Electrical Panel & Types of Electrical Panels:

Definition:

An electrical panel is nothing but a load control center. All the

electrical actions such as power distribution, power transmission,
power system protection are performed by using electrical panel only.
The electrical scheme (wiring diagram) will be established using
electrical panel & Electrical panels are the practical installation of
electrical wiring diagram. It consists of trip circuit, closing circuits,
busbars, cables, MCCBs, MCBs, MPCBs, NO & NCs, etc. Electrical
panels are ensuring the safe power distribution to the load. Electrical
panels are manufactured by rolled steel and well-shaped either
rectangle or square. Electrical panel are classified different types as
per application.

 PCC – Power control center

 MCC – Motor Control Center
 CP – Control Panel
 MLDB – Main Lighting Distribution board

PCC panel:

PCC is a short form of Power Control Center. This is a heart of the

control circuit. The output of the generators or transformers is given
to PCC. The major power circuit equipments will be installed in this
panel. It consists of Circuit breakers, Busbar, PTs (Potential
Transformer), CTs (Current Transformer), insulators etc. Major
protection circuits will be installed in this panel to protect
transformers, Motors, Generators etc. The output Power from the
PCC panel will be distributed to MCC panels via feeders.
MCC Panel:

MCC is a short form of Motor control center. It consists of Feeders.

And feeder contains motor’s starter, SFU, MCB, MCCB, MPCBs,
Control transformer, meters etc. Once you open the door of the MCC
panel doors you can access all the circuit breakers or fuses. Usually
one of these panels feeds all the circuits in the power plant or other
electrical applications but there may be a situation where there is
another “sub-panel” such as welding distribution board or lighting
distribution board serving a dedicated area.
Control Panel:

Control Panel consists of circuit control elements such as protecting

relays, meters, alarm circuits, PLCs, SMPS, Small power source, etc.
These panels will be placed near the maintenance operator’s place or
the operator will be monitored the control panel.
The panels will be of modular design with a horizontal /Vertical bus
bar chamber running at the top /bottom and the cable entry will be
from the bottom. Individual vertical bus bars will be provided for
feeding to the feeder modules at the rear side of the feeder chamber.
Complete metallic partition sheets will be provided between any two
adjacent vertical panels or horizontal feeders. The incomer chamber
will be located at the extreme end. All feeders’ chambers and the
cable chamber will be provided with hinged doors. For the bus bar
chamber, the inspection covers will be of bolted type. All of the
electrical accessories will be mounted on the front side of the panels.
Suitable cable core clamping arrangement will be provided in the
cable alley / chamber. Each feeder compartment will be provided with
suitable nameplate showing the panel details like SFU/MCCB rating
and the Starter along with the nomenclature of the equipment
connected
FABRICATION DETAILS: An integral metal base channel of
requested size will be provided. All of the Gland plates will be of
requested SWG CR sheet. The gland plates will be suitable for fixing
Siemens type single compression glands as per the cable schedule.
The doors will be provided with neoprene gaskets. Requested SWG
CR will be used for compartments partitions inside the panel board.
Suitable ventilation louvers will be provided onto the vertical and
horizontal bus bar chambers to facilitate free circulation of air.
PAINTING: All sheet steel parts will be subjected to a finishing
process known as “7 TANK PROCESS” consisting of chemical
degreasing,

pickling, phosphate by Chemical Washing and finally finished with

powder coating and baked in oven. The finishing will be elegant and
enduring.

CIRCUIT BREAKERS:

A circuit breaker is an equipment which can open or close a circuit

under all conditions viz. no load, full load and fault conditions. It is so
designed that it can be operated manually (or by remote control)
under normal conditions and automatically under fault conditions. For
the latter operation, a relay circuit is used with a circuit breaker.

Types of Low Voltage Circuit Breakers

*MCBs

*MCCBs

*ACBs

 
1. Miniature Circuit Breaker

A miniature circuit breaker (MCB) automatically switches off

electrical circuit during an abnormal condition of the network means
in overload condition as well as faulty condition. Nowadays we use
an MCB in low voltage electrical network instead of a fuse. The fuse
may not sense it but the miniature circuit breaker does it in a more
reliable way. MCB is much more sensitive to over-current than fuse.
Handling an MCB is electrically safer than a fuse. Quick restoration
of supply is possible in case of a fuse as because fuses must be re-
wirable or replaced for restoring the supply. Restoration is easily
possible by just switching it ON.

• The working principle of MCB

Whenever continuous over-current flows through MCB, the

bimetallic strip is heated and deflects by bending. This deflection of
bimetallic strip releases a mechanical latch. As this mechanical latch
is attached with the operating mechanism, it causes to open the
miniature circuit breaker contacts, and the MCB turns off thereby
stopping the current to flow in the circuit. To restart the flow of
current the MCB must be manually turned ON. This mechanism
protects from the faults arising due to over-current or overload.

But during short circuit condition, the current rises suddenly, causing
electromechanical displacement of plunger associated with a tripping
coil or solenoid. The plunger strikes the trip lever causing immediate
release of latch mechanism consequently open the circuit breaker
contacts. This was a simple explanation of a miniature circuit breaker
working principle.
An MCB is very simple, easy to use and is not generally repaired. It is
just easier to replace. The trip unit is the main part, responsible for its
proper working. There are two main types of trip mechanism. A bi-
metal provides protection against overload current and an
electromagnet provides protection against short-circuit current.

• Advantages of MCBs over Fuse

1. Easily identify the faulty zone of an electrical circuit

2. Simple to resume supply
3. Better interface: Knob
4. Electrically safer
5. More sensitive to current than the fuse
6. Less maintenance and replacement cost.

• Disadvantages of MCBs

✓ Only disadvantage over fuse is, this device is costly

2. Moulded Case Circuit Breaker

Molded case circuit breakers are a type of electrical protection device

that is commonly used when load currents exceed the capabilities of
miniature circuit breakers. They are also used in applications of any
current rating that require adjustable trip settings, which are not
available in plug-in circuit breakers and MCBs.

The traditional molded-case circuit breaker uses electromechanical

(thermal magnetic) trip units that may be fixed or interchangeable. An
MCCB provides protection by combining a temperature sensitive
device with a current sensitive electromagnetic device. Both these
devices act mechanically on the trip mechanism.

As with most types of circuit breakers, an MCCB has three main

functions:
• Protection against overload – currents above the rated value that
last longer than what is normal for the application.

• Against electrical faults – During a fault such as a short circuit or

line fault, there are extremely high currents that must be interrupted
immediately.

• Switching a circuit on and off – This is a less common function of

circuit breakers, but they can be used for that purpose if there isn’t an
adequate manual switch.

• Molded Case Circuit Breaker Operating Mechanism

At its core, the protection mechanism employed by MCCBs is based

on the same physical principles used by all types of thermal-magnetic
circuit breakers.

• Overload protection is accomplished by means of a thermal

mechanism. MCCBs have a bimetallic contact what expands and
contracts in response to changes in temperature. Under normal
operating conditions, the contact allows electric current through the
MCCB. However, as soon as the current exceeds the adjusted trip
value, the contact will start to heat and expand until the circuit is
interrupted. The thermal protection against overload is designed with
a time delay to allow short duration over-current, which is a normal
part of operation for many devices. However, any over-current
conditions that last more than what is normally expected represent an
overload, and the MCCB is tripped to protect the equipment and
personnel.

Air Circuit Breaker (ACB) is an electrical protection device used for

short circuit and overcurrent protection up to 15kV with amperes
rating of 800A to 6000A. It operates in air (where air-blast as an arc
quenching medium) at atmospheric pressure to protect the connected
electric circuits. ACB has completely replaced by oil circuit breaker
because it is still a preferable choice to use an ACB because, there is
no chance of oil fire like in oil circuit breaker.
1. OFF button (O)
2. ON button (I)
3. Main contact position indicator
 4. Energy storage mechanism status indicator
5. Reset Button
6. LED Indicators
7. Controller
8. “Connection”, “Test” and “isolated” position stopper (the
three-position latching/locking mechanism)
9. User-supplied padlock
10. Connection “,” Test “and” separation “of the position
indication
11. Connection (CE) Separation, (CD) Test (CT) Position
indication contacts
12. Rated Name Plate
13. Digital Displays
14. Mechanical energy storage handle
15. Shake (IN/OUT)
16. Rocker repository
17. Fault trip reset button

The working principle of Air Circuit breaker is rather different from

other types of circuit breaker. The main aim of circuit breaker is to
prevent reestablishment of arcing after current zero where the contact
gap will withstand the system recovery voltage. It does it same work,
but in a different manner. During interruption of arc, it creates an arc
voltage instead of supply voltage. Arc voltage is defined as the
minimum voltage required for maintaining arc .The circuit breaker
increases the voltage in three different ways:
 Arc voltage can be increased by cooling arc plasma. As soon
as the temperature of arc plasma motion of particle in arc
plasma is reduced, more voltage gradient will be required to
maintain the arc.
 By splitting the arc into a number of series will increases the
arc voltage.
 Arc voltage can be increased by lengthening the arc path. As
soon length of arc path is increased the resistance path will
increase more arc voltage is applied across the arc path hence
arc voltage is increased.
It is operated within voltage level up to 1 KV. It contains two pairs of
contact. The main pair carries the current and the contact made of
copper. An additional pair of contact is made of carbon. When the
breaker is opened, the main contact opens first. During opening of the
main contact, the arc contact remains in touch with each other. The
arcing gets initiated when arc contacts are separated. The circuit
breaker is obsolete for medium voltage. 

BUS BARS : Three phase and neutral requested bus bars will be
provided. They will be of uniform cross section throughout the panel
with continuous current rating of 0.8 Amps/Sq mm for aluminium ,1.2
Amps/Sq mm for copper. The bus bar conductors will be supported
by tough, non-hygroscopic, resin bonded self extinguishing fire
retardant insulators of SMC / DMC type firmly fitted to the
framework of the panel. Cadmium coated fasteners will be used for
the bus bar joints.Suitable heat shrinking sleeves will be provided for
the bus bar conductors with colour coding.

All live parts will be shrouded with non-deteriorating

insulating barrier to prevent against accidental contact. Provision for

expansion with necessary hardware and fishplates will be provided
onto the Horizontal bus bar chamber at the top. Suitable ventilating
louvers will be provided in the bus bar chamber. These louvers will be
provided with brass mesh to prevent entry of vermin.

EARTHING: AL. Earth Bus bars of required size will be provided

throughout the length of the panel.Within the panel board, all the
switchgear bodies will be duly connected to the earth bus bars.
Provision for connection to the plant earth grid will be provided at
both the ends of the panel. All hinged doors with electrical
accessories will be provided with flexible copper earth connections.

WIRING:
Wiring of the control circuits will be carried out with 1.5 Sq mm size
of 660/1100V grade multi strand single core copper flexible wires. All
CT wiring will be carried out with 2.5 Sq mm wires. Inter connections
in the starter and SDF feeders’ up to 63 Amps rating will be carried
out with suitable rated copper conductor multi strand wires. Above 63
Amps rating, Al. bus bars will be provided for interconnections. All
the control wires at the terminal block will be identified properly by
providing suitable number / letter ferrules. All the power wires will be
identified properly by providing suitable PVC color-coded sleeves.