ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS

Components of LT switch gear

 The apparatus used for switching, controlling and

protecting the electrical circuits and equipment is
known as switchgear.
 The term ‘switchgear’ is a generic term
encompassing a wide range of products like
circuit breakers, switches, switch fuse units, off-
load isolators, HRC fuses, contactors, earth
leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs), etc...
A switchgear essentially consists of
switching and protecting devices such as
switches, fuses, isolators, circuit breakers,
relays, control panels, lightning arrestors,
current transformers, and potential
transformers, various associated
equipments.
SWITCH FUSE UNIT (SFU)
InSwitched Fuse Unit. It has one switch unit and one
fuse unit. When we operate the breaker, the contacts will
get close through switch and then the supply will passes
through the fuse unit to the output.

Whereas in Fuse Switch Unit there is no separate switch

and fuse unit. There is only fuse unit which act itself as a
switch. When we operate the fuse unit will close the input
and output of the breaker.
MCB

 A miniature circuit breaker automatically switches off electrical

circuit during abnormal condition of the network means in over load
condition as well as faulty condition. Nowadays we use an MCB in
low voltage electrical network instead of fuse. The fuse may not
sense it but the miniature circuit breaker does it in a more reliable
way. MCB is much more sensitive to over current than fuse.

 Handling a MCB is electrically safer than a fuse. Quick restoration of

supply is possible in case of fuse as because fuses must be re-
wireable or replaced for restoring the supply. Restoration is easily
possible by just switching it ON.
 ELCB
 Earth leakage circuit breakers are voltage detecting devices,
which are now switched by current sensing devices
(RCD/RCCB). Generally, the current sensing devices termed as RCCB
and voltage detecting devices named as Earth Leakage Circuit
Breaker (ELCB).
 An ELCB is one kind of safety device used for installing an
electrical device with high earth impedance to avoid shock. These
devices identify small stray voltages of the electrical device on the
metal enclosures and forced the circuit if a dangerous voltage is
identified. The main purpose of Earth leakage circuit breaker (ECLB)
is to stop damage to humans & animals due to electric shock.
 An ELCB is a specific type of latching relay that has a
structure’s incoming mains power associated
through its switching contacts so that the circuit
breaker detaches the power in an unsafe condition.

 The ELCB notices fault currents of human or animal to

the earth wire in the connection it guards. If ample voltage
seems across the ELCB’s sense coil, it will turn off the
power, and remain off until manually rearrange. A
voltage sensing ELCB doesn’t detect fault currents from
human or animal to the earth.
 MCCB
 Molded case circuit breakers are a type of
electrical protection device that is
commonly used when load currents exceed the
capabilities of miniature circuit breakers.
They are also used in applications
of any current rating that require
adjustable trip settings, which are not
available in plug-in circuit breakers and
MCBs.
 A molded case circuit breaker, abbreviated MCCB, is a
type of electrical protection device that can be used for
a wide range of voltages, and frequencies of both 50 Hz
and 60 Hz. The main distinctions between molded-
case and miniature circuit breaker are that the MCCB
can have current ratings of up to 2,500 amperes, and
its trip settings are normally adjustable. An
additional difference is that MCCBs tend to be much
larger than MCBs. As with most types of circuit
breakers, an MCCB has three main functions:
 Protection against overload – currents above the rated value that last longer
than what is normal for the application.
 Protection against electrical faults – During a fault such as a short circuit
or line fault, there are extremely high currents that must be interrupted
immediately.
 Switching a circuit on and off – This is a less common function of circuit
breakers, but they can be used for that purpose if there isn’t an adequate
manual switch.
 The wide range of current ratings available from molded-case circuit
breakers allows them to be used in a wide variety of applications. MCCBs
are available with current ratings that range from low values such as 15
amperes, to industrial ratings such as 2,500 amperes. This allows them to be
used in both low-power and high-power applications.
 Types of wires and cables
 Wire is a single electrical conductor,
whereas a cable is a group of wires wrapped in
several layers.
Triplex Wires :
Main Feeder Wires :
Panel Feed Wires :
Non-Metallic Sheathed Wires :
Single Strand Wires :
 Non-Metallic Sheathed Cable
 Underground Feeder Cable :
 Metallic Sheathed Cable :
 Multi-Conductor Cable :
 Coaxial Cable :
 Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable
 Ribbon Cable :
 Direct-Buried Cable :
 Twin-Lead Cable :
 Twin axial Cable :
 Paired Cable :
 Twisted Pair :
Electrical Earthing
 The process of transferring the immediate discharge of the
electrical energy directly to the earth by the help of the low
resistance wire is known as the electrical earthing. The
electrical earthing is done by connecting the non-current
carrying part of the equipment or neutral of supply system to the
ground.
 Mostly, the galvanized iron is used for the earthing. The
earthing provides the simple path to the leakage current. The
short circuit current of the equipment passes to the earth
which has zero potential. Thus, protects the system and
equipment from damage.
Types of batteries
 Batteries are the most common power source for basic hand held
devices to large scale industrial applications. A battery can be
defined as; it is a combination of one or more electrochemical
cells that are capable of converting stored chemical energy into
electrical energy.
 2 Types of Batteries
 1) Primary Batteries:
 As the name indicates these batteries are meant for single
usage. Once these batteries are used they cannot be
recharged as the devices are not easily reversible and active
materials may not return to their original forms.
Battery manufacturers recommend against recharge of
primary cells.
 Some of the examples for the disposable batteries are the normal
AA, AAA batteries which we use in wall clocks, television
remote etc. Other name for these batteries is disposable
batteries.
 2) Secondary Batteries:
 Secondary batteries are also called as rechargeable batteries. These
batteries can be used and recharges simultaneously. They are usually
assembled with active materials with active in the discharged state.
Rechargeable batteries are recharged by applying electric current,
which reverses the chemical reactions that occur during discharge.
Chargers are devices which supply the required current.
 Some examples for these rechargeable batteries are the
batteries used in mobile phones, MP3 players etc. Devices such as
hearing aids and wristwatches use miniature cells and in places such
as telephone exchanges or computer data centre’s, larger batteries
are used.
 Types of Secondary (rechargeable) Batteries:
 Sealed maintenance free (SMF),
 Lead Acid battery,
 Lithium battery
 Nickel cadmium (Ni-cd)
 Lithium ion battery
 Characteristics and rating of a battery
1. Voltage of a battery

During charging: V = E +Ir

During Discharging: V = E – Ir
2. Capacity of a Battery: The capacity of a cell or a battery is essentially the number of atoms or
the amount of current or electrical energy that can be obtained from a cell/battery after it is fully
charged.
The Capacity of a cell is expressed in Ampere-hour because it is the integration of the current
supplied by the cell over time. A rated capacity of 10-AH of a cell means that if a current equal to
one ampere is drawn from the battery then it will last for 10 hours before it gets discharged.

3. Efficiency of a Battery

Efficiency =