10/17/2016

InterviewQuestionOnCircuitBreakerAndRelay|ElectricalLive

InterviewQuestionOnCircuitBreakerAndRelay
electricallive.com/2015/02/interviewquestiononcircuitbreaker.html

Q.Explaindifferenttypesoffaults?
A.ShuntFaults:Basicallyshuntfaultsareshortcircuits.Whenthepathoftheloadcurrentiscutshortbecause
ofbreakdownofinsulation,wesaythata'shortcircuit'hasoccurredwhichisnothingbutashuntfault.
SeriesFaults:Seriesfaultsarenothingbutabreakinthepathofcurrent.Itisobservedinpracticethatmostof
theopenconductorfaultssoonerorlaterdevelopintosomeortheothershortcircuitfault.

Q.Whatarethevariousstatesofoperationofapowersystem?
A.Normal,Alert,Emergency,InextremisandRestorative.

Q.ExplaintheworkingofaCurrenttransformer?
A.Thecurrenttransformerhastwojobstodo.Firstly,itstepsdownthecurrenttosuchalevelthatitcanbe
easilyhandledbytherelaycurrentcoil.Secondly,itisolatestherelaycircuitryfromthehighvoltageoftheEHV
system.ACTwhoseprimaryisinserieswiththelineinwhichcurrentistobemeasured.

Q.WhythesecondaryofaCTshouldnotbeopen?
A.IfthesecondaryofaCTisopencurrentthroughitiszeroandhencetheampereturnsproducedby
secondarywhichgenerallyopposetheprimaryampereturnsbecomeszero.Asthereisnocounterm.m.f,
primarym.m.fproduceshighfluxinthecorewhichleadstoexcessivecorelossesandoverheating.

Q.ExplaintheworkingofaPotentialtransformer?
A.Thevoltagetransformerorpotentialtransformerstepsdownthehighvoltageofthelinetoalevelsafe
enoughfortherelayingsystem(pressurecoilofrelay)andpersonneltohandle.APTprimaryisconnectedin
parallelatthepointwhereameasurementisdesired.

Q.Explaintheworkingprincipalofthecircuitbreaker?
A.Thecircuitbreakerisanelectricallyoperatedswitch,whichiscapableofsafelymaking,aswellasbreaking,
shortcircuitcurrents.Ithastwocontactsnamelyfixedcontact&movingcontact.Undernormalconditionsthe
movingcontactcomesincontactwithfixedcontacttherebyformingtheclosedcontactfortheflowofcurrent.
Duringabnormal&faultyconditions(whencurrentexceedstheratedvalue)anarcisproducedbetweenthe
fixed&movingcontacts&therebyitformstheopencircuitarcisextinguishedbytheArcQuenchingmedialike
air,oil,vacuumetc.

Q.Whatarethedifferenttypesofcircuitbreakers?
A.1.AirBreakCircuitBreaker
2.OilCircuitBreaker
3.MinimumOilCircuitBreaker
4.AirBlastCircuitBreaker
5.VacuumCircuitBreaker
6.SF6CircuitBreaker

Q.WhatisSF6CircuitBreaker?Itsadvantages?

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InterviewQuestionOnCircuitBreakerAndRelay|ElectricalLive

A.IfSF6(SulpherHexaFluoride)gasisusedasarcquenchingmediuminaCircuitbreaker,itistermedasSF6
CB.SF6gashassuperiorarcquenchingcapacityandhighdielectricstrength.So,theyhaveveryshortarcing
timeandcaninterrupthighcurrents.

Q.Whatismeantbyreachpointoftherelay?
A.Thefarthestpointfromtherelaylocation,whichisstillinsidethezoneofprotection,iscalledthereachpoint.

Q.Whatisdifferencebetweenfuseandbreaker?
A.Fusesareburntwhenovercurrentflowsinthecircuitbutcircuitbreakerswilljustopenduringovercurrent.
Thusfusesareusedforonlyoncebutbreakerscanusedbymultiplenumberoftimes.

Q.Whatisthedifferencebetweenisolatorsandelectricalcircuitbreakers?
A.Isolatorsaremainlyforswitchingpurposeundernormalconditionsbuttheycannotoperateinfaultconditions.
ActuallytheyusedforisolatingtheCBsformaintenance.WhereasCBgetsactivatedunderfaultconditions
accordingtothefaultdetected.

Q.ExplaintheworkingofanOvercurrentrelayandmentionthetypesofit?
A.Anovercurrent(OC)relayhasasingleinputintheformofaccurrent.Theoutputoftherelayisanormally
opencontact,whichchangesovertoclosedstatewhentherelaytrips.Therelayhastwosettings.Thesearethe
timesettingandtheplugsetting.Thetimesettingdecidestheoperatingtimeoftherelaywhiletheplugsetting
decidesthecurrentrequiredfortherelaytopickup.
Types:
1.InstantaneousOvercurrentRelay
2.DefiniteTimeOvercurrentRelay
3.InverseTimeOvercurrentRelay

Q.ExplaintheworkingofanIDMTrelay?
A.InanIDMT(inversedefiniteminimumtime)relay,theoperatingprincipleisbasedontheideathatwiththe
moresevereafaultis,thefasteritshouldbeclearedtoavoiddamagetotheapparatus.Itisinverseinthe
sense,thetrippingtimewilldecreaseasthemagnitudeoffaultcurrentincrease.

Q.Howtoselectthepickupvalueofarelay?
A.Wecansetthepickupvalueoftherelay,keepinginmindthattherelayshouldallownormalloadaswellasa
certaindegreeofoverloadtobesupplied.Thusthepickupvalueoftherelayshouldbemorethantheallowable
maximumload.Atthesametime,therelayshouldbesensitiveenoughtorespondtothesmallestfault.Thus,
thepickupvalueshouldbelessthanthesmallestfaultcurrent.

Q.Howtosettheoperatingtimeofarelay?
A.Arelaymustgetanadequatechancetoprotectthezoneunderitsprimaryprotection.Onlyiftheprimary
protectiondoesnotclearthefault,thebackupprotectionshouldinitiatetripping.Thusassoonasthefaulttakes
place,itissensedbyboththeprimaryandthebackupprotection.
Naturallytheprimaryprotectionisthefirsttooperate,itsoperatingtimebeinglessthanthatofthebackup
relay.Wehavetoallowfortheovershootoftheprimaryrelay,sothatthereispropercoordinationbetweenthe
primaryandthebackup.

Q.WhendoweuseIDMTrelaysandDTOCrelays?
A.IDMTrelayshavebetterfaultclearingtimesoverDTOCrelays.But,DTOCrelaysareusedforlineswhichare
shortinlengthasZs>>ZlandIfremainsalmostsame.
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