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Chapter -1
What is a Fuse
Low resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide overcurrent protection, of either the load or source circuit. Essential component is a metal wire or strip
Fuse
For small currents upto 10 A, tin or an alloy of lead and tin (lead 37%, tin 63%) is used for making the fuse element.
For larger currents, copper or silver is employed. It is a usual practice to tin the copper to protect it from oxidation.
Zinc (in strip form only) is good if a fuse with considerable time-lag is required i.e., one which does not melt very quickly with a small overload.
3. Minimum fusing current or Current carrying capacity of a fuse wire It is minimum value of current due to which fuse melts. Current carrying capacity of a fuse wire depends upon various factors like, material used for it, dimension of it, i.e. diameter and length, size and shape of terminals used to connect it, and the surrounding.
Fusing factor =
Cut-off Characteristics
Cut-off Characteristics
5. Prospective Current in fuse: The prospective current is defined as the value of current which would flow through the fuse immediately after a short circuit occurs in the network. (i.e without fuse). Ip is the peak value of prospective current. 6. Cut-off current : It is the current at which the fuse element melts.
Cut-off Characteristics
7. Melting time or pre arcing time of fuse : It is the time taken by a fuse wire to be broken by melting. It is counted from the instant, the over current starts to flow through fuse, to the instant when fuse wire is just broken by melting.
8. Arcing time of fuse: After breaking of fuse wire there will be an arcing between both melted tips of the wire which will be extinguished at the current zero. The time accounted from the instant of arc initiated to the instant of arc being extinguished is known as arcing time of fuse.
Cut-off Characteristics
9. Total Operating time of fuse: When ever over rated current starts to flow through a fuse wire, it takes a time to be melted and disconnected, and just after that the arcing stars between the melted tips of the fuse wire, which is finally extinguished. The operating time of fuse is the time gap between the instant when the over rated current just starts to flow through the fuse and the instant when the arc in fuse finally extinguished. i.e operating time of fuse = pre-arcing time(melting time) + arcing time of fuse.
Cut-off Characteristics
10. Rupturing capacity or Breaking Capacity : It is the MVA rating of the fuse corresponding to the largest prospective current which the fuse is capable of breaking(rupturing) at the system voltage.
Fuse Characteristics
A Fuse being a thermal device, has inverse time current characteristic. i.e. the operating time decreases as the fault current increases.
Fuse Characteristics
As the prospective current increases, the pre arcing time decreases. The characteristic is asymptotic and there is a minimum current below which the fuse does not operate ( minimum fusing current ).
Advantages :
It is the cheapest form of protection available.
It requires no maintenance. Its operation is inherently completely automatic unlike a circuit breaker which requires elaborate equipment for automatic action. It can break heavy short-circuit currents without noise or smoke. The smaller sizes of fuse element impose a current limiting effect under short-circuit conditions.
Disadvantages :
Considerable time is lost in rewiring or replacing a fuse after operation.
Types of Fuses
Types of Fuses
There are two main types of fuses (i) Rewirable Fuse The blown-out fuse element can be replaced by new one. (a) open type. (b) Semi-enclosed type.
Types of Fuses
Non time-Delay Fuse Fuses without time delay provide excellent short circuit protection. When an overcurrent situation occurs, heat builds up rapidly in the fuse. Fuses without time delay usually hold 500% of their rating for approximately one-fourth second, after which the current carrying element melts. This means that these fuses cannot be used in motor circuits which often have inrush currents of greater than 500%.
Time-Delay Fuses
provide overload and short circuit protection. Time-delay fuses usually allow five times the rated current for up to ten seconds to allow motors to start
Disadvantage: Due to fire hazard and unreliable operation caused by oxidation, it is used no longer.
It requires replacement after each operation. It produces over heating of adjacent contacts.
Discrimination
Correct operation of the correct protective device is known as Discrimination of protective devices. For proper discrimination, there should be coordination
between the protective devices. When two adjacent fuses carrying the same current, the pre arcing time of the major fuse (near the source)must exceed the total operating time of the minor fuse(far from the source)
Types of Discrimination
Discrimination between two fuses.
of fuse.
The fuse is so selected that the intersection of the characteristics of these two protective devices must take place at a point corresponding to six times the full load current, keeping in view that the protective devices do not operate unduly during starting. In this case fuse provides back-up protection to the motor and is connected on the supply side.
Selection of Fuses
Fuse selection process
Fuses can prevent accidents including the electronic circuit emitting smoke and/or catching fire by opening the circuit if any abnormal current
Only select fuses with DC rated voltage for DC circuits, and those with AC rated voltage for AC circuits.
How many amperes will flow through the circuit the fuse is to be used in?
A rated current is defined for each fuse, and this value is marked on it. When selecting fuses by rated current, it is important to fully examine the following current conditions (including current waveform) of the circuit in which the fuse is to be inserted, in order to prevent nuisance operation of the fuse and ensure that all necessary protection goals are met. Steady-state current Inrush current Abnormal current
Circuit breakers
Function
All circuit breakers perform the following functions: SENSE when an overcurrent occurs. MEASURE the amount of overcurrent. ACT by tripping the circuit breaker in a time frame necessary to prevent damage to itself and the associated load cables.
Protection System
Operating Mechanism
Operating Mechanism
Trip Unit
There is an arrangement stored potential energy in the operating mechanism of circuit breaker which is realized if switching signal given
to the breaker. The potential energy can be stored in the circuit breaker
by different ways like by deforming metal spring, by compressed air, or by hydraulic pressure. But whatever the source of potential energy, it must be released during operation
Breaker opening Time : Time from closure of trip circuit to the opening of the contacts of the circuit breaker. Arcing Time : Time from opening of the contacts of the CB to final arc extinction. Breaker interrupting Time : Breaker opening time + Arcing Time. Fault clearing Time : Relaying time + Breaker interrupting Time.
Arc Phenomenon
Formation of Arc: During opening of current carrying contacts in a circuit breaker the medium in between opening contacts become highly ionized through which the interrupting current gets low resistive path and continues to flow through this path even the contacts are physically separated.
During the flowing of current from one contact to other the path becomes so heated that it glows. This is called arc.
Arc Phenomenon
contd
During arcing period, the current flowing between the contacts depends upon the resistance. The greater resistance smaller the current that flows between the contacts.
The arc resistance depends upon i) Degree of ionization : Arc resistance increases with the decrease in number of ionized particles b/w the contact. ii) Length of Arc :Arc resistance increases with the length of arc. iii) Cross section of Arc : Arc resistance increases with the decrease in X- section of the arc.
Initiation of Arc
When fault occurs, there are some electrons between the contacts which will initiate the arc and the electrons are emitted which are produced by the following methods. (i) By high voltage gradient at cathode, resulting in field emission.
By High Voltage Gradient : As moving contacts are separating from each other, the area of contact and pressure between the separating contact decreases. A high fault current causes potential drop (of the order of 106 V/cm) between the contacts which will remove the electrons from cathode surface. This process called field emission.
Initiation of Arc
By increasing the temperature : With separation of contacts there is decrease in contact area which will increase the current density and consequently the temperature of surface also will increase which will cause the emission of electronics
Note : In most of the circuit breakers the contacts are made up of copper which is having less thermionic emission
Thermionic Emission
Maintenance of arc
After initiation of arc, the electrons while travelling collide with another electrons to dislodge them from neutral molecule and thus arc is maintained. The ionizing is maintained by (i) high temperature of the medium around the contacts due to high current densities. Thus the kinetic energy gained by moving electrons is increased. (ii) The increasing in the kinetic energy of moving electrons due to the voltage gradient which dislodge more electrons from neutral molecule.
Arc Voltage
The Voltage drop across the arc is called Arc Voltage. As the arc path is purely resistive, the arc voltage is in phase with that arc current
The arc resistance can be increased by cooling, lengthening, reducing cross section and splitting the arc.
Disadvantages:
When current is interrupted because of high resistance, a high voltage appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker.
If this voltage is very high and more than the withstanding capacity
of the gap between the contacts, the arc will strike again.
contacts rises.
If the re-striking voltage rises more rapidly than the dielectric strength, the space breaks down and the arc persists and vice versa.
Re-Striking Voltage
The transient voltage that appears across the contacts at the instant of arc extinction is called the re-striking voltage.
If the re-striking voltage rises more rapidly than the dielectric strength of the medium between the contacts, the arc will persist for another half-cycle. On
the other hand, if the dielectric strength of the medium builds up more rapidly
than the re-striking voltage, the arc fails to restrike and the current will be interrupted.
Recovery Voltage
It is the normal frequency voltage (rms) that appear across the
Consequently the final arc extinction takes place and circuit current
is interrupted. After this current interruption the voltage appearing across the contacts is known as recovery voltage
Re-Striking Voltage
This circuit produces the single frequency re-striking voltage transient and oscillate at natural frequency, =
1 2
Consider inductance L & capacitance C on both sides of the circuit breaker as shown in the above fig.
The points 1 & 2 are equipotential points before clearing the fault. But after the arc extinction, there will be two circuits which may oscillate at their own natural frequencies and therefore a composite double frequency transient appears across circuit breaker.
The circuit configuration, the type of fault and the type neutral earthing are important factors which will decide the frequency, max. value of re striking voltage & RRRV.
Resistance Switching
Resistance Switching
As the resistance is connected in parallel with the arc, a part of the arc current flows through this resistance
The resistance may be automatically switched in with the help of a sphere gap.
When low inductive current (e.., current to shunt reactor or magnetizing of a transformer) is interrupted by a circuit breaker, current falls to zero before the natural current
It so happens since the circuit breaker exerts the same force of arc quenching as it was with heavy short circuit
current.
At the time of contacts opened, ac current gradually reduce with low arc voltage. But at a certain time it
The current in the arc is flowing from the source through the inductance and circuit breaker contacts.
The energy contained in the electro-magnetic field cannot become zero instantaneously, and as such, it changes into electro-static form of energy. i.e., current is diverted from the arc to the capacitor.
1 2
1 2
2 , energy stored to C.
volts.
The voltage developed across the breaker contacts due to transfer of energy is called Prospective voltage. This voltage is extremely high as compared to the normal system voltage.
The deionizing force is still in action and current will again be chopped.
Successive chops may occur until a final chop brings the current to zero with no further re-strike since the gap is now in an advance of deionization.
Interruption
of
capacitive
current
produces
high
This
occurs
when
an
switched off.
May God spread prosperity and joy in your life on this New Year and fulfil all your dreams.