Free Expert Guides on Power Systems, Circuit Design & Electrical Troubleshooting

What is an Oil Circuit Breaker?Oil circuit breaker definitionThe oil circuit breaker is an early type of high voltage circuit breaker that uses insulating oil as an arc extinguishing medium and an insulating medium.Structure Underframe Insulator Transmission system Conducting system Contact Arc suppressing chamberWorking principleThe working principle of the oil circuit breaker is based on the insulation characteristics and arc extinguishing ability of the oil. When the circuit breaker needs to

What is a Vacuum Switchgear ?Vacuum Switchgear DefinitionVacuum switchgear is defined as a type of electrical switchgear that uses a vacuum as the arc quenching medium, providing high reliability and low maintenance.Dielectric StrengthVacuum switchgear offers high dielectric strength, allowing for smaller contact gaps and effective arc quenching.Low Arc EnergyThe energy dissipated during arcing in vacuum switchgear is much lower than in other types, resulting in minimal contact erosion.Simple Dr

What is Indoor Switchgear ?Indoor Switchgear DefinitionIndoor switchgear is defined as a type of electrical switchgear enclosed in a grounded metal case, commonly used for medium voltages.Indoor Switchgear Classification Metal-enclosed indoor switchgear. Metal-clad indoor switchgearGas-Insulated SystemsIndoor switchgear often uses GIS, insulated with SF6 gas, which has superior dielectric properties compared to air.Metal-Clad SwitchgearThis type of indoor switchgear is highly customizable and us

Before going through details of arc quenching or arc extinction technologies employed in circuit breaker we should know first what is arc actually.What is an Arc?During opening of current carrying contacts in a circuit breaker the medium in between opening contacts become highly ionized through which the interrupting current gets low resistive path and continues to flow through this path even the contacts are physically separated. During the flowing of current from one contact to other the path

Electrical FuseIn the normal working condition of the electrical network, the current flowing through the network is within the rated limit. If a fault occurs in the network mainly phase to phase short circuit fault or phase to ground fault, the network current crosses the rated limits.This high current may have a very high thermal effect which will cause permanent damage to the valuable pieces of equipment connected to the electrical network. So this high fault current should be interrupted as

Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker or ELCBAn Earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) is a safety device used in electrical installations (both residential and commercial) with high Earth impedance to prevent electric shocks. It detects small stray voltages on the metal enclosures of electrical equipment, and interrupts the circuit if a dangerous voltage is detected.ELCBs help detect current leaks and insulation failures in the electrical circuits that would cause electrical shocks to anyone coming into

What is MCB?A Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) is an automatically operated electrical switch used to protect low voltage electrical circuits from damage caused by excess current from an overload or short circuit. MCBs are typically rated up to a current up to 125 A, do not have adjustable trip characteristics, and can be thermal or thermal-magnetic in operation.Fuse vs MCBNowadays miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) are much more commonly used in low voltage electrical networks instead of fuses. T

Dielectric materials are basically basic and pure electrical insulators. By applying a sensible electrical field, the dielectric gases can be polarised. Vacuum, Solids, Liquids and Gases can be a dielectric material. A dielectric gas is also called as an insulating gas. It is a dielectric material in gaseous state which can prevent electrical discharge. Dry air, Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) etc are the examples of gaseous dielectric materials.Gaseous dielectrics are not practically free of electri

We often come across a situation where we want to switch on the electrical load by pressing some buttons on a computer program. Consider an example, where you are sitting in a power plant and you want to switch on a circuit breaker remotely. Controlling circuit breakers from a remote location can be achieved by using Microcontroller. We’ll discuss how to make a Remote Control Circuit Breaker Using a Microcontroller.For this remote-controlled circuit breaker we will need: Microcontroller (such as

When there is a short circuit fault in the electrical system, a huge short circuit current flows through the system including the circuit breaker (CB) contacts, unless the fault is cleared by tripping the CB. When the short circuit current flows through the CB, the different current carrying parts of the circuit breaker are subjected to huge mechanical and thermal stresses.If the conducting parts of the CB do not have sufficient cross-sectional area, there may be a chance of dangerously high tem