Power System
Protection
Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Bhatti
Fuses
Fuse as protective device
Types of fuses
Characteristics of fuses
Selection and application of fuses
Fuses
Fuse :A fuse is a short piece of metal, inserted in the circuit, which melts
when excessive current flows through it and thus breaks the circuit.
Interruption of circuit on occurrence of fault as protective device
Cheapest
Where CB is uneconomical
Low melting point materials
High conductivity
Least deterioration due to oxidations
In series with circuit to be protected
Under normal operating condition, below melting point
Heat is produced, when overcurrent, melts
Blow out time is inversely proportional to fault current
Time characteristics of Fuses
Advantages of Fuses
Cheapest form of protection
no maintenance.
Its operation is inherently completely automatic unlike a circuit
breaker which requires an elaborate equipment for automatic action.
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.
The inverse time-current characteristic of a fuse makes it suitable for
overcurrent protection.
The minimum time of operation can be made much shorter than with
the circuit breakers.
Disadvantages of Fuses
Considerable time is lost in rewiring or
replacing a fuse after operation.
On heavy short-circuits, discrimination
between fuses in series cannot be obtained
unless there is sufficient difference in the sizes
of the fuses concerned.
The current-time characteristic of a fuse
cannot always be co-related with that of the
protected apparatus.
Desirable Characteristics of Fuse
Element
low melting point e.g.,tin, lead.
high conductivity e.g., silver, copper.
free from deterioration due to oxidation e.g., silver.
low cost e.g., lead, tin, copper
Compromise: nothing is perfect
Lead: low melting point, high resistance, oxidation
Copper: high conductivity, low cost, oxidizes rapidly
Fuse Elements Materials
Lead, Copper, Zinc and silver
Small currents (10 A): Tin or alloy of tin (Lead 37% ,tin 63%)
Larger currents: Silver Copper
Tin the copper for oxidation protection
Zinc for time lag
Present trend silver:
Fuse Elements Materials
Present trend silver:
free from oxidation
does not deteriorate when used in dry air.
The coefficient of expansion of silver is so small that no critical fatigue
occurs.
Therefore, the fuse element can carry the rated current continuously for a
long time.
The conductivity of silver is very high.
Therefore, for a given rating of fuse element, the mass of silver metal
required is smaller than that of other materials.
This minimizes the problem of clearing the mass of vaporized material set
free on fusion and thus permits fast operating speed.
Fuse Elements Materials
Due to comparatively low specific heat, silver fusible elements can be
raised from normal temperature to vaporization quicker than other fusible
elements.
Moreover, the resistance of silver increases abruptly as the melting
temperature is reached, thus making the transition from melting to
vaporization almost instantaneous.
Consequently, operation becomes very much faster at higher currents.
Silver vaporizes at a temperature much lower than the one at which its
vapor will readily
ionize.
Therefore, when an arc is formed through the vaporized portion of the
element, the arc path has high resistance. As a result, short-circuit current
is quickly interrupted.
Important terms
Current rating of fuse element: It is the current which the fuse
element can normally carry without overheating or melting
Depends upon temperature rise of
the contacts of fuse holder
Fuse material
Surrounding of the fuse
Fusing Current: It is the minimum current at which the fuse element
melts and thus disconnects the circuit protected by it.
3 /2
𝐼 =𝑘 𝑑
Relatioship between dia and fusing current:
Here k is fuse constant
Important terms
Fusing current depends:
(a) material of fuse element
(b) length – the smaller the length, the greater the current because a short
fuse can easily conduct away all the heat
(c) diameter
(d) size and location of terminals
(e) previous history
(f) type of enclosure used
Important terms
Fusing FACTOR Fusing factor =Minimum fusing current/Current rating
of fuse
>1
The smaller the fusing factor, the greater is the difficulty in avoiding
deterioration due to overheating and oxidation at rated carrying
current.
Fusing factor for rewireable copper is 2
Important terms
Prospective current: It is the r.m.s. value of the first loop of the fault
current obtained if the fuse is replaced by an ordinary conductor of
negligible resistance.
Cut off current: It is the maximum value of fault current actually
reached before the fuse melts.
On the occurrence of a fault, the fault current has a very large first loop
due to a fair degree of asymmetry.
The current corresponding to point ‘a’ is the cut off current. The cut off
value depends upon:
current rating of fuse
value of prospective current
asymmetry of short-circuit current
Important terms
Pre-arcing time: It is the time between the commencement of fault and
the instant when cut off occurs.
Arcing time: This is the time between the end of pre-arcing time and the
instant when the arc is extinguished.
Total operating time: It is the sum of pre-arcing and arcing times
operating time of a fuse is generally quite low (say 0·002 sec.) as
compared to a circuit breaker (say 0·2 sec or so).
Breaking capacity: It is the r.m.s. value of a.c. component of maximum
prospective current that a fuse can deal with at rated service voltage.
It is a usual practice to provide isolating switches in series with fuses
where it is necessary to permit fuses to be replaced or rewired with safety.
Types of Fuses: Low Voltage Fuses
Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse:
Kit kat type fuse
Low fault currents
Consists of base and fuse carrier
Base:
porcelain and carries the fixed contacts to which the incoming and outgoing
phase wires are connected.
Fuse Carrier:
The fuse carrier is also of porcelain and holds the fuse element (tinned copper
wire) between its terminals. The fuse carrier can be inserted in or taken out of
the base when desired.
During Fault, fuse element blows out and circuit interupted
Types of Fuses: Low Voltage Fuses
Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse: 500A rated current; 400V and 4000A breaking cap
Fuse carrier taken out
Fuse element replaced
Fuse carrier reinserted into base
Advantages:
Detachable fuse carrier avoids danger of live wire
Cost of replacement is negligible
Disadvantages
Possibility of wrong size fuse element insertion
Low breaking capacity
Fuse element oxidation
Uncertain protective capacity due to dependence on ambient temp
Accurate calibration is difficult ;dependency on length
Domestic & lighting calls
High Rupturing Capacity(HRC) Cartridge Fuse
Low and uncertain breaking capacity is handled by HRC
Heat resisting ceramic body having metal end-caps to which is
welded silver current-carrying element.
The space within the body surrounding the element is completely
packed with a filling powder
Chalk, plaster of paris, quartz or marble dust
It acts as an arc quenching and cooling medium
After fault, before fault current reaches its first cycle, element melts
Heat vaporizes melted silver element
Silver vapor and filling powder result into high resistance substance
to quench arc
High Rupturing Capacity(HRC)
Cartridge Fuse
Advantages
Capable of clearing high as well as low fault currents.
Do not deteriorate with age.
High speed of operation.
Reliable discrimination.
No maintenance.
Cheaper than other circuit interrupting devices of equal breaking capacity.
Consistent performance.
Disadvantages
To be replaced after each operation.
Heat produced by the arc may affect the associated switches.
HRC Fuse with tripping devices
The body of the fuse is of ceramic material with a metallic cap rigidly fixed at each end.
These are connected by a number of silver fuse elements.
At one end is a plunger which under fault conditions hits the tripping
mechanism of the circuit breaker and causes it to operate.
The plunger is electrically connected through a fusible link, chemical
charge and a tungsten wire to the other end of the cap as shown.
Fault occurs:
Silver fuse elements to blow first
Current transfers to Tungsten wire
Weak link gets fused
Chemical charge is detonated
Plunger rushes outward to operate CB
Plunger does not get ejected completely from fuse body
HRC Fuse with tripping devices
Advantages:
In case of a single phase fault on a three-phase system, the plunger
operates the tripping mechanism of circuit breaker to open all the three
phases and thus prevents “single phasing”.
The effects of full short circuit current need not be considered in the choice of
circuit breaker.
Relatively inexpensive circuit breaker.
Generally capable of dealing with fairly small fault currents itself. This avoids
the necessity for replacing the fuse except after highest currents for which it
is intended.
Low voltage H.R.C. fuses may be built with a breaking capacity of
16,000 A to 30,000 A at440V. They are extensively used on low-voltage
distribution system against over-load and short-circuit conditions.
High Voltage Fuses: Cartridge Type
Similar to low voltage with additional features
Some designs employ fuse elements wound in the form of a helix so as to avoid
corona effects at higher voltages.
On some designs, there are two fuse elements in parallel ; one of low
resistance (silver wire) and the other of high resistance (tungsten wire).
Under normal load conditions, the low resistance element carries the normal
current.
When a fault occurs, the low-resistance element is blown out and the high
resistance element reduces the short-circuit current and finally breaks the
circuit.
High voltage cartridge fuses are used upto 33 kV with breaking capacity of
about 8700 A at that voltage. Rating of the order of 200 A at 6·6
kV and 11 kV and 50 A at 33 kV are also available
High Voltage Fuses: Liquid Type
Wide range h.v system:100 A rated current, 132 KV and 6100 A
It consists of a glass tube filled with carbon tetrachloride solution and
sealed at both ends with brass caps.
The fuse wire is sealed at one end of the tube
other end of the wire is held by a strong phosphor bronze spiral spring
fixed at the other end of the glass tube.
When the current exceeds the prescribed limit, the fuse wire is blown out.
As the fuse melts, the spring retracts part of it through a baffle (or liquid
director) and draws it well into the liquid.
The small quantity of gas generated at the point of fusion forces some part
of liquid into the passage through baffle and there it effectively
extinguishes the arc.
High Voltage Fuses: Liquid Type
High Voltage Fuses: Metal Clad Type
Metal clad oil-immersed fuses have been developed with the object of
providing a substitute for the oil circuit breaker.
Such fuses can be used for very high voltage circuits
and operate most satisfactorily under short-circuit conditions
approaching their rated capacity
Current Carrying Capacity of Fuse
𝐼 2 𝑅=𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠 tan𝑡 × 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝐼 2( 𝜌 𝑙/ 𝑎)=𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠 tan 𝑡 × 𝑑𝑙
𝜌𝑙
𝐼 2( )=𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠 tan 𝑡 × 𝑑𝑙
( 𝜋 / 4 ¿𝑑 2
2 3
𝐼 =𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠 tan 𝑡 × 𝑑
Difference b/w Fuse and CB
CB
Air-Break Circuit Breaker
Fig: Construction of Air-Break Circuit Breaker.
Miniature Circuit Breaker
Fig: Construction of Miniature Circuit Breaker.
Air Blast Circuit Breaker
Air Blast Circuit Breaker
Fig: Double Blast Arrangement.
Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker
Air Vents
Fig: Bulk Oil circuit breaker conceptual diagram
Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker
Vacuum Circuit Breaker
Fig: Vacuum Interrupter
SF6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) Circuit Breaker
• SF6 circuit breakers are of two types:
Power
1. Non-Puffer Type Vent
2. Puffer Type terminal
Filled with
SF6
Movable
Contacts
Power
Vent
terminal Fig: Puffer Type SF6