Temperature rise prediction in 3-phase busbar system at 20°C ambient temperature

This paper presents the temperature rise analysis of a three phase busbar system. Busbar normally used to transmit and distribute current to distribution board in a building. Higher current capacity will naturally increase heat generation in the busduct system. The heat generation normally creates power losses or eddy current losses at the conductor. In this paper, a two dimensional finite element method by Opera 2D software is used for predicting the temperature distribution at initial steady state current carrying capacity of busbar. The current carrying capacity is limited at temperature different between conductor surface temperature and ambient temperature obtained by IEC standard 60430-2. The heat transfer coefficients on the boundaries are calculated by using the Nusselt number. The mathematical analysis is applied to get the current density. The calculated current input in selected phase angle, heat transfer coefficient, heat flux is used as the input of the simulation model. The results depict that the temperature varies due to change in input phase current.