2.

Electrical Installation Materials and Accessories

2.1. Introduction
2.2. Wires, cables and insulators
2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting
2.4. Receptacles and controls
2.5. Protective devices
 2.1. Introduction
 The electrical installation system comprises mainly
cables, wires, control and isolating switchgear,
protective devices, receptacles, electric appliances.
 In industrial installation, machine control circuits
and automation systems were implemented using
only relays and contactors.
 However, after the introduction of programmable
logic controllers (PLCs) industrial automation has
already become a specialized discipline.
 In order to assemble properly the great number of
available electrical materials, devices, fittings, and
equipment to form a complete wiring system, we
must understand the basic principles regarding
them.
 2.Electrical Installation Materials and Accessories cont..
2.2. Wires, cables and insulators
A. Wires
 A wire conductor can be bare or insulated as well as
stranded (for flexibility) or solid.
 wire insulation should be such that it prevents
leakage of current in unwanted direction and to
minimize risk of fire and shock.

a) wires (solid and stranded conductors)

 2.2. Wires, cables and insulators cont…
B. Cable
 A cable is a length of two or more
insulated/sheathed conductors (solid or stranded
and twisted together) each provided with its own
insulation.
 A cable comprises of three main components: the
conductor and/or core, the insulation or dielectric,
and the amour and/or sheath protective cover.
 B. Cable cont…
 The wires used for internal wiring of buildings may
be divided in to different groups according to the
type of conductor, the number of cores, the voltage
grading, and the type of insulation and sheath used.
 According to the type of conductor copper or
aluminum and solid or stranded.
 According to the number of cores, cables may be
divided in to classes known as
single core
twin core, and
twin core with ECC
 According to voltage grading the cables may be
divided in to (low-voltage or medium-voltage)
classes: 250/440 volt cable and 650/1100 volt cable
 B. cable cont..
 According to type of insulation cables can be
classified in to:
Vulcanized Indian Rubber (VIR) cables:
are available in 250/440volt as well as 650/1100 volt
grades and are used for general conduit wiring.
Lead sheathed cables:
available in 250/440 volt grade and used for internal
wiring where climatic condition has moisture.
PVC cables:
are available in 250/440 volt and 650/1100 volt grades
and used in concealed type of wiring system.
Weather proof cables:
are available in 250/440 and 650/1100 volt grades and
used for out-door wiring and for power supply
 2.2. Wires, cables and insulators cont…
C. Insulation and sheathing
 The insulation immediately surrounding a cable
conductor is designed to withstand the cables
working voltage in order to prevent danger.
 The additional sheathing and /or armouring is
added to prevent the insulated conductors from
mechanical damage.
 Cable Sheath (Jacket) is uniform and continuous
circular covering of metallic or non-metallic material,
generally extruded.
 Its purpose is to prevent the cable and its insulation
from the effect of external electric circuit, heat,
moisture, etc.
 C. Insulation and sheathing cont..
 Cable Armour is a cover consisting of a metal tape
or wire generally used to protect the cable
insulation from external mechanical effects.
 The insulation type determines temperature of
operation and operating voltage.
Colours of insulated conductors
 Most wiring regulations require that all conductors
have to be identified by some means to indicate
their function.
 Every single core cable and every core of a twin or
multi core cable, or bare conductor, for use as fixed
wiring shall be identifiable at its termination and
preferably throughout its length .
 C. Insulation and sheathing cont..
Color identification of cores of flexible cables and
cords according to EBCS – 10 is as follows: Note: See
for EBCS-10 1995 page 72
 2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting
A. Conduits
 The commonest method of installing cables is to
draw them in to a conduit.
 Conduits are non-metallic or metallic pipes through
which installation wires and cables are drawn for
mechanical as well as electrical protection.
 Mostly, non-metallic conduits such as the PVC (soft
or rigid) type are used for domestic and other low
and extra low voltage installations.
 Metallic conduit (rigid or flexible) is commonly used
in medium sized industrial installations with better
mechanical protection in the industry environment
than PVC conduits.
 2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting cont..
In general, conduits can be classified as:
i. PVC conduit; is finding wide applications in internal
wiring because it is light in weight, shock proof, anti-
termite, fire resistant, acid and alkaline resistant.
ii. Light gauge steel conduit; This type of conduit is
used with special grip fittings. In general, light gauge is
the cheapest and quickest of conduit installations.
iii. Heavy gauge screwed steel conduit; Though it is
very expensive, it provides a permanent installation with
a maximum of protection for cables.
iv. Flexible steel conduit; One of the most common uses
of flexible conduit is for protecting the final connections
to motors. It has the additional advantage of reducing
the transmission of vibration. However, the flexible
conduit is costlier than the rigid conduit.
 2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting cont..
Conduit accessories and fittings
Conduit couplers: used to join two lengths of conduits.
Bends, elbows and tees: These are generally called
conduit fittings and usually used for change in direction
of conduit. Solid elbows and tees should be used only at
the end of the conduit run.
Conduit boxes: They are of different designs which
serve the following purposes:
i. Junction boxes: are used for housing junction of wires
and cables.
ii. Outlet boxes: are positioned at which conduits
terminate and are used for providing connections to
light, socket, fan, and other points.
iii. Inspection boxes: are used for pulling of cables in to
the conduits.
2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting cont..
 2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting cont
B. Trucking; Trunking is a fabricated metallic or
plastic casing of cables, normally of rectangular cross-
section, of which one side is removable or hinged to
allow cables to be laid therein.
 It is used in conditions where a considerable
number of cables are required in an installation, or
where cables are too large for drawing into
conduits.
 2.3. Conduits, trucking and ducting cont..
C. Ducts; In large buildings, it is often an advantage to
install a network of ducts in the solid concrete floors
during the construction of the building.
 The ducts may be subsequently used to
accommodate the wiring of the electrical system.
 The two most common types of ducting are the
concrete ducting and the steel ducting.
 2.4 Receptacles and controls
A. Switches; Generally a switch is a device which is
used to make and brake contacts in an electric circuit
thereby controlling the flow of power to a load.
i. Light switches; are used to control lighting circuits.
Most are rated at 5/6A, but ratings at 15A are also
available that may be used to control multiple light
points connected together.
ii. High power switches used in the industry and
commercial buildings; involve large voltage and
carry large current and may be single phase or three
phase. The switches can be manually operated switches,
electromagnetically actuated switches and processes
actuated switches.
 2.4 Receptacles and controls cont…
B. Lamp Holders; Lamp holders are designed for quick
insertion, removal and replacement of lamps and yet
they must hold the lamp in firm and good electrical
contact to prevent overheating.
C. Socket outlets and plugs; Socket outlets are portions
of the wiring system in which mobile electrical
appliances would get access to electric power and have
female terminals.
 On the other hand plugs are male terminals
connected to portable electrical appliances by a
flexible cable to enable them connected to the fixed
socket outlets.
 Terminal tubings of socket outlets and pins of plugs
have standardized dimension to be able to carry
electric current without heating.
2.5 Protective devices
 There are many ways of protecting both the
installation and electric appliance from the risk of
damage, overheating and fire which may occur
under fault conditions overload or short circuit.
 Fire occurs when over current flows in a wire or a
load and this current produces heat on the wire and
on the insulation enough to burn it.
 Two common protective devices use fuse protection
and automatic circuit breaking protection.
 Both a fuse and a CB are connected in series with the
live wire in ac circuits to be protected. In 3-phase 4
wire systems, since only three lines are live, fuses
and circuit breakers are inserted in all the three lines
except the neutral.
 2.5 Protective devices cont….
A. Fuses; consists of a fusing element with contacts, a
fuse carrier, and base.
 The fuse element is merely a short length of metal
that will carry any given current. Three terms are
used in connection with fuses include:
 Rated current (nominal current In) of a fuse : this is
the maximum current that a fuse will carry
indefinitely without undue heating/ deterioration of
the fuse element.
 Fusing current: this is the minimum current that will
melt and blow the fuse. That is any current above the
nominal current blows the fuse in a time period
inversely proportional to the current magnitude.
 Fusing Factor: this is the ratio of minimum fusing
current to the current rating.
 Fuses cont….
Breaking capacity of fuses; refers to the maximum
fault current the fuse can disconnect from the fault
without any damage to associated circuit elements.
 If the maximum short circuit current is above the
breaking capacity Ib of the fuse, the fuse may fail to
timely clear (disconnect) the fault resulting in damages
to other circuit elements like cable.
 That is, when a large electric current is interrupted,
an arc may form and if the breaking capacity of a
fuse is exceeded then it may not be able to
extinguish this arc meaning that the current will
continue, possibly resulting in a fire or explosion.
 Breaking capacities of fuses are indicated on the
fuses and can be found on data sheets of the fuses or
data books.
 Fuses cont….
There are three main types of fuses in common use:
the re-wireable, the cartridge and high breaking
capacity (HBC) fuses; the latter is a development of
the cartridge type.
a) Rewireable fuse: is semi-enclosed and the simple
and the cheapest type. the fuse is relatively easily
made the elements deteriorate with service time and
fuse holders and carrier can be easily damaged
during arcing in the event of heavy current.
It has color coded for easy identification for a
particular circuit.
 Fuses cont….
b) Cartridge fuse; these are improvements of the
rewireable fuses. Cartridge fuses have advantage of
accuracy, minimum or none arcing, and have long
lasting fuse elements compared to the rewirable type.
c) High rapture/braking capacity (HRC or HBC) fuses
HRC fuses are generally sophisticated versions of the
cartridge fuse and are widely used in industrial
installation.
 HBC fuses are discriminating which means that they
are able to distinguish between a starting current
taken by a motor which lasts for a matter of seconds
and a high fault or overload current.
 The fuses are required only to give protections
against short circuit currents and overloads outside
the capacity of thermal trip.
 2.5 Protective devices cont….
B. Circuit breakers; is an electromechanical device
for making (ON) and breaking (OFF) a circuit under
both normal and fault conditions (overload and
short circuit).
 It is generally closed and opened manually, but is
automatically opened under fault conditions by
an embedded over current relay on a
predetermined over-current with out injury to
itself when properly applied within its rating.
 A circuit breaker can be considered a switch that
opens itself in case of overload.
 Circuit breakers may be of thermal,
electromagnetic or thermal-magnetic.
2.5 Protective devices cont….
2.5 Protective devices cont….
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
A thermal circuit breaker; consists of a carefully
calibrated bimetallic strip. As current flows through the
strip, heat is developed and the strip bends.
An electromagnetic circuit breaker; is the most widely
used and has a magnetic arrangement that opens the
breaker instantly in case of overload or short circuit.
 Circuit breakers for large currents or high voltages
are usually arranged with pilot devices to sense a
fault current and to operate the trip opening
mechanism.
 Some mechanically-stored energy (using something
such as springs or compressed air) contained within
the breaker is used to separate the contacts, although
some of the energy required may be obtained from
the fault current itself.
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
Arc interruption; When a current is interrupted, an arc
is generated. This arc must be contained, cooled, and
extinguished in a controlled way, so that the gap
between the contacts can again withstand the voltage in
the circuit.
 Different circuit breakers use vacuum, air, insulating
gas, or oil as the medium in which the arc forms.
Different techniques are used to extinguish the arc
including:
Lengthening path of the arc
Intensive cooling
Division into partial arcs
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
Comparison of CBs and fuses
A circuit breaker has the following advantages over any
type of fuse
 In the event of fault all the poles are simultaneously
disconnected from the supply
 Overload and time lags are capable of adjustment
within limits
 It generally activates faster in fault conditions
 The supply can be quickly and easily restored when
the fault has been cleared .
 The advantage of fuse over circuit breaker is that the
circuit breaker has the possibility of going bad and
not working but fuses blow (cause a break) no matter
what is shorted. Fuses are also cheaper compared to
circuit breakers.
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
Types of circuit breakers
Many different classifications of circuit breakers can be
made based on their features such as voltage class,
construction type, interrupting type, and structural
features.
i. Low voltage circuit breakers
are the most used in final circuits of residential and
commercial installations to protect them from over
current and short-circuits.
Rated current not more than 100 A.
Trip characteristics normally not adjustable.
Thermal or thermal-magnetic operation.
It has capability of making or breaking under
different operating conditions.
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
ii) Medium-voltage circuit breakers
 Air-break circuit breakers replaced oil-filled units for
indoor applications, but are now themselves being
replaced by vacuum circuit breakers .
 Are operated by current sensing protective relays
operated through current transformers.
 Medium-voltage circuit breakers nearly always use
separate current sensors and protective relays, instead
of relying on built-in thermal or magnetic over
current sensors.
 Medium-voltage circuit breakers may be connected
into the circuit by bolted connections to bus bars or
wires, especially in outdoor switchyards.
iii. High-voltage circuit breaker B. Circuit breakers cont…
 Electrical power transmission networks are protected
and controlled by high-voltage breakers (72.5 kV or
higher)·
 High-voltage breakers are nearly always solenoid-
operated, with current sensing protective relays
operated through current transformers.
 May be microprocessor controlled and/or with modern
communication-capability
 In substations the protective relay scheme can be
complex, protecting equipment and busses from various
types of overload or ground/earth fault.
 High-voltage breakers are broadly classified by the
medium used to extinguish the arc: bulk oil, minimum
oil; air blast; vacuum; SF6s
 B. Circuit breakers cont…
Under voltage circuit breaker: Under voltage is not desired
particularly for electric motors which disables them from
developing enough torque for starting as a result of which
their windings overheat and burn due to inability of
developing a counter emf.
 The breaker senses the occurrence of an under voltage
less than a predetermined magnitude and then
disconnects the load from the supply.
Phase reversal and phase failure relays;
 If two phase of the supply of a three phase induction
motor are interchanged, the motor will reverse its
direction of rotation.
 One type of phase reversal relay uses coils connected to
two lines of the three phase supply line
 The currents in these coils together set up a rotating
magnetic field that tends to turn a copper disc clock wise.