Construction and Operation of an Electronic Automatic Transfer Switch (Ats)

Abstract

The inconsistency of power supply in Nigeria has been a major stumbling block to the advancement of her economy and as such it is an issue that requires immediate attention. Uninterrupted power supply is critical in so many applications especially in cases like hospital operations or financial transactions. This work was born out of the need to provide a cost effective and locally available way to automate the switching between various power sources. This issue can be addressed by implementing an Automatic transfer switch which automatically switches on a backup generator in the absence of the utility supply and transfers the load to the generator. The automatic transfer switch also switches off the backup generator and connects back to the utility supply when the power comes back. The circuitry consists of time delay integrated circuits and switching relays. The present effort is a prototype design to create an automatic transfer switch that can be used in an average Nigerian household because of its affordability and simplicity of operation.