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current duties of circuit breakers and fuses. In Part 1, well use a simplified power
system to illustrate the methodologies for medium-voltage circuit breakers and fuses.
In Part 2, well do the same for low-voltage circuit breakers and fuses.
Its important to note that this discussion is intended only to illustrate (by way of
example) the ANSI methodologies to find the short circuit current duties to select the
short circuit withstand and interrupting capabilities of ANSI-rated circuit breakers
and fuses. Other ratings and application considerations beyond the scope of these
two articles must be considered for the proper selection of circuit breakers and fuses.
The reader is directed to the latest editions of the applicable ANSI/IEEE C37
standards, cited in the references of Chapter 10 of the IEEE Violet Book (IEEE Std
551-2006), for complete coverage.
Background
A short circuit fault is an unintentional phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground
connection in an electrical system that is caused by insulation breakdown,
equipment malfunction, or human error. Oftentimes, the short circuit fault causes an
extremely high level of current to flow; and (1) electrical equipment must be capable
of withstanding the extreme mechanical and thermal stresses associated with the
short circuit current, and (2) interrupting devices must be capable of quickly and
safely interrupting the short circuit current. Inadequate short circuit withstand or
interrupting capability can lead to catastrophic failure of equipment, posing a threat
to facility operations (i.e., electrical outage, infrastructure damage, or fire) and
personnel (i.e., electric shock, burns, physical trauma, or death).
Figure 1 (above) illustrates a typical short circuit current waveform for one phase of
a 3-phase synchronous generator, previously unloaded, which has been subjected to
a bolted 3-phase short circuit across its accessible terminals. The asymmetrical short
circuit current waveform can be broken down into two components: 1) a
unidirectional (DC) component; and 2) a symmetrical alternating (AC) component.
The DC component exponentially decays to zero, while the envelope of the
symmetrical AC component eventually decays to a constant amplitude sine wave in
the steady-state. The rate of exponential decay (or time constant) of the DC
component is related to the short circuit X/R ratio, where X and R are the equivalent
reactance and resistance at the fault location, respectively. To simplify analysis,
steady-state AC circuit theory is exploited to calculate a worst-case (initial) rootmean-square (rms) magnitude of the symmetrical AC component to characterize a
particular time interval of the fault-on time period. To simplify verbiage, the
expression worst-case (initial) root-mean-square (rms) magnitude of the
symmetrical AC component is hereafter shortened to symmetrical rms current.
Three types of networks are used to represent the power system over three time
intervals of the fault-on time period. The first-cycle (momentary) network
characterizes the first few cycles (at 60 Hz) of the fault-on time period. For this
network, the AC motors and generators are modeled by first-cycle or subtransient
reactances, and steady-state AC circuit analysis is used to calculate the first-cycle
(momentary) symmetrical rms current. To account for the DC component of the
short circuit current waveform, the first-cycle (momentary) symmetrical rms current
is multiplied by an appropriate multiplying factor (MF) to yield the first-cycle
(momentary) short circuit current duty; and first-cycle (momentary) short circuit
duties must not exceed: (i) closing and latching (momentary) capabilities of mediumvoltage circuit breakers, (ii) interrupting capabilities of medium-voltage fuses, (iii)
interrupting capabilities of low-voltage circuit breakers, and (iv) interrupting
capabilities of low-voltage fuses. The contact-parting (interrupting) network is used
to calculate the contact-parting (interrupting) symmetrical rms current for mediumvoltage circuit breaker minimum contact-parting times of 1.5 to 4 cycles after the
inception of the short circuit fault. For this network, the AC motors and generators
are represented by different (same or larger) constant reactances than those for the
first-cycle (momentary) network. To account for the DC component of the short
circuit current waveform, the contact-parting (interrupting) symmetrical rms current
Finally, it should be mentioned that the bolted 3-phase fault represents the worstcase condition at every bus of this example, insofar as contact-parting (interrupting)
short circuit current duty is concerned. Generally speaking, the bolted single line-toground fault could represent the worst-case condition, and the methodologies to
calculate contact-parting (interrupting) duty will differ from those described below.
[For an example of this case, the reader is directed to Sec. 5.3 of ANSI/IEEE
C37.010-1979 for the older constant MVA rated medium-voltage circuit breakers and
Sec. 6.3 of IEEE Std C37.010-1999 (R2005) for the newer constant kA rated
medium-voltage circuit breakers.]
Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers
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[The reader is directed to Chapters 9 and 10 of the IEEE Violet Book (IEEE Std 5512006) for detailed coverage of these procedures.]
First-Cycle Duty (Constant MVA Rated Breakers)
First-cycle (momentary) duty of Bus 2 medium-voltage breakers = MF Bus 2 firstcycle (momentary) symmetrical rms current = 1.6 8.920kA = 14.272kA
(asymmetrical rms)
The closing and latching (momentary) withstand capabilities of constant MVA rated
medium-voltage circuit breakers in rms kA must exceed the first-cycle duty in
asymmetrical rms kA.
Note: MF = 1.6 is applicable whenever the first-cycle short circuit X/R ratio is less
than or equal to 25. If the first-cycle short circuit X/R ratio exceeds 25, the following
formula can be used to calculate the MF.
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IEEE Buff Book (IEEE Std 242-2001) for broader coverage of high-voltage power
and distribution fuses.
E-rated power fuses are available as both expulsion and current-limiting types, while
R-rated power fuses are available only as current-limiting type. E-rated currentlimiting power fuses afford protection of power transformers, voltage (or potential)
transformers, and capacitor banks; while R-rated power fuses afford short circuit
protection in medium-voltage motor controllers. For symmetrical-current-rated
power fuses, the first-cycle symmetrical rms current can be directly compared to the
rated symmetrical interrupting capabilities in a manufacturers table only if the firstcycle short circuit X/R ratio at the fault point (i.e., source side of the power fuse) is 15
or less. In this context, symmetrical-current-rated implies that an MF to account
for the DC component is unnecessary to adjust the first-cycle symmetrical rms
current whenever the first-cycle short circuit X/R ratio is less than or equal to 15,
because a certain degree of asymmetry is built into the rating structure. If the firstcycle short circuit X/R ratio exceeds 15, the manufacturer should be consulted for
derating (reduction) of the published rated symmetrical interrupting capabilities. For
the example at hand, the last statement applies, since the first-cycle short circuit X/R
ratio for a 3-phase fault at Bus 4 is 16.4.
Mercede, P.E., is principal of Mercede Engineering LLC, based in Bryn Mawr, Pa.
He can be reached at fmercede@mercedeengineering.com.
Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers
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