CHAPTER ONE

CONSTRUCTION OF AN AUTOMATIC CHANGE OVER (TRANSFER SWITCH) WITH

ADVANCED FEATURES

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT
Power instability in developing countries has necessitated the need for
automation between public power supply and alternative generators to back up the
utility power supply, and as the rate of power instability becomes predominantly
high, the need for automation also becomes high, and since most industrial and
commercial processes require uninterrupted power supply, if the process of power
supply changeover is manual, it will not only waste time by slowing the process,
but could also cause device, process or product damage. Therefore the major aim
of this work is to exploit the ubiquitous microcontroller facilities in bringing about
automation of changeover process. A critical aim of an embedded system such as
this is to decrease power consumption and space and this is achieved in this
project. Companies like telecommunications, breweries, and cold rooms need this
technology in order to provide uninterrupted services to their clients.
The automatic change over (transfer switch) is a device used to switch
automatically alternate between two or more power sources depending on which

power source is available at the moment. Basically it is aimed at switching a more

convenient power supply to the load. The switch, automatically switches over to
the alternative source of power supply when there is a power outage. It equally
switches over to the mains supply when power is restored and turns off the
generator automatically. The automatic power change-over switch is a device that
links the load and mains supply or the alternative supply together. This enables the
use of either the mains supply or an alternative source when there is outage on the
mains source. It can either be in three phases or single phase and this device
maintains constant power supply to the load by automatically activating the
generator when there is need. Since the user might not always be in need of the
generator, provision has been made to prevent the generator from starting should
an outage occur.
i.

A good switch should be the one whose contact is made in such a way as to
limit the arc formation by having no contact-bounce and by having contacts
made of good conductive, corrosion resistance and wear resistance materials.

ii.

A good change over switch should also have tight contact points in order to
limit the possibility of a partial contact. The partial contact leads to
overheating of the components and may lead to fire outbreak in the entire
room.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

There is a growing need for an alternative source of power supply due to
inconsistent supply of power. This growing need has led to investment in a bid to
eliminate as much as possible any form of power interruption and ensure regular
power supply for the various industries, establishments and our homes. The
problem of power failure can be eliminated with the use of an alternating power
source.
If some of these big firm do not make provisions for stand-by power source,
frustration could set in which may lead to the closure of business and thus
increasing unemployment rate in the state. Also in the case of hospital, undergoing
a surgical operation and power supply suddenly go off, the patient might lose his or
her life due to the power outage.
Furthermore, during a seminar when the guest speaker is giving a very
important speech and a situation of power outage occurs. At this point, there could
be distortion in the guest speakers speech. A fast responding automatic change
over system would prevent such and error from occurring.
Technology continues to advance and new sophisticated and sensitive
electrical and electronics equipment are being procured and installed in our homes,
hospitals and business premises, and this calls for a justifiable need for power un-

interruption and therefore need for a faster and more reliable change over system in
an event of power outage.
In view of these considerations, this project is aimed at designing and
constructing an automatic change over switch with advanced features like surge
protection, a digital display, a microcontroller based automatic switching of the
alternative power source, and this automatic transfer switch will switch ON from
power Holding Company (default power source) to a generator when power fails
and from generator to PHCN when power comes back and with starting/shut down
functions for the generator.

1.3 SCOPES AND LIMITATION

The automatic change over (transfer switch) is aimed at achieving the following
automatic actions;
a)

To change power over to generator (alternative source) in case of power

outage from the mains.

b)

To have a feedback communication between the default source and the

alternative source.

c)

To change back to PHCN (default source).

d)

To protect the load from surge, over voltage and under voltage.

The automatic change over switch has the following advantages;

a)

It reduces damages to equipment since it has its own monitoring and

surge protection system and its switching requires no manual operation,
thus eliminating human error.

b)

It maintains high quality of service through its fast and prompt response.

c)

Its change over timing is reduced to the minimum due to its fast response
to power outage.

Moreover, the size and captivity of the changeover unit will depend on the load for
which it will be used.

1.3 METHODOLOGY
The automatic changeover switch will use a series of operation in
switching power supply from the main supply (default supply) to the
generator (alternative supply) to maintain power stability in a building or
an institution. The systems operation should be as follows:
a) To provide a changeover switch with a brain of its own using a
microcontroller.
b) To provide feedback communication between the default and
alternative sources.
c) To protect the two power supply sources from an overload using surge
protectors at both ends.
d) To use an LCD to display at which period there is power supply either
from the default or alternative source.
e) To be able to start / stop the generator whilst the automatic switching
is occurring.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

Nigeria and many other African nations are currently undergoing stagnancy in the
power sector, the productivity factor and unemployment rate of companies will
decrease simultaneously. Consequently there is a need to improve on the existing
power system to a level where ease and comfort in its usage is achieved to improve
the power stability in the country. The automatic changeover is a system that
improves on the issue of power stability in the country.