Electrical Installation Design

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION DESIGN

1.0 Design of Power Distribution System in Buildings

The best distribution system is one that will, cost effectively and safely, supply
adequate electric service to both present and future probable loads - this book is
included to aid in selecting, designing and installing such a system.
The function of the electric power distribution system in a building or installation site
is to receive power at one or more supply points and deliver it to the individual lamps,
motors, and all other electrically operated devices. The importance of the distribution
system to the function of a building makes it almost imperative that the best system be
designed and installed.
In order to design the best distribution system, the system design engineer must have
information concerning the loads and a knowledge of the various types of distribution
systems that are applicable. The various categories of buildings have many specific
design challenges, but certain basic principles are common to all. Such principles, if
followed, will provide a soundly executed design.

The basic principles or factors requiring consideration during design of the power
distribution system include:

Functions of structure, present and future.

Life and flexibility of structure.
Locations of service entrance and distribution equipment, locations and
characteristics of loads, locations of unit substations.
Demand and diversity factors of loads.
Sources of power; including normal, standby and emergency.
Continuity and quality of power available and required.
Energy efficiency and management.
Distribution and utilization voltages.
Bus and/or cable feeders.
Distribution equipment and motor control.
Power and lighting distribution boards and motor control centers.
Types of lighting systems.
Installation methods.
Power monitoring systems.
Electric utility requirements.

1.1 Goals of System Design

When considering the design of an electrical distribution system for a given customer
and facility, the electrical engineer must consider alternate design approaches which
best fit the following overall goals.

1. Safety:
The No. 1 goal is to design a power system which will not present any
electrical hazard to the people who utilize the facility, and/or the utilization
equipment fed from the electrical system. It is also important to design a

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 Electrical Installation Design

system which is inherently safe for the people who are responsible for
electrical equipment maintenance and upkeep.

2. Minimum Initial Investment:

The owners overall budget for first cost purchase and installation of the
electrical distribution system and electrical utilization equipment will be a key
factor in determining which of various alternate system designs are to be
selected. When trying to minimize initial investment for electrical equipment,
consideration should be given to the cost of installation, floor space
requirements and possible extra cooling requirements as well as the initial
purchase price.

3. Maximum Service Continuity:

The degree of service continuity and reliability needed will vary depending on
the type and use of the facility as well as the loads or processes being supplied
by the electrical distribution system. For example, for a smaller commercial
office building a power outage of considerable time, say several hours, may be
acceptable, whereas in a larger commercial building or industrial plant only a
few minutes may be acceptable. In other facilities such as hospitals, many
critical loads permit a maximum of 10 seconds outage and certain loads, such
as real-time computers, cannot tolerate a loss of power for even a few cycles.

Typically, service continuity and reliability can be increased by:

i) Supplying multiple utility power sources or services.
ii) Supplying multiple connection paths to the loads served.
iii) Using short-time rated power circuit breakers.
iv) Providing alternate customer owned power sources such as generators or
batteries supplying uninterruptible power supplies.
v) Selecting the highest quality electrical equipment and conductors.
vi) Using the best installation methods.
vii) Designing appropriate system alarms, monitoring and diagnostics.
viii) Selecting preventative maintenance systems or equipment to alarm
before an outage occurs.

4. Maximum Flexibility and Expendability:

In many industrial manufacturing plants, electrical utilization loads are
periodically relocated or changed requiring changes in the electrical
distribution system. Consideration of the layout and design of the electrical
distribution system to accommodate these changes must be considered. For
example, providing many smaller transformers or load centers associated with
a given area or specific groups of machinery may lend more flexibility for
future changes than one large transformer; the use of plug-in busways to feed
selected equipment in lieu of conduit and wire may facilitate future revised
equipment layouts. In addition, consideration must be given to future building
expansion, and/or increased load requirements due to added utilization
equipment when designing the electrical distribution system. In many cases
considering transformers with increased capacity or fan cooling to serve
unexpected loads as well as including spare additional protective devices and/
or provision for future addition of these devices may be desirable.

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 Electrical Installation Design

Also to be considered is increasing appropriate circuit capacities or quantities

for future growth. Power monitoring communication systems connected to
electronic metering can provide the trending and historical data necessary for
future capacity growth.

5. Maximum Electrical Efficiency (Minimum Operating Costs):

Electrical efficiency can generally be maximized by designing systems that
minimize the losses in conductors, transformers and utilization equipment.
Proper voltage level selection plays a key factor in this area and will be
discussed later. Selecting equipment, such as transformers, with lower
operating losses, generally means higher first cost and increased floor space
requirements; thus, there is a balance to be considered between the owners
utility energy change for the losses in the transformer or other equipment
versus the owners first cost budget and cost of money.

6. Minimum Maintenance Cost:

Usually the simpler the electrical system design and the simpler the electrical
equipment, the less the associated maintenance costs and operator errors. As
electrical systems and equipment become more complicated to provide greater
service continuity or flexibility, the maintenance costs and chance for operator
error increases. The systems should be designed with an alternate power
circuit to take electrical equipment (requiring periodic maintenance) out of
service without dropping essential loads. Use of drawout type protective
devices such as breakers and combination starters can also minimize
maintenance cost and out-of-service time.

7. Maximum Power Quality:

The power input requirements of all utilization equipment has to be considered
including the acceptable operating range of the equipment and the electrical
distribution system has to be designed to meet these needs. For example, what
is the required input voltage, current, power factor requirement? Consideration
to whether the loads are affected by harmonics (multiples of the basic 60 cycle
per second sine wave) or generate harmonics must be taken into account as
well as transient voltage phenomena. The above goals are interrelated and in
some ways contradictory. As more redundancy is added to the electrical
system design along with the best quality equipment to maximize service
continuity, flexibility and expandability, and power quality, the more initial
investment and maintenance are increased. Thus, the designer must weigh
each factor based on the type of facility, the loads to be served, the owners
past experience and criteria.

1.1.1 Summary
It is to be expected that the engineer will never have complete load information
available when the system is designed. The engineer will have to expand the
information made available to him on the basis of experience with similar problems.
Of course, it is desirable that the engineer has as much definite information as
possible concerning the function, requirements, and characteristics of the utilization
devices. The engineer should know whether certain loads function separately or
together as a unit, the magnitude of the demand of the loads viewed separately and as
units, the rated voltage and frequency of the devices, their physical location with
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 Electrical Installation Design

respect to each other and with respect to the source and the probability and possibility
of the relocation of load devices and addition of loads in the future. Coupled with this
information, a knowledge of the major types of electric power distribution systems
equips the engineers to arrive at the best system design for the particular building.
It is beyond the scope of this guide to present a detailed discussion of loads that might
be found in each of several types of buildings. Assuming that the design engineer has
assembled the necessary load data, the following pages discuss some of the various
types of electrical distribution systems that can be utilized. The description of types of
systems, and the diagrams used to explain the types of systems on the following pages
omits the location of utility revenue metering equipment for clarity. A discussion of
short circuit calculations, coordination, voltage selection, voltage drop, ground fault
protection, motor protection, and other specific equipment protection is also
presented.

1.2 Low Voltage Distribution System

1.2.1 Principles
In a typical LV installation, distribution circuits originate at a Main Switchboard
(MSB) from which cables are installed in various kinds of cables-ways, conduits, etc.
to supply sub switchboard (SSB) and distribution boards (DB).

For medium to large sites, three distribution levels as shown in Figure 1.1 are
generally used to supply LV power to all loads:
Distribution from the Main Switchboard (MSB)
At this level, power from one or more MV/LV transformers connected to the
MV network of the electrical utility is distributed to:
- Different areas of the sites: shops in a factory, homogeneous production areas
in industrial premises, floor in the office buildings, etc.
- Centralised high power loads such as air compressors and water cooling units
in industrial processes or air conditioners and lifts in office buildings.
Sub distribution used to distribute electricity within each area
Final distribution, used to supply the various loads

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 Electrical Installation Design

D B

SSB 1 D B

D B

D B

D B

M SB
SSB 2

D B

D B

SSB 3 D B

D B

M a in D is t r ib u t io n L e v e l S u b D is t r ib u t io n L e v e l S u b D i s t r ib u t io n L e v e l

Figure 1.1: Low voltage distribution levels

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 Electrical Installation Design

All distribution systems are combinations of two basic topologies (see Figure 1.2):
Star topologies: Radial (or centralized) distribution
Bus topology: Distribution using busduct/busways (also referred to as busbar
trunking systems)

a) b)
Figure 1.2: Two basic topologies of distribution systems:
a) Star b) Bus

1.2.2 Selecting a distribution scheme

The LV distribution scheme is selected according to a number of criteria including:
(a) Energy availability requirements
The criterion of independent circuits to different parts of an installation makes
it possible to:
i) Limit the consequences of a fault to the circuit concerned
ii) Simply fault locating
iii) Carry out maintenance work or circuit extensions without
interrupting the supply of power to the whole installation

In general, the following circuit groups are required:

i) Lighting circuits (the circuits on which the majority of insulation
faults occurs)
ii) Socket outlet circuits
iii) Heating, ventilation and air conditioning circuits
iv) Power circuits for motor driven fixed plant
v) Power supply circuits for auxiliary services (indication and control)
vi) Circuits for safety systems (emergency lighting, fire protection
systems and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) circuits for
computer systems, etc.), the installation of which normally subjected
to strict regulations and codes of practices.

(b) Size of the site (area and total power to be distributed)

Small sites are supplied directly by the utilitys LV network and the size and
power requirements of the installation do not justify a three level distribution
system. Electrical distribution in all premises (stores, homes, small offices)
most often involves only one or two levels.

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 Electrical Installation Design

(c) Load layout (equipment and power density)

Two types of loads, depending on their layout on the site, must be taken in
account:
Concentrated load, generally corresponding to building utilities used
for the entire site and requiring high power (e.g. centralised air
conditioning units, lifts, refrigeration units in supermarket)
Distributed loads that can be dealt with in groups corresponding to a
homogeneous area (floor, factory shop, production line) and
characterised by two parameters: power density (in VA/m2) and
equipment density (in number of devices per 10 or 100m2)

(d) Installation flexibility requirements

Installation flexibility is an increasingly important requirement, in particular
for commercial and industrial premises.

1.3 Rules and Statutory Regulations

Low-voltage installations are governed by a number of regulatory and advisory texts,
which may be classified as follows:
Statutory regulations (decrees, factory acts, etc.),
Codes of practice, regulations issued by professional institutions, job
specifications,
National and international standards for installations,
National and international standards for products.

The electricity supply and installation practice in Peninsular Malaysia are governed
by the following:
1. Electricity Supply Act 1990 Act 447
2. Licensee Supply Regulation 1990
3. Electricity Regulation 1994
4. OSHA 1994 Occupational, Safety & Health Act
5. Malaysia Standard MS IEC 60364 Electrical Installation of Buildings
6. The current edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations for Electrical Installations,
where necessary (IEE Wiring Regulation 16th Edition)
7. Electricity Supply (Successor Company) Act 1990 Act 448

1.4 Definition of voltage ranges: IEC voltage standards and recommendations

A low voltage (LV) system refers to distribution voltages below 1000V as shown in
Table 1.1. In Malaysia, a LV system refers to the three phase four wire system of
415V between line to line, and 240V between line to neutral. Low voltage (LV) is not
only the distribution supply voltage, it is also the utilization voltage of most the
electrical appliances.

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 Electrical Installation Design

Table 1.1: Standard voltages between 100V and 1000V (IEC 60038 Edition 6.2 2002-
07)
Three phase four wire or three wire Single phase three wire systems
systems Nominal voltage (V)
Nominal voltage (V)
50Hz 60Hz 60Hz
- 120/208 120/240
- 240 -
(1)
230/400 277/480 -
400/690 (1) 480 -
- 347/600 -
1000 600 -

1) The nominal voltage of existing 220/380 V and 240/415 V systems shall evolve
towards the recommended value of 230/400 V. The transition period should be as
short as possible, and should not exceed 20 years after the issue of this IEC
publication. During this period, as a first step, the electricity supply authorities of
countries having 220/380 V systems should bring the voltage within the range
230/400 V +6% -10% and those of countries having 240/415 V systems should bring
the voltage within the range 230/400 V +10% -6%. At the end of this transition period
the tolerance of 230/400 V 10% should have been achieved; after this the reduction
of this range will be considered. All the above considerations apply also to the present
380/660 V value with respect to the recommended value 400/690 V.

Table 1.2: Standard voltages above 1kV and not exceeding 35kV (IEC 60038 Edition
6.2 2002-07)
Series 1 Series II
Highest voltage for Nominal system Highest voltage for Nominal system
equipment (kV) voltage (kV) equipment (kV) voltage (kV)
(1) (1) (1) (1)
3.6 3.3 3 4.40 4.16(1)
(1) (1) (1)
7.2 6.6 6 - -
12 11 10 - -
(2)
- - - 13.2 12.47(2)
- - - 13.97(2) 13.2(2)
- - - 14.52(1) 13.8(1)
(17.5) - (15) - -
24 22 20 - -
- - - 26.4(2) 24.94(2)
36(3) 33(3) - - -
- - - 36.5 34.5
40.5(3) - 35(3) - -
These systems are generally three-wire systems unless otherwise indicated. The
values indicated are voltages between phases.
The values indicated in parentheses should be considered as non-preferred values. It is
recommended that these values should not be used for new systems to be constructed
in future.

Note 1: It is recommended that in any one country the ratio between two adjacent
nominal voltages should be not less than two.
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Note 2: In a normal system of Series 1, the highest voltage and the lowest voltage do
not differ by more than approximately 10 % from the nominal voltage of the system.
In a normal system of Series II, the highest voltage does not differ by more then +5%
and the lowest voltage by more than 10% from the nominal voltage of the system.

1) These values should not be used for public distribution systems.

2) These systems are generally four-wire systems.
3) The unification of these values is under consideration.

In Malaysia, the design criteria are developed by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for
steady state supply voltage level fluctuation of the low voltage system can be divided
into:
1. Steady state voltage level fluctuation under normal condition: 415V/240V
10% to +5%.
2. Steady state voltage level fluctuation under contingency condition:
415V/240V 10%.

1.5 TNB Supply Schemes and Maximum Demand Level for Low Voltage System
Table 1.3 shows the typical supply schemes for maximum demand (MD) level of
individual customer for low voltage system provided by TNB.

Table 1.3: Typical supply schemes for various Maximum Demand (MD) levels
MD Ranges of Individual Supply Voltage Typical Supply Scheme
Customer
Up to 12kVA 240V Overhead services from LV
mains
12kVA to 100kVA 415V Three phase overhead or
underground cable service from
existing LV mains
100kVA to 1000kVA 415V Direct cable services from LV
board from a substation

Table 1.4 and 1.5 indicates the typical ranges of maximum demand for domestic and
shop lots or shop houses respectively. These values shall be subjected to revisions
based upon the latest results of load profiling studies.

Table 1.4: Range of Maximum Demand (MD) for domestic customer subclasses or
premises
No Type of Premises Maximum Average Maximum
(kW) (kW) (kW)
1 Low cost flats, single storey terrace 1.5 2.0 3.0
2 Double storey terrace or apartment 3.0 4.0 5.0
3 Single storey, semidetached 3.0 5.0 7.0
4 Single storey bungalow & three 5.0 7.0 10.0
room condominium
5 Double storey bungalow & luxury 8.0 12.0 15.0
condominium

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Table 1.5: Range of Maximum Demand (MD) for types of shophouses

No Type of Premises Maximum Average Maximum
(kW) (kW) (kW)
1 Single storey, semidetached 5 10 15
2 Double storey shop house 15 20 25
3 Three storey shop house 20 30 35
4 Four storey shop house 25 35 45
5 Five storey shop house 30 40 55

1.6 Types of Supply Application

Types of supply applications are provided by TNB can be classified into three types:
1. Supply application for load up to 100kVA
Supply usually from existing supply mains
Submission of applications to TNBD by Electrical Contractor
registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga (ST)
Processing period for supply will take a maximum of 3 weeks upon
approval from the local authorities.
2. Supply application for load exceeding 100kVA
Supply may require establishment of new substation
Submission of applications to TNBD by Consultant Engineer
Processing period for supply may take between 6 months to 3 years
depending on the extent of electrical infrastructure required.
3. Supply application for streetlight
Application made by the local authority/government department
Application by developer
Application by individual

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