MCB (Miniature Circuit

Breaker)
CHARACTERISTICS
Rated current not
more than 100 A.
Trip characteristics
normally not
adjustable.
Thermal or
thermal-magnetic
operation.

Air Circuit Breaker

Rated current up to 10,000 A.
Trip characteristics often fully
adjustable including
configurable trip thresholds
and delays.
Usually electronically
controlledsome models are
microprocessor controlled.
Often used for main power
distribution in large industrial
plant, where the breakers are
arranged in draw-out
enclosures for ease of
maintenance.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

With rated current up
to 3000 A,
These breakers
interrupt the arc in a
vacuum bottle.
These can also be
applied at up to 35,000
V. Vacuum circuit
breakers tend to have
longer life expectancies
between overhaul than
do air circuit breakers.

RCD (Residual Current Device /

RCCB(Residual Current Circuit Breaker)
Phase (line) and Neutral both wires connected
through RCD.
It trips the circuit when there is earth fault current.
The amount of current flows through the phase (line)
should return through neutral .
It detects by RCD. any mismatch between two
currents flowing through phase and neutral detect by
-RCD and trip the circuit within 30Miliseconed.
If a house has an earth system connected to an
earth rod and not the main incoming cable, then it
must have all circuits protected by an RCD (because
u mite not be able to get enough fault current to trip
a MCB)
RCDs are an extremely effective form of shock
protection.
The most widely used are 30 mA (milliamp) and 100
mA devices. A current flow of 30 mA (or 0.03 amps)
is sufficiently small that it makes it very difficult to
receive a dangerous shock. Even 100 mA is a
relatively small figure when compared to the current
that may flow in an earth fault without such
protection (hundred of amps)
A 300/500 mA RCCB may be used where only fire
protection is required. eg., on lighting circuits, where
the risk of electric shock is small.

MCCB (Moulded Case Circuit Breaker)

Rated current up to
1000 A.
Trip current may be
adjustable.
Thermal or
thermal-magnetic
operation

MCB Selection
he first characteristic is the overload which is intended to prevent the accidental
overloading of the cable in a no fault situation. The speed of the MCB tripping will
vary with the degree of the overload. This is usually achieved by the use of a thermal
device in the MCB.
The second characteristic is the magnetic fault protection, which is intended to
operate when the fault reaches a predetermined level and to trip the MCB within one
tenth of a second. The level of this magnetic trip gives the MCB its type characteristic
as follows:
Type Tripping Current Operating Time
Type B 3 To 5 time full load current
0.04 To 13 Sec
Type C 5 To 10 times full load current 0.04 To 5 Sec
Type D 10 To 20 times full load current 0.04 To 3 Sec
The third characteristic is the short circuit protection, which is intended to protect
against heavy faults maybe in thousands of amps caused by short circuit faults.
The capability of the MCB to operate under these conditions gives its short circuit
rating in Kilo amps (KA). In general for consumer units a 6KA fault level is adequate
whereas for industrial boards 10KA fault capabilities or above may be required.

Fuse and MCB characteristics

Fuses and MCBs are rated in amps. The amp rating given on the fuse or MCB body is the
amount of current it will pass continuously. This is normally called the rated current or
nominal current.
Many people think that if the current exceeds the nominal current, the device will trip,
instantly. So if the rating is 30 amps, a current of 30.00001 amps will trip it, right? This is not
true.
The fuse and the MCB, even though their nominal currents are similar, have very different
properties.
For example, For 32Amp MCB and 30 Amp Fuse, to be sure of tripping in 0.1 seconds, the
MCB requires a current of 128 amps, while the fuse requires 300 amps.
The fuse clearly requires more current to blow it in that time, but notice how much
biggerboththese currents are than the 30 amps marked current rating.
There is a small likelihood that in the course of, say, a month, a 30-amp fuse will trip when
carrying 30 amps. If the fuse has had a couple of overloads before (which may not even have
been noticed) this is much more likely. This explains why fuses can sometimes blow for no
obvious reason
If the fuse is marked 30 amps, but it will actually stand 40 amps for over an hour, how can
we justify calling it a 30 amp fuse? The answer is that the overload characteristics of fuses
are designed to match the properties of modern cables. For example, a modern PVCinsulated cable will stand a 50% overload for an hour, so it seems reasonable that the fuse
should as well.

Motor Protection Circuit

Breakers