Unit 4 System Design – Protection 35

Unit 4
System design – Protection

4.1. General
Installations are to be protected against over currents including short-circuits, and
other electrical faults. The tripping/ fault clearance times of the protective devices
are to provide complete and co-coordinated protection to ensure:
a) availability of essential and emergency services under fault conditions
through discriminative action of the protective devices; as far as
practicable the arrangements are also to secure the availability of other
services;
b) elimination of the fault to reduce damage to the system and hazard of fire.
Short-circuit and overload protection are to be provided in each non-earthed line
of each system of supply and distribution, unless exempted. Short circuit
protection is to be provided for each source of power and at each point at which a
distribution circuit branches into two or more subsidiary circuits. Where
protection for generator power circuits is provided at the associated switchboard,
the cabling between generator and switchboard is to be of a type, and installed in a
manner such as to minimize the risk of short-circuit.
Protection for battery circuits is to be provided at a position external and
adjacent to the battery compartments. Protection may be omitted from the
following:
a) Engine starting battery circuits.
b) Circuits for which it can be shown that the risk resulting from spurious
operation of the protective device may be greater than that resulting from a
fault.
Short circuit protection may be omitted from cabling or wiring to items of
equipment internally protected against short-circuit or where it can be shown that
they are unlikely to fail to a short-circuit condition and where the cabling or
wiring is installed in a manner such as to minimize the risk of short circuit.
Overloaded protection may be omitted from the following:
a) one line of circuits of the insulated type;
b) circuits supplying equipment incapable of being overloaded, or
overloading the associated supply cable, under normal conditions, and
unlikely to fail to an overload condition.

4.2. Protection against short-circuit

Protection against short-circuit currents is to be provided by circuit-breakers or
fuses. The rated short circuit making and breaking capacity of every protective
device is to be adequate for the prospective fault level at its point of installation;
the requirements for circuit breakers and fuses are detailed below.
36 English for Marine Electrical Engineering 3

The prospective fault current is to be calculated for the following set of

conditions:
a) all generators, motors and, where applicable, all transformers, connected
as far as permitted by any interlocking arrangements;
b) a fault of negligible impedance close up to the load side of the protective
device.
In the absence of precise data, the prospective fault current may be taken to be:
a) for alternating current systems at the main switchboard: 10 x f.l.c. (rated
full load current) for each generator that may be connected, or, if the sub
transient direct axis reactance, X”d, of each generator is known, f.l.c./ X”d
(p.u.) for each generator, and 3 x f.l.c. for motors simultaneously in
service;
b) battery-fed direct current systems at the battery terminals:
(i) 15 times ampere hour rating of the battery for vented lead-acid cells, or
of alkaline type intended for discharge at low rates corresponding to a
battery duration exceeding three hours, or
(ii) 30 times ampere hour rating of the battery for sealed lead-acid cells
having a capacity of 100 Ampere hours or more, or of alkaline type
intended for discharge at high rates corresponding to a battery duration
not exceeding three hours and,
(iii) 6 x f. l.c. for motors simultaneously in service (if applicable).

4.3. Protection against overload

Fuses, circuit breakers and other protective devices provided for overload
protection are to have fusing/tripping characteristics ensuring the protection of
cabling and electrical machinery against overheating resulting from mechanical or
electrical overload.
Fuses for a type intended for short-circuit protection only are not to be
used for overload protection.

4.4. Circuit-breakers
Circuit-breakers for alternating current systems are to satisfy the following
conditions:
a) the r.m.s. symmetrical breaking current for which the device is rated is to
be not less than the r.m.s. value of the a.c. component of the prospective
fault current, at the instant of contact separation;
b) the peak asymmetrical making current for which the device is rated is not
to be less than the peak value of the prospective fault current at the first
half cycle, allowing for maximum asymmetry;
c) the power factor at which the device short circuit ratings are assigned is to
be no greater than that of the prospective fault current; alternatively for
high voltage, the rated percentage d.c. component of the short-circuit
 Unit 4 System Design – Protection 37

breaking current of the device is to be not less than that of the prospective
fault current.
Circuit-breakers for d.c. systems are to have a breaking current not less than the
initial prospective fault current. The time constant of the fault current is not to be
greater than that for which the circuit-breaker was tested.

4.5. Fuses
Fuses for a.c. systems are to have a breaking current rating not less than the initial
r.m.s. value of the a.c. component of the prospective fault current. Fuses for d.c.
systems are to have a d.c. breaking current rating not less than the initial value of
the prospective fault current.

4.6. Circuit-breakers requiring back-up by fuse or other device

The use of circuit-breaker having a shot-circuit current capacity less than the
prospective short-circuit current at the point of installations permitted, provided
that it is preceded by a device having at least the necessary short-circuit capacity.
The generator circuit breakers are not to be used for this purpose.
The same device may back-up more than one circuit-breaker provided that
no essential or emergency service is supplied from there, or that any such service
is duplicated by arrangements unaffected by tripping of the device.
The combination of back-up device and circuit-breaker is to have a shot
circuit performance at least equal to that of a single circuit-breaker satisfying the
requirements of circuit breakers.
Evidence of testing of the combination is to be submitted for
consideration; alternatively, consideration may be given to arrangements where it
can be shown that:
a) the takeover current, above which the back-up device would clear a fault,
is not greater than the rated short-circuit breaking capacity of the circuit-
breaker and;
b) the characteristics of the back-up device, and the prospective fault level,
are such that the peak fault current rating of the circuit-breaker cannot be
exceeded and;
c) the Joule integral of the let-through current of the back-up device does not
exceed that corresponding to the rated breaking current and opening time
of the circuit-breaker.

4.7. Protection of generators

The protective gear is to be provided as a minimum. Generators not arranged to
run in parallel are to be provided with a circuit-breaker arranged to open
simultaneously, in the event of short-circuit, overload or under-voltage, all
insulated poles. In the case of generators rated at less than 50 kW, a multipole
linked switch with a fuse will be acceptable.
38 English for Marine Electrical Engineering 3

Generators arranged to operate in parallel are to be provided with a circuit-

breaker arrangement to open simultaneously, in the event of short-circuit,
overload or under-voltage, all insulated poles. This circuit-breaker is to be
provided reverse power protection with time delay, selected or set within the
limits of 2 percent to 15 per cent of full load to a value fixed in accordance with
the characteristics of the prime mover; a fall of 50 per cent in the applied voltage
is not to render the reverse power mechanism inoperative, although it may alter
the amount of reverse power required to open the breakers.
The generator circuit-breaker short circuit and overload tripping
arrangements, or fuse characteristics, are to be such that the machine’s thermal
withstand capability is not exceeded.

4.8. Load management

Arrangements are to be made to disconnect automatically, after an appropriate
time delay, circuits of the categories noted below, when the generator(s) is/are
overloaded; sufficient to ensure the connected generating set(s) is/are not
overloaded:
a) non-essential circuits;
b) circuits feeding services for habitability
c) in cargo ships, circuits for cargo refrigeration.
If required, this load switching may be carried out in one or more stages, in which
case the non-essential circuits are to be included in the first group to be
disconnected. Consideration is to be given to providing means to inhibit
automatically the starting of large motors, or the connection of other large loads,
until sufficient generating capacity is available to supply them.

4.9. Feeder circuits

Isolation and protection of each feeder circuit is to be ensured by a multipole
circuit-breaker or linked switch with a fuse in each insulated conductor. The
protective devices are to allow excess current to pass during the normal
accelerating period of motors.

4.10. Motor circuits

Motors of rating exceeding 0.5 kW and all motors for essential services are to be
protected individually against overload and short circuit. For motors which for
essential services are duplicated, the overload protection may be replaced by an
overload alarm. Protection for both the motor and its supply cable may be
provided by the same device, provided that due account is taken of any
differences between ratings of cable and motor. Where operation of an item of
equipment is dependent upon a number of motors, consideration may be given to
the provision of a common means of short circuit protection. For motors for
intermittent service, the characteristics of the arrangements for overload
 Unit 4 System Design – Protection 39

protection are to be chosen in relation to the load factor(s) of the motor(s). Where
fuses are used to protect polyphase motor circuits, means are to be provided to
protect the motor from unacceptable overcurrent in the case of single phasing.

4.11. Vocabulary
associated switchboard ~ tablou anex
back-up device ~ instrument/ mecanism de rezervă
battery-fed ~ alimentat la baterie
branch ~ a se ramifica; ramificaţie
breaking current rating ~ capacitatea curentului de rupere
cargo refrigeration ~ refrigerarea mărfii
electrical fault ~ scurtcircuit
exempted ~ exceptat
f.l.c. = rated full load current ~ curent de plină sarcină
fuse ~ siguranţă fuzibilă
fusing/tripping characteristics ~ caracteristici de declanşare
lead-acid cell ~ baterie pe bază de plumb
let-through current ~ current de trecere
making and breaking capacity ~ capacitate de întrerupere
multipole circuit-breaker ~ ruptor multipolar
multipole linked switch ~ întrerupător multipolar cuplat
non-essential circuit ~ circuit neesenţial
overcurrent ~ supracurent
overloaded protection ~ protecţie de supraîncărcare
peak asymmetrical making current ~ maximum asimetric al curentului de
închidere
power factor ~ factor de putere
r.m.s = root mean square ~ valoare efectivă
rated full load current ~ curent la capacitate maximă
reactance ~ reactanţă
secure ~ a asigura
spurious operation ~ funcţionare accidentală/ perturbatoare
subsidiary circuits ~ circuite auxiliare/ secundare
symmetrical breaking current ~ curent simetric de rupere
takeover current ~ curent de conectare
thermal withstand capability ~ capacitate de susţinere termică
time delay ~ întârziere
tripping/ fault clearance times ~ perioadă de reglare a declanşării
under-voltage ~ sub tensiune
40 English for Marine Electrical Engineering 3

TASK 1. Match the protection with the parts protected:

Protection type Protected parts

A a) Engine starting battery circuits. 1. The tripping/ fault clearance
b) Circuits for which it can be shown times of the protective devices are to
that the risk resulting from spurious provide complete and co-
operation of the protective device may coordinated protection to ensure:
be greater than that resulting from a
fault.
B. a) one line of circuits of the insulated 2. Protection for battery circuits is to
type; be provided at a position external
b) circuits supplying equipment and adjacent to the battery
incapable of being overloaded, or compartments. Protection may be
overloading the associated supply omitted from the following:
cable, under normal conditions, and
unlikely to fail to an overload
condition.
C. a) availability of essential and 3. Overloaded protection may be
emergency services under fault omitted from the following:
conditions through discriminative
action of the protective devices; as
far as practicable the arrangements
are also to secure the availability of
other services;
b) elimination of the fault to reduce
damage to the system and hazard of
fire.

4.12. Engineering - General Vocabulary.

The electric motor

Task 1 List as many items as you can in the home that use electric motors.

Task 2 Skim this text and identify the paragraphs which contain information on
each of these topics.
a What electric motors are used for
b The commutator
c Why the armature turns
d Electromagnets
e Effect of putting magnets together
 Unit 4 System Design – Protection 41

f The armature

In an electric motor an electric current and magnetic field produce a turning

movement. This can drive all sorts of machines, from wrist-watches to trains. The
motor from this text is for a washing machine. It is a universal motor, which can
run on direct current or alternating current.
An electric current running through a wire produces a magnetic field around
the wire. If an electric current flows around a loop of wire with a bar of iron
through it, the iron becomes magnetized. It is called an electromagnet; one end
becomes a north pole and the other a south pole, depending on which way the
current is flowing around the loop.
In a simple electric motor a piece of iron with loops wire round it, called an
armature, is placed between the north and the south poles of a stationary magnet,
known as the field magnet. When electricity flows around the armature wire, the
iron becomes an electromagnet.
The attraction and repulsion between the poles of this armature magnet and
the poles of the field magnet make the armature turn. As a result, its north pole is
close to the south pole of the field magnet. Then the current is reversed so the
north pole of the armature magnet becomes the south pole. Once again, the
attraction and repulsion between it and the field magnet it turns. The armature
continues turning as long as the direction of the current, and therefore its magnetic
poles, keeps being reversed.
To reverse the direction of the current, the ends of the armature wire are
connected to different halves of a split ring called a commutator. Current flows to
and from the commutator through small carbon blocks called brushes. As the
armature turns, first one half of the commutator comes into contact with the brush
delivering the current, and then the other, so the direction of the current keeps
being reversed.

Task 3 Explain each of these methods of connection: 1 screwed; 2 soldered; 3

attached; 4 wired; 5 bonded; 6 glued; 7 riveted; 8 welded; 9 brazed; 10 nailed.

4.13. Compound nouns

A compound noun is formed from two nouns, or an adjective and a noun. It is a

fixed expression that functions as a noun. They can be found in every day
conversation or different texts, so many of them are well known. Anyway, the
spelling should be checked because they can be written in one word, two words or
with a hyphen: earring, parking meter, T-shirt. Compound nouns can be
countable, uncountable or used either in the singular or in the plural. If both words
are understood, the meaning will usually be clear.
42 English for Marine Electrical Engineering 3

Some common countable nouns are: heart attack, assembly line, windscreen
wiper, handcuffs, etc.

Uncountable nouns cannot be used with ‘a/an’ article, and some examples are:
air-traffic control, data-processing, income tax, junk food, blood pressure,
food poisoning, mail order, hay fever, etc.

Some compound nouns can be used only in the singular: generation gap,
mother tongue, greenhouse effect, brain drain, death penalty, labour force,
sound barrier, etc.

Other compound nouns are used only in the plural, and some of the most
common are: luxury goods, road works, human rights, traffic lights, etc.

A large number of compound nouns are based on phrasal verbs, so they are
more difficult to be understood, although they are used more often:
walk-out ~ strike,
break-out ~ escape,
shake-up ~ change,
break-up ~ collapse,
takeover ~ purchase by another company,
cutbacks ~ reductions,
input ~ information that is put in,
output ~ production
turnover ~ change
breakthrough ~ important discovery

Compound nouns are very frequent in technical texts and sometimes the
meaning of the technical compounds is different from the general one:

over currents battery-fed

switchboard lead-acid
short-circuits electrical machinery
electrical faults circuit-breaker
emergency services prime mover
subsidiary circuits cargo ships

Exercises with compounds.

Exercise 1. Try to translate the compound terms from the table above.
 Unit 4 System Design – Protection 43

Exercise 2. Complete these definitions with the correct compound noun.

1. Your first language is also called your mother……………
2. Stories about the future are called science ……………..
3. The place where you buy tickets for the theatre or cinema is the box…….
4. Someone who looks after children when the parents are out is a baby-
……..
5. A long line of cars moving slowly is a traffic ………………….
6. The room where you eat meals is the …………. room.
7. Tax you pay on your salary is called ……………..tax.
8. Your sister’s husband or your husband’s brother is your ……….-in-
……….

Exercise 3 Add two more words in each group to form a compound noun.
1. traffic lights
traffic…….
traffic……….
2. box office
……………. office
…………… office
3. bedroom
………….room
………….room
4. brother-in-law
………………-in-law
……………-in-law

Exercise 4. Match a word from the left with a word from the right to form six
compound nouns.
1. first a. meter ………………………..
2. cheque b. machine ……………………….
3. film c. book ………………………..
4. washing d. paper …………………………
5. parking e. aid ………………………….
6. writing f. star ……………………………

Exercise 5 Complete the compound adjectives in these dialogues

1. A: Look at him. He’s famous, isn’t he?

B: Yes, he’s very well-_________.
2. A: What a handsome man!
B: Yes, he is good-________, isn’t he?
3. A: Do nurses earn a good salary?
44 English for Marine Electrical Engineering 3

B: No, they are badly -________.

4. A: Julie’s so relaxed, isn’t she?
B: Yes, I find her very easy-_________ too.
5. A: They’ve got plenty of money.
B: Yes, they’re not badly-________.
6. A: So you work all day?
B: Yes. It’s a full-_________ job.
7. A: That lady always looks so smart.
B: Yes, she’s very well-_________.
8. A: Those children are always so good.
B: Yes, they’re very well-_________.

Exercise 6 Re-order these words from sentences. Add a hyphen (-) where
necessary.

1. bill / I / yesterday / the / dollar / found / a / fifty / street / in

2. ten / to / it / a / drive / is / minute / only / office / my
3. delay / had / airport / hour / three / the / unfortunately / we / a / at
4. hotels / in / stay / star / movie / often / five / stars
5. a / child / can’t / year / understand / you / old /expect / three / to

Exercise 7 Complete the letter below with suitable compound adjectives from
the box.

badly-paid well-behaved part-time five-minutes four-month-

old easy-going south-west brand-new six-year-old well-off

Dear Martha,
Well, I’ve arrived in London and I’ve been incredibly lucky – I found a job the
day after I arrived here! I’ m staying with an English family and I’m looking
after the children. It’s only a (1) __________ job, so I’ll be free in the morning
and evenings. The family are really nice – very relaxed and (2) __________ and
the house is big and beautiful, so they are obviously quite (3) __________.
What’s more, they’ve got a (4) __________ car which I’m allowed to drive
when I’m collecting the children from school. There’s a (5) __________ baby
and (6) __________ twins who are very (7) ___________ children, which makes
life easy for me! The house is in (8) ___________ London, which is a very
pleasant area and it’s near Wimbledon – only a (9) ___________ walk from the
famous tennis club! The only problem is that looking after children is a (10)
__________ job, but I have got free accommodation. Why don’t you come and
see me?
Love, Erica
 Unit 4 System Design – Protection 45

Exercise 8 Fill the gaps with a suitable word.

1. I bought a second-_________ coat but unfortunately it’s very _________-

made.
2. The film was well-________ (Tom Cruise was brilliant), but very _________-
directed.
3. _________-handed people find it more difficult to use normal scissors.
4. he went out in the cold wearing only a short-_________ shirt.
5. He managed to find a seat in the first-_________ section of the plane.

Exercise 9 Express each of these ideas as a compound.

1 a board consisting of a number of panels;
2 material that does not allow water to get into it;
3 material that doesn’t allow rain to get into it;
4 a board consisting of a number of electrical switches;
5 conductors which are perfect, conducting a current without a battery;
6 material that will not be damaged in an explosion;
7 current which is greater than the load for which the system or mechanism was
intended;
8 material that does not allow dust to get into it.