fi meer mnt neem ee ao ORIENTAL CopPER Co.,LTD. un latuwmanailes sia ETP® HIGH CONDUCTIVITY COPPER BUSBAR a ee eee 4 * 2 4 aL - * Oe RSS ES Ee ES RES ES Re RS OPTS ES WES PE eS a Pe PE WOE PM PMS OE PE ORVARHADDODTODS COONS y COPPER FOR BUSBARS CDA : Copper Development Association Inc. ‘The Copper Development Association Inc, CDA, is the market development, engineering and information services arm of the copper industry, chartered to enhance and expand markets for copper and its alloys in North America. CDA was established in 1962 by the major U.S. producers and soon embraced the brass mill members of the Copper and Brass Research Association, which had been formed in 1921 following WWI. The association has a rich history of serving the industry, its member companies, their customers and all end users of copper and copper alloy products. Through the Intemational Copper Association, CDA is affiliated with 28 similar organizations ‘around the world. REFERENCE C.D.A., UK PUBLICATION#22,"COPPER FOR BUSBARS”= = = N - vA ea) a Z © c 1. Current-carying Capacity of Busbars 1 Alternating Current Effects, jin Busbars 8 3. Joiming of Copper Busbars. b Appendices 1 Summary of methods of busbar rating 32 2. Tables of properties of HC copper conductors 35DODD VER DADA DAA oe Ane Current-carrying . Capacity of Busbars Design requirements ‘The current-carrying capacity of a busbar is usually de- termined by the maximum temperature at which the bar is permitted to operate, as defined by national and inter- national standards such as British Standard BS 159, American Standard ANSI C37.20, ete. These standards give maximum temperature rises as well as maximum ambient temperatures BS 159 stipulates a maximum temperature rise of 50°C above a 24 hour mean ambient temperature of up to 35°C, and a peak ambient temperature of 40°C. ANSIC37.20 alternatively permits a temperature rise of 65°C above a maximum ambient of 40°C, provided that silver-plated (or acceptable alternative) bolted termi- nations are used. If not, a temperature rise of 30°C is allowed. ‘These upper temperature limits have been chosen because at higher maximum operating temperatures the rate of surface oxidation in air of conductor materials Onientat Copper co., uD.increases rapidly and ma ¢ in the long term to excessive local heating at joints and contacts. This tem- perature limit is much more important for aluminium than copper because it oxidises very much more readily than copper. In practise these limitations on temperature rise may be relaxed for copper busbars if suitable insulation materials are used. A nominal rise of 60°C or more above an ambient of 40°C is allowed by BS 5486 provided that suitable precautions are taken, Part | of BS 5486 (equiva- lent to [EC 439) states that the temperature rise of busbars and conductors is limited by the mechanical strength of the busbar material, the effect on adjacent equipment, the permissible temperature rise of insulating materials in con- tact with the bars, and the effect on apparatus connected to the busbars, The rating of a busbar must also take account of the mechanical stresses set up due to expansion, short-circuit currents and associated inter-phase forces. In some busbar systems consideration must also be given to the capi cost of the heat generated by the effective ohmic resis- tance and current (I°R) which leads to an optimised design using Kelvin’s Law of Maximum Economy. This law states that ‘the cost of lost energy plus that of interest and amortisation on initial cost of the busbars (less allowance for scrap) should not be allowed to exceed a minimum value.’ Where the interest, amortisation and scrap values are not known, an alternative method is to minimise the total manufacturing costs plus the cost of lost energy. ised Hick Conpucniviry Copper UU Calculation of current-carrying capacity. A very approximate method of estimating the current- carrying capacity of a copper busbar is to assume a cur- rent density of 2 A/mm? (1250 A/in?) in still air. This method should only be used to estimate a busbar, the final size being chosen after consideration has been given to the calculation methods. ely size of Heat generated by a conductor. ‘The rate at which heat is generated per unit length of a conductor carrying a direct current is the product PR watts, where I is the current flowing in the conductor and R its resistance per unit length. The value for the resistance can in the case of d.c. busbar systems be calculated di- rectly from the resistivity of the copper or copper alloy. Where an a.c. busbar system is concerned, the resistance is increased due to the tendency of the current to flow in the outer surface of the conductor. The ratio between the a.c. value of resistance and its corresponding d.c. value is called the skin effect ratio. This value is unity for a d.c. system but increases with the frequency and the physical size of the conductor for an a. ‘urrent, Rate of Heat loss from Conductor, W/mm = PR,S Onrientat Copper Co., LID.current in conductor, A. dic. resistance per unit length, Q/mm skin effeet ratio effective a.c. resistance of conductor, 2 (see above) Approximate d.c. current ratings for flat and round bars The following equations can be used to obtain the ap- proximate d.c, current rating for single flat and round copper busbars carrying a direct current. The equations assume a naturally bright copper finish where emissivity is 0.1 and where ratings can be improved substantially by coating with a matt black or similar surface. The equa- tions are also approximately true for a.c. current pro- vided that the skin effect and proximity ratios stay close to 1.0, as is true for many low current applications. ‘Methods of calculation for other configurations and con- ditions can be found in subsequent sections. (a) Flat bars on edge : ‘Ass pangost 02 [i+ a )p]” e where 1 = current, A A = cross-sectional area, mm? High Conpuctiviry Copper DOSSLIAAAAAAADAADS HAHAHA P. = perimeter of conductor, mm © = temperature difference between conductor and the ambient air, °C ©. = resistance temperature coefficient of copper at the ambient temperature, C P. = resistivity of copper at the ambient tempera-. ture, wQem (b) Hollow round bars : P= er sea” [G+ a6 )p]s (c) Solid round bars : Taig LAmeot eB [G+ a0 )p]° If the temperature rise of the conductor is 50°C above an ambient of 40°C and the resistivity of the cop- per at 20°C is 1.724 [Q cm, then the above formulae become (i) Flat bars : I = 7.73.40 po» a (ii) Hollow round bars : T= 8.634% po 6 ‘Onientat Corer co., 11D,(iii) Solid round bars T= 136A. 6 For high conductivity copper tubes where dia- meter and mass per unit length (see Table 6) are known, 1 = 137m*d"* a where m = —__mass per unit length of tube, kg/m d outside diameter of tube, mm Re-rating for different current or temperature rise conditions Where a busbar system is to be used under new current or temperature rise conditions, the following formula can be used to find the corresponding new temperature rise or current 1, 8, 98 (140,,(T,-20)) 1 G ys Cs Sy) (8 where 1, current1,A . 1, = current 2,A 8, temperature rise for current 1, °C 0, = temperature rise for current 2, °C Hich Conouctviry Copper SHOR AUAN NAAN OND ANT ONO AE working temperature for current 1, °C working temperature for current 2, °C temperature coefficient of re 20°C (= 0.00393) If the working temperature of the busbar system. is the same in each case (,ie.,T, = T,), for example when re-rating for a change in ambient temperature in a hotter climate, this formula becomes L ae os (8) 4 Laminated bars. When a number of conductors are used in parallel, the total current capacity is less than the rating for a single bar times the number of bars used. This is due to the obstruction to convection and radiation losses from the inner conductors. To facilitate the making of interleaved joints, the spacing between laminated bars is often made equal to the bar thickness. For 6.3 mm thick bars up to 150 mm wide, mounted on edge with 6.3 mm spacings between laminations, the isolated bar d.c. rating may be multiplied by the following factors to obtain the total rat- ing. Onientat Copper Co., LID.