Power System

Circuit Breakers and

Substations
Lecture No. 10
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Lahore

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 1

Air-Insulated Substations

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 2

Bus/Switching Configurations
• The following are the six types of arrangements commonly used:
• Single bus

• Double bus–double breaker

• Main and transfer (inspection) bus

• Double bus–single breaker

• Ring bus

• Breaker-and-a-half

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 3

Single Bus Arrangement
• This is the simplest bus arrangement, a single bus and all
connections directly to one bus (Figure).
• Reliability of the single bus configuration is low: even
with proper relay protection, a single bus failure on the
main bus or between the main bus and circuit breakers
will cause an outage of the entire facility.
• With respect to maintenance of switching devices, an
outage of the line they are connected to is required.
• Furthermore, for a bus outage the entire facility must be
de-energized.
• This requires standby generation or switching loads to
adjacent substations, if available, to minimize outages of
loads supplied from this type of facility.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 4
Single Bus Arrangement
• Cost of a single bus arrangement is relatively low, but also is the
operational flexibility; for example,
• transfer of loads from one circuit to another would require additional
switching devices outside the substation.
• Line connections to a single bus arrangement are normally straight
forward, since all lines are connected to the same main bus.
• Therefore, lines can be connected on the main bus in areas closest to
the direction of the departing line, thus mitigating lines crossing
outside the substation.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 5

Single Bus Arrangement
• Due to the low reliability, significant efforts when performing
maintenance, and low operational flexibility, application of the single bus
configuration should be limited to facilities with low load levels and low
availability requirements.
• Since single bus arrangement is normally just the initial stage of a
substation development, when laying out the substation a designer should
consider the ultimate configuration of the substation, such as
where future supply lines, transformers, and bus sections will be added.
• As loads increase, substation reliability and operational abilities can be
improved with step additions to the facility, for example, a bus tie breaker
to minimize load dropped due to bus outages.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 6
Double Bus–Double Breaker Arrangement
• The double bus–double breaker arrangement
involves two breakers and two buses for each
circuit (Figure).
• With two breakers and two buses per circuit,
a single bus failure can be isolated without
interrupting any circuits or loads.
• Furthermore, a circuit failure of one circuit
will not interrupt other circuits or buses.
• Therefore, reliability of this arrangement is
extremely high.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 7
Double Bus–Double Breaker Arrangement
• Maintenance of switching devices in this arrangement is very easy, since
switching devices can be taken out-of-service as needed and circuits can
continue to operate with partial line relay protection and some line switching
devices in-service, i.e., one of the two circuit breakers.
• Obviously, with double the amount of switching devices and buses, cost will
be substantially increased relative to other more simple bus configurations.
• In addition, relaying is more complicated and more land is required,
especially for low-profile substation configurations.
• External line connections to a double breaker–double bus substation
normally do not cause conflicts with each other, but may require substantial
land area adjacent to the facility as this type of station expands.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 8
Double Bus–Double Breaker Arrangement
• This arrangement allows for operational flexibility; certain lines could
be fed from one bus section by switching existing devices.
• This bus configuration is applicable for loads requiring a high degree
of reliability and minimum interruption time.
• The double breaker–double bus configuration is expandable to
various configurations, for example, a ring bus or breaker-and-a-half
configurations.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 9

 Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• The main and transfer bus configuration connects all
circuits between the main bus and a transfer bus
(sometimes referred to as an inspection bus).
• Some arrangements include a bus tie breaker and
others simply utilize switches for the tie between
the two buses (Figure).
• This configuration is similar to the single bus
arrangement; in that during normal operations, all
circuits are connected to the main bus.
• So the operating reliability is low; a main bus fault
will de-energize all circuits.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 10
Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• However, the transfer bus is used to improve the maintenance process
by moving the line of the circuit breaker to be maintained to the transfer
bus.
• Some systems are operated with the transfer bus normally de-energized.
• When a circuit breaker needs to be maintained, the transfer bus is
energized through the tie breaker.
• Then the switch, nearest the transfer bus, on the circuit to be maintained
is closed and its breaker and associated isolation switches are opened.
• Thus transferring the line of the circuit breaker to be maintained to the
bus tie breaker and avoiding interruption to the circuit load.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 11
Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• Without a bus tie breaker and only bus tie switches, there are two
options.
• The first option is by transferring the circuit to be maintained to one
of the remaining circuits by closing that circuit’s switch (nearest to the
transfer bus) and carrying both circuit loads on the one breaker.
• This arrangement most likely will require special relay settings for the
circuit breaker to carry the transferred load.
• The second option is by transferring the circuit to be maintained
directly to the main bus with no relay protection from the substation.

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Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• Obviously in the latter arrangement, relay protection (recloser or
fuse) immediately outside the substation should be considered to
minimize faults on the maintained line circuit from causing extensive
station outages.
• The cost of the main and transfer bus arrangement is more than the
single bus arrangement because of the added transfer bus and
switching devices.
• In addition, if a low-profile configuration is used, land requirements
are substantially more.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 13

Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• Connections of lines to the station should not be very complicated.
• If a bus tie breaker is not installed, consideration as to normal line loading is
important for transfers during maintenance.
• If lines are normally operated at or close to their capability, loads will need to
be transferred or temporary generators provided similar to the single bus
arrangement maintenance scenario.
• The main and transfer bus arrangement is an initial stage configuration, since
a single main bus failure can cause an outage of the entire station.
• As load levels at the station rise, consideration of a main bus tie breaker
should be made to minimize the amount of load dropped for a single
contingency.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 14
Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement
• Another operational capability of this configuration is that the main
bus can be taken out-of-service without an outage to the circuits by
supplying from the transfer bus, but obviously, relay protection
(recloser or fuse) immediately outside the substation should be
considered to minimize faults on any of the line circuit from causing
station outages.
• Application of this type of configuration should be limited to low
reliability requirement situations.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 15

Double Bus–Single Breaker 
Arrangement
• The double bus–single breaker arrangement connects
each circuit to two buses, and there is a tie breaker
between the buses.
• With the tie breaker operated normally closed, it allows
each circuit to be supplied from either bus via its
switches.
• Thus providing increased operating flexibility and
improved reliability.
• For example, a fault on one bus will not impact the
other bus.
• Operating the bus tie breaker normally open eliminates
the advantages of the system and changes the
configuration to a two single bus arrangement (Figure).

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 16

Double Bus–Single Breaker 
Arrangement
• Relay protection for this arrangement will be complex with the flexibility of
transferring each circuit to either bus.
• Operating procedures would need to be detailed to allow for various
operating arrangements, with checks to ensure the in-service arrangements
are correct.
• A bus tie breaker failure will cause an outage of the entire station.
• The double bus–single breaker arrangement with two buses and a tie
breaker provides for some ease in maintenance, especially for bus
maintenance, but maintenance of the line circuit breakers would still require
switching and outages as described above for the single bus arrangement
circuits.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 17
Double Bus–Single Breaker Arrangement
• The cost of this arrangement would be more than the single bus
arrangement with the added bus and switching devices.
• Once again, low-profile configuration of this arrangement would require
more area.
• In addition, bus and circuit crossings within the substation are more likely.
• Application of this arrangement is best suited where load transfer and
improved operating reliability are important. Though adding a transfer bus
to improve maintenance could be considered, it would involve additional
area and switching devices, which could increase the cost of the station.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 18

 Ring Bus Arrangement
• All breakers are arranged in a ring with
circuits connected between two
breakers.
• From a reliability standpoint, this
arrangement affords increased
reliability to the circuits, since with
properly operating relay protection, a
fault on one bus section will only
interrupt the circuit on that bus
section and a fault on a circuit will not
affect any other device (Figure).
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 19
Ring Bus Arrangement
• Protective relaying for a ring bus will involve more complicated design
and, potentially, more relays to protect a single circuit.
• Keep in mind that bus and switching devices in a ring bus must all
have the same ampacity, since current flow will change depending on
the switching device’s operating position.
• From a maintenance point of view, the ring bus provides good
flexibility.
• A breaker can be maintained without transferring or dropping load,
since one of the two breakers can remain in-service and provide line
protection while the other is being maintained.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 20
Ring Bus Arrangement
• Similarly, operating a ring bus facility gives the operator good
flexibility since one circuit or bus section can be isolated without
impacting the loads on another circuit.
• Cost of the ring bus arrangement can be more expensive than a single
bus, main bus and transfer, and the double bus–single breaker
schemes since two breakers are required for each circuit, even though
one is shared.
• The ring bus arrangement is applicable to loads where reliability and
availability of the circuit is a high priority.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 21

Ring Bus Arrangement
• There are some disadvantages of this arrangement:
• a “stuck breaker” event could cause an outage of the entire substation depending on the
number of breakers in the ring,
• expansion of the ring bus configuration can be limited due to the number of circuits that
are physically feasible in this arrangement, and,
• circuits into a ring bus to maintain a reliable configuration can cause extensive bus and
line work.
• For example, to ensure service reliability, a source circuit and a load circuit
should always be next to one another.
• Two source circuits adjacent to each other in a stuck breaker event could
eliminate all sources to the station.
• Therefore, a low-profile ring bus can command a lot of area.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 22
 Breaker-and-a-Half Arrangement
• The breaker-and-a-half scheme is configured with a
circuit between two breakers in a three-breaker line-up
with two buses; thus, one-and-a-half breakers per
circuit. In many cases, this is the next development
stage of a ring bus arrangement (Figure).
• Similar to the ring bus, this configuration provides good
reliability; with proper operating relay protection, a
single circuit failure will not interrupt any other circuits.
• Furthermore, a bus section fault, unlike the ring bus,
will not interrupt any circuit loads.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 23

Breaker-and-a-Half Arrangement
• Maintenance as well is facilitated by this arrangement, since an entire
bus and adjacent breakers can be maintained without transferring or
dropping loads.
• Relay protection is similar to the ring bus, and due to the additional
devices, is more complex and costly than most of the previously
reviewed arrangements.
• The breaker-and-a-half arrangement can be expanded as needed.
• By detailed planning of the ultimate substation expansion with this
configuration, line conflicts outside the substation can be minimized.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 24

Breaker-and-a-Half Arrangement
• Cost of this configuration is commensurate with the number of
circuits, but based on the good reliability, operating flexibility, and
ease of maintenance, the price can be justified.
• Obviously, the area required for this type of arrangement is
significant.
• The higher the voltage, the more clearances required and area
needed.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 25

Bus/Switching Configuration Comparison Table

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High-Voltage Switching Equipment

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Disconnect Switches
• A disconnect switch is a mechanical device that conducts electrical current and
provides an open point in a circuit for isolation of one of the following devices:
• Circuit breakers
• Circuit switchers
• Power transformers
• Capacitor banks
• Reactors
• Other substation equipment
• They are designed for no-load switching, opening or closing circuits where negligible
currents are made or interrupted (including capacitive current [line charging current]
and resistive or inductive current [magnetizing current]), or when there is no
significant voltage across the open terminals of the switch (loop splitting [parallel
switching]).
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Disconnect Switches
• Disconnect switches are also installed
to bypass breakers or other
equipment for maintenance and can
be used for bus sectionalizing.
• Interlocking equipment is available to
prevent operating sequence errors,
which could cause substation
equipment damage, by inhibiting
operation of the disconnect switch
until the load current has been
Horizontally upright mounted disconnect switch
interrupted by the appropriate
equipment.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 29
Disconnect Switches
Vertical break switches are
the most widely used
disconnect switch design, are
the most versatile disconnect
switch design, can be
installed on minimum phase
spacing, are excellent for
applications in ice
environments due to their
rotating blade design, and are
excellent for installations in
high fault current locations
due to their contact design

Vertically mounted disconnect switch

Vertical break disconnect switch
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 Load Break Switches
• A load break switch is a disconnect switch that has been equipped to
provide breaking and making of specified currents.
• This is accomplished by the addition of equipment that changes what the
last points of metal-to-metal contact upon opening and the first points of
metal-to-metal contact upon closing are, that increases the switching
speed at which the last points of metal-to-metal contact part in air, or
that confines the arcing to a chamber which contains a dielectric medium
capable of interrupting the arc safely and reliably.
• Arcing horns are the equipment added to disconnect switches to allow
them to interrupt very small amounts of charging or magnetizing current.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 31

Load Break Switches

High-speed arcing horns on a vertical break switch.

Arcing horns on a vertical break switch.

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Load Break Switches
• If the need for interrupting loop
currents, load currents, or large
amounts of line charging current
exists, then a disconnect switch can
be outfitted with an interrupter
(using either sulfur hexafluoride
[SF6] gas or vacuum as the
interrupting medium) capable of
performing these interrupting
duties.
Load break switch with SF6 interrupters.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 33

High-Speed Grounding Switches
• Automatic high-speed grounding switches are applied for protection of power
transformers when:
• the cost of supplying other protective equipment is deemed unjustifiable and
• the amount of system disturbance that the high-speed grounding switch creates is judged
acceptable.
• The switches are generally actuated by discharging a spring mechanism to
provide the “high-speed” operation.
• The grounding switch operates to provide a deliberate ground fault on one
phase of the high-voltage bus supplying the power transformer, disrupting the
normally balanced 120° phase shifted three-phase system by effectively
removing one phase and causing the other two phases to become 180° phase
shifted relative to each other.
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High-Speed Grounding Switches
• This system imbalance is remotely detected by protective relaying equipment that
operates the transmission line breakers at the remote end of the line supplying the
power transformer, tripping the circuit open to clear the fault.
• This scheme also imposes a voltage interruption to all other loads connected between
the remote circuit breakers and the power transformer as well as a transient spike to
the protected power transformer, effectively shortening the transformer’s useful life.
• The grounding switch scheme is dependent on the ability of the source transmission
line relay protection scheme to recognize and clear the fault by opening the remote
circuit breaker.
• Clearing times are necessarily longer since the fault levels are not normally within the
levels appropriate for an instantaneous trip response.
• High-speed grounding switches are usually considered when relative fault levels are low.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 35

Power Fuses
• Power fuses are a generally accepted means of protecting small
power transformers (i.e., power transformers of 15 MVA and smaller),
capacitor banks, potential transformers, and/or station service
transformers.
• The primary purpose of a power fuse is to provide interruption of
permanent faults.
• Power fuses are an economical alternative to circuit switcher or
circuit breaker protection.
• Fuse protection is generally limited to voltages from 15 to 69 kV but
has been applied for the protection of equipment as large as 161 kV.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 36
Power Fuses
• To provide the greatest protective margin, it is necessary to use the smallest fuse
rating possible.
• The advantage of close fusing is the ability of the fuse unit to provide backup
protection for some secondary faults.
• For the common delta-wye-connected transformer, a fusing ratio of 1.0 would
provide backup protection for a phase-to-ground fault as low as 230% of the
secondary full-load rating.
• Fusing ratio is defined as the ratio of the fuse rating to the transformer full-load
current rating.
• With low fusing ratios, the fuse may also provide backup protection for line-to-
ground faults remote to the substation on the distribution, sub-transmission, or
transmission network.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 37
Power Fuses
• The concern of unbalanced voltages in a three-phase system must be
considered when selecting fusing.
• The possibility of one or two fuses blowing must be reviewed.
• Unbalanced voltages can cause tank heating in three-phase power
transformers and overheating and damage to three-phase motor
loads.
• The potential for ferroresonance must be considered for some
transformer configurations when using fusing.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 38

Power Fuses
• Fuses are available in a number of time-to-melt and time-to-clear
curves (standard, fast, medium, slow, and very slow) to provide
coordination with other system protective equipment.
• Fuses are not voltage critical; they may be applied at any voltage
equal to or less than their rated voltage.
• Fuses may not require additional structures as they are generally
mounted on the incoming line structure and result in space savings in
the substation layout.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 39

 Circuit Switchers
• Circuit switchers using SF6 gas interrupters are designed to provide three-
phase interruption (solving the unbalanced voltage considerations) and to
provide protection for transient overvoltage and load current overloads at
a competitive cost between the costs of power fuses and circuit breakers.
• Additionally, they can provide protection from power transformer faults
based on differential, sudden pressure, and overcurrent relay schemes as
well as critical operating constraints such as for low oil level, high oil or
winding temperature, pressure relief device operation, etc.
• Different model types, configurations, and vintages have different
interrupting ratings and interrupting speeds.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 40

Circuit Switchers
• Circuit switchers have been furnished for
applications involving protection of power
transformers, lines, cables, capacitor
banks, and line connected or tertiary
connected shunt reactors.
• Circuit switchers can also be employed in
series capacitor bypassing and for
load/line/loop interrupting applications
where fault-closing capability is required.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 41

 Circuit Breakers
• A circuit breaker is defined as “a mechanical switching device capable
of making, carrying, and breaking currents under normal circuit
conditions and also making, carrying, and breaking for a specified
time, and breaking currents under specified abnormal conditions such
as a short circuit”.
• Details of Circuit breakers have already been discussed before.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 42