Short-circuit current (1)

• Inception of a short-circuit (basics)

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

Short-circuit current (2)

inception
5
4
3
2
1 t [s]

0
0 0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06
-1
-2
-3
-4

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 Short-circuit current (3)
• Breaking of a SC current (basics)

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

Short-circuit current (4)

• The arc voltage depends on the arc
current: non-linear resistance with
hysteresis
i
ua

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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 Short-circuit current (5)
• Approximation
≅ , >0
• As far as the arc does exist
= + + , >0

= + − , <0

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

Short-circuit current (6)

• Example for i(t) > 0 (assuming the
contact opening occurs on an AC
steady-state current)
= + + ,
(
!" $%
= + − + ( ) − 1)
# &
, , ,, . /0 0
= + = - , 1=
& &

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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 Short-circuit current (7)
breaking, negligible arc voltage Ua
4

1
t [s]
0
0 0,005 0,01 0,015 0,02 0,025 0,03
-1

-2

-3

-4

Short-circuit current (8)

breaking, not negligible arc voltage Ua
4

1
t [s]
0
0 0,005 0,01 0,015 0,02 0,025 0,03
-1

-2

-3

-4

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 Thevenin equivalent in ac (1)
• In ac steady-state, any linear electrical
network containing voltage sources, current
sources and impedances can be replaced at
any terminal pair A-B by an equivalent
circuit made of an ideal voltage source
connected in series with an impedance
234 A
A

534

B B

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

Thevenin equivalent in ac (2)

• Equivalent voltage source: value equal to
the no-load voltage across the A-B
terminals
• Equivalent impedance: impedance seen
across the A-B terminals after zeroing all
the (independent) ideal voltage and current
sources within the network
• Not applicable for transients, but
• Very useful to compute the AC component
of the prospective short-circuit current

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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 Thevenin equivalent in ac (3)
• Example
2
.
A
2, 26

5
2?

2309 .
2 0,536 < 0,085 Ω 2, = 0,405 < 0,070 Ω
26 = 0,200 < 0,010 Ω 2? = 8,192 + < 5,736 Ω

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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Types of short-circuit
• Many types, either with or without a
fault impedance; involving:
– all the three phases: usually highest
currents
– two phases, with or without with the
neutral, or the Earth
– only one phase and another conductor
(such as the neutral), or the Earth:
usually lowest currents
Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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 The Earth as a conductor (1)
• In DC and low frequency AC the Earth
has a resistive behavior
$D
!: E UE

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The Earth as a conductor (2)

• Symbols

RE or RE

earth – point at resistance to earth

reference voltage

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 Neutral vs Earth – MV
• Most usual
– Isolated: not
intentionally
connected to
earth
– Earthed trough
impedance:
intentional 2F
connection

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Neutral vs Earth – LV
– Directly
connected
– Isolated: not
intentionally
connected
– Earthed trough
high
impedance:
intentional 2F
connection
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 Earthing schemes in LV (1)
• Exposed-conductive-part
– conductive part of equipment which can
be touched and is not normally live, but
can become live when basic insulation
fails
• Extraneous-conductive-part
– conductive body which is not part of the
electrical installation and liable to
introduce an electric potential, generally
the electric potential of a local earth
Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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Earthing schemes in LV (2)

• Standardized two-letter acronyms (IEC 60364)
• First letter: connection between earth and the
power-supply (usually, the star-point)
– T : direct connection
– I : no direct connection (either isolated or
connected through a high value impedance)
• Second letter: earth connection of the
conductive-parts of the installation
– T : local connection via a earthing arrangement
– N : connection to the neutral
• I N not permitted

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 Earthing schemes in LV (3)
• TT

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Earthing schemes in LV (4)

• T N (TN-S)

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 Earthing schemes in LV (5)
• T N (TN-C)

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Earthing schemes in LV (6)

• IT

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 Short-circuit calculations (1)
• Aim: rms value of the AC component
of the prospective fault current, Isc
• Thevenin equivalent
234 A
!JK
534
̅
GHI GHI
#JK

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Short-circuit calculations (2)

• Eeq depends on:
– operating conditions before the fault
• Zeq depends on:
– characteristics of:
• utility grid
• transformer(s) (if any) and lines
– position of the fault
– type of fault
– conductor temperature

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 Short-circuit calculations (3)
• Eeq ← pre-fault computation, or
• Eeq ← simplified method (IEC 60909):
I$M
34 6
– LV: cmin = 0,95 cmax=1,10 (or 1,05)
– MV: cmin = 1,00 cmax=1,10

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Short-circuit calculations (4)

• 2 N A

supply transformer(s) lines

Electrical installations > basic design > abnormal operating condition > protections against overcurrents

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 Supplying grid (1)
• 2 O ← from the utility
– complete data, or
– the (initial) symmetrical short-circuit
SS SS
current, GP,QR , or power, TP,QR
I$M I$M[
QR ZZ ZZ QR < ]QR
6EU,VWXY \U,VWXY

QR = 0,1 ]QR
#VWXY
]QR = ≅ 0,995 QR
.,^.

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Supplying grid (2)

• 2 O ← example
SS
c = 1,00 Un=20 kV GP,QR =15 kA
I$M .,^^ ×,^
QR = ZZ = = 0,770 Ω
6EU,VWXY 6 ×.`

QR = 0,1 ]QR = 0,077 Ω

QR
]QR = ≅ 0,995 QR = 0,766 Ω
1,01

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 Transformers (1)
• One-phase

Gb̅ G̅

ab a

c. c,

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Transformers (2)
• Circuit model (simplified)
Z Gb̅ 2h G̅
ad
$ Ee% fg c. : c,
a%
$ Eed f[
ab abS a
ab abS 2 h Gb̅

a aS 2 G̅ Gb̅ 2 G̅
c. : c,
f[ ,
2 2h
fg
ab aS a
f[
aS = abS
fg
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 Transformers (3)
• Three-phase
(rationale)

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Transformers (4)
• Typical values for transformers in electrical
installations Un=20/0,4 kV
Sn [kVA] ZT [Ω] Zt [Ω] RT [Ω] XT [Ω]
400 40,00 0,016 8,21 39,15
500 32,00 0,013 6,32 31,37
630 25,40 0,010 4,96 24,91
800 30,00 0,012 3,59 29,78
1000 24,00 0,010 2,69 23,85
2000 12,00 0,005 1,20 11,94

• Zgrid negligible with respect to ZT : usually

neglected for sc in the LV side

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 Lines
• For three-phase sc
– 2 iℎ only
• For single-phase sc
– 2 iℎ & 2 c & 2 k & RE, depending on the
current path

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Short-circuit calculations (5)

• Maximum sc current:
– three-phase sc
– voltage factor cmax
– line resistances at ambient temperature
(20 °C)
– for a given line, at its beginning

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 Short-circuit calculations (6)
• Minimum sc current:
– single-phase sc
– voltage factor cmin
– line resistances at the temperature at
the end of sc
– for a given line, at its end

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Coordination
• For protection againts overcurrents, it
is the selectivity:
the ability to identify the overloaded/faulty
section and to disconnect only it
• Either mandatory (supply of safety
services), or required (for some special
application, like in medical locations),
or highly recommended where
continuity of supply is critical (data
center, infrastructure, etc.)
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 Selectivity (1)
• In a radial grid: an
overcurrent
occurring in any
section is cleared
by the protective
device located
immediately at the
beginning of the
section, while all
other protective
devices remain
unaffected
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Selectivity (2)
• Total: up to
the breaking
capacity of
the
downstream
circuit
breaker

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 Selectivity (3)
• Partial: up
to a
specified
value
(selectivity
limit, Isc)
according
to circuit
breakers
characte-
ristics
Isc

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Selectivity (4)
• Current based

total partial

GHI,l

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 Selectivity (5)
• Time based

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Selectivity (6)
• Combined current and time based

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 Selectivity (7)
• Logic

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