the 1.t.side is

calculated from the sum of the short circuit powers of the Lt. generators
plus the short circuit power from the 3.31cV generator and l l k V network
via the transformer.
The 3.3kV/415V windings have on an infinite bus a short circuit
capacity of
2
7.5/100
27 MVA

TH I RTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

-E

/ ,"M/

4
" "d,'=Yr

'as

WG
.-

m.r.rcmP

Fig. 8 S a f e span for given bus system and fault level.

Thus the short circuit power from the 3.3kV generator on the 1.t.bus

The llkV/415V windings have of an infinite bus a short circuit

2
capacity of
----- = 17 MVA
12!100

1 965

71

T H I RTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

Thus the short circuit power from the l l k V network on the 1.t.bus is

The short circuit capacity of feeder breakers F,-F, must therefore

be a t least 5 3-45 10 l 5 = 35 MVA, generator breaker G , at least
4.5 -C10 1 - 15 -- 30 MVA and generator breaker G, at least 5 10 15
= 30 MVA.
The rating of the circuit breakers for generator G, and feeder breakers
F , F,, and F,, are found in a similar manner by considering the short
circuit power flowing from the 1.t.generators and 11kV network in addition
to the 3.3kV generator.
Short circuit power transmitted to the 3.3kV from the Lt. generators
is found as follows:
generators 5
4.5 = 9.5 MVA
transformer on infinite bus
= 27 MVA
7.5/100

+ +

-+ +

9.5 X 27
= 7 MVA
9.5 -C 27
Short circuit power transmitted from the l l k V network on the 3.3kV
bus is similarly found:
P s l c network 150 MVA
Pslc transformer on infinite bus
-27 MVA

.thus short circuit power on 3.3kV bus

7.5,iio

thus short circuit Fower on 3.3.kV side is ' *5F

=23 MVA
150
27
Feeder beakers F , F,, and F,, must be rated at least equal to
15 7
23 = 45 MVA and the generator breaker 7 23 = 30 MVA.

+ +

TABLE I-----Temperature rise of conductors during fault.

THIRTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

Fig. 9-Critical

5 *D

lengths of copper busbars a t 50 c.p.s.

ort Circuit Capacity of Bus ars and Apparatus

I t is important to check the mechanical strength of busbar systems
on all old type boards. Possibly the easiest check is the maximum distance
between supports for a given size and configuration of busbars under
maximum fault conditions and thus Figure 8 is of value.
I t is realized, of course, that the fault must be cleared within a short
time as otherwise the busbars and droppers will lose strength because
of their elevated temperature. This is very often overlooked in the droppers to breakers and switch fuses which can disintegrate on sustained fault.
The final temperature of conductors of various sizes with one and three
second faults is shown in Table I.

1965

THIRTY-SECOND CONFERENCE

73

In addition to mechanical strength the dynamic conditions have to

be investigated, particularly to ensure that the distance between supports
is not close to the critical length, where the busbars go into natural
vibration (resonance).This phenomena shows itself in the form of a powerful hum from the conductors. Figure 9 shows the critical length Lk as a
function of the bar cross-section. If the length of the busbars between
supports L is close to the critical length Lk the effective force on the
busbars from Figure 8 has to be increased according to the correction
factor k.

Protection
Considerable discussion has recently been centred around generator
protection. For large machines exceeding say 1000 kW, differential protection can be justified for protection against internal fault and is usually
complemented with overcurrent back-up. On smaller machines overcurrent and earth leakage only are employed.
In relation to overcurrent protection, the question is, what settings
will be used? If set low to protect the machines against overheating then
there is a danger of cascade tripping of all sets should one set trip. I t is
the author's considered opinion that over-current relays should always
be set high as back-LIPand that a high quality thermal relay with a time
constant matching that of the generator should be employed. Thermocouples embedded in the windings of the generator are an even better
arrangement. In either case signalling only is required to bring the high
temperature condition to the notice of the mill electrician who can then
take appropriate action such, for example, as tripping off some nonessential load.
The Buchholz relay gives protection against internal faults in transformers and is usually inserted in the pipe between the conservator and
tank. Generation of gas causes signalling whilst any movement of oil
causes the surge flap to operate the trip contacts of the breakers feeding
and fed by the transformer. If the h.t. side is protected by fuses only,
then the Buchholz relay may be only partially effective. Feeder protection
is normally overcurrent only due to the considerable amount of single,
phase loading. Earth leakage could easily be included if neutrals were
run back to switchboards and would serve to confine earth faults to
individual feeders.

Power House Control

I t seems that all mill electricians favour centralized control in the
power house so that all machines and feeders can be synchronized,
operated and controlled from a single control desk or pulpit. This has
caused some problems in that older prime movers have had to have
speeder gears fitted to the governors, circuit breakers provided with
power closing, and so forth. However, the trouble is well repaid in ease of
operation and the fact that only one operator is required in the power
house. Pulpits already delivered have been somewhat large and could be
reduced in size, in fact, a control desk would possibly be more convenient.
With the size of sets increasing it can be argued that a changeover to
automatic synchronizing, which eliminates the possibility of human error,
is warranted.

REFERENCE

.:

1960. "Selective Application of AC and DC

[l] Johnson,W.and
in Sugar Mills". Proc. Q.S.S.C.T. Twenty-seventh Conference, p. 85.

ASEA Electric (Aust) Pty. Ltd.,

Brisbane.