Switchgear

Definition of Switchgear: Switchgear is the apparatus used for switching,

controlling and protecting the electrical system that includes a wide range of
switching devices like circuit breakers, switches, switch fuse units, off-load
isolators, HRC fuses, contactors, miniature circuit breakers, ELCBs, GFCIs etc.
It also includes the combination of these switching devices with associated
control, measuring, protecting and regulating equipment. The switchgear
devices and their assemblies are used in connection with the generation,
transmission, distribution, and conversion of electrical energy.

Function of a Switchgear
To perform the functions of carrying, making and breaking the normal load
current like a switch.
To perform the function of clearing the fault current with the help of sensing
devices like CTs, PTs and various types of relays, depending on the
application.

Components of Switchgear
Switchgear essentially consists of switching and protecting devices such as
switches, fuses, isolators, circuit breakers, protective relays, control panels,
lightning arrestors, current transformers, potential transformers, auto
reclosures, and various associated equipment.
Some types of equipment are designed to operate under both normal and
abnormal conditions. Some equipment is meant for switching and not
sensing the fault.

Features of Switchgear
The essential features of switchgear are:
 Complete Reliability
 Absolutely certain discrimination
 Quick operation
 Provision for manual control

Complete reliability
With the continued trend of interconnection and the increasing capacity of
generating stations, the need for reliable switchgear has become of
paramount importance.
This is not surprising because it is added to the power system to improve
reliability. When a fault occurs on any part of the power system, they must
operate to isolate the faulty section from the remainder circuit.

Absolutely certain discrimination

When a fault occurs on any section of the power system, the switchgear
must be able to discriminate between the faulty section and the healthy
section.
It should isolate the faulty section from the system without affecting the
healthy section. This will ensure continuity of supply.

Quick operation
When a fault occurs on any part of the power system, the switchgear must
operate quickly so that no damage is done to generators, transformers and
other equipments by the short-circuit currents.
If the fault is not cleared quickly, it is likely to spread into healthy parts, thus
endangering complete shutdown of the system

Provision for manual control

Switchgear must have provision for manual control. In case the electrical (or
electronics) control fails, the necessary operation can be carried out through
manual control.

Classification of Switchgear
Switchgear can be classified on the basis of the voltage level into the
following
 Low voltage (LV) Switchgear
 Medium voltage (MV) Switchgear
 High voltage (HV) Switchgear

Low Voltage Switchgear

Switchgear for low voltage applications is generally rated up to 1000 V AC
and 1500V DC.
 Contactor
A contactor is an electromechanical device which operates under the action
of electromagnet for repeatedly making and breaking the circuit.
The use of a contactor is similar to the relay. But the device used for higher
current application is known as a contactor and the device used for lower
current applications is known as Relay.

Construction of Contactor
A contactor has three main parts;
Coil or Electromagnet
Encloser or Frame
Contacts

Coil or Electromagnet
The coil is wound on electromagnetic core and behaves as an electromagnet.
Generally, it has two parts, one is a fixed part and another is movable.
A spring is connected between both parts. Hence, there is a spring return
arrangement.
A rod is connected with the moving part. This rod is also known as an
armature.
When a force of coil is more than the force of spring, both contacts are
connected and when the force of spring is more than the force of the coil,
both contacts are extracted with each other.
For AC applications, the electromagnetic core is made up of laminated soft
iron to reduce the eddy current. For DC applications, there is no issue of
eddy current, the core is made up of solid steel.

Encloser or Frame
The encloser is used to protect the internal parts of the contactor and
provides housing to the electromagnet and contacts.
It is made up of plastic, nylon 6, ceramic, or Bakelite.
The encloser is used to insulate the contacts to avoids direct touching of
contact when it is powered.
It also provides protection from the dust, oil, weather, and other explosion
hazards.

Contacts
This is the only component from which the entire load current will flow.
The contacts are classified as power contact, auxiliary contact, and contact
spring. There are two types of power contact; stationary contact and
movable contact.
The material used for the contacts has stable arc resistance and high
welding resistance. These materials must withstand mechanical stress,
erosion, and arc. The resistance of this material is as low as possible because
the full load current will pass through the contacts.
For the low current application, these contacts are made up of silver
cadmium oxide and silver nickel and for high current application and DC
current, it is made up of silver tin oxide.
The armature of the electromagnet is connected with the moving contact.
Hence, the moving contact moves with the action of an electromagnet and
connect/disconnect with the fixed contact.
Operating principle:
Fig below shows how a contactor could be repeatedly switched on and off by
means of a combination of a N/C and N/O switches.
A thermal overload relay could be in-cooperated for the overload protection
as required for the motor circuit.
The interconnection essentially consists of a main circuit and a control circuit
as shown.
When the start bottom is closed momentarily, the operating coil is energized
by line Y-B and contractor is closed and even when the start bottom is
released the operating coil holds the circuit by getting supply line Y-B
through thermal overload relay (TOR) contact and auxiliary.
When the stop bottom (N/C) is pushed the coil gets deenergized due to the
braking of supply line Y-B to the coil and the contractor.
Whenever there is overload, the bimetallic strip of the thermal overload relay
(TOR) operates. The N/C relay contact and the contractor breaks the supply
line to the motor circuit thus protecting the equipment from damage due to
overload. The control circuitry of the contractor is shown below:
Type of Contactor:
There are normally two types of Contactor:
 Power Contactor
 Auxiliary Contactor
Power Contactor is used in power on/off of a motor and capacitor while
auxiliary contactor is used to switch on/off of a control circuit. Power
contactor have 3 main contacts while auxiliary contactor have many
contacts like 1NO+1NC, 2NO+2NC, etc.

Difference between contactor and relay:

The contactor is used for high voltage switching applications and the relay is
used for low voltage switching applications. Generally, if the load current is
more than 15A, the contactors are used and if the load current is less then
15A, the relay is used.
The size of the contactor is large compared to the size of the relay.
The maintenance of contactor is easy while in most of the conditions, the
relay cannot repair.
In most cases, the contactors are connected in normally open contacts and
the relays are connected as normally closed contacts.
The switching time of the contactor is slow compared to the relay.

Application of Contactors
The contactor is used in the following applications:
The most common application of contactor is in the motor starter. It is used
with overload and short circuit protection for the industrial motor.
The contactors are used for the automation of lights for industrial,
commercial, and residential lighting applications. For this type of application,
latch type relay is used. In this type of relay, two coils are used. One for open
contact and second for close contact.
Single pole contactors are used to operate 12VDC load in the vehicle.
The use of contactors with the circuit breaker assures the safety of the
operation of load in industries. And in such an application, it is used to fast
switching of a load.
It is used in mercury relay and mercury-wetted relay.
Two-pole (3-wire, 1-phase) contactors are used to operate 240VAC load like
air conditioner.

Electric Fuse?
An Electric Fuse is an Electric device which interrupts the flow of current in
an Electric circuit. It is installed in a circuit to stop the flow of excessive
current. A Fuse is usually a short piece of wire. The Fuse is made up of a
material which has high resistivity and low melting point, so that it melts
down due to overheating of the wire during high current flow. The thickness
of the Fuse wire is determined based on the amount of current flow in the
circuit. Normally an alloy of tin and lead is used as the Fuse wire, as it has
high resistivity and low melting point. If a fault causes a flow of excess
Current then a thin Conductor is used to break the Circuit by melting or
separating it, the thin Conductor used is known as an Electric Fuse. A Fuse
can be sacrificed if anything in the Circuit goes wrong since they are weak
points that are intentionally placed in a Circuit. For example, in order to
protect the wiring of the vehicles, a Fuse panel is placed near the batteries of
the Car.The wire inside the Fuse melts if there is an occurrence of high
Current due to a short Circuit or an overloaded Circuit. As a result of which
the Current stops flowing since the wire has broken. In order to stop the flow
of Electricity, the Electric Fuse gives up its life. There is a clear plastic
window in some Fuses from which one can check if they are still good.

Electric Fuse- Working Principle

The Electric Fuse works on the basis of the heating effect of the Electric Current. It
is composed of a non-flammable thin metallic wire with a low melting point. If a high
amount of Electricity is passed from the Electric Fuse, there is a production of heat
which causes the Fuse to melt which leads to the opening of the Circuit and the
blockage of Current. Once a Fuse melts, it can be changed or replaced with a new
Fuse. A Fuse is normally made up of elements like zinc, copper, aluminum and
silver. A Fuse acts as a circuit breaker and breaks the circuit in case any fault occurs
in the circuit. It acts as a protector of Electric appliances and also as a safety
measure for humans.

The figure below represents a Fuse operation, Fuse barrel and Fuse link.

Characteristics of an Electric Fuse

Here are some important characteristics of a Fuse wire.

Current Rating: It is defined as the continuous conduction of maximum

current holded by the Fuse without melting. It is the capacity of current, and is
measured in Amperes. Current (Cin)=75% current (rating)
Voltage Rating: If voltage is connected in series with the Fuse, it does
not increase voltage rating. Hence,V (Fuse) >V (open circuit)

I2t Rating: It is the total energy which is carried by the Fuse element in
case of a short circuit. It measures the heat energy of the Fuse, and is
generated when the Fuse breaks out.

Interrupting or Breaking Capacity: The maximum rating of

current without harming the interruption by the Fuse is known as
interrupting capacity of the Fuse.
Breaking capacity > maximum rated voltage
Breaking capacity < short circuit current

Voltage Drop: The Fuse element melts whenever there is an excessive

current in the circuit, and opens the circuit. Due to this, voltage drop and
resistance change reduces.

Temperature: The Fuse melts when the operating temperature is

higher and the current rating is lower. The graph represents temperature vs
current carrying capacity of a Fuse. The current carrying capacity of a Fuse is
100% when the temperature is 25°C (three lines meet at this point). After
that the current carrying capacity decreases upto 82% at 65°C. This shows
that increase in temperature decreases the current carrying capacity of a
Fuse. Electric Fuses are proven to be helpful in safeguarding any Electrical
appliance or household Circuits.

Its features are-

The melting points of Electric Fuses are very low, which is 200° C.
Fuse wires are made of an alloy composed of 50% lead and 50% tin.
The resistance of Fuse wires is so high that whenever its temperature rises
and it reaches its melting point, it breaks the Current which passes through
the Circuit.

Functions of Electric Fuse:

Electric Fuses have to give up their lives in order to safeguard the Circuits.
Some other important functions of Electric Fuses are listed below-

Restricting the flow of Current- An Electric Fuse acts as a barrier

between an Electric circuit and the human body.

Preventing the wires from catching fires or breakdowns- It prevents

any damage to the Electric device by restricting excess current flow.
Terminating the Current from the Circuit if a short- Circuit or
overloading happens- When too many appliances are connected in a
single circuit, it leads to overload which requires a Fuse to terminate the
circuit connection.
Prevention from blackouts- if any dis-function occurs in the components
of the circuit, the nearest circuit breaks.
Prevention from damage occurred due to mismatched loads. Information
about the ampere rating, voltage rating, approval standards of the Fuse and
interrupt rating are generally marked on the Fuse.

What are the Different Types of Fuses?

Fuses were invented by Sir “Thomas Alva Edison”. Many Fuse types are
available in the market. Mainly the two types of Fuses are:

DC Fuses: DC Fuses are large in size. DC supply has a constant value,

slightly above 0V. So, it becomes hard to turn off the circuit, thereby creating
a chance for an Electric arc between melted wires. To overcome this,
electrodes are placed at a larger distance in the Fuse. For this reason the DC
Fuse is bigger in size.

AC Fuses: AC Fuses are generally smaller in size. They oscillate around 50-
60 times per second from minimum to maximum. No chance of Arc between
the melted wires arises. For this reason the AC Fuse is small in size.

AC Fuses are further categorized into two types, i.e., High voltage
Fuse and Low voltage Fuse.

1. High-voltage Fuse- High voltage Fuses are further classified into three
types of Fuses which include:
Thermal Fuse, Cartridge type Fuse, and a High voltage liquid Fuse.

a. Thermal Fuses protect Electrical equipment from damage due to

overheating.

b. The cartridge-type Fuses are used to prevent the corona effects at

high voltage and are used in parallel.

c. High voltage liquid Fuses use tetrachloride carbon for arc extinction.

2. Low-voltage Fuses- Low-voltage Fuses are also classified further into

two types: rewirable and cartridge type.
a. The rewirable Fuses are most commonly used in house wiring.

Advantage
 Low cost
Wire may be easy available.

Disadvantage
 Wrong size of fuse wire cause wrong operation at high current circuit
which may be dangerous for the circuit protected and is not adequate for
electrical arc extinguish.

b. The cartridge Fuses are enclosed in containers that are tightly sealed
and have a metal contact at both ends.

Advantage
The wire is enclosed in a cartridge-type container.
 The wrong size of fuse cannot be fitted since different size of fuse is
available for different current
 The fuse wire does not deteriorate and is
more reliable in operation.

Cartridge Fuses have two types- Link-type of High Rupturing Capacity Fuse and
D-link Fuse.

c. High Rupturing Capacity (H.R.C) fuse is a cartridge-type with silver

element connected between two end contacts of a ceramic tube filled with a
special quartz powder.

 Normally available in the range of 2 to 800 ampere.

Construction of HRC fuse:

1. Outer Body: The outer body of a High Rupturing Capacity fuse is usually
made up of a heat-resisting ceramic or porcelain body having good
mechanical strength. The whole body of the HRC is fully air-tight to avoid the
effect of the atmosphere on the fuse materials.

2. Brass end Plate

Two metal end caps are attached at both ends of a ceramic body and are
usually made up of copper or brass. The metal end caps are screwed to the
ceramic body by using of special forced screws to withstand the pressure
developed under short- circuit condition.

3. Fuse Element
The fuse element or fuse wire is made up of silver or copper. The fuse
element is welded to the metal link contact with the help of tin joints. The tin
joints are used to weld the silver fuse wire to limit the temperature of the
fuse under small overload conditions.
As the melting point of pure tin (240 0C) is lesser than the melting point of
silver (9800c), tin prevents the silver from attaining high temperature when
the circuit is overloaded.

4. Filling Powder
The space within the enclosure surrounding the fuse element or fuse wire is
completely packed with a filling powder. The filling powder used here is
generally powder of pure quartz or Marble dust which acts as an arc
extinguishing agent.
The quart powder also avoids the oxidation of silver fuse wire. The quartz
powder is used as filler because it can absorb heat at a very high rate and it
does not involve an appreciable amount of gas and after absorbing heat,
quartz powder gets converted into glass beads which restrict the path of
restriking voltage.
5. Fuse Link Contacts
The fuse link contacts are welded to the brass or copper end caps and to
these end caps fuse wire is connected as shown in the figure.

Working of HRC Fuse

Normal Condition
Let us consider the current rating of an HRC-fuse is 63 Ampere so during
normal working conditions current does not exceed the current rating of the
fuse as a result temperature of the fuse element does not exceed its melting
point.
As a result fuse wire does not melt and the fuse continues to work normally
and carries current without any interruption.

Short circuit condition

In case of overload or short circuit condition current in the circuit exceeds
the rated current (63 Ampere) of the HRC fuse but still the fuse does not
melt because the filling powder absorbs the heat produced due to increased
current and the temperature of the fuse wire does not increase due to
absorption of heat by filling powder.
This fuse can carry current up to 1.5 times of the rated current (here
approximately 1.5 times of 63 = 94.5) under fault or overload conditions for
a period of 10-12 seconds. If the current remains in the fuse for more than
10-12 second then in that condition the fuse element or fuse wire gets
melted and vaporized and break the circuit.

Characteristics of HRC Fuse

It has three important characteristics which are as follow
1. I2t Characteristics
2. Cut-off Characteristics
3. Time – current characteristics
I2t Characteristics
I2t Characteristics provide information about the heating effect due to pre-
arcing current and the time of arc quenching. This I 2t Characteristic provides
information about the amount of energy released that is passed to the
devices which are to be protected at the time of fault current interruption.

Cut-off Characteristics
The plot which shows the variation of current and voltage with respect to
time just after the fault is called as cut-off characteristic of the HRC fuse.
When a fault occurs, the fault current has a large positive peak but before
reaching its peak the fuse melts. This current is called prospective current.
The current at which the fuse blows and an arc starts is called cut-off
current.
When a fault occurs voltage reduces momentarily and when the fuse
formation melts with an arc formation then the arc voltage reaches a value
that is several times more than the supply voltage.
This depends completely on the fuse length and cross-section. When the arc
completely vanishes, the recovery voltage becomes normal. Here arc
completely vanishes by the filling powder.

Time-current Characteristics
The plot between the fault current and the operating time in the case of the
HRC fuse is called the time-current characteristics of the HRC fuse. The HRC-
fuse has an inverse time-current characteristic. This means when the value
of the fault current increases then the operating time of the fuse decreases.

Advantages
 This type of fuse is very reliable in performance and does not deteriorate
and has a high speed.

 No maintenance is required and is not affected by environmental

conditions.

 Ability to safely interrupt short circuit currents of much higher values

(higher rupturing capacity).

2. What is the Principle of Fuse?

Electric Fuse is based on the principle of heating effect of Electric current.
Heat is produced when current flows in the wire. When heat production is
more due to excessive flow of current, it melts the Fuse which normally has a
low melting point, thereby preventing any damage to the Electric circuit and
appliances.

3. What are the Uses of Fuse?

The Fuses are one of the most important parts of an Electric circuit and an
electronic system. Here are some uses of a Fuse:

They are used in home distribution boards, Electronic devices and Electric
appliances to prevent any damage due to excess current flow.

They are used in gaming consoles and all automobiles like cars, bikes,
scooters, trucks and all other vehicles.

They are used in laptops, printers, cell phones, hard disk drives, scanners,
and portable electronics.

Fuses are used in capacitors, power converters, transformers, power

transformers, motor starters if an Electrical distribution system.

They are also used in LCD monitors and battery packs to stop excessive
current flow to the device and prevent it from damage that may occur to
electronics.

4. What are the two main parts of an Electric Fuse?

The two main parts of an Electric Fuse consist of a Fuse element as a metal
Conductor attached with a pair of contacts and a cartridge or a case that
carries the Fuse element.

Cartridges are adjusted with arc-extinguishing devices. If there is a short

Circuit then the current flowing through the Fuse element exceeds the
prescribed limits which leads to the creation of excess heat that metals the
Fuse wire and breaks the circuit.

5. What are some advantages and disadvantages

of an Electric Fuse?
Some of the advantages of an Electric Fuse include-
1. Electric Fuses are the cheapest available form of protection.
2. Minimal operating time.
3. There is not any need for repairs.
4. Short-Circuits disrupt without any production of gas or smoke.
5. They work automatically.
6. Current protection is due to the inverse-time Current characteristics.
Some of the disadvantages of an Electric Fuse are-
1. It is not always possible that the Current-time characteristic is always
correlated with the protection of the device.

2. A considerable time is taken after the operation in order to replace the

Fuse.

6. What are some differences between a Circuit

breaker and a Fuse?
The most primary difference between a Circuit breaker and a Fuse is that
once a Fuse is melted, it has to be replaced and it gives up its life while in
the case of a Circuit breaker it can be reset and used over. Circuit breakers
are devices that stop the Current flow as any fault occurs while a Fuse
destructs itself whenever the Current exceeds a certain limit. To learn more
about Circuit breaker and Fuse differences, students can visit Vedantu’s
study material on the difference between a Circuit breaker and an Electric
Fuse.

7. What is meant by the term MCB?

Electromechanical devices that are designed in order to protect an Electric
Circuit from over-loaded Currents are known as miniature Circuit breakers or
MCBs. The three principle characteristics that and an MCB possesses are-
Amperes, Tripping curve, and Kilo-Ampere. Unlike Electric Fuses, MCBs do
not self-destruct themselves and are replaceable. It is very easy and safer to
use MCBs since they offer a convenient on/off switch and the Conductor is
encased within a plastic case making them safer to operate.

Types of switch:
Air Switch (Air Break Switch): An air switch uses air as the insulating
medium to open and close electrical circuits. It typically consists of
stationary and moving contacts placed within an insulating chamber filled
with air. When the switch is closed, electrical current flows through the
contacts. When it's opened, the separation of the contacts creates an air
gap, interrupting the current flow. Air switches are commonly used in
medium voltage applications.
Oil Switch: An oil switch employs oil as the insulating and arc-quenching
medium. It usually consists of fixed and moving contacts located within a
tank filled with insulating oil. When the switch operates, the contacts open or
close, and if a fault occurs, the arc that forms is extinguished by the oil. Oil
switches are typically used in high voltage applications due to their effective
arc extinguishing properties.
Earth Switch (Grounding Switch or Earthing Switch): An earth switch
provides a secure path to ground for electrical equipment. It is essential for
the safety of maintenance personnel. When the earth switch is closed, it
connects the phase conductor to the earth, ensuring that any residual charge
or potential is safely discharged. This is crucial when isolating equipment for
maintenance or repairs.
Load Breaking Switch (Load Break Switch): A load breaking switch is
designed specifically for breaking or making electrical circuits under load
conditions. This means it can open or close a circuit even when current is
flowing through it. Load breaking switches are commonly used in
applications where it's necessary to switch loads on and off without de-
energizing the entire circuit.