Design Rules
The following rules of design have to be implement in the aim to facilitate the assembly and especially the maintenance of the installation.
The switchboard must be designed the way to have a clearly visible separation between the 3 following zones:
- One dedicated for the devices installation
- One dedicated for the busbars mounting
- and one dedicated for the outgoers cables connections
Switchboard Areas
The goal of that architecture is to separate the switchboard in different areas in function of each professional user.
- Devices zone => panelbuilder and exploiter
- Busbars zone => panelbuilder
- Cable connection zone => installer and maintenance
In order to facilitate the access within the switchboard for the maintenance, its covering panels must be dismountable on all surfaces for any IP degree.
All the devices must be installed onto dedicated mounting plate designed for one or several switchgears of the same type. The objective of that point is to regroup the protection equipment of the same nature each others and distinguish inside the switchboard the function of each device or group of devices.
Theses mounting plates will have an independent fixing system affording them to be transformed and moved anywhere in the switchboard and especially to make it easier the installation evolution.
To insure the maximum protection of people around the electrical installation, front plates must be installed in front of all control and protection equipment in order to avoid a direct access without a tool to the devices and consequently to the active parts.
For safety reasons and especially when the door will be opened during the switchboard working, all busbars have to be covered by barriers onto the whole perimeter of the busbars zone. To achieve that requirement, the switchboard specification must comply with the partitioning rules at the minimum level of form 2.
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Edvard Csanyi
Hi, I'm an electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal. I worked twelve years at Schneider Electric in the position of technical support for low- and medium-voltage projects and the design of busbar trunking systems.I'm highly specialized in the design of LV/MV switchgear and low-voltage, high-power busbar trunking (<6300A) in substations, commercial buildings and industry facilities. I'm also a professional in AutoCAD programming.
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