The University of New South Wales

School of Electrical Engineering

and Telecommunications

Industrial and Commercial Power Systems

Topic 2

SWITCHBOARDS
Overview

 Also called “Switchgear and Controlgear Assembly”

(SCA)
 Generally, may need both a main HV switchboard
and one or more LV SWBs
 Purpose: take power from main supply source and
distribute to various circuits within building.
 Metering
 Proper control of power flow
 Protection against damaging effects of faults.
Overview
 SWB design requirements:
 protection is necessary to prevent personnel hazards and
also equipment hazards and possible fires.
 to present no danger of electric shock or injury to personnel
in vicinity during normal or abnormal operation.

 Explosions in switchboards are a not infrequent

occurrence which can cause significant injury to
personnel.

 In many cases, work is performed on switchboard

components while they are still live.
What are the
components in a typical
domestic switchboard ?
Switchgear enclosures
and housings
 Open-type Dead-front

Examples of switchboard assemblies, AS 3439.1-2002

LV assemblies
Modular distribution
board
Parts of a switchboard

 Incoming cables
 Outgoing circuit conductors
 Internal busbars
 Main isolating switches or section switches
 Circuit breakers
 HRC fuses and CFS units
 Protection relays
 Metering equipment
 Overvoltage surge protection
Parts of a switchboard

 Incoming cables

 either HV or MV/LV
 HV cables:
 impregnated paper insulation (unlikely these days)
 cross linked polyethylene (XLPE), most common
 ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) – more flexible
 LV cables: XLPE or EPR type
Parts of a switchboard

 Outgoing circuit conductors

These may be of following types:

 Insulated cables
 Insulated busbars
 Busbar trunking systems
 Mineral Insulated Metal-Sheathed (MIMS) cables
 Fire-resistant cables
Mineral Insulated Metal-Sheathed (MIMS) cables

Standard features and advantages of MIMS cables are:

 High Insulation Resistance Conductor / Sheath and Conductor / Conductor.
 Long Life.
 Easy Installation
 Mechanical Strength
 Safety
 Rapid Response
 Dielectric Strength
 Radiation Resistance
 Corrosion and Scaling Resistance
 Long Lengths
 Small Cable Diameter
Parts of a switchboard

 Internal busbars

Rigid copper (or aluminium) bars (insulated or

uninsulated) in large SWBs or simply insulated single
phase cables in small SWBs.

Bare LV busbars are close together and are subject to

high forces on short circuit. This and resonant force effect
must be considered in determining supports.
Parts of a switchboard
Main isolating switch or section switches

These allow segregation of switchboard or its component

parts to allow maintenance work on SWB.
Parts of a switchboard
 Circuit breakers
HV or LV depending on switchboard voltage level.

HV C/B types are oil, SF6 and vacuum units, contained in

withdrawable rack-mounted carriers.
Oil C/Bs no longer used in new installations.

LV/MV (<1000 V) C/Bs are air-break type. Large MV CB

units may be also rack-mounted but modern SWB will have
moulded-case circuit breakers (MCCBs) for higher current
ratings (> 100 A) and miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) for
lower rating (< 100 A). MCBs normally used in smaller sub-
main and local SWBs in a building.
withdrawable parts
ABB SF6 C/B
 Moulded case LV circuit
breakers of varying ratings

e.g. Eaton Cutler-Hammer series G: ratings up to 2500A with

interrupting capacities up to 200kA at 240V.
Parts of a switchboard

 HRC fuses and CFS units

These are also used in MV and LV switchboards for high
level fault protection and, in many cases, there are
combinations of HRC (high rupturing capacity) fuses and
overload switches with limited interrupting capacity used
(combined fuse-switch or CFS units) because of their
economy.
 Fuse breaking capacity:

 Is maximum current that can safely be interrupted by the fuse,

 Is potential maximum current the fuse can withstand without shattering.

 Generally should be higher than maximum prospective short circuit

current.

 There are two types of fuses:

 High Blow Current (HBC)
 Low Blow Current (LBC)
 High Blow Current (HBC)
 HBC fuses (or HRC High Rupture Current) are generally defined as being able
to withstand more than 10 times their rated current without shattering.
 Some low-voltage current-limiting HRC fuses rated for 300kA.
 Fuses for high-voltage equipment, up to 115kV, are rated by the total apparent
power (megavolt-amperes, MVA) of the fault level on circuit.
 They typically have a ceramic body and are filled with sand.
 HBC fuses are designated "H".
 Low Blow Current (LBC)
 LBC fuses on the other hand are designed for situations where maximum fault
current is likely to be less than 10 times the rated fuse current.
 Fuses for small low-voltage wiring systems are commonly rated to interrupt
10kA.
 They typically have a glass body in which fuse wire can clearly be seen, making
it very easy to see if the fuse has blown.
 LBC fuses are designated "L”
Parts of a switchboard

 Protection relays
Used for higher voltages, together with associated
instrument transformers [current transformers (CTs) and
voltage transformers (VTs)].

Overcurrent protection units are used to activate timing

relays so as to provide proper fault protection operation.

At lower voltages, circuit breakers normally have in-built fault

detection sensing, thus no separate relaying is required.
Parts of a switchboard

 Metering equipment
The metering of SWB will include:

 line and phase voltage,

 line current in each phase,
 total power,
 power factor metering.
Parts of a switchboard

 Over-voltage surge protection

Modern switchboards will also have some over-voltage
surge protection designed into both HV and LV sides to
protect equipment against effects of any over-voltage
transients that may be generated within the system or
conducted in from external sources.
Switchgear & busbar requirements
 Life of 25-30 years at least
 Spare capacity for expansion (20-40%).
 Good quality and reliable switchgear in various outgoing
functional units.
 Proper protection design, particularly in time discrimination
with flexible variation of I-t characteristics possible.
 Adequate interrupting capacity for future expansion
 Residual current (earth leakage) protection
 Adequate current carrying capacity
 Protection against ingress of contamination
 Adequate compartmentalization to limit arc faults
Specifications
Purchaser should specify:

 Voltage, power, current ratings.

 Specific rating for each C/B and busbar system
 Required fault level and protection operating time.
 Internal structure, segregation of compartments
 International Protection (IP) numbers for protection against
dust and moisture
 Arc containment requirements
 Earthing requirements
 Electrodynamic forces and insulator mechanical strength
requirements.
 Thermal features - maximum temperature rises etc.
 Testing requirements (Type tests and Routine tests).
Electrical characteristics

 Rated operational voltage

 Rated insulation voltage
 Rated impulse withstand voltage
 Rated current
 Rated short-time current (1s)
 Rated peak withstand current
 Rated conditional short-circuit current
 Rated fused short-circuit current
 Rated diversity factor
 Rated operational voltage: stated as voltage between phases, e.g. 400V
 Rated insulation voltage: voltage to which dielectric test voltages are
referred. Shall not exceed rated operational voltage.
 Rated impulse withstand voltage: peak value of impulse voltage the
assembly is able to withstand without failure
 Rated current: current that can carry without temperature rise of various
parts exceed limit
 Rated short-time current:
 Rated conditional short-circuit current: value of prospective short-circuit
current that circuit with protection device can withstand satisfactorily.
 Rated fused short-circuit current: is rated conditional short-circuit current
when protective device is a fuse
 Rated diversity factor: ratio of maximum sum of assumed currents of all
main circuits to sum of rated currents of all main circuits. If not available,
assume factor of 0.9 for 2-3 main circuits, 0.8 for 4-5 main circuits, 0.7 for
6-9, and 0.6 for 10 or more.
Standard specifications

 AS3439.1-2002 Low Voltage Switchgear and Controlgear

Assemblies – Part 1: Type-tested and partially type-tested
assemblies
 AS/NZS 3439.2:2002 - Particular requirements for busbar
trunking systems (busways)
 AS/NZS 3439.3:2002 - Particular requirements for low-
voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies intended to be
installed in places where unskilled persons have access for
their use - Distribution boards (IEC 60439-3:1990, MOD)
 AS 2067-2008 - Substations and high voltage installations
exceeding 1 kV a.c.
Ingress Protection: IP number

Must protect against:

 ingress of various contaminants (e.g.

particles, dust and moisture)

 access by personnel to live internal parts

 IPnumber uses two numerals to represent specific
design requirements to prevent ingress:

 1st numeral = degree of protection against ingress of

solid objects and thus protection of personnel against
access to hazardous parts.

 2nd numeral = degree of protection against harmful

ingress of water.

 additional letter (optional) = degree of protection of

personnel against access to hazardous parts

 supplementary letter (optional) = other information

Ref: HB300-2001
 IP00 = completely open, no protection
 IP68 = hermetically sealed enclosure
 IP21 typical for commercial buildings
 IP65 for industrial manufacturing or outdoor SWBs

Electrical installations at UNSW: IP??

IP43 for interior

IP56 for exterior

Arc Fault Containment
 Arcing: caused by insulation failure such as
ageing, moisture, solid particle contamination, etc
 Difficult to predict value of arc voltage.
 Arcing involves significant energy and thus
damage is very destructive
 Segregation of internal parts limits spreading of
damage
 IEEE 1584-2002 provides method to calculate
incident energy and arc-flash protection
boundaries.
Purpose of specifying internal arcing fault
containment is to:
provide a measure of operator
protection
restrict damage resulting from arc
fault to the functional unit involved so
that supply can be reinstated with
minimum outage

NILSEN designs tested to 100kA (at

440V) prospective and 6.6kV to 18kA
prospective

http://www.nilsen.com.au/
Internal segregation of circuits

 SWBs have many internal components, thus

susceptible to faults.
 High impedance arcing fault is a major problem.
 Segregate chambers will assist in containing faults.
 Switchboard
compartment
forms of segregation

enclosure busbar

internal
separation

functional
unit

terminals

Fig. D2 AS3439.1:2002
Switchboard Design

 Insulation Design
 Thermal Design
 Protection against electric shock
 Testing of Switchboards
Switchboard Design

 Insulation Design
 Power frequency insulation level
 Lightning impulse insulation level (BIL)
 Creepage distance (surface tracking)

 Thermal Design
 Protection against electric shock
 Testing of Switchboards
 (a) for main circuit

(b) for auxiliary circuits AS3439.1:2002

Table G1 AS3439.1:2002
 Creepage distances and clearances

Case 1: creepage distance and clearance are measured directly across the groove.
Case 2: clearance is line-of-sight distance, creepage path follows contour of groove.
Pollution degree

 Pollution degree 1: no pollution or non-conductive

pollution
 Pollution degree 2: non-conductive pollution, temporary
conductive when condensation occurs.
 Pollution degree 3: conductive pollution or non-
conductive pollution becomes conductive due to
condensation
 Pollution degree 4: persistently conductive
Switchboard Design

 Insulation Design
 Thermal Design
 Protection against electric shock
 Testing of Switchboards
Table 2 AS3439.1:2000
Switchboard Design

 Insulation Design
 Thermal Design
 Protection against electric shock
 Testing of Switchboards
 Protection against direct contact
 Protection by insulation of live parts

 Protection by barriers or enclosures

 Protection against indirect contact

 Protection by using protective circuits

 Protection by other measures (electrical separation of

circuits, total insulation)

 Proper earthing of switchboard

System earthing

Three types:

 TN systems
 TT systems
 IT systems
1st letter (I or T)
gives relationship of supply to earth

T (terra): direct connection of one point of

supply system to earth
I (insulation): all live parts of supply isolated
from earth or one point connected to earth
through an impedance
2nd letter (T or N)
gives relationship of exposed conductive parts of the
general installation to earth

T (terra): direct connection of exposed

conductive parts to earth, independent of
earthing of supply system
N (neutral): direct connection of exposed
conductive parts to earthed point of supply
(neutral point).
 TN systems: one point directly earthed, exposed conductive
parts connected to that point by protective conductor (PE)

 TN-S system: separate neutral (N) and PE throughout

 TN-C system: N and PE combined into a single
conductor throughout
 TN-C-S system: N and PE combined into a single
conductor in a part of the system
TN-S TN-C-S

TN-C
TT system: one point directly earthed, exposed
conductive parts connected to earth via separate earth
electrode no direct connection between live parts and
earth, exposed conductive parts connected to earth
IT system: no direct connection between live parts and
earth, exposed conductive parts connected to earth
Switchboard Design
 Insulation Design
 Thermal Design
 Protection against electric shock
 Testing of Switchboards
 Two test categories:
 Type Tests: done only on one unit representative of
the design
 Routine Tests: done on every manufactured unit

 Testing laboratories in Sydney

 Testing and Certification Australia (TCA)
 TestSafe Australia (associated with NSW WorkCover)

Lane Cove Testing Station (LCTS) is Australia's internationally recognized high

power test facility. E.g test LV switchboard max 160kA for 1s; HV switchgear
11kV, max 26kA short-circuit making or breaking
UNSW HV Electrical Services
Thank you