Hey gents,
so i have a question about a busway system I'm designing. I dont do a whole lot of designs for busways so i want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
I have a 5000 amp, 480v service going to a 15 story condo/apartment. The main switchgear is located on the south side of the building at floor level. the electrical rooms for each floor are located on the north side of the building and start on the 5th floor. The first floor has a main entrance area, with one half being office/lobby area and the other half being parking. The second floor is split the same way with a staff office/break area on one side and the other half is parking. the 3rd and 4th floor is all parking and then the rest of the building is apartments/condos.
I'm planning on running a 4,000 amp feed with pipe and wire from the switchgear over to the south side of the second floor and placing a tap box on the second floor (directly under the where the electrical rooms are) that will feed a 4,000 amp vertical busway. the vertical busway will go from the tap box straight up through every floor going through the 3rd and 4th floor parking garages and then hitting the electrical rooms in floors 5-15.
My feed at the main switchgear will have gfi protection since it's over 1,000 amps. At each electrical room, I'll have three fused disconnects with current limiting fuses to help bring down the fault current since it was pretty high.
two things I'm not 100% sure of -
When I'm transitioning over from pipe and wire to the busway. I dont believe I'm required to have a disconnect, or if I'm ok with just a tap box. I have ocp at the switchgear, but I'm not sure if a disconnect would be required on the second floor. I dont think so, because it's not really a tap right? it's all just one big feeder?
The busway will be all vertical and pass through 2 floors that are parking garages, but I'm not sure this is allowed. Section 368.10(A) states "Busways shall be permitted to be located in the open where visible ....." So i believe we're good there, but then section
368.12(a) states Busways shall not be installed where subject to severe physical damage or corrosive vapors"
Would a parking garage be an area where it could be subject to severe physical damage, say if a car hits it? The busway would be against a wall, that cars would have to circle around, so there is a possibility that a reckless driver could hit it. If this is an issue, could i get away with installing pipe bollards, or would i have to build a wall/room around the busway?
Thanks for any input guys, i really appreciate it!
Thanks!
so i have a question about a busway system I'm designing. I dont do a whole lot of designs for busways so i want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
I have a 5000 amp, 480v service going to a 15 story condo/apartment. The main switchgear is located on the south side of the building at floor level. the electrical rooms for each floor are located on the north side of the building and start on the 5th floor. The first floor has a main entrance area, with one half being office/lobby area and the other half being parking. The second floor is split the same way with a staff office/break area on one side and the other half is parking. the 3rd and 4th floor is all parking and then the rest of the building is apartments/condos.
I'm planning on running a 4,000 amp feed with pipe and wire from the switchgear over to the south side of the second floor and placing a tap box on the second floor (directly under the where the electrical rooms are) that will feed a 4,000 amp vertical busway. the vertical busway will go from the tap box straight up through every floor going through the 3rd and 4th floor parking garages and then hitting the electrical rooms in floors 5-15.
My feed at the main switchgear will have gfi protection since it's over 1,000 amps. At each electrical room, I'll have three fused disconnects with current limiting fuses to help bring down the fault current since it was pretty high.
two things I'm not 100% sure of -
When I'm transitioning over from pipe and wire to the busway. I dont believe I'm required to have a disconnect, or if I'm ok with just a tap box. I have ocp at the switchgear, but I'm not sure if a disconnect would be required on the second floor. I dont think so, because it's not really a tap right? it's all just one big feeder?
The busway will be all vertical and pass through 2 floors that are parking garages, but I'm not sure this is allowed. Section 368.10(A) states "Busways shall be permitted to be located in the open where visible ....." So i believe we're good there, but then section
368.12(a) states Busways shall not be installed where subject to severe physical damage or corrosive vapors"
Would a parking garage be an area where it could be subject to severe physical damage, say if a car hits it? The busway would be against a wall, that cars would have to circle around, so there is a possibility that a reckless driver could hit it. If this is an issue, could i get away with installing pipe bollards, or would i have to build a wall/room around the busway?
Thanks for any input guys, i really appreciate it!
Thanks!