Page 168 - Handbook of Electrical Engineering

SWITCHGEAR AND MOTOR CONTROL CENTRES 151

The worst-case condition of (7.1) is when φ o is zero, and if X equals X then the equation

q d
becomes:-
−t −t
 
−t
1 1 1 1 1
 cos(ωt) + V pk exp Ta
 T T 1 
− exp d + − exp d +
X X X X
I a = V pk 
d d d X d X d d
(7.2)
In some cases it is also necessary to consider the fault current contributed by motor consumers,
particularly if large synchronous motors are fed from the same busbars as the main generators or main
transformer infeeds, see Chapter 11. Induction motors contribute fault current during the sub-transient
period and so extra allowance must be made when calculating the making duty.
If generators are physically remote from the switchboard, e.g. interconnected by long cables
or overhead lines, then the impedance between the generators and the switchboard may be large
enough to swamp the sub-transient and transient current contributions, as well as reducing the DC
component effects.
It has become the established practice to specify circuit breaker and switchboard making and
breaking duty in kilo-amperes (kA) rather than mega-volt-amperes (MVA) which was earlier the case.
This is partly due to the variety of nominal voltages used by equipment purchasers. For example a
manufacturer may specify his equipment for a maximum continuous service voltage of 15 kV and yet
the user will operate it at 11 kV for a particular plant. The limiting factor in all cases is the current and its
associated mechanical forces. It is therefore more logical and practical to use current when specifying
fault duties. Since making duty is determined by the value of the fault current at the peak of the first cycle
it is customary to specify the ‘fault making capacity’ in terms of peak asymmetrical current (kA peak ).
It is necessary for the engineer to assess the amount of DC off-set appropriate at the time the peak of
the first cycle occurs. Table H.1b shows the properties of the fault current for different X-to-R ratios
(see also Chapter 11) shows how the decay of the DC component determines the ‘doubling factor’ of
the first cycle peak, and how the circuit X-to-R ratio determines the magnitude of the doubling effect.
High voltage switchgear suffers far more from DC off-set currents than low voltage switchgear. This
is due to the high X-to-R ratios that tend to occur at high voltages. At low voltages the X-to-R ratio
typically ranges between 1 and 4, and so the DC off-set can often be ignored in low voltage networks.
Figure 7.1 shows the worst-case current decrement waveform for a generator that has the
following data,
Rated MVA = 30.0
Rated power factor = 0.8 lagging
Rated line voltage = 11,000 volts
=2.5 pu
Synchronous reactance X d
Transient reactance X =0.3 pu
d
Sub-transient reactance X =0.25pu
d
Sub-transient reactance X =0.32pu
q
Transient time constant T d =1.08sec
Sub-transient time constant T d = 0.042 sec
= 0.375 sec
Armature time constant T a
(Note, T a was made 50% higher to show the effect more clearly in the graph).