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Assemblies of switchgear and control panels (2)

Edvard

Assemblies of switchgear and control panels (part 2) - on photo SKEMA Switchgear

Continued from 1st part of article: Assemblies of switchgear and control panels (part 1)
Other components that are needed for the proper operation of the switchgear or control panel but not necessarily
part of the installation or maybe installed remotely are:
The batteries that supply control power for the proper operation of the circuit breakers
Protection devices (will be decribed in next tech. article)
Metering packages (will be decribed in next tech. article)
Control devices (will be decribed in next tech. article)

The Batteries (Control Power Supply)

They could be lead acid or nickel cadmium complete with a charger system sized and rated to operate all loads
under normal and power loss conditions.
The stationary battery is designed to serve as an auxiliary /standby source of power to all devices connected to it.
The battery is normally mounted on racks and is continuously charged except for intermittent discharging intervals
of varying times and power. Battery voltage gradually declines during discharge and should not be permitted to
drop below the minimum tolerated by the load plus the line drop.
To protect the battery against over discharge a low voltage relay (d.c.) is recommended as part of the installation.

The rate of voltage decline depends upon:

1. The demand current of the load,
2. Duration of the discharge,
3. Chemical design and type of cells,
4. Number and size of plates in each cell,
5. Battery state of charge at beginning of discharge,
6. Age of battery cells and temperature of cells.
The capacity of the battery is basically its ability to supply a given current for a given period of time at a given
cell temperature without going below the minimum voltage (batteries are rated in amperehour at a given discharge
rate).
Stationary batteries are usually rated for 8 hours, 3 hours, 1 hour, 1 minute discharge.
The ampere hour rating is simply the product of the discharge in amperes multiplied by the given discharge time
period. In the next few paragraphs the types of plates and grid alloys for the lead acid and alkaline (NiCad), the
electrolyte properties, battery charging, battery safety and finally battery maintenance will be covered.

For the lead acid battery, the positive plates

a vailable are: the pasted (F aure) plate
which comprises of a latticework metallic grid
with the openings filled with lead oxide paste.
The grid may be made up of lead antimony or
lead calcium, the properties of which will be
given later .
The second type is the multitubular plates,
which use porous plates to contain the lead o
xide. The grid (lead antimony) is basically a
row of spines extending from the top bar to
the bottom cap bar. Porous tubes filled with
lead oxide (powdered) with the grid forms the
positive plate.

Lead-acid battery construction

This design form prvides more AH of

capacity per cubic foot of battery volume at moderate rates of discharge.
The third and last type is the plante type which is considered to have the longest life expectancy of all lead acid
stationary battery designs. The positive plate consists of a grid (lead antimony) of large area with thin layers of
lead oxide. Such plates have complex designs with circular openings where corrugated lead ribbons are rolled
into spiral ribbons.The negative plates irrelevant of the type of the positve plates are built with pasted plate
design. Metallic sponge lead is used on the negative plates.
The negative grid for the multitubular and plante (positive plates) is made of lead antimony, with the pasted plate,
it is either lead calcium or lead antimony. The grid of alloys, antimony or calcium, serves both purposes gives
physical support and strength to the soft lead and acts as an electric conductor.
The grid achieves and retains a physical shape and conducts the current to all parts of the material. Pasted plates
with lead calcium alloy grids are used in sealed maintenance free lead acid cells due to the fact that this type does
not require watering during its life time.
Lead antimony is preferred for installations where elevated temperature and frequent cycling is encountered. Lead

calcium is also used for installations requiring longer intervals between maintenance watering.
The disadvantage of lead calcium is that under frequent cycling the life of the battery is reduced significantly.
For the nickelalkaline batteries there are two types of plates, the pocket type and the sintered type. The pocket
type is used for both positive and negative plates. The activ e material (nickel hydrate positive and cadmium
sponge negative plus additives to help conductivity) is sandwiched between two perforated strips (nickel plated
steel).
The strips are crimped together and this assembly is placed in a U shape frame. After intermeshing the positive
and negative the insulator pins are put in place, through the frame and plates.
These elements are than put in a container and the cell cover (with vent cap and appropriate hole for terminal
poles) is installed.
There are three common ratings:
1. High (discharge shorter than 1 hour)
2. Medium rate (discharge shorter than 4 hrs)
3. Low (the battery will supposedly carry loads for up to 20 hrs)

For lead acid batteries

The electrolyte is a solution of diluted sulphuric acid. When the battery is fully charged, the positive plate is lead
peroxide and the negative one is sponge lead. The specific gravity of the electrolyte is maximum at start of
discharge, the reaction between the acid and the active material produces lead sulphate and water the specific
gravity gradually decreases.
When the battery is placed on charge the reverse takes place. The volume of acid in the electrolyte of a lead acid
battery is measured by specific gravity.

North America's first automatically watered battery array. These high-efficiency lead acid batteries will have a long useful life.

Specific gravity for stationary batteries used for switchgear, control and emergency lighting is approximately 1.210
(the highest volume of acid as compared to other applications but in lower concentration ).
To determine the state of charge of the battery, the gravity reading is compared with the full charge value

published and to the specific gravity drop of a particular cell size at a specific discharge rate. The reading has to be
corrected to the ambient temperature at time of measurement if other than 25 deg C.

For the NiCad Batteries

The electrolyte is a solution of potassium hydroxide
diluted in water with normal specific gravity of 1.16 to
1.19 at 25 deg C, additives are added to improve its
capacity. When the battery is fully charged the positive
plate nickel hydrate is highly oxidized and the
negative plate is sponge metallic cadmium. After
discharge takes place the positive plate reduces to
lower oxide while the metallic cadmium in the negative
plate oxidizes. None of the constituents of the alkaline
electrolyte combine with the active material of the
plates during charging or discharging.
The specific gravity of the electrolyte can not be used
to indicate the state of charge of the battery. The
specific gravity readings will vary from normal rating
when he electrolyte temperature is lower or higher
than 25 deg C, when the solution level drops below the
normal, or the battery has been in service for long time.

NiCad Batteries being regenerated

In this paragraph charging of both types of batteries will be covered. The lead acid stationary batteries are
continuously float charged while on a standby status and are charged with a high constant potential current limited
level after a discharge. The higher voltage value depends on the recharge time required to recharge the battery.
As the charging time is shortened the chargers cost increases.
The charger is a static rectifier (SCR), its function is to change the single phase or three phase input (120, 208,
240, 480, 600V 60HZ) to a d.c. output suitable for charging the battery and maintaining a constant
voltage throughout the batterys load range. To prevent the self discharge phenomena (standing loss) the
charger maintains a float charge that continuously monitors and corrects for these internal losses.
Batteries equipped with lead calcium grids rather than lead antimony require a float charge per cell higher than its
counter part (eg. 2.2V vs. 2.15V).
The fully charged battery (lead antimony alloy grid 1.2 10 sp. gravity) will draw between .05 to 0.1A per 100Ah of
battery rated capacity at the eight hour discharge rate. For lead calcium alloy grid 10% to 20% of an identical lead
antimony alloy will be drawn.
Current drawn under different ambient temperature conditions is as follows: the higher the temperature the higher
the current drawn and vice versa. Chargers compensate, usually, for variations in floatcurrent demands. The
floating current is directly proportional to the cell (battery) voltage. The faster the rate of change in voltage the
higher he current drawn at the floating voltage.
The charger should be able to provide the f loating v oltage with a v ariation of no more than plus or minus 1%
throughout its ampere rating.
Chargers for NiCad batteries (stationary) are simillar to the ones used for lead acid, float charged while on
standby and a higher charge after a discharge (for a prolonged period) after which float charge level is resumed
until further discharge. The value of the higher charging current is at least 5% higher than the 8 hour discharge
capacity. Float rate for NiCad batteries is about 1.4 to 1.45V per cell at 25 deg C.
After a discharge the higher charge is applied until voltage rises to 1.6 per cell (it is maintained for 15 to 30 hours).

The size of the charger ampere rating is usually matched to the load demand plus the maximum high charging rate
required by the battery.
The battery starts to discharge when the demand exceeds the charger supply or when the a.c. supply to the
charger is cut off.
The data required for the proper selection of a charger are:
1. Total current,
2. Voltage (d.c.)
3. Duty (continuous, standby , combination)
4. Automatic control (recommended)
5. Voltage (a.c.) and number of phases
Standard components that are found in a charger are:
1. A.C. & D.C. fuse protection
2. D.C. ammeter and voltmeter
3. A.C. on pilot lamp
4. Reverse battery protection
5. A.C & D.C. surge protection
6. High rate on pilot light
7. Automatic current limit short circuit
8. Float / high rate current limit potentiometers
9. Alarm circuits
10. High rate charge timer
A storage battery is constantly live electrically and therefore a source of electrical shock. Tools should never be
laid on top of the battery as such an action can cause severe short circuits.
Smoking is forbidden in battery rooms. Hydrogen gas level should never exceed 4% by volume in the battery
room thus adequate ventilation is to be provided.
Refer to the local electrical safety code (for example CSA C22.1) for requirements of the method of connecting the
batteries and of the battery room ventilation.
Electrolyte used in lead acid batteries is highly corrosive. If spilled on any object it has to be neutralized through
the use of 1 lb of bicarbonate soda and 1 lb water. Electrolyte used with alkaline batteries, if spilled has to be
neutralized by flooding the spill with solution of vinegar diluted with water 5050 proportion.
It is highly recommended to use goggles (or face shield) and rubber gloves when maintenance is performed on a
battery. Maintenance to a battery is the proper addition of water (tap or distilled) to correct the electrolyte solution
level and to keep a record sheet with pertinent information. Tap water can be used if the impurity limits are not
exceeded.
It is important to keep the battery clean and dry, the connectors tight, the electrolyte at the proper level, the
electrolyte density according to the supplier recommendations.
To be continued
Resource: Unknown

Edvard - Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for design of LV
high power busbar trunking (<6300A) in power substations, buildings and industry fascilities.
Designing of LV/MV switchgears. Professional in AutoCAD programming and web-design.
Present on Google+.