Electrical Installation

UNIT 5
 COMPONENTS OF LT SWITCH
GEAR

 Switch fuse unit (SFU)

 Miniature circuit breaker (MCB)
 Moulded case circuit breaker (MCCB)
 Earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB)
 Types of Wires, Cables
 Earthing and its types
 Safety Precautions to avoid shock
 SWITCH FUSE UNIT (SFU)

 Combination of switch and fuse together is called SFU.

 A switch isolate the circuit from supply for repair and
maintenance. It is manually operated.
 Fuse is a protective device which acts quickly during
abnormal condition to disconnect the circuit from the
supply.
Advantages of SFU:
 Number of joints in the circuit get reduced.
 Less space is required due to compact construction.
 Easy to handle/operate.
Switch fuse unit Fuse
MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER
(MCB)
 An electromechanical device which makes and breaks the
circuit in the normal operation.
 During fault/abnormal condition when current exceeds the
preset value, MCB disconnects the circuit.
 MCB is high fault capacity current limiting, trip free,
automatic switching with thermal and magnetic operation.
 MCB provides protection against overload and short
circuit.
 MCBs are rated for 240V single phase, 415V three phase,
and 220 V dc. The current rating is 0.5A to 63A.
MCBs are used because of following features:
 Its operation is very fast.
 No tripping circuit is required
 Automatic operation.
 Protection against overload and short circuit without noise,
flames or smoke.
 Reset quickly after fault correction.
 No rewiring is required.
 Cannot be reclosed if fault exist.
3-pole MCB 2-pole MCB
 Comparison between Fuse and
MCB
Sr.
Fuse MCB
No.
1 The operation of fuse is highly dependent on MCB instantly disconnects the supply
selection of its proper rating. If fuse wire is not automatically in the event of short circuit
selected properly ten it results in non operation of or overload. It thus eliminates the risk of
fuse even in case of short circuit. fire and prevents damage to wiring
system.
2 If the fuse wire after operation is replaced with a Restarting the power supply after tripping
newer one but go loose then it may be dangerous. due to overload or short circuit is easy.
Also to replace a blown use in between current
carrying points is dangerous specially in dark.
3 During replacement of fuse wire, the exact size of No maintenance and repairs is required for
fuse wire may not be available. Also for MCB. The distribution system employing
replacement a kit of hand tools has to be kept MCB provides satisfactory operation and
ready. lasts for years.
 MOULDED CASE CIRCUIT
BREAKER (MCCB)
 MCCB is similar to MCB but used for circuit having
current range from 63A to 3000A.
 Working is based on thermal mechanism. The bimetallic
contact expands and contract when there are temperature
changes.
 Under normal condition, the contacts are closed allowing
current to pass. Under over-load or short circuit condition,
current exceeds its safe value. Due to this, heat is generated,
and the contacts are opened to interrupt the circuit.
 Due to the interruption of high current, there is arc
formation. Hence in MCCB there are arc extinguishers
which suppress the arc.
 MCCB
 There is a disconnection switch, with the help of which, the MCCB can
be operated manually.
 It has adjustable trip settings which can be used for high current
applications.
 It can be easily reset after the fault rectification. Thus it provides
operational safely and convenience.
 All the operating parts of MCCB are covered within a plastic moulded
housing made in two halves. The two halves are joined together to form
the whole structure.
 The basic difference between MCB and MCCB is the current rating.
 Hence MCCBs are used for industrial and commercial applications
such as main feeder protection,, generator and motor protection,
capacitor bank protection, welding applications and applications which
require adjustable trip setting.
 EARTH LEAKAGE CIRCUIT
BREAKER (ELCB)

 The ELCB is used to protect the circuit from the electrical

leakage.
 When someone gets an electric shock, then this circuit
breaker cuts off the power for protecting the personal safety
and the circuit against short circuit and overload.
 ELCB is a security device used in electrical system with
high Earth impedance to avoid shock.
 It notices difference in current between line and neutral
wire, and interrupt the circuit if an unsafe current is
detected.
 ELCB

 ELCB consists of a small current transformer (C.T.)

surrounding live/line/phase and neutral wire.
 The secondary winding of the C.T. is connected to relay
circuit which can trip the circuit breaker (CB) which is
connected in the circuit.
 Under normal conditions, the current in the line and the
neutral is same. There will not be any production of flux in
the core and no induced e.m.f.
 If there is a fault due to leakage, then the net current
through the core will no longer remain as zero but equal to
difference between line current and neutral current, which
will set up flux and emf in C.T.
 ELCB

 As per the preset value, the unbalance in the current is

detected by C.T. and relay coil is energized which will give
tripping signal for the circuit breaker.
 Thus ELCB provides protection against electric shock when
a person comes in contact with live parts resulting in flow
of current from body to earth.
 A properly connected ELCB detects such small currents in
mA flowing to earth through human body or earth wire and
breaks the circuit to reduce the risk of electrocution to
humans.
 WIRES

Metal drawn out into the form of thin flexible thread or rod is
called a wire. For example, copper wire, aluminium wire, steel
wire etc..
The various types of wires which are used for various wiring
schemes are:-
1. Vulcanised India Rubber wires (V.I.R.)
2. Cab Tyre Sheathed wires (C.T.S.)
3. Poly Vinyl Chloride wires (P.V.C.)
4. Flexible wires
VULCANISED INDIA RUBBER WIRES
(V.I.R.)

 This type of wire consists tinned conductor coated with

rubber insulation.
 This is further covered with protective cotton and bitumen
compound and finally finished with wax. This makes it
moisture and heat resistant.
 These are always single core wires.
 Though are covered with a cotton layer it has tendency to
absorb moisture and hence rarely used, now a days.
CAB TYRE SHEATHED WIRES
(C.T.S.)
 In this type, ordinary rubber insulated conductors are
provided with an additional tough rubber sheath.
 The wire is also known as tough Rubber Sheathed (T.R.S.)
wire. It provides additional insulation and along with that a
protection against moisture, chemical fumes and wear and
tear.
 These are also available in single core, double core and
three core varieties.
POLY VINYL CHLORIDE WIRES
(P.V.C.)
These are most commonly used wires. These have conductors
with P.V.C. insulation. P.V.C. has following characteristics:
 It is moisture proof.
 It is tough and hence durable.
 It is chemically inert, therefore resistant to corrosion.
 As it is tough so additional covering is not required.
 The only disadvantage is, it softens at high temperature and
hence it avoided where extreme of temperature may occur
e.g. in heating appliances.
 FLEXIBLE WIRES

 These are used very commonly in domestic wiring or for

wiring of temporary nature.
 It consists of two separately insulated stranded conductors.
The insulation is mostly rubber and more commonly
available in parallel or twisted twins.
 Due to its flexible nature, the handling of these wires
becomes very easy.
 CABLES

 A cable is defined as the group of individually insulated

one or more conductors which is put together and finally
provided with number of layers of insulation to give
proper mechanical support.
 Conductor of Core: This section consists of single conductor or more than one
conductor. The conductors are also called cores. Cables with three conductors
used are aluminium or annealed copper. The conductors are stranded
conductors in order to provide flexibility to the cable.
 Insulation: Each conductor or core is covered by insulation of proper
thickness. The commonly used insulating materials are varnished cambric,
vulcanized bitumen and impregnated paper.
 Metallic Sheath: The insulated conductors are covered by lead sheath or
aluminium sheath. This provides the mechanical protection but mainly restricts
moisture and other gases to reach to the insulation.
 Bedding: The metallic sheath is covered by another layer called bedding. The
bedding consists of paper type compounded with a fibrous material like jute
strands or hessian tape. The purpose of bedding is to protect the metallic sheath
from corrosion and from mechanical injury resulting due to armouring.
 Armouring: This layer consists of the layers of galvanized steel wires which
provide protection to the cable from the mechanical injury.
Based on voltage level the various types of cables are:
 Low tension cables: Used for the voltage levels upto 6.6kV.
 Medium tension cables: Used for 11kV level and are called
belted cable.
 High tension cables: Used for 22kV and 33kV levels. These
are screened type cables and further classified as:
i. H type cables
ii. S.L. cables i.e. separate lead screened cables.
Extra high tension cables: Used for voltage levels more than
33kV. These are pressure cables which are further classified as:
i. Oil filled Cables.
ii. Gas pressure cables.
Based on the cores, the various types of cables are:
i. Single core cable.
ii. Two core cable .
iii. Three core cable.

Single core cables are made up of a single conductor covered

by
a PVC insulation. They are mainly used in power and lighting
circuits, both domestic and commercial applications.
 They are also used in the internal wiring of appliances
suitable for installation in conduits and trunks.
 Two core cable is used to connect small appliances
which are double insulated and need no earth.
The cable only has two cores being live and neutral. As
this is flex cable it will be of circular shape with an outer
sheath and two colour coded PVC insulated cores.

 Three core cable is made up of 3 solid cores, which are

individually insulated and wrapped in an outer PVC
sleeving. The colours of these cores are brown, black and
grey, with a bare earth core (to be insulated with green
and yellow sleeving).
Single core cable
Two core cable

Three core cable

 EARTHING

The connection of electrical machinery to the general mass of

earth, with a conducting material of very low resistance is
called earthing or grounding.
 The earthing of electrical equipment brings the equipments
to zero potential and avoid the shock to the operator, under
nay fault conditions.
 IMPORTANCE OF EARTHING
Consider a machine which is not earthed. It is operated at supply voltage
V.
 If a person touches to the outer part of the machine then as long as
insulation of the machine is perfect, person will not get a shock.
The insulation resistance of perfect insulation is infinite.
 But if there is some fault and insulation becomes weak or if one of the
winding is touching to the cover of the machine then insulation
resistance becomes zero.
 If person touches to such a machine, current flows through the body
of the person towards the earth. As body resistance is small, current
through the body is high so that the person receives a shock.
 To avoid such a situation, the body of the machine is connected to
the earth with a very low resistance.
 If the machine is earthed and the person touches to a faulty machine
then body resistance and earthing resistance appears to be in
parallel.
 As earthing resistance is very small than the resistance of the
body, hence almost entire leakage current flows through earthing
connection.
 Thus current through the body of the person is almost zero and
person does not receive any shock.
 Similarly due to earthing, the tall buildings, structures and other
machines are protected from high voltage in overhead lines and
the atmospheric lightening as high voltage and lightening gets
discharged to earth through earthing connection.
 Due to earthing the line voltage is maintained at constant value.
 Hence earthing is necessary for all domestic appliances, machines,
buildings and structures, equipments power stations etc.
 TYPES OF EARTHING

 Plate earthing: A copper plate or galvanized plate is

buried in an earth pit below ground level. The plate
electrode connects the electrical conductors to the earth.
 Pipe earthing: A galvanized steel perforated pipe inside
the ground connects the electrical conductors to the earth.
 Rod earthing: Similar to the Pipe earthing. A copper rod
replaces the pipe electrode.
 Chemical earthing: Similar to the pipe earthing. A
chemical compound material replaces the charcoal and salt
layers.
 PLATE EARTHING
 The earth connection is provided with the help of copper plate or Galvanized Iron
(G.I.) plate. The copper plate size is 60 cm × 60 cm × 3.18 mm, while G.I. plate size
is not less than 60 cm × 60 cm × 6.3 mm. The plate is embedded 3 m (10 ft.) into the
ground. The plate is kept with its face vertical.
 The plate is surrounded by the alternate layer of coke and salt for minimum
thickness of about 15 cm. The earth wire is drawn through G.I. pipe and is perfectly
bolted to the earth plate. The nut and bolts must be copper plate and must be of
galvanized iron for G.I. plate.
 The earth lead used must be G.I. wire or strip of sufficient cross sectional area to
carry the fault current safely. The earth wire is drawn through G.I. pipe of 19 mm
diameter, at about 60 cm below the ground.
 The G.I. pipe is fitted with a funnel on the top. In order to have an effective earthing,
salt water is poured periodically through the funnel.
 The earthing efficiency, increases with the increases of the plate area and depth of
embedding. If the resistivity of the soil is high, then it is necessary to embed the plate
vertically at a greater depth into ground.
 The only disadvantage of this method is that the discontinuity of the earth wire
from the earthing plate below the earth can not be observed physically. This
may cause misleading and may result into heavy losses under fault condition.
Plate Earthing
 PIPE EARTHING
 A G.I. pipe of 38 mm diameter and 2-meter (7 feet) length is embedded vertically
into the ground. This pipe acts as an earth electrode. The depth depends on the
condition of the soil.
 The earth wires are fastened to the top section of the pipe above the ground level
with nut and bolts.
 The pit area around the pipe is filled with salt and coal mixture for improving the
condition of the soil and earthing efficiency.
 The contact surface of G.I. pipe with the soil is more as compare to the plate due to its
circular section and hence can handle heavier leakage current for the same electrode
size.
 In summer season, soil becomes dry. In such case salt water is poured through the
funnel connected to the main G.I. pipe through 19 mm diameter pipe. This keeps
the soil wet.
 The earth wires are connected to the G.I. pipe above the ground level and can be
physically inspected from time to time. These connections can be checked for
performing continuity tests. The earth lead used must be G.I. wire of sufficient cross-
sectional area to carry fault current safely.
 The only disadvantage of pipe earthing is that the embedded pipe length has to be
increased sufficiently in case the soil specific resistivity is of high order. This
increases excavation work and hence increased cost.
Pipe Earthing
Safety Precautions to avoid
shock (1)
 Avoid contact with energized electrical circuits.
 Disconnect the power source before servicing or repairing electrical
equipment.
 When it is necessary to handle equipment that is plugged in, be sure
hands are dry and, when possible, wear nonconductive gloves and
shoes with insulated soles.
 If it is not unsafe to do so, work with only one hand, keeping the
other hand at your side or in your pocket, away from all conductive
material. This precaution reduces the likelihood of accidents that
result in current passing through the chest cavity.
 If water or a chemical is spilled onto equipment, shut off power at
the main switch or circuit breaker and unplug the equipment.
Safety Precautions to avoid
shock (2)
 If an individual comes in contact with a live electrical conductor, do not
touch the equipment, cord or person. Disconnect the power source from the
circuit breaker or pull out the plug using a leather belt.
 Do not make circuit changes or perform any wiring when power is on.
 Do not wear loose-fitting clothing or jewelry in the lab. Rings and necklaces
are usual excellent conductors in contact with your skin.
 It is wise in electrical labs to wear pants rather than shorts or skirts. Ties are
also dangerous.
 Powered equipment can be hot! Use caution when handling equipment after
it has been operating.
 Do your wiring, setup, and a careful circuit checkout before applying power.
 Use wires of appropriate length. Do not allow them to drape over your
equipment. Avoid splices, which create live surfaces. When running a pair
of wires to adjacent terminals, twist the wires together so they don’t dangle.
This also neatens your work and will save time.
 Do not touch anything if your hands are wet. The "one-hand" approach is
safest.
Safety Precautions to avoid
shock (3)
 If you can't keep your hand in your pocket, do not touch any metal object
with free hand.
 Do not pull wires out until you are absolutely sure that the circuit is
completely dead. Shocks can occur if an inductive load (motor or
transformer) is disconnected while conducting.
 All the electrical equipment must be connected to the proper earth line.
 All high voltage equipment must properly be marked and danger signs
displayed.
 Don't depend on switches to de-energize a circuit. Pull the plug out from the
socket/outlet.
 If you are working on high voltage circuits, have a co-worker along with you
who knows how to break the circuit to get you free and how to give you
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and closed chest heart massage.
 When you are mentally or physically tired, avoid work on energized circuits.
 High voltage connections must have no sharp points.
 Permanent or temporary enclosures around high voltage equipment should
be used.
Q1. Explain the necessity of ELCB.
 There are certain situations where leakage current can flow
through the metal bodies of appliances, when person touches
to such appliances. Thus person gets a shock.
 Similarly there is risk of fire due to such earth leakage
currents.
 Thus a protective device is necessary which can sense small
leakage current and disconnects the circuit from supply. Such
a device is called earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCB).
Q2. State the advantages of ELCB.
 Provide protection to a human against the electric shock.
 Detects very small leakage currents.
 Reduces the risk of fire due to hot spots.
 Saves electrical energy due to leakage.
 Energy conservation can be achieved.
Q3. States the application area of MCCB.
MCCB are used for high current protection such as,
 Generator protection
 Main feeder protection
 Motor protection
 Capacitor bank protection
 Welding applications
 Applications which needs adjustable current trip settings.

Q4. Names the various types of wires used in electrical

installations. AKTU (2018-19)
 Vulcanized India Rubber Wires (V.I.R.)
 Cab Type Sheathed Wires (C.T.S.)
 PolyVinyl Chloride Wires (P.V.C.)
 Flexible Wires
 Questions asked in AKTU Even Sem 2018-19
 Explain the construction, rating,specific applications of at least two types of wires and cables
used in electrical engineering.
 Explain (i).MCB (ii).MCCB (iii).ELCB
 Define The purpose of earthing the electrical appliances.
Questions asked in AKTU OddSem 2018-19
 Why Earth pin is made thicker and bigger than line and neutral?
 (a)Write short notes on the following:
 MCB (ii) MCCB (c) Fuse (d) Types of wires
 Explain following:
 Need of Earthing