Electricity supply has become an essential daily need; that’s why it is considered a blessing to humankind. Thus, to ensure electrical distribution security, it’s necessary to implement safety devices.
There are various devices that are used to maintain the security level of all distribution units and substations safely. One such device is switchgear; it assists in the carriage and distribution of load while supporting the connectors.
Thus, switchgear helps safeguard the electrical connections as its main function is to identify the faults and failures in the connections. That is the main reason why switchgear support services are very popular in residential and industrial areas.
What is switchgear?
Switchgear is the apparatus used for switching, controlling, regulating and protecting the electrical circuits and equipment in the electric power system.
Some examples of switchgear are switches, fuses, circuit breakers, isolators, relays, control panels, contactors, indicating instruments, etc.
Switchgear is used to protect the equipment from the heavy current. It is directly linked to the supply system by placing in both the power transformers low and high voltage planes. It de-energizing the equipment for clearing the fault, testing & maintaining. Hence, switchgear support is essential to protect the equipment from damage; otherwise, these may get damaged, or services may get interrupted.
Importance of switchgear in power distribution units
Smooth functioning: The switchgear device secures the electrical machines and equipment. It provides smooth functioning of appliances by interrupting the circuit that is experiencing overload and still allowing the currents to flow through the unaffected circuits.
Quick action: Switchgear systems operate quickly when a fault occurs in any part of the electrical system. That way, it eliminates the damage of short-circuit currents to generators, transformers, and other equipment.
Regulates the electrical circuits: It regulates all the electrical circuits and provides separation of circuits and the part of the energized system. It further protects the repairman when he is testing or repairing the power system.
Eliminates the damage in advance: The circuit breaker can be employed manually, and it is also designed to “trip” automatically in case there is an overload in a system or any fault in the system. It enhances the operation of systems by allowing more than one source to feed a load. It priorly detects the faults in the system through triggers & protection relay before the damage can occur.
Continuous operation: It helps in the continuous operation of systems by discriminating between the healthy and faulty sections of the equipment. Whenever there is a fault in any system section, it isolates the faulty section without affecting the healthy section. That way, switchgear ensures the continuous supply of power.
Types of Switchgear
There are three types of switchgear that are classified based on voltage level: Low Voltage (LV), Medium Voltage (MV) and High Voltage (HV).
Low Voltage Switchgear: LV applications generally required switchgear rated up to 1KV. The Common low voltage equipment includes switch fuse units, oil circuit breakers, air circuit breakers, HRC fuses, off-load isolators, earth leakage circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, molded case circuit breakers, etc.
Medium Voltage Switchgear: MV applications switchgear is rated from 3.3KV to 33KV class. MV switchgear includes substation devices like air magnetic, minimum oil circuit breakers, bulk oil circuit breakers, vacuum, SF6 gas-insulated, gas-insulated switchgear.
These are mainly used for the distribution of electrical energy connected to various electrical networks. This equipment is available in different types without metal enclosure outdoor type, metal-enclosed indoor and outdoor type, etc. The main function of this powerful network is to break off current throughout faulty conditions in the system.
High Voltage Switchgear: HV switchgear power system deals with a voltage above 36KV. The main element of this equipment is the high voltage circuit breaker. That’s why for safety measures, these circuit breakers have special features.
These circuit breakers are mostly operated at “ON” conditions and may be operated after a long time, as these breakers’ false tripping and switching operation are very rare.
Follow up
To maintain the security levels at all power distribution units and substations, installing safety mechanisms and devices is necessary. Switchgear site support services provide protection in any power system network.
Switchgears help in the distribution and carriage of load & overloads of electrical circuits. This device helps in the operation and maintenance of different electrical connectors.
It also helps in minimizing the damage by clearing and identifying different types of faults and connection failures.