ELECTRICAL BUS BAR
An electrical bus bar is a conductor or a group of a conductor which is used for collecting electric power from the incoming feeders and distributes it to the outgoing ones it is a junction in which all incoming and outgoing current meets
It collects electrical energy in one location it consists of an isolator and a circuit breaker if any fault occurs the circuit breaker will be tripped off and thus the faulty section of the bus bar is easily disconnected from the circuit
Usually, the rectangular bus bar is used in the power system the metals which are used for making bus bar is copper and aluminum
Mainly it is a bar or strip of copper or brass which conducts electricity within a switchboard or a battery bank it is used for high impedance based application
USAGE OF BUS BAR IN A POWER SYSTEM
Electric power is mainly distributed through wires which are electrically conductive metals wire is really good for distribution because we can do the insulation process on it and over the corners, we can bend it. But in certain cases like in power plants there would be high power for which cables aren’t convenient in that case we could use slabs of metals instead of cables because in case of handling this much power we need to use cables as thick as firehose and which is not applicable in that case we use slabs of metals which is called bus bars
CLASSIFICATION OF BUS BAR
Classification is depending on specified variables at the buses
GENERATION BUS
This is also called as P-V bus in this the voltage magnitude corresponds to its rating which is specified and the voltage magnitude which is maintained constant by injection of reactive power
LOAD BUS
It is called as p-q bus and at this power, the active and reactive power is injected into the network. Phase angle and magnitude of the voltage can be computed the active power p and the reactive power q are specified by this it can be permitted within a tolerable value
SLACK BUS
It absorbs or emits the active or reactive power from the power system it does not carry any load in this the magnitude and phase angle of the voltage is specified
TYPES OF BUS BAR
Single bus bar arrangement
This type of bus bar has only one bus bar along with the switch all the substation equipment like the transformer, generator, and the feeder is connected to this bus bar only
MAIN AND TRANSFER BUS ARRANGEMENT
This type of arrangement uses two types of bus bar main bus bar and the auxiliary bus bar bus coupler is used to connect the isolating switches and circuits to the bus bar. Bus coupler is also used to transfer load from one bus to another in case of overloading
DOUBLE BUS DOUBLE BREAKER ARRANGEMENT
In this type of bus bar we would need two bus bar and two circuit breaker it won’t use any additional devices like bus coupler or switch this type of design provides maximum flexibility
What is the function of busbar in DC?
In direct current (DC) systems, a busbar acts as a central hub for the distributing power. It is a strong conductor, usually constructed of copper or aluminum, that gathers power from entering feeds and delivers it to outgoing feeders (or) loads. Busbars increase system reliability by reducing connection and wiring complexity, allowing for more efficient power distribution and lower voltage drop. They also provide as a handy point for system maintenance, fault isolation, & future expansions, ensuring that the electrical system is flexible and scalable.