Module3:LectureNotes(3)

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SupplyArrangements
ProtectiveEquipment
BS.88,HBCFuses
Thefamiliarrewirablefuse[BS.3036],consistsofathinwireheldbetweentheterminalsofa
porcelainorbakaliteholderandhaslimitedbreakingcapacity
[TypeS1=1kA,S2=2kA,S3=
4kABreakingCapacityistheabilityofacircuitprotectivedevicetosuccessfullyinterruptthe
flowofcurrentinashortcircuitsituation,withoutcausingdamagetoitselforitshousing.Itis
usuallyquotedasamaximumshortcircuitcurrentcapacityorafaultlevelinMVAgivenfrom
Square
3.Vline.Ishortcircuit].
root

Ifaverylargecurrentflowsthefusewiremeltsveryrapidlyandalargeamountofenergyis
suddenlyreleased.Theenergycanbelargeenoughtocauseseriousdamagetothefusecarrier
.
Itwasfoundthatsomeofthisenergycouldbeabsorbedbysurroundingthefusewirewithinert
fibrousorgranularmaterial.
ThisthenledtothedevelopmentofthecartridgefuseandultimatelytotheHRC(highrupture
capacity)andHBC(highbreakingcapacity)fuses.Actually
,thetermHRCcanbeappliedtoall
fuseswithabreakingcapacitygreaterthan33kAandthetermHBCisintendedforhigher
breakingcapacityfuses,suchasBS.88testedupto80kA.However
,manypeopleuseeither
termtoimplyeitherfuseanditisthereforegenerallysafertorefertoanyprotectivedevicebyits
BSnumber.[N.B.Thesizeofafuseorcircuitbreakerreferstoitsratedfullloadcurrent
capacitynotitsbreakingcapacity,noritsphysicaldimensions].
ClickHereforIllustrationofHighCurrentLevelFault
.
[Notethehightemperatureofthearcandtheviolentexpansionoftheairasitisheated].

Essentiallythefuseconsistsofatubularbodymanufacturedfromhighgradeceramicand
designedtowithstandthemechanicalandthermalforcesofheavycurrentinterruption.Thebody
thencontainsspeciallydesignedfusibleelements,usuallyofsilveroranassociatedalloy
,to
ensurenonoxidationandhencenondeteriorationduringlife.Theelementsaretypicallyflatbut
verythin,almost'foil'sectiontoensurealargesurfaceareathroughwhichtheycandissipate

heatonnormalloadconditionsandhenceremaincoolerthantheequivalentrewirablefusesin
operation.Toensureveryrapidfuseoperationunderheavyfaultcurrentconditions,apartfrom
makingthefuseelementverythin,severalsmallerelementsareusedinparallel,ratherthanone
singleheavierunit.Thiswayeachelementhasaverylowthermalinertiaandcanthusrespond
withveryrapidmeltingtimes,typically1to2milliseconds,undershortcircuitconditions.In
addition,toassistinthecontrolofthearcwhichformswhentheelementspart,eachelementhas
anumberofreducedsectionsalongitslengthtopromotethegrowthofseveralsmallerarcs,
ratherthanonelargerarc.Thishastheef
fectofincreasingthetotalarcvoltagedropandhence
offersahigherresistancetothepassageofcurrentthroughthefuse.Additionally
,the
temperatureofeachofthesmallerarcsisliabletobelowerthatonelargemainarc,makingthem
easiertocontrol.
Thefusesarefilledwithagranulatedquartzorsilica
[finewhitesand],sothattheelementsare
surroundedandoperateincloseproximitytothehighpuritygranulatedsilicafilling,whichbeinga
goodconductorofheat,furtherhelpstoconductheatawayfromtheelementsundertheirnormal
loadconditions.Whenaheavyfaultoccursandeachelementmelts,theresultantarccauses
vaporisationofthefuseelementmaterialandfusionthenoccursbetweenthevapourandthe
fillingpowder,andthisprocessrapidlyconductsheatawayfromthearcthusreducingelectron
energyandmobilitytherebyincreasingarcresistanceleadingtorapidarcextinction.The
processisalmostakintoquenchingthearc.
Tocontainthesilicaandenableelectricalconnectionstobemade,theceramicbodyissealed
byplatedbrassendcapswhicharepressedontothebodyandtowhichcoppertagsareriveted
[forstrength]andsoldered[forconductivity]tomaketherequiredconnectionstothefuseholder
orcarrier.

Alternativewaystoreduceelement
crosssectiontoensuremultiplearcgrowth

Thishighlevelofdesigntechnologyresultsinaveryrapidoperationunderheavyfaultconditions
[typicallycurrents3040timesthefuseratingorhigher],sorapidinfactthatmeltingoccurs
withinthefirstfewmillisecondsintothefaultcurrentandthusanarcforms,andstartstobe
controlledevenbeforethefaultcurrentcanreachitsfirstsinusoidalpeak.Thistherefore'
cuts
off'thecurrent,notallowingittoreachitsmaximumpeakconditionandtherebylimitsthethermal
andmagneticstresses[bothproportionaltoI2]passedintothecircuit.Thisactionistermeda
currentlimitingaction.

Thetimethefusetakestomeltisobviouslytermedthemeltingtimeandthesumofthemelting
andarcingtimesisthetotaloperatingtimewhichunderheavyfaultconditionsisaround5to6
milliseconds.
PreArcing:
Nowthetermmeltingonlyappliestofuses,circuitbreakersdon'tmelt
[ortheyshouldn't],butall
devicesarcwhentheybreakthecircuitcontact
[thisisanaturalphenomenaanddissipatesthe
storedreactiveenergyinthecircuitatthemomentofcircuitinterruptionandunfortunately
underheavycurrentconditionstherejusthappenstobealotofenergy].Thustheterm'pre
arcing'thetimebeforethefusemeltsorthecontactsinthecircuitbreakerseparatethetime
beforeanyarcingbegins,isamuchmore'universal'term.
Thisishowthefuseoperatesunderheavyfaultconditions,buthowdowecheckfor
discrimination?Wellactually,weneedtocheckitintwoways.Somecircuitprotectivedevices
arenotabletorespondveryquicklyunderallconditionsofcurrentwhilstothersmayhave
differenttime/currentcharacteristicsfortheiroverloadandshortcircuitperformance.Thusto
ensurethatwegetcompletediscriminationwehavetochecktheiroperationacross
alltimes
andallcurrentstowhichtheyarelikelytobeexposedfromnormalloadcurrentrightuptotheir
prospectiveshortcircuitcurrent.
Nowtherangeofoperatingcurrentsandtimesissolarge,rangingfromafewamperesupto
severalthousandampere,andfromseveralthousandsecondsdowntofractionsofsecond,that
toplotthefusecharacteristiconnormalgraphpaperwouldrequireridiculouslymassivegraph
paper[at1cm=10Aforexamplewewouldrequiregraphpaper10metreswidetoreach
10,000A!].Wethereforecompressthecurrentandtimescalesbyusingalogarithmicscalefor
bothcurrentandtimevalues.
BelowforexamplearetypicalI/t(Current/T
ime)characteristicsfor32Aand160ABS.88fuses.

Toachievesuccessfuldiscrimination,thecharacteristics
mustnotcross,foriftheydo,itwould
indicatethatonedevicewas'takingover'thetimeprotectionofthecircuitatthatpoint,i.e.that
perhapsthelarger[ormajor]fusewasnowoperatingfasterthanthesmaller
[orminor]and
hencediscriminationwouldbelost.

Butwhathappenstothediscriminationunderheavyfaultconditions?attimeslessthanhalfa
mainscycle,justwherethegraphrunsout?

Clearlythecurrentflowingthroughthefuseundertheseconditionsisnotasinewave,andit
wouldn'tbemuchuseifitwas,forduringtheseconditionsweneedtoconsiderthe
energywithin
thefuseelement,bothbeforeitmeltsandafter
.
FaultEnergyandI2t
Ifwearecheckingdiscriminationbetweensaytwofusesasshown,weonlyneedtocompare
them,nottomeasuretheirabsoluteenergyvalues.Sointhesecaseswedonotneedtoknowthe
resistanceofeitherfuseasitisnotacommonparameter.Theonlyparameterswhich
are

commontobothfusesarecurrentiori2tobepreciseandtimetnomatterwhichfuse
operates,whenoneofthemdoesthefaultcurrentwillbecutof
ffromthewholenetwork.
Thereforethefuseelementmeltsatavalueof
whichisaphysicalpropertyofthematerialandwhichcanbemeasuredorcalculated.Forease
ofuse,theintegralterm
iswrittenatI2t,whereIistheequivalentrmsvalueofthecurrentovertheintegralperiod.
Thevalueof

whichisintegrateduptothemomentofmeltingoftheruseiscalledthe
pre

arcingI2tandthevalueof

overthewholeofthefusingperiodthe
totalI2t.

2txRistheheatpowergeneratedinanyexternalconductor
Itshouldbenoted,thatthetotalI
,
2
suchasacableormotororgeneratorwinding,andthusI
tisameasureofthedamagewhich
2tisthereforeanimportantquantityandiscalledthe
maybedonebyashortcircuit.ThetotalI
let
2
throughI t,whichbecauseitmaybedefinedastheenergydissipatedasheatduringaspecific
operationperohmofresistance,isoftencalledthe'
specificenergy'or'JouleIntegral'ofthe
operation.

Thusdiscriminationcanbeassuredif:
"ThetotalI2toftheminorfuseislessthan,theprearcingI2tofthemajorfuse"
whichinplainEnglishmeansthatthesmallerorminorfusemustcompleteitsoperationbefore
thelargerormajorfusereachesitsmeltingpoint.
Typicalvaluesquotedbythemanufacturerarenotedoverleaf.
MEMTypeSFuses,I2tvaluesat415volts
CurrentRating PrearcingI2t
(A)
(A2s)

TotalI2t
(A2s)

2
4
6
10
16
20
25
32

0.9
4
16
56
190
310
630
1200

1.7
12
59
170
580
810
1700
2800

40
50
63

2000
3600
6500

6000
11000
14000

80
100
125
160
200
250
315

13x103
24x103
34x103
80x103
140x103
230x103
360x103

36x103
66x103
120x103
260x103
400x103
560x103
920x103

355
400
450
500

550x103
700x103
800x103
900x103

1300x103
1400x103
1800x103
2300x103

630
700
800

2200x103
2500x103
4300x103

4500x103
5000x103
10000x103

CircuitBreakers
Analternativetoawirewhichmeltswhenoverloadedisacircuitbreaker
.Theseareclassified
accordingtotheinsulationmaterialusedtoextinguishthearcformedwhenthecontacts
separate.Principalamongstthevarioustypesbeingairforlowvoltage,andoil,vacuumorSF
6
(Sulphurhexafluoride)forhighvoltage.Oftheclassofairbreakcircuitbreakersthreemain
subdivisionsexistandtheseare:
MiniatureCircuitBreakers(mcbs):
BSEN60898(formallyBS.3871
MouldedCaseCircuitBreakers(mccbs): BS.4752
AirCircuitBreakers(ACBs):
BS.4752
MiniatureCircuitBreakers
Threemainvarietiesareavailable(a)AssistedBimetallic,(b)ThermalandMagneticand(c)
MagneticHydraulic,ofwhichthemostcommonarethethermalmagnetic.
AssistedBimetallicandMagneticHydraulicbreakersareusuallynowonlyfoundonolder
installations,althoughthemethodofoperationisstillquitecommonforMouldedCaseCircuit
Breakers(MCCBs).
Oftenthebreakerwilltakearelativelylongtimetocontrolthefaultcurrenttypicallymorethanone
cycleofthemains.Thisisbecausethemovingcontacthasarelativelyhighmassandthereforea
slowresponsetime.Oftenthebreakercontactswillnotevenbegintoseparatebeforehalfa
cycle.
Evenwiththeaidofarccontroltechniques,abreakerofthistypeanddimensions,theairhasnot
gotthesameinsulationpropertiesasthesilicafillingofanHBCfuse,thusthemaximumbreaking
capacityofthistypeofdeviceistheoreticallylimitedtoamaximumof25kA,butinpracticetoan
out10kA.InfactseveralbreakingcapacitiesaredefinedbytheBritishStandard(BSEN
60898),asshowninthetablebelowandnotedbytheir'
ICN'numberwhichistheirabilityto
controlshortcircuitsin'thousands'ofampere.
RatedShortCircuitCapacities
Devicetype

Devicedesignation

Ratedshortcircuit
capacitykA

S1A
S2A
S3A

1
2
4

CartridgefusetoBS1361
typeI
typeII

16.5
33.0

GeneralpurposefusetoBS88
Part2.1
Part6

50at415V
16.5at240V,
80at415V

M1

SemienclosedfusetoBS3036

CircuitbreakerstoBS3871

(NowreplacedbyBSEN60898)

M1.5
M3
M4.5
M6
M9

CircuitbreakerstoBSEN60898 *

1.5
3
4.5
6
9
ICN

ICS

1.5
3.0
6
10
15
20
25

(1.5)
(3.0)
(6.0)
(7.5)
(7.5)
(10.0)
(12.5)

ICNistheratedshortcircuitcapacity(markedonthedevice)andisthemaximumfault
currentthedevicecansafelyinterrupt.Afterafaultofthismagnitude,thebreakermaynot
beserviceable.
ICSistheserviceshortcircuitcapacityandisthemaximumfaultcurrentthebreakercan
safelyinterruptwithoutlossofperformance .

Thesignificanceofthepowerfactorofthefault,isthatthelowerthepowerfactor
,thegreaterthe
degreeofmagneticenergystoredinthesystemandsothegreateristheenergyofthearcwhich
thebreakerhastocontrol.Thusaswegetclosertothemainintakeposition,theimpedanceof
thesupplygetslower(lesscabling)andsotheshortcircuitcurrentincreasesandthepower
factordecreases,[thetransformerisaveryinductivedevice].Itthereforemakessensetotest
thosebreakerswhichareintendedforheavyfaultcurrentoperation,atthesortofpowerfactors
theyarelikelytofaceinpractice.

ThermalMagneticmcb
OverloadOperation
Atoverloadvaluesofcurrentthebimetalstripdeflectsinresponsetotheheatingef
fectofthe
currentflow,whichthendelatchesthecircuitbreaker
.Calibrationisprovidedbytheadjustment
screwduringmanufacture.

Clickforanimation

ShortCircuitOperation

Undershortcircuitconditionstherisingfaultcurrentenergisesthesolenoidandstronglyattracts
theplunger.Theplungerpushesthepinoutofthebottomofthesolenoidwhichhitsthebimetal
stripanddelatchesthebreaker.Atthesametimethetopoftheplungerstrikesthemoving
contactwithconsiderablekineticenergythusforcingthecontactspart.Sothatbythisaction,the
inertiaofthemovingcontactmechanismisef
fectivelyeliminatedandthetimefrominitiationof
thefaulttocontactseparationinminimised.
Theresultanthighenergyarcismovedrapidly
,undertheinfluenceofelectromagneticforce,
alongarcrunnersintothearcsplitterpack.Thiscontainsaverylargenumberofplatesand
requiresahigherarcvoltagetomaintaincurrentflowthanthefaultcanprovide,thusthepack
causesarapidreductionofthefaultcurrenttozero.Withthisstyleof'magneticallyassisted
break'operation,veryshortbreakingtimesarepossibletypicallyaround56milliseconds,
providingacurrentlimitingaction.

BreakerT ypes
Inadditiontoitsbreakingcapacity,wealsoneedtoconsidertheresponseofthecircuitbreaker
tosudden,butnotharmful,currentsurges,suchasstartingcurrents.
Obviouslywithanytypeofbreaker
,thedistancebetweenthemagneticoperatingtripswillaf
fect
thecurrentvaluesatwhichmagneticoperationtakesovertheprotectionofthecircuitandthese
willbesetduringmanufactureofeachparticulardevice.Howevertheuseroftheequipmentwill
wantsomesortofvariationinsensitivityandthishasbeenestablishedbytheBS.'
TYPE'number
asfollows:
Type

MagneticTrip
CurrentRange

1
B

2.7to4In
3to5In

Domestic
Littleornoinductiveswitchingsurges

2
C
3

4to7In
5to10In
7to10In

Commercial/Industrial
Inductiveswitchingsurges,e.g.controlcircuits,
Highlyinductivecircuits,e.g.smallmotors,transformers,fluorescentlighting

4
D

10to50In
10to20In

SpecialApplications
Veryhighlyinductivecircuitswithstrongswitchingsurgestobeexpected
e.g.weldingmachines,Xrayequipment

TypicalApplications

MouldedCaseandAirCircuitBreakers
Inessenceamouldedcasecircuitbreaker(mccb)isnodif
ferentfromaminiaturecircuitbreaker
inthatitisacombinationofaswitchandanovercurrentprotectivedeviceincorporatedinan
insulatedcase.

400A,MouldedCaseCircuitBreaker .
BreakingCapacity ,typicallyupto50kA .

Theydifferfrommcb'sinthatthelevelofbreakingcapacityismuchhigherandonsomemodels
canbeashighas150kA,althoughthenormistypically25kAor50kAdependinguponthe
physicalsizeofthebreaker.
Obviouslytoachievethisleveloffaultinterruptingability
,themccbhastobebuilttoahigher
standardandrequiresamuchlargercasesizetocontainandcontrolthearc.
BS.4752istherelevantstandard,andmanufacturersseemnowmuchmoreawareoftheneedto
protectawiderangeofcurrentsbydeviceswhichareconnecteddirectlytothemainincoming
busbars,soitisnotnowunusualtofindmccb'swithacurrentratingfrom10Aratinguptoabout
1600A.
Aswithmcb's,theirdesignincludesboththermalandmagnetictrips,oftenexploitingthelarge
dynamicforcesthataredevelopedfromashortcircuitcurrenttohelpforcethebreakercontacts
apartinaslittleas2milliseconds,therebyestablishinga'currentlimiting'action.Somebreaker
manufacturersofferfixedsizesorcurrentratings,butmanyprefertoof
ferarangeofadjustment
onboththeoverloadandshortcircuittrips
[thermalandmagnetictrips],togiveflexibilityinthe
designandoperationforaproject.
TypicalCurrent/TimeCharacteristicsmightinclude:

AirCircuitBreakers
AirCircuitBreakers(acb's)areagainnodifferentinconcepttominiatureormouldedcase,but
arenormallycontainedwithinametalhousingratherthanamouldedcase.Onceagainweare
dealingwithanincreaseincurrentrating,physicalframesizeandbreakingcapacity
.ACB's
typicallyvaryinsizefrom800Ato6,300Awithamaximumbrakingcapacityaround150kA.

2,500AAirCircuitBreaker.

BreakingCapacity65kA)

Atypicaltime/currentcharacteristicisshownbelowandaswecansee,adjustmentisagain
provided,oftenwithtwomagneticdetectionunitstoassistintheprocessofdiscrimination.

.
DiscriminationandCircuitBreakers
Inessence,discriminationischeckedasbefore,bycomparingcurrent/timecharacteristicsatall
currentsandtimes.Unfortunatelythesituationisnotquitesoclearwhenitcomestocurrent
2twithstandvaluesandofcourse
limitingbreakers.ManymanufacturersstilldonotpublishtheirI
inanyfaultsituationitispossibleforthemagnetictrippingmechanismofthelargerbreakerto
activate,eventhoughitisthecontactsofthesmallerbreakerwhichopenstoclearthefault.With
theresultthatafterthefaultiscleared,bothbreakershavetripped.Itissaferinthese
circumstancestoensurethattheinstantaneoustrippingcurrentofthelargerbreakerisgreater
thantheshortcircuitcurrentontheloadsideofthesmallerbreaker
.Alternatively,thedesigner
mustrelyonthemanufacturerproducinginformation,bywayoftests,onthesuitabilityand
degreeofdiscriminationbetweentwosuchcircuitbreakerswithintheirrange.
ShortCircuitsvs.Overloads
Atfirst,itmightseemthattheshortcircuitdutyonacablewasmoreonerousthantheoverload
2tletthroughenergyinbothcasesandcomparea
duty,butthisisnotthecase.IfwetaketheI
fuseonbothoverloadandshortcircuittheresultissomewhatsurprising.
Takea100AHBCfuseatanoverloadcurrentof200Aandashortcircuitcurrentof2,000A.W
e
2
haveseenthattheItvaluepassedbytheruseissomemeasureoftheenergythecablehasto
withstandandbyreferencetothetime/currentcharacteristicofthisfusewecandeterminethese
energyvalues.

Fromwhichwecandeterminefuseoperatingtimesof1000secondsforthe200Aoverloadand
0.03secondsforthe2,000Ashortcircuit.Thisthengivesfaultenergiesof:
overload:2002x100=40,000x103A2s
shortcircuit:2,0002x0.03=120x103A2s
fromwhichwecanseethattheenergyofanoverloadismuchhigherthantheenergyofashort
circuit,simplybecausethefuserespondssoverymuchfasterundershortcircuitconditions.
Insummarytherefore,forsituationswhereweuseoneprotectivedevice,i.e.T
ocoverboth
overloadandshortcircuitprotection,weonlyhavetocalculatethesizeofcableforoverload
protection.Whatwemustofcoursedoisensurethatthefuseorcircuitbreakercanactuallycope
withtheshortcircuitcurrentandthen,thatitdiscriminateswithotherprotectivedeviceswithinthe
system.
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