NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN LOW VOLTAGE AIR CIRCUIT BREAKER TECHNOLOGY
Tom Craig
Terasaki Europe Ltd, UK
INTRODUCTION
Protection within the Low Voltage (L.V.) area of
power distribution is often not given the same
coverage in technical publications as its medium and
high voltage relatives.
However, from the end user prospective, it is often
regarded as perhaps the most critical area of the
system due to its close proximity and effect on final
loads.
In low voltage networks one of the main items of
protection equipment, responsible for the safe
distribution of electrical energy is the Air Circuit
Breaker (ACB).
This is the gatekeeper of the system, often referred
to as the incomer. It is the highest amp rated device
within the L.V. distribution network and is often used
on the secondary of distribution transformers, bus-
couplers and large feeder loads.
The main functions of the ACB are the protection and
isolation of the supply source, be it transformer or
generator. Typical ratings range from 800A to 6300A
with breaking capacities up to 120ka at 415v AC.
ACB technology has remained relatively static over
the last decade but the latest products now coming
on to the market have dramatically altered this
situation. This paper will draw attention towards the
importance of advances in ACB technology and its
integral protection relay. In doing so, it will also
explain how these new and innovate designs can add
true value to the protection of low voltage distribution
systems.
ELECTROMECHANICAL INNOVATION
Modern ACBs, compared to their predecessors, now
occupy less than half the volume. This is derived
from the trend of smaller areas being allocated for
switchboards and the demand for higher packing
densities. To achieve this dramatic reduction, yet
increase its interrupting capacity, and maintain a safe
working temperature, requires major innovations in
contact technology.
Developments in Power System Protection, Conference Publication No.479 0 IEE 2001.
The majority of ACBs used are draw-out pattern to
provide easier access to the ACB and additional
isolation which maintenance procedures may require.
This requires the use of isolating contacts for the
interconnection between body and chassis.
Transferring these isolating contacts from the
chassis to the body and ‘directly connecting them to
the ACBs fixed contacts, substantially reduces the
depth of the ACB.
As the name suggests, the interrupting medium of
the ACB is air and therefore sufficient space is
required between the contacts to ensure effective arc
extinction. Generally, due to space requirements, the
majority of ACBs use one contact break per pole to
interrupt any short circuit.
However, introduction of a symmetrical
‘DoubleBreak contact system (figure one) provides
the opportunity to further elongate the arc to ensure
even faster interruption of the short circuit. Due to the
mass of the contacts the typical total interrupting time
of a conventional ACB is 7Omsec.This is the time it
takes for the protection relay to sense the fault,
initiate a signal to the tripping coil, fully open the
contacts and fully extinguish the arc.
’
Utilisation of the double break system ensures total
clearing time of less than one and a half cycles i.e.
30msec.
Arc chamber
Fixed contact
Figure one
TemPower2 ACB with
DoubleBreak system.
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An additional benefit of this contact design is that as
the arc energy is ‘shared between two sets of
contacts so any contact surface erosion is greatly
reduced, minimising build up of contact resistance
and thus increasing its operational life. Sharing of the
arc energy within the double arc chamber ensures
any ionised gases are safely dissipated thus
achieving required clearance distance to earthed
metal of zero. In other words, no additional space is
required for arc clearance providing even more
possibilitiesto achieve higher packing densities.
Finally, a symmetrical double contact design ensures
higher reliability of short circuit interruption should a
fault occur when the ACB is reverse connected, such
as bottom entry switchboards.
NEW SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
Traditional protection current transformers (CTs)
have always been used as the input to the protection
relay system. Although a tried and tested solution,
they require additional space on the ACB, contribute
to overall heat dissipation and saturate between ten
and twenty times the full load current, depending if
they are 5P10 or 5P20 rated.
The replacement of bulky protection current
transformers with new sensor technology such as
Rogowski coils is one of the elements utilised to
reduce mass and minimise temperature on modern
ACBs.
Rogowski coil technology is not new and was
developed as far back as 1897. However, it is only in
the last ten years or so, with advanced
microprocessor technology, that commercial
applications for protection,have been established.
Rogowski coils are similar to CTs but contain no iron
core. This makes them smaller, lighter and emits a
lower AC watts loss.
They do not saturate like the conventional CT, thus
providing linearity and accuracy in protection settings.
SEPARATE PANEL MOUNT VS. INTEGRAL
PROTECTION RELAYS
The market trend over the last few years has
involved greater use of integral protection relays,
which offer significant advantages over the separate
panel mounted IDMT relay (see figure two).
ACBs connected to separate panel mount relays
require double the space within the main
switchboard.
There are many additional costs associated with the
separate panel mounted relays, apart from a higher
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unit cost, in build and commissioning times that are
often unaccounted for.
Firstly, CTs must be connected to the busbars and
wired correctly to the protection relay. This in turn
would have to be connected to an additional shunt
trip within ACB. This also increases commissioning
time due to additional components and wiring.
Modern ACBs with integral relays are fitted with wire
looms for the integral CTs and tripping coil.
Figure two
TemPower2 ACB with
Integral protection relay.
Reliability of the protection circuit is greatly increased
as the ACB and integral protection relay is ‘type
tested before it leaves the manufacturer. In addition,
unlike many conventional panel mount IDMT relays
that require a separate control voltage, the integral
protection relay utilises the power from the CTs to trip
the ACB.
Another point also overlooked is that often the
breaking capacity of the ACB is reduced to its short
time withstand value. For example an ACB may have
a breaking capacity of 65ka but a withstand of only
50ka.This is due to the length of time it takes a
separate relay to send the tripping signal to the
external shunt trip coil. An integral protection relay
however operates much quicker and would not suffer
from this reduction in breaking capacity.
Today s integral protection relays also provide
protection beyond traditional over current protection.
Options include protection against restricted and
unrestricted earth faults under-voltage and phase
failure, reverse power flows, over-temperature and
internal arcing faults.
THE EVOLUTION OF OVERLOAD PROTECTION
System protection requirements generally centre on
overload and short circuit protection .So far we have
explained how modern ACB design has changed to
interrupt short circuits even faster, thus reducing
system damage and minimising down time.
An area of over current protection that has had to
become more refined is that of overload protection.
Earlier static protection relays did not posses today s
‘thermal memory .If an overload condition
disappeared the timing element of the relay would
reset itself to zero.
If the same or another overload condition were then
generated while the conductor was still hot, the timing
element of the relay would start again from zero. This
could create a dangerous situation by allowing the
conductor to reach a critical temperature before the
overload condition would cause the ACB to trip.
As the ACB must protect different sources, it must also be protection), Short time (selectivity zone) and
available with a choice of transformer or generator
protection. Very often standard protection relays cannot
meet the overload protection requirements of generators adjustable LSI protection in order to provide
such as those dictated by marine regulations. A tripping
time of less than 20secs for a 120% overload can only be In addition to full ‘ LSI flexibility one would also
achieved with generator, overload protection relays.
The UK wiring regulations also give guidance
(regulation 433-01-01 of BS7671) by stating that
systems should be designed so that “a small
overload of a long duration is unlikely to occur”. Most
modern integral relays possess a PTA (Pre-Trip
Alarm) function that provides the facility to trip non-
essential load or start additional generator capacity
on detection of the system approaching an overload
situation.
The increase of non-liner loads means today s LV
network can have high magnitudes of harmonic
distortion. Many IDMT relays utilise a peak sensing
overload element, which can result in nuisance
tripping of the ACB or under protection of the
conductor.
Modern protection relays employ sampling an
integrating techniques to ensure the true r.m.s value
of the load current is measured .It is important that a
high sampling rate is chosen to ensure a wide
frequency spectrum is captured for the r.m.s
measurement. A sampling rate of 500psec would
provide true r.m.s measurement up to the 1gth
harmonic ensuring the system is future proof from
further nuisance tripping.
Overload protection of the neutral pole should also
be catered for due to the accumulation of the Triple-
N harmonics in the neutral conductor. In this
application, it is important to ensure that the neutral
conductor is rated to the same ampere as the main
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phases. Research is currently underway to produce
double rated switched neutrals for applications where
high levels of harmonics cannot be economically or
effectively eliminated.
APPLICATION OF SELECTIVITY
Due to the higher frequency of faults in LV compared
to higher voltages, selectivity throughout the system
is even more critical. The integral relay of modern
ACBs can posses in excess of 500,000 unique time
current characteristics. This flexibility is often
necessary as the ACB incomer will often have to
grade with different protective devices such as the
upstream utility relay or the downstream fuse switch
or moulded case circuit breaker.
A term associated with LV ACBs is ‘LSI
characteristics. This means Long time (overload
Instantaneous (short-circuit protection).
It is important that the protection relay has fully
maximum flexibility for selectivity.
require the option for time current characteristics to
comply with IEC60255-3.This provides even more
flexibility by providing the traditional standard, very
and extremely inverse curves often reserved for
separate panel mounted IDMT relays only.
To overcome the drawbacks of a time based
selective system where one has larger time delays as
we approach the transformer or generator, attention
is turning to zone interlock systems. This technique
usually reserved for medium voltage applications is
also now being considered for LV application. This
technique ensures that full selectivity is achieved but
with a maximum tripping time of less than 50msec.ln
order to achieve this the relays communicate to one
another and issue trip blocking or override time delay
signals where necessary.
END USER REQUIREMENTS
The demand from this area has forced the ACB
manufacture to consider added valued features
throughout the design. A particular area of concern
for many end users is the reliability of the switchgear
and what can be done to minimise downtime.
Modular design ensures that all the main accessories
such as tripping and closing coils are field fit-able and
accessible from the front of the ACB, should they
require replacement. Also all auxiliary, position and
 relay connections should be accessible from the front
should any modifications need to be carried out to
the switchboard.
The modular design also ensures that fixed and
moving contacts can be replaced in approximately
ten minutes per pole should the need ever arise.
Integral protection relays on today s ACBs are
provided with ‘in built trip circuit supervision and
calibration test facilities. Should the protection relay
or the tripping coil malfunction the user can be
informed locally or remotely.
The end user is increasingly looking for preventative
maintenance oppoQunitiesthat will result in zero
unplanned downtime and where possible, reduce or
eliminate any unnecessary maintenance.
A question often asked is when should the main
contacts be inspected or even replaced?
Today s sophisticated relays can indicate percentage
contact wear by taking into account the magnitude
and energy of the overcurrent. A new ACB would
have zero percentage contact wear while a figure
approaching one hundred percent means that
replacement of contacts is necessary.
Over temperate is certainly one of the main problems
associated with the failure of switchgear .The
provision of indication of contact wear can greatly
assist the user to plan maintenance more effectively.
However, over temperature is often not just due to
increased contact resistance. More often than not it is
due to inadequate or blocked ventilation or busbar
fixing bolts not being at the correct torque.
Thermographic surveys can of course detect these
hot spots but these can be costly and do not provide
‘real time‘ monitoring of the situation.
Recent developments in ACBs mean that thermistors
can now be fitted to individual phase contacts of the
ACB. Should the temperature increase for whatever
reason the user is alerted immediately of the situation
so scheduled maintenance can be planned.
BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The traditional BMS system is usually connected to
the lift and fire system, lighting, HVAC and security
systems. Today many engineers are now taking
advantage of the data capability of intelligent ACBs,
after all if the ACB should fail the previous devices
would also suffer from main loss.
Advanced protection relays now offer power metering
facilities so that complete energy profiles can be
transmitted to the BMS or SCADA system.
The advantage over separate panel meters, apart
from space and cost savings, is the ability to gather
and transmit fault data. Rather than just get an
indication of a trip, the engineer can be informed as
to the type of fault, magnitude and ACB tripping time.
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This information can then be used for post fault
diagnosis and can be combined with detail on the
percentage contact wear and contact temperature.
This can help the engineer plan preventative and
predictive maintenance programs.
CONCLUSION
Integrated trip supervision and monitoring of the
temperature and erosion of the contacts, provide
unparalleled preventative maintenance opportunities
that previously were impractical to implement.
The movement from time based to condition based
maintenance programs compliment the additional I
electrical parameters that can be measured and
communicated to the BMS system. Maintenance
solutions can be provided over the Internet so the
manufacturer can remotely diagnosis the pre and
post fault information to assist the end user in
obtaining minimum downtime.
Integral protection relays offer reduced costs of
installation time and testing, increased reliability and
can assist in fault diagnosis of the ACB itself.
The ability to remotely change the protection settings
is an important considerationfor standby generator
applications where it is necessary to alter the settings
automatically to continue to obtain full selectivity with
essential loads.
Additionally, the ability to transmit settings opens up
the possibility for communicating with output files of
selectivity software so that the automatic
commissioning of the integral relays also takes place.
Protection, monitoring and control have become
collective requirements.
Today s ACBs-are now beyond being classed as
intelligent, they have ‘self awareness .