Frequently Asked Questions About BUSBAR

1. What is the history of busbars?

Busbar is used for more than 50 years, evolving from the large busbars in a heavy metal casing, metal cabinets with bolt-on tap-off units for a fully enclosed steel or aluminum housing with copper or aluminum conductors, fully enclosed diversions block with protected contacts for maximum security.

2. What is in the busbar?

Busbar is made of separate sections with copper or aluminum tires from 25 to 8000A. Nutrition is given through the tap-off units at the junctions of the sections or sections themselves at regular intervals. As a rule, recruited from the busbar sections of length 3.0 or 1.5 meters, mechanical feed unit, end cap, various tap-off units, as well as the suspension brackets.

3. What are the main advantages of using busbars?

Busbar has several key advantages over conventional forms of electricity, including

1)Reducing installation time compared to cable systems, which leads to savings.
2)Flexibility in design and in relation to future modifications.
3)Enhanced security, which is achieved by using high quality materials and components,
4)That simplify the design, installation and operation of the busbar.

4. What is the scope of the busbar today?

Today, Busbar is used in various fields of applications that require current distribution of high and low voltage, including factories, workshops, assembly lines, warehouses, stations, rack servers, data center, supermarkets, etc., etc.

5. Is it difficult to estimate the cost of the installation trunking project?

No! Its ease on the stage of the design / evaluation prior to installation. This is achieved by the technical characteristics and price of each element of design has always known.

Installation of trunking does not require any special tools. Bends, straight sections and accessories just going to bolt. Busbars high and medium voltage supply special bolts with double heads, which provide and demonstrate the necessary degree of downforce.

In addition, the fact that the busbar is factory manufactured and tested product, ensures a high quality, more secure installation.

6. What is the cost of busbar systems compared to traditional power distribution systems?

Low. Historically, the cost of trunking has been a stumbling block for contractors. However, it is easy to estimate the cost of busbar compared with similar cable systems – the cost of cable systems increases due to the need for laying more cables, making it difficult to washing and mounting, not to mention the complexity of the operation cable tension to prevent sagging.

Busbar cost has fallen in the past few years. Adding to this, the savings in cost due to the time of installation – the installation of the busbar dropped to 50% less than cable! The contractor may offer the customer a very competitive price offer in conjunction with greater flexibility in operation and modernization.

Installation time is actually equal to the time of busbar installation of cable tray – before installing the cables! This is a very important argument in a compressed time frame for completing installation

7. How does busbar works?

Busbars are divided into two categories – busbar power supply and distribution of electricity. Busbar distribution gives power through tap-off units installed in the discharge point, usually located in 0,5 or 1,0 meters. Tap-off units simply
included in the special socket for the power bus bar or a subnet (via the distribution panel), or directly to the machinery. Tap-off units can be mounted directly under the load without stopping, for example, the production process.

Mounted vertically, the same busbar can be used to line fare with tap-off units on the floors. (Perhaps the use of certified fire retardant barriers in places of passage through the busbar slab floors). The use of protective devices (fuses, circuit breakers with fuses or circuit breakers, circuit breakers) distributed along the length busbar, reduces the need for large quantities of cables to the equipment from it.

High-voltage busbar carries energy directly from point A to point B. Usually the transformer or switchboard to switchboard. However, if necessary, to the busbar trunking can be connected and the tap-off units in any part of the track. This is another example of the flexibility busbar systems.

Busbar power distribution in medium and high voltage is available in two forms: (a) flat split configuration, where the conductors are insulated or air, or PVC inside a metal casing, (b) configuration of the sandwich, which is becoming the norm for these currents. “Sandwich” construction means that the conductors are individually insulated and alternate with insulating material inside the casing busbar. Busbar “sandwich” structure has very good strength characteristics, as well as reduced voltage loss.

The compact design of the busbar is making it ideal for mounting conditions in the confined space of mines in modern buildings.

Using busbar sandwich structure for the main supply of buildings makes it unnecessary to use fire-resistant barriers, as inside the “sandwich” there is no air gap, which could become a conduit for fire and smoke like a chimney.

8. Are busbar protected with degree IP?

Most of the bus bars has a IP to IP55, which enables use in harsh environments. However, for extreme operating conditions in the petrochemical industry or of the outer lining is made of epoxy busbar casing with IP to 68. Busbar in a cast epoxy insulation – a system in which the copper or aluminum wires are fully insulated with a mixture of epoxy resin and hardener. This provides protection class IP68 and even makes it possible to use busbar under water (up to certain limits).

9. What are the aesthetic advantages?

In areas where it needs a certain aesthetic level, can be installed in the bus duct enclosure with natural galvanized coated, aluminum-coated or painted. On request, bus duct can be painted in colors corresponding to the distribution or the shields certain color scheme.

Another point to consider when compared to cable systems, is that the busbar is more compact and requires less space for the placement of switchboards.

10. What are the advantages of using aluminum instead of copper wires?

There are several advantages of using aluminum conductors than copper for high voltage applications. First, aluminum is 70% lighter than copper, making installation easier trunking and less expensive. Secondly, aluminum is also a good conductor of heat and electrical characteristics, making it ideal for certain applications. Third, aluminum is also much more competitive on price, leading to further reduce costs.

11. Will my aluminum conductors in any electrolytic reaction with copper contacts the cable?

There are no problems associated with the reaction between copper and aluminum, as the entire aluminum busbars are covered entirely by first coating of raw aluminum in zinc, then copper and finally tin. This is a proven system that is used around the world.