Industrial Power Distribution and Illumination

Practical 1.
Q.
Introduce with working principle the following accessories used in Industrial power Distribution
1. Drop Out Fuse
2. Lightning Arrester
3. TP Iron Clad Mains switch
4.TP MCCB
5. DOL starter
5. Star-delta starter

Answer:
1. Drop Out Fuse
• The fiberglass tubes are employed as the fuse carriers in drop
out fuses. The either terminals are tinned heavily with nonferrous
materials. The connection and cleaning actions are performed by
the phosphorus bronze brush type contacts.

• The material used in drop out fuses should possess lower

resistance as well as lower melting points. The tendency to get
oxidized should be rather minimum.

• Any errors caused makes the fuse element fused. The fuse
element carrying tube drops down. It is still supported by the
lower hinged joint. An outstanding advantage of drop out fuse is that a clear inspection is
not required to detect its fusion. They readily catch the eye of the observer from a distance.
As the fuse drops down under the action of its own weight, the required isolation is
provided between the terminals. The dropped out fuse is brought down and the fuse
element is replaced. Thus, it is back in action.

2. Lightning Arrester
• The circuit which is protected from the strokes of lightning
with the help of a protection device is known as lightning
arrester.

• Lightning strokes are nothing but surges with high transient

voltage, arcs of isolation, spark, and surge currents because
of lightning, etc.
 • The arrangement of these devices can be done on the towers, transmission poles and
buildings to give a secure lane to the voltage & discharging current.

• Lightning arrestor working principle is, once the voltage surge travels throughout the
conductor then it reaches the location of the arrestor where it is installed. So it will break
down the insulation of the lightning arrestor for a moment, so voltage surge can be
discharged toward the ground. Once the voltage of the system falls under the fixed value,
then the insulation will be restored among the ground & conductor. Further, the current
flow toward the ground will be stopped.

3. TP Iron Clad Mains switch

• This type of metal switch is used in 3-phase AC line. It is used
for controlling a 3-phase power with 4-wire system.

• A fuse and a neutral link is connected in series with each line.

The switch switches ON/OFF all the three phase lines
simultaneously.

• This is used for 600V and 30A rating or greater rating

4. TP MCCB
• TP stands for Triple pole which means three phases (R,Y,B) & these phases will be part
of MCCB & neutral is not required for load. These 3
phases are opened & closed with the operation of
MCCB.

• The MCCB system uses a temperature-sensitive

device also known as the thermal element along with a
current sensitive electromagnetic device which is also
known as the magnetic element in order to provide the
overall trip mechanism which is relied for protection
and isolation purposes.

• In addition to tripping mechanisms, MCCBs can also be

used as manual disconnection switches in case of
emergency or maintenance operations. An arc can be created when the contact opens.
To combat this, MCCBs have internal arc dissipation mechanisms to quench the arc.
5. Star-Delta Starter
• A star delta starter will start a motor with a star connected stator winding. When motor
reaches about 80% of its full load speed, it will begin to run in a delta connected stator
winding.

• A star delta starter is a type of reduced voltage starter. We use it to reduce the starting
current of the motor without using any external device or apparatus. This is a big
advantage of a star delta starter.

• The starting current from the mains in case of star delta is one-third of direct switching in
the delta.

• The star delta starter is not suitable for applications where high starting torque delivery
is required. For these applications, a DOL starter should be used instead.

Fig: connection of a 3 phase induction motor in star-delta arrangement

Prepared by:
Milan Acharya
PUR074BEL017