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a b c
Table 1 is a subset of Table 10-32 from IEEE Std 493-2007 . It shows those types of circuit elements that involve cable conductors. Focusing on the bottom section of this table (labeled Failure Type) for a moment, and using the Cable column as an example, note that 73% (marked with a a in Table 1) of all cable failures involve arcing faults to ground, 1% (marked b) involve arcing faults that dont involve ground, and the remaining 26% (marked c) dont involve an arcing fault3. Focusing only on the arcing failures that involve a fault, we see that out of the 74% percent (73+1 out of 100) of failures that involve a fault, 99% (73 divided by 74 rounded up) involved ground. The remaining 1% (1 divided by 73%) did not.
Also known as the Gold Book . See reference [6] at end of paper. IEEE Std 493-2007 Table 10-2 describes the expected failure rate of all electrical devices surveyed. 3 An example of a failure that does not involve a arcing fault would be a cable break (e.g. continuity failure) where neither of the two ends of the break touched an energized or, in the case of a loose energized conductor, grounded conductor. If no current flows after the failure, it is not considered a fault. Another type of fault would be a wiring error where conductors are accidentally wired as a short circuit. Such a fault does not involve arcing.
1 2
This IEEE 493 standard is stating that for a cable, it is nearly 100 times more likely (99% divided by 1%) for a cable fault to be a ground fault versus a fault not involving ground. From an analysis of the physical properties of how a cable fails this would seem to make sense. After all, a ground fault only requires one conductors insulation to fail, while a phase-to-phase fault would require insulation to fail on two separate conductors at the same time.
Figure 1 current = 2x decrease causes a time = 25x increase If we change the current by a factor of two, to what exponent must you raise that value to obtain a change of 25? Mathematically: 2x = 25? To solve this equation for the unknown x, we take the logarithm base 2 of each side of the equation. Since most scientific calculators only include log base 10 and base e (ln), we must convert a logarithm from one base to another: logb(x)= log10(x) log10(b) Eq. (1)
So starting with 2x = 25 and taking the log base 2 of each side we have: log2(2x)= log2(25), simplifies to x = log10(25) log10(2) = 1.3979 0.30103 = 4.64
In other words, 24.64 = 25, or the increase in clearing time is inversely proportional to the change in current raised to the 4.64 power. As can be seen, clearing time for a fuse increases rapidly as fault current drops.
The National Electrical Code (NEC) does not require that ground conductors be sized as large as phase conductors. For circuit breakers, the current reduction would need to drop below the instantaneous pick up before the clearing time increases.
Does this increase only occur with current limiting fuses, and more specifically, only when the current-limiting fuse is operating in the current limiting region of the time overcurrent curve? No. Consider the non-current limiting region in Figure 2 bounded by the two current values of 4500A (7 .5 times 600A) and 1000A (1.67 times 600A). For a current ratio change of 4.5 (4500A/1000A), the time changes by 1000x (500s/0.5s). As before, we solve the exponential equation as: 4.5x = 1000 with x = ? Transforming the logarithm base using Eq. (1): log4.5(x) = Solve for x: log4.5(4.5x) = log4.5(1000) or x = log10(1000) log10(4.5) = 3 0.65321 = 4.59 log10(x) log10(4.5)
x=
log10(6.25) log10(2)
= 2.64
Calculating the change in energy at the two clearing times: Energy I2t = K.45002(0.5) = 1.01x107 . K amp2-seconds incident energy released. Energy1000A I2t = K.10002(500) = 5x108 . K amp2-seconds incident energy released. When taking the ratio of the two energy values at the two current levels, the energy released at the 1000A current level versus the 4500A level was: 5x108 . K 1.01x107 . K = 49.5 times higher incident energy!
4500A
Notice that the exponent for the change in energy (2.64) is exactly 2 less than the exponent for the magnitude of the current change (4.64). Why? From the equation E i2t it is clear that if the current is reduced, the energy contributed by the current is reduced by the square (i2). Likewise, as weve just calculated, if decreasing the current increases the clearing time proportional to the 4.64 power, then the net result is the energy decreases by the square while simultaneously increasing by the 4.64 power or (-2 + 4.64) = 2.64.
x=
= 2.59
Eq. (3)
Therefore, 4.52.59 = 49.5 In other words, incident energy increased by a value proportional to the ratio of the current change raised to the 2.59 power even when not in the current limiting region of the fuse! Clearly it doesnt matter whether fuses are operating in the current limiting or non-current limiting region. In both cases reducing current flowing through the fuse increases energy released through the fuse3.
Figure 2
As mentioned earlier, this does not occur in circuit breakers until the fault current drops below the instantaneous pickup of the circuit breaker. Therefore, in non-current-limiting breakers, the incident energy reduces as the fault current reduces. In current-limiting circuit breakers, the incident energy remains constant as the fault current reduces.
Figure 3 So, if arc flash incident energy calculations are evaluated using higher current values (assume 20,000 amps will flow in a phase fault), then if only 1413 amperes were to flow during a ground fault, then these equations imply that you might well see incident energy values of:
200002.5 1413
If we applied a 125 HP , 208V, 3-phase motor to a fused switch protected by this GF relay combination, the motor would consume 342 amperes full load. Using Table 430-152 from the National Electrical code, this motor could not use a time-delay fuse larger than 175% of this value, or 600A. If the ground fault current did not exceed 1413 amperes, the GF relay would trip the stored energy switch or motor starter instantaneously , clearing the fault quickly and reducing incident energy.
6. Summary
Based on data from IEEE Std 493-2007 as well as common sense, ground faults are substantially more common than phase-to-phase faults. Since ground current flows, by definition, through conductors other than expected current carrying conductors, the impedance of those conductors is unknown. Eatons own statistical evidence from warranty and repair records lends evidence to this conclusion. The problem is that many authors report that low-level ground faults failed to be cleared by conventional overcurrent protection quickly enough to save the equipment from substantial damage. While ground fault protection can be added to some fused switches, problems have been reported due to the required intentional delay that must be added and/or with coordinating Class II ground fault relay to insure that the switch opens only during times when low (or no) current is flowing. Circuit breakers do not require this intentional ground fault delay and therefore can clear a fault more quickly reducing incident energy below the incident energy released when the same circuit is protected by a fuse, whether current limiting or not. Remember, fuses work better at higher current levels. Low level faults cause problems for fuses. As this paper and IEEE [16] has shown, most low voltage fault magnitudes are below the current limiting range of a fuse. Depending on the range of your selected overcurrent device, this may result in extended clearing time and excessive arc flash incident energy. Ground fault sensing with instantaneous clearing and ZSI is recommended to mitigate these high incident energy levels.
Figure 4 However, if as shown in Figure 5, the fault occurs between the two breakers, the upstream does not receive a ZSI inhibit signal from the downstream breaker because the downstream breaker does not have fault current flowing through it. Without the ZSI inhibit signal, the upstream breaker reprograms itself to remove all intentional delays, thus clearing the fault faster. ZSI has been shown to be so effective that a new Section 240.87 has been added to the 2011 version of the National Electrical Code [13] that now requires ZSI or equivalent protection for any circuit breaker that includes intentional tripping delay [14][15].
Figure 5 Since time delay is always required on an upstream breaker, any system with two or more levels of ground fault protection will have mandatory time delay on the upstream breaker. Because of this requirement, it is very important to insure that any ZSI system selected reduces the clearing time of the upstream breaker to sufficient fast clearing times (<80 ms).
7. References
[1] K. Malmedal, P.K. Sen, Arcing fault currents and the criteria for setting ground fault relays in solidly-grounded low voltage systems, Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference, 2000, Conference Record, Annual Meeting, Issue 2000, pp 185-191. [2] H. Bruce Land III, The Behavior of Arcing Faults in LowVoltage Switchboards, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 44, No. 2, March-April 2008, pp 437-444. [3] R. Doughty, T. Neal, T. Macalady, V. Saporita, K. Borgwald, The use of low-voltage current-limiting fuses to reduce arcflash energy, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 36, Issue 6, Nov-Dec 2000, pp 1741 - 1749. [4] H. Bruce Land III, Determination of the Cause of Arcing Faults in Low-Voltage Switchboards, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 44, No. 2, March-April 2008, pp 430-436. [5] J.G.J. Sloot, R.J. Ritsma, Protection against fault arcs in low voltage distribution boards, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands, www.etheq-rcd.com/downloads/ Protection-against-fault-arcs.pdf. [6] IEEE Recommended Practice for Electric Power Distribution for Industrial Plants, IEEE Std 141-1993, Approved December 2, 1993. [7] H. Stanback, Predicting Damage from 277-V Single Phase to Ground Arcing Faults, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. IA-13, Issue 4, Jul 1977, pp 307-314.
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