GER-3992

Operate and Restraint Signals of a

Transformer Differential Relay
54th Annual Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conference

OPERATE AND RESTRAINT SIGNALS OF A TRANSFORMER

DIFFERENTIAL RELAY

Bogdan Kasztenny Ara Kulidjian

[email protected] [email protected]
(905) 201 2199 (905) 201 2024

Bruce Campbell Marzio Pozzuoli

[email protected] [email protected]
(905) 201 2027 (905) 201 2056

GE Power Management
215 Anderson Avenue
Markham, Ontario
Canada L6E 1B3

Atlanta, May 3-5, 2000

Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

1. Introduction

The differential and restraining currents for transformer protective relaying can be
formed by a digital relay in a number of ways. In the past the choice used to be driven by
the limitations in the processing power of digital relays and a mindset resulting from
available signal processing means in analog relays. Increase in processing power of con-
temporary microprocessor based relays makes possible to revisit the definitions of the
differential and restraining quantities in search for an optimal solution.
The design choices for the differential signal include primarily two options: to form a
phasor of the differential signal out of phasors of the input phase currents, or to form an
instantaneous value of the differential signal out of raw samples of the input phase cur-
rents. This applies to fundamental frequency component (50 or 60Hz) as well as to the 2nd
and 5th harmonics that are traditionally used to restrain a relay during inrush and overex-
citation conditions, respectively.
The design choices for the restraining signal include the sum, the average and the
maximum of the currents at all the connected circuits. A two-winding transformer is a
special case and another optimal definition of the restraining current is available.
From the measuring perspective, the design choices for the differential and restraining
quantities include the fundamental frequency phasor, the true RMS value and certain
techniques emulating analog relays and based on raw samples.
The paper presents the possible design alternatives resulting from the combination of
the aforementioned options and analyzes the resulting consequences for relay settings and
performance.
A number of presented conclusions apply not only to a transformer differential relay
but to low-impedance bus and line differential relays as well.

2. Differential and Restraining Currents

The differential protection principle is based upon comparison of currents at all the
terminals of a protected element. The principle calls, however, for certain signal pre-
processing when applied to a power transformer. A three-phase transformer apart from
the transformation ratio, introduces certain angular displacement between the primary
and secondary currents depending on the type of winding connections. In addition, the
primary ratings of the CTs are limited to those of available standard values which creates
an extra amplitude mismatch between the currents to be compared by the transformer
differential relay.
Typically, electromechanical and static relays require the compensation for the trans-
former vector group and ratio to be performed outside the relay by appropriate connec-
tion of the main CTs (reversing the angular displacement) and the interposing CT (which
can correct both the ratio and phase angle).
Some analog relays are equipped with taps enabling one to correct the ratio mismatch.
As the differential current is just a linear combination of the phase currents from all the

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

transformer terminals, some static relays compensate for the phase and amplitude mis-
match using operational amplifiers and do not require interposing CTs nor any specific
connection of the main CTs.
Digital relays perform the angular and ratio compensation numerically enabling re-
duction of wiring and the burden of the main CTs which, in turn, improves the operating
conditions for the CTs and enhances performance of the entire protection system.
Section 3 and Appendix A address the issue of digital phase and amplitude compensa-
tion for all the practical winding connections of two- and three-winding transformers.
Two basic design options are presented including sample-based and phasor-based com-
pensation.
The biased differential principle calls for a “restraining current” as a comparison base
for an operating (differential) current. The “sum of” approach is a traditional way of de-
veloping the restraining signal for a multi-circuit differential scheme, but other ap-
proaches are also possible that offer certain benefits over the traditional way. Section 4
addresses the issue of the restraining current.
Section 5 discusses various measuring algorithms, i.e. ways of converting raw samples
of the input currents into a per-phase time-invariant quantity, for both differential and
restraining signals. Special attention is paid to differences between the phasor magnitude
and true RMS for heavily distorted waveforms.
Section 6 presents selected adaptive algorithms for differential and restraining quanti-
ties.

3. Differential Currents

Mathematically, the differential signal formed internally by a digital differential relay

is a linear combination of the currents at all the terminals of a protected transformer. The
way of forming the differential signal must meet the following requirements:

1. The differential current is zero under load and external fault conditions, and equals
the fault current during internal faults.
2. The zero-sequence current does not affect the differential signal.

The first requirement is met by:

• matching the amplitudes of the currents at different terminals by multiplying by an

appropriate matching factor, and
• matching the phases of the currents by “inverting” the transformer winding connec-
tion.

The second requirement that prevents the relay from overtripping during external
ground faults due to discontinuity of the zero-sequence circuit in wye connected power
transformers, is achieved either by:

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

• emulating the delta connection of the CTs for all the wye-connected windings of a
protected transformer, or by
• calculating and subtracting the zero sequence current explicitly.

The operation of removing the zero sequence component is necessary also for a delta
winding if there is an in-zone grounding transformer connected to the delta terminals or a
cable is used to connect the transformer terminals to the breaker (significant in-zone zero
sequence charging current).
As shown below, it is sufficient to analyze five basic winding connections to build the
differential current formulae for any two- and three-winding three-phase transformer.
These connections are: Yd30, Yy0, Dd0, Yz30 and Dz30 (here, y stands for a wye wind-
ing, d - for a delta winding and z - for a zig-zag winding, capital letters denote HV side,
while numbers — a lagging phase shift in degrees).
Consider a three-phase three-winding transformer shown in Figure 1 with all its cur-
rents, including currents in the neutrals of wye and zig-zag windings, measured in one
direction (either into – preferred – or from the transformer).

H X
nCTH iHp iX p
nCTX

nCTX
iYp

nCTY

Y
Figure 1. A three-winding transformer.

Let us denote:
VH, VX, VY rated line-to-line voltages of the windings H, X and Y,
respectively;
IH, IX, IY rated currents, respectively;
nXH, nYH current transformation ratios between the windings X and H, and Y
and H, respectively:

IH I
n XH = , nYH = H (1)
IX IY

nCTH, nCTX, nCTY transformation ratios of the main CTs, respectively.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

3.1. Yd30 connected transformer

The winding connection of the Yd30 transformer is shown in Figure 2. Since the cur-
rents at the delta-connected winding do not contain the zero-sequence component, they
may be taken as a base for the differential currents. From the figure we see that under
load and external fault conditions the primary current iXA p is balanced by the signal
1
3n XH
(i HA
p
− i HC p )
which, as a difference of two line currents, does not include any zero-sequence compo-
nent either. Thus, the primary differential current for the phase A is formed as:

i DA p =
1
3n XH
(i HA
p
)
− i HC p + i XA p (2)

or using the secondary currents:

i DA p =
n CTH
3n XH
(i HA )
− i HC + nCTX i XA (3)

H X
i XA p
A A
1
iHA p 3n XH
iHA p
1
iHC p
3n XH

B
B

C C

Figure 2. Yd30 connected transformer.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Relating the differential current to the secondary current of the CTs at the H side of a
transformer (this will be consistently followed in this paper) yields:

i DA =
1
3
(i HA − i HC )+ n n n
XH CTX
i XA (4)
CTH

Let us now introduce a matching factor:

n XH n CTX
C XH = (5)
n CTH

Since the transformer ratio is a function of the rated voltages:

VX
n XH = (6)
VH

thus:

V X n CTX
C XH = (7)
V H n CTH

When the CTs are selected properly, the factor CXH does not differ much from unity
because the CTs invert approximately the transformation ratio of a protected transformer.
Equation (7) is valid in all further considerations.
Certainly, in actual applications the factor 1 3 in (4) is accommodated by signal scal-
ing subroutines. Here, however, it will be kept in order to maintain a clear base for the
differential current (secondary amperes at the winding H).
The currents for the remaining phases B and C are derived from (4) by a simple sub-
script rotation and the complete set of equations for a Yd30 transformer becomes:

i DA =
1
(i HA − i HC ) + C XH i XA (8a)
3

i DB =
1
(i HB − i HA ) + C XH i XB (8b)
3

i DC =
1
(i HC − i HB ) + C XH i XC (8c)
3

Note that the above equations hold true for both raw samples of the currents and for
their phasors and may be written in a compact matrix form as follows:

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

 1 1   i HA 
 0 − C XH 0 0   
i HB
 i DA   3 3   
i  =  − 1 i 
0  ⋅  HC 
1
 DB  
0 0 C XH (9)
3 3  i XA
i DC     
C XH   XB 
1 1 i
 0 − 0 0
 3 3  i XC 


Generally, for any kind of a transformer we may write:

i D = Di (10)

where:
iD — vector of three differential currents,
i — vector of all the currents associated with a protected transformer,
D — constant transformation matrix.
The matrix D depends on the type of the transformer connections, ratios of the CTs
and the rated voltages the transformer. Appendix A provides equations for various trans-
former connections.
The matrix D is a 3x6 matrix for two-winding, and 3x9 – for three-winding transform-
ers. It displays a great deal of symmetry enabling efficient implementation.
The magnitude and angle compensation may be done on the raw samples or phasor
levels as shown in Figure 3.

(a) differential
input signals (3)
currents phasors
(9)
(6, 9, etc.)
Transformation Phasors
(1st, 2nd and 5th
Matrix D
harmonics)

(b) phasors
input (18, 27, etc.)
currents phasors
(9)
(6, 9, etc.) Phasors Transformation
(1st, 2nd and 5th
Matrix D
harmonics)

Figure 3. Phasors of differential currents formed from raw samples (a) and phasors (b).

Using raw samples of the input currents one obtains raw samples of the differential
signals (Figure 3a). The latter enable application of wave-based protection principles (for
example, the principle of a dwell-time during magnetizing inrush conditions). The fun-
damental frequency phasor and the 2nd and 5th harmonics are calculated next from the

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

samples of the differential signal. A need to process, regardless of the number of wind-
ings, only three waveforms (iA, iB and iC) into nine phasors (IDA, IDB, IDC, ID2A, …, ID5C) is
an advantage.
When using phasors of the input currents to form the differential signal one needs to
calculate the fundamental frequency phasor as well as the 2nd and 5th harmonics first
(Figure 3b). This totals 3 (phases) x 3 (quantities) x 2 (windings) = 18 phasors for two-
winding, and 27 phasors for three winding transformers. Next, the calculated phasors are
transformed into the differential quantities using the matrix D.

3.2. Three-winding transformers

The following algorithm may be used to build the differential currents for three-
winding transformers:

1. Consider a pair of windings, say H and X and obtain a portion of the formula for the
differential current.
2. Consider another pair of windings, say H and Y (or X and Y, appropriately) and ob-
tain the completing portion of the formula for the differential current.
3. Consider the remaining pair X and Y or (H and Y, appropriately) for the final check.
Let us use the Ydd 0/150/330 transformer as an example.
First, we consider the Yd150 connection (HX) and from Table A.1 we obtain:

i DA ' =
1
(i HB − i HA ) + C XH i XA (11)
3

Next, we consider the Yd330 connection (HY) and we get:

i DA ' ' =
1
(i HA − i HB ) + CYH iYA (12)
3

Combining (11) and (12) yields the formula:

i DA =
1
(i HB − i HA ) + C XH i XA + CYH (− iYA ) (13)
3

For the final check we consider the Dd180 connection (XY) and compare the last two
agents in (13) with Table A.2. The formulae for the two remaining phases B and C are,
certainly, regenerated from (13) by appropriate rotation of the phase indices.

4. Restraining Currents

For stability during external faults and load conditions with ratio mismatch and/or
saturation of the CTs, a differential relay uses a restraining quantity as a reference for the
differential signal.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Traditionally, the following “sum of” formula has been used for the restraining signal
for a n-circuit differential relay:

i R = i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in (14)

The alternatives include:

1
iR = i1 − i 2 (for two-winding transformers only) (15)
2

iR =
1
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in ) (n - number of actually connected circuits) (16)
n
i R = Max ( i1 , i2 , i3 ,..., in ) (17)

The above options are discussed below starting with a two-winding transformer as a
special case.

4.1. Two-winding transformers

Consider a simple circuit shown in Figure 4 that neglects the ratio and vector group a
transformer. The differential current is formed in such a case as (note the direction of the
currents):

i D = iH + i X (18)

The through current used as the restraining signal for two-winding transformers should
be calculated as:

iR =
1
(iH − i X ) (19)
2

in order to reflect an average current at both the sides of a transformer for load and exter-
nal fault situations.

iH F1 iX F2

ZONE
Figure 4. Simple circuit for analysis of two-winding transformers.

Adopting the definitions (18) and (19) we find the following important relations:
• for external faults (F2) neglecting the load current we obtain iH = -iX and therefore:

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

iD = iH + i X = 0 (20a)
1
iR = i H − i X = i H = i X = i F 2 >> i D (20b)
2

• for internal faults (F1) iH and iX are almost in phase and:

i D = i H + i X = i F 1 > max ( i H , i X ) (21a)

i H − i X < max ( i H , i X ) < i D

1
iR = (21b)
2

Let us compare the above approach with alternatives (14), (16) and (17).
Note, that for internal faults:

max ( i H , i X ) ≥ (i H + i X ) ≥ 1 i H − i X
1
(22)
2 2

Relation (22) mean that the definition (15) provides the smallest restraint and thus en-
hances the relay sensitivity.
For external faults the restraint (15) is not smaller than the other alternatives. Thus,
(15) does not jeopardize relay security.
The above proves that the formula (15) is optimal for two-winding transformers. Fig-
ure 5 offers a graphical explanation.

(a) Internal Fault (b) External Fault

I2
I2 I1
I1
IR (15) IR (17)
IR (17) IR (16)
IR (16) IR (15)
Figure 5. Formula (15) produces the smallest restraint for internal faults (a) and same restraint for
external faults (b).

A three-phase transformer introduces a ratio mismatch and angular displacement be-

tween its primaries and secondaries. The restraining currents defined as (14), (16) or (17)
may neglect the phase displacement since they refer directly to the amplitudes. The re-
straining current defined by (15) must, however, account for both the ratios and the an-
gular displacement.
Note that the restraining current (19) may be directly derived from the differential cur-
rent (18) by changing the sign and adding the factor 1 2 . Therefore, for two-winding trans-
formers appropriately transformed differential current equations may be used directly for

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

the restraining signals. For example, for the Yd30 connected transformer equation (8)
yields:

1 1 
i RA =  (i HA − i HC ) − C XH i XA  (23a)
2 3 

1 1 
i RB =  (i HB − i HA ) − C XH i XB  (23b)
2 3 

1 1 
i RC =  (i HC − i HB ) − C XH i XC  (23c)
2 3 

Generally, using (15) for any two-winding three-phase transformer one may write:

i R = Ri (24)

where:
iR — vector of three restraining currents,
R — constant transformation matrix.
The matrix R depends on the type of the transformer connections, ratios of the CTs
and the rated voltages of the transformer.
Equations (24) are valid for both raw samples and phasors of the input currents.

4.2. Multi-circuit elements

Unfortunately, the optimal formula for the restraining signal for two-winding trans-
formers (15) cannot be extended to multi-circuit elements to be protected if more than
one source of power is connected to the element.
The design choices in this case are given by equations (14), (16) and (17).
For illustration of the differences between the above alternatives Table 1 delivers a
simple numerical example for a 6-circuit element (busbar) with 2 circuits disconnected.
The first two rows in the table are actually equivalent; the relation between:

i R = i1 + i 2 + i 3 + ... + i n versus i D = i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in and

iR =
1
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in ) versus iD = i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in
n
is the same except a constant of n. The difference can be accommodated by the slope
setting.
Depending on the approach taken for the restraining current the slope and break-point
settings of the operating characteristic will differ. Table 2 illustrates that by analyzing the
maximum possible ratio between the differential and restraining signals for internal faults
and the maximum possible ratio between the restraining and fault currents for external
faults.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Table 1. Numerical example for a 6-circuit element

(* — n is fixed (n=6), ** — n is adaptable (n=4); an external fault).
I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 Formula IR
20 5 5 10 0 0 i R = i1 + i 2 + i3 + ... + i n 40
20 5 5 10 0 0 iR =
1
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in )* 6.67
n

20 5 5 10 0 0 iR =
1
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in )** 10
n

20 5 5 10 0 0 i R = Max ( i1 , i2 , i3 ,..., in ) 20

Table 2. Analysis of the amount of restraint during internal and external faults
(* — n is fixed, ** — n is adaptable).
Formula Internal Faults: External Faults:
Maximum ID / IR Maximum IR / IFAULT
i R = i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in 100% 200%

iR =
1
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in )* n ⋅ 100% 200%
n
n

iR =
1
n
( i1 + i2 + i3 + ... + in ) ** n ⋅ 100% 200%
n
i R = Max ( i1 , i2 , i3 ,..., in ) n ⋅ 100% 100%

4.3. Restraining currents for three-winding transformers

When forming the restraining current for a three-winding transformer, the two fol-
lowing cases should be distinguished:
1. Only one of the windings is connected to the power source.
2. More than one winding is connected to the source.
In the first case, the transformer may be still considered as a two-winding unit. The
load windings, say X and Y, are grouped together by adding their currents in order to
obtain the total load current.
The current in the supplying winding, say H, and the load current satisfy the principle
of the through current, and therefore, the restraining signal may be formed as for two-
winding transformers:

iR =
1
[iH − (i X + iY )] (25)
2

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Equation (25) takes its detailed form for a particular transformer and accounting for
the amplitude and phase mismatch. Again, let us use the Ydd 0/150/330 as an example.
From (13) we obtain:

1 1 
i RA =  (i HB − i HA ) − [C XH i XA + CYH (− iYA )] (26)
2 3 

As previously, the above value is in secondary amperes at the winding H. Either sam-
ples or phasors can be used.
This idea, however, cannot be extended to three-winding transformers with more than
one winding connected to a power source.
Therefore, for three-winding transformers the restraining current is generally formed
using (14), (16) or (17) as illustrated below for the Ydd 0/150/330 transformer.
For example, equation (14) yields:

i RA = ( i HA + C XH i XA + CYH iYA ) (27a)

But also, the formula for the differential current may be reused here. For the Ydd
0/150/330 transformer, equation (13) yields:

 1 
i RA =  i HB − i HA + C XH i XA + CYH iYA  (27b)
 3 

5. Measuring Algorithms

5.1. Differential current

Typically, a fundamental frequency (60Hz) phasor is used as the operating quantity. A
number of phasor estimators have been proposed in the literature. The dominating ap-
proach is, however, to use either a full- or half-cycle Fourier algorithm with pre-filtering
aimed at rejecting the dc component.
To extract the harmonics from the differential current, typically the Fourier algorithm
is used as well. Magnitudes alone of the 2nd and 5th harmonics are used to restrain the
relay during inrush and overexcitation conditions, respectively. However, if the differen-
tial signal is formed out of phasors, then both the magnitude and angle of the harmonics
of the input currents must be measured to form the differential 2nd and 5th harmonics.

5.2. Restraining current

There are more design choices with respect to the restraining quantity. The three alter-
natives discussed here are:

1. phasor magnitude (50 or 60Hz component).

2. one-cycle true RMS.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

3. a sample-based approach such as:

I R ( k ) = max (i R(k ) , β ⋅ I R ( k −1) ) (28)

where β is an arbitrary number less than but close to 1.00;

k is a “protection pass” index (sample number).
The true RMS as a restraining quantity has the following advantages over the phasor
magnitude (see Figure 6 for illustration):
(a) When the waveform gets distorted due to saturation of the CT, the true RMS is
always larger than the magnitude of the phasor.
(b) The dc component contributes to the true RMS value. The true RMS is initially
significantly larger than the phasor even for sinusoidal signals providing more
security during transients.
(c) The true RMS as an estimator is not affected by the current reversal phenome-
non. When the pre-fault and fault currents differ significantly as to the phase
angle (current reversal), then the Fourier algorithm tends to deliver momentarily
a magnitude lower than the pre-fault value (see Figure 7). This may case a relay
to maloperate during external faults.
Let us analyze more precisely the effect of CT saturation on both the true RMS and
the full-cycle-Fourier-estimated phasor magnitude.
Assuming symmetrical CT saturation (Figure 8a) we calculate the fraction of the ac-
tual ac magnitude seen as a true RMS as the following function of the angle to symmetri-
cal saturation, α:

1 
 α − sin (2α )
I RMS 1
= (29)
I ACTUAL π 2 

and the fraction of the actual ac magnitude seen as a phasor as the following function of
the angle to symmetrical saturation:

I FOURIER
=
1 1
(1 − exp(2 jα )) + jα (30)
I ACTUAL 2π 2

Figure 9 provides the plot of the two functions. For example, if the CT saturates at 40
degrees (i.e. after 1.85 msec on a 60Hz system), the phasor magnitude will read only
about 15% of the actual current magnitude. The true RMS will read about 25% of the
actual magnitude.
For any depth of saturation, the true RMS delivers a higher value. Figure 10 plots the
ratio between the true RMS and the phasor magnitude for various saturation angles. For
very fast saturation, the true RMS could be 2 or more times as high as the phasor magni-
tude.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Assuming asymmetrical CT saturation (Figure 8b), we calculate the fraction of the

actual ac magnitude seen as a true RMS as the following function of the angle to asym-
metrical saturation:

13 1 
 α + 2 sin (α ) cos(α ) − 1 
I RMS
= (31)
I ACTUAL π 2 4 

and the fraction of the actual ac magnitude seen as a phasor magnitude as the following
function of the angle to asymmetrical saturation:

1 3  α
j  − exp( jα ) + exp( j 2α ) −
I FOURIER 1
= (32)
I ACTUAL π 4 4  2

30

25

20

15 RMS
Phasor

10
Current, A

-5

-10

-15

-20
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
time, sec

Figure 6. Sample current from a saturated CT — true RMS vs. phasor magnitude.

Figure 11 compares the true RMS and phasor magnitude for asymmetrical CT satura-
tion. For example, if the saturation occurs at 180 degrees (i.e. after half of a power cycle),
then the phasor magnitude reads about 80% of the actual ac magnitude, while the true
RMS reads about 120% — more than the actual value due to the dc component.
Figure 12 presents the ratio between the true RMS and the phasor magnitude for an
asymmetrically saturated waveform. For quick saturation, the RMS could be 3 or more
times larger than the phasor magnitude.
The relations shown in Figures 10 and 12 illustrate certain danger in using the phasor
magnitude for the differential, and the true RMS for the restraining signals — If only one
feeder (bus) or one winding (transformer) feeds an internal fault and the CTs saturate

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

quickly, there may be not enough differential signal for the biased differential element to
operate.

3 RMS

2
Current, A

Phasor
1

0
Phasor magnitude
drops due to the
-1
current reversal

-2

0.056 0.058 0.06 0.062 0.064 0.066 0.068 0.07 0.072 0.074 0.076
time, sec

Figure 7. Magnification of Figure 6 — illustration of the current reversal phenomenon.

(a) (b)
actual
current
current

primary primary

RMS
secondary Fourier
actual
time
saturation RMS
angle
Fourier

secondary

time
saturation
angle

Figure 8. Assumed signal models for symmetrical (a) and asymmetrical (b) CT saturation.

Similarly, the alternative (28) provides a lot of restraining during heavy saturation and
in the presence of the dc component. Figure 13 illustrates this. However, this approach
may lead to missing relay operation as the phasor of the differential current is underesti-
mated during heavy saturation, while the restraining current calculated as (28) may be
significantly overestimated due to the dc component.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

100

90
RMS
Phasor

Percentage phasor magnitude and true RMS, %

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Angle to saturation, deg

Figure 9. Percentage of the ac actual magnitude as seen by the true RMS and Fourier algorithms
vs. the angle to symmetrical saturation (180deg = no saturation).

5
True RMS to Phasor Magnitude

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Angle to saturation, deg

Figure 10. Ratio between the true RMS and phasor magnitude vs. the angle to
symmetrical saturation.

Page 17 of 24
Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

140

120

Percentage phasor magnitude and true RMS, %

RMS
100

80

60
Phasor

40

20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Angle to saturation, deg

Figure 11. Percentage of the actual ac magnitude as seen by the true RMS and Fourier algorithms
vs. the angle to asymmetrical saturation (180deg = saturation after half of a power cycle).

5
True RMS to Phasor Magnitude

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Angle to saturation, deg

Figure 12. Ratio between the true RMS and phasor magnitude as
vs. the angle to asymmetrical saturation.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

30

25

20

15

10
Current, A

-5

-10

-15

-20
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
time, sec

Figure 13. Sample current from a saturated CT — equation (28) used

for the restraining quantity.

6. Adaptive Algorithms

6.1. Adaptive restraining current for three-winding transformers

Consider a three-winding transformer as in Figure 1. Assume that one of its windings,
say Y, is disconnected from the outside system. With its one winding disconnected, a
three-winding transformer may be treated as a two-winding unit with the restraining cur-
rent calculated by the formula:

1
iR = iH − i X (33)
2

This reasoning stands behind the adaptive approach to the restraining current in three-
winding transformers. Assume that the positions of the Circuit Breakers (CBs) in all the
windings of a transformer are available as the all-or-nothing variables sH, sX and sY (s = 1
— CB closed, s = 0 — CB open).
A simple adaptive algorithm for the restraining signal would be as follows:

1
if s H = 0 then iR = i X − iY else (34a)
2
1
if s X = 0 then iR = i H − iY else (34b)
2
1
if sY = 0 then iR = iH − i X else (34c)
2

Page 19 of 24
Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

i R = max ( i H , i X , iY ) (34d)

The first case (34a) means that no infeed is possible from the winding H, thus regard-
less of the positions of the remaining CBs, the restraining current may be formed as for a
two-winding transformer having the windings X and Y.
The last case (34d) defines the general situation with all the CBs closed.

6.2. Adaptive differential current (compensation for the tap changer)

Consider a case of an on-load tap changer installed on a protected transformer. When
the taps move from the position for which the transformer ratio was considered when
setting the relay (usually the middle position), a amplitude mismatch occurs resulting in a
false differential current.
Assuming the actual tap position, p, is available, the relay can adapt itself to cover the
tap changes and keep the settings low, thus the sensitivity high.
The actual transformer ratio (6) under the tap position p equals:

V X (1 + p ∆ )
n XH = (35)
VH

where: ∆ is a p.u. tap step.

Thus, the correcting factor CXH (7) for the differential current becomes:

V X (1 + p ∆ )n CTX
C XH ( p ) = (36a)
V H n CTH

which may be rewritten as:

C XH ( p ) = C XH ( 0 ) (1 + p ∆ ) (36b)

and means that the ratio factor CXH is compensated for the tap position by a simple linear
function.

6.3. Adaptive differential current (compensation for small ratio/angle mismatch)

Consider a case of a non-zero current appearing during normal operation of a trans-
former and caused by slight differences among the installed CTs, aging, noise, etc.
In such a case, the ratio factor CXH may be adjusted adaptively by the relay.
Note that the algorithm proposed below should be executed periodically only after
making sure the transformer is in the mode of normal operation.
Under normal operation, the differential current given as:

i D = i H + C XH i X (37)

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

should be zero. Since iH and iX are measured, we may consider CXH as an unknown and
minimize the average square error:
2

∑ (i )
M

H ( k −l ) + C XH i X ( k −l ) → min (38)
l =0

where: k — present sampling instant;

M — assumed time horizon in samples (few or tens of power cycles).
When solved, the least square error problem (38) yields the following estimator for the
matching factor:
M

∑i
l =0
H ( k −l ) i X ( k −l )
Cˆ XH = − M
(39)
∑il =0
X ( k −l )
2

The above procedure is numerically efficient and accurate. Nevertheless, extra secu-
rity checks are recommended prior to using the estimate C$ XH as the effective value of the
matching factor.
Unfortunately, the presented approach cannot be directly extended to three-winding
transformers. Because as many as two matching factors are involved, there is an infinite
number of pairs that reduce the unbalance signal to zero. However, the relay sensitivity
may be still increased by tuning one matching factor while leaving the other at its rated
value.

7. Conclusions

A number of approaches to differential and restraining currents for transformer pro-

tection have been discussed. This includes quantities formed from phasors and from raw
samples, true RMS and phasors as well as adaptive techniques.
Some of the design options are irrelevant for the end user while others may affect the
settings as well as the performance of the transformer differential relay.
The phasors of a differential signal belong to the first category. Since both an opera-
tion of forming the differential signal from input currents and a phasor measuring algo-
rithm are linear operations, there is absolutely no difference between the differential pha-
sors formed out of samples or out of input phasors. The same applies to phasors of the 2nd
and 5th harmonics as long as they are used as differential harmonics. The waveform-
based approach has, however, an advantage of producing a waveform of the differential
current and applying additional wave-based principles to enhance the performance.
The restraining currents belong to the second category. Depending on the applied
definition, the relations between the fault current and the restraining quantity may differ

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

significantly. This must be taken into account when setting the relay. The relay perform-
ance will be affected by the choice as well.
The decision to use the true one-cycle RMS versus the phasor magnitude for the re-
straining signal is one of such performance issues. The true RMS provides more re-
straining when the CTs saturate which is good for through fault stability, but it may dete-
riorate sensitivity as well.
Adaptive techniques can be applied to both the differential and restraining currents.
Ratio and angular errors of the CTs as well as errors caused by the operation of a tap
changer can be accommodated by adaptive calculation of differential currents. Increased
sensitivity for three-winding transformers can be achieved without jeopardizing security
by the adaptive approach to restraining currents.

vvv

Biographies

Bogdan Kasztenny received his M.Sc. (89) and Ph.D. (92) degrees (both with honors) from the Wroclaw
University of Technology (WUT), Poland. In 1989 he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering of
WUT. In 1994 he was with Southern Illinois University in Carbondale as a Visiting Assistant Professor.
From 1994 till 1997 he was involved in applied research for Asea Brown Boveri in the area of transformer
and series compensated line protection. During the academic year 1997/98 Dr.Kasztenny was with Texas
A&M University as a Senior Fulbright Fellow, and then, till 1999 - as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Cur-
rently, Dr.Kasztenny works for General Electric Company as a Senior Application/Invention Engineer.
Dr.Kasztenny is a Senior Member of IEEE, holds 2 patents, and has published more than 90 technical pa-
pers.
Ara Kulidjian received the B.A.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, Can-
ada, in 1991. He then joined GE Power Management where he has been involved in system and algorithm
design of protection and control systems. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of On-
tario and a member of the Signal Processing Society of the IEEE.
Bruce Campbell graduated in Electrical Technology from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in
1964. He has been involved in the design, commissioning and startup of high voltage electrical equipment
in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He is presently the chief
application engineer for GE Power Management, involved in conceptual and scheme design for digital
protective relays, and consulting on power system protection. He is a member of PES of the IEEE.
Marzio Pozzuoli graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, Ontario Canada, in 1987 with a
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Technology specializing in control systems. He then worked for John-
son Controls designing industrial automation systems. He was involved in the design of Partial Discharge
Analysis systems for large rotating electric machinery with FES International. In 1994 he joined General
Electric – Power Management and is the Technology Manager responsible for the engineering and devel-
opment of new products.

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

Appendix A. Differential Currents for Various Transformers

Let us consider the Yd90 transformer. It may be analyzed as the Yd30 unit with its
terminals rotated as follows (for ABC system phase rotation):

H-side X-side
A→C A→B
B→B B→A
C→A C→C

Consequently, the differential currents for the Yd90 transformer are derived from (8)
using the aforementioned rotation of the phase subscripts:

i DA =
1
(i HB − i HC ) + C XH i XA (A1a)
3

i DB =
1
(i HC − i HA ) + C XH i XB (A1b)
3

i DC =
1
(i HA − i HB ) + C XH i XC (A1c)
3

The same thinking applies to other connections. The resulting equations are given in
Table A.1 (phase A only). The cited equations can be applied to either samples or pha-
sors.

Table A.1. Differential currents for Yd connected transformers.

Connection Phase A differential current

i DA =
1
(i HA − i HC ) + C XH i XA
Yd30 3

i DA =
1
(i HB − i HC ) + C XH i XA
Yd90 3

i DA =
1
(i HB − i HA ) + C XH i XA
Yd150 3

i DA =
1
(i HC − i HA ) + C XH i XA
Yd210 3

i DA =
1
(i HC − i HB ) + C XH i XA
Yd270 3

i DA =
1
(i HA − i HB ) + C XH i XA
Yd330 3

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Operate and Restraint Signals of a Transformer Differential Relay

The differential currents given in Table A.1 are phase indexed. In the equations, how-
ever, the left-hand side index just repeats the index of the current iX and is not tied so
much with the index of the current iH since as many as two phase currents from the H-
side are involved. Therefore, the phase indexing for the differential current is formal only
and counts when the comparison between the differential and restraining currents is
made.
Certainly, all the Dy connected transformers are covered by Table A.1 with the side
indices X and H switched.
In the Yy0 transformer there is no angular displacement between the primaries and
secondaries and we obtain the following equations for the differential signals:

i DA =
1
[(i HA − i HB ) + C XH (i XA − i XB )] (A2a)
3

i DB =
1
[(i HB − i HC ) + C XH (i XB − i XC )] (A2b)
3

i DC =
1
[(i HC − i HA ) + C XH (i XC − i XA )] (A2c)
3

The differential currents (A2) are in secondary amperes of the CTs at the winding H.
Following the outlined reasoning Table A.2 has been created that gathers the differen-
tial current equations for Yy, Dd, Yz and Dz transformers.

Table A.2. Differential currents for various transformers.

Connection Phase A differential current

i DA =
1
[(i HA − i HB ) + C XH (i XA − i XB )]
Yy0 3

i DA =
1
[(i HA − i HB ) + C XH (i XB − i XA )]
Yy180 3

Dd0 i DA = i HA + C XH i XA

Dd180 i DA = i HA + C XH (− i XA )

i DA =
1
[(i HC − i HA ) + C XH (i XC − i XA )]
Dz0 3

i DA =
1
[(i HC − i HA ) + C XH (i XA − i XC )]
Dz180 3

i DA =
1
[(i HA − i HC ) + C XH (i XA + i XN )]
Yz30 3

i DA =
1
[(i HA − i HB ) + C XH (i XA + i XN )]
Yz330 3

Page 24 of 24