How Many Types of Switchgear Are There?

Switchgear is an integral part of the electrical system. Switchgear includes fuses, switches, relays, disconnectors, circuit breakers, voltage, and current transformers, indicating devices, lightning arresters, etc. that protect electrical hardware from fault conditions. Let's learn more about switchgear by understanding how it works and its different types.

What is switchgear?

Electrical switchgear is connected to the power supply system and is used for low-voltage and high-voltage power transformers. Its purpose is to maintain and repair equipment outages to correct faulty problems. Whenever there is a fault in the electrical system, such as a short circuit, there is a large amount of current flowing through the electrical installation, which can damage the structure and also cause interruptions in the power supply to the user. Ensuring optimal electrical protection is critical.

How does a switchgear work?

Automatic protection switchgear consists of relays and circuit breakers. Whenever there is a fault, the relay is activated. The relay closes the faulty circuit and breaks the interrupted line. This ensures that the equipment is not damaged and that power can be supplied without interruption. The relay provides that the faulty part remains isolated while the healthy part continues to operate as usual.

Types of switchgear

There are different types of switchgear, which have different voltage ratings. The three categories are

LV switchgear/Low voltage switchgear

MV switchgear/ Medium voltage switchgear

HV switchgear/High voltage switchgear

 Low-Voltage Draw out Switchgear

Low voltage switchgear

This switchgear has a capacity of up to 1 kV. Therefore, the term LV switchgear is collectively referred to as LV circuit breakers, unloading electrical disconnects, earth leakage circuit breakers, switches, miniature circuit breakers ( MCB), molded case circuit breakers ( MCCB), and HRC fuses. Low-voltage switchgear is located in the low-voltage distribution panel. It consists of revenue, secondary revenue, and feeders.

Low-voltage switchgear helps protect circuit components from mechanical and thermal damage. It ensures safety while separating faulty components and provides operational control for remote and local switching.

 Model Indoor AC Metal Clad Intermediate Switchgear

Medium Voltage Switchgear

Medium voltage switchgear can operate between 3kv and 36 kV. There are various types of MV switchgear, such as metal-enclosed indoor and metal-enclosed outdoor types. These switchgear use SF (sulfur hexafluoride), oil, and vacuum to interrupt the current to prevent faults.

Medium voltage switchgear performs tasks such as interrupting short-circuit currents, switching capacitive and inductive currents and performing the usual on/off switching functions.

Switchgear is widely used in industrial settings for smooth power distribution. They are also found in solar power plants and residential areas.

High Voltage Switchgear

High Voltage Switchgear (HV)

Handling power systems higher than 36KV is called HV (High Voltage) switchgear. When the voltage level increases, arcing will occur due to the extremely high switching operation. As a result, special care must be taken when designing this equipment. The main component of this equipment is the high-voltage (HV) circuit breaker.

Therefore, HV circuit breakers must include some safe and reliable operating features. switching operation of HV circuits is very rare. Usually, these CBs are kept ON and can work after a period of time. Therefore, these must be reliable in order to perform certain safe operations when needed.

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