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Switchboard Seg

Switchboards form the heart of distribution systems in industry and their design impacts safety and reliability. The form or segregation of panels in switchboards needs to be carefully specified to balance cost and safety. Form 1 panels have no segregation, while Form 2 panels separate busbars and switchgear but not terminals. Form 3 panels compartmentalize functional units and Form 4 panels further isolate outgoing terminals, providing the highest safety but also highest cost. The form of panel chosen should be based on a full system and process analysis.

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79 views2 pages

Switchboard Seg

Switchboards form the heart of distribution systems in industry and their design impacts safety and reliability. The form or segregation of panels in switchboards needs to be carefully specified to balance cost and safety. Form 1 panels have no segregation, while Form 2 panels separate busbars and switchgear but not terminals. Form 3 panels compartmentalize functional units and Form 4 panels further isolate outgoing terminals, providing the highest safety but also highest cost. The form of panel chosen should be based on a full system and process analysis.

Uploaded by

ckwei0910
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Switchboards form the heart of the distribution systems in Industry.

The safety
and reliability of any industry depends on Switchboard design. As the type of
applications in industry vary so do the design aspects for switchboards. One of
the aspect often misunderstood is form of segregation or form of separation in
Panels. The form of a panel needs to be carefully specified as a balance needs to
be strike between Cost and Safety. Let us check the various forms of separation
as specified in IEC 60439.
1) Form 1 Panel - This is the most basic form of panel. There is no segregation
between functional units (Switchgear) and busbars. The degree of protection of
such panels is typically IP20. This form of panels is typically found in small
homes or shops.

2) Form 2a and 2b In case of form 2 panels, there shall be separation between


busbars and switchgear. However, form 2a or 2b will depend whether
segregation has been made between busbar and switchgear terminals. In case
the terminals and busbar lie in the same enclosure, the panel is form 2a . This is
typically observed with double door distribution boards for homes and offices . In
case of form 2b, busbar and terminals are segregated from each other. This is
the case for non- compartmentalised panels. In both cases, degree of protection
shall be IP 42/43 .

3) Form 3a and 3b In case of form 3 panels, the functional units are separated
from each other by means of compartments. The segregation between bus bar
and terminals will be identical as in case of 2a and 2b. Form 3b is the most
prevalent type of panels used in the industries. The typical degree of protection
for such a panel will be IP 54.

4) Form 4a and 4b For form 4 Panels, the outgoing terminals of each functional
unit are isolated from each other in case of form 4a and from the busbars in case
of 4b. This is the most advanced and complex form of panel which can provide
extremely high safety as well as reliability. However, such a construction entails
very high costs and is only used in critical installations like data centres.

Please note that form 3 and form 4 panels provide good safety against direct
contact with live parts and bus bars. However, certain conditions like internal arc
will persist. Thus, the system designer should keep these things in mind. Only
after complete system and process analysis should form of panel be decided.

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