SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION

Lecture 3

FUSE

Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Outline:
3a. Introduction to Fuse.
3b. Fuses Coordination in Power System.
3c. Effect of Ambient Temperature on Fuse
…..Performance.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION

Lecture 3a

INTRODUCTION TO FUSE

Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

 What is fuse?

- Fuse is a short piece of metal, inserted in the circuit, which melts

when excessive current flows through it resulting in higher
temperature and thus melts and then breaks the circuit.
- This prevents damage of system components at the expense of
fuse.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

- It is the oldest and simplest level detector protective device.
- It acts as both sensor and interrupting device.
- It is installed in series with the equipment.
- Fuses are direct acting, single-phase devices, which respond
to magnitude and duration of current.
- Melting time is inversely proportional to current flow.
- It is used for overload and/or short circuit protection in
medium voltage and low voltage installations.
- It is a one-shot device since the fusible link is destroyed in the
process of interrupting the current flow.
- The blown fuse must be replaced before restoration.
Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi
Fuse types:
- In general, fuses are classified into three categories, namely
high voltage for use in circuits above 1000 V and in low voltage
applications and miniature applications.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi
Advantages and disadvantages of fuse:
Advantages:
(i) Inexpensive.
(ii) Fast operating.
(iii) Its operation is inherently completely automatic unlike high
voltage circuit breaker which requires an elaborate equipment for
automatic action like relays and instrument transformers.
(iv) The inverse time-current characteristic of a fuse makes it
suitable for overcurrent protection.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Disadvantages:
(i) Must be manually replaced after melting.
(ii) Time is lost in rewiring or replacing a fuse after operation.
(iii) May cause motor single phasing
if a fuse of one of the phases blows.
In such case, motor may continue to
rotate, but the two healthy phases
may draw high current leading to
thermal stresses on the insulation.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

 Time-current characteristics of the fuse:

- A graphical representation of the operating characteristics of

overcurrent devices at different magnitudes of fault currents.
- The time–current characteristics (TCCs) of a fuse are
represented by two curves:
(1) minimum-melting curve: minimum time required for the
………fusing of the element.
(2) total-clearing curve: maximum total time that the fuse takes
………to clear the fault.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

 A fuse has two operating
curves creating an operating
area rather than just a single
line operating curve.

0.5 s

0.25 s

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi
Logarithmic scale: (or log scale) is a way of displaying numerical
data over a very wide range of values in a compact way.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

 Example 1: Determine the general-purpose fuse ampere rating
for a single phase, 230 V, 8 kW load circuit. Assume that the
load power factor is 0.85.

- The first step is to calculate the normal load current:

8000
I  40.921 A
230  0.85
- Then, as a general guideline, the selected fuse rating is typically
1.2-1.3 times the normal load current.
- Therefore, 40.921×1.3 = 53.197 A.
- Select the higher available fuse rating which is 60 A.

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Fuse time-current characteristic of the given 60 A fuse:

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Example 2: Assume we have a 60 A fuse protecting the indicated
load in the figure. This means that the fuse is rated at 60 A.
Study fuse operation for the following current values:
• 10 A.
• 100 A.
• 200 A.
• 400 A.
• 10,000 A.
• 100,000 A.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Solution: • 10 A.
• 100 A.
- Applying the current values on the 60 A fuse curve:
• 200 A.
• 400 A.
• 10,000 A.
• 100,000 A.

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- Therefore,
• 10 A case: no trip.
• 100 A case: no trip.
• 200 A case: fuse will trip after 100 seconds of current flow. It
will not trip if the current lasts for less than 100 seconds.
• 400 A case: fuse will trip after 1 second of current flow. It
will not trip if the current lasts for less than 1 second.
• 10,000 A case: fuse will trip instantly.
• 100,000 A case: fuse will trip instantly.

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi

Example 3: A three phase, 415 V distribution system is shown in
the figure below. Select the proper rating for all fuses in the
system.
27.8 +41.7=69.5 A
 select 80 A

20000 30000
I  27.8 A I  41.7 A
3  415 3  415
 select 32 A fuse  select 50 A fuse

Prepared by: Dr. Ahmad Al-Subhi