US Army Corps of Engineers

Afghanistan Engineer District

AED Design Requirements:

Various Locations, Afghanistan

July 2010

Overcurrent protection for conductors and equipment is provided to open the circuit if the current reaches a value that will cause an excessive or dangerous temperature in the conductors or conductor insulation. It is very important that the ampacity of the breaker properly protect the conductors. This document does not include instruction for motor protection (See National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 430 for motor protection). Breakers are normally sized based on the maximum load that will pass through them on a continuous or non continuous operation (NEC Article 210.20(A)). 1. Non continuous operation: The load is not operating over 3 hours continuous. The breaker size would be based on maximum load. Example: 100 amp maximum load x 100% = 100 amp breaker size. 2. Continuous operation: Defined by the NEC is the maximum load on for 3 hours are more. The breaker would be sized for the maximum load plus 25 percent. Example: 100 amp load x 125% = 125 amp breaker size. 3. Continuous and non continuous mixed loads: The breaker would be sized for not less than 100 % of the non continuous load plus 125 % of the continuous load. Conductors shall be sized based on Table 1 below, and NEC 240.4. The table was created based on a worst case capacity from NEC Table 310.16 and IEC 60364 Table A.52-4. Table 1 ampacity values are valid for 3 current carrying-conductors or less in a conduit or raceway, at an ambient temperature of 30C. If actual conditions differ from these values, Table 2 (correction for number of conductors) and Table 3 (correction for ambient temperature) shall be used to adjust the capacity for conductors shown in Table 1.

ALLOWABLE CAPACITIES OF CONDUCTORS RATED 0 THRU 2000 VOLTS Not more than 3 Current-Carrying Conductors in Raceway/Cable/Earth (86F) Size AWG (Cu) 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 1/0 2/0 3/0 4/0 250 300 350 400 500 600 Ampacity mm2 4 6 10 16 25 35 35 50 70 70 95 120 150 150 185 240 300 300 20 30 40 55 70 85 89 108 136 136 164 188 216 216 245 286 328 328 PVC 5.60 3.600 2.260 1.440 0.950 0.750 0.620 0.520 0.430 0.360 0.289 0.243 0.217 0.194 0.174 0.161 0.141 0.131 Aluminum 5.60 3.6 2.26 1.48 0.95 0.79 0.62 0.52 0.43 0.36 0.302 0.256 0.230 0.207 0.190 0.174 0.157 0.144 Steel 5.60 3.6 2.3 1.48 0.98 0.79 0.66 0.52 0.43 0.36 0.308 0.262 0.24 0.213 0.197 0.184 0.164 0.154

Effective (Z) @ .85 PF Uncoated Copper (ohm/km) Conduit Type

*Based on NEC Table 310.16 ** Based on IEC 60364-5-52 Table A 52-4 Table 1

ADJUSTMENT FACTOR FOR MORE THAN 3 CURRENT CARRYING CONDUCTORS Number of Conductors 4-6 7-9 10-20 21-30 31-40 41 and above Table 2

Percentage of Adjustment 80 70 50 45 40 35

CORRECTION FACTORS Ambient Temp C 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 Table 3 F 70-77 78-86 87-95 96-104 105-113 114-122 123-131 1.05 1.00 0.94 0.88 0.82 0.75 0.67 X