1

General Concept of Fuses in Electrical

Power System
by

ENGR. MUHAMMAD SHAFIQ

(M.SC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING)
EX - COSULTANT NESPAK
Rtd.GENERAL MANAGER (SYSTEM PROTECTION) NTDCL

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Fuses
A fuse is a short piece of metal, inserted in the circuit, which melts
when excessive current flows through it and thus breaks the circuit. The
fuse element is generally made of materials having low melting point,
high conductivity and least deterioration due to oxidation e.g., silver,
copper etc. It is inserted in series with the circuit to be protected.
Figure given below shows a typical fuse
Operation of a fuse
• Under normal operating conditions, the fuse element is at a temperature
below its melting point. Therefore, it carries the normal current without
overheating. However, when a short-circuit or overload occurs, the current
through the fuse increases beyond its rated value. This raises the
temperature and fuse element melts (or blows out), disconnecting the circuit
protected by it. In this way, a fuse protects the machines and equipment
from damage due to excessive currents.
• The time required to blow out the fuse depends upon the magnitude of
excessive current. The greater the current, the smaller is the time taken by
the fuse to blow out. Such a characteristic permits its use for overcurrent
protection
• Discrimination between two fuses is said to occur if on the occurrence of a
short-circuit or overcurrent fault, only the desired fuse operates.
Operation Time
Advantages
(i) It is the cheapest form of protection available.
(ii) It requires no maintenance.
(iii) Its operation is inherently completely automatic unlike a circuit breaker
which requires an elaborate equipment for automatic action.
(iv) It can break heavy short-circuit currents without noise or smoke.
(v) The smaller sizes of fuse element impose a current limiting effect under
short-circuit conditions.
(vi) The inverse time-current characteristic of a fuse makes it suitable for
overcurrent protection.
(vii)The minimum time of operation can be made much shorter than with the
circuit breakers.
Disadvantages
(i) Considerable time is lost in rewiring or replacing a fuse after
operation.
(ii) On heavy short-circuits,discrimination between fuses in series
cannot be obtained unless there is sufficient difference in the sizes
of the fuses concerned.
(iii) The current-time characteristic of a fuse cannot always be co-
related with that of the protected apparatus.
Desirable Characteristics of Fuse Element
The function of a fuse is to carry the normal current without overheating but
when the current exceeds its normal value, it rapidly heats up to melting point and
disconnects the circuit protected by it. In order that it may perform this function
satisfactorily, the fuse element should have the following desirable characteristics :
(i) low melting point e.g., tin, lead.
(ii) high conductivity e.g., silver, copper.
(iii) free from deterioration due to oxidation e.g., silver.
(iv) low cost e.g., lead, tin, copper.
The above discussion reveals that no material possesses all the characteristics. For
instance, lead has low melting point but it has high specific resistance and is liable
to oxidation. Similarly, copper has high conductivity and low cost but oxidises
rapidly. Therefore, a compromise is made in the selection of material for a fuse
Fuse Element Materials

• The most commonly used materials for fuse element are lead, tin, copper, zinc and silver. For small
currents upto 10 A, tin or an alloy of lead and tin (lead 37%, tin 63%) is used for making the fuse
element.
• For larger currents, copper or silver is employed. It is a usual practice to tin the copper to protect it
from oxidation. Zinc (in strip form only) is good if a fuse with considerable time-lag is required i.e., one
which does not melt very quickly with a small overload. The present trend is to use silver despite its
high cost due to the following reasons :
(i) It is comparatively free from oxidation.
(ii) It does not deteriorate when used in dry air.
(iii) The coefficient of expansion of silver is so small that no critical fatigue occurs. Therefore, the fuse
element can carry the rated current continuously for a long time.
(iv) The conductivity of silver is very high.
(v) Due to comparatively low specific heat and the fact that the resistance of silver increases abruptly as
the melting temperature is reached, operation of silver fuses becomes very much faster at higher
currents.
(vi) Short-circuit current is quickly interrupted
Important Terms
•   following terms are much used in the analysis of fuses :
The
(i) Current rating of fuse element
It is the current which the fuse element can normally carry without overheating
or melting. It depends upon the temperature rise of the contacts of the fuse
holder, fuse material and the surroundings of the fuse.
(ii) Fusing current
It is the minimum current at which the fuse element melts and thus disconnects
the circuit protected by it. Obviously, its value will be more than the current
rating of the fuse element. For a round wire, the approximate relationship
between fusing current I and diameter d of the wire is
where k is a constant, called the fuse constant. Its value depends upon the metal
of which the fuse element is made.
Important Terms Continued
(iii) Fusing factor
It is the ratio of minimum fusing current to the current rating of the fuse element
i.e.
Fusing factor =Minimum fusing current/ Current rating of fuse
Its value is always more than one. The smaller the fusing factor, the greater is
the difficulty in avoiding deterioration due to overheating and oxidation at rated
carrying current.
(iv) Prospective Current
The r.m.s. value of the first loop of fault current is known as prospective current.
Therefore, prospective current can be defined as It is the r.m.s. value of the first
loop of the fault current obtained if the fuse is replaced by an ordinary conductor
of negligible resistance.
Graphical Representation
Important Terms Continued
(v) Cut-off current
It is the maximum value of fault current actually reached before the fuse melts. On the
occurrence of a fault, the fault current has a very large first loop due to a fair degree of
asymmetry. The heat generated is sufficient to melt the fuse element well before the peak of first
loop is reached The cut off value depends upon
(a) current rating of fuse
(b) value of prospective current
(c) asymmetry of short-circuit current
It may be mentioned here that outstanding feature of fuse action is the breaking of circuit before
the fault current reaches its first peak. This gives the fuse a great advantage over a circuit breaker
since the most severe thermal and electro-magnetic effects of short-circuit currents (which occur
at the peak value of prospective current) are not experienced with fuses. Therefore, the circuits
protected by fuses can be designed to withstand maximum current equal to the cut-off value. This
consideration together with the relative cheapness of fuses allows much saving in cost
Important Terms Continued
(vi) Pre-arcing time
It is the time between the commencement of fault and the instant when cut
off occurs. When a fault occurs, the fault current rises rapidly and generates
heat in the fuse element. As the fault current reaches the cut off value, the
fuse element melts and an arc in initiated. The time from the start of the
fault to the instant the arc is initiated is known as pre-arcing time. The pre-
arcing time is generally small : a typical value being 0·001second
(vii) Arcing time
This is the time between the end of pre-arcing time and the instant when the
arc is extinguished.
Important Terms Continued
(viii) Total operating time
It is the sum of pre-arcing and arcing times. It may be noted that operating
time of a fuse is generally quite low (say 0·002 sec.) as compared to a circuit
breaker (say 0·2 sec or so). This is an added advantage of a fuse over a circuit
breaker. A fuse in series with a circuit breaker of low-breaking capacity is a
useful and economical arrangement to provide adequate short-circuit
protection. It is because the fuse will blow under fault conditions before the
circuit breaker has the time to operate.
(ix) Breaking capacity
It is the r.m.s. value of a.c. component of maximum prospective current that
a fuse can deal with at rated service voltage.
Types of Fuses
Since the invention of first fuse by Edison, several improvements have
been made and now-a-days, a variety of fuses are available. Some
fuses also incorporate means for extinguishing the arc that appears
when the fuse element melts.In general, fuses may be classified into :
(i) Low voltages fuses
(ii) High voltage fuses
It is a usual practice to provide isolating switches in series with fuses
where it is necessary to permit fuses to be replaced or rewired with
safety. If such means of isolation are not available, the fuses must be
so shielded as to protect the user against accidental contact with the
live metal when the fuse carrier is being inserted or removed.
Types of Low voltage Fuses
Low voltage fuses can be subdivided into two classes v
• (i) semi-enclosed rewireable fuse
• (ii) high rupturing capacity (H.R.C.) cartridge fuse.
Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse
Rewireable fuse (also known as kit-kat type) is used where low values of fault
current are to be interrupted. It consists of (i) a base and (ii) a fuse carrier.
The base is of porcelain and carries the fixed contacts to which the incoming
and outgoing phase wires are connected. The fuse carrier is also of porcelain
and holds the fuse element (tinned copper wire) between its terminals. The
fuse carrier can be inserted in or taken out of the base when desired. When a
fault occurs, the fuse element is blown out and the circuit is interrupted. The
fuse carrier is taken out and the blown out fuse element is replaced by the
new one. The fuse carrier is then reinserted in the base to restore the supply.
This type of fuse has two advantages. Firstly, the detachable fuse carrier
permits the replacement of fuse element without any danger of coming in
contact with live parts. Secondly, the cost of replacement is negligible.
Disadvantages of Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse
(i) There is a possibility of renewal by the fuse wire of wrong size or by improper material.
(ii) This type of fuse has a low-breaking capacity and hence cannot be used in circuits of
high fault level.
(iii)The fuse element is subjected to deterioration due to oxidation through the continuous
heating up of the element. Therefore, after some time, the current rating of the fuse is
decreased i.e., the fuse operates at a lower current than originally rated.
(iv)The protective capacity of such a fuse is uncertain as it is affected by the ambient
conditions
(v) Accurate calibration of the fuse wire is not possible because fusing current very much
depends upon the length of the fuse element. Semi-enclosed rewireable fuses are
made upto 500 A rated current, but their breaking capacity is low e.g., on 400 V
service, the breaking capacity is about 4000 A. Therefore, the use of this type of fuses
is limited to domestic and lighting loads.
High-Rupturing capacity (H.R.C.) cartridge
fuse
• The primary objection of low and uncertain breaking capacity of semi-enclosed
rewireable fuses is overcome in H.R.C. cartridge fuse. It consists of a heat resisting
ceramic body having metal end-caps to which is welded silver current-carrying
element. The space within the body surrounding the element is completely packed
with a filling powder. The filling material may be chalk, plaster of paris, quartz or
marble dust and acts as an arc quenching and cooling medium.
• Under normal load conditions, the fuse element is at a temperature below its melting
point.
• Therefore, it carries the normal current without overheating. When a fault occurs, the
current increases and the fuse element melts before the fault current reaches its first
peak. The heat produced in the process vapourises the melted silver element. The
chemical reaction between the silver vapour and the filling powder results in the
formation of a high resistance substance which helps in quenching the arc..
Advantages and disadvantages of (H.R.C.) cartridge fuse
Advantages
(i) They are capable of clearing high as well as low fault currents.
(ii) They do not deteriorate with age.
(iii) They have high speed of operation.
(iv) They provide reliable discrimination.
(v) They require no maintenance.
(vi) They are cheaper than other circuit interrupting devices of equal breaking capacity.
(vii) They permit consistent performance.
Disadvantages
(i) They have to be replaced after each operation.
(ii) Heat produced by the arc may affect the associated switches
Types of High voltage fuses
The low-voltage fuses discussed so far have low normal current rating
and breaking capacity. Therefore, they cannot be successfully used on
modern high voltage circuits. Intensive research by the manufacturers
and supply engineers has led to the development of high voltage fuses.
Some of the high voltage fuses are :
(i) Cartridge type
(ii) Liquid type
(iii) Metal clad fuses
Types of High voltage fuses
(i) Cartridge type
This is similar in general construction to the low voltage cartridge type
except that special design features are incorporated. Some designs employ
fuse elements wound in the form of a helix so as to avoid corona effects at
higher voltages. On some designs, there are two fuse elements in parallel ;
one of low resistance (silver wire) and the other of high resistance (tungsten
wire). Under normal load conditions, the low resistance element carries the
normal current. When a fault occurs, the low-resistance element is blown
out and the high resistance element reduces the short-circuit current and
finally breaks the circuit. High voltage cartridge fuses are used upto 33 kV
with breaking capacity of about 8700 A at that voltage. Rating of the order
of 200 A at 6·6 kV and 11 kV and 50 A at 33 kV are also available.
Types of High voltage fuses continued
(ii) Liquid type
These fuses are filled with carbon tetrachloride and have the widest range of application to h.v.
systems. They may be used for circuits upto about 100 A rated current on systems upto 132 kV
and may have breaking capacities of the order of 6100 A. Fig. 20.5 shows the essential parts of
the liquid fuse. It consists of a glass tube filled with carbon tetrachloride solution and sealed at
both ends with brass caps. The fuse wire is sealed at one end of the tube and the other end of
the wire is held by a strong phosphor bronze spiral spring fixed at the other end of the glass
tube. When the current exceeds the prescribed limit, the fuse wire is blown out. As the fuse
melts, the spring retracts part of it through a baffle (or liquid director) and draws it well into the
liquid. The small quantity of gas generated at the point of fusion forces some part of liquid into
the passage through baffle and there it effectively extinguishes the arc.
(iii) Metal clad fuses
Metal clad oil-immersed fuses have been developed with the object of providing a substitute for
the oil circuit breaker. Such fuses can be used for very high voltage circuits and operate most
satisfactorily under short-circuit conditions approaching their rated capacity.
Current Carrying Capacity of fuse Element

Expression (i) is known as ordinary fuse law

Numerical
A fuse wire of circular cross-section has a radius of 0·8
mm. The wire blows off at a current of 8A. Calculate the
radius of the wire that will blow off at a current of 1A.
Difference between circuit breaker and
fuse
It is worthwhile to indicate the salient differences between a fuse and a circuit
breaker in the tabular form.
Particular Fuse Circuit breaker

Function It performs both detection It performs interruption

and interruption functions function
Operation Inherently completely The detection of fault is
automatic made by relay system.
Breaking Capacity Small Requires elaborate
equipment (i.e. relays) for
automatic action. Very large
Operating Time Very small (0·002 sec or so) only Comparatively large
(0·1 to 0·2 sec)
Replacement Requires replacement after No replacement after
every operation. operation