ABSTRACT

As technological advancement has been on the increase in our society many have fallen
in love with technology and world want to have a feel in virtually to every thing they do.
An Automatic Changeover Switch switches off the generator and automatically changes
over to NEPA. An Automatic Changeover Switch will automatically switch off your
generator and change over to MAIN ( Public power supply/NEPA) on resumption.
A design has been made in combination of electrical and electronics to change over
from one power sources to the other automatically and trip off generator through a relay
contact.

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Changeover Switch is a device used to switch OFF a power supply and subsequently
switch on another power supply. Basically it is aimed at switching on a more convenient
power supply to the load.
Since it switches on power to the load, precautions has to be taken while choosing the
type of Changeover Switch, while selecting the appropriate size, the control of arcing has
to be put into consideration.
A good switch should be the one whose contact is made in such a way as to limit the arc
formation by having no contact-bounce and by having contacts made of good
conductive, corrosion resistance and wear resistance materials.
A good change over switch must have adequate insulation and must be so constructed
and located as not to constitute a potential hazard.
A good change over switch should also have tight contact points so as to limit or
eliminate the possibility of partial contact at the contact point. The partial contact leads
to overheating of the components and may lead to fire outbreak in the entire room.
BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
This project is on the design and co of automatic change over and how it can be used to
change from one power sources to the other automatically. The design comprises some
arrangement that senses the power failure form either of the power sources and drives
the electro mechanical switching device (relay) that is capable of changing two poles
(live and neutral) to give out light or be on stand by to generator side.
Power instability or outage in general does not promote development in the public and
private sector. The investors do not feel secure to come into a country with constant or
frequent power failure. These limit the development of industries. In addition, there are
processes that cannot be interrupted because of their importance for instance, surgery
operation in hospitals, transfer of money between banks and lots more. Power instability
and outage in developing countries (Nigeria) creates a need for alternative sources of
power to backup the mains supply.
Automatic changeover switches find a wide application scope wherever the reliability of
electrical supply from the utilities is low and it is used in lighting/motor circuits wherever
continuity of supply is necessary, for switching to an alternative source from main supply
and vice versa.
Electronic components such as relay transformer diodes were used thereby making the
project less expensive for the implementation of the project and commercial application.
Moreover, the cost suitability and availability of the required components for the project
circuitry were some of the major factors considered by the designer.
1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
To design a circuit that will automatically change over from main power supply (PHC) to
power generating set and vice versa, and using a relay control to ON/OFF the generator
set with the help of electro mechanically switching device that is being controlled by
electronics component.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
The automatic change over switch, the switch aimed at achieving the following
automatic actions;
To change power over to generator
To change back to PHC
To change the generator.
The automatic change over unit can be operated in single or three phase system. The
automatic change over switch has the following advantages;
It minimizes damages to lives/equipment since it has its own monitoring system and its
switching requires no human contact with the switch, thus eliminating human error.
It reduces its change over timing to the minimum due to its fast response to power
outage.
It maintains high quality of service through its fast and prompt response.
Moreover, the size and captivity of the unit will depend upon the load for which it will be
used. The unit is also portable, easy, convenient and safe to install.
1.4 PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The purpose of this project is to maintain constant supply to the main circuit that is
being supplied by making-up for the time lapse or delay that usually accompanies the
manual switching from one source to another. The design comprises of the power
connection circuit and control connection circuit. The main components to be used
include; contactors, relays and timer.
1.5 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
In every home, office or industries, automatic power changeover plays a vital role, that is,
It provides a means of switching from utility AC mains to generator in the case of power
failure; This project has been improved on the existing types of electromechanical device
that has being in use over the years.
In the course of designing this project, different kinds of problem was notice such as:
Difficulty in troubleshooting with circuit without the circuit diagram
Difficulty in connecting the output without short-circuiting, until a multiplexing circuit
was gotten.
Difficult in wiring because of the strong wiring the project required.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This work covers only a one phase automatic changeover which can only be used for
providing a means of switching from one phase of AC mains to generator in the case of
failure in public utility.
1.7 APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT
Some common examples of entities that implement automatic switches out of necessity
are: hospitals, data centers, jails and prisons, fire departments, defense organizations,
and police departments.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHANGEOVER: Generally, a changeover switch is a system which could be operated
manually or automatically , that changes one source of power supply to another source
in case of power failure from either of the two sources.
RELAY: relay is one of the major components used in this work which is an electrical
device, typically incorporating an electromagnet, which is activated by a current or signal
in one circuit to open or close another circuit.
POWER FLUCTUATIONS: is a periodic dip or spikes in the electrical current of any given
circuit.
POWER FAILURE: is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.
1.9 PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put
into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis,
the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this works is on the introduction to changeover switch. In this chapter,
the background, significance, objective limitation and problem of changeover switch
were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of changeover switch. In this chapter, all the literature
pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during
the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was
analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.