GUIDELINES FOR BUSBAR TRUNKING SYSTEM

Scope

2.1 The guidelines cover Busbar Trunking System(BTS) which are used for distributing power to electrical
loads over short distances (say within a building or a compound of facilities) to multiple utilization points
for high rise Multi story buildings as per the requirement of consumer/applicant.

2.2 The guidelines cover the requirements for segregated phase bus duct is one in which phase
conductor with its associated connections, joints, accessories and insulating supports are enclosed in an
earthed metal housing with insulation barrier between the phases.

Service conditions

3.1 The Busbar Trunking System shall be suitable for satisfactory operation under following climatic
conditions: a. Maximum ambient temperature : 50°C b. Maximum mean temperature over 24 hours :
45°C c. Mean temperature in any year : 30°C d. Minimum ambient temperature : 0 °C e. Altitude :
Sea level f. Relative humidity : The relative humidity may range up to a maximum of 100%

General Construction Requirements

4.1 The Busbar Trunking System shall be sandwiched throughout its entire length. Busbar Trunking
System flared at tap-points are not acceptable. 4.2 Uniform rating bus duct to be installed of same size
throughout the raceway.

4.3 The enclosure shall comprise a non-magnetic aluminum housing with minimum metal thickness of 3
mm. The aluminum housing shall be coated with epoxy polyester powder painting Color RAL 7032,
having natural finish and fully fault rated.

4.4 Each piece of Busbar Trunking System shall be labelled E, L1, L2, L3, and N at both ends for the
identification of conductors.
4.5 Minimum enclosure protection shall be IP55 as defined in BS EN 60529 and must be international
reputable lab approved in both horizontal and vertical positions.

Aluminum Housing

5.1 The housing shall be made of an aluminum alloy profile which shall be a low magnetic material and
effectively minimize the hysteresis loss during busway energization.

5.2 The aluminum alloy profile shall have excellent heat dissipation performance, ensuring that the
maximum temperature rise of the busway does not exceed the limit at rated current.

5.3 The aluminum housing shall be coated with epoxy polyester powder painting and tested to
withstand 1000 hours of salt fog test. 5.4 Under normal operating conditions, the hot spot
temperature of the enclosure shall not exceed 70˚C. In areas where the operating personnel are likely to
touch the enclosure during operation, either the enclosure temperature shall be limited to 60˚C or
suitable thermal barrier shall be provided.

6 Plug Outlet and Busway Plug

6.1 Both outlet phase tabs and plug stab fingers shall be fully silver-plated.

6.2 The bus plug shall have complete safety interlock mechanism to ensure electric safety.

6.3 The plug outlet protection module shall be embedded with waterproof protection up to IP55.

Expansion Lengths

7.1 An expansion length is the section compensating for thermal expansion of the busway when it is run
either across or up a building.

7.2 The expansion range of each expansion length shall be ±25mm. It shall be normally set onto each
60m on the straight length.
7.3 When the busway run straight length is about 60m or more, particularly if the busway is not free to
move at the ends of the run, the expansion length shall be necessarily provided.

Earthing

8.1 Necessary earthing arrangement as applicable shall be provided with clamps. All accessories and
hardware required for the earthing arrangement shall be provided by the supplier.

Wall Frame Assemblies

9.1 Wherever the bus duct passes through the building wall, a wall frame assembly with seal-off
bushings shall be provided to prevent any leakage of rain water, infiltration of dust and air temperature
variations. The wall frame shall be fabricated out of aluminum angles and sheet and shall be suitable for
grouting in the wall. It shall be provided with flanges on both sides to receive the bus duct flanges.

9.2 The seal-off bushings shall be flanged type.

9.3 The insulators for wall frame assembly and seal-off bushings shall be of porcelain. Also the bushings
shall be designed for thermal expansion/contraction due to temperature differential.

Bus Bar Conductors

10.1 The phase and neutral bus-bar conductors Aluminum (Tin coated) shall be of rectangular shape.
Conductors of the system is minimum 99.90% electrolytic. Mill certificates of conductors from supplier
will be provided for every project’s material complying IEC 60502, BS 7870-5, GB 12527-91.

10.2 The neutral conductor shall be full rated, internal earth conductor shall be half rated and be of the
same material as the phase bus-bars.

10.3 The entire conductors and joint lengths shall be tinned. All bus-bar conductors shall be totally
enclosed in class B 130ºC. Insulation system of the busbars is epoxy coating. There should be secondary
insulation material like polyester film in between all conductors to protect any risk of scratching of
epoxy and to be a long lasting product.
Busbar Trunking System Supports

11.1 The Busbar Trunking System shall be properly aligned and securely fixed, not exceeding 1.5 m in
length.

11.2 The housing/trunking shall be strong enough to support the weight of the bus-bars by means of
galvanized fixing brackets comprising of hanger clamps, fixing channels and damping screws supplied by
the Busbar Trunking System manufacturer. Additional supports shall be supplied where required.

11.3 In horizontal and vertical runs, bus-bars shall be designed to allow each section of housing to be
removed on one location only without the need to dismantle the housing on all the other connected
locations.

11.4 Busbar systems shall have only single block joint type for all modules. That makes easier installation
without any risk of wrong fixing.

11.5 The Busbar Trunking System shall be designed and constructed for use on a 420/440V, three phase,
four wire, and 50 Hz system. The minimum rated insulation voltage shall be 1000 V. Each rating of
Busbar Trunking System shall be International reputable lab type tested and certified for short circuit
ratings for one second covering phase, neutral, earth conductors and the housing, as an additional
protective conductor.

Bus-bar Conductor Joints

12.1 Bus-bars shall be joint together by means of non-reversible joint packs comprising a double
headed, torque indicating single joint bolt, including a high visibility disc for visual indication of unmade
joints. For ease of jointing and to minimize installation time, joints shall have a single torque bolt only.
Tightening torque values shall be mentioned on each part of the Bus duct system.

12.2 The Joints shall be of a safe asymmetrical design to ensure correct phasing when jointing two
lengths. It shall be possible to torque the joint using a standard long handle wrench with a 19 mm
socket.
12.3 The joints shall have a stopper mechanism which ensures quick and reliable joint installation using
a double-headed torque limiting joint bolt, with standard tightening torque of 70 ± 5N•m. When the
bolt is properly tightened with required torque, an identification label shall be released naturally.

12.4 Each joint shall have a +/- 4mm adjustment range to compensating for the length change due to
thermal expansion.

Tap-Off Positions and Tap-Off Units

13.1 Each tap off position shall be provided with automatic safety shutters to shield the live bus-bars
where the position is not occupied with a tap off unit.

13.2 Tap-off positions shall be non-flared and suitable for tap-off units to be plugged on to

the bus-bars.

13.3 Shutters shall only be activated by the insertion of specific tap-off units and shall only operate if the
boxes are the correct way round. Shutters shall not be operational on manual intervention.

13.4 The plug-in contact shall self-align with the bus-bars and plug-in openings shall provide personal
protection and safety of IP 2X when in the open position and IP55 in the closed position in accordance
with BS EN 60529.

13.5 Within risers, plug-in tap-off positions shall be provided with a maximum distance of one plug-in
opening for each 1000 mm.

13.6 Tap-off boxes shall be constructed of zinc plated sheet steel and shall be complete with hinged lids
with an International reputable lab certification of IP55.

13.7 The tap-off boxes shall have circuit protective devices as applicable and with mechanical interlocks
to prevent tap-off box removal unless the mechanism is in the off position.
13.8 Where tap-off boxes are inserted into the live Busbar Trunking System, they shall be designed and
constructed so that the current carrying metal parts are not exposed during the insertion and removal of
the boxes.

13.9 The tap-off box shall remain earthed during removal, until all live connections are disabled. The
tap-off box shall ensure that the box can only be inserted to give correct polarity.

13.10 All tap-off door operation handles shall be pad lockable as per KE requirement

13.11 Tap-off boxes shall be of suitable rating and also shall be of the plug-on type for ease of
installation and removal.

13.12 The tap-off units shall have KE approved type MCCBs.

13.13 Plug-in points location can be arranged at any level of floor height precisely and any distance in
millimeter of bus bar pieces as per project’s requirement. Tap Off boxes can be fixed at any precise
height required in electrical room, shaft or wherever required. Plug-in points have a hinged cover that
provides IP55 protection on plug-in type busbars. A 1.5 meters standard plug-in busbar must have 2 or 3
plug-in provisions in both sides.

Metering

14.1 Consumer meters shall be installed in the same electrical room on each floor, where bus duct
pathway is routed. 14.2 Suitable size cable shall be connected from each tap-off unit to KE Check Meter
than to Large bus bar or Small bus bar Box as per KE Specs. Ref. KDTP-S220-16-02-Large Busbar Chamber
Box and KDTP-S215-16-02-LT Busbar Chamber Box respectively.

14.3 KE approved AMR Consumer meters shall be connected with above mentioned bus bar chamber as
per requirement to feed consumer load.

Handling of Busbar Trunking System

 15.1 Busbar systems are being handled by a local dealer with their local experienced engineers in
design, site measurement, installation supervision and testing from their local offices. Supply,
installation, testing and commissioning shall be in the scope of manufacturer or manufacturer
recommended local dealer.

15.2 Bus duct manufacturer shall have a minimum manufacturing experience of 15 years

15.3 Local dealer engineers shall have certificates from manufacturer and authorized by manufacturer
to provide all required services in same country.

15.4 Emergency manufacturing team to produce in 48hours for any immediate requirement of a few
pieces due to site hold items or damaged items during installation.

15.5 Maintenance of bus duct for 03 years after handing over to KE shall be the responsibility of local
dealer.

15.6 Manufacturer recommended local dealer shall also contain adequate quantities of spares as a back
that can be utilized as and when required.

15.7 Warranty of all installed items and spares shall be 03 years from the date of handing over to KE.

16.7 Manufacturer shall be responsible for the training of KE engineers and field staff whenever
required as per KE request.

Safety Stock / Maintenance

16.1 Applicant must ensure the safety stock of critical items of Busbar Trunking System for immediate
replacement in case of fault. Approval of safety stock items shall be provided by KE engineer.

16.2 Replacement of faulty parts and maintenance of Busbar Trunking System will be responsibility of
applicant up to 03 years which shall be covered in maintenance contract.

Type Tests

17.1 Busbar systems are tested and certified against fire resistance as per IEC 60331 and ISO 834.
Following type tests shall be performed on the bus riser and its components in accordance with IEC
60439-2/61439-6 (latest applicable) under the witnessing of KE engineers or type test reports for the
same from an independent lab of international repute shall be submitted. a) Strength of
materials and parts; b) Degree of protection (IP); c) Clearance; d) Creepage distance; e) Electric shock
protection and integrity of protection circuits; f) Di-electric properties;(BIL and Power frequency) g)
Temperature rise; h) Thermal Cycling Test i) Short-circuit resistance; j) Electromagnetic compatibility; k)
Mechanical operation.

17.2 Busbar systems are certified by Green Guard to highly populated projects like healthcare, museum,
malls and educational environments.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF APPLICANT
18.1 Applicant shall provide separate and dedicated electrical room with adequate area on each floor of
multi-story building for metering and bus duct pathway. Ownership of room will be of KE.

18.2 Applicant shall provide adequate slab openings and route as per the design of bus duct on specific
project.

18.3 Applicant shall provide type tested Low Voltage panel in Main Electrical room for the appropriate
connection of bus duct with panel. All components of panel shall also be type tested. All type test
certificates and design of LV panel shall be submitted for approval.

18.4 Since bus duct shall be installed for indoor application, applicant shall ensure that there is no
possibility of exposure of bus duct and allied components to environmental effects such as moisture,
water, dust, sunlight, high wind etc.

18.5 Feeders boxes with multiple cables connecting provision shall be provided by the manufacturer.
Feeder boxes will be utilized in case one section of bus duct becomes faulty. Supply will be normalized
by installing feeder boxes after removal of faulty part and cables will be connected.

18.6 For emergency back-up e.g. in case of back-up generators separate/dedicated bus duct shall be
installed for provision of electricity to consumers. Emergency back-up bus duct shall not be linked with
KE bus duct at any point.

18.7 Applicant to share software based simulation report for the identification of short circuit levels and
voltage drops on bus trunking system.

Acceptance and rejection

20.1 The manufacturer shall provide all the necessary facilities for routine inspection including provision
of testing equipment for carrying out the routine tests, free of cost to KE inspection team.
20.2 If any unit selected randomly from the supplied lot fails to meet the requirements set out in this
guide lines against routine/sample inspection, then twice the quantity of sample will be selected from
the same lot and subjected to sample tests. Now, if any sample fails, the whole lot shall be rejected

20.3 The defective samples, failing to meet the KE requirements as stated above shall be replaced free
of cost.

Marking
21.1 The following permanent marking shall either be punched or printed on each unit distinctly.

a) Manufacturer’s name. b) KE PROPERTY, NOT FOR SALE. c) Serial number and year of manufacturing.
d) Purchase Order number and date. e) SAP code.