ELEC9713

Industrial and Commercial Power Systems

Electrical Protection System

Design and Operation

1. Function of Electrical Protection Systems

The three primary aims of overcurrent electrical protection

are:
ƒ Personnel injury protection
ƒ Equipment damage protection
ƒ Coordination and proper discrimination of operation

In this section we will consider only the latter two aspects.

Personnel protection, or electrical safety, will be
considered later, together with earthing of power systems.

Power circuit protection covers a wide range of measures

that are used to protect equipment against damage from
abnormal fault events that may occur in the system. The
protection is used to prevent damage to electrical circuits
and components caused by any of the following effects:
ƒ Current overload (overload current up to about 6pu)
ƒ Short circuit current effects (SC currents to 20pu)
ƒ Earth fault current (and possible arcing effects)
ƒ Excessive thermal heating (by overload or limitation
of thermal dissipation)
ƒ Voltage excursions outside the specified operation
limits (high and low)
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 1
 ƒ Unbalanced 3-phase currents and voltages
ƒ Frequency variations (usually under-frequency
operation)
ƒ Loss of synchronism of AC synchronous motors

The protection design should be able to sense very quickly

the existence of any of the above faults when they occur
and to then effect a disconnection of the electrical supply
if the fault severity warrants this. In addition, if the system
has any separate components with different protection
zones, the operation should be able to discriminate so
that only the protection closest to the fault operates first.

In this part of the course we are interested only in

Overcurrent Protection, which covers overload, short
circuits and earth faults from the above list, although
protection against overcurrents will necessarily provide
some degree of protection also against over-temperature
effects.

The overcurrent protection design should have the

following qualities:
ƒ Reliability: should be dependable and secure
ƒ Fast action, if necessary, with speed of isolation
dependent on fault magnitude
ƒ Selectivity (discrimination) in its isolation of circuitry

In general, it is normal to have both primary and backup

protection levels in the event of failure of the primary
protection. Protection is also designed in “Protection
Zones”, where each protection item covers a specified
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 2
section. In this way all items can be covered by the
protection. It also follows that some duplication may be
involved and this is often necessary to achieve good
reliability.

For overcurrent protection we require the following

functions to be performed:

• Current monitoring
This is normally done by a current transformer (CT): a
very low impedance transformer which acts as a
current source to a protection timing relay (the CT
burden).

• Timing of operation
This requires a specific current-time (I-t) operating
characteristic – this may be a protection relay or a
microprocessor controller. It provides the tripping
signal to a circuit breaker after a suitable pre-
programmed time delay, i.e. short for high currents and
longer for low currents.
A fuse has a rudimentary timing system as part of its
pre-arcing I 2t characteristic.

• A circuit interrupter
This is either a fuse or a circuit breaker which is
actuated by the relay after some appropriate time.

In some smaller power circuits which use small circuit

breakers (called miniature circuit breakers [MCBs] and
some larger capacity moulded case circuit breakers
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 3
[MCCBs]) the current sensor and the timer may be
incorporated within the breaker housing. For example
bimetal strips are often used. They have a similar type of
I2t characteristics to the fuse.

In large power supply systems the current sensor, the

timing relay and the interrupter will be separate items.

2. Zones of Protection

For most efficient protection operation, we need to divide

the power system into zones of protection, with each zone
served by its own protection device. Zones may (and
should) have some overlap for greater reliability.

Zones of protection may include, for example:

• Transformers
These need high-speed differential protection with 6
CTs, three on each side to monitor input and output.

• Motors/generators
Need high speed differential protection, again with 6
CTs.

• Overhead lines
These need high speed “pilot wire” protection with
6 CTs. The pilot wires are relatively long cable
connections from the ends of the line to the

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 4

 protection relays in a substation. The pilot wires may
be telephone type connections.

• Feeders and final circuits

Overcurrent protection with a CT in each phase and
earth fault protection with residual current devices
(RCDs).

3. Primary and Backup Protection

This may be required in some situations where additional

security is required, such as in computer installations and
in various process industries etc. where reliability of
operation is paramount. In general there will be some
back-up protection available in most systems due to their
radial configuration nature and thus the presence of a
number of series-arranged protective elements which see
the same fault current.

4. Protection Relays

Protection is achieved by the use of protection relays

which act together with specific sensors (such as current
transformers) for the particular parameters that are
included in the protection scheme. The sensor will then
generate an output which is compared by the relay to
some predetermined upper limit which is the allowable
normal operating limit. When this limit is exceeded, the
relay will then operate to flag the problem or to trip a
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 5
circuit breaker to isolate the faulty zone of the system. In
the latter case, the isolation is normally done after some
appropriate time delay which is programmed into the
protection scheme (the time delay may be effectively zero
in some cases where the fault is severe – designated
“Instantaneous” tripping). In some cases it may be
necessary to prevent operation in some situations where
overcurrents normally occur: for example motor starting.

Thus the protection relay/sensor combination has both a

sensing function and a time delay function incorporated
when it is used to automatically protect the electrical
system. The protection relay cannot operate alone, it needs
to have input from sensors such as CTs.

4.1 Classification of relay types

The whole range of protection relays can be classified into

various groups as follows (the groups are not exclusive
and relays may be included in more than one group):

Function
ƒ Auxiliary
ƒ Protection
ƒ Monitoring
ƒ Control

Type
ƒ Electromagnetic
ƒ Electronic/Computer-based
ƒ Non-electric (e.g. thermal, pressure, mechanical etc.)
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 6
Parameters sensed
ƒ Current
ƒ Voltage
ƒ Frequency
ƒ Power
ƒ Temperature
ƒ Pressure
ƒ Velocity

In this case, we will be concerned only with current

sensing relays which are of the electromagnetic, electronic
and microprocessor computer-based types.

In the international numbering identification scheme for

protection relays, the different types of common
protection relays are designated numerically as follows:
49 = thermal relay
50 = instantaneous overcurrent relay
51 = time-delay overcurrent relay
64 = earth fault protection relay
67 = directional overcurrent relay
79 = reclosing relay

Current sensing relays are always used in conjunction

with current transformers (CTs) which are used as low
impedance current sources to activate the associated relay.

The accuracy, design and choice of CTs is important. In

particular, the linearity and frequency response of current
transformers need attention.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 7
5. Overcurrent Protection by Current
Transformers and Relays

For large scale systems and circuits where there are many
radial lines with a number of fault current protective
devices located in series, the time discrimination of the
operation to a through-fault becomes of great importance
in achieving optimum performance with minimal
disruption.

Whereas HRC fuses, contactors and moulded case circuit

breakers can achieve some rudimentary discrimination in
circuits at low voltage (415/240V), large high power
circuits and high voltage circuits require much greater
flexibility in operating times. As well as needing this
greater flexibility in the I-t characteristics, it also becomes
physically difficult to incorporate current sensing
elements in the CB housing for high voltage and high
current levels. For this reason, at the high voltage and high
current levels, fault protection is achieved by use of a
separate current transformer, as the fault current sensor,
feeding a separate protection relay which is then used to
trip the circuit breaker after a time determined by the relay
operating characteristics.

The protection relay has a well-defined current-time

characteristic, so that a specific current into the relay will
cause the relay to trip and thus operate the breaker at a
well-defined time after the fault initiation. The
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 8
relationship between current and time of operation can be
very different, depending on the relay type. However, in
general, there is the usual inverse I-t relationship, with
high fault currents causing operation in the shortest times.
Protection relays have facilities to change their operating
times and tripping currents over a wide range of values
and this is then used to grade the operating time of series
circuit protection to achieve proper discrimination of
operation for the particular application.

Old style protection relays relied on induction disc

electromechanical type relays. However modern
protection relay practice uses electronic timing units with
microprocessor control. These allow for a much greater
flexibility in the choice of current-time characteristics and
allow easier design to accommodate normal transient high
current events such as transformer inrush current and
motor starting currents.

In large building electrical systems, protection relays are

used for:
ƒ Feeder circuit protection
ƒ Electrical plant protection
ƒ Motor protection

Until recently the relays for applications 1 and 2 would

have been induction disc relays as mentioned above and
those for application 3 would have been thermally-
activated relays. Both of these relay types are electro-
mechanical in operation, requiring some physical
movement of elements, generated by the electrodynamic
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 9
force of the current, to close the contacts. For high voltage
(eg 11kV) applications and for very high capacity low
voltage installations, thermal relays would not normally
be used.

Modern protection devices for these purposes are now

almost all solid state or static relay devices. These provide
timing purely by electronic means, with no time delay
caused by mechanical movement. This electronic timing
allows a much greater variation of I-t characteristic and
with microprocessor control the programming of almost
any complicated I-t characteristic is possible. This makes
discrimination much more reliable and much easier to
achieve.

5.1 Current – Time characteristics of protection

In order to be compatible with the very many electro-

mechanical relays still in service, the electronic relays
have their base I-t curves identical to those of the old style
relays. However the flexibility and ease of variation of
these curves with modern relays is then much greater in
the static relay types.

The Standard Curves used for protection are:

1 Inverse IDMT (Inverse definite minimum time)
2 Very inverse IDMT
3 Extremely inverse IDMT
4 Instantaneous operation
5 Long time earth fault
6 Definite time operation relay (eg 2, 4, 8 seconds etc)
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 10
Illustrations of these are shown below:

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 11

5.2 Unit protection

While good discrimination in operation of serial fault

protective devices can be done to achieve minimal
disruption, the problem may occur that devices furthest
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 12
away from a remote fault location will have to have, in
effect, a delayed, operating time to allow the nearer
protectors time to operate. Then, in the event of a fault at
their terminals, for example, their response time will be
delayed. This may lead to problems with overheating, for
example. Thus, while it is necessary to delay operation for
through fault currents, if a fault occurs within an item such
as a transformer, the protection should also be able to
operate very quickly in response to such an internal fault.
This can be achieved by the use of unit protection, which
provides protection only for faults within that unit.

Unit protection is achieved by the use of two current

transformers (CTs) as sensors. One is located at the input
and one at the output and the response of each CT unit is
compared. Any difference in the current (differential
current) response will mean a leakage of current in the
item and will indicate a fault within the item of
equipment. The current difference can be used to operate
an instantaneous trip relay.

For important items of equipment such fast operation will

be the “primary” protection means and slow overcurrent
protection will be the “back-up” means.

5.3 Current Transformer requirements

The basic current sensing element in use with all relays is

the current transformer and thus its measurement accuracy
must be very high.

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 13

There are some substantial problems in achieving this for
high fault currents. The problems lie in the fact that
current transformers are (generally) magnetic core devices
and thus have non-linear characteristics if the currents are
high and cover a wide dynamic range. This can affect the
accuracy and the response to higher frequency currents.
For this reason, normal metering CTs, used to measure
demand and energy use, cannot be used as protection CTs
because protection CTs require a quite different range of
current measurement.

The design of protection CTs in particular is a major

problem.

5.3.1 Current Transformer Accuracy

Protection CTs have a dynamic range of about 1 – 25 per

unit of rated current over which good (though not
necessarily high) accuracy must be maintained. Metering
CTs have a dynamic monitoring range of only about 0.1 –
2 per unit over which high accuracy must be maintained.

CT accuracy is determined by the core exciting current

and this should thus be minimised. The magnetic circuit
should be designed so that the CT is not driven into
saturation by high fault currents, which may be up to 20
times rated current. This is not a problem for metering
CTs which look at only normal load conditions where
levels are only up to about 150% of rated current at most.
High permeability low loss cores are used for CTs to
minimise losses and magnetising currents.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 14
5.3.2 Differential use

The use of two CTs for unit protection systems, where the
outputs are compared and subtracted, relies on the two
CTs being identical in their characteristics. This is not
always the case even for the same design. Such
differences may be a limitation of the sensitivity of the
differential protection scheme. In the case of transformer
unit protection schemes, where the input and output
currents are quite different, because of the transformer
ratio, the CT design and choice is thus of paramount
importance.

5.4 Protection Relays

For time discrimination purposes, there are three standard

time-current characteristics used for overcurrent
protection relays, these being variants of IDMT (Inverse
Definite Minimum Time) characteristics:

3
ƒ Standard t= t = 3s at M = 10
log10 M
1.6
ƒ Very Inverse t= t = 1.6s at M = 10
( log10 M )
2

0.6
ƒ Extremely Inverse t = t = 0.6s at M = 10
( log10 M )
3

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 15

where M is the “Plug Setting Multiplier (PSM)” or the
ratio of the actual fault current to the relay’s pre-set
current trip level.

Each relay has adjustable time and current multipliers

incorporated which allow wide variation of the relay I–t
characteristic curve, as is shown below in the typical I-t
curves for relays.

[As noted earlier there are also “definite time” protection

relays which provide a single, constant, operating time
above a specified tripping current level and a sensitive
“earth fault” relay which detects earth faults in an
analogous way to earth leakage safety switches (RCDs)
and has a more sensitive trip current setting level].

Time variation
Operating
by TMS
Time, t

Operating current
variation by PS

Current (PSM)

The “Plug Setting” (PS) parameter of the relay (also

often called the “Tap Setting”) is used to vary the
nominal relay operating current.

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 16

The “Time Multiplier Setting” (TMS) parameter of the
relay (also called the “Time Dial Setting”) is used to vary
the operating response time.

5.4.1 Plug Setting (PS)

The plug setting allows tappings of the relay coil (or the
equivalent in electronic relays) to give seven discrete
settings in terms of the rated trip current. These are:

50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175% and 200%

of the rated relay operating (tripping) current. Thus, for a

standard relay operating current of 5 amps (usually relays
are rated at either 1 or 5 amps tripping current), the
tripping (or “pick up”) current can be varied between 2.5
amps and 10 amps for that relay. This is used to adapt the
operating current of the relay to the required operating
conditions of the circuit or the load protected by the relay.

The above settings are those for standard overcurrent

relays. Earth fault relays are also widely used and these
have more sensitive tripping currents:

20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% of the rated
tripping current.

5.4.2 Time Multiplier Setting (TMS)

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 17

Each relay has a continuously variable TMS to change the
operating time, at a specified or chosen plug setting, over
certain specified limits.

The range of variation is 0.1 – 1.0 of the standard setting.

For example, a TMS of 0.2 at a PS of M = 10 will give an
operating time of 0.2 x 3 = 0.6 seconds. [The operating
time from the I-t curve at M=10 is 3 seconds].

Using the Plug setting and the Time multiplier setting, it is

thus possible to get wide variations in the I-t curves of
relays to allow proper time discrimination of different
protection operation, even when identical relay types are
used in serial (radial) circuit connections.

6. Determination of Relay Settings

The choice of the plug setting required is determined by

the normal operational requirements of the particular
application, taking into consideration the current
transformer ratio, the allowance for brief overload periods
of transformers, for example, and other common transient
overload events such as motor starting.

In the idealised operation of the relay, pick-up will occur

at a plug setting multiplier (PSM) of just in excess of 1.0.
However, in practice, there may be some inaccuracies
and/or mechanical delays in the relay operation which will
make the pick-up level rather higher than 1.0. To ensure
that operation will always occur when a fault is present, a
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 18
minimum PSM of the fault current of 1.3 is often chosen
as the practical minimum basic fault operation level,
where operation can be relied on to take place.

Similarly, a PSM value which is just less than 1.0 may not
always guarantee non-operation of the relay: nuisance or
non-fault generated operation may occur at a PSM of
about 0.95 in some cases. Thus a value of PSM which is
less than about 0.8 is generally used in the normal
operational phase design to ensure non-operation of the
relay under normal operational conditions.

Thus, a PSM between about 0.8 and 1.3, under normal

system operation, should be avoided.

Basic time/current characteristics of IDMT relay.

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 19

 Time grading between relays in series.

Because of the potential variations in timing between

identical relays due to mechanical effects, it has been
standard to allow about 0.4-0.5 sec minimum delay
between the designed operation of two relays in series
when designing for discrimination. Such delays are able to
reduced with microprocessor based timing.

6.1 An example of a discrimination calculation

A 3-phase 20 MVA transformer supplies an 11kV busbar

through an 11kV circuit breaker as shown below. It is
required to determine the settings for the transformer
overcurrent protection relay so as to give proper time
discrimination with the feeder sub-circuit relay, with
settings as shown, when there is a fault current of 5,000
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 20
amps as shown. The ratio of the current transformer
feeding the relay is 1000/5 amps. The relays are both
standard IDMT.

Transformer
33/11kV 20MVA
Transformer
IDMT relay current transformer
[1000/5]

circuit
11kV breaker
busbar

CT
Feeder
[400/5]
IDMT relay
PS=125%
TMS=0.3 feeders

Feeder relay:

The fault current of 5000 amps through the feeder relay

CT gives 5000 x 5/400 = 62.5 amps to the relay.

The rated relay current is 5 amps. With the specified PS =

125%, the pick-up current = 1.25 x 5 = 6.25 A.

Thus, the Plug Setting Multiplier = 62.5/6.25 = 10

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 21
Hence, using the relay curves, the operating time from the
standard IDMT curve gives a tripping time of 3 seconds
for a PSM = 10 at TMS = 1.0.

With a time multiplier of 0.3, this gives an actual

operating time of 0.3 x 3 = 0.9 sec.

For proper discrimination, the transformer relay must

operate after the feeder relay at 5000 amps. It is usual to
add an extra time margin of about 0.4 – 0.5 seconds to
allow for various uncertainties in the operation time. Thus,
we need the transformer protection relay to operate after
0.9 + 0.5 = 1.4 seconds at 5000 amps fault current.

Transformer relay setting determination:

We first have to determine the transformer relay Plug

Setting using the normal load conditions.

For a 3-phase 20 MVA transformer, the rated current level

at the 11kV secondary side is

I = 1050 A

We allow a permissible short term overload of 1.3 per unit

to occur with the transformer without tripping of the relay,
so this requires that a current of 1.3 x 1050 = 1365 A
should not operate the relay. Thus, at this current the PSM
should be less than 1.0, say 0.9 to ensure non-operation at
normal loads up to 1.3 per unit.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 22
At 1365 A, the actual relay current from the CT is 1365 x
5/1000 = 6.8 A.

For a rated relay operating current of 5 amps, this gives a

multiple of 6.8/5 = 1.36 times relay operating rating. The
nearest plug setting to this is 150%, so we try that first to
see if the PSM is satisfactory.

This gives the PSM = 6.8/1.5x5 = 0.91.

This is close enough to 0.9 and should ensure non-

operation, so we chose PS = 150%.

Having determined the PS from the normal operation, we

now use this to determine the operating time at the
specified fault current level.

For a 5000 amp fault, the relay current is 5000 x 5/1000 =

25 A.

Thus, the fault current PSM of the transformer relay is

25/1.5x5 = 3.33.

From the IDMT curve at PSM = 3.33, the relay operating

time = 5.7 seconds at a TMS of 1.0.

We need an operating time of 1.4 seconds for proper

discrimination with the feeder relay operation to give the
minimum operating time commensurate with the feeder
relay operation.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 23
Thus, the TMS of transformer relay is obtained from
1.4/5.7 = 0.246 (say 0.25).

Thus, the required settings of the transformer relay for

proper discrimination are:
PS: 150%
TMS: 0.25

6.2 An example of a discrimination calculation

A B C D
CT CT CT
Supply 800:1 500:1 250:1
X X X

Relay A Relay B Relay C 80A

125A 100A fuse
fuse fuse
Total load Total load Total load at D is 180A.
from B = 220A from C = 200A Includes a 15kW motor.
Fault level Fault level IS = 6IFL
at B = 8000A at C = 7000A Fault level at D = 6000A.

Radial system fed from A

At Maximum Fault
loads levels
D 180A 6000A
C 200A 7000A
B 220A 8000A
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 24
The motor at D is 15kW. Its full-load current is 28A and
the starting current is 6 times the full-load current during
the starting period of 5 seconds. The fuses shown are the
largest rating at each busbar (i.e. the longest operating
times).

We want to find appropriate Plug Settings and Time

Multiplier Settings for RA, RB, and RC (which are IDMT)
to achieve proper discrimination.

1. Relay RC at C

Peak steady-state load = 180A. This is with motor at full

load. During motor starting:
I = (180 − 28 ) + 6 × 28 = 320A

Must choose P.S. to ensure that RC does not operate in

either situation.
i.e. want PSM < 1 for both

For the steady state, want PSM ≤ 0.9

Rating of RC is 1A (or 250A on busbar)

180
∴ want ≤ 0.9 PS=100% or 1.0 is thus OK
PS × 250

For starting, can relax the requirements to: PSM ≤ 1.1

320
= 1.28 too high!: try PS = 1.25
1.0 × 250

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 25

 320
= 1.02 OK so use PS = 1.25
1.25 × 250
Hence:
Rated I = 1.25A or 1.25 × 250 = 312.5A

I Fault = 6000A at D.
6000
∴ PSM = = 19.2 during fault
312.5

From IDMT characteristics:

Top = 2.32 seconds at PSM = 19.2

We can assume the 80A fuse at D will operate in less than

0.3 sec. Thus we need RC to operate after 0.3 sec.
0.3
∴ TMS = = 0.13
2.32

At PS = 1.25, TMS = 0.13, we get discrimination with the

fuses at D. However, we can get faults between D and C
and RC has to handle them also. Maximum IF for RC will
occur at the CT at C, where I F ≅ 7000A . This will
determine the minimum operating time of RC for
discrimination with RB.

7000
PSM = = 22.4
312.5
Top = 2.22 s

With TMS = 0.13 ⇒ top = 0.29s

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 26

2. Relay RB at B

C.T. ratio = 500:1

Steady-state load = 200+180 = 380A
During starting = 200 + 320 = 520A

380
Thus: = 0.76 so PS = 100% is OK
500
520
Start: = 1.04 OK PS = 100% is OK
500

Thus relay setting of 1A or 500A

7000
I F = 7000A ⇒ PSM = = 14.0
500
PSM = 14 ⇒ top = 2.6s

For the actual minimum operating time, we use the

minimum operating time of RC plus a margin of (say) 0.4
seconds to allow for variations

i.e. top ( RB ) = 0.29 + 0.4 = 0.69s

0.69
∴ TMS = = 0.27
2.6

Have to check that this will discriminate with fuses at C

(the 100A). Use I-t curves. Maximum IF handled by RB
will be 8000A:
8000
∴ PSM = = 16 → top = 0.67s
500
Use this to discriminate with RA.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 27
3. Relay RA at A

C.T. ratio = 800:1

Steady-state load = 380+220 = 600A
Start load = 520 + 220 = 740A

600
Thus steady-state: = 0.75 PS = 100% is OK
800
740
Start: = 0.93 OK
800
Use PS = 100%
I F = 8000A
8000
PSM = = 10 ⇒ top = 3.0s
800

We require: 0.67+0.4 = 1.07s

1.07
∴ TMS = = 0.36
3
Also have to check discrimination with fuses at B: i.e.
125A.

Thus:

Relay CT Ratio Plug Time Mult.

Setting Setting
RC 250:1 125% 0.13
RB 500:1 100% 0.27
RA 800:1 100% 0.36

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 28

 Time-current curves with discrimination.

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 29

 Appendices

1. Coordination between protection device and cable:

Refer to the Wiring Rules and see also AS/NZS

60898.1:2004 Electrical accessories – circuit breakers for
overcurrent protection for household and similar
installations.
Three types of MCBs:
ƒ Type B – have magnetic trip settings from 3 to 5
times rated current (with mean tripping current of 4
times rated current). Used when load is constant and
not subject to high inrush current, eg. resistive loads.
ƒ Type C – have magnetic trip settings 5 to 10 times
rated current. Suitable for general purpose, most
common.
ƒ Type D – have magnetic trip settings 10 to 20 (or
even 50) times rated current. Used mostly for highly
inductive loads, eg. motors.

Coordination between the protection device and the

protected cable is achieved if:
I B ≤ I N ≤ I Z and I 2 ≤ 1.45 I Z
where:
I B = current for which the circuit is designed
I N = nominal current rating of the protective device
I Z = continuous current-carrying capacity of cable
I 2 = current ensuring effective operation of protection
device
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 30
For MCBs: I 2 = 1.45 I N ≤ 1.45 I Z ⇒ I N = I Z
For HRC fuses: I 2 = 1.6 I N ≤ 1.45 I Z ⇒ I N = 0.9 I Z

Conventional tripping current = current value that causes

CB to trip within the conventional time.
Conventional tripping current of CB is 1.45 times its rated
current. Conventional non-tripping current of CB is 1.13
times its rated current. Conventional time is 1h for CB
with rated current <64A or 2h for above.
Preferred values of rated current:
6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 20, 25 32, 40, 50, 63, 80, 100, and 125A
Standard values of rated short-circuit capacity:
1500A, 3000A, 4500A, 6000A, 10kA

Type B: if 3 IN, opening time not less than 0.1s. If 5 IN,

trip in less than 0.1s.

For safety protection purpose, AS3000 states that

maximum disconnection times must not exceed:
ƒ 0.4 s for final sub-circuits that supply socket outlets
(<64A), or hand-held class 1 equipment, or portable
equipment for manual movement during use.
ƒ 5 s for other circuits including sub-mains and final
sub-circuits supplying fixed or stationery equipment.

Example:
Single circuit connected to 15A socket outlet. Cable is
2.5mm2 Cu conductor, 2 core & earth V75 TPS, nominal
ambient temperature not exceeding 40oC.
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 31
Option 1: Install cable on a surface partially surrounded
by thermal installation
Table 9 of AS3008.1 → I Z = 18A
Nominal commercial current rating of protection
device I N = 16A
(a) Coordination requirement:
I B (15A ) ≤ I N (16A ) ≤ I Z (18A ) O.K
(b) Overload protection requirement:
I 2 ≤ 1.45 I Z = 1.45 × 18 = 26.1A
For MCB: I N = I Z = 18A
For HRC fuse: I N = 0.9 I Z = 16.2A
Thus, both coordination and protection requirements
are met by using either 16A MCB or 16A HRC fuse.

Option 2: Install cable on a surface in air.

Table 9 of AS3008.1 → I Z = 26A

Available nominal commercial current rating of
protection device I N = 16A; 20A; 25A
(a) Coordination requirement:
I B (15A ) ≤ I N (16, 20 or 25A ) ≤ I Z ( 26A ) O.K
(b) Overload protection requirement:
I 2 ≤ 1.45 I Z = 1.45 × 26 = 37.7A
For MCB: I N = I Z = 26A
For HRC fuse: I N = 0.9 I Z = 23.4A
Thus, both coordination and protection requirements
are met by using either 25A MCB or 20A HRC fuse.

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 32

2. Residual current devices (RCD):
Also known as earth leakage circuit-breakers (ELCBs).
These are devices which interrupt the current in a circuit
whenever a predetermined level of current (usually 30mA)
to earth is detected. Their purpose is to help prevent
electrocution accidents for the cases when the current
flows through the body to the general ground mass earth.

Supply - Single Phase Supply - Three Phase

N L N L1 L2 L3

Ring core of N
N L magnetic material L1
Load L2
Load L 3
Under healthy conditions the currents in the conductors
passing through the toroidal transformer are balanced,
there is no flux induced in the core and no voltage induced
in the secondary coil of the transformer.

Should some current flow to earth through a fault and thus

return to the supply transformer without returning through
the appropriate primary of the core-balance device, then
the vector sum of the currents through the primaries will
be equal to the earth fault current. A magnetic flux will
ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 33
then be generated in the toroidal core and a voltage
induced in the transformer secondary. This voltage is used
to trip the circuit breaker.

For safety protection purpose, AS3000 states that RCDs

with rated current of 30mA and tripping time of 0.3s are
required for:
ƒ all circuits supplying lighting and socket outlets in
domestic installations
ƒ socket outlet circuits in residential sections of other
electrical installations.

Note there are certain situations where RCD is not used as

it can cause nuisance tripping, e.g. stoves, water heaters.

3. Operating time of over-current relays:

The IEC and ANSI/IEEE Standards define the operating

time of overcurrent relays by the following formula:
kβ
t= +L
(I IS ) −1
α

where k is the time multiplier setting (TMS); (I/IS) is the

plug setting multipler (PSM).

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 34

Description Standard α β L
Standard Inverse IEC 0.02 0.14 0
Very Inverse IEC 1.0 13.5 0
Extremely Inverse IEC 2.0 80.0 0
Long-time Inverse UK 1.0 120 0
Moderately Inverse IEEE 0.02 0.0515 0.114
Very Inverse IEEE 2.0 19.61 0.491
Extremely Inverse IEEE 2.0 28.2 0.1217
Inverse CO8 2.0 5.95 0.18
Short-time Inverse CO2 0.02 0.0239 0.0169

ELEC9713: Industrial and Commercial Power Systems p. 35