Shoort-circuit cuurrents represent a trem

mendous am
mount of desstructive eneergy, which
h can
be rreleased throough electriical systemss under faullt conditionss. Baseline short-circuiit
studdies should be performeed when thee facility eleectrical systtem is first ddesigned, an
nd
thenn updated when
w
a majo
or modificattion or renov
vation takess place bbut no less
freqquently thann every five years. Majoor changes would be co
onsidered a change in feed
f
by tthe electric utility,
u
a change in the primary or secondary system connfiguration
withhin the facillity, a chang
ge in transfoormer size or
o impedancce, a changee in conducttor
lenggths or sizess, or a chang
ge in the mootors that arre energized
d by the sysstem.
Eveery electricaal system co
onfines electtrical curren
nt flow to seelected pathhs by
surrrounding thee conductorrs with insul
ulators of vaarious types.. Short-circuuit current is
i
the flow of elecctrical energ
gy that resuults when the insulation
n barrier faills and allow
ws
currrent to flow in a shorterr path than tthe intended
d circuit.

<b>
>Fig. 1.</b>
> Short-circu
uit current tthrough an impedance.
i
In nnormal operrations, as sh
hown in Figg. 1, the imp
pedance of the
t electricaal load limits
the current flow
w to relativeely small vaalues. Howeever, a shortt-circuit patth bypasses the
norm
mal current-limiting load impedannce, resultin
ng in excessively high ccurrent valu
ues
thatt are restrictted only by limitations of the poweer system itself, and byy the
imppedances of the conductive elemennts that still remain in th
he path betw
ween the po
ower
sourrce and the short-circuiit point (Figg. 2).
Usinng basic Ohhm's Law (E
E = I Z orr I = E Z) as a guide, it's obviouss that if the
volttage remainns constant and
a the imppedance suddenly decreeases, approoaching zero
o,
thenn the currennt must simu
ultaneously increase, ap
pproaching infinity, to satisfy Ohm
m's
Law
w.

<b>
>Fig. 2.</b>
> Short-circu
uit current tthrough two
o impedancees.
Theere are threee basic sourcces of shortt-circuit currrent: the eleectric utilityy, motors, an
nd
on-ssite generators. Obviou
usly, the larggest source is the electrric utility, aalthough thee
highh- and mediium-voltagee lines leadiing to the faacility do haave finite im
mpedances, as
a
does the utilityy service tran
nsformer. T
The second largest
l
sourrce is from m
motors with
hin a
faciility.

With today's high fault currents, it's more important than ever to protect electrical
equipment from extremely high current levels. Otherwise, the equipment will explode
as it attempts to interrupt the fault. But for many, fault current calculations have
always been difficult to get a handle on, until now.
Here's a new method to calculate short-circuit currents, one we like to call the Easy
Way kVA Method. You can use in it in place of the abstract per-unit method of
short-circuit calculations from the past. With the kVA method, you can easily
visualize what currents will flow and where they will flow, and you can calculate
them using an inexpensive handheld calculator in moments, regardless of the
complexity of the electrical power system.
This method is simple because there are no awkward base changes to make,
because kVAs are the same on both the primary and secondary sides of every
transformer. Best of all, you only need one calculation to determine the short-circuit
values at every point within the entire electrical power system. With the old per-unit
method, you needed a separate calculation for each point in the system.
You can obtain short-circuit kVA values from your electrical utility company, but
short-circuit power is also protected by generators and motors. The kVA produced by
a motor is equal to its starting inrush current. Likewise, the kVA produced by a
generator is equal to its kVA nameplate rating divided by its nameplate subtransient
reactance rating (Xd).
For example, suppose we have a 1,000kVA generator with a subtransient rating of
0.15. It would instantaneously produce 6,667kVA (1,000 0.15). Or, suppose we
have a 100-hp motor with subtransient rating of 0.17. It would instantaneously
produce 588kVA (100 0.17).
Now suppose this motor and generator connects to the same bus. Then, the shortcircuit power available at that bus is the sum 6,667kVA plus 588kVA, or 7,255kVA.
If the electrical utility is rated to deliver 100,000kVA to this same bus, then the total
short-circuit power available at that bus is 107,255kVA.
Using the kVA method also greatly simplifies the calculation of short-circuit power
attenuation (or holdback) provided by reactors, transformers, and conductors. For
example, a 2,000kVA, 7% impedance transformer will pass through its windings a
maximum of 28,571kVA of power (2,000 0.07), if infinite power flows to one side
of its windings. If instead of an infinite current source, the above bus connects to this
transformer, then the amount of power that will be let through the transformer is the
reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the two, or 1 ( [1 107,254] + [1
28,571] ), or 22,561kVA. You can determine transformer impedance, reactor
impedance, or cable size with the kVA method quickly enough to make what-if
calculations.
Comparisons over several years have found results of the kVA method to be accurate
within 3% of computer calculations using expensive software, so you can even use the
kVA method as a check on the input and output of a computer calculation. This is
an excellent benefit because standard engineering procedure requires you to check
calculations using a different method from the one originally used.