Protection

Switch Gears & Motor Control Centers

Combinations of
enclosures,

bus bars,

circuit breakers,

power contactors,

power fuses,

protective relays,

Controls and

indicating devices
ELECTRICAL PROTECTION 05/31/2023 2
Switchgear

switchboards that contain circuit breaker or contactor

cubicles for power distribution to other switchboards
and motor control centres, and
which receive their power from generators or incoming
lines or cables.

Motor control centres

assemblies that contain outgoing cubicles specifically for

supplying and controlling power to motors.

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Switchgear is available up to at least 400 kV,

whereas

motor control centres are only designed for

voltages up to approximately 15 kV

because this is the normal limit for high voltage motors.

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 The main electrical components are:-
• Main bus bars.
• Earthing bus bar.
• Incoming and bus bar section circuit breakers.
• Outgoing switching devices, contactors or circuit
breakers.
• Fuses for MCC outgoing circuits.
• Safety interlocking devices.
• Electrical protective relays and devices for all power
circuits.
• Control and indication devices.
• Communication or network interfacing system.
• Main connections and terminal compartments.

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Main Bus bars
should be made of high-grade copper

For voltages up to 600 V it is often required to use four bus bars, one being
for the neutral.

When a 4-wire system is required the incoming and bus bar section circuit
breakers may be 3-pole with a linked neutral or be 4-pole.

If the SWBD or MCC feeds equipment located in a hazardous area then the
4-pole circuit breakers should be used.

For balanced loads and for voltages above 1000 V a 3-wire source is used
and hence only three bus bars are needed.

Unbalanced loads are seldom encountered at high voltages.

Neutral bus bars are usually rated at half the phase bus bar current ratings.

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 Bus bar normal current ratings in amps
HT MCC/SWBD LT MCC/SWBD

400
630 800
800 1600
1200 2400
1600 3000
2000 3150
2400 3500
3000 4000
3150
Bus bars are mounted on insulated bushes that are strong
enough to withstand the peak short circuit currents and forces.

The bus bars may be air insulated or enclosed in an insulating

sleeve.
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 Earthing Bus bars

The earthing (grounding) bus bar is

separate from the neutral bus bar, and is
used to earth all conductors that need to be
earthed as well as the metallic frame and
casing of the switchboard or motor control
centre.
The earthing bus bar is made of high-grade
copper and is usually located at the front or
rear of the enclosure at ground level.

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Incoming and Bus bar Section Switching Device
Low voltage systems up to 600 V
are usually air-break circuit breakers, which can be
fixed or withdrawable from the main frame or
enclosure.

They can be 3 or 4-pole depending upon whether a 3

or 4-wire supply is required.

Some low power switchboards may use load-break

switches for these functions.

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High voltage systems up to 15 kV

Several types of circuit breakers are available for

high voltage operation. The main types are:-
Air-break.
Sulphur hexafloride gas.
Vacuum.

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 Air-break circuit breakers are almost the same in
design as the low voltage air-break devices except that
they are more robust and insulated for the high
voltage.

They are only available in the 3-pole form, and up to

about 24 kV is possible.

They tend to be the most expensive and require more

frequent maintenance due to their exposed
construction and relatively more complicated
mechanisms.

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 SF6 circuit breakers are very robust,
economical, small in size, and extremely
reliable.
Sulphur hexafloride (usually referred to as SF6)
gas is also used as the arc extinguishing
medium.
At 11 kV the typical ratings are 400 A to 2500 A
with fault making duties up to about 25 kA.

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 Vacuum circuit breakers are limited to
about 13.8 kV due to insulation difficulties
across the open contacts.

Current ratings at 13.8 kV are limited to

about 3000 A, with corresponding fault
making duties up to 100 kA peak.

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 SWITCHING DEVICES
Outgoing Switching Device for Switchgear

The outgoing switching device in a high current,

high fault level, switchboard will usually be a
power circuit breaker if it feeds more than about
400 amps to the load.
Below 400 amps the circuit could have a fuse-
contactor combination.
Low voltage switchboards often use moulded case
circuit breakers for incoming and outgoing
circuits.
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 MCCB

these can be fitted with a variety of auxiliary

devices such as
motor operators for remote control,
padlocks for safe isolation and

shunt trip coils for rapid opening under

some fault conditions.

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Outgoing Switching Device for Motor Control Centres

Motor control centres and some switchboards

use contactors as the frequently operated
switching device for individual outgoing loads
up to about 400 amps.

The figure of 400 amps is about the limit of

fuse and contactor design capability.

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 Contactors and their accompanying fuses should be
used where ever possible because:-

Much less expensive than a circuit breaker.

Much smaller and simpler in the
construction.
Heavy faults are cleared faster due to the
fast action of the fuses.
Enables the outgoing cable sizes to be
significantly smaller due to the reduced
fault clearing time provided by the fuses.

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 Contactors differ from circuit breakers in that they
are designed to handle rated running current and
very short-term low fault level situations.
Contactors cannot withstand the high fault
currents.
A fuse must be placed in series to interrupt fault
currents and sustained over currents.
This means that the device is physically much
more compact than a circuit breaker and hence
much less expensive.
The fuses and the contactor must be carefully
coordinated for fault current let-through
capability.
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 Low voltage contactors are simple air-break electromagnetic
devices.
High voltage contactors are air-break, vacuum or SF6 devices,
although air-break is becoming obsolete.
Most contactors are closed and held closed by the action of a
powerful fast acting electromagnet.
Occasionally a mechanically held arrangement is required to
safeguard against a loss of supply and the need to maintain
power to the load once the supply is restored.
This practice often applies to feeders for distribution
transformers, where restoration of the secondary supply must
not be delayed by manual intervention. In all cases the opening
of the contactor is carried out by a powerful spring.
With a mechanically held arrangement an auxiliary solenoid is
fitted to unlatch the holding mechanism.
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 Low voltage contactors are usually fitted with
purpose-made protection devices for guarding
against overloading and single-phase
operation.
These devices are used individually or in
combination and operate on magnetic, thermal
or electronic principles.
High voltage contactors use similar protection
devices to those used with high voltage circuit
breakers, except that high voltage fast-acting
fuses are also connected in series with the
contactor.
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 FUSES FOR MOTOR CONTROL CENTRE OUTGOING
CIRCUITS
Fuses are chosen to match the normal
current of the load. The fuse current rating
is always chosen to be higher than the load
current by an amount called the ‘fusing
factor’, which is given by:-
Fusing factor
Fuse rating, in amps
Normal load current, in amps

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 For low voltage motors the fusing factor is
larger for the small motors (less than 15 kW)
than it is for the large motors (up to 250 kW).
For high voltage motors the fusing factor tends
to be between 1.5 and 2.5.
The characteristics of the fuses vary according
to the type of load, e.g. continuous motor load,
very intermittent motor load, feeder
transformers, static heaters, thyristor
controlled loads, power rectifier loads.

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 SAFETY INTERLOCKING DEVICES
Most switchboards and motor control centres
are fitted with a variety of electrical and
mechanical safety interlocking devices. Their
purposes are to protect against for example:-
Withdrawing the switching device while it is
carrying load or fault current.
Prevent the switching mechanism from being
inserted when it is in its ‘on’ state.
Opening of access doors or panels before
setting the switching device in its ‘off’ state.

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 Gaining physical access by human operators while
the main conductors and contacts are energised.
Gaining access to the bus bars when the switching
devices have been withdrawn.
To prevent earthing switches from being closed on to
live circuits or bus bars.
Incorrect electrical operation of a complex process
system in which various external devices, motors,
pumps, etc. are intimately related. For example a
lubrication oil pump must be running before the
main drive motor is started on a pump or
compressor.

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 Protective Relays
IEEE standard C37.2 in 1970, which has also been revised in 1991
Device Definition and Function
Number

21 Distance relay is a device that functions when the

circuit admittance or impedance or reactance
increases or decreases beyond predetermined limits.

23 Temperature control device functions to raise or

lower the temperature of a machine or other
apparatus, or of any medium, when its temperature
falls below, or rises above, a predetermined value.

25 Synchronising or synchronism-check device

operates when two AC circuits are within the desired
limits of frequency, phase angle or voltage, to permit or
to cause the paralleling of these two circuits.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

26 Apparatus thermal device functions when the temperature of the shunt

field or the damper winding of a machine, or that of a load limiting or load
shifting resistor or of a liquid or other medium exceeds a predetermined
value. It also functions if the temperature of the protected apparatus, such
as a power rectifier, or of any medium decreases below a predetermined
value.
27 Under voltage relay is a device that functions on a
given value of under voltage
32 Directional power relay is one which functions on a
desired value of power flow in a given direction, or
upon reverse power resulting from arc back in the
anode or cathodic circuits of a power rectifier.
37 Undercurrent or under-power relay functions when
the current or power flow decreases below a
predetermined value.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

38 Bearing protective device functions on excessive

bearing temperature, or on other abnormal
mechanical conditions, such as undue wear, which
may eventually result in excessive bearing
temperature.
40 Field relay functions on a given or abnormally low
value or failure of machine field current, or on an
excessive value of the reactive component of
armature current in an AC machine indicating
abnormally low field excitation.
46 Reverse-phase, or phase-balance, current relay is a relay
which functions when the poly-phase currents are of reverse-
phase sequence, or when the poly-phase currents are
unbalanced or contain negative phase-sequence components
above a given amount.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

49 Machine, or transformer, thermal relay is a relay that

functions when the temperature of a machine armature, or
other load carrying winding or element of a machine, or
the temperature of a power rectifier or power transformer
(including a power rectifier transformer) exceeds a
predetermined value.
50 Instantaneous over current, or rate-of-rise relay is a
relay that functions instantaneously on an excessive value
of current, or on an excessive rate of current rise, thus
indicating a fault in the apparatus or circuit being
protected.
51 AC time over current relay is a relay with either a definite
or inverse time characteristic that functions when the
current in an AC circuit exceeds a predetermined value.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

52 AC circuit breaker is a device that is used to close and

interrupt an AC power circuit under normal conditions or
to interrupt this circuit under fault or emergency
conditions.

58 Rectification failure relay is a device that functions if

one or more anodes of a power rectifier fail to fire, or to
detect an arc-back or on failure of a diode to conduct or
block properly.

59 Overvoltage relay is a relay that operates on a given

difference in voltage, or current input or output of two
circuits.

60 Voltage or current relay is a relay that operates by comparing these

variables in two circuits, in the form of a difference relay, e.g. star-
point comparator for capacitor banks.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

64 Ground protective relay is a relay that functions on

failure of the insulation of a machine, transformer or of
other apparatus to ground, or on flashover of a DC
machine to ground.
65 Governor is the assembly of fluid, electrical or
mechanical control equipment used for regulating the
flow of water, steam, or other medium to the prime mover
for such purposes as starting, holding speed or load, or
stopping.
67 AC directional over current relay is a relay that
functions on a desired value of AC over current flowing in
a predetermined direction.

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 Device Definition and Function
Number

74 Alarm relay is a device other than an annunciator, which

is used to operate, or to operate in connection with, a
visual or audible alarm.
81 Frequency relay is a relay that functions on a
predetermined value of frequency – either under or over
or on normal system frequency – or rate of change of
frequency.

86 Locking-out relay is an electrically operated, hand or

electrically reset, relay that functions to shut down and
hold an equipment out of service on the occurrence of
abnormal conditions.
87 Differential protective relay functions on a percentage
or phase angle or other quantitative difference of two
currents or of some other electrical quantities.

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 Protective devices for a high voltage generator

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 Over current (51 V).
Differential stator current (87).
Field failure (40).
Field winding earth fault (58).
Reverse active power (32).
Negative phase sequence (46).
Stator earth fault current (51 G) and (64).
Over terminal voltage, (59) Note 1.
Under terminal voltage, (27) Note 1.
Over frequency, (81) Note 2.
Under frequency, (81) Note 2.
Winding temperature (26).
Note 1: These can be combined in one voltage relay.
Note 2: These can be combined in one frequency relay.

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 EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATORS
Low voltage is most commonly used for
emergency power services. Emergency generators
need to operate in difficult situations and may be
called upon to continue until fuel is exhausted or
until physical destruction takes place.
In view of the need to continue operation it is
possible to tolerate some relaxation in the
protective relays that are provided for emergency
generators, especially low voltage offshore
machines.

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 The following relays in sub may therefore be
deleted for low voltage generators:-
Negative phase sequence (46).
Differential stator current (87).
Field winding earth fault (58).
In addition the current setting of the over
current relay (51) may need to be higher
than for a ‘normal service’ generator.

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 FEEDER TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

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 Over current.
High-set or instantaneous current.
Primary earth fault current.
Secondary earth fault current.
Differential current.
Winding and core high temperature.
Buchholz oil tank surge protection.

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Protection devices for a high voltage feeder
cables

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FEEDER CABLE PROTECTION
Over current Protection
Over current protection is usually provided by a (51) relay, which has
separate elements for each phase.

Short-Circuit Protection
The most commonly used is the Merz–Price scheme. Each sending end and
receiving end line of each cable is equipped with a matched current
transformer. At the sending end switchgear is placed the (87) relay to detect
an out-of-balance current due to a fault within the cable. The operating time
for this scheme is typically 5 or 6 cycles of fundamental frequency current.

Earth Fault Protection

The usual method of detecting an earth fault in a cable feeder is to use a core
balance current transformer in conjunction with a sensitive 50 N relay.

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BUSBAR PROTECTION IN SWITCHBOARDS

Bus bar Zone Protection

Where a bus-section circuit breaker is used to divide the
bus bars (during abnormal operating conditions) each set
of bus bars is protected as a separate zone. Each zone
consists of the incomers, the outgoing circuits and the bus-
section circuit breaker(s). An accurate current transformer
is connected in each line of each circuit. All the current
leaving the zone must be balanced by current from the
incomer circuits. A fault in the zone will be detected by the
(87) relay. Rapid operation is required to open the incomer
and bus-section circuit breakers so that the fault does not
develop and spread as a fire or blast along the busbars.

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 Over current Protection
It is not normally necessary to provide over current
protection in the bus-section circuit because the presence
of over current, not caused by an in-zone fault, would be
detected by an outgoing circuit relay.
Introducing an over current relay in the bus-section circuit
will add complication to the coordination of the incoming
and outgoing relays, since a time margin is necessary
between each relay.
Under voltage Protection
Under voltage operation is undesirable and therefore a
suitable relay (27) with a time delay is often used,
especially in high voltage switchboards.

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HIGH VOLTAGE INDUCTION MOTOR PROTECTION

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 Main functions:

Overloading or thermal image (49).

Instantaneous or high-set over current (50).
Negative phase sequence (46).
Core balance earth fault (51N).
Differential stator current (87).

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Additional functions:
Stalling current.
Limitation to the number of successive
starts.
Undercurrent (37).
High winding temperature.
High bearing temperature.
Excessive vibration.

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LOW VOLTAGE INDUCTION MOTOR PROTECTION

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 In general a large amount of the theoretical
aspects of the protection of high voltage
motors applies to low voltage motors.
However, some functions are not normally
required
Differential stator current (87).
Undercurrent (37).
High winding temperature.
High bearing temperature.
Excessive vibration.

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LOW VOLTAGE STATIC LOAD PROTECTION
The protection required is usually kept as simple
as possible, consisting of,
Time-delayed over current.
A time-delayed over current (51) relay would normally be used
for a static load.
Instantaneous or high-set over current.
It would usually be practical to set the instantaneous elements
of a moulded case circuit breaker to their lowest value e.g. five
times the nominal current.
Core balance earth fault.
The theoretical requirements for applying core balance earth
fault protection are the same as those for low voltage motors.
Electrical Protection 05/31/2023 47
Micro-computer Based Systems
micro-computer based intelligence and
network communication facilities
enable much more information to be
managed, manipulated and displayed
Within switchgear the approach to control,
indication and protection has changed.
These functions are no longer separate
entities. They are combined into micro-
computer based electronic relay modules.

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Integrated motor control systems (IMCS)

Four main units are used in the IMCS

Motor control unit (MCU)
Feeder control unit (FCU)
Circuit breaker control unit (CBCU)
Central control unit (CCU)

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Intelligent motor control centre

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Siemens – Siprotec4

Electrical Protection 05/31/2023 51

 Thank you

Mecton Training & Technical Services

Private Limited
No: 90, Arya Gowda Road
West Mambalam
Chennai. 600033.
Mob: 09840021710

Electrical Protection 05/31/2023 52