Contents

1 Introduction ..... p2
2 Fundamentals of Protection Practice ......... p4
3 Fundamental Theory ........pi 6
4 Fault Calculations ........ p30
5 Equivalent Circuits and Parameters
of Power System Plant p46
6 Current and Voltage Transformers......... p78
7 Relay Technology ........ p98
8 Protection: Signalling and Intertripping .... p112
9 Overcurrent Protection for Phase
and Earth Faults ...... p122
10 Unit Protection of Feeders ...... p152
11 Distance Protection ...... p170
12 Distance Protection Schemes ...... p192
13 Protection of Complex Transmission Circuits ....... p202
14 Auto-Reciosing ...... p218
15 Busbar Protection ... p232
16 Transformer and Transformer-Feeder Protection ...... p254
17 Generator and
Generator-Transformer Protection ......p28O
18 Industrial and Commercial
Power System Protection p316
19 A.C, Motor Protection p336
20 Protection of A.C. Electrified Railways p352
21 Relay Testing and Commissioning p370
22 Power System Measurements p398
23 Power Quality p410
24 Substation Control and Automation p422
25 Distribution System Automation p442
Appendix 1 Terminology p454
Appendix 2 ANSI/IEC Relay Symbols p466
Appendix 3 Application Tables p468
Index .. p476
1• Introduction

'Relay hardware is becoming even more standardised, to the point at

which versions of a relay may differ only by the software they contain'.
This accurate prediction in the preface to the Third Edition of the Protective
Relay Application Guide (PRAG), 1987, has been followed by the rapid
development of integrated protection and control devices. The change in
technology, together with significant changes in Utility, Industrial and
Commercial organisations, has resulted in new emphasis on Secondary Systems
Engineering.
In addition to the traditional role of protection & control, secondary systems
are now required to provide true added value to organisations.
When utilised to its maximum, not only can the integration of protection &
control functionality deliver the required reduction in life-time cost of capital,
but the advanced features available (Quality of Supply, disturbance recording
and plant monitoring) enable system and plant performance to be improved,
increasing system availability.
The evolution of all secondary connected devices to form digital control
systems continues to greatly increase access to all information available within
the substation, resulting in new methodologies for asset management.
In order to provide the modern practising substation engineer with reference
material, the Network Protection & Automation Guide provides a substantially
revised and expanded edition of PRAG incorporating new chapters on all levels
of network automation. The first part of the book deals with the fundamentals,
basic technology, fault calculations and the models of power system plant,
including the transient response and saturation problems that affect
instrument transformers.
The typical data provided on power system plant has been updated and
significantly expanded following research that showed its popularity.
The book then provides detailed analysis on the application of protection
systems. This includes a new Chapter on the protection of a.c. electrified
railways. Existing chapters on distance, busbar and generator protection have
been completely revised to take account of new developments, including
improvements due to numerical protection techniques and the application
problems of embedded generation. The Chapter on relay testing and
commissioning has been completely updated to reflect modern techniques.
Finally, new Chapters covering the fields of power system measurements,
power quality, and substation and distribution automation are found, to reflect
the importance of these fields for the modern Power System Engineer.
The intention is to make NPAG the standard reference work in its' subject area
- while still helping the student and young engineer new to the field. We trust
that you find this book invaluable and assure you that any comments will be
carefully noted ready for the next edition.
 Fundamentals
of Protection Practice
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of an electrical power system is to generate
and supply electrical energy to consumers. The system
should be designed and managed to deliver this energy
to the utilisation points with both reliability and
economy. Severe disruption to the normal routine of
modern society is likely if power outages are frequent or
prolonged, placing an increasing emphasis on reliability
and security of supply. As the requirements of reliability
and economy are largely opposed, power system design
Is inevitably a compromise.
A power system comprises many diverse items of
equipment. Figure 2.2 shows a hypothetical power
system; this and Figure 2.1 illustrates the diversity of
equipment that is found.

Figure 2.1: Modem power station

Figure 2.2: Example power system
 Figure 2.4: Possible consequence of inadequate protection

2.2 PROTECTION EQUIPMENT

The definitions that follow are generally used in relation
to power system protection:
a. Protection System: a complete arrangement of
protection equipment and other devices required to
achieve a specified function based on a protection
principal (IEC 60255-20)
b. Protection Equipment: a collection of protection
devices (relays, fuses, etc.). Excluded are devices
such as CT's, CB's, Contactors, etc.
c. Protection Scheme: a collection of protection
Many items of equipment are very expensive, and so the equipment providing a defined function and
complete power system represents a very large capital including all equipment required to make the
investment. To maximise the return on this outlay, the scheme work (i.e. relays, CT's, CB's, batteries, etc.)
system must be utilised as much as possible within the
applicable constraints of security and reliability of
In order to fulfil the requirements of protection with the
supply. More fundamental, however, is that the power
optimum speed for the many different configurations,
system should operate in a safe manner at all times. No
operating conditions and construction features of power
matter how well designed, faults will always occur on a
systems, it has been necessary to develop many types of
power system, and these faults may represent a risk to
relay that respond to various functions of the power
life and/or property. Figure 2.3 shows the onset of a fault
system quantities. For example, observation simply of
on an overhead line. The destructive power of a fault arc
the magnitude of the fault current suffices in some cases
carrying a high current is very great; it can burn through
but measurement of power or impedance may be
copper conductors or weld together core laminations in
necessary in others. Relays frequently measure complex
a transformer or machine in a very short time - some
functions of the system quantities, which are only readily
tens or hundreds of milliseconds. Even away from the
expressible by mathematical or graphical means.
fault arc itself, heavy fault currents can cause damage to
plant if they continue for more than a few seconds. The Relays may be classified according to the technology
provision of adequate protection to detect and used:
disconnect elements of the power system in the event of
a. electromechanical
fault is therefore an integral part of power system
design. Only by so doing can the objectives of the power b. static
system be met and the investment protected. Figure 2.4 c. digital
provides an illustration of the consequences of failure to
provide appropriate protection. d. numerical

This is the measure of the importance of protection The different types have somewhat different capabilities,
systems as applied in power system practice and of the due to the limitations of the technology used. They are
responsibility vested in the Protection Engineer. described in more detail in Chapter 7.
In many cases, it is not feasible to protect against all
hazards with a relay that responds to a single power
system quantity. An arrangement using several
quantities may be required. In this case, either several
relays, each responding to a single quantity, or, more
commonly, a single relay containing several elements,
each responding independently to a different quantity
may be used.
The terminology used in describing protection systems
and relays is given in Appendix 1. Different symbols for
describing relay functions in diagrams of protection
schemes are used, the two most common methods (IEC
and IEEE/ANSI) are provided in Appendix 2.

2 .3 ZONES OF PROTECTION
To limit the extent of the power system that is
disconnected when a fault occurs, protection is arranged
Figure 2.6: CTLocations
in zones. The principle is shown in Figure 2.5. Ideally, the
zones of protection should overlap, so that no part of the
power system is left unprotected. This is shown in Figure the circuit breaker A that is not completely protected
2.6(a), the circuit breaker being included in both zones. against faults. In Figure 2.6(b) a fault at F would cause
the busbar protection to operate and open the circuit
breaker but the fault may continue to be fed through the
feeder. The feeder protection, if of the unit type (see
section 2.5.2), would not operate, since the fault is
outside its zone. This problem is dealt with by
intertripping or some form of zone extension, to ensure
that the remote end of the feeder is tripped also.
The point of connection of the protection with the power
system usually defines the zone and corresponds to the
location of the current transformers. Unit type
protection will result in the boundary being a clearly
defined closed loop. Figure 2.7 illustrates a typical
arrangement of overlapping zones.

Figure 2.5: Division of power system

into protection zones
Figure 2.7: Overlapping zones
of protection systems

For practical physical and economic reasons, this ideal is Alternatively, the zone may be unrestricted; the start will
not always achieved, accommodation for current be defined but the extent (or 'reach') will depend on
transformers being in some cases available only on one measurement of the system quantities and will therefore
side of the circuit breakers, as in Figure 2.6(b). This be subject to variation, owing to changes in system
leaves a section between the current transformers and conditions and measurement errors.
2.4 RELIABILITY 2.4.4 Testing
The need for a high degree of reliability is discussed in Comprehensive testing is just as important, and this
Section 2.1. Incorrect operation can be attributed to one testing should cover all aspects of the protection
of the following classifications: scheme, as well as reproducing operational and
environmental conditions as closely as possible. Type
a. incorrect design/settings
testing of protection equipment to recognised standards
b. incorrect installation/testing fulfils many of these requirements, but it may still be
necessary to test the complete protection scheme (relays,
c. deterioration in service
current transformers and other ancillary items) and the
tests must simulate fault conditions realistically.
2.4.1 Design
The design of a protection scheme is of paramount 2.4.5 Deterioration in Service
importance. This is to ensure that the system will
Subsequent to installation in perfect condition,
operate under all required conditions, and (equally
deterioration of equipment will take place and may
important) refrain from operating when so required
eventually interfere with correct functioning. For
(including, where appropriate, being restrained from
example, contacts may become rough or burnt owing to
operating for faults external to the zone being
frequent operation, or tarnished owing to atmospheric
protected). Due consideration must be given to the contamination; coils and other circuits may become
nature, frequency and duration of faults likely to be open-circuited, electronic components and auxiliary
experienced, all relevant parameters of the power system devices may fail, and mechanical parts may seize up.
(including the characteristics of the supply source, and
methods of operation) and the type of protection The time between operations of protection relays may be
equipment used. Of course, no amount of effort at this years rather than days. During this period defects may
stage can make up for the use of protection equipment have developed unnoticed until revealed by the failure of
that has not itself been subject to proper design. the protection to respond to a power system fault. For
this reason, relays should be regularly tested in order to
check for correct functioning.
2.4.2 Settings Testing should preferably be carried out without
It is essential to ensure that settings are chosen for disturbing permanent connections. This can be achieved
protection relays and systems which take into account by the provision of test blocks or switches.
the parameters of the primary system, including fault The quality of testing personnel is an essential feature
and load levels, and dynamic performance requirements when assessing reliability and considering means for
etc. The characteristics of power systems change with improvement. Staff must be technically competent and
time, due to changes in loads, location, type and amount adequately trained, as well as self-disciplined to proceed
of generation, etc. Therefore, setting values of relays in a systematic manner to achieve final acceptance.
may need to be checked at suitable intervals to ensure
Important circuits that are especially vulnerable can be
that they are still appropriate. Otherwise, unwanted
provided with continuous electrical supervision; such
operation or failure to operate when required may occur.
arrangements are commonly applied to circuit breaker
trip circuits and to pilot circuits. Modern digital and
numerical relays u s u a l l y incorporate self-
2.4.3 Installation
testing/diagnostic facilities to assist in the detection of
The need for correct installation of protection systems is failures. With these types of relay, it may be possible to
obvious, but the complexity of the interconnections of arrange for such failures to be automatically reported by
many systems and their relationship to the remainder of communications link to a remote operations centre, so
the installation may make checking difficult. Site testing that appropriate action may be taken to ensure
is therefore necessary; since it will be difficult to continued safe operation of that part of the power
reproduce all fault conditions correctly, these tests must system and arrangements put in hand for investigation
be directed to proving the installation. The tests should and correction of the fault.
be limited to such simple and direct tests as will prove
the correctness of the connections, relay settings, and
freedom from damage of the equipment. No attempt 2.4,6 Protection Performance
should be made to 'type test' the equipment or to Protection system performance is frequently assessed
establish complex aspects of its technical performance. statistically. For this purpose each system fault is classed
as an incident and only those that are cleared by the 2.5.1 Time Grading
tripping of the correct circuit breakers are classed as
Protection systems in successive zones are arranged to
'correct'. The percentage of correct clearances can then
operate in times that are graded through the sequence of
be determined.
equipments so that upon the occurrence of a fault,
This principle of assessment gives an accurate evaluation although a number of protection equipments respond,
of the protection of the system as a whole, but it is only those relevant to the faulty zone complete the
severe in its judgement of relay performance. Many tripping function. The others make incomplete
relays are called into operation for each system fault, operations and then reset. The speed of response will
and all must behave correctly for a correct clearance to often depend on the severity of the fault, and will
be recorded. generally be slower than for a unit system.
Complete reliability is unlikely ever to be achieved by
further improvements in construction. If the level of
2.5.2 Unit Systems
reliability achieved by a single device is not acceptable,
improvement can be achieved through redundancy, e.g. It is possible to design protection systems that respond
duplication of equipment. Two complete, independent, only to fault conditions occurring within a clearly
main protection systems are provided, and arranged so defined zone. This type of protection system is known as
that either by itself can carry out the required function. "unit protection1. Certain types of unit protection are
If the probability of each equipment failing is x/unit, the known by specific names, e.g. restricted earth fault and
resultant probability of both equipments failing differential protection. Unit protection can be applied
simultaneously, allowing for redundancy, is x2. Where x throughout a power system and, since it does not involve
is small the resultant risk {x2} may be negligible. time grading, is relatively fast in operation. The speed of
response is substantially independent of fault severity.
Where multiple protection systems are used, the tripping
signal can be provided in a number of different ways. Unit protection usually involves comparison of quantities
The two most common methods are: at the boundaries of the protected zone as defined by the
locations of the current transformers. This comparison
a. all protection systems must operate for a tripping
may be achieved by direct hard-wired connections or
operation to occur (e.g. 'two-out-of-two'
may be achieved via a communications link. However
arrangement)
certain protection systems derive their "restricted"
b. only one protection system need operate to cause property from the configuration of the power system and
a trip (e.g. 'one-out-of two' arrangement) may be classed as unit protection, e.g. earth fault
The former method guards against maloperation while protection applied to the high voltage delta winding of a
the latter guards against failure to operate due to an power transformer. Whichever method is used, it must
unrevealed fault in a protection system. Rarely, three be kept in mind that selectivity is not merely a matter of
main protection systems are provided, configured in a relay design. It also depends on the correct co-
'two-out-of three' tripping arrangement, to provide both ordination of current transformers and relays with a
reliability of tripping, and security against unwanted suitable choice of relay settings, taking into account the
tripping. possible range of such variables as fault currents,
maximum load current, system impedances and other
It has long been the practice to apply duplicate related factors, where appropriate.
protection systems to busbars, both being required to
operate to complete a tripping operation. Loss of a
busbar may cause widespread loss of supply, which is 2.6 STABILITY
clearly undesirable. In other cases, important circuits are The term 'stability' is usually associated with unit
provided with duplicate main protection systems, either protection schemes and refers to the ability of the
being able to trip independently. On critical circuits, use protection system to remain unaffected by conditions
may also be made of a digital fault simulator to model external to the protected zone, for example through load
the relevant section of the power system and check the current and external fault conditions.
performance of the relays used.

2.7 SPEED
2 . 5 SELECTIVITY The function of protection systems is to isolate faults on
When a fault occurs, the protection scheme is required the power system as rapidly as possible. The main
to trip only those circuit breakers whose operation is objective is to safeguard continuity of supply by
required to isolate the fault. This property of selective removing each disturbance before it leads to widespread
tripping is also called 'discrimination' and is achieved by loss of synchronism and consequent collapse of the
two general methods. power system.
As the loading on a power system increases, the phase 2.9 PRIMARY AND BACK-UP PROTECTION
shift between voltages at different busbars on the
The reliability of a power system has been discussed
system also increases, and therefore so does the
earlier, including the use of more than one primary (or
probability that synchronism will be lost when the
'main') protection system operating in parallel. In the
system is disturbed by a fault. The shorter the time a
event of failure or non-availability of the primary
fault is allowed to remain in the system, the greater can protection some other means of ensuring that the fault
be the loading of the system. Figure 2.8 shows typical is isolated must be provided. These secondary systems
relations between system loading and fault clearance are referred to as 'back-up protection'.
times for various types of fault. It will be noted that
phase faults have a more marked effect on the stability Back-up protection may be considered as either being
of the system than a simple earth fault and therefore 'local' or 'remote'. Local back-up protection is achieved
require faster clearance. by protection which detects an un-cleared primary
system fault at its own location and which then trips its
own circuit breakers, e.g. time graded overcurrent relays.
Remote back-up protection is provided by protection
that detects an un-cleared primary system fault at a
remote location and then issues a local trip command,
e.g. the second or third zones of a distance relay. In both
cases the main and back-up protection systems detect a
fault simultaneously, operation of the back-up
protection being delayed to ensure that the primary
protection clears the fault if possible. Normally being
unit protection, operation of the primary protection will
be fast and will result in the minimum amount of the
power system being disconnected. Operation of the
Figure 2.8: Typical power/time relationship
for various fault types back-up protection will be, of necessity, slower and will
result in a greater proportion of the primary system
System stability is not, however, the only consideration. being lost.
Rapid operation of protection ensures that fault damage The extent and type of back-up protection applied will
is minimised, as energy liberated during a fault is naturally be related to the failure risks and relative
proportional to the square of the fault current times the economic importance of the system. For distribution
duration of the fault. Protection must thus operate as systems where fault clearance times are not critical, time
quickly as possible but speed of operation must be delayed remote back-up protection may be adequate.
weighed against economy. Distribution circuits, which For EHV systems, where system stability is at risk unless
do not normally require a fast fault clearance, are usually a fault is cleared quickly, multiple primary protection
protected by time-graded systems. Generating plant and systems, operating in parallel and possibly of different
EHV systems require protection gear of the highest types (e.g. distance and unit protection), will be used to
attainable speed; the only limiting factor will be the ensure fast and reliable tripping. Back-up overcurrent
necessity for correct operation, and therefore unit protection may then optionally be applied to ensure that
systems are normal practice. two separate protection systems are available during
maintenance of one of the primary protection systems.
Back-up protection systems should, ideally, be
2.8 SENSITIVITY
completely separate from the primary systems. For
Sensitivity is a term frequently used when referring to example a circuit protected by a current differential relay
the minimum operating level (current, voltage, power may also have time graded overcurrent and earth fault
etc.) of relays or complete protection schemes. The relay relays added to provide circuit breaker tripping in the
or scheme is said to be sensitive if the primary operating event of failure of the main primary unit protection. To
parameter(s) is low. maintain complete separation and thus integrity, current
transformers, voltage transformers, relays, circuit breaker
With older electromechanical relays, sensitivity was
trip coils and d.c. supplies would be duplicated. This
considered in terms of the sensitivity of the measuring
ideal is rarely attained in practice. The following
movement and was measured in terms of its volt-ampere
compromises are typical:
consumption to cause operation. With modern digital
and numerical relays the achievable sensitivity is seldom a. separate current transformers (cores and secondary
limited by the device design but by its application and windings only) are provided. This involves little extra
CT/VT parameters. cost or accommodation compared with the use of
 common current transformers that would have to be The majority of protection relay elements have self-reset
larger because of the combined burden. This practice contact systems, which, if so desired, can be modified to
is becoming less common when digital or numerical provide hand reset output contacts by the use of
relays are used, because of the extremely low input auxiliary elements. Hand or electrically reset relays are
burden of these relay types used when it is necessary to maintain a signal or lockout
b. voltage transformers are not duplicated because of condition. Contacts are shown on diagrams in the
cost and space considerations. Each protection relay position corresponding to the un-operated or de-
supply is separately protected (fuse or MCB) and energised condition, regardless of the continuous service
continuously supervised to ensure security of the VT condition of the equipment. For example, an
output. An alarm is given on failure of the supply and, undervoltage relay, which is continually energised in
where appropriate, prevent an unwanted operation of normal circumstances, would still be shown in the de-
the protection energised condition.

c. trip supplies to the two protections should be A 'make' contact is one that closes when the relay picks
separately protected (fuse or MCB). Duplication of up, whereas a 'break' contact is one that is closed when
tripping batteries and of circuit breaker tripping coils the relay is de-energised and opens when the relay picks
may be provided. Trip circuits should be continuously up. Examples of these conventions and variations are
supervised shown in Figure 2.9.

d. it is desirable that the main and back-up protections (or

duplicate main protections) should operate on different
principles, so that unusual events that may cause
failure of the one will be less likely to affect the other
Digital and numerical relays may incorporate suitable
back-up protection functions (e.g. a distance relay may
also incorporate time-delayed overcurrent protection
elements as well). A reduction in the hardware required to
provide back-up protection is obtained, but at the risk that
a common relay element failure (e.g. the power supply)
will result in simultaneous loss of both main and back-up
Figure 2.9: Contact types
protection. The acceptability of this situation must be
evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
A protection relay is usually required to trip a circuit
2 .1 0 RELAY OUTPUT DEVICES breaker, the tripping mechanism of which may be a
solenoid with a plunger acting directly on the
In order to perform their intended function, relays must be mechanism latch or an electrically operated valve. The
fitted with some means of providing the various output power required by the trip coil of the circuit breaker may
signals required. Contacts of various types usually fulfil range from up to 50 watts for a small 'distribution1
this function. circuit breaker, to 3000 watts for a large, extra-high-
voltage circuit breaker.

2.10.1 Contact Systems The relay may therefore energise the tripping coil
directly, or, according to the coil rating and the number
Relays may be fitted with a variety of contact systems of circuits to be energised, may do so through the
for providing electrical outputs for tripping and remote agency of another multi-contact auxiliary relay.
indication purposes. The most common types
encountered are as follows: The basic trip circuit is simple, being made up of a hand-
trip control switch and the contacts of the protection
a. Self-reset relays in parallel to energise the trip coil from a battery,
The contacts remain in the operated condition only through a normally open auxiliary switch operated by
while the controlling quantity is applied, returning the circuit breaker. This auxiliary switch is needed to
to their original condition when it is removed open the trip circuit when the circuit breaker opens
b. Hand or electrical reset since the protection relay contacts will usually be quite
These contacts remain in the operated condition incapable of performing the interrupting duty. The
after the controlling quantity is removed. They can auxiliary switch will be adjusted to close as early as
be reset either by hand or by an auxiliary possible in the closing stroke, to make the protection
electromagnetic element effective in case the breaker is being closed on to a fault.
Where multiple output contacts, or contacts with 2.11 T R I P P I N G CIRCUITS
appreciable current-carrying capacity are required,
There are three main circuits in use for circuit breaker
interposing, contactor type elements will normally be used.
tripping:
In general, static and microprocessor relays have discrete
a. series sealing
measuring and tripping circuits, or modules. The
functioning of the measuring modules is independent of b. shunt reinforcing
operation of the tripping modules. Such a relay is c. shunt reinforcement with sealing
equivalent to a sensitive electromechanical relay with a
tripping contactor, so that the number or rating of These are illustrated in Figure 2.10.
outputs has no more significance than the fact that they
have been provided.
For larger switchgear installations the tripping power
(a) Series sealing
requirement of each circuit breaker is considerable, and
further, two or more breakers may have to be tripped by
one protection system. There may also be remote
signalling requirements, interlocking with other
functions (for example auto-reclosing arrangements),
and other control functions to be performed. These
(b) Shunt reinforcing
various operations may then be carried out by multi-
contact tripping relays, which are energised by the
protection relays and provide the necessary number of
adequately rated output contacts.

2.10.2 Operation Indicators (c) Shunt reinforcing with series sealing

Protection systems are invariably provided with Figure 2.10: Typical relay tripping circuits
indicating devices, called 'flags', or "targets', as a guide
for operations personnel. Not every relay will have one, For electromechanical relays, electrically operated
as indicators are arranged to operate only if a trip indicators, actuated after the main contacts have closed,
operation is initiated. Indicators, with very few avoid imposing an additional friction load on the
exceptions, are bi-stable devices, and may be either measuring element, which would be a serious handicap
mechanical or electrical. A mechanical indicator consists for certain types. Care must be taken with directly
of a small shutter that is released by the protection relay operated indicators to line up their operation with the
movement to expose the indicator pattern. closure of the main contacts. The indicator must have
Electrical indicators may be simple attracted armature operated by the time the contacts make, but must not
elements, where operation of the armature releases a have done so more than marginally earlier. This is to stop
shutter to expose an indicator as above, or indicator indication occurring when the tripping operation has not
lights (usually light emitting diodes). For the latter, some been completed.
kind of memory circuit is provided to ensure that the With modern digital and numerical relays, the use of
indicator remains lit after the initiating event has passed. various alternative methods of providing trip circuit
With the advent of digital and numerical relays, the functions is largely obsolete. Auxiliary miniature
operation indicator has almost become redundant. contactors are provided within the relay to provide
Relays will be provided with one or two simple indicators output contact functions and the operation of these
that indicate that the relay is powered up and whether contactors is independent of the measuring system, as
an operation has occurred. The remainder of the mentioned previously. The making current of the relay
information previously presented via indicators is output contacts and the need to avoid these contacts
available by interrogating the relay locally via a 'man- breaking the trip coil current largely dictates circuit
machine interface' (e.g. a keypad and liquid crystal breaker trip coil arrangements. Comments on the
display screen), or remotely via a communication system. various means of providing tripping arrangements are,
however, included below as a historical reference
applicable to earlier electromechanical relay designs.
2.11.1 Series sealing is countered by means of a further contact on the
auxiliary unit connected as a retaining contact.
The coil of the series contactor carries the trip current
initiated by the protection relay, and the contactor closes This means that provision must be made for releasing the
a contact in parallel with the protection relay contact. sealing circuit when tripping is complete; this is a
This closure relieves the protection relay contact of further disadvantage, because it is sometimes inconvenient to
duty and keeps the tripping circuit securely closed, even if find a suitable contact to use for this purpose.
chatter occurs at the main contact. The total tripping time
is not affected, and the indicator does not operate until
current is actually flowing through the trip coil. 2 . 1 2 TRIP CIRCUIT SUPERVISION
The main disadvantage of this method is that such series The trip circuit includes the protection relay and other
elements must have their coils matched with the trip components, such as fuses, links, relay contacts, auxiliary
circuit with which they are associated. switch contacts, etc., and in some cases through a
considerable amount of circuit wiring with intermediate
The coil of these contacts must be of low impedance,
terminal boards. These interconnections, coupled with
with about 5% of the trip supply voltage being dropped
the importance of the circuit, result in a requirement in
across them.
many cases to monitor the integrity of the circuit. This
When used in association with high-speed trip relays, is known as trip circuit supervision. The simplest
which usually interrupt their own coil current, the arrangement contains a healthy trip lamp, as shown in
auxiliary elements must be fast enough to operate and Figure 2.H(a).
release the flag before their coil current is cut off. This
The resistance in series with the lamp prevents the
may pose a problem in design if a variable number of
breaker being tripped by an internal short circuit caused
auxiliary elements (for different phases and so on) may
by failure of the lamp. This provides supervision while
be required to operate in parallel to energise a common
the circuit breaker is closed; a simple extension gives
tripping relay.
pre-closing supervision.
Figure 2.11 (b) shows how, the addition of a normally
2.11.2 Shunt reinforcing closed auxiliary switch and a resistance unit can provide
supervision while the breaker is both open and closed.
Here the sensitive contacts are arranged to trip the
circuit breaker and simultaneously to energise the
auxiliary unit, which then reinforces the contact that is
energising the trip coil.
Two contacts are required on the protection relay, since (a) Supervision while circuit breaker is closed (scheme H4)
it is not permissible to energise the trip coil and the
reinforcing contactor in parallel. If this were done, and
more than one protection relay were connected to trip
the same circuit breaker, all the auxiliary relays would be (b) Supervision while circuit breaker is open or closed (scheme H5)
energised in parallel for each relay operation and the
indication would be confused.
The duplicate main contacts are frequently provided as a
three-point arrangement to reduce the number of
contact fingers.
Alarm
(c) Supervision with circuit breaker open or closed
2.11.3 Shunt reinforcement with sealing with remote alarm (scheme H7)

This is a development of the shunt reinforcing circuit to

make it applicable to situations where there is a
possibility of contact bounce for any reason.
Using the shunt reinforcing system under these
circumstances would result in chattering on the auxiliary
unit, and the possible burning out of the contacts, not
only of the sensitive element but also of the auxiliary [d) Implementation of H5 scheme in numerical relay
unit. The chattering would end only when the circuit
breaker had finally tripped. The effect of contact bounce Figure 2.11: Trip circuit supervision circuits.
In either case, the addition of a normally open push-
button contact in series with the lamp will make the
supervision indication available only when required.

Schemes using a lamp to indicate continuity are suitable

for locally controlled installations, but when control is
exercised from a distance it is necessary to use a relay
system. Figure 2.11 (c) illustrates such a scheme, which is
applicable wherever a remote signal is required.

With the circuit healthy, either or both of relays A and B

are operated and energise relay C Both A and B must
reset to allow C to drop-off. Relays A, B and C are time
delayed to prevent spurious alarms during tripping or
closing operations. The resistors are mounted separately
from the relays and their values are chosen such that if
any one component is inadvertently short-circuited,
tripping will not take place.

The alarm supply should be independent of the tripping

supply so that indication will be obtained in case of
failure of the tripping supply.

The above schemes are commonly known as the H4, H5

and H7 schemes, arising from the diagram references of
the Utility specification in which they o r i g i n a l l y
appeared. Figure 2.11 (d) shows implementation of
scheme H5 using the facilities of a modern numerical
relay. Remote indication is achieved through use of
programmable logic and additional auxiliary outputs
available in the protection relay.
• 3 • Fundamental Theory
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The Protection Engineer is concerned with limiting the
effects of disturbances in a power system. These
disturbances, if allowed to persist, may damage plant
and interrupt the supply of electric energy. They are
described as faults (short and open circuits) or power
swings, and result from natural hazards (for instance
lightning), plant failure or human error.
To facilitate rapid removal of a disturbance from a power
system, the system is divided into 'protection zones'.
Relays monitor the system quantities (current, voltage)
appearing in these zones; if a fault occurs inside a zone,
the relays operate to isolate the zone from the remainder
of the power system.
The operating characteristic of a relay depends on the
energizing quantities fed to it such as current or voltage,
or various combinations of these two quantities, and on
the manner in which the relay is designed to respond to
this information. For example, a directional relay
characteristic would be obtained by designing the relay
to compare the phase angle between voltage and current
at the relaying point. An impedance-measuring
characteristic, on the other hand, would be obtained by
designing the relay to divide voltage by current. Many
other more complex relay characteristics may be
obtained by supplying various combinations of current
and voltage to the relay. Relays may also be designed to
respond to other system quantities such as frequency,
power, etc.
In order to apply protection relays, it is usually necessary
to know the limiting values of current and voltage, and
their relative phase displacement at the relay location,
for various types of short circuit and their position in the
system. This normally requires some system analysis for
faults occurring at various points in the system.
The main components that make up a power system are
generating sources, transmission and distribution
networks, and loads. Many transmission and distribution
circuits radiate from key points in the system and these
circuits are controlled by circuit breakers. For the
purpose of analysis, the power system is treated as a
network of circuit elements contained in branches
radiating from nodes to form closed loops or meshes.
The system variables are current and voltage, and in
steady state analysis, they are regarded as time varying The representation of a vector quantity algebraically in
quantities at a single and constant frequency. The terms of its rectangular co-ordinates is called a 'complex
network parameters are impedance and admittance; quantity'. Therefore, x + jy is a complex quantity and is
these are assumed to be linear, bilateral (independent of the rectangular form of the vector |Z|/8 where:
current direction) and constant for a constant frequency.

3 . 2 VECTOR ALGEBRA
A vector represents a quantity in both magnitude and
direction. In Figure 3.1 the vector OP has a magnitude
\Z\ at an angle 6 with the reference axis OX.

...Equation 3.2

From Equations 3.1 and 3.2:

...Equation 3.3

and since cosQ and sinQ may be expressed in

exponential form by the identities:

Figure 3.1: Vector OP

it follows that Z may also be written as:

It may be resolved into two components at right angles ...Equation 3.4

to each other, in this case x and y. The magnitude or Therefore, a vector quantity may also be represented
scalar value of vector Z is known as the modulus |Z|, and trigonometrically and exponentially.
the angle 8 is the argument, or amplitude, and is written
as arg. Z. The conventional method of expressing a vector
Z is to write simply |Z|Z8. 3.3 MANIPULATION
This form completely specifies a vector for graphical OF COMPLEX QUANTITI E I
representation or conversion into other forms. Complex quantities may be represented in any of the
For vectors to be useful, they must be expressed four co-ordinate
algebraically. In Figure 3.1, the vectorZ is the resultant systems given below:
of vectorially adding its components x and y; a. Polar
algebraically this vector may be written as:
b. Rectangular
...Equation 3.1
Z = x+jy c. Trigonometric
d. Exponential

where the operator j indicates that the component y is The modulus IZI and the argument 8 are together known
perpendicular to component x. In electrical as 'polar co-ordinates', and x and y are described as;
nomenclature, the axis OC is the 'real' or 'in-phase' axis, 'cartesian co-ordinates'. Conversion between co-
and the vertical axis OY is called the 'imaginary' or ordinate systems is easily achieved. As the operator j
'quadrature' axis. The operator j rotates a vector anti- obeys the ordinary laws of algebra, complex quantities in
clockwise through 90°. If a vector is made to rotate anti- rectangular form can be manipulated algebraically, as
clockwise through 180°, then the operator j has can be seen by the following:
performed its function twice, and since the vector has ...Equation 3.5
reversed its sense, then:
...Equation3.6
(see Figure 3.2)
 3.3.2 Complex Numbers
A complex number may be defined as a constant that
represents the real and imaginary components of a
...Equation 3.7 physical quantity. The impedance parameter of an
electric circuit is a complex number having real and
Figure 3.2: Addition of vectors
imaginary components, which are described as resistance
and reactance respectively.
Confusion often arises between vectors and complex
numbers. A vector, as previously defined, may be a
complex number. In this context, it is simply a physical
quantity of constant magnitude acting in a constant
direction. A complex number, which, being a physical
quantity relating stimulus and response in a given
operation, is known as a 'complex operator'. In this
context, it is distinguished from a vector by the fact that
it has no direction of its own.
Because complex numbers assume a passive role in any
calculation, the form taken by the variables in the
problem determines the method of representing them.

3.3.1 Complex variables 3.3.3 Mathematical Operators

Some complex quantities are variable with, for example, Mathematical operators are complex numbers that are
time; when manipulating such variables in differential used to move a vector through a given angle without
equations it is expedient to write the complex quantity changing the magnitude or character of the vector. An
in exponential form. operator is not a physical quantity; it is dimensionless.
When dealing with such functions it is important to The symbol j, which has been compounded with
appreciate that the quantity contains real and imaginary quadrature components of complex quantities, is an
components. If it is required to investigate only one operator that rotates a quantity anti-clockwise through
component of the complex variable, separation into 90°. Another useful operator is one which moves a
components must be carried out after the mathematical vector anti-clockwise through 120°, commonly
operation has taken place. represented by the symbol a.
Example: Determine the rate of change of the real Operators are distinguished by one further feature; they
component of a vector with time. are the roots of unity. Using De Moivre's theorem, the
nth root of unity is given by solving the expression:

where m is any integer. Hence:

The real component of the vector is \Z\coswt.

Differentiating with respect to time:

where m has values 1, 2, 3,... [n-l)

From the above expression / is found to be the 4th root
Separating into real and imaginary components: and a the 3rd root of unity, as they have four and three
distinct values respectively. Table 3.1 gives some useful
functions of the a operator.

Thus, the rate of change of the real component of a

vector is:
 For example, the instantaneous value, e, of a voltage
varying sinusoidally with time is:
...Equation 3.8

where:
Em is the maximum amplitude of the waveform;
the angular velocity,
is the argument defining the amplitude of the
voltage at a time t=O
At t-O, the actual value of the voltage is So if
E m is regarded as the modulus of a vector, whose
argument is then is the imaginary component
of the vector Figure 3.3 illustrates this quantity
as a vector and as a sinusoidal function of time.

Tabie 3.1: Properties of the a operator

3.4 CIRCUIT QUANTITIES

AND CONVENTIONS
Circuit analysis may be described as the study of the
response of a circuit to an imposed condition, for
example a short circuit. The circuit variables are current
and voltage. Conventionally, current flow results from
the application of a driving voltage, but there is Figure 3.3: Representation
complete duality between the variables and either may of a sinusoidal function j

be regarded as the cause of the other.

When a circuit exists, there is an interchange of energy; The current resulting from applying a voltage to a circuit
a circuit may be described as being made up of 'sources' depends upon the circuit impedance. If the voltage is a
and 'sinks' for energy. The parts of a circuit are described sinusoidal function at a given frequency and thej
as elements; a 'source' may be regarded as an 'active1 impedance is constant the current will also vary
element and a 'sink' as a 'passive' element. Some circuit harmonically at the same frequency, so it can be shown
elements are dissipative, that is, they are continuous on the same vector diagram as the voltage vector, and is
sinks for energy, for example resistance. Other circuit given by the equation
elements may be alternately sources and sinks, for
example capacitance and inductance. The elements of a
circuit are connected together to form a network having
...Equation 3.9
nodes (terminals or junctions) and branches (series
groups of elements) that form closed loops (meshes). where:

In steady state a.c. circuit theory, the ability of a circuit

to accept a current flow resulting from a given driving
voltage is called the impedance of the circuit. Since
current and voltage are duals the impedance parameter
must also have a dual, called admittance.

3.4.1 Circuit Variables ...Equation 3.10

As current and voltage are sinusoidal functions of time,

varying at a single and constant frequency, they are
From Equations 3.9 and 3.10 it can be seen that the
regarded as rotating vectors and can be drawn as plan
angular displacement ф between the current and voltage
vectors (that is, vectors defined by two co-ordinates) on
vectors and the current magnitude is
a vector diagram.
dependent upon the impedance In complex form the
impedance may be written The 'real
component', R, is the circuit resistance, and the
'imaginary component1, X, is the circuit reactance. When steady state terms Equation 3.12 may be written:
the circuit reactance is inductive (that is, ωL>l/ωC), the
current 'lags' the voltage by an angle ф , and when it is ...Equation 3.13
capacitive (that is, l/ωC>ωL) it 'leads' the voltage by an
and this is known as the equated-voltage equation [3.1].
angle ф
It is the equation most usually adopted in electrical
When drawing vector diagrams, one vector is chosen as
network calculations, since it equates the driving
the 'reference vector' and all other vectors are drawn
voltages, which are known, to the passive voltages,
relative to the reference vector in terms of magnitude
which are functions of the currents to be calculated.
and angle. The circuit impedance \Z\ is a complex
operator and is distinguished from a vector only by the In describing circuits and drawing vector diagrams, for
fact that it has no direction of its own. A further formal analysis or calculations, it is necessary to adopt a
convention is that sinusoidally varying quantities are notation which defines the positive direction of assumed
described by their 'effective' or 'root mean square1 (r.m.s.) current flow, and establishes the direction in which
values; these are usually written using the relevant positive voltage drops and voltage rises act. Two
symbol without a suffix. methods are available; one, the double suffix method, is
used for symbolic analysis, the other, the single suffix or
Thus:
diagrammatic method, is used for numerical
calculations.
In the double suffix method the positive direction of
current flow is assumed to be from node a to node b and
...Equation 3.11
the current is designated With the diagrammatic
1
The 'root mean square value is that value which has the method, an arrow indicates the direction of current flow.
same heating effect as a direct current quantity of that
The voltage rises are positive when acting in the
value in the same circuit, and this definition applies to
direction of current flow. It can be seen from Figure 3.4
non-sinusoidal as well as sinusoidal quantities.
that and are positive voltage rises
and and are negative voltage rises. In the
diagrammatic method their direction of action is simply
3.4.2 Sign Conventions
indicated by an arrow, whereas in the double suffix
In describing the electrical state of a circuit, it is often method, and indicate that there is a potential rise
necessary to refer to the 'potential difference1 existing in directions na and nb.
between two points in the circuit. Since wherever such
a potential difference exists, current will flow and energy
will either be transferred or absorbed, it is obviously
necessary to define a potential difference in more exact
terms. For this reason, the terms voltage rise and voltage
drop are used to define more accurately the nature of the
potential difference.
Voltage rise is a rise in potential measured in the
direction of current flow between two points in a circuit.
ErE2={Z,+Z2+Z3)I
Voltage drop is the converse. A circuit element with a
(a) Diagrammatic
voltage rise across it acts as a source of energy. A circuit
element with a voltage drop across it acts as a sink of
energy. Voltage sources are usually active circuit
elements, w h i l e sinks are usually passive circuit
elements. The positive direction of energy flow is from
sources to sinks.
Kirchhoffs first law states that the sum of the driving
voltages must equal the sum of the passive voltages in a
closed loop. This is illustrated by the fundamental
equation of an electric circuit:
(b) Double suffix

...Equation 3.12
Figure 3.4 Methods of representing a circuit
where the terms on the left
hand side of the equation are voltage drops across the
circuit elements. Expressed in
Voltage drops are also positive when acting in the component of current, and is known as 'reactive power'.
direction of current flow. From Figure 3.4(a) it can be
As P and Q are constants which specify the power
seen that [Z1+Z2+Z3)I\s the total voltage drop in the
exchange in a given circuit, and are products of thel
loop in the direction of current flow, and must equate to
current and voltage vectors, then if is the vector
the total voltage rise E,-E2. In Figure 3.4(6^ the voltage
product it follows that with as the reference vector
drop between nodes a and b designated Vab indicates
and 0 as the angle between and
that point b is at a lower potential than a, and is_positive
when current flows from a to b. Conversely Vba is a
...Equation 3.16
negative voltage drop.
Symbolically: Vab= Van - Vbn ; Vba= Vbn - Van Equation 3.14 The quantity S is described as the 'apparent power', and
is the term used in establishing the rating of a circuit,
where n is a common reference point. has units of VA.

3.4.3 Power
3.4.4 Single-Phase and Polyphase Systems
The product of the potential difference across and the
A system is single or polyphase depending upon whether
current through a branch of a circuit is a measure of the
the sources feeding it are single or polyphase. A source
rate at which energy is exchanged between that branch
is single or polyphase according to whether there are one
and the remainder of the circuit. If the potential
or several driving voltages associated with it. For
difference is a positive voltage drop, the branch is
example, a three-phase source is a source containing
passive and absorbs energy. Conversely, if the potential
three alternating driving voltages that are assumed to
difference is a positive voltage rise, the branch is active
reach a maximum in phase order, A, B, C. Each phase
and supplies energy.
driving voltage is associated with a phase branch of the
The rate at which energy system network as shown in Figure 3.5(a).
is exchanged is known as
power, and by convention, If a polyphase system has balanced voltages, that isj
the power is positive when equal in magnitude and reaching a maximum at equally
energy is being absorbed and negative when being displaced time intervals, and the phase branch
supplied. With a.c. circuits the power alternates, so, to impedances are identical, it is called a 'balanced' system,
obtain a rate at which energy is supplied or absorbed, it It will become 'unbalanced' if any of the above
is necessary to take the average power over one whole conditions are not satisfied. Calculations using al
cycle. balanced polyphase system are simplified, as it is only
then the necessary to solve for a single phase, the solution for the
power equation is: remaining phases being obtained by symmetry.
The power system is normally operated as a three-phase,
balanced, system. For this reason the phase voltages are
...Equation 3.15
equal in magnitude and can be represented by three
where:
vectors spaced 120° or radians apart, as shown in
Figure 3.5(b).

From Equation 3.15 it can be seen that the quantity P

varies from 0 to 2Pand quantity Q varies from -Qto +Q
in one cycle, and that the waveform is of twice the (a) Three-phase system

periodic frequency of the current voltage waveform.

The average value of the power exchanged in one cycle
is a constant, equal to quantity P, and as this quantity is
the product of the voltage and the component of current
which is 'in phase" with the voltage it is known as the
'real' or 'active' power.
(b) Balanced system of vectors
The average value of quantity 0 is zero when taken over
a cycle, suggesting that energy is stored in one half-cycle Figure 3.5: Three-phase systems
and returned to the circuit in the remaining half-cycle.
Q is the product of voltage and the quadrature
Since the voltages are symmetrical, they may be system impedances may be converted to those base
expressed in terms of one, that is: quantities by using the equations given below:

...Equation 3.17

where a is the vector operator eJ2π/3. ...Equation 3.20

Further, if the phase branch impedances are identical in a where suffix

balanced system, it follows that the resulting currents
b1denotes the value to the original base and
are also balanced.
b2 denotes the value to new base
The choice of impedance notation depends upon the
3.5 IMPEDANCE NOTATION
complexity of the system, plant impedance notation and
It can be seen by inspection of any power system the nature of the system calculations envisaged.
diagram that:
If the system is relatively simple and contains mainly
a. several voltage levels exist in a system transmission line data, given in ohms, then the ohmic
b. it is common practice to refer to plant MVA in method can be adopted with advantage. However, the
terms of per unit or percentage values per unit method of impedance notation is the most
common for general system studies since:
c. transmission line and cable constants are given in
ohms/km 1. impedances are the same referred to either side of
a transformer if the ratio of base voltages on the
Before any system calculations can take place, the two sides of a transformer is equal to the
system parameters must be referred to 'base quantities' transformer turns ratio
and represented as a unified system of impedances in
either ohmic, percentage, or per unit values. 2. confusion caused by the introduction of powers of
100 in percentage calculations is avoided
The base quantities are power and voltage. Normally,
they are given in terms of the three-phase power in MVA 3. by a suitable choice of bases, the magnitudes of
and the line voltage in kV. The base impedance resulting the data and results are kept within a predictable
from the above base quantities is: range, and hence errors in data and computations
are easier to spot
Most power system studies are carried out using
...Equation 3.18
software in per unit quantities. Irrespective of the
and, provided the
method of calculation, the choice of base voltage, and
system is balanced, the base impedance may be
unifying system impedances to this base, should be
calculated using either single-phase or three-phase
approached with caution, as shown in the following
quantities.
example.
The per unit or percentage value of any impedance in the
system is the ratio of actual to base impedance values.

Hence:

Wrong selection of base voltage

...Equation 3.19

Right selection

Simple transposition of the above formulae will refer the Figure 3.6: Selection of base voltages
ohmic value of impedance to the per unit or percentage
values and base quantities.

Having chosen base quantities of suitable magnitude all

 From Figure 3.6 it can be seen that the base voltages in 3.6 BASIC C I R C U I T LAWS,
the three circuits are related by the turns ratios of the THEOREMS AND NETWORK REDUCTIO
intervening transformers. Care is required as the
Most practical power system problems are solved by
nominal transformation ratios of the transformers
using steady state analytical methods. The assumptions
quoted may be different from the turns ratios- e.g. a
made are that the circuit parameters are linear and
110/33kV (nominal) transformer may have a turns ratio
bilateral and constant for constant frequency circuit
of 110/34.5kV. Therefore, the rule for hand calculations
variables. In some problems, described as initial value
is: 'to refer an impedance in ohms from one circuit to
problems, it is necessary to study the behaviour of a
another multiply the given impedance by the square of
circuit in the transient state. Such problems can be
the turns ratio (open circuit voltage ratio) of the
solved using operational methods. Again, in other
intervening transformer1.
problems, which fortunately are few in number, the
Where power system simulation software is used, the assumption of linear, bilateral circuit parameters is no
software normally has calculation routines built in to longer valid. These problems are solved using advanced
adjust transformer parameters to take account of mathematical techniques that are beyond the scope of
differences between the nominal primary and secondary this book.
voltages and turns ratios. In this case, the choice of base
voltages may be more conveniently made as the nominal
voltages of each section of the power system. This 3.6.1 Circuit Laws
approach avoids confusion when per unit or percent In linear, bilateral circuits, three basic network laws
values are used in calculations in translating the final apply, regardless of the state of the circuit, at any
results into volts, amps, etc. particular instant of time. These laws are the branch,
For example, in Figure 3.7, generators Gj and G2 have a junction and mesh laws, due to Ohm and Kirchhoff, and
sub-transient reactance of 26% on 66.6MVA rating at are stated below, using steady state a.c. nomenclature.
11 kV, and transformers T, and T2 a voltage ratio of 3.6.7. / Branch law
11/145kV and an impedance of 12.5% on 75MVA.
The current in a given branch of impedance is
Choosing 100MVA as base MVA and 132kV as base
proportional to the potential difference
voltage, find the percentage impedances to new base
appearing across the branch, that is,
quantities.
3.6.1.2 Junction law
a. Generator reactances to new bases are:
The algebraic sum of all currents entering any junction
(or node) in a network is zero, that is:

b. Transformer reactances to new bases are:

3.6.1.3 Mesh law
The algebraic sum of all the driving voltages in any
closed path (or mesh) in a network is equal to the
3 • NOTE: The base voltages of the generator and circuits algebraic sum of all the passive voltages (products of the
are 11kV and 145kV respectively, that is, the turns impedances and the currents) in the components
ratio of the transformer. The corresponding per unit branches, that is:
values can be found by dividing by 100, and the ohmic
value can be found by using Equation 3.19.

Alternatively, the total change in potential around a

closed loop is zero.

3.6.2 Circuit Theorems

From the above network laws, many theorems have beer
derived for the rationalisation of networks, either to
reach a quick, simple, solution to a problem or to
represent a complicated circuit by an equivalent. These
theorems are divided into two classes: those concerned
Figure 3.7: Section of a power system
with the general properties of networks and those
concerned with network reduction. 3.6.3 Network Reduction

Of the many theorems that exist, the three most The aim of network reduction is to reduce a system to a
important are given. These are: the Superposition simple equivalent while retaining the identity of that
Theorem, Thevenin's Theorem and Kennelly's Star/Delta part of the system to be studied.
Theorem.
For example, consider the system shown in Figure 3.9.
3.6.2.1 Superposition Theorem The network has two sources E' and E", a line AOB
(general network theorem) shunted by an impedance, which may be regarded as the
reduction of a further network connected between A and
The resultant current that flows in any branch of a
B, and a load connected between 0 and N. The object of
network due to the simultaneous action of several
the reduction is to study the effect of opening a breaker
driving voltages is equal to the algebraic sum of the
at A or B during normal system operations, or of a fault
component currents due to each driving voltage acting
at A or B. Thus the identity of nodes A and B must be
alone with the remainder short-circuited.
retained together with the sources, but the branch ON
3.6.2.2 Thevenin's Theorem can be eliminated, simplifying the study. Proceeding, A,
(active network reduction theorem) B, N, forms a star branch and can therefore be converted
Any active network that may be viewed from two to an equivalent delta.
terminals can be replaced by a single driving voltage
acting in series with a single impedance. The driving
voltage is the open-circuit voltage between the two
terminals and the impedance is the impedance of the
network viewed from the terminals with all sources short-
circuited.

3.6.2.3 Kennelly's Star/Delta Theorem

(passive network reduction theorem)

Any three-terminal network can be replaced by a delta or

star impedance equivalent without disturbing the
external network. The formulae relating the replacement
of a delta network by the equivalent star network is as Figure 3.9: Typical power system network
follows (Figure 3.8):

and so on.

(a) Star network

(b) Delta network
Figure 3.8: Star-Delta network transformation

The impedance of a delta network corresponding to and

replacing any star network is:

and so on.
 Most reduction problems follow the same pattern as the
example above. The rules to apply in practical network
reduction are:
a. decide on the nature of the disturbance or
disturbances to be studied
b. decide on the information required, for example
the branch currents in the network for a fault at a
particular location

Figure 3.10: Reduction using c. reduce all passive sections of the network not
star/delta transform directly involved with the section under j
The network is now reduced as shown in Figure 3.10. examination

By applying Thevenin's theorem to the active loops, these d. reduce all active meshes to a simple equivalent,
can be replaced by a single driving voltage in series with that is, to a simple source in series with a single]
an impedance as shown in Figure 3.11. impedance
(b) Reduction of right active mesh With the widespread availability of computer-based
power system simulation software, it is now usual to use
such software on a routine basis for network calculations
without significant network reduction taking place.
However, the network reduction techniques given above
are still valid, as there will be occasions where such
software is not immediately available and a hand
calculation must be carried out.

(a) Reduction of left active mesh In certain circuits, for example parallel lines on the same
towers, there is mutual coupling between branches.
Correct circuit reduction must take account of this I
coupling.

Figure 3.11: Reduction of active meshes:

Thevenin's Theorem
(a) Actual circuit

The network shown in Figure 3.9 is now reduced to that

shown in Figure 3.12 with the nodes A and B retaining
their identity. Further, the load impedance has been
completely eliminated. (b) Equivalent when

The network shown in Figure 3.12 may now be used to

study system disturbances, for example power swings
with and without faults.
(c) Equivalent when Zaa=Zbl

Figure 3.13: Reduction of two branches

with mutual coupling

Three cases are of interest. These are:

a. two branches connected together at their nodes
b. two branches connected together at one node only
c. two branches that remain unconnected
Figure 3.12: Reduction of typical
powersystem network
Considering each case in turn: The assumption is made that an equivalent star
network can replace the network shown. From
a. consider the circuit shown in Figure 3.13(a). The
inspection with one terminal isolated in turn and a
application of a voltage V between the terminals P
voltage Vimpressed across the remaining terminals
and Q gives:
it can be seen that:

where Ia and I b are the currents in branches a and

b, respectively and I = I a + I b , the total current
entering at terminal P and leaving at terminal Q. Solving these equations gives:
Solving for la and /&:

from which ...Equation 3.23

-see Figure 3.14(b).

and c. consider the four-terminal network given in Figure

3.15(a), in which the branches 11' and 22' are
electrically separate except for a mutual link. The
equations defining the network are:

so that the equivalent impedance of the original

circuit is:

...Equation 3.21
where Z12=Z21 and Y12=Y21, if the network is
(Figure 3.13(b)), and, if the branch impedances are assumed to be reciprocal. Further, by solving the
equal, the usual case, then: above equations it can be shown that:

...Equation 3.22

(Figure 3.13(c)).

b. consider the circuit in Figure 3.14(a)

...Equation 3.24

There are three independent coefficients, namely

Z12, Z21, Z22, so the original circuit may be
replaced by an equivalent mesh containing four
external terminals, each terminal being connected
to the other three by branch impedances as shown
in Figure 3.15(b).
(a) Actual circuit

(a) Actual circuit (b)Equivalent circuit

(b) Equivalent circuit

Figure 3.15; Equivalent circuits for four
figure 3.14: Reduction of mutually-coupled branches terminal network with mutual coupling
with a common terminal
 In order to evaluate the branches of the equivalent defining the equivalent mesh in Figure 3.15(b), and
mesh let all points of entry of the actual circuit be inserting radial branches having impedances equal
commoned except node 1 of circuit 1, as shown in to Z11 and Z22 in terminals 1 and 2, results in
Figure 3.15(c). Then all impressed voltages except Figure 3.15(d).
V1 will be zero and: 3.7 REFERENCES
3.1 Power System Analysis. J. R. Mortlock and
M. W. Humphrey Davies. Chapman Et Hall.

If the same conditions are applied to the equivalent 3.2 Equivalent Circuits I. Frank M. Starr, Proc. A.I.E.E.
mesh, then: Vol.51. 1932, pp. 287-298.

These relations follow from the fact that the branch

connecting nodes 1 and 1' carries current /, and
the branches connecting nodes J and 2' and 1 and
2 carry current I2. This must be true since branches
between pairs of commoned nodes can carry no
current.By considering each node in turn with
the remainder commoned, the following
relationships are found:

Hence:

...Equation 3.25

A similar but equally rigorous equivalent circuit is

shown in Figure 3.15(d). This circuit [3.2] follows
from the fact that the self-impedance of any circuit
is independent of all other circuits. Therefore, it
need not appear in any of the mutual branches if it
is lumped as a radial branch at the terminals. So
putting Zn and Z22 equal to zero in Equation 3.25,

Figure 3.15: Equivalent circuits for four terminal

network with mutual coupling

(c) Equivalent with all (d) Equivalent

nodes commoned circuit
except 1
4 • Fault Calculations
4.1 INTRODUCTION
A power system is normally treated as a balanced
symmetrical three-phase network. When a fault occurs,
the symmetry is normally upset, resulting in unbalanced
currents and voltages appearing in the network. The only
exception is the three-phase fault, which, because it
involves all three phases equally at the same location, is
described as a symmetrical fault. By using symmetrical
component analysis and replacing the normal system
sources by a source at the fault location, it is possible to
analyse these fault conditions.
For the correct application of protection equipment, it is
essential to know the fault current distribution
throughout the system and the voltages in different
parts of the system due to the fault. Further, boundary
values of current at any relaying point must be known if
the fault is to be cleared with discrimination. The
information normally required for each kind of fault at
each relaying point is:
i. maximum fault current
ii. minimum fault current
iii. maximum through fault
current
To obtain the above information, the limits of stable
generation and possible operating conditions, including
the method of system earthing, must be known. Faults
are always assumed to be through zero fault impedance.

4.2 THREE-PHASE FAULT CALCULATIONS

Three-phase faults are unique in that they are balanced,
that is, symmetrical in the three phases, and can be
calculated from the single-phase impedance diagram
and the operating conditions existing prior to the fault.
A fault condition is a sudden abnormal alteration to the
normal circuit arrangement. The circuit quantities,
current and voltage, will alter, and the circuit will pass
through a transient state to a steady state. In the
transient state, the initial magnitude of the fault current
will depend upon the point on the voltage wave at which
the fault occurs. The decay of the transient condition,
until it merges into steady state, is a function of the
parameters of the circuit elements. The transient current
may be regarded as a d.c. exponential current
superimposed on the symmetrical steady state fault be added to the currents circulating in the system due to
current. In a.c. machines, owing to armature reaction, the fault, to give the total current in any branch of the
the machine reactances pass through 'sub transient1 and system at the time of fault inception. However, in most
'transient' stages before reaching their steady state problems, the load current is small in comparison to the
synchronous values. For this reason, the resultant fault fault current and is usually ignored.
current during the transient period, from fault inception
In a practical power system, the system regulation is
to steady state also depends on the location of the fault
such that the load voltage at any point in the system is
in the network relative to that of the rotating plant.
within 10% of the declared open-circuit voltage at that
In a system containing many voltage sources, or having point. For this reason, it is usual to regard the pre-fault
a complex network arrangement, it is tedious to use the voltage at the fault as being the open-circuit voltage,
normal system voltage sources to evaluate the fault and this assumption is also made in a number of the
current in the faulty branch or to calculate the fault standards dealing with fault level calculations.
current distribution in the system. A more practical
For an example of practical three-phase fault
method [4.1] is to replace the system voltages by a single
calculations, consider a fault at A in Figure 3.9. With the
driving voltage at the fault point. This driving voltage is
network reduced as shown in Figure 4.2, the load voltage
the voltage existing at the fault point before the fault
at A before the fault occurs is:
occurs.
Consider the circuit given in Figure 4.1 where the driving
voltages are and , the impedances on either side
of fault point F are and , and the current
through point F before the fault occurs is

For practical workinq conditions, and

Figure 4.2: Reduction of typical
power system network

Figure 4.1: Network with fault at F

Hence
Replacing the driving voltages and by the
The voltage at F before fault inception is: load voltage between A and N modifies the circuit as
shown in Figure 4.3(a).
After the fault the voltage is zero. Hence, the The node A is the junction of three branches. In practice,
change in voltage is - . Because of the fault, the the node would be a busbar, and the branches are
change in the current flowing into the network from F feeders radiating from the bus via circuit breakers, as
is: shown in Figure 4.3(b). There are two possible locations
for a fault at A; the busbar side of the breakers or the
line side of the breakers. In this example, it is assumed
that the fault is at X, and it is required to calculate the
and, since no current was flowing into the network from current flowing from the bus to X.
F prior to the fault, the fault current flowing from the The network viewed from AW has a driving point
impedance

The current in the fault is

By applying the principle of superposition, the load

currents circulating in the system prior to the fault may
network into the fault is:
Let this current be 1.0 per unit It is now necessary to Therefore, current in 2.5 ohm branch
find the fault current distribution in the various branches
of the network and in particular the current flowing from
A to X on the assumption that a relay at X is to detect
the fault condition. The equivalent impedances viewed and the current in 1.2 ohm branch
from either side of the fault are shown in Figure 4.4(a).

Total current entering Xfrom the left, that is, from A to

X, is 0.437 + 0.183 = 0.62 p.u. and from B to X is
0.38p.u. The equivalent network as viewed from the
relay is as shown in Figure 4.4(b). The impedances on
either side are:

(a) Three - phase fault diagram for a fault at node A 0.68/0.62= 1.1 ohms
and
0.68/0.38= 1.79 ohms

The circuit of Figure 4.4 (b) has been included because

the Protection Engineer is interested in these equivalent
parameters when applying certain types of protection
relay.

(b) Typical physical arrangement of node A with a fault shown at.X

4.3 SYMMETRICAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Figure 4.3: Network with fault at node A
OF A THREE-PHASE NETWORK
The Protection Engineer is interested in a wider variety of
faults than just a three-phase fault. The most common
fault is a single-phase to earth fault, which, in LV
systems, can produce a higher fault current than a three-
phase fault. Similarly, because protection is expected to
operate correctly for all types of fault, it may be
necessary to consider the fault currents due to many
different types of fault. Since the three-phase fault is
(a) Impedance viewed from node A
unique in being a balanced fault, a method of analysis
that is applicable to unbalanced faults is required. It can
be shown [4.2] that, by applying the 'Principle of
Superposition1, any general three-phase system of
vectors may be replaced by three sets of balanced
(symmetrical) vectors; two sets are three-phase but
having opposite phase rotation and one set is co-phasal.
These vector sets are described as the positive, negative
and zero sequence sets respectively.
(b) Equivalent impedances viewed from node X
The equations between phase and sequence voltages are
Figure 4.4: Impedances viewed from fault The currents given below:

from Figure 4.4(a) are as follows:

From the right:

From the left:

...Equation 4.1

There is a parallel branch to the right of A

 fault branch changes from 0 to and the positive
sequence voltage across the branch changes from to ;
replacing the fault branch by a source equal to the change
in voltage and short-circuiting all normal driving voltages
in the system results in a current flowing into
the system, and:

...Equation 4.2

where all quantities are referred to the reference phase ...Equation 4.3
A. A similar set of equations can be written for phase
and sequence currents. Figure 4.5 illustrates the where is the positive sequence impedance of the
resolution of a system of unbalanced vectors. system viewed from the fault. As before the fault no
current was flowing from the fault into the system, it
follows that , the fault current flow ing from th e
system into the fault must equal - . Therefore:

...Equation 4.4

is the relationship between positive sequence currents

and voltages in the fault branch during a fault.
In Figure 4.6, which represents a simple system, the
voltage drops and are equal to ( )
wh e r e t h e c u r r e n t s and enter the fault from
the left and right respectively and
impedances and are the total system
impedances viewed from either side of the fault branch.
The voltage is equal to the open-circuit voltage in the
Figure 4.5: Resolution of a system system, and it has been shown that (see
of unbalanced vectors
Section 3.7). So the positive sequence voltages in the
system due to the fault are greatest at the source, as
When a fault occurs in a power system, the phase
shown in the gradient diagram, Figure 4.6(b).
impedances are no longer identical (except in the case of
three-phase faults) and the resulting currents and
voltages are unbalanced, the point of greatest unbalance
being at the fault point. It has been shown in Chapter 3
that the fault may be studied by short-circuiting all
normal driving voltages in the system and replacing the
fault connection by a source whose driving voltage is
equal to the pre-fault voltage at the fault point. Hence,
the system impedances remain symmetrical, viewed from (a) System diagram
the fault, and the fault point may now be regarded as the
point of injection of unbalanced voltages and currents
into the system.
This is a most important approach in defining the fault
conditions since it allows the system to be represented
by sequence networks [4.3] using the method of
symmetrical components. (b) Gradient diagram

Figure4.6: Fault at F:
Positive sequence diagrams
4.3.1 Positive Sequence Network
4.3.2 Negative Sequence Network
During normal balanced system conditions, only positive
sequence currents and voltages can exist in the system, If only positive sequence quantities appear in a power
and therefore the normal system impedance network is a system under normal conditions, then negative sequence
positive sequence network. quantities can only exist during an unbalanced fault.
When a fault occurs in a power system, the current in the If no negative sequence quantities are present in the
 fault branch prior to the fault, then, when a fault occurs, 4.4 EQUATIONS AND NETWORK CONNECTIONS
the change in voltage is , and the resulting current FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF FAULTS
flowing from the network into the fault is:
The most important types of faults are as follows:
a. single-phase to earth
b. phase to phase
...Equation 4.5
c. phase-phase-earth
The impedances in the negative sequence network are
generally the same as those in the positive sequence
d. three-phase (with or without earth)
network. In machines , but the difference is The above faults are described as single shunt faults
generally ignored, particularly in large networks. because they occur at one location and involve a
The negative sequence diagrams, shown in Figure 4.7, are
connection between one phase and another or to
similar to the positive sequence diagrams, with t wo
earth.In addition, the Protection Engineer often studies
important differences; no driving voltages exist before
two other types of fault:
the fault and the negative sequence voltage e. single-phase open circuit
is greatest at the fault point. f. cross-country fault
By determining the currents and voltages at the fault
point, it is possible to define the fault and connect the
sequence networks to represent the fault condition.
From the initial equations and the network diagram, the
nature of the fault currents and voltages in different
branches of the system can be determined.For shunt
faults of zero impedance, and neglecting load current,
the equations defining each fault (using phase-neutral
(a) Negative sequence network
values) can be written down as follows:
a. Single-phase-earth (A-E)

...Equation 4.7
(b) Gradient diagram

Figure 4,7: Fault at F:

Negative sequence diagram
b. Phase-phase (B-C)
14.3.3 Zero Sequence Network

The zero sequence current and voltage relationships

during a fault condition are the same as those in the
...Equation 4.8
negative sequence network. Hence:
c. Phase-phase-earth (B-C-E)
...Equation 4.6

Also, the zero sequence diagram is that of Figure 4.7,

substituting Io for I2 , and so on.

The currents and voltages in the zero sequence network

...Equation 4.9
are co-phasal, that is, all the same phase. For zero
sequence currents to flow in a system there must be a d. Three-phase (A-B-C or A-B-C-E)
return connection through either a neutral conductor or
the general mass of earth. Note must be taken of this
fact when determining zero sequence equivalent circuits.
Further, in general and the value ofvaries
according to the type of plant, the winding arrangement
...Equation 4.10
and the method of earthing.
It should be noted from the above that for any type of
fault there are three equations that define the fault
conditions.
When there is a fault impedance, this must be taken into
account when writing down the equations. For example,
and substituting for from Equation 4.15:
with a single-phase-earth fault through fault impedance
Equations 4.7 are re-written: ...Equation 4.17

The constraints imposed by Equations 4.15 and 4.17B

indicate that there is no zero sequence network
connection in the equivalent circuit and that the positive
and negative sequence networks are connected in I
parallel. Figure 4.9 shows the defining and equivalent
...Equation 4.11
circuits satisfying the above equations.
(a) Definition of fault (b) Equivalent circuit

(a) Definition of fault Figure (b) Equivalent circuit

4.8: Single-phase-earth fault at F

Figure 4.9: Phase-Phase fault at?

4.4.1 Single-phase-earth Fault (A~E) 4.4.3 Phase-phase-earth Fault (B-C-E)

Consider a fault defined by Equations 4.7 and by Figure Again, from Equation 4.9 and Equations 4.1 and 4.2:
4.8(a). Converting Equations 4.7 into sequence ...Equation 4.18
quantities by using Equations 4.1 and 4.2, then:
and
...Equation 4.19
...Equation 4.12 ...Equation 4.13
Substituting for and using network Equations 4.5
Substituting for
and 4.6:
, and in Equation
4.13 from Equations 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6:
thus, using Equation 4.18:

but, from Equation 4.12, , therefore:

...Equation 4.14 ...Equation 4.20

The constraints imposed by Equations 4.12 and 4.14

indicate that the equivalent circuit for the fault is ...Equation 4.21
obtained by connecting the sequence networks in series, Now
as shown in Figure 4.8(b). equating and and using Equation 4.4 gives:

4.4.2 Phase-phase Fault (B-C) or

From Equation 4.8 and using

Equations 4.1 and 4.2: Substituting for from Equation 4.21:

...Equation 4.15

...Equation 4.16 or
From network Equations 4.4 and 4.5, Equation 4.16 can
be re-written:
...Equation 4.22
From the above equations it follows that connecting the Hence,from Equations 4.2,
three sequence networks in parallel as shown in Figure
V0=U3Va
4,10(b) may represent a phase-
fb) Equivalent circuit

and therefore:

...Equation 4.28

From Equations
4.28, it can be concluded that the sequence networks
are connected in parallel, as shown in Figure 4.12(b).
phase-earth fault.
(a) Definition of fault Figure 4.10:

Phase-phase-earth fault at F

4.4.4 Three-phase Fault (A-B-C or A-B-C-E)

(a) Circuit diagram
Assuming that the fault includes earth, then, from
Equations 4.10 and 4.1, 4.2, it follows that:

...Equation 4.23
and
...Equation 4.24
Substituting = 0 in Equation 4.5 gives: (b) Equivalent circuit
...Equation 4.25
Figure 4.12: Open circuit on phase A
and substituting V-, = 0 in Equation
4.4:
4.4.6 Cross-country Faults
A cross-country fault is one where there are two faults
or
affecting the same circuit, but in different locations and
...Equation 4.26
possibly involving different phases. Figure 4.13(a)
Further, since from Equation 4.24 = 0, it follows from illustrates this.
Equation 4.6 that i s z e r o wh e n is finite.
The constraints expressed in terms of sequence
T h e equivalent sequence connections for a three-phase
quantities are as follows:
fault are shown in Figure 4.11.
a) At point F

...Equation 4.29

Therefore:

...Equation 4.30

(a) Definition of fault (b) Equivalent b] At point F'

circuit

Figure 4.71: Three-phase-earth fault at F

4.4.5 Single-phase Open Circuit Fault

...Equation 4.31
The single-phase open circuit fault is shown
diagrammatically in Figure 4.12(a). At the fault point,
the boundary conditions are: ..Equation 4.32

To solve, it is necessary to convert the currents and

voltages at point F' to the sequence currents in the
...Equation 4.27 same phase as those at point F. From Equation 4.32,
 (a) 'A' phase to ground at F and 'B' phase to ground at F

(b) Equivalent circuit

Figure 4.13: Cross - country fault - phase A to phase B

4.5 CURRENT AND VOLTAG E DISTRIB UTION

IN A SYSTEM DUE TO A FAULi
or
...Equation 4.33
Practical fault calculations involve the examination of 1
and, for the voltages the effect of a fault in branches of network other than
v'bl + v'b2+ the faulted branch, so that protection can be applied
Converting: correctly to isolate the section of the system directly
involved in the fault. It is therefore not enough to
calculate the fault current in the fault itself; the fault
or current distribution must also be established. Further,
abnormal voltage stresses may appear in a system
Converting:
because of a fault, and these may affect the operation of
...Equation 4.34 the protection. Knowledge of current and voltage
The fault constraints distribution in a network due to a fault is essential for
involve phase shifted sequence quantities. To the application of protection.
construct the appropriate sequence networks, it is The approach to network fault studies for assessing the
necessary to introduce phase-shifting transformers application of protection equipment may be summarised as
to couple the sequence networks. This is shown in follows:
Figure 4.13(b).
 a. from the network diagram and accompanying data, a. single-phase-earth (A-E)
assess the limits of stable generation and possible
operating conditions for the system
NOTE: When full information is not available
assumptions may have to be made
...Equation 4.35
b. with faults assumed to occur at each relaying point
b. phase-phase (B-C)
in turn, maximum and minimum fault currents are
calculated for each type of fault
NOTE: The fault is assumed to be through zero
impedance
c. by calculating the current distribution in the
network for faults applied at different points in the ...Equation 4.36

network (from (b) above) the maximum through c. phase-phase-earth (B-C-E) ...Equation 4.37

fault currents at each relaying point are

established for each type of fault

d. at this stage more or less definite ideas on the type

of protection to be applied are formed. Further
calculations for establishing voltage variation at
the relaying point, or the stability limit of the
system with a fault on it, are now carried out in
order to determine the class of protection
necessary, such as high or low speed, unit or non-
unit, etc.
d. three-phase (A-B-C or A-B-C-E)

The phase current in any branch of a network is

determined from the sequence current distribution in the
equivalent circuit of the fault. The sequence currents are
expressed in per unit terms of the sequence current in
the fault branch. ...Equation 4.38

In power system calculations, the positive and negative As an example of current distribution technique, consider
sequence impedances are normally equal. Thus, the the system in Figure 4.14(a}. The equivalent sequence
division of sequence currents in the two networks will networks are given in Figures 4.14(b) and (c), together <4st

also be identical. with typical values of impedances. A fault is assumed at

The impedance values and configuration of the zero A and it is desired to find the currents in branch OB due
sequence network are usually different from those of the to the fault. In each network, the distribution factors are
positive and negative sequence networks, so the zero given for each branch, with the current in the fault
sequence current distribution is calculated separately. branch taken as 1.0p.u. From the diagram, the zero
sequence distribution factor Co in branch OB is 0.112
If C o and C, are described as the zero and positive and the positive sequence factor Cj is 0.373. For an
sequence distribution factors then the actual current in earth fault at A the phase currents in branch OB from
a sequ enc e branch is given by multipl ying the actu al Equation 4.35 are:
current in the sequence fault branch by the appropriate
distribution factor. For this reason, if /, , I2 and Io are
seque nce currents in an arbitrary branch of a network And
due to a fault at some point in the network, then the
phase currents in that branch may be expressed in terms
of the distribution constants and the sequence currents
in the fault These are given b elow for the various
common shunt faults, using Equation 4.1 and the
appropriate fault equations:
By using network reduction methods and assuming that
all impedances are reactive, it
can be shown that
Therefore, from Equation 4.14, the current in fault

branch
 4.5.2 Voltage Distribution
The voltage distribution in any branch of a network is
determined from the sequence voltage distribution. As
shown by Equations 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6 and the gradient
diagrams, Figures 4.6(b) and 4.7(b), the positive
sequence voltage is a minimum at the fault, whereas the
zero and negative sequence voltages are a maximum.
Thus, the sequence voltages in any part of the system
(a) Single line diagram
may be given generally as:

(b) Zero sequence network

(c) Positive and negative sequence networks

...Equation 4.3

Using the above equation, the fault voltages at bus B ir

the previous example can be found.
From the positive sequence distribution diagram Figure
4.8(c):

Figure 4.14: Typical power system

Assuming that = 63.5 volts, then:

From the zero sequence distribution diagram Figure

4.8(b):
If is taken as the reference vector, then:

The vector diagram for the above fault condition is

shown in Figure 4.15. For earth faults, at the fault when
= 63.5 volts and is taken as the reference vector.
Further, j0.68ohms.
Hence:

and, using Equations 4.1:

Figure 4.15: Vector diagram: Fault currents and

voltages in branch OB due to P-E fault at bus A
 and since then:
...Equation 4.43

where - neutral displacement

voltage.
These voltages are shown on the vector diagram, Figure Measurements of residual quantities are made using
4.15. current and voltage transformer connections as shown in
Figure 4.16. If relays are connected into the circuits in
EFFECT OF SYSTEM EARTHING place of the ammeter and voltmeter, it follows that earth
ON ZERO SEQUENCE QUANTITIES faults in the system can be detected.
(a) Residual current (b) Residual voltage
It has been shown previously that zero sequence currents
flow in the earth path during earth faults, and it follows
that the nature of these currents will be influenced by
the method of earthing. Because these quantities are
unique in their association with earth faults they can be
utilised in protection, provided their measurement and
character are understood for a l l practical system
conditions.

^■ Residual Curr ent and Volt age

Residual currents and voltages depend for their existence
on two factors:

a. a system connection to earth at two or more points

Figure 4.16: Measurement of residual quantities
b. a potential difference between the earthed points
resulting in a c urrent flow in the earth paths
4.6.2 System Ratio
Under normal system operation there is a capacitance
between the phases and between phase and earth; these The system ratio is defined as the ratio of zero
capacitances may be regarded as being symmetrical and sequence and positive sequence impedances viewed from
distributed uniformly through the system. So even when
the fault; it is a variable ratio, dependent upon the
(a) above is satisfied, if the driving voltages are method of earthing, fault position and system operating
symmetrical the vector sum of the currents will equate arrangement.
to zero and no current will flow between any two earth When assessing the distribution of residual quantities
points in the system. When a fault to earth occurs in a through a system, it is convenient to use the fault point
system an unbalance results in condition (b) being as the reference as it is the point of injection of
satisfied. From the definitions given above it follows unbalanced quantities into the system. The residual
that residual currents and voltages are the vector sum of voltage is measured in relation to the normal phase-
phase currents and phase voltages respectively. neutral system voltage and the residual current is
Hence:
compared with the three-phase fault current at the fault
point. It can be shown [4.4/4.5] that the character of
these quantities can be expressed in terms of the system
ratio.
The positive sequence impedance of a system is mainly
...Equation 4.40
reactive, whereas the zero sequence impedance being
Also, from Equations 4.2: affected by the method of earthing may contain both
resistive and reactive components of comparable
..Equation 4.41
magnitude. Thus the express of the ratio
approximates to:

It should be further noted that:

...Equation 4.44

Expressing the residual current in terms of the three-

phase current and ratio:
...Equation 4.42
 a. Single-phase-earth (A-E)

where

Thus:

...Equation 4.45

b. Phase-phase-earth (B-C-E)

Figure 4.17: Variation of residual quan tities

at fault point

Hence: 4.6.3 Variation of Residual Quantities

The variation of residual quantities in a system due to
different earth arrangements can be most readily
understood by using vector diagrams. Three examples
have been chosen, namely solid fault-isolated neutral,
Therefore: solid fault-resistance neutral, and resistance fault-solid
neutral. These are illustrated in Figures 4.18, 4.19 and
4.20 respectively.
...Equation 4.46

Similarly, the residual voltagesjare found by multiplying (b) Vector diagram

Equations 4.45 and 4.46 by - KV.
a. Single-phase-each (A-E)

...Equation 4.47

b. Phase-phase-earth (B-C-E)

...Equation 4.48

The curves in Figure 4.17 illustrate the variation of the

above residual quantities with the ratio. The (c) Residual voltage diagram
residual current in any part of the system can be
obtained by multiplying the current from the curve by Figure 4.13: Solid fault-isolated neutral
the appropriate zero sequence distribution factor.
Similarly, the residual voltage is calculated by
subtracting from the voltage curve three times the zero
sequence voltage drop between the measuring point in
the system and the fault.
4.6.3.1 Solid fault-isolated neutral 4.6.3.2 Solid fault-resistance neutral
From Figure 4.18 it can be seen that the capacitance to Figure 4.19 shows that the capacitance of the faulted
earth of the fault ed phase is short circuited by the fault phase is short-circuited by the fault and the neutral
and the resulting unbalance causes capacitance currents current combines with the sound phase capacitive
to flow into the fault, returning via sound phases currents to give in the faulted phase.
through sound phase capacitances to earth.
With a relay at X, residually connected as shown in
At the fault point: Figure 4.16, the residual current will be , that is, the
neutral earth loop current.
and At the fault point:

At source:
At source:

From the residual voltage diagram it is clear that there is

since little variation in the residual voltages at source and fault,
as most residual voltage is dropped across the neutral
resistor. The degree of variation in residual quantities is
Thus, with an isolated neutral system, the residual therefore dependent on the neutral resistor value.
voltage is three times the normal phase-neutral voltage
4.6.3.3 Resistance fault-solid neutral
of the faulted phase and there is no variation between
at source and at fault. Capacitance can be neglected because, since the
In practice, there is some leakage impedance between capacitance of the faulted phase is not short-circuited,
neutral and earth and a small residual current would be the circulating capacitance currents will be negligible.
detected at X if a very sensitive relay were employed. At the fault point:

At relaying point X:

(a) Circuit diagram

(a) Circuit diagram

(b) Vector diagram

(c) Residual voltage (d) Residual voltage at

(c) Residual voltage diagram
at fault relaying point
Figure 4.19: Solid fault-resistance neutral Figure 4.20: Resistance fault-solid neutral
From the residual voltage diagrams shown in Figure 4.20,
it is apparent that the residual voltage is greatest at the
fault and reduces towards the source. If the fault
resistance approaches zero, that is, the fault becomes
solid, then approaches zero and the voltage drops in
and become greater. The ultimate value of
will depend on the effectiveness of the earthing, and this
is a function of the system ratio.

4.7 REFERENCES
4.1 Circuit Analysis ofA.C. Power Systems, Volume I.
Edith Clarke. John Wiley & Sons.
4.2 Method of Symmetrical Co-ordinates Applied to
the Solution of Polyphase Networks. C.L
Fortescue. Trans. A.I.E.E.,Vol. 37, Part II, 1918, pp
1027-40.
4.3 Power System Analysis. J.R. Mortlock and M.W.
Humphrey Davies. Chapman and Hall.
4.4 Neutral Groundings. R Willheim and M. Waters,
Elsevier.
4.5 Fault Calculations. F.H.W. Lackey, Oliver ft Boyd.
• 5 • Equivalent Circuits and Parameters
of Power System Plant
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Knowledge of the behaviour of the principal electrical
system plant items under normal and fault conditions is
a prerequisite for the proper application of protection.
This chapter summarises basic synchronous machine,
transformer and transmission line theory and gives
equivalent circuits and parameters so that a fault study
can be successfully completed before the selection and
application of the protection systems described in later
chapters. Only what might be referred to as 'traditional'
synchronous machine theory is covered, as that is all that
calculations for fault level studies generally require.
Readers interested in more advanced models of
synchronous machines are referred to the numerous
papers on the subject, of which reference [5.1] is a good
starting point.
Power system plant may be divided into two broad
groups - static and rotating.
The modelling of static plant for fault level calculations
provides few difficulties, as plant parameters generally
do not change during the period of interest following
fault inception. The problem in modelling rotating plant
is that the parameters change depending on the
response to a change in power system conditions.

5.2 SYNCHRONOUS MACHINES

There are two main types of synchronous machine:
cylindrical rotor and salient pole. In general, the former
is confined to 2 and 4 pole turbine generators, while
salient pole types are built with 4 poles upwards and
include most classes of duty. Both classes of machine
are similar in so far that each has a stator carrying a
three-phase winding distributed over its inner periphery.
Within the stator bore is carried the rotor which is
magnetised by a winding carrying d.c. current.
The essential difference between the two classes of
machine lies in the rotor construction. The cylindrical
rotor type has a uniformly cylindrical rotor that carries
its excitation winding distributed over a number of slots
around its periphery. This construction is unsuited to most common. Two-stroke diesel engines are often
multi-polar machines but it is very sound mechanically. derivatives of marine designs with relatively large outputs
Hence it is particularly well adapted for the highest (circa 30MW is possible) and may have running speeds of
speed electrical machines and is universally employed for the order of 125rpm. This requires a generator with a
2 pole units, plus some 4 pole units. large number of poles (48 for a 125rpm, 50Hz generator)
and consequently is of large diameter and short axial
The salient pole type has poles that are physically
length. This is a contrast to turbine-driven machines that
separate, each carrying a concentrated excitation
are of small diameter and long axial length.
winding. This type of construction is in many ways
complementary to that of the cylindrical rotor and is
employed in machines having 4 poles or more. Except in
special cases its use is exclusive in machines having more
than 6 poles. Figure 5.1 illustrates a typical large
cylindrical rotor generator installed in a power plant.
Two and four pole generators are most often used in
applications where steam or gas turbines are used as the
driver. This is because the steam turbine tends to be
suited to high rotational speeds. Four pole steam turbine
generators are most often found in nuclear power
stations as the relative wetness of the steam makes the
high rotational speed of a two-pole design unsuitable.
Most generators with gas turbine drivers are four pole
machines to obtain enhanced mechanical strength in the
rotor- since a gearbox is often used to couple the power
turbine to the generator, the choice of synchronous
speed of the generator is not subject to the same
constraints as with steam turbines.
Generators with diesel engine drivers are invariably of
four or more pole design, to match the running speed of
the driver without using a gearbox. Four-stroke diesel
engines usually have a higher running speed than two-
stroke engines, so generators having four or six poles are Figure5.2: Distortion of flux
due to armature reaction

Figure 5.1: Modem large synchronous generator

5 . 3 ARMATURE REACTION 'armature reaction reactance’ and is denoted by Xad.
Similarly, the remaining side of the triangle becomes
Armature reaction has the greatest effect on the
, which is the per unit voltage produced on
operation of a synchronous machine with respect both to
open circuit by ampere-turns ATf. It can be considered
the load angle at which it operates and to the amount of
as the internal generated voltage of the machine and is
excitation that it needs. The phenomenon is most easily
designated En.
explained by considering a simplified ideal generator
with full pitch winding operating at unity p.f., zero lag
p.f. and zero lead p.f. When operating at unity p.f., the
voltage and current in the stator are in phase, the stator
current producing a cross magnetising magneto-motive
force (m.m.f.) which interacts with that of the rotor,
resulting in a distortion of flux across the pole face. As
can be seen from Figure 5.2(a) the tendency is to weaken
the flux at the leading edge or effectively to distort the
field in a manner equivalent to a shift against the
direction of rotation.

If the power factor were reduced to zero lagging, the

current in the stator would reach its maximum 90° after
the voltage and the rotor would therefore be in the
position shown in Figure 5.2(b). The stator m.m.f. is now
acting in direct opposition to the field.

Similarly, for operation at zero leading power factor, the

stator m.m.f. would directly assist the rotor m.m.f. This
m.m.f. arising from current flowing in the stator is known
as 'armature reaction'.

TEADY STATE THEORY Figure 5.3: Vector diagram

of synchronous machine
The vector diagram of a s i n g l e cylindrical rotor
synchronous machine is shown in Figure 5.3, assuming
that the magnetic circuit is unsaturated, the air-gap is The true leakage reactance of the stator winding which
uniform and all variable quantities are sinusoidal. gives rise to a voltage drop or regulation has been
Further, since the reactance of machines is normally very neglected. This reactance is designated X L (or X a in
much larger than the resistance, the latter has been some texts) and the voltage drop occurring in it, IX L , is
neglected. the difference between the terminal voltage V and the
voltage behind the stator leakage reactance, E L.

The excitation ampere-turns, AT€, produces a flux

across the air-gap thereby inducing a voltage, Ef, in the IZL is exactly in phase with the voltage drop due to Xa(},
stator. This voltage drives a current / at a power factor as shown on the vector diagram Figure 5.3(c). It should
cos'tj) and gives rise to an armature reaction m.m.f. ATar be noted that X ad and X L can be combined to give a
in phase with it The m.m.f. ATf resulting from the simple equivalent reactance; this is known as the
combination of these two m.m.f. vectors (see Figure 'synchronous reactance', denoted by X^.
5.3(a)) is the excitation which must be provided on the
The power generated by the machine is given by the
rotor to maintain flux across the air-gap. Rotating the
equation:
rotor m.m.f. diagram, Figure 5.3(a), clockwise until
coincides with Et and changing the scale of the diagram
so that ATe becomes the basic unit, where ,
results in Figure 5.3{b). The m.m.f. vectors have thus ...Equation 5.1
become, in effect, voltage vectors. For example
ATgr/ATe\sa unit of voltage that is directly proportional
where 8 is the angle between the internal voltage and
to the stator load current. This vector can be fully
the terminal voltage and is known as the load angle of
represented by a reactance and in practice this is called
the machine.
It follows from the above analysis that, for steady state When a pole is aligned with the assumed sine wave
performance, the machine may be represented by the m.m.f. set up by the stator, a corresponding sine wave
equivalent circuit shown in Figure 5.4, where XL is a true flux will be set up, but when an inter-polar gap is aligned
reactance associated with flux leakage around the stator very severe distortion is caused. The difference is treated
winding and Xad is a fictitious reactance, being the ratio by considering these two axes, that is those
of armature reaction and open-circuit excitation corresponding to the pole and the inter-polar gap,
magneto-motive forces. separately. They are designated the "direct1 and
'quadrature' axes respectively, and the general theory is
known as the 'two axis' theory.

The vector diagram for the salient pole machine is similar

to that for the cylindrical rotor except that the reactance
and currents associated with them are split into two
components. The synchronous reactance for the direct
axis is Xd = Xad + Xi, while that in the quadrature axis
is Xq = Xaq + XL. The vector diagram is constructed as
before but the appropriate quantities in this case are
Figure 5.4: Equivalent circuit resolved along two axes. The resultant internal voltage
of elementary machine
is Eo, as shown in Figure 5.6.
In passing it should be noted that E'0\s the internal
In practice, due to necessary constructional features of a voltage which would be given, in cylindrical rotor theory,
cylindrical rotor to accommodate the windings, the by vectorially adding the simple vectors IXd and V. There
reactance Xa is not constant irrespective of rotor is very little difference in magnitude between Eo and E'o
position, and modelling proceeds as for a generator with but a substantial difference in internal angle; the simple
a salient pole rotor. However, the numerical difference theory is perfectly adequate for calculation of excitation
between the values of Xad and Xaq is small, much less currents but not for stability considerations where load
than for the salient pole machine. angle is significant.

5.5 SALIENT POLE ROTOR

The preceding theory is limited to the cylindrical rotor
generator. The basic assumption that the air-gap is
uniform is very obviously not valid when a salient pole
rotor is being considered. The effect of this is that the flux
produced by armature reaction m.m.f. depends on the
position of the rotor at any instant, as shown in Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.5: Variation of armature reaction m.m.f.

with pole position Figure 5.6: Vector diagram
for salient pole machine
5.6 TRANSIENT ANALYSIS
For normal changes in load conditions, steady state
theory is perfectly adequate. However, there are
occasions when almost instantaneous changes are
involved, such as faults or switching operations. When
this happens new factors are introduced within the
machine and to represent these adequately a
corresponding new set of machine characteristics is
required.
The generally accepted and most simple way to
appreciate the meaning and derivation of these
characteristics is to consider a sudden three-phase short
circuit applied to a machine initially running on open
circuit and excited to normal voltage Eo.
This voltage will be generated by a flux crossing the air-
gap. It is not possible to confine the flux to one path
exclusively in any machine, and as a result there will be
a leakage flux that will leak from pole to pole
and across the inter-polar gaps without crossing the
main air-gap as shown in Figure 5.7. The flux in the
pole will be

Figure 5.8: Synchronous machine reactances

It might be expected that the fault current would be

given by Eo /(XL+Xaci) equal to E0/Xd , but this is very
much reduced, and the machine is operating with no
saturation. For this reason, the value of voltage used is
the value read from the air-gap line corresponding to
normal excitation and is rather higher than the normal
voltage. The steady state current is given by:

Figure 5.7: Flux paths of salient pole machine

...Equation 5.2

where Eg = voltage on air gap line

If the stator winding is then short-circuited, the power
An important point to note now is that between the
factor in it will be zero. A heavy current will tend to
initial and final conditions there has been a severe
flow, as the resulting armature reaction m.m.f. is
reduction of flux. The rotor carries a highly inductive
demagnetising. This will reduce the flux and conditions
winding which links the flux so that the rotor flux
will settle until the armature reaction nearly balances
linkages before the short circuit are produced by
the excitation m.m.f., the remainder maintaining a very
In practice the leakage flux is distributed over
much reduced flux across the air-gap which is just
the whole pole and all of it does not link all the winding,
sufficient to generate the voltage necessary to overcome
is an equivalent concentrated flux imagined to link
the stator leakage reactance (resistance neglected). This
all the winding and of such a magnitude that the total
is the simple steady state case of a machine operating on
linkages are equal to those actually occurring. It is a
short circuit and is fully represented by the equivalent of
fundamental principle that any attempt to change the
Figure 5.8(a); see also Figure 5.4.
flux linked with such a circuit will cause current to flow
in a direction that will oppose the change. In the present
case the flux is being reduced and so the induced
currents will tend to sustain it.
For the position immediately following the application of The damper winding(s) is subjected to the full effect on
the short circuit, it is valid to assume that the flux linked flux transfer to leakage paths and will carry an induced
with the rotor remains constant, this being brought current tending to oppose it. As long as this current can
about by an induced current in the rotor which balances flow, the air-gap flux will be held at a value slightly
the heavy demagnetising effect set up by the short- higher than would be the case if only the excitation
circuited armature. So remains constant, but winding were present, but still less than the original
owing to the increased m.m.f. involved, the flux leakage open circuit flux
will increase considerably. With a constant total rotor
As before, it is convenient to use rated voltage and tol
flux, this can only increase at the expense of that flux
create another fictitious reactance that is considered to
crossing the air-gap. Consequently, this generates a
be effective over this period. This is known as the 'subl
reduced voltage, which, acting on the leakage reactance,
transient reactance" X"d and is defined by the equation: |
gives the short circuit current.
It is more convenient for machine analysis to use the Sub-transient current
rated voltage Eo and to invent a fictitious reactance that
will give rise to the same current. This reactance is .
..Equation 5.4
called the 'transient reactance' X'd and is defined by the
equation:

where

the main transfer will be

Transient current experienced towards the pole
...Equation 5.3 tips.
It is greater than XL, and the equivalent circuit is
represented by Figure 5.8(b) where:

and Xf\s the leakage reactance of the field winding The

above equation may also be written as:

where X'f= effective leakage reactance of field winding

The flux will only be sustained at its relatively high value
while the induced current flows in the field winding. As
this current decays, so conditions will approach the
steady state. Consequently, the duration of this phase
will be determined by the time constant of the excitation
winding. This is usually of the order of a second or less
- hence the term 'transient' applied to characteristics
associated with it.
A further point now arises. All synchronous machines
have what is usually called a 'damper winding’ or
windings. In some cases, this may be a physical winding
(like a field winding, but of fewer turns and located
separately), or an 'effective' one (for instance, the solid
iron rotor of a cylindrical rotor machine). Sometimes,
both physical and effective damper windings may exist
(as in some designs of cylindrical rotor generators,
having both a solid iron rotor and a physical damper
winding located in slots in the pole faces).
Under short circuit conditions, there is a transfer of flux
from the main air-gap to leakage paths. This diversion is,
to a small extent, opposed by the excitation winding and
or
and Xkd= leakage reactance of damper winding(s)
X'kd= effective leakage reactance of damper winding(s)
It is greater than XL but less than X'd and the
corresponding equivalent circuit is shown in Figure
5.8(c).
Again, the duration of this phase depends upon the time
constant of the damper winding. In practice this il
approximately 0.05 seconds - very much less than the
transient - hence the term 'sub-transient'.
Figure 5.9 shows the envelope of the symmetrical
component of an armature short circuit current
indicating the values described in the preceding analysis.
The analysis of the stator current waveform resulting
from a sudden short circuit test is traditionally the

Figure 5.9: Transient decay envelope

of short-circuit current
 method by which these reactances are measured. in opposite directions at supply frequency relative to the
However, the major limitation is that only direct axis rotor. So, as viewed from the stator, one is stationary
parameters are measured. Detailed test methods for and the other rotating at twice supply frequency. The
synchronous machines are given in references [5.2] and latter sets up second harmonic currents in the stator.
[5.3], and include other tests that are capable of Further development along these lines is possible but the
providing more detailed parameter information. resulting harmonics are usually negligible and normally
neglected.

\SYMMETRY
The exact instant at which the short circuit is applied to
the stator winding is of significance. If resistance is Table 5.1 gives values of machine reactances for salient
negligible compared with reactance, the current in a coil pole and cylindrical rotor machines typical of latest
will lag the voltage by 90°, that is, at the instant when design practice. Also included are parameters for
the voltage wave attains a maximum, any current synchronous compensators - such machines are now
flowing through would be passing through zero. If a rarely built, but significant numbers can still be found in
short circuit were applied at this instant, the resulting operation.
current would rise smoothly and would be a simple a.c.
component. However, at the moment when the induced 5.8.1 Synchronous Reactance Xd = X, + X,ul
voltage is zero, any current flowing must pass through a
maximum (owing to the 90° lag). If a fault occurs at this The order of magnitude of XL is normally 0.1-0.25p.u.,
moment, the resulting current will assume the while that of Xad\s 1.0-2.5p.u. The leakage reactance X£
corresponding relationship; it will be at its peak and in can be reduced by increasing the machine size (derating),
the ensuing 180" will go through zero to maximum in or increased by artificially increasing the slot leakage,
the reverse direction and so on. In fact the current must but it will be noted that XL is only about 10% of the
actually start from zero and so will follow a sine wave total value of Xd and cannot exercise much influence.
that is completely asymmetrical. Intermediate positions The armature reaction reactance can be reduced by
will give varying degrees of asymmetry. decreasing the armature reaction of the machine, which
This asymmetry can be considered to be due to a d.c. in design terms means reducing the ampere conductor or
component of current which dies away because electrical (as distinct from magnetic) loading - this will
resistance is present. often mean a physically larger machine. Alternatively
the excitation needed to generate open-circuit voltage
The d.c. component of stator current sets up a d.c. field may be increased; this is simply achieved by increasing
in the stator which causes a supply frequency ripple on the machine air-gap, but is only possible if the excitation
the field current, and this alternating rotor flux has a system is modified to meet the increased requirements.
further effect on the stator. This is best shown by
considering the supply frequency flux as being In general, control of Xd is obtained almost entirely by
represented by two half magnitude waves each rotating varying Xa(i, and in most cases a reduction in Xd will
mean a larger and more costly machine. It is also worth

/ Salient pole Cylindr ;at rotor turbine generators Salient pole generators
Type of machine synchronous Air Cooled Hydrogen Hydrogen/ 4 Pole Multi-pole
condensers Cooled Water Cooled
Short circuit ratio O.5-U.7 1.0-1.2 0.4-0.6 0.4-0.6 0.4-0.6 0.4-0.6 0.6-0.8

Direct axis synchronous reactance Xd (p.u.) 1.6-2.0 0.8-1.0 2.0-2.8 2.1-2.4 2.1-2.6 1.75-3.0 1.4-1.9
Quadrature axis synchronous reactance Xq (p.u.) 1.0-1.23 0.5-0.65 1.8-2.7 1.9-2.4 2.0-2.5 0.9-1.5 0.8-1.0
Direct axis transient reactance X'd (p.u.) 0.3-0.5 0.2-0.35 0.2-0.3 0.27-0.33 0.3-0.36 0.26-0.35 0.24-0.4
Direct axis sub-transient reactance X"d (p.u.) 0.15-0.23 0.19-0.23 0.21-0.27 0.19-0.25 0.16-0.25
0.2-0.4 0.12-0.25
Quadrature axis sub-transient reactance X"q (p.u.) 0.16-0.25 0.19-0.23 0.21-0.28 0.19-0.35 0.18-0.24
0.25-0.6 0.15-0.25
Negative sequence reactance X2 (p.u.) 0.14-0.35 0.16-0.23 0.19-0.24 0.21-0.27 0.16-0.27 0.16-0.23
0.25-0.5
Zero sequence reactance Xo (p.u.) 0.12-0.16 0.06-0.10 0.06-0.1 0.1-0.15 0.1-0.15 0.01-0.1 0.045-0.23
Direct axis short circuit transient time constant T' d (s) 1.5-2.5 1.0-2.0 0.6-1.3 0.7-1.0 0.75-1.0 0.4-1.1 0.25-1
Direct axis open circuit transient time constant Vfo (s) 5-10 3-7 6-12 6-10 6-9.5 3.0-9.0 1.7-4.0
Direct axis short circuit sub-transient- time constant T" d (s) 0.04-0.9 0.05-0.10 0.013-0.022 0.017-0.025 0.022-0.03 0.02-0.04 0.02-0.06
Direct axis open circuit sub-transient time constant T"d<,(s) 0.07-0.11 0.08-0.25 0.018-0.03 0.023-0.032 0.025-0.035 0.035-0.06 0.03-0.1
Quadrature axis short circuit sub-transient time constant T" q (sj 0.04-0.6 0.05-0.6 0.013-0.022 0.018-0.027 0.02-0.03 0.025-0.04 0.025-0.08
Quadrature axis open circuit sub-transient time constant T" qo (s) 0.1-0.2 0.2-0.9 0.026-0.045 0.03-0.05 0.04-0.065 0.13-0.2 0.1-0.35
Table 5. V. Typical synchronous generator parameters NB all reactance values are unsaturated.
noting that XL normally changes in sympathy with Xad, rise to parasitic currents and heating; most machines arc
but that it is completely overshadowed by it. quite limited in the amount of such current which they I
The value has a special significance as it are able to carry, both in the steady - state and
approximates to the short circuit ratio (S.C.R.), the only transiently.
difference being that the 5.C.R. takes saturation into An accurate calculation of the negative sequence current!
account whereas Xd is derived from the air-gap line. capability of a generator involves consideration of the
current paths in the rotor body. In a turbine generator
5.8.2 Transient Reactance rotor, for instance, they include the solid rotor body, slot
wedges, excitation winding and end-winding retaining
The transient reactance covers the behaviour of a
rings. There is a tendency for local over-heating to occuB
machine in the period 0.1-3.0 seconds after a
and, although possible for the stator, continuous local
disturbance. This generally corresponds to the speed of
temperature measurement is not practical in the rotor.j
changes in a system and therefore X'd has a major
Calculation requires complex mathematical techniques
influence in transient stability studies.
to be applied, and involves specialist software.
Generally, the leakage reactance XL is equal to the
In practice an empirical method is used, based on the
effective field leakage reactance about 0.1-
fact that a given type of machine is capable of carrying, for
0.25p.u. The principal factor determining the value
short periods, an amount of heat determined by its
of is the field leakage. This is largely beyond the
thermal capacity, and for a long period, a rate of heat
control of the designer, in that other considerations are at
input which it can dissipate continuously. Synchronous
present more significant than field leakage and hence
machines are designed to be capable of operating
take precedence in determining the field design.
continuously on an unbalanced system such that, with!
XL can be varied as already outlined, and, in practice, none of the phase currents exceeding the rated current,!
control of transient reactance is usually achieved by the ratio of the negative sequence current I2 to the rated
varying Xi current //v does not exceed the values given in Table 5.2,
Under fault conditions, the machine shall also be capable
5.8.3 Sub-transient Reactance of operation with the product ofand time in
The sub-transient reactance determines the initial
current peaks following a disturbance and in the case of
a sudden fault is of importance for selecting the breaking seconds (t) not exceeding the values given.
capacity of associated circuit breakers. The mechanical
stresses on the machine reach maximum values that
depend on this constant. The effective damper winding
leakage reactance X'kd is largely determined by the
leakage of the damper windings and control of this is
only possible to a limited extent. X'kd normally has a
value between 0.05 and 0.15 p.u. The major factor is XL
which, as indicated previously, is of the order of 0.1 -0.25
p.u., and control of the sub-transient reactance is
normally achieved by varying XL.
It should be noted that good transient stability is
obtained by keeping the value of X' d low, which
therefore also implies a low value of X"d. The fault rating
of switchgear, etc. will therefore be relatively high. It is
not normally possible to improve transient stability
performance in a generator without adverse effects on
fault levels, and vice versa.

5.9 NEGATIVE SEQUENCE REACTANCE

Negative sequence currents can arise whenever there is
any unbalance present in the system. Their effect is to
set up a field rotating in the opposite direction to the
main field generated by the rotor winding, so subjecting
the rotor to double frequency flux pulsations. This gives
Table 5.2: Unbalanced operating conditions for synchronous machines
(from IEC 60034-m
5.10 ZERO SEQUENCE REACTANCE It is necessary to distinguish which value of reactance is
If a machine is operating with an earthed neutral, a being measured when on test. The normal instantaneous
system earth fault will give rise to zero sequence short circuit test carried out from rated open circuit
currents in the machine. This reactance represents the voltage gives a current that is usually several times full
machine's contribution to the total impedance offered to load value, so that saturation is present and the
these currents. In practice it is generally low and often reactance measured will be the saturated value. This
outweighed by other impedances present in the circuit. value is also known as the 'rated voltage' value since it is
measured by a short circuit applied with the machine
excited to rated voltage.
5.11 DIRECT AND QUADRATURE AXIS VALUES
In some cases, if it is wished to avoid the severe
The transient reactance is associated with the field
mechanical strain to which a machine is subjected by
winding and since on salient pole machines this is
such a direct short circuit, the test may be made from a
concentrated on the direct axis, there is no
suitably reduced voltage so that the initial current is
corresponding quadrature axis value. The value of
approximately full load value. Saturation is very much
reactance applicable in the quadrature axis is the
reduced and the reactance values measured are virtually
synchronous reactance, that is, X'q = Xq.
unsaturated values. They are also known as 'rated
The damper winding (or its equivalent) is more widely current' values, for obvious reasons.
spread and hence the sub-transient reactance associated
with this has a definite quadrature axis value X"qi which
differs significantly in many generators from X"d. 5 . 1 3 TRANSFORMERS
A transformer may be replaced in a power system by an
5.12 EFFECT OF SATURATION equivalent circuit representing the self-impedance of,
ON MACHINE REACTANCES and the mutual coupling between, the windings. A two-
In general, any electrical machine is designed to avoid winding transformer can be simply represented as a T
severe saturation of its magnetic circuit. However, it is network in which the cross member is the short-circuit
not economically possible to operate at such low flux impedance, and the column the excitation impedance. It
densities as to reduce saturation to negligible is rarely necessary in fault studies to consider excitation
proportions, and in practice a moderate degree of impedance as this is usually many times the magnitude
saturation is accepted. of the short-circuit impedance. With these simplifying
assumptions a three-winding transformer becomes a star
Since the armature reaction reactance XaA is a ratio
of three impedances and a four-winding transformer a
ATarjATe it is evident that ATe will not vary in a linear
mesh of six impedances.
manner for different voltages, while ATar will remain
unchanged. The value of Xad will vary with the degree of The impedances of a transformer, in common with other
saturation present in the machine, and for extreme plant, can be given in ohms and qualified by a base
accuracy should be determined for the particular voltage, or in per unit or percentage terms and qualified
conditions involved in any calculation. by a base MVA. Care should be taken with multi-
winding transformers to refer all impedances to a
All the other reactances, namely XL , X'd and X"d are common base MVA or to state the base on which each is
true reactances and actually arise from flux leakage. given. The impedances of static apparatus are
Much of this leakage occurs in the iron parts of the independent of the phase sequence of the applied
machines and hence must be affected by saturation. For voltage; in consequence, transformer negative sequence
a given set of conditions, the leakage flux exists as a and positive sequence impedances are identical. In
result of the net m.m.f. which causes it. If the iron determining the impedance to zero phase sequence
circuit is unsaturated its reactance is low and leakage currents, account must be taken of the winding
flux is easily established. If the circuits are highly connections, earthing, and, in some cases, the
saturated the reverse is true and the leakage flux is construction type. The existence of a path for zero
relatively lower, so the reactance under saturated sequence currents implies a fault to earth and a flow of
conditions is lower than when unsaturated. balancing currents in the windings of the transformer.
Most calculation methods assume infinite iron Practical three-phase transformers may have a phase
permeability and for this reason lead to somewhat shift between primary and secondary windings
idealised unsaturated reactance values. The recognition depending on the connections of the windings - delta or
of a finite and varying permeability makes a solution star. The phase shift that occurs is generally of no
extremely laborious and in practice a simple factor of significance in fault level calculations as all phases are
approximately 0.9 is taken as representing the reduction shifted equally. It is therefore ignored. It is normal to
in reactance arising from saturation. find delta-star transformers at the transmitting end of a
transmission system and in distribution systems for the transformer may be represented by Figure 5.10(b). Thfl
following reasons: circuit in Figure 5.10(b) is similar to that shown in Figure
3.14(a), and can therefore be replaced by an equivalent
a. at the transmitting end, a higher step-up voltage
'T ' as shown in Figure 5.10(c) where:
ratio is possible than with other winding
arrangements, while the insulation to ground of the
star secondary winding does not increase by the
same ratio
b. in distribution systems, the star winding allows a
neutral connection to be made, which may be ...Equation 5.5 I

important in considering system earthing Zj is described as the leakage impedance of winding AM

arrangements and Z2 the leakage impedance of winding BB\
c. the delta winding allows circulation of zero Impedance Z3 is the mutual impedance between the;
sequence currents within the delta, thus windings, usually represented by XM, the magnetizing
preventing transmission of these from the reactance paralleled with the hysteresis and eddy currenj
secondary (star) winding into the primary circuit. loops as shown in Figure 5.10(d).
This simplifies protection considerations
If the secondary of the transformers is short-circuited,
and Z3 is assumed to be large with respect to Z, and Z2,
5 . 1 4 TRANSFORMER POSITIVE SEQUENCE then the short-circuit impedance viewed from the
EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS terminals AA' is ZT=Z, + Z2 and the transformer can
The transformer is a relatively simple device. However, be replaced by a two-terminal equivalent circuit as
the equivalent circuits for fault calculations need not shown in Figure 5.iO(e).
necessarily be quite so simple, especially where earth The relative magnitudes of Z, and XM are of the order
faults are concerned. The following two sections discuss 10% and 2000% respectively. ZT and XM rarely have to be
the equivalent circuits of various types of transformers. considered together, so that the transformer maybe
represented either as a series impedance or as an
excitation impedance, according to the problem being
studied.
The two-winding transformer has four terminals, but in A typical power transformer is illustrated in Figure 5.11
most system problems, two-terminal or three-terminal
equivalent circuits as shown in Figure 5.10 can represent
it. In Figure 5.1O(a), terminals A'and B'are assumed to 5.14.2 Three-winding Transformers
be at the same potential. Hence if the per unit self- If excitation impedance is neglected the equivalent
impedances of the windings are Zu and Z22 respectively circuit of a three-winding transformer may be
and the mutual impedance between them Z12, the represented by a star of impedances, as shown in Figure
5.12, where P, T and 5 are the primary, tertiary and
secondary windings respectively. The impedance of any
of these branches can be determined by considering the
short-circuit impedance between pairs of windings with
the third open.
Zero bus (b)
(a) Model of transformer Equivalent circuit of model

Zero bus (c) T Zero bus (d) 'it'

equivalent circuit equivalent circuit

Zero bus (e) Equivalent

circuit: secondary winding s/c

Figure 5,10: Equivalent circuits Figure 5.12: Equivalent circuit

fora two-winding transformer for a three-winding transformer
 Figure 5.11: Modern large transformer

5 .1 5 TRANSFORMER ZERO SEQUENCE The exceptions to the general rule of neglecting

/ EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS magnetising impedance occur when the transformer is
star/star and either or both neutrals are earthed. In
The flow of zero sequence currents in a transformer is
these circumstances the transformer is connected to the
only possible when the transformer forms part of a
zero bus through the magnetising impedance. Where a
closed loop for uni-directional currents and ampere-turn
three-phase transformer bank is arranged without
balance is maintained between windings.
interlinking magnetic flux (that is a three-phase shell
The positive sequence equivalent circuit is still type, or three single-phase units) and provided there is a
maintained to represent the transformer, but now there path for zero sequence currents, the zero sequence
are certain conditions attached to its connection into the impedance is equal to the positive sequence impedance.
external circuit. The order of excitation impedance is In the case of three-phase core type units, the zero
very much lower than for the positive sequence circuit; sequence fluxes produced by zero sequence currents can
it will be roughly between 1 and 4 per unit, but still high find a high reluctance path, the effect being to reduce
enough to be neglected in most fault studies. the zero sequence impedance to about 90% of the
The mode of connection of a transformer to the external positive sequence impedance.
circuit is determined by taking account of each winding However, in hand calculations, it is usual to ignore this
arrangement and its connection or otherwise to ground. variation and consider the positive and zero sequence
If zero sequence currents can flow into and out of a impedances to be equal. It is common when using
winding, the winding terminal is connected to the software to perform fault calculations to enter a value of
external circuit (that is, link a is closed in Figure 5.13). If zero-sequence impedance in accordance with the above
zero sequence currents can circulate in the winding guidelines, if the manufacturer is unable to provide a
without flowing in the external circuit, the winding value.
terminal is connected directly to the zero bus (that is,
link b is closed in Figure 5.13). Table 5.3 gives the zero
sequence connections of some common two- and three-
winding transformer arrangements applying the above rules.
 Connections and zero phase sequence currents Zero phase sequence network

Table 5.3: Zero sequence equivalent circuit connections

5 . 1 6 AUTO-TRANSFORMERS

The auto-transformer is characterised by a sin gl e

continuous winding, part of which is shared by both the
high and low voltage circuits, as shown in Figure 5.14(a).
The 'common' winding is the winding between the low
voltage terminals whereas the remainder of the winding,
belonging exclusively to the high voltage circuit, is
designated the 'series' winding, and, combined with the Zero potential bus
'common' winding, forms the 'series-common' winding
(a) Two windings
between the high voltage terminals. The advantage of
using an auto-transformer as opposed to a two-windin g
transformer is that the auto-transformer is smaller and
lighter for a given rating. The disadvantage is that
galvanic isolation between the two windings does not
exist, giving rise to the possibility of large overvoltages
on the lower voltage system in the event of major
insulation breakdown.

Three-phase auto-transformer banks generally have star

connected main windings, the neutral of which is
normally connected solidly to earth. In addition, it is
common practice to include a third winding connected in
delta called the tertiary winding, as shown in Figure
5.14(b).

5.16.1 Positive Sequence Equivalent Circuit

Zero potential bus
The positive sequence equivalent circuit of a three-phase
(b) Three windings
auto-transformer bank is the same as that of a two- or
three-winding transformer. The star equivalent for a Figure 5.13: Zero sequence equivalent circuits

three-wind ing transformer, for example, is obtained in

the sa m e manner, with the difference that the
impedances between windings are designated as follows:

...Equation 5.8
(b) Circuit diagram with tertiary winding
where:
Zsc-t= impedance between 'series common1 and tertiary
windings

Zsc-c = impedance between 'series common' and

'common' windings
(c) Positive sequence impedance (d) Zero sequence equivalent circuit
Zsc-t = impedance between 'common' and tertiary
windings

When no load is connected to the delta tertiary, the point

Twill be open-circuited and the short-circuit impedance
of the transformer becomes ZL + ZH = Zsc_c, ,that is,
similar to the equivalent circuit of a two-winding
Zero potential bus (e)
transformer, with magnetising impedance neglected; see
Equivalent circuit with isolated neutral
Figure 5.14(c).
Figure 5.14: Equivalent circuit
of auto-transformer
5.16.2 Zero Sequence Equivalent Circuit With the equivalent delta replacing the star impedances
The zero sequence equivalent circuit is derived in a in the auto-transformer zero sequence equivalent circuit
similar manner to the positive sequence circuit, except the transformer can be combined with the system
that, as there is no identity for the neutral point, the impedances in the usual manner to obtain the system
current in the neutral and the neutral voltage cannot be zero sequence diagram.
given directly. Furthermore, in deriving the branch
impedances, account must be taken of an impedance in 5 . 1 7 TRA NSFORMER IMPE DA NCE S
the neutral Zn, as shown in the following equations,
In the vast majority of fault calculations, the Protection
where Zx, Zy and Zz are the impedances of the low, high
Engineer is only concerned with the transformer leakage
and tertiary windings respectively and N is the ratio
impedance; the magnetising impedance is neglected, as it
between the series and common windings.
is very much higher. Impedances for transformers
rated 200MVA or less are given in IEC 60076 and
repeated in Table 5.4, together with an indication of X/R
values (not part of IEC 60076). These impedances are
commonly used for transformers installed in industrial
plants. Some variation is possible to assist in controlling
fault levels or motor starting, and typically up to ±10%
variation on the impedance values given in the table is
possible without incurring a significant cost penalty. For
...Equation 5.9
these transformers, the tapping range is small, and the
variation of impedance with tap position is normally
Figure 5.14(d) shows the equivalent circuit of the neglected in fault level calculations.
transformer bank. Currents IL0 and IH0 are those
circulating in the low and high voltage circuits respectively. For transformers used in electricity distribution
The difference between these currents, expressed in networks, the situation is more complex, due to an
amperes, is the current in the common winding. increasing trend to assign importance to the standing (or
no-load) losses represented by the magnetising
The current in the neutral impedance is three times the impedance. This can be adjusted at the design stage but
current in the common winding. there is often an impact on the leakage reactance in
consequence. In addition, it may be more important to
control fault levels on the LV side than to improve motor
starting voltage drops. Therefore, departures from the
With a solidly grounded neutral, Zn = 0, the branch IEC 60076 values are commonplace.
impedances Zx , Zy , Zz become ZL , ZH , ZT , that is, IEC 60076 does not make recommendations of nominal
identical to the corresponding positive sequence impedance in respect of transformers rated over
equivalent circuit, except that the equivalent impedance 200MVA, while generator transformers and a.c. traction
ZT of the delta tertiary is connected to the zero potential supply transformers have impedances that are usually
bus in the zero sequence network. specified as a result of Power Systems Studies to ensure
When the neutral is ungrounded Zn = ∞ and the satisfactory performance. Typical values of transformer
impedances of the equivalent star also become infinite impedances covering a variety of transformer designs are
because there are apparently no paths for zero sequence given in Tables 5.5 - 5.9. Where appropriate, they
currents between the windings, although a physical include an indication of the impedance variation at the
circuit exists and ampere-turn balance can be obtained. extremes of the taps given. Transformers designed to
A solution is to use an equivalent delta circuit (see Figure work a t 60 Hz w ill have substantially the same
5.14(e)), and evaluate the elements of the delta directly impedance as their 50Hz counterparts.
from the actual circuit. The method requires three
MVA Zo/o HV/LV X/R Tolerance on Z%
equations corresponding to three assumed operating
conditions. Solving these equations will relate the delta < 0.630 4.00 1.5 ±10
impedances to the impedance between the series and 0.631-1.25 5.00 3.5 ±10
tertiary windings, as follows: 1.251 -3.15 6.25 6.0 ±10
3.151 -6.3 7.15 8.5 ±10
6.301-12.5 8.35 13.0 ±10
12.501-25.0 10.00 20.0 ±7.5
25.001 - 200 12.50 45.0 ±7.5
>200 by agreement
Table 5.4: Transformer impedances ~ IEC 60076

...Equation 5.10
 MVA Primary Primary Taps Secondary Z% HV/LV X/R ratio MVA Primary Primary Taps Secondary Z% HV/LV X/R ratio
kV kV kV
IHfllffl
7.5 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 7.5 15 24 33 ±1O% 6.9 24 25

7.5 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 7,5 17 30 33 +5.72%- 11 30 40

8 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 8 9 30 132 17 16%
+ 10% -20% 11 21.3 43
11.5 33 +5.72%-17.16% 6,6 11.5 24 30 132 + 10% -20% 11 25 30
11.5 33 +5.72% -17.16% 6.6 11.5 24 30 132 132 +1O% -20% 1111 23.5 46
11.5 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 11.5 24 40 +10%-20% 27.9 37
11.5 33 +5 .7 2 %-17.16 % 11 11.5 26 45 132 +10% -20% 33 11.8 18

11.5 33 +4.5% -18% 6.6 11.5 24 60 132 + 10%-20% 33 16.7 28

12 33 +5% -15% 11.5 12 27 60 132 + 10%-20% 33 17.7 26
12 33 ±10% 11.5 12 27 60 132 + 10%-20% 33 14.5 25
12 33 ±10% + 9 % 11.5 12 25 60 132 +10%-20% 66 11 25
15
66 -15% 11.5 15 14 60 132 + 10%-20% 11/11 35.5 52
15 66 +9% -15% 11.5 15 16 60 132 +9.3% -24% 11/11 36 75
15 33 ±10% 11.5 16 16 60 132 +9.3% -24% 11/11 35.9 78
1616 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 16 30 65 140 +7.5%-15% 11 12.3 28
33 +5.72%-17.16% 6.6 16 31 90 132 + 10% -20% 33 24.4 60
19 33 +5.72%-17.16% 11 19 37 90 132 +10%-20% 66 15.1 41
30 33 +5.72 %-17.16 % 11 30 40
Table
5.5: Impedances of two winding distribution transformers
- Primary voltage <200kV

MVA Primary Primary condary W Tertiary Z% X/R MVA Primary Primary Seconda Z%
kV Taps kV HV/LV ratio kV Taps ry HV/LV ratio
kV
20 220 + 12.5% - 6.9 - 9.9 18 95 132 ±10% 11 13.5 46
7 50/0
20 230 +12.5%- 6.9 - 10-14 13 140 157.5 ±10% 11.5 12.7 41
57 275 7±10%
5% 11.8 7.2 18.2 34 141 400 ±5% 15 14.7 57
74 345 +14.4% -10% 96 12 8.9 25 151 236 ±5% 15 13.6 47
71
79.2 220 +10% -15% 11.6 11 18.9 35 167 145 +7.5%-16.5% 15 25.7
+10% -15%
120 275 34.5 22.5 180 289 ±5% 16 13.4 34
125 230 ±16.8% 66 13.1 52 180 132 ±10% 15 13.8 40
247 432 +3.75%-16.25% 15.5 15.2 61
125 230 not 150 10-14 22
13 250 300 +11.2%-17.6% 15 28.6 70
180 275 known 66 22.2 38
290 420 ±10% 15 15.7 43
255 230 ±15% 16.5 14.8 43
Table 5.6: Impedances of two winding distribution 307 432 +3.75%-16.25% 15.5 15.3 67
transformers - Primary voltage >200kV/ 346 435 +5%-15% 17.5 16.4 81
420 432 +5.55%-14.45% 22 16 87
437.8 144.1 +10.8%-21.6% 21 14.6 50
450 132 +10% 19 14 49
600 420 ±11.25% 21 16.2 74
MVA Primary Primary Secondary Secondary Tertiary Z% X/R
kV Taps kV Taps kV HV/LV ratio 716 525 ±10% 19 15.7 61
100 66 - 33 - - 107 28 721 362 +6.25%- 22 15.2
180 275 132 ±15% 13 15.5 55 736 245 +13
7 %75%
-13% 22 15.5 73
240 400 _ 132 +15% -5% 13 20.2 83 900 525 +7%-13% 23 15.7 67
240 400 132 + 15%-5% 13 20.0 51 (a) Three-phas units
240 400 - 132 + 15%-5% 13 20.0 61
MVA/ kV Primary Seconda Z% X/R
250 400 - 132 + 15%-5% 13 10-13 50 phase Taps ry kV HV/LV ratio
500 400 - 132 +0%-15% 22 14.3 51 266.7 432/V3 +6.67%-13.33% 23.5 15.8 92
750 400 - 275 - 13 12.1 90 266.7 432/V3 +6.6%-13.4% 23.5 15.7 79
1000 400 - 275 - 13 15.8 89 277 515/V3 ±5% 22 16.9 105
1000 400 - 275 - 33 17.0 91 375 525/V3 +6.66%-13.32% 26 15 118
333.3 50OV3 ±10% 23OV'3 22 18.2 101 375 420/V3 +6.66%-13.32% 26 112
Table 5.8: Autotransformer data (b) Single-phase units
Table 5.7: Impedances of generator transformers
5 . 1 8 OVERHEAD L I N E S AND CABLES between conductors becomes Zm. However, for rigorous
calculations a detailed treatment is necessary, with
In this section a description of common overhead lines
account being taken of the spacing of a conductor in
and cable systems is given, together with tables of their
relation to its neighbour and earth.
important characteristics. The formulae for calculating
the characteristics are developed to give a basic idea of
the factors involved, and to enable calculations to be 5 .1 9 CALCULATION OF S E R I E S IMPEDANCE
made for systems other than those tabulated. The self impedance of a conductor with an earth return
A transmission circuit may be represented by an and the mutual impedance between two parallel
equivalent or T network using lumped constants as conductors with a common earth return are given by the
shown in Figure 5.15. Z is the total series impedance Carson equations:
(R +jX}L and Y is the total shunt admittance (G +jB)L,
where L is the circuit length. The terms inside the
brackets in Figure 5.15 are correction factors that allow
for the fact that in the actual circuit the parameters are
distributed over the whole length of the circuit and not
lumped, as in the equivalent circuits.
With short lines it is usually possible to ignore the shunt ..Equation 5.11
admittance, which greatly simplifies calculations, but on
longer lines it must be included. Another simplification where:
that can be made is that of assuming the conductor R = conductor a.c. resistance (ohms/km)
configuration to be symmetrical. The self-impedance of dc = geometric mean radius of a single conductor
each conductor becomes Zp, and the mutual impedance D = spacing between the parallel conductors
f = system frequency

The above formulae give the impedances in ohms/km. It

Series impedance Z = R +jX per unit length should be noted that the last terms in Equation 5.11 are I
Shunt admittance Y = G + jB per unit length
very similar to the classical inductance formulae for long
(a) Actual transmission circuit
straight conductors.The geometric means radius (GMR)
of a conductor is an equivalent radius that allows the
inductance formula to be reduced to a single term. It
arises because the inductance of a solid conductor is a
function of the internal flux linkages in addition to those
external to it If the original conductor can be
replaced by an equivalent that is a hollow cylinder with
infinitesimally thin walls, the current is confined to the
surface of the conductor, and there can be no internal
flux. The geometric mean radius is the radius of the
equivalent conductor. If the original conductor is a solid
cylinder having a radius r its equivalent has a radius of
0.779r.It can be shown that the sequence impedances
for a symmetrical three-phase circuit are:

(c) T Equivalent

..Equation 5.12

Note: Z and Tin (b) and (c) are the total series where Zp and Zm are given by Equation 5.11.
impedance and shunt admittance respectively.
Substituting Equation 5.11 in Equation 5.12 gives:
Z=(R+jX)L and Y=(G+jB)L where L is the circuit length.

Figure 5.15: Transmission circuit equivalents ...Equation 5.13

In the formula for Z o the expression is the
geometric mean radius of the conductor group. Where
the circuit is not symmetrical, the usual case, symmetry
can be maintained by transposing the conductors so
that each conductor is in each phase position for one
third of the circuit length. If A, B and C are the spacings
between conductors be, ca and ab then D in the above
equations becomes the qeometric mean distance
between conductors, equal to

Writing the sequence impedances in

ohms/km at 50Hz become:

...Equation 5.14

5 . 2 0 CALCULATION OF SHUNT IMPEDANCE

It can be shown that the potential of a conductor a
above ground due to its own charge qa and a charge -qa
on its image is:
Figure 5.16 Geometry of two parallel conductors a
and b and the image of a (a')
r
...Equation 5.15
to the conductor spacing, which is the case with overhead
where h is the height above ground of the conductor and
lines, 2h=D'. From Equation 5.12, the sequence
r is the radius of the conductor, as shown in Figure 5.16.
impedances of a symmetrical three-phase circuit are:
Similarly, it can be shown that the potential of a
conductor a due to a charge qb on a neighbouring
conductor b and the charge -qb on its image is:

...Equation 5.18
...Equation 5.16

where D is the spacing between conductors a and b and It should be noted that the logarithmic terms above are
D' is the spacing between conductor b and the image of similar to those in Equation 5.13 except that r is the
conductor a as shown in Figure 5.14. actual radius of the conductors and D' is the spacing
between the conductors and their images.
Since the capacitance C=q/V and the capacitive
reactance it follows that the self and mutual Again, where the conductors are not symmetrically
capacitive reactanc e of the conductor system in Figure spaced but transposed, Equation 5.18 can be re-written
5.16 can be obtained directly from Equations 5.15 and making use of the geometric mean distance between
5.16. Further, as leakage can usually be neglected, the conductors, and giving the distance of each
self and mutual shunt impedances Z' p and Z' m in conductor above ground, that is, h a i h 2 , h c , as follows:
megohm-km at a system frequency of 50Hz are:

...Equation 5.19

...Equation 5.17

Where the distances above ground are great in relation

Figure 5.17: Typical OHL configurations (not to scale)
 Single Double Double
circuit [/„= circuit U„= circuit U„=
245kV 245kV 245kV

Single Double Double

circuit U n = circuit IL= circuit U„=
245kV 420kV 420kV

Single Double Single

circuit U n = circuit U„= circuit U„=
550kV 550kV 800kV

figure 5.17(cont) Typical OHL configurations (not to scale)

5.21 OVERHEAD L INE CIRCUITS In some cases, the phase conductors are not
WITH OR WITHOUT EARTH WIRES symmetrically disposed to each other and therefore, as
previously indicated, electrostatic and electromagnetic
Typical configurations of overhead line circuits are given
unbalance will result, which can be largely eliminated by
in Figure 5.17. Tower heights are not given as they vary
transposition. Modern practice is to build overhead lines
considerably according to the design span and nature of
without transposition towers to reduce costs; this must
the ground. As indicated in some of the tower outlines,
be taken into account in rigorous calculations of the
some tower designs are designed with a number of base
unbalances. In other cases, lines are formed of bundled
extensions for this purpose. Figure 5.18 shows a typical
conductors, that is conductors formed of two, three or
tower.
four separate conductors. This arrangement minimises
losses when voltages of 220kV and above are involved.
It should be noted that the line configuration and
conductor spacings are influenced, not only by voltage,
but also by many other factors including type of
insulators, type of support, span length, conductor sag
and the nature of terrain and external climatic loadings.
Therefore, there can be large variations in spacings
between different line designs for the same voltage level,
so those depicted in Figure 5.17 are only typical
examples.
When calculating the phase self and mutual impedances,
Equations 5.11 and 5.17 may be used, but it should be
remembered that in this case Zp is calculated for each
conductor and Zm for each pair of conductors. This
section is not, therefore, intended to give a detailed
analysis, but rather to show the general method of
formulating the equations, taking the calculation of
series impedance as an example and assuming a single
circuit line with a single earth wire.
The phase voltage drops Va,Vb,Vb of a single circuit line
with a single earth wire due to currents Ia, /b, /b, flowing
in the phases and /e in the earth wire are:

Equation 5.20

where:

and so on.
The equation required for the calculation of shunt
voltage drops is identical to Equation 5.20 in form,
except that primes must be included, the impedances
being derived from Equation 5.17.
Table 5. 10; Sequence self and mutual impedances
for various lines

From Equation 5.20 it can be seen that:

Making use of this relation, the self and mutual

impedances of the phase conductors can be modified
using the following formula:

...Equation 5.21

For example:

and so on.

So Equation 5.20 can be simplified while still taking account ...Equation 5.23
of the effect of the earth wire by deleting the fourth row and
fourth column and substituting Jaa for Zaa,Jab for Zab, and so The development of these equations for double circuit
on, calculated using Equation 5.21. The single circuit line lines with two earth wires is similar except that more
with a single earth wire can therefore be replaced by an terms are involved.
equivalent single circuit line having phase self and mutual
The sequence mutual impedances are very small and can
impedances Jaa , Jab and so on.
usually be neglected; this also applies for double circuit
It can be shown from the symmetrical component theory lines except for the mutual impedance between the zero
given in Chapter 4 that the sequence voltage drops of a sequence circuits, namely (Z00' = Z0'0). Table 5.10 gives
general three-phase circuit are: typical values of all sequence self and mutual impedances
some single and double circuit lines with earth wires. All
conductors are 400mm2 ACSR, except for the 132kV
double circuit example where they are 200mm2.

...Equation 5.22 5 . 2 2 OHL EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS

And, from Equation 5.20 modified as indicated above and Consider an earthed, infinite busbar source behind a
Equation 5.22, the sequence impedances are: length of transmission line as shown in Figure 5.19(a).
An earth fault involving phase A is assumed to occur at
F. If the driving voltage is E and the fault current is Ia
 distance relay applications because the phase and earth
fault relays are set to measure Z2 and are compensated
for the earth return impedance (Z0-Z1)/3.
It is cu s tomary to quote the imp edances of a
transmission circuit in terms of Z1 and the ratio Zo/Z1,
since in this form they are most directly useful. By
definition, the positive sequence impedance Z1 is a
function of the conductor spacing and radius, whereas
the Zo/Z1 ratio is dependent primarily on the level of
earth resistivity p. Further details may be found in
Chapter 12.
(a) Actual circuit
5.23 CABLE C IRCU IT S
The basic formulae for calculating the series and shunt
impedances of a transmission circuit, Equations 5.11 and
5.17 may be applied for evaluating cable parameters;
si nce the condu ctor configurat ion i s normally
symmetrical GMD and GMR values can be used without
risk of appreciable errors. However, the formulae must
be modified by the inclusion of empirical factors to take
account of sheath and screen effects. A useful general
reference on cable formulae is given in reference [5.4];
(b) Equivalent circuit
more detailed information on particular types of cables
Figure 5.19: Three-phase equivalent should be obtained direct from the manufacturers. The
of a transmission circuit
equivalent circuit for determining the positive and
then the earth negative sequence series impedances of a cable is shown
fault impedance is Ze . From symmetrical component in Figure 5.20. From this circuit it can be shown that:
theory (see Chapter 4):

thus
since, as shown, Z1 = Z2 for a
...Equation 5.24
transmission circuit. From
Equations 5.12, Z1=Zp-Zm and Z0=Zp+2Zm. Thus, where Rc Rs are the core and sheath (screen] resistances
substituting these values in the above equation gives per unit length, Xc and Xs core and sheath (screen)
Ze=Zp. This relation is physically valid because Zp is the reactances per unit length and Xcs the mutual reactance
self-impedance of a single conductor with an earth return. between core and sheath (screen) per unit length. Xcs is
Similarly, for a phase fault between phases B and C at F: in general equal to Xs.
The zero sequence series impedances are obtained
directly using Equation 5.11 and account can be taken of
the sheath in the same way as an earth wire in the case
where is the voltage between phases and 2Z is the
of an overhead line.
impedance of the fault loop.
The shunt capacitances of a sheathed cable can be
Making use of the above relations a transmission circuit
calculated from the simple formula:
may be represented, without any loss in generality, by
the equivalent of Figure 5.19(b), where Z1 is the phase
impedance to the fault and (ZO-Z1 )/3 is the impedance
of the earth path, there being no mutual impedance
between the phases or between phase and earth. The
equivalent is valid for single and double circuit lines ...Equation 5.2S

except that for double circuit lines there is zero sequence where d is the overall diameter for a round conductor, T
mutual impedance, hence Z0=(Z00-Z0'0). core insulation thickness and e permittivity of dielectric.
The equivalent circuit of Figure 5.19(b) is valuable in When the conductors are oval or shaped, an equivalent
diameter d' may be used where d'=(l/pi)x periphery of Number of Strands 6MR
conduc tor. No simple f ormul a exis ts for belted o r 0.726r
7
unscreened cables, but an empirical formula that gives 19 0.758r
reasonable results is: 37 0.768r

61 0.772r
91 0.774r

127 0.776r
...Equation 5.26 169 0.776r

Solid 0 . 7 79r
where G is a geometric factor which is a function of core and
belt insulation thickness and overall conductor diameter. Table 5.11: GMR for stranded copper, aluminium and aluminium
alloy conductors (r = conductor radius)

5 . 2 4 O V E RH E A D L I N E A N D C A BL E D AT A

The follo wing tables contain t ypical data on overhead Numb er of La yers Number of Al Str an ds
lines and cables that can be used in conjunction with the 1 6 0.5r*
various e qua t i ons qu ote d in this text. It i s n ot inten ded 1 12 0.75r*
2 18 0.776r
that this da ta should replace that supplied by
2 24 0.803 r
manufact urers. Wher e th e resu lts of ca lculations are 2 26 0.812r
important reliance should not be plac ed on the d ata in 2 30 0.826r
these Tables and data should be sourced directly from a 2 32 0.833r
3 36 0.778r
manufacturer/supplier. 3 45 0.794r
3 48 0.799r
At the conceptual design stage, initial selection of overhead
3 54 0.81 r
line conductor size will be determined by four factors: 3 66 0.827r
a. m aximum lo ad to be carrie d in MV A 4 72 0.789r
4 76 0.793r
b. length of line
4 84 0.801 r
c. cond uctor mater ial and h ence ma ximum * - Indicative values only, since GMR for single layer conductors is affected by cyclic
temperature magnetic flux, which depends on various factors.

d. cost of losses Table S. 12: GMR for aluminium conductor steel reinforced
(ACSR) (r = conductor radius)
Table 5.2 1 gi ves indicative deta ils o f the c apab ility o f
various sizes of overhead lines using the above factors,
for AAAC and ACSR conductor materials. It is based on
commonly used standards for voltage drop and ambient
temperature. Since these factors may not be appropriate
for any particular proj ect, the Table sh ould o nly be used
as a guid e for init ial siz ing, with a ppropriate ly d etailed
calculatio ns ca rried out to arrive at a final pr opos al.

Rc' Xc Per unit length Vis

voltage per unit length

Figure 5.20: Equivalent circuit for determining

positive or negative impedance of cables
 Stranding Wire Overall RDC (20°C) Designation Stranding and wire Sections area Total Approx. Rocat 20
Diameter Steel °C
area (mm2) Diameter (Ohm/km) diameter (mm) (mm area overall (Ohm/km)
(mm) (mm) Aluminium Steel Aluminium (mm2) diameter
(mm)
10.6 7 1.38 4.17 1.734
21.2 7 1.96 5.89 0.865
26.7 7 2.20 6.60 0.686
Sparrow 6 2.67 1 2.67 33.6 5.6 39.2 8.01 0.854
33.6 7 7.00 7.42 0.544
42.4 7 2.77 8.33 0.431 Robin 6 3 1 3 42.4 7.1 49.5 g 0.677

53.5 7 3.12 9.35 0.342 Raven 6 3.37 1 3.37 53.5 8.9 62.4 10.11 0.536
67.4 7 3.50 10.52 0.271 Quail 3.78 3.78 67.4 11.2 78.6 11.34 0.426
6 1
85.0 7 3.93 11.79 0.215
Pigeon 6 4.25 1 4.25 85.0 14.2 99.2 12.75 0.337
107.2 7 4.42 13.26 0.171
Penguin 6 4.77 1 4.77 107.2 17.9 125.1 14.31 0.268
126.G 19 2.91 14.58 0.144
152.0 19 3.19 15.98 0.120 Partridge 26 2.57 7 2 135.2 22.0 157.2 16,28 0.214
177.3 19 3.45 17.25 0.103 Ostrich 26 2.73 7 2.21 152.0 26.0 178.9 17.28 0.191
202.7 19 3.69 18.44 0.090
Merlin 18 3.47 1 3.47 170.5 9.5 179.9 17.35 0.169
228.0 37 2.80 19.61 0.080
Lark 30 2.92 7 2.92 201.4 46.9 24S.3 20.44 0.144
253.3 37 2.95 20.65 0.072
Hawk 26 3.44 7 2.67 241.7 39.2 280.9 21.79 0.120
278.7 37 3.10 21.67 0.066
304.3 3.23 22.63 0.060 Dove 26 3.72 7 2.89 282.0 45.9 327.9 23.55 0.103
37
329.3 61 2.62 23.60 0.056 Teal 30 3.61 19 2.16 306,6 69.6 376.2 25.24 0.095
354.7 61 2.72 24.49 0.052 Swift 3.38 3.38 322.3 331.2 23.62 0.089
36 1 9.0
380.0 61 2.82 25.35 0.048
Tern 45 3.38 7 2.25 402.8 27.8 430.7 27.03 0,072
405.3 61 2.91 26.19 0.045
Canary 54 3.28 7 3.28 456.1 59.1 515.2 29.52 0.064
456.0 61 3.09 27.79 0.040
506.7 61 . 3.25 29.26 0.036 Curlew 54 3.52 7 3.52 523.7 68.1 591.8 31.68 0.055
(a) ASTM Standards Finch 54 3.65 19 2.29 565.0 78.3 643.3 33.35 0.051

Bittern 45 4.27 7 2.85 644.5 44.7 689.2 34.17 0.045

Stranding Wire Overall RDC (20°C) Falcon 4.36 2.62 805.7 102.4 908.1 39.26 0.036
54 19
area (mm2) Diameter
(mm)
Diameter
(mm)
(Ohm/km) Kiwi 72 4.41 7 2.94 1100.0 47.5 1147.5 44.07 0.027
(a) to ASTM B 232
11.0 1 3.73 3.25 1.617
13.0 1 4.0G 4.06 1.365
14.0 1 4.22 4.22 1.269 Designation Sectional area R
DC at 20
nd re Total
14.5 7 1.63 4.88 1.231 w (mmJ) area °C
Stranding Aluminium Steel [mmi Approx. (Ohm/km)
16.1 1 4.52 4.52 1,103 (m
and wire overall
m;
18.9 1 4.90 4.90 0.938 diameter diameter
23.4 5.46 5.46 0.756 (mm) SH
1 (mm)
Aluminium I
32.2 1 6.40 6.40 0.549 Gopher 6 2.36 1 2.36 26.2 4.4 30.6 7.08 1.093
38.4 7 2.64 7.92 0.466 Weasel 6 2.59 1 2.59 3!.6 5.3 36.9 7.77 0.908
47.7 7 2.95 8.84 0.375 Ferret 6 3 1 3 42.4 7.1 49.5 9 0.676
65.6 7 3.45 10.36 0.273
Rabbit 6 3.35 1 3.35 52.9 8.8 61.7 10.05 0.542
70.1 1 9.45 9.45 0.252
Horse 12 2.79 7 2.79 73.4 42.8 116.2 13.95 0.393
97.7 7 4.22 12.65 0.183
129.5 19 2.95 14.73 0.139 Dog 4.72 7 1.57 105.0 13.6 118.5 14.15 0.273
132.1 7 4.90 14.71 0.135 Tiger 30 2.36 7 2.36 131.2 30.G 161.9 16.52 0.220
164.0 7 5.46 16.38 0.109 Wolf 2.59 2.59 158.1 36.9 194.9 18.13 0.182
30 7
165.2 19 3.33 16.64 0.109
Dingo 18 3.35 1 3.35 158.7 8.8 167.5 16.75 0.181

Lynx 30 2.79 7 2.79 183.4 42.8 226.2 19.53 0.157

(b)BS Standards Tabl e 5.13 :
Caracal 18 3.61 1 3.61 184.2 10.2 194.5 18.05 0.156

Jaauar 18 3.86 1 3.86 210.6 11.7 222.3 19.3 0.137

Overhead line conductor hard drawn copper Panther 212.1 49.5 261.5 0.136
30 3 7 3 21
Zebra 54 3.18 7 3.18 428.9 55.6 484.5 28.62 0.067

Table 5.14 (b) to BS 215.2

Overhead line conductor data - aluminium
conductors steel reinforced (ACSR,
Designation e R
Standard Designation RDC
Stranding and Sectiona area Total Approx. DC ■
No. OfAl Wire Sectional Overall
wi diameter (mrr J
) area at 20 DC :
overall
(Ohm/km) Strands diameter area diameter at20°C
(mm Aluminium Steel (mm' diameter (mm) (mm2) (mm) (Ohm/km)
(mm]
ASTM B-397 Kench 7 2.67 39.2 8.0 0.838
35/6 6 2.7 2.7 34.4 5.7 40.1 8.1 0.834 j
1 ASTM B-397 Kibe 7 3.37 62.4 10.1 0.526
44/32 14 2 7 2.4 44.0 31.7 75.6 11.2 0.652
ASTM B-397 Kayak 7 3.78 78.6 11.4 0.418
50/8 6 3.2 1 3.2 48.3 8.0 56.3 9.6 0.594
ASTM B-397 Kopeck 7 4.25 99.3 12.8 0.331
70/12 26 1.85 1.44 69.9 11.4 81.3 11.7 0.413
7 ASTM B-397 Kittle 7 4.77 125.1 14.3 n oe'i
l 1 /rl/
95/15 26 2.15 7 1.67 94.4 15.3 109.7 13.6 0.305
ASTM B-397 Radian 19 3.66 199.9 18.3 0.164
95/55 12 3,2 3.2 96.5 56.3 152.8 16 0.299
7 ASTM B-397 Rede 19 3.78 212.6 18.9 0.155
120/70 12 3.6 7 3.6 122.1 71.3 193.4 18 0.236
ASTM B-397 Ragout 19 3.98 236.4 19.9 0.140
150/25 26 2.7 2.1 148.9 24.2 173.1 17.1 0.194
7 ASTM B-397 Rex 19 4.14 255.8 19.9 0.129
170/40 30 2.7 7 2.7 171.8 40.1 211.8 18.9 0.168
ASTM B-397 Remex 19 4.36 283.7 21.8 0.116
185/30 26 3 7 2.33 1818 29.8 213.6 19 0.157
ASTM B-397 Ruble 19 4.46 296.8 22.4 0.111
210/50 30 3 7 3 212.1 49.5 261.5 21 0.136
ASTM B-397 Rune 19 4.7 330.6 23.6 0.100
265/35 24 3.74 2.49 263.7 34.1 297.7 22.4 0.109
7 A5TM B-397 Spar 37 3.6 376.6 25.2 0.087
305/40 54 2.68 7 2.68 304.6 39.5 344.1 24.1 0.095
ASTM B-397 Solar 37 4.02 469.6 28.2 0.070
380/50 54 3 7 3 381.7 49.5 431.2 27 0.076
ASTM B-399 - 19 3.686 202.7 18.4 0.165
550/70 54 3.6 7 3.6 549.7 71.3 620.9 32.4 0.052
A5TM B-399 - 19 3.909 228.0 19.6 0.147
560/50 48 3.86 7 3 561.7 49.5 611.2 32.2 0.051
ASTM B-399 - 19 4.12 253.3 20.6 0.132
650/45 45 4.3 7 2.87 653.5 45.3 698.8 34.4 0.044
ASTM B-399 - 37 3.096 278.5 21.7 0.120
1045/45 72 4.3 7 2.87 1045.6 45.3 1090.9 43 0.028
ASTM B-399 - 37 3.233 303.7 22.6 0.110
(c) to DIN 4820 4 ASTM B-399 - 37 3.366 329.2 23.6 0.102

Approxi. RDC ASTM B-399 37 3.493 354.6 24.5 0.094

Stranding and wire Sectional area
at 20°C
ASTM B-399 37 3.617 380.2 25.3 0.088
Designa tion diameter (m m ) (mm') Total
area
overall
diameter
(Ohm/km)
ASTM B-399
- 3.734 405.2 26.1 0.083
(mm')
ASTM B-399
- 37
37 3.962 456.2 27.7 0.073
■ Aluminium , Steel Aluminium Steel [mm)
ASTM B-399
- 37 4.176 506.8 29.2 0.066
CANNA59.7

CANNA75.5
12 2 7 2 37.7 22.0 59.7 10 0.765
- (a) ASTM
12 2.25 7 2.25 47.7 27.8 75.5 11.25 0.604
CANNA 93.3 2.5 7 2.5 58.9 34.4 93.3 12.5 0.489
12 o
CANNA 116.2 94.2 22.0 116.2 0.306
Standard Designation No. of A! Wire Sectional Overall RDC at 20 C
30 2 7 2 14 (Ohm/km)
Strands diameter area diameter
CROCUS 116.2 2 7 2 94.2 22.0 116.2 14 0.306
30 (mm) |mm2) (mm)
CANNA 147.1 2.25 7 2.25 119.3 27.8 147.1 15.75 0.243
30
BS 3242 Box 7 1.85 18.8 5.6 1.750
CROCUS 181.6 2.5 7 2.5 147.3 34.4 181.6 17.5 0.197
30 BS 3242 Acacia 7 2.08 23.8 6.2 1.384
CROCUS 228 2.8 7 2.8 184.7 43.1 227.8 19.6 0.157
30
BS 3242 Almond 7 2.34 30.1 7.0 1.094
CROCUS 297 2.8 19 2.25 221.7 75.5 297.2 22.45 0.131
36
BS 3242 Cedar 7 2.54 35.5 7.6 0.928
CANNA 288 3.15 7 3.15 233.8 54.6 288.3 22.05 0.124
30
BS 3242 Fir 7 2.95 47.8 8.9 0.688
CROCUS 288 3.15 7 3.15 233.8 54.6 288.3 22.05 0.124
30 BS 3242 Hazel 7 3.3 59.9 9.9 0.550
CROCUS 412 3.6 19 325.7 86.0 411.7 26.4 0.089
32 2.4
BS 3242 Pine 7 3.61 71.6 10.8 0.460
CROCUS 612 3.13 19 2.65 507.8 104.8 612.6 32.03 0.057
66 BS 3242 Willow 7 4.04 89.7 12.1 0.367
CROCUS 865 3.72 19 3.15 717.3 148.1 865.4 38.01 0.040
66 BS 3242 - 7 4.19 96.5 12.6 0.341
(d) to NF C34-120 BS 3242 1 4.45 108.9 13.4 0.302
Table 5. 14: Overhe ad line conductor data - aluminium BS 3242 Oak 1 4.65 118.9 14.0 0.277
conductors steel reinforced (ACSR). BS 3242 Mullberry 19 3.18 150.9 15.9 0.219
BS 3242 Ash 19 3.48 180.7 17.4 0.183
BS 3242 Elm 19 3.76 211.0 18.8 0.157
BS 3242 Poplar 37 2.87 239.4 20.1 0.139
BS 3242 Sycamore 37 3.23 303.2 22.6 0.109
BS 3242 Upas 37 3.53 362.1 24.7 0.092
BS 3242 Yew 37 4.06 479.0 28.4 0.069
BS 3242 Totara 37 4.14 498.1 29.0 0.067
BS 3242 Rubus 61 3.5 586.9 31.5 0.057
BS 3242 Araucaria 61 4.14 821.1 28.4 0.040

(b)BS Table 5.15:

Overhead line conductor data - aluminium alloy.

 Design. Standard Designa tio n
No. Of Al Wire Sectional Overall RDC No. of Al W ire Sectional Overall R DC

Standard Strands diameter area diameter at 20 o C Strands di ameter area diam eter at 20°C
2
(mm) (mm ) (mm) (Ohm/km) (mm) (mm') (mm) ( Ohm/km)

CSAC49.1-M87 10 7 1.45 11.5 4.3 2.863 NFC34-125 ASTER 22 7 2 22.0 6.0 1.497

CSAC49.1-M87 16 7 1.83 18.4 5.5 1.788 NFC34-125 ASTER 34-4 7 2.5 34.4 7.5 0.9 G8

CSAC49.1-M87 25 7 2.29 28.8 6.9 1.142 NFC34-125 ASTER 54-6 7 3.15 54.6 9.5 0.604

CSAC49.1-M87 40 7 2.89 46.0 8.7 0.716 NFC34-125 ASTER 75-5 19 2.25 75.5 11.3 0.438

CSAC49.1-M87 63 7 3.63 72.5 10.9 0.454 NFC34-125 ASTER 93,3 19 2.5 93.3 12.5 0.355

CSAC49.1-M87 100 19 2.78 115.1 13.9 0.287 NFC34-125 ASTER 117 19 2.8 117.0 14.0 0.283

CSAC49.1-M87 125 19 3.1 143.9 15.5 0.230 NFC34-125 ASTER 148 19 3.15 148.1 15.8 0.223

CSAC49.1-M87 3.51 184.2 17.6 0.180 NFC34-125 ASTER 181- 37 2.5 181.6 17.5 0.183
160 19 6
CSAC49.1-M87 200 19 3.93 230.2 19.6 0.144 NFC34-125 ASTER 228 37 2.8 227.8 19.6 0.146
287.7 NFC34-125 ASTER 288 37 3.15 288.3 22.1 0.115
CSAC49.1-M87 250 19 4.39 22.0 0.115
CSAC49.1-M87 315 37 3.53 362.1 24.7 0.092 NFC34-125 ASTER 366 37 3.55 366.2 24.9 0.091

CSAC49.1-M87 400 37 3.98 460.4 27.9 0.072 NFC34-125 ASTER 570 61 3.45 570.2 31.1 0.058

CSAC49.1-M87 450 37 4.22 517.9 29.6 0.064 NFC34-125 ASTER 851 91 3.45 850.7 38.0 0.039 I
CSAC49.1-M87 500 37 4.45 575.5 31.2 0.058 NFC34-125 ASTER 1144 91 4 1143.5 44.0 0.029

C5AC49.1-M87 560 37 4.71 644.5 33.0 0.051 NFC34-125 ASTER 1600 127 4 1595.9 52.0 0.021 |

CSAC49.1-M87 630 6161 3.89 725.0 35.0 0.046

(e)NF Table 5.15 (cant): Overhead
CSAC49.1-M87 710 4.13 817.2 37.2 0.041
CSAC49.1-M87 800 6161 4.38 920.8 39.5 0.036 line conductor data - aluminium alloy.
CSAC49.1-M87 900 4.65 1035.8 41.9 0.032
CSAC49.1-M87 1000 91 4.01 1150.9 44.1 0.029
CSAC49.1-M87 1120 91 4.25 1289.1 46.7 0.026

CSAC49.1-M87 1250 91 4.49 1438.7 49.4 0.023

CSAC49.1-M87 1400 91 4.75 1611.3 52.2 0.021
CSAC49.1-M87 1500 91 4.91 1726.4 5.41 0.019
(c)CSA

Standard Designation No. of Al Wire Sectional Overall RDC

Strands diameter area diameter at 20°C
2
(mm) (mm ] (mm) (Ohm/km)

DIN 48201 16 7 1.7 15.9 5.1 2.091

DIN 48201 25 7 2.1 24.3 6.3 1.370

DIN 48201 35 7 2.5 34.4 7.5 0.967
DIN 48201 50 19 1.8 48.4 9.0 0.690
DIN 48201 50 7 3 49.5 9.0 0.672
DIN 48201 70 19 2.1 65.8 10.5 0.507
DIN 48201 95 19 2.5 93.3 12.5 0.358
DIN 48201 120 19 2.8 117.0 14.0 0.285
DIN 48201 150 37 2.25 147.1 15.7 0.228
2.5
DIN 48201 185 37 181.6 17.5 0.184
DIN 48201 240 6161 2.25 242.5 20.2 0.138
DIN 48201 300 2.5 299.4 22.5 0.112
DIN 48201 400 6161 2.89 400.1 26.0 0.084
29.1
DIN 48201 500 3.23 499.8 0.067
(d) DIN
 Alloy Steel Alloy Steel Area (mm) (ohm/km)
Standard Designation (mm2)
' ASTMB711 2G 2.62 7 2.04 140.2 22.9 163.1 7.08 0.240

ASTM B711 26 2.97 7 2.31 180.1 29-3 209.5 11.08 0.187

ASTM B711 30 2.76 7 2.76 179.5 41.9 221.4 12.08 0.188
ASTM B711 26 3.13 7 2.43 200.1 32.5 232.5 13.08 0.168
ASTM B711 30 3.08 7 3.08 223.5 52.2 275.7 16.08 0.151
ASTM B711 26 3.5 7 2.72 250.1 40.7 290.8 17.08 0.135
ASTM B711 26 3.7 7 2.88 279.6 45.6 325.2 19.08 0.120
ASTM B711 30 3.66 19 2.2 315.6 72.2 387.9 22.08 0.107
ASTM B711 30 3.88 19 2.33 354.7 81.0 435.7 24.08 0.095
ASTM B711 30 4.12 19 2.47 399.9 91.0 491.0 26.08 0.084
ASTM B711 54 3.26 19 1.98 450.7 58.5 509.2 27.08 0.075
ASTM B711 54 3.63 19 2.18 558.9 70.9 629.8 29.08 0.060
ASTM B711 54 3.85 19 2.31 628.6 79.6 708.3 30.08 0.054
ASTM B711 54 4.34 19 2.6 798.8 100.9 899.7 32.08 0.042
ASTM B711 84 4.12 19 2.47 1119.9 91.0 1210.9 35.08 0.030
ASTM B711 84 4.35 19 2.61 T248.4 101.7 1350.0 36.08 0.027
(a) ASTM

Standard Stranding and wire r Section; I area 2 Total Approximate

Designation diamele (mm) (mrr Steel area overall diameter RDC at20°C
Alloy Steel Alloy (mnr) (mm) (ohm/km)

DIN 48206 70/12 26 1.85 7 1.44 69.9 11.4 81.3 11.7 0.479

DIN 48206 95/15 26 2.15 7 1.67 94.4 15.3 109.7 13.6 0.355
DIN 48206 125/30 30 2.33 7 2.33 127.9 29.8 157.8 16.3 0.262
DIN 48206 150/25 26 2.7 7 2.1 148.9 24.2 173.1 17.1 0.225
DIN 48206 170/40 30 2.7 7 2.7 171.8 40.1 211.8 18.9 0.195
DIN 48206 185/30 26 3 7 2.33 183.8 29.8 213.6 19 0.182
DIN 48206 210/50 30 3 7 3 212.1 49.5 261.5 21 0.158
DIN 48206 230/30 24 3.5 7 2.33 230.9 29.8 260.8 21 0.145
DIN 48206 265/35 24 3.74 7 2.49 263.7 34.1 297.7 22.4 0.127
DIN 48206 305/40 54 2.68 7 2.68 304.6 39.5 344.1 24.1 0.110
DIN 48206 380/50 54 3 7 3 381.7 49.5 431.2 27 0.088
DIN 48206 450/40 48 3.45 7 2.68 448.7 39.5 488.2 28.7 0.075
DIN 48206 560/50 48 3.86 7 3 561.7 49.5 611.2 32.2 0.060
DIN 48206 680/85 54 4 19 2.4 678.6 86.0 764.5 36 0.049
(b) DIN

Standard Designation Strar dia ding and wire Sectional area Total Approximate RDC at20°C
Alloy meter (mm) (mm2] area overall diameter (ohm/km)
(mm'] (mm)
Steel Alloy Steel

NFC34-125 PHLOX 116.2 18 2 19 2 56.5 59.7 116.2 14 0391

NFC34-125 PHLOX 147.1 18 2.25 19 2.25 71.6 75.5 147.1 15.75 0.467
NFC34-125 PASTEL 147.1 30 2.25 7 2.25 119.3 27.8 147.1 15.75 0.279
NFC34-T25 PHLOX 181.6 18 2.5 19 2.5 88.4 93.3 181.6 17.5 0.378
NFC34-125 PASTEL 181.6 30 2.5 7 2.5 147.3 34.4 181.6 17.5 0.226
NFC34-125 PHLOX 228 18 2.8 19 2.8 110.8 117.0 227.8 19.6 0.300
NFC34-125 PASTEL 228 30 2.8 7 2.8 184.7 43.1 227.8 19.6 0.180
NFC34-125 PHLOX 288 18 3.15 19 3.15 140.3 148.1 288.3 22.05 0.238
NFC34-125 PASTEL 288 30 3.15 7 3.15 233.8 54.6 288.3 22.05 0.142
NFC34-125 PASTEL 299 42 2.5 19 2.5 206.2 93.3 299.4 22.45 0.162
NFC34-125 PHLOX 376 24 2.8 37 2.8 147.8 227.8 375.6 26.4 0.226
(c)NF

Table 5.16: Overhead line conductor data - aluminium

alloy conductors, steel re-inforced (AACSR)
 XACat 50 Hz XAC at 50 Hz and .shunt capacitance

63 kV 132
kV
Sectional RDC RA 3..3kV 6..6kV 11kV 22kV 33kV Flat Double triangle Double Double e Flat
area of (20oC) C 50Hz
circuit vertical vertical triangl
e circui

ohm/km @20'C ohm/km ohm/km ohm/km ohm/km X C X C C

ohmlkm ohm/krn nF/km Si/km C X Si/km nf/km X c X C X nF/km X C
aluminiu nF/km
nF/ton O/km ohmfkm nf/km ohm/lm ohm/k nF/km
m
13.3 2.1586 2.159 0.395 0.409 0.420 0.434 0.445 8.7 0.503 7.5 0.513 7.4 0.520 7.3 0.541 7.0 0.528 7.2 0.556 6.8

15.3 1.8771 1.877 0.391 0.405 0.415 0.429 0.441 8.8 0.499 7.7 0.508 7.5 0.515 7.4 0.537 7.1 0.523 7.3 0.552 6.9
21.2 1.3557 1.356 0.381 0.395 0.405 0.419 0.430 9.0 0.488 7.8 0.498 7.7 0.505 7.6 0.527 7.2 0.513 7.4 0.542 7.0
23.9 1.2013 1.201 0.376 0.390 0.401 0.415 0.426 9.1 0.484 7.9 0.494 7.8 0.501 7.6 0.522 7.3 0.509 7.5 0.537 7.1
26.2 1.0930 1.093 0.374 0.388 0.398 0.412 0.424 9.2 0.482 8.0 0.491 7.8 0.498 7.7 0.520 7.3 0.506 7.5 0.535 7.1
28.3 1.0246 1.025 0.352 0.366 0.377 0.391 0.402 9.4 0.460 8.2 0.470 8.0 0.477 7.8 0.498 7.5 0.485 7.7 0.513 7.3
33.6 0.8535 0.854 0.366 0.380 0.390 0.404 0.416 9.4 0.474 8.1 0.484 7.9 0.491 7.8 0.512 7.5 0.499 7.7 0.527 7.2
37.7 0.7647 0.765 0.327 0.341 0.351 0.365 0.376 9.7 0.435 8.4 0.444 8.2 0.451 8.1 0.473 7.7 0.459 7.9 0.488 7.4
42.4 0.6768 0.677 0.359 0.373 0.383 0.397 0.409 9.6 0.467 8.3 0.476 8.1 0.483 7.9 0.505 7.6 0.491 7.8 0.520 7.3
44.0 0.6516 0.652 0.320 0.334 0.344 0.358 0.369 9.9 0.427 8.5 0.437 8.3 0.444 8.2 0.465 7.8 0.452 8.0 0.481 7.5
47.7 0.6042 0.604 0.319 0.333 0.344 0.358 0.369 9.9 0.427 8.5 0.437 8.3 0.444 8.2 0.465 7.8 0.452 8.1 0.480 7.6
51.2 0.5634 0.564 0.317 0.331 0.341 0.355 0.367 10.0 0.425 8.6 0.434 8.4 0.441 8.2 0.463 7.9 0.449 8.1 0.478 7.6
58.9 0.4894 0.490 0.313 0.327 0.337 0.351 0.362 10.1 0.421 8.7 0.430 8.5 0.437 8.3 0.459 7.9 0.445 8.2 0.474 1.1
63.1 0.4545 0.455 0.346 0.360 0.371 0.385 0.396 9.9 0.454 8.5 0.464 8.3 0.471 8.2 0.492 7.8 0.479 8.0 0.507 7.6
67.4 0.4255 0.426 0.344 0.358 0.369 0.383 0.394 10.0 0.452 8.5 0.462 8.3 0.469 8.2 0.490 7.8 0.477 8.1 0.505 7.6
73.4 0.3930 0.393 0.306 0.320 0.330 0.344 0.356 10.3 0.414 8.8 0.423 8.6 0.430 8.5 0.452 8.1 0.438 8.3 0.467 7,8
79.2 0.3622 0.362 0.339 0.353 0.363 0.377 0.389 10.1 0.447 8.7 0.457 8.4 0.464 8.3 0.485 7.9 0.472 8.2 0.500 7.6
85.0 0.3374 0.338 0.337 0.351 0.361 0.375 0.387 10.2 0.445 8.7 0.454 8.5 0.461 8.4 0.483 7.9 0.469 8.2 0.498 7.7
94.4 0.3054 0.306 0.302 0.316 0.327 0.341 0.352 10.3 0.410 8.8 0.420 8.6 0.427 8.4 0.448 8.0 0.435 8.3 0.463 7,8
105.0 0.2733 0.274 0.330 0.344 0.355 0.369 0.380 10.4 0.438 8.8 0.448 8.6 0.455 8.5 0.476 8.1 0.463 8.3 0.491 7,8
121.6 0.2371 0.237 0.294 0.308 0.318 0.332 0.344 10.6 0.402 9.0 0.412 8.8 0.419 8.6 0.440 8.2 0.427 8.4 0.455 7.9
127-9 0.2254 0.226 0.290 0.304 0.314 0.328 0.340 10.7 0.398 9.0 0.407 8.8 0.414 8.7 0.436 8.2 0.422 8.5 0.451 8.0
131.2 0.2197 0.220 0.289 0.303 0.313 0.327 0.339 10.7 0.397 9.1 0.4O7 8.8 0.414 8.7 0.435 8.3 0.421 8.5 0.450 8.0
135.2 0.2133 0.214 0.297 0.311 0.322 0.336 0.347 10.5 0.405 9.0 0.415 8.8 0.422 8.6 0.443 8.2 0.430 8.4 0.458 7.9
148.9 0.1937 0.194 0.288 0.302 0.312 0.326 0.338 10.8 0.396 9.1 0.406 8.9 0.413 8.7 0.434 8.3 0.420 8.6 0.449 8,0
158.7 0.1814 0.182 0.292 0.306 0.316 0.330 0.342 10.7 0.400 9.1 0.410 8.9 0.417 8.7 0.438 8.3 0.425 8.5 0.453 8.0
170.5 0.1691 0.170 0.290 0.304 0.314 0.328 0.340 10.8 0.398 9.1 0.407 8.9 0.414 8.8 0.436 8.3 0.422 8.6 0.451 8.0
184.2 0.1565 0.157 0.287 0.302 0.312 0.326 0.337 10.9 0.395 9.2 0.4O5 9.0 0.412 8.8 0,433 8.4 0.420 8.6 0.449 8.1
201.4 0.1438 0.144 0.280 0.294 0.304 0.318 0.330 11.0 0.388 9.3 0.398 9.1 0.405 8.9 0.426 8.5 0.412 8.8 0.441 8.2

210.6 0.1366 0.137 0.283 0.297 0.308 0.322 0.333 11.0 0.391 9.3 0.401 9.1 0.408 8.9 0.429 8.4 0.416 8.7 0.444 8.1
221.7 0.1307 0.131 0.274 0.288 0.298 0.312 0.323 11.3 0.381 9.5 0.391 9.3 0.398 9.1 0.419 8.6 0.406 8.9 0.435 8.3
230.9 0.1249 0.126 0.276 0.290 0.300 0.314 0.326 11.2 0.384 9.4 0.393 9.2 0.400 9.0 0.422 8.6 0.408 8.9 0.437 8.3
241.7 0.1193 0.120 0.279 0.293 0.303 0.317 0.329 11.2 0.387 9.4 0.396 9.2 0.403 9.0 0.425 8.5 0.411 8.8 0.440 8.2
263.7 0.1093 0.110 0.272 0.286 0.296 0.310 0.321 11.3 0.380 9.5 0.389 9.3 0.396 9.1 0.418 8.6 0.404 8.9 0.433 8.3
282.0 0.1022 0.103 0.274 0.288 0.298 0.312 0.324 11.3 0.382 9.5 0.392 9.3 0.399 9.1 0.420 8.6 0.406 8.9 0.435 8.3
306.6 0.0945 0.095 0.267 0.281 0.291 0.305 0.317 11.5 0.375 9.7 0.384 9.4 0.391 9.2 0.413 8.7 0.399 9.1 0.428 8,4
322.3 0.0895 0.090 0.270 0.284 0.294 0.308 0.320 11.5 0.378 9.6 Q.387 9.4 0.394 9.2 0.416 8.7 0.402 9.0 0.431 8.4
339.3 0.085 0.086 0.265 0.279 0.289 0.303 0.315 11.6 0.373 9.7 0.383 9.5 0.390 9.3 0.411 8.8 0.398 9.1 0.426 8.5
362.6 0.0799 0.081 0.262 0.276 0.286 0.300 0.311 11.7 0.369 9.8 0.379 9.6 0.386 9.4 0.408 8.9 0.394 9.2 0.423 8.5
386.0 0.0747 0.076 0.261 0.275 0.285 0.299 0.311 11.8 0.369 9.8 0.379 9.6 0.386 9.4 0.407 8.9 0.393 9.2 0.422 8.6
402.8 0.0719 0.073 0.261 0.275 0.285 0.299 0.310 11.8 0.368 9.9 0.378 9.6 0.385 9.4 0.4O7 8.9 0.393 9.2 0.422 8.6
428.9 0.0671 0.068 0.267 0.281 0.291 0.305 0.316 11.5 0.374 9.7 0.384 9.4 0.391 9.2 0.413 8.7 0.399 9.0 0.428 8.4
443.7 0.0642 0.066 0.257 0.271 0.281 0.295 0.306 11.9 0.364 10.0 0.374 9.7 0.381 9.5 0.402 9.0 0.389 9.3 0.418 8.7
456.1 0.0635 0.065 0.257 0.271 0.281 0.295 0.307 12.0 0.365 10.0 0.374 9.7 0.381 9.5 0.403 9.0 0.389 9.3 0.418 8.7
483.4 0.0599 0.061 0.255 0.269 0.279 0.293 0.305 12.0 0.363 10.0 0.372 9.8 0.379 9.6 0.401 9.0 0.387 9.4 0.416 8.7
494.4 0.0583 0.060 0.254 0.268 0.279 0.293 0.304 12.1 0.362 10.0 0.372 9.8 0.379 9.6 0.400 9.0 0.387 9.4 0.415 8.7
510.5 0.0565 0.058 0.252 0.266 0.277 0.291 0.302 12.1 0.360 10.1 0.370 9.8 0.377 9.6 0.398 9.1 0.385 9.4 0.413 8.7
523.7 0.0553 0.057 0.252 0.266 0.277 0.291 0.302 12.1 0.360 10.1 0.3/0 9.8 0.377 9.6 0.398 9.1 0.385 9.4 0.413 8.7
Table 5.17: Feeder circuits data - overhead lines
 XAC at 50 Hz XAC at 50 Hz and shunt
capacitance
Sectiona RDC RACat 3.3kV 6.6kV 11 kV 22kV 33kV 6 6kV Triangle Double 132kV Flat
(20°C) Flat circuit Double Double
area of 50Hz vertical circuit
vertical triangle

ohm/km @20°C ohm/k ohm/k ohm/k ohm/km C C X C

ohm/km m m m X C X nF/km X nF/km ohm/k C X C X nF/k X C
ALUMINI ohm/k nF/km ohm/k ohm/km m nF/km ohm/k nF/km ohm/k m ohm/k nF/km
m m m m m
13.3 2.1586 2.159 0.474 0.491 0.503 0.520 0.534 8.7 0.604 7.6 0.615 7.4 0.624 7.3 0.649 7.0 0.633 7.2 0.668 6.8

15.3 1.8771 1.877 0.469 0.486 0.498 0.515 0.529 8.8 0.598 7.7 0.610 7.5 0.619 7.4 0.644 7.1 0.628 7.3 0.662 6.9
21.2 1.3557 1.356 0.457 0.474 0.486 0.503 0.516 9.0 0.586 7.8 0.598 7.7 0.606 7.6 0.632 7.2 0.616 7.4 0.650 7.0

23.9 1.2013 1.201 0.452 0.469 0.481 0.498 0.511 9.1 0.581 7.9 0.593 7.8 0.601 7.6 0.627 7.3 0.611 7.5 0.645 7.1
26.2 1.0930 1.093 0.449 0.466 0.478 0.495 0.508 9.2 0.578 8.0 0.590 7.8 0.598 7.7 0.624 7.3 0.608 7.5 0.642 7.1

28.3 1.0246 1.025 0.423 0.440 0.452 0.469 0.483 9.4 0.552 8.2 0.564 8.0 0.572 7.8 0.598 7.5 0.582 7.7 0.616 7.3
33.6 0.8535 0.854 0.439 0.456 0.468 0.4B5 0.499 9.4 0.569 8.1 0.580 7.9 0.589 7.8 0.614 7.5 0.598 7.7 0.633 7.2

37.7 0.7647 0.765 0.392 0.409 0.421 0.438 0.452 9.7 0.521 8.4 0.533 8.2 0.541 8.1 0.567 7.7 0.551 7.9 0.585 7.4
42.4 0.6768 0.677 0.431 0.447 0.460 0.477 0.490 9.6 0.560 8.3 0.572 8.1 0.580 7.9 0.606 7.6 0.589 7.8 0.624 7.3

44.0 0.6516 0.652 0.384 0.400 0.413 0.429 0.443 9.9 0.513 8.5 0.525 8.3 0.533 8.2 0.559 7.8 0.542 8.0 0.577 7.5
47.7 0.6042 0.604 0.383 0.400 0.412 0.429 0.443 9.9 0.513 8.5 0.524 8.3 0.533 8.2 0.558 7.8 0.542 8.1 0.576 7.6

51.2 0.5634 0.564 0.380 0.397 0.409 0.426 0.440 10.0 0.510 8.6 0.521 8.4 0.530 8.2 0.555 7.9 0.539 8.1 0.573 7.6
58.9 0.4894 0.490 0.375 0.392 0.404 0.421 0.435 10.1 0.505 8.7 0.516 8.5 0.525 8.3 0.550 7.9 0.534 8.2 0.568 7.7

63.1 0.4545 0.455 0.416 0.432 0.445 0.462 0.475 9.9 0.545 8.5 0.557 8.3 0.565 8.2 0.591 7.8 0.574 8.0 0.609 7.5
67,4 0.4255 0.426 0.413 0.430 0.442 0.459 0.473 10.0 0.543 8.5 0.554 8.3 0.563 8.2 0.588 7.8 0.572 8.1 0.606 7.6

73.4 0.3930 0.393 0.367 0.384 0.396 0.413 0.427 10.3 0.496 8.8 0.508 8.6 0.516 8.5 0.542 8.1 0.526 8.3 0.560 7.8
79.2 0.3622 0.362 0.407 0.424 0.436 0.453 0.467 10.1 0.536 8.7 0.548 8.4 0.556 8.3 0.582 7.9 0.566 8.2 0.600 7.6

85.0 0.3374 0.338 0.404 0.421 0.433 0.450 0.464 10.2 0.534 8.7 0.545 8.5 0.554 8.4 0.579 7.9 0.563 8.2 0.598 7.7
94.4 0.3054 0.306 0.363 0.380 0.392 0.409 0.423 10.3 0.492 8.8 0.504 8.6 0.512 8.4 0.538 8.0 0.522 8.3 0.556 7.8

105.0 0.2733 0.274 0.396 0.413 0.426 0.442 0.456 10.4 0.526 8.8 0.537 8.6 0.546 8.5 0.572 8.1 0.555 8.3 0.590 7.8
121.6 0.2371 0.238 0.353 0.370 0.382 0.399 0.413 10.6 0.482 9.0 0.494 8.8 0.502 8.6 0.528 8.2 0.512 8.4 0.546 7.9

127.9 0.2254 0.226 0.348 0.365 0.377 0.394 0.408 10.7 0.477 9.0 0.489 8.8 0.497 8.7 0.523 8.2 0.507 8.5 0.541 8.0
131.2 0.2197 0.220 0.347 0.364 0.376 0.393 0.407 10.7 0.476 9.1 0.488 8.8 0.496 8.7 0.522 8.3 0.506 8.5 0.540 8.0

135.2 0.2133 0.214 0.357 0.374 0.386 0.403 0.416 10.5 0.486 9.0 0.498 8.8 0.506 8.6 0.532 8.2 0.516 8.4 0.550 7.9
148.9 0.1937 0.194 0.346 0.362 0.375 0.392 0.405 10.8 0.475 9.1 0.487 8.9 0.495 8.7 0.521 8.3 0.504 8.6 0.539 8.0

158 7 0.1814 0.182 0.351 0.367 0.380 0.397 0.410 10.7 0.480 9.1 0.492 8.9 0.500 8.7 0.526 8.3 0.509 8.5 0.544 8.0
170.5 0.1691 0.170 0.348 0.365 0.377 0.394 0.408 10.8 0.477 9.1 0.489 8.9 0.497 8.8 0.523 8.3 0.507 8.6 0.541 8.0

184.2 0.1565 0.157 0.345 0.362 0.374 0.391 0.405 10.9 0.474 9.2 0.486 9.0 0.494 8.8 0.520 8.4 0.504 8.6 0.538 8.1
201.4 0.1438 0.145 0.336 0.353 0.365 0.382 0.396 11.0 0.466 9.3 0.477 9.1 0.486 8.9 0.511 8.5 0.495 8.8 0.529 8.2

210.6 0.1366 0.137 0.340 0.357 0.369 0.386 0.400 11.0 0.469 9.3 0.481 9.1 0.489 3.9 0.515 8.4 0.499 8.7 0.533 8.1
221.7 0.1307 0.132 0.328 0345 0.357 0.374 0.388 11.3 0.458 9.5 0.469 9.3 0.478 9.1 0.503 8.6 0.487 8.9 0.522 8.3

230.9 0.1249 0.126 0.331 0.348 0.360 0.377 0.391 11.2 0.460 9.4 0.472 9.2 0.480 9.0 0.506 8.6 0.490 8.9 0.524 8.3
241.7 0.1193 0.120 0.335 0.351 0.364 0.381 0.394 11.2 0.464 9.4 0.476 9.2 0.484 9.0 0.510 8.5 0.493 8.8 0.528 8.2

263.7 0.1093 0.110 0.326 0.343 0.355 0.372 0.386 11.3 0.455 9.5 0.467 9.3 0.476 9.1 0.501 8.6 0.485 8.9 0.519 8.3
282.0 0.1022 0.103 0.329 0.346 0.358 0.375 0.389 11.3 0.458 9.5 0.470 9.3 0.478 9.1 0.504 8.6 0.488 8.9 0.522 8.3

306.6 0.0945 0.096 0.320 0.337 0.349 0.366 0.380 11.5 0.450 9.7 0.461 9.4 0.470 9.2 0.495 8.7 0.479 9.1 0.514 8.4
322.3 0.0895 0.091 0.324 0.341 0.353 0.370 0.384 11.5 0.453 9.6 0.465 9.4 0.473 9.2 0.499 8.7 0.483 9.0 0.517 8.4

339.3 0.0850 0.086 0.318 0.335 0.347 0.364 0.378 11.6 0.448 9.7 0.459 9.5 0.468 9.3 0.493 8.8 0.477 9.1 0.511 8.5
362.6 0.0799 0.081 0.314 0.331 0.343 0.360 0.374 11.7 0.443 9.8 0.455 9.6 0.463 9.4 0.439 8.9 0.473 9.2 0.507 8.5

38G.0 0.0747 0.076 0.313 0.330 0.342 0.359 0.373 11.8 0.443 9.8 0.454 9.6 0.463 9.4 0.488 8.9 0.472 9.2 0.506 8.6
402.8 0.0719 0.074 0.313 0.330 0.342 0.359 0.372 11.8 0.442 9.9 0.454 9.6 0.462 9.4 0.488 8.9 0.472 9.2 0.506 8.6

428.9 0.0671 0.069 0.320 0.337 0.349 0.366 0.380 11.5 0.449 9.7 0.461 9.4 0.469 9.2 0.495 8.7 0.479 9.0 0.513 8.4
443.7 0.0642 0.066 0.308 0.325 0.337 0.354 0.367 11.9 0.437 10.0 0.449 9.7 0.457 9.5 0.483 9.0 0.467 9.3 0.501 8.7

456.1 0.0635 0.065 0.305 0.322 0.334 0.351 0.364 12.0 0.434 10.0 0.446 9.7 0.454 9.6 0.480 9.0 0.463 9.4 0.498 8.7
483.4 0.0599 0.062 0.306 0.323 0.335 0.352 0.366 12.0 0.435 10.0 0.447 9.8 0.455 9.6 0.481 9.0 0.465 9.4 0.499 8.7

494.4 0.0583 0.060 0.305 0.322 0.334 0.351 0.365 12.1 0.435 10.0 0.446 9.8 0.455 9.6 0.480 9.0 0.464 9.4 0.498 8.7
510.5 0.05G5 0.059 0.303 0.320 0.332 0.349 0.362 12.1 0.432 10.1 0.444 9.8 0.452 9.6 0.478 9.1 0.462 9.4 0.496 8.7

523.7 0.0553 0.057 0.303 0.320 0.332 0.349 0.363 12.1 0.432 10.1 0.444 9.8 0.452 9.6 0.478 9.1 0.46? 9.4 0.496 8,7

Table 5.17 (cont): Feeder circuits data - overhead lines

 Conductor size mm2
25 35 50 70 95 120 150 185 240 300 400 *500 *630 *800 *1000 *1200 *1600

Series resistance R (ohm/km) 0 927 0.669 0.494 0 342 0.247 0.196 0.158 0.127 0.098 0.08 0.064 0.051 0042
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 0.097 0.092 0.089 0.033 0.08 0.078 0.076 0.075 0.073 0.072 0.071 0.088 0.086
3.3kV
Susceptance omegaC 0.059 0.067 0.079 0.09 0.104 0.111 0.122 0.133 0.146 0.16 0.179 0,19 0.202
6.6kV Series Resistance R ((ohm/km)
S/k ) 0.927 0.669 0.494 0.342 0.247 0.196 0.158 0.127 0.098 0.08 0.064 0.057 0 042
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 0121 0113 0.108 0102 0096 0.093 0.091 0.088 0.086 0.085 0.083 0,088 0 086
Susceptance omegaC 0.085 0.095 0.104
0.12 0.136
0.149 0.16 0.177 0.189 0.195 0.204 0.205 0.228 1
(mS/km)
11kV Series Resistance R (ohm/km) 0.927 0.669 0.494 0.342 0.247 0.196 0.158 0.127 0.098 0.08 0.064 0.051 0.042
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 0128 0.119 0.114 0.107 0.101 0.098 0.095 0.092 0.089 0.087 0.084 0.089 0086
Susceptance omegaC 0.068 0.074 0.082 0.094 0.105 0.115 0.123 0.135 0.15 0.165 0.182 0.194 0.216
22kV Series Resistance ( S/k j - 0.669 0.494 0 348 0.247 0.196 0.158 0.127 0098 0.08 0.064 0.051 0042
R (ohm/km)
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) - 0.136 0.129 0.121 0.114 0.11 0.107 0.103 0.1 0.094 0.091 0,096 0.093
Susceptance omegaC 0.053 0.057 0.065 0.072 0.078 0.084 0.091 0.1 0.109 0.12 0.128 0.141
(mS/km)
33kV Series Resistance R (ohm/km) - 0.669 0.494 0.348 0.247 0.196 0.158 0.127 0.098 0,08 0.064 0.051 0.042
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) - 0.15 0.143 0134 0.127 0.122 0.118 0.114 0.109 0.105 0.102 0.103 0,1
Susceptance omegaC 0.042 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.059 0.063 0.068 0.075 0.081 0.089 0.094 0.103
66kV* Series Resistance R ((ohm/km)
S/ 0.0387 0.031 0.025 0.0215
4
Series Reactance X [ohm/km] 0.117 0,113 0.109 0.102
Susceptance omegaC 0.079 0.082 0.088 0.11
(mS/km)
145kV* Series Resistance R (ohm/km) 0.0387 0,031 0.025 0.0215
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 0.13 0.125 4
0.12 0.115
Susceptance omegaC 0.053 0.06 0.063 0.072
245kV* Series Resistance R((ohm/km)
S/k ) 0.0487 0.0387 0.0310 0.025 0.0215 0.016 0.0126
4 1
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 0.145 0.137 0.134 0.128 0.123 0.119 0.113
Susceptance omegaC 0.044 0.047 0.00 0.057 0.057 0.063 0.072
(mS/km)
420kV Scries Resistance R (ohm/km) 0.0310 0.025 0.0215 0.0161 0.0126
* Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 4
0.172 0.162 0.156 0.151 0.144
■

Susceptance omegaC 0.04 0.047 0.05 0.057 0,063

(mS/km)
Foralur ninium conductors of the same cross-section, the resistance ;ases by 60-65 percent, the series reactance and shunt capacitance is virtually unaltered* - single core cables in trefoil.
Differer incr t values apply if laid in spaced flat formation, esistance - it star reactance, i, dependent on manufacturer and construction.
Series F a.c. resistance @ 90°C. Series reactance - cquivale r 245kV
Data fo and 420kV cables may vary significantly from that give
.18: Characteristics of polyethylene insulated cables
(XLPE)
Table I

Conductor (mm 2 )
Size
10 16 25 35 50 70 95 120 150 165 240 300 400 *500 *630 *800 •1000
3.3kV Series Resistance R (ohm/km) 439.9 304.9 220.4 174.5 142.3 113.9 87.6 70.8 56.7 45.5 37.1 31.2 27.2
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 87,7 83.6 76.7 74.8 72.5 70.2 67.5 66.6 65.7 64.7 63.8 62.9 62.4 73.5 72.1 71.2 69.8
Susceptance omegaC
6.6kV Series Resistance R ((ohm/km)
S/k ) 514.2 326 206.4 148.8 110 76.2 55.1 43.6 35.6 28.5 21.9 17.6 14.1 11.3 9.3 7.8 6.7
Series Reactance X (ohm/km) 26.2 24.3 22 21.2 20.4 19.6 18.7 18.3 17.9 17.6 17.1 16.9 16.5 18.8 18.4 18 17.8
Susceptance omegaC
(mS/km)
Series Resistance R (ohm/km) 111 0.87 0.63 0.46 0.32 0.23 0.184 0.15 0.12 0,092 0.O74 0.059 0.048 0.039 0.033 0,028
11 kV Series Reactance X (ohm/km) - 9.26 0.107 0.1 0.096 0.091 0.087 0.085 0.083 0.081 0.079 0.077 0,076 0.O85 0.083 0.081 0.08
Susceptanre omegaC ___
(mS/km)
Series Resistance R (ohm/km) - 17.69 12.75 9.42 6.53 4.71 3.74 3.04 2.44 1.87 1.51 1.21 0.96 0.79 0.66 0.57
22kV Series Reactance X (ohm/km) - 2.89 2.71 2.6 2.46 2.36 2.25 2.19 2.11 2.04 1.97 1.92 1.9 1.84 1.8 1.76
Susceptance omegaC
(mS/km)
Series Resistance R (ohm/km) - - 4.19 2.9 2.09 0.181 0.147 0.118 0.09 0.073 0.058 0.046 0.038 0.031 0.027
33kV Series Reactance X (ohm/km) - - - 1.16 1.09 1.03 0.107 0.103 0.101 0.097 0.094 0.09 0.098 0.097 0.092 0.089
Susceptance omegaC 0,104 0.116 0.124 0.194 0.151 0.281 0,179 0.198 0.22 0.245
(mS/km)
Cables are of the solid type, 3 core except for those marked *. Impedances at 50Hz frequency

Table 5.19: Characteristics of paper insulated cables

 3.3kV 5 . 2 5 REFERENCES
Conductor size (mm2) R X (ohm/km)
(ohm/k
16 1.380 0.106 5.1 Physical significance of sub-subtransient
25 0.870 0.100 quantities in dynamic behaviour of synchronous
35 0.627 0.094 machines. I.M. Canay. Proc. IEE, Vol. 135, Pt. B,
50 0.463 0.091 November 1988.
70 0.321 0.086
5.2 IEC 60034-4. Methods for determining
95 0.232 0.084
120 0.184 0.081
synchronous machine quantities from tests.
150 0.150 0.079 5.3 IEEE Standards 115/115A. IEEE Test Procedures
185 0.121 0.077
for Synchronous Machines.
240 0.093 0.076
300 0.075 0.075 5.4 Power System Analysis. J.R.Mortlock and
400 0.060 0.075 M.W.Humphrey Davies (Chapman 8t Hall,
*500 0.049 0.089 London).
•630 0.041 0.086
*800 0.035 0.086
*1000 0.030 0.084
3 core Copper conductors, 50Hz values. * -
single core cables in trefoil Table 5.20: 3.3
kV PVC insulated cables

Cross Sectional Conductors Loading

--------- Voltage Level Surge Impedance D Indicative mal

Loading The Loadinq

Area mm2 per phase MVA MWkm MV A
Un kV Um kV
30 1 0.3 11 2.9 151

50 1 0.3 1/ 3.9 204

11 12 90 1 0.4 23 5.1 268

120 1 0.5 6.2 328

150 1 0.5 30 7.3 383

30 1 1.2 44 5.8 151

50 1 1.2 66 7.8 204
24 90 1 1.2 92 10.2 268
120 1 1.4 106 12.5 328
150 1 1.5 119 14.6 383
50 1 2.7 149 11.7 204
90 1 2.7 207 15.3 268
33 36 120 1 3.1 239 18.7 328

150 1 3.5 267 21.9 383

72.5 90 1 11 827 268
4159

66 250 1 11 1240 502

77
250 2 15 1790 153 1004
150 1 44 4070 85 370
250 1 44 4960 IIS 502
132 145 250 2 58 7160 230 1004

400 1 56 6274 160 698

400 2 73 9057 320 1395
245 400 1 130 15600 247 648
220 400 2 184 22062 494 1296
400 4 260 31200 988 2592
400 2 410 58100 850 1296
400 4 582 82200 1700 2590
380 420 550 2 482 68200 1085 1650
550 3 540 81200 1630 2475
Table 5.21: OHL capabilities
• 6 • Current and Voltage
Transformers

6.1 INTRODUCTION
Whenever the values of voltage or current in a power
circuit are too high to permit convenient direct
connection of measuring instruments or relays, coupling
is made through transformers. Such 'measuring1
transformers are required to produce a scaled down
replica of the input quantity to the accuracy expected
for the particular measurement; this is made possible by
the high efficiency of the transformer. The performance
of measuring transformers during and following large
instantaneous changes in the input quantity is
important, in that this quantity may depart from the
sinusoidal waveform. The deviation may consist of a
step change in magnitude, or a transient component
that persists for an appreciable period, or both. The
resulting effect on instrument performance is usually
negligible, although for precision metering a persistent
change in the accuracy of the transformer may be
significant.
However, many protection systems are required to
operate during the period of transient disturbance in the
output of the measuring transformers that follows a
system fault. The errors in transformer output may
abnormally delay the operation of the protection, or
cause unnecessary operations. The functioning of such
transformers must, therefore, be examined analytically.
It can be shown that the transformer can be represented
by the equivalent circuit of Figure 6.1, where all
quantities are referred to the secondary side.

Figure 6.1: Equivalent circuit of transformer

When the transformer is not 1/1 ratio, this condition can voltage drops are made small, and the normal flux
be represented by energising the equivalent circuit with an density in the core is designed to be well below the
ideal transformer of the given ratio but having no losses. saturation density, in order that the exciting current may
be low and the exciting impedance substantially
constant with a variation of applied voltage over the
6.1.1 Measuring Transformers desired operating range including some degree of
Voltage and current transformers for low primary voltage overvoltage. These limitations in design result in a VT for
or current ratings are not readily distinguishable; for a given burden being much larger than a typical power
higher ratings, dissimilarities of construction are usual. transformer of similar rating. The exciting current, in
Nevertheless the differences between these devices lie consequence, will not be as small, relative to the rated
principally in the way they are connected into the power burden, as it would be for a typical power transformer.
circuit. Voltage transformers are much like small power
transformers, differing only in details of design that
6.2.1 Errors
control ratio accuracy over the specified range of output.
Current transformers have their primary windings The ratio and phase errors of the transformer can be
connected in series with the power circuit, and so also in calculated using the vector diagram of Figure 6.2.
series with the system impedance. The response of the
The ratio error is defined as:
transformer is radically different in these two modes of
operation.

6.2 ELECTROMAGNETIC VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS where:

In the shunt mode, the system voltage is applied across Kn is the nominal ratio
the input terminals of the equivalent circuit of Figure 6.1.
The vector diagram for this circuit is shown in Figure 6.2. Vp is the primary voltage Vs
is the secondary voltage
If the error is positive, the secondary voltage exceeds the
nominal value. The turns ratio of the transformer need
not be equal to the nominal ratio; a small turns
compensation will usually be employed, so that the error
will be positive for low burdens and negative for high
burdens.
The phase error is the phase difference between the
reversed secondary and the primary voltage vectors. It is
positive when the reversed secondary voltage leads the
primary vector. Requirements in this respect are set out
in IEC 60044-2. All voltage transformers are required to
■ primary applied voltage comply with one of the classes in Table 6.1.
- primary induced e.m.f.
= secondary output voltage For protection purposes, accuracy of voltage
-flux
» exciting current measurement may be important during fault conditions,
= magnetizing component as the system voltage might be reduced by the fault to a
= iron loss component
low value. Voltage transformers for such types of service
■ phase angle error
= secondary burden angle must comply with the extended range of requirements
= primary resistance voltage drop set out in Table 6.2.
= primary reactance voltage drop
- secondary resistance voltage drop
= secondary reactance voltage drop 0.8 - 1.2 x rated voltage 0.25 - 1.0
x rated burden at 0.8pf
= secondary current
= load component of primary current class voltage ratio error phase displacement
= primary current (%) (minutes)
0.1 +/- 0.1 +/-5
0.2 +/- 0.2 +/- 10
Figure 6.2: Vector diagram for voltage transformer
0.5 +/- 0.5 +/-20
1.0 +/- 1.0 +/-40
The secondary output voltage Vs is required to be an 3.0 +/- 3.0 not specified
accurate scaled replica of the input voltage Vp over a
Table 6.1: Measuring voltage transformer error limits
specified range of output. To this end, the winding
 Accuracy 0.25 - 1.0 x rated burden at 0.8pf 0.05 - Vf x rated as possible. A short circuit on the secondary circuit
class primary voltage voltage ratio error phase wiring will produce a current of many times the rated
displacement (%) (%)
output and cause excessive heating. Even where primary
3P +/- 3.0 +/- 120 fuses can be fitted, these will usually not clear a
6P +/- 6.0 +/-24O secondary side short circuit because of the low value of
Table 6.2: Additional limits for protection voltage transformers. primary current and the minimum practicable fuse rating.

6.2.5 Construction
6.2.2 Voltage Factors
The construction of a voltage transformer takes into
The quantity Vf in Table 6.2 is an upper limit of operating account the following factors:
voltage, expressed in per unit of rated voltage. This is
important for correct relay operation and operation a. output - seldom more than 200-300VA. Cooling is
under unbalanced fault conditions on unearthed or rarely a problem
impedance earthed systems, resulting in a rise in the b. insulation - designed for the system impulse
voltage on the healthy phases. voltage level. Insulation volume is often larger
Voltage factors, with the permissible duration of the than the winding volume
maximum voltage, are given in Table 6.3. c. mechanical design - not usually necessary to
withstand short-circuit currents. Must be small to
Voltage factor Time V f Primary winding connection/system fit the space available within switchgear
Earthing conditions
rating

1.2 continuous
Three-phase units are common up to 36kV but for higher
Between lines in any network.
Between transformer star point and voltages single-phase units are usual. Voltage
earth in any network transformers for medium voltage circuits will have dry
1.2 continuous Between line and earth in an type insulation, but for high and extra high voltage
1.5 30 s effectively earthed network
systems, oil immersed units are general. Resin
1.2 continuous Between line and earth in a non-effectively
1.9 30 s earthed neutral system with automatic
encapsulated designs are in use on systems up to 33kV.
earth fault tripping Figure 6.3 shows a typical voltage transformer.
1.2 continuous Between line and earth in an isolated neutral
1.3 8 hours system without automatic earth fault tripping,
or in a resonant earthed system without
automatic earth fault tripping
Table 6.3: Voltage transformers: Permissible duration of
maximum voltage

6.2.3 Secondary Leads

Voltage transformers are designed to maintain the

specified accuracy in voltage output at their secondary
terminals. To maintain this if long secondary leads are
required, a distribution box can be fitted close to the VT
to supply relay and metering burdens over separate
leads. If necessary, allowance can be made for the
resistance of the leads to individual burdens when the Figure 6.3: Typical voltage transformer
particular equipment is calibrated.

2.4 Protection of Voltage Transformers 6.2.6 Residualiy Connected Voltage Transformers

Voltage Transformers can be protected by H.R.C. fuses on The three voltages of a balanced system summate to
the primary side for voltages up to 66kV. Fuses do not zero, but this is not so when the system is subject to a
usually have a sufficient interrupting capacity for use single-phase earth fault. The residual voltage of a
with higher voltages. Practice varies, and in some cases system is measured by connecting the secondary
protection on the primary is omitted. windings of a VT in 'broken delta' as shown in Figure 6.4.
The secondary of a Voltage Transformer should always be The output of the secondary windings connected in
protected by fuses or a miniature circuit breaker (MCB). broken delta is zero when balanced sinusoidal voltages
The device should be located as near to the transformer are applied, but under conditions of unbalance a residual
voltage equal to three times the zero sequence voltage of If a voltage is suddenly applied, an inrush transient will
the system will be developed. occur, as with power transformers. The effect will,
however, be less severe than for power transformers
because of the lower flux density for which the VT is
designed. If the VT is rated to have a fairly high voltage
factor, little inrush effect will occur. An error will appear
in the first few cycles of the output current in proportion
to the inrush transient that occurs.
When the supply to a voltage transformer is interrupted,
the core flux will not readily collapse; the secondary
winding will tend to maintain the magnetising force to
sustain this flux, and will circulate a current through the
burden which will decay more or less exponentially,
possible with a superimposed audio-frequency
oscillation due to the capacitance of the winding.
Bearing in mind that the exciting quantity, expressed in
Figure 6.4: Residua! voltage connection
ampere-turns, may exceed the burden, the transient
current may be significant.
In order to measure this component, it is necessary for a
zero sequence flux to be set up in the VT, and for this to
be possible there must be a return path for the resultant 6.2.8 Cascade Voltage Transformers
summated flux. The VT core must have one or more
The capacitor VT (section 6.3) was developed because of
unwound limbs linking the yokes in addition to the limbs
the high cost of conventional electromagnetic voltage
carrying windings. Usually the core is made
transformers but, as shown in Section 6.3.2, the
symmetrically, with five limbs, the two outermost ones
frequency and transient responses are less satisfactory
being unwound. Alternatively, three single-phase units
than those of the orthodox voltage transformers. Another
can be used. It is equally necessary for the primary
solution to the problem is the cascade VT (Figure 6.5).
winding neutral to be earthed, for without an earth, zero
sequence exciting current cannot flow.
A VT should be rated to have an appropriate voltage
factor as described in Section 6.2.2 and Table 6.3, to
cater for the voltage rise on healthy phases during earth
faults.
Voltage transformers are often provided with a normal
star-connected secondary winding and a broken-delta
connected 'tertiary' winding. Alternatively the residual
voltage can be extracted by using a star/broken-delta
connected group of auxiliary voltage transformers
energised from the secondary winding of the main unit,
providing the main voltage transformer fulfils all the
requirements for handling a zero sequence voltage as
previously described. The auxiliary VT must also be
suitable for the appropriate voltage factor. It should be
noted that third harmonics in the primary voltage wave,
which are of zero sequence, summate in the broken-
delta winding.

6.2.7 Transient Performance

Transient errors cause few difficulties in the use of
conventional voltage transformers although some do
occur. Errors are generally limited to short time periods
following the sudden application or removal of voltage Figure 6.5: Schematic diagram of typical cascade
from the VT primary. voltage transformer
The conventional type of VT has a single primary winding, the normal value using a relatively inexpensive
the insulation of which presents a great problem for electromagnetic transformer. The successive stages of
voltages above about 132kV. The cascade VT avoids this reasoning are indicated in Figure 6.6.
these difficulties by breaking down the primary voltage
Figure 6.6: Development of capacitor
in several distinct and separate stages.
The complete VT is made up of several individual
transformers, the primary windings of which are
connected in series, as shown in Figure 6.5. Each
magnetic core has primary windings [P] on two opposite
sides. The secondary winding (S) consists of a single
winding on the last stage only. Coupling windings (C)
connected in pairs between stages, provide low
impedance circuits for the transfer of load ampere-turns
between stages and ensure that the power frequency
voltage is equally distributed over the several primary
windings.
The potentials of the cores and coupling windings are
fixed at definite values by connecting them to selected
(c) Divider with E/M VT output stage
points on the primary windings. The insulation of each
voltage transformer
winding is sufficient for the voltage developed in that
winding, which is a fraction of the total according to the
There are numerous variations of this basic circuit. The
number of stages. The individual transformers are
inductance L may be a separate unit or it may be
mounted on a structure built of insulating material,
incorporated in the form of leakage reactance in the
which provides the interstage insulation, accumulating
transformer T. Capacitors C1 and C2 cannot conveniently
to a value able to withstand the full system voltage
be made to close tolerances, so tappings are provided for
across the complete height of the stack. The entire
ratio adjustment, either on the transformer T, or on a
assembly is contained in a hollow cylindrical porcelain
separate auto-transformer in the secondary circuit.
housing with external weather-sheds; the housing is
Adjustment of the tuning inductance L is also needed;
filled with oil and sealed, an expansion bellows being
this can be done with tappings, a separate tapped
included to maintain hermetic sealing and to permit
inductor in the secondary circuit, by adjustment of gaps
expansion with temperature change.
in the iron cores, or by shunting with variable
capacitance. A simplified equivalent circuit is shown in
6.3 CAPACITOR VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS Figure 6.7.

The size of electromagnetic voltage transformers for the

higher voltages is largely proportional to the rated
voltage; the cost tends to increase at a disproportionate
rate. The capacitor voltage transformer (CVT) is often
more economic.
This device is basically a capacitance potential divider.
As with resistance-type potential dividers, the output
voltage is seriously affected by load at the tapping point.
The capacitance divider differs in that its equivalent I - tuning inductance
Rp - primary winding resistance (plus losses)
source impedance is capacitive and can therefore be Ze - exciting impedance of transformer!
compensated by a reactor connected in series with the Rs - secondary circuit resistance
Zb - burden impedance
tapping point. With an ideal reactor, such an C - C1 + C2 (in Figure 6.6)
arrangement would have no regulation and could supply
Figure 6.7: Simplified equivalent circuit
any value of output. of capacitor voltage transformer

A reactor possesses some resistance, which limits the

output that can be obtained. For a secondary output
voltage of 110V, the capacitors would have to be very It will be seen that the basic difference between Figure
large to provide a useful output while keeping errors 6.7 and Figure 6.1 is the presence of C and L. At normal
within the usual limits. The solution is to use a high frequency when C and L are in resonance and therefore
secondary voltage and further transform the output to
cancel, the circuit behaves in a similar manner to a and the capacitance of the potential divider together
conventional VT. At other frequencies, however, a form a resonant circuit that will usually oscillate at a
reactive component exists which modifies the errors. sub-normal frequency. If this circuit is subjected to a
Standards generally require a CVT used for protection to voltage impulse, the resulting oscillation may pass
conform to accuracy requirements of Table 6.2 within a through a range of frequencies. If the basic frequency of
frequency range of 97-103% of nominal. The this circuit is slightly less than one-third of the system
corresponding frequency range of measurement CVT's is frequency, it is possible for energy to be absorbed from
much less, 99%-1O1%, as reductions in accuracy for the system and cause the oscillation to build up. The
frequency deviations outside this range are less increasing flux density in the transformer core reduces
important than for protection applications. the inductance, bringing the resonant frequency nearer
to the one-third value of the system frequency.
The result is a progressive build-up until the oscillation
6.3.1 Voltage Protection of Auxiliary Capacitor stabilizes as a third sub-harmonic of the system, which
If the burden impedance of a CVT were to be short- can be maintained indefinitely. Depending on the values
circuited, the rise in the reactor voltage would be limited of components, oscillations at fundamental frequency or
only by the reactor losses and possible saturation, that is, at other sub-harmonics or multiples of the supply
to Q x E2 where E2 is the no-load tapping point voltage frequency are possible but the third sub-harmonic is the
and 0 is the amplification factor of the resonant circuit. one most likely to be encountered.
This value would be excessive and is therefore limited by
The principal manifestation of such an oscillation is a rise
a spark gap connected across the auxiliary capacitor. The
in output voltage, the r.m.s. value being perhaps 25%-
voltage on the auxiliary capacitor is higher at full rated
50% above the normal value; the output waveform
output than at no load, and the capacitor is rated for
would generally be of the form shown in Figure 6.8.
continuous service at this raised value. The spark gap will
be set to flash over at about twice the full load voltage.
The effect of the spark gap is to limit the short-circuit
current which the VT will deliver and fuse protection of
the secondary circuit has to be carefully designed with this
point in mind. Facilities are usually provided to earth the
tapping point, either manually or automatically, before
making any adjustments to tappings or connections.

6.3.2 Transient Behaviour of Capacitor Voltage

Transformers
Figure 6.8: Typical secondary voltage waveform
A CVT is a series resonant circuit. The introduction of the with third sub-harmonic oscillation.

electromagnetic transformer between the intermediate

voltage and the output makes possible further resonance
involving the exciting impedance of this unit and the Such oscillations are less likely to occur when the circuit
capacitance of the divider stack. When a sudden voltage losses are high, as is the case with a resistive burden, and
step is applied, oscillations in line with these different can be prevented by increasing the resistive burden.
modes take place, and will persist for a period governed Special anti-ferro-resonance devices that use a parallel-
by the total resistive damping that is present Any tuned circuit are sometimes built into the VT. Although
increase in resistive burden reduces the time constant of such arrangements help to suppress ferro-resonance,
a transient oscillation, although the chance of a large they tend to impair the transient response, so that the
initial amplitude is increased. design is a matter of compromise.
For very high-speed protection, transient oscillations Correct design will prevent a CVT that supplies a resistive
should be minimised. Modern capacitor voltage burden from exhibiting this effect, but it is possible for
transformers are much better in this respect than their non-linear inductive burdens, such as auxiliary voltage
earlier counterparts, but high performance protection transformers, to induce ferro-resonance. Auxiliary
schemes may still be adversely affected. voltage transformers for use with capacitor voltage
transformers should be designed with a low value of flux
density that prevents transient voltages from causing
6.3.3 Ferro-Resonance core saturation, which in turn would bring high exciting
The exciting impedance Ze of the auxiliary transformer T currents.
6.4 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS 6.4.1 Errors

The primary winding of a current transformer is The general vector diagram (Figure 6.2) can be simplified
connected in series with the power circuit and the by the omission of details that are not of interest in
impedance is negligible compared with that of the power current measurement; see Figure 6.10. Errors arise
circuit. The power system impedance governs the because of the shunting of the burden by the exciting
current passing through the primary winding of the impedance. This uses a small portion of the input current
current transformer. This condition can be represented for exciting the core, reducing the amount passed to the
by inserting the load impedance, referred through the burden. So Is = Ip- Ie, where /P is dependent on Ze, the
turns ratio, in the input connection of Figure 6.1. exciting impedance and the secondary e.m.f. Es, given by
This approach is developed in Figure 6.9, taking the the equation E s = I s (Z s + Z b ), where:
numerical example of a 300/5A CT applied to an 11 kV power Z s = the self-impedance of the secondary winding,
system. The system is considered to be carrying rated which can generally be taken as the resistive
current (300A) and the CT is feeding a burden of 10VA. component R s only

Z b = the impedance of the burden

(a) Physical arrangement

(b) Equivalent circuit of (a)

Es = Secondary induced e.m.f.

Vs = Secondary output voltage
/p = Primary current /s =
Secondary current
■ Phase angle error
- Flux
(c) Equivalent circuit, all quantities referred to IsRs = Secondary resistance voltage drop JsXs
secondary side = Secondary reactance voltage drop Ic =
Exciting current Ir= Component of Ie in phase
Figure 6.9: Derivation of equivalent circuit with Is Iq = Component of Ie in quadrature with
of a current transformer Is

Figur
e 6.10: Vector diagram for current
transformer (referred to secondary)
A study of the final equivalent circuit of Figure 6.9(c),
taking note of the typical component values, will reveal all
6.4.1. 7 Current or Ratio Error
the properties of a current transformer. It will be seen that:
This is the difference in magnitude between fp and Is and is
a. the secondary current will not be affected by
equal to Ir, the component of Ie which is in phase with Is.
change of the burden impedance over a
considerable range 6.4.1.2 Phase Error
b. the secondary circuit must not be interrupted while This is represented by lq, the component of Ic in
the primary winding is energised. The induced quadrature with /s and results in the phase error
secondary e.m.f. under these circumstances will be The values of the current error and phase error depend on
high enough to present a danger to life and insulation the phase displacement between Is and Iei but neither
c. the ratio and phase angle errors can be calculated current nor phase error can exceed the vectorial error fe.
easily if the magnetising characteristics and the It will be seen that with a moderately inductive burden,
burden impedance are known resulting in /s and Ic approximately in phase, there will
be little phase error and the exciting component will
result almost entirely in ratio error.
A reduction of the secondary winding by one or two
turns is often used to compensate for this. For example,
in the CT corresponding to Figure 6.9, the worst error due
to the use of an inductive burden of rated value would
Table 6.5: Protection CT error limits for classes 5P and 1OP
be about 1.2%. If the nominal turns ratio is 2:120,
removal of one secondary turn would raise the output by
0.83% leaving the overall current error as -0.37%. Even though the burden of a protection CT is only a few
For lower value burden or a different burden power VA at rated current, the output required from the CT may
factor, the error would change in the positive direction to be considerable if the accuracy limit factor is high. For
a maximum of +0.7% at zero burden; the leakage example, with an accuracy limit factor of 30 and a
reactance of the secondary winding is assumed to be burden of 10VA, the CT may have to supply 9000VA to
negligible. No corresponding correction can be made for the secondary circuit.
phase error, but it should be noted that the phase error Alternatively, the same CT may be subjected to a high
is small for moderately reactive burdens. burden. For overcurrent and earth fault protection, with
elements of similar VA consumption at setting, the earth
fault element of an electromechanical relay set at 10%
6.4.2 Composite Error would have 100 times the impedance of the overcurrent
This is defined in IEC 60044-1 as the r.m.s. value of the elements set at 100%. Although saturation of the relay
difference between the ideal secondary current and the elements somewhat modifies this aspect of the matter, it
actual secondary current. It includes current and phase will be seen that the earth fault element is a severe
errors and the effects of harmonics in the exciting burden, and the CT is likely to have a considerable ratio
current. The accuracy class of measuring current error in this case. So it is not much use applying turns
transformers is shown in Table 6.4. compensation to such current transformers; it is
generally simpler to wind the CT with turns
corresponding to the nominal ratio.
Current transformers are often used for the dual duty of
measurement and protection. They will then need to be
rated according to a class selected from both Tables 6.4
and 6.5. The applied burden is the total of instrument
and relay burdens. Turns compensation may well be
needed to achieve the measurement performance.
Measurement ratings are expressed in terms of rated
burden and class, for example 15VA Class 0.5. Protection
ratings are expressed in terms of rated burden, class, and
accuracy limit factor, for example 10VA Class 10P10.

Table 6.4: CT error classes

6.4.4 Ciass PX Current Transformers
The classification of Table 6.5 is only used for overcurrent
6.4.3 Accuracy Limit Current of Protection protection. Class PX is the definition in IEC 60044-1 for
Current Transformers the quasi-transient current transformers formerly
Protection equipment is intended to respond to fault covered by Class X of BS 3938, commonly used with unit
conditions, and is for this reason required to function at protection schemes.
current values above the normal rating. Protection class Guidance was given in the specifications to the
current transformers must retain a reasonable accuracy application of current transformers to earth fault
up to the largest relevant current. This value is known as protection, but for this and for the majority of other
the 'accuracy limit current' and may be expressed in protection applications it is better to refer directly to the
primary or equivalent secondary terms. The ratio of the maximum useful e.m.f. that can be obtained from the CT.
accuracy limit current to the rated current is known as In this context, the 'knee-point1 of the excitation curve is
the 'accuracy limit factor’. defined as 'that point at which a further increase of 10%
The accuracy class of protection current transformers is of secondary e.m.f. would require an increment of
shown in Table 6.5. exciting current of 50%'; see Figure 6.11.
 necessary primary insulation. In other cases, the bushing
of a circuit breaker or power transformer is used for this
purpose. At low primary current ratings it may be
difficult to obtain sufficient output at the desired
accuracy. This is because a large core section is needed
to provide enough flux to induce the secondary e.m.f. in
the small number of turns, and because the exciting
ampere-turns form a large proportion of the primary
ampere-turns available. The effect is particularly
pronounced when the core diameter has been made
large so as to fit over large EHV bushings.
6.4.5.3 Core-balance current transformers
The core-balance CT (or CBCT) is normally of the ring
type, through the centre of which is passed cable that
forms the primary winding. An earth fault relay,
connected to the secondary winding, is energised only
when there is residual current in the primary system.
The advantage in using this method of earth fault
protection lies in the fact that only one CT core is used
in place of three phase CT's whose secondary windings
are residually connected. In this way the CT magnetising
Figure 6.11: Definition of knee-point current at relay operation is reduced by approximately
of excitation curve
three-to-one, an important consideration in sensitive
earth fault relays where a low effective setting is
Design requirements for current transformers for general required. The number of secondary turns does not need
protection purposes are frequently laid out in terms of to be related to the cable rated current because no
knee-point e.m.f., exciting current at the knee-point (or secondary current would flow under normal balanced
some other specified point) and secondary winding conditions. This allows the number of secondary turns to
resistance. Such current transformers are designated be chosen such as to optimise the effective primary pick-
Class PX. up current
Core-balance transformers are normally mounted over a
cable at a point close up to the cable gland of switchgear
6.4.5 CT Winding Arrangements or other apparatus. Physically split cores ('slip-over'
A number of CT winding arrangements are used. These types) are normally available for applications in which
are described in the following sections. the cables are already made up, as on existing
switchgear.
6.4.5.1 Wound primary type
6.4.5.4 Summation current transformers
This type of CT has conventional windings formed of
copper wire wound round a core. It is used for auxiliary The summation arrangement is a winding arrangement
current transformers and for many low or moderate ratio used in a measuring relay or on an auxiliary current
current transformers used in switchgear of up to 11 kV transformer to give a single-phase output signal having
rating. a specific relationship to the three-phase current input.

6.4.5.2 Bushing or bar primary type 6.4.5.5 Air-gapped current transformers

Many current transformers have a ring-shaped core, These are auxiliary current transformers in which a small
sometimes built up from annular stampings, but often air gap is included in the core to produce a secondary
consisting of a single length of strip tightly wound to voltage output proportional in magnitude to current in
form a close-turned spiral. The distributed secondary the primary winding. Sometimes termed 'transactors'
winding forms a toroid which should occupy the whole and 'quadrature current transformers', this form of
perimeter of the core, a small gap being left between current transformer has been used as an auxiliary
start and finish leads for insulation. component of unit protection schemes in which the
Such current transformers normally have a single outputs into multiple secondary circuits must remain
concentrically placed primary conductor, sometimes linear for and proportioned to the widest practical range
permanently built into the CT and provided with the of input currents.
6.4.6 Line Current CT's 10mm. As its name implies the magnetic behaviour
tends to linearisation by the inclusion of this gap in the
CT's for measuring line currents fall into one of three types.
magnetic circuit. However, the purpose of introducing
6.4.6.7 Overdimensioned CT's more reluctance into the magnetic circuit is to reduce
Overdimensioned CT's are capable of transforming fully the value of magnetising reactance. This in turn reduces
offset fault currents without distortion. In consequence, the secondary time-constant of the CT, thereby reducing
they are very large, as can be deduced from Section the overdimensioning factor necessary for faithful
6.4.10. They are prone to errors due to remanent flux transformation. Figure 6.12 shows a typical modern CT
arising, for instance, from the interruption of heavy fault for use on MV systems.
currents.
6.4.6.2 Anti-remanence CT's 6.4.7 Secondary Winding Impedance
This is a variation of the overdimensioned current As a protection CT may be required to deliver high values
transformer and has small gap(s) in the core magnetic of secondary current, the secondary winding resistance
circuit, thus reducing the possible remanent flux from must be made as low as practicable. Secondary leakage
approximately 90% of saturation value to approximately reactance also occurs, particularly in wound primary
10%. These gap(s) are quite small, for example 0.12mm current transformers, although its precise measurement
total, and so the excitation characteristic is not is difficult. The non-linear nature of the CT magnetic
significantly changed by their presence. However, the circuit makes it difficult to assess the definite ohmic
resulting decrease in possible remanent core flux value representing secondary leakage reactance.
confines any subsequent d.c. flux excursion, resulting
It is, however, normally accepted that a current
from primary current asymmetry, to within the core
saturation limits. Errors in current transformation are transformer is of the low reactance type provided that
therefore significantly reduced when compared with the following conditions prevail:
those with the gapless type of core. a. the core is of the jointless ring type (including
Transient protection current transformers are included in IEC spirally wound cores)
60044-6 as types TPX, TPY and TPZ and this specification b. the secondary turns are substantially evenly
gives good guidance to their application and use. distributed along the whole length of the magnetic
6.4.6.3 Linear current transformers circuit

The 'linear' current transformer constitutes an even more c. the primary conductor(s) passes through the
radical departure from the normal solid core CT in that it approximate centre of the core aperture or, if
incorporates an appreciable air gap, for example 7.5- wound, is approximately evenly distributed along
the whole length of the magnetic circuit
d. flux equalising windings, where fitted to the
requirements of the design, consist of at least four
parallel-connected coils, evenly distributed along
the whole length of the magnetic circuit, each coil
occupying one quadrant
Alternatively, when a current transformer does not
obviously comply with all of the above requirements, it
may be proved to be of low-reactance where:
e. the composite error, as measured in the accepted
way, does not exceed by a factor of 1.3 that error
obtained directly from the V-l excitation
characteristic of the secondary winding

6.4.8 Secondary Current Rating

The choice of secondary current rating is determined
largely by the secondary winding burden and the
standard practice of the user. Standard CT secondary
current ratings are 5A and 1A. The burden at rated
Figure 6.12: Typical modern CT for use on MVsystems current imposed by digital or numerical relays or
instruments is largely independent of the rated value of when the primary current is suddenly changed. The
current. This is because the winding of the device has to effects are most important, and were first observed in
develop a given number of ampere-turns at rated connection with balanced forms of protection, which
current, so that the actual number of turns is inversely were liable to operate unnecessarily when short-circuit
proportional to the current, and the impedance of the currents were suddenly established.
winding varies inversely with the square of the current
6,4.10.1 Primary current transient
rating. However, electromechanical or static earth-fault
relays may have a burden that varies with the current The power system, neglecting load circuits, is mostly
tapping used. inductive, so that when a short circuit occurs, the fault
current that flows is given by:
Interconnection leads do not share this property,
however, being commonly of standard cross-section
regardless of rating. Where the leads are long, their
resistance may be appreciable, and the resultant burden
will vary with the square of the current rating. For
example a CT lead run of the order of 200 metres, a
typical distance for outdoor EHV switchgear, could have
a loop resistance of approximately 3 ohms.
The CT lead VA burden if a 5A CT is used would be 75VA,
to which must be added the relay burden (up to of
perhaps 10VA for an electromechanical relay, but less
than 1VA for a numerical relay), making a total of 85VA.
Such a burden would require the CT to be very large and
expensive, particularly if a high accuracy limit factor
were also applicable.
With a 1A CT secondary rating, the lead burden is
reduced to 3VA, so that with the same relay burden the
The first term of Equation 6.1 represents the steady state
total becomes a maximum of 13VA. This can be provided
alternating current, while the second is a transient
by a CT of normal dimensions, resulting in a saving in
quantity responsible for displacing the waveform
size, weight and cost. Hence modern CT's tend to have
asymmetrically.
secondary windings of 1A rating. However, where the
primary rating is high, say above 2000A, a CT of higher
secondary rating may be used, to limit the number of
secondary turns. In such a situation secondary ratings of
2A, 5A or, in extreme cases, 20A, might be used. is the steady state peak current Ip.

The maximum transient occurs when

no other condition need be examined
So:
6.4.9 Rated Short-Time Current
A current transformer is overloaded while system short-
circuit currents are flowing and will be short-time rated. ...Equation 6.2
Standard times for which the CT must be able to carry
rated short-time current (STC) are 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or When the current is passed through the primary winding
3.0 seconds.A CT with a particular short-time current/ of a current transformer, the response can be examined
time rating will carry a lower current for a longer time in by replacing the CT with an equivalent circuit as shown
inverse proportion to the square of the ratio of current in Figure 6.9(b).As the 'ideal' CT has no losses, it will
values. The converse, however, cannot be assumed, and transfer the entire function, and all further analysis can
larger current values than the S.T.C. rating are not be carried out in terms of equivalent secondary
permissible for any duration unless justified by a new quantities (is and /s). A simplified solution is obtainable
rating test to prove the dynamic capability. by neglecting the exciting current of the CT.
The flux developed in an inductance is obtained by
integrating the applied e.m.f. through a time interval:
6.4.10 Transient Response of a Current Transformer
When accuracy of response during very short intervals is
...Equation 6.3
being studied, it is necessary to examine what happens
For the CT equivalent circuit, the voltage is the drop on
the burden resistance Rb.
Integrating for each component in turn, the steady state
peak flux is given by:

The transient flux is given by:

...Equation 6.4

...Equation 6.5

Hence, the ratio of the transient flux to the steady state Figure 6.13: Response of a CTof
infinite shunt impedance to transient asymmetric
value is: primary current

where X and R are the primary system reactance and

resistance values.
Since a CT requires a finite exciting current to maintain
The CT core has to carry both fluxes, so that: a flux, it will not remain magnetised (neglecting
hysteresis), and for this reason a complete representation
of the effects can only be obtained by including the
finite inductance of the CT in the calculation. The
...Equation 6.6
response of a current transformer to a transient
The term (1+X/R) has been called the 'transient factor'
asymmetric current is shown in Figure 6.14.
(TF), the core flux being increased by this factor during
the transient asymmetric current period. From this it can
be seen that the ratio of reactance to resistance of the
power system is an important feature in the study of the
behaviour of protection relays.
Alternatively, L/R is the primary system time constant T,
so that the transient factor can be written:

Again./Tis the time constant expressed in cycles of the

a.c. quantity T, so that:

This latter expression is particularly useful when

assessing a recording of a fault current, because the time
constant in cycles can be easily estimated and leads
directly to the transient factor. For example, a system
time constant of three cycles results in a transient factor
of , or 19.85; that is, the CT would be required to
handle almost twenty times the maximum flux produced
under steady state conditions.
Figure 6.14: Response of a current transformer to
The above theory is sufficient to give a general view of a transient asymmetric current

the problem. In this simplified treatment, no reverse

voltage is applied to demagnetise the CT, so that the flux
would build up as shown in Figure 6.13.
Let: core to retain a 'remanent' flux means that the
value of developed in Equation 6.5 has to be
is = the nominal secondary current
regarded as an increment of flux from any possible
i's = the actual secondary output current ie remanent value positive or negative. The formula
= the exciting current then: would then be reasonable provided the applied
current transient did not produce saturation
is =ie + i's Equation 6.7
It will be seen that a precise calculation of the flux and
also,
excitation current is not feasible; the value of the study is
to explain the observed phenomena. The asymmetric (or
d.c.) component can be regarded as building up the mean
...Equation 6.8
flux over a period corresponding to several cycles of the
whence:
sinusoidal component, during which period the latter
component produces a flux swing about the varying
'mean level' established by the former. The asymmetric
...Equation 6.9
flux ceases to increase when the exciting current is equal
which gives for the transient term
to the total asymmetric input current, since beyond this
point the output current, and hence the voltage drop
across the burden resistance, is negative. Saturation
makes the point of equality between the excitation
where: current and the input occur at a flux level lower than
T = primary system time constant L/R would be expected from linear theory.

T1 = CT secondary circuit time constant Le/Re I1 = When the exponential component drives the CT into
saturation, the magnetising inductance decreases,
prospective peak secondary current 6.4.10.2 Practical
causing a large increase in the alternating component ie.
conditions
The total exciting current during the transient period is
Practical conditions differ from theory for the following of the form shown in Figure 6.15 and the corresponding
reasons: resultant distortion in the secondary current output, due
to saturation, is shown in Figure 6.16.
a. no account has been taken of secondary leakage or
burden inductance. This is usually small compared
with Le. so that it has little effect on the maximum
transient flux
b. iron loss has not been considered. This has the
effect of reducing the secondary time constant, but
the value of the equivalent resistance is variable,
depending upon both the sine and exponential
terms. Consequently, it cannot be included in any
linear theory and is too complicated for a
satisfactory treatment to be evolved
c. the theory is based upon a linear excitation
characteristic. This is only approximately true up to Figure 6.15: Typical exciting current of CT
the knee-point of the excitation curve. A precise during transient asymmetric input current

solution allowing for non-linearity is not practicable.

Solutions have been sought by replacing the excitation
curve with a number of chords; a linear analysis can
then be made for the extent of each chord
The above theory is sufficient, however, to give a good
insight into the problem and to allow most practical
issues to be decided.
d. the effect of hysteresis, apart from loss as
discussed under (b) above, is not included.
Hysteresis makes the inductance different for flux
build up and decay, so that the secondary time Figure 6.16: Distortion in secondary current
constant is variable. Moreover, the ability of the due to saturation
The presence of residual flux varies the starting point of CT will cost more. This fact should be weighed against
the transient flux excursion on the excitation the convenience achieved; very often it will be found
characteristic. Remanence of like polarity to the that the tests in question can be replaced by alternative
transient will reduce the value of symmetric current of procedures.
given time constant which the CT can transform without
severe saturation; conversely, reverse remanence will
greatly increase the ability of a CT to transform transient 6.5 NOVEL INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS
current. The preceding types of instrument transformers have all
If the CT were the linear non-saturable device considered been based on electromagnetic principles using a
in the analysis, the sine current would be transformed magnetic core. There are now available several new
without loss of accuracy. In practice the variation in methods of transforming the measured quantity using
excitation inductance caused by transferring the centre optical and mass state methods.
of the flux swing to other points on the excitation curve
causes an error that may be very large. The effect on
measurement is of little consequence, but for protection 6.5.1 Optical Instrument Transducers
equipment that is required to function during fault The key features of a freestanding optical instrument
conditions, the effect is more serious. The output current transducer can be illustrated with the functional
is reduced during transient saturation, which may diagram of Figure 6.17.
prevent the relays from operating if the conditions are
near to the relay setting. This must not be confused with
the increased r.m.s. value of the primary current due to
the asymmetric transient, a feature which sometimes
offsets the increase ratio error. In the case of balanced
protection, during through faults the errors of the several
current transformers may differ and produce an out-of-
balance quantity, causing unwanted operation.

6.4.11 Harmonics during the Transient Period

When a CT is required to develop a high secondary e.m.f.
under steady state conditions, the non-linearity of the
excitation impedance causes some distortion of the
output waveform; such a waveform will contain, in
addition to the fundamental current, odd harmonics only.
When, however, the CT is saturated uni-directionally
while being simultaneously subjected to a small a.c.
quantity, as in the transient condition discussed above,
the output will contain both odd and even harmonics. Figure 6.7 7: Functional diagram of
Usually the lower numbered harmonics are of greatest optical instrument transducer
amplitude and the second and third harmonic
components may be of considerable value. This may
affect relays that are sensitive to harmonics. Optical converters and optical glass fibre channels
implement the link between the sensor and the low-
voltage output. The fundamental difference between an
6.4.12 Test Windings instrument transducer and a conventional instrument
On-site conjunctive testing of current transformers and transformer is the electronic interface needed for its
the apparatus that they energise is often required. It operation. This interface is required both for the sensing
may be difficult, however, to pass a suitable value of function and for adapting the new sensor technology to
current through the primary windings, because of the that of the secondary output currents and voltages.
scale of such current and in many cases because access Non-conventional optical transducers lend themselves to
to the primary conductors is difficult. Additional smaller, lighter devices where the overall size and power
windings may be provided to make such tests easier, rating of the unit does not have any significant bearing
these windings usually being rated at 10A. The test on the size and the complexity of the sensor. Small,
winding will inevitably occupy appreciable space and the lightweight insulator structures may be tailor-made to
fit optical sensing devices as an integral part of the field, it plays the role of the 'odd' polariser. Changes in
insulator. Additionally, the non-linear effects and the magnetic or electric field in which the optical sensor
electromagnetic interference problems in the secondary is immersed are monitored as a varying intensity of the
wiring of conventional VT's and CT's are minimised. probing light beam at the light detector. The light output
intensity fluctuates around the zero-field level equal to
Optical transducers can be separated in two families:
50% of the reference light input This modulation of the
firstly the hybrid transducers, making use of
light intensity due to the presence of varying fields is
conventional electrical circuit techniques to which are
converted back to time-varying currents or voltages.
coupled various optical converter systems, and secondly
the 'all-optical' transducers that are based on A transducer uses a magneto-optic effect sensor for
fundamental, optical sensing principles. optical current measuring applications. This reflects the
fact that the sensor is not basically sensitive to a current
6.5.1.1 Optical sensor concepts
but to the magnetic field generated by this current.
Certain optical sensing media (glass, crystals, plastics) Although 'all-fibre' approaches are feasible, most
show a sensitivity to electric and magnetic fields and commercially available optical current transducers rely
that some properties of a probing light beam can be on a bulk-glass sensor. Most optical voltage transducers,
altered when passing through them. One simple optical on the other hand, rely on an electro-optic effect sensor.
transducer description is given here in Figure. 6.18. This reflects the fact that the sensor used is sensitive to
Consider the case of a beam of light passing through a the imposed electric field.
pair of polarising filters. If the input and output 6.5.1.2 Hybrid transducers
polarising filters have their axes rotated 45° from each
The hybrid family of non-conventional instrument
other, only half the light will come through. The
transducers can be divided in two types: those with
reference light input intensity is maintained constant
active sensors and those with passive sensors. The idea
over time. Now if these two polarising filters remain
behind a transducer with an active sensor is to change
fixed and a third polarising filter is placed in between
the existing output of the conventional instrument
them, a random rotation of this middle polariser either
transformer into an optically isolated output by adding
clockwise or counter-clockwise will be monitored as a
an optical conversion system (Figure 6.18). This
varying or modulated light output intensity at the light
conversion system may require a power supply of its
detector.
own: this is the active sensor type. The use of an optical
When a block of optical sensing material (glass or isolating system serves to de-couple the instrument
crystal) is immersed in a varying magnetic or electric transformer output secondary voltages and currents

Figure. 6.18: Schematic representation of the concepts behind the optical sensing of varying electric and magnetic fields
from earthed or galvanic links. Thus the only link that analysing circuitry. In sharp contrast with a
remains between the control-room and the switchyard is conventional free-standing instrument transformer, the
a fibre optic cable. optical instrument transformer needs an electronic
interface module in order to function. Therefore its
Another type of hybrid non-conventional instrument
sensing principle (the optical material) is passive but its
transformer is achieved by retrofitting a passive optical
operational integrity relies on the interface that is
sensing medium into a conventional 'hard-wire
powered in the control room (Figure 6.21).
secondary' instrument transformer. This can be termed
as a passive hybrid type since no power supply of any
kind is needed at the secondary level.
6.5.7.3 'All-optical' transducers
These instrument transformers are based entirely on
optical materials and are fully passive. The sensing
function is achieved directly by the sensing material and
a simple fibre optic cable running between the base of
the unit and the sensor location provides the
communication link.
The sensing element is made of an optical material that is
positioned in the electric or magnetic field to be sensed.
In the case of a current measuring device the sensitive
element is either located free in the magnetic field (Figure
6.19(a)) or it can be immersed in a field-shaping magnetic
'gap' (Figure 6.19(b)). In the case of a voltage-sensing
device (Figure 6.20) the same alternatives exist, this time
for elements that are sensitive to electric fields. The
possibility exists of combining both sensors within a
single housing, thus providing both a CT and VT within a
single compact housing that gives rise to space savings
within a substation.

Figure 6.20: Optical voltage sensor based

on the electrical properties of optical materials

Figure 6.19: Optical current sensor based

on the magnetic properties of optical materials

In all cases there is an optical fibre that channels the

probing reference light from a source into the medium
Figure 6.21: Novel instrument transducer concept
and another fibre that channels the light back to
requiring an electronic interface in the control room
 figure 6.22: Conceptual design of a double-sensor optical CT

Similar to conventional instrument transformers there are Although 'all-optical' instrument transformers were first
live tank' and 'dead tank' optical transducers. Typically, introduced 10-15 years ago, there are still only a few in
current transducers take the shape of a closed loop of service nowadays. Figure 6.24 shows a field installation
light-transparent material, fitted around a straight of a combined optical CT/VT.
conductor carrying the line current (Figure 6.22). In this
case a bulk-glass sensor unit is depicted (Figure 6.22(a)),
along with an 'all-optical' sensor example, as shown in
Figure 6.22(b). Light detectors are basically very sensitive
devices and the sensing material can thus be selected in
such a way as to scale-up readily for larger currents. 'All-
optical' voltage transducers however do not lend
themselves easily for extremely high line voltages. Two
concepts using a 'full-voltage' sensor are shown in Figure
6.23.

Figure 6.23: Optical voltage transducer concepts,

using a 'full-voltage' sensor Figure 6.24: Field installation of a combined
optical CT/VT
6.5.2 Other Sensing Systems of insulation material. In most cases the Rogowski coil
will be connected to an amplifier, in order to deliver
There are a number of other sensing systems that can be
sufficient power to the connected measuring or
used, as described below.
protection equipment and to match the input impedance
6.5.2.1 Zero-flux (Hall Effect) current transformer of this equipment. The Rogowski coil requires
In this case the sensing element is a semi-conducting integration of the magnetic field and therefore has a
wafer that is placed in the gap of a magnetic time and phase delay whilst the integration is completed.
concentrating ring. This type of transformer is also This can be corrected for within a digital protection relay.
sensitive to d.c. currents. The transformer requires a The schematic representation of the Rogowski coil sensor
power supply that is fed from the line or from a separate is shown in Figure 6.27.
power supply. The sensing current is typically 0.1% of the
current to be measured. In its simplest shape, the Hall
effect voltage is directly proportional to the magnetising
current to be measured. For more accurate and more
sensitive applications, the sensing current is fed through
a secondary, multiple-turn winding, placed around the
magnetic ring in order to balance out the gap magnetic
field. This zero-flux or null-flux version allows very
accurate current measurements in both d.c. and high-
frequency applications. A schematic representation of
the sensing part is shown in Figure 6.25.

Figure 6.26: Design principle of a hybrid magnetic

current transformer fitted with an optical transmitter

Figure 6.25: Conceptual design of a Hall-effect

current sensing element fitted in a field-shaping gap

6.5.2.2 Hybrid magnetic-optical sensor Figure 6.27: Schematic representation

of a Rogowski coil, used for current sensing
This type of transformer is mostly used in applications
such as series capacitive compensation of long
transmission lines, where a non-grounded measurement
of current is required. In this case, several current
sensors are required on each phase in order to achieve
capacitor surge protection and balance. The preferred
solution is to use small toroidally wound magnetic core
transformers connected to fibre optic isolating systems.
These sensors are usually active sensors in the sense that
the isolated systems require a power supply. This is
illustrated in Figure 6.26.
6.5.2.3 Rogowski coils
The Rogowski coil is based on the principle of an air-
cored current transformer with a very high load
impedance. The secondary winding is wound on a toroid
7 • Relay Technology
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The last thirty years have seen enormous changes in relay
technology. The electromechanical relay in all of its
different forms has been replaced successively by static,
digital and numerical relays, each change bringing with
it reductions and size and improvements in functionality.
At the same time, reliability levels have been maintained
or even improved and availability significantly increased
due to techniques not available with older relay types.
This represents a tremendous achievement for all those
involved in relay design and manufacture.
This chapter charts the course of relay technology
through the years. As the purpose of the book is to
describe modern protection relay practice, it is natural
therefore to concentrate on digital and numerical relay
technology. The vast number of electromechanical and
static relays are still giving dependable service, but
descriptions on the technology used must necessarily be
somewhat brief. For those interested in the technology
of electromechanical and static technology, more
detailed descriptions can be found in reference [7.1].

7 . 2 ELECTROMECHANICAL RELAYS
These relays were the earliest forms of relay used for the
protection of power systems, and they date back nearly
100 years. They work on the principle of a mechanical
force causing operation of a relay contact in response to
a stimulus. The mechanical force is generated through
current flow in one or more windings on a magnetic core
or cores, hence the term electromechanical relay. The
principle advantage of such relays is that they provide
galvanic isolation between the inputs and outputs in a
simple, cheap and reliable form - therefore for simple
on/off switching functions where the output contacts
have to carry substantial currents, they are still used.
Electromechanical relays can be classified into several
different types as follows:
a. attracted armature
b. moving coil
c. induction
d. thermal
e. motor operated
f. mechanical
However, only attracted armature types have significant
application at this time, all other types having been
superseded by more modern equivalents.

7.2.1 Attracted Armature Relays

These generally consist of an iron-cored electromagnet
that attracts a hinged armature when energised. A
restoring force is provided by means of a spring or
gravity so that the armature will return to its original
position when the electromagnet is de-energised.
Typical forms of an attracted armature relay are shown
in Figure 7.1. Movement of the armature causes contact
closure or opening, the armature either carrying a
moving contact that engages with a fixed one, or causes
a rod to move that brings two contacts together. It is
very easy to mount multiple contacts in rows or stacks,
and hence cause a single input to actuate a number of
outputs. The contacts can be made quite robust and
hence able to make, carry and break relatively large
currents under quite onerous conditions (highly inductive Figure 7.2: Typical polarised relay

circuits). This is still a significant advantage of this type

of relay that ensures its continued use.

Figure 7. V. Typical attracted armature relays

The energising quantity can be either an a.c. or a d.c. Figure 7.3: Typical attracted armature relay mounted in case

current If an a.c. current is used, means must be

provided to prevent the chatter that would occur from Operating speed, power consumption and the number
the flux passing through zero every half cycle. A and type of contacts required are a function of the
common solution to the problem is to split the magnetic design. The typical attracted armature relay has an
pole and provide a copper loop round one half. The flux operating speed of between 100ms and 400ms, but reed
change is now phase-shifted in this pole, so that at no relays (whose use spanned a relatively short period in the
time is the total flux equal to zero. Conversely, for relays history of protection relays) with light current contacts
energised using a d.c. current, remanent flux may can be designed to have an operating time of as little as
prevent the relay from releasing when the actuating 1msec. Operating power is typically 0.05-0.2 watts, but
current is removed. This can be avoided by preventing could be as large as 80 watts for a relay with several
the armature from contacting the electromagnet by a heavy-duty contacts and a high degree of resistance to
non-magnetic stop, or constructing the electromagnet mechanical shock.
using a material with very low remanent flux properties.
Some applications require the use of a polarised relay. This
can be simply achieved by adding a permanent magnet to A number of design problems had to be solved with static
the basic electromagnet. Both self-reset and bi-stable relays. In particular, the relays generally require a
forms can be achieved. Figure 7.2 shows the basic reliable source of d.c. power and measures to prevent
construction. One possible example of use is to provide damage to vulnerable electronic circuits had to be
very fast operating times for a single contact, speeds of less devised. Substation environments are particularly hostile
than 1ms being possible. Figure 7.3 illustrates a typical to electronic circuits due to electrical interference of
example of an attracted armature relay. various forms that are commonly found (e.g. switching
operations and the effect of faults). While it is possible
7.3 STATIC RELAYS to arrange for the d.c. supply to be generated from the
measured quantities of the relay, this has the
disadvantage of increasing the burden on the CT's or VT's,
and there will be a minimum primary current or voltage
below which the relay will not operate. This directly
affects the possible sensitivity of the relay. So provision
of an independent, highly reliable and secure source of
relay power supply was an important consideration. To
prevent maloperation or destruction of electronic devices
during faults or switching operations, sensitive circuitry
is housed in a shielded case to exclude common mode
and radiated interference. The devices may also be
sensitive to static charge, requiring special precautions
during handling, as damage from this cause may not be
immediately apparent, but become apparent later in the
form of premature failure of the relay. Therefore, radically
different relay manufacturing facilities are required
compared to electromechanical relays. Calibration and
Figure 7.4: Circuit board of static relay repair is no longer a task performed in the field without
specialised equipment Figure 7.4 shows the circuit board
for a simple static relay and Figure 7.5 shows examples of
The term 'static' implies that the relay has no moving simple and complex static relays.
parts. This is not strictly the case for a static relay, as the
output contacts are still generally attracted armature
relays. In a protection relay, the term 'static' refers to the
absence of moving parts to create the relay
characteristic.
Introduction of static relays began in the early 1960's.
Their design is based on the use of analogue electronic
devices instead of coils and magnets to create the relay
characteristic. Early versions used discrete devices such
as transistors and diodes in conjunction with resistors,
capacitors, inductors, etc., but advances in electronics
enabled the use of linear and digital integrated circuits
in later versions for signal processing and
implementation of logic functions. While basic circuits
may be common to a number of relays, the packaging
was still essentially restricted to a single protection
function per case, while complex functions required
several cases of hardware suitably interconnected. User
programming was restricted to the basic functions of
adjustment of relay characteristic curves. They therefore
can be viewed in simple terms as an analogue electronic
replacement for electromechanical relays, with some
additional flexibility in settings and some saving in space
requirements. In some cases, relay burden is reduced,
making for reduced CT/VT output requirements. Figure 7.5: Selection of static relays
7.4 DIGITAL RELAYS 7 . 5 NUMERICAL RELAYS
Digital protection relays introduced a step change in The distinction between digital and numerical relay rests
technology. Microprocessors and microcontrollers on points of fine technical detail, and is rarely found in
replaced analogue circuits used in static relays to areas other than Protection. They can be viewed as
implement relay functions. Early examples began to be natural developments of digital relays as a result of
introduced into service around 1980, and, with advances in technology. Typically, they use a specialised
improvements in processing capacity, can still be regarded digital signal processor (DSP) as the computational
as current technology for many relay applications. hardware, together with the associated software tools.
However, such technology will be completely superseded The input analogue signals are converted into a digital
within the next five years by numerical relays. representation and processed according to the appropriate
Compared to static relays, digital relays introduce A/D mathematical algorithm. Processing is carried out using a
conversion of all measured analogue quantities and use specialised microprocessor that is optimised for signal
a microprocessor to implement the protection algorithm. processing applications, known as a digital signal
The microprocessor may use some kind of counting processor or DSP for short. Digital processing of signals in
technique, or use the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) to real time requires a very high power microprocessor.
implement the algorithm. However, the typical In addition, the continuing reduction in the cost of
microprocessors used have limited processing capacity microprocessors and related digital devices (memory, I/O,
and memory compared to that provided in numerical etc.) naturally leads to an approach where a single item
relays. The functionality tends therefore to be limited of hardware is used to provide a range of functions
and restricted largely to the protection function itself. ('one-box solution' approach). By using multiple
Additional functionality compared to that provided by an microprocessors to provide the necessary computational
electromechanical or static relay is usually available, performance, a large number of functions previously
typically taking the form of a wider range of settings, implemented in separate items of hardware can now be
and greater accuracy. A communications link to a included within a single item. Table 7.1 provides a list of
remote computer may also be provided. typical functions available, while Table 7.2 summarises
The limited power of the microprocessors used in digital the advantages of a modern numerical relay over the
relays restricts the number of samples of the waveform static equivalent of only 10-15 years ago. Figure 7.7
that can be measured per cycle. This, in turn, limits the shows typical numerical relays, and a circuit board is
speed of operation of the relay in certain applications. shown in Figure 7.8. Figure 7.9 provides an illustration of
Therefore, a digital relay for a particular protection the savings in space possible on a HV feeder showing the
function may have a longer operation time than the space requirement for relays with electromechanical and
static relay equivalent. However, the extra time is not numerical relay technology to provide the same
significant in terms of overall tripping time and possible functionality.
effects of power system stability. Examples of digital
relays are shown in Figure 7.6.
Distance Protection- several schemes including user definable)
Overcurrent Protection (directional/non-directional)
Several Setting Groups for protection values
Switch-on-to-Fault Protection
Power Swing Blocking
Voltage Transformer Supervision
Negative Sequence Current Protection
Undervoltage Protection
Overvoltage Protection
CB Fail Protection
Fault Location
CT Supervision
VT Supervision
Check Synchronisation
Autoreclose
CB Condition Monitoring
CB State Monitoring
User-Definable Logic
Broken Conductor Detection
Measurement of Power System Quantities (Current, Voltage, etc.)
Fault/Event/Disturbance recorder

Figure 7.6: Selection of digital relays Table 7.1: Numerical distance relay features
Figure 7.7: Typical numerical relays

Several setting groups Because a numerical relay may implement the

Wider range of parameter adjustment functionality that used to require several discrete relays,
Remote communications built in
the relay functions (overcurrent, earth fault, etc.) are
Internal Fault diagnosis
now referred to as being 'relay elements', so that a
Power system measurements available
single relay (i.e. an item of hardware housed in a single
Distance to fault locator
Disturbance recorder
case) may implement several functions using several
Auxiliary protection functions ( broken conductor, negative sequence, etc.) relay elements. Each relay element will typically be a
CB monitoring (state, condition) software routine or routines.
User-definable logic
The argument against putting many features into one
Backup protection functions in-built
Consistency of operation times - reduced grading margin
piece of hardware centres on the issues of reliability and
availability. A failure of a numerical relay may cause
Table 7.2: Advantages of
numerical protection relays over static many more functions to be lost, compared to applications
where different functions are implemented by separate
hardware items. Comparison of reliability and availability
between the two methods is complex as inter-
dependency of elements of an application provided by
separate relay elements needs to be taken into account.
With the experience gained with static and digital relays,
most hardware failure mechanisms are now well
understood and suitable precautions taken at the design
stage. Software problems are minimised by rigorous use
of software design techniques, extensive prototype
testing (see Chapter 21) and the ability to download
amended software into memory (possibly using a remote
telephone link for download). Practical experience
indicates that numerical relays are at least as reliable
and have at least as good a record of availability as
relays of earlier technologies.
As the technology of numerical relays has only become
available in recent years, a presentation of the concepts
behind a numerical relay is presented in the following
sections.
7.5.1 Hardware Architecture
The typical architecture of a numerical relay is shown
in Figure 7.10. It consists of one or more DSP Figure 7.8: Circuit board for numerical relay

microprocessors, some memory, digital and analogue

input/output (I/O), and a power supply. Where
multiple processors are provided, it is usual for one of the design. It must work at high speed, use low
them to be dedicated to executing the protection relay voltage levels and yet be immune to conducted and
algorithms, wh i le the remainder implements any radiated interference from the electrically noisy
associated logic and handles the Human Machine substation environment. Excellent shielding of the
Interface (HMI) interfaces. By organising the I/O on a relevant areas is therefore required. Digital inputs are
set of plug-in printed circuit boards (PCB's), additional o p t i c a l l y isolated to prevent transients being
I/O up to the limits of the hardware/software can be transmitted to the internal circuitry. Analogue inputs
easily added. The internal communications bus links are isolated using precision transformers to maintain
the hardware and therefore is critical component in measurement accuracy while removing harmful

Figure 7.9: Space requirements of different

relay technologies for same functionality
 Legend:
SRAM - Static Read Only Memory
CPU - Central Procesing Unit
IRIG-B - Time Synchronisation Signal
FPQA - Field Programmable Loqic Array
ADC - Analog to Digital Converter
E2PR0M - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EPROM - Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory
LCD- Liquid Crystal Display

Figure 7. W: Relay modules and information flaw

where:
/s = sampling frequency
fh = highest frequency of interest

transients. Additionally, the input signals must be If too low a sampling frequency is chosen,
amplitude limited to avoid them exceeding the power aliasing of the input signal can occur (Figure 7.12),
supply voltages, as otherwise the waveform will appear resulting in high frequencies appearing as part of signal in
distorted, as shown in Figure 7.11. the frequency range of interest. Incorrect results will then
be obtained. The solution is to apply an anti-aliasing
Analogue signals are converted to digital form using an
filter, coupled with an appropriate choice of sampling
A/D converter. The cheapest method is to use a single
frequency, to the analogue signal, so those frequency
A/D converter, preceded by a multiplexer to connect
components that could cause aliasing are filtered out.
each of the input signals in turn to the converter. The
Digital sine and cosine filters are used (Figure 7.13), with
signals may be initially input to a number of
a frequency response shown in Figure 7.14, to extract the
simultaneous sample-and-hold circuits prior to
real and imaginary components of the signal. Frequency
multiplexing, or the time relationship between
tracking of the input signals is applied to adjust the
successive samples must be known if the phase
sampling frequency so that the desired number of
relationship between signals is important. The
samples/cycle is always obtained. A modern numerical
alternative is to provide each input with a dedicated A/D
relay may sample each analogue input quantity at
converter, and logic to ensure that all converters
between 16 and 24 samples per cycle.
perform the measurement simultaneously.
The frequency of sampling must be carefully considered,
as the Nyquist criterion applies:
 Figure 7.1V. Signal distortion
due to excessive amplitude

All subsequent signal processing is carried out digitally in b. HMI interface software - the high level software
software, final digital outputs use relays to provide for communicating with a user, via the front panel
isolation or are sent via an external communications bus controls or through a data link to another
to other devices. computer running suitable software, storage of
setting data, etc.
7.5.2 Relay Software
c. application software - this is the software that
The software provided is commonly organised into a
defines the protection function of the relay
series of tasks, operating in real time. An essential
component is the Real Time Operating System (RTOS), d. auxiliary functions - software to implement other
whose function is to ensure that the other tasks are features offered in the relay - often structured as
executed as and when required, on a priority basis. a series of modules to reflect the options offered to
a user by the manufacturer
Other task software provided will naturally vary
according to the function of the specific relay, but can be 7.5.3 Application Software
generalised as follows:
The relevant software algorithm is then applied. Firstly,
a. system services software - this is akin to the BIOS the values of the quantities of interest have to be
of an ordinary PC, and controls the low-level I/O determined from the available information contained in
for the relay (i.e. drivers for the relay hardware, the data samples. This is conveniently done by the
boot-up sequence, etc.) application of the Discrete Fourier Transform [DFT], and

Sample points

figure 7.12: Signal aliasing problem

 b. timer expired - action alarm/trip
c. value returned below setting - reset timers, etc.
d. value below setting - do nothing
e. value still above setting - increment timer, etc.
Since the overall cycle time for the software is known,
timers are generally implemented as counters.

7.6 ADDITIONAL FEATURES

OF NUMERICAL RELAYS
The DSP chip in a numerical relay is normally of
sufficient processing capacity that calculation of the
relay protection function only occupies part of the
processing capacity. The excess capacity is therefore
available to perform other functions. Of course, care
must be taken never to load the processor beyond
capacity, for if this happens, the protection algorithm
will not complete its calculation in the required time and
Figure 7.13: Digital filters
the protection function will be compromised.
Typical functions that may be found in a numerical relay
besides protection functions are described in this section.
Note that not all functions may be found in a particular
the result is magnitude and phase information for the relay. In common with earlier generations of relays,
selected quantity. This calculation is repeated for all of manufacturers, in accordance with their perceived
the quantities of interest. The quantities can then be market segmentation, will offer different versions
compared with the relay characteristic, and a decision offering a different set of functions. Function
made in terms of the following: parameters will generally be available for display on the
a. value above setting - start timers, etc. front panel of the relay and also via an external

Figure 7.14: Filter frequency response

communications port, but some by their nature may only position-switch outputs can be connected to the relay
be available at one output interface. digital inputs and hence provide the indication of state
via the communications bus to a remote control centre.
7.6.1 Measured Values Display
Circuit breakers also require periodic maintenance of
This is perhaps the most obvious and simple function to
their operating mechanisms and contacts to ensure they
implement, as it involves the least additional processor
will operate when required and that the fault capacity is
time. The values that the relay must measure to perform
not affected adversely. The requirement for maintenance
its protection function have already been acquired and
is a function of the number of trip operations, the
processed. It is therefore a simple task to display them
cumulative current broken and the type of breaker. A
on the front panel, and/or transmit as required to a
numerical relay can record all of these parameters and
remote eomputer/HMI station. Less obvious is that a
hence be configured to send an alarm when maintenance
number of extra quantities may be able to be derived
is due. If maintenance is not carried out within defined
from the measured quantities, depending on the input
criteria (such as a pre-defined time or number of trips)
signals available. These might include:
after maintenance is required, the CB can be arranged to
a. sequence quantities (positive, negative, zero) trip and lockout, or inhibit certain functions such as
b. power, reactive power and power factor auto-reclose.
Finally, as well as tripping the CB as required under fault
c. energy (kWh, kvarh)
conditions, it can also be arranged for a digital output to
d. max. demand in a period (kW, kvar; average and be used for CB closure, so that separate CB close control
peak values) circuits can be eliminated.
e. harmonic quantities
f. frequency 7.6.4 Disturbance Recorder
g. temperatures/RTD status The relay memory requires a certain minimum number of
cycles of measured data to be stored for correct signal
h. motor start information (start time, total no. of
processing and detection of events. The memory can
starts/reaccelerations, total running time
easily be expanded to allow storage of a greater time
i. distance to fault period of input data, both analogue and digital, plus the
The accuracy of the measured values can only be as good state of the relay outputs. It then has the capability to act
as the accuracy of the transducers used (VT's CT's, A/D as a disturbance recorder for the circuit being monitored,
converter, etc.). As CT's and VT's for protection functions so that by freezing the memory at the instant of fault
may have a different accuracy specification to those for detection or trip, a record of the disturbance is available
metering functions, such data may not be sufficiently for later download and analysis. It may be inconvenient to
accurate for tariff purposes. However, it will be download the record immediately, so facilities may be
sufficiently accurate for an operator to assess system provided to capture and store a number of disturbances.
conditions and make appropriate decisions. In industrial and small distribution networks, this may be
all that is required. In transmission networks, it may be
necessary to provide a single recorder to monitor a number
7.6.2 VT/CT Supervision
of circuits simultaneously, and in this case, a separate
If suitable VT's are used, supervision of the VT/CT supplies disturbance recorder will still be required.
can be made available. VT supervision is made more 7.6.5 Time Synchronisation
complicated by the different conditions under which
there may be no VT signal - some of which indicate VT Disturbance records and data relating to energy
failure and some occur because of a power system fault consumption requires time tagging to serve any useful
having occurred. purpose. Although an internal clock will normally be
present, this is of limited accuracy and use of this clock
CT supervision is carried out more easily, the general
to provide time information may cause problems if the
principle being the calculation of a level of negative
disturbance record has to be correlated with similar
sequence current that is inconsistent with the calculated
records from other sources to obtain a complete picture
value of negative sequence voltage.
of an event. Many numerical relays have the facility for
time synchronisation from an external clock. The
standard normally used is an IRIG-B signal, which maybe
7.6.3 CB Control/State Indication /Condition Monitoring
derived from a number of sources, the latest being from
System operators will normally require knowledge of the a GPS satellite system.
state of all circuit breakers under their control. The CB
7.6.6 Programmable Logic performs a basic protection function; but is becoming an
integral and major part of a substation automation
Logic functions are well suited to implementation using
scheme. The choice of a protection relay rather than
microprocessors. The implementation of logic in a relay
some other device is logical, as the protection relay is
is not new, as functions such as intertripping and auto-
probably the only device that is virtually mandatory on
reclose require a certain amount of logic. However, by
circuits of any significant rating. Thus, the functions
providing a substantial number of digital I/O and making
previously carried out by separate devices such as bay
the logic capable of being programmed using suitable
controllers, discrete metering transducers and similar
off-line software, the functionality of such schemes can
devices are now found in a protection relay. It is now
be enhanced and/or additional features provided. For
possible to implement a substation automation scheme
instance, an overcurrent relay at the receiving end of a
using numerical relays as the principal or indeed only
transformer feeder could use the temperature inputs
hardware provided at bay level. As the power of
provided to monitor transformer winding temperature
microprocessors continues to grow and pressure on
and provide alarm/trip facilities to the
operators to reduce costs continues, this trend will
operator/upstream relay, eliminating the need for a
probably continue, one obvious development being the
separate winding temperature relay. This is an
provision of RTU facilities in designated relays that act as
elementary example, but other advantages are evident to
local concentrators of information within the overall
the relay manufacturer - different logic schemes
network automation scheme.
required by different Utilities, etc., no longer need
separate relay versions or some hard-wired logic to
implement, reducing the cost of manufacture. It is also 7 . 7 NUMERICAL RELAY ISSUES
easier to customise a relay for a specific application, and
The introduction of numerical relays replaces some of the
eliminate other devices that would otherwise be
issues of previous generations of relays with new ones.
required.
Some of the new issues that must be addressed are as
follows:
7.6.7 Provision of Setting Groups
a. software version control
Historically, electromechanical and static relays have b. relay data management
been provided with only one group of settings to be c. testing and commissioning
applied to the relay. Unfortunately, power systems
change their topology due to operational reasons on a
regular basis, (e.g. supply from normal/emergency 7.7.1 Software Version Control
generation). The different configurations may require
Numerical relays perform their functions by means of
different relay settings to maintain the desired level of
software. The process used for software generation is no
network protection (since, for the above example, the
different in principle to that for any other device using
fault levels will be significantly different on parts of the
real-time software, and includes the difficulties of
network that remain energised under both conditions).
developing code that is error-free. Manufacturers must
This problem can be overcome by the provision within the therefore pay particular attention to the methodology
relay of a number of setting groups, only one of which is used for software generation and testing to ensure that
in use at any one time. Changeover between groups can as far as possible, the code contains no errors. However,
be achieved from a remote command from the operator, it is virtually impossible to perform internal tests that
or possibly through the programmable logic system. This cover all possible combinations of external effects, etc.,
may obviate the need for duplicate relays to be fitted and therefore it must be accepted that errors may exist.
with some form of switching arrangement of the inputs In this respect, software used in relays is no different to
and outputs depending on network configuration. The any other software, where users accept that field use
operator will also have the ability to remotely program may uncover errors that may require changes to the
the relay with a group of settings if required. software. Obviously, type testing can be expected to
prove that the protection functions implemented by the
relay are carried out properly, but it has been known for
7.6.8 Conclusions failures of rarely used auxiliary functions to occur under
The provision of extra facilities in numerical relays may some conditions.
avoid the need for other measurement/control devices to Where problems are discovered in software subsequent
be fitted in a substation. A trend can therefore be to the release of a numerical relay for sale, a new version
discerned in which protection relays are provided with of the software may be considered necessary. This
functionality that in the past has been provided using process then requires some form of software version
separate equipment. The protection relay no longer control to be implemented to keep track of:
 a. the different software versions in existence
b. the differences between each version
c. the reasons for the change
d. relays fitted with each of the versions
With an effective version control system, manufacturers are able to advise users in the event of
reported problems if the problem is a known software related problem and what remedial action
is required. With the aid of suitable software held by a user, it may be possible to download the
new software version instead of requiring a visit from a service engineer.

7.7.2 Relay Data Management

A numerical relay usually provides many more features than a relay using static or
electromechanical technology. To use these features, the appropriate data must be entered into
the memory of the relay. Users must also keep a record of all of the data, in case of data loss within
the relay, or for use in system studies, etc. The amount of data per numerical relay may be 10-50
times that of an equivalent electromechanical relay, to which must be added the possibility of user-
defined logic functions. The task of entering the data correctly into a numerical relay becomes a
much more complex task than previously, which adds to the possibility of a mistake being made.
Similarly, the amount of data that must be recorded is much larger, giving rise potentially to
problems of storage.
The problems have been addressed by the provision of software to automate the preparation and
download of relay setting data from a portable computer connected to a communications port of
the relay. As part of the process, the setting data can be read back from the relay and compared
with the desired settings to ensure that the download has been error-free. A copy of the setting
data (including user defined logic schemes where used) can also be stored on the computer, for
later printout and/or upload to the users database facilities.
More advanced software is available to perform the above functions from an Engineering
Computer in asubstation automation scheme – see Chapter 24 fordetails of such schemes).

7.7.3 Relay Testing and Commissioning

The testing of relays based on software is of necessity radically different from earlier generations of
relays. The topic is dealt with in detail in Chapter 21, but it can be mentioned here that site
commissioning is usually restricted to the in-built software self-check and verification that
currents and voltages measured by the relay are correct. Problems revealed by such tests require
specialist equipment to resolve, and hence field policy is usually on a repair-by-replacement basis.

7.8 REFERENCES
7.1 Protective Relays Application Guide, 3rd edition, ALSTOM T&D Protection and Control, 1987
• 8 • Protection: Signalling
and Intertripping

8.1 INTRODUCTION
Unit protection schemes, formed by a number of relays
located remotely from each other, and some distance
protection schemes, require some form of communication
between each location in order to achieve a unit protection
function. This form of communication is known as
protection signalling. Additionally communications
facilities are also required when remote operation of a
circuit breaker is required as a result of a local event. This
form of communications is known as intertripping.
The communication messages involved may be quite
simple, involving instructions for the receiving device to
take some defined action (trip, block, etc.), or it may be
the passing of measured data in some form from one
device to another (as in a unit protection scheme).
Various types of communication links are available for
protection signalling, for example:
i. private pilot wires installed by the power
authority
ii. pilot wires or channels rented from a
communications company
iii. carrier channels at high frequencies over the
power lines
iv. radio channels at very high or ultra high
frequencies
v. optical fibres
Whether or not a particular link is used depends on
factors such as the availability of an appropriate
communication network, the distance between
protection relaying points, the terrain over which the
power network is constructed, as well as cost.
Protection signalling is used to implement Unit
Protection schemes, provide teleprotection commands,
or implement intertripping between circuit breakers.

8.2 UNIT PROTECTION SCHEMES

Phase comparison and current differential schemes use
signalling to convey information concerning the relaying
quantity - phase angle of current and phase and
 Figure 8.7: Application of protection signalling and its relationship to other systems using communication
(shown as a unidirectional system for simplicity)

magnitude of current respectively - between local and piece of apparatus in sympathy with the tripping of other
remote relaying points. Comparison of local and remote circuit breakers. The main use of such schemes \s to
signals provides the basis for both fault detection and ensure that protection at both ends of a faulted circuit
discrimination of the schemes. will operate to isolate the equipment concerned. Possible
circumstances when it may be used are:
Details of Unit Protection schemes are given in Chapter 10.
Communications methods are covered later in this Chapter. a. a feeder with a weak infeed at one end, insufficient
to operate the protection for all faults
8.3 TELEPROTECTION COMMANDS b. feeder protection applied to transformer -feeder
Some Distance Protection schemes described in Chapter circuits. Faults on the transformer windings may
12 use signalling to convey a command between local operate the transformer protection but not the
and remote relaying points. Receipt of the information feeder protection. Similarly, some earth faults may
is used to aid or speed up clearance of faults within a not be detected due to transformer connections
protected zone or to prevent tripping from faults outside c. faults between the CB and feeder protection CT's,
a protected zone. when these are located on the feeder side of the CB.
Teleprotection systems are often referred to by their Bus-zone protection does not result in fault
mode of operation, or the role of the teleprotection clearance - the fault is still fed from the remote end
command in the system. of the feeder, while feeder unit protection may not
operate as the fault is outside the protected zone
d. some distance protection schemes use
8.4 INTERTRIPPING intertripping to improve fault clearance times for
Intertripping is the controlled tripping of a circuit some kinds of fault - see Chapters 12/13
breaker so as to complete the isolation of a circuit or Intertripping schemes use signalling to convey a trip
command to remote circuit breakers to isolate circuits. 8.5 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
For high reliability EHV protection schemes, intertripping
Overall fault clearance time is the sum of:
may be used to give back-up to main protections, or
back-tripping in the case of breaker failure. Three types a. signalling time
of intertripping are commonly encountered, and are b. protection relay operating time
described below.
c. trip relay operating time
8.4.1 Direct Tripping
d. circuit breaker operating time
In direct tripping applications, intertrip signals are sent
directly to the master trip relay. Receipt of the command The overall time must be less than the maximum time for
causes circuit breaker operation. The method of which a fault can remain on the system for minimum
communication must be reliable and secure because any plant damage, loss of stability, etc. Fast operation is
signal detected at the receiving end will cause a trip of therefore a pre-requisite of most signalling systems.
the circuit at that end. The communications system Typically the time allowed for the transfer of a command
design must be such that interference on the is of the same order as the operating time of the
communication circuit does not cause spurious trips. associated protection relays. Nominal operating times
Should a spurious trip occur, considerable unnecessary range from 5 to 40ms dependent on the mode of
isolation of the primary system might result, which is at operation of the teleprotection system.
best undesirable and at worst quite unacceptable.
Protection signals are subjected to the noise and
interference associated with each communication
8.4.2 Permissive Tripping medium. If noise reproduces the signal used to convey
Permissive trip commands are always monitored by a the command, unwanted commands may be produced,
protection relay. The circuit breaker is tripped when whilst if noise occurs when a command signal is being
receipt of the command coincides with operation of the transmitted, the command may be retarded or missed
protection relay at the receiving end responding to a completely. Performance is expressed in terms of
system fault. Requirements for the communications security and dependability. Security is assessed by the
channel are less onerous than for direct tripping probability of an unwanted command occurring, and
schemes, since receipt of an incorrect signal must dependability is assessed by the probability of missing a
coincide with operation of the receiving end protection command. The required degree of security and
for a trip operation to take place. The intention of these dependability is related to the mode of operation, the
schemes is to speed up tripping for faults occurring characteristics of the communication medium and the
within the protected zone. operating standards of the particular power authority.
Typical design objectives for teleprotection systems are
not more than one incorrect trip per 500 equipment
8.4.3 Blocking Scheme years and less than one failure to trip in every 1000
Blocking commands are initiated by a protection element attempts, or a delay of more than 50msec should not
that detects faults external to the protected zone. occur more than once per 10 equipment years. To
Detection of an external fault at the local end of a achieve these objectives, special emphasis may be
protected circuit results in a blocking signal being attached to the security and dependability of the
transmitted to the remote end. At the remote end, teleprotection command for each mode of operation in
receipt of the blocking signal prevents the remote end the system, as follows.
protection operating if it had detected the external fault.
Loss of the communications channel is less serious for
this scheme than in others as loss of the channel does 8.5.1 Performance Requirements - Intertripping
not result in a failure to trip when required. However, Since any unwanted command causes incorrect tripping,
the risk of a spurious trip is higher. very high security is required at all noise levels up to the
Figure 8.1 shows the typical applications of protection maximum that might ever be encountered.
signalling and their relationship to other signalling
systems commonly required for control and management 8.5.2 Performance Requirements - Permissive Tripping
of a power system. Of course, not all of the protection
signals shown will be required in any particular scheme. Security somewhat lower than that required for
intertripping is usually satisfactory, since incorrect
tripping can occur only if an unwanted command
happens to coincide with operation of the protection
relay for an out-of-zone fault.
For permissive over-reach schemes, resetting after a physical fibre connection and thus enables more
command should be highly dependable to avoid any comprehensive monitoring of the power system to be
chance of maloperations during current reversals. achieved by the provision of a large number of
communication channels.

8.5.3 Performance Requirements - Blocking Schemes 8.6.1 Private Pilot Wires and Channels
Low security is usually adequate since an unwanted Pilot wires are continuous copper connections between
command can never cause an incorrect trip. High signalling stations, while pilot channels are
dependability is required since absence of the command discontinuous pilot wires with isolation transformers or
could cause incorrect tripping if the protection relay repeaters along the route between signalling stations.
operates for an out-of-zone fault. They may be laid in a trench with high voltage cables,
Typical performance requirements are shown in Figure 8.2. laid by a separate route or strung as an open wire on a
separate wood pole route.
Distances over which signalling is required vary
considerably. At one end of the scale, the distance may be
only a few tens of metres, where the devices concerned are
located in the same substation. For applications on EHV
lines, the distance between devices may be between 10-
100km or more. For short distances, no special measures
are required against interference, but over longer distances,
special send and receive relays may be required to boost
signal levels and provide immunity against induced
voltages from power circuits, lightning strikes to ground
adjacent to the route, etc. Isolation transformers may also
have to be provided to guard against rises in substation
ground potential due to earth faults.
The capacity of a link can be increased if frequency
division multiplexing techniques are used to run paralle
signalling systems, but some Utilities prefer the link to be
used only for protection signalling.
Private pilot wires or channels can be attractive to an
Figure 8.2: Typical performance requirements Utility running a very dense power system with short
for protection signalling when the distances between stations.
communication link is subjected to noise

8.6 TRANSMISSION MEDIA 8.6.2 Rented Pilot Wires and Channels

INTERFERENCE AND NOISE
These are rented from national communication
The transmission media that provide the communication authorities and, apart from the connection from the
links involved in protection signalling are: relaying point to the nearest telephone exchange, the
a. private pilots routing will be through cables forming part of the
b. rented pilots or channels national communication network.
c. power line carrier An economic decision has to be made between the use
d. radio of private or rented pilots. If private pilots are used, the
e. optical fibres owner has complete control, but bears the cost of
Historically, pilot wires and channels (discontinuous pilot installation and maintenance. If rented pilots are used,
wires with isolation transformers or repeaters along the most of these costs are eliminated, but fees must be paid
route between signalling points) have been the most to the owner of the pilots and the signal path may be
widely used due to their availability, followed by Power changed without warning. This may be a problem in
Line Carrier Communications (PLCC) techniques and protection applications where signal transmission times
radio. In recent years, fibre-optic systems have become are critical.
the usual choice for new installations, primarily due to The chance of voltages being induced in rented pilots is
their complete immunity from electrical interference. smaller than for private pilots, as the pilot route is
The use of fibre-optic cables also greatly increases the normally not related to the route of the power line with
number of communication channels available for each which it is associated. However, some degree of security
and protection against induced voltages must be built in this respect that may limit transmission capacity
into signalling systems. Electrical interference from and/or transmission distance.
other signalling systems, particularly 17, 25 and 50Hz
With a power system operating at, say, 132kV, where
ringing tones up to 150V peak, and from noise generated
relatively long protection signalling times are acceptable,
within the equipment used in the communication
signalling has been achieved above speech together with
network, is a common hazard. Similarly, the signalling
metering and control signalling on an established control
system must also be proof against intermittent short and
network. Consequently the protection signalling was
open circuits on the pilot link, incorrect connection of 50
achieved at very low cost. High voltage systems (220kV
volts d.c. across the pilot link and other similar faults.
and above) have demanded shorter operating times and
Station earth potential rise is a significant factor to be improved security, which has led to the renting of pilot
taken into account and isolation must be provided to links exclusively for protection signalling purposes.
protect both the personnel and equipment of the
communication authority. 8.6.3 Power Line Carrier Communications Techniques
The most significant hazard to be withstood by a Where long line sections are involved, or if the route
protection signalling system using this medium arises involves installation difficulties, the expense of providing
when a linesman inadvertently connects a low physical pilot connections or operational restrictions
impedance test oscillator across the pilot link that can associated with the route length require that other
generate signalling tones. Transmissions by such an means of providing signalling facilities are required.
oscillator may simulate the operating code or tone
Power Line Carrier Communications (PLCC) is a technique
sequence that, in the case of direct intertripping
that involves high frequency signal transmission along
schemes, would result in incorrect operation of the
the overhead power line. It is robust and therefore
circuit breaker.
reliable, constituting a low loss transmission path that is
Communication between relaying points may be over a fully controlled by the Utility.
two-wire or four-wire link. Consequently the effect of a
High voltage capacitors are used, along with drainage
particular human action, for example an incorrect
coils, for the purpose of injecting the signal to and
disconnection, may disrupt communication in one
extracting it from the line. Injection can be carried out
direction or both.
by impressing the carrier signal voltage between one
The signals transmitted must be limited in both level and conductor and earth or between any two phase
bandwidth to avoid interference with other signalling conductors. The basic units can be built up into a high
systems. The owner of the pilots will impose standards pass or band pass filter as shown in Figure 8.3.

figure 8.3: Typical phase-to-phase coupling equipment

 The attenuation of a channel is of prime importance in
the application of carrier signalling, because it
determines the amount of transmitted energy available
at the receiving end to overcome noise and interfering
voltages. The loss of each line terminal will be 1 to 2dB
through the coupling filter, a maximum of 3dB through
its broad-band trap and not more than 0.5dB per 100
metres through the high frequency cable.
An installation of PLCC equipment including capacitor
voltage transformers and line traps, in a line-to-line
injection arrangement, is shown in Figure 8.4.
The high frequency transmission characteristics of power
circuits are good the loss amounting to 0.02 to 0.2dB per
kilometre depending upon line voltage and frequency.
Line attenuation is not affected appreciably by rain, but
serious increase in loss may occur when the phase
conductors are thickly coated with hoar-frost or ice.
Figure 8.4: Carrier coupling equipment
Attenuations of up to three times the fair weather value
have been experienced. Receiving equipment commonly
The high voltage capacitor is tuned by a tuning coil to incorporates automatic gain control (AGC) to
present a low impedance at the signal frequency; the compensate for variations in attenuation of signals.
parallel circuit presents a high impedance at the signal
High noise levels arise from lightning strikes and system
frequency while providing a path for the power
fault inception or clearance. Although these are of short
frequency currents passed by the capacitor.
duration, lasting only a few milliseconds at the most, they
The complete arrangement is designed as a balanced or may cause overloading of power line carrier receiving
unbalanced half-section band pass filter, according to equipment. Signalling systems used for intertripping in
whether the transmission is phase-phase or phase-earth; particular must incorporate appropriate security features to
the power line characteristic impedance, between 400 and avoid maloperation. The most severe noise levels are
600 ohms, determines the design impedance of the filter. encountered with operation of the line isolators, and these
It is necessary to minimize the loss of signal into other parts may last for some seconds. Although maloperation of the
of the power system, to allow the same frequency to be associated teleprotection scheme may have little
used on another line. This is done with a 'line trap' or 'wave operational significance, since the circuit breaker at one end
trap', which in its simplest form is a parallel circuit tuned to at least is normally already open, high security is generally
present a very high impedance to the signal frequency. It is required to cater for noise coupled between parallel lines or
connected in the phase conductor on the station side of the passed through line traps from adjacent lines.
injection equipment. The complete carrier coupling Signalling for permissive intertrip applications needs
equipment is shown in Figure 8.4. special consideration, as this involves signalling through
The single frequency line trap may be treated as an a power system fault. The increase in channel
integral part of the complete injection equipment to attenuation due to the fault varies according to the type
accommodate two or more carrier systems. However, of fault, but most power authorities select a nominal
difficulties may arise in an overall design, as, at certain value, usually between 20 and 30dB, as an application
frequencies, the actual station reactance, which is guide. A protection signal boost facility can be employed
normally capacitive, will tune with the trap, which is to cater for an increase in attenuation of this order of
inductive below its resonant frequency; the result will be magnitude, to maintain an acceptable signal-to-noise
a l ow impedance across the transmission path, ratio at the receiving end, so that the performance of the
preventing operation at these frequencies. This situation service is not impaired.
can be avoided by the use of an independent 'double
Most direct intertrip applications require signalling over
frequency' or 'broad-band' trap.
a healthy power system, so boosting is not normally
The coupling filter and the carrier equipment are needed. In fact, if a voice frequency intertrip system is
connected by high frequency cable of preferred operating over a carrier bearer channel, the dynamic
characteristic impedance 75 ohms. A matching operating range of the receiver must be increased to
transformer is incorporated in the line coupling filter to accommodate a boosted signal. This makes it less
match it to the hf cable. Surge diverters are fitted to inherently secure in the presence of noise during a
protect the components against transient over voltages. quiescent signalling condition.
8.6.4 Radio Channels A polluted atmosphere can cause radio beam refraction that
will interfere with efficient signalling. The height of aerial
At first consideration, the wide bandwidth associated
tower should be limited, so that winds and temperature
with radio frequency transmissions could allow the use
changes have the minimum effect on their position.
of modems operating at very high data rates. Protection
signalling commands could be sent by serial coded
messages of sufficient length and complexity to give
8.6.5 Optical Fibre Channels
high security, but still achieve fast operating times. In
practice, it is seldom economic to provide radio Optical fibres are fine strands of glass, which behave as
equipment exclusively for protection signalling, so wave guides for light. This ability to transmit light over
standard general-purpose telecommunications channel considerable distances can be used to provide optical
equipment is normally adopted. communication links with enormous information
carrying capacity and an inherent immunity to
Typical radio bearer equipment operates at the
electromagnetic interference.
microwave frequencies of 0.2 to 10GHz. Because of the
relatively short range and directional nature of the A practical optical cable consists of a central optical
transmitter and receiver aerial systems at these fibre which comprises core, cladding and protective
frequencies, large bandwidths can be allocated without buffer coating surrounded by a protective plastic
much chance of mutual interference with other systems. oversheath containing strength members which, in some
cases, are enclosed by a layer of armouring.
Multiplexing techniques allow a number of channels to
share the common bearer medium and exploit the large To communicate information a beam of light is
bandwidth. In addition to voice frequency channels, wider modulated in accordance with the signal to be
bandwidth channels or data channels may be available, transmitted. This modulated beam travels along the
dependent on the particular system. For instance, in optical fibre and is subsequently decoded at the remote
analogue systems using frequency division multiplexing, terminal into the received signal. On/off modulation of
normally up to 12 voice frequency channels are grouped the light source is normally preferred to linear
together in basebands at 12-60kHz or 60-108kHz, but modulation since the distortion caused by non-linearities
alternatively the baseband may be used as a 48kHz signal in the light source and detectors, as well as variations in
channel. Modern digital systems employing pulse code received light power, are largely avoided.
modulation and time division multiplexing usually provide The light transmitter and receiver are usually laser or LED
the voice frequency channels by sampling at 8kHz and devices capable of emitting and detecting narrow beams
quantising to 8 bits; alternatively, access may be available of light at selected frequencies in the low attenuation
for data at 64kbits/s (equivalent to one voice frequency 850, 1300 and 1550 nanometre spectral windows. The
channel) or higher data rates. distance over which effective communications can be
Radio systems are well suited to the bulk transmission of established depends on the attenuation and dispersion of
information between control centres and are widely used the communication link and this depends on the type
for this. When the route of the trunk data network and quality of the fibre and the wavelength of the
coincides with that of transmission lines, channels can optical source. Within the fibre there are many modes of
often be allocated for protection signalling. More propagation with different optical paths that cause
generally, radio communication is between major dispersion of the light signal and result in pulse
stations rather than the ends of individual lines, because broadening. The degrading of the signal in this way can
of the need for line-of-sight operation between aerials be reduced by the use of 'graded index' fibres that cause
and other requirements of the network. Roundabout the various modes to follow nearly equal paths. The
routes involving repeater stations and the addition of distance over which signals can be transmitted is
pilot channels to interconnect the radio installation and significantly increased by the use of 'monomode' fibres
the relay station may be possible, but overall that support only one mode of propagation.
dependability will normally be much lower than for PLCC
With optical fibre channels, communication at data rates
systems in which the communication is direct from one
of hundreds of megahertz is achievable over a few tens of
end of the line to the other.
kilometres, whilst greater distances require the use of
Radio channels are not affected by increased attenuation repeaters. An optical fibre can be used as a dedicated link
due to power system faults, but fading has to be taken between two terminal equipments, or as a multiplexed
into account when the signal-to-noise ratio of a link that carries all communication traffic such as voice,
particular installation is being considered. telecontrol and protection signalling. In the latter case
the available bandwidth of a link is divided by means of
Most of the noise in such a protection signalling system
time division multiplexing (T.D.M.) techniques into a
will be generated within the radio equipment itself.
number of channels, each of 64kbits/s (equivalent to one
voice frequency channel which typically uses an 8-bit Figure 8.5 illustrates the communication arrangements
analogue-to-digital conversion at a sampling rate of commonly encountered in protection signalling.
8kHz). A number of Utilities sell surplus capacity on their
links to telecommunications operators. The trend of
using rented pilot circuits is therefore being reversed, 8.7,1 D.C. Voltage Signaling
with the Utilities moving back towards ownership of the A d.c. voltage step or d.c. voltage reversals may be used
communication circuits that carry protection signalling. to convey a signalling instruction between protection
The equipments that carry out this multiplexing at each relaying points in a power system, but these are suited
end of a line are known as 'Pulse Code Modulation' only to private pilot wires, where low speed signalling is
(P.C.M.) terminal equipments. This approach is the one acceptable, with its inherent security.
adopted by telecommunications authorities and some
Utilities favour its adoption on their private systems, for
economic considerations. 8.7.2 Plain Tone Signals

Optical fibre communications are well established in the Plain high frequency signals can be used successfully for
electrical supply industry. They are the preferred means the signalling of blocking information over a power line.
for the communications link between a substation and a A normally quiescent power line carrier equipment can
telephone exchange when rented circuits are used, as be dedicated entirely to the transfer to teleprotection
trials have shown that this link is particularly susceptible blocking commands. Phase comparison power line
to interference from power system faults if copper carrier unit protection schemes often use such
conductors are used. Whilst such fibres can be laid in equipment and take advantage of the very high speed
cable trenches, there is a strong trend to associate them and dependability of the signalling system. The special
with the conductors themselves by producing composite characteristics of dedicated 'on/off' keyed carrier systems
cables comprising optical fibres embedded within the are discussed later. A relatively insensitive receiver is
conductors, either earth or phase. For overhead lines use used to discriminate against noise on an amplitude basis,
of OPGW (Optical Ground Wire) earth conductors is very and for some applications the security may be
common, while an alternative is to wrap the optical satisfactory for permissive tripping, particularly if the
cable helically around a phase or earth conductor. This normal high-speed operation of about 6ms is sacrificed
latter technique can be used without restringing of the by the addition of delays. The need for regular reflex
line. testing of a normally quiescent channel usually precludes
any use for intertripping.
Plain tone power line carrier signalling systems are
8 . 7 SIGNALLING METHODS particularly suited to providing the blocking commands
Various methods are used in protection signalling; not all often associated with the protection of multi-ended
need be suited to every transmission medium. The feeders, as described in Chapter 13. A blocking
methods to be considered briefly are: command sent from one end can be received
simultaneously at all the other ends using a single power
a. D.C. voltage step or d.c. voltage reversals
line carrier channel. Other signalling systems usually
b. plain tone keyed signals at high and voice require discrete communication channels between each
frequencies of the ends or involve repeaters, leading to decreased
c. frequency shift keyed signals involving two or more dependability of the blocking command.
tones at high and voice frequencies Plain voice frequency signals can be used for blocking,
General purpose telecommunications equipment permissive intertrip and direct intertrip applications for
operating over power line carrier, radio or optical fibre all transmission media but operation is at such a low
media incorporate frequency translating or multiplexing signal level that security from maloperation is not very
techniques to provide the user with standardised good. Operation in the 'tone on' to 'tone off1 mode gives
communication channels. They have a nominal the best channel monitoring, but offers little security; to
bandwidth/channel of 4kHz and are often referred to as obtain a satisfactory performance the output must be
voice frequency (vf) channels. Protection signalling delayed. This results in relatively slow operation: 70
equipments operating at voice frequencies exploit the milliseconds for permissive intertripping, and 180
standardisation of the communication interface. Where milliseconds for direct intertripping.
voice frequency channels are not available or suitable,
protection signalling may make use of a medium or
specialised equipment dedicated entirely to the
signalling requirements.
Figure 8.5: Communication arrangements commonly encountered in protection signalling

8.7.3 Frequency Shift Keyed Signals give the required degree of security in direct intertrip
Frequency shift keyed high frequency signals can be schemes: the short operating times needed may result in
used over a power line carrier link to give short uneconomical use of the available voice frequency
operating times (15 milliseconds for blocking and spectrum, particularly if the channel is not exclusively
permissive intertripping, 20 milliseconds for direct employed for protection signalling. As noise power is
intertripping) for al l applications of protection directly proportional to bandwidth, a large bandwidth
signalling. The required amount of security can be causes an increase in the noise level admitted to the
achieved by using a broadband noise detector to detector, making operation in the presence of noise more
monitor the actual operational signalling equipment. difficult. So, again, it is difficult to obtain both high
dependability and high security.
Frequency shift keyed voice frequency signals can be
used for all protection signalling applications over all The signal frequency shift technique has advantages
transmission media. Frequency modulation techniques where fast signalling is needed for blocked distance and
make possible an improvement in performance, because permissive intertrip applications. It has little inherent
amplitude limiting rejects the amplitude modulation security, but additional circuits responsive to every type
component of noise, leaving only the phase modulation of interference can give acceptable security. This system
components to be detected. does not require a channel capable of high transmission
rates, as the frequency changes once only; the
The operational protection signal may consist of tone bandwidth can therefore be narrower than in coded
sequence codes with, say, three tones, or a multi-bit systems, giving better noise rejection as well as being
code using two discrete tones for successive bits, or of a advantageous if the channel is shared with telemetry
single frequency shift. and control signalling, which will inevitably be the case
Modern high-speed systems use multi-bit code or single if a power line carrier bearer is employed.
frequency shift techniques. Complex codes are used to
9.Overcurrent Protection for
Phase and Earth Faults
9.1 INTRODUCTION

Protection against excess current was naturally the

earliest protection system to evolve. From this basic
principle, the graded overcurrent system, a discriminative
fault protection, has been developed. This should not be
confused with 'overload' protection, which normally
makes use of relays that operate in a time related in
some degree to the thermal capability of the plant to be
protected. Overcurrent protection, on the other hand, is
directed entirely to the clearance of faults, although with
the settings usually adopted some measure of overload
protection may be obtained.

9.2 CO-ORDINATION PROCEDURE

Correct overcurrent relay application requires knowledge
of the fault current that can flow in each part of the
network. Since large-scale tests are normally
impracticable, system analysis must be used - see
Chapter 4 for details. The data required for a relay
setting study are:
i. a one-line diagram of the power system involved,
showing the type and rating of the protection
devices and their associated current transformers
ii. the impedances in ohms, per cent or per unit, of
all power transformers, rotating machine and
feeder circuits
iii. the maximum and minimum values of short circuit
currents that are expected to flow through each
protection device
iv. the maximum load current through protection
devices
v. the starting current requirements of motors and
the starting and locked rotor/stalling times of
induction motors
vi. the transformer inrush, thermal withstand and
damage characteristics
vii. decrement curves showing the rate of decay of
the fault current supplied by the generators
viii. performance curves of the current transformers
The relay settings are first determined to give the
shortest operating times at maximum fault levels and
then checked to see if operation will also be satisfactory is sometimes described as an 'independent definite-time
at the minimum fault current expected. It is always delay relay', since its operating time is for practical
advisable to plot the curves of relays and other purposes independent of the level of overcurrent.
protection devices, such as fuses, that are to operate in It is the time delay element, therefore, which provides
series, on a common scale. It is usually more convenient the means of discrimination. The relay at B is set at the
to use a scale corresponding to the current expected at shortest time delay possible to allow the fuse to blow for
the lowest voltage base, or to use the predominant a fault at A on the secondary side of the transformer.
voltage base. The alternatives are a common MVA base After the time delay has expired, the relay output
or a separate current scale for each system voltage. contact closes to trip the circuit breaker. The relay at C
The basic rules for correct relay co-ordination can generally has a time delay setting equal to t1 seconds, and similarly
be stated as follows: for the relays at D and E.
a. whenever possible, use relays with the same If a fault occurs at E, the relay at B will operate in t
operating characteristic in series with each other seconds and the subsequent operation of the circuit
b. make sure that the relay farthest from the source breaker at B will clear the fault before the relays at C, D
has current settings equal to or less than the relays and E have time to operate. The time interval t1 between
behind it, that is, that the primary current required each relay time setting must be long enough to ensure
to operate the relay in front is always equal to or that the upstream relays do not operate before the
less than the primary current required to operate circuit breaker at the fault location has tripped and
the relay behind it. cleared the fault.
The main disadvantage of this method of discrimination
is that the longest fault clearance time occurs for faults
9.3 PRINCIPLES OF TIME/CURRENT GRADING in the section closest to the power source, where the
Among the various possible methods used to achieve fault level (MVA) is highest.
correct relay co-ordination are those using either time or
overcurrent, or a combination of both. The common aim
9.3.2 Discrimination by Current
of all three methods is to give correct discrimination.
That is to say, each one must isolate only the faulty Discrimination by current relies on the fact that the fault
section of the power system network, leaving the rest of current varies with the position of the fault because of
the system undisturbed. the difference in impedance values between the source
and the fault. Hence, typically, the relays controlling the
various circuit breakers are set to operate at suitably
9.3.1 Discrimination by Time tapered values of current such that only the relay nearest
In this method, an appropriate time setting is given to to the fault trips its breaker. Figure 9.2 illustrates the
each of the relays controlling the circuit breakers in a method.
power system to ensure that the breaker nearest to the For a fault at F1 the system short-circuit current is given
fault opens first A simple radial distribution system is by:
shown in Figure 9.1, to illustrate the principle.

where Zs = source impedance

ZL1 = cable impedance between C and B =

Figure 9.1: Radial system with time discrimination
0.24 Ohm
Overcurrent protection is provided at B, C, D and E, that
is, at the infeed end of each section of the power system.
Each protection unit comprises a definite-time delay
overcurrent relay in which the operation of the current Hence
sensitive element simply initiates the time delay element. So, a relay controlling the circuit breaker at C and set to
Provided the setting of the current element is below the operate at a fault current of 8800A would in theory
fault current value, this element plays no part in the protect the whole of the cable section between C and B,
achievement of discrimination. For this reason, the relay However, there are two important practical points that
affect this method of co-ordination:
 a. it is not practical to distinguish between a fault at margin of 20% to allow for relay errors and a further
F1 and a fault at F2, since the distance between 10% for variations in the system impedance values, it is
these points may be only a few metres, reasonable to choose a relay setting of 1.3 x 2200A, that
corresponding to a change in fault current of is 2860A, for the relay at B. Now, assuming a fault at F3,
approximately 0.1% at the end of the 11 kV cable feeding the 4MVA
b. in practice, there would be variations in the source transformer, the short-circuit current is given by:
fault level, typically from 250MVA to 130MVA. At
this lower fault level the fault current would not
exceed 6800A, even for a cable fault close to C. A
relay set at 8800A would not protect any part of Thus, assuming a 250MVA source fault level:
the cable section concerned
Discrimination by current is therefore not a practical
proposition for correct grading between the circuit
breakers at C and B. However, the problem changes
appreciably when there is significant impedance Alternatively, assuming a source fault level of 130MVA:
between the two circuit breakers concerned. Consider
the grading required between the circuit breakers at C
and A in Figure 9.2. Assuming a fault at F4, the short-
circuit current is given by:

In other words, for either value of source level, the relay

at B would operate correctly for faults anywhere on the
11 kV cable feeding the transformer.
where Zs = source impedance
= 0.485 Ohm.
9.3.3 Discrimination by both Time and Current
ZL1 = cable impedance between C and B =
Each of the two methods described so far has a
0.24 Ohm.
fundamental disadvantage. In the case of discrimination
ZL2 = cable impedance between B and 4 MVA by time alone, the disadvantage is due to the fact that
transformer the more severe faults are cleared in the longest
= 0.04 Ohm. ZT = operating time. On the other hand, discrimination by
current can be applied only where there is appreciable
transformer impedance
impedance between the two circuit breakers concerned.
It is because of the limitations imposed by the
independent use of either time or current co-ordination
that the inverse time overcurrent relay characteristic has
evolved. With this characteristic, the time of operation
is inversely proportional to the fault current level and the
actual characteristic is a function of both 'time'
and 'current' settings. Figure 9.3 illustrates the
characteristics of two relays given different current/time
settings. For a large variation in fault current between
the two ends of the feeder, faster operating times can be
achieved by the relays nearest to the source, where the
fault level is the highest. The disadvantages of grading
by time or current alone are overcome.
The selection of overcurrent relay characteristics
generally starts with selection of the correct
characteristic to be used for each relay, followed by
Figure 9.2: Radial system with current discrimination
choice of the relay current settings. Finally the grading
margins and hence time settings of the relays are
For this reason, a relay controlling the circuit breaker at
determined. An iterative procedure is often required to
6 and set to operate at a current of 2200A plus a safety
resolve conflicts, and may involve use of non-optimal
margin would not operate for a fault at F4 and would
characteristics, current or time grading settings.
thus discriminate with the relay at A. Assuming a safety
 Table 9.1: Definitions of standard relay characteristics

Figure 9.4 (a): IDMT relay characteristics

Figure 9.3: Relay characteristics for different settings

9.4 STANDARD I.D.M.T. OVERCURRENT RELAYS

The current/time tripping characteristics of IDMT relays

may need to be varied according to the tripping time
required and the characteristics of other protection devices
used in the network. For these purposes, I EC 60255 defines
a number of standard characteristics as follows:

Standard Inverse (SI)

Very Inverse (VI)
Extremely Inverse (El)
Definite Time (DT)

(a): Relay characteristics to IEC 60255

 Figure 9.5: Typical time/current characteristics of
standard IDMT relay

Relays for power systems designed to North American

practice utilise ANSI/IEEE curves. Table 9.1 (b) gives the
mathematical description of these characteristics and
Figure 9.4(b) shows the curves standardised to a time
dial setting of 1.0.

Figure 9.4 (b): IDMTrelay characteristics 9.5 COMBINED I.D.M.T. AND HIGH SET
INSTANTANEOUS OVERCURRENT RELAYS
A high-set instantaneous element can be used where the
The mathematical descriptions of the curves are given in
source impedance is small in comparison with the
Table 9.1 (a), and the curves based on a common setting
current and time multiplier setting of 1 second are protected circuit impedance. This makes a reduction in
shown in Figure 9.4(a). The tripping characteristics for the tripping time at high fault levels possible. It also
different TMS settings using the SI curve are illustrated improves the overall system grading by allowing the
in Figure 9.5. 'discriminating curves' behind the high set instantaneous
elements to be lowered.
Although the curves are only shown for discrete values of
TMS, continuous adjustment may be possible in an As shown in Figure 9.6, one of the advantages of the high
electromechanical relay. For other relay types, the setting set instantaneous elements is to reduce the operating
steps may be so small as to effectively provide continuous time of the circuit protection by the shaded area below
adjustment. In addition, almost all overcurrent relays are the 'discriminating curves'. If the source impedance
also fitted with a high-set instantaneous element. remains constant, it is then possible to achieve high-
speed protection over a large section of the protected
In most cases, use of the standard SI curve proves
circuit. The rapid fault clearance time achieved helps to
satisfactory, but if satisfactory grading cannot be
minimise damage at the fault location. Figure 9.6 also
achieved, use of the VI or El curves may help to resolve
illustrates a further important advantage gained by the
the problem. When digital or numeric relays are used,
use of high set instantaneous elements. Grading with
other characteristics may be provided, including the
the relay immediately behind the relay that has the
possibility of user-definable curves. More details are
instantaneous elements enabled is carried out at the
provided in the following sections.
current setting of the instantaneous elements and not at
the maximum fault level. For example, in Figure 9.6, 9.6 VERY INVERSE (VI) OVERCURRENT RELAYS
relay R2 is graded with relay R3 at 500A and not 1100A,
Very inverse overcurrent relays are particularly suitable if
allowing relay R2 to be set with a TMS of 0.15 instead of
there is a substantial reduction of fault current as the
0.2 while maintaining a grading margin between relays
distance from the power source increases, i.e. there is a
of 0.4s. Similarly, relay R1 is graded with R2 at 1400A
substantial increase in fault impedance. The VI operating
and not at 2300A.
characteristic is such that the operating time is
approximately doubled for reduction in current from 7 to
4 times the relay current setting. This permits the use of
the same time multiplier setting for several relays in series.
Figure 9.7 provides a comparison of the SI and VI curves
for a relay. The VI curve is much steeper and therefore
the operation increases much faster for the same
reduction in current compared to the SI curve. This
enables the requisite grading margin to be obtained with
a lower TMS for the same setting current, and hence the
tripping time at source can be minimised.

Figure 9.6: Characteristics of combined IDMT

and high-set instantaneous overcurrent relays

9.5.1 Transient Overreach

The reach of a relay is that part of the system protected
by the relay if a fault occurs. A relay that operates for a
fault that lies beyond the intended zone of protection is
said to overreach.
When using instantaneous overcurrent elements, care
must be exercised in choosing the settings to prevent
them operating for faults beyond the protected section.
The initial current due to a d.c. offset in the current wave
may be greater than the relay pick-up value and cause it
to operate. This may occur even though the steady state
r.m.s. value of the fault current for a fault at a point
beyond the required reach point may be less than the
relay setting. This phenomenon is called transient
overreach, and is defined as: Figure 9.7: Comparison of 51 and VI relay characteristics

...Equation 9.1
where: 9.7 EXTREMELY INVERSE (EI) OVERCURRENT RELAYS'
I 1 = r.m.s steady-state relay pick-up current I 2 =
steady state r.m.s. current which when fully With this characteristic, the operation time is
offset just causes relay pick-up approximately inversely proportional to the square of the
applied current. This makes it suitable for the protection
When applied to power transformers, the high set
of distribution feeder circuits in which the feeder is
instantaneous overcurrent elements must be set above
subjected to peak currents on switching in, as would be
the maximum through fault current than the power
the case on a power circuit supplying refrigerators,
transformer can supply for a fault across its LV terminals,
pumps, water heaters and so on, which remain
in order to maintain discrimination with the relays on
connected even after a prolonged interruption of supply.
the LV side of the transformer.
The long time operating characteristic of the
extremely
inverse relay at normal peak load values of current also is properly documented, along with the reasons for use.
makes this relay particularly suitable for grading with Since the standard curves provided cover most cases with
fuses. Figure 9.8 shows typical curves to illustrate this. adequate tripping times, and most equipment is designed
It can be seen that use of the El characteristic gives a with standard protection curves in mind, the need to utilise
satisfactory grading margin, but use of the VI or SI this form of protection is relatively rare.
characteristics at the same settings does not. Another
Digital and numerical relays may also include pre-
application of this relay is in conjunction with auto-
defined logic schemes utilising digital (relay) I/O
reclosers in low voltage distribution circuits. The
provided in the relay to implement standard schemes
majority of faults are transient in nature and
such as CB failure and trip circuit supervision. This saves
unnecessary blowing and replacing of the fuses present
in final circuits of such a system can be avoided if the the provision of separate relay or PLC (Programmable
auto-reclosers are set to operate before the fuse blows. Logic Controller) hardware to perform these functions.
If the fault persists, the auto-recloser locks itself in the
closed position after one opening and the fuse blows to
9.9 INDEPENDENT (DEFINITE) TIME
isolate the fault.

Overeurrent relays are normally also provided with

elements having independent or definite time
characteristics. These characteristics provide a ready
means of co-ordinating several relays in series in
situations in which the system fault current varies very
widely due to changes in source impedance, as there is
no change in time with the variation of fault current.
The time/current characteristics of this curve are shown
in Figure 9.9, together with those of the standard I.D.M.T.
characteristic, to indicate that lower operating times are
achieved by the inverse relay at the higher values of fault
current, whereas the definite time relay has lower
operating times at the lower current values.
Vertical lines T1, T2, T3, and T4 indicate the reduction in
operating times achieved by the inverse relay at high
fault levels.

9.10 RELAY CURRENT SETTING

An overcurrent relay has a minimum operating current,
known as the current setting of the relay. The current
setting must be chosen so that the relay does not
operate for the maximum load current in the circuit
being protected, but does operate for a current equal or
greater to the minimum expected fault current.
Although by using a current setting that is only just
Figure 9.8: Comparison of relay above the maximum load current in the circuit a certain
and fuse characteristics
degree of protection against overloads as well as faults
may be provided, the main function of overcurrent
9.8 OTHER RELAY CHARACTERISTICS
protection is to isolate primary system faults and not to
User definable curves may be provided on some types of provide overload protection. In general, the current
digital or numerical relays. The general principle is that the setting will be selected to be above the maximum short
user enters a series of current/time co-ordinates that are time rated current of the circuit involved. Since all relays
stored in the memory of the relay. Interpolation between have hysteresis in their current settings, the setting must
points is used to provide a smooth trip characteristic. Such be sufficiently high to allow the relay to reset when the
a feature, if available, may be used in special cases if none rated current of the circuit is being carried. The amount
of the standard tripping characteristics is suitable. of hysteresis in the current setting is denoted by the pick-
However, grading of upstream protection may become up/drop-off ratio of a relay - the value for a modern relay
more difficult, and it is necessary to ensure that the curve is typically 0.95. Thus, a relay minimum current
 Figure 9.9: Comparison of definite time and standard t.D.M.T. relay

setting of at least 1.05 times the short-time rated

ii. relay timing errors
current of the circuit is likely to be required.
iii. the overshoot time of the relay

iv. CT errors
9.11 RELAY TIME GRADING MARGIN
v. final margin on completion of operation
The time interval that must be allowed between the
operation of two adjacent relays in order to achieve Factors (ii) and (iii] above depend to a certain extent on
correct discrimination between them is called the grading the relay technology used - an electromechanical relay,
margin. If a grading margin is not provided, or is for instance, will have a larger overshoot time than a
insufficient, more than one relay will operate for a fault,
numerical relay.
leading to difficulties in determining the location of the
fault and unnecessary loss of supply to some consumers. Grading is initially carried out for the maximum fault
level at the relaying point under consideration, but a
The grading margin depends on a number of factors:
check is also made that the required grading margin
i. the fault current interrupting time of the circuit exists for all current levels between relay pick-up current
breaker and maximum fault level.
9.11.1 Circuit Breaker Interrupting Time
The circuit breaker interrupting the fault must have
completely interrupted the current before the
discriminating relay ceases to be energised. The time
taken is dependent on the type of circuit breaker used
and the fault current to be interrupted. Manufacturers
normally provide the fault interrupting time at rated
interrupting capacity and this value is invariably used in
the calculation of grading margin.

9.11.2 Relay Timing Error

All relays have errors in their timing compared to the
ideal characteristic as defined in IEC 60255. For a relay
specified to IEC 60255, a relay error index is quoted that
determines the maximum timing error of the relay. The
timing error must be taken into account when
determining the grading margin.

9.11.3 Overshoot
When the relay is de-energised, operation may continue
for a little longer until any stored energy has been
dissipated. For example, an induction disc relay will have
stored kinetic energy in the motion of the disc; static
relay circuits may have energy stored in capacitors. Figure 9.10; Typical limits of accuracy from IEC 60255-4 for
Relay design is directed to minimising and absorbing an inverse definite minimum time overcurrent relay

these energies, but some allowance is usually necessary.

The overshoot time is defined as the difference between 9.12 RECOMMENDED GRADING INTERVALS
the operating time of a relay at a specified value of input The following sections give the recommended overall
current and the maximum duration of input current, grading margins for between different protection devices.
which when suddenly reduced below the relay operating
level, is insufficient to cause relay operation.
9.12.1 Grading: Relay to Relay
9.11.4 CT Errors The total interval required to cover the above items
Current transformers have phase and ratio errors due to depends on the operating speed of the circuit breakers
the exciting current required to magnetise their cores. and the relay performance. At one time 0.5s was a
The result is that the CT secondary current is not an normal grading margin. With faster modern circuit
identical scaled replica of the primary current. This leads breakers and a lower relay overshoot time, 0.4s is
to errors in the operation of relays, especially in the time reasonable, while under the best conditions even lower
of operation. CT errors are not relevant when intervals may be practical.
independent definite-time delay overcurrent relays are The use of a fixed grading margin is popular, but it may
being considered. be better to calculate the required value for each relay
location. This more precise margin comprises a fixed
9.11.5 Final Margin time, covering circuit breaker fault interrupting time,
relay overshoot time and a safety margin, plus a variable
After the above allowances have been made, the
time that allows for relay and CT errors. Table 9.2 gives
discriminating relay must just fail to complete its
typical relay errors according to the technology used.
operation. Some extra allowance, or safety margin, is
required to ensure that relay operation does not occur. It should be noted that use of a fixed grading margin is
only appropriate at high fault levels that lead to short
9.11.6 Overall Accuracy relay operating times. At lower fault current levels, with
longer operating times, the permitted error specified in
The overall limits of accuracy according to IEC 60255-4 IEC 60255 (7.5% of operating time) may exceed the fixed
for an IDMT relay with standard inverse characteristic grading margin, resulting in the possibility that the relay
are shown in Figure 9.10. fails to grade correctly while remaining within
specification. This requires consideration when follows an law. So, to achieve proper co-ordination
considering the grading margin at low fault current levels. between two fuses in series, it is necessary to ensure that
the total taken by the smaller fuse is not greater
A practical solution for determining the optimum
than the pre-arcing value of the larger fuse. It has
grading margin is to assume that the relay nearer to the
been established by tests that satisfactory grading
fault has a maximum possible timing error of +2E, where
between the two fuses will generally be achieved if the
E is the basic timing error. To this total effective error for
current rating ratio between them is greater than two.
the relay, a further 10% should be added for the overall
current transformer error.
9.12.3 Grading: Fuse to Relay
For grading inverse time relays with fuses, the basic
approach is to ensure whenever possible that the relay
backs up the fuse and not vice versa. If the fuse is
upstream of the relay, it is very difficult to maintain
correct discrimination at high values of fault current
because of the fast operation of the fuse.
Table 9.2: Typical relay timing errors - standard IDMT relays
The relay characteristic best suited for this co-ordination
with fuses is normally the extremely inverse (El)
A suitable minimum grading time interval, t', may be characteristic as it follows a similar characteristic. To
calculated as follows: ensure satisfactory co-ordination between relay and
fuse, the primary current setting of the relay should be
approximately three times the current rating of the fuse.
...Equation 9.2
The grading margin for proper co-ordination, when
where: expressed as a fixed quantity, should not be less than
Er = relay timing error (IEC 60255-4) 0.4s or, when expressed as a variable quantity, should
Ect = allowance for CT ratio error (%) have a minimum value of:
t = operating time of relay nearer fault (s) t ' = 0 .4 t +0 . 1 5 S e co n ds ...Equation 9.4
tCB = CB interrupting time (s)
t0 = relay overshoot time (s) where t is the nominal operating time of fuse. Section
ts = safety margin (s) 9.20.1 gives an example of fuse to relay grading.
If, for example t-0.5s, the time interval for an
electromechanical relay tripping a conventional circuit
breaker would be 0.375s, whereas, at the lower extreme, 9.13 CALCULATION OF PHASE FAULT
for a static relay tripping a vacuum circuit breaker, the OVERCURRENT RELAY SETTINGS
interval could be as low as 0.24s. The correct co-ordination of overcurrent relays in a power
When the overcurrent relays have independent definite system requires the calculation of the estimated relay
time delay characteristics, it is not necessary to include settings in terms of both current and time.
the allowance for CT error. Hence: The resultant settings are then traditionally plotted in
suitable log/log format to show pictorially that a suitable
grading margin exists between the relays at adjacent
...Equation 9.3
substations. Plotting may be done by hand, but nowadays
is more commonly achieved using suitable software.
Calculation of specific grading times for each relay can
often be tedious when performing a protection grading The information required at each relaying point to allow
calculation on a power system. Table 9.2 also gives a relay setting calculation to proceed is given in Section
practical grading times at high fault current levels 9.2. The principal relay data may be tabulated in a table
between overcurrent relays for different technologies. similar to that shown in Table 9.3, if only to assist in
Where relays of different technologies are used, the time record keeping.
appropriate to the technology of the downstream relay
should be used.

9.12.2 Grading: Fuse to Fuse

The operating time of a fuse is a function of both the
Table 9.3: Typical relay data table
pre-arcing and arcing time of the fusing element, which
It is usual to plot all time/current characteristics to a 9.14 DIRECTIONAL PHASE FAULT
common voltage/MVA base on log/log scales. The plot OVERCURRENT RELAYS
includes all relays in a single path, starting with the relay
When fault current can flow in both directions through
nearest the load and finishing with the relay nearest the the relay location, it may be necessary to make the
source of supply. response of the relay directional by the introduction of a
A separate plot is required for each independent path, directional control facility. The facility is provided by use
and the settings of any relays that lie on multiple paths of additional voltage inputs to the relay.
must be carefully considered to ensure that the final
setting is appropriate for all conditions. Earth faults are
9.14.1 Relay Connections
considered separately from phase faults and require
separate plots. There are many possibilities for a suitable connection of
voltage and current inputs. The various connections are
After relay settings have been finalised, they are entered
dependent on the phase angle, at unity system power
in a table. One such table is shown in Table 9.3. This also
factor, by which the current and voltage applied to the
assists in record keeping and during commissioning of
relay are displaced. Reference [9.1] details all of the
the relays at site. connections that have been used. However, only very few
are used in current practice and these are described below.
9.13.1 Independent (definite) Time Relays In a digital or numerical relay, the phase displacements are
realised by the use of software, while electromechanical
The selection of settings for independent (definite) time
and static relays generally obtain the required phase
relays presents little difficulty. The overcurrent elements
displacements by suitable connection of the input
must be given settings that are lower, by a reasonable
quantities to the relay. The history of the topic results in
margin, than the fault current that is likely to flow to a
the relay connections being defined as if they were
fault at the remote end of the system up to which back-
obtained by suitable connection of the input quantities,
up protection is required, with the minimum plant in irrespective of the actual method used.
service.
The settings must be high enough to avoid relay
9.14.2 90° Relay Quadrature Connection
operation with the maximum probable load, a suitable
margin being allowed for large motor starting currents or This is the standard connection for static, digital or numerical
transformer inrush transients. relays. Depending on the angle by which the applied voltage
is shifted to produce maximum relay sensitivity (the Relay
Time settings will be chosen to allow suitable grading
Characteristic Angle, or RCA) two types are available.
margins, as discussed in Section 9.12.

9.13.2 Inverse Time Relays

When the power system consists of a series of short
sections of cable, so that the total line impedance is low,
the value of fault current will be controlled principally by
the impedance of transformers or other fixed plant and
will not vary greatly with the location of the fault. In such
cases, it may be possible to grade the inverse time relays
in very much the same way as definite time relays.
However, when the prospective fault current varies
substantially with the location of the fault, it is possible to
make use of this fact by employing both current and time
grading to improve the overall performance of the relay.
The procedure begins by selection of the appropriate
relay characteristics. Current settings are then chosen,
with f i n a l l y the time multiplier settings to give
appropriate grading margins between relays. Otherwise,
the procedure is similar to that for definite time delay
relays. An example of a relay setting study is given in
Figure 9.11: Vector diagram for the 90°-30° connection
Section 9.20.1. (phase A element)
9. 74.2 7 90°-30° characteristic (30° RCA) For a digital or numerical relay, it is common to allow
user-selection of the RCA angle within a wide range.
The A phase relay element is supplied with Ia current and
Vbc voltage displaced by 30° in an anti-clockwise Theoretically, three fault conditions can cause
direction. In this case, the relay maximum sensitivity is maloperation of the directional element:
produced when the current lags the system phase to
i. a phase-phase-ground fault on a plain feeder
neutral voltage by 60°. This connection gives a correct
directional tripping zone over the current range of 30° ii. a phase-ground fault on a transformer feeder with
leading to 150° lagging; see Figure 9.11. The relay the zero sequence source in front of the relay
sensitivity at unity power factor is 50% of the relay iii. a phase-phase fault on a power transformer with
maximum sensitivity and 86.6% at zero power factor the relay looking into the delta winding of the
lagging. This characteristic is recommended when the transformer
relay is used for the protection of plain feeders with the
zero sequence source behind the relaying point. It should be remembered, however, that the conditions
assumed above to establish the maximum angular
9.14.2.2 90°-45° characteristic (45° RCA) displacement between the current and voltage quantities
The A phase relay element is supplied with current Ia and at the relay are such that, in practice, the magnitude of
voltage Vbc displaced by 45° in an anti-clockwise the current input to the relay would be insufficient to
direction. The relay maximum sensitivity is produced cause the overcurrent element to operate. It can be
when the current lags the system phase to neutral shown analytically that the possibility of maloperation
voltage by 45°. This connection gives a correct with the 90°-45° connection is, for all practical purposes,
directional tripping zone over the current range of 45° non-existent.
leading to 135° lagging. The relay sensitivity at unity
power factor is 70.7% of the maximum torque and the
same at zero power factor lagging; see Figure 9.12. 9.14.3 Application of Directional Relays

This connection is recommended for the protection of If non-unit, non-directional relays are applied to parallel
transformer feeders or feeders that have a zero sequence feeders having a single generating source, any faults that
source in front of the relay. It is essential in the case of might occur on any one line will, regardless of the relay
parallel transformers or transformer feeders, in order to settings used, isolate both lines and completely
ensure correct relay operation for faults beyond the disconnect the power supply. With this type of system
star/delta transformer. This connection should also be configuration, it is necessary to apply directional relays
used whenever single-phase directional relays are at the receiving end and to grade them with the non-
applied to a circuit where a current distribution of the directional relays at the sending end, to ensure correct
form 2-1-1 may arise. discriminative operation of the relays during line faults.
This is done by setting the directional relays R'1 and R2'
in Figure 9.13 with their directional elements looking
into the protected line, and giving them lower time and
current settings than relays R1 and R2. The usual practice
is to set relays R1' and R2' to 50% of the normal full load
of the protected circuit and 0.1TMS, but care must be
taken to ensure that the continuous thermal rating of
the relays of twice rated current is not exceeded. An
example calculation is given in Section 9.20.3

A phase element connected Ia Vbc B

phase element connected Ib Vca C

phase element connected le Vab

Figure 9.12: Vector diagram for the 90° - 45° connection

(phase A clement) Figure 9.13: Directional relays applied to parallel feeders
9.15 RING MAINS
A particularly common arrangement within distribution
networks is the Ring Main. The primary reason for its use
is to maintain supplies to consumers in case of fault
conditions occurring on the interconnecting feeders. A
typical ring main with associated overcurrent protection
is shown in Figure 9.14. Current may flow in either
direction through the various relay locations, and
therefore directional overcurrent relays are applied.
In the case of a ring main fed at one point only, the
settings of the relays at the supply end and at the mid-
point substation are identical. They can therefore be
made non-directional, if, in the latter case, the relays are
located on the same feeder, that is, one at each end of
the feeder.
It is interesting to note that when the number of feeders
round the ring is an even number, the two relays with the
same operating time are at the same substation. They
will therefore have to be directional. When the number
of feeders is an odd number, the two relays with the
same operating time are at different substations and
therefore do not need to be directional. It may also be
noted that, at intermediate substations, whenever the
operating time of the relays at each substation are
different, the difference between their operating times is
never less than the grading margin, so the relay with the
Figure 9.14: Grading of ring mains
longer operating time can be non-directional. With
modern numerical relays, a directional facility is often
available for little or no extra cost, so that it may be relay, such as those at intermediate substations around
the ring where the power can flow in either direction.
simpler in practice to apply directional relays at all
The directional relays are set in accordance with the
locations. Also, in the event of an additional feeder invariable rule, applicable to all forms of directional
being added subsequently, the relays that can be non- protection, that the current in the system must flow
directional need to be re-determined and will not from the substation busbars into the protected line in
necessarily be the same - giving rise to problems of order that the relays may operate.
changing a non-directional relay for a directional one. If Disconnection of the faulted line is carried out according
a VT was not provided originally, this may be very to time and fault current direction. As in any parallel
difficult to install at a later date. system, the fault current has two parallel paths and
divides itself in the inverse ratio of their impedances.
Thus, at each substation in the ring, one set of relays will
9.15.1 Grading of Ring Mains be made inoperative because of the direction of current
The usual grading procedure for relays in a ring main flow, and the other set operative. It will also be found
circuit is to open the ring at the supply point and to that the operating times of the relays that are
grade the relays first clockwise and then anti-clockwise. inoperative are faster than those of the operative relays,
That is, the relays looking in a clockwise direction around with the exception of the mid-point substation, where
the ring are arranged to operate in the sequence 1-2-3- the operating times of relays 3 and 3' happen to be the
4-5-6 and the relays looking in the anti-clockwise same.
direction are arranged to operate in the sequence 1'-2'-3'-
The relays that are operative are graded downwards
4'-5'-6', as shown in Figure 9.14.
towards the fault and the last to be affected by the fault
The arrows associated with the relaying points indicate operates first. This applies to both paths to the fault.
the direction of current flow that will cause the relay to Consequently, the faulted line is the only one to be
operate. A double-headed arrow is used to indicate a disconnected from the ring and the power supply is
non-directional relay, such as those at the supply point maintained to all the substations.
where the power can flow only in one direction. A When two or more power sources feed into a ring main,
single-headed arrow is used to indicate a directional
time graded overcurrent protection is difficult to apply
and full discrimination may not be possible. With two
sources of supply, two solutions are possible. The first is
to open the ring at one of the supply points, whichever is
more convenient, by means of a suitable high set
instantaneous overcurrent relay. The ring is then graded
as in the case of a single infeed. The second method is to
treat the section of the ring between the two supply
points as a continuous bus separate from the ring and to
protect it with a unit protection system, and then proceed
to grade the ring as in the case of a single infeed. Section
9.20.4 provides a worked example of ring main grading.

9.16 EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

In the foregoing description, attention has been
principally directed towards phase fault overcurrent
protection. More sensitive protection against earth
faults can be obtained by using a relay that responds
only to the residual current of the system, since a
residual component exists only when fault current flows
to earth. The earth-fault relay is therefore completely
unaffected by load currents, whether balanced or not,
and can be given a setting which is limited only by the
design of the equipment and the presence of unbalanced
leakage or capacitance currents to earth. This is an
important consideration if settings of only a few percent
of system rating are considered, since leakage currents
may produce a residual quantity of this order.
On the whole, the low settings permissible for earth-
fault relays are very useful, as earth faults are not only
by far the most frequent of all faults, but may be limited
in magnitude by the neutral earthing impedance, or by
earth contact resistance.
The residual component is extracted by connecting the
line current transformers in parallel as shown in Figure
Figure 9.15: Residual connection of current
9.15. The simple connection shown in Figure 9.15(a] can transformers to earth-fault relays
be extended by connecting overcurrent elements in the
individual phase leads, as illustrated in Figure 9.15(b),
and inserting the earth-fault relay between the star 9.16.1 Effective Setting of Earth-Fault Relays
points of the relay group and the current transformers.
The primary setting of an overcurrent relay can usually
Phase fault overcurrent relays are often provided on only be taken as the relay setting multiplied by the CT ratio.
two phases since these will detect any interphase fault; The CT can be assumed to maintain a sufficiently
the connections to the earth-fault relay are unaffected accurate ratio so that, expressed as a percentage of rated
by this consideration. The arrangement is illustrated in current, the primary setting will be directly proportional
Figure 9.15(c). to the relay setting. However, this may not be true for
The typical settings for earth-fault relays are 30%-40% of an earth-fault relay. The performance varies according
to the relay technology used.
the full-load current or minimum earth-fault current on
the part of the system being protected. However, 9.16.1.1 Static, digital and numerical relays
account may have to be taken of the variation of setting
When static, digital or numerical relays are used the
with relay burden as described in Section 9.16.1 below.
relatively low value and limited variation of the relay
If greater sensitivity than this is required, one of the
burden over the relay setting range results in the above
methods described in Section 9.16.3 for obtaining
statement holding true. The variation of input burden
sensitive earth-fault protection must be used.
with current should be checked to ensure that the
variation is sufficiently small. If not, substantial errors to be shorter than might be expected.
may occur, and the setting procedure will have to follow
At still higher input currents, the CT performance falls off
that for electromechanical relays.
until finally the output current ceases to increase
19.16.1.2 ElectromechanicaTrelays substantially. Beyond this value of input current,
operation is further complicated by distortion of the
When using an electromechanical relay, the earth-fault
output current waveform.
element generally will be similar to the phase elements.
It will have a similar VA consumption at setting, but will
impose a far higher burden at nominal or rated current,
because of its lower setting. For example, a relay with a
setting of 20% will have an impedance of 25 times that
of a similar element with a setting of 100%. Very
frequently, this burden will exceed the rated burden of
the current transformers. It might be thought that
correspondingly larger current transformers should be
used, but this is considered to be unnecessary. The
current transformers that handle the phase burdens can
operate the earth fault relay and the increased errors can
easily be allowed for.
Not only is the exciting current of the energising current
transformer proportionately high due to the large burden
of the earth-fault relay, but the voltage drop on this relay
is impressed on the other current transformers of the
paralleled group, whether they are carrying primary
current or not. The total exciting current is therefore the
product of the magnetising loss in one CT and the
number of current transformers in parallel. The
summated magnetising loss can be appreciable in
comparison with the operating current of the relay, and
in extreme cases where the setting current is low or the
current transformers are of low performance, may even
exceed the output to the relay. The 'effective setting Figure 9.16: Effective setting of earth-fauit relay
current' in secondary terms is the sum of the relay
setting current and the total excitation loss. Strictly
speaking, the effective setting is the vector sum of the
relay setting current and the total exciting current, but
the arithmetic sum is near enough, because of the
similarity of power factors. It is instructive to calculate
the effective setting for a range of setting values of a
relay, a process that is set out in Table 9.4, with the
results illustrated in Figure 9.16.
The effect of the relatively high relay impedance and the
summation of CT excitation losses in the residual circuit
is augmented still further by the fact that, at setting, the Table 9.4: Calculation of effective settings

flux density in the current transformers corresponds to

the bottom bend of the excitation characteristic. The 9.16.2 Time Grading of Earth-Fault Relays
exciting impedance under this condition is relatively low,
causing the ratio error to be high. The current The time grading of earth-fault relays can be arranged in
transformer actually improves in performance with the same manner as for phase fault relays. The
increased primary current, while the relay impedance time/primary current characteristic for electro-
decreases until, with an input current several times mechanical relays cannot be kept proportionate to the
greater than the primary setting, the multiple of setting relay characteristic with anything like the accuracy that
current in the relay is appreciably higher than the is possible for phase fault relays. As shown above, the
multiple of primary setting current which is applied to ratio error of the current transformers at relay setting
the primary circuit. This causes the relay operating time current may be very high. It is clear that time grading of
electromechanical earth-fault relays is not such a simple
matter as the procedure adopted for phase relays in
Table 9.3. Either the above factors must be taken into
account with the errors calculated for each current level,
making the process much more tedious, or longer
grading margins must be allowed. However, for other
types of relay, the procedure adopted for phase fault
relays can be used.

9.16.3 Sensitive Earth-Fault Protection

LV systems are not normally earthed through an

impedance, due to the resulting overvoltages that may
occur and consequential safety implications. HV systems
may be designed to accommodate such overvoltages, but
not the majority of LV systems.

However, it is quite common to earth HV systems through

an impedance that limits the earth-fault current Further,
in some countries, the resistivity of the earth path may be
very high due to the nature of the ground itself (e.g.
desert or rock). A fault to earth not involving earth
conductors may result in the flow of only a small current,
insufficient to operate a normal protection system. A
similar difficulty also arises in the case of broken line
conductors, which, after falling on to hedges or dry
metalled roads, remain energised because of the low
leakage current, and therefore present a danger to life.

To overcome the problem, it is necessary to provide an

earth-fault protection system with a setting that is
considerably lower than the normal line protection. This
presents no difficulty to a modern digital or numerical
relay. However, older electromechanical or static relays
may present difficulties due to the high effective burden
they may present to the CT.

The required sensitivity cannot normally be provided by

means of conventional CT's. A core balance current Figure 9.17: Positioning of core balance
transformer (CBCT) will normally be used. The CBCT is a current transformers
current transformer mounted around all three phase (and
conditions limits the application of non-directional sensitive
neutral if present) conductors so that the CT secondary
earth-fault protection. Such residual effects can occur due
current is proportional to the residual (i.e. earth) current.
to unbalanced leakage or capacitance in the system.
Such a CT can be made to have any convenient ratio
suitable for operating a sensitive earth-fault relay
element. By use of such techniques, earth fault settings 9.17 DIRECTIONAL EARTH-FAULT OVERCURRENT
down to 10% of the current rating of the circuit to be PROTECTION
protected can be obtained.
Directional earth-fault overcurrent may need to be
Care must be taken to position a CBCT correctly in a applied in the following situations:
cable circuit. If the cable sheath is earthed, the earth
i. for earth-fault protection where the overcurrent
connection from the cable gland/sheath junction must
protection is by directional relays
be taken through the CBCT primary to ensure that phase-
sheath faults are detected. Figure 9.17 shows the correct ii. in insulated-earth networks
and incorrect methods. With the incorrect method, the iii. in Petersen coil earthed networks
fault current in the sheath is not seen as an unbalance
iv. where the sensitivity of sensitive earth-fault
current and hence relay operation does not occur.
protection is insufficient - use of a directional
The normal residual current that may flow during healthy earth-fault relay may provide greater sensitivity
The relay elements previously described as phase fault When the main voltage transformer associated with the
elements respond to the flow of earth fault current, and high voltage system is not provided with a broken delta
it is important that their directional response be correct secondary winding to polarise the directional earth fault
for this condition. If a special earth fault element is relay, it is permissible to use three single-phase
provided as described in Section 9.16 (which will normally interposing voltage transformers. Their primary windings
be the case), a related directional element is needed. are connected in star and their secondary windings are
connected in broken delta. For satisfactory operation,
however, it is necessary to ensure that the main voltage
9.17.1 Relay Connections transformers are of a suitable construction to reproduce
The residual current is extracted as shown in Figure 9.15. the residual voltage and that the star point of the
Since this current may be derived from any phase, in primary winding is solidly earthed. In addition, the star
order to obtain a directional response it is necessary to point of the primary windings of the interposing voltage
obtain an appropriate quantity to polarise the relay. In transformers must be connected to the star point of the
digital or numerical relays there are usually two choices secondary windings of the main voltage transformers.
provided. The residual voltage will be zero for balanced phase
9.17.11 Residual voltage voltages. For simple earth-fault conditions, it will be
equal to the depression of the faulted phase voltage. In
A suitable quantity is the residual voltage of the system. all cases the residual voltage is equal to three times the
This is the vector sum of the individual phase voltages. If zero sequence voltage drop on the source impedance and
the secondary windings of a three-phase, five limb is therefore displaced from the residual current by the
voltage transformer or three single-phase units are characteristic angle of the source impedance. The
connected in broken delta, the voltage developed across residual quantities are applied to the directional element
its terminals will be the vector sum of the phase to of the earth-fault relay.
ground voltages and hence the residual voltage of the
system, as illustrated in Figure 9.18. The residual current is phase offset from the residual
voltage and hence a n g l e adjustment is required.
The primary star point of the VT must be earthed. Typically, the current will lag the polarising voltage. The
However, a three-phase, three limb VT is not suitable, as method of system earthing also affects the Relay
there is no path for the residual magnetic flux. Characteristic Angle (RCA), and the following settings
are usual:
i. resistance-earthed system: 0° RCA
ii. distribution system, solidly-earthed: -45° RCA
iii. transmission system, solidly-earthed: -60° RCA
The different settings for distribution and transmission
systems arise from the different X/R ratios found in these
systems.
9.17.1.2 Negative sequence current
The residual voltage at any point in the system may be
insufficient to polarise a directional relay, or the voltage
transformers available may not satisfy the conditions for
providing residual voltage. In these circumstances,
negative sequence current can be used as the polarising
quantity. The fault direction is determined by comparison
of the negative sequence voltage with the negative
sequence current. The RCA must be set based on the
angle of the negative phase sequence source voltage.

9.18 EARTH-FAULT PROTECTION ON INSULATED

NETWORKS
Occasionally, a power system is run completely insulated
from earth. The advantage of this is that a single phase-
earth fault on the system does not cause any earth fault
Figure 9.18: Voltage polarised directional earth fault relay
current to flow, and so the whole system remains 9.18.2 Sensitive Earth Fault
operational. The system must be designed to withstand high
This method is principally applied to MV systems, as it
transient and steady-state overvoltages however, so its use
relies on detection of the imbalance in the per-phase
is generally restricted to low and medium voltage systems.
charging currents that occurs.
It is vital that detection of a single phase-earth fault is
Figure 9.19 illustrates the situation that occurs when a
achieved, so that the fault can be traced and rectified.
single phase-earth fault is present. The relays on the
While system operation is unaffected for this condition,
healthy feeders see the unbalance in charging currents
the occurrence of a second earth fault allows substantial
for their own feeders. The relay in the faulted feeder sees
currents to flow. the charging currents in the rest of the system, with the
The absence of earth-fault current for a single phase-earth current of its' own feeders cancelled out. Figure 9.20
fault clearly presents some difficulties in fault detection. shows the phasor diagram.
Two methods are available using modern relays.

When a single phase-earth fault occurs, the healthy

phase voltages rise by a factor of and the three phase
voltages no longer have a phasorsum of zero. Hence, a
residual voltage element can be used to detect the fault.
However, the method does not provide any
discrimination, as the unbalanced voltage occurs on the
whole of the affected section of the system. One
advantage of this method is that no CT's are required, as
voltage is being measured. However, the requirements
for the VT's as given in Section 9.17.1.1 apply.
Grading is a problem with this method, since all relays in
the affected section will see the fault. It may be possible Figure 9.20: Phosor diagram for insulated system with
C phase-earth fault
to use definite-time grading, but in general, it is not
possible to provide fully discriminative protection using
this technique. Use of Core Balance CT's is essential. With reference to
Figure 9.20, the unbalance current on the healthy
feeders lags the residual voltage by 90°. The charging
currents on these feeders will be times the
normal value, as the phase-earth voltages have risen by
this amount. The magnitude of the residual current is
therefore three times the steady-state charging current
per phase. As the residual currents on the healthy and
faulted feeders are in antiphase, use of a directional
earth fault relay can provide the discrimination required.

The polarising quantity used is the residual voltage. By

shifting this by 90°, the residual current seen by the relay
on the faulted feeder lies within the 'operate' region of
the directional characteristic, while the residual currents
on the healthy feeders lie within the 'restrain' region.
Thus, the RCA required is 90°. The relay setting has to lie
between one and three times the per-phase charging
current.

This may be calculated at the design stage, but

confirmation by means of tests on-site is usual. A single
phase-earth fault is deliberately applied and the
resulting currents noted, a process made easier in a
modern digital or numeric relay by the measurement
Figure 9.19: Current distribution in on insulated system facilities provided. As noted earlier, application of such
with a Cphase -earth fault a fault for a short period does not involve any disruption
to the network, or fault currents, but the duration should
be as short as possible to guard against a second such
fault occurring.
It is also possible to dispense with the directional element
if the relay can be set at a current value that lies between
the charging current on the feeder to be protected and
the charging current of the rest of the system.

9.19 EARTH FAULT PROTECTION ON PETERSEN COIL

EARTHED NETWORKS
Petersen Coil earthing is a special case of high
impedance earthing. The network is earthed via a
reactor, whose reactance is made nominally equal to the
total system capacitance to earth. Under this condition,
a single phase-earth fault does not result in any earth
fault current in steady-state conditions. The effect is
therefore similar to having an insulated system. The
effectiveness of the method is dependent on the
accuracy of tuning of the reactance value - changes in
system capacitance (due to system configuration
changes for instance) require changes to the coil
Figure 9.22: Distribution of currents during
reactance. In practice, perfect matching of the coil a Cphase-earth fault - radial distribution system
reactance to the system capacitance is difficult to
achieve, so that a small earth fault current will flow. Figure 9.21 illustrates a simple network earthed through
Petersen Coil earthed systems are commonly found in a Petersen Coil. The equations clearly show that, if the
areas where the system consists mainly of rural overhead reactor is correctly tuned, no earth fault current will flow.
lines, and are particularly beneficial in locations subject Figure 9.22 shows a radial distribution system earthed
to a high incidence of transient faults. using a Petersen Coil. One feeder has a phase-earth fault
To understand how to correctly apply earth fault on phase C. Figure 9.23 shows the resulting phasor
protection to such systems, system behaviour under earth diagrams, assuming that no resistance is present.
fault conditions must first be understood.

Figure 9.21: Earth fault in Petersen Coil earthed system Figure 9.23: Cphase-earth fault in Petersen Coil earthed
network: theoretical case -no resistance present in XL orXc
In Figure 9.23(a), it can be seen that the fault causes the However, in practical cases, resistance is present and
healthy phase voltages to rise by a factor of and the Figure 9.25 shows the resulting phasor diagrams. If the
charging currents lead the voltages by 90°. residual voltage Vres is used as the polarising voltage, the
residual current is phase shifted by an angle less than
Using a CBCT, the unbalance currents seen on the
90° on the faulted feeder and greater than 90° on the
healthy feeders can be seen to be a simple vector
healthy feeders.
addition of Ia1 and Ib1, and this lies at exactly 90° lagging
to the residual voltage (Figure 9.23(b)). The magnitude Hence a directional relay can be used, and with an RCA
of the residual current IR1 is equal to three times the of 0°, the healthy feeder residual current will fall in the
steady-state charging current per phase. On the faulted 'restrain' area of the relay characteristic while the
feeder, the residual current is equal to lL-lH1-lH2, as faulted feeder residual current falls in the 'operate' area.
shown in Figure 9.23(c) and more clearly by the zero
Often, a resistance is deliberately inserted in parallel
sequence network of Figure 9.24.
with the Petersen Coil to ensure a measurable earth fault
current and increase the angular difference between the
residual signals to aid relay application.
Having established that a directional relay can be used,
two possibilities exist for the type of protection element
that can be applied - sensitive earth fault and zero
sequence wattmetric.

9.19.1 Sensitive Earth Fault Protection

To apply this form of protection, the relay must meet two
requirements:
a. current measurement setting capable of being set
to very low values
b. an RCA of 0°, and capable of fine adjustment
around this value
Figure 9.24: Zero sequence network showing The sensitive current element is required because of the
residual currents
very low current that may flow - so settings of less than
O.5% of rated current may be required. However, as
compensation by the Petersen Coil may not be perfect,
low levels of steady-state earth-fault current will flow
and increase the residual current seen by the relay. An
often used setting value is the per phase charging
current of the circuit being protected.
Fine tuning of the RCA is also required about the 0°
setting, to compensate for coil and feeder resistances
and the performance of the CT used. In practice, these
adjustments are best carried out on site through
deliberate application of faults and recording of the
resulting currents.

9.19.2 Sensitive Wattmetric Protection

It can be seen in Figure 9.25 that a small angular
difference exists between the spill current on the healthy
and faulted feeders. Figure 9.26 illustrates how this
angular difference gives rise to active components of
current which are in antiphase to each other.
Consequently, the active components of zero sequence
power will also lie in similar planes and a relay capable
Figure 9.25: C phase-earth fault in Petersen Coil earthed
network: practical case with resistance present in X( or Xc
of detecting active power can make a discriminatory
 Figure 9.26: Resistive components ofspiii current

Figure 9.27: MiCOMP140

decision. If the wattmetric component of zero sequence 9.20,1 Relay Phase Fault Setting Example
power is detected in the forward direction, it indicates a - IDMT Relays/Fuses
fault on that feeder, while a power in the reverse
Consider the system shown in Figure 9.28.
direction indicates a fault elsewhere on the system. This
method of protection is more popular than the sensitive
earth fault method, and can provide greater security
against false operation due to spurious CBCT output
under non-earth fault conditions.

Wattmetric power is calculated in practice using residual

quantities instead of zero sequence ones. The resulting
values are therefore nine times the zero sequence
quantities as the residual values of current and voltage
are each three times the corresponding zero sequence
values. The equation used is:

..Equation 9.5

The current and RCA settings are as for a sensitive earth

fault relay.

Figure 9.28: IDMT relay grading example

9.20 EXAMPLES OF TIME AND CURRENT GRADING
The problem is to calculate appropriate relay settings for
This section provides details of the time/current grading
relays 1-5 inclusive. Because the example is concerned
of some example networks, to illustrate the process of
with grading, considerations such as bus-zone
relay setting calculations and relay grading. They are
based on the use of a modern numerical overcurrent
relay illustrated in Figure 9.27, with setting data taken
from this relay.
protection, and CT knee-point voltage requirements, etc.,
are not dealt with. All curves are plotted to an 11 kV
base. The contactors in series with fuses FS1/FS2 have
a maximum breaking capacity of 3kA, and relay F2 has
been set to ensure that the fuse operates prior to the
contactor for currents in excess of this value. CT's for
relays F1, F2 and 5 are existing CT's with 5A
secondaries, while the remaining CT's are new with 1A
secondaries. Relay 5 is the property of the supply utility,
and is required to be set using an SI characteristic in
order to ensure grading with upstream relays.

All impedances must first be referred to a common base,

taken as 500MVA, as follows:

9.20,1.3 CT ratio selection

This requires consideration not only of the maximum
load current, but also of the maximum secondary current
under fault conditions.
CT secondaries are generally rated to carry a short-term
current equal to 100 x rated secondary current.
Therefore, a check is required that none of the new CT
secondaries has a current of more than 100A when
maximum fault current is flowing in the primary. Using
the calculated fault currents, this condition is satisfied,
so modifications to the CT ratios are not required.
Relay overcurrent settings - Relays 1/2
These relays perform overcurrent protection of the cable
feeders, Busbar Cand backup-protection to relays F1,F2
and their associated fuses FS1 and FS2. The settings for
Relays 1 and 2 will be identical, so calculations will only
be performed for Relay 1. Consider first the current
setting of the relay.
Relay 1 must be able to reset at a current of 400A - the
rating of the feeder. The relay has a drop-off/pick-up
ratio of 0.95, so the relay current setting must not be less
than 400/0.95, or 421 A. A suitable setting that is greater
than this value is 450A. However, Section 9.12.3 also
recommends that the current setting should be three
The fault levels are calculated as follows:
times the largest fuse rating (i.e. 3 x 160A, the rating of
(i) At bus C the largest fuse on the outgoing circuits from Busbar C,
leading to a current setting of 480A, or 96% of relay
For 2 feeders,
rated primary current. Note that in this application of
relays to a distribution system, the question of maximum
and minimum fault levels are probably not relevant as
the difference between maximum and minimum fault
levels will be very small. However in other applications
For a single feeder, fault level = 178MVA where significant differences between maximum and
minimum fault levels exist, it is essential to ensure that
= 9.33kA
the selection of a current setting that is greater than full
load current does not result in the relay failing to operate
under minimum fault current conditions. Such a
situation may arise for example in a self-contained
power system with its own generation. Minimum
generation may be represented by the presence of a
single generator and the difference between minimum
fault level and maximum load level may make the choice
of relay current settings difficult.
The grading margin now has to be considered. For
simplicity, a fixed grading margin of 0.3s between relays
is used in the calculations, in accordance with Table 9,2.
Between fuse and relay, Equation 9.4 is applied, and with
fuse FS2 pre-arcing time of 0.01s (from Figure 9.29), the
grading margin is 0.154s.
Consider first the IDMT overcurrent protection. Select
the El characteristic, as fuses exist downstream, to
ensure grading. The relay must discriminate with the
longest operating time between relays F1, F2 and fuse
FS2 (being the largest fuse) at the maximum fault level
seen by relays 1 and 2. The maximum fault current seen
by relay 1 for a fault at Busbar C occurs when only one
of cables C2, C3 is in service. This is because the whole of
the fault current then flows through the feeder that is in
service. With two feeders in service, although the fault
level at Busbar Cis higher, each relay only sees half of
the total fault current, which is less than the fault for convenience, use a TMS of 1.0, slightly greater than
current with a single feeder in service. With El the required value.
characteristics used for relays F1 and F2, the operating From the grading curves of Figure 9.29, it can be seen
time for relay F1 is 0.02s at TMS=0.1 because the fault that there are no grading problems with fuse FSl or
current is greater than 20 times relay setting, at which relays FJ and F2.
point the El characteristic becomes definite time (Figure
9.4) and 0.05s for relay F2 (TMS=0.25). 9.20.1.5 Relay overcurrent settings - Relay 3

Hence select relay 1 operating time =0.3+0.05=0.35s, to This relay provides overcurrent protection for reactor R,,
ensure grading with relay F2 at a fault current of and backup overcurrent protection for cables C2 and C3.
9.33kA. The overcurrent protection also provides busbar
protection for Busbar B.
With a primary setting of 480A, a fault current of 9.33kA
represents Again, the El characteristic is used to ensure grading
with relays 1 and 2. The maximum load current is
9330/480 = 19.44 times setting 1000A. Relay 3 current setting is therefore
Thus relay 1 operating time at TMS=1.0 is 0.21s. The
required TMS setting is given by the formula:
Substituting values,
Isr3>1052A
Use a setting of 106% or 1060A, nearest available
setting above 1052A.
This value of TMS is outside the settable range of the
Relay 3 has to grade with relays 1/2 under two
relay (maximum setting 1.2). Therefore, changes must be
conditions:
made to the relay current setting in order to bring the
value of TMS required into the range available, provided 1. for a fault just beyond relays 1 and 2 where the
this does not result in the inability of the relay to operate fault current will be the busbar fault current of
at the minimum fault level. 12.2kA
By re-arrangement of the formula for the El 2. for a fault at Bus C where the fault current seen by
 either relay 1 or 2 will be half the total Bus C Relay 4 current setting must be at least
fault current of 10.6kA, i.e. 5.3kA
Examining first condition 1. With a current setting of
620A, a TMS of 1.0 and a fault current of 12.2kA, relay 1 For convenience, use a value of 100% (=3000A). Thus
will operate in 0.21s. Using a grading interval of 0.3s, relay 4 must operate in 0.605s at 15860/3000 = 5.29
relay 3 must therefore operate in times setting. Thus select a time multiplier setting of
0.15, giving a relay operating time of 0.62s for a normal
0.3 + 0.21 = 0.51s
inverse type characteristic.
at a fault current of 12.2kA.
At this stage, it is instructive to review the grading curves,
12.2kA represents 12200/1060 = 11.51 times setting for which are shown in Figure 9.29(a). While it can be seen
relay 3 and thus the time multiplier setting of relay 3 that there are no grading problems between the fuses and
should be 0.84 to give an operating time of 0.51s at relays 1/2, and between relays F1/2 and relays 1/2, it is
11.51 times setting. clear that relay 3 and relay 4 do not grade over the whole
Consider now condition 2. With settings of 620A and range of fault current. This is a consequence of the change
TMS of 1.0 and a fault current of 5.3kA, relay 1 will in characteristic for relay 4 to SI from the El characteristic
operate in 1.11s. Using a grading interval of 0.3s, relay 3 of relay 3 to ensure grading of relay 4 with relay 5. The
must therefore operate in solution is to increase the TMS setting of relay 4 until
correct grading is achieved. The alternative is to increase
0.3 + 1.11 = 1.41s the current setting, but this is undesirable unless the limit
at a fault current of 5.3kA. of the TMS setting is reached, because the current setting
should always be as low as possible to help ensure positive
5.3kA represents 5300/1060 = 5 times setting for relay 3,
operation of the relay and provide overload protection.
and thus the time multiplier setting of relay 3 should be 0.33
Trial and error is often used, but suitable software can
to give an operating time of 1.11s at 5 times setting. Thus
speed the task - for instance it is not difficult to construct
condition 1 represents the worst case and the time multiplier
a spreadsheet with the fuse/relay operation times and
setting of relay 3 should be set at 0.84. In practice, a value
grading margins calculated. Satisfactory grading can be
of 0.85 is used as the nearest available setting on the relay.
found for relay 4 setting values of:
Relay 3 also has an instantaneous element. This is set
I5T4 = 1.0 or 3000A
such that it will not operate for the maximum through-
fault current seen by the relay, a setting of 130% of this TMS = 0.275
value being satisfactory. The setting is therefore: At 22.7kA, the operation time of relay 4 is 0.93s. The
1.3xl2.2kA = revised grading curves are shown in Figure 9.29(b).

15.88kA 9.20.1.7 Relay 5

This is equal to a current setting of 14.96 times the Relay 5 must grade with relay 4 at a fault current of
setting of relay 3. 22.7kA. At this fault current, relay 4 operates in 0.93s
and thus relay 5 must operate in
9.20.1.6 Relay 4
0.3 + 0.93 = 1.23s at 22.7kA.
This must grade with relay 3 and relay 5. The supply
authority requires that relay 5 use an SI characteristic to A current setting of 110% of relay 4 current setting (i.e.
ensure grading with relays further upstream, so the SI 110%or3300A) is chosen to ensure relay 4 picks up prior
characteristic will be used for relay 4 also. Relay 4 must to relay 5. Thus 22.7kA represents 6.88 times the setting
grade with relay 3 at Bus A maximum fault level of of relay 5. Relay 5 must grade with relay 4 at a fault
22.7kA. However with the use of an instantaneous high current of 22.7kA, where the required operation time is
set element for relay 3, the actual grading point becomes 1.23s. At a TMS of 1.0, relay 5 operation time is
the point at which the high set setting of relay 3
operates, i.e. 15.86kA. At this current, the operation time
of relay 3 is

Therefore, the required TMS is 1.23/3.56 = 0.345, use

0.35 nearest available value.
Thus, relay 4 required operating time is The protection grading curves that result are shown in]
0.305 + 0.3 = 0.605s at a fault level of 15.86kA. Figure 9.30 and the setting values in Table 9.5. Grading
is now satisfactory.
Figure 9.29: initial relay grading curves - overcurrent reiay example
In situations where one of the relays to be graded is order to calculate fault levels. However, such impedances
provided by a third party, it is common for the settings of are frequently not available, or known only
the relay to be specified and this may lead to a lack of co- approximately and the phase fault current levels have to
ordination between this relay and others (usually be used. Note that earth fault levels can be higher than
those downstream). Negotiation is then required to try phase fault levels if the system contains multiple earth
and achieve acceptable settings, but it is often the case points, or if earth fault levels are considered on the star
that no change to the settings of the relay provided by side of a delta/star transformer when the star winding is
the third party is allowed. A lack of co-ordination solidly earthed.
between relays then has to be accepted over at least part
On the circuit with fuse F2, low-level earth faults may
of the range of fault currents.
not be of sufficient magnitude to blow the fuse.
Relay Settings Attempting to grade the earth fault element of the
Relay/ Load Max CT Fuse Charac- Current Setting TMS upstream relay with fuse F2 will not be possible.
Fuse current Fault Ratio Rating teristic Primary Per
(A) Current Amps Cent Similarly, relays F1 and F2 have phase fault settings that
kA do not provide effective protection against earth faults.
F1 190 10.6 200/5 El 100 100 0.1 The remedy would be to modify the downstream
F2 130 10.6 150/5 El 150 120 0.25
protection, but such considerations lie outside the scope
FS1 90 10.6 - 125A
■ - -
of this example. In general therefore, the earth fault
FS2 130 10.6 160A _
1
elements of relays upstream of circuits with only phase
12 400 12.2 500/1 El El 620 124
fault protection (i.e. relays with only phase fault
400 12.2 500/1 620 124
3 1000 22.7 1000/1 0.85 elements or fuses) will have to be set with a compromise
El 1060 106
Instant. 15860 14.96
that they will detect downstream earth faults but will
4 3000 22.7 3000/1 SI 3000 100 0.275 not provide a discriminative trip. This illustrates the
5 3000 26.25 3000/5 SI 3300 110 0.35 practical point that it is rare in anything other than a
Table 9.5: Relay settings for overcurrent relay example very simple network to achieve satisfactory grading for
all faults throughout the network.
9.20.2 Relay Earth-Fault Settings In the example of Figure 9.27, it is likely that the
difference in fault levels between phase to phase and
The procedure for setting the earth-fault elements is
phase to earth faults will be very small and thus the only
identical to that for the overcurrent elements, except
function of earth fault elements is to detect and isolate
that zero sequence impedances must be used if available
low level earth faults not seen by the phase fault
and different from positive sequence impedances in

Figure 9.30: Final relay grading curves for overcurrent relay example
elements. Following the guidelines of Section 9.16, If relays 2 and 3 are non-directional, then, using SI relay
relays 1/2 can use a current setting of 30% (150A) and characteristics for all relays, grading of the relays is
a TMS of 0.2, using the El characteristic. Grading of dictated by the following:
relays 3/4/5 follows the same procedure as described for
a) fault at location F1, with 2 feeders in service
the phase-fault elements of these relays.
b) fault at location F4, with one feeder in service

9.20.3 Protection of Parallel Feeders

Relay CT Primary Current TMS Characteristi
Figure 9.31 (a) shows two parallel transformer feeders settinq c
1 300 1 0.2 SI
forming part of a supply circuit. Impedances are as given 2 300 1.1 0.3 SI
in the diagram. 3 300 1.1 0.3 SI
4 300 0.61 0.425 SI
5 300 0.61 0.425 SI
6 300 0.7 0.7 SI
(a) Relay settings - non-directional relays

Figure 9.32: Relay grading for parallel feeder example ~

non-directional relays

The settings shown in Figure 9.32(a) can be arrived at,

with the relay operation times shown in Figure 9.32(b).
It is clear that for a fault at F3 with both transformer
feeders in service, relay 3 operates at the same time as
relay 2 and results in total disconnection of Bus Q and
all consumers supplied solely from it. This is undesirable
- the advantages of duplicated 100% rated transformers
Figure 9.31: System diagram: Parallel feeder example have been lost.
By making relays 2 and 3 directional as shown in Figure
The example shows that unless relays 2 and 3 are made 9.33(a), lower settings for these relays can be adopted -
directional, they will maloperate for a fault at F3. Also they can be set as low as reasonably practical but
shown is how to calculate appropriate relay settings for normally a current setting of about 50% of feeder full
all six relays to ensure satisfactory protection for faults load current is used, with a TMS of 0.1. Grading rules
at locations F1-F4. can be established as follows:

Figure 9.31 (b) shows the impedance diagram, to a. relay 4 is graded with relay / for faults at location
100MVA, 110kV base. The fault currents for faults with Fl with one transformer feeder in service
various system configurations are shown in Table 9.6. b. relay 4 is graded with relay 3 for faults at location
F3 with two transformer feeders in service
c. relay 6 grades with relay 4 for faults at F4
d. relay 6 also has to grade with relay 4 for faults at
Fl with both transformer feeders in service - relay 6
sees the total fault current but relay 4 only 50% of
this current.

Table 9.6: Fault currents for parallel feeder example Normal rules about calculating current setting values
of relays in series apply. The settings and resulting
operation times are given in Figure 9.33(b) and(c}
respectively.

Figure 9.33: Relay grading for parallel feeder exampte -

directional relays
Figure 9.34: Ring main grading example - circuit diagram

In practice, a complete protection study would include

instantaneous elements on the primary side of the Figure 9.35 shows the impedance diagram for these two
transformers and analysis of the situation with only one cases.
transformer in service. These have been omitted from
this example, as the purpose is to illustrate the principles
of parallel feeder protection in a simple fashion.

9.20.4 Grading of a Ring Main

Figure 9.34 shows a simple ring main, with a single
infeed at Bus A and three load busbars. Settings for the
directional relays R2-R7 and non-directional relays
R1/R8 are required. Maximum load current in the ring
is 785A (maximum continuous current with one
transformer out of service), so 1000/1A CT's are chosen.
The relay considered is a MiCOM P140 series.
The first step is to establish the maximum fault current
at each relay location. Assuming a fault at Bus B (the Figure 9.35: Impedance diagrams with ring open
actual location is not important), two possible
configurations of the ring have to be considered, firstly a Three-phase fault currents I1, and I'1, can be calculated
closed ring and secondly an open ring. For convenience, as 2.13kAand 3.67kA respectively, so that the worst case
the ring will be considered to be open at CB1 (CB8 is the is with the ring open (this can also be seen from
other possibility to be considered, but the conclusion will consideration of the impedance relationships, without
be the same). the necessity of performing the calculation).
 Table 9.8 summarises the relay settings, while Figure
9.36 illustrates the relay grading curves.

Table 9.7: Fault current tabulation with ring open

Table 9.7 shows the fault currents at each bus for open
points at CB1 and CB8.

For grading of the relays, consider relays looking in a

clockwise direction round the ring, i.e. relays R1/R3/R5/R7.
9.20.4.1 Relay R7

Load current cannot flow from Bus D to Bus A since Bus

A is the only source. Hence low relay current and TMS
settings can be chosen to ensure a rapid fault clearance
time. These can be chosen arbitrarily, so long as they are
above the cable charging current and within the relay
setting characteristics. Select a relay current setting of
0.8 (i.e. 800A CT primary current) and TMS of 0.05. This
ensures that the other relays will not pick up under
conditions of normal load current. At a fault current of
3376A, relay operating time on the SI characteristic is

9.20.4.2 Relay R5

This relay must grade with relay R7 at 3376A and have a

minimum operation time of 0.54s. Relay R5 current
setting must be at least 110% of relay R7 to prevent
unwanted pickup, so select relay R5 current setting of
0.88 (i.e. 880A CT primary current).

Relay R5 operating time at TMS = 1.0

0.5
Hence, relay R5 TMS = = 5.14s
4
Use nearest settable value of TMS of 0.125. Figure 9.36: Ring main example - relay grading curves

9.21 REFERENCES

9.1. Directional Element Connections for Phase

Relays. W.K Sonnemann, Transactions A.I.E.E.
1950.

Table 9.8: Ring main example relay settings

• 10 • Unit Protection of Feeders
10.1 INTRODUCTION
The graded overcurrent systems described in Chapter 9,
though attractively simple in principle, do not meet all
the protection requirements of a power system.
Application difficulties are encountered for two reasons:
firstly, satisfactory grading cannot always be arranged
for a complex network, and secondly, the settings may
lead to maximum tripping times at points in the system
that are too long to prevent excessive disturbances
occurring.
These problems led to the concept of 'Unit Protection',
whereby sections of the power system are protected
individually as a complete unit without reference to
other sections. One form of 'Unit Protection' is also
known as 'Differential Protection', as the principle is to
sense the difference in currents between the incoming
and outgoing terminals of the unit being protected.
Other forms can be based on directional comparison, or
distance teleprotection schemes, which are covered in
Chapter 12, or phase comparison protection, which is
discussed later in this chapter. The configuration of the
power system may lend itself to unit protection; for
instance, a simple earth fault relay applied at the source
end of a transformer-feeder can be regarded as unit
protection provided that the transformer winding
associated with the feeder is not earthed. In this case
the protection coverage is restricted to the feeder and
transformer winding because the transformer cannot
transmit zero sequence current to an out-of-zone fault.
In most cases, however, a unit protection system
involves the measurement of fault currents (and possibly
voltages) at each end of the zone, and the transmission
of information between the equipment at zone
boundaries. It should be noted that a stand-alone
distance relay, although nominally responding only to
faults within their setting zone, does not satisfy the
conditions for a unit system because the zone is not
clearly defined; it is defined only within the accuracy
limits of the measurement. Also, to cater for some
conditions, the setting of a stand-alone distance relay
may also extend outside of the protected zone to cater
for some conditions.
Merz and Price [10.1] first established the principle of
current differential unit systems; their fundamental
differential systems have formed the basis of many
highly developed protection arrangements for feeders 1 0 . 2 CONVENTION OF DIRECTION
and numerous other items of plant. In one arrangement,
It is useful to establish a convention of direction of
an auxiliary 'pilot' circuit interconnects similar current
current flow; for this purpose, the direction measured
transformers at each end of the protected zone, as
from a busbar outwards along a feeder is taken as
shown in Figure 10.1. Current transmitted through the
positive. Hence the notation of current flow shown in
zone causes secondary current to circulate round the
Figure 10.3; the section GH carries a through current
pilot circuit without producing any current in the relay.
which is counted positive at G but negative at H, while
For a fault within the protected zone the CT secondary
the infeeds to the faulted section HJart both positive.
currents will not balance, compared with the through-
fault condition, and the difference between the currents
will flow in the relay.
An alternative arrangement is shown in Figure 10.2, in
which the CT secondary windings are opposed for
through-fault conditions so that no current flows in the
series connected relays. The former system is known as
a 'Circulating Current' system, while the latter is known
as a 'Balanced Voltage' system.
Figure 10.3: Convention of current direction

Neglect of this rule has often led to anomalous

arrangements of equipment or difficulty in describing
the action of a complex system. When applied, the rule
will normally lead to the use of identical equipments at
the zone boundaries, and is equally suitable for extension
Figure 10.1: Circulating current system
to multi-ended systems. It also conforms to the standard
methods of network analysis.

10.3 CONDITIONS
FOR DIRECTION
COMPARISION
The circulating current and balanced voltage systems of
Figures 10.1 and 10.2 perform full vectorial comparisoi
of the zone boundary currents. Such systems can be
treated as analogues of the protected zone of the power
Figure 10.2: Balanced voltage system system, in which CT secondary quantities represent
primary currents and the relay operating current
corresponds to an in-zone fault current.
These systems are simple in concept; they are
Most systems of unit protection function through the
determination of the relative direction of the fault nevertheless applicable to zones having any number
of boundary connections and for any pattern of
current. This direction can only be expressed on a
comparative basis, and such a comparative measurement terminal currents.
is the common factor of many systems, including To define a current requires that both magnitude and
directional comparison protection and distance phase be stated. Comparison in terms of both of these
teleprotection schemes with directional impedance quantities is performed in the Merz-Price systems, but it
measurement. is not always easy to transmit all this information
over some pilot channels. Chapter 8 provides a detailed
A major factor in consideration of unit protection is the
description of modern methods that may be used.
method of communication between the relays. This is
covered in detail in Chapter 8 in respect of the latest
fibre-optic based digital techniques. For older 'pilot wire'
10.4 CIRCULATING CURRENT SYSTEM
systems, only brief mention is made. For more detailed
descriptions of 'pilot wire' techniques, see reference The principle of this system is shown in outline in
[10.2] in Section 10.13. Figure 10.1. If the current transformers are ideal, the
functioning of the system is straightforward. The
transformers will, however, have errors arising from both unacceptable. One solution is to include a stabilising
Wattmetric and magnetising current losses that cause resistance in series with the relay. Details of how to
deviation from the ideal, and the interconnections calculate the value of the stabilising resistor are usually
between them may have unequal impedances. This can included in the instruction manuals of all relays that
give rise to a 'spill' current through the relay even require one.
without a fault being present, thus limiting the
When a stabilising resistor is used, the relay current
sensitivity that can be obtained. Figure 10.4 illustrates
setting can be reduced to any practical value, the relay
the equivalent circuit of the circulating current scheme.
now being a voltage-measuring device. There is
If a high impedance relay is used, then unless the relay is
obviously a lower limit, below which the relay element
located at point J in the circuit, a current will flow
does not have the sensitivity to pick up. Relay
through the relay even with currents IPg and IPh0 , being
calibration can in fact be in terms of voltage. For more
identical. If a low impedance relay is used, voltage FF'
details, see reference [10.2].
will be very small, but the CT exciting currents will be
unequal due to the unequal burdens and relay current IR
will still be non-zero. 10.4.2 Bias
The 'spill' current in the relay arising from these various
sources of error is dependent on the magnitude of the
through current, being negligible at low values of
through-fault current but sometimes reaching a
disproportionately large value for more severe faults.
Setting the operating threshold of the protection above
the maximum level of spill current produces poor
sensitivity. By making the differential setting
approximately proportional to the fault current, the low-
level fault sensitivity is greatly improved. Figure 10.5
illustrates a typical bias characteristic for a modern relay
that overcomes the problem. At low currents, the bias is
small, thus enabling the relay to be made sensitive. At
higher currents, such as would be obtained from inrush or
through fault conditions, the bias used is higher, and thus
the spill current required to cause operation is higher. The
relay is therefore more tolerant of spill current at higher
fault currents and therefore less likely to maloperate,
while still being sensitive at lower current levels.

Figure w.4: Equivalent circuit

of circulating current scheme

10.4.1 Transient Instability

It is shown in Section 6.4.10 that an asymmetrical
current applied to a current transformer will induce a
flux that is greater than the peak flux corresponding to
the steady state alternating component of the current. It
may take the CT into saturation, with the result that the
dynamic exciting impedance is reduced and the exciting
current greatly increased.
When the balancing current transformers of a unit
protection system differ in excitation characteristics, or
have unequal burdens, the transient flux build-ups will
differ and an increased 'spill' current will result. There is
a consequent risk of relay operation on a healthy circuit
under transient conditions, which is clearly Figure 10.5: Typical bias characteristic of relay
10.5 BALANCED VOLTAGE SYSTEM exciting current, because the whole of the primary
current is expended as exciting current. In consequence,
This section is included for historical reasons, mainly
the secondary e.m.f. is an accurate measure of the
because of the number of such schemes still to be found
primary current within the l ine ar range of the
in service - for new installations it has been almost
transformer. Provided the transformers are designed to
completely superseded by circulating current schemes. It
be linear up to the maximum value of fault current,
is the dual of the circulating current protection, and is
balance is limited only by the inherent limit of accuracy
summarised in Figure 10.2 as used in the 'Translay H04'
of the transformers, and as a result of capacitance
scheme.
between the pilot cores. A broken line in the equivalent
With primary through current, the secondary e.m.f.'s of circuit shown in Figure 10.6 indicates such capacitance.
the current transformers are opposed, and provide no Under through-fault conditions the pilots are energised
current in the interconnecting pilot leads or the series to a proportionate voltage, the charging current flowing
connected relays. An in-zone fault leads to a circulating through the relays. The stability ratio that can be
current condition in the CT secondaries and hence to achieved with this system is only moderate and a bias
relay operation. technique is used to overcome the problem.
An immediate consequence of the arrangement is that
the current transformers are in effect open-circuited, as
10.6 SUMMATION ARRANGEMENTS
no secondary current flows for any primary through-
current conditions. To avoid excessive saturation of the Schemes have so far been discussed as though they were
core and secondary waveform distortion, the core is applied to single-phase systems. A polyphase system
provided with non-magnetic gaps sufficient to absorb could be provided with independent protection for each
the whole primary m.m.f. at the maximum current level, phase. Modern digital or numerical relays
the flux density remaining within the linear range. The communicating via fibre-optic links operate on this
secondary winding therefore develops an e.m.f. and can basis, since the amount of data to be communicated is
be regarded as a voltage source. The shunt reactance of not a major constraint. For older relays, use of this
the transformer is relatively low, so the device acts as a technique over pilot wires may be possible for relatively
transformer loaded with a reactive shunt; hence the short distances, such as would be found with industrial
American name of transactor. The equivalent circuit of and urban power distribution systems. Clearly, each
the system is as shown in Figure 10.6. phase would require a separate set of pilot wires if the
protection was applied on a per phase basis. The cost of
The series connected relays are of relatively high
providing separate pilot-pairs and also separate relay
impedance; because of this the CT secondary winding
elements per phase is generally prohibitive. Summation
resistances are not of great significance and the pilot
techniques can be used to combine the separate phase
resistance can be moderately large without significantly
currents into a single relaying quantity for comparison
affecting the operation of the system. This is why the
over a single pair of pilot wires. For details of such
scheme was developed for feeder protection.
techniques, see reference [10.2].

10.7 EXAMPLES OF ELECTROMECHANICAL

AND STATIC U N I T PROTECTION
SYSTEMS
As mentioned above, the basic balanced voltage principle
of protection evolved to biased protection systems,
Several of these have been designed, some of which
appear to be quite different from others. These
dissimilarities are, however, superficial. A number of
these systems that are still in common use are described
below.
Figure 10.6: Equivalent circuit
for balanced voltage system 10.7.1 'Translay1 Balanced Voltage
Electromechanical System
A typical biased, electromechanical balanced voltage
10.5.1 Stability Limit of the Voltage Balance System system, trade name Translay', still giving useful service
Unlike normal current transformers, transactors are not on distribution systems is shown in Figure 10.7.
subject to errors caused by the progressive build-up of
 Bias is produced by a copper shading loop fitted to the
pole of the upper magnet, thereby establishing a Ferraris
motor action that gives a reverse or restraining torque
proportional to the square of the upper magnet flux value.
Typical settings achievable with such a relay are: Least
sensitive earth fault - 40% of rating Least sensitive
phase-phase fault - 90% of rating Three-phase fault
- 52% of rating

Figure 10.7: Typical biased electromechanical 10.7.2 Static Circulating Current

differential protection system. Unit Protection System - 'Translay "S" '
A typical static modular pilot wire unit protection system
The electromechanical design derives its balancing voltages operating on the circulating current principle is shown in
from the transactor incorporated in the measuring relay at Figure 10.8. This uses summation transformers with a
each line end. The latter are based on the induction-type neutral section that is tapped, to provide alternative
meter electromagnet as shown in Figure 10.7. earth fault sensitivities. Phase comparators tuned to the
power frequency are used for measurement and a
The upper magnet carries a summation winding to
restraint circuit gives a high level of stability for through
receive the output of the current transformers, and a
faults and transient charging currents. High-speed
secondary winding which delivers the reference e.m.f.
operation is obtained with moderately sized current
The secondary windings of the conjugate relays are
transformers and where space for current transformers is
interconnected as a balanced voltage system over the
limited and where the lowest possible operating time is
pilot channel, the lower electromagnets of both relays
not essential, smaller current transformers may be used.
being included in this circuit.
This is made possible by a special adjustment (Kt) by
Through current in the power circuit produces a state of which the operating time of the differential protection
balance in the pilot circuit and zero current in the lower can be selectively increased if necessary, thereby
electromagnet coils. In this condition, no operating enabling the use of current transformers having a
torque is produced. correspondingly decreased knee-point voltage, whilst
An in-zone fault causing an inflow of current from each ensuring that through-fault stability is maintained to
end of the line produces circulating current in the pilot greater than 50 times the rated current.
circuit and the energisation of the lower electromagnets. Internal faults give simultaneous tripping of relays at
These co-operate with the flux of the upper both ends of the line, providing rapid fault clearance
electromagnets to produce an operating torque in the irrespective of whether the fault current is fed from both
discs of both relays. An infeed from one end only will line ends or from only one line end.
result in relay operation at the feeding end, but no
operation at the other, because of the absence of upper
magnet flux.

Figure 10.8: Typical static circulating current feeder unit protection circuit diagram
10.8 DIGITAL/NUMERICAL CURRENT operate as a result. In older protection schemes, the
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS problem was eliminated by delta connection of the CT
secondary windings. For a digital or numerical relay, a
A digital or numerical unit protection relay may typically
selectable software zero sequence filter is typically
provide phase-segregated current differential protection.
employed.
This means that the comparison of the currents at each
relay is done on a per phase basis. For digital data The problem remains of compensating for the time
communication between relays, it is usual that a direct difference between the current measurements made at
optical connection is used (for short distances) or a the ends of the feeder, since small differences can upset
multiplexed link. Link speeds of up to 64kbit/s (56kbit/s the stability of the scheme, even when using fast direct
in N. America) are normal. Through current bias is fibre-optic links. The problem is overcome by either time
typically applied to provide through fault stability in the synchronisation of the measurements taken by the
event of CT saturation. A dual slope bias technique relays, or calculation of the propagation delay of the link
(Figure 10.5) is used to enhance stability for through continuously.
faults. A typical trip criterion is as follows:

10.8.1 Time Synchronisation of Relays

Fibre-optic media allow direct transmission of the
signals between relays for distances of up to several km
without the need for repeaters. For longer distances
repeaters will be required. Where a dedicated fibre pair
Once the relay at one end of the protected section has is not available, multiplexing techniques can be used. As
determined that a trip condition exists, an intertrip phase comparison techniques are used on a per phase
signal is transmitted to the relay at the other end. Relays basis, time synchronisation of the measurements is
that are supplied with information on line currents at all vitally important. This requires knowledge of the
ends of the line may not need to implement intertripping transmission delay between the relays. Four techniques
facilities. However, it is usual to provide intertripping in are possible for this:
any case to ensure the protection operates in the event
a. assume a value
of any of the relays detecting a fault.
b. measurement during commissioning only
A facility for vector/ratio compensation of the measured c. continuous online measurement
currents, so that transformer feeders can be included in d. GPS time signal
the unit protection scheme without the use of
Method (a) is not used, as the error between the assumed
interposing CT's or defining the transformer as a separate
and actual value will be too great.
zone increases versatility. Any interposing CT's required
are implemented in software.Maloperation on Method (b) provides reliable data if direct
transformer inrush is prevented by second harmonic communication between relays is used. As signal
detection. Care must be taken if the transformer has a propagation delays may change over a period of years,
wide-ratio on-load tap changer, as this results in the repeat measurements may be required at intervals and
current ratio departing from nominal and may cause relays re-programmed accordingly. There is some risk of
maloperation, depending on the sensitivity of the relays. maloperation due to changes in signal propagation time
The initial bias slope should be set taking this into causing incorrect time synchronisation between
consideration. measurement intervals. The technique is less suitable if
rented fibre-optic pilots are used, since the owner may
Tuned measurement of power frequency currents
perform circuit re-routing for operational reasons
provides a high level of stability with capacitance inrush
without warning, resulting in the propagation delay
currents during line energisation. The normal steady-
being outside of limits and leading to scheme
state capacitive charging current can be allowed for if a
maloperation. Where re-routing is limited to a few
voltage signal can be made available and the
routes, it may be possible to measure the delay on all
susceptance of the protected zone is known.
routes and pre-program the relays accordingly, with the
Where an earthed transformer winding or earthing relay digital inputs and ladder logic being used to detect
transformer is included within the zone of protection, changes in route and select the appropriate delay
some form of zero sequence current filtering is required. accordingly.
This is because there will be an in-zone source of zero
Method (c), continuous sensing of the signal propagation
sequence current for an external earth fault. The
delay, is a robust technique. One method of achieving
differential protection will see zero sequence differential
this is shown in Figure 10.9.
current for an external fault and it could incorrectly
 Figure 10.9: Signal propagation delay measurement

Relays A and B sample signals at time TA1,TA2 ...and communication channels under well-defined conditions.
TB1TB2 ...respectively. The times will not be coincident,
The technique can also be used with all types of pilots,
even if they start coincidentally, due to slight differences
subject to provision of appropriate interfacing devices.
in sampling frequencies. At time TA1, relay A transmits
its data to relay B, containing a time tag and other data. Method (d) is also a robust technique. It involves both
Relay B receives it at time TA1 + Tp1 where Tp1 is the relays being capable of receiving a time signal from
propagation time from relay A to relay B. Relay B a GPS satellite. The propagation delay on each
records this time as time TB*. Relay B also sends communication channel is no longer required to be
messages of identical format to relay A. It transmits such known or calculated as both relays are synchronised to a
a message at time TB3 received by relay A at time common time signal. For the protection scheme to meet
TB3+Tp2 (say time TA*), where Tp2 is the propagation time the required performance in respect of availability and
from relay B to relay A. The message from relay B to maloperation, the GPS signal must be capable of reliable
relay A includes the time TB3, the last received time tag receipt under all atmospheric conditions. There is extra
from relay A (TA1) and the delay time between the arrival satellite signal receiving equipment required at both
time of the message from A (TB*) and TB3 - call this the ends of the line, which implies extra cost.
delay time Td. The total elapsed time is therefore: The minimum setting that can be achieved with such
techniques while ensuring good stability is 20% of CT
primary current.
If it is assumed that Tp1 = Tp2, then the value of Tp1 and Tp2
can be calculated, and hence also TB3. The relay B 10.8.2 Application to Mesh Corner
measured data as received at relay A can then be and 1 1/2 Breaker Switched Substations
adjusted to enable data comparison to be performed.
Relay B performs similar computations in respect of the These substation arrangements are quite common, and
data received from relay A (which also contains similar the arrangement for the latter is shown in Figure 10.10.
time information). Therefore, continuous measurement Problems exist in protecting the feeders due to the
of the propagation delay is made, thus reducing the location of the line CT's, as either Bus 1 or Bus 2 or both
possibility of maloperation due to this cause to a can supply the feeder. Two alternatives are used to
minimum. Comparison is carried out on a per-phase basis, overcome the problem, and they are illustrated in the
so signal transmission and the calculations are required Figure. The first is to common the line CT inputs (as
for each phase. A variation of this technique is available shown for Feeder A) and the alternative is to use a second
that can cope with unequal propagation delays in the two set of CT inputs to the relay (as shown for Feeder B).
 power system currents since the systems are designed to
operate at much higher frequencies, but each medium
may be subjected to noise at the carrier frequencies that
may interfere with its correct operation. Variations of
signal level, restrictions of the bandwidth available for
relaying and other characteristics unique to each
medium influence the choice of the most appropriate
type of scheme. Methods and media for communication
are discussed in Chapter 8.

Figure 10.10: Breaker and 10.10 CURRENT DIFFERENTIAL SCHEME -

a half switched substation ANALOGUE TECHNIQUE
In the case of a through fault as shown, the relay The carrier channel is used in this type of scheme to
connected to Feeder A theoretically sees no unbalance convey both the phase and magnitude of the current at
current, and hence will be stable. However, with the line one relaying point to another for comparison with the
disconnect switch open, no bias is produced in the relay, phase and magnitude of the current at that point.
so CT's need to be well matched and equally loaded if Transmission techniques may use either voice frequency
maloperation is to be avoided. channels using FM modulation or A/D converters and
digital transmission. Signal propagation delays still need
For Feeder B, the relay also theoretically sees no
to be taken into consideration by introducing a
differential current, but it will see a large bias current even
deliberate delay in the locally derived signal before a
with the line disconnect switch open. This provides a high
comparison with the remote signal is made.
degree of stability, in the event of transient asymmetric CT
saturation. Therefore, this technique is preferred. A further problem that may occur concerns the dynamic
range of the scheme. As the fault current may be up to
Sensing of the state of the line isolator through auxiliary
30 times the rated current, a scheme with linear
contacts enables the current values transmitted to and
characteristics requires a wide dynamic range, which
received from remote relays to be set to zero when the
implies a wide signal transmission bandwidth. In
isolator is open. Hence, stub-bus protection for the
practice, bandwidth is limited, so either a non-linear
energised part of the bus is then possible, with any fault
modulation characteristic must be used or detection of
resulting in tripping of the relevant CB.
fault currents close to the setpoint will be difficult.

10.9 CARRIER U N I T PROTECTION SCHEMES

10.10.1 Phase Comparison Scheme
In earlier sections, the pilot links between relays have
The carrier channel is used to convey the phase angle of the
been treated as an a u x i l i a r y wire circuit that
current at one relaying point to another for comparison
interconnects relays at the boundaries of the protected
with the phase angle of the current at that point.
zone. In many circumstances, such as the protection of
longer line sections or where the route involves The principles of phase comparison are illustrated in
installation difficulties, it is too expensive to provide an Figure 10.11. The carrier channel transfers a logic or
auxiliary cable circuit for this purpose, and other means 'on/off signal that switches at the zero crossing points
are sought. of the power frequency waveform. Comparison of a local
logic signal with the corresponding signal from the
In all cases (apart from private pilots and some short
remote end provides the basis for the measurement of
rented pilots) power system frequencies cannot be
phase shift between power system currents at the two
transmitted directly on the communication medium.
ends and hence discrimination between internal and
Instead a relaying quantity may be used to vary the
through faults.
higher frequency associated with each medium (or the
light intensity for fibre-optic systems), and this process Current flowing above the set threshold results in turn-
is normally referred to as modulation of a carrier wave. off of the carrier signal. The protection operates if gaps
Demodulation or detection of the variation at a remote in the carrier signal are greater than a set duration - the
receiver permits the relaying quantity to be reconstituted phase angle setting of the protection.
for use in conjunction with the relaying quantities
Load or through fault currents at the two ends of a
derived locally, and forms the basis for all carrier systems
protected feeder are in antiphase (using the normal relay
of unit protection.
convention for direction), whilst during an internal fault
Carrier systems are generally insensitive to induced the (conventional) currents tend towards the in-phase
condition. Hence, if the phase relationship of through binary information, the techniques associated with
fault currents is taken as a reference condition, internal sending teleprotection commands. Blocking or
faults cause a phase shift of approximately 180° with permissive trip modes of operation are possible, however
respect to the reference condition. Figure 10.11 illustrates the more usual blocking mode,
since the comparator provides an output when neither
Phase comparison schemes respond to any phase shift
squarer is at logic T. A permissive trip scheme can be
from the reference conditions, but tripping is usually
realised if the comparator is arranged to give an output
permitted only when the phase shift exceeds an angle of
when both squarers are at logic T. Performance of the
typically 30 to 90 degrees, determined by the time delay
scheme during failure or disturbance of the carrier
setting of the measurement circuit, and this angle is
channel and its ability to clear single-end-fed faults
usually referred to as the Stability Angle. Figure 10.12 is
depends on the mode of operation, the type and function
a polar diagram that illustrates the discrimination
of fault detectors or starting units, and the use of any
characteristics that result from the measurement
additional signals or codes for channel monitoring and
techniques used in phase comparison schemes.
transfer tripping.
Since the carrier channel is required to transfer only

Figure 10.11: Principles of phase comparison protection.

 both ends are nominally equal, so the receiver responds
equally to blocks of carrier from either end. Through-
fault current results in transmission of blocks of carrier
from both ends, each lasting for half a cycle, but with a
phase displacement of half a cycle, so that the composite
signal is continuously above the threshold level and the
detector output logic is continuously T. Any phase shift
relative to the through fault condition produces a gap in
the composite carrier signal and hence a corresponding
'0' logic level from the detector. The duration of the logic
'0' provides the basis for discrimination between internal
and external faults, tripping being permitted only when a
time delay setting is exceeded. This delay is usually
expressed in terms of the corresponding phase shift in
degrees at system frequency in Figure 10.12.
The advantages generally associated with the use of the
power line as the communication medium apply namely,
that a power line provides a robust, reliable, and low-loss
interconnection between the relaying points. In addition
Figure 10.12: Polar diagram forphase dedicated 'on/off signalling is particularly suited for use
comparison scheme
in phase comparison blocking mode schemes, as signal
attenuation is not a problem. This is in contrast to
permissive or direct tripping schemes, where high power
Signal transmission is usually performed by voice output or boosting is required to overcome the extra
frequency channels using frequency shift keying (FSK) or attenuation due to the fault.
PLC techniques. The noise immunity is also very good, making the scheme
Voice frequency channels involving FSK use two discrete very reliable. Signal propagation delay is easily allowed
frequencies either side of the middle of the voice band. for in the stability angle setting, making the scheme very
This arrangement is less sensitive to variations in delay or sensitive as well.
frequency response than if the full bandwidth was used.
Blocking or permissive trip modes of operation may be
implemented. In addition to the two frequencies used
10.11 PHASE COMPARISON PROTECTION
SCHEME CONSIDERATIONS
for conveying the squarer information, a third tone is
often used, either for channel monitoring or transfer One type of unit protection that uses carrier techniques
tripping dependent on the scheme. for communication between relays is phase comparison
protection. Communication between relays commonly
For a sensitive phase comparison scheme, accurate
uses PLCC or frequency modulated carrier modem
compensation for channel delay is required. However,
techniques. There are a number of considerations that
since both the local and remote signals are logic pulses,
apply only to phase comparison protection systems,
simple time delay circuits can be used, in contrast to the
which are discussed in this section.
analogue delay circuitry usually required for current
differential schemes.
The principles of the Power Line Carrier channel 10.11.1 Lines with Shunt Capacitance
technique are illustrated in Figure 10.13. The scheme
A problem can occur with the shunt capacitance current
operates in the blocking mode. The 'squarer1 logic is used
that flows from an energising source. Since this current is
directly to turn a transmitter 'on' or 'off1 at one end, and
in addition to the load current that flows out of the line,
the resultant burst (or block) of carrier is coupled to and
and typically leads it by more than 90°, significant
propagates along the power line which is being protected
differential phase shifts between the currents at the ends
to a receiver at the other end. Carrier signals above a
of the line can occur, particularly when load current is low.
threshold are detected by the receiver, and hence produce
a logic signal corresponding to the block of carrier. In The system differential phase shift may encroach into the
contrast to Figure 10.11, the signalling system is a 2-wire tripping region of the simple discriminator characteristic,
rather than 4-wire arrangement, in which the local regardless of how large the stability angle setting may
transmission is fed directly to the local receiver along be. Figure 10.14 illustrates the effect and indicates
with any received signal. The transmitter frequencies at techniques that are commonly used to ensure stability.
figure 10.13: Principles of power line carrier phase comparison

Operation of the discriminator can be permitted only

when current is above some threshold, so that
measurement of the large differential phase shifts which
occur near the origin of the polar diagram is avoided. By
choice of a suitable threshold and stability angle, a
'keyhole' characteristic can be provided such that the
capacitive current characteristic fal ls within the
resultant stability region. Fast resetting of the fault
detector is required to ensure stability following the
clearance of a through fault when the currents tend to
fall towards the origin of the polar diagram.
The mark-space ratio of the squarer (or modulating)
waveform can be made dependent on the current
amplitude. Any decrease in the mark-space ratio will
permit a corresponding differential phase shift to occur
between the currents before any output is given from the
comparator for measurement in the discriminator. A
squarer circuit with an offset or bias can provide a
Figure 10. H: Copacitive current in phase comparison
schemes and techniques used to avoid instability
decreasing mark-space ratio at low currents, and with a In the absence of pre-fault load current, the voltages at
suitable threshold level the extra phase shift which is the two ends of a line are in phase. Internal faults are
permitted can be arranged to equal or exceed the phase fed from both ends with fault contributions whose
shift due to capacitive current. At high current levels the magnitudes and angles are determined by the position of
capacitive current compensation falls towards zero and the fault and the system source impedances. Although
the resultant stability region on the polar diagram is the magnitudes may be markedly different, the angles
usually smaller than on the keyhole characteristic, giving (line plus source) are similar and seldom differ by more
improvements in sensitivity and/or dependability of the than about 20°.
scheme. Since the stability region encompasses all Hence and the requirements of Equation
through-fault currents, the resetting speed of any fault 10.3 are very easily satisfied. The addition of arc or fault
detectors or starter (which may still be required for other resistance makes no difference to the reasoning above, so
purposes, such as the control of a normally quiescent the scheme is inherently capable of clearing such faults.
scheme) is much less critical than with the keyhole
characteristic.
10.11.3 Effect of Load Current
10.11.2 System Tripping Angles When a line is heavily loaded prior to a fault the e.m.f.'s
of the sources which cause the fault current to flow may
For the protection scheme to trip correctly on internal
be displaced by up to about 50°, that is, the power system
faults the change in differential phase shift, , from the
stability limit. To this the differential line and source
through-fault condition taken as reference, must exceed
angles of up to 20° mentioned above need to be added.
the effective stability angle of the scheme. Hence:
So and the requirements of Equation 10.3
...Equation 70.7
are still easily satisfied.
where
For three phase faults, or solid earth faults on phase-by-
phase comparison schemes, through load current falls to
zero during the fault and so need not be considered. For
all other faults, load current continues to flow in the
(when applicable)
healthy phases and may therefore tend to increase
The currents at the ends of a transmission line IG and IH towards the through fault reference value. For
may be expressed in terms of magnitude and phase low resistance faults the fault current usually far exceeds
shift with respect a common system voltage. the load current and so has little effect. High resistance
faults or the presence of a weak source at one end can
prove more difficult, but high performance is still
possible if the modulating quantity is chosen with care
Using the relay convention described in Section 10.2, the and/or fault detectors are added.
reference through-fault condition is

10.11.4 Modulating Quantity

Phase-by-phase comparison schemes usually use phase
current for modulation of the carrier. Load and fault
currents are almost in antiphase at an end with a weak
During internal faults, the system tripping angle is the
source. Correct performance is possible only when fault
differential phase shift relative to the reference
current exceeds load current, or
condition.

Substituting in Equation 10.1, the conditions for ...Equation 10.4

tripping are:
where lF= fault current contribution from weak source
IL = load current flowing towards weak source
To avoid any risk of failure to operate, fault detectors
The term is the effective stability angle setting with a setting greater than the maximum load current
of the scheme. Substituting a typical value of 60° in may be applied, but they may limit the sensitivity of
Equation 10.2. gives the tripping condition as scheme. When the fault detector is not operated at one
end, fault clearance invariably involves sequential
...Equation 10.3
tripping of the circuit breakers.
Most phase comparison schemes use summation The fault current in Equation 10.6 is the effective earth
techniques to produce a single modulating quantity, fault sensitivity IE of the scheme. For the typical values of
responsive to faults on any of the three phases. Phase
M= 6 and N=-7
sequence components are often used and a typical
modulating quantity is:
I M = MI 2 + NI 1 ...Equation 10.5

where
I1 = Positive phase sequence component I2
= Negative phase sequence component M,N =
Comparing this with Equation 10.4, a scheme using
constants
summation is potentially 1.667 times more sensitive
With the exception of three phase faults all internal than one using phase current for modulation.
faults give rise to negative phase sequence (NPS)
Even though the use of a negative value of M gives a
currents, I2, which are approximately in phase at the
lower value of IE than if it were positive, it is usually
ends of the line and therefore could form an ideal
preferred since the limiting condition of Im = 0 then
modulating quantity. In order to provide a modulating
applies at the load infeed end. Load and fault
signal during three phase faults, which give rise to
components are additive at the outfeed end so that a
positive phase sequence (PPS) currents, I 1 , only, a
correct modulating quantity occurs there, even with the
practical modulating quantity must include some
lowest fault levels. For operation of the scheme it is
response to I 1 , in addition to l2.
sufficient therefore that the fault current contribution
Typical values of the ratio M: N exceed 5:1, so that the from the load infeed end exceeds the effective setting.
modulating quantity is weighted heavily in favour of
For faults on B or C phases, the NPS components are
NPS, and any PPS associated with load current tends to
displaced by 120° or 240° with respect to the PPS
be swamped out on all but the highest resistance faults.
components. No simple cancellation can occur, but
For a high resistance phase-earth fault, the system instead a phase displacement is introduced. For tripping
remains well balanced so that load current IL is entirely to occur, Equation 10.2 must be satisfied, and to achieve
positive sequence. The fault contribution IF provides high dependability under these marginal conditions, a
equal parts of positive, negative and zero sequence small effective stability angle is essential. Figure 10.15
components IF / 3. Assuming the fault is on 'A' phase and illustrates operation near to the limits of earth fault
the load is resistive, all sequence components are in sensitivity.
phase at the infeed end G: Very sensitive schemes may be implemented by using
high values of M/N but the scheme then becomes more
sensitive to differential errors in NPS currents such as
the unbalanced components of capacitive current or spill
" 3 3
from partially saturated CT's.
and
Techniques such as capacitive current compensation and
6(7-0 At the outfeed reduction of M/N high fault levels may be required to
ensure stability of the scheme.
end load current is negative,

10.11.5 Fault Detection and Starting

For a scheme using a carrier system that continuously
,„ M1 FH NI FH transmits the modulating quantity, protecting an ideal
I A(i i rn i rn

line (capacitive current=0) in an interconnected

Now, for
transmission system, measurement of current magnitude
might be unnecessary. In practice, fault detector or
and for starting elements are invariably provided and the scheme
then becomes a permissive tripping scheme in which
both the fault detector and the discriminator must
Hence for correct operation I mH> 0
operate to provide a trip output, and the fault detector
Let ImH = 0
may limit the sensitivity of the scheme. Requirements
Then for the fault detectors vary according to the type of
carrier channel used, mode of operation used in the

...Equation 10.6
 ensure that during through faults, a High Set is never
operated when a Low Set has reset and potential race
conditions are often avoided by the transmitting of an
unmodulated (and therefore blocking) carrier for a short
time following the reset of low set; this feature is often
referred to as 'Marginal Guard.'

10.11.7 Scheme without Capacitive

Current Compensation
The 'keyhole' discrimination characteristic of depends on
the inclusion of a fault detector to ensure that no
measurements of phase angle can occur at low current
levels, when the capacitive current might cause large
phase shifts. Resetting must be very fast to ensure
stability following the shedding of through load.

10.11.8 Scheme with Capacitive

Current Compensation (Blocking Mode)
When the magnitude of the modulating quantity is less
than the threshold of the squarer, transmission if it
occurred, would be a continuous blocking signal. This
might occur at an end with a weak source, remote from
a fault close to a strong source. A fault detector is
required to permit transmission only when the current
exceeds the modulator threshold by some multiple
(typically about 2 times) so that the effective stability
angle is not excessive. For PLCC schemes, the low set
element referred to in Section 10.11.6 is usually used for
Figure 10.15: Effect of load current on differential this purpose. If the fault current is insufficient to
phase shift |0g - 0H| for resistive earth faults at the
effective earth fault sensitivity IE operate the fault detector, circuit breaker tripping will
normally occur sequentially.
phase a n g l e measurement, that is, blocking or
permissive, and the features used to provide tolerance to
10.11.9 Fault Detector Operating Quantities
capacitive current.
Most faults cause an increase in the corresponding phase
current(s) so measurement of current increase could form
10.11.6 Normally Quiescent Power Line Carrier the basis for fault detection. However, when a line is
(Blocking Mode] heavily loaded and has a low fault level at the outfeed
To ensure stability of through faults, it is essential that end, some faults can be accompanied by a fall in current,
carrier transmission starts before any measurement of which would lead to failure of such fault detection,
the width of the gap is permitted. To allow for resulting in sequential tripping (for blocking mode
equipment tolerances and the difference in magnitude of schemes) or no tripping (for permissive schemes).
the two currents due to capacitive current, two starting Although fault detectors can be designed to respond to
elements are used, usually referred to as 'Low Set' and any disturbance (increase or decrease of current), it is
'High Set' respectively. Low Set controls the start-up of more usual to use phase sequence components. All
transmission whilst High Set, having a setting typically unbalanced faults produce a rise in the NPS components
1.5 to 2 times that of the Low Set element, permits the from the zero level associated with balanced load current,
phase angle measurement to proceed. whilst balanced faults produce an increase in the PPS
The use of impulse starters that respond to the change in components from the load level (except at ends with very
current level enables sensitivities of less than rated low fault level) so that the use of NPS and PPS fault
current to be achieved. Resetting of the starters occurs detectors make the scheme sensitive to all faults. For
naturally after a swell time or at the clearance of the schemes using summation of NPS and PPS components
fault. Dwell times and resetting characteristics must for the modulating quantity, the use of NPS and PPS fault
detectors is particularly appropriate since, in addition to ( Parameter Setting Range
any reductions in hardware, the scheme may be Differential Current Setting, Is1 0.2 -2.0 In
characterized entirely in terms of sequence components. Bias Current Threshold Setting, Is2 1-30 In
Fault sensitivities IF for PPS and NPS impulse starter Lower Percentage Bias Setting, k1 0.3-1.5

settings I1S and I2S respectively are as follows: Higher Precentage Bias Setting, k2 0.3-1.5
In - CT rated secondary current
Table 10.1: Relay Setting Ranges

Is2 = 2.0 pu
10.12 EXAMPLES k1 = 30%
k 2 = 150%
This section gives examples of setting calculations for
simple unit protection schemes. It cannot and is not To provide immunity from the effects of line charging
intended to replace a proper setting calculation for a current, the setting of IS1 must be at least 2.5 times the
particular application. It is intended to illustrate the steady-state charging current, i.e. 4.1A or 0.01 p.u., after
principles of the calculations required. The examples use taking into consideration the CT ratio of 400/1. The nearest
the ALSTOM MiCOM P541 Current Differential relay, available setting above this is 0.20 p.u. This gives the points
which has the setting ranges given in Table 10.1 for on the relay characteristic as shown in Figure 10.17. The
differential protection. The relay also has backup minimum operating current ldmin is related to the value
distance, high-set instantaneous, and earth-fault of IS1 by the formula
protection included in the basic model to provide a
complete 'one-box' solution of main and backup
protection.
and

10.12.1 Unit Protection of a Plain Feeder

The circuit to be protected is shown in Figure 10.16. It where IL = load current
consists of a plain feeder circuit formed of an overhead and hence the minimum operating current at no load is
line 25km long. The relevant properties of the line are: 0.235 p.u. or 94 A.
Line voltage: 33kV
Z = 0,157 +jO.337 Ohm/km
In cases where the capacitive charging current is very
Shunt charging current = 0.065A/km large and hence the minimum tripping current needs to
To arrive at the correct settings, the characteristics of the be set to an unacceptably high value, some relays offer
relays to be applied must be considered. the facility of subtracting the charging current from the
measured value. Use of this facility depends on having a
The recommended settings for three of the adjustable suitable VT input and knowledge of the shunt
values (taken from the relay manual) are: capacitance of the circuit.

Figure 10.16: Typical plain feeder circuit

 The delta/star transformer connection requires phase
shift correction of CT secondary currents across the
transformer, and in this case software equivalents of
interposing CT's are used.
Since the LV side quantities lag the HV side quantities by
30°, it is necessary to correct this phase shift by using
software CT settings that produce a 30° phase shift.
There are two obvious possibilities:
a. HVside: Yd1
LVside: Yy0
b. HVside: Yy0
LVside: Yd11
Only the second combination is satisfactory, since only
this one provides the necessary zero-sequence current
trap to avoid maloperation of the protection scheme for
earth faults on the LV side of the transformer outside of
the protected zone.
Ratio correction must also be applied, in order to ensure
that the relays see currents from the primary and
secondary sides of the transformer feeder that are well
balanced under full load conditions. This is not always
inherently the case, due to selection of the main CT
Figure W.U: Relay characteristic;
plain feeder example ratios. For the example of Figure 10.18,

10.12.2 Unit Protection of a Transformer Feeder Transformer turns ratio at nominal tap

Figure 10.18 shows unit protection applied to a =11/33 =

transformer feeder. The feeder is assumed to be a 100m 0.3333
length of cable, such as might be found in some Required turns ratio according to the CT ratios used
industrial plants or where a short distance separates the
33kV and iikV substations. While 11 kV cable
capacitance will exist, it can be regarded as negligible for
= 400/1/1250/1= 0.32
the purposes of this example.

Figure 10.18: Unit protection of a transformer feeder

Spill current that will arise due to the incompatibility of
the CT ratios used with the power transformer turns ratio
may cause relay maloperation. This has to be eliminated
by using the facility in the relay for CT ratio correction
factors. For this particular relay, the correction factors
are chosen such that the full load current seen by the
relay software is equal to 1 A.
The appropriate correction factors are:
HV: 400/350= 1.14
LV: 1250 /1050=
1.19 where:
transformer rated primary current = 350A
transformer rated secondary current = 1050A
With the line charging current being negligible, the
following relay settings are then suitable, and allow for
transformer efficiency and mismatch due to tap-
changing:
IS1 = 20% (minimum possible)
IS1 = 20% k1 = 30% k 2 = 150%

10.13 REFERENCES
10.1 Merz-Price Protective Gear. K. Faye-Hansen and
G. Harlow. IEE Proceedings, 1911.
10.2 Protective Relays Application Guide - 3rd
Edition. ALSTOM Transmission and Distribution
Protection and Control, 1987.
11 . Distance Protection

11.1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of combining fast fault clearance with
selective tripping of plant is a key aim for the protection
of power systems. To meet these requirements, high-
speed protection systems for transmission and primary
distribution circuits that are suitable for use with the
automatic reclosure of circuit breakers are under
continuous development and are very widely applied.
Distance protection, in its basic form, is a non-unit
system of protection offering considerable economic and
technical advantages. Unlike phase and neutral
overcurrent protection, the key advantage of distance
protection is that its fault coverage of the protected
circuit is virtually independent of source impedance
variations.

Figure 11.1: Advantages of distance

over overcurrent protection

This is illustrated in Figure 11.1, where it can be seen that

overcurrent protection cannot be applied satisfactorily.
Distance protection is comparatively simple to apply and Transformers or saturating CT's, can also adversely delay
it can be fast in operation for faults located along most relay operation for faults close to the reach point. It is
of a protected circuit It can also provide both primary usual for electromechanical and static distance relays to
and remote back-up functions in a single scheme. It can claim both maximum and minimum operating times.
easily be adapted to create a unit protection scheme However, for modern digital or numerical distance relays,
when applied with a signalling channel. In this form it is the variation between these is small over a wide range of
eminently suitable for application with high-speed auto- system operating conditions and fault positions.
reclosing.forthe protection of critical transmission lines.

11.3.1 Electromechanical/Static Distance Relays

11.2 PRINCIPLES OF DISTANCE RELAYS With electromechanical and earlier static relay designs,
Since the impedance of a transmission line is the magnitude of input quantities particularly influenced
proportional to its length, for distance measurement it is both reach accuracy and operating time. It was
appropriate to use a relay capable of measuring the customary to present information on relay performance
impedance of a line up to a predetermined point (the by voltage/reach curves, as shown in Figure 11.2, and
reach point). Such a relay is described as a distance relay operating time/fault position curves for various values of
and is designed to operate only for faults occurring system impedance ratios (S.I.R.'s) as shown in Figure 11.3,
between the relay location and the selected reach point, where:
thus giving discrimination for faults that may occur in
different line sections.
The basic principle of distance protection involves the
division of the voltage at the relaying point by the and
measured current. The apparent impedance so ZS = system source impedance behind the relay
calculated is compared with the reach point impedance. location
If the measured impedance is less than the reach point
impedance, it is assumed that a fault exists on the line ZL = line impedance equivalent to relay reach setting
between the relay and the reach point.
The reach point of a relay is the point along the line
impedance locus that is intersected by the boundary
characteristic of the relay. Since this is dependent on the
ratio of voltage and current and the phase angle
between them, it may be plotted on an R/Xdiagram. The
loci of power system impedances as seen by the relay
during faults, power swings and load variations may be
plotted on the same diagram and in this manner the
performance of the relay in the presence of system faults
and disturbances may be studied.

11.3-RELAY PERFORMANCE
Distance relay performance is defined in terms of reach
accuracy and operating time. Reach accuracy is a
comparison of the actual ohmic reach of the relay under
practical conditions with the relay setting value in ohms.
Reach accuracy particularly depends on the level of
voltage presented to the relay under fault conditions.
The impedance measuring techniques employed in
particular relay designs also have an impact.
Operating times can vary with fault current, with fault
position relative to the relay setting, and with the point
on the voltage wave at which the fault occurs.
Depending on the measuring techniques employed in a
particular relay design, measuring signal transient errors, Figure 11.2: Typical impedance reach
such as those produced by Capacitor Voltage accuracy characteristics for Zone 1
 11.3.2 Digital/Numerical Distance Relays
Digital/Numerical distance relays tend to have more
consistent operating times. They are usually slightly
slower than some of the older relay designs when
operating under the best conditions, but their maximum
operating times are also less under adverse waveform
conditions or for boundary fault conditions.

11.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELAY VOLTAGE

AND ZS/ZL RATIO
A single, generic, equivalent circuit, as shown in Figure
11.5(a), may represent any fault condition in a three-
phase power system. The voltage V applied to the
impedance loop is the open circuit voltage of the power
system. Point R represents the relay location; IR and VR
are the current and voltage measured by the relay,
respectively.
The impedances Zs and ZL are described as source and
line impedances because of their position with respect to
the relay location. Source impedance Zs is a measure of
Figure 11.3: Typical operation time the fault level at the relaying point. For faults involving
characteristics for Zone 1 phase-phase faults
earth it is dependent on the method of system earthing
behind the relaying point. Line impedance ZL is a
Alternatively, the above information was combined in a measure of the impedance of the protected section. The
family of contour curves, where the fault position
voltage VR applied to the relay is, therefore, IRZL For a
expressed as a percentage of the relay setting is plotted
fault at the reach point, this may be alternatively
against the source to line impedance ratio, as illustrated
expressed in terms of source to line impedance ratio
in Figure 11.4.
Zs/ZL by means of the following expressions:

where:

Therefore :

or

..Equation 11.1

The above generic relationship between VR and ZslZL

illustrated in Figure 11.5(b), is valid for all types of short
circuits provided a few simple rules are observed. These
are:
i. for phase faults, V is the phase-phase source
voltage and ZS/ZL is the positive sequence source
to line impedance ratio. VR is the phase-phase
Figure 11.4: Typical operation-time contours relay voltage and Is is the phase-phase relay
current, for the faulted phases
 11.5 VOLTAGE LIMIT FOR ACCURATE
REACH POINT MEASUREMENT
The ability of a distance relay to measure accurately
...Equation 11.2
for a reach point fault depends on the minimum voltage
ii. for earth faults, V is the phase-neutral source at the relay location under this condition being above a
voltage and ZS/ZL is a composite ratio involving declared value. This voltage, which depends on the relay
the positive and zero sequence impedances. VR is design, can also be quoted in terms of an equivalent
the phase-neutral relay voltage and IR is the relay maximum Z S/Z L or S.I.R.
current for the faulted phase
Distance relays are designed so that, provided the reach
point voltage criterion is met, any increased measuring
errors for faults closer to the relay will not prevent relay
operation. Most modern relays are provided with healthy
...Equation 11.3 phase voltage polarisation and/or memory voltage
where polarisation. The prime purpose of the relay polarising
voltage is to ensure correct relay directional response for
close-up faults, in the forward or reverse direction,
where the fault-loop voltage measured by the relay may
and
be very small.

11.6 ZONES OF PROTECTION

Careful selection of the reach settings and tripping times

for the various zones of measurement enables correct co-
ordination between distance relays on a power system.
Basic distance protection will comprise instantaneous
directional Zone 1 protection and one or more time-
delayed zones. Typical reach and time settings for a 3-
zone distance protection are shown in Figure 11.6. Digital
and numerical distance relays may have up to five zones,
some set to measure in the reverse direction. Typical
settings for three forward-looking zones of basic distance
protection are given in the following sub-sections. To
determine the settings for a particular relay design or for
a particular distance teleprotection scheme, involving
end-to-end signalling, the relay manufacturer's
instructions should be referred to.

11.6.1 Zone 1 Setting

Electromechanical/static relays usually have a reach

setting of up to 80% of the protected line impedance for
instantaneous Zone 1 protection. For digital/numerical
distance relays, settings of up to 85% may be safe. The
resulting 15-20% safety margin ensures that there is no
risk of the Zone 1 protection over-reaching the protected
l i n e due to errors in the current and voltage
transformers, inaccuracies in line impedance data
provided for setting purposes and errors of relay setting
and measurement. Otherwise, there would be a loss of
discrimination with fast operating protection on the
following line section. Zone 2 of the distance protection
must cover the remaining 15-20% of the line.

Figure 11.5: Relationship between source

to line ratio and relay voltage
11.6.2 Zone 2 Setting be taken into account when setting Zone 3. In some
systems, variations in the remote busbar infeed can
To ensure full cover of the line with allowance for the
prevent the application of remote back-up Zone 3
sources of error already listed in the previous section, the
protection but on radial distribution systems with single
reach setting of the Zone 2 protection should be at least
end infeed, no difficulties should arise.
120% of the protected line impedance. In many
applications it is common practice to set the Zone 2
reach to be equal to the protected line section +50% of
11.6.4 Settings for Reverse Reach and Other Zones
the shortest adjacent line. Where possible, this ensures
that the resulting maximum effective Zone 2 reach does Modern digital or numerical relays may have additional
not extend beyond the minimum effective Zone 1 reach impedance zones that can be utilised to provide
of the adjacent line protection. This avoids the need to additional protection functions. For example, where the
grade the Zone 2 time settings between upstream and first three zones are set as above, Zone 4 might be used
downstream relays. In electromechanical and static to provide back-up protection for the local busbar, by
relays, Zone 2 protection is provided either by separate applying a reverse reach setting of the order of 25% of
elements or by extending the reach of the Zone 1 the Zone 1 reach. Alternatively, one of the forward-
elements after a time delay that is initiated by a fault looking zones (typically Zone 3) could be set with a small
detector. In most digital and numerical relays, the Zone reverse offset reach from the origin of the R/X diagram,
2 elements are implemented in software. in addition to its forward reach setting. An offset
impedance measurement characteristic is non-
Zone 2 tripping must be time-delayed to ensure grading directional. One advantage of a non-directional zone of
with the primary relaying applied to adjacent circuits that impedance measurement is that it is able to operate for
fall within the Zone 2 reach. Thus complete coverage of a close-up, zero-impedance fault, in situations where
a line section is obtained, with fast clearance of faults in there may be no healthy phase voltage signal or memory
the first 80-85% of the line and somewhat slower voltage signal available to allow operation of a
clearance of faults in the remaining section of the line. directional impedance zone. With the offset-zone time
delay bypassed, there can be provision of'Switch-on-to-
Fault' (SOTF) protection. This is required where there are
line voltage transformers, to provide fast tripping in the
event of accidental line energisation with maintenance
earthing clamps left in position. Additional impedance
zones may be deployed as part of a distance protection
scheme used in conjunction with a teleprotection
signalling channel.

11.7 DISTANCE RELAY CHARACTERISTICS

Some numerical relays measure the absolute fault
impedance and then determine whether operation is
Figure 11.6: Typical time/distance characteristics required according to impedance boundaries defined on
for three zone distance protection the R/X diagram. Traditional distance relays and
numerical relays that emulate the impedance elements
of traditional relays do not measure absolute impedance.
11.6.3 Zone 3 Setting They compare the measured fault voltage with a replica
Remote back-up protection for all faults on adjacent voltage derived from the fault current and the zone
lines can be provided by a third zone of protection that impedance setting to determine whether the fault is
within zone or out-of-zone. Distance relay impedance
is time delayed to discriminate with Zone 2 protection
comparators or algorithms which emulate traditional
plus circuit breaker trip time for the adjacent line. Zone
comparators are classified according to their polar
3 reach should be set to at least 1.2 times the impedance
characteristics, the number of signal inputs they have,
presented to the relay for a fault at the remote end of
and the method by which signal comparisons are made.
the second line section.
The common types compare either the relative amplitude
On interconnected power systems, the effect of fault or phase of two input quantities to obtain operating
current infeed at the remote busbars will cause the characteristics that are either straight lines or circles
impedance presented to the relay to be much greater when plotted on an R/X diagram. At each stage of
than the actual impedance to the fault and this needs to distance relay design evolution, the development of
impedance operating characteristic shapes and
sophistication has been governed by the technology
available and the acceptable cost. Since many
traditional relays are still in service and since some
numerical relays emulate the techniques of the
traditional relays, a brief review of impedance
comparators is justified.

11.7.1 Amplitude and Phase Comparison

Relay measuring elements whose functionality is based
on the comparison of two independent quantities are
essentially either amplitude or phase comparators. For
the impedance elements of a distance relay, the
quantities being compared are the voltage and current
measured by the relay. There are numerous techniques
available for performing the comparison, depending on
the technology used. They vary from balanced-beam
(amplitude comparison) and induction cup (phase
comparison) electromagnetic relays, through diode and Figure 11.7: Plain impedance relay
characteristic
operational amplifier comparators in static-type distance
relays, to digital sequence comparators in digital relays
and to algorithms used in numerical relays.
Any type of impedance characteristic obtainable with
one comparator is also obtainable with the other. The
addition and subtraction of the signals for one type of
comparator produces the required signals to obtain a
similar characteristic using the other type. For example,
comparing Vand Jin an amplitude comparator results in
a circular impedance characteristic centred at the origin
of the R/X diagram. If the sum and difference of V and
I are applied to the phase comparator the result is a
similar characteristic.

11.7.2 Plain Impedance Characteristic

This characteristic takes no account of the phase angle
between the current and the voltage applied to it; for this
reason its impedance characteristic when plotted on an
R/X diagram is a circle with its centre at the origin of the
co-ordinates and of radius equal to its setting in ohms.
Operation occurs for all impedance values less than the
setting, that is, for all points within the circle. The relay
characteristic, shown in Figure 11.7, is therefore non-
directional, and in this form would operate for all faults
along the vector AL and also for all faults behind the
busbars up to an impedance AM. It is to be noted that A
is the relaying point and RAB is the angle by which the
fault current lags the relay voltage for a fault on the line
Figure 11.8: Combined directional
AB and RAC is the equivalent leading angle for a fault on and impedance relays
line AC Vector AB represents the impedance in front of
the relay between the relaying point A and the end of line A relay using this characteristic has three important
AB. Vector AC represents the impedance of line AC disadvantages:
behind the relaying point. AL represents the reach of
i. it is non-directional; it will see faults both in front
instantaneous Zone 1 protection, set to cover 80% to
85% of the protected line. of and behind the relaying point, and therefore
 equires a directional element to give it correct
discrimination

ii. it has non-uniform fault resistance coverage

iii.it is susceptible to power swings and heavy

loading of a long line, because of the large area
covered by the impedance circle

Directional control is an essential discrimination quality

for a distance relay, to make the relay non-responsive to
faults outside the protected line. This can be obtained by
the addition of a separate directional control element.
The impedance characteristic of a directional control
element is a straight line on the R/X diagram, so the
combined characteristic of the directional and
impedance relays is the semi-circle APLQ shown in
Figure 11.8.

If a fault occurs at F close to C on the parallel line CD,

the directional unit R D at A will restrain due to current
lF1. At the same time, the impedance unit is prevented
from operating by the inhibiting output of unit R D . If
this control is not provided, the under impedance
element could operate prior to circuit breaker C opening.
Reversal of current through the relay from I F1 to I F2
when C opens could then result in incorrect tripping of
the healthy line if the directional unit RD operates before
the impedance unit resets. This is an example of the
need to consider the proper co-ordination of multiple
relay elements to attain reliable relay performance
during evolving fault conditions. In older relay designs,
the type of problem to be addressed was commonly
referred to as one of 'contact race'.

11.7.3 Self-Polarised Mho Relay

The mho impedance element is generally known as such

because its characteristic is a straight line on an
admittance diagram. It cleverly combines the
discriminating qualities of both reach control and
directional control, thereby eliminating the 'contact race'
problems that may be encountered with separate reach
and directional control elements. This is achieved by the
addition of a polarising signal. Mho impedance elements
were particularly attractive for economic reasons where
electromechanical relay elements were employed. As a
result, they have been widely deployed worldwide for
many years and their advantages and limitations are now
well understood. For this reason they are still emulated
in the algorithms of some modern numerical relays. Figure 11.9: Mho relay characteristic

The characteristic of a mho impedance element, when

plotted on an R/X diagram, is a circle whose circumference The impedance characteristic is adjusted by setting Zn
passes through the origin, as illustrated in Figure 11.9(b). the impedance reach, along the diameter and
This demonstrates that the impedance element is the angle of displacement of the diameter from the R
inherently directional and such that it will operate only for axis. Angle is known as the Relay Characteristic
faults in the forward direction along line AB. Angle (RCA). The relay operates for values of fault
impedance ZF within its characteristic.
It will be noted that the impedance reach varies with with regard to the relay settings other than the effect
fault angle. As the line to be protected is made up of that reduced fault current may have on the value of arc
resistance and inductance, its fault angle will be resistance seen. The earthing resistance is in the source
dependent upon the relative values of R and X at the behind the relay and only modifies the source angle and
system operating frequency. Under an arcing fault source to line impedance ratio for earth faults. It would
condition, or an earth fault involving additional therefore be taken into account only when assessing
resistance, such as tower footing resistance or fault relay performance in terms of system impedance ratio.
through vegetation, the value of the resistive component
of fault impedance w il l increase to change the
impedance angle. Thus a relay having a characteristic 11.7.4 Offset Mho/Lenticular Characteristics
angle equivalent to the line angle will under-reach under Under close up fault conditions, when the relay voltage
resistive fault conditions. falls to zero or near-zero, a relay using a self-polarised
It is usual, therefore, to set the RCA less than the line mho characteristic or any other form of self-polarised
angle, so that it is possible to accept a small amount of directional impedance characteristic may fail to operate
fault resistance without causing under-reach. However, when it is required to do so. Methods of covering this
when setting the relay, the difference between the line condition include the use of non-directional impedance
angle and the relay characteristic angle must characteristics, such as offset mho, offset lenticular, or
be known. The resulting characteristic is shown in cross-polarised and memory polarised directional
Figure 11.9(c) where AB corresponds to the length of the impedance characteristics.
line to be protected.With set less than ,the actual If current bias is employed, the mho characteristic is
amount of line protected, AB, would be equal to the relay shifted to embrace the origin, so that the measuring
setting value AQ multiplied by cosine . element can operate for close-up faults in both the
Therefore the forward and the reverse directions. The offset mho relay
required relay setting AQ is given by: has two main applications:

Due to the physical nature of an arc, there is a non-linear

relationship between arc voltage and arc current, which Figure 11. W: Typical applications
for the offset mho relay
results in a non-linear resistance. Using the empirical
formula derived by A.R. van C. Warrington, [11.1] the
approximate value of arc resistance can be assessed as:

..Equation 11.4
where:
Ra = arc resistance (ohms) L
= length of arc (metres) I =
arc current (A)
On long overhead lines carried on steel towers with
overhead earth wires the effect of arc resistance can
usually be neglected. The effect is most significant on
short overhead lines and with fault currents below
2000A (i.e. minimum plant condition), or if the protected
line is of wood-pole construction without earth wires. In
the latter case, the earth fault resistance reduces the
effective earth-fault reach of a mho Zone 1 element to
such an extent that the majority of faults are detected in
Zone 2 time. This problem can usually be overcome by
using a relay with a cross-polarised mho or a polygonal
characteristic.
Where a power system is resistance-earthed, it should be
appreciated that this does not need to be considered
11.7.4.1 Third zone and busbar back-up zone To avoid this, a shaped type of characteristic may be
used, where the resistive coverage is restricted. With a
In this application it is used in conjunction with mho
'lenticular' characteristic, the aspect ratio of the lens
measuring units as a fault detector and/or Zone 3
is adjustable, enabling
measuring unit. So, with the reverse reach arranged to
it to be set to provide the maximum fault resistance
extend into the busbar zone, as shown in Figure 1l.10(a),
coverage consistent with non-operation under maximum
it will provide back-up protection for busbar faults. This
load transfer conditions.
facility can also be provided with quadrilateral
characteristics. A further benefit of the Zone 3 Figure 11.11 shows how the lenticular characteristic can
application is for Switch-on-to-Fault (SOTF) protection, tolerate much higher degrees of line loading than offset
where the Zone 3 time delay would be bypassed for a mho and plain impedance characteristics.
short period immediately following line energisation to
Reduction of load impedance from ZD3 to ZD1 will
allow rapid clearance of a fault anywhere along the
correspond to an equivalent increase in load current.
protected line.

11.7.5 Fully Cross-Polarised Mho Characteristic

11.7.4.2 Carrier starting
unit The previous section showed how the non-directional
in distance schemas with offset mho characteristic is inherently able to operate for
carrier blocking
close-up zero voltage faults, where there would be no
polarising voltage to allow operation of a plain mho
If the offset mho unit is used for starting carrier directional element. One way of ensuring correct mho
signalling, it is arranged as shown in Figure 11.10(b). element response for zero-voltage faults is to add a
Carrier is transmitted if the fault is external to the percentage of voltage from the healthy phase(s) to the
protected line but inside the reach of the offset mho main polarising voltage as a substitute phase reference.
relay, in order to prevent accelerated tripping of the This technique is called cross-polarising, and it has the
second or third zone relay at the remote station. advantage of preserving and indeed enhancing the
Transmission is prevented for internal faults by operation directional properties of the mho characteristic. By the
of the local mho measuring units, which allows high- use of a phase voltage memory system, that provides
speed fault clearance by the local and remote end circuit several cycles of pre-fault voltage reference during a
breakers. fault, the cross-polarisation technique is also effective
for close-up three-phase faults. For this type of fault, no
11.7.4.3 Application of lenticular characteristic
healthy phase voltage reference is available.
There is a danger that the offset mho relay shown in
Figure 11.10(a) may operate under maximum load Early memory systems were based on tuned, resonant,
transfer conditions if Zone 3 of the relay has a large analogue circuits, but problems occurred when applied
reach setting. A large Zone 3 reach may be required to to networks where the power system operating
provide remote back-up protection for faults on the frequency could vary. More modern digital or numerical
adjacent feeder. systems can offer a synchronous phase reference for
variations in power system frequency before or even
during a fault.
As described in Section 11.7.3, a disadvantage of the self-
polarised, plain mho impedance characteristic, when
applied to overhead line circuits with high impedance
angles, is that it has limited coverage of arc or fault
resistance. The problem is aggravated in the case of
short lines, since the required Zone 1 ohmic setting is
low. The amount of the resistive coverage offered by the
mho circle is directly related to the forward reach
setting. Hence, the resulting resistive coverage may be
too small in relation to the expected values of fault
resistance.
One additional benefit of applying cross-polarisation to
a mho impedance element is that its resistive coverage
will be enhanced. This effect is illustrated in Figure
11.12, for the case where a mho element has 100%

Figure 1111: Minimum load impedance

permitted with lenticular, offset mho
and impedance relays
cross-polarisation. With cross-polarisation from the It must be emphasised that the apparent extension of a
healthy phase(s) or from a memory system, the mho fully cross-polarised impedance characteristic into the
resistive expansion will occur during a balanced three- negative reactance quadrants of Figure 11.13 does not
phase fault as well as for unbalanced faults. The imply that there would be operation for reverse faults.
expansion will not occur under load conditions, when With cross-polarisation, the relay characteristic expands
there is no phase shift between the measured voltage to encompass the origin of the impedance diagram for
and the polarising voltage. The degree of resistive reach forward faults only. For reverse faults, the effect is to
enhancement depends on the ratio of source impedance exclude the origin of the impedance diagram, thereby
to relay reach (impedance) setting as can be deduced by ensuring proper directional responses for close-up
reference to Figure 11.13. forward or reverse faults.
Fully cross-polarised characteristics have now largely
been superseded, due to the tendency of comparators
connected to healthy phases to operate under heavy
fault conditions on another phase. This is of no
consequence in a switched distance relay, where a single
comparator is connected to the correct fault loop
impedance by starting units before measurement begins.
However, modern relays offer independent impedance
measurement for each of the three earth-fault and three
phase-fault loops. For these types of relay, maloperation
of healthy phases is undesirable, especially when single-
pole tripping is required for single-phase faults.

Figure 11.12: Fully cross-polarised mho relay 11.7.6 Partially Cross-Polarised Mho Characteristic
characteristic with variations ofZ$/ZL ratio
Where a reliable, independent method of faulted phase
selection is not provided, a modern non-switched
distance relay may only employ a relatively small
percentage of cross polarisation.

Figure 11.13: Illustration of improvement

in relay resistive coverage for fully crass- Figure 11.14: Partially cross-polarised
polarised characteristic characteristic with 'shield'shape
The level selected must be sufficient to provide reliable implementing this characteristic using discrete
directional control in the presence of CVT transients for component electromechanical or early static relay
close-up faults, and also attain reliable faulted phase technology do not arise.
selection. By employing only partial cross-polarisation,
the disadvantages of the fully cross-polarised
characteristic are avoided, while still retaining the 11.7.8 Protection against Power Swings -
advantages. Figure 11.14 shows a typical characteristic Use of the Ohm Characteristic
that can be obtained using this technique. During severe power swing conditions from which a
system is unlikely to recover, stability might only be
regained if the swinging sources are separated. Where
11.7.7 Quadrilateral Characteristic
such scenarios are identified, power swing, or out-of-
This form of polygonal impedance characteristic is shown step, tripping protection can be deployed, to strategically
in Figure 11.15. The characteristic is provided with split a power system at a preferred location. Ideally, the
forward reach and resistive reach settings that are split should be made so that the plant capacity and
independently adjustable. It therefore provides better connected loads on either side of the split are matched.
resistive coverage than any mho-type characteristic for
This type of disturbance cannot normally be correctly
short lines. This is especially true for earth fault
identified by an ordinary distance protection. As
impedance measurement, where the arc resistances and
previously mentioned, it is often necessary to prevent
fault resistance to earth contribute to the highest values
distance protection schemes from operating during
of fault resistance. To avoid excessive errors in the zone
stable or unstable power swings, in order to avoid
reach accuracy, it is common to impose a maximum
cascade tripping. To initiate system separation for a
resistive reach in terms of the zone impedance reach.
prospective unstable power swing, an out-of-step
Recommendations in this respect can usually be found in
tripping scheme employing ohm impedance measuring
the appropriate relay manuals.
elements can be deployed.
Ohm impedance characteristics are applied along the
forward and reverse resistance axes of the R/X diagram
and their operating boundaries are set to be parallel to the
protected line impedance vector, as shown in Figure 11.16.
The ohm impedance elements divide the R/X impedance
diagram into three zones, A, B and C. As the impedance
changes during a power swing, the point representing the
impedance moves along the swing locus, entering the three
zones in turn and causing the ohm units to operate in
sequence. When the impedance enters the third zone the
trip sequence is completed and the circuit breaker trip coil
can be energised at a favourable angle between system
sources for arc interruption with little risk of restriking.

Figure 11. 15: Quadrilateral characteristic

Quadrilateral elements with plain reactance reach lines

can introduce reach error problems for resistive earth
faults where the angle of total fault current differs from
the angle of the current measured by the relay. This will
be the case where the local and remote source voltage
vectors are phase shifted with respect to each other due
to pre-fault power flow. This can be overcome by
selecting an alternative to use of a phase current for
polarisation of the reactance reach line. Polygonal
impedance characteristics are highly flexible in terms of
fault impedance coverage for both phase and earth
faults. For this reason, most digital and numerical
distance relays now offer this form of characteristic. A
further factor is that the additional cost implications of
Figure 11.16: Application of'out-of-step
tripping relay characteristic
Only an unstable power swing condition can cause the It is impossible to eliminate all of the above factors for
impedance vector to move successively through the all possible operating conditions. However, considerable
three zones. Therefore, other types of system success can be achieved with a suitable distance relay.
disturbance, such as power system fault conditions, will This may comprise relay elements or algorithms for
not result in relay element operation. starting, distance measuring and for scheme logic.
The distance measurement elements may produce
impedance characteristics selected from those described
11.7.9 Other Characteristics
in Section 11.7. Various distance relay formats exist,
The execution time for the algorithm for traditional depending on the operating speed required and cost
distance protection using quadrilateral or similar considerations related to the relaying hardware, software
characteristics may result in a relatively long operation or numerical relay processing capacity required. The
time, possibly up to 40ms in some relay designs. To most common formats are:
overcome this, some numerical distance relays also use
a. a single measuring element for each phase is
alternative algorithms that can be executed significantly
provided, that covers all phase faults
faster. These algorithms are based generally on detecting
changes in current and voltage that are in excess of what b. a more economical arrangement is for 'starter'
is expected, often known as the 'Delta' algorithm. elements to detect which phase or phases have
suffered a fault. The starter elements switch a
This algorithm detects a fault by comparing the
single measuring element or algorithm to measure
measured values of current and voltage with the values
the most appropriate fault impedance loop. This is
sampled previously. If the change between these
commonly referred to as a switched distance relay
samples exceeds a predefined amount (the 'delta'), it is
assumed a fault has occurred. In parallel, the distance to c. a single set of impedance measuring elements for
fault is also computed. Provided the computed distance each impedance loop may have their reach settings
to fault lies within the Zone reach of the relay, a trip progressively increased from one zone reach
command is issued. This algorithm can be executed setting to another. The increase occurs after zone
significantly faster than the conventional distance time delays that are initiated by operation of
algorithm, resulting in faster overall tripping times. starter elements. This type of relay is commonly
Faulted phase selection can be carried out by comparing referred to as a reach-stepped distance relay
the signs of the changes in voltage and current
d. each zone may be provided with independent sets
Relays that use the 'Delta' algorithm generally run both of impedance measuring elements for each
this and conventional distance protection algorithms in impedance loop. This is known as a full distance
parallel, as some types of fault (e.g. high-resistance scheme, capable of offering the highest
faults) may not fall within the fault detection criteria of performance in terms of speed and application
the Delta algorithm. flexibility
11.8 DISTANCE RELAY IMPLEMENTATION
Furthermore, protection against earth faults may require
Discriminating zones of protection can be achieved using
different characteristics and/or settings to those required
distance relays, provided that fault distance is a simple
for phase faults, resulting in additional units being
function of impedance. While this is true in principle for
required. A total of 18 impedance-measuring elements
transmission circuits, the impedances actually measured
or algorithms would be required in a full distance relay
by a distance relay also depend on the following factors;
for three-zone protection for all types of fault.
1. the magnitudes of current and voltage (the relay
With electromechanical technology, each of the
may not see all the current that produces the fault
measuring elements would have been a separate relay
voltage)
housed in its own case, so that the distance relay
2. the fault impedance loop being measured comprised a panel-mounted assembly of the required
relays with suitable inter-unit wiring. Figure 11.17(a)
3. the type of fault
shows an example of such a relay scheme.
4. the fault resistance
Digital/numerical distance relays (Figure 11.17(b)) are likely
5. the symmetry of line impedance to have all of the above functions implemented in
6. the circuit configuration (single, double or multi- software. Starter units may not be necessary. The
terminal circuit) complete distance relay is housed in a single unit, making
for significant economies in space, wiring and increased
dependability, through the increased availability that stems
from the provision of continuous self-supervision. When
the additional features detailed in Section 11.11 are taken economy for other applications, only one measuring
into consideration, such equipment offers substantial user element was provided, together with 'starter' units that
benefits. detected which phases were faulted, in order to switch the
appropriate signals to the single measuring function. A
distance relay using this technique is known as a switched
distance relay. A number of different types of starters have
been used, the most common being based on overcurrent,
undervoltage or under-impedance measurement.
Numerical distance relays permit direct detection of the
phases involved in a fault. This is called faulted phase
selection, often abbreviated to phase selection. Several
techniques are available for faulted phase selection,
which then permits the appropriate distance-measuring
zone to trip. Without phase selection, the relay risks
having over or underreach problems, or tripping three-
phase when single-pole fault clearance is required.
Several techniques are available for faulted phase
selection, such as:
a. superimposed current comparisons, comparing the
step change of level between pre-fault load, and
fault current (the 'Delta' algorithm). This enables
very fast detection of the faulted phases, within
only a few samples of the analogue current inputs
b. change in voltage magnitude
c. change in current magnitude
Numerical phase selection is much faster than
Figure 11.17 (a): Electromechanical distance relay
traditional starter techniques used in electromechanical
or static distance relays. It does not impose a time
penalty as the phase selection and measuring zone
algorithms run in parallel. It is possible to build a full-
scheme relay with these numerical techniques. The
phase selection algorithm provides faulted phase
selection, together with a segregated measuring
algorithm for each phase-ground and phase to phase
fault loop (AN, BN, CN, AB, BC, CA), thus ensuring full-
scheme operation.
However, there may be occasions where a numerical
relay that mimics earlier switched distance protection
techniques is desired. The reasons may be economic (less
software required - thus cheaper than a relay that
contains a full-scheme implementation) and/or
technical.

Figure 11.17 (b): MiCOM P440 series numerical distance relay

Some applications may require the numerical relay
characteristics to match those of earlier generations
already installed on a network, to aid selectivity. Such
relays are available, often with refinements such as
11.8,1 Starters for switched distance protection multi-sided polygonal impedance characteristics that
Electromechanical and static distance relays do not
assist in avoiding tripping due to heavy load conditions.
normally use an individual impedance-measuring element With electromechanical or static switched distance
per phase. The cost and the resulting physical scheme size relays, a selection of available starters often had to be
made this arrangement impractical, except for the most made. The choice of starter was dependent on power
demanding EHV transmission applications. To achieve system parameters such as maximum load transfer in
relation to maximum reach required and power system double phase faults are dependent on the source
earthing arrangements. impedance as well as the line impedance. The
relationships are given in Figure 11.19.
Where overcurrent starters are used, care must be taken
to ensure that, with minimum generating plant in Applying the difference of the phase voltages to the relay
service, the setting of the overcurrent starters is sensitive eliminates the dependence on ZS1. For example:
enough to detect faults beyond the third zone.
Furthermore, these starters require a high drop-off to
pick-up ratio, to ensure that they will drop off under
maximum load conditions after a second or third zone
fault has been cleared by the first zone relay in the faulty
section. Without this feature, indiscriminate tripping
may result for subsequent faults in the second or third
zone. For satisfactory operation of the overcurrent
starters in a switched distance scheme, the following
conditions must be fulfilled:
a. the current setting of the overcurrent starters must
be not less than 1.2 times the maximum full load
current of the protected line
b. the power system minimum fault current for a
fault at the Zone 3 reach of the distance relay must
not be less than 1.5 times the setting of the
overcurrent starters
On multiple-earthed systems where the neutrals of all
the power transformers are solidly earthed, or in power
systems where the fault current is less than the full load
current of the protected line, it is not possible to use
overcurrent starters. In these circumstances under-
impedance starters are typically used.
The type of under-impedance starter used is mainly
dependent on the maximum expected load current and
equivalent minimum load impedance in relation to the
required relay setting to cover faults in Zone 3. This is
illustrated in Figure 11.11 where ZD1 ZD2, and ZD3 are
respectively the minimum load impedances permitted
when lenticular, offset mho and impedance relays are used.

11.9 EFFECT OF SOURCE IMPEDANCE

AND EARTHING METHODS
For correct operation, distance relays must be capable of
measuring the distance to the fault accurately. To ensure
this, it is necessary to provide the correct measured
quantities to the measurement elements. It is not always
the case that use of the voltage and current for a
particular phase will give the correct result, or that
additional compensation is required.

11.9.1 Phase Fault Impedance Measurement

Figure 11.18 shows the current and voltage relations for
the different types of fault. If ZS1 and ZL1 are the source
and line positive sequence impedances, viewed from the
relaying point, the currents and voltages at this point for Figure 11.18: Current and voltage
relationships for some shunt faults
 where I'a, I'b, I'c are the phase currents at the relaying
point. From the above expressions, the voltage at the
relaying point can be expressed in terms of:
1. the phase currents at the relaying point,
2. the ratio of the transmission line zero sequence to
positive sequence impedance, K, (=ZLo/ZL1),
3. the transmission line positive sequence impedance
ZL1:

.Equation 11.5

Figure 11. 19: Phase currents and voltages

at relaying point for 3~phase and
double-phase faults

Distance measuring elements are usually calibrated in

terms of the positive sequence impedance. Correct
measurement for both phase-phase and three-phase
faults is achieved by supplying each phase-phase
measuring element with its corresponding phase-phase
voltage and difference of phase currents. Thus, for the
B-C element, the current measured will be:

(double - phase faults)

and the relay will measure ZL1 in each case.

11.9.2 Earth Fault Impedance
Measurement
When a phase-earth fault occurs, the phase-earth
voltage at the fault location is zero. It would appear that
the voltage drop to the fault is simply the product of the
phase current and line impedance. However, the current
in the fault loop depends on the number of earthing
points, the method of earthing and sequence impedances
of the fault loop. Unless these factors are taken into
account, the impedance measurement will be incorrect. Figure 11.20: Effect of infeed and earthing
arrangements on earth fault distance
The voltage drop to the fault is the sum of the sequence
measurement
voltage drops between the relaying point and the fault.
The voltage drop to the fault and current in the fault
loop are:

The voltage appearing at the relaying point, as previously

mentioned, varies with the number of infeeds, the
method of system earthing and the position of the relay
relative to the infeed and earthing points in the system.
and the residual current I'N at the relaying point is given
Figure 11.20 illustrates the three possible arrangements
by:
that can occur in practice with a single infeed. In Figure
I'n = I'a + I ' b + I ' c = 3I 0 11.20(a), the healthy phase currents are zero, so that the
phase currents Ia, Ib and Ic have a 1-0-0 pattern. The
impedance seen by a relay comparing Ia and Va is:

...Equation 11.6
.Equation 11.7

In Figure 11.20(b), the currents entering the fault from

the relay branch have a 2-1-1 distribution, so: With the replica impedance set to , earth
Z=KL1 fault measuring elements will measure the fault
In Figure 11.20(c), the phase currents have a 1-1-1 impedance correctly, irrespective of the number of
distribution, and hence: infeeds and earthing points on the system.

Z=KZL1
If there were infeeds at both ends of the line, the 11.10 DISTANCE RELAY APPLICATION PROBLEMS
impedance measured would be a superposition of any Distance relays may suffer from a number of difficulties
two of the above examples, with the relative magnitudes in their application. Many of them have been overcome
of the infeeds taken into account. in the latest numerical relays. Nevertheless, an
awareness of the problems is useful where a protection
This analysis shows that the relay can only measure an engineer has to deal with older relays that are already
impedance which is independent of infeed and earthing installed and not due for replacement.
arrangements if a proportion of the

residual current In=Ia+Ib+Ic is added to the phase 11.10.1 Minimum Voltage at Relay Terminals
current Ia. This technique is known as 'residual To attain their claimed accuracy, distance relays that do
compensation'. not employ voltage memory techniques require a
Most distance relays compensate for the earth fault minimum voltage at the relay terminals under fault
conditions by using an additional replica impedance ZN conditions. This voltage should be declared in the data
within the measuring circuits. Whereas the phase replica sheet for the relay. With knowledge of the sequence
impedances involved in the fault, or alternatively the
impedance Z1 is fed with the phase current at the
fault MVA, the system voltage and the earthing
relaying point, ZN is fed with the full residual current.
arrangements, it is possible to calculate the minimum
The value of ZN is adjusted so that for a fault at the
voltage at the relay terminals for a fault at the reach
reach point, the sum of the voltages developed across Z1
point of the relay. It is then only necessary to check that
and ZN equals the measured phase to neutral voltage in
the minimum voltage for accurate reach measurement
the faulted phase. can be attained for a given application. Care should be
The required setting for ZN can be determined by taken that both phase and earth faults are considered.
considering an earth fault at the reach point of the relay.
This is illustrated with reference to the A-N fault with
single earthing point behind the relay as in Figure 11.10.2 Minimum Length of Line
11.20(a). To determine the minimum length of line that can be
protected by a distance relay, it is necessary to check first
Voltage supplied from the VT's:
that any minimum voltage requirement of the relay for a
= I1 (Z 1+Z2+Z0) = I1 (2Z1+Z0 ) fault at the Zone 1 reach is within the declared
sensitivity for the relay. Secondly, the ohmic impedance
Voltage across the replica impedances:
of the line (referred if necessary to VT/CT secondary side
= IaZ1+INZN quantities) must fall within the ohmic setting range for
Zone 1 reach of the relay. For very short lines and
= Ia(Z1+ZN)
especially for cable circuits, it may be found that the
= 3I1(Z1+Z N ) circuit impedance is less than the minimum setting
Hence, the required setting of ZN for balance at the range of the relay. In such cases, an alternative method
of protection will be required.
reach point is given by equating the above two
expressions: A suitable alternative might be current differential
protection, as the line length will probably be short
enough for the cost-effective provision of a high
bandwidth communication link between the relays fitted ...Equation 11.8
at the ends of the protected circuit. However, the latest So, for relay balance:
numerical distance relays have a very wide range of
impedance setting ranges and good sensitivity with low
levels of relaying voltage, so such problems are now
rarely encountered. Application checks are still essential,
though. When considering earth faults, particular care Therefore the effective reach is
must be taken to ensure that the appropriate earth fault
loop impedance is used in the calculation.

It is clear from Equation 11.8 that the relay will

11.10.3 Under-Reach - Effect of Remote Infeed underreach. It is relatively easy to compensate for this
A distance relay is said to under-reach when the by increasing the reach setting of the relay, but care has
impedance presented to it is apparently greater than the to be taken. Should there be a possibility of the remote
impedance to the fault. infeed being reduced or zero, the relay will then reach
further than intended. For example, setting Zone 2 to
Percentage under-reach is defined as: reach a specific distance into an adjacent line section
under parallel circuit conditions may mean that Zone 2
reaches beyond the Zone 1 reach of the adjacent line
protection under single circuit operation. If IB=9IA and
the relay reach is set to see faults at F, then in the
where:
absence of the remote infeed, the relay effective setting
ZR = intended relay reach (relay reach becomes ZA+10Zc.
setting) Care should also be taken that large forward reach
ZF = effective reach settings will not result in operation of healthy phase
relays for reverse earth faults, see Section 11.10.5.
The main cause of underreaching is the effect of fault
current infeed at remote busbars. This is best illustrated
by an example. 11.10.4 Over-Reach
A distance relay is said to over-reach when the apparent
impedance presented to it is less than the impedance to
the fault.
Percentage over-reach is defined by the equation:

...Equation 11.9
where:
ZR = relay reach setting ZF
= effective reach
An example of the over-reaching effect is when distance
relays are applied on parallel lines and one line is taken
Figure 11.21: Effect on distance relays
of infeed at the remote busbar
out of service and earthed at each end. This is covered
in Section 13.2.3.

In Figure 11.21, the relay at A will not measure the 11.10.5 Forward Reach Limitations
correct impedance for a fault on line section Zc due to
There are limitations on the maximum forward reach
current infeed IB. Consider a relay setting of ZA+Zc
setting that can be applied to a distance relay. For
For a fault at point F, the relay is presented with an example, with reference to Figure 11.6, Zone 2 of one line
impedance: section should not reach beyond the Zone 1 coverage of
the next line section relay. Where there is a link between 11.10.7 Voltage Transformer Supervision
the forward reach setting and the relay resistive
Fuses or sensitive miniature circuit breakers normally
coverage (e.g. a Mho Zone 3 element), a relay must not
protect the secondary wiring between the voltage
operate under maximum load conditions. Also, if the
transformer secondary windings and the relay terminals.
relay reach is excessive, the healthy phase-earth fault
units of some relay designs may be prone to operation Distance relays having:
for heavy reverse faults. This problem only affected older a. self-polarised offset characteristics encompassing
relays applied to three-terminal lines that have
the zero impedance point of the R/X diagram
significant line section length asymmetry. A number of
the features offered with modern relays can eliminate b. sound phase polarisation
this problem. c. voltage memory polarisation
may maloperate if one or more voltage inputs are
11.10.6 Power Swing Blocking removed due to operation of these devices.
Power swings are variations in power flow that occur For these types of distance relay, supervision of the voltage
when the internal voltages of generators at different inputs is recommended. The supervision may be provided by
points of the power system slip relative to each other. The external means, e.g. separate voltage supervision circuits, or
changes in load flows that occur as a result of faults and it may be incorporated into the distance relay itself. On
their subsequent clearance are one cause of power swings. detection of VT failure, tripping of the distance relay can be
inhibited and/or an alarm is given. Modern distance
A power swing may cause the impedance presented to a
protection relays employ voltage supervision that operates
distance relay to move away from the normal load area
from sequence voltages and currents. Zero or negative
and into the relay characteristic. In the case of a stable
sequence voltages and corresponding zero or negative
power swing it is especially important that the distance
sequence currents are derived. Discrimination between
relay should not trip in order to allow the power system
primary power system faults and wiring faults or loss of
to return to a stable conditions. For this reason, most
supply due to individual fuses blowing or MCB's being
distance protection schemes applied to transmission
opened is obtained by blocking the distance protection only
systems have a power swing blocking facility available.
when zero or negative sequence voltage is detected without
Different relays may use different principles for detection
the presence of zero or negative sequence current. This
of a power swing, but all involve recognising that the
arrangement will not detect the simultaneous loss of all
movement of the measured impedance in relation to the
three voltages and additional detection is required that
relay measurement characteristics is at a rate that is
operates for loss of voltage with no change in current, or a
significantly less than the rate of change that occurs
current less than that corresponding to the three phase
during fault conditions. When the relay detects such a
fault current under minimum fault infeed conditions. If
condition, operation of the relay elements can be
fast-acting miniature circuit breakers are used to protect
blocked. Power swing blocking may be applied
the VT secondary circuits, contacts from these may be used
individually to each of the relay zones, or on an all zones
to inhibit operation of the distance protection elements and
applied/inhibited basis, depending on the particular relay
prevent tripping.
used.
Various techniques are used in different relay designs to
inhibit power swing blocking in the event of a fault 11.11 OTHER DISTANCE RELAY FEATURES
occurring while a power swing is in progress. This is
A modern digital or numerical distance relay will often
particularly important, for example, to allow the relay to
incorporate additional features that assist the protection
respond to a fault that develops on a line during the dead
engineer in providing a comprehensive solution to the
time of a single pole autoreclose cycle.
protection requirements of a particular part of a network.
Some Utilities may designate certain points on the
Table 11.1 provides an indication of the additional features
network as split points, where the network should be
that may be provided in such a relay. The combination of
split in the event of an unstable power swing or pole-
features that are actually provided is manufacturer and
slipping occurring. A dedicated power swing tripping
relay model dependent, but it can be seen from the Table
relay may be employed for this purpose (see Section
that steady progression is being made towards a 'one-box'
11.7.8). Alternatively, it may be possible to achieve
solution that incorporates all the protection and control
splitting by strategically limiting the duration for which
requirements for a line or cable. However, at the highest
the operation a specific distance relay is blocked during
transmission voltages, the level of dependability required
power swing conditions.
for rapid clearance of any protected circuit fault will still
demand the use of two independent protection systems.
 Fault Location (Distance to fault)
Instantaneous Overcurrent Protection
Tee'd feeder protection
Alternative setting groups
CT supervision
Check synchroniser
Auto-reclose
CB state monitoring
CB condition monitoring
CB control
Measurement of voltages, currents, etc.
Event Recorder
Disturbance Recorder
CB failure detection/logic
Direetional/Non-directional phase fault overcurrent protection
(backup to distance protection)
Directional/Non-directional earth fault overcurrent protection
(backup to distance protection)
Negative sequence protection
Under/Overvoltage protection
Stub-bus protection
Broken conductor detection
User-programmable scheme logic
Table 11.2: Distance relay parameters for example
Table 11,1: Additional features in a distance relay

11.12 DISTANCE RELAY APPLICATION primary quantities and eliminates considerations of

EXAMPLE VT/CT ratios.
The system diagram shown in Figure 11.22 shows a
For simplicity, it is assumed that only a conventional 3-
simple 230kV network. The following example shows the
zone distance protection is to be set and that there is no
calculations necessary to apply three-zone distance
teleprotection scheme to be considered. In practice, a
protection to the line interconnecting substations ABC
teleprotection scheme would normally be applied to a
and XYZ. All relevant data for this exercise are given in
line at this voltage level.
the diagram. The MiCOM P441 relay with quadrilateral
characteristics is considered in this example. Relay
parameters used in the example are listed in Table 11.2. 11.12.1 Line Impedance
Calculations are carried out in terms of primary system The line impedance is:
impedances in ohms, rather than the traditional practice
of using secondary impedances. With numerical relays, ZL = (0.089 +j0.476) X 100 =
where the CT and VT ratios may be entered as 8.9+j47.6 Ohm = 48.42
parameters, the scaling between primary and secondary
ohms can be performed by the relay. This simplifies the
Z79.41° Ohm.
example by allowing calculations to be carried out in Use values of 48.42 Ohm (magnitude) and 80° (angle) as
nearest settable values.

11.12.2 Residual Compensation

The relays used are calibrated in terms of the positive
sequence impedance of the protected line. Since the
zero sequence impedance of the line between
substations ABC and XYZ is different from the positive
sequence impedance, the impedance seen by the relay in
the case of an earth fault, involving the passage of zero
sequence current, will be different to that seen for a
phase fault.
Figure 11.22: Example network for distance
relay setting calculation
Hence, the earth fault reach of the relay requires zero 11.12.5 Zone 3 Phase Reach
sequence compensation (see Section 11.9.2).
Zone 3 is set to cover 120% of the sum of the lines
For the relay used, this adjustment is provided by the between substations ABC and PQR, provided this does
residual (or neutral) compensation factor KZ0, set equal not result in any transformers at substation XYZ being
to: included. It is assumed that this constraint is met.
Hence, Zone 3 reach:

11.12.6 Zone Time Delay Settings

Proper co-ordination of the distance relay settings with
those of other relays is required. Independent timers are
available for the three zones to ensure this.
For Zone 1, instantaneous tripping is normal. A time
delay is used only in cases where large d.c. offsets occur
and old circuit breakers, incapable of breaking the
instantaneous d.c. component, are involved.
The Zone 2 element has to grade with the relays
11.12.3 Zone 1 Phase Reach protecting the line between substations XYZ and PQR
The required Zone 1 reach is 80% of the line impedance. since the Zone 2 element covers part of these lines.
Therefore, Assuming that this line has distance, unit or
instantaneous high-set overcurrent protection applied,
the time delay required is that to cover the total
clearance time of the downstream relays. To this must
be added the reset time for the Zone 2 element following
clearance of a fault on the adjacent line, and a suitable
safety margin. A typical time delay is 350ms, and the
11.12.4 Zone 2 Phase Reach
normal range is 200-500ms.
Ideally, the requirements for setting Zone 2 reach are:
The considerations for the Zone 3 element are the same
1. at least 120% of the protected line as for the Zone 2 element, except that the downstream
fault clearance time is that for the Zone 2 element of a
2. less than the protected line + 50% of the next line
distance relay or IDMT overcurrent protection. Assuming
Sometimes, the two requirements are in conflict. In this distance relays are used, a typical time is 800ms. In
case, both requirements can be met. A setting of the summary:
whole of the line between substations ABC and XYZ,
plus 50% of the adjacent line section to substation PQR TZ1 = 0 ms (instantaneous)
is used. Hence, Zone 2 reach: TZ2 = 250 ms TZ3 = 800 ms

11.12.7 Phase Fault Resistive Reach Settings

With the use of a quadrilateral characteristic, the
resistive reach settings for each zone can be set
independently of the impedance reach settings. The
resistive reach setting represents the maximum amount
of additional fault resistance (in excess of the line
impedance) for which a zone will trip, regardless of the
fault within the zone.
Two constraints are imposed upon the settings, as 11.13 REFERENCES
follows:

i. it must be greater than the maximum expected

11.1 Protective Relays - their Theory and Practice.
phase-phase fault resistance (principally that of the
A.R. van C. Warrington. Chapman and Hall,
fault arc)
1962.
ii. it must be less than the apparent resistance
measured due to the heaviest load on the line

The minimum fault current at Substation ABC is of the

order of 1.8kA, leading to a typical arc resistance R arc
using the van Warrington formula (Equation 11.4) of
8Ohm Using the current transformer ratio as a guide to
the maximum expected load current, the minimum load
impedance Zlmin will be 130 Ohm. Typically, the resistive
reaches will be set to avoid the minimum load
impedance by a 40% margin for the phase elements,
leading to a maximum resistive reach setting of 78 Ohm

Therefore,the resistive reach setting lies between 8

Ohm and 78 Ohm. Allowance should be made for the
effects of any remote fault infeed, by using the
maximum resistive reach possible. While each zone
can have its own resistive reach setting, for this simple
example they can all be set equal. This need not always
be the case, it depends on the particular distance
protection scheme used and the need to include Power
Swing Blocking.

Suitable settings are chosen to be 80% of the load

resistance:

11.12.8 Earth Fault impedance Reach Settings

By default, the residual compensation factor as

calculated in Section 11.12.2 is used to adjust the phase
fault reach setting in the case of earth faults, and is
applied to all zones.

11.12.9 Earth Fault Resistive Reach Settings

The margin for avoiding the minimum load impedance
need only be 20%. Hence the settings are:

R3G = 104
Ohm. R2G =
104Ohm R IG
= 104Ohm
This completes the setting of the relay. Table 11.2 also
shows the settings calculated.
12 • Distance Protection
Schemes
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Conventional time-stepped distance protection is
illustrated in Figure 12.1. One of the main disadvantages
of this scheme is that the instantaneous Zone 1
protection at each end of the protected line cannot be
set to cover the whole of the feeder length and is usually
set to about 80%. This leaves two 'end zones', each
being about 20% of the protected feeder length. Faults
in these zones are cleared in Zone 1 time by the
protection at one end of the feeder and in Zone 2 time
(typically 0.25 to 0.4 seconds) by the protection at the
other end of the feeder.

Figure 12.1: Conventional distance scheme

This situation cannot be tolerated in some applications, for

two main reasons:
a. faults remaining on the feeder for Zone 2 time may
cause the system to become unstable
b. where high-speed auto-reclosing is used, the non-
simultaneous opening of the circuit breakers at
both ends of the faulted section results in no 'dead
time' during the auto-reclose cycle for the fault to
be extinguished and for ionised gases to clear. This
results in the possibility that a transient fault will
cause permanent lockout of the circuit breakers at
each end of the line section
Even where instability does not occur, the increased
duration of the disturbance may give rise to power
quality problems, and may result in increased plant
damage.
Unit schemes of protection that compare the conditions at
the two ends of the feeder simultaneously positively
identify whether the fault is internal or external to the
protected section and provide high-speed protection for
the whole feeder length. This advantage is balanced by the
fact that the unit scheme does not provide the back up
protection for adjacent feeders given by a distance scheme.
The most desirable scheme is obviously a combination of
the best features of both arrangements, that is,
instantaneous tripping over the whole feeder length plus
back-up protection to adjacent feeders. This can be
achieved by interconnecting the distance protection
relays at each end of the protected feeder by a
communications channel. Communication techniques
are described in detail in Chapter 8.
The purpose of the communications channel is to
transmit information about the system conditions from Figure 12.2: Zone 1 extension scheme

one end of the protected line to the other, including

requests to initiate or prevent tripping of the remote On occurrence of a fault at any point within the Z1X
circuit breaker. The former arrangement is generally reach, the relay operates in Zone 1 time, trips the circuit
known as a 'transfer tripping scheme' while the latter is breaker and initiates auto-reclosure. The Zone 1 reach of
generally known as a 'blocking scheme'. However, the the distance relay is also reset to the basic value of 80%,
terminology of the various schemes varies widely, prior to the auto-reclose closing pulse being applied to
according to local custom and practice. the breaker. This should also occur when the auto-
reclose facility is out of service. Reversion to the Z1X
reach setting occurs only at the end of the reclaim time.
12.2 ZONE 1 EXTENSION SCHEME (Z1X SCHEME] For interconnected lines, the Z1X scheme is established
(automatically or manually) upon loss of the
This scheme is intended for use with an auto-reclose
communications channel by selection of the appropriate
facility, or where no communications channel is
relay setting (setting group in a numerical relay). If the
available, or the channel has failed. Thus it may be used
fault is transient, the tripped circuit breakers will reclose
on radial distribution feeders, or on interconnected lines
successfully, but otherwise further tripping during the
as a fallback when no communications channel is
reclaim time is subject to the discrimination obtained
available, e.g. due to maintenance or temporary fault.
with normal Zone 1 and Zone 2 settings.
The scheme is shown in Figure 12.2.
The disadvantage of the Zone 1 extension scheme is that
The Zone 1 elements of the distance relay have two
external faults within the Z1X reach of the relay result in
settings. One is set to cover 80% of the protected line
tripping of circuit breakers external to the faulted
length as in the basic distance scheme. The other, known
section, increasing the amount of breaker maintenance
as 'Extended Zone 1 or 'Z1X', is set to overreach the
needed and needless transient loss of supply to some
protected line, a setting of 120% of the protected line
consumers. This is illustrated in Figure 12.3(a) fora
being common. The Zone 1 reach is normally controlled
single circuit line where three circuit breakers operate
by the Z1X setting and is reset to the basic Zone 1 setting
and in Figure 12.3(b) for a double circuit line, where five
when a command from the auto-reclose relay is received.
circuit breakers operate.

Network Protection & Automation G it i d i

 A contact operated by the Zone 1 relay element is
arranged to send a signal to the remote relay requesting a
trip. The scheme may be called a 'direct under-reach
transfer tripping scheme', 'transfer trip under-reaching
scheme', or 'intertripping under-reach distance protection
scheme', as the Zone 1 relay elements do not cover the
whole of the line.

A fault F in the end zone at end B in Figure 12.1 (a)

results in operation of the Zone 1 relay and tripping of
the circuit breaker at end B. A request to trip is also sent
to the relay at end A. The receipt of a signal at A
initiates tripping immediately because the receive relay
contact is connected directly to the trip relay. The
disadvantage of this scheme is the possibility of
undesir ed t ripping by accidental oper ation or
maloperation of signalling equipment, or interference on
the communications channel. As a result, it is not
commonly used.

12.3.2 Permissive Under-reach Transfer Tripping

(PUP) Scheme
The direct under-reach transfer tripping scheme described
above is made more secure by supervising the received
signal with the operation of the Zone 2 relay element before
allowing an instantaneous trip, as shown in Figure 12.5. The
scheme is then known as a 'permissive under-reach transfer
tripping scheme' (sometimes abbreviated as PUP Z2
scheme) or 'permissive under-reach distance protection', as
figure 12.3: Performance of Zone 1 extension
both relays must detect a fault before the remote end relay
scheme in conjunction with auto-rectose relays is permitted to trip in Zone 1 time.

12.3 TRANSFER TRIPPING SCHEMES

A number of these schemes are available, as described

below. Selection of an appropriate scheme depends on
the requirements of the system being protected.

12.3.1 Direct Under-reach Transfer Tripping

Scheme
The simplest way of reducing the fault clearance time at
the terminal that clears an end zone fault in Zone 2 time
is to adopt a direct transfer trip or intertrip technique, the
logic of which is shown in Figure 12.4.

Figure 12.5: Permissive under-reach

transfer tripping scheme

Figure 12.4: Logic for direct under-reach

transfer tripping scheme
A variant of this scheme, found on some relays, allows relays that share the same measuring elements for both
tripping by Zone 3 element operation as well as Zone 2, Zone 1 and Zone 2. In these relays, the reach of the
provided the fault is in the forward direction. This is measuring elements is extended from Zone 1 to Zone 2
sometimes called the PUP-Fwd scheme. by means of a range change signal immediately, instead
of after Zone 2 time. It is also called an 'accelerated
Time delayed resetting of the 'signal received' element is
underreach distance protection scheme'.
required to ensure that the relays at both ends of a
single-end fed faulted line of a parallel feeder circuit The under-reaching Zone 1 unit is arranged to send a
have time to trip when the fault is close to one end. signal to the remote end of the feeder in addition to
Consider a fault F in a double circuit line, as shown in tripping the local circuit breaker. The receive relay
Figure 12.6. The fault is close to end A, so there is contact is arranged to extend the reach of the measuring
negligible infeed from end B when the fault at F occurs. element from Zone 1 to Zone 2. This accelerates the
The protection at B detects a Zone 2 fault only after the fault clearance at the remote end for faults that lie in the
breaker at end A has tripped. It is possible for the Zone 1 region between the Zone 1 and Zone 2 reaches. The
element at A to reset, thus removing the permissive scheme is shown in Figure 12.7. Modern distance relays
signal to B and causing the 'signal received' element at do not employ switched measuring elements, so the
B to reset before the Zone 2 unit at end B operates. It is scheme is likely to fall into disuse.
therefore necessary to delay the resetting of the 'signal
received' element to ensure high speed tripping at end B.

Figure 12.7: Permissive under-reaching

acceleration scheme

Figure 12.6: PUP scheme: Single-end fed

close-up fault on double circuit line
12.3.4 Permissive Over-Reach Transfer Tripping
(POP) Seheme
The PUP schemes require only a single communications In this scheme, a distance relay element set to reach
channel for two-way signalling between the line ends, as the beyond the remote end of the protected line is used to
channel is keyed by the under-reaching Zone 1 elements. send an intertripping signal to the remote end. However,
it is essential that the receive relay contact is monitored
When the circuit breaker at one end is open, or there is
by a directional relay contact to ensure that tripping
a weak infeed such that the relevant relay element does
does not take place unless the fault is within the
not operate, instantaneous clearance cannot be achieved protected section; see Figure 12.8. The instantaneous
for end-zone faults near the 'breaker open' terminal contacts of the Zone 2 unit are arranged to send the
unless special features are included, as detailed in signal, and the received signal, supervised by Zone 2
section 12.3.5. operation, is used to energise the trip circuit. The
scheme is then known as a 'permissive over-reach
transfer tripping scheme' (sometimes abbreviated to
12.3.3 Permissive Under-reaching Acceleration Scheme
'POP'), 'directional comparison scheme', or 'permissive
This scheme is applicable only to zone switched distance overreach distance protection scheme'.
 Figure 12.9: Current reversal guard logic-
permi5$ive over-reach scheme

The above scheme using Zone 2 relay elements is often

referred to as a POP Z2 scheme. An alternative exists
that uses Zone 1 elements instead of Zone 2, and this is
referred to as the POP Z1 scheme.
Figure 12.8: Permissive over-reach transfer tripping scheme

Since the signalling channel is keyed by over-reaching Zone 12.3.5 Weak Infeed Conditions
2 elements, the scheme reqi ires duplex communication
In the standard permissive over-reach scheme, as with
channels - one frequency for each direction of signalling.
the permissive under-reach scheme, instantaneous
If distance relays with mho characteristics are used, the clearance cannot be achieved for end-zone faults under
scheme may be more advantageous than the permissive weak infeed or breaker open conditions. To overcome
under-reaching scheme for protecting short lines, this disadvantage, two possibilities exist.
because the resistive coverage of the Zone 2 unit may be
The Weak Infeed Echo feature available in some
greater than that of Zone 1.
protection relays allows the remote relay to echo the trip
To prevent operation under current reversal conditions in signal back to the sending relay even if the appropriate
a parallel feeder circuit, it is necessary to use a current remote relay element has not operated. This caters for
reversal guard timer to inhibit the tripping of the forward conditions of the remote end having a weak infeed or
Zone 2 elements. Otherwise maloperation of the scheme circuit breaker open condition, so that the relevant
may occur under current reversal conditions, see Section remote relay element does not operate. Fast clearance
11.9.9 for more details. It is necessary only when the for these faults is now obtained at both ends of the line.
Zone 2 reach is set greater than 150% of the protected The logic is shown in Figure 12.10. A time delay (T 1,) is
line impedance. required in the echo circuit to prevent tripping of the
The timer is used to block the permissive trip and signal remote end breaker when the local breaker is tripped by
send circuits as shown in Figure 12.9. The timer is the busbar protection or breaker fail protection
energised if a signal is received and there is no operation associated with other feeders connected to the busbar.
of Zone 2 elements. An adjustable time delay on pick-up The time delay ensures that the remote end Zone 2
(tp) is usually set to allow instantaneous tripping to take element will reset by the time the echoed signal is
place for any internal faults, taking into account a received at that end.
possible slower operation of Zone 2. The timer will have
operated and blocked the 'permissive trip' and 'signal
send' circuits by the time the current reversal takes place.

The timer is de-energised if the Zone 2 elements operate

or the 'signal received' element resets. The reset time
delay (td)of the timer is set to cover any overlap in time
caused by Zone 2 elements operating and the signal
resetting at the remote end, when the current in the
healthy feeder reverses. Using a timer in this manner
means that no extra time delay is added in the
permissive trip circuit for an internal fault. Figure 12.10: Weak infeed Echo logic circuit
Signal transmission can take place even after the remote The single frequency signalling channel operates both
end breaker has tripped. This gives rise to the possibility local and remote receive relays when a block signal is
of continuous signal transmission due to lock-up of both initiated at any end of the protected section.
signals. Timer T2 is used to prevent this. After this time
delay, 'signal send' is blocked.
12.4.1 Practical Blocking Schemes
A variation on the Weak Infeed Echo feature is to allow
tripping of the remote relay under the circumstances A blocking instruction has to be sent by the reverse-
described above, providing that an undervoltage looking relay elements to prevent instantaneous tripping
condition exists, due to the fault. This is known as the of the remote relay for Zone 2 faults external to the
Weak Infeed Trip feature and ensures that both ends are protected section. To achieve this, the reverse-looking
tripped if the conditions are satisfied. elements and the signalling channel must operate faster
than the forward-looking elements. In practice, this is
seldom the case and to ensure discrimination, a short
time delay is generally introduced into the blocking
mode trip circuit. Either the Zone 2 or Zone 1 element
The arrangements described so far have used the signalling
can be used as the forward-looking element, giving rise
channel(s) to transmit a tripping instruction. If the
to two variants of the scheme.
signalling channel fails or there is no Weak Infeed feature
provided, end-zone faults may take longer to be cleared. 12.4.1.1 'Blocking over-reaching protection scheme using
Zone 2 element
Blocking over-reaching schemes use an over-reaching
distance scheme and inverse logic. Signalling is initiated This scheme (sometimes abbreviated to BOP Z2) is based
only for external faults and signalling transmission takes on the ideal blocking scheme of Figure 12.11, but has the
place over healthy line sections. Fast fault clearance signal logic illustrated in Figure 12.12. It is also known
occurs when no signal is received and the over-reaching as a 'directional comparison blocking scheme' or a
Zone 2 distance measuring elements looking into the line 'blocking over-reach distance protection scheme'.
operate. The signalling channel is keyed by reverse-
looking distance elements {Z3 in the diagram, though
which zone is used depends on the particular relay used).
An ideal blocking scheme is shown in Figure 12.11.

Figure 12.12: Signal logic for BOP 12 scheme

Operation of the scheme can be understood by

considering the faults shown at F1, F2 and F3 in Figure
12.11 along with the signal logic of Figure 12.12.
A fault at Fl is seen by the Zone 1 relay elements at
both ends A and B; as a result, the fault is cleared
instantaneously at both ends of the protected line,
Signalling is controlled by the Z3 elements looking away
from the protected section, so no transmission takes
place, thus giving fast tripping via the forward-looking
Zone 1 elements.
A fault at F2 is seen by the forward-looking Zone 2
elements at ends A and B and by the Zone 1 elements at
Figure 12.11: Idea! distance protection
blocking scheme
end B. No signal transmission takes place, since the In a practical application, the reverse-looking relay
fault is internal and the fault is cleared in Zone 1 time at elements may be set with a forward offset characteristic
end B and after the short time lag (STL) at end A. to provide back-up protection for busbar faults after the
zone time delay. It is then necessary to stop the blocking
A fault at F3 is seen by the reverse-looking Z3 elements
signal being sent for internal faults. This is achieved by
at end B and the forward looking Zone 2 elements at end
making the 'signal send' circuit conditional upon non-
A. The Zone 1 relay elements at end B associated with
operation of the forward-looking Zone 2 elements, as
line section B-C would normally clear the fault at F3. To
shown in Figure 12.13.
prevent the Z2 elements at end A from tripping, the
reverse-looking Zone 3 elements at end B send a Blocking schemes, like the permissive over-reach
blocking signal to end A. If the fault is not cleared scheme, are also affected by the current reversal in the
instantaneously by the protection on line section B-C, healthy feeder due to a fault in a double circuit line. If
the trip signal will be given at end B for section A-B current reversal conditions occur, as described in section
after the Z3 time delay. 11.9.9, it may be possible for the maloperation of a
breaker on the healthy line to occur. To avoid this, the
The setting of the reverse-looking Zone 3 elements must
resetting of the 'signal received' element provided in the
be greater than that of the Zone 2 elements at the
blocking scheme is time delayed.
remote end of the feeder, otherwise there is the
possibility of Zone 2 elements initiating tripping and the The timer with delayed resetting (td) is set to cover the
reverse looking Zone 3 elements failing to see an time difference between the maximum resetting time of
external fault. This would result in instantaneous reverse-looking Zone 3 elements and the signalling
tripping for an external fault. When the signalling channel. So, if there is a momentary loss of the blocking
channel is used for a stabilising signal, as in the above signal during the current reversal, the timer does not
case, transmission takes place over a healthy line section have time to reset in the blocking mode trip circuit and
if power line carrier is used. The signalling channel no false tripping takes place.
should then be more reliable when used in the blocking
12.4.1.2 Blocking over-reaching protection scheme using
mode than in tripping mode.
Zone 1 element
It is essential that the operating times of the various
This is similar to the BOP Z2 scheme described above,
relays be skilfully co-ordinated for all system conditions,
except that an over-reaching Zone 1 element is used in
so that sufficient time is always allowed for the receipt
the logic, instead of the Zone 2 element. It may also be
of a blocking signal from the remote end of the feeder.
known as the BOP Z1 scheme.
If this is not done accurately, the scheme may trip for an
external fault or alternatively, the end zone tripping
times may be delayed longer than is necessary. 12.4.2 Weak Infeed Conditions
If the signalling channel fails, the scheme must be The protection at the strong infeed terminal will operate
arranged to revert to conventional basic distance for all internal faults, since a blocking signal is not
protection. Normally, the blocking mode trip circuit is received from the weak infeed terminal end. In the case
supervised by a 'channel-in-service' contact so that the of external faults behind the weak infeed terminal, the
blocking mode trip circuit is isolated when the channel is reverse-looking elements at that end will see the fault
out of service, as shown in Figure 12.12. current fed from the strong infeed terminal and operate,
initiating a block signal to the remote end. The relay at
the strong infeed end operates correctly without the
need for any additional circuits. The relay at the weak
infeed end cannot operate for internal faults, and so
tripping of that breaker is possible only by means of
direct intertripping from the strong source end.

12.5 DIRECTIONAL COMPARISON

UNBLOCKING SCHEME
The permissive over-reach scheme described in Section
12.3.4 can be arranged to operate on a directional
comparison unblocking principle by providing additional
circuitry in the signalling equipment. In this scheme
(also called a 'deblocking overreach distance protection
Figure 12.13: Blocking scheme using reverse-
looking relays with offset
scheme'), a continuous block (or guard) signal is
transmitted. When the over-reaching distance elements
operate, the frequency of the signal transmitted is
shifted to an 'unblock' (trip) frequency. The receipt of the
unblock frequency signal and the operation of over-
reaching distance elements allow fast tripping to occur
for faults within the protected zone. In principle, the
scheme is similar to the permissive over-reach scheme.
The scheme is made more dependable than the standard
permissive over-reach scheme by providing additional
circuits in the receiver equipment. These allow tripping
to take place for internal faults even if the transmitted
unblock signal is short-circuited by the fault. This is
achieved by allowing aided tripping for a short time
interval, typically 100 to 150 milliseconds, after the loss
of both the block and the unblock frequency signals.
After this time interval, aided tripping is permitted only
if the unblock frequency signal is received.
This arrangement gives the scheme improved security over a
blocking scheme, since tripping for external faults is possible
only if the fault occurs within the above time interval of
channel failure. Weak Infeed terminal conditions can be
catered for by the techniques detailed in Section 12.3.5.
In this way, the scheme has the dependability of a
blocking scheme and the security of a permissive over-
reach scheme. This scheme is generally preferred when
power line carrier is used, except when continuous
transmission of signal is not acceptable.

12.6 COMPARISON OF TRANSFER TRIP

AND BLOCKING RELAYING SCHEMES
On normal two-terminal lines the main deciding factors in
the choice of the type of scheme, apart from the reliability
of the signalling channel previously discussed, are
operating speed and the method of operation of the
system. Table 12.1 compares the important characteristics
of the various types of scheme.
Criterion Transfer trippinq scheme Blocking scheme

Speed of operation Fast Not as fast

Speed with in-service testing Slower As fast
Suitable for auto-reclose Yes Yes

Security against
maloperation due to:
Current reversal Special features required Special features required

Loss of communications Poor Good

Weak Infeed/Open CB Special features required Special features required

Table 12.1: Comparison of different

distance protection schemes

Modern digital or numerical distance relays are provided

with a choice of several schemes in the same relay. Thus
scheme selection is now largely independent of relay
selection, and the user is assured that a relay is available
with all the required features to cope with changing
system conditions.
13 • Protection of Complex
Transmission Circuits

13.1 INTRODUCTION
Chapters 10-12 have covered the basic principles of
protection for two terminal, single circuit lines whose
circuit impedance is due solely to the conductors used.
However parallel transmission circuits are often
installed, either as duplicate circuits on a common
structure, or as separate lines connecting the same two
terminal points via different routes. Also, circuits may
be multi-ended, a three-ended circuit being the most
common.
For economic reasons, transmission and distribution
lines can be much more complicated, maybe having
three or more terminals (multi-ended feeder), or with
more than one circuit carried on a common structure
(parallel feeders), as shown in Figure 13.1. Other
possibilities are the use of series capacitors or direct-
connected shunt reactors. The protection of such lines
is more complicated and requires the basic schemes
described in the above chapters to be modified.
The purpose of this chapter is to explain the special
requirements of some of these situations in respect of
protection and identify which protection schemes are
particularly appropriate for use in these situations.

Figure 13.1: Parallel and Multi-ended feeders

13.2 PARALLEL FEEDERS

If two overhead lines are supported on the same
structures or are otherwise in close proximity over part
or whole of their length, there is a mutual coupling
between the two circuits. The positive and negative
sequence coupling between the two circuits is small and
is usually neglected. The zero sequence coupling can be
strong and its effect cannot be ignored.
The other situation that requires mutual effects to be
taken into account is when there is an earth fault on a
feeder when the parallel feeder is out of service and
earthed at both ends. An earth fault in the feeder that
is in service can induce current in the earth loop of the
earthed feeder, causing a misleading mutual
compensation signal.

13.2.1 Unit Protection Systems

Types of protection that use current only, for example
unit protection systems, are not affected by the coupling
between the feeders. Therefore, compensation for the
effects of mutual coupling is not required for the relay
tripping elements.
If the relay has a distance-to-fault feature, mutual Figure 13.2: Fault current distribution
compensation is required for an accurate measurement. in double-circuit line
Refer to Section 13.2.2.3 for how this is achieved.
13.2.2.2 Under-reach on parallel lines

13.2.2 Distance Protection If a fault occurs on a line that lies beyond the remote
terminal end of a parallel line circuit, the distance relay
There are a number of problems applicable to distance will under-reach for those zones set to reach into the
relays, as described in the following sections. affected line.
13.2.2.1 Current reversal on double circuit lines Analysis shows that under these conditions, because the
When a fault is cleared sequentially on one circuit of a relay sees only 50% (for two parallel circuits) of the
double circuit line with generation sources at both ends total fault current for a fault in the adjacent line section,
of the circuit, the current in the healthy line can reverse the relay sees the impedance of the affected section as
for a short time. Unwanted tripping of CB's on the twice the correct value. This may have to be allowed for
healthy line can then occur if a Permissive Over-reach or in the settings of Zones 2 and 3 of conventionally set
Blocking distance scheme (see Chapter 12) is used. distance relays.
Figure 13.2 shows how the situation can arise. The CB Since the requirement for the minimum reach of Zone 2
at D clears the fault at F faster than the CB at C. Before is to the end of the protected line section and the under-
CB D opens, the Zone 2 elements at A may see the fault reach effect only occurs for faults in the following line
and operate, sending a trip signal to the relay for CB B. section(s), it is not usually necessary to adjust Zone 2
The reverse looking element of the relay at CB B also impedance settings to compensate.
sees the fault and inhibits tripping of CB's A and B.
However, Zone 3 elements are intended to provide
However, once CB D opens, the relay element at A starts
backup protection to adjacent line sections and hence
to reset, while the forward looking elements at B pick up
the under-reaching effect must be allowed for in the
(due to current reversal) and initiate tripping. If the
impedance calculations.
reset times of the forward-looking elements of the relay
at A are longer than the operating time of the forward- 13.2.2.3 Behaviour of distance relays
looking elements at B, the relays will trip the healthy with earth faults on the protected
line. The solution is to incorporate a blocking time delay
When an earth fault occurs in the system, the voltage
that prevents the tripping of the forward-looking
applied to the earth fault element of the relay in one
elements of the relays and is initiated by the reverse-
circuit includes an induced voltage proportional to the
looking element. The time delay must be longer than the
zero sequence current in the other circuit.
reset times of the relay elements at A.
 These currents are expressed below in terms of the line
and source parameters:

and

ZMO = zero sequence mutual impedance

between the two circuits
NOTE: For earth faults I1 = I0
All symbols in the above expressions are either self-
explanatory from Figure 13.3 or have been introduced in
Chapter 11. Using the above formulae, families of reach
Figure 13.3: General parallel circuit fed curves may be constructed, of which Figure 13.4 is
from both ends typical. In this figure, n' is the effective per unit reach
of a relay set to protect 80% of the line. It has been
As the current distribution in the two circuits is assumed that an infinite busbar is located at each line
unaffected by the presence of mutual coupling, no end, that is, Z'S1 and Z"S1 are both zero. A family of
similar variation in the current applied to the relay curves of constant n' has been plotted for variations in
element takes place and, consequently, the relay the source zero sequence impedances Z'so and Z"so.
measures the impedance to the fault incorrectly.
Whether the apparent impedance to the fault is greater
or less than the actual impedance depends on the
direction of the current flow in the healthy circuit. For
the common case of two circuits, A and B, connected at
the local and remote busbars, as shown in Figure 13.3,
the impedance of Line A measured by a distance relay,
with the normal zero sequence current compensation
from its own feeder, is given by:

...Equation 13.1

where:

The true impedance to the fault is nZ L1 where n is the

Figure 13.4: Typical reach curves illustrating
per unit fault position measured from R and ZL1 is the the effect of mutual coupling
positive sequence impedance of a single circuit. The
It can be seen from Figure 13.4 that relay R can under-
'error' in measurement is determined from the fraction
reach or over-reach, according to the relative values of
inside the bracket; this varies with the positive and zero
the zero sequence source to line impedance ratios; the
sequence currents in circuit A and the zero sequence
current in circuit B.
extreme effective per unit reaches for the relay are 0.67 Thus:
and 1. Relay over-reach is not a problem, as the
condition being examined is a fault in the protected
feeder, for which relay operation is desirable. It can also
be seen from Figure 13.4 that relay R is more likely to
under-reach. However the relay located at the opposite
line end will tend to over-reach. As a result, the Zone 1
characteristic of the relays at both ends of the feeder will 13.2.3.4 Distance relay behaviour
overlap for an earth fault anywhere in the feeder - see with earth faults on the parallel feede
Section 13.2.3.5 for more details.
Although distance relays with mutual compensation
Satisfactory protection can be obtained with a transfer measure the correct distance to the fault, they may not
trip, under-reach type distance scheme. Further, operate correctly if the fault occurs in the adjacent
compensation for the effect of zero sequence mutual feeder. Davison and Wright [13.1] have shown that,
impedance is not necessary unless a distance-to-fault while distance relays without mutual compensation will
facility is provided. Some manufacturers compensate for not over-reach for faults outside the protected feeder,
the effect of the mutual impedance in the distance relay the relays may see faults in the adjacent feeder if mutual
elements, while others may restrict the application of compensation is provided. With reference to Figure 13.3,
compensation to the distance-to-fault function only. t h e a m o u n t o f o ve r - r e a c h i s h i g h e s t w h e n
The latter is easy to implement in software for a Under these conditions, faults
digital/numerical relay but is impractical in relays using occurring in the first 43% of feeder A will appear to the
older technologies. Compensation is achieved by distance relay in feeder B to be within its Zone 1 reach.
injecting a proportion of the zero sequence current The solution is to limit the mutual compensation applied
flowing in the parallel feeder into the relay. However, to 150% of the zero sequence compensation.
some Utilities will not permit this due to the potential
hazards associated with feeding a relay protecting one 13.2.3.5 Distance relay behaviour
circuit from a CT located in a different circuit. with single-circuit operatim

For the relay to measure the line impedance accurately, If only one of the parallel feeders is in service, the
the following condition must be met: protection in the remaining feeder measures the fault
impedance correctly, except when the feeder that is not
in service is earthed at both ends. In this case, the zero
sequence impedance network is as shown in Figure 13,5.
Humpage and Kandil [13.2] have shown that the
For a solid phase to earth fault at the theoretical reach apparent impedance presented to the relay under these
of the relay, the voltage and current in the faulty phase conditions is given by:
at the relaying point are given by:

...Equation 13.'.

...Equation 13.2 where:

IR is te current fed into the relay

The voltage and current fed into the relay are given by: Figure
13.S:
Zero
sequence

...Equation 13.3

where:
KR is the residual compensation factor KM
is the mutual compensation factor
impedance network
during single circuit
operation
■ 206 •
extreme effective per unit reaches for the relay are 0.67 Thus:
and 1. Relay over-reach is not a problem, as the
condition being examined is a fault in the protected
feeder, for which relay operation is desirable. It can also
be seen from Figure 13.4 that relay R is more likely to
under-reach. However the relay located at the opposite
line end will tend to over-reach. As a result, the Zone 1
13.2.3.4 Distance relay behaviour
characteristic of the relays at both ends of the feeder will
with earth faults on the parallel feeder
overlap for an earth fault anywhere in the feeder - see
Section 13.2.3.5 for more details. Although distance relays with mutual compensation
measure the correct distance to the fault, they may not
Satisfactory protection can be obtained with a transfer
operate correctly if the fault occurs in the adjacent
trip, under-reach type distance scheme. Further,
feeder. Davison and Wright [13.1] have shown that,
compensation for the effect of zero sequence mutual
while distance relays without mutual compensation will
impedance is not necessary unless a distance-to-fault
not over-reach for faults outside the protected feeder,
facility is provided. Some manufacturers compensate for
the relays may see faults in the adjacent feeder if mutual
the effect of the mutual impedance in the distance relay
compensation is provided. With reference to Figure 13.3,
elements, while others may restrict the application of
the amount of over-reach is highest when
compensation to the distance-to-fault function only.
Z"S1=Z"S2=Z"so=oo Under these conditions, faults
The latter is easy to implement in software for a
occurring in the first 43% of feeder A will appear to the
digital/numerical relay but is impractical in relays using
distance relay in feeder B to be within its Zone 1 reach.
older technologies. Compensation is achieved by
The solution is to limit the mutual compensation applied
injecting a proportion of the zero sequence current
to 150% of the zero sequence compensation.
flowing in the parallel feeder into the relay. However,
some Utilities will not permit this due to the potential 13.2.3.5 Distance relay behaviour
hazards associated with feeding a relay protecting one with single-circuit operation
circuit from a CT located in a different circuit. If only one of the parallel feeders is in service, the
For the relay to measure the line impedance accurately, protection in the remaining feeder measures the fault
the following condition must be met: impedance correctly, except when the feeder that is not
in service is earthed at both ends. In this case, the zero
sequence impedance network is as shown in Figure 13.5.
Humpage and Kandil [13.2] have shown that the
apparent impedance presented to the relay under these
For a solid phase to earth fault at the theoretical reach conditions is given by:
of the relay, the voltage and current in the faulty phase
at the relaying point are given by:

...Equation 114

where:
...Equation 13.2
IR is the current fed into the relay =
IA + KRIA0

The voltage and current fed into the relay are given by:

...Equation 13.3

where:
KR is the residual compensation factor KM
is the mutual compensation factor
Figure 13.5: Zero sequence impedance network
during single circuit operation
The ratio IAO/IR varies with the system conditions, protection of two-ended feeders can also be used for
reaching a maximum when the system is earthed behind multi-ended feeders. However, the problems involved in
the relay with no generation at that end. In this case, the application of these schemes to multi-ended feeders
the ratio IAO/IR is equal to ZL1/ZL0, and the apparent are much more complex and require special attention.
impedance presented to the relay is:
The protection schemes that can be used with multi-ended
feeders are unit protection and distance schemes. Each uses
some form of signalling channel, such as fibre-optic cable,
power line carrier or pilot wires. The specific problems that
It is apparent from the above formulae that the relay has may be met when applying these protections to multi-ended
a tendency to over-reach. Care should be taken when feeders are discussed in the following sections.
Zone 1 settings are selected for the distance protection of
lines in which this condition may be encountered. In order
to overcome this possible over-reaching effect, some 13.3.1 A.C. Pilot Wire Protection
Utilities reduce the reach of earth fault relays to around
A.C. pilot wire relays provide a low-cost fast protection;
0.65ZL1 when lines are taken out of service. However, the
they are insensitive to power swings and, owing to their
probability of having a fault on the first section of the
relative simplicity, their reliability is excellent.
following line while one line is out of service is very small,
and many Utilities do not reduce the setting under this The limitations of pilot wire relays for plain feeder
condition. It should be noted that the use of mutual protection also apply. The length of feeder that can be
compensation would not overcome the over-reaching protected is limited by the characteristics of the pilot
effect since earthing clamps are normally placed on the wires. The protection sees increasing pilot wire resistance
line side of the current transformers. as tending to an open circuit and shunt capacitance as an
a.c. short circuit across the pilots. The protection will have
Typical values of zero sequence line impedances for HV
limiting values for each of these quantities, and when
lines in the United Kingdom are given in Table 13.1,
these are exceeded, loss of sensitivity for internal faults
where the maximum per unit over-reach error
and maloperation for external faults may occur. For tee'd
(ZM0lZL0)2 is also given. It should be noted that the over-
feeders, the currents for an external earth fault will not
reach values quoted in this table are maxima, and wilt be
usually be the same. The protection must be linear for any
found only in rare cases. In most cases, there will be
current up to the maximum through-fault value. As a
generation at both ends of the feeder and the amount of
result, the voltage in the pilots during fault conditions
over-reach will therefore be reduced. In the
cannot be kept to low values, and pilot wires with 250V
calculations carried out by Humpage and Kandil, with
insulation grade are required.
more realistic conditions, the maximum error found in a
400kV double circuit line was 18.6%.
13.3.2 Balanced Voltage Schemes for Tee'd Circuits
In this section two types of older balanced voltage
schemes still found in many locations are described.
13.3.2.1 'Translay' balanced voltage protection
This is a modification of the balanced voltage scheme
described in Section 10.7.1. Since it is necessary to
maintain linearity in the balancing circuit, though not in
Table 13. 1. Maximum over-reach errors found
during single circuit working the sending element, the voltage reference is derived
from separate quadrature transformers, as shown in
13.3 MULTI-ENDED FEEDERS Figure 13.6. These are auxiliary units with summation
- UNIT PROTECTION SCHEMES windings energized by the main current transformers in
series with the upper electromagnets of the sensing
A multi-ended feeder is defined as one having three or elements. The secondary windings of the quadrature
more terminals, with either load or generation, or both, current transformers at all ends are interconnected by
at any terminal. Those terminals with load only are the pilots in a series circuit that also includes the lower
usually known as 'taps'. electromagnets of the relays. Secondary windings on the
The simplest multi-terminal feeders are three-ended, and relay elements are not used, but these elements are
are generally known as tee'd feeders. This is the type fitted with bias loops in the usual way.
most commonly found in practice. The plain feeder settings are increased in the tee'd
The protection schemes described previously for the scheme by 50% for one tee and 75% for two.
 13.3.3 Power Line Carrier Phase Comparison Schemes
The operating principle of these protection schemes has
already been covered in detail in Section 10.9. It
involves comparing the phase angles of signals derived
from a combination of the sequence currents at each
end of the feeder. When the phase angle difference
exceeds a pre-set value, the 'trip angle', a trip signal is
sent to the corresponding circuit breakers. In order to
prevent incorrect operation for external faults, two
different detectors, set at different levels, are used. The
low-set detector starts the transmission of carrier signal,
while the high-set detector is used to control the trip
output. Without this safeguard, the scheme could
operate incorrectly for external faults because of
operating tolerances of the equipment and the
Figure 13.6: Balanced voltage Tee'd feeder scheme capacitive current of the protected feeder. This
condition is worse with multi-terminal feeders, since the
13.3.2.2 High - speed protection type DSB7 currents at the feeder terminals can be very dissimilar
This type is of higher speed and is shown in Figure 13.7. for an external fault. In the case of the three-terminal
Summation quadrature transformers are used to provide feeder in Figure 13.8, if incorrect operation is to be
the analogue quantity, which is balanced in a series loop avoided, it is necessary to make certain that the low-set
through a pilot circuit. Separate secondary windings on detector at end A or end B is energized when the
the quadrature current transformers are connected to current at end C is high enough to operate the high-set
full-wave rectifiers, the outputs of which are connected detector at that end. As only one low-set starter, at end
in series in a second pilot loop, so that the electromotive A or end B, needs to be energized for correct operation,
forces summate arithmetically. the most unfavourable condition will be when currents
The measuring relay is a double-wound moving coil type, IA and IB are equal. To maintain stability under this
one coil being energized from the vectorial summation condition, the high-set to low-set setting ratio of the
loop; the other receives bias from the scalar summation fault detectors needs to be twice as large as that
in the second loop proportional to the sum of the required when the scheme is applied to a plain feeder.
currents in the several line terminals, the value being This results in a loss of sensitivity, which may make the
adjusted by the inclusion of an appropriate value of equipment unsuitable if the minimum fault level of the
resistance. Since the operating and biasing quantities power system is low.
are both derived by summation, the relays at the
different terminals all behave alike, either to operate or
to restrain as appropriate.
Special features are included to ensure stability, both in
the presence of transformer inrush current flowing
through the feeder zone and also with a 2-1-1
distribution of fault current caused by a short circuit on
the secondary side of a star-delta transformer.

Figure 13.8: External fault conditions

A further unfavourable condition is that illustrated in

Figure 13.9. If an internal fault occurs near one of the
ends of the feeder (end B in Figure 13.9) and there is
little or no generation at end C, the current at this end
may be flowing outwards. The protection is then
prevented from operating, since the fault current
distribution is similar to that for an external fault; see
Figure 13.8. The fault can be cleared only by the back-
up protection and, if high speed of operation is required,
an alternative type of primary protection must be used.
Figure 13.7: Type DSB7 fast tee'd feeder protection
 Figure 13.9: Internal fault
with current flowing out at one Sine end
Figure 13.1V. Percentage biased
A point that should also be considered when applying
differential protection characteristic
this scheme is the attenuation of carrier signal at the
'tee' junctions. This attenuation is a function of the
relative impedances of the branches of the feeder at the If IA, IB, Ic are the current vector signals at line ends A,
carrier frequency, including the impedance of the B, C, then for a healthy circuit:
receiving equipment. When the impedances of the
second and third terminals are equal, a power loss of I A + IB + Ic = 0
50% takes place. In other words, the carrier signal sent The basic principles of operation of the system are that
from terminal A to terminal B is attenuated by 3dB by each relay measures its local three phase currents and
the existence of the third terminal C. If the impedances sends its values to the other relays. Each relay then
of the two branches corresponding to terminal B to C are calculates, for each phase, a resultant differential
not equal, the attenuation may be either greater or less current and also a bias current, which is used to restrain
than 3dB. the relay in the manner conventional for biased
differential unit protection.

13.3.4 Differential Relay using Optical Fibre The bias feature is necessary in this scheme because it is
Signalling Current differential relays can provide unit designed to operate from conventional current
protection for multi-ended circuits without the transformers that are subject to transient transformation
restrictions associated with other forms of protection. In errors.
Section 8.6.5, the characteristics of optical fibre cables The two quantities are:
and their use in protection signalling are outlined.
Their use in a three-ended system is shown in Figure
13.10, where the relays at each line end are
digital/numerical relays interconnected by optical fibre
links so that each can send information to the others. In
practice the optical fibre links can be dedicated to the Figure 13.11 shows the percentage biased differential
protection system or multiplexed, in which case characteristic used, the tripping criteria being:
multiplexing equipment, not shown in Figure 13.10, will
be used to terminate the fibres.

and

where:
K = percentage bias setting
Is = minimum differential current setting
If the magnitudes of the differential currents indicate
that a fault has occurred, the relays trip their local circuit
breaker.
Figure 13.10: Current differential protection
for tee'd feeders using optical fibre signalling
The relays also continuously monitor the communication the relay in this case can be expressed in terms of the
channel performance and carry out self-testing and source impedances as follows:
diagnostic operations. The system measures individual
phase currents and so single phase tripping can be used
when required. Relays are provided with software to re-
configure the protection between two and three terminal
lines, so that modification of the system from two
The magnitude of the third term in this expression is a
terminals to three terminals does not require relay
function of the total impedances of the branches A and
replacement. Further, loss of a single communications
B and can reach a relatively high value when the fault
link only degrades scheme performance slightly. The
current contribution of branch C is much larger than
relays can recognise this and use alternate
that of branch A. Figure 13.13 illustrates how a
communications paths. Only if all communication paths
distance relay with a mho characteristic located at A
from a relay fail does the scheme have to revert to
with a Zone 2 element set to 120% of the protected
backup protection.
feeder AB, fails to see a fault at the remote busbar B.
The 'tee' point T in this example is halfway between
13.4 MULTI-ENDED FEEDERS - DISTANCE RELAYS substations A and B (ZLA= ZLB) and the fault currents
IA and Ic have been assumed to be identical in
Distance protection is widely used at present for tee'd magnitude and phase angle. With these conditions, the
feeder protection. However, its application is not fault appears to the relay to be located at B' instead of
straightforward, requiring careful consideration and
at B - i.e. the relay appears to under-reach.
systematic checking of all the conditions described later
in this section.
Most of the problems found when applying distance
protection to tee'd feeders are common to all schemes.
A preliminary discussion of these problems will assist in
the assessment of the performance of the different types
of distance schemes.

13.4.1 Apparent Impedance seen by Distance Relays

The impedance seen by the distance relays is affected by
Figure 13.12: Fault at substation B busbars
the current infeeds in the branches of the feeders.
Referring to Figure 13.12, for a fault at the busbars of
the substation B, the voltage VA at busbar A is given by:

so the impedance ZA seen by the distance relay at

terminal A is given by:

or

...Equation 13.5
or

Figure 13.13: Apparent impedance

presented to the relay at substation A for
a fault at substation B busbars
The apparent impedance presented to the relay has been
modified by the term (IC/IA)ZLB If the pre-fault load is The under-reaching effect in tee'd feeders can be found
zero, the currents IA and Ic are in phase and their ratio for any kind of fault. For the sake of simplicity, the
is a real number. The apparent impedance presented to equations and examples mentioned so far have been for
balanced faults only. For unbalanced faults, especially compensate for the reduction in zero sequence current.
those involving earth, the equations become somewhat However, the solution has two possible limitations: i.
more complicated, as the ratios of the sequence fault over-reach will occur when the transformer is not
current contributions at terminals A and C may not be connected, and hence operation for faults outside the
the same. An extreme example of this condition is protected zone may occur ii. the inherent possibility
found when the third terminal is a tap with no of maloperation of the earth fault elements for
generation but with the star point of the primary earth faults behind the relay location is increased
winding of the transformer connected directly to earth,
as shown in Figure 13.14. The corresponding sequence
13.4.2 Effect of Pre-fault Load
networks are illustrated in Figure 13.15.
In all the previous discussions it has been assumed that
the power transfer between terminals of the feeder
immediately before the fault occurred was zero. If this is
not the case, the fault currents lA and Ic in Figure 13.12
may not be in phase, and the factor IC/IA 'n tne equation
for the impedance seen by the relay at A, will be a
complex quantity with a positive or a negative phase
angle according to whether the current Ic leads or lags
the current IA. For the fault condition previously
considered in Figures 13.12 and 13.13, the pre-fault load
current may displace the impedance seen by the distance
relay to points such as B'1 or B'2, shown in Figure 13.16,
Figure 13.74; Transformer tap with primary
according to the phase angle and the magnitude of the
winding solidly earthed pre-fault load current. Humpage and Lewis [13.3] have
analysed the effect of pre-fault load on the impedances
seen by distance relays for typical cases. Their results
and conclusions point out some of the limitations of
certain relay characteristics and schemes.

Figure 13.16: effectsof the pre-fault load on the

Figure 13.15: Sequence networks
apparent impedance presented to the relay
fora phase A to ground fault at busbar B in
the system shown in Figure 13.14
13.4.3 Effect of the Fault Current Flowing
It can be seen from Figure 13.15 that the presence of the Outwards at One Terminal
tap has little effect in the positive and negative Up to this point it has been assumed that the fault
sequence networks. However, the zero sequence currents at terminals A and C flow into the feeder for a
impedance of the branch actually shunts the zero fault at the busbar B. Under some conditions, however,
sequence current in branch A. As a result, the distance the current at one of these terminals may flow outwards
relay located at terminal A tends to under-reach. One instead of inwards. A typical case is illustrated in Figure
solution to the problem is to increase the residual 13.17; that of a parallel tapped feeder with one of the
current compensating factor in the distance relay, to ends of the parallel circuit open at terminal A.
 under reverse unbalanced fault conditions if the current
flowing through the relay is high and the relay setting
relatively large. These conditions arise principally from
earth faults. The relay setting and the reverse fault
current are now related, the first being a function of the
maximum line length and the second depending mainly
on the impedance of the shortest feeder and the fault
level at that terminal. For instance, referring to Figure
13.19, the setting of the relay at terminal A will depend
on the impedance (ZA + ZB) and the fault current infeed IC
for a fault at B, while the fault current IA for a reverse
fault may be quite large if the T point is near the
terminals A and C.

Figure 13.17: Internal Fault at busbar B

with current flowing out at terminal C

Figure 13.19: External fault behind

he relay at terminal A

Asummary of the main problems met in the application of

distance protection to tee'd feeders is given in Table 13.2.
Description Relevant figure
number
Under-reachinq effect for internal faults 13.12 to 13.15
due to current infeed at the T point

2 Effect of pre-fault load on the impedance 13.16

Figure 13.18: Internal fault near busbar B seen' by the relay
with current flowing out at terminal C

3 Over-reachinq effect for external faults, due 13.17

As the currents IA and Ic now have different signs,
to current flowing outwards at one terminal
the factor Ic /IA becomes negative. Consequently, the 4 Failure to operate for an internal fault, due 13.18
distance relay at terminal A sees an impedance smaller to current flowing out at one terminal

than that of the protected feeder, (ZA + ZB) and

therefore has a tendency to over-reach. In some cases 5 Incorrect operation for an external fault, due to 13.19
high current fed from nearest terminal
the apparent impedance presented to the relay may be
as low as 50% of the impedance of the protected feeder, Table 13.2: Main problems met in the application
of distance protection to tee'd feeders.
and even lower if other lines exist between terminals B
and C.
13,5 MULTI-ENDED FEEDERS
If the fault is internal to the feeder and close to the - APPLICATION OF DISTANCE PROTECTION SCHEMES
busbars B, as shown in Figure 13.18, the current at
terminal C may still flow outwards. As a result, the fault The schemes that have been described in Chapter 12 for
appears as an external fault to the distance relay at the protection of plain feeders may also be used for tee'd
terminal C, which fails to operate. feeder protection. However, the applications of some of
these schemes are much more limited in this case.
Distance schemes can be subdivided into two main
13.4.4 Maloperation with Reverse Faults groups; transfer trip schemes and blocking schemes. The
Earth fault distance relays with a directional usual considerations when comparing these schemes are
characteristic tend to lose their directional properties security, that is, no operation for external faults, and
dependability, that is, assured operation for internal These considerations, in addition to the signalling
faults. channel requirements mentioned later on, make transfer
trip over-reach schemes unattractive for multi-ended
In addition, it should be borne in mind that transfer trip
feeder protection.
schemes require fault current infeed at all the terminals
to achieve high-speed protection for any fault in the
feeder. This is not the case with blocking schemes. 13.5.3 Blocking Schemes
While it is rare to find a plain feeder in high voltage
systems where there is current infeed at one end only, it Blocking schemes are particularly suited to the protection
is not difficult to envisage a tee'd feeder with no current of multi-ended feeders, since high-speed operation can
infeed at one end, for example when the tee'd feeder is be obtained with no fault current infeed at one or more
operating as a plain feeder with the circuit breaker at terminals. The only disadvantage is when there is fault
one of the terminals open. Nevertheless, transfer trip current outfeed from a terminal, as shown in Figure 13.18.
schemes are also used for tee'd feeder protection, as This is case 4 in Table 13.2. The protection units at that
terminal may see the fault as an external fault and send
they offer some advantages under certain conditions.
a blocking signal to the remote terminals. Depending on
the scheme logic either relay operation will be blocked, or
13.5.1 Transfer Trip Under-Reach Schemes clearance will be in Zone 2 time.

The main requirement for transfer trip under-reach The setting of the directional unit should be such that no
schemes is that the Zone 1 of the protection, at one end maloperation can occur for faults in the reverse
at least, shall see a fault in the feeder. In order to meet direction; case 5 in Table 13.2.
this requirement, the Zone 1 characteristics of the relays
at different ends must overlap, either the three of them
13.5.4 Signalling Channel Considerations
or in pairs. Cases 1, 2 and 3 in Table 13.2 should be
checked when the settings for the Zone 1 characteristics The minimum number of signalling channels required
are selected. If the conditions mentioned in case 4 are depends on the type of scheme used. With under-reach
found, direct transfer trip may be used to clear the fault; and blocking schemes, only one channel is required,
the alternative is sequentially at end C when the fault whereas a permissive over-reach scheme req-uires as
current Ic reverses after the circuit breaker at terminal B many channels as there are feeder ends. The signalling
has opened; see Figure 13.18. channel equipment at each terminal should include one
transmitter and (N-1) receivers, where N is the total
Transfer trip schemes may be applied to feeders that number of feeder ends. This may not be a problem if
have branches of similar length. If one or two of the fibre-optic cables are used, but could lead to problems
branches are very short, and this is often the case in otherwise.
tee'd feeders, it may be difficult or impossible to make
the Zone 1 characteristics overlap. Alternative schemes If frequency shift channels are used to improve the
are then required. reliability of the protection schemes, mainly with
transfer trip schemes, N additional frequencies are
Another case for which under-reach schemes may be required for the purpose. Problems of signal attenuation
advantageous is the protection of tapped feeders, mainly and impedance matching should also be carefully
when the tap is short and is not near one of the main considered when power line carrier frequency channels
terminals. Overlap of the Zone 1 characteristics is then are used.
easily achieved, and the tap does not require protection
applied to the terminal.
13.5.5 Directional Comparison Blocking Schemes
The principle of operation of these schemes is the same
13.5.2 Transfer Trip Over-Reach Schemes
as that of the distance blocking schemes described in
For correct operation when internal faults occur, the the previous section. The main advantage of directional
relays at the three ends should see a fault at any point comparison schemes over distance schemes is their
in the feeder. This condition is often difficult to meet, greater capability to detect high-resistance earth faults.
since the impedance seen by the relays for faults at one The reliability of these schemes, in terms of stability for
of the remote ends of the feeder may be too large, as in through faults, is lower than that of distance blocking
case 1 in Table 13.2, increasing the possibility of schemes. However, with the increasing reliability of
maloperation for reverse faults, case 5 in Table 13.2. In modern signalling channels, directional comparison
addition, the relay characteristic might encroach on the blocking schemes seem to offer good solutions to the
load impedance. many and difficult problems encountered in the
protection of multi-ended feeders. Modern relays
implement the required features in different ways -
for further information see Chapter 12 and specific
relay manuals.

13.6 PROTECTION OF SERIES COMPENSATED LINES

Figure 13.20 depicts the basic power transfer equation.
It can be seen from this equation that transmitted power
is proportional to the system voltage level and load angle
whilst being inversely proportional to system impedance.
Series compensated lines are used in transmission Figure 13.21: Voltage inversion
networks where the required level of transmitted power on a transmission line

can not be met, either from a load requirement or system

stability requirement. Series compensated transmission A second problem is that of current inversion which is
lines introduce a series connected capacitor, which has demonstrated in Figure 13.22. In this case, the overall
the net result of reducing the overall inductive
fault impedance is taken to be capacitive. The fault
impedance of the line, hence increasing the prospective,
current therefore leads the system e.m.f. by 90° whilst
power flow. Typical levels of compensation are 35%,
the measured fault voltage remains in phase with system
50% and 70%, where the percentage level dictates the
e.m,f.. Again this condition can give rise to directional
capacitor impedance compared to the transmission line
stability problems for a variety of protection devices.
it is associated with.
Practically, the case of current inversion is difficult to
obtain. In order to protect capacitors from high over
voltages during fault conditions some form of voltage
limiting device (usually in the form of MOV's) is installed
to bypass the capacitor at a set current level. In the case
of current inversion, the overall fault impedance has to
be capacitive and will generally be small. This leads to
high levels of fault current, which will trigger the MOV's
and bypass the capacitors, hence leaving an inductive
Figure 13.20: Power transfer
fault impedance and preventing the current inversion.
in a transmission line

The introduction of a capacitive impedance to a network

can give rise to several relaying problems. The most
common of these is the situation of voltage inversion,
which is shown in Figure 13.21. In this case a fault
occurs on the protected line. The overall fault impedance
is inductive and hence the fault current is inductive
(shown lagging the system e.m.f. by 90 degrees in this
case). However, the voltage measured by the relay is that
across the capacitor and will therefore lag the fault
current by 90 degrees.
The net result is that the voltage measured by the relay Figure 13.22: Current inversion
is in anti-phase to the system e.m.f.. Whilst this view is in a transmission line

highly simplistic, it adequately demonstrates potential

relay problems, in that any protection reliant upon In general, the application of protective relays to a series
making a directional decision bases its decision on an compensated power system needs careful evaluation.
inductive system i.e. one where a forward fault is The problems associated with the introduction of a series
indicated by fault current lagging the measured voltage. capacitor can be overcome by a variety of relaying
A good example of this is a distance relay, which assumes techniques so it is important to ensure the suitability of
the transmission line is an evenly distributed inductive the chosen protection. Each particular application
impedance. Presenting the relay with a capacitive requires careful investigation to determine the mosti
voltage (impedance) can lead the relay to make an appropriate solution in respect of protection - there are
incorrect directional decision. no general guidelines that can be given.
13.7 EXAMPLES

In this section, an example calculation illustrating the

solution to a problem mentioned in this Chapter is given.

13.7.1 Distance Relay applied to Parallel Circuits

The system diagram shown in Figure 13.23 indicates a

simple 110kV network supplied from a 220kV grid through
two auto-transformers. The following example shows the
calculations necessary to check the suitability of three
zone distance protection to the two parallel feeders
interconnecting substations A and B, Line 1 being
selected for this purpose. All relevant data for this
exercise are given in the diagram. The MiCOM P441 relay
with quadrilateral characteristics is used to provide the
relay data for the example. Relay quantities used in the
example are listed in Table 13.3, and calculations are
carried out in terms of actual system impedances in
ohms, rather than CT secondary quantities. This simplifies
the calculations, and enables the example to be simplified
by excluding considerations of CT ratios. Most modern
distance relays permit settings to be specified in system
quantities rather than CT secondary quantities, but older
relays may require the system quantities to be converted
to impedances as seen by the relay.
Table 13.3: Distance relay settings

13.7.1.1 Residual compensation

The relays used are calibrated in terms of the positive
sequence impedance of the protected line. Since the earth
fault impedance of Line 1 is different from the positive
sequence impedance, the impedance seen by the relay in
the case of a fault involving earth will be different to that
seen for a phase fault. Hence, the reach of the earth fault
elements of the relay needs to be different.

For the relay used, this adjustment is provided by the

residual (or neutral) compensation factor KZo,set equal to:

3Z1
For Lines 1 and 2,

Hence,

Figure 13.23: Example network far distance

relay setting calculation
13.7.1.2 Zone impedance reach settings - phase faults 13.7.1.6 Zone Time Delay Settings
Firstly, the impedance reaches for the three relay zones Proper co-ordination of the distance relay settings with
are calculated. those of other relays is required. Independent timers are
available for the three zones to ensure this.
13.7.1.3 Zone 1 reach
For Zone 1, instantaneous tripping is normal. A time
Zone 1 impedance is set to 80% of the impedance of the
delay is used only in cases where large d.c. offsets occur
protected line. Hence,
and old circuit breakers, incapable of breaking the
instantaneous d.c. component, are involved.
The Zone 2 element has to grade with the relays
protecting Lines 3 and 4 since the Zone 2 element covers
part of these lines. Assuming that Lines 3/4 have
distance, unit or instantaneous high-set overcurrent
protection applied, the time delay required is that to
cover the total clearance time of the downstream relays.
To this must be added the reset time for the Zone 2
13.7.1.4 Zone 2 reach elements following clearance of a fault on an adjacent
Zone 2 impedance reach is set to cover the maximum of: line, and a suitable safety margin. A typical time delay is
250ms, and the normal range is 200-300ms.
(i) 120% of Line 1 length
The considerations for the Zone 3 element are the same as
(ii) Line 1 + 50% of shortest line from Substation B
for the Zone 2 element, except that the downstream fault
i.e. 50% of Line 4
clearance time is that for the Zone 2 element of a distance
From the line impedances given, relay or IDMT overcurrent protection. Assuming distance
relays are used, a typical time is 450ms. In summary:

13.7.1.7 Phase Fault Resistive Reach Settings

It is clear that condition (ii) governs the setting, and
therefore the initial Zone 2 reach setting is: With the use of a quadrilateral characteristic, the
resistive reach settings for each zone can be set
independently of the impedance reach settings. The
resistive reach setting represents the maximum amount
The effect of parallel Line 2 is to make relay 1 underreach of additional fault resistance (in excess of the line
for faults on adjacent line sections, as discussed in impedance) for which a zone will trip, regardless of the
Section 11.9.3. This is not a problem for the phase fault fault within the zone.
elements because Line 1 will always be protected.
Two constraints are imposed upon the settings, as
13.7.1.5 Zone 3 reach follows:
The function of Zone 3 is to provide backup protection (i) it must be greater than the maximum expected
for uncleared faults in adjacent line sections. The phase-phase fault resistance (principally that of
criterion used is that the relay should be set to cover the fault arc)
120% of the impedance between the relay location and
(ii) it must be less than the apparent resistance
the end of the longest adjacent line, taking account of
measured due to the heaviest load on the line
any possible fault infeed from other circuits or parallel
paths. In this case, faults in Line 3 will result in the relay The minimum fault current at Substation B is of the
under-reaching due to the parallel Lines 1 and 2, so the order of 1.5kA, leading to a typical arc resistance Rarc
impedance of Line 3 should be doubled to take this effect using the van Warrington formula (equation 11.6) of
into account. Therefore, 9Ohm. Using the current transformer ratio on Line 1 as
a guide to the maximum expected load current, the
minimum load impedance Z!min will be 106 Ohm.
Typically, the resistive reaches will be set to avoid the
minimum load impedance by a 20% margin for the
phase elements, leading to a maximum resistive reach
setting of 84.8 Ohm
 Therefore, the resistive reach setting lies between 9 Om
and 84.8 Om. While each zone can have its own resistive
reach setting, for this simple example, all of the resistive
reach settings can be set equal (depending on the
particular distance protection scheme used and the need
to include Power Swing Blocking, this need not always be
the case).
Suitable settings are chosen to be 80% of the load
resistance:

R3ph=84.8
Ohm
R2ph=84.8
Ohm
R1ph=84.8
Ohm

13.7.1.8 Earth Fault Reach Settings

By default, the residual compensation factor as
calculated in section 13.7.1.1 is used to adjust the phase
fault reach setting in the case of earth faults, and is
applied to all zones. However, it is also possible to apply
this compensation to zones individually. Two cases in
particular require consideration, and are covered in this
example.
13.7.1.9 Zone 1 earth fault reach

Where distance protection is applied to parallel lines (as

in this example), the Zone 1 earth fault elements may
sometimes over-reach and therefore operate when one
line is out of service and earthed at both ends

The solution is to reduce the earth fault reach of the

Zone 1 element to typically 80% of the default setting.
Hence:

Kz1=0.8xKZ0
=0.8x0.532
=0.426

In practice, the setting is selected by using an alternative

setting group, selected when the parallel line is out of
service and earthed.

13.7.1.10 Zone 2 earth fault reach

With parallel circuits, the Zone 2 element will tend to

under-reach due to the zero sequence mutual coupling
between the lines.

Maloperation may occur, particularly for earth faults

occurring on the remote busbar. The effect can be
countered by increasing the Zone 2 earth fault reach
setting, but first it is necessary to calculate the amount
of under-reach that occurs.
where:
Zadj = impedance of adjacent line
covered by Zone 2 Ifltp =
fault current in parallel
line Iflt = total
fault current

since the two parallel lines are identical, and hence, for
Lines 1 and 2,

and hence
% Under-reach = 14.3%
This amount of under-reach is not significant and no
adjustment need be made. If adjustment is required, this
can be achieved by using the Kz2 relay setting,
increasing it over the KZ0 setting by the percentage
under-reach. When this is done, care must also be taken
that the percentage over-reach during single circuit
operation is not excessive - if it is then use can be made
of the alternative setting groups provided in most
modern distance relays to change the relay settings
according to the number of circuits in operation.
13.7.1 11 Ground fault resistive reach settings
The same settings can be used as for the phase fault
resistive reaches. Hence,
R3G = 84.8
Ohm R2G =
84.8 Ohm
R1G = 84.8
Ohm
This completes the setting of the relay. Table 13.3 also
shows the settings calculated.

13.8 REFERENCES
13.1 Some factors affecting the accuracy of distance
type protective eguipment under earth fault
conditions. Davison, E.B. and Wright, A. Proc.
IEE Vol. 110, No. 9, Sept. 1963, pp. 1678-1688.
13.2 Distance protection performance under
conditions of single-circuit working in double-
circuit transmission lines. Humpage, W.D. and
Kandil, M.S. Proc. IEE. Vol. 117. No. 4, April
1970, pp. 766-770.
13.3 Distance protection of tee'd circuits. Humpage,
W.A. and Lewis, D.W. Proc. IEE, Vol. 114, No. 10,
Oct. 1967, pp. 1483-1498.
14 • Auto-Reclosing

Faults on overhead lines fall into one of three categories:

a. transient
b. semi-permanent
c. permanent
80-90% of faults on any overhead line network are
transient in nature. The remaining 10%-20% of faults are
either semi-permanent or permanent. Transient faults are
commonly caused by lightning and temporary contact with
foreign objects. The immediate tripping of one or more
circuit breakers clears the fault. Subsequent re-energisation
of the line is usually successful. A small tree branch falling
on the line could cause a semi-permanent fault. The
cause of the fault would not be removed by the
immediate tripping of the circuit, but could be burnt
away during a time-delayed trip. HV overhead lines in
forest areas are prone to this type of fault. Permanent
faults, such as broken conductors, and faults on
underground cable sections, must be located and
repaired before the supply can be restored. Use of an
auto-reclose scheme to re-energise the line after a fault
trip permits successful re-energisation of the line.
Sufficient time must be allowed after tripping for the
fault arc to de-energise prior to reclosing otherwise
the arc will re-strike. Such schemes have been the cause
of a substantial improvement in continuity of supply. A
further benefit, particularly to EHV systems, is the
maintenance of system stability and synchronism. A
typical single-shot auto-reclose scheme is shown in
Figures 14.1 and 14.2. Figure 14.1 shows a successful
reclosure in the event of a transient fault, and Figure
14.2 an unsuccessful reclosure followed by lockout of the
circuit breaker if the fault is permanent

14.2 APPLICATION OF AUTO-RECLOSING

The most important parameters of an auto-reclose
scheme are:
1. dead time
2. reclaim time
3. single or multi-shot
These parameters are influenced by:
a. type of protection
b. type of switchgear
c. possible stability problems
d. effects on the various types of consumer loads
 Figure 14.1: Single-shot auto-reclose scheme operation fora transient fault

Figure 14.2: Operation of single-shot auto-reclose scheme on a permanent fault

The weighting given to the above factors is different for mainly to radial feeders where problems of system
HV distribution networks and EHV transmission systems stability do not arise, and the main advantages to be
and therefore it is convenient to discuss them under derived from its use can be summarised as follows:
separate headings. Sections 14.3 and 14.4 cover the a. reduction to a minimum of the interruptions of
application of auto-reclosing to HV distribution networks supply to the consumer
while Sections 14.5-14.9 cover EHV schemes. The rapid b. instantaneous fault clearance can be introduced, with
expansion in the use of auto-reclosing has led to the the accompanying benefits of shorter fault duration,
existence of a variety of different control schemes. The less fault damage, and fewer permanent faults
various features in common use are discussed in Section
14.10. The related subject of auto-closing, that is, the As 80% of overhead line faults are transient, elimination
automatic closing of normally open circuit breakers, of loss of supply from this cause by the introduction of
is dealt with in Section 14.11. auto-reclosing gives obvious benefits through:

14.3 AUTO-RECLOSING ON HV DISTRIBUTION a. improved supply continuity

NETWORKS b. reduction of substation visits

On HV distribution networks, auto-reclosing is applied Instantaneous tripping reduces the duration of

power arc resulting from an overhead line fault to a of the fault arc. Other time delays that contribute to the
minimum. The chance of permanent damage occurring total system disturbance time must also be kept as short as
to the line is reduced. The application of instantaneous possible. The problem arises only on distribution networks
protection may result in non-selective tripping of a with more than one power source, where power can be fed
number of circuit breakers and an ensuing loss of supply into both ends of an inter-connecting line. A typical
to a number of healthy sections. Auto-reclosing allows example is embedded generation (see Chapter 17), or
these circuit breakers to be reclosed within a few where a small centre of population with a local diesel
seconds. With transient faults, the overall effect would generating plant may be connected to the rest of the
be loss of supply for a very short time but affecting a supply system by a single tie-line.
larger number of consumers. If only time-graded
The use of high-speed protection, such as unit protection
protection without auto-reclose was used, a smaller
or distance schemes, with operating times of less than
number of consumers might be affected, but for a longer
0.05s is essential. The circuit breakers must have very
time period.
short operation times and then be able to reclose the
When instantaneous protection is used with auto- circuit after a dead time of the order of 0.3s-0.6s to
reclosing, the scheme is normally arranged to inhibit the a l l o w for fault-arc de-ionisation.
instantaneous protection after the first trip. For a
It may be desirable in some cases to use synchronism check
permanent fault, the time-graded protection will give
logic, so that auto-reclosing is prevented if the phase angle
discriminative tripping after reclosure, resulting in the
has moved outside specified limits. The matter is dealt
isolation of the faulted section. Some schemes allow a
with more fully in Section 14.9 on EHV systems.
number of reclosures and time-graded trips after the
first instantaneous trip, which may result in the burning 14.4.12 Type of load
out and clearance of semi-permanent faults. A further On HV systems, the main problem to be considered in
benefit of instantaneous tripping is a reduction in circuit relation to dead time is the effect on various types of
breaker maintenance by reducing pre-arc heating when consumer load.
clearing transient faults. a. industrial consumers
When considering feeders that are partly overhead line Most industrial consumers operate mixed loads
and partly underground cable, any decision to install comprising induction motors, lighting, process
auto-reclosing would be influenced by any data known control and static loads. Synchronous motors may
on the frequency of transient faults. Where a significant also be used. Dead time has to be long enough to
proportion of faults are permanent, the advantages of a l l o w motor circuits to trip out on loos of supply.
auto-reclosing are small, particularly since reclosing on Once the supply is restored, restarting of drives can
to a faulty cable is likely to aggravate the damage. then occur under direction of the process control
system in a safe and programmed manner, and can
often be fast enough to ensure no significant loss
14.4 FACTORS INFLUENCING HV AUTO-RECLOSE of production or product quality
SCHEMES
b. domestic consumers
The factors that influence the choice of dead time, It is improbable that expensive processes or dangerous
reclaim time, and the number of shots are now discussed. conditions will be involved with domestic consumers
and the main consideration is that of inconvenience
and compensation for supply interruption. A dead
14.4.1 Dead Time time of seconds or a few minutes is of little
importance compared with the loss of cooking
Several factors affect the selection of system dead time
facilities, central heating, light and audio/visual
as follows:
entertainment resulting from a longer supply failure
a. system stability and synchronism
that could occur without auto-reclosing
b. type of load
c. CB characteristics 14.4.1.3 Circuit breaker characteristics
d. fault path de-ionisation time
The time delays imposed by the circuit breaker during a
e. protection reset time
tripping and reclosing operation must be taken into
These factors are discussed in the following sections. consideration, especially when assessing the possibility
of applying high speed auto-reclosing.
14.4.1.1 System stability and synchronism
a. mechanism resetting time
In order to reclose without loss of synchronism after a fault
on the interconnecting feeder, the dead time must be kept Most circuit breakers are 'trip free', which means that
to the minimum permissible consistent with de-ionisation the breaker can be tripped during the closing stroke.
After tripping, a time of the order of 0.2s must be when on maximum time setting, and dead times of at
allowed for the trip-free mechanism to reset before least this value may be required.
applying a closing impulse. Where high speed reclosing
When short dead times are required, the protection
is required, a latch check interlock is desirable in the
relays must reset almost instantaneously, a requirement
reclosing circuit that is easily met by the use of static, digital and
b. closing time numerical I.D.M.T. relays.
This is the time interval between the energisation of the
closing mechanism and the making of the contacts.
14.4.2 Reclaim Time
Owing to the time constant of the solenoid and the
inertia of the plunger, a solenoid closing mechanism may Factors affecting the setting of the reclaim time arc
take 0.3s to close. A spring-operated breaker, on the discussed in the following sections.
other hand, can close in less than 0.2s. Modern vacuum 14.4.2.1 Type of protection
circuit breakers may have a closing time of less than 0.1s
The reclaim time must be long enough to allow the
The circuit breaker mechanism imposes a minimum dead protection relays to operate when the circuit breaker is
time made up from the sum of (a) and (b) above. Figure reclosed on to a permanent fault. The most common
14.3 illustrates the performance of modern HV circuit forms of protection applied to HV lines are I.D.M.T. or
breakers in this respect. Older circuit breakers may definite time over-current and earth-fault relays. The
require longer times than those shown. maximum operating time for the former with very low
fault levels could be up to 30 seconds, while for fault
levels of several times rating the operating time may be
10 seconds or less.
In the case of definite time protection, settings of 3
seconds or less are common, with 10 seconds as an
absolute maximum. It has been common practice to use
reclaim times of 30 seconds on HV auto-reclose schemes,
However, there is a danger with a setting of this length
that during a thunderstorm, when the incidence of
transient faults is high, the breaker may reclose
successfully after one fault, and then trip and lock out
for a second fault within this time. Use of a shorter
reclaim time of, say, 15 seconds may enable the second
fault to be treated as a separate incident, with a further
successful reclosure.

Figure 14.3: Typical circuit breaker trip-close Where fault levels are low, it may be difficult to select
operation times I.D.M.T. time settings to give satisfactory grading with an
operating time limit of 15 seconds, and the matter
14.4.1.4 De-ionisation of fault path becomes a question of selecting a reclaim time
compatible with I.D.M.T. requirements.
As mentioned above, successful high speed reclosure
requires the interruption of the fault by the circuit It is common to fit sensitive earth-fault protection to
breaker to be followed by a time delay long enough to supplement the normal protection in order to detect high
allow the ionised air to disperse. This time is dependent resistance earth faults. This protection cannot possibly
on the system voltage, cause of fault, weather conditions be stable on through faults, and is therefore set to have
an operating time longer than that of the main
and so on, but at voltages up to 66kV, 0.1s-0.2s should
protection. This longer time may have to be taken into
be adequate. On HV systems, therefore, fault de-
consideration when deciding on a reclaim time. A broken
ionisation time is of less importance than circuit breaker
overhead conductor in contact with dry ground or a
time delays.
wood fence may cause this type of fault. It is rarely if
14.4.1.5 Protection reset time ever transient and may be a danger to the public. It is
If time delayed protection is used, it is essential that the therefore common practice to use a contact on the
timing device shall fully reset during the dead time, so sensitive earth fault relay to block auto-reclosing and
that correct time discrimination will be maintained after lock out the circuit breaker.
reclosure on to a fault. The reset time of the Where high-speed protection is used, reclaim times of 1
electromechanical I.D.M.T. relay is 10 seconds or more second or less would be adequate. However, such shod
times are rarely used in practice, to relieve the duty on conditions, the amount of synchronising power
the circuit breaker. transmitted, P, crosses the power/angle curve OAB at
point X, showing that the phase displacement between
14.4.2.2 Spring winding time
the two systems is Under fault conditions, the
The reclaim time of motor-wound spring-closed breakers curve OCB is applicable, and the operating point changes
must be at least as long as the spring winding time, to to Y. Assuming constant power input to both ends of the
ensure that the breaker is not subjected to a further line, there is now an accelerating power XY. As a result,
reclosing operating with a partly wound spring. the operating point moves to Z, with an increased phase
displacement, between the two systems. At this
point the circuit breakers trip and break the connection.
14.4.3 Number of Shots The phase displacement continues to increase at a rate
There are no definite rules for defining the number of dependent on the inertia of the two power sources. To
shots for any particular auto-reclose application, but a maintain synchronism, the circuit breaker must be
number of factors must be taken into account. reclosed in a time short enough to prevent the phase
angle exceeding This angle is such that the area
14.4.3.1 / Circuit breaker limitations (2) stays greater than the area (1), which is the condition
Important considerations are the ability of the circuit for maintenance of synchronism.
breaker to perform several trip and close operations in
quick succession and the effect of these operations on
the maintenance period. Maintenance periods vary
according to the type of circuit breaker used and the
fault current broken when clearing each fault. Use of
modern numerical relays can assist, as they often have a
CB condition-monitoring feature included that can be
arranged to indicate to a Control Centre when
maintenance is required. Auto-reclose may then be
locked out until maintenance has been carried out.
14.4.3.2 System conditions
If statistical information on a particular system shows a
moderate percentage of semi-permanent faults that
could be burned out during 2 or 3 time-delayed trips, a
multi-shot scheme may be justified. This is often the
case in forest areas. Another situation is where fused
'tees' are used and the fault level is low, since the fusing
time may not discriminate with the main I.D.M.T. relay. Figure 14.4: Effect of high-speed three-
The use of several shots will heat the fuse to such an phase
auto-reclosing on system stability for a weak system
extent that it would eventually blow before the main
protection operated.
This example, for a weak system, shows that the
successful application of auto-reclosing in such a case
needs high-speed protection and circuit breakers, and a
14.5AUTO-RECLOSING ON EHV TRANSMISSION
LINES short dead time. On strong systems, synchronism is
unlikely to be lost by the tripping out of a single line. For
The most important consideration in the application of such systems, an alternative policy of delayed auto-
auto-reclosing to EHV transmission lines is the reclosing may be adopted. This enables the power
maintenance of system stability and synchronism. The swings on the system resulting from the fault to decay
problems involved are dependent on whether the before reclosure is attempted.
transmission system is weak or strong. With a weak
system, loss of a transmission link may lead quickly to an The various factors to be considered when using EHV
excessive phase angle across the CB used for re-closure, auto-reclose schemes are now dealt with. High-speed
thus preventing a successful re-closure. In a relatively and delayed auto-reclose schemes are discussed
strong system, the rate of change of phase angle will be separately.
slow, so that delayed auto-reclose can be successfully
applied.
14.6 HIGH SPEED AUTO-RECLOSING ON EHV SYSTEMS
An illustration is the interconnector between two power
The first requirement for the application of high-speed
systems as shown in Figure 14.4. Under healthy
auto-reclosing is knowledge of the system disturbance
time that can be tolerated without loss of system the dead time required. This is a particular problem on
stability. This will normally require transient stability long distance EHV transmission lines.
studies to be conducted for a defined set of power
system configurations and fault conditions. With
knowledge of protection and circuit breaker operating 14.6.3 Circuit Breaker Characteristics
characteristics and fault arc de-ionisation times, the The high fault levels involved in EHV systems imposes a
feasibility of high-speed auto-reclosing can then be very severe duty on the circuit breakers used in high-
assessed. These factors are now discussed. speed auto-reclose schemes. The accepted breaker cycle
of break-make-break requires the circuit breaker to
interrupt the fault current, reclose the circuit after a
14.6.1 Protection Characteristics
time delay of upwards of 0.2s and then break the fault
The use of high-speed protection equipment, such as current again if the fault persists. The types of circuit
distance or unit protection schemes, giving operating breaker commonly used on EHV systems are oil, air blast
times of less than 50ms, is essential. In conjunction with and SF6 types.
fast operating circuit breakers, high-speed protection
14.6.3.1 Oil circuit breakers
reduces the duration of the fault arc and thus the total
system disturbance time. Oil circuit breakers are used for transmission voltages up
to 300kV, and can be subdivided into the two types: 'bulk
It is important that the circuit breakers at both ends of a
oil' and 'small oil volume'. The latter is a design aimed at
fault line should be tripped as rapidly as possible. The
reducing the fire hazard associated with the large
time that the line is still being fed from one end
volume of oil contained in the bulk oil breaker.
represents an effective reduction in the dead time, and
may well jeopardise the chances of a successful The operating mechanisms of oil circuit breakers are of
reclosure. When distance protection is used, and the two types, 'fixed trip' and 'trip free', of which the latter
fault occurs near one end of the line, special measures is the most common. With trip-free types, the reclosing
have to be adopted to ensure simultaneous tripping at cycle must allow time for the mechanism to reset after
each end. These are described in Section 14.8. tripping before applying the closing impulse.
Special means have to be adopted to obtain the short
dead times required for high-speed auto-reclosing.
14.6.2 De-ionisation of Fault Arc
Various types of tripping mechanism have been
It is important to know the time that must be allowed for developed to meet this requirement.
complete de-ionisation of the arc, to prevent the arc
The three types of closing mechanism fitted to oil circuit
restriking when the voltage is re-applied.
breakers are:
The de-ionisation time of an uncontrolled arc, in free air
depends on the circuit voltage, conductor spacing, fault i. solenoid
currents, fault duration, wind speed and capacitive ii. spring
coupling from adjacent conductors. Of these, the circuit iii. pneumatic
voltage is the most important, and as a general rule, the CB's with solenoid closing are not suitable for high-
higher the voltage the longer the time required for de- speed auto-reclose due to the long time constant
ionisation. Typical values are given in Table 14.1. involved. Spring, hydraulic or pneumatic closing
mechanisms are universal at the upper end of the EHV
f Line voltage (kV) Minimum de-energisation time range and give the fastest closing time. Figure 14.3
[seconds) shows the operation times for various types of EHV
66
circuit breakers, including the dead time that can be
110 0.28
132 0.3
attained.
220 0.35 14.6.3.2 Air blast circuit breakers
275 0.38
400 0.45 Air blast breakers have been developed for voltages up to
525 0.55 the highest at present in use on transmission lines. They
fall into two categories:
Table 14.1: Fault-arc de-ionisation times a. pressurised head circuit breakers
b. non-pressurised head circuit breakers

If single-phase tripping and auto-reclosing is used, In pressurised head circuit breakers, compressed air is
capacitive coupling between the healthy phases and the maintained in the chamber surrounding the main
faulty phase tends to maintain the arc and hence extend contacts. When a tripping signal is received, an auxiliary
air system separates the main contacts and allows the circuit breakers are locked out after one unsuccessful
compressed air to blast through the gap to the attempt. Also, the incidence of semi-permanent faults
atmosphere, extinguishing the arc. With the contacts which can be cleared by repeated reclosures is less likely
fully open, compressed air is maintained in the chamber. than on HV systems.
Loss of air pressure could result in the contacts reclosing,
or, if a mechanical latch is employed, restriking of the arc 14.7 SINGLE-PHASE AUTO-RECLOSING
in the de-pressurised chamber. For this reason,
sequential series isolators, which isolate the main Single phase to earth faults account for the majority of
contacts after tripping, are commonly used with air blast overhead line faults. When three-phase auto-reclosing
breakers. Since these are comparatively slow in opening, is applied to single circuit interconnectors between two
their operation must be inhibited when auto-reclosing is power systems, the tripping of all three phases may
required. A contact on the auto-reclose relay is made cause the two systems to drift apart in phase, as
available for this purpose. described in Section 14.5. No interchange of
synchronising power can take place during the dead
Non-pressurised head circuit breakers are slower in
time. If only the faulty phase is tripped, synchronising
operation than the pressurised head type and are not power can still be interchanged through the healthy
usually applied in high-speed reclosing schemes. phases. Any difference in phase between the two
3.3 SF6 circuit breakers systems will be correspondingly less, leading to a
reduction in the disturbance on the system when the
Most EHV circuit breaker designs now manufactured use
circuit breaker recloses.
5F6 gas as an insulating and arc-quenching medium. The
basic design of such circuit breakers is in many ways For single-phase auto-reclosing each circuit breaker pole
similar to that of pressurised head air blast circuit must be provided with its own closing and tripping
breakers, and normally retain all, or almost all, of their mechanism; this is normal with EHV air blast and SF6
voltage withstand capability, even if the SF6 pressure level breakers. The associated tripping and reclosing circuitry
falls to atmospheric pressure. Sequential series isolators is therefore more complicated, and, except in distance
are therefore not normally used, but they are sometimes schemes, the protection may need the addition of phase
specified to prevent damage to the circuit breaker in the selection logic.
event of a lightning strike on an open ended conductor. On the occurrence of a phase-earth fault, single-phase
Provision should therefore be made to inhibit sequential auto-reclose schemes trip and reclose only the
series isolation during an auto-reclose cycle. corresponding pole of the circuit breaker. The auto-
reclose function in a relay therefore has three separate
elements, one for each phase. Operation of any element
14.6.4 Choice of Dead Time
energises the corresponding dead timer, which in turn
At voltages of 220kV and above, the de-ionisation time initiates a closing pulse for the appropriate pole of the
will probably dictate the minimum dead time, rather circuit breaker. A successful reclosure results in the auto-
than any circuit breaker limitations. This can be deduced reclose logic resetting at the end of the reclaim time,
from Table 14.1. The dead time setting on a high-speed ready to respond to a further fault incident. If the fault
auto-reclose relay should be long enough to ensure Is persistent and reclosure is unsuccessful, it is usual to
complete de-ionisation of the arc. On EHV systems, an trip and lock out all three poles of the circuit breaker.
unsuccessful reclosure is more detrimental to the system The above describes only one of many variants. Other
than no reclosure at all. possibilities are:
a. three-phase trip and lockout for phase-phase or 3-
14.6.5 Choice of Reclaim Time phase faults, or if either of the remaining phases
should develop a fault during the dead time
Where EHV oil circuit breakers are concerned, the
reclaim time should take account of the time needed for b. use of a selector switch to give a choice of single
the closing mechanism to reset ready for the next or three-phase reclosing
reclosing operation. c. combined single and three-phase auto-reclosing;
single phase to earth faults initiate single-phase
tripping and reclosure, and phase-phase faults
14.6.6 Number of Shots initiate three-phase tripping and reclosure
High-speed auto-reclosing on EHV systems is invariably Modern numerical relays often incorporate the logic for
single shot. Repeated reclosure attempts with high fault all of the above schemes, for the user to select as
levels would have serious effects on system stability, so required. Use can be made of any user-definable logic
feature in a numerical relay to implement other schemes reclosing applied to the circuit breakers at each end of
that may be required. the feeder could result either in no dead time or in a
dead time insufficient to allow de-ionisation of the fault
The advantages of single-phase auto-reclosing are:
arc. A transient fault could therefore be seen as a
a. the maintenance of system integrity permanent one, resulting in the locking out of both
b. on multiple earth systems, negligible interference circuit breakers.
with the transmission of load. This is because the Two methods are available for overcoming this difficulty.
current in the faulted phase can flow through Firstly, one of the transfer-trip or blocking schemes that
earth via the various earthing points until the fault involves the use of an intertrip signal between the two
is cleared and the faulty phase restored ends of the line can be used. Alternatively, a Zone 1
The main disadvantage is the longer de-ionisation time extension scheme may be used to give instantaneous
resulting from capacitive coupling between the faulty tripping over the whole line length. Further details of
and healthy lines. This leads to a longer dead time being these schemes are given in Chapter 12, but a brief
description of how they are used in conjunction with an
required. Maloperation of earth fault relays on double
auto-reclose scheme is given below.
circuit lines owing to the flow of zero sequence currents
may also occur. These are induced by mutual induction
between faulty and healthy lines (see Chapter 13 for
14.8.1 Transfer-Trip or Blocking Schemes
details).
This involves use of a signalling channel between the two
ends of the line. Tripping occurs rapidly at both ends of
14.8 HIGH-SPEED AUTO-RECLOSING ON LINES the faulty line, enabling the use of high-speed auto-
EMPLOYING DISTANCE SCHEMES reclose. Some complication occurs if single-phase auto-
reclose is used, as the signalling channel must identify
The importance of rapid tripping of the circuit breakers
which phase should be tripped, but this problem does not
at each end of a faulted line where high-speed auto-
exist if a modern numerical relay is used.
reclosing is employed has already been covered in
Section 14.6. Simple distance protection presents some Irrespective of the scheme used, it is customary to
difficulties in this respect. provide an auto-reclose blocking relay to prevent the
circuit breakers auto-reclosing for faults seen by the
Owing to the errors involved in determining the ohmic
distance relay in Zones 2 and 3.
setting of the distance relays, it is not possible to set Zone
1 of a distance relay to cover 100% of the protected line -
see Chapter 11 for more details. Zone 1 is set to cover 80- 14.8.2 Zone 1 Extension
85% of the line length, with the remainder of the line
covered by time-delayed Zone 2 protection. In this scheme, the reach of Zone 1 is normally extended
to 120% of the line length and is reset to 80% when a
command from the auto-reclose logic is received. This
auto-reclose logic signal should occur before a closing
pulse is applied to the circuit breaker and remain operated
until the end of the reclaim time. The logic signal should
also be present when auto-reclose is out of service.

14.9 DELAYED AUTO-RECLOSING ON EHV SYSTEMS

On highly interconnected transmission systems, where
the loss of a single line is unlikely to cause two sections
of the system to drift apart significantly and lose
synchronism, delayed auto-reclosing can be employed.
Figure 14.5: Typical three zone distance scheme Dead times of the order of 5s-60s are commonly used,
problems are presented by fault arc de-ionisation times
Figure 14.5 illustrates this for a typical three-zone and circuit breaker operating characteristics, and power
distance scheme covering two transmission lines. swings on the system decay before reclosing. In addition,
For this reason, a fault occurring in an end zone would all tripping and reclose schemes can be three-phase only,
be cleared instantaneously, by the protection at one end simplifying control circuits in comparison with single-
of the feeder. However, the CB at the other end opens in phase schemes. In systems on which delayed auto-
0.3-0.4 seconds (Zone 2 time). High-speed auto- reclosing is permissible, the chances of a reclosure being
successful are somewhat greater with delayed reclosing If for any reason the line fails to 'dead line charge' from
than would be the case with high-speed reclosing. end A, reclosure from end B would take place after 15
seconds. The circuit breaker at A would then be given
the opportunity to reclose with a synchronism check.
B4.9.I Scheme Operation
The sequence of operations of a delayed auto-reclose
scheme can be best understood by reference to Figure 14.9.2 Synchronism Check Relays
14.6. This shows a transmission line connecting two The synchronism check relay element commonly provides
substations A and B, with the circuit beakers at A and B a three-fold check:
tripping out in the event of a line fault. Synchronism is i. phase angle difference
unlikely to be lost in a system that employs delayed auto- ii. voltage
reclose. However, the transfer of power through the iii. frequency difference
remaining tie-lines on the system could result in the
development of an excessive phase difference between the The phase angle setting is usually set to between
voltages at points A and B. The result, if reclosure takes 20°-45°, and reclosure is inhibited if the phase difference
place, is an unacceptable shock to the system. It is exceeds this value. The scheme waits for a reciosing
therefore usual practice to incorporate a synchronism opportunity with the phase angle within the set value,
check relay into the reclosing system to determine but locks out if reclosure does not occur within a defined
whether auto-reclosing should take place. period, typically 5s.
A voltage check is incorporated to prevent reclosure
under various circumstances. A number of different
modes may be available. These are typically
undervoltage on either of the two measured voltages,
differential voltage, or both of these conditions.
The logic also incorporates a frequency difference check,
either by direct measurement or by using a timer in
conjunction with the phase angle check. In the latter
case, if a 2 second timer is employed, the logic gives an
output only if the phase difference does not exceed the
phase angle setting over a period of 2 seconds. This
limits the frequency difference (in the case of a phase
angle setting of 20°) to a maximum of 0.11% of 50Hz,
corresponding to a phase swing from +20° to -20° over
the measured 2 seconds. While a significant frequency
difference is unlikely to arise during a delayed auto-
reclose sequence, the time available allows this check to
be carried out as an additional safeguard.
Figure 14.6: Delayed auto-reclose scheme logic
As well as 'live bus/dead line' and 'live bus/live line'
After tripping on a fault, it is normal procedure to reclose reclosing, sometimes 'live line/dead bus' reclosing may
the breaker at one end first, a process known as 'live need to be implemented. A numerical relay will typically
bus/dead line charging'. Reclosing at the other and is a l l o w any combination of these modes to be
then under the control of a synchronism check relay implemented. The voltage settings for distinguishing
element for what is known as 'live bus/live line reclosing'. between 'live' and 'dead' conditions must be carefully
chosen. In addition, the locations of the VT's must be
For example, if it were decided to charge the line initially
known and checked so that the correct voltage signals
from station A, the dead time in the auto-reclose relay
at A would be set at, say, 5 seconds, while the are connected to the 'line' and 'bus' inputs.
corresponding timer in the auto-reclose relay at B would
be set at, say, 15 seconds. The circuit beaker at A would
14.10 OPERATING FEATURES OF AUTO-RECLOSE
then reclose after 5 seconds provided that voltage
SCHEMES
monitoring relays at A indicated that the busbars were
alive and the line dead. With the line recharged, the The extensive use of auto-reclosing has resulted in the
circuit breaker at B would then reclose with a existence of a wide variety of different control schemes.
synchronism check, after a 2 second delay imposed by Some of the more important variations in the features
the synchronism check relay element. provided are described below.
14.10.1 Initiation fitted to oil, air blast and SF6 circuit breakers use a circuit
breaker auxiliary switch for terminating the closing pulse
Modern auto-reclosing schemes are invariably initiated
by the tripping command of a protection relay function. applied by the auto-reclose relay.
Some older schemes may employ a contact on the circuit
breaker. Modern digital or numerical relays often
incorporate a comprehensive auto-reclose facility within 14.10.5 Anti-Pumping Devices
the relay, thus eliminating the need for a separate auto- The function of an anti-pumping device is to prevent the
reclose relay and any starter relays. circuit breaker closing and opening several times in quick
succession. This might be caused by the application of a
closing pulse while the circuit breaker is being tripped
14.10.2 Type of Protection
via the protection relays. Alternatively, it may occur if
On HV distribution systems, advantage is often taken of the circuit breaker is closed on to a fault and the closing
auto-reclosing to use instantaneous protection for the pulse is longer than the sum of protection relay and
first trip, followed by I.D.M.T. for subsequent trips in a circuit breaker operating times. Circuit breakers with
single fault incident. In such cases, the auto-reclose trip free mechanisms do not require this feature.
relay must provide a means of isolating the
instantaneous relay after the first trip. In older schemes,
this may be done with a normally closed contact on the 14.10.6 Reclaim Timer
auto-reclose starting element wired into the connection
between the instantaneous relay contact and the circuit Electromechanical, static or software-based timers are
breaker trip coil. With digital or numerical relays with in- used to provide the reclaim time, depending on the relay
built auto-reclose facilities, internal logic facilities will technology used. If electromechanical timers are used, it
normally be used. is convenient to employ two independently adjustable
timed contacts to obtain both the dead time and the
With certain supply authorities, it is the rule to fit
reclaim time on one timer. With static and software-
tripping relays to every circuit breaker. If auto-reclosing
based timers, separate timer elements are generally
is required, electrically reset tripping relays must be used,
provided.
and a contact must be provided either in the auto-
reclose logic or by separate trip relay resetting scheme to
energise the reset coil before reclosing can take place.
14.10.7 CB Lockout
If reclosure is unsuccessful the auto-reclose relay locks
14.10.3 Dead Timer out the circuit breaker. Some schemes provide a lockout
This will have a range of settings to cover the specified relay with a flag, with provision of a contact for remote
high-speed or delayed reclosing duty. Any interlocks that alarm. The circuit breaker can then only be closed by
are needed to hold up reclosing until conditions are hand; this action can be arranged to reset the auto-
suitable can be connected into the dead timer circuit. reclose relay element automatically. Alternatively, most
Section 14.12.1 provides an example of this applied to modern relays can be configured such that a lockout
transformer feeders. condition can be reset only by operator action.
Circuit breaker manufacturers state the maximum
14.10.4 Reclosing Impulse number of operations allowed before maintenance is
required. A number of schemes provide a fault trip
The duration of the reclosing impulse must be related to counting function and give a warning when the total
the requirements of the circuit breaker closing approaches the manufacturer's recommendation. These
mechanism. On auto-reclose schemes using spring-closed
schemes will lock out when the total number of fault
breakers, it is sufficient to operate a contact at the end of
trips has reached the maximum value allowed.
the dead time to energise the latch release coil on the
spring-closing mechanism. A circuit breaker auxiliary
switch can be used to cancel the closing pulse and reset
14.10.8 Manual Closing
the auto-reclose relay. With solenoid operated breakers,
it is usual to provide a closing pulse of the order of 1-2 It is undesirable to permit auto-reclosing if circuit
seconds, so as to hold the solenoid energised for a short breaker closing is manually initiated. Auto-reclose
time after the main contacts have closed. This ensures schemes include the facility to inhibit auto-reclose
that the mechanism settles in the fully latched-in initiation for a set time following manual CB closure.
position. The pneumatic or hydraulic closing mechanisms The time is typically in the range of 2-5 seconds.
 14.10.9 Multi-Shot Schemes the standby transformer. Some schemes employ an auto-
tripping relay, so that when the faulty transformer is
Schemes providing up to three or four shots use timing
returned to service, the standby is automatically
circuits are often included in an auto-reclose relay to
disconnected.
provide different, independently adjustable, dead times
for each shot. Instantaneous protection can be used for
the first trip, since each scheme provides a signal to
14.11.2 Bus Coupler or Bus Section Breaker
inhibit instantaneous tripping after a set number of trips
and selects I.D.M.T. protection for subsequent ones. The If all four power transformers are normally in service for
scheme resets if reclosure is successful within the chosen the system of Figure 14.7, and the bus sections are
number of shots, ready to respond to further fault interconnected by a normally-open bus section breaker
incidents. instead of the isolator, the bus section breaker should be
auto-closed in the event of the loss of one transformer,
to spread the load over the remaining transformers. This,
14.11 AUTO-CLOSE SCHEMES of course, is subject to the fault level being acceptable
Auto-close schemes are employed to close automatically with the bus-section breaker closed. Starting and auto-
circuit breakers that are normally open when the supply trip circuits are employed as in the stand-by scheme.
network is healthy. This may occur for a variety of The auto-close relay used in practice is a variant of one
reasons, for instance the fault level may be excessive if of the standard auto-reclose relays.
the CB's were normally closed. The circuits involved are
very similar to those used for auto-reclosing. Two typical 14.12 EXAMPLES OF AUTO-RECLOSE APPLICATIONS
applications are described in the following sections.
Auto-reclose facilities in common use for a number of
standard substation configurations are described in the
14.11.1 Standby Transformers following sections.

Figure 14.7 shows a busbar station fed by three

transformers, T1, T2 and T3. The loss of one transformer 14.12.1 Double Busbar Substation
might cause serious overloading of the remaining two.
However, connection of a further transformer to A typical double busbar station is illustrated in Figure
overcome this may increase the fault level to an 14.8. Each of the six EHV transmission lines brought into
unacceptable value. the station is under the control of a circuit breaker, CB1
to CB6 inclusive, and each transmission line can be
connected either to the main or to the reserve busbars by
manually operated isolators.

Figure 14.7: Standby transformer with auto-closing

The solution is to have a standby transformer T4 Figure 14.8: Double busbar substation
permanently energised from the primary side and
arranged to be switched into service if one of the others
Bus section isolators enable sections of busbar to be
trips on fault.
isolated in the event of fault, and bus coupler breaker BC
The starting circuits for breaker CB4 monitor the permits sections of main and reserve bars to be
operation of transformer protection on any of the interconnected.
transformers T1, T2 and T3 together with the tripping
14.12.1.1 Basic scheme - banked transformers omitted
of an associated circuit breaker CB1-CB3. In the event
of a fault, the auto-close circuit is initiated and circuit Each line circuit breaker is provided with an auto-reclose
breaker CB4 closes, after a short time delay, to switch in relay that recloses the appropriate circuit breakers in the
event of a line fault. For a fault on Line 1, this would
require opening of CBl and the corresponding CB at the
remote end of the line. The operation of either the
busbar protection or a VT Buchholz relay is arranged to
lock out the auto-reclosing sequence. In the event of a
persistent fault on Line 1, the line circuit breakers trip
and lock out after one attempt at reclosure.
14.12.1.2 Scheme with banked transformers
Some utilities use a variation of the basic scheme in
which Transformers T1 and T2 are banked off Lines 1
and 2, as shown in Figure 14.8. This provides some Figure 14.9: Single switch substation

economy in the number of circuit breakers required. The

corresponding transformer circuits 1 and 2 are tee'd off
For example, a transient fault on Line 1 causes tripping
Lines 1 and 2 respectively. The transformer secondaries
of circuit breakers 120 and B1 followed by reclosure of
are connected to a separate HV busbar system via circuit
CB 120. If the reclosure is successful, Transformer T1 is
breakers CB1A and CB2A.
re-energised and circuit breaker B1 recloses after a short
Auto-reclose facilities can be extended to cover the time delay.
circuits for banked transformers where these are used. If the line fault is persistent, 120 trips again and the
For example, a fault on line 1 would cause the tripping motorised line isolator 103 is automatically opened. Circuit
of circuit breakers CBl, CB1A and the remote line breaker 120 recloses again, followed by B1, so that both
circuit breaker. When Line 1 is re-energised, either by transformers T1 and T2 are then supplied from Line 2.
auto-reclosure of CBl or by the remote circuit breaker,
A transformer fault causes the automatic opening of the
whichever is set to reclose first, transformer Tl is also
appropriate transformer isolator, lock-out of the
energised. CB1A will not reclose until the appearance
transformer secondary circuit breaker and reclosure of
of transformer secondary voltage, as monitored by the circuit breaker 120. Facilities for dead line charging or
secondary VT; it then recloses on to the HV busbars after reclosure with synchronism check are provided for each
a short time delay, with a synchronism check if required. circuit breaker.
In the event of a fault on transformer Tl, the local and
remote line circuit breakers and breaker CB1A trip to
14,12.3 Four-Switch Mesh Substation
isolate the fault. Automatic opening of the motorised
transformer isolator IT1 follows this. The line circuit The mesh substation illustrated in Figure 14.10 is
breakers then reclose in the normal manner and circuit extensively used by some utilities, either in full or part.
breaker CB1 A locks out. The basic mesh has a feeder at each corner, as shown at
mesh corners MC2, MC3 and MC4. One or two
A shortcoming of this scheme is that this results in transformers may also be banked at a mesh corner, as
healthy transformer Tl being isolated from the system; shown at MC1. Mesh corner protection is required if more
also, isolator L1 must be opened manually before circuit than one circuit is fed from a mesh corner, irrespective of
breakers CBl and CB1A, can be closed to re-establish the CT locations - see Chapter 15 for more details.
supply to the HV busbars via the transformer. A variant
of this scheme is designed to instruct isolator L1 to open
automatically following a persistent fault on Line 1 and
provide a second auto-reclosure of CB1 and CB1 A. The
supply to Bus C is thereby restored without manual
intervention.

14.12.2 Single Switch Substation

The arrangement shown in Figure 14.9 consists basically
of two transformer feeders interconnected by a single
circuit breaker 120. Each transformer therefore has an
alternative source of supply in the event of loss of one or
other of the feeders. Figure 14.10: Four-switch mesh substation
Considerable problems can are encountered in the in advance of reclosure if the fault is persistent or not.
application of auto-reclosing to the mesh substation. For In these circumstances, scheme logic inhibits reclosure
example, circuit breakers 120 and 420 in Figure 14.10 and locks out the circuit breakers.
are tripped out for a variety of different types of fault
14.12.3.6 Persistent mesh corner fault
associated with mesh corner 1 [MC1], and each requires
different treatment as far as auto-reclosing is concerned. The sequence describe in Section 14.12.3.5 is followed
Further variations occur if the faults are persistent. initially. When CB 120 is reclosed, it will trip again due
to the fault and lock out. At this point, the logic inhibits
Following normal practice, circuit breakers must be
the reclosure of CB's 420, GlA and GIB and locks out
reclosed in sequence, so sequencing circuits are
these CB's. Line isolator 103 is automatically opened to
necessary for the four mesh breakers. Closing priority
isolate the fault from the remote station.
may be in any order, but is normally 120, 220, 320, and
420.
A summary of facilities is now given, based on mesh
corner MC1 to show the inclusion of banked
transformers; facilities at other corners are similar but
omit the operation of equipment solely associated with
the banked transformers.
14.12.3.1 Transient fault on Line 1
Tripping of circuit breakers 120, 420, G1A and GIB is
followed by reclosure of 120 to give dead line charging
of Line /. Breaker 420 recloses in sequence, with a
synchronism check. Breakers G1A, GIB reclose with a
synchronism check if necessary.
14.12.3.2 Persistent fault on Line 1
Circuit breaker 120 trips again after the first reclosure
and isolator 103 is automatically opened to isolate the
faulted line. Breakers 120, 420, G1A and GIB then
reclose in sequence as above.
4.12.3.3 Transformer fault (local transformer 1A)
Automatic opening of isolator 113A to isolate the
faulted transformer follows tripping of circuit breakers
120, 420, GIA and GIB. Breakers 120, 420 and GlB
then reclose in sequence, and breaker GlA is locked out.
14.12.3.4 Transformer fault (remote transformer)
For a remote transformer fault, an intertrip signal is
received at the local station to trip breakers 120, 420,
GlA and GIB and inhibit auto-reclosing until the
faulted transformer has been isolated at the remote
station. If the intertrip persists for 60 seconds it is
assumed that the fault cannot be isolated at the remote
station. Isolator 103 is then automatically opened and
circuit breakers 120, 420, GlA and GIB are reclosed in
sequence.
14.12.3.5 Transient mesh corner fault
Any fault covered by the mesh corner protection zone,
shown in Figure 14.10, results in tripping of circuit
breakers 120, 420, GlA and GIB. These are then
reclosed in sequence.
There may be circumstances in which reclosure onto a
persistent fault is not permitted - clearly it is not known
15- Busbar Protection

15.1 INTRODUCTION
The protection scheme for a power system should cover
the whole system against all probable types of fault.
Unrestricted forms of line protection, such as overcurrent
and distance systems, meet this requirement, although
faults in the busbar zone are cleared only after some
time delay. But if unit protection is applied to feeders
and plant, the busbars are not inherently protected.
Busbars have often been left without specific protection,
for one or more of the following reasons:
a. the busbars and switchgear have a high degree of
reliability, to the point of being regarded as
intrinsically safe
b. it was feared that accidental operation of busbar
protection might cause widespread dislocation of
the power system, which, if not quickly cleared,
would cause more loss than would the very
infrequent actual bus faults
c. it was hoped that system protection or back-up
protection would provide sufficient bus protection
if needed
It is true that the risk of a fault occurring on modern
metal-clad gear is very small, but it cannot be entirely
ignored. However, the damage resulting from one
uncleared fault, because of the concentration of fault
MVA, may be very extensive indeed, up to the complete
loss of the station by fire. Serious damage to or
destruction of the installation would probably result in
widespread and prolonged supply interruption.
Finally, system protection will frequently not provide the
cover required. Such protection may be good enough for
small distribution substations, but not for important
stations. Even if distance protection is applied to all
feeders, the busbar will lie in the second zone of all the
distance protections, so a bus fault will be cleared
relatively slowly, and the resultant duration of the
voltage dip imposed on the restof the system may not be
tolerable.
With outdoor switchgear the case is less clear since,
although the likelihood of a fault is higher, the risk of
widespread damage resulting is much less. In general
then, busbar protection is required when the system
protection does not cover the busbars, or when, in order
to maintain power system stability, high-speed fault incidence, amounting to no more than an average of one
clearance is necessary. Unit busbar protection provides fault per busbar in twenty years, it is clear that unless
this, with the further advantage that if the busbars are the stability of the protection is absolute, the degree of
sectionalised, one section only need be isolated to clear disturbance to which the power system i.s likely to be.
a fault. The case for unit busbar protection is in fact subjected may be increased by the installation of bus
strongest when there is sectionalisation. protection. The possibility of incorrect operation has, in
the past, led to hesitation in applying bus protection and
has also resulted in application of some very complex
1 5 . 2 BUSBAR FAULTS systems. Increased understanding of the response of
differential systems to transient currents enables such
The majority of bus faults involve one phase and earth,
systems to be applied with confidence in their
but faults arise from many causes and a significant
fundamental stability. The theory of differential
number are interphase clear of earth. In fact, a large
protection is given later in Section 15.7.
proportion of busbar faults result from human error
rather than the failure of switchgear components. Notwithstanding the complete stability of a correctly
applied protection system, dangers exist in practice fora
With fully phase-segregated metalclad gear, only earth
number of reasons. These are:
faults are possible, and a protection scheme need have
earth fault sensitivity only. In other cases, an ability to a. interruption of the secondary circuit of a current
respond to phase faults clear of earth is an advantage, transformer will produce an unbalance, which
although the phase fault sensitivity need not be very high. might cause tripping on load depending on the
relative values of circuit load and effective setting.
It would certainly do so during a through fault,
15.3 PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS producing substantial fault current in the circuit in
Although not basically different from other circuit question
protection, the key position of the busbar intensifies the b. a mechanical shock of sufficient severity may
emphasis put on the essential requirements of speed and cause operation, although the likelihood of this
stability. The special features of busbar protection are occurring with modern numerical schemes is
discussed below. reduced

c. accidental interference with the relay, arising from

15.3.1 Speed a mistake during maintenance testing, may lead to
operation
Busbar protection is primarily concerned with:
In order to maintain the high order of integrity needed
a. limitation of consequential damage for busbar protection, it is an almost invariable practice
b. removal of busbar faults in less time than could be to make tripping depend on two independent
achieved by back-up line protection, with the measurements of fault quantities. Moreover, if the
object of maintaining system stability tripping of all the breakers within a zone is derived from
common measuring relays, two separate elements must
Some early busbar protection schemes used a low be operated at each stage to complete a tripping
impedance differential system having a relatively long operation. Although not current practice, in many cases
operation time, of up to 0.5 seconds. The basis of most the relays are separated by about 2 metres so that no
modern schemes is a differential system using either low reasonable accidental mechanical interference to both
impedance biased or high impedance unbiased relays relays simultaneously is possible.
capable of operating in a time of the order of one cycle
at a very moderate multiple of fault setting. To this must The two measurements may be made by two similar
be added the operating time of the tripping relays, but an differential systems, or one differential system may be
overall tripping time of less than two cycles can be checked by a frame-earth system, by earth fault relays
achieved. With high-speed circuit breakers, complete energised by current transformers in the transformer
fault clearance may be obtained in approximately 0.1 neutral-earth conductors or by overcurrent relays.
seconds. When a frame-earth system is used, the Alternatively, a frame-earth system may be checked by
operating speed is comparable. earth fault relays.

If two systems of the unit or other similar type are used,

they should be energised by separate current
15.3.2 Stability transformers in the case of high impedance unbiased
The stability of bus protection is of paramount differential schemes. The duplicate ring CT cores may be
importance. Bearing in mind the low rate of fault mounted on a common primary conductor but
independence must be maintained throughout the Security of both stability and operation is obtained by
secondary circuit. providing three independent channels (say X, Y and Z)
In the case of low impedance, biased differential whose outputs are arranged in a 'two-out-of three1
schemes that cater for unequal ratio CT's, the scheme voting arrangement, as shown in Figure 15.1.
can be energised from either one or two separate sets of
main current transformers. The criteria of double feature
operation before tripping can be maintained by the
provision of two sets of ratio matching interposing CT's
per circuit. When multi-contact tripping relays are used,
these are also duplicated, one being energised from each
discriminating relay; the contacts of the tripping relay
are then series-connected in pairs to provide tripping
outputs. Figure 15.1: Two-out-of-three principle

Separate tripping relays, each controlling one breaker

only, are usually preferred. The importance of such relays
is then no more than that of normal circuit protection, so 15.4 TYPES OF PROTECTION SYSTEM
no duplication is required at this stage. Not least among
the advantages of using individual tripping relays is the A number of busbar protection systems have been
simplification of trip circuit wiring, compared with devised:
taking all trip circuits associated with a given bus section a. system protection used to cover busbars
through a common multi-contact tripping relay.
b. frame-earth protection
In double busbar installations, a separate protection
system is applied to each section of each busbar; an c. differential protection
overall check system is provided, covering all sections of d. phase comparison protection
both busbars. The separate zones are arranged to
overlap the busbar section switches, so that a fault on e. directional blocking protection
the section switch trips both the adjacent zones. This Of these, (a) is suitable for small substations only, while
has sometimes been avoided in the past by giving the (d) and (e) are obsolete. Detailed discussion of types (b)
section switch a time advantage; the section switch is and (c) occupies most of this chapter.
tripped first and the remaining breakers delayed by 0.5
seconds. Early forms of biased differential protection for busbars,
such as versions of 'Translay' protection and also a
Only the zone on the faulty side of the section switch scheme using harmonic restraint, were superseded by
will remain operated and trip, the other zone resetting unbiased high impedance differential protection.
and retaining that section in service. This gain,
applicable only to very infrequent section switch faults, The relativesimplicity of the latter, and more importantly
is obtained at the expense of seriously delaying the bus the relative ease with which its performance can be
protection for all other faults. This practice is therefore calculated, have ensured its success up to the present
not generally favoured. Some variations are dealt with day.
later under the more detailed scheme descriptions. There But more recently the advances in semiconductor
are many combinations possible, but the essential technology, coupled with a more pressing need to be able
principle is that no single accidental incident of a to accommodate CT's of unequal ratio, have led to the re-
secondary nature shall be capable of causing an introduction of biased schemes, generally using static
unnecessary trip of a bus section. relay designs, particularly for the most extensive and
Security against maloperation is only achieved by onerous applications.
increasing the amount of equipment that is required to Frame-earth protection systems have been in use for
function to complete an operation; and this inevitably many years, mainly associated with smaller busbar
increases the statistical risk that a tripping operation due
protection schemes at distribution voltages and for
jto a fault may fail. Such a failure, leaving aside the
metalclad busbars (e.g. SF6 insulated busbars). However,
Huestion of consequential damage, may result in
it has often been quite common for a unit protection
disruption of the power system to an extent as great, or
scheme to be used in addition, to provide two separate
greater, than would be caused by an unwanted trip. The
means of fault detection.
relative risk of failure of this kind may be slight, but it
las been thought worthwhile in some instances to The different types of protection are described in the
provide a guard in this respect as well. following sections.
1 5 . 5 SYSTEM PROTECTION SCHEMES
System protection that includes overcurrent or distance
systems will inherently give protection cover to the
busbars. Overcurrent protection will only be applied to
relatively simple distribution systems, or as a back-up
protection, set to give a considerable time delay.
Distance protection will provide cover for busbar faults
with its second and possibly subsequent zones. In both
cases the busbar protection obtained is slow and suitable
only for limiting the consequential damage.
The only exception is the case of a mesh-connected
substation, in which the current transformers are located
at the circuit breakers. Here, the busbars are included, in
sections, in the individual zones of the main circuit
protection, whether this is of unit type or not. In the
special case when the current transformers are located
on the line side of the mesh, the circuit protection will
not cover the busbars in the instantaneous zone and
separate busbar protection, known as mesh-corner Figure 15.2: Single zone
protection, is generally used - see Section 15.7.2.1 for frame-earth protection
details.
b. earth current flowing to a fault elsewhere on the
system cannot flow into or out of the switchgear
1 5 .6 FRAME-EARTH PROTECTION frame via two earth connections, as this might lead
(HOWARD PROTECTION) to a spurious operation
Frame leakage protection has been extensively used in The switchgear must be insulated as a whole, usually by
the past in many different situations. There are several standing it on concrete. Care must be taken that the
variations of frame leakage schemes available, providing
foundation bolts do not touch the steel reinforcement;
busbar protection schemes with different capabilities.
sufficient concrete must be cut away at each hole to
The following sections schemes have thus been retained
permit grouting-in with no risk of touching metalwork.
for historical and general reference purposes. A
The insulation to earth finally achieved will not be high,
considerable number of schemes are still in service and
a value of 10 ohms being satisfactory.
frame leakage may provide an acceptable solution in
particular circumstances. However, the need to insulate When planning the earthing arrangements of a frame-
the switchboard frame and provide cable gland leakage scheme, the use of one common electrode for
insulation and the availability of alternative schemes both the switchgear frame and the power system neutral
using numerical relays, has contributed to a decline in point is preferred, because the fault path would
use of frame leakage systems. otherwise include the two earthing electrodes in series. If
either or both of these are of high resistance or have
inadequate current carrying capacity, the fault current
15.6.1 Single-Busbar Frame-Earth Protection may be limited to such an extent that the protection
This is purely an earth fault system and, in principle, equipment becomes inoperative. In addition, if the
involves simply measuring the fault current flowing from electrode earthing the switchgear frame is the offender,
the switchgear frame to earth. A current transformer is the potential of the frame may be raised to a dangerous
mounted on the earthing conductor and is used to energize value. The use of a common earthing electrode of j
a simple instantaneous relay as shown in Figure 15.2. adequate rating and low resistance ensures sufficient
current for scheme operation and limits the rise in frame
No other earth connections of any type, including
potential. When the system is resistance earthed, the
incidental connections to structural steelwork are
earthing connection from the switchgear frame is made
allowed. This requirement is so that:
between the bottom of the earthing resistor and the
a. the principal earth connection and current earthing electrode.
transformer are not shunted, thereby raising the
Figure 15.3 illustrates why a lower limit of 10 ohms
effective setting. An increased effective setting
insulation resistance between frame and earth is
gives rise to the possibility of relay maloperation.
necessary.
This risk is small in practice
 Figure 15.3: Current distribution
for external fault

Under external fault conditions, the current I1 flows Figure 15.4: Three zone frame
through the frame-leakage current transformer. If the earth scheme
insulation resistance is too low, sufficient current may
flow to operate the frame-leakage relay, and, as the check If it is inconvenient to insulate the section switch frame
feature is unrestricted, this will also operate to complete on one side, this switch may be included in that zone. It
the trip circuit. The earth resistance between the earthing is then necessary to intertrip the other zone after
electrode and true earth is seldom greater approximately 0.5 seconds if a fault persists after the
than1Ohm,so with 10Ohm insulation resistance the zone including the section switch has been tripped. This
current I1is limited to 10% of the total earth fault current is illustrated in Figure 15.5.
I1 and I2. For this reason, the recommended minimum
setting for the scheme is about 30% of the minimum
earth fault current.
All cable glands must be insulated, to prevent the
circulation of spurious current through the frame and
earthing system by any voltages induced in the cable
sheath. Preferably, the gland insulation should be
provided in two layers or stages, with an interposing
layer of metal, to facilitate the testing of the gland
insulation. A test level of 5kV from each side is suitable.

15.6.2 Frame-Earth Protection - Sectioned Busbars

Section 15.6.1 covered the basic requirements for a
system to protect switchgear as a whole. When the
busbar is divided into sections, these can be protected
separately, provided the frame is also sub-divided, the
sections mutually insulated, and each provided with a
separate earth conductor, current transformer and relay.
Ideally, the section switch should be treated as a
separate zone, as shown in Figure 15.4, and provided
with either a separate relay or two secondaries on the
frame-leakage current transformer, with an arrangement
Figure 15.5: Frame-earth scheme: bus
to trip both adjacent zones. The individual zone relays section breaker insulated on one side only
trip their respective zone and the section switch.
For the above schemes to function it is necessary to have as operation due to mechanical shock or mistakes made
a least one infeed or earthed source of supply, and in the by personnel. Faults in the low voltage auxiliary wiring
latter case it is essential that this source of supply be must also be prevented from causing operation by
connected to the side of the switchboard not containing passing current to earth through the switchgear frame.
the section switch. Further, if possible, it is preferable A useful check is provided by a relay energised by the
that an earthed source of supply be provided on both system neutral current, or residual current. If the neutral
sides of the switchboard, in order to ensure that any check cannot be provided, the frame-earth relays should
faults that may develop between the insulating barrier have a short time delay.
and the section switch will continue to be fed with fault
When a check system is used, instantaneous relays can
current after the isolation of the first half of the
be used, with a setting of 30% of the minimum earth
switchboard, and thus allow the fault to be removed. Of
fault current and an operating time at five times setting
the two arrangements, the first is the one normally
of 15 milliseconds or less.
recommended, since it provides instantaneous clearance
of busbar faults on all sections of the switchboard. Figure 15.7 shows a frame-leakage scheme for a
metalclad switchgear installation similar to that shown
in Figure 15.4 and incorporating a neutral current check
15.6.3 Frame-Earth Scheme - Double Bus Substation obtained from a suitable zero sequence current source,
such as that shown in Figure 15.2.
It is not generally feasible to separately insulate the
metal enclosures of the main and auxiliary busbars.
Protection is therefore generally provided as for single
bus installations, but with the additional feature that
circuits connected to the auxiliary bus are tripped for all
faults, as shown in Figure 15.6.

Figure 15.7: Typical tripping and alarm

circuits for a frame-leakage scheme

The protection relays used for the discriminating and

check functions are of the attracted armature type, with
Figure IS.6: Frame-earth scheme
for double busbar substation two normally open self reset contacts. The tripping
circuits cannot be complete unless both the
discriminating and check relays operate; this is because
15.6.4 Frame-Earth Protection - Check System
the discriminating and check relay contacts are
On all but the smallest equipments, a check system connected in series. The tripping relays are of the
should be provided to guard against such contingencies attracted armature type.
It is usual to supervise the satisfactory operation of the The scheme may consist of a single relay connected to
protection scheme with audible and visual alarms and the bus wires connecting all the current transformers in
indications for the following: parallel, one set per circuit, associated with a particular
zone, as shown in Figure 15.8(a). This will give earth
a. busbar faults
fault protection for the busbar. This arrangement has
b. busbar protection in service often been thought to be adequate.
c. busbar protection out of service If the current transformers are connected as a balanced
d. tripping supply healthy group for each phase together with a three-element
relay, as shown in Figure 15.8(b), additional protection
e. alarm supply healthy for phase faults can be obtained.
To enable the protection equipment of each zone to be The phase and earth fault settings are identical, and this
taken out of service independently during maintenance scheme is recommended for its ease of application and
periods, isolating switches - one switch per zone - are good performance.
provided in the trip supply circuits and an alarm
cancellation relay is used.
15.7.1 Differential Protection
for Sectionalised and Duplicate Busbars
15.7 DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION PRINCIPLES
Each section of a divided bus is provided with a separate
The Merz-Price principle is applicable to a multi-terminal circulating current system. The zones so formed are over-
zone such as a busbar. The principle is a direct lapped across the section switches, so that a fault on
application of Kirchhoffs first law. Usually, the the latter will trip the two adjacent zones. This is
circulating current arrangement is used, in which the illustrated in Figure 15.9.
current transformers and interconnections form an
analogue of the busbar and circuit connections. A relay Tripping two zones for a section switch fault can be
connected across the CT bus wires represents a fault avoided by using the time-delayed technique of Section
path in the primary system in the analogue and hence is 15.6.2. However instantaneous operation is the
not energised until a fault occurs on the busbar; it then preferred choice.
receives an input that, in principle at least, represents
the fault current.

Figure 15.9: Zones of protection

for double bus station

For double bus installation, the two busbars will be

treated as separate zones. The auxiliary busbar zone will
overlap the appropriate main busbar zone at the bus
coupler.
Since any circuit may be transferred from one busbar to
the other by isolator switches, these and the associated
Figure 15.8: Circulating current scheme tripping circuit must also be switched to the appropriate
zone by 'early make' and 'late break' auxiliary contacts. Figure 15.10(a) shows the ideal arrangement in which
This is to ensure that when the isolators are closing, the both the circuit and busbar zones are overlapped leaving
auxiliary switches make before the main contacts of the no region of the primary circuit unprotected.
isolator, and that when the isolators are opened, their
Figure 15.10(b) shows how mounting all current
main contacts part before the auxiliary switches open.
transformers on the circuit side of the breaker results in
The result is that the secondary circuits of the two zones
a small region of the primary circuit unprotected. This
concerned are briefly paralleled while the circuit is being
unprotected region is typically referred to as the 'short
transferred; these two zones have in any case been
zone'. The fault shown will cause operation of the busbar
united through the circuit isolators during the transfer
protection, tripping the circuit breaker, but the fault will
operation.
continue to be fed from the circuit, if a source of power
is present. It is necessary for the bus protection to
intertrip the far end of the circuit protection, if the latter
15.7.2 Location of Current Transformers
is of the unit type.
Ideally, the separate discriminating zones should overlap
With reference to Figure 15.10(b), special 'short zone'
each other and also the individual circuit protections.
protection can be provided to detect that the circuit
The overlap should occur across a circuit breaker, so that
breaker has opened but that the fault current is still
the latter lies in both zones. For this arrangement it is
flowing. Under these conditions, the protection can
necessary to install current transformers on both sides of
initiate an intertrip to the remote end of the circuit. This
the circuit breakers, which is economically possible with
technique may be used, particularly when the circuit
many but not all types of switchgear. With both the
includes a generator. In this case the intertrip proves that
circuit and the bus protection current transformers on
the fault is in the switchgear connections and not in the
the same side of the circuit breakers, the zones may be
generator; the latter is therefore tripped electrically but not
overlapped at the current transformers, but a fault
shut down on the mechanical side so as to be immediately
between the CT location and the circuit breaker will not
ready for further service if the fault can be cleared.
be completely isolated. This matter is important in all
switchgear to which these conditions apply, and is 15.7.2.1 CT locations for mesh-connected substations
particularly important in the case of outdoor switchgear
The protection of busbars in mesh connected substations
where separately mounted, multi-secondary current
gives rise to additional considerations in respect of CT
transformers are generally used. The conditions are
location. A single mesh corner is shown in Figure
shown in Figure 15.10.

Figure 15.10: Unprotected zone with

current transformers mounted

on one side of the circuit breaker only
Figure 15. 11: Mesh-corner protection
15.11 (a). Where only one connection to the mesh is An equivalent circuit, as in Figure 15.12, can represent a
made at a corner, CT's located as shown will provide circulating current system.
protection not only to the line but the corner of the mesh
included between them. However, this arrangement
cannot be used where more than one connection is made
to a mesh corner. This is because a fault on any of the
connected circuits would result in disconnection of them
all, without any means of determining the faulted
connection. Protection CT's must therefore be located on
each connection, as shown in Figure 15.11 (b). This leaves
the corner of the mesh unprotected, so additional CT's
and a relay to provide mesh-corner protection are added,
as also shown in Figure 15.11 (b).

15.8 H I G H IMPEDANCE
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
This form of protection is still in common use. The
considerations that have to be taken into account are
detailed in the following sections.

Figure 1 5 . 1 2 : Equivalent circuit

15.8.1 Stability of circulating current system

The incidence of fault current with an initial unilateral The current transformers are replaced in the diagram by
transient component causes an abnormal built-up of flux ideal current transformers feeding an equivalent circuit
in a current transformer, as described in Section 6.4.10. that represents the magnetising losses and secondary
When through-fault current traverses a zone protected winding resistance, and also the resistance of
by a differential system, the transient flux produced in the connecting leads. These circuits can then be
the current transformers is not detrimental as long as it interconnected as shown, with a relay connected to the
remains within the substantially linear range of the junction points to form the complete equivalent circuit.
magnetising characteristic. With fault current of
appreciable magnitude and long transient time constant, Saturation has the effect of lowering the exciting
the flux density will pass into the saturated region of the impedance, and is assumed to take place severely in
characteristic; this will not in itself produce a spill current transformer H until, at the limit, the shunt
output from a pair of balancing current transformers impedance becomes zero and the CT can produce no
provided that these are identical and equally burdened. output. This condition is represented by a short circuit,
A group of current transformers, though they may be of shown in broken line, across the exciting impedance. It
the same design, will not be completely identical, but a should be noted that this is not the equivalent of a
more important factor is inequality of burden. In the physical short circuit, since it is behind the winding
case of a differential system for a busbar, an external resistance .
fault may be fed through a single circuit, the current Applying the Thevenin method of solution, the voltage
being supplied to the busbar through all other circuits. developed across the relay will be given by:
The faulted circuit is many times more heavily loaded
than the others and the corresponding current
transformers are likely to be heavily saturated, while
those of the other circuits are not. Severe unbalance is ... Equat ion 15.1
therefore probable, which, with a relay of normal burden,
The current through the relay is given by:
could exceed any acceptable current setting. For this
reason such systems were at one time always provided
with a time delay. This practice is, however, no longer
acceptable.
...Equation 15.2
It is not feasible to calculate the spill current that may
occur, but, fortunately, this is not necessary; an alternative If RR is small, IR will approximate to IF, which is
approach provides both the necessary information and the unacceptable. On the other hand, if RR is large IR is
technique required to obtain a high performance. reduced. Equation 15.2 can be written, with little error,
as follows:
 ...Equation 15.3 RL + RCT= lead + CT winding resistance
or alternatively: ...Equation 15.4
K = factor depending on relay design
(range 0.7 - 2.0)
It is clear that, by increasing RR, the spill current IR can be It remains to be shown that the setting chosen is
reduced below any specified relay setting. RR is frequently suitable.
increased by the addition of a series-connected resistor The current transformers will have an excitation curve
which is known as the stabilising resistor. which has not so far been related to the relay setting
It can also be seen from Equation 15.4 that it is only the voltage, the latter being equal to the maximum nominal
voltage drop in the relay circuit at setting current that is voltage drop across the lead loop and the CT secondary
important. The relay can be designed as a voltage winding resistance, with the maximum secondary fault
measuring device consuming negligible current; and current flowing through them. Under in-zone fault
provided its setting voltage exceeds the value Vf of conditions it is necessary for the current transformers to
Equation 15.4, the system will be stable. In fact, the produce sufficient output to operate the relay. This will
setting voltage need not exceed Vf, since the derivation be achieved provided the CT knee-point voltage exceeds
of Equation 15.4 involves an extreme condition of the relay setting. In order to cater for errors, it is usual
unbalance between the G and H current transformers to specify that the current transformers should have a
that is not completely realised. So a safety margin is knee-point e.m.f. of at least twice the necessary setting
built-in if the voltage setting is made equal to Vf. voltage; a higher multiple is of advantage in ensuring a
high speed of operation.
It is necessary to realise that the value of If to be inserted
in Equation 15.4 is the complete function of the fault
current and the spill current IR through the relay, in the 15.8.2 Effective Setting or Primary Operating
limiting condition, will be of the same form. If the relay Current
requires more time to operate than the effective duration
of the d.c. transient component, or has been designed The minimum primary operating current is a further
with special features to block the d.c. component, then criterion of the design of a differential system. The
this factor can be ignored and only the symmetrical secondary effective setting is the sum of the relay
value of the fault current need be entered in Equation minimum operating current and the excitation losses in
15.4. If the relay setting voltage, Vs, is made equal to Vf, all parallel connected current transformers, whether
that is, If (RL + RCT), an inherent safety factor of the carrying primary current or not. This summation should
order of two will exist. strictly speaking be vectorial, but is usually done
arithmetically. It can be expressed as:
In the case of a faster relay, capable of operating in one
cycle and with no special features to block the d.c.
component, it is the r.m.s. value of the first offset wave
that is significant. This value, for a fully offset waveform ...Equation 15.6
with no d.c. decrement, is If settings are then
chosen in terms of the symmetrical component of the where:
fault current, the factor which has been ignored IR = effective setting Is = relay circuit setting
will take up most of the basic safety factor, leaving
current IeS = CT excitation current at relay setting
only a very small margin.
voltage
Finally, if a truly instantaneous relay were used, the
relevant value of If would be the maximum offset peak. n = number of parallel - connected CT's
In this case, the factor has become less than unity,
Having established the relay setting voltage from
possibly as low as 0.7. It is therefore possible to rewrite
stability considerations, as shown in Section 15.8.1, and
Equation 15.4 as:
knowing the excitation characteristic of the current
transformers, the effective setting can be computed. The
secondary setting is converted to the primary operating
...Equation 1 5 . 5 current by multiplying by the turns ratio of the current
transformers. The operating current so determined
should be considered in terms of the conditions of the
ISL = stability of scheme application.
VS = relay circuit voltage setting For a phase and earth fault scheme the setting can be
based on the fault current to be expected for minimum
plant and maximum system outage conditions. However,
it should be remembered that:
 a. phase-phase faults give only 86% of the three- This will not happen to any large degree if the fault
phase fault current current is a larger multiple of setting; for example, if the
fault current is five times the scheme primary operating
b. fault arc resistance and earth path resistance
current and the CT knee-point e.m.f. is three times the
reduce fault currents somewhat
relay setting voltage, the additional delay is unlikely to
c. a reasonable margin should be allowed to ensure exceed one cycle.
that relays operate quickly and decisively The primary operating current is sometimes designed to
It is desirable that the primary effective setting should not exceed the maximum expected circuit load in order to
exceed 30% of the prospective minimum fault current. reduce the possibility of false operation under load
current as a result of a broken CT lead. Desirable as this
In the case of a scheme exclusively for earth fault safeguard may be, it will be seen that it is better not to
protection, the minimum earth fault current should be increase the effective current setting too much, as this
considered, taking into account any earthing impedance will sacrifice some speed; the check feature in any case,
that might be present as well. Furthermore, in the event maintains stability.
of a double phase to earth fault, regardless of the inter-
An overall earth fault scheme for a large distribution
phase currents, only 50% of the system e.m.f. is available
board may be difficult to design because of the large
in the earth path, causing a further reduction in the earth
number of current transformers paralleled together,
fault current. The primary operating current must
which may lead to an excessive setting. It may be
therefore be not greater than 30% of the minimum
advantageous in such a case to provide a three-element
single-phase earth fault current. In order to achieve phase and earth fault scheme, mainly to reduce the
high-speed operation, it is desirable that settings should number of current transformers paralleled into one group.
be still lower, particularly in the case of the solidly
earthed power system. The transient component of the Extra-high-voltage substations usually present no such
problem. Using the voltage-calibrated relay, the current
fault current in conjunction with unfavourable residual
consumption can be very small.
flux in the CT can cause a high degree of saturation and
loss of output, possibly leading to a delay of several cycles A simplification can be achieved by providing one relay
additional to the natural operating time of the element. per circuit, all connected to the CT paralleling buswires.

Figure 15.13: A.C. circuits for high impedance circulating

current scheme for duplicate busbars
• is.

Figure 15.14: D.C. circuits for high impedance circulating current scheme

This enables the trip circuits to be confined to the least subdivision being necessary. For phase fault schemes,
area and reduces the risk of accidental operation. the check will usually be a similar type of scheme applied
to the switchboard as a single overall zone.
15.8.3 Check Feature
A set of current transformers separate from those used in
Schemes for earth faults only can be checked by a frame- the discriminating zones should be provided. No CT
earth system, applied to the switchboard as a whole, no switching is required and no current transformers are
needed for the check zone in bus-coupler and bus- cubicle. It is possible that special circumstances
section breakers. involving onerous conditions may over-ride this
15.8.4 Supervision of CT Secondary Circuits convenience and make connection to some other part of
the ring desirable.
Any interruption of a CT secondary circuit up to the
paralleling interconnections will cause an unbalance in Connecting leads will usually be not less than 7/0.67mm
the system, equivalent to the load being carried by the (2.5mm3), but for large sites or in other difficult
relevant primary circuit. Even though this degree of circumstances it may be necessary to use cables of, for
spurious output is below the effective setting the example 7/1.04mm (6mm3) for the bus wire ring and the
condition cannot be ignored, since it is likely to lead to CT connections to it. The cable from the ring to the relay
instability under any through fault condition. need not be of the larger section.
Supervision can be carried out to detect such conditions
When the reserve bar is split by bus section isolators and
by connecting a sensitive alarm relay across the bus
the two portions are protected as separate zones, it is
wires of each zone. For a phase and earth fault scheme,
an internal three-phase rectifier can be used to effect a necessary to common the bus wires by means of auxiliary
summation of the bus wire voltages on to a single alarm contacts, thereby making these two zones into one when
element; see Figures 15.13 and 15.14. the section isolators are closed.

The alarm relay is set so that operation does not occur

with the protection system healthy under normal load.
15.8.6 Summary of Practical Details
Subject to this proviso, the alarm relay is made as
sensitive as possible; the desired effective setting is 125 This section provides a summary of practical
primary amperes or 10% of the lowest circuit rating, considerations when implementing a high-impedance
whichever is the greater. busbar protection scheme.
Since a relay of this order of sensitivity is likely to 15.8.6.1 Designed stability level
operate during through faults, a time delay, typically of
three seconds, is applied to avoid unnecessary alarm For normal circumstances, the stability level should be
signals. designed to correspond to the switchgear rating; even if
the available short-circuit power in the system is much
less than this figure, it can be expected that the system
15.8.5 Arrangement of CT Connections will be developed up to the limit of rating.
It is shown in Equation 15.4 how the setting voltage for 15.8.6.2 Current transformers
a given stability level is directly related to the resistance
of the CT secondary leads. This should therefore be Current transformers must have identical turns ratios,
kept to a practical minimum. Taking into account the but a turns error of one in 400 is recognised as a
practical physical laying of auxiliary cables, the CT bus reasonable manufacturing tolerance. Also, they should
wires are best arranged in the form of a ring around the preferably be of similar design; where this is not possible
switchgear site. the magnetising characteristics should be reasonably
In a double bus installation, the CT leads should be taken matched.
directly to the isolator selection switches. The usual
Current transformers for use with high impedance
routing of cables on a double bus site is as follows:
protection schemes should meet the requirements of
a. current transformers to marshalling kiosk Class PX of I EC 60044-1.
b. marshalling kiosk to bus selection isolator auxiliary 15.8.6.3 Setting voltage
switches
The setting voltage is given by the equation
c. interconnections between marshalling kiosks to
form a closed ring Vs>If(RL + RCT)

The relay for each zone is connected to one point of the where:
ring bus wire. For convenience of cabling, the main zone
Vs = relay circuit voltage setting If =
relays will be connected through a multicore cable
between the relay panel and the bus section-switch steady-state through fault current RL =
marshalling cubicle. The reserve bar zone and the check
CT lead loop resistence RCT = CT
zone relays will be connected together by a cable
running to the bus coupler circuit breaker marshalling secondary winding resistance
15.8.6.4 Knee-point voltage of current transformers secondary condition is:
This is given by the formula

...Equation 1 5 . 8
15.8.6.5 Effective setting (secondary)
where:
The effective setting of the relay is given by IR
If = fault current
= Is+ nIeSIR
Iek = exciting current at knee - point voltage
where:
VK = knee - point voltage
Is = relay circuit current setting IeS = CT
Any burden connected across the secondary will reduce
excitation current at voltage setting n =
the voltage, but the value cannot be deduced from a
number of CT's in parallel simple combination of burden and exciting impedances.
For the primary fault setting multiply IR by the CT turns These formulae are therefore to be regarded only as a
ratio. guide to the possible peak voltage. With large current
15.8.6.6 Current transformer secondary rating transformers, particularly those with a low secondary
current rating, the voltage may be very high, above a
It is clear from Equations 15.4 and 15.6 that it is suitable insulation voltage. The voltage can be limited
advantageous to keep the secondary fault current low; without detriment to the scheme by connecting a
this is done by making the CT turns ratio high. It is ceramic non-linear resistor in parallel with the relay
common practice to use current transformers with a having a characteristic given by:
secondary rating of 1A.
It can be shown that there is an optimum turns ratio for
where C is a constant depending on dimensions and p is
the current transformers; this value depends on all the
a constant in the range 0.2-0.25.
application parameters but is generally about 2000/1.
Although a lower ratio, for instance 400/1, is often The current passed by the non-linear resistor at the relay
employed, the use of the optimum ratio can result in a voltage setting depends on the value of C; in order to
considerable reduction in the physical size of the current keep the shunting effect to a minimum it is
transformers. recommended to use a non-linear resistor with a value of
C of 450 for relay voltages up to 175V and one with a
15.8.6.7 Peak voltage developed by current transformers
value of C of 900 for setting voltages up to 325V.
Under in-zone fault conditions, a high impedance relay
constitutes an excessive burden to the current 15.8.6.8 High impedance relay
transformers, leading to the development of a high Instantaneous attracted an lature relays are used. Simple
voltage; the voltage waveform will be highly distorted fast-operating relays would have a low safety factor
but the peak value may be many times the nominal constant in the stability equation, Equation 15.5, as
saturation voltage. discussed in Section 15.8.1. The performance is improved
When the burden resistance is finite although high, an by series-tuning the relay coil, thereby making the circuit
approximate formula for the peak voltage is: resistive in effect. Inductive reactance would tend to
reduce stability, whereas the action of capacitance is to
block the unidirectional transient component of fault
current and so raise the stability constant.
...Equation 1 5 . 7
An alternative technique used in some relays is to apply
where:
the limited spill voltage principle shown in Equation
VP = peak voltage developed 15.4. A tuned element is connected via a plug bridge to
VK = knee-point voltage a chain of resistors; and the relay is calibrated in terms of
voltage.
VF = prospective voltage in absence of saturation
This formula does not hold for the open circuit condition
and is inaccurate for very high burden resistances that 1 5 . 9 LOW IMPEDANCE BIASED
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
approximate to an open circuit, because simplifying
assumptions used in the derivation of the formula are The principles of low impedance differential protection
not valid for the extreme condition. have been described in Section 10.4, including the
principle advantages to be gained by the use of a
Another approach applicable to the open circuit
bias
technique. Most modern busbar protection schemes use It must be recognised though that the use of any technique
this technique. for inhibiting operation, to improve stability performance
for through faults, must not be allowed to diminish the
The principles of a check zone, zone selection, and
ability of the relay to respond to internal faults.
tripping arrangements can still be applied. Current
transformer secondary circuits are not switched directly
by isolator contacts but instead by isolator repeat relays
15.9.2 Effective Setting or Primary Operating Current
after a secondary stage of current transformation. These
switching relays form a replica of the busbar within the For an internal fault, and with no through fault current
protection and provide the complete selection logic. flowing, the effective setting (IR) is raised above the
basic relay setting (Is) by whatever biasing effect is
produced by the sum of the CT magnetising currents
15.9.1 Stability flowing through the bias circuit. With low impedance
biased differential schemes particularly where the busbar
With some biased relays, the stability is not assured by
installation has relatively few circuits, these magnetising
the through current bias feature alone, but is enhanced
currents may be negligible, depending on the value of Is
by the addition of a stabilising resistor, having a value
which may be calculated as follows. The basic relay setting current was formerly defined as
the minimum current required solely in the differential
The through current will increase the effective relay
circuit to cause operation - Figure 15.15(a). This
minimum operating current for a biased relay as follows:
approach simplified analysis of performance, but was
IR = Is + BIF considered to be unrealistic, as in practice any current
flowing in the differential circuit must flow in at least
where:
one half of the relay bias circuit causing the practical
IR = effective minimum oprating current ls minimum operating current always to be higher than the
nominal basic setting current. As a result, a later
= relay setting current IF= through fault
definition, as shown in Figure 15.15(b) was developed.
current B = percentage restraint
Conversely, it needs to be appreciated that applying the
As IF is generally much greater than ls, the relay later definition of relay setting current, which flows
effective current, IR = BIF approximately. through at least half the bias circuit, the notional mini-
From Equation 15.4, the value of stabilising resistor is mum operation current in the differential circuit alone
given by: is somewhat less, as shown in Figure 15.15(b). Using the
definition presently applicable, the effective minimum
primary operating current
where:
Figure 15.15:
Definitions of relay
setting current

It is interesting to note that the value of the stabilising

resistance is independent of current level, and that there
would appear to be no limit to the through faults
stability level. This has been identified [15.1] as The
Principle of Infinite Stability!

The stabilising resistor still constitutes a significant

burden on the current transformers during internal
faults.

An alternative technique, used by the MBCZ system

described in Section 15.9.6, is to block the differential
measurement during the portion of the cycle that a
current transformer is saturated. If this is achieved by
momentarily short-circuiting the differential path, a very
low burden is placed on the current transformers. In this
way the differential circuit of the relay is prevented from for biased relays
responding to the spill current.
Unless the minimum effective operating current of a The usual solution is to route all the CT secondary
scheme has been raised deliberately to some preferred circuits back to the protection panel or cubicle to
value, it will usually be determined by the check zone, auxiliary CT's. It is then the secondary circuits of the
when present, as the latter may be expected to involve auxiliary CT's that are switched as necessary. So
the greatest number of current transformers in parallel. auxiliary CT's may be included for this function even
A slightly more onerous condition may arise when two when the ratio matching is not in question.
discriminating zones are coupled, transiently or In static protection equipment it is undesirable to use
otherwise, by the closing of primary isolators. isolator auxiliary contacts directly for the switching
It is generally desirable to attain an effective primary without some form of insulation barrier. Position
operating current that is just greater than the maximum transducers that follow the opening and closing of the
load current, to prevent the busbar protection from isolators may provide the latter.
operating spuriously from load current should a Alternatively, a simpler arrangement may be provided on
secondary circuit wiring fault develop. This consideration multiple busbar systems where the isolators switch the
is particularly important where the check feature is either auxiliary current transformer secondary circuits via
not used or is fed from common main CT's. auxiliary relays within the protection. These relays form
a replica of the busbar and perform the necessary logic.
It is therefore necessary to route all the current
15.9.3 Check Feature transformer secondary circuits to the relay to enable
For some low impedance schemes, only one set of main them to be connected into this busbar replica.
CT's is required. This seems to contradict the general Some installations have only one set of current
principle of all busbar protection systems with a check transformers available per circuit. Where the facility of
feature that complete duplication of all equipment is a check zone is still required, this can still be achieved
required, but it is claimed that the spirit of the checking with the low impedance biased protection by connecting
principle is met by making operation of the protection the auxiliary current transformers at the input of the
dependent on two different criteria such as directional main and check zones in series, as shown in Figure 15.16.
and differential measurements.
In the MBCZ scheme, described in Section 15.9.6, the
provision of auxiliary CT's as standard for ratio matching
also provides a ready means for introducing the check
feature duplication at the auxiliary CT's and onwards to
the relays. This may be an attractive compromise when
only one set of main CT's is available.

15.9.4 Supervision of CT Secondary Circuits

In low impedance schemes the integrity of the CT
secondary circuits can also be monitored. A current
operated auxiliary relay, or element of the main Figure 15.16: Alternative CT connections
protection equipment, may be applied to detect any
unbalanced secondary currents and give an alarm after a
time delay. For optimum discrimination, the current 15.9.6 Static Low Impedance Biased
setting of this supervision relay must be less than that of Differential Protection - Type MBCZ
the main differential protection.
The Type MBCZ scheme conforms in general to the
In modern busbar protection schemes, the supervision of principles outlined earlier and comprises a system of
the secondary circuits typically forms only a part of a standard modules that can be assembled to suit a
comprehensive supervision facility. particular busbar installation. Additional modules can be
added at any time as the busbar is extended.

15.9.5 Arrangement of CT connections A separate module is used for each circuit breaker and
also one for each zone of protection. In addition to these
It is a common modern requirement of low impedance
there is a common alarm module and a number of power
schemes that none of the main CT secondary circuits supply units. Ratio correction facilities are provided
should be switched, in the previously conventional manner, within each differential module to accommodate a wide
to match the switching of primary circuit isolators. range of CT mismatch.
Figure 15.17: Type MBCZ busbar protection showing correlation
between circuit breakers and protection modules

Figure 15.17 shows the correlation between the circuit 15.9.6.2 Stability with saturated current transformers
breakers and the protection modules for a typical double The traditional method for stabilising a differential relay
busbar installation. In practice the modules are mounted is to add a resistor to the differential path. Whilst this
in a multi-tier rack or cubicle. improves stability it increases the burden on the current
The modules are interconnected via a multicore cable transformer for internal faults. The technique used in
that is plugged into the back of the modules. There are the MBCZ scheme overcomes this problem.
five main groups of buswires, allocated for: The MBCZ design detects when a CT is saturated and
i. protection for main busbar ii. short-circuits the differential path for the portion of the
cycle for which saturation occurs. The resultant spill
protection for reserve busbar
current does not then flow through the measuring circuit
iii. protection for the transfer busbar. When the and stability is assured.
reserve busbar is also used as a transfer bar then
This principle allows a very low impedance differential
this group of buswires is used
circuit to be developed that will operate successfully
iv. auxiliary connections used by the protection to with relatively small CT's.
combine modules for some of the more complex
15.9.6.3 Operation for internal faults
busbar configurations
If the CT's carrying fault current are not saturated there
v. protection for the check zone
will be ample current in the differential circuit to operate
One extra module, not shown in this diagram, is plugged the differential relay quickly for fault currents exceeding
into the multicore bus. This is the alarm module, which the minimum operating level, which is adjustable
contains the common alarm circuits and the bias resistors. between 20%-200% rated current.
The power supplies are also fed in through this module.
When the only CT(s) carrying internal fault current
15.9.6.1 Bias become saturated, it might be supposed that the CT
All zones of measurement are biased by the total current saturation detectors may completely inhibit operation by
flowing to or from the busbar system via the feeders. short-circuiting the differential circuit. However, the
This ensures that all zones of measurement will have resulting inhibit pulses remove only an insignificant
similar fault sensitivity under all load conditions. The portion of the differential current, so operation of the
bias is derived from the check zone and fixed at 20% relay is therefore virtually unaffected.
with a characteristic generally as shown in Figure
15.15(b). Thus some ratio mismatch is tolerable.
 Figure 15.18: Block diagram of measuring unit

15.9.6.4 Discrepancy alarm feature to operate the two busbar sections as a single bar. The
As shown in Figure 15.18, each measuring module fault current will then divide between the two measuring
contains duplicated biased differential elements and also elements in the ratio of their impedances. If both of the
a pair of supervision elements, which are a part of a two measuring elements are of low and equal impedance
comprehensive supervision facility. the effective minimum operating current of the scheme
will be doubled.
This arrangement provides supervision of CT secondary
circuits for both open circuit conditions and any This is avoided by using a 'master/follower' arrangement.
impairment of the element to operate for an internal By making the impedance of one of the measuring
fault, without waiting for an actual system fault elements very much higher than the other it is possible to
condition to show this up. For a zone to operate it is ensure that one of the relays retains its original minimum
necessary for both the differential supervision element operation current. Then to ensure that both the parallel-
and the biased differential element to operate. For a connected zones are tripped the trip circuits of the two
circuit breaker to be tripped it requires the associated zones are connected in parallel. Any measuring unit can
main zone to be operated and also the overall check have the role of 'master1 or 'follower' as it is selectable by
zone, as shown in Figure 15.19. means of a switch on the front of the module.
15.9.6.6 Transfer tripping for breaker failure
Serious damage may result, and even danger to life, if a
circuit breaker fails to open when called upon to do so.
To reduce this risk breaker fail protection schemes were
developed some years ago.
These schemes are generally based on the assumption
Figure 15.19: Busbar protection trip logic
that if current is still flowing through the circuit breaker
a set time after the trip command has been issued, then
75.9.6.5 Master/follower measuring units it has failed to function. The circuit breakers in the next
stage back in the system are then automatically tripped.
When two sections of a busbar are connected together
For a bus coupler or section breaker this would involve
by isolators it will result in two measuring elements
being connected in parallel when the isolators are closed tripping all the infeeds to the adjacent zone, a facility
that is included in the busbar protection scheme.
 Figure 15.20: Architecture for numerical protection scheme

15.10 NUMERICAL BUSBAR PROTECTION d. dead zone protection

SCHEMES
In addition, monitoring functions such as CB and isolator
The application of numerical relay technology to busbar monitoring, disturbance recording and transformer
protection has lagged behind that of other protection supervision are provided.
functions. Static technology is still usual for such
Because of the distributed topology used,
schemes, but numerical technology is now readily
synchronisation of the measurements taken by the
available. The very latest developments in the
peripheral units is of vital importance. A high stability
technology are included, such as extensive use of a data
numerically-controlled oscillator is fitted in each of the
bus to link the various units involved, and fault tolerance
central and peripheral units, with time synchronisation
against loss of a particular link by providing multiple
between them. In the event of loss of the
communications paths. The development process has
synchronisation signal, the high stability of the oscillator
been very rigorous, because the requirements for busbar
in the affected feeder unit(s) enables processing of the
protection in respect of immunity to maloperation are
incoming data to continue without significant errors
very high.
until synchronisation can be restored.
The philosophy adopted is one of distributed processing of
The peripheral units have responsibility for collecting the
the measured values, as shown in Figure 15.20. Feeders
required data, such as voltages and currents, and
each have their own processing unit, which collects
processing it into digital form for onwards transmission
together information on the state of the feeder (currents,
to the central unit. Modelling of the CT response is
voltages, CB and isolator status, etc.) and communicates
included, to eliminate errors caused by effects such as CT
it over high-speed fibre-optic data links to a central unit.
saturation. Disturbance recording for the monitored
For large substations, more than one central unit may be
feeder is implemented, for later download as required.
used, while in the case of small installations, all of the
Because each peripheral unit is concerned only with an
units can be co-located, leading to the appearance of a
individual feeder, the protection algorithms must reside
traditional centralised architecture.
in the central unit.
For simple feeders, interface units at a bay may be used
The differential protection algorithm can be much more
with the data transmitted to a s i n g l e centrally
sophisticated than with earlier technology, due to
located peripheral unit. The central unit performs the
improvements in processing power. In addition to
calculations required for the protection functions.
calculating the sum of the measured currents, the
Available protection functions are:
algorithm can also evaluate differences between
a. protection successive current samples, since a large change above a
b. backup overcurrent protection threshold may indicate a fault - the threshold being
chosen such that normal load changes, apart from inrush
c. breaker failure conditions do not exceed the threshold. The same
considerations can also be applied to the phase angles of In contrast, modern numerical schemes are more
currents, and incremental changes in them. complex with a much greater range of facilities and a
much high component count. Based on low impedance
One advantage gained from the use of numerical
bias techniques, and with a greater range of facilities to
technology is the ability to easily re-configure the
set, setting calculations can also be more complex.
protection to cater for changes in configuration of the
substation. For example, addition of an extra feeder However, studies of the comparative reliability of
involves the addition of an extra peripheral unit, the conventional high impedance schemes and modern
fibre-optic connection to the central unit and entry via numerical schemes have shown that assessing relative
the MM I of the new configuration into the central unit. reliability is not quite so simple as it might appear. The
Figure 15.21 illustrates the latest numerical technology numerical scheme has two advantages over its older
employed. counterpart:
a. there is a reduction in the number of external
components such as switching and other auxiliary
15.10.1 Reliability Considerations
relays, many of the functions of which are
In considering the introduction of numerical busbar performed internally within the software
protection schemes, users have been concerned with algorithms
reliability issues such as security and availability.
b. numerical schemes include sophisticated
Conventional high impedance schemes have been one of
monitoring features which provide alarm facilities
the main protection schemes used for busbar protection.
if the scheme is faulty. In certain cases, simulation
The basic measuring element is simple in concept and
of the scheme functions can be performed on line
has few components. Calculation of stability limits and
from the CT inputs through to the tripping outputs
other setting parameters is straightforward and scheme
and thus scheme functions can be checked on a
performance can be predicted without the need for
regular basis to ensure a full operational mode is
costly testing. Practically, high impedance schemes have
available at all times
proved to be a very reliable form of protection.
Reliability analyses using fault tree analysis methods
have examined issues of dependability (e.g. the ability to
operate when required) and security (e.g. the ability not
to provide spurious/indiscriminate operation). These
analyses have shown that:
a. dependability of numerical schemes is better than
conventional high impedance schemes
b. security of numerical and conventional high
impedance schemes are comparable
In addition, an important feature of numerical schemes
is the in-built monitoring system. This considerably
improves the potential availability of numerical schemes
compared to conventional schemes as faults within the
equipment and its operational state can be detected and
alarmed. With the conventional scheme, failure to re-
instate the scheme correctly after maintenance may not
be detected until the scheme is required to operate. In
this situation, its effective availability is zero until it is
detected and repaired.

15.11 REFERENCES
15.1 The Behaviour of Current Transformers subjected to
Transient Asymmetric Currents and the Effects on
Associated Protective Relays. J.W. Hodgkiss.
CIGRE Paper Number 329, Session 15-25 June
1960.
Figure 15.21: Busbar protection relay using the
latest numerical technology (MiCOM P740 range)
16 • Transformer and
Transformer-Feeder Protection
16.1 INTRODUCTION
The development of modern power systems has been
reflected in the advances in transformer design. This has
resulted in a wide range of transformers with sizes
ranging from a few kVA to several hundred MVA being
available for use in a wide variety of applications.
The considerations for a transformer protection package
vary with the application and importance of the
transformer. To reduce the effects of thermal stress and
electrodynamic forces, it is advisable to ensure that the
protection package used minimises the time for
disconnection in the event of a fault occurring within the
transformer. Small distribution transformers can be
protected satisfactorily, from both technical and
economic considerations, by the use of fuses or
overcurrent relays. This results in time-delayed
protection due to downstream co-ordination
requirements. However, time-delayed fault clearance is
unacceptable on larger power transformers used in
distribution, transmission and generator applications,
due to system operation/stability and cost of
repair/length of outage considerations.
Transformer faults are generally classified into five
categories:
a. winding and terminal faults
b. core faults
c. tank and transformer accessory faults
d. on-load tap changer faults
e. abnormal operating conditions
f. sustained or uncleared external faults
For faults originating in the transformer itself, the
approximate proportion of faults due to each of the
causes listed above is shown in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1: Transformer fault statistics

1 6 . 2 WINDING FAULTS 16.2.2 Star-connected winding with
Neutral Point Solidly Earthed
A fault on a transformer winding is controlled in
magnitude by the following factors: The fault current is controlled mainly by the leakage
reactance of the winding, which varies in a complex
i. source impedance ii. neutral earthing impedance iii.
manner with the position of the fault. The variable fault
transformer leakage reactance iv. fault voltage v. point voltage is also an important factor, as in the case
winding connection Several distinct cases arise and are of impedance earthing. For faults close to the neutral
end of the winding, the reactance is very low, and results
examined below. in the highest fault currents. The variation of current
with fault position is shown in Figure 16.3.
16.2.1 Star-Connected Winding with
Neutral Point Earthed through an Impedance
The winding earth fault current depends on the earthing
impedance value and is also proportional to the distance
of the fault from the neutral point, since the fault
voltage will be directly proportional to this distance.
For a fault on a transformer secondary winding, the
corresponding primary current will depend on the
transformation ratio between the primary winding and
the short-circuited secondary turns. This also varies with
the position of the fault, so that the fault current in the
transformer primary winding is proportional to the
square of the fraction of the winding that is short-
circuited. The effect is shown in Figure 16.2. Faults in
the lower third of the winding produce very little current
in the primary winding, making fault detection by
primary current measurement difficult. Figure 16.3 Earth fault current
in solidly earthed star winding

For secondary winding faults, the primary winding fault

current is determined by the variable transformation
ratio; as the secondary fault current magnitude stays
high throughout the winding, the primary fault current is
large for most points along the winding.

16.2.3 Delta-connected Winding

No part of a delta-connected winding operates with a
voltage to earth of less than 50% of the phase voltage,
The range of fault current magnitude is therefore less
than for a star winding. The actual value of fault current
will still depend on the method of system earthing; it
should also be remembered that the impedance of a
delta winding is particularly high to fault currents
flowing to a centrally placed fault on one leg. The
impedance can be expected to be between 25% and
50%, based on the transformer rating, regardless of the
normal balanced through-current impedance. As the
prefault voltage to earth at this point is half the normal
phase voltage, the earth fault current may be no more
Figure 16.2 Earth fault current than the rated current, or even less than this value if the
in resistance-earthed star winding
source or system earthing impedance is appreciable. The
current will flow to the fault from each side through the
two half windings, and will be divided between two
phases of the system. The individual phase currents may The graph in Figure 16.4 shows the corresponding data
therefore be relatively low, resulting in difficulties in for a typical transformer of 3.25% impedance with the
providing protection. short-circuited turns symmetrically located in the centre
of the winding.

16.2.4 Phase to Phase Faults

16.2.6 Core Faults
Faults between phases within a transformer are
relatively rare; if such a fault does occur it will give rise A conducting bridge across the laminated structures of
to a substantial current comparable to the earth fault the core can permit sufficient eddy-current to flow to
currents discussed in Section 16.2.2. cause serious overheating. The bolts that clamp the core
together are always insulated to avoid this trouble. If
any portion of the core insulation becomes defective, the
16.2.5 Interturn Faults resultant heating may reach a magnitude sufficient to
In low voltage transformers, interturn insulation damage the winding.
breakdown is unlikely to occur unless the mechanical The additional core loss, although causing severe local
force on the winding due to external short circuits has heating, will not produce a noticeable change in input
caused insulation degradation, or insulating oil (if used) current and could not be detected by the normal
has become contaminated by moisture. electrical protection; it is nevertheless highly desirable
A high voltage transformer connected to an overhead that the condition should be detected before a major
transmission system will be subjected to steep fronted fault has been created. In an oil-immersed transformer,
impulse voltages, arising from lightning strikes, faults and core heating sufficient to cause winding insulation
switching operations. A line surge, which may be of damage will also cause breakdown of some of the oil
several times the rated system voltage, will concentrate on with an accompanying evolution of gas. This gas will
the end turns of the winding because of the high escape to the conservator, and is used to operate a
equivalent frequency of the surge front. Part-winding mechanical relay; see Section 16.15.3.
resonance, involving voltages up to 20 times rated voltage
may occur. The interturn insulation of the end turns is
16.2.7 Tank Faults
reinforced, but cannot be increased in proportion to the
insulation to earth, which is relatively great. Partial Loss of oil through tank leaks will ultimately produce a
winding flashover is therefore more likely. The subsequent dangerous condition, either because of a reduction in
progress of the fault, if not detected in the earliest stage, winding insulation or because of overheating on load
may well destroy the evidence of the true cause. due to the loss of cooling.
A short circuit of a few turns of the winding will give rise Overheating may also occur due to prolonged
to a heavy fault current in the short-circuited loop, but overloading, blocked cooling ducts due to oil sludging or
the terminal currents will be very small, because of the failure of the forced cooling system, if fitted.
high ratio of transformation between the whole winding
and the short-circuited turns.
16.2.8 Externally Applied Conditions Sources of
abnormal stress in a transformer are:
a. overload
b. system faults
c. overvoltage
d. reduced system frequency
16.2.8.1 Overload
Overload causes increased 'copper loss' and a consequent
temperature rise. Overloads can be carried for limited
periods and recommendations for oil-immersed
transformers are given in IEC 60354.
The thermal time constant of naturally cooled
transformers lies between 2.5-5 hours. Shorter time
Figure 16.4 Interturn fault current/number
of turns short-circuited constants apply in the case of force-cooled transformers.
16.2.8.2 System faults frequency, but operation must not be continued with a
high voltage input at a low frequency. Operation cannot
System short circuits produce a relatively intense rate of
be sustained when the ratio of voltage to frequency, with
heating of the feeding transformers, the copper loss
these quantities given values in per unit of their rated
increasing in proportion to the square of the per unit
values, exceeds unity by more than a small amount, for
fault current. The typical duration of external short
instance if V/f >1.1. If a substantial rise in system
circuits that a transformer can sustain without damage
voltage has been catered for in the design, the base of
if the current is limited only by the self-reactance is
'unit voltage' should be taken as the highest voltage for
shown in Table 16.1. IEC 60076 provides further
which the transformer is designed.
guidance on short-circuit withstand levels.

1 6 .3 MAGNETISING INRUSH
The phenomenon of magnetising inrush is a transient
condition that occurs primarily when a transformer is
energised. It is not a fault condition, and therefore
transformer protection must remain stable during the
Table 16.1: Fault withstand levels inrush transient.

Maximum mechanical stress on windings occurs during

the first cycle of the fault. Avoidance of damage is a
matter of transformer design.
16.2.8.3 Overvoitages
Overvoltage conditions are of two kinds: i.
transient surge voltages ii. power
frequency overvoltage
Transient overvoitages arise from faults, switching, and
lightning disturbances and are liable to cause interturn
faults, as described in Section 16.2.5. These overvoitages
are usually limited by shunting the high voltage
terminals to earth either with a plain rod gap or by surge
diverters, which comprise a stack of short gaps in series
with a non-linear resistor. The surge diverter, in contrast
to the rod gap, has the advantage of extinguishing the
flow of power current after discharging a surge, in this
way avoiding subsequent isolation of the transformer.
Power frequency overvoltage causes both an increase in
stress on the insulation and a proportionate increase in
the working flux. The latter effect causes an increase in
the iron loss and a disproportionately large increase in
magnetising current. In addition, flux is diverted from
the laminated core into structural steel parts. The core
bolts, which normally carry little flux, may be subjected
to a large flux diverted from the highly saturated region
of core alongside. This leads to a rapid temperature rise
in the bolts, destroying their insulation and damaging
coil insulation if the condition continues.
16.2.8.4 Reduced system frequency Figure 16.5: Transformer magnetising inrush

Reduction of system frequency has an effect with regard

to flux density, similar to that of overvoltage. Figure 16.5(a) shows a transformer magnetising
characteristic. To minimise material costs, weight and
It follows that a transformer can operate with some size, transformers are generally operated near to the
degree of overvoltage with a corresponding increase in 'knee point' of the magnetising characteristic.
Consequently, only a small increase in core flux above 16.3.1 Harmonic Content of Inrush Waveform
normal operating levels will result in a high magnetising
The waveform of transformer magnetising current
current.
contains a proportion of harmonics that increases as the
Under normal steady-state conditions, the magnetising peak flux density is raised to the saturating condition.
current associated with the operating flux level is The magnetising current of a transformer contains a
relatively small (Figure 16.5(b)). However, if a third harmonic and progressively smaller amounts of
transformer winding is energised at a voltage zero, with fifth and higher harmonics. If the degree of saturation is
no remanent flux, the flux level during the first voltage progressively increased, not only will the harmonic
cycle (2 x normal flux) will result in core saturation and content increase as a whole, but the relative proportion
a high non-sinusoidal magnetising current waveform - of fifth harmonic will increase and eventually exceed the
see Figure 16.5(c). This current is referred to as third harmonic. At a still higher level the seventh would
magnetising inrush current and may persist for several overtake the fifth harmonic but this involves a degree of
cycles. saturation that will not be experienced with power
transformers.
A number of factors affect the magnitude and duration
of the magnetising current inrush: The energising conditions that result in an offset inrush
current produce a waveform that is asymmetrical. Such
a. residual flux - worst-case conditions result in the a wave typically contains both even and odd harmonics.
flux peak value attaining 280% of normal value Typical inrush currents contain substantial amounts of
b. point on wave switching second and third harmonics and diminishing amounts of
higher orders. As with the steady state wave, the
c. number of banked transformers
proportion of harmonics varies with the degree of
d. transformer design and rating saturation, so that as a severe inrush transient decays,
the harmonic makeup of the current passes through a
e. system fault level
range of conditions.
The very high flux densities quoted above are so far
beyond the normal working range that the incremental
relative permeability of the core approximates to unity 16.4 TRANSFORMER OVERHEATING
and the inductance of the winding falls to a value near The rating of a transformer is based on the temperature
that of the 'air-cored' inductance. The current wave, rise above an assumed maximum ambient temperature;
starting from zero, increases slowly at first, the flux under this condition no sustained overload is usually
having a value just above the residual value and the permissible. At a lower ambient temperature some
permeability of the core being moderately high. As the degree of sustained overload can be safely applied.
flux passes the normal working value and enters the Short-term overloads are also permissible to an extent
highly saturated portion of the magnetising dependent on the previous loading conditions. IEC
characteristic, the inductance falls and the current rises 60354 provides guidance in this respect
rapidly to a peak that may be 500% of the steady state
The only certain statement is that the winding must not
magnetising current. When the peak is passed at the
overheat; a temperature of about 95°C is considered to
next voltage zero, the following negative half cycle of
be the normal maximum working value beyond which a
the voltage wave reduces the flux to the starting value,
further rise of 8°C-10°C, if sustained, will halve the
the current falling symmetrically to zero. The current
insulation life of the unit.
wave is therefore fully offset and is only restored to the
steady state condition by the circuit losses. The time Protection against overload is therefore based on
constant of the transient has a range between 0.1 winding temperature, which is usually measured by a
second (for a 100kVA transformer) to 1.0 second (for a thermal image technique. Protection is arranged to trip
large unit). As the magnetising characteristic is non- the transformer if excessive temperature is reached. The
linear, the envelope of the transient current is not strictly trip signal is usually routed via a digital input of a
of exponential form; the magnetising current can be protection relay on one side of the transformer, with
observed to be still changing up to 30 minutes after both alarm and trip facilities made available through
switching on. programmable logic in the relay. Intertripping between
the relays on the two sides of the transformer is usually
Although correct choice of the point on the wave for a applied to ensure total disconnection of the transformer.
single-phase transformer will result in no transient
inrush, mutual effects ensure that a transient inrush Winding temperature protection may be included as a
occurs in all phases for three-phase transformers. part of a complete monitoring package - see Section
16.18 for more details.
16.5 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION - OVERVIEW
The problems relating to transformers described in
Sections 16.2-4 above require some means of protection.
Table 16.2 summarises the problems and the possible
forms of protection that may be used. The following
sections provide more detail on the individual protection
methods. It is normal for a modern relay to provide all
of the required protection functions in a single package, Table 16.3: Typical fuse ratings
in contrast to electromechanical types that would
require several relays complete with interconnections
and higher overall CT burdens.
This table should be taken only as a typical example;
Fault Type Protection Used considerable differences exist in the time characteristic
of different types of HRC fuses. Furthermore grading
Primary winding Phase-phase fault Differential; Overcurrenl with protection on the secondary side has not been
Primary winding Phase-earth fault Differential; Overcurrent
considered.
Secondary winding Phase-phase fault Differential
Secondary winding Phase-earth fault Differential; Restricted
Earth Fault
Interturn Fault Differential, Buchholz 16.6.2 Overcurrent relays
Core Fault Differential, Buchholz
With the advent of ring main units incorporating SF6
Tank Fault Differential, Buchholz; Tank-Earth
circuit breakers and isolators, protection of distribution
Over-fluxing Overfluxing
transformers can now be provided by overcurrent trips
Overheating Thermal
(e.g. tripping controlled by time limit fuses connected
Table 16.2: Transformer faults/protection
across the secondary windings of in-built current
transformers) or by relays connected to current
transformers located on the transformer primary side.
16.6 TRANSFORMER OVERCURRENT PROTECTION Overcurrent relays are also used on larger transformers
Fuses may adequately protect small transformers, but provided with standard circuit breaker control,
larger ones require overcurrent protection using a relay Improvement in protection is obtained in two ways; the
and CB, as fuses do not have the required fault breaking excessive delays of the HRC fuse for lower fault currents
capacity. are avoided and an earth-fault tripping element is
provided in addition to the overcurrent feature.
The time delay characteristic should be chosen to
16.6.1 Fuses discriminate with circuit protection on the secondary side.
Fuses commonly protect small distribution transformers A high-set instantaneous relay element is often provided,
typically up to ratings of 1MVA at distribution voltages. the current setting being chosen to avoid operation fora
In many cases no circuit breaker is provided, making fuse secondary short circuit. This enables high-speed
protection the only available means of automatic clearance of primary terminal short circuits.
isolation. The fuse must have a rating well above the
maximum transformer load current in order to withstand
the short duration overloads that may occur. Also, the 16.7 RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT PROTECTION
fuses must withstand the magnetising inrush currents
drawn when power transformers are energised. High Conventional earth fault protection using overcurrent
Rupturing Capacity (HRC) fuses, although very fast in elements fails to provide adequate protection for
operation with large fault currents, are extremely slow transformer windings. This is particularly the case fora
with currents of less than three times their rated value. star-connected winding with an impedance-earthed
It follows that such fuses will do little to protect the neutral, as considered in Section 16.2.1.
transformer, serving only to protect the system by The degree of protection is very much improved by the
disconnecting a faulty transformer after the fault has application of restricted earth fault protection (or REF
reached an advanced stage. protection). This is a unit protection scheme for one
Table 16.3 shows typical ratings of fuses for use with winding of the transformer. It can be of the high impe-
11 kV transformers. dance type as shown in Figure 16.6, or of the biased low-
impedance type. For the high-impedance type, the resi-
dual current of three line current transformers is balan-
ced against the output of a current transformer in the
neutral conductor. In the biased low-impedance version, cover the complete transformer; this is possible because of
the three phase currents and the neutral current become the high efficiency of transformer operation, and the close
the bias inputs to a differential element. The system is equivalence of ampere-turns developed on the primary
operative for faults within the region between current and secondary windings. Figure 16.7 illustrates the prin-
transformers, that is, for faults on the star winding in ciple. Current transformers on the primary and secondary
question. The system will remain stable for all faults sides are connected to form a circulating current system.
outside this zone.

Figure 16.7: Principle of transformer Figure 16.7: Principle of

differential protection transformer
differential protection

16.8.1 Basic Considerations for

Transformer Differential Protection
Figure 16.6: Restricted earth fault protection for
a star winding
In applying the principles of differential protection to
The gain in protection performance comes not only from transformers, a variety of considerations have to be
using an instantaneous relay with a low setting, but also taken into account. These include:
because the whole fault current is measured, not merely a. correction for possible phase shift across the
the transformed component in the HV primary winding (if transformer windings (phase correction)
the star winding is a secondary winding). Hence, although
the prospective current level decreases as fault positions b. the effects of the variety of earthing and winding
progressively nearer the neutral end of the winding are arrangements (filtering of zero sequence currents)
considered, the square law which controls the primary line c. correction for possible unbalance of signals from
current is not applicable, and with a low effective setting, current transformers on either side of the windings
a large percentage of the winding can be covered. (ratio correction)
Restricted earth fault protection is often applied even
when the neutral is solidly earthed. Since fault current d. the effect of magnetising inrush during initial
hen remains at a high value even to the last turn of the energisation
winding (Figure 16.2), virtually complete cover for earth e. the possible occurrence of overfluxing
faults is obtained. This is an improvement compared
In traditional transformer differential schemes, the
with the performance of systems that do not measure
requirements for phase and ratio correction were met by
the neutral conductor current.
the application of external interposing current
Earth fault protection applied to a delta-connected or
transformers (ICT's), as a secondary replica of the main
unearthed star winding is inherently restricted, since no
zero sequence components can be transmitted through winding connections, or by a delta connection of the
the transformer to the other windings. Both windings of a main CT's to provide phase correction only.
transformer can be protected separa-tely with restricted Digital/numerical relays implement ratio and phase
earth fault protection, thereby provi-ding high-speed correction in the relay software instead, thus enabling
protection against earth faults for the whole transformer most combinations of transformer winding
with relatively simple equipment. A high impedance arrangements to be catered for, irrespective of the
relay is used, giving fast operation and phase fault winding connections of the primary CT's. This avoids the
stability. additional space and cost requirements of hardware
interposing CT's.
16.8DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
The restricted earth fault schemes described above in
Section 16.7 depend entirely on the Kirchhoff principle 16.8.2 Line Current Transformer Primary Ratings
that the sum of the currents flowing into a conducting Line current transformers have primary ratings selected
network is zero. A differential system can be arranged to to be approximately equal to the rated currents of the
transformer windings to which they are applied. Primary designation. Phase compensation is then performed
ratings will usually be limited to those of available automatically. Caution is required if such a relay is used
standard ratio CT's. to replace an existing electromechanical or static relay, as
the primary and secondary line CT's may not have the
same winding configuration. Phase compensation and
16.8.3 Phase Correction associated relay data entry requires more detailed
Correct operation of transformer differential protection consideration in such circumstances. Rarely, the available
requires that the transformer primary and secondary phase compensation facilities cannot accommodate the
currents, as measured by the relay, are in phase. If the transformer winding connection, and in such cases
transformer is connected delta/star, as shown in Figure interposing CT's must be used.
16.8, balanced three-phase through current suffers a
phase change of 30°. If left uncorrected, this phase
difference would lead to the relay seeing through current 16.8.4 Filtering of Zero Sequence Currents
as an unbalanced fault current, and result in relay As described in Chapter 10.8, it is essential to provide
operation. Phase correction must be implemented. some form of zero sequence filtering where a transformer
winding can pass zero sequence current to an external
earth fault. This is to ensure that out-of-zone earth faults
are not seen by the transformer protection as an in-zone
fault. This is achieved by use of delta-connected line CT's
or interposing CT's for older relays, and hence the winding
connection of the line and/or interposing CT's must take
this into account, in addition to any phase compensation
necessary. For digital/numerical relays, the required
filtering is applied in the relay software. Table 16.4
summarises the phase compensation and zero sequence
filtering requirements. An example of an incorrect choice
of ICT connection is given in Section 16.19.1.
Figure 16.8: Differentia! protection
for two-winding delta/star transformer

16.8.5 Ratio Correction

Electromechanical and static relays use appropriate
CT/ICT connections to ensure that the primary and Correct operation of the differential clement requires
secondary currents applied to the relay are in phase. that currents in the differential element balance under
For digital and numerical relays, it is common to use star- load and through fault conditions. As the primary and
connected line CT's on all windings of the transformer secondary line CT ratios may not exactly match the
and compensate for the winding phase shift in software. transformer rated winding currents, digital/numerical
Depending on relay design, the only data required in such relays are provided with ratio correction factors for each
circumstances may be the transformer vector group of the CT inputs. The correction factors may be

Table 16.4: Current transformer connections for power transformers of various vector groups
calculated automatically by the relay from knowledge of When the power transformer has only one of its three
the line CT ratios and the transformer MVA rating. windings connected to a source of supply, with the other
However, if interposing CT's are used, ratio correction two windings feeding loads, a relay with only two sets of
may not be such an easy task and may need to take into CT inputs can be used, connected as shown in Figure
account a factor of if delta-connected CT's or ICT's 16.10(a). The separate load currents are summated in
are involved. If the transformer is fitted with a tap the CT secondary circuits, and will balance with the
changer, line CT ratios and correction factors are infeed current on the supply side.
normally chosen to achieve current balance at the
When more than one source of fault current infeed
mid tap of the transformer. It is necessary to ensure
exists, there is a danger in the scheme of Figure 16.10(a)
that current mismatch due to off-nominal tap
of current circulating between the two paralleled sets of
operation will not cause spurious operation.
current transformers without producing any bias. It is
The example in Section 16.19.2 provides an illustration of therefore important a relay is used with separate CT
how ratio correction factors are used, and that of Section inputs for the two secondaries - Figure 16.10(b).
16.9.3 shows how to set the ratio correction factors for a When the third winding consists of a delta-connected
transformer with an unsymmetrical tap range. tertiary with no connections brought out, the
transformer may be regarded as a two winding
transformer for protection purposes and protected as
16.8.6 Bias Setting
shown in Figure 16.10(c).
Bias is applied to transformer differential protection for
the same reasons as any unit protection scheme - to
ensure stability for external faults while allowing
sensitive settings to pick up internal faults. The situation
is slightly complicated if a tap changer is present. With
line CT/ICT ratios and correction factors set to achieve
current balance at nominal tap, an off-nominal tap may
be seen by the differential protection as an internal fault.
By selecting the minimum bias to be greater than sum of
the maximum tap of the transformer and possible CT
errors, maloperation due to this cause is avoided. Some
relays use a bias characteristic with three sections, as
shown in Figure 16.9. The first section is set higher than
the transformer magnetising current. The second section
is set to allow for off-nominal tap settings, while the
third has a larger bias slope beginning well above rated
current to cater for heavy through-fault conditions.

Figure 16.10 Differential protection arrangements

for three-winding transformers (shown single
phase for simplicity)

16.9 DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION STABILISATION

DURING MAGNETISING INRUSH CONDITIONS
16.8.7 Transformers with Multiple Windings
The magnetising inrush phenomenon described in
The unit protection principle remains valid for a system Section 16.3 produces current input to the energised
having more than two connections, so a transformer winding which has no equivalent on the other windings.
with three or more windings can still be protected by the The whole of the inrush current appears, therefore, as
application of the above principles. unbalance and the differential protection is unable to
distinguish it from current due to an internal fault. The overcome the operating tendency due to the whole of the
bias setting is not effective and an increase in the inrush current that flows in the operating circuit. By this
protection setting to a value that would avoid operation means a sensitive and high-speed system can be obtained.
would make the protection of little value. Methods of
delaying, restraining or blocking of the differential
element must therefore be used to prevent mal- 16.9.3 Inrush Detection Blocking
operation of the protection. - Gap Detection Technique
Another feature that characterizes an inrush current can
be seen from Figure 16.5 where the two waveforms (c)
16.9.1 Time Delay
and (d) have periods in the cycle where the current is
Since the phenomenon is transient, stability can be zero. The minimum duration of this zero period is
maintained by providing a small time delay. However, theoretically one quarter of the cycle and is easily
because this time delay also delays operation of the relay detected by a simple timer t1, that is set
in the event of a fault occurring at switch-on, the to1/4f.seconds. Figure 16.11 shows the circuit in block
method is no longer used. diagram form. Timer t1produces an output only if the
current is zero for a time exceeding 1/4f seconds. It is
reset when the instantaneous value of the differential
16.9.2 Harmonic Restraint
current exceeds the setting reference.
The inrush current, although generally resembling an in-
zone fault current, differs greatly when the waveforms
are compared. The difference in the waveforms can be
used to distinguish between the conditions.
Figure 16.11: Block diagram to show waveform
As stated before, the inrush current contains all harmonic
gap-detecting principle
orders, but these are not all equally suitable for providing
bias. In practice, only the second harmonic is used. As the zero in the inrush current occurs towards the end
This component is present in all inrush waveforms. It is of the cycle, it is necessary to delay operation of the
typical of waveforms in which successive half period portions differential relay by 1/f seconds to ensure that the zero
do not repeat with reversal of polarity but in which mirror- condition can be detected if present. This is achieved by
image symmetry can be found about certain ordinates. using a second timer t2 that is held reset by an output
from timer t1.
The proportion of second harmonic varies somewhat
with the degree of saturation of the core, but is always When no current is flowing for a time exceeding 1/4f
present as long as the uni-directional component of flux seconds, timer t2 is held reset and the differential relay
exists. The amount varies according to factors in the that may be controlled by these timers is blocked. When
transformer design. Normal fault currents do not a differential current exceeding the setting of the relay
contain second or other even harmonics, nor do distorted flows, timer t1 is reset and timer t2 times out to give a
currents flowing in saturated iron cored coils under trip signal in 1/f seconds. If the differential current is
steady state conditions. characteristic of transformer inrush then timer t2 will be
The output current of a current transformer that is reset on each cycle and the trip signal is blocked.
energised into steady state saturation will contain odd Some numerical relays may use a combination of the
harmonics but not even harmonics. However, should the harmonic restraint and gap detection techniques for
current transformer be saturated by the transient magnetising inrush detection.
component of the fault current, the resulting saturation
is not symmetrical and even harmonics are introduced
into the output current. This can have the advantage of 16.10 COMBINED DIFFERENTIAL
improving the through fault stability performance of a AND RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT SCHEMES
differential relay, faults. The advantages to be obtained by the use of restricted
The second harmonic is therefore an attractive basis for a earth fault protection, discussed in Section 16.7, lead to
stabilising bias against inrush effects, but care must be the system being frequently used in conjunction with an
taken to ensure that the current transformers are overall differential system. The importance of this is
sufficiently large so that the harmonics produced by shown in Figure 16.12 from which it will be seen that if
transient saturation do not delay normal operation of the the neutral of a star-connected winding is earthed
relay. The differential current is passed through a filter through a resistance of one per unit, an overall differential
that extracts the second harmonic; this component is then system having an effective setting of 20% will detect
applied to produce a restraining quantity sufficient to faults in only 42% of the winding from the line end.
 Implementation of a combined differential/REF
protection scheme is made easy if a numerical relay with
software ratio/phase compensation is used. All
compensation is made internally in the relay.
Where software ratio/phase correction is not available,
either a summation transformer or auxiliary CT's can be
used. The connections are shown in Figures 16.13 and
16.14 respectively.
Care must be taken in calculating the settings, but the
only significant disadvantage of the Combined
Differential/REF scheme is that the REF element is likely
to operate for heavy internal faults as well as the
differential elements, thus making subsequent fault
analysis somewhat confusing. However, the saving in
CT's outweighs this disadvantage.
Figure 16.12: Amount of winding protected
when transformer is resistance earthed and
ratings of transformer and resistor are equal

Figure 16.13 Combined differentia! and earth fault protection using summation current transformer

Figure 16. 14; Combined differential and restricted earth fault protection using auxiliary CT's
 Figure 16.15: Differential protection with in-zone earthing transformer, with restricted earth fault relay

Fiqure 1 6.] 6: Differentia! protection with in-zone earthing transformer; no ^arth fault relay
 Figure 16.17: Differential protection with in-zone earthing transformer,
with alternative arrangement of restricted earth fault relay

Alternatively, numerical relays may use software to

perform the subtraction, having calculated the zero
sequence component internally.

A high impedance relay element can be connected in the

neutral lead between current transformers and
differential relays to provide restricted earth fault
protection to the winding.

As an alternative to the above scheme, the circulating

current system can be completed via a three-phase
group of interposing transformers that are provided with
tertiary windings connected in delta. This winding
effectively short-circuits the zero sequence component
and thereby removes it from the balancing quantities in
the relay circuit; see Figure 16.16.
Figure 16.18: Earthing transformer protection
Provided restricted earth fault protection is not required, the
scheme shown in Figure 16.16 has the advantage of not 16.12 AUTOTRANSFORMER PROTECTION
requiring a current transformer, with its associated mounting Autotransformers are used to couple EHV power
and cabling requirements, in the neutral-earth conductor. networks if the ratio of their voltages is moderate. An
The scheme can also be connected as shown in Figure 16.17 alternative to Differential Protection that can be applied
when restricted earth fault protection is needed. to autotransformers is protection based on the
application of Kirchhoffs law to a conducting network,
namely that the sum of the currents flowing into all
16.11 EARTHING TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
external connections to the network is zero.
Earthing transformers not protected by other means can
A circulating current system is arranged between equal
use the scheme shown in Figure 16.18. The delta-
ratio current transformers in the two groups of line
connected current transformers are connected to an
connections and the neutral end connections. If one
overcurrent relay having three phase-fault elements. The
neutral current transformer is used, this and all the line
normal action of the earthing transformer is to pass zero
current transformers can be connected in parallel to a
sequence current. The transformer equivalent current
single element relay, thus providing a scheme responsive
circulates in the delta formed by the CT secondaries
to earth faults only; see Figure 16.19(a).
without energising the relay. The latter may therefore be
set to give fast and sensitive protection against faults in If current transformers are fitted in each phase at the
the earthing transformer itself. neutral end of the windings and a three-element relay is
used, a differential system can be provided, giving full a. high system voltage
protection against phase and earth faults; see Figure
b. low system frequency
16.19(b). This provides high-speed sensitive protection.
It is unaffected by ratio changes on the transformer due c. geomagnetic disturbances
to tap-changing and is immune to the effects of The latter results in low frequency earth currents
magnetising inrush current. circulating through a transmission system.
Since momentary system disturbances can cause
transient overfluxing that is not dangerous, time delayed
tripping is required. The normal protection is an IDMT or
definite time characteristic, initiated if a defined V/f
threshold is exceeded. Often separate alarm and trip
elements are provided. The alarm function would be
definite time-delayed and the trip function would be an
IDMT characteristic. A typical characteristic is shown in
Figure 16.20.
Geomagnetic disturbances may result in overfluxing
without the V/f threshold being exceeded. Some relays
provide a 5th harmonic detection feature, which can be
used to detect such a condition, as levels of this
harmonic rise under overfluxing conditions.

Figure 16.19: Protection of auto-transformer

by high impedance differential relays

It does not respond to interturn faults, a deficiency that is

serious in view of the high statistical risk quoted in Section Figure 16.20: Typical IDMTcharacteristic
for overfluxing protection
16.1. Such faults, unless otherwise cleared, will be left to
develop into earth faults, by which time considerably more
damage to the transformer will have occurred. 16.14 TANK-EARTH PROTECTION

In addition, this scheme does not respond to any fault in This is also known as Howard protection. If the
a tertiary winding. Unloaded delta-connected tertiary transformer tank is nominally insulated from earth (an
windings are often not protected; alternatively, the delta insulation resistance of 10 ohms being sufficient) earth
winding can be earthed at one point through a current fault protection can be provided by connecting a relay to
transformer that energises an instantaneous relay. This the secondary of a current transformer the primary of
system should be separate from the main winding which is connected between the tank and earth. This
protection. If the tertiary winding earthing lead is scheme is similar to the frame-earth fault busbar
connected to the main winding neutral above the neutral protection described in Chapter 15.
current transformer in an attempt to make a combined
system, there may be 'blind spots' which the protection
cannot cover. 16.15 OIL AND GAS DEVICES

All faults below oil in an oil-immersed transformer result

in localised heating and breakdown of the oil; some degree
16.13 OVERFLUXING PROTECTION
of arcing will always take place in a winding fault and the
The effects of excessive flux density are described in resulting decomposition of the oil will release gases.
Section 16.2.8. Overfluxing arises principally from the When the fault is of a very minor type, such as a hot joint,
following system conditions: gas is released slowly, but a major fault involving severe
arcing causes a very rapid release of large volumes of gas transformers fitted with a conservator. The Buchholz
as well as oil vapour. The action is so violent that the gas relay is contained in a cast housing which is connected
and vapour do not have time to escape but instead build in the pipe to the conservator, as in Figure 16.21.
up pressure and bodily displace the oil.
When such faults occur in transformers having oil
conservators, the fault causes a blast of oil to pass up the
relief pipe to the conservator. A Buchholz relay is used
to protect against such conditions. Devices responding
to abnormally high oil pressure or rate-of-rise of oil
pressure are also available and may be used in
conjunction with a Buchholz relay.

16.15.1 Oil Pressure Relief Devices

The simplest form of pressure relief device is the widely
used 'frangible disc' that is normally located at the end
of an oil relief pipe protruding from the top of the
transformer tank.
Figure 16.21: Buchholz relay
mounting arrangement
The surge of oil caused by a serious fault bursts the disc,
so allowing the oil to discharge rapidly. Relieving and
A typical Buchholz relay will have two sets of contacts.
limiting the pressure rise avoids explosive rupture of the
One is arranged to operate for slow accumulations of
tank and consequent fire risk. Outdoor oil-immersed
gas, the other for bulk displacement of oil in the event of
transformers are usually mounted in a catchment pit to
collect and contain spilt oil (from whatever cause], a heavy internal fault An alarm is generated for the
thereby minimising the possibility of pollution. former, but the latter is usually direct-wired to the CB
trip relay.
Acirawback of the frangible disc is that the oil remaining
in the tank is left exposed to the atmosphere after The device will therefore give an alarm for the following
rupture. This is avoided in a more effective device, the fault conditions, all of which are of a low order of
sudden pressure relief valve, which opens to allow urgency.
discharge of oil if the pressure exceeds a set level, but a. hot spots on the core due to short circuit of
closes automatically as soon as the internal pressure falls lamination insulation
below this level. If the abnormal pressure is relatively
b. core bolt insulation failure
high, the valve can operate within a few milliseconds,
and provide fast tripping when suitable contacts are c. faulty joints
fitted.
d. interturn faults or other winding faults involving
The device is commonly fitted to power transformers only lower power infeeds
rated at 2MVA or higher, but may be applied to
e. loss of oil due to leakage
distribution transformers rated as low as 200kVA,
particularly those in hazardous areas. When a major winding fault occurs, this causes a surge
of oil, which displaces the lower float and thus causes
isolation of the transformer. This action will take place
16.15.2 Rapid Pressure Rise Relay for:
This device detects rapid rise of pressure rather than
i. a l l severe winding faults, either to earth or
absolute pressure and thereby can respond even quicker
interphase
than the pressure relief valve to sudden abnormally high
pressures. Sensitivities as low as O.O7bar/s are ii. loss of oil if allowed to continue to a dangerous
attainable, but when fitted to forced-cooled degree
transformers the operating speed of the device may have An inspection window is usually provided on either side
to be slowed deliberately to avoid spurious tripping of the gas collection space. Visible white or yellow gas
during circulation pump starts. indicates that insulation has been burnt, while black or
grey gas indicates the presence of, dissociated oil. In
these cases the gas will probably be inflammable,
16.15.3 Buchholz Protection Buchholz protection is
whereas released air will not. A vent valve is provided on
normally provided on all the top of the housing for the gas to be released or
collected for analysis. Transformers with forced oil protected as a single zone or be provided with separate
circulation may experience oil flow to/from the protections for the feeder and the transformer. In the
conservator on starting/stopping of the pumps. The latter case, the separate protections can both be unit
Buchholz relay must not operate in this circumstance. type systems. An adequate alternative is the
combination of unit transformer protection with an
Cleaning operations may cause aeration of the oil. Under
such conditions, tripping of the transformer due to unrestricted system of feeder protection, plus an
Buchholz operation should be inhibited for a suitable period. intertripping feature.

Because of its universal response to faults within the

transformer, some of which are difficult to detect by 16.16.1 Non-Unit Schemes
other means, the Buchholz relay is invaluable, whether
The following sections describe how non-unit schemes
regarded as a main protection or as a supplement to
are applied to protect transformer-feeders against
other protection schemes. Tests carried out by striking a
various types of fault.
high voltage arc in a transformer tank filled with oil,
have shown that operation times of 0.05s-0.1s are 16.16.1.1 Feeder phase and earth faults
possible. Electrical protection is generally used as well,
High-speed protection against phase and earth faults
either to obtain faster operation for heavy faults, or
can be provided by distance relays located at the end of
because Buchholz relays have to be prevented from
the feeder remote from the transformer. The transformer
tripping during oil maintenance periods. Conservators
constitutes an appreciable lumped impedance. It is
are fitted to oil-cooled transformers above 1000 kVA
therefore possible to set a distance relay zone to cover
rating, except those to North American design practice
that use a different technique. the whole feeder and reach part way into the
transformer impedance. With a normal tolerance on
setting thus allowed for, it is possible for fast Zone 1
16.16 TRANSFORMER-FEEDER PROTECTION protection to cover the whole of the feeder with
certainty without risk of over-reaching to a fault on the
A transformer-feeder comprises a transformer directly low voltage side.
connected to a transmission circuit without the
intervention of switchgear. Examples are shown in Although the distance zone is described as being set 'half
Figure 16.22. way into the transformer', it must not be thought that
half the transformer winding will be protected. The
effects of auto-transformer action and variations in the
effective impedance of the winding with fault position
prevent this, making the amount of winding beyond the
terminals which is protected very small. The value of the
system is confined to the feeder, which, as stated above,
receives high-speed protection throughout.
76.76.1.2 Feeder phase faults
A distance scheme is not, for all practical purposes,
affected by varying fault levels on the high voltage
busbars and is therefore the best scheme to apply if the
fault level may vary widely. In cases where the fault level
is reasonably constant, similar protection can be
obtained using high set instantaneous overcurrent relays.
These should have a low transient over-reach, defined as:

Figure 16.22: Typical transformer-feeder circuits.

The saving in switchgear so achieved is offset by

where: Is = setting current
increased complication in the necessary protection. The
primary requirement is intertripping, since the feeder IF = steady - state r.m.s. value of fault current
protection remote from the transformer will not respond which when fully offset just operates the
to the low current fault conditions that can be detected relay
by restricted earth fault and Buchholz protections. The instantaneous overcurrent relays must be set
Either unrestricted or restricted protection can be without risk of them operating for faults on the remote
applied; moreover, the transformer-feeder can be side of the transformer.
 Figure 16.23: Over-reach considerations in the application of transformer-feeder protection

Referring to Figure 16.23, the required setting to ensure where:

that the relay will not operate for a fully offset fault lF2
is given by:
/ s = 1.2 (1 + t)I F2
where IF2 is the fault current under maximum source It can be seen that for a given transformer size, the most
conditions, that is, when Zs is minimum, and the factor sensitive protection for the line will be obtained by using
of 1.2 covers possible errors in the system impedance relays with the lowest transient overreach. It should be
details used for calculation of IF2 , together with relay noted that where r is greater than 1, the protection will
and CT errors. not cover the whole line. Also, any increase in source
As it is desirable for the instantaneous overcurrent impedance above the minimum value will increase the
protection to clear all phase faults anywhere within the effective setting ratios above those shown. The
feeder under varying system operating conditions, it is instantaneous protection is usually applied with a time
necessary to have a relay setting less than IF1 in order to delayed overcurrent element having a lower current
ensure fast and reliable operation. setting. In this way, instantaneous protection is provided
for the feeder, with the time-delayed element covering
Let the setting ratio resulting from setting Is be
faults on the transformer.
When the power can flow in the transformer-feeder in
either direction, overcurrent relays will be required at
Therefore, both ends. In the case of parallel transformer-feeders, it
rI F1 = 1.2(1 + t)I F2 is essential that the overcurrent relays on the low
Hence, voltage side be directional, operating only for fault
current fed into the transformer-feeder, as described in
Section 9.14.3.
16.16.1.3 Earth faults
Instantaneous restricted earth fault protection is
normally provided. When the high voltage winding is
=1.2(1+ t)/(1+r) delta connected, a relay in the residual circuit of the line
current transformers aives earth fault protection which
is fundamentally limited to the feeder and the associated above the maximum load. As the earthing of the neutral
delta-connected transformer winding. The latter is at a receiving point is likely to be solid and the earth fault
unable to transmit any zero sequence current to a current will therefore be comparable with the phase fault
through earth fault. current, high settings are not a serious limitation.
When the feeder is associated with an earthed star- Earth fault protection of the low voltage winding will be
connected winding, normal restricted earth fault provided by a restricted earth fault system using either
protection as described in Section 16.7 is not applicable three or four current transformers, according to whether
because of the remoteness of the transformer neutral. the winding is delta or star-connected, as described in
Section 16.7.
Restricted protection can be applied using a directional
earth fault relay. A simple sensitive and high-speed 16.16.1.4 !n-zone capacitance
directional element can be used, but attention must be
The feeder portion of the transformer-feeder will have an
paid to the transient stability of the element.
appreciable capacitance between each conductor and
Alternatively, a directional IDMT relay may be used, the
earth. During an external earth fault the neutral will be
time multiplier being set low. The slight inverse time
displaced, and the resulting zero sequence component of
delay in operation will ensure that unwanted transient
voltage will produce a corresponding component of zero
operation is avoided.
sequence capacitance current. In the limiting case of full
When the supply source is on the high voltage star side, neutral displacement, this zero sequence current will be
an alternative scheme that does not require a voltage equal in value to the normal positive sequence current.
transformer can be used. The scheme is shown in Figure
The resulting residual current is equal to three times the
16.24. For the circuit breaker to trip, both relays A and
zero sequence current and hence to three times the
B must operate, which will occur for earth faults on the
normal line charging current. The value of this
feeder or transformer winding.
component of in-zone current should be considered when
External earth faults cause the transformer to deliver zero establishing the effective setting of earth fault relays.
sequence current only, which will circulate in the closed
delta connection of the secondary windings of the three
auxiliary current transformers. No output is available to
16.16.2 Unit Schemes
relay B. Through phase faults will operate relay B, but
not the residual relay A. Relay B must have a setting The basic differences between the requirements of feeder

Figure 16.24: Instantaneous protection of transformer-feeder

and transformer protections lie in the limitation imposed The necessity for intertripping on transformer-feeders
on the transfer of earth fault current by the transformer arises from the fact that certain types of fault produce
and the need for high sensitivity in the transformer insufficient current to operate the protection associated
protection, suggesting that the two components of a with one of the circuit breakers. These faults are:
transformer-feeder should be protected separately. This a. faults in the transformer that operate the Buchholz
involves mounting current transformers adjacent to, or relay and trip the local low voltage circuit breaker,
on, the high voltage terminals of the transformer. while failing to produce enough fault current to
Separate current transformers are desirable for the operate the protection associated with the remote
feeder and transformer protections so that these can be high voltage circuit breaker
arranged in two separate overlapping zones. The use of
common current transformers is possible, but may b. earth faults on the star winding of the transformer,
involve the use of auxiliary current transformers, or which, because of the position of the fault in the
winding, again produce insufficient current for
special winding and connection arrangements of the
relay operation at the remote circuit breaker
relays. Intertripping of the remote circuit breaker from
the transformer protection will be necessary, but this can c. earth faults on the feeder or high voltage delta-
be done using the communication facilities of the feeder connected winding which trip the high voltage
protection relays. circuit breaker only, leaving the transformer
energised form the low voltage side and with two
Although technically superior, the use of separate
high voltage phases at near line-to-line voltage
protection systems is seldom justifiable when compared
above earth. Intermittent arcing may follow and
with an overall system or a combination of non-unit
there is a possibility of transient overvoltage
feeder protection and a unit transformer system.
occurring and causing a further breakdown of
An overall unit system must take into account the fact insulation
that zero sequence current on one side of a transformer
Several methods are available for intertripping; these are
may not be reproduced in any form on the other side.
discussed in Chapter 8.
This represents little difficulty to a modern numerical
relay using software phase/zero sequence compensation
and digital communications to transmit full information 16.17.1 Neutral Displacement
on the phase and earth currents from one relay to the
other. However, it does represent a more difficult An alternative to intertripping is to detect the condition
problem for relays using older technology. The line by measuring the residual voltage on the feeder. An
earth fault occurring on the feeder connected to an
current transformers can be connected to a summation
unearthed transformer winding should be cleared by the
transformer with unequal taps, as shown in Figure
feeder circuit, but if there is also a source of supply on
16.25(a). This arrangement produces an output for phase
the secondary side of the transformer, the feeder may be
faults and also some response for A and B phase-earth
still live. The feeder will then be a local unearthed
faults. However, the resulting settings will be similar to
system, and, if the earth fault continues in an arcing
those for phase faults and no protection will be given for C
condition, dangerous overvoltages may occur.
phase-earth faults.
A voltage relay is energised from the broken-delta
An alternative technique is shown in Figure 16.25(b).
connected secondary winding of a voltage transformer
The B phase is taken through a separate winding on on the high voltage line, and receives an input
another transformer or relay electromagnet, to provide proportional to the zero sequence voltage of the line,
another balancing system. The two transformers are that is, to any displacement of the neutral point; see
interconnected with their counterparts at the other end Figure 16.26.
of the feeder-transformer by four pilot wires. Operation The relay normally receives zero voltage, but, in the
with three pilot cores is possible but four are preferable, presence of an earth fault, the broken-delta voltage will
involving little increase in pilot cost. rise to three times the phase voltage. Earth faults
elsewhere in the system may also result in displacement
of the neutral and hence discrimination is achieved using
16.17INTERTRIPPING
definite or inverse time characteristics.
In order to ensure that both the high and low voltage
circuit breakers operate for faults within the transformer
and feeder, it is necessary to operate both circuit 16.18 CONDITION MONITORING OF TRANSFORMERS
breakers from protection normally associated with one.
It is possible to provide transformers with measuring
The technique for doing this is known as intertripping.
devices to detect early signs of degradation in various
Figure 16.25: Methods of protection for transformer-feeders using electromechanical static technology
 operator can make a better judgement as to the
frequency of maintenance, and detect early signs of
deterioration that, if ignored, would lead to an internal
fault occurring. Such techniques are an enhancement to,
but are not a replacement for, the protection applied to
a transformer.
The extent to which condition monitoring is applied to
transformers on a system will depend on many factors,
amongst which will be the policy of the asset owner, the
suitability of the design {existing transformers may
require modifications involving a period out of service -
this may be costly and not justified), the importance of
the asset to system operation, and the general record of
reliability. Therefore, it should not be expected that all
transformers would be, or need to be, so fitted.
A typical condition monitoring system for an oil-
Figure 16.26: Neutral displacement detection
using voltage transformer.
immersed transformer is capable of monitoring the
condition of various transformer components as shown
components and provide warning to the operator in in Table 16.5. There can be some overlap with the
order to avoid a lengthy and expensive outage due to measurements available from a digital/numerical relay.
failure. The technique, which can be applied to other By the use of software to store and perform trend
plant as well as transformers, is called condition analysis of the measured data, the operator can be
monitoring, as the intent is to provide the operator with presented with information on the state of health of the
regular information on the condition of the transformer. transformer, and alarms raised when measured values
By reviewing the trends in the information provided, the exceed appropriate limits. This will normally provide the

Monitored Equipment Measured Quantity Health Information

Bushings Voltage Insulation quality

Partial discharge measurement
(wideband voltage)
Load current Loading
Permissible overload rating
Hot-spot temperature
Oil pressure Insulation quality
Tank Oil temperature Hot-spot temperature
Permissible overload rating
Gas-in-oil content Oil quality
Winding insulation condition
Buchholz gas content Oil quality
Moisture-in-oil content Winding insulation condition
Tap changer Position Frequency of use of each tap position
Drive power consumption OLTC health
Total switched load current OLTC contact wear
OLTC oil temperature OLTC health
Coolers Oil temperature difference Cooler efficiency
Cooling air temperature
Ambient temperature
Pump status Cooling plant health
Conservator Oil level Tank integrity
Table 16.5: Condition monitoring for transformers
operator with early warning of degradation within one or +30° or on the secondary side having a phase shift of -
more components of the transformer, enabling 30°. There is a wide combination of primary and
maintenance to be scheduled to correct the problem secondary ICT winding arrangements that can provide
prior to failure occurring. The maintenance can this, such as Yd10 (+60°) on the primary and Yd3 (-90°)
obviously be planned to suit system conditions, provided on the secondary. Another possibility is Yd11 (+30°) on
the rate of degradation is not excessive. the primary and Yy0 (0°) on the secondary. It is usual to
choose the simplest arrangements possible, and
As asset owners become more conscious of the costs of
therefore the latter of the above two possibilities might
an unplanned outage, and electric supply networks are
be selected.
utilised closer to capacity for long periods of time, the
usefulness of this technique can be expected to grow. However, the distribution of current in the primary and
secondary windings of the transformer due to an
external earth fault on the secondary side of the
16.19 EXAMPLES OF TRANSFORMER PROTECTION transformer must now be considered. The transformer
has an earth connection on the secondary winding, so it
This section provides three examples of the application
can deliver zero sequence current to the fault. Use of
of modern relays to transformer protection. The latest
star connected main CT's and Yy0 connected ICT's
MiCOM P630 series relay provides advanced software to
provides a path for the zero sequence current to reach
simplify the calculations, so an earlier ALSTOM type
the protection relay. On the primary side of the
KBCH relay is used to illustrate the complexity of the
transformer, the delta connected main primary winding
required calculations.
causes zero-sequence current to circulate round the
delta and hence will not be seen by the primary side
16.19.1 Provision of Zero-Sequence Filtering main CT's. The protection relay will therefore not see any
zero-sequence current on the primary side, and hence
Figure 16.27 shows a delta-star transformer to be detects the secondary side zero sequence current
protected using a unit protection scheme. With a main incorrectly as an in-zone fault.
winding connection of Dyn11, suitable choices of
primary and secondary CT winding arrangements, and The solution is to provide the ICT's on the secondary side
software phase compensation are to be made. With the of the transformer with a delta winding, so that the
KBCH relay, phase compensation is selected by the user zero-sequence current circulates round the delta and is
in the form of software-implemented ICT's. not seen by the relay. Therefore, a rule can be developed
that a transformer winding with a connection to earth
must have a delta-connected main or ICT for unit
protection to operate correctly.
Selection of Yy0 connection for the primary side ICT's
and Yd1 (-30°o) for the secondary side ICT's provides the

Figure 16.27: Transformer zero sequence

filtering example

With the Dyn 11 connection, the secondary voltages and

currents are displaced by +30° from the primary.
Therefore, the combination of primary, secondary and
phase correction must provide a phase shift of -30° of
the secondary quantities relative to the primary.
For simplicity, the CT's on the primary and secondary
windings of the transformer are connected in star. The
required phase shift can be achieved either by use of ICT Figure 16.28: Transformer unit
protection example
connections on the primary side having a phase shift of
required phase shift and the zero-sequence trap on the primary earth fault current of 25% rated earth fault
secondary side. current (i.e. 250A). The prime task in calculating settings
is to calculate the value of the stabilising resistor Rstab
and stability factor K.
16.19.2 Unit Protection of a Delta-Star Transformer
A stabilising resistor is required to ensure through fault
Figure 16.28 shows a delta-star transformer to which stability when one of the secondary CT's saturates while
unit protection is to be applied, including restricted earth the others do not. The requirements can be expressed as:
fault protection to the star winding.
Vs = IsRstab and
Referring to the figure, the Id's have already been
correctly selected, and are conveniently applied in
Vs>KIf(Rct+2R1 + RB)
software. It therefore remains to calculate suitable ratio where:
compensation (it is assumed that the transformer has no
Vs = stability voltage setting
taps), transformer differential protection settings and
restricted earth fault settings. VK = CT knee point voltage

16.19.2.1 Ratio compensation K = relay stability factor

Transformer HV full load current on secondary of main Is = relay current setting

CT's is: Rct = CT winding resistance
175/250 =0.7 Rl = CT secondary lead resistance
Ratio compensation = 1/0.7
RB = resistance of any other components in
= 1.428
the relay circuit
Select nearest value = 1.43 LV
secondary current = 525/600 Rstab = stabilising resistor
= 0.875 Ratio
compensation = 1/0.875
= 1.14 For this example:

16.9.22 Transformer unit protection settings VK = 97V Rct

A current setting of 20% of the rated relay current is =3.7Ohm Rt
recommended. This equates to 35A primary current. The = 0.057Ohm
KBCH relay has a dual slope bias characteristic with fixed
bias slope settings of 20% up to rated current and 80% For the relay used, the various factors are related by the
above that level. The corresponding characteristic is graph of Figure 16.30.
shown in Figure 16.29.

Figure 16.29: Transformer unit

protection characteristic

16.9.2.3 Restricted earth fault protection Figure T6.30: REF operating characteristic
for KBCH relay
The KBCH relay implements high-impedance Restricted
Earth Fault (REF) protection. Operation is required for a
Starting with the desired operating time, the VK/Vs ratio and substituting values, VF= 544V. Thus a Metrosil is
and K factor can be found. not required.
An operating of 40ms (2 cycles at 50Hz) is usually
acceptable, and hence, from Figure 16.30, 16.9.3 Unit Protection for On-Load Tap
Changing Transformer
The previous example deals with a transformer having no
taps. In practice, most transformers have a range of taps
The maximum earth fault current is limited by the to cater for different loading conditions. While most
earthing resistor to 1000A (primary). The maximum transformers have an off-load tap-changer, transformers
phase fault current can be estimated by assuming the used for voltage control in a network are fitted with an
source impedance to be zero, so it is limited only by on-load tap-changer. The protection settings must then
transformer impedance to 5250A, or 10A secondary after take the variation of tap-change position into account to
taking account of the ratio compensation. Hence the avoid the possibility of spurious trips at extreme tap
stability voltage can be calculated as positions. For this example, the same transformer as in
Section 16.19.2 will be used, but with an on-load
tapping range of +5% to -15%. The tap-changer is
Hence,
located on the primary winding, while the tap-step
usually does not matter.
The stages involved in the calculation are as follows:
However, a. determine ratio correction at mid-tap and resulting
Actual secondary currents
b. determine HV currents at tap extremities with ratio
correction

Thus from Figure 16.30, with K = 0.5, the protection is c. determine the differential current at the tap
unstable. extremities

By adopting an iterative procedure for values of VKIVS d. determine bias current at tap extremities
and K, a final acceptable result of VK/Vs = 4.55, K= 0.6, e. check for sufficient margin between differential
is obtained. This results in an operating time of 40ms. and operating currents
The required earth fault setting current Iap is 250A. The 16.19.3.1 Ratio correction
chosen E/F CT has an exciting current Ic of 1%, and
In accordance with Section 16.8.4, the mid-tap position :
hence using the equation:
is used to calculate the ratio correction factors. The mid
tap position is -5%, and at this tap position:
where: Primary voltage to give rated secondary voltage: =
33 x 0.95 = 31.35W
and
The stabilising resistance Rstab can be calculated Rated Primary Current = 184A
60.21 Q. as 60.2112.
Transformer HV full load current on secondary of main
The relay can only withstand a maximum of 3kV peak CT's is:
under fault conditions. A check is required to see if this
voltage is exceeded - if it is, a non-linear resistor, known
as a Metrosil, must be connected across the relay and
stabilising resistor. The peak voltage is estimated using
the formula:

where;

and
If = fault current in secondary of CT circuit
, 76.19.3,2 HVcurrents at tap extremities 76.19.3.5 Margin between differential
and operating currents
At the +5% tap, the HV full-load current wi l l be:
The operating current of the relay is given by the formula

Hence, at the +5% tap, with IS = 0.2

Hence, the secondary current with ratio correction:

At the -15% tap,

At the-15% tap, the HV full-load current on the primary

of the CT's:

For satisfactory operation of the relay, the operating

current should be no greater than 90% of the differential
Hence, the secondary current with ratio correction: current at the tap extremities.
For the +5% tap, the differential current is 24% of the
operating current, and at the -15% tap, the differential
current is 27% of the operating current. Therefore, a
setting of Is is satisfactory.
16.19.3.3 Determine differential current at tap extremities

The full load current seen by the relay, after ratio

correction is 0.875 x 1.14 = 0.998A.

At the +5% tap, the differential current

At the-150/0 tap,

M6.19.3.4 Determine bias currents at tap

extremities
1
16.9.3.4 Determine bias currents at tap extremities

The bias current is given by the formula:

where:
I RHV = relay HV current
IRLV = relay LV current
Hence,

and
17 • Generator and
Generator-Transformer Protection

17.1 INTRODUCTION
The core of an electric power system is the generation.
With the exception of emerging fuel cell and solar-cell
technology for power systems, the conversion of the
fundamental energy into its electrical equivalent
normally requires a 'prime mover' to develop mechanical
power as an intermediate stage.
The nature of this machine depends upon the source of
energy and in turn this has some bearing on the design
of the generator. Generators based on steam, gas, water
or wind turbines, and reciprocating combustion engines
are all in use. Electrical ratings extend from a few
hundred kVA (or even less) for reciprocating engine and
renewable energy sets, up to steam turbine sets
exceeding 1200MVA.
Small and medium sized sets may be directly connected
to a power distribution system. A larger set may be
associated with an individual transformer, through
which it is coupled to the EHV primary transmission
system.
Switchgear may or may not be provided between the
generator and transformer. In some cases, operational
and economic advantages can be attained by providing
a generator circuit breaker in addition to a high voltage
circuit breaker, but special demands will be placed on
the generator circuit breaker for interruption of
generator fault current waveforms that do not have an
early zero crossing.
A unit transformer may be tapped off the
interconnection between generator and transformer for
the supply of power to auxiliary plant, as shown in
Figure 17.1. The unit transformer could be of the order
of 10% of the unit rating for a large fossil-fuelled steam
set with additional flue-gas desulphurisation plant, but
it may only be of the order of 1% of unit rating for a
hydro set.
 required. The amount of protection applied will be
governed by economic considerations, taking into
account the value of the machine, and the value of its
output to the plant owner.
The following problems require consideration from the
point of view of applying protection:
a. stator electrical faults
b. overload
c. overvoltage
Figure 17.1: Generator-transformer unit d. unbalanced loading
e. overfluxing
Industrial or commercial plants with a requirement for
steam/hot water now often include generating plant f. inadvertent energisation
utilising or producing steam to improve overall
e. rotor electrical faults
economics, as a Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
scheme. The plant will typically have a connection to the f. loss of excitation
public Utility distribution system, and such generation is g. loss of synchronism
referred to as 'embedded' generation. The generating
plant may be capable of export of surplus power, or h. failure of prime mover
simply reduce the import of power from the Utility. This j. lubrication oil failure I.
is shown in Figure 17.2.
overspeeding m. rotor
distortion
n. difference in expansion between rotating and
stationary parts
o. excessive vibration
p. core lamination faults

17.2 GENERATOR EARTHING

The neutral point of a generator is usually earthed to
facilitate protection of the stator winding and associated
system. Earthing also prevents damaging transient
overvoltages in the event of an arcing earth fault or
ferroresonance.
For HV generators, impedance is usually inserted in the
stator earthing connection to limit the magnitude of
earth fault current. There is a wide variation in the earth
fault current chosen, common values being:
1. rated current
2. 200A-400A (low impedance earthing)
3. 10A-20A (high impedance earthing)
Figure 17.2: Embedded generation
The main methods of impedance-earthing a generator
are shown in Figure 17.3. Low values of earth fault
A modern generating unit is a complex system
current may limit the damage caused from a fault, but
comprising the generator stator winding, associated
they simultaneously make detection of a fault towards
transformer and unit transformer (if present), the rotor
the stator winding star point more difficult. Except for
with its field winding and excitation system, and the
special applications, such as marine, LV generators are
prime mover with its associated auxiliaries. Faults of
normally solidly earthed to comply with safety
many kinds can occur within this system for which
requirements. Where a step-up transformer is applied,
diverse forms of electrical and mechanical protection are
the generator and the lower voltage winding of the sufficient that the transformer be designed to have a
transformer can be treated as an isolated system that is primary winding knee-point e.m.f. equal to 1.3 times the
not influenced by the earthing requirements of the generator rated line voltage.
power system.

17.3 STATOR WINDING FAULTS

Failure of the stator windings or connection insulation
can result in severe damage to the windings and stator
core. The extent of the damage will depend on the
magnitude and duration of the fault current.

17.3.1 Earth Faults

The most probable mode of insulation failure is phase to
earth. Use of an earthing impedance limits the earth
fault current and hence stator damage.
An earth fault involving the stator core results in burning
of the iron at the point of fault and welds laminations
together. Replacement of the faulty conductor may not
be a very serious matter (dependent on set
rating/voltage/construction) but the damage to the core
cannot be ignored, since the welding of laminations may
result in local overheating. The damaged area can
sometimes be repaired, but if severe damage has
occurred, a partial core rebuild will be necessary. A
flashover is more likely to occur in the end-winding
region, where electrical stresses are highest. The
resultant forces on the conductors would be very large
and they may result in extensive damage, requiring the
partial or total rewinding of the generator. Apart from
burning the core, the greatest danger arising from failure
to quickly deal with a fault is fire. A large portion of the
Figure 17.3: Methods of generator earthing insulating material is inflammable, and in the case of an
air-cooled machine, the forced ventilation can quickly
An earthing transformer or a series impedance can be
cause an arc flame to spread around the winding. Fire
used as the impedance. If an earthing transformer is
will not occur in a hydrogen-cooled machine, provided
used, the continuous rating is usually in the range 5-
the stator system remains sealed. In any case, the length
250kVA. The secondary winding is loaded with a resistor
of an outage may be considerable, resulting in major
of a value which, when referred through the transformer
financial impact from loss of generation revenue and/or
turns ratio, will pass the chosen short-time earth-fault
import of additional energy.
current. This is typically in the range of 5-20A. The
resistor prevents the production of high transient
overvoltages in the event of an arcing earth fault, which 17.3.2 Phase-Phase Faults
it does by discharging the bound charge in the circuit
capacitance. For this reason, the resistive component of Phase-phase faults clear of earth are less common; they
fault current should not be less than the residual may occur on the end portion of stator coils or in the
capacitance current. This is the basis of the design, and slots if the winding involves two coil sides in the same
in practice values of between 3-5 Ico are used. slot. In the latter case, the fault will involve earth in a
very short time. Phase fault current is not limited by the
It is important that the earthing transformer never method of earthing the neutral point.
becomes saturated; otherwise a very undesirable
condition of ferroresonancc may occur. The normal rise
of the generated voltage above the rated value caused by 17.3.3 Intertum Faults
a sudden loss of load or by field forcing must be
Interturn faults are rare, but a significant fault-loop
considered, as well as flux doubling in the transformer
due to the point-on-wave of voltage application. It is
current can arise where such a fault does occur.
Conventional generator protection systems would be calculation, after measurement of the individual CT
blind to an interturn fault, but the extra cost and secondary currents. In such relay designs, there is full
complication of providing detection of a purely interturn galvanic separation of the neutral-tail and terminal CT
fault is not usually justified. In this case, an interturn secondary circuits, as indicated in Figure 17.5(a). This is
fault must develop into an earth fault before it can be not the case for the application of high-impedance
cleared. An exception may be where a machine has an differential protection. This difference can impose some
abnormally complicated or m u l t i p l e winding special relay design requirements to achieve stability for
arrangement, where the probability of an interturn fault biased differential protection in some applications.
might be increased.

17.5.1 Biased Differential Protection

17.4 STATOR WINDING PROTECTION
The relay connections for this form of protection are
To respond quickly to a phase fault with damaging heavy shown in Figure 17.5(a) and a typical bias characteristic
current, sensitive, high-speed differential protection is is shown in Figure 17.5(b). The differential current
normally applied to generators rated in excess of 1MVA. threshold setting lsJ can be set as low as 5% of rated
For large generating units, fast fault clearance will also generator current, to provide protection for as much of
maintain stability of the main power system. The zone the winding as possible. The bias slope break-point
of differential protection can be extended to include an threshold setting Is2 would typically be set to a value
associated step-up transformer. For smaller generators, above generator rated current, say 120%, to achieve
IDMT/instantaneous overcurrent protection is usually the external fault stability in the event of transient
only phase fault protection applied. Sections 17.5-17.8 asymmetric CT saturation. Bias slope K2 setting would
detail the various methods that are available for stator typically be set at 150%.
winding protection.
17.5 DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION OF DIRECT
CONNECTED GENERATORS
The theory of circulating current differential protection is
discussed fully in Section 10.4.

Figure 17.4: Stator differential protection

Figure 17.5: Typical generator biased

differential protection

High-speed phase fault protection is provided, by use of

the connections shown in Figure 17.4. This depicts the 17.5.2 High Impedance Differential Protection
derivation of differential current through CT secondary
circuit connections. This protection may also offer earth This differs from biased differential protection by the
fault protection for some moderate impedance-earthed manner in which relay stability is achieved for external
applications. Either biased differential or high faults and by the fact that the differential current must
impedance differential techniques can be applied. A be attained through the electrical connections of CT
subtle difference with modern, biased, numerical secondary circuits. If the impedance of each relay in
generator protection relays is that they usually derive the Figure 17.4 is high, the event of one CT becoming
differential currents and biasing currents by algorithmic saturated by the through fault current (leading to a
relatively low CT impedance), will allow the current from To calculate the primary operating current, the following
the unsaturated CT to flow mainly through the saturated expression is used:
CT rather than through the relay. This provides the
Iop = Nx(Is1 + nle)
required protection stability where a tuned relay element
is employed. In practice, external resistance is added to where:
the relay circuit to provide the necessary high Iop = primary operating current
impedance. The principle of high-impedance protection
application is illustrated in Figure 17.6, together with a N = CT ratio Isl = relay setting
summary of the calculations required to determine the n = number of CT's in parallel with relay element
value of external stabilising resistance.
Ie = CT magnetising current at V5
Is1 is typically set to 5% of generator rated secondary
current.
It can be seen from the above that the calculations for
the application of high impedance differential protection
are more complex than for biased differential protection.
However, the protection scheme is actually quite simple
and it offers a high level of stability for through faults
and external switching events.
With the advent of multi-function numerical relays and
with a desire to dispense with external components, high
impedance differential protection is not as popular as
biased differential protection in modern relaying
practice.

Figure 17.6: Principle of high impedance 17.5.3 CT Requirements

differential protection
The CT requirements for differential protection will vary
In some applications, protection may be required to limit according to the relay used. Modern numerical relays
voltages across the CT secondary circuits when the may not require CT's specifically designed for differential
differential secondary current for an internal phase fault protection to IEC 60044-1 class PX (or BS 3938 class X).
flows through the high impedance relay circuit(s), but However, requirements in respect of CT knee-point
this is not commonly a requirement for generator voltage will still have to be checked for the specific
differential applications unless very high impedance relays used. High impedance differential protection may
relays are applied. Where necessary, shunt-connected, be more onerous in this respect than biased differential
non-linear resistors, should be deployed, as shown in protection.
Figure 17.7.
Many factors affect this, including the other protection
functions fed by the CT's and the knee-point
requirements of the particular relay concerned. Relay
manufacturers are able to provide detailed guidance on
this matter.

17.6 DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION OF

GENERATOR-TRANSFORMERS
A common connection arrangement for large generators
is to operate the generator and associated step-up
transformer as a unit without any intervening circuit
breaker. The unit transformer supplying the generator
Figure 17.7: Relay connections for high
auxiliaries is tapped off the connection between
impedance differential protection generator and step-up transformer. Differential
protection can be arranged as follows.
17.6.1 Generator/Step-up Transformer transformer rating is extremely low in relation to the
Differential Protection generator rating, e.g. for some hydro applications. The
location of the third set of current transformers is
The generator stator and step-up transformer can be
normally on the primary side of the unit transformer. If
protected by a single zone of overall differential
located on secondary side of the unit transformer, they
protection (Figure 17.8). This will be in addition to
would have to be of an exceptionally high ratio, or
differential protection applied to the generator only. The
exceptionally high ratio interposing CT's would have to
current transformers should be located in the generator
neutral connections and in the transformer HV be used. Thus, the use of secondary side CT's is not to be
connections. Alternatively, CT's within the HV recommended. One advantage is that unit transformer
switchyard may be employed if the distance is not faults would be within the zone of protection of the
technically prohibitive. Even where there is a generator generator. However, the sensitivity of the generator
circuit breaker, overall differential protection can still be protection to unit transformer phase faults would be
provided if desired. considered inadequate, due to the relatively low rating of
the transformer in relation to that of the generator.
Thus, the unit transformer should have its own
differential protection scheme. Protection for the unit
transformer is covered in Chapter 16, including methods
for stabilising the protection against magnetising inrush
conditions.

17.7 OVERCURRENT PROTECTION

Overcurrent protection of generators may take two
forms. Plain overcurrent protection may be used as the
principle form of protection for small generators, and
back-up protection for larger ones where differential
protection is used as the primary method of generator
Figure 17,8: Overall generator-transformer stator winding protection. Voltage dependent
differential protection
overcurrent protection may be applied where differential
protection is not justified on larger generators, or where
problems are met in applying plain overcurrent
The current transformers should be rated according to
protection.
Section 16.8.2. Since a power transformer is included
within the zone of protection, biased transformer
differential protection, with magnetising inrush restraint 17.7.1 Plain Overcurrent Protection
should be applied, as discussed in Section 16.8.5.
Transient overfluxing of the generator transformer may It is usual to apply time-delayed plain overcurrent
arise due to overvoltage following generator load protection to generators. For generators rated less than
rejection. In some applications, this may threaten the 1MVA, this will form the principal stator winding
stability of the differential protection. In such cases, protection for phase faults. For larger generators,
consideration should be given to applying protection overcurrent protection can be applied as remote back-up
with transient overfluxing restraint/blocking (e.g. based protection, to disconnect the unit from any uncleared
on a 5th harmonic differential current threshold). external fault. Where there is only one set of differential
Protection against sustained overfluxing is covered in main protection, for a smaller generator, the overcurrent
Section 17.14. protection will also provide local back-up protection for
the protected plant, in the event that the main
protection fails to operate. The general principles of
17.6.2 Unit Transformer Differential Protection setting overcurrent relays are given in Chapter 9.
The current taken by the unit transformer must be In the case of a single generator feeding an isolated
allowed for by arranging the generator differential system, current transformers at the neutral end of the
protection as a three-ended scheme. Unit transformer machine should energise the overcurrent protection, to
current transformers are usually applied to balance the allow a response to winding fault conditions. Relay
generator differential protection and prevent the unit characteristics should be selected to take into account
transformer through current being seen as differential the fault current decrement behaviour of the generator,
current. An exception might be where the unit with allowance for the performance of the excitation
 system and its field-forcing capability. Without the The choice depends upon the power system
provision of fault current compounding from generator characteristics and level of protection to be provided.
CT's, an excitation system that is powered from an Voltage-dependent overcurrent relays are often found
excitation transformer at the generator terminals will applied to generators used on industrial systems as an
exhibit a pronounced fault current decrement for a alternative to full differential protection.
terminal fault. With failure to consider this effect, the
17.7.2.7 Voltage controlled overcurrent protection
potential exists for the initial high fault current to decay
to a value below the overcurrent protection pick-up Voltage controlled overcurrent protection has two
setting before a relay element can operate, unless a low time/current characteristics which are selected according
current setting and/or time setting is applied. The to the status of a generator terminal voltage measuring
protection would then fail to trip the generator. The element. The voltage threshold setting for the switching
settings chosen must be the best compromise between element is chosen according to the following criteria.
assured operation in the foregoing circumstances and 1. during overloads, when the system voltage is
discrimination with the system protection and passage sustained near normal, the overcurrent protection
of normal load current, but this can be impossible with should have a current setting above full load current
plain overcurrent protection. and an operating time characteristic that will prevent
In the more usual case of a generator that operates in the generating plant from passing current to a remote
parallel with others and which forms part of an extensive external fault for a period in excess of the plant short-
interconnected system, back-up phase fault protection time withstand limits
fora generator and its transformer will be provided by HV 2. under close-up fault conditions, the busbar voltage
overcurrent protection. This will respond to the higher- must fall below the voltage threshold so that the
level backfeed from the power system to a unit fault. second protection characteristic will be selected. This
Other generators in parallel would supply this current characteristic should be set to allow relay operation
and, being stabilised by the system impedance, it will not with fault current decrement for a close-up fault at
suffer a major decrement. This protection is usually a the generator terminals or at the HV busbars. The
requirement of the power system operator. Settings must protection should also time-grade with external
be chosen to prevent operation for external faults fed by circuit protection. There may be additional infeeds to
the generator. It is common for the HV overcurrent an external circuit fault that will assist with grading
protection relay to provide both time-delayed and
instantaneous high-set elements. The time-delayed Typical characteristics are shown in Figure 17.9.
elements should be set to ensure that the protected items
of plant cannot pass levels of through fault current in
excess of their short-time withstand limits. The
instantaneous elements should be set above the
maximum possible fault current that the generator can
supply, but less than the system-supplied fault current in
the event of a generator winding fault. This back-up
protection will minimise plant damage in the event of
main protection failure for a generating plant fault and
instantaneous tripping for an HV-side fault will aid the
recovery of the power system and parallel generation.

17.7.2 Voltage-Dependent Overcurrent Protection

The plain overcurrent protection setting difficulty
Figure 17.9: Voltage controlled relay
referred to in the previous section arises because
characteristics
allowance has to be made both for the decrement of the
generator fault current with time and for the passage of 17.7.2.2 Voltage restrained overcurrent protection
full load current. To overcome the difficulty of
The alternative technique is to continuously vary the
discrimination, the generator terminal voltage can be
relay element pickup setting with generator voltage
measured and used to dynamically modify the basic relay
variation between upper and lower limits. The voltage is
current/time overcurrent characteristic for faults close to
said to restrain the operation of the current element.
the generating plant. There are two basic alternatives
for the application of voltage-dependent overcurrent The effect is to provide a dynamic I.D.M.T. protection
protection, which are discussed in the following sections. characteristic, according to the voltage at the machine
terminals. Alternatively, the relay element may be considerations.
regarded as an impedance type with a long dependent
/ 7.8.1.2 Sensitive earth fault protection
time delay. In consequence, for a given fault condition,
the relay continues to operate more or less This method is used in the following situations:
independently of current decrement in the machine. A a. direct-connected generators operating in parallel
typical characteristic is shown in Figure 17.10.
b. generators with high-impedance neutral earthing,
the earth fault current being limited to a few tens
of amps
c. installations where the resistance of the ground
fault path is very high, due to the nature of the
ground
In these cases, conventional earth fault protection as
described in Section 17.8.1.1 is of little use.
The principles of sensitive earth fault protection are
described in Sections 9.17.1, 9.18 and 9.19. The earth
fault (residual) current can be obtained from residual
connection of line CT's, a line-connected CBCT, or a CT in
the generator neutral. The latter is not possible if
directional protection is used. The polarising voltage is
Figure 17.10: Voltage restrained relay usually the neutral voltage displacement input to the
characteristics relay, or the residual of the three phase voltages, so a
suitable VT must be used. For Petersen Coil earthing, a
17.8 STATOR EARTH FAULT PROTECTION
wattmetric technique (Section 9.19) can also be used.
Earth fault protection must be applied where impedance
For direct connected generators operating in parallel,
earthing is employed that limits the earth fault current
directional sensitive earth fault protection may be
to less than the pick-up threshold of the overcurrent
necessary. This is to ensure that a faulted generator will
and/or differential protection for a fault located down to
be tripped before there is any possibility of the neutral
the bottom 5% of the stator winding from the star-
overcurrent protection tripping a parallel healthy
point. The type of protection required will depend on the
generator. When being driven by residually-connected
method of earthing and connection of the generator to
phase CT's, the protection must be stabilised against
the power system.
incorrect tripping with transient spill current in the event
of asymmetric CT saturation when phase fault or
magnetising inrush current is being passed. Stabilising
17.8.1 Direct-Connected Generators
techniques include the addition of relay circuit
A single direct-connected generator operating on an impedance and/or the application of a time delay. Where
isolated system will normally be directly earthed. the required setting of the protection is very low in
However, if several direct-connected generators are comparison to the rated current of the phase CT's, it
operated in parallel, only one generator is normally would be necessary to employ a single CBCT for the earth
earthed at a time. For the unearthed generators, a fault protection to ensure transient stability.
simple measurement of the neutral current is not
Since any generator in the paralleled group may be
possible, and other methods of protection must be used.
The following sections describe the methods available. earthed, all generators will require to be fitted with both
neutral overcurrent protection and sensitive directional
17.8.1.1 Neutral overcurrent protection earth fault protection.
With this form of protection, a current transformer in the The setting of the sensitive directional earth fault
neutral-earth connection energises an overcurrent relay protection is chosen to co-ordinate with generator
element. This provides unrestricted earth-fault differential protection and/or neutral voltage
protection and so it must be graded with feeder displacement protection to ensure that 95% of the stator
protection. The relay element will therefore have a time- winding is protected. Figure 17.11 illustrates the
delayed operating characteristic. Grading must be complete scheme, including optional blocking signals
carried out in accordance with the principles detailed in where difficulties in co-ordinating the generator and
Chapter 9. The setting should not be more than 33% of downstream feeder earth-fault protection occur.
the maximum earth fault current of the generator, and a
lower setting would be preferable, depending on grading
 sum residually.
As the protection is still unrestricted, the voltage setting
of the relay must be greater than the effective setting of
any downstream earth-fault protection. It must also be
time-delayed to co-ordinate with such protection.
Sometimes, a second high-set element with short time
delay is used to provide fast-acting protection against
major winding earth-faults. Figure 17.12 illustrates the
possible connections that may be used.

figure 17.77; Comprehensive earth-fault

protection scheme for direct-connected
generators operating in parallel

For cases (b) and (c) above, it is not necessary to use a

directional facility. Care must be taken to use the correct
RCA setting - for instance if the earthing impedance is
mainly resistive, this should be 0°. On insulated or very
high impedance earthed systems, an RCA of -90° would
be used, as the earth fault current is predominately Figure 17.12: Neutral voltage displacement
capacitive. protection
17.8.2 Indirectly-Connected Generators
Directional sensitive earth-fault protection can also be
used for detecting winding earth faults. In this case, the As noted in Section 17.2, a directly-earthed generator-
relay element is applied to the terminals of the generator transformer unit cannot interchange zero-sequence
and is set to respond to faults only within the machine current with the remainder of the network, and hence an
windings. Hence earth faults on the external system do earth fault protection grading problem does not exist.
not result in relay operation. However, current flowing The following sections detail the protection methods for
from the system into a winding earth fault causes relay the various forms of impedance earthing of generators.
operation. It will not operate on the earthed machine, so
17.8.2.1 High resistance earthing - neutral overcurrent
that other types of earth fault protection must also be
protection
applied. All generators must be so fitted, since any can
be operated as the earthed machine. A current transformer mounted on the neutral-earth
conductor can drive an instantaneous and/or time
17.8.1.3 Neutral voltage displacement protection
delayed overcurrent relay element, as shown in Figure
In a balanced network, the addition of the three phase- 17.13. It is impossible to provide protection for the whole
earth voltages produces a nominally zero residual of the winding, and Figure 17.13 also details how the
voltage, since there would be little zero sequence voltage percentage of winding covered can be calculated. For a
present. Any earth fault will set up a zero sequence relay element with an instantaneous setting, protection is
system voltage, which will give rise to a non-zero typically limited to 90% of the winding. This is to ensure
residual voltage. This can be measured by a suitable that the protection will not maloperate with zero
relay element. The voltage signal must be derived from sequence current during operation of a primary fuse for a
a VT that is suitable - i.e. it must be capable of VT earth fault or with any transient surge currents that
transforming zero-sequence voltage, so 3-limb types and could flow through the interwinding capacitance of the
those without a primary earth connection are not step-up transformer for an HV system earth fault.
suitable. This unbalance voltage provides a means of
A time-delayed relay is more secure in this respect, and it
detecting earth faults. The relay element must be
may have a setting to cover 95% of the stator winding.
insensitive to third harmonic voltages that may be
Since the generating units under consideration are usually
present in the system voltage waveforms, as these will
large, instantaneous and time delayed relay elements are
often applied, with settings of 10% and 5% of maximum
earth fault current respectively; this is the optimum
compromise in performance. The portion of the winding
left unprotected for an earth fault is at the neutral end.
Since the voltage to earth at this end of the winding is
low, the probability of an earth fault occurring is also low.
Hence additional protection is often not applied.

Figure 17.14: Generator winding earth-fault

protection - distribution transformer earthing
Figure 17.13: Earth fault protection of high-resistance
earthed generator stator winding using a current element

17.8.2.3 Distribution transformer earthing

17.8.2.2 Distribution transformer earthing using a voltage
using a current element element

In this arrangement, shown in Figure 17.14(a), the Earth fault protection can also be provided using a voltage-
generator is earthed via the primary winding of a measuring element in the secondary circuit instead. The
distribution transformer. The secondary winding is fitted setting considerations would be similar to those for the
current operated protection, but transposed to voltage.
with a loading resistor to limit the earth fault current.
The circuit diagram is shown in Figure 17.14(b).
An overcurrent relay element energised from a current
transformer connected in the resistor circuit is used to Application of both voltage and current operated
measure secondary earth fault current. The relay should elements to a generator with distribution transformer
have an effective setting equivalent to 5°/o of the earthing provides some advantages. The current
maximum earth fault current at rated generator voltage, operated function will continue to operate in the event
in order to protect 95% of the stator winding. The relay of a short-circuited loading resistor and the voltage
element response to third harmonic current should be protection still functions in the event of an open-
limited to prevent incorrect operation when a sensitive circuited resistor. However, neither scheme will operate
setting is applied. in the event of a flashover on the primary terminals of
the transformer or of the neutral cable between the
As discussed in Section 17.8.2.1 for neutral overcurrent generator and the transformer during an earth fault. A
protection, the protection should be time delayed when CT could be added in the neutral connection close to the
a sensitive setting is applied, in order to prevent generator, to energise a high-set overcurrent element to
maloperation under transient conditions. It also must detect such a fault, but the fault current would probably
grade with generator VT primary protection (for a VT be high enough to operate the phase differential
primary earth fault). An operation time in the range protection.
0.5s-3s is usual. Less sensitive instantaneous protection
17.8.2.4 Neutral voltage displacement protection
can also be applied to provide fast tripping for a heavier
earth fault condition. This can be applied in the same manner as for direct-
connected generators (Section 17.8.1.3). The only
difference is that the are no grading problems as the protection of a generator, using three residuaIly
protection is inherently restricted. A sensitive setting connected phase CT's balanced against a similar single
can therefore be used, enabling cover of up to 95% of CTin the neutral connection. Settings of the order of 5%
the stator winding to be achieved. of maximum earth fault current at the generator
terminals are typical. The usual requirements in respect
of stabilising resistor and non-linear resistor to guard
17.8.3 Restricted Earth Fault Protection against excessive voltage across the relay must be taken,
This technique can be used on small generators not fitted where necessary.
with differential protection to provide fast acting earth
fault protection within a defined zone that encompasses
17.8.4 Earth Fault Protection for
the generator. It is cheaper than full differential
the Entire Stator Winding
protection but only provides protection against earth
faults. The principle is that used for transformer REF All of the methods for earth fault protection detailed so
protection, as detailed in Section 16.7. However, in far leave part of the winding unprotected. In most cases,
contrast to transformer REF protection, both biased low- this is of no consequence as the probability of a fault
impedance and high-impedance techniques can be used. occurring in the 5% of the winding nearest the neutral
connection is very low, due to the reduced phase to earth
17.8.3.1 Low-impedance biased REF protection
voltage. However, a fault can occur anywhere along the
This is shown in Figure 17.15. The main advantage is stator windings in the event of insulation failure due to
that the neutral CT can also be used in a modern relay to localised heating from a core fault. In cases where
provide conventional earth-fault protection and no protection for the entire winding is required, perhaps for
external resistors are used. Relay bias is required, as alarm only, there are various methods available.
described in Section 10.4.2, but the formula for
17.8.4.1 Measurement of third harmonic voltage
calculating the bias is slightly different and also shown
in Figure 17.15. One method is to measure the internally generated third
harmonic voltage that appears across the earthing
impedance due to the flow of third harmonic currents
through the shunt capacitance of the stator windings
etc. When a fault occurs in the part of the stator
winding nearest the neutral end, the third harmonic
voltage drops to near zero, and hence a relay element
that responds to third harmonic voltage can be used to
detect the condition. As the fault location moves
progressively away from the neutral end, the drop in
third harmonic voltage from healthy conditions becomes
less, so that at around 20-30% of the winding distance,
it no longer becomes possible to discriminate between a
healthy and a faulty winding. Hence, a conventional
earth-fault scheme should be used in conjunction with a
third harmonic scheme, to provide overlapping cover
of the entire stator winding. The measurement of third
harmonic voltage can be taken either from a star-point
Figure 17.15: Low impedance biased REF VT or the generator line VT. In the latter case, the VT
protection of a generator
must be capable of carrying residual flux, and this
The initial bias slope is commonly set to 0% to provide prevents the use of 3-limb types. If the third harmonic
maximum sensitivity, and applied up to the rated current voltage is measured at the generator star point, an
of the generator. It may be increased to counter the undervoltage characteristic is used. An overvoltage
effects of CT mismatch. The bias slope above generator characteristic is used if the measurement is taken from
rated current is typically set to 150% of rated value. The the generator line VT. For effective application of this
initial current setting is typically 5% of the minimum form of protection, there should be at least 1% third
earth fault current for a fault at the machine terminals. harmonic voltage across the generator neutral earthing
impedance under all operating conditions.
17.8.3.2 High Impedance REF protection
A problem encountered is that the level of third
The principle of high impedance differential protection is
harmonic voltage generated is related to the output of
given in Chapter 10 and also described further in Section
the generator. The voltage is low when generator output
17.5.2. The same technique can be used for earth-fault
is low. In order to avoid maloperation when operating at isolated networks, or ones with weak interconnections,
low power output, the relay element can be inhibited due to the fault conditions listed earlier.
using an overcurrent or power element (kW, kvar or kVA)
For these reasons, it is prudent to provide power
and internal programmable logic.
frequency overvoitage protection, in the form of a time-
17.8.4.2 Use of low-frequency voltage injection delayed element, either IDMT or definite time. The time
Another method for protecting the entire stator winding delay should be long enough to prevent operation during
of a generator is to deploy signal injection equipment to normal regulator action, and therefore should take
inject a low frequency voltage between the stator star account of the type of AVR fitted and its transient
point and earth. An earth fault at any winding location response. Sometimes a high-set element is provided as
will result in the flow of a measurable injection current well, with a very short definite-time delay or
to cause protection operation. This form of protection instantaneous setting to provide a rapid trip in extreme
can provide earth fault protection when the generator is circumstances. The usefulness of this is questionable for
at standstill, prior to run-up. It is also an appropriate generators fitted with an excitation system other than a
method to apply to variable speed synchronous static type, because the excitation will decay in
machines. Such machines may be employed for variable accordance with the open-circuit time constant of the
speed motoring in pumped-storage generation schemes field winding. This decay can last several seconds. The
or for starting a large gas turbine prime mover. relay element is arranged to trip both the main circuit
breaker (if not already open) and the excitation; tripping
the main circuit breaker alone is not sufficient.
17.9 OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION
Overvoltages on a generator may occur due to transient
surges on the network, or prolonged power frequency 17.10 UNDERVOLTAGE PROTECTION
overvoltages may arise from a variety of conditions. Undervoltage protection is rarely fitted to generators. It
Surge arrestors may be required to protect against is sometimes used as an interlock element for another
transient overvoltages, but relay protection may be used protection function or scheme, such as field failure
to protect against power frequency overvoltages. protection or inadvertent energisation protection, where
A sustained overvoitage condition should not occur for a the abnormality to be detected leads directly or
machine with a healthy voltage regulator, but it may be indirectly to an undervoltage condition.
caused by the following contingencies: A transmission system undervoltage condition may arise
a. defective operation of the automatic voltage when there is insufficient reactive power generation to
regulator when the machine is in isolated operation maintain the system voltage profile and the condition
must be addressed to avoid the possible phenomenon of
b. operation under manual control with the voltage
system voltage collapse.
regulator out of service. A sudden variation of the
load, in particular the reactive power component, However, it should be addressed by the deployment of
will give rise to a substantial change in voltage 'system protection' schemes. The generation should not
because of the large voltage regulation inherent in be tripped. The greatest case for undervoltage protection
a typical alternator being required would be for a generator supplying an
c. sudden loss of load (due to tripping of outgoing isolated power system or to meet Utility demands for
feeders, leaving the set isolated or feeding a very small connection of embedded generation (see Section 17.21).
load) may cause a sudden rise in terminal voltage due In the case of generators feeding an isolated system,
to the trapped field flux and/or overspeed undervoltage may occur for several reasons, typically
Sudden loss of load should only cause a transient overloading or failure of the AVR. In some cases, the
overvoitage while the voltage regulator and governor act performance of generator auxiliary plant fed via a unit
to correct the situation. A maladjusted voltage regulator transformer from the generator terminals could be
may trip to manual, maintaining excitation at the value adversely affected by prolonged undervoltage.
prior to load loss while the generator supplies little or no Where undervoltage protection is required, it should
load. The terminal voltage will increase substantially, comprise an undervoltage element and an associated
and in severe cases it would be limited only by the
time delay. Settings must be chosen to avoid
saturation characteristic of the generator. A rise in speed
maloperation during the inevitable voltage dips during
simply compounds the problem. If load that is sensitive
power system fault clearance or associated with motor
to overvoltages remains connected, the consequences in
starting. Transient reductions in voltage down to 80% or
terms of equipment damage and lost revenue can be
less may be encountered during motor starting.
severe. Prolonged overvoltages may also occur on
17.11 LOW FORWARD POWER/REVERSE where a protection sensitivity of better than 3% is
POWER PROTECTION required, a metering class CT should be employed to
avoid incorrect protection behaviour due to CT phase
Low forward power or reverse power protection may be
angle errors when the generator supplies a significant
required for some generators to protect the prime mover.
level of reactive power at close to zero power factor.
Parts of the prime mover may not be designed to
experience reverse torque or they may become damaged The reverse power protection should be provided with a
through continued rotation after the prime mover has definite time delay on operation to prevent spurious
suffered some form of failure. operation with transient power swings that may arise
following synchronisation or in the event of a power
transmission system disturbance.
17.11.1 Low Forward Power Protection
Low forward power protection is often used as an
17.12 UNBALANCED LOADING
interlocking function to enable opening of the main
circuit breaker for non-urgent trips - e.g. for a stator A three-phase balanced load produces a reaction field
earth fault on a high-impedance earthed generator, or that, to a first approximation, is constant and rotates
when a normal shutdown of a set is taking place. This is synchronously with the rotor field system. Any
to minimise the risk of plant overspeeding when the unbalanced condition can be resolved into positive,
electrical load is removed from a high-speed cylindrical negative and zero sequence components. The positive
rotor generator. The rotor of this type of generator is sequence component is similar to the normal balanced
highly stressed mechanically and cannot tolerate much load. The zero sequence component produces no main
overspeed. While the governor should control overspeed armature reaction.
conditions, it is not good practice to open the main
circuit breaker simultaneously with tripping of the prime
mover for non-urgent trips. For a steam turbine, for 17.12.1 Effect of Negative Sequence Current
example, there is a risk of overspeeding due to energy The negative sequence component is similar to the
storage in the trapped steam, after steam valve tripping, positive sequence system, except that the resulting
or in the event that the steam valve(s) do not fully close reaction field rotates in the opposite direction to the d.c.
for some reason. For urgent trip conditions, such as field system. Hence, a flux is produced which cuts the
stator differential protection operation, the risk involved rotor at twice the rotational velocity, thereby inducing
in simultaneous prime mover and generator breaker double frequency currents in the field system and in the
tripping must be accepted. rotor body. The resulting eddy-currents are very large
and cause severe heating of the rotor.

17.11.2 Reverse Power Protection So severe is this effect that a single-phase load equal to
the normal three-phase rated current can quickly heat
Prime Mover Motoring Power Possible Damage Protection Setting
(% of rated) the rotor slot wedges to the softening point. They may
Diesel Engine 5-25
then be extruded under centrifugal force until they stand
Fire/explosion due to 50% of
unburnt fuel above the rotor surface, when it is possible that they may
motoring
Mechanical damage strike the stator core.
to gearbox/shafts power
Gas Turbine 10-15 (split gearbox damage A generator is assigned a continuous negative sequence
shaft)
rating. For turbo-generators this rating is low; standard
>50% (single
shaft) values of 10% and 15% of the generator continuous
Hydro 0.2-2 (blades out of blade and runner rating have been adopted. The lower rating applies when
water)
cavitation the more intensive cooling techniques are applied, for
>2
(blades in water) example hydrogen-cooling with gas ducts in the rotor to
Steam Turbine 0.5-6 turbine blade damage facilitate direct cooling of the winding.
gearbox damage
on geared sets Short time heating is of interest during system fault
Table 17.1: Generator reverse power problems conditions and it is usual in determining the generator
negative sequence withstand capability to assume that
the heat dissipation during such periods is negligible.
Reverse power protection is applied to prevent damage
Using this approximation it is possible to express the
to mechanical plant items in the event of failure of the
heating by the law:
prime mover. Table 17.1 gives details of the potential
problems for various prime mover types and the typical
settings for reverse power protection. For applications
where: sequence capacity and may not require protection.
Modern numerical relays derive the negative sequence
I2R = negative sequence component
current level by calculation, with no need for special
(per unit of
circuits to extract the negative sequence component. A
MCR) t = time
true thermal replica approach is often followed, to allow
(seconds)
for:
K = constant proportional to the thermal capacity
a. standing levels of negative sequence current below
of the generator rotor
the continuous withstand capability. This has the
For heating over a period of more than a few seconds, it effect of shortening the time to reach the critical
is necessary to allow for the heat dissipated. From a temperature after an increase in negative sequence
combination of the continuous and short time ratings, current above the continuous withstand capability
the overall heating characteristic can be deduced to be:
b. cooling effects when negative sequence current
levels are below the continuous withstand
capability
The advantage of this approach is that cooling effects are
modelled more accurately, but the disadvantage is that
where: the tripping characteristic may not follow the withstand
characteristic specified by the manufacturer accurately.
I2R = negative phase sequence continuous rating in
per unit ofMCR The typical relay element characteristic takes the form of
The heating characteristics of various designs of
generator are shown in Figure 17.16.

...Equation U.I

where:
t= time to trip

Kg = negative sequence withstand coefficient

(Figure 17.16)
I2cmr = generator maximum continuous l2 withstand
Iflc = generator rated primary current Ip =
CT primary current IN = relay rated current
Figure 17.16 also shows the thermal replica time
characteristic described by Equation 17.1, from which it
will be seen that a significant gain in capability is
achieved at low levels of negative sequence current,
Such a protection element will also respond to phase-
earth and phase-phase faults where sufficient negative
Figure 17.16: Typical negative phase sequence sequence current arises. Grading with downstream
current withstand of cylindrical
rotor generators
power system protection relays is therefore required. A
definite minimum time setting must be applied to the
17.12.2 Negative Phase Sequence Protection negative sequence relay element to ensure correct
This protection is applied to prevent overheating due to grading. A maximum trip time setting may also be used
negative sequence currents. Small salient-pole to ensure correct tripping when the negative sequence
generators have a proportionately larger negative
current level is only slightly in excess of the continuous of the transformer differential protection schemes
withstand capability and hence the trip time from the applied at the power station (see Chapter 16 for
thermal model may depart significantly from the rotor transformer protection). Sustained overfluxing can arise
withstand limits. during run up, if excitation is applied too early with the
AVR in service, or if the generator is run down, with the
excitation still applied. Other overfluxing instances have
17.13 PROTECTION AGAINST INADVERTENT occurred from loss of the AVR voltage feedback signal,
ENERGISATION due to a reference VT problem. Such sustained
Accidental energisation of a generator when it is not conditions must be detected by a dedicated overfluxing
running may cause severe damage to it. With the protection function that will raise an alarm and possibly
generator at standstill, closing the circuit breaker results force an immediate reduction in excitation.
in the generator acting as an induction motor; the field Most AVRs' have an overfluxing protection facility
winding (if closed) and the rotor solid iron/damper included. This may only be operative when the generator
circuits acting as rotor circuits. Very high currents are is on open circuit, and hence fail to detect overfluxing
induced in these rotor components, and also occur in the conditions due to abnormally low system frequency.
stator, with resultant rapid overheating and damage. However, this facility is not engineered to protection
Protection against this condition is therefore desirable. relay standards, and should not be solely relied upon to
A combination of stator undervoltage and overcurrent provide overfluxing protection. A separate relay element
can be used to detect this condition. An instantaneous is therefore desirable and provided in most modern
overcurrent element is used, and gated with a three- relays.
phase undervoltage element (fed from a VT on the It is usual to provide a definite time-delayed alarm
generator side of the circuit breaker) to provide the setting and an instantaneous or inverse time-delayed
protection. The overcurrent element can have a low trip setting, to match the withstand characteristics of
setting, as operation is blocked when the generator is the protected generator and transformer. It is very
operating normally. The voltage setting should be low important that the VT reference for overfluxing
enough to ensure that operation cannot occur for protection is not the same as that used for the AVR.
transient faults. A setting of about 50% of rated voltage
is typical. VT failure can cause maloperation of the
protection, so the element should be inhibited under 17.14.2 Under/Overfrequency
these conditions.
The governor fitted to the prime mover normally provides
protection against overfrequency. Underfrequency may
17.14 UNDER/OVERFREQUENCY/ occur as a result of overload of generators operating on
OVERFLUXING PROTECTION an isolated system, or a serious fault on the power
system that results in a deficit of generation compared
These conditions are grouped together because these to load. This may occur if a grid system suffers a major
problems often occur due to a departure from fault on transmission lines linking two parts of the
synchronous speed. system, and the system then splits into two. It is likely
that one part will have an excess of generation over load,
and the other will have a corresponding deficit.
17.14.1 Overfluxing
Frequency will fall fairly rapidly in the latter part, and the
Overfluxing occurs when the ratio of voltage to normal response is load shedding, either by load
frequency is too high. The iron saturates owing to the shedding relays or operator action. However, prime
high flux density and results in stray flux occurring in movers may have to be protected against excessively low
components not designed to carry it. Overheating can frequency by tripping of the generators concerned.
then occur, resulting in damage. The problem affects
With some prime movers, operation in narrow frequency
both direct-and indirectly-connected generators. Either
bands that lie close to normal running speed (either
excessive voltage, or low frequency, or a combination of
above or below) may only be permitted for short periods,
both can result in overfluxing, a voltage to frequency
together with a cumulative lifetime duration of
ratio in excess of 1.05p.u. normally being indicative of
operation in such frequency bands. This typically occurs
this condition. Excessive flux can arise transiently, which
due to the presence of rotor torsional frequencies in such
is not a problem for the generator. For example, a
frequency bands. In such cases, monitoring of the period
generator can be subjected to a transiently high power
of time spent in these frequency bands is required. A
frequency voltage, at nominal frequency, immediately
special relay is fitted in such cases, arranged to provide
after full load rejection. Since the condition would not
alarm and trip facilities if either an individual or
be sustained, it only presents a problem for the stability
cumulative period exceeds a set time. produce a balancing force on this axis. The result is an
unbalanced force that in a large machine may be of the
order of 50-100 tons. A violent vibration is set up that
17.15 ROTOR FAULTS may damage bearing surfaces or even displace the rotor
The field circuit of a generator, comprising the field by an amount sufficient to cause it to foul the stator.
winding of the generator and the armature of the exciter,
together with any associated field circuit breaker if it
17.15.1 Rotor Earth-Fault Protection
exists, is an isolated d.c. circuit which is not normally
earthed. If an earth fault occurs, there will be no steady- Two methods are available to detect this type of fault.
state fault current and the need for action will not be The first method is suitable for generators that
evident. incorporate brushes in the main generator field winding.
The second method requires at least a slip-ring
Danger arises if a second earth fault occurs at a separate
connection to the field circuit:
point in the field system, to cause the high field current
to be diverted, in part at least, from the intervening a. potentiometer method
turns. Serious damage to the conductors and possibly b. a.c. injection method
the rotor can occur very rapidly under these conditions.
17.15.1.1 Potentiometer method
More damage may be caused mechanically. If a large
portion of the winding is short-circuited, the flux may This is a scheme that was fitted to older generators, and
adopt a pattern such as that shown in Figure 17.17. The it is illustrated in Figure 17.18. An earth fault on the
attracting force at the surface of the rotor is given by: field winding would produce a voltage across the relay,
the maximum voltage occurring for faults at the ends of
the winding.
A 'blind spot' would exist at the centre of the field
winding. To avoid a fault at this location remaining
undetected, the tapping point on the potentiometer
could be varied by a pushbutton or switch. The relay
setting is typically about 5% of the exciter voltage.

Figure 17.18: Earth fault protection of field

circuit bv potentiometer method
17.15.1.2 Injection methods
Two methods are in common use. The first is based on
low frequency signal injection, with series filtering, as
shown in Figure 17.19(a). It comprises an injection
source that is connected between earth and one side of
the field circuit, through capacitive coupling and the
measurement circuit. The field circuit is subjected to an
Figure 17.17: Flux distribution on rotor
with partial winding short circuit alternating potential at substantially the same level
throughout. An earth fault anywhere in the field system
It will be seen from Figure 17.17 that the flux is will give rise to a current that is detected as an
concentrated on one pole but widely dispersed over the equivalent voltage across the adjustable resistor by the
other and intervening surfaces. The attracting force is in relay. The capacitive coupling blocks the normal d.c. field
consequence large on one pole but very weak on the voltage, preventing the discharge of a large direct
opposite one, while flux on the quadrature axis will current through the protection scheme. The combination
of series capacitor and reactor forms a low-pass tuned 17.15.2 Rotor Earth Fault Protection
circuit, the intention being to filter higher frequency for Brushless Generators
rotor currents that may occur for a variety of reasons.
A brushless generator has an excitation system
Other schemes are based on power frequency signal consisting of:
injection. An impedance relay element is used, a field
1.a main exciter with rotating armature and
winding earth fault reducing the impedance seen by the
stationary field windings
relay. These suffer the draw back of being susceptible to
static excitation system harmonic currents when there is 2. a rotating rectifier assembly, carried on the main
significant field winding and excitation system shunt shaft line out
capacitance. 3. a controlled rectifier producing the d.c. field
Greater immunity for such systems is offered by voltage for the main exciter field from an a.c.
capacitively coupling the protection scheme to both ends source (often a small 'pilot' exciter)
of the field winding, where brush or slip ring access is Hence, no brushes are required in the generator field
possible (Figure 17.19(b)). circuit. All control is carried out in the field circuit of the
The low-frequency injection scheme is a l s o main exciter. Detection of a rotor circuit earth fault is
advantageous in that the current flow through the field still necessary, but this must be based on a dedicated
winding shunt capacitance will be lower than for a rotor-mounted system that has a telemetry link to
power frequency scheme. Such current would flow provide an alarm/data.
through the machine bearings to cause erosion of the
bearing surface. For power frequency schemes, a
solution is to insulate the bearings and provide an 17.15.3 Rotor Shorted Turn Protection
earthing brush for the shaft. As detailed in Section 17.15 a shorted section of field
winding will result in an unsymmetrical rotor flux
pattern and in potentially damaging rotor vibration.
Detection of such an electrical fault is possible using a
probe consisting of a coil placed in the airgap. The flux
pattern of the positive and negative poles is measured
and any significant difference in flux pattern between
the poles is indicative of a shorted turn or turns.
Automated waveform comparison techniques can be
used to provide a protection scheme, or the waveform
can be inspected visually at regular intervals. An
immediate shutdown is not normally required unless the
effects of the fault are severe. The fault can be kept
under observation until a suitable shutdown for repair
can be arranged. Repair will take some time, since it
means unthreading the rotor and dismantling the
winding.
Since short-circuited turns on the rotor may cause
damaging vibration and the detection of field faults for
all degrees of abnormality is difficult, the provision of a
vibration a detection scheme is desirable - this forms
part of the mechanical protection of the generator.

17.15.4 Protection against Diode Failure

A short-circuited diode will produce an a.c. ripple in the
exciter field circuit. This can be detected by a relay
monitoring the current in the exciter field circuit,
however such systems have proved to be unreliable. The
relay would need to be time delayed to prevent an alarm
Figure 17.19: Earth fault protection
of field circuit by a.c. injection being issued with normal field forcing during a power
system fault. A delay of 5-10 seconds may be necessary.
Fuses to disconnect the faulty diode after failure may be 17.16 LOSS OF EXCITATION PROTECTION
fitted. The fuses are of the indicating type, and an
Loss of excitation may occur for a variety of reasons. If
inspection window can be fitted over the diode wheel to
the generator was initially operating at only 20%-30% of
enable diode health to be monitored manually.
rated power, it may settle to run super-synchronously as
A diode that fails open-circuit occurs less often. If there an induction generator, at a low level of slip. In doing so,
is more than one diode in parallel for each arm of the it will draw reactive current from the power system for
diode bridge, the only impact is to restrict the maximum rotor excitation. This form of response is particularly true
continuous excitation possible. If only a single diode per of salient pole generators. In these circumstances, the
bridge arm is fitted, some ripple will be present on the generator may be able to run for several minutes without
main field supply but the inductance of the circuit will requiring to be tripped. There may be sufficient time for
smooth this to a degree and again the main effect is to remedial action to restore the excitation, but the reactive
restrict the maximum continuous excitation. The set can power demand of the machine during the failure may
be kept running until a convenient shutdown can be severely depress the power system voltage to an
arranged. unacceptable level. For operation at high initial power
output, the rotor speed may rise to approximately 105%
of rated speed, where there would be low power output
17.15.5 Field Suppression and where a high reactive current of up to 2.0p.u. may
The need to rapidly suppress the field of a machine in be drawn from the supply. Rapid automatic
which a fault has developed should be obvious, because disconnection is then required to protect the stator
as long as the excitation is maintained, the machine will windings from excessive current and to protect the rotor
feed its own fault even though isolated from the power from damage caused by induced slip frequency currents.
system. Any delay in the decay of rotor flux will extend
the fault damage. Braking the rotor is no solution,
17.16.1 Protection against Loss of Excitation
because of its large kinetic energy.
The protection used varies according to the size of
The field winding current cannot be interrupted
generator being protected.
instantaneously as it flows in a highly inductive circuit.
Consequently, the flux energy must be dissipated to 17.16.1.1 Small generators
prevent an excessive inductive voltage rise in the field On the smaller machines, protection against
circuit. For machines of moderate size, it is satisfactory asynchronous running has tended to be optional, but it
to open the field circuit with an air-break circuit breaker may now be available by default, where the functionality
without arc blow-out coils. Such a breaker permits only is available within a modern numerical generator
a moderate arc voltage, which is nevertheless high protection package. If fitted, it is arranged either to
enough to suppress the field current fairly rapidly. The provide an alarm or to trip the generator. If the
inductive energy is dissipated partly in the arc and partly generator field current can be measured, a relay element
in eddy-currents in the rotor core and damper windings. can be arranged to operate when this drops below a
With generators above about 5MVA rating, it is better to preset value. However, depending on the generator
provide a more definite means of absorbing the energy design and size relative to the system, it may well be that
without incurring damage. Connecting a 'field discharge the machine would be required to operate synchronously
resistor' in parallel with the rotor winding before opening with little or no excitation under certain system
the field circuit breaker will achieve this objective. The conditions.
resistor, which may have a resistance value of The field undercurrent relay must have a setting below
approximately five times the rotor winding resistance, is the minimum exciting current, which may be 8% of that
connected by an auxiliary contact on the field circuit corresponding to the MCR of the machine. Time delay
breaker. The breaker duty is thereby reduced to that of relays are used to stabilise the protection against
opening a circuit with a low L/R ratio. After the breaker maloperation in response to transient conditions and to
has opened, the field current flows through the discharge ensure that field current fluctuations due to pole slipping
resistance and dies down harmlessly. The use of a fairly do not cause the protection to reset
high value of discharge resistance reduces the field time
constant to an acceptably low value, though it may still If the generator field current is not measurable, then the
be more than one second. Alternatively, generators technique detailed in the following section is utilised.
fitted with static excitation systems may temporarily 17.16.12 Large generators (>5MVA)
invert the applied field voltage to reduce excitation
current rapidly to zero before the excitation system is For generators above about 5MVA rating, protection
tripped. against loss of excitation and pole slipping conditions is
normally applied.
Consider a generator connected to network, as shown in The general case can be represented by a system of
Figure 17.20. On loss of excitation, the terminal voltage circles with centres on the line CD; see Figure 17.21.
will begin to decrease and the stator current will increase, Also shown is a typical machine terminal impedance
resulting in a decrease of impedance viewed from the locus during loss of excitation conditions.
generator terminals and also a change in power factor.

Figure 17.21: Swing curves and

loss of synchronism locus
Figure 17.20: Basic interconnected system

A relay to detect loss of synchronism can be located at The special cases of E G =E S and E U =0 result in a
point A. It can be shown that the impedance presented straight-line locus that is the right-angled bisector of
to the relay under loss of synchronism conditions (phase CD, and in a circular locus that is shrunk to point C,
swinging or pole slipping) is given by: respectively.

When excitation is removed from a generator operating

synchronously the flux dies away slowly, during which
period the ratio of E G lE S is decreasing, and the rotor angle
of the machine is increasing. The operating condition
plotted on an impedance diagram therefore travels along
a locus that crosses the power swing circles. At the same
...Equation 17.2 time, it progresses in the direction of increasing rotor
where: angle. After passing the anti-phase position, the locus
bends round as the internal e.m.f. collapses, condensing on
an impedance value equal to the machine reactance. The
locus is illustrated in Figure 17.21.

The relay location is displaced from point C by the

generator reactanceXG. One problem in determining the
position of these loci relative to the relay location is that
If the generator and system voltages are equal, the above
the value of machine impedance varies with the rate of
expression becomes:
slip. At zero slip X G is equal to X d , the synchronous
reactance, and at 100% slip XG is equal to X"d, the sub-
transient reactance. The impedance in a typical case has
been shown to be equal to X' dl the transient reactance,
at 50% slip, and to 2X' d with a slip of 0.33%. The slip
likely to be experienced with asynchronous running is
low, perhaps 1%, so that for the purpose of assessing the scheme for loss of excitation could be based on
power swing locus it is sufficient to take the value impedance measurement. The impedance characteristic
XQ=2X'CJ. must be appropriately set or shaped to ensure decisive
operation for loss of excitation whilst permitting stable
This consideration has assumed a single value for XG.
generator operation within allowable limits. One or two
However, the reactance Xq on the quadrature axis differs
offset mho under impedance elements (see Chapter 11
from the direct-axis value, the ratio of XjXg being
for the principles of operation) are ideally suited for
known as the saliency factor. This factor varies with the
providing loss of excitation protection as long as a
slip speed. The effect of this factor during asynchronous
generator operating at low power output (20-30%Pn
operation is to cause XG to vary at slip speed. In
)does not settle down to operate as an induction
consequence, the loss of excitation impedance locus
generator. The characteristics of a typical two-stage loss
does not settle at a single point, but it continues to
of excitation protection scheme are illustrated in Figure
describe a small orbit about a mean point.
17.23. The first stage, consisting of settings Xa1 andXb1;
A protection scheme for loss of excitation must operate can be applied to provide detection of loss of excitation
decisively for this condition, but its characteristic must even where a generator initially operating at low power
not inhibit stable operation of the generator. One limit output (20-30%Pn)might settle down to operate as an
of operation corresponds to the maximum practicable induction generator.
rotor angle, taken to be at 120°. The locus of operation
can be represented as a circle on the impedance plane,
as shown in Figure 17.22, stable operation conditions Normal machine operating impedance
lying outside the circle.

Figure 17.23: Loss of excitation protection

characteristics

Pick-up and drop-off time delays td1 and tdo1 are

associated with this impedance element. Timer td1 is
used to prevent operation during stable power swings
that may cause the impedance locus of the generator to
transiently enter the locus of operation set by Xb1.
However, the value must short enough to prevent
damage as a result of loss of excitation occurring. If
Figure 17.22: Locus of limiting operating pole-slipping protection is not required (see Section
conditions of synchronous machine 17.17.2), timer tdo1can be set to give instantaneous
reset. The second field failure element, comprising
settings Xb1, Xb2, and associated timers td2 and tdo2 can be
On the same diagram the full load impedance locus for used to give instantaneous tripping following loss of
one per unit power can be drawn. Part of this circle excitation under full load conditions.
represents a condition that is not feasible, but the point
of intersection with the maximum rotor angle curve can
be taken as a limiting operating condition for setting 17.16.3 Protection Settings
impedance-based loss of excitation protection. The typical setting values for the two elements vary
according to the excitation system and operating regime
of the generator concerned, since these affect the
17.16.2 Impedance-Based Protection Characteristics generator impedance seen by the relay under normal and
Figure 17.21 alludes to the possibility that a protection abnormal conditions. For a generator that is never
operated at leading power factor, or at load angles in 17.17.1 Protection using Reverse Power Element
excess of 90° the typical settings are:
During pole-slipping, there will be periods where the
impedance element diameter Xb1= Xd direction of active power flow will be in the reverse
direction, so a reverse power relay element can be used
impedance element offset Xa1 = -0.5X'd
to detect this, if not used for other purposes. However,
time delay on pick-up, td1 = 0.5s - 10s since the reverse power conditions are cyclical, the
time delay on drop-off, tdo1 = 0s element will reset during the forward power part of the
cycle unless either a very short pick-up time delay and/or
If a fast excitation system is employed, allowing load a suitable drop-off time delay is used to eliminate
angles of up to 120° to be used, the impedance diameter resetting.
must be reduced to take account of the reduced
generator impedance seen under such conditions. The The main advantage of this method is that a reverse
offset also needs revising. In these circumstances, power element is often already present, so no additional
typical settings would be: relay elements are required. The main disadvantages are
the time taken for tripping and the inability to control
impedance element diameter Xb1 = 0.5Xd the system angle at which the generator breaker trip
impedance element offset Xa1 = -0.75X'd command would be issued, if it is a requirement to limit
the breaker current interruption duty. There is also the
time delay on pick-up, td1 = 0.5s - 10s
difficulty of determining suitable settings.
time delay on drop-off, tdo1 = 0s Determination of settings in the field, from a deliberate
pole-slipping test is not possible and analytical studies
The typical impedance settings for the second element, if
may not discover all conditions under which pole-
used, are:
slipping will occur.
impedance element diameter

17.17.2 Protection using an Under Impedance

Element
With reference to Figure 17.21, a loss of excitation under
impedance characteristic may also be capable of
The time delay settings td2 and tdo2 are set to zero to give detecting loss of synchronism, in applications where the
instantaneous operation and reset. electrical centre of the power system and the generator
lies 'behind' the relaying point. This would typically be
the case for a relatively small generator that is
17.I7 POLE SLIPPING PROTECTION connected to a power transmission system [XG >>(XT +
A generator may pole-slip, or fall out of synchronism
Xs)). With reference to Figure 17.23; if pole-slipping
with the power system for a number of reasons. The
protection response is required, the drop-off timer tdo1 of
principal causes are prolonged clearance of a heavy fault
the larger diameter impedance measuring element
on the power system, when the generator is operating at
should be set to prevent its reset of in each slip cycle,
a high load angle close to the stability limit, or partial or
until the td1 trip time delay has expired.
complete loss of excitation. Weak transmission links As with reverse power protection, this would be an
between the generator and the bulk of the power system elementary form of pole-slipping protection. It may not
aggravat e t he sit uat ion. It can als o occur wit h be suitable for large machines where rapid tripping is
embedded generators running in parallel with a strong required during the first slip cycle and where some
Utility network if the time for a fault clearance on the control is required for the system angle at which the
Utility network slow, perhaps because only IDMT relays generator circuit breaker trip command is given. Where
are provided. Pole slipping is characterised by large and protection against pole-slipping must be guaranteed, a
rapid oscillations in active and reactive power. Rapid more sophisticated method of protection should be used.
disconnection of the generator from the network is A typical reset timer delay for pole-slipping protection
required to ensure that damage to the generator is might be 0.6s. For generator transformer units, the
avoided and that loads supplied by the network are not additional impedance in front of the relaying point may
affected for very long. take the system impedance outside the under impedance
Protection can be provided using several methods. The
relay characteristic required for loss of excitation
choice of method will depend on the probability of pole
protection. Therefore, the acceptability of this pole-
slipping occurring and on the consequences should it
slipping protection scheme will be dependent on the
occur.
application.
17.17.3 Dedicated Pole-Slipping Protection / 7.17.3.2 Use of lenticular characteristic
Large generator-transformer units directly connected to A more sophisticated approach is to measure the
grid systems often require a dedicated pole-slipping impedance of the generator and use a lenticular
protection scheme to ensure rapid tripping and with impedance characteristic to determine if a pole-slipping
system angle control. Historically, dedicated protection condition exists. The lenticular characteristic is shown in
schemes have usually been based on an ohm-type Figure 17.25. The characteristic is divided into two halves
impedance measurement characteristic. by a straight line, called the blinder.
17.17.3.1 Pole slipping protection by impedance The inclination, of the lens and blinder is determined by
measurement the angle of the total system impedance. The impedance
of the system and generator-transformer determines the
Although a mho type element for detecting the change
forward reach of the lens, ZA, and the transient reactance
in impedance during pole-slipping can be used in some
of the generator determines the reverse reach ZB.
applications, but with performance limits, a straight line
ohm characteristic is more suitable. The protection
principle is that of detecting the passage of the
generator impedance through a zone defined by two
such impedance characteristics, as shown in Figure
17.24. The characteristic is divided into three zones, A,
B, and C. Normal operation of the generator lies in zone
A. When a pole-slip occurs, the impedance traverses
zones B and C, and tripping occurs when the impedance
characteristic enters zone C.

Figure 17.25: Pole-slipping protection using

lenticular characteristic and blinder

The width of the lens is set by the angle a and the line
PP\ perpendicular to the axis of the lens, is used to
determine if the centre of the impedance swing during a
transient is located in the generator or power system.
Operation in the case of a generator is as follows. The
Figure 17.24: Pole slipping detection
by ohm relays
characteristic is divided into 4 zones and 2 regions, as
shown in Figure 17.26.
Tripping only occurs if all zones are traversed Normal operation is with the measured impedance in
sequentially. Power system faults should result in the zone R1. If a pole slip develops, the impedance locus will
zones not being fully traversed so that tripping will not traverse though zones R2, R3, and R4. When entering
be initiated. The security of this type of protection zone R4, a trip signal is issued, provided the impedance
scheme is normally enhanced by the addition of a plain lies below reactance line PP' and hence the locus of
under impedance control element (circle about the origin swing lies within or close to the generator - i.e. the
of the impedance diagram) that is set to prevent tripping generator is pole slipping with respect to the rest of the
for impedance trajectories for remote power system system.
faults. Setting of the ohm elements is such that they lie
parallel to the total system impedance vector, and
enclose it, as shown in Figure 17.24.
 windings and to issue an alarm or trip to prevent
damage.
Although current-operated thermal replica protection
cannot take into account the effects of ambient
temperature or uneven heat distribution, it is often
applied as a back-up to direct stator temperature
measuring devices to prevent overheating due to high
stator current. With some relays, the thermal replica
temperature estimate can be made more accurate
through the integration of direct measuring resistance
temperature devices.
Irrespective of whether current-operated thermal replica
protection is applied or not, it is a requirement to
monitor the stator temperature of a large generator in
order to detect overheating from whatever cause.
Temperature sensitive elements, usually of the resistance
type, are embedded in the stator winding at hot-spot
locations envisaged by the manufacturer, the number
Figure 17.26: Definition of zones for lenticular
used being sufficient to cover all variations. The
characteristic
elements are connected to a temperature sensing relay
If the impedance locus lies above line PP' the swing lies element arranged to provide alarm and trip outputs. The
far out in the power system - i.e. one part of the power settings will depend on the type of stator winding
system, including the protected generator, is swinging insulation and on its permitted temperature rise.
against the rest of the network. Tripping may still occur,
but only if swinging is prolonged - meaning that the
17.19 MECHANICAL FAULTS
power system is in danger of complete break-up. Further
confidence checks are introduced by requiring that the Various faults may occur on the mechanical side of a
impedance locus spends a minimum time within each generating set. The following sections detail the more
zone for the pole-slipping condition to be valid. The trip important ones from an electrical point of view.
signal may also be delayed for a number of slip cycles
even if a generator pole-slip occurs - this is to both
provide confirmation of a pole-slipping condition and 17.19.1 Failure of the Prime Mover
allow time for other relays to operate if the cause of the
When a generator operating in parallel with others loses
pole slip lies somewhere in the power system. Should
its power input, it remains in synchronism with the
the impedance locus traverse the zones in any other
system and continues to run as a synchronous motor,
sequence, tripping is blocked.
drawing sufficient power to drive the prime mover. This
condition may not appear to be dangerous and in some
circumstances will not be so. However, there is a danger
17.18 STATOR OVERHEATING Overheating of
of further damage being caused. Table 17.1 lists some
the stator may result from: typical problems that may occur.
i. overload Protection is provided by a low forward power/reverse
ii. failure of the cooling system power relay, as detailed in Section 17.11

iii. overfluxing
iv. core faults 17.19.2 Overspeed

Accidental overloading might occur through the The speed of a turbo-generator set rises when the steam
combination of full active load current component, input is in excess of that required to drive the load at
governed by the prime mover output and an abnormally nominal frequency. The speed governor can normally
high reactive current component, governed by the level control the speed, and, in any case, a set running in
of rotor excitation and/or step-up transformer tap. With parallel with others in an interconnected system cannot
a modern protection relay, it is relatively simple to accelerate much independently even if synchronism is
provide a current-operated thermal replica protection lost. However, if load is suddenly lost when the HV
element to estimate the thermal state of the stator circuit breaker is tripped, the set will begin to accelerate
rapidly. The speed governor is designed to prevent a event of loss of vacuum, as this would cause rapid
dangerous speed rise even with a 100% load rejection, overheating of the low-pressure turbine blades.
but nevertheless an additional centrifugal overspeed trip
device is provided to initiate an emergency mechanical
shutdown if the overspeed exceeds 10%. 17.20 COMPLETE GENERATOR PROTECTION
SCHEMES
To minimise overspeed on load rejection and hence the
mechanical stresses on the rotor, the following sequence From the preceding sections, it is obvious that the
is used whenever electrical tripping is not urgently protection scheme for a generator has to take account of
required: many possible faults and plant design variations.
i. trip prime mover or gradually reduce power input to Determination of the types of protection used for a
zero particular generator will depend on the nature of the
plant and upon economic considerations, which in turn
ii. allow generated power to decay towards zero is affected by set size. Fortunately, modern, multi-
iii. trip generator circuit breaker only when generated function, numerical relays are sufficiently versatile to
power is close to zero or when the power flow include all of the commonly required protection
starts to reverse, to drive the idle turbine functions in a single package, thus simplifying the
decisions to be made. The following sections provide
illustrations of typical protection schemes for generators
17.19.3 Loss of Vacuum connected to a grid network, but not all possibilities are
A failure of the condenser vacuum in a steam turbine illustrated, due to the wide variation in generator sizes
driven generator results in heating of the tubes. This and types.
then produces strain in the tubes, and a rise in
temperature of the low-pressure end of the turbine.
17.20.1 Direct-Connected Generator
Vacuum pressure devices initiate progressive unloading
of the set and, if eventually necessary, tripping of the A typical protection scheme for a direct-connected
turbine valves followed by the high voltage circuit generator is shown in Figure 17.27. It comprises the
breaker. The set must not be allowed to motor in the following protection functions:

Figure 17.27: Typical protection arrangement for a direct-connected generator

 1. stator differential protection instantaneous electrical trip and which can be time
2. overcurrent protection - conventional or voltage delayed until electrical power has been reduced to a low
dependent value. The faults that require tripping of the prime mover
as well as the generator circuit breaker are also shown.
3. stator earth fault protection
4. overvoltage protection
17.20.2 Generator-Transformer Units
5. undervoltage protection
6. overload/low forward power/ reverse power These units are generally of higher output than direct-
protection (according to prime mover type) connected generators, and hence more comprehensive
protection is warranted. In addition, the generator
7. unbalanced loading
transformer also requires protection, for which the
8. overheating protection detailed in Chapter 16 is appropriate
9. pole slipping Overall biased generator/generator transformer
10. loss of excitation differential protection is commonly applied in addition,
or instead of, differential protection for the transformer
11. underfrequency
alone. A single protection relay may incorporate all of
12. inadvertent energisation the required functions, or the protection of the
13. overfluxing transformer (including overall generator/generator
transformer differential protection) may utilise a
14. mechanical faults
separate relay.
Figure 17.27 illustrates which trips require an Figure 17.28 shows a typical overall scheme.

figure 17.28: Typical tripping arrangements for generator-transformer unit

17.21 EMBEDDED GENERATION frequency and voltage, or for other reasons.
In recent years, through de-regulation of the electricity From a Utility standpoint, the connection of embedded
supply industry and the ensuing commercial generation may cause problems with voltage control and
competition, many electricity users connected to MV increased fault levels. The settings for protection relays
power distribution systems have installed generating sets in the vicinity of the plant may require adjustment with
to operate in parallel with the public supply. The the emergence of embedded generation. It must also be
intention is either to utilise surplus energy from other ensured that the safety, security and quality of supply of
sources, or to use waste heat or steam from the prime the Utility distribution system is not compromised. The
mover for other purposes. Parallel connection of embedded generation must not be permitted to supply
generators to distribution systems did occur before de- any Utility customers in isolation, since the Utility supply
regulation, but only where there was a net power import is normally the means of regulating the system voltage
from the Utility. Power export to Utility distribution and frequency within the permitted limits. It also
systems was a relatively new aspect. Since generation of normally provides the only system earth connection(s), to
this type can now be located within a Utility distribution ensure the correct performance of system protection in
system, as opposed to being centrally dispatched
response to earth faults. If the Utility power infeed fails,
generation connected to a transmission system, the term
it is also important to disconnect the embedded
'Embedded Generation' is often applied. Figure 17.2
generation before there is any risk of the Utility power
illustrates such an arrangement. Depending on size, the
supply returning on to unsynchronised machines. In
embedded generator(s) may be synchronous or
practice this generally requires the following protection
asynchronous types, and they may be connected at any
functions to be applied at the 'Point of Common
voltage appropriate to the size of plant being considered.
Coupling' (PCC) to trip the coupling circuit breaker:
The impact of connecting generation to a Utility
a. overvoltage
distribution system that was originally engineered only
for downward power distribution must be considered, b. undervoltage
particularly in the area of protection requirements. In
c. overfrequency
this respect, it is not important whether the embedded
generator is normally capable of export to the Utility d. underfrequency
distribution system or not, since there may exist fault e. loss of Utility supply
conditions when this occurs irrespective of the design
intent. In addition, particular circumstances may require
additional protection functions:
If plant operation when disconnected from the Utility
supply is required, underfrequency protection (Section f. neutral voltage displacement
17.4.2) will become an important feature of the in-plant g. reverse power
power system. During isolated operation, it may be
relatively easy to overload the available generation, such
h. directional overcurrent
that some form of load management system may be In practice, it can be difficult to meet the protection
required. Similarly, when running in parallel with the settings or performance demanded by the Utility without
Utility, consideration needs to be given to the mode of a high risk of nuisance tripping caused by lack of co-
generator operation if reactive power import is to be ordination with normal power system faults and
controlled. The impact on the control scheme of a disturbances that do not necessitate tripping of the
sudden break in the Utility connection to the plant main embedded generation. This is especially true when
busbar also requires analysis. Where the in-plant applying protection specifically to detect loss of the
generation is run using constant power factor or Utility supply (also called 'loss of mains') to cater for
constant reactive power control, automatic reversion to operating conditions where there would be
voltage control when the Utility connection is lost is immediate excursion in voltage or frequency to caus
essential to prevent plant loads being subjected to a operation of conventional protection functions.
voltage outside acceptable limits.

Limits may be placed by the Utility on the amount of

power/reactive power import/export. These may demand 17.21.1 Protection Against Loss of Utility Supply
the use of an in-plant Power Management System to If the normal power infeed to a distribution system, or to
control the embedded generation and plant loads the part of it containing embedded generation is lost, the
accordingly. Some Utilities may insist on automatic effects may be as follows:
tripping of the interconnecting circuit breakers if there is
a. embedded generation may be overloaded, leading to
a significant departure outside permissible levels of
generator undervoltage/underfrequency
 b. embedded generation may be underloaded, leading 17.21.2 ROCOF Relay Description
to overvoltage/overfrequency A ROCOF relay detects the rate of change of frequency in
c. little change to the absolute levels of voltage or excess of a defined setpoint. The signal is obtained from
frequency if there is little resulting change to the a voltage transformer connected close to the Point of
load flow through the PCC Common Coupling (PCC). The principal method used is
to measure the time period between successive zero-
The first two effects are covered by conventional voltage crossings to determine the average frequency for each
and frequency protection. However, if condition (c) half-cycle and hence the rate of change of frequency.
occurs, conventional protection may not detect the loss The result is usually averaged over a number of cycles.
of Utility supply condition or it may be too slow to do so
within the shortest possible auto-reclose dead-times
that may be applied in association with Utility overhead 17.21.3 Voltage Vector Shift Relay Description
line protection. Detection of condition (c) must be A voltage vector shift relay detects the drift in voltage
achieved if the requirements of the Utility are to be met. phase angle beyond a defined setpoint as long as it takes
Many possible methods have been suggested, but the place within a set period. Again, the voltage signal is
one most often used is the Rate of Change of Frequency obtained from a voltage transformer connected close to
(ROCOF) relay. Its application is based on the fact that the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). The principal
the rate of change of small changes in absolute method used is to measure the time period between
successive zero-crossings to determine the duration of
frequency, in response to inevitable small load changes,
each half-cycle, and then to compare the durations with
will be faster with the generation isolated than when the
the memorised average duration of earlier half-cycles in
generation is in parallel with the public, interconnected
order to determine the phase angle drift.
power system. However, problems with nuisance
tripping in response to national power system events,
where the system is subject to significant frequency 17.21.4 Setting Guidelines
excursions following the loss of a large generator or a Should loss of the Utility supply occur, it is extremely
major power interconnector, have occurred. This is unlikely that there will be an exact match between the
particularly true for geographically islanded power output of the embedded generator(s) and the connected
systems, such as those of the British Isles. An alternative load. A small frequency change or voltage phase angle
to ROCOF protection is a technique sometimes referred change will therefore occur, to which can be added any
to as 'voltage vector shift' protection. In this technique changes due to the small natural variations in loading of
the rate of phase change between the directly measured an isolated generator with time. Once the rate of change
generator bus voltage is compared with a memorised a.c. of frequency exceeds the setting of the ROCOF relay for
a set time, or once the voltage phase angle drift exceeds
bus voltage reference.
the set angle, tripping occurs to open the connection
Sources of embedded generation are not normally between the in-plant and Utility networks.
earthed, which presents a potential safety hazard. In the
While it is possible to estimate the rate of change of
event of an Utility system earth fault, the Utility frequency from knowledge of the generator set inertia
protection should operate to remove the Utility power and MVA rating, this is not an accurate method for
infeed. In theory, this should also result in removal of the setting a ROCOF relay because the rotational inertia of
embedded generation, through the action of the the complete network being fed by the embedded
stipulated voltage/frequency protection and dependable generation is required. For example, there may be other
'loss of mains' protection. However, in view of safety embedded generators to consider. As a result, it is
considerations (e.g. fallen overhead line conductors in invariably the case that the relay settings are determined
public areas), an additional form of earth fault protection at site during commissioning. This is to ensure that the
may also be demanded to prevent the backfeed of an Utility requirements are met while reducing the
earth fault by embedded generation. The only way of possibility of a spurious trip under the various operating
scenarios envisaged. However, it is very difficult to
detecting an earth fault under these conditions is to use
determine whether a given rate of change of frequency
neutral voltage displacement protection. The additional
w i l l be due to a 'loss of mains' incident or a
requirement is only likely to arise for embedded
load/frequency change on the public power network, and
generation rated above 150kVA, since the risk of the hence spurious trips are impossible to eliminate. Thus
small embedded generators not being cleared by other the provision of Loss of Utility Supply protection to meet
means is negligible. power distribution Utility interface protection
requirements, may actually conflict with the interests of Salient details of the generator, network and protection
the national power system operator. With the growing required are given in Table 17.2. The example
contribution of non-dispatched embedded generation to calculations are based on a MiCOM P343 relay in respect
the aggregate national power demand, the loss of the of setting ranges, etc.
embedded generation following a transmission system
17,22.1.1 Differential protection
incident that may already challenge the security of the
system can only aggravate the problem. There have been Biased differential protection involves the determination
claims that voltage vector shift protection might offer of values for four setting values: /s1 Is2, K1, and K2 in
better security, but it will have operation times that vary Figure 17.5. Is1 can be set at 5% of the generator rating,
with the rate of change of frequency. As a result, in accordance with the recommendations for the relay,
depending on the settings used, operation times might and similarly the values of Is2 (120%) and K2 (150%) of
not comply with Utility requirements under all generator rating. It remains for the value of Ks to be
circumstances. Reference 17.1 provides further details determined. The recommended value is generally 0%,
of the operation of ROCOF relays and the problems that but this only applies where CT's that conform to IEC
may be encountered. 60044-1 class PX (or the superseded BS 3938 Class X)
are used - i.e. CT's specifically designed for use in
Nevertheless, because such protection is a common
differential protection schemes. In this application, the
requirement of some Utilities, the "loss of mains'
CT's are conventional class 5P CT's that meet the relay
protection may have to be provided and the possibility of
requirements in respect of knee-point voltage, etc.
spurious trips will have to be accepted in those cases.
Where neutral tail and terminal CT's can saturate at
Site measurements over a period of time of the typical
different times due to transiently offset magnetising
rates of frequency change occurring may assist in
inrush or motor starting current waveforms with an r.m.s.
negotiations of the settings with the Utility, and with the
level close to rated current and where there is a high L/R
fine-tuning of the protection that may already be
time constant for the offset, the use of a 0% bias slope
commissioned.
may give rise to maloperation. Such waveforms can be
encountered when plant of s i m i l a r rating to the
generator is being energised or started. Differences
17.22 EXAMPLES OF GENERATOR PROTECTION
between CT designs or differing remanent flux levels can
SETTINGS
lead to asymmetric saturation and the production of a
This section gives examples of the calculations required differential spill current. Therefore, it is appropriate to
for generator protection. The first is for a typical small select a non-zero setting for K,, and a value of 5% is
generator installed on an industrial system that runs in usual in these circumstances.
parallel with the Utility supply. The second is for a larger
17.22.1.2 Voltage controlled overcurrent protection
generator-transformer unit connected to a grid system.
This protection is applied as remote backup to the
downstream overcurrent protection in the event of
17.22.1 Protection Settings of a protection or breaker failure conditions. This ensures
Small Industrial Generator that the generator will not continue to supply the fault
under these conditions.
At normal voltage, the current setting must be greater
than the maximum generator load current of 328A. A
margin must be allowed for resetting of the relay at this
current (reset ratio = 95%) and for the measurement
tolerances of the relay (5% of Is under reference
conditions), therefore the current setting is calculated as:

The nearest settable value is 365A, or 0.73ln.

The minimum phase-phase voltage for a close-up single-
phase to earth fault is 57%, so the voltage setting V,
Table 17,2: Data for small generator protection example
must be less than this. A value of 30% is typically used,
giving Vs = 33V. The current setting multiplying factor
K must be chosen such that KIS is less than 50% of the an operation time of not less than 1.13s. At a TMS of 1.0,
generator steady-state current contribution to an the generator protection relay operating time will be:
uncleared remote fault This information is not available
(missing data being common in protection studies).
However, the maximum sustained close-up phase fault
current (neglecting AVR action) is 145A, so that a setting
chosen to be significantly below this value will suffice. A
value of 87.5A (60% of the close-up sustained phase
fault current) is therefore chosen, and hence K = 0.6.
1.13
This is considered to be appropriate based on knowledge =2.97s, so the required TMS is =0.38 .
2.97
of the system circuit impedances. The TMS setting is Use a setting of 0.4, nearest available setting.
chosen to co-ordinate with the downstream feeder
77.22.1.4 Neutral voltage displacement protection This
protection such that:
protection is provided as back-up earth-fault
1. for a close-up feeder three-phase fault, that results protection for the generator and downstream system
in almost total voltage collapse as seen by the relay (direct-connected generator). It must therefore have a
2. for a fault at the next downstream relay location, if setting that grades with the downstream protection. The
the relay voltage is less than the switching voltage protection is driven from the generator star-connected
VT, while the downstream protection is current operated.
It should also be chosen so that the generator cannot be
subjected to fault or overload current in excess of the It is therefore necessary to translate the current setting
stator short-time current limits. A curve should be of the downstream setting of the current-operated
provided by the manufacturer, but IEC 60034-1 demands earth-fault protection into the equivalent voltage for the
that an AC generator should be able to pass 1.5 times NVD protection. The equivalent voltage is found from
rated current for at least 30 seconds. The operating time the formula:
of the downstream protection for a three-phase fault
current of 850A is 0.682s, so the voltage controlled relay
element should have a minimum operating time of 1.09s
(0.4s grading margin used as the relay technology used
for the downstream relay is not stated - see Table 9.2).
With a current setting of 87.5A, the operating time of
the voltage controlled relay element at a TMS of 1.0 is:
eS
_(l pc xZ c )x3 ~
VT ratio =
48x31.7x3
100
Therefore a TMS of:
where:
Veff = effective voltage setting
Ipe = downstream earth-fault current setting
is required. Use 0.375, nearest available setting.
Ze = earthing resistance
H£2.1.3 Stator earth fault protection
Hence a setting of 48V is acceptable. Time grading is
The maximum earth fault current, from Table 17.2, is required, with a minimum operating time of the NVD
200A. Protection for 95% of the winding can be protection of 1.13s at an earth fault current of 200A.
provided if the relay is set to detect a primary earth fault Using the expression for the operation time of the NVD
current of 16.4A, and this equates to a CT secondary element:
current of 0.033A. The nearest relay setting is 0.04A,
t = K/(M-1) sec
providing protection for 90% of the winding.
where:
The protection must grade with the downstream earth
fault protection, the settings of which are also given in =45.6V
Table 17.2. At an earth fault current of 200A, the
where:
downstream protection has an operation time of 0.73s.
The generator earth fault protection must therefore have Vef/- = effective voltage setting
and
V = voltage seen by relay
Vsnvd = relay setting voltage
the value of K can be calculated as 3.34. The nearest
settable value is 3.5, giving an operation time of 1.18s.
17.22.1.5 Loss of excitation protection quantities (corresponding to 107% of rated stator
voltage) is typically used, with a definite time delay of
Loss of excitation is detected by a mho impedance relay
10s to a l low for transients due to load switch-
element, as detailed in Section 17.16.2. The standard
off/rejection, overvoltages on recovery from faults or
settings for the P340 series relay are:
motor starting, etc.
The second element provides protection in the event of a
large overvoltage, by tripping excitation and the
generator circuit breaker (if closed). This must be set
below the maximum stator voltage possible, taking into
account saturation. As the open circuit characteristic of
the generator is not available, typical values must be
used. Saturation will normally limit the maximum
overvoltage on this type of generator to 130%, so a
setting of 120% (132V secondary) is typically used.
The nearest settings provided by the relay are Xa = -
Instantaneous operation is required. Generator
14.5Om Xb = 227Om. The time delay Td1 should be set
manufacturers are normally a b le to provide
to avoid relay element operation on power swings and a
recommendations for the relay settings. For embedded
typical setting of 3s is used. This value may need to be
generators, the requirements of the local Utility may also
modified in the light of operating experience. To prevent
have to be taken into account. For both elements, a
cyclical pick-up of the relay element without tripping,
variety of voltage measurement modes are available to
such as might occur during pole-slipping conditions, a
take account of possible VT connections (single or three-
drop-off time delay tdo1 is provided and set to 0.5s.
phase, etc.), and conditions to be protected against. In
17.22.1.6 Negative phase sequence current protection this example, a three-phase VT connection is used, and
overvoltages on any phase are to be detected, so a
This protection is required to guard against excessive
selection of 'Any' is used for this setting.
heating from negative phase sequence currents, whatever
the cause. The generator is of salient pole design, so from 17.22.1.8 Underfrequency protection
IEC 60034-1, the continuous withstand is 8% of rating
This is required to protect the generator from sustained
and the I2t value is 20s. Using Equation 17.1, the
overload conditions during periods of operation isolated
required relay settings can found as I2>>= 0.05 and K =
from the Utility supply. The generating set manufacturer
8.6s. The nearest available values are I2» = 0.05 and
will normally provide the details of machine short-time
K = 8.6s. The relay also has a cooling time constant
capabilities. The example relay provides four stages of
Kreset that is normally set equal to the value of K. To co-
underfrequency protection. In this case, the first stage is
ordinate with clearance of heavy asymmetric system
used for alarm purposes and a second stage would be
faults, that might otherwise cause unnecessary operation
applied to trip the set.
of this protection, a minimum operation time tmin should
be applied. It is recommended to set this to a value of 1. The alarm stage might typically be set to 49Hz, with a
Similarly, a maximum time can be applied to ensure that time delay of 20s, to avoid an alarm being raised under
the thermal rating of the generator is not exceeded (as transient conditions, e.g. during plant motor starting.
this is uncertain, data not available) and to take account The trip stage might be set to 48Hz, with a time delay of
of the fact that the P343 characteristic is not identical 0.5s, to avoid tripping for transient, but recoverable, dips
with that specified in IEC 60034. The recommended in frequency below this value.
setting for tmax is 600s. 17.22.1.9 Reverse power protection The
17.22.1.7 Overvoltage protection
This is required to guard against various failure modes,
e.g. AVR failure, resulting in excessive stator voltage. A
two-stage protection is available, the first being a low-
set time-delayed stage that should be set to grade with
transient overvoltages that can be tolerated following
load rejection. The second is a high-set stage used for
instantaneous tripping in the event of an intolerable
overvoltage condition arising. This value can be set in the relay. A time delay is
Generators can normally withstand 105% of rated required to guard against power swings while generating
voltage continuously, so the low-set stage should be set at low power levels, so use a time delay of 5s. No reset
higher than this value. A setting of 117.7V in secondary time delay is required.
relay setting is 5% of rated power.
 Table 17,4: System data for large generator protection example

17.22.2.2 Voltage restrained overcurrent protection

The setting current Iset has to be greater than the full-
load current of the generator (6019A). A suitable margin
must be allowed for operation at reduced voltage, so use
a multiplying factor of 1.2. The nearest settable value is
7200A. The factor K is calculated so that the operating
Table 17.3: Small generator protection example - relay settings current is less than the current for a remote end three
phase fault. The steady-state current and voltage at the
generator for a remote-end three-phase fault are given
by the expressions:
17.22.2 Large Generator Transformer Unit Protection

The data for this unit are given in Table 17.4. It is fitted
with two main protection systems to ensure security of
tripping in the event of a fault. To economise on space,
the setting calculations for only one system, that using a where:
MiCOM P343 relay are given. Settings are given in
If = minimum generator primary current for a
primary quantities throughout.
multi-phase feeder-end fault
17.22.2.1 Biased differential protection
VN = no-load phase-neutral generator voltage
The settings follow the guidelines previously stated. As
Xd = generator d-axis synchronous reactance
100% stator winding earth-fault protection is provided,
high sensitivity is not required and hence Isl can be set XT = generator transformer reactance
to 10% of generator rated current. This equates to 602A,
Rf = feeder resistance
and the nearest settable value on the relay is 640A (=
0.08 of rated CT current). The settings for K,, Is2 and K2 Xf = feeder reactance
follow the guidelines in the relay manual. n = number of parallel generators
hence, A TMS value of 10 is selected, to match the withstand
curve supplied by the manufacturer.
17.22.2.6 100% Stator earth fault protection
This is provided by a combination of neutral voltage
and
displacement and third harmonic undervoltage
protection. For the neutral voltage displacement
protection to cover 90% of the stator winding, the
minimum voltage allowing for generator operation at a
minimum of 92% of rated voltage is:

A suitable value of K is therefore 0,361/1,2=0.3 .

A suitable value of V2set is 120% of Vflt giving a value of
1565V. The nearest settable value is 3000V, minimum
Use a value of 935.3V, nearest settable value that
allowable relay setting. The value of V1set is required to
ensures 90% of the winding is covered. A 0.5s definite
be above the minimum voltage seen by the generator for
a close-up phase-earth fault. A value of 80% of rated time delay is used to prevent spurious trips. The third
voltage is used for V1set 14400V. harmonic voltage under normal conditions is 2% of rated
voltage, giving a value of:
17.22.2.3 Inadvertent energisation protection
This protection is a combination of overcurrent with
undervoltage, the voltage signal being obtained from a
VT on the generator side of the system. The current
setting used is that of rated generator current of 6019A,
in accordance with IEEE C37.102 as the generator is for
The setting of the third harmonic undervoltage
installation in the USA. Use 6000A nearest settable
protection must be below this value, a factor of 80%
value. The voltage setting cannot be more than 85% of
being acceptable. Use a value of 166.3V. A time delay
the generator rated voltage to ensure operation does not
of 0.5s is used. Inhibition of the element at low
occur under normal operation. For this application, a
generator output requires determination during
value of 50% of rated voltage is chosen.
commissioning.
17.22.2.4 Negative phase sequence protection
17.22.2.7 Loss of excitation protection
The generator has a maximum steady-state capability of
The client requires a two-stage loss of excitation
8% of rating, and a value of Kg of 10. Settings of I2cmr =
protection function. The first is alarm only, while the
0.06 [=480A] and Kg = 10 are therefore used.
second provides tripping under high load conditions. To
Minimum and maximum time delays of 1s and 1300s are
achieve this, the first impedance element of the P343
used to co-ordinate with external protection and ensure
loss of excitation protection can be set in accordance
tripping at low levels of negative sequence current are
with the guidelines of Section 17.16.3 for a generator
used.
operating at rotor angles up to 120°, as follows:
17.22.2.5 Overfluxing protection
The generator-transformer manufacturer supplied the
following characteristics:
Use nearest settable values of 1.669 and 0.253 ,
Alarm: A time delay of 5s is used to prevent alarms under
transient conditions. For the trip stage, settings for high
Trip: ,inverse time characteristic load as given in Section 17.16.3 are used:

Hence the alarm setting is 18000x1,05/60=315V/Hz .

A time delay of 5s is used to avoid alarms due to
transient conditions.

The trip setting is 18000x1,2/60=360V/Hz . The nearest settable value for X b2 is 1.725 ,. A time
delay of 0.5s is used.
17.22.2.8 Reverse power protection
The manufacturer-supplied value for motoring power is
2% of rated power. The recommended setting is
therefore 1.6MW. An instrumentation class CT is used in
conjunction with the relay for this protection, to ensure
accuracy of measurement. A time delay of 0.5s is used.
The settings should be checked at the commissioning
stage.

17.22.2.9 Over/under-frequency protection

For under-frequency protection, the client has specified

the following characteristics:

Alarm: 59.3Hz, 0.5s time delay

1st stage trip: 58.7Hz, 100s time delay

2nd stage trip: 58.2Hz, 1s time delay Similarly, the

overfrequency is required to be set as follows:

Alarm: 62Hz, 30s time delay

Trip: 63.5Hz, 10s time delay These characteristics can

be set in the relay directly. 17.22.2.10 Overvoltage

protection The generator manufacturers' recommendation

is:

Alarm: 110% voltage for 5s

Trip: 130% voltage, instantaneous This

translates into the following relay settings:

Alarm: 19800V, 5s time delay

Trip: 23400V, 0.1s time delay

17.22.2.11 Pole slipping protection

This is provided by the method described in Section

17,7.3.2. Detection at a maximum slip frequency of 10Hz
is required. The setting data, according to the relay
manual, is as follows.

Forward reach, Z A = Z n + Z t

= 0.02 + 0.22
=
0.24Ohm Reverse reach, ZB
= ZGen

= 2 x X'd
= 0.652Ohm,
Reactance line, Z c = 0.9 x Z

= 0.9 x 0.22
= 0.198 Ohm.
where:
Z1 = generator transformer leakage impedance Zn
= network impedance
Table 17.5: Relay settings for large generator protection example
The nearest settable values are 0.243 , 0.656 , and
0.206 respectively.
The lens angle setting, a, is found from the equation:

and, substituting values,

Use the minimum settable value of 90°. The blinder angle,

, is estimated to be 80°, and requires checking during
commissioning. Timers T1 and T2 are set to 15ms as
experience has shown that these settings are satisfactory
to detect pole slipping frequencies up to 10Hz.
This completes the settings required for the generator,
and the relay settings are given in Table 17.5. Of course,
additional protection is required for the generator
transformer, according to the principles described in
Chapter 16.

17.23 REFERENCES

17.1 Survey of Rate Of Change of Frequency Relays

and Voltage Phase Shift Relays for Loss of Mains
Protection. ERA Report 95-0712R, 1995. ERA
Technology Ltd.
18 • Industrial and Commercial
Power System Protection

18.1 INTRODUCTION
As industrial and commercial operations processes and
plants have become more complex and extensive (Figure
18.1), the requirement for improved reliability of
electrical power supplies has also increased. The
potential costs of outage time following a failure of the
power supply to a plant have risen dramatically as well.
The introduction of automation techniques into industry
and commerce has naturally led to a demand for the
deployment of more power system automation, to
improve reliability and efficiency.

Figure 18.1: Large modern industrial plant

The protection and control of industrial power supply

systems must be given careful attention. Many of the
techniques that have been evolved for EHV power
systems may be applied to lower voltage systems also,
but typically on a reduced scale. However, industrial
systems have many special problems that have
warranted individual attention and the development of
specific solutions.
Many industrial plants have their own generation
installed. Sometimes it is for emergency use only,
feeding a limited number of busbars and with limited
capacity. This arrangement is often adopted to ensure
safe shutdown of process plant and personnel safety. In
other plants, the nature of the process allows production of the standby generator facility. A standby generator is
of a substantial quantity of electricity, perhaps allowing usually of the turbo-charged diesel-driven type. On
export of any surplus to the public supply system - at detection of loss of incoming supply at any switchboard
either at sub-transmission or distribution voltage levels. with an emergency section, the generator is
Plants that run generation in parallel with the public automatically started. The appropriate circuit breakers
supply distribution network are often referred to as co- will close once the generating set is up to speed and
generation or embedded generation. Special protection rated voltage to restore supply to the Essential Services
arrangements may be demanded for the point of sections of the switchboards affected, provided that the
connection between the private and public Utility plant normal incoming supply is absent - for a typical diesel
(see Chapter 17 for further details). generator set, the emergency supply would be available
within 10-20 seconds from the start sequence command
Industrial systems typically comprise numerous cable
being issued.
feeders and transformers. Chapter 16 covers the
protection of transformers and Chapters 9/10 the
protection of feeders.

18.2 BUSBAR ARRANGEMENT

The arrangement of the busbar system is obviously very
important, and it can be quite complex for some very
large industrial systems. However, in most systems a
single busbar divided into sections by a bus-section
circuit breaker is common, as illustrated in Figure 18.2.
Main and standby drives for a particular item of process
equipment will be fed from different sections of the
switchboard, or sometimes from different switchboards.

Figure 18.2: Typical switchboard

configuration for an industrial plant
Figure 18.3: Typical industrial power system

The Essential Services Boards are used to feed equipment

The main power system design criterion is that single
that is essential for the safe shut down, limited operation
outages on the electrical network within the plant will
or preservation of the plant and for the safety of
not cause loss of both the main and standby drives
personnel.
simultaneously. Considering a medium sized industrial
supply system, illustrated in Figure 18.3, in more detail, This will cover process drives essential for safe shutdown,
it will be seen that not only are duplicate supplies and venting systems, UPS loads feeding emergency lighting,
transformers used, but also certain important loads are process control computers, etc. The emergency
segregated and fed from 'Essential Services Board(s)1 generator may range in size from a single unit rated 20-
(also known as 'Emergency' boards), distributed 30kW in a small plant up to several units of 2-10MW
throughout the plant. This enables maximum utilisation rating in a large oil refinery or similar plant. Large
financial trading institutions may also have standby illustrated in Figure 18.4. When an unprotected circuit
power requirements of several MW to maintain is subjected to a short circuit fault, the r.m.s. current
computer services. rises towards a 'prospective' (or maximum) value. The
fuse usually interrupts the short circuit current before it
can reach the prospective value, in the first quarter to
18.3 DISCRIMINATION half cycle of the short circuit. The rising current is
Protection equipment works in conjunction with interrupted by the melting of the fusible element,
switchgear. For a typical industrial system, feeders and subsequently dying away dying away to zero during the
plant will be protected mainly by circuit breakers of arcing period.
various types and by fused contactors. Circuit breakers
will have their associated overcurrent and earth fault
relays. A contactor may also be equipped with a
protection device (e.g. motor protection), but associated
fuses are provided to break fault currents in excess of the
contactor interrupting capability. The rating of fuses and
selection of relay settings is carried out to ensure that
discrimination is achieved - i.e. the ability to select and
isolate only the faulty part of the system.

18.4 HRC FUSES

The protection device nearest to the actual point of
power utilisation is most likely to be a fuse or a system
of fuses and it is important that consideration is given to
Figure 18.4: HRC fuse cut-off feature
the correct application of this important device.
The HRC fuse is a key fault clearance device for
Since the electromagnetic forces on busbars and
protection in industrial and commercial installations,
connections carrying short circuit current are related to the
whether mounted in a distribution fuseboard or as part
square of the current, it will be appreciated that 'cut-off
of a contactor or fuse-switch. The latter is regarded as a
significantly reduces the mechanical forces produced by
vital part of LV circuit protection, combining safe circuit
the fault current and which may distort the busbars and
making and breaking with an isolating capability
connections if not correctly rated. A typical example of
achieved in conjunction with the reliable short-circuit
'cut-off current characteristics is illustrated in Figure 18.5.
protection of the HRC fuse. Fuses combine the
characteristics of economy and reliability; factors that
are most important in industrial applications.
HRC fuses remain consistent and stable in their breaking
characteristics in service without calibration and
maintenance. This is one of the most significant factors
for maintaining fault clearance discrimination. Lack of
discrimination through incorrect fuse grading will result
in unnecessary disconnection of supplies, but if both the
major and minor fuses are HRC devices of proper design
and manufacture, this need not endanger personnel or
cables associated with the plant.

18.4.1 Fuse Characteristics

The time required for melting the fusible element
depends on the magnitude of current. This time is known
as the 'pre-arcing' time of the fuse. Vaporisation of the
element occurs on melting and there is fusion between
the vapour and the filling powder leading to rapid arc
extinction.
Fuses have a valuable characteristic known as 'cut-off, Figure 18.5: Typical fuse cut-off current
characteristics
It is possible to use this characteristic during the design 18.4.4 Effect of Ambient Temperature
stage of a project to utilise equipment with a lower fault
High ambient temperatures can influence the capability
withstand rating downstream of the fuse, than would be
of HRC fuses. Most fuses are suitable for use in ambient
the case if 'cut-off was ignored. This may save on costs, temperatures up to 35°C, but for some fuse ratings,
but appropriate documentation and maintenance derating may be necessary at higher ambient
controls are required to ensure that only replacement temperatures. Manufacturers' published literature
fuses of very similar characteristics are used throughout should be consulted for the de-rating factor to be
the lifetime of the plant concerned - otherwise a safety applied.
hazard may arise.

18.4.5 Protection of Motors

18.4.2 Discrimination Between Fuses
The manufacturers' literature should also be consulted
Fuses are often connected in series electrically and it is when fuses are to be applied to motor circuits. In this
essential that they should be able to discriminate with application, the fuse provides short circuit protection but
each other at all current levels. Discrimination is must be selected to withstand the starting current
obtained when the larger ('major') fuse remains (possibly up to 8 times full load current), and also carry
unaffected by fault currents that are cleared by the the normal full load current continuously without
smaller ('minor') fuse. deterioration. Tables of recommended fuse sizes for both
The fuse operating time can be considered in two parts: 'direct on line' and 'assisted start' motor applications are
usually given. Examples of protection using fuses are
i. the time taken for fault current to melt the given in Section 18.12.1.
element, known as the 'pre-arcing time'
ii. the time taken by the arc produced inside the fuse
to extinguish and isolate the circuit, known as the 18.5 INDUSTRIAL CIRCUIT BREAKERS
'arcing time' Some parts of an industrial power system are most
The total energy dissipated in a fuse during its operation effectively protected by HRC fuses, but the replacement
consists of 'pre-arcing energy' and 'arc energy' The of blown fuse links can be particularly inconvenient in
values are usually expressed in terms of Pt, where / is the others. In these locations, circuit breakers are used
current passing through the fuse and t is the time in instead, the requirement being for the breaker to
interrupt the maximum possible fault current
seconds. Expressing the quantities in this manner
successfully without damage to itself. In addition to
provides an assessment of the heating effect that the
fault current interruption, the breaker must quickly
fuse imposes on associated equipment during its
disperse the resulting ionised gas away from the breaker
operation under fault conditions.
contacts, to prevent re-striking of the arc, and away from
To obtain positive discrimination between fuses, the total other live parts of equipment to prevent breakdown. The
I2t value of the minor fuse must not exceed the pre- breaker, its cable or busbar connections, and the breaker
arcing /lvalue of the major fuse. In practice, this means housing, must all be constructed to withstand the
that the major fuse wi ll have to have a rating mechanical forces resulting from the magnetic fields and
significantly higher than that of the minor fuse, and this internal arc gas pressure produced by the highest levels
may give rise to problems of discrimination. Typically, of fault current to be encountered.
the major fuse must have a rating of at least 160% of
The types of circuit breaker most frequently encountered
the minor fuse for discrimination to be obtained.
in industrial system are described in the following
sections.
18.4.3 Protection of Cables by Fuses
PVC cable is allowed to be loaded to its full nominal 18.5.1 Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCB's)
rating only if it has 'close excess current protection'. This
MCB's are small circuit breakers, both in physical size but
degree of protection can be given by means of a fuse link
more importantly, in ratings. The basic single pole unit is
having a 'fusing factor' not exceeding 1.5, where:
a small, manually closed, electrically or manually opened
switch housed in a moulded plastic casing. They arc
suitable for use on 230V a.c. single-phase/400V a.c.
three-phase systems and for d.c. auxiliary supply
Cables constructed using other insulating materials (e.g. systems, with current ratings of up to 125A. Contained
paper, XLPE) have no special requirements in this respect. within each unit is a thermal element, in which a bimetal
strip will trip the switch when excessive current passes b. the breakers are larger, commensurate with the
through it. This element operates with a predetermined level of ratings. Although available as single,
inverse-time/current characteristic. Higher currents, double or triple pole units, the multiple pole units
typically those exceeding 3-10 times rated current, trip have a common housing for all the poles. Where
the circuit breaker without intentional delay by fitted, the switch for the neutral circuit is usually a
actuating a magnetic trip overcurrent element. The separate device, coupled to the multi-pole MCCB
operating time characteristics of MCB's are not
adjustable. European Standard EN 60898-2 defines the c. the operating levels of the magnetic and thermal
instantaneous trip characteristics, while the protection elements may be adjustable, particularly
manufacturer can define the inverse time thermal trip in the larger MCCB's
characteristic. Therefore, a typical tripping characteristic d. because of their higher ratings, MCCB's are usually
does not exist. The maximum a.c. breaking current positioned in the power distribution system nearer
permitted by the standard is 25kA. to the power source than the MCB's
Single-pole units may be coupled mechanically in groups e. the appropriate European specification is EN
to form 2, 3 or 4 pole units, when required, by assembly
60947-2
on to a rail in a distribution board. The available ratings
make MCB's suitable for industrial, commercial or Care must be taken in the short-circuit ratings of
domestic applications, for protecting equipment such as MCCB's. MCCB's are given two breaking capacities, the
cables, lighting and heating circuits, and also for the higher of which is its ultimate breaking capacity. The
control and protection of low power motor circuits. They significance of this is that after breaking such a current,
may be used instead of fuses on individual circuits, and the MCCB may not be fit for continued use. The lower,
they are usually 'backed-up' by a device of higher fault or service, short circuit breaking capacity permits
interrupting capacity. continued use without further detailed examination of
the device. The standard permits a service breaking
Various accessory units, such as isolators, timers, and
capacity of as little as 25% of the ultimate breaking
undervoltage or shunt trip release units may be
capacity. While there is no objection to use of MCCB's
combined with an MCB to suit the particular circuit to be
controlled and protected. When personnel or fire to break short-circuit currents between the service and
protection is required, a residual current device (RCD) ultimate values, the inspection required after such a trip
may be combined with the MCB. The RCD contains a reduces the usefulness of the device in such
miniature core balance current transformer that circumstances. It is also clearly difficult to determine if
embraces all of the phase and neutral conductors to the magnitude of the fault current was in excess of the
provide sensitivity to earth faults within a typical range service rating.
of 0.05% to 1.5% of rated current, dependent on the The time-delay characteristics of the magnetic or
RCD selected. The core balance CT energises a common thermal timed trip, together with the necessity for, or
magnetic trip actuator for the MCB assembly. size of, a back-up device varies with make and size of
It is also possible to obtain current-limiting MCB's. breaker. Some MCCB's are fitted with microprocessor-
These types open prior to the prospective fault current controlled programmable trip characteristics offering a
being reached, and therefore have similar properties to wide range of such characteristics. Time-delayed
HRC fuses. It is claimed that the extra initial cost is overcurrent characteristics may not be the same as the
outweighed by lifetime savings in replacement costs standard characteristics for dependent-time protection
after a fault has occurred, plus the advantage of stated in IEC 60255-3. Hence, discrimination with other
providing improved protection against electric shock if protection must be considered carefully. There can be
an RCD is used. As a result of the increased safety problems where two or more MCB's or MCCB's are
provided by MCB's fitted with an RCD device, they are electrically in series, as obtaining selectivity between
tending to replace fuses, especially in new installations. them may be difficult. There may be a requirement that
the major device should have a rating of k times the
minor device to allow discrimination, in a similar manner
■.5.2 Moulded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB's) to fuses - the manufacturer should be consulted as to
These circuit breakers are broadly similar to MCB's but value of k. Careful examination of manufacturers'
have the following important differences: literature is always required at the design stage to
determine any such limitations that may be imposed by
a. the maximum ratings are higher, with voltage
particular makes and types of MCCB's. An example of co-
ratings up to 1000V a.c/1200V d.c. Current ratings of
ordination between MCCB's, fuses and relays is given in
2.5kA continuous/180kA r.m.s break are possible,
Section 18.12.2.
dependent upon power factor
18.5.3 Air Circuit Breakers (ACB's) ACB's are normally fitted with integral overcurrent
protection, thus avoiding the need for separate
Air circuit breakers are frequently encountered on
protection devices. However, the operating time
industrial systems rated at 3.3kVand below. Modern LV
characteristics of the integral protection are often
ACB's are available in current ratings of up to 6.3kA with
designed to make discrimination with
maximum breaking capacities in the range of 85kA-
MCB's/MCCB's/fuses easier and so they may not be in
120kA r.m.s., depending on system voltage.
accordance with the standard dependent time
This type of breaker operates on the principle that the arc characteristics given in IEC 60255-3. Therefore,
produced when the main contacts open is controlled by problems in co-ordination with discrete protection relays
directing it into an arc chute. Here, the arc resistance is may still arise, but modern numerical relays have more
increased and hence the current reduced to the point flexible characteristics to alleviate such difficulties.
where the circuit voltage cannot maintain the arc and ACB's will also have facilities for accepting an external
the current reduces to zero. To assist in the quenching trip signal, and this can be used in conjunction with an
of low current arcs, an air cylinder may be fitted to each external relay if desired. Figure 18.6 illustrates the
pole to direct a blast of air across the contact faces as typical tripping characteristics available.
the breaker opens, so reducing contact erosion.
Air circuit breakers for industrial use are usually
18.5.4 Oil Circuit Breakers (OCB's)
withdrawable and are constructed with a flush front
plate making them ideal for inclusion together with fuse Oil circuit breakers have been very popular for many
switches and MCB's/MCCB's in modular multi-tier years for industrial supply systems at voltages of 3.3kV
distribution switchboards, so maximising the number of and above. They are found in both 'bulk oil' and
circuits within a given floor area. 'minimum oil' types, the only significant difference being
the volume of oil in the tank.
Older types using a manual or dependent manual closing
mechanism are regarded as being a safety hazard. This In this type of breaker, the main contacts are housed in
arises under conditions of closing the CB when a fault an oil-filled tank, with the oil acting as the both the
exists on the circuit being controlled. During the close- insulation and the arc-quenching medium. The arc
trip operation, there is a danger of egress of the arc from produced during contact separation under fault
the casing of the CB, with a consequent risk of injury to conditions causes dissociation of the hydrocarbon
the operator. Such types may be required to be replaced insulating oil into hydrogen and carbon. The hydrogen
with modern equivalents. extinguishes the arc. The carbon produced mixes with
the oil. As the carbon is conductive, the oil must be
changed after a prescribed number of fault clearances,
when the degree of contamination reaches an
unacceptable level.
Because of the fire risk involved with oil, precautions
such as the construction of fire/blast walls may have to
be taken when OCB's are installed.

18.5.5 Vacuum Circuit Breakers (VCB's)

In recent years, this type of circuit breaker, along with
CB's using 5F6, has replaced OCB's for new installations
in industrial/commercial systems at voltages of 3.3kV
and above.
Compared with oil circuit breakers, vacuum breakers
have no fire risk and they have high reliability with long
maintenance free periods. A variation is the vacuum
contactor with HRC fuses, used in HV motor starter
applications.

18.5.6 SF6 Circuit Breakers

Figure T8.6: Typical tripping characteristics In some countries, circuit breakers using SF6 gas as the
ofanACB arc-quenching medium are preferred to VCB's as the
Figure 18.7; Overcurrent and earth fault
relay connections
replacement for air- and oil-insulated CB's. Some connection to drive an earth fault relay provides earth
modern types of switchgear cubicles enable the use of fault protection at the source of supply for a 4-wire
either VCB's or SF6-insulated CB's according to customer system. If the neutral CT is omitted, neutral current is
requirements. Ratings of up to 31.5kA r.m.s. fault break seen by the relay as earth fault current and the relay
at 36kV and 40kA at 24kV are typical. SF6-insulated CB's setting would have to be increased to prevent tripping
also have advantages of reliability and maintenance under normal load conditions.
intervals compared to air- or oil-insulated CB's and are
When an earth fault relay is driven from residually
of similar size to VCB's for the same rating.
connected CT's, the relay current and time settings must
be such that that the protection will be stable during the
passage of transient CT spill current through the relay.
18.6 PROTECTION RELAYS
Such spill current can flow in the event of transient,
When the circuit breaker itself does not have integral asymmetric CT saturation during the passage of offset
protection, then a suitable external relay will have to be fault current, inrush current or motor starting current.
provided. For an industrial system, the most common The risk of such nuisance tripping is greater with the
protection relays are time-delayed overcurrent and earth deployment of low impedance electronic relays rather
fault relays. Chapter 9 provides details of the application than electromechanical earth fault relays which
of overcurrent relays. presented significant relay circuit impedance. Energising
Traditionally, for three wire systems, overcurrent relays a relay from a core balance type CT generally enables
have often been applied to two phases only for relay more sensitive settings to be obtained without the risk of
element economy. Even with modern multi-element nuisance tripping with residually connected phase CT's.
relay designs, economy is still a consideration in terms of When this method is applied to a four-wire system, it is
the number of analogue current inputs that have to be essential that both the phase and neutral conductors are
provided. Two overcurrent elements will detect any passed through the core balance CT aperture. For a 3-
interphase fault, so it is conventional to apply two wire system, care must be taken with the arrangement of
elements on the same phases at all relay locations. The the cable sheath, otherwise cable faults involving the
phase CT residual current connections for an earth fault sheath may not result in relay operation (Figure 18.8).
relay element are unaffected by this convention. Figure
18.7 illustrates the possible relay connections and
limitations on settings.

18.7 CO-ORDINATION PROBLEMS

There are a number of problems that commonly occur in
industrial and commercial networks that are covered in
the following sections.
18.7.1.1 Earth Fault protection
with residualiy-eonnected CT's
For four-wire systems, the residual connection of three
phase CT's to an earth fault relay element will offer earth
fault protection, but the earth fault relay element must
be set above the highest single-phase load current to
avoid nuisance tripping. Harmonic currents (which may
sum in the neutral conductor) may also result in spurious
tripping. The earth fault relay element will also respond
to a phase-neutral fault for the phase that is not covered
by an overcurrent element where only two overcurrent
elements are applied. Where it is required that the earth
fault protection should respond only to earth fault
current, the protection element must be residually
connected to three phase CT's and to a neutral CT or to
a core-balance CT. In this case, overcurrent protection
must be applied to all three phases to ensure that all
phase-neutral faults will be detected by overcurrent
protection. Placing a CT in the neutral earthing Figure 18.8: CBCT connection for
four-wire system
,18.7.2 Four-Wire Dual-Fed Substations 18.7.2.2 Use of single earth electrode
The co-ordination of earth fault relays protecting four- A configuration sometimes adopted with four-wire dual-
wire systems requires special consideration in the case of fed substations where only a 3-pole bus section CB is
low voltage, dual-fed installations. Horcher [18.1] has used is to use a single earth electrode connected to the
suggested various methods of achieving optimum co- mid-point of the neutral busbar in the switchgear, as
ordination. Problems in achieving optimum protection shown in Figure 18.10. When operating with both
for common configurations are described below. incoming main circuit breakers and the bus section
breaker closed, the bus section breaker must be opened
18.7.2.1 Use of 3-pole CB's
first should an earth fault occur, in order to achieve
When both neutrals are earthed at the transformers and discrimination. The co-ordination time between the
all circuit breakers are of the 3-pole type, the neutral earth fault relays RF and RE should be established at
busbar in the switchgear creates a double neutral to fault level F2 for a substation with both incoming supply
earth connection, as shown in Figure 18.9. In the event breakers and bus section breaker closed.
of an uncleared feeder earth fault or busbar earth fault,
with both the incoming supply breakers closed and the
bus section breaker open, the earth fault current will
divide between the two earth connections. Earth fault
relay RE2 may operate, tripping the supply to the healthy
section of the switchboard as well as relay RE1 tripping
the supply to the faulted section.

Figure 7S. 70: Dual fed four-wire systems:

use of single point neutral earthing

When the substation is operated with the bus section

switch closed and either one or both of the incoming
supply breakers closed, it is possible for unbalanced
neutral busbar load current caused by single phase
Figure 18.9: Dual fed four-wire systems: loading to operate relay RS1 and/or RS2 and inadvertently
use of 3-pole CB's trip the incoming breaker. Interlocking the trip circuit of
each Rs relay with normally closed auxiliary contacts on
If only one incoming supply breaker is closed, the earth the bus section breaker can prevent this.
fault relay on the energised side will see only a However, should an earth fault occur on one side of the
proportion of the fault current flowing in the neutral busbar when relays Rs are already operated, it is possible
busbar. This not only significantly increases the relay for a contact race to occur. When the bus section
operating time but also reduces its sensitivity to low- breaker opens, its break contact may close before the Rs
level earth faults. relay trip contact on the healthy side can open (reset).
The solution to this problem is to utilise 4-pole CB's that Raising the pick-up level of relays RS1 and RS2 above the
switch the neutral as well as the three phases. Then maximum unbalanced neutral current may prevent the
there is only a single earth fault path and relay operation tripping of both supply breakers in this case. However,
is not compromised. the best solution is to use 4-pole circuit breakers, and
independently earth both sides of the busbar. relatively easy, using appropriate calculation software, to
determine the magnitude and duration of the motor
If, during a busbar earth fault or uncleared feeder earth
contribution, so enabling a more accurate assessment of
fault, the bus section breaker fails to open when
the fault level for:
required, the interlocking break auxiliary contact will
also be inoperative. This will prevent relays RS1 and RS2 a. discrimination in relay co-ordination
from operating and providing back-up protection, with
b. determination of the required switchgear/busbar
the result that the fault must be cleared eventually by fault rating
slower phase overcurrent relays. An alternative method
of obtaining back-up protection could be to connect a For protection calculations, motor fault level
second relay R'E, in series with relay RE, having an contribution is not an issue that is generally is important.
operation time set longer than that of relays RS1 and In industrial networks, fault clearance time is often
RS2. But since the additional relay must be arranged to assumed to occur at 5 cycles after fault occurrence, and
trip both of the incoming supply breakers, back-up at this time, the motor fault level contribution is much
protection would be obtained but busbar selectivity less than just after fault occurrence. In rare cases, it may
would be lost. have to be taken into consider?tion for correct time
grading for through-fault protection considerations, and
An example of protection of a typical dual-fed
in the calculation of peak voltage for high-impedance
switchboard is given in Section 18.12.3.
differential protection schemes.
It is more important to take motor contribution into
18.8 FAULT CURRENT CONTRIBUTION account when considering the fault rating of equipment
FROM INDUCTION MOTORS (busbars, cables, switchgear, etc.). In general, the initial
When an industrial system contains motor loads, the a.c. component of current from a motor at the instant of
motors will contribute fault current for a short time. fault is of s i m i l a r magnitude to the direct-on-line
They contribute to the total fault current via the starting current of the motor. For LV motors, 5xFLC is
following mechanism. often assumed as the typical fault current contribution
(after taking into account the effect of motor cable
When an induction motor is running, a flux, generated by
impedance), with 5.5xFLC for HV motors, unless it is
the stator winding, rotates at synchronous speed and
known that low starting current HV motors are used. It
interacts with the rotor. If a large reduction in the stator
is also accepted that s i m i l a r motors connected to a
voltage occurs for any reason, the flux in the motor
busbar can be lumped together as one equivalent motor.
cannot change instantaneously and the mechanical
In doing so, motor rated speed may need to be taken into
inertia of the machine will tend to inhibit speed
consideration, as 2 or 4 pole motors have a longer fault
reduction over the first few cycles of fault duration. The
current decay than motors with a greater number of
trapped flux in the rotor generates a stator voltage equal
poles. The kVA rating of the single equivalent motor is
initially to the back e.m.f. induced in the stator before
taken as the sum of the kVA ratings of the individual
the fault and decaying according to the X/R ratio of the
motors considered. It is still possible for motor
associated flux and current paths. The induction motor
contribution to be neglected in cases where the motor
therefore acts as a generator resulting in a contribution
load on a busbar is small in comparison to the total load
of current having both a.c. and d.c. components decaying
(again IEC 60909 provides guidance in this respect).
exponentially. Typical 50Hz motor a.c. time constants lie
However, large LV motor loads and all HV motors should
in the range 10ms-60ms for LV motors and 60-200ms for
be considered when calculating fault levels.
HV motors. This motor contribution has often been
neglected in the calculation of fault levels.
Industrial systems usually contain a large component of 18.9 AUTOMATIC CHANGEOVER SYSTEMS
motor load, so this approach is incorrect. The Induction motors are often used to drive critical loads. In
contribution from motors to the total fault current may some industrial applications, such as those involving the
well be a significant fraction of the total in systems pumping of fluids and gases, this has led to the need for
having a large component of motor load. Standards a power supply control scheme in which motor and other
relating to fault level calculations, such as IEC 60909, loads are transferred automatically on loss of the normal
require the effect of motor contribution to be included supply to an alternative supply. A quick changeover,
where appropriate. They detail the conditions under enabling the motor load to be re-accelerated, reduces
which this should be done, and the calculation method the possibility of a process trip occurring. Such schemes
to be used. Guidance is provided on typical motor fault are commonly applied for large generating units to
current contribution for both HV and LV motors if the transfer unit loads from the unit transformer to the
required data is not known. Therefore, it is now station supply/start-up transformer.
When the normal supply fails, induction motors that The in-phase transfer method is illustrated in Figure
remain connected to the busbar slow down and the 18.11 (a). Normal and standby feeders from the same
trapped rotor flux generates a residual voltage that power source are used.
decays exponentially. All motors connected to a busbar
Phase angle measurement is used to sense the relative
will tend to decelerate at the same rate when the supply
phase angle between the standby feeder voltage and the
is lost if they remain connected to the busbar. This is
motor busbar voltage. When the voltages are
because the motors will exchange energy between
approximately in phase, or just prior to this condition
themselves, so that they tend to stay 'synchronised' to
through prediction, a high-speed circuit breaker is used
each other. As a result, the residual voltages of all the
to complete the transfer. This method is restricted to
motors decay at nearly the same rate. The magnitude of
large high inertia drives where the gradual run down
this voltage and its phase displacement with respect to
characteristic upon loss of normal feeder supply can be
the healthy alternative supply voltage is a function of
predicted accurately.
time and the speed of the motors. The angular
displacement between the residual motor voltage and Figure 18.11 (b) illustrates the residual voltage method,
the incoming voltage will be 180° at some instant. If the which is more common, especially in the petrochemical
healthy alternative supply is switched on to motors industry.
which are running down under these conditions, very Two feeders are used, supplying two busbar sections
high inrush currents may result, producing stresses connected by a normally open bus section breaker. Each
which could be of sufficient magnitude to cause feeder is capable of carrying the total busbar load. Each
mechanical damage, as well as a severe dip in the bus section voltage is monitored and loss of supply on
alternative supply voltage. either section causes the relevant incomer CB to open.
Two methods of automatic transfer are used: Provided there are no protection operations to indicate
the presence of a busbar fault, the bus section breaker is
a. in-phase transfer system
closed automatically to restore the supply to the
b. residual voltage system unpowered section of busbar after the residual voltage
generated by the motors running down on that section
has fallen to a an acceptable level. This is between 25%
and 40%, of nominal voltage, dependent on the
characteristics of the power system. The choice of
residual voltage setting will influence the re-
acceleration current after the bus section breaker closes.
For example, a setting of 25% may be expected to result
in an inrush current of around 125% of the starting
current at full voltage. Alternatively, a time delay could
be used as a substitute for residual voltage
measurement, which would be set with knowledge of the
plant to ensure that the residual voltage would have
decayed sufficiently before transfer is initiated.
The protection relay settings for the switchboard must
take account of the total load current and the voltage
dip during the re-acceleration period in order to avoid
spurious tripping during this time. This time can be
several seconds where large inertia HV drives are
involved.

18.10 VOLTAGE AND PHASE REVERSAL PROTECTION

Voltage relays have been widely used in industrial power
supply systems. The principle purposes are to detect
undervoltage and/or overvoltage conditions at
switchboards to disconnect supplies before damage can
be caused from these conditions or to provide
interlocking checks. Prolonged overvoltage may cause
damage to voltage-sensitive equipment (e.g. electronics),
Figure 18.11: Auto-transfer systems while undervoltage may cause excessive current to be
drawn by motor loads. Motors are provided with thermal
overload protection to prevent damage with excessive
current, but undervoltage protection is commonly
applied to disconnect motors after a prolonged voltage
dip. With a voltage dip caused by a source system fault,
a group of motors could decelerate to such a degree that
their aggregate re-acceleration currents might keep the
recovery voltage depressed to a level where the machines
might stall. Modern numerical motor protection relays
typically incorporate voltage protection functions, thus
removing the need for discrete undervoltage relays for
this purpose (see Chapter 19). Older installations may
still utilise discrete undervoltage relays, but the setting
criteria remain the same.
Reverse phase sequence voltage protection should be
applied where it may be dangerous for a motor to be
started with rotation in the opposite direction to that
intended. Incorrect rotation due to reverse phase
sequence might be set up following some error after
power system maintenance or repairs, e.g. to a supply
cable. Older motor control boards might have been fitted
Figure 18.12: Power factor correction principle
with discrete relays to detect this condition. Modern
motor protection relays may incorporate this function. If
The following may be deduced from this vector diagram:
reverse phase sequence is detected, motor starting can be
blocked. If reverse phase sequence voltage protection is
not provided, the high-set negative phase sequence
current protection in the relay would quickly detect the
condition once the starting device is closed - but initial
reverse rotation of the motor could not be prevented.

18.11 POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

AND PROTECTION OF CAPACITORS
Loads such as induction motors draw significant reactive Reduction in kVA = kVA1 - kVA2
power from the supply system, and a poor overall power If the kW Ioad and uncorrected power factors are known,
factor may result. The flow of reactive power increases then the capacitor rating in kvar to achieve a given
the voltage-drops through series reactances such as degree of correction may be calculated from:
transformers and reactors, it uses up some of the current
carrying capacity of power system plant and it increases
the resistive losses in the power system.
To offset the losses and restrictions in plant capacity A spreadsheet can easily be constructed to calculate the
they incur and to assist with voltage regulation, Utilities required amount of compensation to achieve a desired
usually apply tariff penalties to large industrial or power factor.
commercial customers for running their plant at
excessively low power factor. The customer is thereby
induced to improve the power factor of his system and it 18.11.1 Capacitor Control
may be cost-effective to install fixed or variable power Where the plant load or the plant power factor varies
factor correction equipment to raise or regulate the considerably, it is necessary to control the power factor
plant power factor to an acceptable level. correction, since over-correction will result in excessive
Shunt capacitors are often used to improve power factor. system voltage and unnecessary losses. In a few
The basis for compensation is illustrated in Figure 18.12, industrial systems, capacitors are switched in manually
where represents the uncorrected power factor when required, but automatic controllers are standard
angle and the angle relating to the desired practice. A controller provides automatic power factor
power factor, after correction. correction, by comparing the running power factor with
the target value. Based on the available groupings, an system overvoltage if the power factor correction (PFC)
appropriate amount of capacitance is switched in or out controller fails to take fast corrective action.
to maintain an optimum average power factor. The
The design of PFC installations must recognise that many
controller is fitted with a 'loss of voltage' relay element
industrial loads generate harmonic voltages, with the
to ensure that all selected capacitors are disconnected
result that the PFC capacitors may sink significant
instantaneously if there is a supply voltage interruption.
harmonic currents. A harmonic study may be necessary
When the supply voltage is restored, the capacitors are
to determine the capacitor thermal ratings or whether
reconnected progressively as the plant starts up. To
series filters are required.
ensure that capacitor groups degrade at roughly the
same rate, the controller usually rotates selection or
randomly selects groups of the same size in order to even
18.11.2 Motor P.F. Correction
out the connected time. The provision of overvoltage
protection to trip the capacitor bank is also desirable in When dealing with power factor correction of motor
some applications. This woufd be to prevent a severe loads, group correction is not always the most

* Element fuses
Fiqure 18.13: Protection of capacitor banks
economical method. Some industrial consumers apply
capacitors to selected motor substations rather than
applying all of the correction at the main incoming
substation busbars. Sometimes, power factor correction
may even be applied to individual motors, resulting in
optimum power factor being obtained under a ll
conditions of aggregate motor load. In some instances,
better motor starting may also result, from the
improvement in the voltage regulation due to the
capacitor. Motor capacitors are often six-terminal units,
and a capacitor may be conveniently connected directly
across each motor phase winding.
Capacitor sizing is important, such that a leading power
factor does not occur under any load condition. If excess
capacitance is applied to a motor, it may be possible for
self-excitation to occur when the motor is switched off or
suffers a supply failure. This can result in the production
of a high voltage or in mechanical damage if there Is a
sudden restoration of supply. Since most star/delta or
auto-transformer starters other than the 'Korndorffer'
types involve a transitional break in supply, it is generally
recommended that the capacitor rating should not
exceed 85% of the motor magnetising reactive power.
Figure 18.14: Protection of double star
capacitor banks

18.11.3 Capacitor Protection

Some industrial loads such as arc furnaces involve large
When considering protection for capacitors, allowance inductive components and correction is often applied
should be made for the transient inrush current using very large high voltage capacitors in various
occurring on switch-on, since this can reach peak values configurations.
of around 20 times normal current Switchgear for use
Another high voltage capacitor configuration is the 'split
with capacitors is usually de-rated considerably to allow
phase' arrangement where the elements making up each
for this. Inrush currents may be limited by a resistor in
phase of the capacitor are split into two parallel paths,
series with each capacitor or bank of capacitors.
Figure 18.15 shows two possible connection methods for
Protection equipment is required to prevent rupture of the relay. A differential relay can be applied with a
the capacitor due to an internal fault and also to protect current transformer for each parallel branch. The relay
the cables and associated equipment from damage in compares the current in the split phases, using sensitive
case of a capacitor failure. If fuse protection is current settings but also adjustable compensation for
contemplated for a three-phase capacitor, HRC fuses the unbalance currents arising from initial capacitor
should be employed with a current rating of not less than mismatch.
1.5 times the rated capacitor current.
Medium voltage capacitor banks can be protected by the
18.12 EXAMPLES
scheme shown in Figure 18.13. Since harmonics increase
capacitor current, the relay will respond more correctly if In this section, examples of the topics dealt with in the
it does not have in-built tuning for harmonic rejection. Chapter are considered.
Double star capacitor banks are employed at medium
voltage. As shown in Figure 18.14, a current transformer 18.12.1 Fuse Co-ordination
in the inter star-point connection can be used to drive a
protection relay to detect the out-of-balance currents An example of the application of fuses is based on the
that will flow when capacitor elements become short- arrangement in Figure 18.16(a). This shows an
circuited or open-circuited. The relay w i l l have unsatisfactory scheme with commonly encountered
adjustable current settings, and it might contain a bias shortcomings. It can be seen that fuses B, C and D will
circuit, fed from an external voltage transformer, that discriminate with fuse A, but the 400A sub-circuit fuse
can be adjusted to compensate for steady-state spill E may not discriminate, with the 500A sub-circuit fuse
current in the inter star-point connection. D at higher levels of fault current.
 Figure 18.16: Fuse protection: effect
of layout on discrimination

However, there are industrial applications where

discrimination is a secondary factor. In the application
shown in Figure 18.17, a contactor having a fault rating
of 20kA controls the load in one sub-circuit. A fuse
rating of 630A is selected for the minor fuse in the
contactor circuit to give protection within the through-
fault capacity of the contactor.
The major fuse of 800A is chosen, as the minimum rating
Figure 18.15: Differential protection of split that is greater than the total load current on the
phase capacitor banks
switchboard. Discrimination between the two fuses is
not obtained, as the pre-arcing I2t of the 800A fuse is
The solution, illustrated in Figure 18.16(b), is to feed the less than the total Pt of the 630A fuse. Therefore, the
400A circuit E direct from the busbars. The sub-circuit major fuse will blow as well as the minor one, for most
fuse D may now have its rating reduced from 500A to a faults so that all other loads fed from the switchboard
value, of say 1OOA, appropriate to the remaining sub- will be lost. This may be acceptable in some cases. In
circuit. This arrangement now provides a discriminating most cases, however, loss of the complete switchboard
fuse distribution scheme satisfactory for an industrial for a fault on a single outgoing circuit will not be
system. acceptable, and the design will have to be revised.
 With the CT ratio of 2000/1A and a relay reset ratio of 95%
of the nominal current setting, a current setting of at least
80% would be satisfactory, to avoid tripping and/or failure
to reset with the transformer carrying full load current
However, choice of a value at the lower end of this current
setting range would move the relay characteristic towards
that of the MCCB and discrimination may be lost at low
fault currents. It is therefore prudent to select initially a
relay current setting of 100%.
18.12.2.2 Relay characteristic and
time multiplier selection
An El characteristic is selected for the relay to ensure
discrimination with the fuse (see Chapter 9 for details).
From Figure 18.19, it may be seen that at the fault level
of 40kA the fuse will operate in less than 0.01s and the
MCCB operates in approximately 0.014s. Using a fixed
grading margin of 0.4s, the required relay operating time
Figure 18.17: Example of back-up protection becomes 0.4 + 0.014 = 0.414s. With a CT ratio of
2000/1A, a relay current setting of 100%, and a relay
18.12.2 Grading of Fuses/MCCB's/ Overcurrent Relays TMS setting of 1.0, the extremely inverse curve gives a
relay operating time of 0.2s at a fault current of 40kA.
An example of an application involving a moulded case This is too fast to give adequate discrimination and
circuit breaker, fuse and a protection relay is shown in indicates that the El curve is too severe for this
Figure 18.18. A 1MVA 3.3kV/400V transformer feeds the application. Turning to the VI relay characteristic, the
LV board via a circuit breaker, which is equipped with a relay operation time is found to be 0.71s at a TMS of 1.0.
MiCOM P141 numerical relay having a setting range of 8- To obtain the required relay operating time of 0.414s:
400% of rated current and fed from 2000/1A CT's.

Figure 18.18: Network diagram for protection

co-ordination example -fuse/MCCB/relay

Discrimination is required between the relay and both the

fuse and MCCB up to the 40kA fault rating of the board.
To begin with, the time/current characteristics of both the
400A fuse and the MCCB are plotted in Figure 18.19.
18.12.2.1 Determination of relay current setting
The relay current setting chosen must not be less than the
full load current level and must have enough margin to
allow the relay to reset with full load current flowing. The
latter may be determined from the transformer rating:

Figure 18.19: Grading curves for

Fuse/MCCB/relay grading example
Use a TMS of 0.6, nearest available setting. The use of a amount of motor load. The contribution of motor load to
different form of inverse time characteristic makes it the fault level at the switchboard is usually larger than
advisable to check discrimination at the lower current that from a single infeeding transformer, as the
levels also at this stage. At a fault current of 4kA, the transformer restricts the amount of fault current infeed
relay will operate in 8.1s, which does not give from the primary side. The three-phase break fault level
discrimination with the MCCB. A relay operation time of at the switchboard under these conditions is assumed to
8.3s is required. To overcome this, the relay be 40kA rms.
characteristic needs to be moved away from the MCCB Relays C are not required to have directional
characteristic, a change that may be achieved by using a characteristics (see Section 9.14.3) as all three circuit
TMS of 0.625. The revised relay characteristic is also breakers are only closed momentarily during transfer
shown in Figure 18.19. from a single infeeding transformer to two infeeding
transformers configuration. This transfer is normally an
automated sequence, and the chance of a fault occurring
18.12.3 Protection of a Dual-Fed Substation during the short period (of the order of 1s) when all three
As an example of how numerical protection relays can be CB's are closed is taken to be negligibly small. Similarly,
used in an industrial system, consider the typical large although this configuration gives the largest fault level
industrial substation of Figure 18.20. Two 1.6MVA, at the switchboard, it is not considered from either a
11/0.4kV transformers feeding a busbar whose bus- switchboard fault rating or protection viewpoint.
section CB is normally open. The LV system is solidly
It is assumed that modern numerical relays are used. For
earthed. The largest outgoing feeder is to a motor rated
simplicity, a fixed grading margin of 0.3s is used.
160kW, 193kVA, and a starting current of 7 x FLC.
18.12.3.2 Motor protection relay settings
From the motor characteristics given, the overcurrent
relay settings (Relay A) can be found using the guidelines
set out in Chapter 19 as:
Thermal element:
current setting: 300A
time constant: 20 mins
Instantaneous element:
current setting: 2.32kA
These are the only settings relevant to the upstream
relays.
18.12.3.3 Relay B settings
Relay B settings are derived from consideration of the
loading and fault levels with the bus-section breaker
between busbars A1 and A2 closed. No information is
given about the load split between the two busbars, but
Figure 18.20: Relay grading example it can be assumed in the absence of definitive
for dual-fed switchboard information that each busbar is capable of supplying the
total load of 1.6MVA. With fixed tap transformers, the
The transformer impedance is to IEC standards. The LV
bus voltage may fall to 95% of nominal under these
switchgear and bus bars are fault rated at 50kA rms. To
conditions, leading to a load current of 2430A. The IDMT
simplify the analysis, only the phase-fault LV protection
current setting must be greater than this, to avoid relay
is considered.
operation on normal load currents and (ideally) with
aggregate starting/re-acceleration currents. If the entire
load on the busbar was motor load, an aggregate starting
18.22.3.1 General considerations
current in excess of 13kA would occur, but a current
Analysis of many substations configured as in Figure setting of this order would be excessively high and lead
18.20 shows that the maximum fault level and feeder to grading problems further upstream. It is unlikely that
load current is obtained with the bus-section circuit the entire load is motor load (though this does occur,
breaker closed and one of the infeeding CB's open. This especially where a supply voltage of 690V is chosen for
applies so long as the switchboard has a significant motors - an increasingly common practice) or that all
motors are started simultaneously (but simultaneous re- The current setting has to be above that for relay B to
acceleration may well occur). What is essential is that achieve full co-ordination, and a value of 3250A is
relay B does not issue a trip command under these suitable. The TMS setting using the SI characteristic is
circumstances -i.e. the relay current/time characteristic chosen to grade with that of relay B at a current of
is in excess of the current/time characteristic of the 12.5kA (relay B instantaneous setting), and is found to be
worst-case starting/re-acceleration condition. It is 0.45. The high-set element must grade with that of relay
therefore assumed that 50% of the total bus load is B, so a time delay of 0.62sec is required. The current
motor load, with an average starting current of 600% of setting must be higher than that of relay B, so use a
full load current (= 6930A), and that re-acceleration value of 15kA. The final relay grading curves and
takes 3s. A current setting of 3000A is therefore initially settings are illustrated in Figure 18.22.
used. The SI characteristic is used for grading the relay,
as co-ordination with fuses is not required. The TMS is
required to be set to grade with the thermal protection
of relay A under 'cold' conditions, as this gives the
longest operation time of Relay A, and the re-
acceleration conditions. A TMS value of 0.41 is found to
provide satisfactory grading, being dictated by the motor
starting/re-acceleration transient. Adjustment of both
current and TMS settings may be required depending on
the exact re-acceleration conditions. Note that lower
current and TMS settings could be used if motor
starting/re-acceleration did not need to be considered.
The high-set setting needs to be above the full load
current and motor starting/re-acceleration transient
current, but less than the fault current by a suitable
margin. A setting of 12.5kA is initially selected. A time
delay of 0.3s has to used to ensure grading with relay A
at high fault current levels; both relays A and B may see
a current in excess of 25kA for faults on the cable side of
the CB feeding the 160kW motor. The relay curves are
illustrated in Figure 18.21. Figure 18.22: Final relay grading curves

18.12.3.5 Comments on grading

While the above grading may appear satisfactory, the
protection on the primary side of the transformer has not
been considered. IDMT protection at this point will have
to grade with relays C and with the through-fault short-
time withstand curves of the transformer and cabling.
This may result in excessively long operation times. Even
if the operation time at the 11 kV level is satisfactory,
there is probably a Utility infeed to consider, which will
involve a further set of relays and another stage of time
grading, and the fault clearance time at the utility infeed
will almost certainly be excessive. One solution is to
accept a total loss of supply to the 0.4kV bus under
conditions of a single infeed and bus section CB closed.
This is achieved by setting relays C such that grading
Figure 18.21: Grading of relays A and B with relay B does not occur at all current levels, or
omitting relay B from the protection scheme. The
argument for this is that network operation policy is to
18.12.3.4 Relays C settings ensure loss of supply to both sections of the switchboard
The setting of the IDMT element of relays C1 and C2 has does not occur for single contingencies. As single infeed
to be suitable for protecting the busbar while grading operation is not normal, a contingency (whether fault or
with relay B. The limiting condition is grading with relay maintenance) has already occurred, so that a further
B, as this gives the longest operation time for relays C. fault causing total loss of supply to the switchboard
through tripping of one of relays B is a second
contingency. Total loss of supply is therefore acceptable.
The alternative is to accept a lack of discrimination at
some point on the system, as already noted in Chapter 9.
Another solution is to employ partial differential
protection to remove the need for Relay A, but this is
seldom used. The strategy adopted will depend on the
individual circumstances.

18.13 REFERENCES

18.1 Overcurrent Relay Co-ordination for Double

Ended Substations. George R Horcher. IEEE. Vol.
1A-14 No. 6 1978.
19 . A.C. Motor Protection
19.1 INTRODUCTION
There are a wide range of a.c. motors and motor
characteristics in existence, because of the numerous
duties for which they are used. All motors need
protection, but fortunately, the more fundamental
problems affecting the choice of protection are
independent of the type of motor and the type of load to
which it is connected. There are some important
differences between the protection of induction motors
and synchronous motors, and these are fully dealt with
in the appropriate section.
Motor characteristics must be carefully considered when
applying protection; while this may be regarded as
stating the obvious, it is emphasised because it applies
more to motors than to other items of power system
plant. For example, the starting and stalling
currents/times must be known when applying overload
protection, and furthermore the thermal withstand of
the machine under balanced and unbalanced loading
must be clearly defined.
The conditions for which motor protection is required
can be divided into two broad categories: imposed
external conditions and internal faults. Table 19.1
provides details of all likely faults that require protection.

External Faults Internal faults

Unbalanced supplies Bearing failures
Undervoltages Winding faults
Single phasing Overloads
Reverse phase sequence

Table 19.1: Causes of motor failures

1 9 .2 MODERN RELAY DESIGN

The design of a modern motor protection relay must be
adequate to cater for the protection needs of any one of
the vast range of motor designs in service, many of the
designs having no permissible allowance for overloads. A
relay offering comprehensive protection will have the
following set of features:
a. thermal protection
b. extended start protection
c. stalling protection
 d. number of starts limitation heat at a rate proportional to temperature rise. This is
the principle behind the 'thermal replica' model of a
e. short circuit protection
motor used for overload protection.
f. earth fault protection
The temperature Tat any instant is given by:
g. winding RTD measurement/trip
h. negative sequence current detection i. where:
undervoltage protection j. loss-of-load protection Tmax = final steady state temperature
k. out-of-step protection I. loss of supply
Temperature rise is proportional to the current squared:
protection m. auxiliary supply supervision (items k
and I apply to synchronous motors only)
In addition, relays may offer options such as circuit where:
breaker condition monitoring as an aid to maintenance.
lR - current which, if flowing continuously, produces
Manufacturers may also offer relays that implement a
temperature Tmax in the motor
reduced functionality to that given above where less
comprehensive protection is warranted (e.g. induction Therefore, it can be shown that, for any overload current
motors of low rating). /, the permissible time /"for this current to flow is:
The following sections examine each of the possible
failure modes of a motor and discuss how protection may
be applied to detect that mode.

19.3 THERMAL (OVERLOAD) PROTECTION

In general, the supply to which a motor is connected may
The majority of winding failures are either indirectly or contain both positive and negative sequence
directly caused by overloading (either prolonged or components, and both components of current give rise to
cyclic), operation on unbalanced supply voltage, or single heating in the motor. Therefore, the thermal replica
phasing, which all lead through excessive heating to the should take into account both of these components, a
deterioration of the winding insulation until an electrical typical equation for the equivalent current being:
fault occurs. The generally accepted rule is that
insulation life is halved for each 10° C rise in
temperature above the rated value, modified by the
length of time spent at the higher temperature. As an where
electrical machine has a relatively large heat storage I, = positive sequence current
capacity, it follows that infrequent overloads of short
duration may not adversely affect the machine. I2 = negative sequence current
However, sustained overloads of only a few percent may and
result in premature ageing and insulation failure.
Furthermore, the thermal withstand capability of the
motor is affected by heating in the winding prior to a
fault. It is therefore important that the relay
at rated speed. A typical value of K is 3.
characteristic takes account of the extremes of zero and
full-load pre-fault current known respectively as the Finally, the thermal replica model needs to take into
'Cold' and 'Hot' conditions. account the fact that the motor will tend to cool down
during periods of light load, and the initial state of the
The variety of motor designs, diverse applications, variety
motor. The motor will have a cooling time constant,
of possible abnormal operating conditions and resulting
that defines the rate of cooling. Hence, the final thermal
modes of failure result in a complex thermal relationship.
model can be expressed as:
A generic mathematical model that is accurate is
therefore impossible to create. However, it is possible to
develop an approximate model if it is assumed that the
motor is a homogeneous body, creating and dissipating ..Equation 19.1
where: 1 9 .4 START/STALL PROTECTION
When a motor is started, it draws a current well in excess
of full load rating throughout the period that the motor
takes to run-up to speed. While the motor starting
current reduces somewhat as motor speed increases, it is
normal in protection practice to assume that the motor
current remains constant throughout the starting period.
The starting current will vary depending on the design of
Equation 19.1 takes into account the 'cold' and 'hot' the motor and method of starting. For motors started
characteristics defined in IEC 60255, part 8. DOL (direct-on-line), the nominal starting current can be
Some relays may use a dual slope characteristic for the 4-8 times full-load current. However, when a star-delta
heating time constant, and hence two values of the starter is used, the line current will only be of the
heating time constant are required. Switching between DOL starting current.
the two values takes place at a pre-defined motor
current. This may be used to obtain better tripping Should a motor stall whilst running, or fail to start, due
performance during starting on motors that use a star- to excessive loading, the motor will draw a current equal
delta starter. During starting, the motor windings carry to its' locked rotor current. It is not therefore possible to
full line current, while in the 'run' condition, they carry distinguish between a stall condition and a healthy start
only 57% of the current seen by the relay. Similarly, solely on the basis of the current drawn. Discrimination
when the motor is disconnected from the supply, the between the two conditions must be made based on the
heating time constant is set equal to the cooling time duration of the current drawn. For motors where the
constant starting time is less than the safe stall time of the motor,
protection is easy to arrange.
Since the relay should ideally be matched to the
protected motor and be capable of close sustained However, where motors are used to drive high inertia
overload protection, a wide range of relay adjustment is loads, the stall withstand time can be less than the
desirable together with good accuracy and low thermal starting time. In these cases, an additional means must
overshoot. be provided to enable discrimination between the two
conditions to be achieved.
Typical relay setting curves are shown in Figure 19.1.

19.4.1 Excessive Start Time/Locked Rotor Protection

A motor may fail to accelerate from rest for a number of
reasons:
loss of a supply phase
mechanical problems low
supply voltage excessive
load torque etc.
A large current will be drawn from the supply, and cause
extremely high temperatures to be generated within the
motor. This is made worse by the fact that the motor is
not rotating, and hence no cooling due to rotation is
available. Winding damage will occur very quickly -
either to the stator or rotor windings depending on the
thermal limitations of the particular design (motors are
said to be stator or rotor limited in this respect). The
method of protection varies depending on whether the
starting time is less than or greater than the safe stall
time. In both cases, initiation of the start may be sensed
by detection of the closure of the switch in the motor
feeder (contactor or CB) and optionally current rising
above a starting current threshold value - typically

figure 19,1: Thermal overload characteristic curves

Coid curves. Initial thermal state 0%
200% of motor rated current. For the case of both successful start is used to select relay timer used for the
conditions being sensed, they may have to occur within safe run up time. This time can be longer than the safe
a narrow aperture of time for a start to be recognised. stall time, as there is both a (small) decrease in current
drawn by the motor during the start and the rotor fans
Special requirements may exist for certain types of
begin to improve cooling of the machine as it
motors installed in hazardous areas (e.g. motors with
accelerates. If a start is sensed by the relay through
type of protection EEx 'e') and the setting of the relay
monitoring current and/or start device closure, but the
must take these into account. Sometimes a permissive
speed switch does not operate, the relay element uses
interlock for machine pressurisation (on EEx 'p'
the safe stall time setting to trip the motor before
machines) may be required, and this can be conveniently
damage can occur. Figure 19.3(a) illustrates the principle
achieved by use of a relay digital input and the in-built
of operation for a successful start, and Figure 19.3[b) for
logic capabilities. an unsuccessful start.
19.4.1.1 Start time < safe stall time
Protection is achieved by use of a definite time
overcurrent characteristic, the current setting being
greater than full load current but less than the starting
current of the machine. The time setting should be a
little longer than the start time, but less than the
permitted safe starting time of the motor. Figure 19.2
illustrates the principle of operation for a successful
start.

f\---------------- / Figure 19.3: Motor start protection

S
Start time > Safe stall time
t
art time > Safe stall time

19.4.2 Stall Protection

Should a motor stall when running or be unable to start
because of excessive load, it will draw a current from the
supply equivalent to the locked rotor current. It is
obviously desirable to avoid damage by disconnecting
the machine as quickly as possible if this condition
arises.
Motor stalling can be recognised by the motor current
exceeding the start current threshold after a successful
start - i.e. a motor start has been detected and the motor
Figure 19.2: Motor start protection
start time < safe stall time current has dropped below the start current threshold
within the motor safe start time. A subsequent rise in
motor current above the motor starting current
19.4.1.2 Start time => safe stall time
threshold is then indicative of a stall condition, and
For this condition, a definite time overcurrent tripping will occur if this condition persists for greater
characteristic by itself is not sufficient, since the time than the setting of the stall timer. An instantaneous
delay required is longer than the maximum time that the overcurrent relay element provides protection.
motor can be allowed to carry starting current safely. An In many systems, transient supply voltage loss (typically
additional means of detection of rotor movement, up to 2 seconds) does not result in tripping of designated
indicating a safe start, is required. A speed-sensing motors. They are allowed to re-accelerate upon
switch usually provides this function. Detection of a restoration of the supply. During re-acceleration, they
Figure 19.4: Start lockout information.

draw a current similar to the starting current for a period 19.4.3 Number of Starts Limitation
that may be several seconds. It is thus above the motor
Any motor has a restriction on the number of starts that
stall relay element current threshold. The stall
are allowed in a defined period without the permitted
protection would be expected to operate and defeat the
winding, etc. temperatures being exceeded. Starting
object of the re-acceleration scheme.
should be blocked if the permitted number of starts is
A motor protection relay will therefore recognise the exceeded. The situation is complicated by the fact the
presence of a voltage dip and recovery, and inhibit stall number of permitted 'hot' starts in a given period is less
protection for a defined period. The undervoltage than the number of 'cold' starts, due to the differing
protection element (Section 19.11) can be used to detect initial temperatures of the motor. The relay must
the presence of the voltage dip and inhibit stall maintain a separate count of 'cold' and 'hot' starts. By
protection for a set period after voltage recovery. making use of the data held in the motor thermal replica,
Protection against stalled motors in case of an 'hot' and 'cold' starts can be distinguished.
unsuccessful re-acceleration is therefore maintained.
To allow the motor to cool down between starts, a time
The time delay setting is dependent on the re- delay may be specified between consecutive starts (again
acceleration scheme adopted and the characteristics of distinguishing between 'hot' and 'cold' starts). The start
individual motors. It should be established after inhibit is released after a time determined by the motor
performing a transient stability study for the re- specification. The overall protection function is illustrated
acceleration scheme proposed. in Figure 19.4.
19.5 SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION It is common, however, to provide both instantaneous
and time-delayed relay elements to cater for major and
Motor short-circuit protection is often provided to cater
slowly developing faults.
for major stator winding faults and terminal flashovers.
Because of the relatively greater amount of insulation
between phase windings, faults between phases seldom
19.6.1 Solidly-Earthed System
occur. As the stator windings are completely enclosed in
grounded metal, the fault would very quickly involve Most LV systems fall into this category, for reasons of
earth, which would then operate the instantaneous earth personnel safety. Two types of earth fault protection are
fault protection. A single definite time overcurrent relay commonly found - depending on the sensitivity required.
element is all that is required for this purpose, set to For applications where a sensitivity of > 20% of motor
about 125% of motor starting current. The time delay is continuous rated current is acceptable, conventional
required to prevent spurious operation due to CT spill earth fault protection using the residual CT connection
currents, and is typically set at 100ms. If the motor is fed of Figure 19.5 can be used. A lower limit is imposed on
from a fused contactor, co-ordination is required with the setting by possible load unbalance and/or (for HV
the fuse, and this will probably involve use of a long time systems) system capacitive currents.
delay for the relay element. Since the object of the
protection is to provide rapid fault clearance to minimise
damage caused by the fault, the protection is effectively
worthless in these circumstances. It is therefore only
provided on motors fed via circuit breakers.
Differential (unit) protection may be provided on larger HV
motors fed via circuit breakers to protect against phase-
phase and phase-earth faults, particularly where the
power system is resistance-earthed. Damage to the motor
in case of a fault occurring is minimised, as the differential
protection can be made quite sensitive and hence detects
faults in their early stages. The normal definite time
overcurrent protection would not be sufficiently sensitive,
and sensitive earth fault protection may not be provided.
The user may wish to avoid the detailed calculations
required of capacitance current in order to set sensitive
non-directional earth fault overcurrent protection
correctly on HV systems (Chapter 9) or there may be no
provision for a VT to allow application of directional
sensitive earth fault protection. There is still a lower limit
to the setting that can be applied, due to spill currents Figure 19.5: Residual CTconnection Figure 19.5: Residua! CT
forearth fault protection connection
from CT saturation during starting, while on some motors, forearth fault protection
neutral current has been found to flow during starting,
even with balanced supply voltages, that would cause the Care must be taken to ensure that the relay does not
differential protection to operate. For details on the operate from the spill current resulting from unequal CT
application of differential protection, refer to Chapter 10. saturation during motor starting, where the high
However, non-directional earth fault overcurrent currents involved will almost certainly saturate the
protection will normally be cheaper in cases where motor CT's. It is common to use a stabilising resistor in
adequate sensitivity can be provided. series with the relay, with the value being calculated
using the formula:

19.6 EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

One of the most common faults to occur on a motor is a ...Equation 19.2
stator winding fault. Whatever the initial form of the
where:
fault (phase-phase, etc.) or the cause (cyclic overheating,
/st = starting current referred to CT secondary
etc.), the presence of the surrounding metallic frame and
casing will ensure that it rapidly develops into a fault Io = relay earth fault setting (A)
involving earth. Therefore, provision of earth fault Rstab = stabilising resistor value (ohms)
protection is very important. The type and sensitivity of Rct = d.c. resistance of CT secondary (ohms)
protection provided depends largely on the system Rl = CT single lead restistance (ohms)
earthing, so the various types will be dealt with in turn.
 k = CT connection factor If a more sensitive relay setting is required, it is necessary
(= 1 for star pt at CT to use a core-balance CT. This is a ring type CT, through
which all phases of the supply to the motor are passed,
= 2 for star pt at relay) Rr = relay
plus the neutral on a four-wire system. The turns ratio
input restistance (ohms)
of the CT is no longer related to the normal line current
expected to flow, so can be chosen to optimise the pick-
The effect of the stabilising resistor is to increase the up current required. Magnetising current requirements
effective setting of the relay under these conditions, and are also reduced, with only a single CT core to be
hence delay tripping. When a stabilising resistor is used, magnetised instead of three, thus enabling low settings
the tripping characteristic should normally be to be used. Figure 19.7 illustrates the application of a
instantaneous. An alternative technique, avoiding the use core-balance CT, including the routing of the cable
of a stabilising resistor is to use a definite time delay sheath to ensure correct operation in case of core-sheath
characteristic. The time delay used will normally have to cable faults.
be found by trial and error, as it must be long enough to
prevent maloperation during a motor start, but short
enough to provide effective protection in case of a fault.

Co-ordination with other devices must also be considered.

A common means of supplying a motor is via a fused
contactor. The contactor itself is not capable of breaking
fault current beyond a certain value, which will normally be
below the maximum system fault current - reliance is
placed on the fuse in these circumstances. As a trip
command from the relay instructs the contactor to open,
care must be taken to ensure that this does not occur until
the fuse has had time to operate. Figure 19.6(a) illustrates
incorrect grading of the relay with the fuse, the relay
operating first for a range of fault currents in excess of the
contactor breaking capacity. Figure 19.6(b) illustrates
correct grading. To achieve this, it may require the use of
an intentional definite time delay in the relay.

Figure 19.7: Application of core-balance CT

19.6.2 Resistance-Earthed Systems

These are commonly found on HV systems, where the

intention is to limit damage caused by earth faults
through limiting the earth fault current that can flow.
Two methods of resistance earthing are commonly used:
Figure 19.6: Grading of relay with fused contactor
19.6.2.1 Low resistance earthing sensitivity that is possible using a simple non-directional
earth fault relay element is limited to three times the
In this method, the value of resistance is chosen to limit
the fault current to a few hundred amps - values of steady-state charging current of the feeder. The setting
200A-400A being typical. With a residual connection of should not be greater than about 30% of the minimum
line CT's, the minimum sensitivity possible is about 10% earth fault current expected. Other than this, the
of CT rated primary current, due to the possibility of CT considerations in respect of settings and time delays are
saturation during starting. For a core-balance CT, the as for solidly earthed systems.

Figure 19.8: Current distribution in insulated-earth system for phase-earth fault

19.6.2.2 High resistance earthing, applying earth faults at various parts of the system and
measuring the resulting residual currents.
In some HV systems, high resistance earthing is used to
limit the earth fault current to a few amps. In this case, If it is possible to set the relay to a value between the
the system capacitive charging current will normally charging current on the feeder being protected and the
prevent conventional sensitive earth fault protection charging current for the rest of the system, the
being applied, as the magnitude of the charging current directional facility is not required and the VT can be
will be comparable with the earth fault current in the dispensed with.
event of a fault. The solution is to use a sensitive
The comments made in earlier sections on grading with
directional earth fault relay. A core balance CT is used in
fused contactors also apply.
conjunction with a VT measuring the residual voltage of
the system, with a relay characteristic angle setting of
+45° (see Chapter 9 for details). The VT must be suitable
for the relay and therefore the relay manufacturer should
be consulted over suitable types - some relays require
that the VT must be able to carry residual flux and this
rules out use of a 3-limb,3-phase VT. A setting of 125%
of the single phase capacitive charging current for the
whole system is possible using this method. The time
delay used is not critical but must be fast enough to
disconnect equipment rapidly in the event of a second
earth fault occurring immediately after the first.
Minimal damage is caused by the first fault, but the
second effectively removes the current limiting
resistance from the fault path leading to very large fault
currents.
An alternative technique using residual voltage detection
is also possible, and is described in the next section.

Figure 19.9: Relay vector diagram

19.6.3 Insulated Earth System
Earth fault detection presents problems on these systems
since no earth fault current flows for a single earth fault. 19.6.3.2 Residual voltage method
However, detection is still essential as overvoltages occur
A single earth fault results in a rise in the voltage
on sound phases and it is necessary to locate and clear
between system neutral and earth, which may be
the fault before a second occurs. Two methods are
detected by a relay measuring the residual voltage of the
possible, detection of the resulting unbalance in system
system (normally zero for a perfectly balanced, healthy
charging currents and residual overvoltage.
system). Thus, no CT's are required, and the technique
19.6.3.1 System charging current unbalance may be useful where provision of an extensive number of
Sensitive earth fault protection using a core-balance CT core-balance CT's is impossible or difficult, due to
is required for this scheme. The principle is that detailed physical constraints or on cost grounds. The VT's used
in Section 9.16.2, except that the voltage is phase shifted must be suitable for the duty, thus 3-limb, 3-phase VT's
by+90° instead of -90°. To illustrate this, Figure 19.8 are not suitable, and the relay usually has alarm and trip
shows the current distribution in an Insulated system settings, each with adjustable time delays. The setting
subjected to a C-phase to earth fault and Figure 19.9 the voltage must be calculated from knowledge of system
relay vector diagram for this condition. The residual earthing and impedances, an example for a resistance-
current detected by the relay is the sum of the charging earthed system is shown in Figure 19.10.
currents flowing in the healthy part of the system plus Grading of the relays must be carried out with care, as
the healthy phase charging currents on the faulted the residual voltage will be detected by all relays in the
feeder - i.e. three times the per phase charging current
affected section of the system. Grading has to be carried
of the healthy part of the system. A relay setting of 30% out with this in mind, and will generally be on a time
of this value can be used to provide protection without basis for providing alarms (1st stage), with a high set
the risk of a trip due to healthy system capacitive
definite time trip second stage to provide backup.
charging currents. As there is no earth fault current, it is
also possible to set the relay at site after deliberately
19.6.4 Petersen Coil Earthed System loading, loss of a single phase, or single-phase faults.
The latter will normally be detected by earth fault
Earthing of a HV power system using a reactor equal to
protection, however, a fault location in a motor winding
the system shunt capacitance is known as Petersen Coil
may not result in the earth fault protection operating
(or resonant coil) earthing. With this method, a single
unless it is of the sensitive variety.
earth fault results in zero earth fault current flowing (for
perfect balance between the earthing inductance and The actual value of the negative sequence current
system shunt capacitance), and hence the system can be depends on the degree of unbalance in the supply voltage
run in this state for a substantial period of time while the and the ratio of the negative to the positive sequence
fault is located and corrected. The detailed theory and impedance of the machine. The degree of unbalance
protection method is explained in Section 9.17. depends on many factors, but the negative sequence
impedance is more easily determined. Considering the
19.7 NEGATIVE PHASE SEQUENCE PROTECTION classical induction motor equivalent circuit with
magnetising impedance neglected of Figure 19.11:
Negative phase sequence current is generated from any
unbalanced voltage condition, such as unbalanced

Figure 19.10: Residua! voltage earth fault protection for resistance-earthed system.
Motor positive sequence impedance at slip s leading to excessive heating. For the same motor,
negative sequence voltages in excess of 17% will result
in a negative sequence current larger than rated full load
current.

Hence, at standstill (s=1.0), impedance Negative sequence current is at twice supply frequency.
Skin effect in the rotor means that the heating effect in
the rotor of a given negative sequence current is larger
than the same positive sequence current. Thus, negative
sequence current may result in rapid heating of the
The motor negative sequence impedance at slip s motor. Larger motors are more susceptible in this
respect, as the rotor resistance of such machines tends to
be higher. Protection against negative sequence currents
is therefore essential.
and, at normal running speed, the impedance Modern motor protection relays have a negative
sequence current measurement capability, in order to
provide such protection. The level of negative sequence
unbalance depends largely upon the type of fault. For
loss of a single phase at start, the negative sequence
where: current will be 50% of the normal starting current. It is
suffix p indicates positive sequence quantities more difficult to provide an estimate of the negative
sequence current if loss of a phase occurs while running.
and This is because the impact on the motor may vary widely,
suffix n indicates negative sequence quantities from increased heating to stalling due to the reduced
torque available.
A typical setting for negative sequence current
protection must take into account the fact that the
motor circuit protected by the relay may not be the
source of the negative sequence current. Time should be
allowed for the appropriate protection to clear the
source of the negative sequence current without
introducing risk of overheating to the motor being
considered. This indicates a two stage tripping
characteristic, similar in principle to overcurrent
protection. A low-set definite time-delay element can
be used to provide an alarm, with an IDMT element used
to trip the motor in the case of higher levels of negative
sequence current, such as loss-of-phase conditions at
start, occurring. Typical settings might be 20% of CT
rated primary current for the definite time element and
Figure 19.11: Induction motor equivalent circuit
50% for the IDMT element. The IDMT time delay has to
be chosen to protect the motor while, if possible, grading
Now, if resistance is neglected (justifiable as the with other negative sequence relays on the system.
resistance is small compared to the reactance), it can be Some relays may not incorporate two elements, in which
seen that the negative sequence reactance at running case the single element should be set to protect the
speed is approximately equal to the positive sequence motor, with grading being a secondary consideration.
reactance at standstill. An alternative more meaningful
way of expressing this is:
19.8 FAULTS IN ROTOR WINDINGS
On wound rotor machines, some degree of protection
against faults in the rotor winding can be given by an
and it is noted that a typical LV motor starting current is instantaneous stator current overcurrent relay element.
6xFLC. Therefore, a 5% negative sequence voltage (due As the starting current is normally limited by resistance
to, say, unbalanced loads on the system) would produce to a maximum of twice full load, the instantaneous unit
a 30% negative sequence current in the machine, can safely be set to about three times full load if a slight
time delay of approximately 30 milliseconds is Motors fed by contactors have inherent undervoltage
incorporated. It should be noted that faults occurring in protection, unless a latched contactor is used. Where a
the rotor winding would not be detected by any specific undervoltage trip is required, a definite time
differential protection applied to the stator. undervoltage element is used. If two elements are
provided, alarm and trip settings can be used. An
interlock with the motor starter is required to block relay
1 9 .9 RTD TEMPERATURE DETECTION operation when the starting device is open, otherwise a
start will never be permitted. The voltage and time delay
RTD's are used to measure temperatures of motor
settings will be system and motor dependent. They must
windings or shaft bearings. A rise in temperature may allow for all voltage dips likely to occur on the system
denote overloading of the machine, or the beginning of during transient faults, starting of motors, etc. to avoid
a fault in the affected part. A motor protection relay will spurious trips. As motor starting can result in a voltage
therefore usually have the capability of accepting a depression to 80% of nominal, the voltage setting is
number of RTD inputs and internal logic to initiate an likely to be below this value. Re-acceleration is normally
alarm and/or trip when the temperature exceeds the possible for voltage dips lasting between 0.5-2 seconds,
appropriate setpoint(s). Occasionally, HV motors are fed depending on system, motor and drive characteristics,
via a unit transformer, and in these circumstances, some and therefore the time delay will be set bearing these
of the motor protection relay RTD inputs may be factors in mind.
assigned to the transformer winding temperature RTD's,
thus providing overtemperature protection for the
transformer without the use of a separate relay. 1 9 . 1 2 LOSS-OF-LOAD PROTECTION
Loss-of-load protection has a number of possible
functions. It can be used to protect a pump against
1 9 . 1 0 BEARING FAILURES becoming unprimed, or to stop a motor in case of a
There are two types of bearings to be considered: the failure in a mechanical transmission (e.g. conveyor belt),
or it can be used with synchronous motors to protect
anti-friction bearing (ball or roller), used mainly on small
against loss-of-supply conditions. Implementation of
motors (up to around 350kW), and the sleeve bearing,
the function is by a low forward power relay element,
used mainly on large motors.
interlocked with the motor starting device to prevent
The failure of ball or roller bearings usually occurs very operation when the motor is tripped and thus preventing
quickly, causing the motor to come to a standstill as a motor start. Where starting is against a very low load
pieces of the damaged roller get entangled with the (e.g. a compressor), the function may also need to be
others. There is therefore very little chance that any inhibited for the duration of the start, to prevent
relay operating from the input current can detect maloperation.
bearing failures of this type before the bearing is The setting will be influenced by the function to be
completely destroyed. Therefore, protection is limited to performed by the relay. A time delay may be required
disconnecting the stalled motor rapidly to avoid after pickup of the element to prevent operation during
consequential damage. Refer to Section 19.2 on stall system transients. This is especially important for
protection for details of suitable protection. synchronous motor loss-of supply protection.
Failure of a sleeve bearing can be detected by means of
a rise in bearing temperature. The normal thermal
1 9 . 1 3 ADDITIONAL PROTECTION
overload relays cannot give protection to the bearing FOR SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS
itself but will operate to protect the motor from The differences in construction and operational
excessive damage. Use of RTD temperature detection, as characteristics of synchronous motors mean that
noted in Section 19.9, can provide suitable protection, additional protection is required for these types of motor.
allowing investigation into the cause of the bearing This additional protection is discussed in the following
running hot prior to complete failure. sections.

19.11 UNDERVOLTAGE PROTECTION 19.13.1 Out-of-Step Protection

Motors may stall when subjected to prolonged A synchronous motor may decelerate and lose
undervoltage conditions. Transient undervoltages will synchronism (fall out-of-step) if a mechanical overload
generally allow a motor to recover when the voltage is exceeding the peak motor torque occurs. Other
restored, unless the supply is weak. conditions that may cause this condition are a fall in the
applied voltage to stator or field windings. Such a fall A low forward power relay can detect this condition. See
may not need to be prolonged, a voltage dip of a few Section 19.12 for details. A time delay will be required
seconds may be all that is required. An out-of-step to prevent operation during system transients leading to
condition causes the motor to draw excessive current momentary reverse power flow in the motor.
and generate a pulsating torque. Even if the cause is
removed promptly, the motor will probably not recover 1 9 . 1 4 MOTOR PROTECTION EXAMPLES
synchronism, but eventually stall. Hence, it must be
disconnected from the supply. This section gives examples of the protection of HV and
LV induction motors.
The current drawn during an out-of-step condition is at
a very low power factor. Hence a relay element that
19.14.1 Protection of a HV Motor
responds to low power factor can be used to provide
protection. The element must be inhibited during Table 19.2 gives relevant parameters of a HV induction
starting, when a similar low power factor condition motor to be protected. Using a MiCOM P241 motor
occurs. This can conveniently be achieved by use of a protection relay, the important protection settings are
definite time delay, set to a value slightly in excess of the calculated in the following sections.
motor start time.
The power factor setting will vary depending on the rated Quantity Value

power factor of the motor. It would typically be 0.1 less Rated output 1000kW CMR
than the motor rated power factor i.e. for a motor rated Rated Voltage 3.3 kV
at 0.85 power factor, the setting would be 0.75. Rated frequency 50Hz
Rated power factor/efficiency 0.9/0.92
Stall withstand time cold/hot 20/7s
9.13.2 Protection against Starting current 550% DOL

Sudden Restoration of Supply Permitted starts cold/hot 3/2

CT ratio 250/1
If the supply to a synchronous motor is interrupted, it Start time@1OO°/o voltage 4s
is essential that the motor breaker be tripped as quickly Start time® 80% voltage 5.5s
as possible if there is any possibility of the supply Heating/cooling time constant 25/75 min
being restored automatically or without the machine System earthing Solid

operator's knowledge. Control device Circuit Breaker

Table 19.2: Motor data for example
This is necessary in order to prevent the supply being
restored out of phase with the motor generated voltage.
Two methods are generally used to detect this condition,
in order to cover different operating modes of the motor. 19.14.1.1 Thermal protection
■9.13.2.1 Underfrequency protection The current setting ITH is set equal to the motor full load
The underfrequency relay element will operate in the current, as it is a CMR rated motor. Motor full load
case of the supply failing when the motor is on load, current can be calculated as 211 A, therefore (in
which causes the motor to decelerate quickly. Typically, secondary quantities):
two elements are provided, for alarm and trip
indications.
The underfrequency setting value needs to consider the
power system characteristics. In some power systems, Use a value of 0.85, nearest available setting.
lengthy periods of operation at frequencies substantially
below normal occur, and should not result in a motor The relay has a parameter, K, to allow for the increased
trip. The minimum safe operating frequency of the heating effect of negative sequence currents. In the
motor under load conditions must therefore be absence of any specific information, use K=3.
determined, along with minimum system frequency. Two thermal heating time constants are provided, T, and
19.13.2.2 Low-forward-power protection x2- ^2 is used f°r starting methods other than DOL,
otherwise it is set equal to Xj. T; is set to the heating
This can be applied in conjunction with a time delay to time constant, hence x!=x2=25mins. Cooling time
detect a loss-of-supply condition when the motor may constant!,-is set as a multiple of x}. With a cooling time
share a busbar with other loads. The motor may attempt constant of 75mins,
to supply the other loads with power from the stored
kinetic energy of rotation.
19.14.1.2 Short circuit protection resulting characteristic is shown in Figure 19.13. The
motor thermal protection, as it utilises a negative
Following the recommendations of Section 19.5, with a
sequence component, is used for protection of the motor
starting current of 550% of full load current, the short-
at low levels of negative sequence current.
circuit element is set to 1.25 x 5.5 x 211A = 1450A. In
terms of the relay nominal current, the setting value is
1450/250 = 5.8IN.
There is a minimum time delay of 100ms for currents up
to 120% of setting to allow for transient CT saturation
during starting and 40ms above this current value. These
settings are satisfactory.
19.14.1.3 earth fault protection
It is assumed that no CBCT is fitted. A typical setting of
30% of motor rated current is used, leading to an
earth fault relay setting of 0.3 x 211/250 = 0.25IN. A
stabilising resistor is required, calculated in accordance
with Equation 19.2 to prevent maloperation due to CT
spill current during starting as the CT's may saturate.
With the stabilising resistor present, instantaneous
tripping is permitted.
The alternative is to omit the stabilising resistor and use
a definite time delay in association with the earth fault
element However, the time delay must be found by trial
Figure 19.12: Protection characteristics
and error during commissioning. for motor protection example

19.14.1.4 Locked rotor/Excessive start time protection

The current element must be set in excess of the rated
current of the motor, but well below the starting current
of the motor to ensure that a start condition is
recognised (this could also be achieved by use of an
auxiliary contact on the motor CB wired to the relay). A
setting of 500A (2 x IN) is suitable. The associated time
delay needs to be set to longer than the start time, but
less than the cold stall time. Use a value of 15s.
79.14.1.5 Stall protection
The same current setting as for locked rotor protection Figure 19.13: Motor protection example-negative
can be used - 500A. The time delay has to be less than sequence protection characteristic

the hot stall time of 7s but greater than the start time by
a sufficient margin to avoid a spurious trip if the start 19.14.1.7 Other protection considerations
time happens to be a little longer than anticipated. Use
If the relay can be supplied with a suitable voltage signal,
a value of 6.5s.
stall protection can be inhibited during re-acceleration
The protection characteristics for Sections 19.14.1.1-5 after a voltage dip using the undervoltage element (set to
are shown in Figure 19.12. 80-85% of rated voltage). Undervoltage protection (set
to approximately 80% voltage with a time delay of up to
19.14.1.6 Negative phase sequence protection
several seconds, dependent on system characteristics)
Two protection elements are provided, the first is definite and reverse phase protection can also be implemented to
time-delayed to provide an alarm. The second is an IDMT provide extra protection. Unless the drive is critical to the
element used to trip the motor on high levels of negative process, it is not justifiable to provide a VT specially to
sequence current, such as would occur on a loss of phase enable these features to be implemented.
condition at starting.
19.14.2 Protection of an LV Motor
In accordance with Section 19.7, use a setting of 20%
LV motors are commonly fed via fused contactors and
with a time delay of 30s for the definite time element
therefore the tripping times of a protection relay for
and 50% with a TMS of 1.0 for the IDMT element The
overcurrent must be carefully co-ordinated with the fuse where
to ensure that the contactor does not attempt to break a In = motor rated primary current
current in excess of its rating. Table 19.3(a) gives details Ip = CT primary current
of an LV motor and associated fused contactor. A
MiCOM P211 motor protection relay is used to provide Hence, Ib = 5 x 132/150 = 4AA
the protection. With a motor starting current of 670% of nominal, a
setting of the relay thermal time constant with motor
Parameter Value Unit initial thermal state of 50% of 15s is found satisfactory,
Standard IEC 60034 as shown in Figure 19.14.
Motor Voitage 400 V
Motor kW 75 kW
Motor kVA 91.45 kVA
Motor FLC 132 A
Starting Current 670 %
Starting Time 4.5 s
Contactor rating 300 A
Contactor breaking capacity 650 A
Fuse rating 250 A
(a) LV motor example data

Parameter Symbol Value

Overcurrent Disabled
Overload setting Ib 4.4 A
Overload time delay l>t 15
Unbalance 12 20 %
i
/
i

Unbalance time delay I2>t 25 s

Loss of phase time delay <lp 5 s
(b) Relay settings Table 19.3;
LV Motor protection setting example

19.14.2.1 CT ratio

The relay is set in secondary quantities, and therefore a

suitable CT ratio has to be calculated. From the relay
manual, a CT with 5A secondary rating and a motor rated
current in the range of 4-6A when referred to the
secondary of CT is required. Use of a 150/5A CT gives a
motor rated current of 4.4A when referred to the CT
Figure 19.14: Motor protection example -
secondary, so use this CT ratio. contactor-fed motor

19.14.2.2 Overcurrent (short-circuit) protection

19.14.2.4 Negative sequence
The fuse provides the motor overcurrent protection, as the
(phase unbalance) protection
protection relay cannot be allowed to trip the contactor on
overcurrent in case the current to be broken exceeds the The motor is built to IEC standards, which permit a
contactor breaking capacity. The facility for overcurrent negative sequence (unbalance) voltage of 1% on a
protection within the relay is therefore disabled. continuous basis. This would lead to approximately 7%
negative sequence current in the motor (Section 19.7).
19.14.2.3 Thermal (overload) protection
As the relay is fitted only with a definite time relay
The motor is an existing one, and no data exists for it element, a setting of 20% (from Section 19.7) is
except the standard data provided in the manufacturers appropriate, with a time delay of 25s to allow for short
catalogue. This data does not include the thermal high-level negative sequence transients arising from
(heating] time constant of the motor. other causes.
In these circumstances, it is usual to set the thermal 19.14.2.5 Loss of phase protection
protection so that it lies just above the motor starting
current. The relay has a separate element for this protection. Loss
of a phase gives rise to large negative sequence currents,
The current setting of the relay, Ib , is found using the and therefore a much shorter time delay is required. A
formula definite time delay of 5s is considered appropriate. The
relay settings are summarised in Table 19.3(b).
20 • Protection of A.C.
Electrified Railways

20.1 INTRODUCTION
Many regional, urban and high-speed inter-urban rail
networks worldwide are electrified, to provide the
motive power for trains (Figure 20.1).

Figure 20.1: Modern high-speed a.c. electric

inter-urban train

The electrification system serves as the contact interface

for current collection by each train, and in a.c. electrified
railways as the means to distribute power. In general,
one of two philosophies are followed: an overhead
catenary above the track, with power collection by a
pantograph; or conductor-rail electrification, with
current collection via contact shoes on a surface of a
special metallic conductor laid close to the running rails.
The latter arrangement is most commonly used for d.c.
traction, while the former arrangement is used for a.c.
and d.c. traction. Some rail routes have dual overhead
and conductor-rail electrification to facilitate route
sharing by different rail operators.
Overhead catenaries are generally considered to be safer,
as they are above the track, out of reach of rail personnel
and the public. They are the only way in which a traction
feed at high voltages can be engineered. They provide a
single-phase a.c. supply with a voltage in the range of
11kV-50kV with respect to the running rails, although
1.5kV and 3kV d.c. catenaries are predominant in some
countries. When a conductor-rail system is used, the become the standard. Figure 20.2 illustrates classical
supply voltage is generally 600V to 1700V d.c. 25kV feeding with booster transformers (BT). The
booster transformers are used to force the traction
This Chapter covers protection associated with HV
return current to flow in an aerially mounted return
overhead a.c. catenary electrification. Due to the nature
conductor, anchored to the back of the supporting masts
of many rail routes and the limited electrical clearances
(Figure 20.3). This arrangement limits traction current
(especially where an existing non-electrified route is to
returning through the rails and earth in a large cross-
be electrified), catenary faults are common. A typical
sectional loop, thereby reducing electromagnetic
fault rate is one fault per year per route kilometre of
interference with adjacent telecommunication circuits.
track. The relatively high fault rate, coupled with the
A step-down transformer connected phase to phase
high mechanical tension in the contact wire (typically 6-
across the Utility grid is generally the source of the
20kN) demands fast fault clearance. Should a fault not
traction supply. The electrical feed to the train is via the
be cleared quickly, the conductors that form the catenary overhead catenary, with the return current flowing via
may break due to intense overheating, with the the rails and then through the return conductor.
consequent risk of further severe damage caused by
moving trains and lengthy disruption to train services.
20.2 PROTECTION PHILOSOPHY
The application of protection to electrical power
transmission schemes is biased towards security whilst
ensuring dependability only for the most severe faults within
the protected circuit. Being too adventurous with the
application of remote back-up protection should be avoided,
since the consequences of unwanted tripping are serious.
In the case of electrified railways, there is a high
probability that sustained electrical faults of any type
(high resistance, remote breaker/protection failure etc.)
Figure 20.2: Classical 25kV feeding with
may be associated with overhead wire damage or a booster transformers
faulty traction unit. Fallen live wires caused by
mechanical damage or accident represent a greater
safety hazard with railways, due to the higher probability
of people being close by (railway personnel working on
the track, or passengers). Traction unit faults are a fire
hazard and a safety risk to passengers, especially in
tunnels. For these reasons, there will be a bias towards
dependability of back-up protection at the expense of
security. The consequences of an occasional unwanted
trip are far more acceptable (the control centre simply
recloses the tripped CB, some trains are delayed while
the control centre ensures it is safe to reclose) than the
consequences of a failure to trip for a fallen wire or a
traction unit fault.

Figure 20.3: Classical overhead line construction

20.3 CLASSICAL SINGLE-PHASE FEEDING

As the running rails are bonded to earth at regular
Classical single-phase a.c. railway electrification has been intervals, they are nominally at earth potential. A single-
used since the 1920's. Earlier systems used low frequency pole circuit breaker is all that is required to disconnect
supplies and in many countries, electrification systems the supply to the catenary in the event of a fault.
using 162/3Hz and 25Hz supplies are in use. The cost of
conversion of an extensive network, with a requirement
for through working of locomotives, throughout the 20.3.1 Classical System - Feeding Diagram
necessary changeover period, is usually prohibitive.
In practice, single-track railway lines are rare, and two or
Starting from Western Europe and with the influence four parallel tracks are more common. The overhead lire
spreading worldwide, single-phase a.c. electrification at equipment is then comprised of two or four electrically
the standard power system frequency of 50/60Hz, has independent catenaries, running in parallel. Figure 20.4
shows the feeding diagram for a typical two-track Feeder Station, they are located at every point where
railway using a classical electrification system. electrical isolation facilities are provided.
The infeed to the tracks in the 'northbound' direction is
via grid transformer T1 at the Feeder Station (FS). The
20.3.2 Classical System - Protection Philosophy
power is then distributed via catenaries A and B above
the northbound and southbound tracks. At intervals, it is The grid infeed transformers are typically rated at 10 to
usual to parallel the two catenaries at paralleling/sub- 25MVA,with a reactance of around 10%(or 2.5Ohm
sectioning substations, as illustrated in the Figure 20.4. when referred to the 25kV winding). Thus, even for a
Load current can then flow in the parallel paths, which fault at the Feeder Station busbar, the maximum
reduces the impedance to the load and hence the line prospective short circuit current is low in comparison
voltage drops. As the substation terminology implies, the to a Utility system (typically only 10 times the rating of a
provision of circuit breakers for each of the outgoing single catenary). If a fault occurs further down the track,
feeds to the catenaries also allows subsectioning - i.e. the there will be the additional impedance of the catenary
ability to disconnect supply from sections of catenary, in and return conductor to be added to the impedance of
the event of a fault, or to allow for maintenance. For a the fault loop. A typical loop impedance would be 0.6
fault on catenary 'A' in Figure 20.4, circuit breakers A at Om/km (1 Om/mile). Account may have to be taken of
the feeder station and at SSI would be tripped to isolate unequal catenary impedances - for instance on a four-
the faulted catenary. The supply to the healthy sections track railway, the catenaries for the two centre tracks
of catenary B, C, D, E and F would be maintained. have a higher impedance than those for the outer tracks
due to mutual coupling effects. For a fault at the remote
end of a protected section (e.g. Catenary section 'A' in
Figure 20.4), the current measured at the upstream
circuit breaker location (CB A at the FS) may be twice
rated current. Thus at Feeder Stations, overcurrent
protection can be applied, as there is a sufficient margin
between the maximum continuous load current and
the fault current at the remote ends of catenary
sections. However, overcurrent protection is often used
only as time-delayed back-up protection on railways, for
the following reasons:
a. the protection needs to be discriminative, to ensure
that only the two circuit breakers associated with
the faulted line section are tripped. This demands
that the protection should be directional, to
Figure 20.4: Classical 25kV feeding diagram respond only to fault current flowing into the
section. At location SS1, for example, the
The infeed from T1 generally feeds only as far as the protection for catenaries A and B would have to
look back towards the grid infeed. For a fault close
normally open bus section circuit breaker (BS2) at the
to the FS on catenary A, the remote end protection
mid-point substation (MPSS]. Beyond the MPSS there is a
mirror image of the electrical arrangements T1 to BS2 will measure only the proportion of fault current
that flows via healthy catenary B, along the
shown in Figure 20.4, with the remote end feeder station
'hairpin' path to SS1 and back along catenary A to
often 40-60km distant from T1. BS2 must remain open
during normal feeding, to prevent Utility power transfer the location of the fault. This fault current
contribution may be less than rated load current
via the single-phase catenary, or to avoid parallelling
(see Figure 20.5)
supplies that may be derived from different phase pairs of
the Utility grid - e.g. Phase A-B at T1, and B-C at the next
FS to the north. The same is true for BS1, which normally
remains open, as the T1 and T2 feeds are generally from
different phase pairs, in an attempt to balance the loading
on the three phase Utility grid. The neutral section (NS)
is a non-conducting section of catenary used to provide
continuity of the catenary for the pantographs of motive
power units while isolating electrically the sections of
track. While only two (one per rail track) are shown for
simplicity, separating the tracks fed by T1 and T2 at the
Figure 20.5 'Hairnin' fault current contribution
 b. the prospective fault current levels at 5S1, S52 and zones. Three zones of protection (shown as Z1, Z2, Z3)
MPSS are progressively smaller, and the measured are commonly applied. For each zone, the forward and
fault currents at these locations may be lower than resistive impedance reach settings must be optimised to
rated current avoid tripping for load current, but to offer the required
catenary fault coverage. All fault impedance reaches for
c. during outages of grid supply transformers,
distance zones are calculated in polar form
alternative feeding may be necessary. One possible
where Z is the reach in ohms, and G is the line angle
arrangement is to extend the normal feeding by
closing the bus section circuit breaker at the MPSS. setting in degrees. For railway systems, where all
The prospective current levels for faults beyond the catenaries have a similar fault impedance angle, it is
MPSS will be much lower than normal often convenient to add and subtract section impedances
algebraically and treat Z as a scalar quantity.
Overcurrent protection is detailed in Section 20.5.
In addition to protection against faults, thermal
protection of the catenary is required to prevent
excessive contact wire sag, leading to possible
dewirements. Section 20.4 details the principles of
catenary thermal protection.
Distance protection has been the most proven method of
protecting railway catenaries, due to its inherent ability to
remain stable for heavy load current, whilst being able to
discriminatively trip for quite low levels of fault current.
For general details of distance protection, see Chapter 11.
Figure 20.5 shows how the fault current generally lags the
system voltage by a greater phase angle than is usual
under load conditions, and thus the impedance phase
angle measurement is an important attribute of distance Figure 20.6: Polar impedance plot of
typical trip characteristics
relays for discriminating between minimum load
impedance and maximum remote fault impedance.
Relays at all of the track sectioning substations (SS1,
etc.) will see the reverse-looking load and regeneration
20.3.3 Distance Protection Zone Reaches
areas in addition to those in the forward direction shown
Distance relays applied to a classical single-phase in Figure 20.6. The reverse-looking zones, which are
electrified railway system have two measurement inputs: mirror images of the forward-looking zones, have been
omitted from the diagram for clarity.
a. a catenary to rail voltage signal derived from a line
or busbar connected voltage transformer 20.3.3.1 Zone 1
b. a track feeder current signal derived from a current The Zone 1 element of a distance relay is usually set to
transformer for the circuit breaker feeding the protect as much of the immediate catenary section as
protected section possible, without picking-up for faults that lie outside of
Distance relays perform a vector division of voltage by the section. In such applications Zone 1 tripping does
current to determine the protected circuit loop not need to be time-graded with the operation of other
impedance (Z). Typical relay characteristics are shown in protection, as the Zone 1 reach (Z1) cannot respond to
the R+j X impedance plane, Figure 20.6. faults beyond the protected catenary section. Zone 1
tripping can be instantaneous (i.e. no intentional time
Solid faults on the catenary will present impedances to delay). For an under-reaching application, the Zone 1
the relay along the dotted line in Figure 20.6. The reach must therefore be set to account for any possible
illustrated quadrilateral distance relay operating zones overreaching errors. These errors come from the relay,
have been set with characteristic angles to match the the VT's and CT's and inaccurate catenary impedance
catenary solid-fault impedance angle, which is usually
data. It is therefore recommended that the reach of the
70 to 75 degrees. Two of the zones of operation have
Zone 1 element is restricted to 85% of the protected
been set as directional, with the third being semi-
catenary impedance, with the Zone 2 element set to
directional to provide back-up protection. The measured
cover the final 15%.
fault impedance will be lower for a fault closer to the
relay location, and the relay makes a trip decision when 20.3.3.2 Zone 2
the measured fault impedance falls within its tripping To allow for under-reaching errors, the Zone 2 reach (Z2)
should be set to a minimum of 115% of the protected Z = impedance of sections A, B, C, D
catenary impedance for all fault conditions. This is to in parallel
guarantee coverage of the remote end not covered by The possibility of current following out and back along a
Zone 1. It is often beneficial to set Zone 2 to reach hairpin path to a fault has already been discussed and it
further than this minimum, in order to provide faster is essential that the relay does not overreach under these
back-up protection for uncleared downstream faults. A conditions. The feeding scenario is shown in Figure 20.8.
constraining requirement is that Zone 2 does not reach
beyond the Zone 1 reach of downstream catenary
protection. This principle is illustrated in Figure 20.7, for
a four-track system, where the local breaker for section
H has failed to trip.

Figure 20.8: Fault scenario for maximum

Zone 2 reach (Hairpin Feeding)

Figure 20.7: Fault scenario for Zone 2 reach

constraint (Normal Feeding)
Figure 20.8 depicts a fault that has been cleared at one
end only, with the remote end breaker for section D
failing to trip. The fault is assumed to be on the lowest
In order to calculate Z2 for the FS circuit breaker of
impedance catenary, which is an important consideration
protected catenary 'A', a fault is imagined to occur at
when there are more than two tracks. In a four-track
70% of the shortest following section. This is the closest
system, it is usual for mutual induction to cause inner
location that unwanted overlap could occur with Z2 main
(middle) track catenaries to have a characteristic
protection for catenary H. The value of 70% is
impedance that is 13% higher than for the outside tracks.
determined by subtracting a suitable margin for
measurement errors (15%) from the nominal 85% Z1 The calculation principle is similar to that for normal
reach for catenary H protection. The apparent impedance feeding, except that now the fault current is parallelling
of the fault, as viewed from relay A at location FS is then along three (= number of tracks minus one) adjacent
calculated, noting that any fault impedance beyond SSI tracks. The three catenaries concerned are the protected
appears to be approximately four times its actual ohmic catenary A, and the remainder of the healthy catenaries
impedance, due to the fault current parallelling along (R), i.e. catenaries B and C.
four adjacent tracks. The setting applied to the relay is
The equation for the maximum hairpin Zone 2 reach
the result of this calculation, with a further 15%
becomes:
subtracted to allow for accommodate any measurement
errors at relay A location.
The equation for the maximum Zone 2 reach becomes:

..Equation 20.2
where:
D = impedance of shortest hairpin fed
...Equation 20.1 section
where: A = impedance of protected section R =
H = impedance of shortest following section impedance of sections B and C
A = impedance of protected section R = in parallel Z = impedance of
impedance of sections B, C, D in parallel sections A, B, C, D
in parallel
To avoid overreaching for both normal feeding and further, to offset the effects of trains with
hairpin fed faults, the lower of the two calculated regenerative braking, which would provide an additional
impedances is used as the Zone 2 reach setting. current infeed to the fault. An additional 5% reach
increase would generally be sufficient to allow for
20.3.3.3 Zone 3
regenerative underreach
The Zone 3 element would usually be used to provide
overall back-up protection for downstream catenary
sections. The Zone 3 reach (Z3) should typically be set to
at least 115% of the combined apparent impedance of
the protected catenary plus the longest downstream
catenary. Figure 20.9 shows the feeding considered:

Figure 20.10: Fault scenario for Zone 3

minimum reach (Hairpin Feeding)

20.3.3.4 Reverse Reaching Zones

Figure 20.9: Fault scenario far Zone 3 An impedance measurement zone with reverse reach is
minimum reach (Normal Feeding) typically applied to provide back-up protection for the
local busbar at a paralleling/sectionalising substation. A
The equation for the minimum Zone 3 reach (normal typical reverse reach is 25% of the Zone 1 reach of the
feeding) for Relay A becomes: relay. Typically Zone 3 is set with a reverse offset to
provide this protection and also so that the Zone 3
element will satisfy the requirement for Switch-on-to
Fault (SOTF) protection.

...Equation 20.3 20.3.3.5 Distance zone time delay settings

where: The Zone 1 time delay (tZ1) is generally set to zero,
E = impedance of lonest following section A giving instantaneous operation.
= protected section impedance R = The Zone 2 time delay (tZ2) should be set to co-ordinate
impedance of sections B, C, D in parallel Z = with Zone 1 fault clearance time for downstream
impedance of sections A, B, C, D catenaries. The total fault clearance time will consist of
in parailel the downstream Zone 1 operating time p l u s the
It can be appreciated that hairpin feeding scenarios too associated breaker operating time. Allowance must also
must be considered, and this is depicted in Figure 20.10: be made for the Zone 2 elements to reset following
The equation for the minimum Zone 3 reach {hairpin clearance of an adjacent line fault and also for a safety
feeding) becomes: margin. A typical minimum Zone 2 time delay is of the
order of 150-200ms. This time may have to be adjusted
where the relay is required to grade with other Zone 2
protection or slower forms of back-up protection for
downstream circuits.
...Equation 20.4
where: The Zone 3 time delay (tZ3) is typically set with the same
considerations made for the Zone 2 time delay, except
D = impedance of longest hairpin fed section
that the delay needs to co-ordinate with the
To avoid under-reaching for both normal feeding and
downstream Zone 2 fault clearance. A typical minimum
hairpin fed faults, the higher of the two calculated
Zone 3 operating time would be in the region of 400ms.
impedances is used as the Zone 3 reach setting.
Again, this may need to be modified to co-ordinate with
Occasionally the Zone 3 reach requirement may be raised
slower forms of back-up protection for adjacent circuits.
20.3.4 Load Avoidance by CT's, VT's etc. will be more pronounced. It is therefore
common to set the resistive reaches progressively
Figure 20.4 shows how the distance relay trip
marginally smaller for zones with longer reaches. A
characteristics must avoid regions of the polar plot
practical setting constraint to ensure that zones with
where the traction load may be present. This has
historically been achieved by using shaped trip long reaches are not too narrow, and not overly affected
characteristics, such as the lenticular characteristic. by angle measurement tolerances, is for the resistive
Commencing around 1990, the benefits of applying reach not to be less than 14% of the zone reach.
quadrilateral characteristics were realised with the
introduction of integrated circuit relays. A quadrilateral
20.3.5 Enhanced Modern Relay Characteristics
characteristic permits the resistive reach to be set
independently of the required forward zone reach, which Figure 20.12 illustrates the polygonal distance relay
determines the position of the top line of the characteristics of a modern numerical railway distance
quadrilateral element. The resistive reach setting is then relay. Introduction of a setting modifies the basic
set merely to avoid the traction load impedance by a safe quadrilateral characteristic into a polygonal one, in order
margin and to provide acceptable resistive fault to optimise fault impedance coverage and load
coverage. Figure 20.11 shows how the resistive reach avoidance for modern railway applications.
settings are determined:

backward

Figure 20.12: Polygon distance characteristics

The use of the setting allows a load avoidance notch

Figure 20.11: Resistive reach settings for load to be placed within the right-hand resistive reach line
avoidance of the quadrilateral, is chosen to be around 10
degrees greater than the worst-case power factor load
For all quadrilateral characteristics, impedance point B is angle, limiting the resistive reach to Rg to avoid all load
the critical loading to avoid. The magnitude of the impedances. For impedance angles greater than , the
impedance is calculated from Z = V/I taking the zone resistive reach R applies, and the fault arc resistive
minimum operational catenary voltage and the coverage is improved. This is especially beneficial for
maximum short-term catenary current. The catenary Zone 3 back-up protection of adjacent catenaries, where
voltage is permitted to fall to 80% of nominal or less at the apparent level of arc resistance will be raised
the train location under normal operating conditions, through the effect of parallel circuit infeeds at the
and the short term current loading to rise to 160% of intervening substation.
nominal - these worst-case measured values should be
used when aiming to find the lowest load impedance.

The phase angle of point B with respect to the resistive 20.3.6 Impact of Trains with Regenerative Braking
axis is determined as: It is common for the Zone 1 characteristic to apply to the
-1
Theta = Cos (max lagging power factor) forward direction only. However, other zones may be set to
have a reverse reach - see Section 20.3.3.4 for details.
The diagram shows how resistive reach E-F for Zone 1 Another case where reverse-reaching zones may be required
has been chosen to avoid the worst-case loading by a is where trains having regenerative braking are used.
suitable margin of 10%-20%. Zones 2 and 3 reach
further, thus the effect of any angular errors introduced Such trains usually regenerate at a leading power factor
to avoid the creation of overvoltages on the catenary. the contact wire. To provide protection against such
Where a regenerating train contributes to fault current, conditions, catenary thermal protection is provided.
the fault impedance measured by distance relays may
shift up to 10° greater than . Some railway
administrations require that the fault impedance 20.4.1 Catenary Thermal Protection Method
remains within the trip characteristic, and does not stray Catenary thermal protection typically uses a current
outside the top left hand resistive boundary of the based thermal replica, using load current to model
polygon. This can be obtained by setting the reverse heating and cooling of the protected catenary. The
resistive reach (Rbw)to be greater than the forward element can be set with both alarm (warning) and trip
resistive reach (Rfw). stages.

The heat generated within the catenary is the resistive

20.3.7 Other Relay Characteristics loss ( ) . Thus, the thermal time characteristic
used in the relay is therefore based on current
Recent relay technology developments also allow the use squared, integrated over time. The heating leads to a
of detectors for rate of change of current and voltage temperature rise above ambient temperature, so in order
(di/dt and dv/dt). These detectors are used to control the to calculate the actual catenary temperature, the relay
time delays associated with time-delayed Zones 2 and 3, must know the ambient temperature along its' length.
and hence obtain better discrimination between load and This can be either set as an assumed 'default' ambient
fault impedances. The technique is still in its infancy, but temperature, or measured, typically using a
shows significant potential for the future. temperature probe mounted externally to the substation
building. However, the tension length of a contact wire
may be over 1km, and traverse cuttings and tunnels -
20.4 CATENARY THERMAL PROTECTION with resulting significant changes in the local ambient
It is essential that railway catenaries remain in the correct temperature. Therefore, the probe should ideally be
position relative to the track, thus ensuring good current mounted in a location that most accurately models the
collection by train pantographs. The catenary is designed coolant air around the catenary for the majority of the
to operate continuously at a temperature corresponding to protected section:
its full load rating, where heat generated is balanced with a. if exposed to direct sunlight, then the probe should
heat dissipated by radiation etc. Overtemperature be mounted to face the sun
conditions therefore occur when currents in excess of
rating are allowed to flow for a period of time. Economic b. if shaded from sunlight, such as running in a
catenary design demands that the catenary rating be that tunnel, then the probe should be mounted on an
of the maximum average continuous load expected. Peaks exterior wall facing away from the sun
in loading due to peak-hour timetables, or trains starting c. if running in a cutting, shielded from wind, the
or accelerating simultaneously are accommodated using probe should be mounted in the lee of the
the thermal capacity of the catenary - in much the same substation
way as use is made of transformer overload capacity to
d. if exposed to the wind, the probe should also be
cater for peak loading.
mounted on an exposed wall
It can be shown that the temperatures during heating
It is virtually impossible to site the probe such as to
follow exponential time constants and a similar
exactly model the ambient conditions along the
exponential decrease of temperature occurs during
protected section, and thus a typical error in the
cooling. It is important that the catenary is not allowed
allowable temperature rise of between 1°C and 3°C will
to overheat, as this will lead to contact wire supporting
result (for well-sited and poorly-sited probes,
arms moving beyond acceptable limits, and loss of the
respectively). RTD and CT errors, along with relay
correct alignment with respect to the track. The period
tolerances may also introduce further errors of up to TC
of time for which the catenary can be overloaded is
in the thermal model. Overall, the error in the
therefore a function of thermal history of the catenary,
temperature reading above the 20°C rated ambient could
degree of overload, and ambient temperature.
be 4°C. Therefore, relays may have a setting to
The tension in the catenary is often maintained by compensate for such measurement tolerances, to ensure
balance weights, suspended at each end of tension that the t r i p will not occur too late to prevent
lengths of contact wire. Overtemperature will cause the mechanical damage. Some relays may have an option to
catenary to stretch, with the balance weights eventually express the above tolerance as a percentage of the
touching the ground. Further heating will then result in temperature at which a trip is required, rather than in
a loss of contact wire tension, and excessive sagging of absolute terms.
20.5 CATENARY BACKUP PROTECTION catenary feeding impedance with a classical feeding
arrangement - depending on the section length being fed
Railway systems often use overcurrent protection as
and the traffic frequency (in both directions). To avoid a
time-delayed back-up protection for the main distance
decrease in train performance, feeder stations and
protection. Two different philosophies for overcurrent
parallelling substations for classical systems would have to
protection are typical:
be sited at prohibitively short intervals. In such
a. definite-time overcurrent protection (DTOC] circumstances, especially where the route involves new
b. back-up overcurrent protection (BUOC) construction, autotransformer feeding is normally favoured.

20.5.1 Definite-time Overcurrent Protection (DTOC) 20.6.1 Description of Autotransformer Feeding

This form of protection is continually in service, in Autotransformer feeding uses a high voltage system
parallel to the distance relay elements, either included comprising of a centre-tapped supply transformer,
within the same relay as the distance function, or as a catenary wire and a feeder wire. The feeder wire is
separate relay. The latter approach is currently more aerially mounted on insulators along the back of the
common for installations at Feeder Stations. This is due overhead line masts. The running rails are connected to
to the perceived increase in security and reliability the centre tap of the supply transformer, and hence a
obtained from the redundancy of separate devices. train sees only h a l f of the system voltage.
However, the trends evident in other protection Autotransformers located at intervals along the tracks
applications to provide more functionality within a single ensure division of load current between catenary and
relay will in time surely apply to this area as well. feeder wires that minimises the voltage drop between
It operates on the basis of conventional definite-time the supply transformer and the train. Figure 20.13 shows
overcurrent protection, as described in Chapter 9. The autotransformer feeding for the typical 25-0-25kV
time settings are chosen to ensure that the distance system found in Western Europe.
relay elements should operate first, thus the overcurrent
elements only operate if the distance elements fail, or if
they are out of service for some reason.

20.5.2 Back-up Overcurrent Protection (BUOC)

This form of back-up protection is switched in service
only during periods when the distance protection is out
of service. A typical example is where VT supervision or
a measuring circuit monitoring function detects a blown
VTfuse or an MCB trip. In such instances the distance
protection is automatically blocked, and the BUOC
elements can be automatically brought into service, such
that catenary protection is not lost.
Figure 20.13: 25-0-25kVautotransformer
feeding
Methods of setting overcurrent protection are covered in
Chapter 9. An example of using overcurrent protection
is given in Section 20.8. The use of autotransformers (AT) results in distribution
losses that are lower than for classical 25kV feeding, and
therefore can support the use of high power 25kV
20.6.BAUTOTRANSFORMER FEEDING traction units. Feeder substation spacing can also be
much greater than if a classical feeding system is used.
High-speed rail lines, with maximum speeds in excess of
Fewer substations means less maintenance and reduced
200km/h (125mph) have much higher traction power
operating costs. Two-pole switchgear is normally used
demands. This is not only to cope with the peak power
to isolate both the feeder and catenary wires in the
required for rapid acceleration to high speed, but also to
event of a fault on either wire. However, some
cope with the steeper gradients that are commonly
encountered along such routes. The total traction power
autotransformer systems allow single wire tripping,
per train may amount to 12-16MW, comprising two or
where separate distance protection is provided for each
more power cars per unit and often two units coupled wire. The protection would then monitor the two 'halves'
together to form a complete train. The heavy load currents of the system independently, with Protection Zones 1
drawn may cause significant voltage drops across the and 2 typically set to 85% and 120% of the protected
 Figure 20.15: Typical autotransformer-fed and catenary lay\
Figure 20.14: Autotransformer-fed system one-line diagram showing protection
circuit impedance - similar to the protection of a reclosure are detailed in Section 20.5.5. With high speed
classical catenary system. Figure 20.13 also illustrates lines generally being better fenced, and having fewer
the distribution of load current for a train situated overbridges and greater electrical clearances compared
midway between AT locations. to classical systems, the infrequent losses of supply
cause few operational problems. As tripping of circuit
The topology of the AT system is often similar to the
breakers at the FS isolates all line faults, there is then no
classical system shown in Figure 20.4, except that the
need to have switchgear at downstream substations
grid supply transformer 50kV secondary winding is
rated to interrupt fault current. For economy, load-
wound as a centre-tapped AT winding, and AT's are
breaking switches are used instead of breakers at SSI
connected catenary-rail-feeder at each downstream
and SS2 in Figure 20.4.
substation and at intervening locations.
Figure 20.14 shows a typical protection one-line diagram
for an autotransformer-fed system, while Figure 20.15 20.6.3 Distance Protection Zone Reaches
shows the construction of the catenary system.
Figure 20.16 illustrates the typical locus of impedance
measured at the FS, for a catenary to earth fault, at a
variable location upstream of SS2, for any one track.
20.6.2 Autotransformer System Protection
Philosophy While a similar effect exists for classically-fed systems, it
is small by comparison and normally ignored. The
From Figure 20.13 it can be seen that that the impedance measured is defined as:
summation (Ic - If) at any location will be equal to the
downstream traction load current. The same is true for
fault current, and so physically performing this current
summation, through the parallel connection of feeder
and catenary CT secondary windings, or mathematically
summating within a protection relay, can be the basis for
autotransformer circuit protection.

To discriminate between normal load current and feeder

wire or catenary faults, distance protection is commonly
applied, with (Ic - If) being the measured current. The
measured voltage is generally the catenary to rail
voltage. The relatively low reactance of the AT's -
typically 1% on a 10MVA base - ensures that any fault
voltage drop on the catenary will be proportional to the
feeder wire voltage drop.

When applying zones of distance protection to AT Figure 20.16: Variation of impedance

systems, with double-pole tripping, it should be measurement with fault location along track
appreciated that it is not usually possible to provide fully
discriminative protection. When the catenary and feeder
For clarity, only the impedances measured for a catenary
currents are combined, the relationship between
to earth fault located upstream of SS2 are plotted. The
impedance and distance-to-fault is non-linear.
hump-like impedance locus in Figure 20:16 has a number
Consequently, it is more difficult to set Zone 1 to be under-
of identifiable trends:
reaching and Zone 2 to be overreaching in the normal
manner. The approach that is normally adopted is to set a. the initial slope of the locus, in ohms/km, shown as
the Feeder Station distance protection to detect all faults line 'A1. This is according to the catenary-to-rail
along any track, up to, but not beyond, the Mid- Point loop impedance of (the 25kV loop in Figure 20.13),
Substation. It can be arranged that operation of any since the fault current flows almost entirely in the
distance relay will trip all Feeder Station breakers. In the catenary-rail loop for faults close to a feeding
event of any fault up to the MPSS, simultaneous tripping point
of all the track feeder circuit breakers at the FS will cut
b. at AT locations, slope 'B' shows how the effective
supplies to all tracks. Where this scheme is adopted,
ohms/km trend is less than half the catenary-to-
the application of auto-reclosing is essential to restore
feeder loop impedance (the 50kV loop in Figure
supplies to all but the permanently faulted section of
20.13) due to the method of impedance
catenary and feeder. The momentum of moving trains
measurement and due to the fault current
will ensure that little speed is lost during [the dead time
distribution. For a catenary-earth fault located at
of the auto-reclose sequences. Considerations
an autotransformer, the fault current will circulate
relating to the application of auto-
 almost entirely in the catenary-feeder loop rather protection for faults beyond the MPSS, or with a longer
than in the catenary-rail loop. Additionally, the reach to cover instances where AT's are switched out of
impedance of the catenary-feeder loop is lower service, such that the effective normal feeding
than that of the catenary-rail loop, as the feeder impedance becomes higher.
cable is a better conductor than the rails
c. beyond SSI, the effect of parallel feeding from
20.6.4 Distance Zone Time Delay Settings
other circuits between the FS and SSI means that
and Load Avoidance
slope 'C for a single circuit beyond SSI is greater
than slope 'A'. With reference to Figure 20.12, the The principles used are identical to those for classical
system simulated is four track, thus the gradient of feeding, with one exception. A short time delay of the
'C' will be approximately four times that of 'A' order of 50ms may be used with the Zone 1 element if a
(marginally higher than four for the inner tracks, relay without magnetising inrush restraint is used.
and less than four for outer tracks)
The relay uses (Ic - If) which is measuring the combined
Considerations for the setting of distance relay load current of all trains at their pantographs. Therefore,
reaches are detailed in the following sections. the load impedance to avoid is that measured from
catenary to rail (the '25kV impedance in Figure 20.11).
20.6.3.1 Zone 1
The Zone 1 elements of any FS distance relay should not
overreach and trip for faults beyond the MPSS, when the 20.6.5 Implications of using Two-Pole Switching
mid-point bus section breaker is closed. If it is known and Auto-Reclosure
that the MPSS is definitely open, then there is no real A full discussion of operational implications is beyond
reach constraint for distance protection. However, if the the scope of this Chapter, thus only the important points
mid-point breaker is closed, or no status information is are listed:
communicated to the protection to control overreach,
through reversion to an alternative setting group, then a. it is usual to remove all parallelling between tracks
the relay must not trip for the lowest impedance for a prior to any breaker reclosing. This avoids
fault at the MPSS busbar. Referring to Figure 20.16, this repetitive re-tripping of healthy catenary sections
fault impedance would be Zmin along slope B (to 15km as multiple track feeder circuit breakers are being
and 7.5Ohm). The applied Zone 1 setting should be reclosed after clearance of a fault on one feeder,
restricted to 85% of this impedance, to allow for all Paralleling is removed by opening the motorised
measurement and impedance data tolerances. isolators at all SS and MPSS locations. Following
feeder breaker reclosure, the tracks will be radially
A lower reach setting might be necessary to prevent fed. A persistent fault would only result in re-
unwanted tripping with aggregate magnetising inrush tripping of the faulted track circuit breakers
currents following circuit energisation. This will depend
on the response of the relay elements to inrush current b. in the period where tracks are being radially-fed,
and to the number of AT's applied. For relays that have the relays at the FS should only trip their own track
magnetising inrush restraint or some means of providing circuit breakers. Cross-tripping of parallel track
immunity or reduced sensitivity to inrush currents such a circuit breakers should be inhibited
constraint may not apply. c. protection at the FS can trip for an AT fault. Since
20.6.3.2 Zone 2 there would typically be no circuit breakers at the
SS and MPSS autotransformer locations, AT
Allowing for under-reaching errors, the Zone 2 reach (Z2) protection should wait for loss of line voltage
should be set in excess of 115% of the protected line during the dead time of FS circuit breakers before
impedance for all fault conditions. The relevant initiating the opening of a local motorised
impedance in Figure 20.16 would be the Zmax peak disconnector switch. This action should take place
between SS2 and MPSS. A typical value of Zmax would within the dead time so that the faulted AT will
be approximately 11.5Ohm at 13km distance from have been disconnected before reclosure of the FS
the feeder station. If trains with regenerative braking breakers
are in service along the protected track a 20% additional
reach margin would typically be applied. With the stated d. with radially fed tracks, multiple shot auto-
Zone 1 and Zone 2 setting policy, relays at the Feeder reclosing, is often applied to dislodge any debris
Station provide complete track protection up to the (wildlife or other stray material) that may have
MPSS. caused a semi-permanent fault. Before the last
auto-reclose shot, it is common to disconnect all
20.6.3.3 Zone 3
AT's downstream of the FS. With all AT's and
Zone 3 may be applied to provide remote back-up
 paralleling removed the faulted circuit distance Substation Si are to be calculated. The inputs to the relay are
relays would then see a linear relationship between derived from the track feeder CT adjacent to the circuit breaker,
the impedance measured and the distance to fault. and from a section busbar VT at busbar S1 (a catenary-side VT
The results obtained from a conventional, integral would be equally suitable). The system data is given in Table
fault location algorithms would then offer 20.1. A MiCOM P438 relay is used in the example.
rectification crews a fairly accurate estimate of
Equipment
where the permanent fault might be located
Catenary Impedance 0.26+j0.68Q/km
e. it may be necessary to automatically increase the Booster Transformer Impedance 0.051+j0.21Ohm
Zone reaches of distance relay elements before the Booster Transformer Spacinq every 3km

final auto-reclose attempt to allow for the higher Maximum Load Current 900A
CB Type Vacuum
catenary to rail fault loop impedance up to the
CB trip time 0.065 s
MPSS rather than the lower catenary-feeder loop
Max Zone 1 protection trip time 0.045 s
impedance. This may be achieved by switching to
Catenary Thermal Protection
an alternative setting group with Z2 set higher Catenary design temperature range for correct tension -18°Cto38°C
than previously
Typical assumed max. winter temperature (610A rating)
Typical assumed max. spring/autumn temp (540A rating) 20°C
Typical assumed summer temperature (515A rating} 23"C
20.6.6 Backup Protection Worst-case assumed hottest ambient 28°C

Backup protection considerations for autotransformer Temperature for Balance Weights to touch ground 38°C
Temperature at which 20% loss of tension, 48°C
fed systems are similar, in principle, to those for classical
train speeds must be restricted
systems, as described in Section 20.5.
Temperature at which possible damage due to 56"C
clashing of supports at overlaps occurs
Heating time constant - daytime 5 mins
20.7 FEEDER SUBSTATION PROTECTION Cooling time constant - nightime 7 mins
Each feeder substation comprises transformers, busbars, Table 20.1: Electrified railway system data
cables, switchgear, etc. All of these items require
protection. Due to the much higher frequency of faults 20.8.1 Section Impedance Data
on the catenary system, special attention must be given
to ensuring that the substation protection remains stable The first step is to calculate the primary impedance for
for catenary faults, whilst offering dependable the catenary sections to be protected. Zone 1 for the
protection for substation faults. relay associated with feeder TF-1 protects section 1,
however the backup protection offered by Zones 2 and 3
Other than this, there are no special requirements for the must discriminate with downstream relays and so the
protection of feeder substation equipment and the forms impedance of sections 2, 3 and 4 needs to be calculated
of protection detailed in Chapters 9-16 are directly too. In this example each pair of catenaries runs
applicable, on a single phase basis. between the common substations, and so the impedance
of adjacent sections will be identical. There are
situations where this is not the case, of which
20.8 EXAMPLE OF CLASSICAL SYSTEM PROTECTION
a. the sections to be protected consist of four tracks
b. the two tracks follow different routes due to the
geography of the route and hence may not be of
the same length
c. if there is a junction within a section
are three examples.
The equivalent section impedance per kilometre is given
by the formula:
ZsecT/km = line impedance/km
+ (BT impcdancc/BT spacing)
Figure 20.17: Network Diagram -
example calculation

Figure 20.17 depicts a typical 25kV system, where the

settings for the relay protecting track feeder TF-1 at
This will be rounded up to 70° as the nearest settable value The setting required is the lowest of the above two
of the common characteristic line angle of the relay, a. configurations.
Distance protection relays are often set and injection- 20.8.4.1 'Follow-on' configuration
tested in terms of the impedance on the secondary side
of the CT's/VT's used. Therefore, it is helpful for testing Figure 20.7 shows the condition to consider, with two
if the primary impedances on the system are converted track feeding only for the area fed by Substation 51.
to secondary quantities. The equation to be used is: Equation 20.1 is used to calculate the reach:

Zsect = system impedance referred

to primary where:
Z'sect = system impedance referred Z = impedance of sections 1 and 2 in parallel
to secondary
where: A = the track section of interest, section 1 R

Hence, = parallel fault current path (section 2) E =

shortest following section (3 or 4}
Hence,

20.8.2 Section Impedance Calculations

The section impedances can be calculated as follows:
20.8.2.1 Sections 1 and 2
The impedances for sections 1 and 2 are:
Z sect = 12.2 x 0.8 = 9.76 Ohm Z'sect
= 9.76 x 2.5 = 24.4 Ohm Notice how for two track feeding, (A + R)/R above
20.8.2.2 Sections 3 and 4 becomes 2, due to a fault current split between two
identical parallel paths.
The impedances for sections 3 and 4 are:
20.8.4.2 'Hairpin' feeding configuration
Zscct= 13.7 x 0.8 = 10.96 Ohm
Referring to Figure 20.8, it is apparent that with only two
Z'sect = 10.96 x 2.5 = 27.4 Ohm
tracks, inner tracks B and C are not present. Once circuit
breaker TF-2 at substation 51 is open, the impedance to
20.8.3 Zone 1 Reach Calculation forTF-1 the fault is merely 170% times the impedance of track
section 1 or 2. Thus, from Equation 20.2:
The Zone 1 forward reach is set to be 85°/o of the section
1 impedance, referred to the secondary of the relay.
Hence, the forward reach is calculated as Zlfw
= 24.4 x 0.85 = 20.75 Ohm .
Zone 1 is not required to operate in the reverse direction,
so the setting Zlbw is set to Blocked. For Zone 2 it is always the lower of the two calculated
results that is used. Therefore,

20.8.4 Zone 2 Reach Calculation for TF-1 use a setting of:

Two configurations have to be considered in the setting Forward reach Z2fw = 36.1 Ohm ,
of the Zone 2 reach. These are:
The Reverse Reach, Z2bw is set to Blocked, as only
a. the 'follow-on' configuration of Figure 20.7 forward directional operation is required.
b. the 'Hairpin' feeding configuration of Figure 20.8
20.8.5 Zone 3 Reach Calculation for TF-1 The Zone 3 time delay can typically be set double the
In similar fashion to the Zone 2 reach, the 'follow-on' minimum calculated above. However, as Zone 3 is often
and 'Hairpin' fault configurations have to be considered. most at risk of unwanted pickup due to train starting
As Zone 3 must tend to overreach rather than currents or momentary overloads, a longer setting of
underreach, 120% of the fault impedance calculated is t3 = 500ms is applied.
used as the setting and the higher of the two possible
settings is used.
20.8.7 Overcurrent Protection
20.8.5.1 'Follow-On' fault configuration
Overcurrent protection can be applied to the 25kV
Figure 20.9 shows the configuration for a follow-on fault system in Figure 20.17. For railway applications, non-
with two tracks: It is apparent that the calculation is directional overcurrent protection is normal. The
exactly as for Zone 2 follow-on, except that the simplest application is for track feeders at Feeder
multiplier of 0.7 (70%) is replaced by 1 (100%). Stations, such as TF-1. At this location and with normal
feeding, any fault current will naturally be flowing away
from the busbar, and so no reverse operation can occur.
At downstream substations it will not be possible to
20.8.5.2 'Hairpin, feeding' fault configuration apply overcurrent protection in a similar way, and any
elements enabled would tend to be set with long time
Repeating the same for hairpin feeding (Figure 20.10, delays to ensure that all of the distance protection zones
Equation 20.4): are given sufficient time to trip beforehand.
20.8.7.1 Back-Up overcurrent (BUOC) at feeder stations
Should the distance protection be out of service, two
Hence, use a setting of: BUOC overcurrent elements could be set. Firstly a high
set overcurrent element is set to underreach the
protected section, mimicking Zone 1 operation. This can
For Zone 3, a reverse reach is required to act a backup to be set for instantaneous tripping. Secondly, a lower-set
the upstream protection. The usual setting is 25% of the overcurrent element can be applied to complete
Zone 1 forward reach. Therefore, use a setting of: protection for the TB-1 section, to overreach the end of
the protected section at S2. The overcurrent element of
the relay would be set accordingly and with a definite
time delay.
20.8.7.2 Calculation of fault current
20.8.6 Zone Time Delays In order to determine the overcurrent settings, the fault
The Zone 1 time delay wi ll be set to instantaneous current measured by TF-1 CT for a fault adjacent to the
operation (t 1 = 0) ~ it is not common practice to time- S2 busbar needs to be calculated. There are two possible
grade this zone with the primary protection fitted on configurations to consider:
board the trains. a. fault current for a fault at the end of section 1,
Zone 2 [t2] should be delayed as follows: with two tracks in-service

t2 = CB max trip time + Relay max trip time b. current for a fault at the end of section 1, with
+ 50ms margin section 2 isolated for maintenance

Hence, For the first configuration, the fault current per track can
be calculated as
t2 = 65 + 45 + 50
160ms
As all of the protection and circuit breakers are
identical, this value can be used for t2. If the downstream where:
relays were electromechanical (typically 40-70ms slower
than numerical), or the circuit breakers were oil
insulated (OCB's, typically 40 to 60ms slower than VCB's),
then the t2 delay would need to be extended
accordingly. The 50ms margin allows for the reset time of
the Z2 element.
Note that the fault current splits into two parallel paths,
fed via TF-1 and TF-2. Hence, the division by 2 in the
equation for calculating the per-track current measured
by the protection.
Hence,

For the second configuration,

Referred to the secondary side of the CT,

where: The time delay applied must be longer than the t3

distance zone delay, so tIdtinst would be acceptable.
Zs1 = impedance of section 1
Hence,
20.8.8 Thermal Protection
The thermal data for the catenary are also given in Table
20.8.7.3 Overcurrent setting for BUOC 20.1. The calculation of the thermal protection settings
instantaneous stage is given in the following sections.
To prevent overreach, set at least 2O°/o above the higher 20.8.8.1 Thermal reference current/ temperature
of the two fault scenarios:
The P438 requires a thermal rated current or reference
current, Iref to be set that corresponds to full load
The secondary current setting on the relay is found by current. The ambient temperature at which this applies
dividing by the CT ratio: qualifies this rated current. The reference current
referred to the CT primary is given in Table 20.1 as:

The relay setting is in terms of the secondary current.

20.8.7.4 Overcurrent setting for BUOC definite-time Hence, the secondary current setting on the relay is
delayed stage found by dividing by the CT ratio:
To ensure complete cover for short circuits in the
protected section, the setting should be no greater than
80% of the lower of the two fault scenarios:
The ambient temperature tamh at which Irefp occurs is set at
20°C.
In terms of secondary quantities,
20.8,8.2 Mechanical damage protection

The catenary temperature at which mechanical damage

may begin to occur is 56°C. This must correspond to the
A time setting no less than the Zone 2 distance time P438 thermal trip command, and so:
delay would be used, so tl'oc = 250ms is suitable.
All overcurrent protection must have a pickup in excess
of the maximum expected load current. Assuming that Account must be taken of the measurement errors
the maximum overloading would never exceed 150% of described in Section 20.4.1. The P438 relay setting, 0trip,
CT rating, the I'inst and I'oc settings are acceptable. must allow for these errors, which are taken to be 4°C.
Hence,
20.8.7.5 Definite Time Overcurrent (DTOC)
It is not general practice to set instantaneous protection
elements that are running in parallel to the distance To avoid chattering of contacts when the load current is
zones. Thus often just one definite time delayed stage is close to the trip threshold, a hysteresis setting is
used. This setting can be applied at all locations, and provided on reset. Typically the hysteresis is set to 2%
must be in excess of the maximum load and overload such that following a trip, the thermal model must cool
current expected. by 2% before the trip contacts will reset.
20.8.8.3 Dewirement protection Parameter
Zone 1 forward reach
An alarm should be issued to warn the rail operator when
Zone 1 backward reach
speed restrictions are necessary, to avoid the risk of
Zone 2 forward reach
dewirements. From Table 20.1, the catenary temperature
Zone 2 backward reach
at which there is a danger of dewirement is 48 DC. The Zone 3 forward reach
same measurement errors apply as for the trip setting. Zone 3 backward reach
Hence the relay setting, Qwarning, is: Zone 1 time delay
Zone 2 time delay
Zone 3 time delay
Back-Up Overrurrent Instantaneous current setting
20.8.8.4 Maximum ambient temperature Back-Up Overcurrent IDMT current setting
Back-Up Overcurrent IDMT time delay setting
It is possible to place a limit on the maximum ambient
Definite Time Overcurrent protection current setting
temperature that will be used by the thermal model, to
Definite Time Overcurrent protection time delay setting
avoid over-restrictive loading constraints being imposed. Thermal Protection reference current
From Table 20.1: Ambient temperature reference
Thermal trip temperature Thermal warning
temperature Maximum ambient temperature
20.8.5.5 Default ambient temperature Default ambient temperature Heating time constant -
daytime Cooling time constant - nightime Table 20.2:
If ambient temperature compensation is not being used,
Electrified railway system example-relay settings
an assumed default coolant temperature ambient must
be chosen. The default ambient temperature must be
chosen to be sufficiently high to minimise the danger of
undetected problems occurring on hot days, when the
ambient temperature is well in excess of the default
value. Similarly, it must not be so high that alarms
and/or trips occur unnecessarily. A default ambient
temperature, of 20°C, would provide adequate
protection, except for a calculated risk on certain hot
summer days. Note that the rated thermal current at
this ambient is frefS.
20.8.8.6 Thermal time constants
The catenary thermal model requires heating and cooling
time constants to be specified. For most catenaries, the
heating and cooling time constants would be expected
to be equal. However, this may not always be the case,
for example the cooling time constant at night may be
longer than that applicable during the day. The relay can
accommodate different settings where required.
Conservative settings that assume the worst case time
constants for heating (th) and cooling (tC) would be to
assume a daytime heating time constant and nightime
cooling time constant. Hence:

The P438 also allows the thermal rating of the protection

to be modified, based on signals from opto inputs.
However, this facility is not used in this example.

20.8.9 Summary of Catenary Protection Settings

The protection calculations for the catenary are now
complete. The relay settings are summarised in Table 20.2.
21 • Relay Testing
and Commissioning

21.1 INTRODUCTION
The testing of protection equipment schemes presents a
number of problems. This is because the main function
of protection equipment is solely concerned with
operation under system fault conditions, and cannot
readily be tested under normal system operating
conditions. This situation is aggravated by the
increasing complexity of protection schemes and use of
relays containing software.
The testing of protection equipment may be divided into
four stages:
i. type tests
ii. routine factory production tests
iii. commissioning tests
iv. periodic maintenance tests

21.1.1 Type Tests

Type tests are required to prove that a relay meets the
published specification and complies with all relevant
standards. Since the principal function of a protection
relay is to operate correctly under abnormal power
conditions, it is essential that the performance be
assessed under such conditions. Comprehensive type
tests simulating the operational conditions are therefore
conducted at the manufacturer's works during the
development and certification of the equipment.
The standards that cover most aspects of relay
performance are IEC 60255 and ANSI C37.90. However
compliance may also involve consideration of the
requirements of IEC 61000, 60068 and 60529, while
products intended for use in the EEC also have to comply
with the requirements of Directives 89/336/EEC and
73/23/EEC. Since type testing of a digital or numerical
relay involves testing of software as well as hardware,
the type testing process is very complicated and more
involved than a static or electromechanical relay.
21.1.2 Routine Factory Production Tests would take 4 years to write the functional type-test
specifications, 30 years to perform the tests and several
These are conducted to prove that relays are free from
years to write the test reports that result. Automated
defects during manufacture. Testing will take place at
techniques/ equipment are clearly required, and are
several stages during manufacture, to ensure problems
covered in Section 21.7.2.
are discovered at the earliest possible time and hence
minimise remedial work. The extent of testing will be
determined by the complexity of the relay and past
manufacturing experience.

21.1.3 Commissioning Tests

These tests are designed to prove that a particular
protection scheme has been installed correctly prior to
setting to work. All aspects of the scheme are
thoroughly checked, from installation of the correct
equipment through wiring checks and operation checks
of the individual items of equipment, finishing with
testing of the complete scheme.

21.1.4 Periodic Maintenance Checks

These are required to identify equipment failures and
degradation in service, so that corrective action can be
taken. Because a protection scheme only operates under
fault conditions, defects may not be revealed for a
significant period of time, until a fault occurs. Regular
testing assists in detecting faults that would otherwise
remain undetected until a fault occurs.

Table 2 7. 7: Overcurrent relay element specification

21.2 ELECTRICAL TYPE TESTS

Various electrical type tests must be performed, as
follows:
Test1 Three phase non-directional pick up and drop off accuracy
over complete current setting range for both stages

Test 2 Three phase directional pick up and drop off accuracy over
21.2.1 Functional Tests complete RCA setting range in the forward direction, current
angle sweep
The functional tests consist of applying the appropriate Test 3 Three phase directional pick up and drop off accuracy over
inputs to the relay under test and measuring the complete RCA setting range in the reverse direction, current
angle sweep
performance to determine if it meets the specification.
Test 4 Three phase directional pick up and drop off accuracy over
They are usually carried out under controlled complete RCA setting range in the forward direction, voltage
environmental conditions. The testing may be extensive, angle sweep

even where only a simple relay function is being tested., Te5t5 Three phase directional pick up and drop off accuracy over
complete RCA setting range in the reverse direction, voltage
as can be realised by considering the simple overcurrent angle sweep
relay element of Table 21.1. Test6 Three phase polarising voltage threshold test

To determine compliance with the specification, the tests Test 7 Accuracy of DT timer over complete setting range

listed in Table 21.2 are required to be carried out. This is Test 8 Accuracy of IDMT curves over claimed accuracy range

a time consuming task, involving many engineers and Test 9 Accuracy of IDMTTMS/TD

technicians. Hence it is expensive. Test 10 Effect of changing fault current on IDMT operating times
Test 11 Minimum Pick-Up of Starts and Trips for IDMT curves
When a modern numerical relay with many functions is
Test 12 Accuracy of reset timers
considered, each of which has to be type-tested, the
Test 13 Effect of any blocking signals, opto inputs, VTS, Autoreclose
functional type-testing involved is a major issue. In the
Test 14 Voltage polarisation memory
case of a recent relay development project, it was Table 21.2: Overcurrent relay element functional type tests
calculated that if one person had to do all the work, it
21.2.2 Rating Tests seconds. This is carried out between all circuits and case
earth, between all independent circuits and across
Rating type tests are conducted to ensure that
normally open contacts. The acceptance criterion for a
components are used within their specified ratings and
product in new condition is a minimum of 100MOhm.
that there are no fire or electric shock hazards under a
After a damp heat test the pass criterion is a minimum
normal load or fault condition of the power system. This
is in addition to checking that the product complies with of 10MOhma.
its technical specification. The following are amongst
the rating type tests conducted on protection relays, the
21.2.7 Auxiliary Supplies
specified parameters are normally to IEC 60255-6.
Digital and numerical protection relays normally require
an auxiliary supply to provide power to the on-board
21.2.3 Thermal Withstand microprocessor circuitry and the interfacing opto-
isolated input circuits and output relays. The auxiliary
The thermal withstand of VT's, CT's and output contact
supply can be either a.c. or d.c, supplied from a number
circuits is determined to ensure compliance with the
of sources or safe supplies - i.e. batteries, UPS',
specified continuous and short-term overload conditions.
generators, etc., all of which may be subject to voltage
In addition to functional verification, the pass criterion is
dips, short interruptions and voltage variations. Relays
that there is no detrimental effect on the relay assembly,
are designed to ensure that operation is maintained and
or circuit components, when the product is subjected to
no damage occurs during a disturbance of the auxiliary
overload conditions that may be expected in service.
supply.
Thermal withstand is assessed over a time period of 1s
for CT's and 10s for VT's. Tests are carried out for both a.c. and d.c. auxiliary
supplies and include mains variation both above and
below the nominal rating, supply interruptions derived by
21.2.4 Relay Burden open circuit and short circuit, supply dips as a
The burdens of the auxiliary supply, optically isolated percentage of the nominal supply, repetitive starts. The
inputs, VT's and CT's are measured to check that the duration of the interruptions and supply dips range from
product complies with its specification. The burden of 2ms to 60s intervals. A short supply interruption or dip
products with a high number of input/output circuits is up to 20ms, possibly longer, should not cause any
application specific i.e. it increases according to the malfunction of the relay. Malfunctions include the
number of optically isolated input and output contact operation of output relays and watchdog contacts, the
ports which are energised under normal power system reset of microprocessors, alarm or trip indication,
load conditions. It is usually envisaged that not more acceptance of corrupted data over the communication
than 50% of such ports will be energised in any link and the corruption of stored data or settings. For a
application. longer supply interruption, or dip in excess of 20ms, the
relay self recovers without the loss of any function, data,
settings or corruption of data. No operator intervention
21.2.5 Relay Inputs is required to restore operation after an interruption or
dip in the supply. Many relays have a specification that
Relay inputs are tested over the specified ranges. Inputs exceeds this requirement, tolerating dips of up to 50ms
include those for auxiliary voltage, VT, CT, frequency, without operation being affected.
optically isolated digital inputs and communication
circuits. In addition to the above, the relay is subjected to a number
of repetitive starts or a sequence of supply interruptions.
Again the relay is tested to ensure that no damage or data
21.2.6 Relay Output Contacts corruption has occurred during the repetitive tests.

Protection relay output contacts are type tested to Specific tests carried out on d.c. auxiliary supplies
ensure that they comply with the product specification. include reverse polarity, a.c. waveform superimposed on
Particular withstand and endurance type tests have to be the d.c. supply and the effect of a rising and decaying
carried out using d.c, since the normal supply is via a auxiliary voltage. All tests are carried out at various
station battery. levels of loading of the relay auxiliary supply.

21.2.7 Insulation Resistance 21.3 ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY TESTS

The insulation resistance test is carried out according to There are numerous tests that are carried out to
IEC 60255-5, i.e. 500V d.c. ±10%, for a minimum of 5 determine the ability of relays to withstand the electrical
environment in which they are installed. The substation that the relay can withstand an interruption in the
environment is a very severe environment in terms of the auxiliary supply without de-energising, e.g. switching
electrical and electromagnetic interference that can off, and that when this time is exceeded and it does
arise. There are many sources of interference within a transiently switch off, that no maloperation occurs.
substation, some originating internally, others being It simulates the effect of a loose fuse in the battery
conducted along the overhead lines or cables into the circuit, or a short circuit in the common d.c. supply,
substation from external disturbances. The most interrupted by a fuse. Another source of d.c. interruption
common sources are: is if there is a power system fault and the battery is
a. switching operations supplying both the relay and the circuit breaker trip coils.
When the battery energises the coils to initiate the
b. system faults
circuit breaker trip, the voltage may fall below the
c. lightning strikes required level for operation of the relay and hence a d.c.
interrupt occurs. The test is specified in IEC 60255-11
d. conductor flashover
and comprises a interruptions of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and
e. telecommunication operations e.g. mobile phones 200ms. For interruptions lasting up to and including
A whole suite of tests are performed to simulate these 20ms, the relay must not de-energise of maloperate,
types of interference, and they fall under the broad while for longer interruptions it must not maloperate.
umbrella of what is known as EMC, or Electromagnetic The relay is powered from a battery supply, and both
Compatibility tests. short circuit and open circuit interruptions are carried
out. Each interruption is applied 10 times, and for
Broadly speaking, EMC can be defined as:
auxiliary power supplies with a large operating range,
'The ability of equipment to co-exist in the same the tests are performed at minimum, maximum, and
electromagnetic environment' other voltages across this range, to ensure compliance
It is not a new subject and has been tested for by the over the complete range.
military ever since the advent of electronic equipment. EMC
can cause real and serious problems, and does need to be
21.3.2 A.C. Ripple on D.C. Supply
taken into account when designing electronic equipment.
This test (IEC 60255-11) determines that the relay is able
EMC tests determine the impact on the relay under test
to operate correctly with a superimposed a.c. voltage on
of high-frequency electrical disturbances of various
the d.c. supply. This is caused by the station battery being
kinds. Relays manufactured or intended for use in the
charged by the battery charger, and the relevant waveform
EEC have to comply with EEC Directive 89/336/EEC in
is shown in Figure 21.1. It consists of a 12% peak-to-peak
this respect. To achieve this, in addition to designing for
ripple superimposed on the d.c. supply voltage.
statutory compliance to this Directive, the following
range of tests are carried out:
a. d.c. interrupt test
b. a.c. ripple on d.c. supply test
c. d.c. ramp test
d. high frequency disturbance test
e. fast transient test
f. surge immunity test
g. power frequency interference test
h. electrostatic discharge test Figure 21.7; AC. ripple superimposed on d.c.
supply test
i. conducted and radiated emissions tests
j. conducted and radiated immunity tests For auxiliary power supplies with a large operating range,
the tests are performed at minimum, maximum, and
k. power frequency magnetic field tests other voltages across this range, to ensure compliance
for the complete range. The interference is applied using
a full wave rectifier network, connected in parallel with
21.3.1 D.C Interrupt Test
the battery supply. The relay must continue to operate
This is a test to determine the maximum length of time without malfunction during the test.
21.3.3 D.C. Ramp Down/Ramp Up
This test simulates a failed station battery charger, which
would result in the auxiliary voltage to the relay slowly
ramping down. The ramp up part simulates the battery
being recharged after discharging. The relay must power
up cleanly when the voltage is applied and not
maloperate.
There is no international standard for this test, so individual
manufacturers can decide if they wish to conduct such a
test and what the test specification shall be.

Figure 21.3: Fast Transient Test waveform

21.3.4 High Frequency Disturbance Test

The High Frequency Disturbance Test simulates high The product is energised in both normal (quiescent) and
voltage transients that result from power system faults tripped modes for this test. It must not maloperate when
and plant switching operations. It consists of a 1MHz the interference is applied in common mode via the
decaying sinusoidal waveform, as shown in Figure 21.2. integral coupling network to each circuit in turn, for 60
The interference is applied across each independent seconds. Interference is coupled onto communications
c i r c u i t (differential mode) and between each circuits, if required, using an external capacitive coupling
independent circuit and earth (common mode) via an clamp.
external coupling and switching network. The product is
energised in both normal (quiescent) and tripped modes
21.3.6 Surge Immunity Test
for this test, and must not maloperate when the
interference is applied for a 2 second duration. The Surge Immunity Test simulates interference caused
by major power system disturbances such as capacitor
bank switching and lightning strikes on overhead lines
within 5km of the substation. The test waveform has an
open circuit voltage of 4kV for common mode surges and
2kV for differential mode surges. The test waveshape
consists on open circuit of a 1.2/50ms rise/fall time and
a short circuit current of 8/20ms rise/fall time. The
generator is capable of providing a short circuit test
current of up to 2kA, making this test potentially
destructive. The surges are applied sequentially under
software control via dedicated coupling networks in both
differential and common modes with the product
energised in its normal (quiescent) state. The product
Figure 21.2: High Frequency Disturbance shall not maloperate during the test, shall still operate
Test waveform within specification after the test sequence and shall not
incur any permanent damage.

21.3.5 Fast Transient Test 21.3.7 Power Frequency Interference

The Fast Transient Test simulates the HV interference This test simulates the type of interference that is caused
caused by disconnector operations in GIS substations or when there is a power system fault and very high levels
breakdown of the SF6 insulation between conductors of fault current flow in the primary conductors or the
and the earthed enclosure. This interference can either earth grid. This causes 50 or 60Hz interference to be
be inductively coupled onto relay circuits or can be induced onto control and communications circuits.
directly introduced via the CT or VT inputs. It consists of
There is no international standard for this test, but one
a series of 15ms duration bursts at 300ms intervals, each
used by some Utilities is:
burst consisting of a train of 50ns wide pulses with very
fast (5ns typical) rise times (Figure 21.3), with a peak a. 500V r.m.s., common mode
voltage magnitude of 4kV. b. 250V r.m.s., differential mode
applied to circuits for which power system inputs are not 1. current and voltage applied at 90% of setting,
connected. (relay not tripped)
Tests are carried out on each circuit, with the relay in the 2. current and voltage applied at 110% of setting,
following modes of operation: (relay tripped)
1. current and voltage applied at 90% of setting, 3. main protection and communications functions
(relay not tripped) are tested to determine the effect of the discharge
2. current and voltage applied at 110% of setting, To pass, the relay shall not maloperate, and shall still
(relay tripped) perform its main functions within the claimed tolerance.
3. main protection and communications functions
are tested to determine the effect of the
21.3.9 Conducted and Radiated Emissions Tests
interference
The relay shall not maloperate during the test, and shall still These tests arise primarily from the essential protection
perform its main functions within the claimed tolerance. requirements of the European Community (EU) directive
on EMC. These require manufacturers to ensure that any
equipment to be sold in the countries comprising the
21.3.8 Electrostatic Discharge Test European Union must not interfere with other
This test simulates the type of high voltage interference equipment. To achieve this it is necessary to measure the
that occurs when an operator touches the relay's front emissions from the equipment and ensure that they are
panel after being charged to a high potential. This is exactly below the specified limits.
the same phenomenon as getting an electric shock when Conducted emissions are measured only from the
stepping out of a car or after walking on a synthetic fibre equipment's power supply ports and are to ensure that when
carpet. connected to a mains network, the equipment does not inject
In this case the discharge is only ever applied to the front interference back into the network which could adversely
panel of the relay, with the cover both on and off. Two affect the other equipment connected to the network.
types of discharges are applied, air discharge and contact Radiated emissions measurements are to ensure that the
discharge. Air discharges are used on surfaces that are interference radiated from the equipment is not at a
normally insulators, and contact discharges are used on level that could cause interference to other equipment.
surfaces that are normally conducting. IEC 60255-22-2 This test is normally carried out on an Open Area Test
is the relevant standard this test, for which the test Site (OATS) where there are no reflecting structures or
parameters are: sources of radiation, and therefore the measurements
a. cover on: Class 4, 8kV contact discharge, 15kV air obtained are a true indication of the emission spectrum
discharge of the relay. An example of a plot obtained during
b. cover off: Class 3, 6kV contact discharge, 8kV air conducted emissions tests is shown in Figure 21.5.
discharge
The test arrangements for the conducted and radiated
In both cases above, all the lower test levels are also emissions tests are shown in Figure 21.6.
tested.
When performing these two tests, the relay is in a
The discharge current waveform is shown in Figure 21.4.
quiescent condition, that is not tripped, with currents
and voltages applied at 90% of the setting values. This
is because for the majority of its life, the relay will be in
the quiescent state and the emission of electromagnetic
interference when the relay is tripped is considered to be
of no significance. Tests are conducted in accordance
with IEC 60255-25 and EN 50081-2, and are detailed in
Table 21.3.

Figure 21.4: E5D Current Waveform

The test is performed with single discharges repeated on

each test point 10 times with positive polarity and 10
times with negative polarity at each test level. The time
interval between successive discharges is greater than 1
Table 21.3: Test criteria for Conducted and
second. Tests are carried out at each level, with the relay Radiated Emissions tests
in the following modes of operation.
Figure 21.5: Conducted Emissions Test Plot Figure 21.6: BMC test arrangements
21.3.10 Conducted and Radiated Immunity Tests operate their radios/mobile phones without fear of relay
maloperation.
These tests are designed to ensure that the equipment is
immune to levels of interference that it may be subjected IEC 60255-22-3 specifies the radiated immunity tests to
to. The two tests, conducted and radiated, arise from the be conducted (ANSI/IEEE C37.90.2 is used for equipment
fact that for a conductor to be an efficient antenna, it built to US standards), with signal levels of:
must have a length of at least 1/4 of the wavelength of
1. IEC: Class III, 10V/m, 80MHz -1000MHz
the electromagnetic wave it is required to conduct.
2. ANSI/IEEE: 35V/m 25MHz - 1000MHz with no
If a relay were to be subjected to radiated interference at
modulation, and again with 100% pulse
150kHz, then a conductor length of at least
modulation
IEC 60255-22-6 is used for the conducted immunity test,
with a test level of:
would be needed to conduct the interference. Even with Class III, 10V r.m.s., 150kHz - 80MHz.
all the cabling attached and with the longest PCB track
length taken into account, it would be highly unlikely
that the relay would be able to conduct radiation of this 21.3.11 Power Frequency Magnetic Field Tests
frequency, and the test therefore, would have no effect.
These tests are designed to ensure that the equipment is
The interference has to be physically introduced by
immune to magnetic interference. The three tests,
conduction, hence the conducted immunity test.
steady state, pulsed and damped oscillatory magnetic
However, at the radiated immunity lower frequency limit
field, arise from the fact that for different site conditions
of 80MHz, a conductor length of approximately 1.0m is
the level and waveshape is altered.
required. At this frequency, radiated immunity tests can
be performed with the confidence that the relay will 23.3.11.1 Steady state magnetic field tests
conduct this interference, through a combination of the These tests simulate the magnetic field that would be
attached cabling and the PCB tracks. experienced by a device located within close proximity of
Although the test standards state that all 6 faces of the the power system. Testing is carried out by subjecting
equipment should be subjected to the interference, in the relay to a magnetic field generated by two induction
practice this is not carried out. Applying interference to coils. The relay is rotated such that in each axis it is
the sides and top and bottom of the relay would have subjected to the full magnetic field strength. IEC 61000-
little effect as the circuitry inside is effectively screened 4-6 is the relevant standard, using a signal level of:
by the earthed metal case. However, the front and rear Level 5: 300A/m continuous and 1000A/m short duration
of the relay are not completely enclosed by metal and are
therefore not at all well screened, and can be regarded as The test arrangement is shown in Figure 21.7.
an EMC hole. Electromagnetic interference when
directed at the front and back of the relay can enter
freely onto the PCB's inside.
When performing these two tests, the relay is in a
quiescent condition, that is not tripped, with currents
anil voltages applied at 90% of the setting values. This
is because for the majority of its life, the relay will be in
the quiescent state and the coincidence of an
electromagnetic disturbance and a fault is considered to
be unlikely.
However, spot checks are performed at selected
frequencies when the main protection and control
functions of the relay are exercised, to ensure that it will
operate as expected, should it be required to do so.
The frequencies for the spot checks are in general
selected to coincide with the radio frequency broadcast
bands, and in particular, the frequencies of mobile
communications equipment used by personnel working Figure 21.7: Power frequency magnetic
field set-up
in the substation. This is to ensure that when working in
the vicinity of a relay, the personnel should be able to
To pass the steady-state test, the relay shall not open contacts intended for connection to tripping
maloperate, and shall still perform its main functions circuits, in accordance with ANSI/IEEE C37.90
within the claimed tolerance. During the application of
3. 1.0kV r.m.s., 50/60Hz for 1 minute across the
the short duration test, the main protection function
normally open contacts of watchdog or
shall be exercised and verified that the operating
changeover output relays, in accordance with IEC
characteristics of the relay are unaffected.
60255-5
21.3.11.2 Pulsed magnetic field
The routine dielectric voltage withstand test time may be
These tests simulate the magnetic field that would be shorter than for the 1 minute type test time, to allow a
experienced by a device located within close proximity of reasonable production throughput, e.g. for a minimum of
the power system during a transient fault condition. 1 second at 110% of the voltage specified for 1 minute.
According to IEC 61000-4-9, the generator for the
induction coils shall produce a 6.4/16us waveshape with
test level 5, 100A/m with the equipment configured as 21.4.2 Insulation Withstand for Overvoltages
for the steady state magnetic field test. The relay shall
The purpose of the High Voltage Impulse Withstand type
not maloperate, and shall still perform its main functions
test is to ensure that circuits and their components will
within the claimed tolerance during the test.
withstand overvoltages on the power system caused by
21.3.11.3 Damped oscillatory magnetic field lightning. Three positive and three negative high voltage
These tests simulate the magnetic field that would be impulses, 5kV peak, are applied between all circuits and
experienced by a device located within close proximity of the case earth and also between the terminals of
the power system during a transient fault condition. IEC independent circuits (but not across normally open
61000-4-10 specifies that the generator for the coil shall contacts). As before, different requirements apply in the
produce an oscillatory waveshape with a frequency of case of circuits using D-type connectors.
0.1MHz and 1MHz, to give a signal level in accordance The test generator characteristics are as specified in IEC
with Level 5 of 100A/m, and the equipment shall be 60255-5 and are shown in Figure 21.8. No disruptive
configured as in Figure 21.7. discharge (i.e. flashover or puncture) is allowed.
If it is necessary to repeat either the Dielectric Voltage or
21.4 PRODUCT SAFETY TYPE TESTS High Voltage Impulse Withstand tests these should be
carried out at 75% of the specified level, in accordance
A number of tests are carried out to demonstrate that
with IEC 60255-5, to avoid overstressing insulation and
the product is safe when used for its intended
application. The essential requirements are that the
components.
relay is safe and will not cause an electric shock or fire
hazard under normal conditions and in the presence of a
single fault. A number of specific tests to prove this may
be carried out, as follows.

21.4.1 Dielectric Voltage Withstand

Dielectric Voltage Withstand testing is carried out as a
routine test i.e. on every unit prior to despatch. The
purpose of this test is to ensure that the product build is
as intended by design. This is done by verifying the
clearance in air, thus ensuring that the product is safe to
operate under normal use conditions. The following tests
are conducted unless otherwise specified in the product
documentation:
1. 2.0kV r.m.s., 50/60Hz for 1 minute between all
terminals and case earth and also between Figure 21.8: Test generator characteristics
for insulation withstand test
independent circuits, in accordance with IEC
60255-5. Some communication circuits are 21.4.3 Single Fault Condition Assessment
excluded from this test, or have modified test
requirements e.g. those using D-type connectors An assessment is made of whether a single fault
condition such as an overload, or an open or short circuit,
2. 1.5kV r.m.s., 50/60Hz for 1 minute across normally applied to the product may cause an electric shock or fire
hazard. In the case of doubt, type testing is carried out 21.5.2 Humidity Test
to ensure that the product is safe.
The humidity test is performed to ensure that the
product will withstand and operate correctly when
subjected to 93% relative humidity at a constant
21.4.4 Earth Bonding Impedance
temperature of 40°C for 56 days. Tests are performed to
Class 1 products that rely on a protective earth ensure that the product functions correctly within
connection for safety are subjected to an earth bonding specification after 21 and 56 days. After the test, visual
impedance (EBI) type test. This ensures that the earth inspections are made for any signs of unacceptable
path between the protective earth connection and any corrosion and mould growth.
accessible earthed part is sufficiently low to avoid
damage in the event of a single fault occurring. The test
is conducted using a test voltage of 12V maximum and a 21.5.3 Cyclic Temperature/Humidity Test
test current of twice the recommended maximum This is a short-term test that stresses the relay by
protective fuse rating. After 1 minute with the current subjecting it to temperature cycling in conjunction with
flowing in the circuit under test, the EBI shall not exceed high humidity.
0.1Ohm.
The test does not replace the 56 day humidity test, but is
used for testing extension to ranges or minor
modifications to prove that the design is unaffected.
21.4.5 CE Marking
The applicable standard is IEC 60068-2-30 and test
A CE mark on the product, or its packaging, shows that
conditions of:
compliance is claimed against relevant European
Community directives e.g. Low Voltage Directive +25°C ±3"C and 95% relative humidity/+55°C ±2°C and
73/23/EEC and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) 95% relative humidity
Directive 89/336/EEC. are used, over the 24 hour cycle shown in Figure 21.9.

21.5 ENVIRONMENTAL TYPE TESTS

Various tests have to be conducted to prove that a relay
can withstand the effects of the environment in which it
is expected to work. They consist of: the following tests:
1. temperature
2. humidity
3. enclosure protection
4. mechanical
These tests are described in the following sections.

21.5.1 Temperature Test

Temperature tests are performed to ensure that a
Figure 21.9: Cyclic temperature/humidity
product can withstand extremes in temperatures, both test profile
hot and cold, during transit, storage and operating
For these tests the relay is placed in a humidity cabinet,
conditions. Storage and transit conditions are defined as and energised with normal in-service quantities for the
a temperature range of -25°C to +70°C and operating as complete duration of the tests. In practical terms this
-25°C to +55°C. usually means energising the relay with currents and
Dry heat withstand tests are performed at 70°C for 96 voltages such that it is 10% from the threshold for
hours with the relay de-energised. Cold withstand tests operation. Throughout the duration of the test the relay is
are performed at -40°C for 96 hours with the relay de- monitored to ensure that no unwanted operations occur.
energised. Operating range tests are carried out with the Once the relay is removed from the humidity cabinet, its
product energised, checking all main functions operate insulation resistance is measured to ensure that it has
within tolerance over the specified working temperature not deteriorated to below the claimed level. The relay is
range -25°C to +55°C. then functionally tested again, and finally dismantled to
check for signs of component corrosion and growth.

The acceptance criterion is that no unwanted operations

shall occur including transient operation of indicating
devices. After the test the relay's insulation resistance
should not have significantly reduced, and it should
perform all of its main protection and communications
functions within the claimed tolerance. The relay should
also suffer no significant corrosion or growth, and
photographs are usually taken of each PCB and the case
as a record of this.

21.5.4 Enclosure Protection Test

Enclosure protection tests prove that the casing system Figure 21.10: Relay undergoing seismic test
and connectors on the product protect against the ingress
of dust, moisture, water droplets (striking the case at pre-
defined angles) and other pollutants. An 'acceptable' level
of dust or water may penetrate the case during testing,
but must not impair normal product operation, safety or
cause tracking across insulated parts of connectors.

21.5.5 Mechanical Tests

Mechanical tests simulate a number of different

mechanical conditions that the product may have to
endure during its lifetime. These fall into two categories

a. response to disturbances while energised

b. response to disturbances during transportation

(de-energised state)

Tests in the first category are concerned with the Figure 21.11: Shock/Bump Impulse waveform
response to vibration, shock and seismic disturbance.
The test levels for shock and bump tests are:
The tests are designed to simulate normal in-service
conditions for the product, for example earthquakes. Shock response (energised):
These tests are performed in all three axes, with the
3 pulses, each 10g, 11ms duration
product energised in its normal (quiescent) state. During
the test, all output contacts are continually monitored Shock withstand (de-energised):
for change using contact follower circuits. Vibration 3 pulses, 15g, 11ms duration
levels of Ign, over a 10Hz-150Hz frequency sweep are
used. Seismic tests use excitation in a single axis, using Bump (de-energised):
a test frequency of 35Hz and peak displacements of 1000 pulses, 10g, 16ms duration
7.5mm and 3.5mm in the x and y axes respectively below
the crossover frequency and peak accelerations of 2.0gn
and 1.0gn in these axes above the crossover frequency. 21.6 SOFTWARE TYPE TESTS
The second category consists of vibration endurance, Digital and numerical relays contain software to
shock withstand and bump tests. They are designed to implement the protection and measurement functions of
simulate the longer-term affects of shock and vibration a relay. This software must be thoroughly tested, to
that could occur during transportation. These tests are ensure that the relay complies with all specifications and
performed with the product de-energised. After these that disturbances of various kinds do not result in
tests, the product must still operate within its unexpected results. Software is tested in various stages:
specification and show no signs of permanent
a. unit testing
mechanical damage. Equipment undergoing a seismic
type test is shown in Figure 21.10, while the waveform b. integration testing
for the shock/bump test is shown in Figure 21.11
c. functional qualification testing
The purpose of unit testing is to determine if an 21.6.3 Unit Testing Environment
individual function or procedure implemented using
Both Dynamic and Static Unit Testing are performed in
software, or small group of closely related functions, is the host environment rather than the target
free of data, logic, or standards errors. It is much easier environment. Dynamic Unit Testing uses a test harness
to detect these types of errors in individual units or small to execute the unit(s) concerned. The test harness is
groups of units than it is in an integrated software designed such that it simulates the interfaces of the
architecture and/or system. Unit testing is typically unit(s) being tested - both software-software interfaces
performed against the software detailed design and by and software-hardware interfaces - using what are
the developer of the unit(s). known as stubs. The test harness provides the test data
Integration testing typically focuses on these interfaces to those units being tested and outputs the test results
and also issues such as performance, timings and in a form understandable to a developer. There are many
synchronisation that are not applicable in unit testing. commercially available testing tools to automate test
Integration testing also focuses on 'stressing' the harness production and the execution of tests.
software and related interfaces.
Integration testing is 'black box' in nature, i.e. it does not 21.6.4 Software/Software Integration Testing
take into account the structure of individual units. It is
Software/Software Integration Testing is performed in
typically performed against the software architectural
the host environment. It uses a test harness to simulate
and detailed design. The specified software requirements inputs and outputs, hardware calls and system calls (e.g.
would typically also be used as a source for some of the the target environment operating system).
test cases.

21.6.5 Software/Hardware Integration Testing

21.6.1 Static Unit Testing
Software/Hardware Integration Testing is performed in
Static Unit Testing (or static analysis as it is often called) the target environment, i.e. it uses the actual target
analyses the unit(s) source code for complexity, precision hardware, operating system, drivers etc. It is usually
tracking, initialisation checking, value tracking, strong performed after Software/Software Integration Testing.
type checking, macro analysis etc. While Static Unit Testing the interfaces to the hardware is an important
Testing can be performed manually, it is a laborious and feature of Software/Hardware Integration Testing. Test
error prone process and is best performed using a cases for Integration Testing are typically based on those
proprietary automated static unit analysis tool. It is defined for Validation Testing. However the emphasis
important to ensure that any such tool is configured should be on finding errors and problems. Performing a
correctly and used consistently during development. dry run of the validation testing often completes
Integration Testing.

21.6.2 Dynamic Testing

21.6.6 Validation Testing
Dynamic Testing is concerned with the runtime
behaviour of the unit(s) being tested and so therefore, The purpose of Validation Testing (also known as
Software Acceptance Testing) is to verify that the
the unit(s) must be executed. Dynamic unit testing can
software meets its specified functional requirements.
be sub-divided into 'black box' testing and 'white box'
Validation Testing is performed against the software
testing. 'Black box' testing verifies the implementation
requirements specification, using the target
of the requirement(s) allocated to the unit(s). It takes no
environment. In ideal circumstances, someone
account of the internal structure of the unit(s) being
independent of the software development performs the
tested. It is only concerned with providing known inputs
tests. Validation Testing is 'black box' in nature, i.e. it
and determining if the outputs from the unit(s) are
does not take into account the internal structure of the
correct for those inputs. 'White box' testing is concerned
software. For relays, the non-protection functions
with testing the internal structure of the unit(s) and
included in the software are considered to be as
measuring the test coverage, i.e. how much of the code
important as the protection functions, and hence tested
within the unit(s) has been executed during the tests. in the same manner.
The objective of the unit testing may, for example, be to Each validation test should have predefined evaluation
achieve 100% statement coverage, in which every line of criteria, to be used to decide if the test has passed or
the code is executed at least once, or to execute every failed. The evaluation criteria should be explicit with no
possible path through the unit(s) at least once. room for interpretation or ambiguity.
21.6.7 Traceability of Validation Tests Power system simulators can be divided into two types:
Traceability of validation tests to software requirements a. those which use analogue models of a power
is vital. Each software requirement documented in the system
software requirements specification should have at least b. those which model the power system
one validation test, and it is important to be able to
mathematically using digital simulation techniques
prove this.

21.7.1 Use of Power System Analogue Models

21.6.8 Software Modifications - Regression Testing
For many years, relays have been tested on analogue models
Regression Testing is not a type test in its' own right. It of power systems such as artificial transmission lines, or test
is the overall name given to the testing performed when plant capable of supplying significant amounts of current
an existing software product is changed. The purpose of [21.1]. However, these approaches have significant
Regression Testing is to show that unintended changes limitations in the current and voltage waveforms that can
to the functionality (i.e. errors and defects) have not be generated, and are not suitable for automated,
been introduced. unattended, testing programmes. While still used on a
Each change to an existing software product must be limited basis for testing electromechanical and static relays,
considered in its' own right. It is impossible to specify a a radically different approach is required for dynamic
standard set of regression tests that can be applied as a testing of numerical relays.
'catch-all' for introduced errors and defects. Each
change to the software must be analysed to determine
what risk there might be of unintentional changes to the 21.7-2 Use of Microprocessor Based Simulation
functionality being introduced. Those areas of highest Equipment
risk will need to be regression tested. The ultimate The complexity of numerical relays, reliant on software
regression test is to perform the complete Validation for implementation of the functions included, dictates
Testing programme again, updated to take account of some kind of automated test equipment. The functions
the changes made. of even a simple numerical overcurrent relay (including
Regression Testing is extremely important. If it is not all auxiliary functions) can take several months of
performed, there is a high risk of errors being found in automated, 24 hours/day testing to test completely. If
the field. Performing it will not reduce to zero the such test equipment was able to apply realistic current
chance of an error or defect remaining in the software, and voltage waveforms that closely match those found
but it will reduce it. Determining the Regression Testing on power systems during fault conditions, the equipment
that is required is made much easier if there is can be used either for type testing of individual relay
traceability from properly documented software designs or of a complete protection scheme designed for
requirements through design (again properly a specific application. In recognition of this, a new
documented and up to date), coding and testing. generation of power system simulators has been
developed, which is capable of providing a far more
accurate simulation of power system conditions than has
21.7 DYNAMIC VALIDATION TYPE TESTING been possible in the past. The simulator enables relays
to be tested under a wide range of system conditions,
There are two possible methods of dynamically proving
representing the equivalent of many years of site
the satisfactory performance of protection relays or
experience.
schemes; the first method is by actually applying faults
on the power system and the second is to carry out 21.7.2.7 Simuiotion hardware
comprehensive testing on a power system simulator. Equipment is now available to provide high-speed, highly
The former method is extremely unlikely to be used - accurate modelling of a section of a power system. The
lead times are lengthy and the risk of damage occurring equipment is based on distributed microprocessor-based
makes the tests very expensive. It is therefore only used hardware containing software models of the various
on a very limited basis and the faults applied are elements of a power system, and is shown in Figure 21.12.
restricted in number and type. Because of this, a proving The modules have outputs linked to current and voltage
period for new protection equipment under service sources that have a similar transient capability and have
conditions has usually been required. As faults may suitable output levels for direct connection to the inputs
occur on the power system at infrequent intervals, it can of relays -i.e. 110V for voltage and 1A/5A for current.
take a number of years before any possible shortcomings Inputs are also provided to monitor the response of relays
are discovered, during which time further installations under test (contact closures for tripping, etc.) and these
may have occurred. inputs can be used as part of the model of the power
Figure 21. 12: Digital power system simulator
for relay/'protection scheme testing

system. The software is also capable of modelling the test results being available on completion
dynamic response of CT's and VT's accurately.
A block schematic of the equipment is shown in Figure
Where it is desired to check the response of a relay or 21.13, is based around a computer which calculates and
protection scheme to an actual power system transient, stores the digital data representing the system voltages
the transient can be simulated using sophisticated power and currents. The computer controls conversion of the
systems analysis software and the results transferred digital data into analogue signals, and it monitors and
digitally to the simulator, or the event recorder recording controls the relays being tested.
of the transient can be used, in either digital or analogue
21.7.2.2 Simulation software
form as inputs to the simulator model. Output signal
conversion involves circuits to eliminate the quantisation Unlike most traditional software used for power systems
steps normally found in conventional D/A conversion. analysis, the software used is suitable for the modelling
Analogue models of the system transducer the fast transients that occur in the first few
characteristics can be interposed between the signal milliseconds after fault inception. Two very accurate
processors and the output amplifiers when required. simulation programs are used, one based on time domain
This equipment shows many advantages over traditional and the other on frequency domain techniques. In both
test equipment: programs, single and double circuit transmission lines are
represented by fully distributed parameter models. The
a. the power system model is capable of reproducing line parameters are calculated from the physical
high frequency transients such as travelling waves
construction of the line (symmetrical, asymmetrical,
b. tests involving very long time constants can be transposed or non-transposed), taking into account the
carried out effect of conductor geometry, conductor internal
c. it is not affected by the harmonic content, noise impedance and the earth return path. It also includes,
and frequency variations in the a.c. supply where appropriate, the frequency dependence of the line
parameters in the frequency domain program. The
d. it is capable of representing the variation in the frequency dependent variable effects are calculated
current associated with generator faults and power using Fast Fourier Transforms and the results are
swings converted to the time domain. Conventional current
e. saturation effects in CT's and VT's can be modelled transformers and capacitor voltage transformers can be
simulated.
f. a set of test routines can be specified in software and
then left to run unattended (or with only occasional The fault can be applied at any one point in the system and
monitoring) to completion, with a detailed record of can be any combination of phase to phase or phase
 Figure 21.13: Block diagram of microprocessor-based automated relay testsyi

to earth, resistive, or non-linear phase to earth arcing faults. power frequency

For series compensated lines, flashover across a series
h. the use of direct coupled current amplifiers allows
capacitor following a short circuit fault can be simulated.
time constants of any length
The frequency domain model is not suitable for
i. capable of simulating slow system changes
developing faults and switching sequences, therefore the
widely used Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP), j. reproduces fault currents whose peak amplitude
working in the time domain, is employed in such cases. varies with time

In addition to these two programs, a simulation program k. transducer models can be included
based on lumped resistance and inductance parameters I. automatic testing removes the likelihood of
is used. This simulation is used to represent systems with measurement and setting errors
long time constants and slow system changes due, for
example, to power swings.
m. two such equipments can be linked together to
simulate a system model with two relaying points
21.7.2.3 Simulator applications
The simulator is also used for the production testing of
The simulator is used for checking the accuracy of relays, in which most of the advantages listed above
calibration and performing type tests on a wide range of apply. As the tests and measurements are made
protection relays during their development. It has the automatically, the quality of testing is also greatly
following advantages over existing test methods: enhanced. Further, in cases of suspected malfunction of
a. 'state of the art' power system modelling data can a relay in the field under known fault conditions, the
be used to test relays simulator can be used to replicate the power system and
fault conditions, and conduct a detailed investigation
b. freedom from frequency variations and noise or
into the performance of the relay. Finally, complex
harmonic content of the a.c. supply
protection schemes can be modelled, using both the
c. the relay under test does not burden the power relays intended for use and software models of them as
system simulation appropriate, to check the suitability of the proposed
scheme under a wide variety of conditions. To illustrate
d. all tests are accurately repeatable
this, Figure 21.14(a) shows a section of a particular power
e. wide bandwidth signals can be produced system modelled. The waveforms of Figure 21.14(b) show
f. a wide range of frequencies can be reproduced the three phase voltages and currents at the primaries of
VT1 and CT1 for the fault condition indicated in Figure
g. selected harmonics may be superimposed on the 21.14(a).
 Figure 21.14: Example of application study

21.8 PRODUCTION TESTING

Production testing of protection relays is becoming far
more demanding as the accuracy and complexity of the
products increase. Electronic power amplifiers are used
to supply accurate voltages and currents of high stability
to the relay under test. The inclusion of a computer in the
test system allows more complex testing to be performed
at an economical cost, with the advantage of speed and
repeatability of tests from one relay to another.
Figure 21.15 shows a modern computer-controlled test
bench. The hardware is mounted in a special rack. Each
unit of the test system is connected to the computer via Figure 21.15: Modern computer-controlled
an interface bus. Individual test programs for each type test bench

of relay are required, but the interface used is standard

for all relay types. Control of input waveforms and
Because software is extensively tested at the type-
analogue measurements, the monitoring of output
testing stage, there is normally no need to check the
signals and the analysis of test data are performed by the
correct functioning of the software. Checks are limited
computer. A printout of the test results can also be
to determining that the analogue and digital I/O is
produced if required.
functioning correctly. This is achieved for inputs by
applying known voltage and current inputs to the relay b. general inspection of the equipment, checking all
under test and checking that the software has captured connections, wires on relays terminals, labels on
the correct values. Similarly, digital outputs are terminal boards, etc.
exercised by using test software to actuate each output c. insulation resistance measurement of all circuits
and checking that the correct output is energised.
Provided that appropriate procedures are in place to d. perform relay self-test procedure and external
ensure that only type-tested software is downloaded, communications checks on digital/numerical relays
there is no need to check the correct functioning of the e. test main current transformers
software in the relay. The final step is to download the
f. test main voltage transformers
software appropriate to the relay and store it in the
EPROM fitted in the relay. g. check that protection relay alarm/trip settings
have been entered correctly
h. tripping and alarm circuit checks to prove correct
21.9 COMMISSIONING TESTS
functioning
Installation of a protection scheme at site creates a
In addition, the following checks may be carried out,
number of possibilities for errors in the implementation
depending on the factors noted earlier.
of the scheme to occur. Even if the scheme has been
thoroughly tested in the factory, wiring to the CT's and i. secondary injection test on each relay to prove
VT's on site may be incorrectly carried out, or the operation at one or more setting values
CT's/VT's may have been incorrectly installed. The impact j. primary injection tests on each relay to prove
of such errors may range from simply being a nuisance stability for external faults and to determine the
(tripping occurs repeatedly on energisation, requiring effective current setting for internal faults (essential
investigation to locate and correct the error(s)) through for some types of electromechanical relays)
to failure to trip under fault conditions, leading to major
equipment damage, disruption to supplies and potential k. testing of protection scheme logic
hazards to personnel. The strategies available to remove This section details the tests required to cover items
these risks are many, but all involve some kind of testing (a)-(g) above. Secondary injection test equipment is
at site. covered in Section 21.10 and Section 21.11 details the
Commissioning tests at site are therefore invariably secondary injection that may be carried out. Section
21.12 covers primary injection testing, and Section 21.13
performed before protection equipment is set to work.
details the checks required on any logic involved in the
The aims of commissioning tests are:
protection scheme. Finally, Section 21.14 details the tests
1. to ensure that the equipment has not been required on alarm/tripping circuits tripping/alarm
damaged during transit or installation circuits.
2. to ensure that the installation work has been
carried out correctly
21.9.1 Insulation Tests
3. to prove the correct functioning of the protection
All the deliberate earth connections on the wiring to be
scheme as a whole
tested should first be removed, for example earthing
The tests carried out will normally vary according to the links on current transformers, voltage transformers and
protection scheme involved, the relay technology used, d.c. supplies. Some insulation testers generate impulses
and the policy of the client. In many cases, the tests with peak voltages exceeding 5kV. In these instances
actually conducted are determined at the time of any electronic equipment should be disconnected while
commissioning by mutual agreement between the the external wiring insulation is checked.
client's representative and the commissioning team.
The insulation resistance should be measured to earth
Hence, it is not possible to provide a definitive list of
and between electrically separate circuits. The readings
tests that are required during commissioning. This
are recorded and compared with subsequent routine
section therefore describes the tests commonly carried tests to check for any deterioration of the insulation.
out during commissioning.
The insulation resistance measured depends on the
The following tests are invariably carried out, since the amount of wiring involved, its grade, and the site
protection scheme will not function correctly if faults exist. humidity. Generally, if the test is restricted to one
a. wiring diagram check, using circuit diagrams cubicle, a reading of several hundred megohms should be
showing all the reference numbers of the obtained. If long lengths of site wiring are involved, the
interconnecting wiring reading could be only a few megohms.
 21.9.2 Relay Self-Test Procedure robust moving coil, permanent magnet, centre-zero type.
A low voltage battery is used, via a single-pole push-
Digital and numerical relays will have a self-test
button switch, to energise the primary winding. On
procedure that is detailed in the appropriate relay
closing the push-button, the d.c. ammeter, A, should give
manual. These tests should be followed to determine if
a positive flick and on opening, a negative flick.
the relay is operating correctly. This will normally involve
checking of the relay watchdog circuit, exercising all 21.9.3.2 Magnetisation Curve
digital inputs and outputs and checking that the relay
Several points should be checked on each current
analogue inputs are within calibration by applying a test
transformer magnetisation curve. This can be done by
current or voltage. For these tests, the relay outputs are
energising the secondary winding from the local mains
normally disconnected from the remainder of the
supply through a variable auto-transformer while the
protection scheme, as it is a test carried out to prove
primary circuit remains open; see Figure 21.17. The
correct relay, rather than scheme, operation.
characteristic is measured at suitable intervals of applied
Unit protection schemes involve relays that need to voltage, until the magnetising current is seen to rise very
communicate with each other. This leads to additional rapidly for a small increase in voltage. This indicates the
testing requirements. The communications path approximate knee-point or saturation flux level of the
between the relays is tested using suitable equipment to current transformer. The magnetising current should
ensure that the path is complete and that the received then be recorded at similar voltage intervals as it is
signal strength is within specification. Numerical relays reduced to zero.
may be fitted with loopback test facilities that enable
Care must be taken that the test equipment is suitably
either part of or the entire communications link to be
rated. The short-time current rating must be in excess of
tested from one end.
the CT secondary current rating, to allow for the
After completion of these tests, it is usual to enter the measurement of the saturation current. This will be in
relay settings required. This can be done manually via excess of the CT secondary current rating. As the
the relay front panel controls, or using a portable PC and magnetising current will not be sinusoidal, a moving iron
suitable software. Whichever method is used, a check by or dynamometer type ammeter should be used.
a second person that the correct settings have been used
It is often found that current transformers with
is desirable, and the settings recorded. Programmable
secondary ratings of 1A or less have a knee-point voltage
scheme logic that is required is also entered at this stage.
higher than the local mains supply. In these cases, a
step-up interposing transformer must be used to obtain
the necessary voltage to check the magnetisation curve.
21.9.3 Current Transformer Tests
The following tests are normally carried out prior to
energisation of the main circuits.
219.3.1 Polarity check

21

Figure 21.17: Testing current transformer

magnetising curve

21.9.4 Voltage Transformer Tests

Figure 21.16: Current transformer Voltage transformers require testing for polarity and
polarity check
phasing.
27.9.4.7 Polarity check
Each current transformer should be individually tested to
verify that the primary and secondary polarity markings The voltage transformer polarity can be checked using
are correct; see Figure 21.16. The ammeter connected to the method for CT polarity tests. Care must be taken to
the secondary of the current transformer should be a connect the battery supply to the primary winding, with
the polarity ammeter connected to the secondary Correct phasing should be further substantiated when
winding. If the voltage transformer is of the capacitor carrying out 'on load1 tests on any phase-angle sensitive
type, then the polarity of the transformer at the bottom relays, at the relay terminals. Load current in a known
of the capacitor stack should be checked. phase CT secondary should be compared with the
associated phase to neutral VT secondary voltage. The
21.9.4.2 Ratio check
phase angle between them should be measured, and
This check can be carried out when the main circuit is should relate to the power factor of the system load.
first made live. The voltage transformer secondary
voltage is compared with the secondary voltage shown If the three-phase voltage transformer has a broken-
on the nameplate. delta tertiary winding, then a check should be made of
the voltage across the two connections from the broken
21.9.4.3 Phasing check delta VN and VL, as shown in Figure 21.18. With the
The secondary connections for a three-phase voltage rated balanced three-phase supply voltage applied to the
transformer or a bank of three single-phase voltage voltage transformer primary windings, the broken-delta
transformers must be carefully checked for phasing. voltage should be below 5V with the rated burden
With the main circuit alive, the phase rotation is checked connected.
using a phase rotation meter connected across the three
phases, as shown in Figure 21.18. Provided an existing
proven VT is available on the same primary system, and 21.9.5 Protection Relay Setting Checks
that secondary earthing is employed, all that is now At some point during commissioning, the alarm and trip
necessary to prove correct phasing is a voltage check settings of the relay elements involved will require to be
between, say, both 'A' phase secondary outputs. There entered and/or checked. Where the complete scheme is
should be nominally little or no voltage if the phasing is engineered and supplied by a single contractor, the
correct. However, this test does not detect if the phase settings may already have been entered prior to despatch
sequence is correct, but the phases are displaced by 120° from the factory, and hence this need not be repeated.
from their correct position, i.e. phase A occupies the The method of entering settings varies according to the
position of phase C or phase B in Figure 21.18. This can relay technology used. For electromechanical and static
be checked by removing the fuses from phases B and C relays, manual entry of the settings for each relay
(say) and measuring the phase-earth voltages on the element is required. This method can also be used for
secondary of the VT. If the phasing is correct, only phase digital/numerical relays. However, the amount of data to
A should be healthy, phases B and C should have only a be entered is much greater, and therefore it is usual to
small residual voltage. use appropriate software, normally supplied by the
manufacturer, for this purpose. The software also makes
the essential task of making a record of the data entered
much easier.
Once the data has been entered, it should be checked for
compliance with the recommended settings as
calculated from the protection setting study. Where
appropriate software is used for data entry, the checks
can be considered complete if the data is checked prior
to download of the settings to the relay. Otherwise, a
check may required subsequent to data entry by
inspection and recording of the relay settings, or it may
be considered adequate to do this at the time of data
entry. The recorded settings form an essential part of the
commissioning documentation provided to the client.

21.10 SECONDARY INJECTION TEST EQUIPMENT

Secondary injection tests are always done prior to
primary injection tests. The purpose of secondary
injection testing is to prove the correct operation of the
protection scheme that is downstream from the inputs to
the protection relay(s). Secondary injection tests are
always done prior to primary injection tests. This is
Figure 21.18: Voltage transformer
because the risks during initial testing to the LV side of
the equipment under test are minimised. The primary
(HV) side of the equipment is disconnected, so that no
damage can occur. These tests and the equipment
necessary to perform them are generally described in the
manufacturer's manuals for the relays, but brief details
are given below for the main types of protection relays.

21.10.1 Test Blocks/Plugs for Secondary

Injection Equipment
It is common practice to provide test blocks or test
Figure 21.19: Modern test block/plugs
sockets in the relay circuits so that connections can
readily be made to the test equipment without
disturbing wiring. Test plugs of either multi-finger or 21.10.2 Secondary Injection Test Sets
single-finger design (for monitoring the current in one The type of the relay to be tested determines the type of
CT secondary circuit) are used to connect test equipment equipment used to provide the secondary injection
to the relay under test. currents and voltages. Many electromechanical relays
The top and bottom contact of each test plug finger is have a non-linear current coil impedance when the relay
separated by an insulating strip, so that the relay circuits operates and this can cause the test current waveform to
can be completely isolated from the switchgear wiring be distorted if the injection supply voltage is fed directly
when the test plug is inserted. To avoid open-circuiting to the coil. The presence of harmonics in the current
CT secondary terminals, it is therefore essential that CT waveform may affect the torque of electromechanical
shorting jumper links are fitted across all appropriate relays and give unreliable test results, so some injection
'live side' terminals of the test plug BEFORE it is inserted. test sets use an adjustable series reactance to control the
With the test plug inserted in position, all the test current. This keeps the power dissipation small and the
circuitry can now be connected to the isolated 'relay equipment light and compact.
side' test plug terminals. Some modern test blocks Many test sets are portable and include precision
incorporate the live-side jumper links within the block ammeters and voltmeters and timing equipment. Test
and these can be set to the 'closed' or 'open' position as sets may have both voltage and current outputs. The
appropriate, either manually prior to removing the cover former are high-voltage, low current outputs for use
and inserting the test plug, or automatically upon with relay elements that require signal inputs from a VT
removal of the cover. Removal of the cover also exposes as well as a CT. The current outputs are high-current,
the colour-coded face-plate of the block, clearly low voltage to connect to relay CT inputs. It is
indicating that the protection scheme is not in service, important, however, to ensure that the test set current
and may also disconnect any d.c. auxiliary supplies used outputs are true current sources, and hence are not
for powering relay tripping outputs. affected by the load impedance of a relay element
Withdrawing the test plug immediately restores the current coil. Use of a test set with a current output that
connections to the main current transformers and is essentially a voltage source can give rise to serious
voltage transformers and removes the test connections. problems when testing electromechanical relays. Any
Replacement of the test block cover then removes the significant impedance mismatch between the output of
short circuits that had been applied to the main CT the test set and the relay current coil during relay
secondary circuits. Where several relays are used in a operation will give rise to a variation in current from that
protection scheme, one or more test blocks may be fitted desired and possible error in the test results. The relay
on the relay panel enabling the whole scheme to be operation time may be greater than expected (never less
tested, rather than just one relay at a time. than expected) or relay 'chatter' may occur. It is quite
common for such errors to only be found much later,
Test blocks usually offer facilities for the monitoring and
after a fault has caused major damage to equipment
secondary injection testing of any power system
through failure of the primary protection to operate,
protection scheme. The test block may be used either
Failure investigation then shows that the reason for the
with a multi-fingered test plug to allow isolation and
primary protection to operate is an incorrectly set relay,
monitoring of all the selected conductor paths, or with a
due in turn to use of a test set with a current output
single finger test plug that allows the currents or
consisting of a voltage-source when the relay was last
individual conductors to be monitored. A modern test
tested. Figure 21.20 shows typical waveforms resulting
block and test plugs are illustrated in Figure 21.19.
from use of test set current output that is a voltage
 Figure 21.20: Relay current coil waveforms

source - the distorted relay coil current waveform gives 3-phase output set. Much greater precision in the
rise to an extended operation time compared to the setting of the magnitudes and phase angles is possible,
expected value. compared to traditional test sets. Digital signals to
exercise the internal logic elements of the relays may
Modern test sets are computer based. They comprise a
also be provided. The alarm and trip outputs of the relay
PC (usually a standard laptop PC with suitable software)
are connected to digital inputs on the PC so that correct
and a power amplifier that takes the low-level outputs
operation of the relay, including accuracy of the relay
from the PC and amplifies them into voltage and current
tripping characteristic can be monitored and displayed
signals suitable for application to the VT and CT inputs of on-screen, saved for inclusion in reports generated later,
the relay. The phase angle between voltage and current or printed for an immediate record to present to the
outputs will be adjustable, as also will the phase angles client. Optional features may include GPS time
between the individual voltages or currents making up a synchronising equipment and remote-located amplifiers
to facilitate testing of unit protection schemes, and
digital I/O for exercising the programmable scheme logic
of modern relays.
The software for modern test sets is capable of testing
the functionality of a wide variety of relays, and
conducting a set of tests automatically. Such sets ease
the task of the commissioning engineer. The software
will normally offer options for testing, ranging from a
test carried out at a particular point on the characteristic
to complete determination of the tripping characteristic
automatically. This feature can be helpful if there is any
reason to doubt that the relay is operating correctly with
the tripping characteristic specified. Figure 21.21
illustrates a modern PC-based test set.
Traditional test sets use an arrangement of adjustable
transformers and reactors to provide control of current
and voltage without incurring high power dissipation.
Some relays require adjustment of the phase between
the injected voltages and currents, and so phase shifting
transformers may be used. Figure 21.22 shows the
circuit diagram of a traditional test set suitable for
overcurrent relay resting, while Figure 21.23 shows the
circuit diagram for a test set for directional/distance Figure 21.21: Modern PC-based secondary
relays. Timers are included so that the response time of injection test set

the relay can be measured.

testing will be largely determined by the client

21.11 SECONDARY INJECTION TESTING specification and relay technology used, and may range
The purpose of secondary injection testing is to check from a simple check of the relay characteristic at a single
that the protection scheme from the relay input point to a complete verification of the tripping
terminals onwards is functioning correctly with the characteristics of the scheme, including the response to
settings specified. This is achieved by applying suitable transient waveforms and harmonics and checking of
inputs from a test set to the inputs of the relays and relay bias characteristics. This may be important when
checking if the appropriate alarm/trip signals occur at the protection scheme includes transformers and/or
the relay/control room/CB locations. The extent of generators.

Figure 21.22: Circuit diagram of traditional test set for overcurrent relays
 Figure 21.23: Circuit diagram for traditional test
set for directional/distance relays

Figure 21.24: Distance relay zone checking

using search technique and tolerance bands
The testing should include any scheme logic. If the logic
is implemented using the programmable scheme logic
facilities available with most digital or numerical relays,
appropriate digital inputs may need to be applied and
outputs monitored (see Section 21.13). It is clear that a
modern test set can facilitate such tests, leading to a
reduced time required for testing.

21.11.1 Schemes using Digital or Numerical

Relay Technology
The policy for secondary injection testing varies widely.
In some cases, manufacturers recommend, and clients
accept, that if a digital or numerical relay passes its1 self-
test, it can be relied upon to operate at the settings used
Figure 2125: Testing of power swing
and that testing can therefore be confined to those parts
blocking element - discrete points
of the scheme external to the relay. In such cases,
secondary injection testing is not required at all. More
often, it is required that one element of each relay
(usually the simplest) is exercised, using a secondary
injection test set, to check that relay operation occurs at
the conditions expected, based on the setting of the
relay element concerned. Another alternative is for the
complete functionality of each relay to be exercised. This
is rarely required with a digital or numerical relay,
probably only being carried out in the event of a
suspected relay malfunction.
To illustrate the results that can be obtained, Figure
21.24 shows the results obtained by a modern test set
when determining the reach settings of a distance relay Figure 21.26: Simulated power swing waveform
using a search technique. Another example is the testing
of the Power Swing blocking element of a distance relay. 21.11.2 Schemes using
Figure 21.25 illustrates such a test, based on using Electromechanical/Static Relay Technology
discrete impedance points. This kind of test may not be Schemes using single function electromechanical or
adequate in all cases, and test equipment may have the static relays will usually require each relay to be
ability to generate the waveforms simulating a power exercised. Thus a scheme with distance and back-up
swing and apply them to the relay (Figure 21.26). overcurrent elements will require a test on each of these
functions, thereby taking up more time than if a digital
or numerical relay is used. Similarly, it may be important
to check the relay characteristic over a range of input of VT's/CT's may not then be discovered until either
currents to confirm parameters for an overcurrent relay spurious tripping occurs in service, or more seriously,
such as: failure to trip on a fault. This hazard is much reduced
where digital/numerical relays are used, since the current
i. the minimum current that gives operation at each
and voltage measurement/display facilities that exist in
current setting
such relays enable checking of relay input values against
ii. the maximum current at which resetting takes those from other proven sources. Many connection/wiring
place errors can be found in this way, and by isolating
iii. the operating time at suitable values of current temporarily the relay trip outputs, unwanted trips can be
avoided.
iv. the time/current curve at two or three points with
Primary injection testing is, however, the only way to
the time multiplier setting TMS at 1
prove correct installation and operation of the whole of
v. the resetting time at zero current with the TMS at 1 a protection scheme. As noted in the previous section,
Similar considerations apply to distance and unit primary injection tests are always carried out after
protection relays of these technologies. secondary injection tests, to ensure that problems are
limited to the VT's and CT's involved, plus associated
wiring, all other equipment in the protection scheme
21.11.3 Test Circuits for Secondary Injection Testing having been proven satisfactory from the secondary
injection tests.
The test circuits used will depend on the type of relay
and test set being used. Unless the test circuits are
simple and obvious, the relay commissioning manual will 21.12.1 Test Facilities
give details of the circuits to be used. Commonly used
test circuits can also be found in Chapter 23 of reference An alternator is the most useful source of power for
[21.1]. When using the circuits in this reference, suitable providing the heavy current necessary for primary
simplifications can easily be made if digital or numerical injection. Unfortunately, it is rarely available, since it
relays are being tested, to allow for their built-in requires not only a spare alternator, but also spare
measurement capabilities - external ammeters and busbars capable of being connected to the alternator and
voltmeters may not be required. circuit under test. Therefore, primary injection is usually
carried out by means of a portable injection transformer
All results should be carefully noted and filed for record (Figure 21.27), arranged to operate from the local mains
purposes. Departures from the expected results must be supply and having several low voltage, heavy current
thoroughly investigated and the cause determined. After windings. These can be connected in series or parallel
rectification of errors, all tests whose results may have according to the current required and the resistance of
been affected (even those that may have given correct the primary circuit. Outputs of 10V and 1000A can be
results) should be repeated to ensure that the protection obtained. Alternatively, modern PC-controlled test sets
scheme has been implemented according to have power amplifiers capable of injecting currents up to
specification. about 200A for a single unit, with higher current ratings
being possible by using multiple units in parallel.

21.12 PRIMARY INJECTION TESTS

This type of test involves the entire circuit; current
transformer primary and secondary windings, relay coils,
trip and alarm circuits, and all intervening wiring are
checked. There is no need to disturb wiring, which
obviates the hazard of open-circuiting current
transformers, and there is generally no need for any
switching in the current transformer or relay circuits.
The drawback of such tests is that they are time
consuming and expensive to organise. Increasingly,
reliance is placed on all wiring and installation diagrams
being correct and the installation being carried out as
per drawings, and secondary injection testing being
completed satisfactorily. Under these circumstances, the
primary injection tests may be omitted. However, wiring
Figure 21.27: Traditional primary
errors between VT's/CT's and relays, or incorrect polarity injection test set
If the main current transformers are fitted with test the residual circuit, or relay display, will give a reading of
windings, these can be used for primary injection instead a few milliamperes with rated current injected if the
of the primary winding. The current required for primary current transformers are of correct polarity. A reading
injection is then greatly reduced and can usually be proportional to twice the primary current will be
obtained using secondary injection test equipment. obtained if they are of wrong polarity. Because of this, a
Unfortunately, test windings are not often provided, high-range ammeter should be used initially, for example
because of space limitations in the main current one giving full-scale deflection for twice the rated
transformer housings or the cost of the windings. secondary current. If an electromechanical earth-fault
relay with a low setting is also connected in the residual
circuit, it is advisable to temporarily short-circuit its
21.12.2 CT Ratio Check operating coil during the test, to prevent possible
Current is passed through the primary conductors and overheating. The single-phase injection should be
measured on the test set ammeter, A1 in Figure 21.28. carried out for each pair of phases.
The secondary current is measured on the ammeter A2 or
relay display, and the ratio of the value on A1 to that on
A2 should closely approximate to the ratio marked on
the current transformer nameplate.

Figure 21.29: Polarity check on main current

transformers

21.12.4 Primary Injection Testing of Relay Elements

As with secondary injection testing, the tests to be
carried out will be those specified by the client, and/or
those detailed in the relay commissioning manual.
Digital and numerical relays usually require far fewer
tests to prove correct operation, and these may be
restricted to observations of current and voltage on the
relay display under normal load conditions.

21.13 TESTING OF PROTECTION SCHEME LOGIC

Protection schemes often involve the use of logic to
determine the conditions under which designated circuit
Figure 21.28: Current transformer ratio check breakers should be tripped. Simple examples of such
logic can be found in Chapters 9-14. Traditionally, this
logic was implemented by means of discrete relays,
21.12.3 CT Polarity Check separate from the relays used for protection. Such
implementations would occur where electromechanical
If the equipment includes directional, differential or
or static relay technology is used. However, digital and
earth fault relays, the polarity of the main current
numerical relays normally include programmable logic as
transformers must be checked. It is not necessary to
part of the software within the relay, together with
conduct the test if only overcurrent relays are used.
associated digital I/O. This facility (commonly referred to
The circuit for checking the polarity with a single-phase as Programmable Scheme Logic, or PSL) offers important
test set is shown in Figure 21.29. A short circuit is placed advantages to the user, by saving space and permitting
across the phases of the primary circuit on one side of modifications to the protection scheme logic through
the current transformers while single-phase injection is software if the protection scheme requirements change
carried out on the other side. The ammeter connected in with time. Changes to the logic are carried out using
software hosted on a PC (or similar computer) and Many designs of withdrawable circuit breaker can be
downloaded to the relay. Use of languages defined in IEC operated while in the maintenance position, so that
61131, such as ladder logic or Boolean algebra is substation operation can continue unaffected except for
common for such software, and is readily understood by the circuit controlled by the circuit breaker involved. In
Protection Engineers. Further, there are several other cases, isolators can be used to avoid the need for
commonly encountered protection functions that busbar de-energisation if the circuit involved is not ready
manufacturers may supply with relays as one or more for energisation.
'default' logic schemes.
Because software is used, it is essential to carefully test
21.15 PERIODIC MAINTENANCE TESTS
the logic during commissioning to ensure correct
operation. The only exception to this may be if the Periodic testing is necessary to ensure that a protection
relevant 'default' scheme is used. Such logic schemes scheme continues to provide satisfactory performance
will have been proven during relay type testing, and so for many years after installation. All equipment is
there is no need for proving tests during commissioning. subject to gradual degradation with time, and regular
However, where a customer generates the scheme logic, testing is intended to identify the equipment concerned
it is necessary to ensure that the commissioning tests so that remedial action can be taken before scheme
conducted are adequate to prove the functionality of the maloperation occurs. However, due care should be taken
scheme in all respects. A specific test procedure should in this task, otherwise faults may be introduced as a
be prepared, and this procedure should include: direct result of the remedial work.

a. checking of the scheme logic specification and The clearance of a fault on the system is correct only if
diagrams to ensure that the objectives of the logic the number of circuit breakers opened is the minimum
are achieved necessary to remove the fault. A small proportion of
faults are incorrectly cleared, the main reasons being:
b. testing of the logic to ensure that the functionality
of the scheme is proven a. limitations in protection scheme design

c. testing of the logic, as required, to ensure that no b. faulty relays

output occurs for the relevant input signal c. defects in the secondary wiring
combinations
d. incorrect connections
The degree of testing of the logic will largely depend on
e. incorrect settings
the criticality of the application and complexity of the
logic. The responsibility for ensuring that a suitable test f. known application shortcomings accepted as
procedure is produced for logic schemes other than the improbable occurrences
'default' one(s) supplied lies with the specifier of the
g. pilot wire faults due to previous unrevealed
logic. Relay manufacturers cannot be expected to take
damage to a pilot cable
responsibility for the correct operation of logic schemes
that they have not designed and supplied. h. various other causes, such as switching errors,
testing errors, and relay operation due to
mechanical shock
21.14 TRIPPING AND ALARM ANNUNCIATION TESTS
The self-checking facilities of numerical relays assist in
If primary and/or secondary injection tests are not carried minimising failures due to faulty relays. Defects in
out, the tripping and alarm circuits will not have been secondary wiring and incorrect connections are virtually
checked. Even where such checks have been carried out, eliminated if proper commissioning after scheme
CB trip coils and/or Control Room alarm circuits may have installation/alteration is carried out. The possibility of
been isolated. In such cases, it is essential that all of the incorrect settings is minimised by regular reviews of
tripping and alarm circuits are checked. relay settings. Network fault levels change over time,
and hence setting calculations may need to be revised.
This is done by closing the protection relay contacts
Switching and testing errors are minimised by adequate
manually and checking that:
training of personnel, use of proven software, and well-
1. the correct circuit breakers are tripped designed systematic working procedures. All of these
2. the alarm circuits are energised can be said to be within the control of the user.

3. the correct flag indications are given The remaining three causes are not controllable, while
two of these three are unavoidable - engineering is not
4. there is no maloperation of other apparatus that science and there will always be situations that a
may be connected to the same master trip relay or protection relay cannot reasonably be expected to cover
circuit breaker at an affordable cost
 commissioning of the equipment.

It is better not to interfere with relay contacts at all

unless they are obviously corroded. The performance of
the contacts is fully checked when the relay is actuated.

Insulation tests should also be carried out on the relay

wiring to earth and between circuits, using a 1000V
tester. These tests are necessary to detect any
deterioration in the insulation resistance.

21.15.1 Frequency of Inspection and Testing

Although protection equipment should be in sound
condition when first put into service, problems can
develop unchecked and unrevealed because of its
infrequent operation. With digital and numerical relays,
the in-built self-testing routines can be expected to
reveal and annunciate most faults, but this does not
cover any other components that, together, comprise the
protection scheme. Regular inspection and testing of a
protection scheme is therefore required. In practice, the
frequency of testing may be limited by lack of staff or by
the operating conditions on the power system.

It is desirable to carry out maintenance on protection

equipment at times when the associated power apparatus
is out of service. This is facilitated by co-operation
between the maintenance staff concerned and the
network operations control centre. Maintenance tests
may sometimes have to be made when the protected
circuit is on load. The particular equipment to be tested
should be taken out of commission and adequate back-up
protection provided for the duration of the tests. Such
back-up protection may not be fully discriminative, but
should be sufficient to clear any fault on the apparatus
whose main protection is temporarily out of service.

Maintenance is assisted by the displays of measured

quantities provided on digital and numerical relays. Incorrect
display of a quantity is a clear indication that something is
wrong, either in the relay itself or the input circuits.

21.15.2 Maintenance Tests

Primary injection tests are normally only conducted out

during initial commissioning. If scheme maloperation
has occurred and the protection relays involved are
suspect, or alterations have been made involving the
wiring to the relays from the VT's/CT's, the primary
injection tests may have to be repeated.

Secondary injection tests may be carried out at suitable

intervals to check relay performance, and, if possible, the
relay should be allowed to trip the circuit breakers
involved. The interval between tests will depend upon
the criticality of the circuit involved, the availability of
the circuit for testing and the technology of the relays
used. Secondary injection testing is only necessary on
the selected relay setting and the results should be
checked against those obtained during the initial
21.16 PROTECTION SCHEME DESIGN
FOR MAINTENANCE
If the following principles are adhered to as far as
possible, the danger of back-feeds is lessened and fault
investigation is made easier:
i. test blocks should be used, to enable a test plug to
be used, and a defective unit to be replaced quickly
without interrupting service
ii. circuits should be kept as electrically separate as
possible, and the use of common wires should be
avoided, except where these are essential to the
correct functioning of the circuits
iii. each group of circuits which is electrically
separate from other circuits should be earthed
through an independent earth link
iv. where a common voltage transformer or d.c.
supply is used for feeding several circuits, each
circuit should be fed through separate links or
fuses. Withdrawal of these should completely
isolate the circuit concerned
v. power supplies to protection schemes should be
segregated from those supplying other equipment and
provided with fully discriminative circuit protection
vi. a single auxiliary switch should not be used for
interrupting or closing more than one circuit
vii. terminations in relay panels require good access,
as these may have to be altered if extensions are
made. Modern panels are provided with special
test facilities, so that no connections need be
disturbed during routine testing
viii. junction boxes should be of adequate size and, if
outdoors, must be made waterproof
ix. all wiring should be ferruled for identification and
phase-coloured
x. electromechanical relays should have high
operating and restraint torques and high contact
pressures; jewel bearings should be shrouded to
exclude dust and the use of very thin wire for coils
and connections should be avoided. Dust-tight
cases with an efficient breather are essential on
these types of electromechanical element
xi. static, digital and numerical relays should have test
facilities accessible from the front to assist in fault
finding. The relay manual should clearly detail the
expected results at each test point when healthy

21.17 REFERENCES
21.1 Protective Relays Application Guide, 3rd edition.
ALSTOM Transmission and Distribution,
Protection and Control, 1987.
22 • Power System Measurements

22.1 INTRODUCTION
The accurate measurement of the voltage, current or
other parameter of a power system is a prerequisite to
any form of control, ranging from automatic closed-loop
control to the recording of data for statistical purposes.
Measurement of these parameters can be accomplished
in a variety of ways, including the use of direct-reading
instruments as well as electrical measuring transducers.
Transducers produce an accurate d.c. analogue output,
usually a current, which corresponds to the parameter
being measured (the measurand). They provide electrical
isolation by transformers, sometimes referred to as
'Galvanic Isolation1, between the input and the output.
This is primarily a safety feature, but also means that the
cabling from the output terminals to any receiving
equipment can be lightweight and have a lower
insulation specification. The advantages over discrete
measuring instruments are as follows:
a. mounted close to the source of the measurement,
reducing instrument transformer burdens and
increasing safety through elimination of long
wiring runs
b. ability to mount display equipment remote from
transducer
c. ability to use multiple display elements per transducer
d. the burden on CT's/VT's is considerably less
Outputs from transducers may be used in many ways -
from simple presentation of measured values for an
operator, to being utilised by a network automation
scheme to determine the control strategy.

22.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Transducers may have single or multiple inputs and/or
outputs. The inputs, outputs and any auxiliary circuits
will all be isolated from each other. There may be more
than one input quantity and the measurand may be a
function of one or more of them.
Whatever measurement transducer is being used, there 22.2.3 Transducer Accuracy
will usually be a choice between discrete and modular Accuracy is usually of prime importance, but in making
types, the latter being plug-in units to a standard rack. comparisons, it should be noted that accuracy can be
The location and user-preferences will dictate the choice defined in several ways and may only apply under very
of transducer type. closely defined conditions of use. The following
attempts to clarify some of the more common terms and
relate them to practical situations, using the terminology
22.2.1 Transducer Inputs given in I EC 60688.
The input of a transducer is often taken from The accuracy of a transducer will be affected, to a
transformers and these may be of many different types. greater or lesser extent, by many factors, known as
Ideally, to obtain the best overall accuracy, metering- influence quantities, over which the user has little, or no,
class instrument transformers should be used, since the control. Table 22.1 provides a complete list of influence
transformer errors will be added, albeit algebraically, to quantities. The accuracy is checked under an agreed set
the transducer errors. However, it is common to apply of conditions known as reference conditions. The
transducers to protection-class instrument transformers reference conditions for each of the influence quantities
and that is why transducers are usually characterised to can be quoted as a single value (e.g. 20°C) or a range (e.g.
be able to withstand significant short-term overloads on 10-40DC).
their current inputs. A typical specification for the
Input current Input voltage
current input circuits of a transducer suitable for
Input quantity distortion Input quantity frequency
connection to protection-class instrument transformers
Power factor Unbalanced currents
is to withstand: Continuous operation Output load
Interaction between measuring elements Ambient temperature
a. 300% of full-load current continuously
Auxiliary supply voltage Auxiliary supply frequency
b. 2500% for three seconds External magnetic fields Self heating
Series mode interference Common mode interference
c. 5000% for one second External heat

The input impedance of any current input circuit will be Table 22.1: Transducer influence quantities

kept as low as possible, and that for voltage inputs will

be kept as high as possible. This reduces errors due to
The error determined under reference conditions is
impedance mismatch. referred to as the intrinsic error. All transducers having
the same intrinsic error are grouped into a particular
accuracy class, denoted by the class index. The class
22.2.2 Transducer Outputs index is the same as the intrinsic error expressed as a
The output of a transducer is usually a current source. percentage (e.g. a transducer with an intrinsic accuracy
This means that, within the output voltage range of 0.1% of full scale has a class index of 0.1). The class
(compliance voltage) of the transducer, additional index system used in IEC 60688 requires that the
display devices can be added without limit and without variation for each of the influence quantities be strictly
related to the intrinsic error. This means that the higher
any need for adjustment of the transducer. The value of
the accuracy claimed by the manufacturer, the lower
the compliance voltage determines the maximum loop
must be all of the variations.
impedance of the output circuit, so a high value of
compliance voltage facilitates remote location of an Because there are many influence quantities, the
indicating instrument variations are assessed individually, whilst maintaining
all the other influence quantities at reference conditions.
Where the output loop is used for control purposes,
appropriately rated Zener diodes are sometimes fitted The nominal range of use of a transducer is the normal
operating range of the transducer as specified by the
across the terminals of each of the devices in the series
manufacturer. The nominal range of use will naturally be
loop to guard against the possibility of their internal
wider than the reference value or range. Within the
circuitry becoming open circuit. This ensures that a
nominal range of use of a transducer, additional errors
faulty device in the loop does not cause complete failure accumulate resulting in an additional error. This
of the output loop. The constant-current nature of the additional error is limited for any individual influence
transducer output simply raises the voltage and quantity to, at most, the value of the class index. Table
continues to force the correct output signal round the 22.2 gives performance details of a typical range of
loop. transducers according to the standard.
 Table 22.2: Typical transducer performance

Confusion also arises in specifying the performance adjusted to respond to the r.m.s. value of a pure sine
under real operating conditions. The output signal is wave. If the input waveform becomes distorted, errors
often a d.c. analogue of the measurand, but is obtained will result. For example, the error due to third harmonic
from alternating input quantities and will, inevitably, distortion can amount to 1% for every 3% of harmonic.
contain a certain amount of alternating component, or
Once installed, the user expects the accuracy of a
ripple. Ripple is defined as the peak-to-peak value of the
transducer to remain stable over time. The use of high
alternating component of the output signal although
quality components and conservative power ratings will
some manufacturers quote 'mean-to-peak' or 'r.m.s.'
help to ensure long-term stability, but adverse site
values. To be meaningful, the conditions under which
conditions can cause performance changes which may
the value of the ripple has been measured must be
need to be compensated for during the lifetime of the
stated, e.g. 0.35% r.m.s. = 1.0% peak-to-peak ripple.
equipment.
Under changing conditions of the measurand, the output
signal does not follow the changes instantaneously but
is time-delayed. This is due to the filtering required to 22.3 DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TECHNOLOGY
reduce ripple or, in transducers using numerical
Digital power system transducers make use of the same
technology, prevent aliasing. The amount of the delay is
technology as that described for digital and numerical
called the response time. To a certain extent, ripple and
relays in Chapter 7. The analogue signals acquired from
response time are interrelated. The response time can
VT's and CT's are filtered to avoid aliasing, converted to
usually be shortened at the expense of increased ripple,
digital form using A/D conversion, and then signal
and vice-versa. Transducers having shorter response
processing is carried out to extract the information
times than normal can be supplied for those instances
required. Basic details are given in Chapter 7. Sample
where the power system suffers swings, dips, and low
frequency oscillations that must be monitored. rates of 64 samples/cycle or greater may be used, and the
accuracy class is normally 0.5.
Transducers having a current output have a maximum
Outputs may be both digital and analogue. The analogue
output voltage, known as the compliance voltage. If the
outputs will be affected by the factors influencing
load resistance is too high and hence the compliance
accuracy as described above. Digital outputs are
voltage is exceeded, the output of the transducer is no
typically in the form of a communications link with
longer accurate.
RS232 and/or RS485 types available. The response time
Certain transducers are characterised by the may suffer compared to analogue transducers,
manufacturer for use on systems where the waveform is depending on the rate at which values are transferred to
not a pure sinusoid. They are commonly referred to as the communications link and the delay in processing
'true r.m.s. sensing' types. For these types, the distortion data at the receiving end. In fact, all of the influence
factor of the waveform is an influence quantity. Other quantities that affect a traditional analogue transducer
transducers are referred to as 'mean-sensing' and are also are present in a digital transducer in some form, but
the errors resulting may be much less than in an These features are shown diagrammatically in Figure 22.1.
analogue transducer and it may be more stable over a
long period of time.
The advantages of a transducer using numerical
technology are:
1. improved long-term stability
2. more accurate r.m.s measurements
3. improved communications facilities
4. programmability of scaling
5. wider range of functions
6. reduced size
The improved long term stability reduces costs by
extending the intervals between re-calibration. More
accurate r.m.s measurements provide the user with data Figure 22.1: Schematic of on analogue
transducer
of improved accuracy, especially on supplies with
significant harmonic content. The improved Output ranges of 0-1 OmA, 0-20mA, and 4-20mA are
communications facilities permit many transducers to common. Live zero (e.g. 4-20mA), suppressed zero (e.g.
share the same communications link, and each 0-10mA for 300-500kV) and linear inverse range (e.g.
transducer to provide several measurements. This leads 10-0mA for 0-15kV) transducers normally require an
to economy in interconnecting wiring and number of auxiliary supply. The dual-slope type has two linear
transducers used. Remote or local programmable scaling sections to its output characteristic, for example, an
of the transducer permits scaling of the transducer in the output of 0-2mA for the first part of the input range, 0-
field. The scaling can be changed to reflect changes in 8kV, and 2-10mA for the second part, 8-15kV.
the network, or to be re-used elsewhere. Changes can be
downloaded via the communications link, thus removing
the need for a site visit. It also minimises the risk of the 22.5 TRANSDUCER SELECTION
user specifying an incorrect scaling factor and having to The selection of the correct transducer to perform a
return the transducer to the manufacturer for measurement function depends on many factors. These
adjustment. Suppliers can keep a wider range of are detailed below.
transducers suitable for a wide range of applications and
inputs in stock, thus reducing delivery times.
Transducers are available with a much wider range of 22.5.1 Current Transducers
functions in one package, thus reducing space
Current transducers are usually connected to the
requirements in a switchboard. Functions available
secondary of an instrument current transformer with a
include harmonics up to the 31st, energy, and maximum rated output of 1 or 5 amps. Mean-sensing and true
demand information. The latter are useful for tariff r.m.s. types are available. If the waveform contains
negotiations. significant amounts of harmonics, a true r.m.s sensing
type must be used for accurate measurement of the
input. They can be self-powered, except for the true
22.4 ANALOGUE TRANSDUCER TECHNOLOGY
r.m.s. types, or when a live zero output (for example 4-
All analogue transducers have the following essential 20mA) is required. They are not directional and,
features: therefore, are unable to distinguish between 'export' and
'import' current. To obtain a directional signal, a voltage
a. an input circuit having impedance Zin
input is also required.
b. isolation (no electrical connection) between input
and output
22.5.2 Voltage Transducers
c. an ideal current source generating an output
current, I1 which is an accurate and linear Connection is usually to the secondary of an instrument
function of Qin, the input quantity voltage transformer but may be direct if the measured
quantity is of sufficiently low voltage. The suppressed
d. a parallel output impedance, Zo. This represents
zero type is commonly used to provide an output for a
the actual output impedance of the current source specific range of input voltage where measurement of
and shunts a small fraction, I2, of the ideal output zero on the input quantity is not required. The linear
e. an output current, Io, equal to (I1 -I2) inverse type is often used as an aid to synchronising.
22.5.3 Frequency phase angle transducer use the zero crossing point of the
input waveform to obtain the phase information and are
Accurate measurement of frequency is of vital
importance to transmission system operators but not thus prone to error if the input contains significant
quite so important, perhaps, for the operator of a diesel amounts of harmonics.
generator set Accuracy specifications of 0.1% and Calculating the power factor from the values of the
0.01% are available, based on percent of centre scale outputs of a watt and a var transducer will give a true
frequency. This means, for example that a device quoted measurement in the presence of harmonics.
as 0.1% and having a centre scale value of 50Hz will
have a maximum error of ±50mHz under reference
conditions. 22.5.5 Power Quantities
The measurement of active power (watts) and reactive
22.5.4 Phase Angle power (vars) is generally not quite as simple as for the
other quantities. More care needs to be taken with the
Transducers for the measurement of phase angle are
selection of these types because of the variety of
frequently used for the display of power factor. This is
configurations. It is essential to select the appropriate
achieved by scaling the indicating instrument in a non-
type for the system to be measured by taking into
linear fashion, following the cosine law. For digital
indicators and SCADA equipment, it is necessary for the account factors such as system operating conditions
receiving equipment to provide appropriate conversions (balanced or unbalanced load), the number of current
to achieve the correct display of power factor. Phase and voltage connections available and whether the
angle transducers are available with various input power flow is likely to be 'import1, 'export', or both. The
ranges. When the scaling is -180°...0o...180o( there is an range of the measurand will need to encompass all
ambiguous region, of about ±2° at the extremes of the required possibilities of over-range under normal
range. In this region, where the output is expected to be, conditions so that the transducer and its indicating
for example, -10mA or + 10mA, the output may jump instrument, or other receiving equipment, is not used
sporadically from one of the full-scale values to the above the upper limit of its effective range. Figure 22.2
other. Transducers are also available for measurement of illustrates the connections to be used for the various
the angle between two input voltages. Some types of types of measurement.

Figure 22.2: Connections for 3-phase watt/var transducers

22.5.6 Scaling Some of these difficulties do not need to be considered
if the transducer is only feeding, for example, a SCADA
The relationship of the output current to the value of the
measurand is of vital importance and needs careful outstation. Any receiving equipment that can be
consideration. Any receiving equipment must, of course, programmed to apply a scaling factor to each individual
be used within its rating but, if possible, some kind of input can accommodate most input signal ranges. The
standard should be established. main consideration will be to ensure that the transducer
is capable of providing a signal right up to the full-scale
As an example, examine the measurement of a.c. voltage.
The primary system has a nominal value of 11 kV and the value of the input, that is, it does not saturate at the
transformer has a ratio of 11kV/110V. To specify the highest expected value of the measurand.
conversion coefficient for a 0-10 mA voltage transducer
to be 110V/10mA would not necessarily be the optimum.
One of the objectives must be to have the capability of 22.5.7 Auxiliary Supplies
monitoring the voltage over a range of values so an Many transducers do not require any auxiliary supply.
upper limit must be selected - for instance +20%, or These are termed 'self-powered' transducers. Of those
132V. Using the original conversion coefficient, the that do need a separate supply, the majority have a
maximum output of the transducer is required to be
biased, or live zero output, such as 4-20mA. This is
12mA. This is within the capability of most 0-10mA
because a non-zero output cannot be obtained for zero
transducers, the majority of which can accommodate an
input unless a separate supply is available. Transducers
over-range of 25%, but it does mean any associated
analogue indicating instrument must have a sensitivity that require an auxiliary supply are generally provided
of 12mA. However, the scale required on this instrument with a separate pair of terminals for the auxiliary circuit
is now 0-13.2kV, which may lead to difficulty in drawing so that the user has the flexibility of connecting the
the scale in such a way as to make it readable (and auxiliary supply input to the measured voltage, or to a
conforms to the relevant standard). In this example, it separate supply. However, some manufacturers have
would be more straightforward to establish the full-scale standardised their designs such that they appear to be of
indication as 15kV and to make this equivalent to 10mA, the self-powered type, but the auxiliary supply
thus making the specification of the display instrument connection is actually internal. For a.c. measuring
much easier. The transducer will have to be specified transducers, the use of a d.c. auxiliary supply enables the
such that an input of 0-150V gives an output of 0-10mA. transducer to be operated over a wider range of input.
In the case of transducers with a 4-20mA output, great
care is required in the output scaling, as there is no over- The range of auxiliary supply voltage over which a
range capability. The 20mA output limit is a fixed one transducer can be operated is specified by the
from a measurement point of view. Such outputs are manufacturer. If the auxiliary voltage is derived from an
typically used as inputs to SCADA systems, and the input quantity, the range of measurement will be
SCADA system is normally programmed to assume that a restricted to about ±20% of the nominal auxiliary supply
current magnitude in excess of 20mA represents a voltage. This can give rise to problems when attempting
transducer failure. Thus, using the above example, the to measure low values of the input quantity.
output might be scaled so that 20mA represents 132V
and hence the nominal 110V input results in an output of
16.67mA. A more convenient scaling might be to use 22.6 MEASUREMENT CENTRES
16mA as representing110V, with 20mA output being
equal to 137.5V (i.e. 25% over-range instead of the 20% A Measurement Centre is effectively a collection of
required). It would be incorrect to scale the transducer discrete transducers mounted in a common case. This is
so that 110V input was represented by 20mA output, as largely impractical if analogue technology for signal
the over-range capability required would not be processing is used, but no such limitation exists if digital
available. or numerical technology is adopted. Therefore,
Similar considerations apply to current transducers and, Measurement Centres are generally only found
with added complexity, to watt transducers, where the implemented using these technologies. As has been
ratios of both the voltage and the current transformers already noted in Chapter 7, a numerical relay can provide
must be taken into account. In this instance, the output many measurements of power system quantities.
will be related to the primary power of the system. It Therefore, an alternative way of looking at a
should be noted that the input current corresponding to Measurement Centre that uses numerical technology is
full-scale output may not be exactly equal to the that it is a numerical relay, stripped of its protection
secondary rating of the current transformer but this does functions and incorporating a wide range of power
not matter - the manufacturer will take this into account. system parameter measurements.
 This is rather an oversimplification of the true situation,
as there are some important differences. A protection
relay has to provide the primary function of protection
over a very large range of input values; from perhaps 5°/o
to 500% or greater of rated values. The accuracy of
measurement, whilst important, is not required to be as
accurate as, for instance, metering for tariff purposes.
Metering does not have to cover quite such a wide range
of input values, and therefore the accuracy of
measurement is often required to be higher than for a
protection relay. Additional functionality over that
provided by the measurement functions of a protection
relay is often required - for a typical set of functions
provided by a measurement centre, see Table 22.3.
On the other hand, the fundamental measurement
process in a measurement centre based on numerical
technology is identical to that of a numerical relay, so
need not be repeated here. The only differences are the
ranges of the input quantities and the functionality. The
former is dealt with by suitable design of the input signal
conditioning and A/D conversion, the latter is dealt with
by the software provided.

Figure 22.3: Typical transducers/Measurement Centres

22.7 TARIFF METERING

Table 22.3: Typical function set provided Tariff metering is a specialised form of measurement,
by a Measurement Centre being concerned with the measurement of electrical
power, reactive power or energy for the purposes of
charging the consumer. As such, it must conform to the
The advantages of a Measurement Centre are that a appropriate national standards for such matters. Primary
comprehensive set of functions are provided in a single tariff metering is used for customer billing purposes, and
item of equipment, taking up very little extra space may involve a measurement accuracy of 0.2% of reading,
compared to a discrete transducer for a much smaller even for readings that are 5% or less of the nominal
number of parameters. Therefore, when the requisite I rated value. Secondary tariff metering is applied where
the user wishes to include his own metering as a check
CT's and VT's are available, it may well make sense to use
on the primary tariff metering installed by the supplier,
a Measurement Centre even if not all of the functionality
or within a large plant or building to gain an accurate
is immediately required. History shows that more and
picture of the consumption of energy in different areas,
more data is required as time passes, and incorporation
perhaps for the purpose of energy audits or internal cost
of full functionality at the outset may make sense.
allocation. The accuracy of such metering is rather less,
Figure 22.3 illustrates the wide variety of transducers an overall accuracy of 0.5% over a wide measurement
and Measurement Centres available.
range being typically required. As this is the overall be tolerated without leading to excessive current/voltage
accuracy required, each element in the metering chain transients on CB closure. The check synchroniser has
(starting with the CT's/VT's) must have an accuracy rather programmable error limits to define the limits of
better than this. Careful attention to wiring and mounting acceptability when making the comparison.
of the transducer is required to avoid errors due to
interference, and the accuracy may need to be maintained
over a fairly wide frequency range. Thus a tariff metering
scheme requires careful design of all of the equipment
included in the scheme. Facilities are normally included to
provide measurements over a large number of defined
time periods (e.g. 24 half-hour periods for generator
energy tariff metering) so that the exporter of the energy
can produce an overall invoice for the user according to
the correct rates for each tariff period. The time intervals
that these periods cover may change according to the time
of year (winter, spring, etc.) and therefore flexibility of
programming of the energy metering is required. Remote
communications are invariably required, so that the data
is transferred to the relevant department on a regular
basis for invoicing purposes.

22.8 SYNCHRONISERS
Synchronisers are required at points on a power system
where two supplies (either generator and grid, or two
grid supplies) may need to be paralleled. They are more
than just a measuring device, as they will provide
contact closures to permit circuit breaker closing when
conditions for paralleling (synchronising) are within Figure 22.4: Check synchroniser applications

limits. However, they are not regarded as protection

relays, and so are included in this Chapter for The conditions under which a check synchroniser is
convenience. There are two types of synchronisers -auto- required to provide an output are varied. Consider the
synchronisers and check synchronisers. situation of a check synchroniser being used as a
permissive device in the closing control circuit of a CB
that couples two networks together at a substation -
22.8.1 Check Synchronisers Figure 22.4(b). It is not sufficient to assume that both
The function of a check synchroniser is to determine if networks will be live, situations where either Line A or
two voltages are in synchronism, or nearly so, and Busbar B may be dead may have to be considered,
provide outputs under these conditions. The outputs are leading to the functionality shown in Table 22.4(a).
normally in the form of volt-free contacts, so that they Live bus/live line synchronising Live bus/dead line synchronising
may be used in CB control circuits to permit or block CB
Dead bus/live line synchronising Network supply voltage #1 deviation
closing. When applied to a power system, the check from nominal
synchroniser is used to check that it is safe to close a CB Network supplv voltage #2 deviation Voltage difference within limits
to connect two independent networks together, or a from nominal
Frequency difference within limits Phase angle difference within limits
generator to a network, as in Figure 22.4. In this way,
CB closing advance time CB closing pulse time
the check synchroniser performs a vital function in
Maximum number of synchronising
blocking CB closure when required. attempts
(a): Check synchroniser functionality
Synchronism occurs when two a.c. voltages are of the
same frequency and magnitude, and have zero phase Incominq supply frequency deviation Incominq supply voltaqe siqnal
from nominal raise/lower
difference. The check synchroniser, when active, Incoming supply voltage raise/lower Incoming supply frequency raise/lower
monitors these quantities and enables CB close circuits mode (pulse/continuous) mode (pulse/continuous)

when the differences are within pre-set limits. While CB Incoming supply voltage setpoint Incoming supply frequency setpoint
Voltage raise/lower pulse time Frequency raise/lower pulse time
closure at the instant of perfect synchronism is the ideal,
this is very difficult to obtain in practice and some (b) Additional functions for auto-synchroniser

mismatch in one or more of the monitored quantities can Table 22.4: Synchroniser function set
When the close signal is permitted, it may be given only emergency conditions, it could block the synchronising
for a limited period of time, to minimise the chances of of a generator that was urgently required in service to
a CB close signal remaining after the conditions have help assist in overcoming the condition.
moved outside of limits. Similarly, circuits may also be
If (a) above is not within limits, signals are sent
provided to block closure if the CB close signal from the
automatically to the governor of the generating set to
CB close controls is present prior to satisfactory
adjust the speed setpoint appropriately. In the case of (c)
conditions being present - this ensures that an operator
not in limits, similar signals are sent to the Automatic
must be monitoring the synchronising displays and only
Voltage Regulator to raise or lower the setpoint. The
initiating closure when synchronising conditions are
signals are commonly in the form of pulses to raise or
correct, and also detects synchronising switch contacts
lower the setpoint, but could be continuous signals if
that have become welded together.
that is what the particular equipment requires. It is
A check synchroniser does not initiate any adjustments if normal for the speed and voltage of the generator to be
synchronising conditions are not correct, and therefore slightly higher than that of the network, and this can be
acts only as a permissive control in the overall CB closing accommodated either by initial settings on the
circuit to provide a check that conditions are satisfactory. Governor/AVR or by providing setpoint values in the
In a substation, check-synchronisers may be applied synchroniser. This ensures stable synchronising and
individually to all required CB's. Alternatively, a reduced export of power at lagging power factor to the network
number may be installed, together with suitable switching by the generator after CB closure. The possibility of
arrangements in the signal input/output circuits so that a tripping due to reverse/low forward power conditions
single device may be selected to cover several CB's. and/or field failure/under-excitation is avoided. Use of
an auto-synchroniser also helps avoid human error if
manual synchronising were employed - there is potential
22.8.2 Auto-synchroniser for damage to equipment, primarily the generator, if
An auto-synchroniser contains additional functionality synchronising outside of permitted limits occurs.
compared to a check synchroniser. When an auto- To ensure that the CB is closed at the correct instant, the
synchroniser is placed in service, it measures the CB close time is normally a required data item. The auto-
frequency and magnitude of the voltages on both sides synchroniser calculates from a knowledge of this and the
of the circuit breaker, and automatically adjusts one of slip frequency the correct time in advance of phase co-
the voltages if conditions are not correct. Application of incidence to issue the CB close command. This ensures
auto-synchronisers is normally restricted to generators - that the CB closes as close to the instant of phase co-
i.e. the situation shown in Figure 22.4(a), replacing the incidence as possible. Upon receipt of the signal
check synchroniser with an auto-synchroniser. This is indicating 'CB closed' a further signal to raise frequency
because it is generally not possible to adjust either of the may be sent to the governor to ensure stable export of
network voltages by changing the settings of one or a power is achieved. Conversely, failure of the CB to close
very few equipments in a network. When applied to a within a set time period will reset the auto-synchroniser,
generator, it is relatively easy to adjust the frequency and ready for another attempt, and if further attempts are
magnitude of the generated voltage by transmitting still unsuccessful, the auto-synchroniser will lock out
signals to the Governor and AVR respectively. and raise an alarm.
The auto-synchroniser will check the voltage of the Practice in respect of fitting of auto-synchronisers varies
incoming generator against the network voltage for widely between Utilities. Where policy is flexible, it is
compliance with the following (Table 22.4(a), (b)): most common when the time to synchronise is important
a. slip frequency within limits (i.e. difference in - i.e. emergency standby and peak lopping sets. Many
frequency between the generator and network) Utilities still relay on manual synchronising procedures. It
is also possible for both an auto-synchroniser and check-
b. phase difference between the voltages within synchroniser to be fitted in series. This provides protection
limits against internal failure of the auto-synchroniser leading
c. voltage magnitude difference within limits to a CB close command being given incorrectly.

The CB close command is issued automatically when all

three conditions are satisfied. Checks may also be made 22.9 DISTURBANCE RECORDERS
that the network frequency and voltage is within pre-set Power systems suffer from various types of disturbances.
limits, and if not the synchronising sequence is locked In post-fault analysis, it is beneficial to have a detailed
out. This prevents synchronising under unusual network record of a disturbance to enable the initiating event to
conditions, when it may not be desirable. This facility be distinguished from the subsequent effects. Especially
should be used with caution, since under some where the disturbance causes further problems (e.g.
single-phase fault develops into 3-phase), a detailed Power system disturbances may last from periods of a
recording of the fault may be required to distinguish few seconds to several minutes. To ensure that
between cause and effect. If the effects of a fault are maximum benefit is obtained from the investment, a
spread over a wide area, records of the disturbance from disturbance recorder must be able to capture events over
a number of locations can assist in determining the a wide range of timescales. This leads to the provision of
location of the disturbance. The equipment used for this programmable sampling rates, to ensure that short-term
purpose is known as a disturbance, or fault, recorder. transients are captured with sufficient resolution while
also ensuring that longer-term ones have sufficient of
the transient captured to enable a meaningful analysis to
22.9.1 Disturbance Recorder Features be undertaken. The record for each disturbance is
A disturbance recorder will normally have the following divided into sections covering pre-fault, fault, and post-
capabilities: fault periods, and each of these periods may have
different sampling rates. Time synchronisation is also a
a. multi-channel analogue input waveform recording vital feature, to enable a recording from one recorder to
b. multi-channel digital input recording be aligned with another of the same event from a
different recorder to obtain a complete picture of events.
c. storage of several fault records, ready for
download/analysis Since most distrubance recorders are fitted in
substations that are normally unmanned, the provision
d. recording time of several seconds per disturbance to download captured information is essential. Each
e. triggering from any analogue or digital input fault recording will contain a large amount of data, and
channel, or quantity derived from a combination of it is vital that the data is uniquely identified in respect of
inputs, or manually recorder, fault event, channel, etc. Standards exist in
field to facilitate the interchange of data, of which
f. distance to fault location for one or more feeders
perhaps the best known is the IEEE COMTRADE format,
g. variable pre/post trigger recording length now also an IEC standard. Once downloaded, the data
h. time synchronisation (IRIG-B, GPS, etc.) from a disturbance recorder can be analysed by various
software packages, such as WinAnalyse, Eview, or
i. programmable sampling rates T0P2000. The software will often have the ability to
j. standard data transfer formats (IEEE COMTRADE calculate the fault location (distance-to-fault),
(now IEC 60255-24), etc. superimpose waveforms to assist in fault analysis, and
perform harmonic and other analyses.
k. communication links to control centre, etc.
(Ethernet, modem, etc.)
I. self-monitoring/diagnostics
Analogue channels are provided to record the important
currents and voltages at the fault recorder location.
High resolution is required to ensure accurate capture of
the waveforms, with 14 or 16 bit A/D conversion being
usual. Digital inputs are provided to capture signals such
as CB opening, protection relay operation, intertrip
signals, etc. so that a complete picture of the sequence
of events can be built up. The information can then be
used to check that the sequence of operations post-fault
is correct, or assist in determining the cause of an
unexpected sequence of operations. To avoid loss of the
disturbance data, sufficient memory is provided to
capture and store the data from several faults prior to
transfer of the data for analysis. Flexibility in the
triggering arrangements is extremely important, as it is
pointless to install a disturbance recorder, only for it to
miss recording events due to lack of appropriate
triggering facilities. It is normal for triggering to be
available if the relevant threshold is crossed on any
analogue or digital channel, or a quantity that can be
derived from a combination of inputs.
23 • Power Quality

23.1 INTRODUCTION
Over the lastthirty years orso, the amount of equipment
containing electronics has increased dramatically. Such
equipment can both cause and be affected by
electromagnetic disturbances. A disturbance that
affects a process control computer in a large industrial
complex could easily result in shutdown of the process.
The lost production and product loss/recycling during
start-up represents a large cost to the business.
Similarly, a protection relay affected by a disturbance
through conduction or radiation from nearby conductors
could trip a feeder or substation, causing loss of supply
to a large number of consumers. At the other end of the
scale, a domestic user of a PC has to re-boot the PC due
to a transient voltage dip, causing annoyance to that
and other similarly affected users. Therefore,
transporters and users of electrical energy have become
much more interested in the nature and frequency of
disturbances in the power supply. The topic has become
known by the title of Power Quality.

23.2 CLASSIFICATION OF POWER SYSTEM

DISTURBANCES
To make the study of Power Quality problems useful, the
various types of disturbances need to be classified by
magnitude and duration. This is especially important for
manufacturers and users of equipment that may be at
risk. Manufacturers need to know what is expected of
their equipment, and users, through monitoring, can
determine if an equipment malfunction is due to a
disturbance or problems within the equipment itself.
Not surprisingly, standards have been introduced to
cover this field. They define the types and sizes of
disturbance, and the tolerance of various types of
equipment to the possible disturbances that may be
encountered.
The principal standards in this field are IEC 61000, EN
50160, and IEEE 1159. Standards are essential for
manufacturers and users alike, to define what is
reasonable in terms of disturbances that might occur and Table 23.2 lists the limits given in Standard EN 50160
what equipment should withstand. and notes where other standards have similar limits.
Table 23.1 provides a broad classification of the
disturbances that may occur on a power system, some
typical causes of them and the potential impact on
equipment. From this Table, it will be evident that the
electricity supply waveform, often thought of as
composed of pure sinusoidal quantities, can suffer a wide
variety of disturbances. The following sections of this
Chapter describe the causes in more detail, along with
methods of measurement and possible remedial
measures.

Category Causes Impacts

Voltage dips Local and remote faults Tripping of sensitive

Inductive loading Switch equipment Resetting of
on of large loads control systems Motor
stalling/tripping

Voltage surges Capacitor switching Switch Tripping of sensitive

off of large loads Phase equipment Damage to
faults insulation and windings
Damage to power
supplies for electronic
equipment

Table 23.2: Power system disturbance

Overvoltage Load switching Capacitor Problems with equipment classification to EN 50160
switching System voltage that requires constant
regulation steady-state voltage

Harmonics Industrial furnaces Non- Mal-operation of sensitive

For computer equipment, a common standard that
linear loads Tra nsform ers/g equipment and relays manufacturers use is the ITI (Information Technology
e n e ra tors Rectifier Capacitor fuse or capacitor
equipment failures Telephone
Industry) curve, illustrated in Figure 23.1. Voltage
interference disturbances that lie in the area indicated as 'safe'
should not cause a malfunction in any way.
Power frequency Loss of generation Negligible most of time
variation Extreme loading Motors run slower De-
conditions tuning of harmonic i
However, some disturbances at LV levels that lie within
filters the boundaries defined by EN50160 might cause a
malfunction because they do not lie in the safe area of
Voltage AC motor drives Inter- Flicker in: Fluorescent
fluctuation harmonic current lamps Incandescent the ITI curve. It may be necessary to check carefully
components Welding and lamps which standards are applicable when considering
arc furnaces
equipment susceptibility.
Rapid voltage Motor starting Light flicker
change Transformer tap Tripping of
changing equipment

Voltage Unbalanced loads Overheating in

imbalance Unbalanced motors/generators
impedances Interruption of 3-phase
operation

Short and long Power system faults Loss of supply to

voltage Equipment failures customer equipment
interruptions Control malfunctions Computer shutdowns
CB tripping Motor tripping

Undervoltage Heavy network loading All equipment

Loss of generation Poor without backup
power factor Lack of var supply facilities
support

Transients Lightning Capacitive Control system resetting Figure 23.1: ITI curve for equipment
switching Non -linear Damage to sensitive susceptibility
switching loads System electronic components
voltage regulation Damage to insulation

Table 23.1: Power Quality issues

23.3 CAUSES AND IMPACT OF POWER insulator flashover, collisions due to birds, and
QUALITY PROBLEMS excavations damaging cables. Multiple voltage dips, as
illustrated in Figure 23.3, cause more problems for
Each of the Power Quality disturbance categories
equipment than a single isolated dip.
detailed in Table 23.1 is now examined in more detail as
to the possible causes and the impact on consumers. The impact on consumers may range from the annoying
(non-periodic light flicker) to the serious (tripping of
sensitive loads and stalling of motors). Where repeated
23.3.1 Voltage Dips dips occur over a period of several hours, the repeated
Figure 23.2 shows the profile of a voltage dip, together shutdowns of equipment can give rise to serious
with the associated definitions. The major cause of production problems. Figure 23.4 shows an actual
voltage dips on a supply system is a fault on the system, voltage dip, as captured by a Power Quality recorder.
that is sufficiently remote electrically that a voltage
interruption does not occur. Other sources are the starting
of large loads (especially common in industrial systems),
and, occasionally, the supply of large inductive loads.

Figure 23.4: Recording of a voltage dip

Typical data for undervoltage disturbances on power

systems during evolving faults are shown in Figure 23.5.
Figure 23.2: Voltage dip profile Disturbances that lie in the front right-hand portion of
the histogram are the ones that cause most problems,
Voltage dips due to the latter are usually due to poor design but fortunately these are quite rare.
of the network feeding the consumer. A voltage dip is the
most common supply disturbance causing interruption of
production in an industrial plant. Faults on a supply
network will always occur, and in industrial systems, it is
often practice to specify equipment to ride-through
voltage dips of up to 0.2s. The most common exception is
contactors, which may well drop out if the voltage dips
below 80% of rated voltage for more than 50-100ms.
Motor protection relays that have an undervoltage element
setting that is too sensitive is another cause. Since
contactors are commonly used in circuits supplying motors,
the impact of voltage dips on motor drives, and hence the
process concerned, requires consideration.

Figure 23.5: Undervoltage disturbance histogram

Figure 23.3: Multiple voltage dip

Other network-related fault causes are weather-related 23.3.2 Voltage Surges/Spikes

(such as snow, ice, wind, salt spray, dust) causing Voltage surges/spikes are the opposite of dips - a rise
that may be nearly instantaneous (spike) or takes place are sufficiently high enough, protective devices may shut
over a longer duration (surge). These are most often the equipment down to avoid damage. Some equipment,
caused by lightning strikes and arcing during switching such as certain protection devices, may maloperate and
operations on circuit breakers/contactors (fault cause unnecessary shutdowns.
clearance, circuit switching, especially switch-off of
inductive loads). Figure 23.6 shows the profile of a
voltage surge.

Figure 23.7: Supply waveform distorted

due to the presence of harmonics

Special provision may have to be made to filter

Figure 23.6: Voltage surge profile
harmonics from the measured signals in these
circumstances. Interference may be caused to
communication systems. Overloading of neutral
Equipment may suffer serious damage from these causes, conductors in LV systems has also occurred (the
ranging from insulation damage to destruction of harmonics in each phase summing in the neutral
sensitive electronic devices. The damage may be conductor, not cancelling) leading to failure due to
immediate and obvious by the fact that equipment stops overheating. This is a particular risk in buildings that
working, through to failure at a much later date from have a large number of PC's, etc., and in such cases a
deterioration initiated from a surge or spike of voltage. neutral conductor rated at up to 150% of the phase
These latter failures are very difficult to distinguish from conductors has been known to be required. Busbar risers
random failures due to age, minor manufacturing in buildings are also at risk, due to harmonic-induced
defects, etc. vibration causing joint securing bolts, etc. to work loose.

23.3.3 Overvoltages 23.3.5 Frequency Variations

Sustained overvoitages are not common. The most likely Frequency variations that are large enough to cause
causes are maladjusted voltage regulators on generators problems are most often encountered in small isolated
or on-load tap changers, or incorrectly set taps on fixed- networks, due to faulty or maladjusted governors. Other
tap transformers. Equipment failures may immediately causes are serious overloads on a network, or governor
result in the case of severe overvoitages, but more likely failures, though on an interconnected network, a single
is accelerated degradation leading to premature failure governor failure will not cause widespread disturbances
without obvious cause. Some equipment that is of this nature. Network overloads are most common in
particularly sensitive to overvoitages may have to be areas with a developing electrical infrastructure, where a
shut down by protective devices. reduction in frequency may be a deliberate policy to
alleviate overloading. Serious network faults leading to
islanding of part of an interconnected network can also
23.3.4 Harmonics
lead to frequency problems.
This is a very common problem in the field of Power
Few problems are normally caused by this problem.
Quality. The main causes are Power Electronic Devices,
Processes where product quality depends on motor speed
such as rectifiers, inverters, UPS systems, static var
control may be at risk but such processes will normally
compensators, etc. Other sources are electric discharge
have closed-loop speed controllers. Motor drives will
lamps, arc furnaces and arc welders. In fact, any non-
suffer output changes, but process control mechanisms
linear load will be a source of harmonics. Figure 23.7
will normally take care of this.
illustrates a supply waveform that is distorted due to the
presence of harmonics. Harmonics usually lead to Extreme under- or overfrequency may require the
heating in rotating equipment (generators and motors), tripping of generators, leading to the possibility of
and transformers, leading to possible shutdown. progressive network collapse through network
Capacitors may be similarly affected. If harmonic levels overloading/underfrequency causes.
 23.3.6 Voltage Fluctuations 23.3.9 Undervoltage
These are mainly caused by load variations, especially Excessive network loading, loss of generation, incorrectly
large rapid ones such as are likely to occur in arc and set transformer taps and voltage regulator malfunctions,
induction heating furnaces, rolling mills, mine winders, cause undervoltage. Loads with a poor power factor (see
and resistance welders. Chapter 18 for Power Factor Correction) or a general lack
of reactive power support on a network also contribute.
Flicker in incandescent lamps is the most usual effect of
The location of power factor correction devices is often
voltage fluctuations. It is a serious problem, with the
important, incorrect location resulting in little or no
human eye being particularly sensitive to light flicker in
improvement.
the frequency range of 5-15Hz. Because of the wide use
of such lamps, the effects are widespread and inevitably The symptoms of undervoltage problems are tripping of
give rise to a large number of complaints. Fluorescent equipment through undervoltage trips. Lighting will run
lamps are also affected, though to a lesser extent. at reduced output. Undervoltage can also indirectly lead
to overloading problems as equipment takes an increased
current to maintain power output (e.g. motor loads).
23.3.7 Voltage Unbalance Such loads may then trip on overcurrent or thermal
Unbalanced loading of the network normally causes protection.
voltage unbalance. However, parts of the supply network
with unbalanced impedances (such as untransposed
overhead transmission lines) will also cause voltage 23.3.10 Transients
j unbalance, though the effect of this is normally small. Transients on the supply network are due to faults,
Overheating of rotating equipment results from voltage control and protection malfunctions, lightning strikes,
unbalance. In serious cases, tripping of the equipment etc.
occurs to protect it from damage, leading to Voltage-sensitive devices and insulation of electrical
generation/load imbalance or loss of production. equipment may be damaged, as noted above for
voltage surges/spikes. Control systems may reset.
Semiconductor manufacture can be seriously affected
23.3.8 Supply Interruptions
unless the supplies to critical process plant are suitably
Faults on the power system are the most common cause, protected.
irrespective of duration. Other causes are failures in
equipment, and control and protection malfunctions.
23.4 POWER QUALITY MONITORING
Electrical equipment ceases to function under such
conditions, with undervoltage protection devices leading If an installation or network is thought to be suffering
to tripping of some loads. from problems related to Power Quality, suitable
measurements should to be taken to confirm the initial
Short interr uptio ns ma y b e no m ore than a n
diagnosis. These measurements will also help quantify
nconvenience to some consumers (e.g. domestic
the extent of the problem(s) and provide assistance in
consumers), but for commercial and industrial
determining the most suitable solutions. Finally, follow-
consumers (e.g. semiconductor manufacture) may lead
up measurements after installation will confirm the
to lengthy serious production losses with large financial
effectiveness of the remedial measures taken.
impact. Longer interruptions will cause production loss
in most industries, as induction and synchronous motors
cannot tolerate more than 1-2 seconds interruption
23.4.1 Type of Installation
without having to be tripped, if only to prevent excessive
current surges and resulting large voltage dips on supply Monitoring equipment for Power Quality may be suitable
estoration. for either temporary or permanent installation on a
supply network. Permanent installation is most likely to
On the other hand, vital computer systems are often fed
be used by Utilities for routine monitoring of parts of
via a UPS supply that may be capable of supplying power
their networks to ensure that regulatory limits are being
from batteries for several hours in the event of a mains
complied with and to monitor general trends in respect
supply failure. More modern devices such as Dynamic of power quality issues. Consumers with sensitive loads
Voltage Restorers can also be used to provide continuity may also install permanent monitoring devices in order
of supply due to a supply interruption. For interruptions to monitor Power Quality and provide supporting
: lasting some time, a standby generator can be provide a evidence in the event of a claim for compensation being
limited supply to essential loads, but cannot be started in made against the supplier if loss occurs due to a power
time to prevent an interruption occurring. quality problem whose source is in the Utility network.
The performance of any devices installed to improve 23.4.2 Connection to the Supply
Power Quality can also be monitored. Connection to the supply being monitored may present
Such devices may have a data link to a DCS or data problems. For LV supplies, the voltage inputs are usually
logger in order to provide historical data recording and taken directly to the instrument in single-phase or three-
data processing/presentation facilities. They are quite phase form as required. Monitoring of currents may be
small and are fitted in a suitable cubicle forming part of through a current shunt or suitable CT, depending on
a switchboard line-up. The data link may be hard-wired, circuit rating. At higher voltages, VT's and CT's already
use a modem connection to a telephone line, or in the fitted for instrumentation/protection purposes are used.
case of a utility with many geographically-dispersed In general, the conventional electromagnetic voltage or
substations, radio links for data transmission may be current transformer is suitable for use without special
used. Internal data storage will be provided to ensure considerations being required, but capacitor voltage
effective use of the data link. The units may be self- or transformers often have a low-pass filter on the output
auxiliary supply powered, and in the case of important that has the potential to seriously affect readings of
Utility substations may have battery-backed supplies to harmonics and transient phenomena. In such cases, the
ensure capture of voltage interruptions. Time input to the monitoring device must be taken prior to
synchronisation may be required to ensure accurate filtering, or the filter characteristics must be determined
identification of events. and the measured signals processed to take account of
the filtering prior to analysis being undertaken. In
For investigation of particular problems, a portable
addition, the CVT itself may have a non-linear transfer
instrument is more suitable. The same range of Power
function with respect to frequency, though the variety of
Quality measurement capabilities is provided as for
types of CVT and difficulties of testing make
permanent instrumentation. The instrument may have
confirmation of this point virtually impossible at present.
built-in analysis/data storage capabilities, but external
storage in the form of floppy discs or a data link to a Where harmonics or high-frequency phenomena are
laptop or desktop PC is commonplace. Analysis/report being measured, suitable connecting leads between the
writing software running on a PC is often available, transducers and the measuring instrument are required to
which may be more comprehensive than that provide in avoid signal distortion. This is especially important if long
the instrument itself. cable runs are used; this may be the case if the measuring
instruments are centralised but measurements are being
Figure 23.8 illustrates a Power Quality meter that is
made at a number of switchboards.
available (MiCOM M720 range).

23.4.3 Types of Power Quality Measurements

Instruments for power quality monitoring may not offer
the full range of measurements for all Power Quality
issues. Care is therefore required that the instrument
chosen is suited for the purpose. Most instruments will
provide provide measurements of current and voltage
harmonics, and capture of voltage dips and frequency
excursions (Figure 23.9).
Measurements to the commonly encountered standards
may be built-in. For capture of surges, spikes and
interruptions, more specialised instrumentation may be
required as transient high-speed waveform capture is
required. This requires a high sampling rate and large
memory storage.
Most instruments designed for Power Quality use A/D
conversion of the input waveforms. The raw waveform is
stored and either transferred to a computer for analysis,
or the instrument contains built-in software to carry out
analysis of power quality in line with accepted standards.
Often the software will have a choice of standards for
user selection. Figure 23.10 shows the capture of data
and analysis for a period of one week to determine
compliance with EN 50160.
 More detailed analysis using the same instrument can
show directly how the results compare with this
standard, as shown in Figure 23.11.
To facilitate the interchange of data between locations
and/or users, the public-domain PQDIF data interchange
format for Power Quality may be used and facilities
provided for in the software.

23.4.4 Instrument Location

The location of the measuring instrument also requires
consideration. By careful placement and observing the
relative polarities, it is possible to deduce if the source of
the disturbance is on the source or load side of the
monitoring device.

23.5 REMEDIAL MEASURES

There are many methods available for correcting Power
Quality problems. The most common are given in Table
23.3. Brief details of each method are given below, but
Figure 23.9; Transient voltage
disturbance capture
it is emphasised that the solution adopted will be
tailored specifically to the problem and site.

Equipment Application

UPS Voltage variations

Supply interruptions
Frequency
Earthing practices Harmonics
Filters (Active/Passive) Harmonics
Energy Storage Devices Voltage variations
Supply
rob/e 23.3: Power system disturbance
classification to EN 50160

23.5.1 UPS Systems

Figure 23.10: Data capture for analysis
A UPS system consists of the following:
of data to EN50160

Figure 23.11: THD analysis to EN50160

a. an energy storage device - normally a battery
b. a rectifier and inverter
c. transfer switches
The UPS may be on-line (continuously in operation} or
offline (switched in when a disturbance occurs). The
former eliminates all problems due to voltage
surges/spikes/dips and interruptions (within the capacity
of the storage device) while the latter passes some of the
disturbance through, until the supply is transferred from
the normal source to the UPS. Harmonics originating in
the source may be reduced, but not eliminated in the
load, because the UPS itself is a source of harmonics, as
it contains Power Electronic Devices. Thus it may
increase harmonic distortion on the source side.
 (voltage source converter) technologies are possible.
Passive filters may take up significant space, depending
on the harmonics being filtered and the connection
voltage. A voltage source converter may be used instead
to provide a reduced footprint. It can filter several
frequencies simultaneously and track changes in the
frequencies of the harmonics as the fundamental
frequency changes. It can be expensive when used solely
as an active filter, but be viable where space is at a
Figure 23.12: UPS system premium. Figure 23.14 shows the concept of an active
harmonic filter. A danger with filters is the possibility of
resonance with part of the power system at some
The main disadvantages of UPS systems are cost and
frequency, giving rise to problems that would not
efficiency. An on-line UPS incurs continuous losses, while
otherwise occur.
both types require energy storage devices that can be
expensive. Fast-acting switches to transfer load to the
energy storage device are required for offline devices, while
transfer switches to bypass the rectifier/inverter when
these are undergoing maintenance may also be required.
Figure 23.12 illustrates conceptually both types of UPS.

23.5.2 Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR)

This is a voltage source converter and energy store,
connected in series (either directly or via an injection
transformer) that controls the voltage downstream
directly by injection of suitable voltage in series with the
source. Ratings of up to several MW are possible at
voltages up to 11kV. Figure 23.13 illustrates the concept.
Figure 23.14: Active harmonic filter concept

23.5.5 Static Var Compensator (SVC)

This is a shunt-connected assembly of capacitors, and
possibly reactors, which provides reactive power to a
network during disturbances to minimise them. It is
normally applied to transmission networks to counter
voltage dips/surges during faults and enhance power
transmission capacity on long transmission circuits. The
devices are switched either in discrete steps or made
Figure 23.13: Dynamic Voltage Restorer continuously variable through the use of PED's. It works
concept by providing reactive power (leading/lagging as required)
to assist in keeping the voltage at the point of
23.5.3 Earthing Practices
connection constant. Voltage variations at that point are
A site that suffers from problems with harmonics may reflected in var variations, so provision of reactive power
need to investigate the earthing of equipment. The high of appropriate sign can reduce the voltage fluctuations.
neutral currents that result can give rise to The STATCOM is a SVC comprised of a self commutated
overheating/failure of neutral/earth connections, while static converter and capacitor energy storage. The
high neutral-earth impedances can give rise to common- switching of the converter is controlled to supply
mode voltage problems. All neutral and earth reactive power of appropriate sign to the network.
connections need to be checked to ensure they are
adequately sized and have sound joints.
23.5.6 Ferro-resonant Transformer
23.5.4 Filters This is a transformer that is designed to run highly
saturated. Thus, input voltage dips and surges have little
These are shunt-connected devices used to eliminate
effect on the output voltage. Voltage interruptions of
harmonics. Either passive (LC or RLC) networks or active
very short duration result in the magnetic stored energy
being used up in maintaining output voltage and current. The dips can also be seen using the graphical viewing
The transformer is normally of 1:1 ratio, although taps facilities of the instrument. Figure 23.16(a) shows the
may be provided for fine adjustment of output voltage. display of the envelope of the r.m.s. voltage, and Figure
Appropriate shielding of the windings enables the impact 23.16(b), the same data magnified. The number,
of voltage spikes to be reduced. It is used in LV systems, magnitude and frequency of the dips can be clearly seen.
with a power output of up to a few tens of kVA. A detailed view of one dip shows clearly that the dips are
only just outside the normal supply voltage limits (Figure
23.17).
23.6 EXAMPLES
The following sections show some examples of the
measurement of Power Quality problems, using an
ALSTOM M720 Power Quality meter.

23.6.1 Flicker Detection on a LV network,

using Power Quality Monitoring Instruments
In a network known to have a high incidence of
disturbances, some local industries were identified as the Figure 23.77: Detailed analysis
source of pollution of the electrical network, reducing on a single voltage dip

the level of Power Quality at LV voltages. Measurements

using a Power Quality meter show many voltage dips to Using the waveform capture facility, the problem can be
about 88% of the nominal voltage, as illustrated in viewed in great detail, as shown in Figure 23.18.
Figure 23.15. The voltage dips were found to occur at
frequencies of up to 8 dips/second.

Figure 23.15: Voltage dip recording

Figure 23.18: Detailed view of
voltage dip waveform

Using this information, and knowledge of the operating

cycle of the industries causing the dip, the particular
equipment responsible for causing the voltage dip can be
identified and remedial measures implemented.

23.6.2 Investigation of Harmonic Pollution

Problems on an Industrial Plant
An industrial plant was suffering Power Quality
problems, and harmonic pollution was suspected as the
cause. A Power Quality meter was installed at various
parts of the network to determine the extent of the
problem and the equipment causing the problem.
Confirmation of the pollution as being due to harmonics
was readily obtained. This can be seen in Figure 23.19,
for the equipment identified as the source of the
disturbance. The graphics enable rapid and clear
identification of the frequency and amount by which the
generated harmonics exceed the permitted limit. A
Power System Analysis of the network was then
conducted to replicate the measured results, and then
used for testing the effectiveness of harmonic filter
designs. The most cost-effective filter design and
location can then be selected for implementation.

Figure 23.19: Harmonic pollution

measurement
• 24 • Substation Control
and Automation

24.1 INTRODUCTION
The sometimes complex interlocking and sequence
control requirements that are to be found in a
substation of any significant size lend themselves
naturally to the application of automation. These
requirements can be readily expressed in mathematical
logic (truth tables, boolean algebra, etc.) and this branch
of mathematics is well-suited to the application of
computers and associated software. Hence, computers
have been applied to the control of electrical networks
for many years, and examples of them being applied to
substation control/automation were in use in the early
1970's. The first applications were naturally in the bulk
power transmission field, as a natural extension of a
trend to centralised control rooms for such systems. The
large capital investment in such systems and the
consequences of major system disruption made the cost
of such schemes justifiable. In the last ten years or so,
continuing cost pressures on Utilities and advances in
computing power and software have led to the
application of computers to substation control/
automation on a much wider basis.
This Chapter outlines the current technology and
provides examples of modern practice in the field.

24.2 TOPOLOGY AND FUNCTIONALITY

The topology of a substation control system is the
architecture of the computer system used. The
functionality of such a system is the complete set of
functions that can be implemented in the control system
- but note that a particular substation may only utilise
a subset of the functionality possible.
All computer control systems utilise one of two basic
topologies:
a. centralised
b. distributed
and the basic concepts of each are illustrated in Figure
24.1. Early examples of substation automation used the I/O may include digital and analogue I/O (for
centralised concept, due to limitations in technology, interfacing to discrete devices such as CB close/trip
both of processor power and communication techniques. circuits, isolator motors, non-microprocessor based
Latest examples use a distributed architecture, in that a protection relays) and communications links (serial
number of Intelligent Electronic Devices (lED's) - such as or parallel as required) to lED's
microprocessor based relays - may be linked via a
c. Human Machine Interface (HMI). This is the
multidrop serial link to a local processor. The local
principal user interface and would normally take
processor may control one or more bays in a substation.
the form of a computer. The familiar desktop PC is
All of the local processors are, in turn, connected to a
commonly used, but specialised computers are also
Human Machine Interface (or HMI), and possibly also to
possible, while normally unmanned substations
a local or remote SCADA system for overall network
may dispense with a permanently installed HMI
monitoring/control.
and rely on operations/maintenance staff bringing
a portable computer equipped with the appropriate
software with them when attendance is required.
It is usual to also provide one or more printers
linked to the HMI in order to provide hard-copy
records of various kinds (Sequence of Events
recorder, alarm list, etc.)
d. A communications bus or busses, linking the
various devices. In a new substation, all of the
elements of the automation system will normally
use the same bus, or at most two busses,
to obtain cost-effectiveness. Where a substation
automation system is being retrofitted to an
existing substation, it may be necessary to use
existing communications busses to communicate
with some existing devices. This can lead to a
multiplicity of communications busses within the
automation system
e. A link to a remote SCADA system. This may be
provided by a dedicated interface unit, be part of
the HMI computer or part of an IED. It perhaps
may not be provided at all - though since one of
the benefits of substation automation is the
Figure 24.1: Basic substation automation capability of remote control/ monitoring, this
system topologies
would be highly unusual. It may only occur during
a staged development of an automation scheme at
a time when the bay operations are being
automated but the substation is still manned, prior
24.2.1 System Elements
to implementing remote control capability
The main system elements in a substation control system
are:
a. lED's, implementing a specific function or 24.2.3 System Requirements
functions on a circuit or busbar in a substation. A substation control/automation scheme will normally
The most common example of an IED is a be required to possess the following features:
microprocessor based protection relay, but it could
a. control of all substation electrical equipment from
also be a microprocessor based measurement
a central point
device, interface unit to older relays or control, etc.
b. monitoring of all substation electrical equipment
b. Bay Module (or controller). This device will
from a central point
normally contain all of the software required for
the control and interlocking of a single bay (feeder, c. interface to remote SCADA system
etc.) in the substation, and sufficient I/O to
d. control of electrical equipment in a bay locally
interface to all of the required devices required for
measurement/protection/control of the bay. The e. monitoring of electrical equipment in a bay locally
 f. status monitoring of all connected substation control will be possible if the computer fails for any
automation equipment reason. Such a topology is therefore only suited to small
MV substations where the consequences of computer
g. system database management
failure (requiring a visit from a repair crew to remedy)
h. energy management are acceptable. Bay Modules are not used, the software
i. condition monitoring of substation electrical for control and interlocking of each substation bay runs
equipment (switchgear, transformers, relays, lED's) as part of the HMI computer software.

The system may be required to be fault-tolerant,

implying that redundancy in devices and communication
paths is provided. The extent of fault-tolerance provided
will depend on the size and criticality of the substation
to the operator, and the normal manning status
(manned/ unmanned). Many of the functions may be
executed from a remote location (e.g. a System Control
Centre) in addition to the substation itself.
Certain of the above functions will be required even in
the most elementary application. However, the selection
of the complete set of functions required for a particular
application is essentially the responsibility of the end-
user (Utility, etc.). Due to a modular, 'building block1
approach to software design, it is relatively easy to add
functionality at a later stage. This often occurs through
changing operators' needs and/or electrical network
development. Compatibility of the underlying database
of network data must be addressed to ensure that
historical data can still be accessed. Figure 24.2: HMI-based hardware topology

24.3.2 RTU-based Topology

24.3 HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION This topology is an enhancement of the HMI topology

and is shown in Figure 24.3. A microprocessor-based
To form a substation control system, the various
RTU is used to host the automation software, freeing the
elements described above must be assembled into some
HMI computer for operator interface duties only. The
form of topology. Three major hardware topologies can
HMI computer can therefore be less powerful and usually
be identified as being commonly used, as follows:
takes the form of a standard PC, or for not-normally-
manned substations, visiting personnel can use a
portable PC.
24.3.1 HMI-based Topology
This takes the form of Figure 24.2. The software to
implement the control/automation functions resides in
the HMI computer and this has direct links to lED's using
one or more communications protocols. The link to a
remote SCADA system is normally also provided in the
HMI computer, though a separate interface unit may be
provided to offload some of the processor requirements
from the HMI computer, especially if a proprietary
communications protocol to the SCADA system is used.
For this topology, a powerful HMI computer is clearly
required if large numbers of lED's are to be
accommodated. In practice, costs usually dictate the use
of a standard PC, and hence there will be limitations on
substation size that it can be applied to because of a
resulting limit to the number of lED's that can be
connected. The other important issue is one of reliability
and availability - there is only one computer that can
Figure 24.3: RTU-based topology
control the substation and therefore only local manual
 (a) Star connection of bay modules
The RTU is purpose designed and can house one or more
powerful microprocessors. A greater number of I/O
points can be accommodated than in the HMI topology,
while the possibility exists of hosting a wider variety of
communication protocols for lED's and the remote
SCADA connection. Bay Modules are not required, the
associated software for interlocking and control
sequences is part of the RTU software.
24.3.3 Decentralised Topology
This topology is illustrated in Figure 24.4. In it, each bay
of the substation is controlled by a Bay Module, which
houses the control and interlocking software, interfaces
to the various lED's required as part of the control and
protection for the bay, and an interface to the HMI. It is
possible to use an HMI computer to take local control of
an individual bay for commissioning/testing and fault
finding purposes. The amount of data from the various
substation I/O points dictates that a separate SCADA
interface unit is provided {often called an RTU or
Gateway), while it is possible to have more than one HMI
computer, the primary one being dedicated to operations (b) Ring connection of Bay Modules

and others for engineering use. Optionally, a remote HMI Figure 24.5: Methods of hardware
computer may be made available via a separate link. It interconnection
is always desirable in such schemes to separate the real-
time operations function from engineering tasks, which
do not have the same time-critical importance. Of course, it is possible to overcome the first problem by
duplicating links and running the links in physically
separate routes. However, this makes the I/O port
problem worse, while additional design effort is required
in ensuring cable route diversity.
An alternative is to connect the Bay Modules, HMI
computer and SCADA gateway in a ring, as shown in
Figure 24.5(b). By using a communication architecture
such as found in a LAN network, each device is able to
talk to any other device on the ring without any message
conflicts. A single break in the ring does not result in
loss of any facilities. The detection of ring breakage and
re-configuration required can be made automatically.
Thus, the availability and fault tolerance of the network
is improved. Multiple rings emanating from the HMI
computer can be used if the number of devices exceeds
Figure 24.4: Decentralised topology
the limit for a single ring. It can be easier to install on a
step-by-step basis for retrofit applications, but of course,
The connection between the various Bay Modules and all these advantages have a downside. The cost of such
the HMI computer is of some interest. Simplest is the a topology is higher than that of the other solutions, so
star arrangement of Figure 24.5(a). This is the least-cost this topology is reserved for situations where the highest
solution but suffers from two disadvantages. Firstly, a reliability and availability is required - i.e. HV and EHV
break in the link will result in loss of remote control of transmission substations.
the bay affected; only local control via a local HMI Redundancy can also be provided at the individual device
computer connected to the bay is then possible. level. Relays and other lED's may be duplicated, though
Secondly, the number of communication ports available this would not be usual unless required for other reasons
on the HMI computer will limit the number of Bay (e.g. EHV transmission lines may be required to have
Modules. duplicate main protections - this is not strictly speaking
duplication of individual devices - which would require A significant problem to be overcome in the
each individual main protection to have two identical implementation of communication links is the possibility
relays voting on a '1 out of 2' basis). It is usual to have of electromagnetic interference. The low voltage levels
more than one operators' HMI, either for operational that are used on most types of communication link may
reasons or for fault-tolerance. The system computer may be prone to interference as a result. Careful design of
be duplicated on a 'hot-standby' or 'dual-redundant' the interfaces between the devices used and the
basis, or tasks may be normally shared between two or communication bus, involving the use of opto-couplers
more system computers with each of them having the and protocol converters, is required to minimise the risk.
capability of taking over the functions of one of the Care over the arrangement of the communication cables
others in the event of a failure. is also required. It may also help to use a communication
protocol that incorporates a means of error
The total I/O count in a major substation will become
detection/correction. While it may not be possible to
large and it must be ensured that the computer hardware
correct all errors, detection offers the opportunity to
and communication links have sufficient performance to
request re-transmission of the message, and also for
ensure prompt processing of incoming data. Overload in
statistics to be gathered on error rates on various parts
this area can lead to one or more of the following:
of the system. An unusually high error rate on a part of
a. undue delay in updating the system status the communication system can be flagged to
diagrams/events log/alarm log in response to an maintenance crews for investigation.
incident
b. corruption of system database, so that the
24.4 COMMUNICATION METHODS
information presented to the operator is not an
accurate representation of the state of the actual Digital communication between items of hardware is
electrical system divided into three elements:
a. the protocol, consisting of the hardware, such as
c. system lockup
connectors, connector pin functions, and signal
As I/O at the bay level, both digital and analogue will levels
typically be handled by intelligent relays or specialised b. the format, consisting of the control of the flow of
lED's, it is therefore important to ensure that these data
devices have sufficient I/O capacity. If additional lED's c. the language, or how the information in the data
have to be provided solely for ensuring adequate I/O flow is organised
capacity, cost and space requirements will increase. Each of these areas is covered so that an appreciation of
There will also be an increase in the number of the complexities of d ig i ta l communications is
communication links required. understood.
A practical specification for system response times is
given in Table 24.1. Table 24.2 gives a typical
specification for the maximum I/O capacities of a 24.4.1 Communication Protocols and Formats
substation automation system. Anyone trying to connect up the various elements of a
Hi-Fi system if they have purchased them from different
manufacturers will be aware of the number of different
protocols in use. The situation is the same in the
Signal Type Response Time to/from HMI
industrial field. Manufacturers of devices are often
Digital Input Is
tempted to utilise a proprietary protocol, for no better
Analogue Input is
Digital Output 0.75s
reason sometimes than to encourage the sole use of their
Disturbance Record File 3s devices. Users, of course, have the opposite interest;
\hble 24. /: Practical system response times for
they would like every manufacturer to use the same
a substation automation scheme protocol so that they have the widest choice. In practice,
protocols have evolved over time, and some protocols are
more appropriate to some communication requirements
I/O Type Capacity Digital than others. The protocol used is also linked to the
Input 8196 Digital format used, since the number of conductors required
Output 2048 Analogue may depend on the format used.
Input 2048 Analogue
Output 512 There are two basic formats in use for data
Table 24.2: Typical I/O capacities for a substation
communications:
automation system a. serial
b. parallel
Serial format involves sending the data one bit at a time Thus devices can be located throughout a substation
along the communication channel. Parallel format without causing communications problems and significant
involves sending several bits simultaneously. Clearly, amounts of data can be transmitted rapidly. The main
parallel communication requires more wires than serial drawback is that it is a half-duplex system, so that
communication (a disadvantage) but can transmit a communications use a kind of question and answer
given amount of data faster. In practice, parallel technique known as 'polling'. The equipment that needs
communication is limited to communication over a few the data (e.g. a substation computer or bay controller) must
metres, and hence the majority of communications use ask each device in turn for the data requested and then
serial format. There are a number of popular serial wait for the response prior to moving on to the next device.
communication protocols in common use in the
substation automation field.
24.4.1.1 RS232C Protocol
The RS232C protocol allows for full duplex
communications between two devices. The basic
specification is given in Table 24.3. The hardware
specification can vary - nine conductors are the minimum
required for a full implementation, while a 25 pin
connector is commonly encountered. If flow control of
data is not required, only three signals are required (data
transmit/receive and ground). Being limited to
Figure 24.6: 'Daisy-chain' connection
communication between two devices, this protocol is not of RS485 devices
useful in substation automation schemes. However, it is
described, because it is regularly encountered in remote
communication applications, such as those between a Where devices connected to the communications
small substation and a control centre using modems to channel may need to flag alarm conditions, this dictates
transfer the data over a telephone line. continual polling of all devices connected to the
communications channel. If more than 31 devices need
Max. number of transmitters 1 to be connected, more than one RS485 communications
Max. number of receivers 1 link can be provided.
Connection type 25 core shielded 24.4.1.3 IEC 60870-5 Protocols
Mode of operation Decoupling
Maximum distance of transmission 15m The two commonly used protocols are IEC 60870-5-101
Maximum data rate 20kbit/s and IEC 60870-5-103.
Transmitter voltage 5Vmin,15Vmax
Receiver sensitivity 3V
IEC 60870-5-101 is used for communications between
devices over long distances. A typical application would
Driver slew rate 30V/microsec
Table 24.3: RS232C specification be communications between a substation and a Central
Control Room (CCR). A bit serial communication
technique is used, and transmission speeds of up to
24.4.1.2 RS485 Protocol 64kbit/s are possible, depending on the transmission
This protocol is detailed in Table 24.4, and is much more protocol selected from those specified in the standard,
useful for substation automation schemes. This is Modems can be used, and hence there is no practical
because, many devices can be attached to one data limitation of the distance between devices.
channel, the maximum distance over which IEC60870-5-103 specifies a communication protocol
communications can take place is quite large, and the between a master station and protection devices (e.g.
maximum bit rate is quite high. It only requires a simple protection relays). The standard is based on, and is a
twisted pair connection, with all devices 'daisy-chained' superset of, the German VDEW communication protocol.
on the link, as shown in Figure 24.6. Either fibre optic transmission or an RS485 link can be
Max. number of transmitters 32 used, and transmission speeds are either 9600kbit/s or
19200kbit/s. Maximum transmission distance is 1000m
Max. number of receivers 32
using fibre-optic transmission . Communication is on a
Connection type Shielded Twisted Pair
Mode of operation Differential
'master/slave' basis, in which the master station
Maximum distance of transmission 1200m
continually polls the slaves (relays) to determine if any
Maximum data rate 10Mbit/s information is ready to be sent by the slaves. While some
Transmitter voltage 1.5V min messages are defined by the standard, these are of
Receiver sensitivity Table 300mV

24 4: RS48S SDerificntinn
limited functionality. In addition, the standard allows the 0SI Layer ; Telephone Call Analogy
use of manufacturer-specific 'private' messages. These Conversion of voice into electrical signals. Defines type
permit much greater functionality, but at the same time Physical of connector, no. of pins, signal levels, etc. Optical fibres
and wires that make up the physical telephone network
hinder interoperability of equipment from different
Message transmission, error control and conferencing facilities.
manufacturers because there is no need for the format of . Words not clearly received are requested to be re-transmitted,
Data Link ■ , ',
such messages to be made public. This is arguably the using agreed procedures. For conferencing, defines now control
passes from one person to the next.
greatest drawback of the standard, since extensive use of Call routing, by specifying the method of allocating telephone
'private' messages by manufacturers of devices essentially numbers and provision of dialling facilities. Includes operator
Network facilities for routing to extensions. If the message is from several
turns the standard into several proprietary ones.
sheets of paper, ensures that all sheets have been received and are
in the correct order.

Monitors transmission quality and implements procedures if quality

24.4.2 Network Protocols is unaceptable - e.g. requests both parties to hang up and one Transport to re-
dial. Also provides a mechanism to ensure that the correct persons are
So far, the protocols described are useful for communicating, and searches for them (e.g. uses telephone directory) if not.

implementing communications over a relatively Provides facilities for automatically making calls at pre-defined times,
and ensures that the correct persons are present when the call
restricted geographical area. A substation automation Session is made. A session may be interrupted and re-established later,
scheme may extend over a very wide area, and hence using the same or a different network/transport connection .
As calls are half-duplex, provides flow control procedures -
suitable protocols are needed for this situation. The e.g one person says 'over' to invite the other to speak.
most common protocols in use conform to the ISO 7- Removes language difficulties by ensuring that the same language
layer model of a network. This model is internationally Presentation is spoken by both parties, or provides translation facilities.
Also provides encryption facilities for confidential calls.
recognised as the standard for the requirements for
Specifies the format in which a message will be sent when used
communications between data processing systems. Application in a specific application- e.g. if the application is to convey
information about meetings attended by a person, will define the
24.4.2.1 ISO 7- layer model format used for the place, time, and purpose of the meeting.

The ISO 7-layer model is shown in Figure 24.7. It Table 24.5: OSI 7-layer model - Telephone call analogy
represents a communications system as a number of
layers, each layer having a specific function. This
approach ensures modularity, and hence assists in The same data item may be stored at different addresses
ensuring that products from different vendors that within different devices, and hence re-programming of
comply with the standard will work together. The the client that receives the information is necessary
functions of each layer are best described by making an when one device is replaced by a different one, even if
analogy with a telephone call, as given in Table 24.5. the functionality is unchanged. It can easily be seen how
a substation equipped with a variety of devices from
different manufacturers and maybe using different
Selects appropriate service for application Application protocols for communication makes the problem of
applying an automation system very difficult and
Provides code conversion, data reformatting Presentation expensive. The major cost in such cases is developing the
software translation routines for protocol conversion and
Co-ordinates interaction between end Session building of the required database specifying where each
application processes item of data to be acquired is held.
Provides for end-to-end data integrity and Transport
quality of service 24,4.2.2 Utility Communications Architecture protocol
Switches and routes information Network A recent protocol, the Utility Communications
Architecture v2.0 (UCA v2.0), seeks to overcome these
Transfers unit of information to other end of Data Link handicaps by adopting an object-oriented approach to
physical link
the data held in a measurement/control device, plus an
Transmits bit stream to medium Physical
internationally recognised protocol (ISO 9506) in the
application layer. Data objects and services available
within a device follow a specified naming system. The
Figure 24,7; ISO 7-layer interconnection
mode!
client can extract a description of the data objects that
a device can supply, and services that it can perform, so
that it is easier to program the client. Scaling factors
There are a number of network protocols that are and units for data items are built into the se l f-
compliant with the OSI model, such as TCP/IP, Modbus, d es c r ip t ion, s o t ha t th e e f for t r e qu ire d during
DNP. This does not mean that the devices using different commissioning is reduced. Devices are not
protocols are interchangeable, or even that devices using interchangeable, in the sense that a device from one
the same protocol are interchangeable.
manufacturer cannot be removed and replaced by a protocol, Is to define the language very precisely at a
device of similar functionality from another vendor. high level, and require such details to be included as a
Rather, this protocol ensures interoperability; that is the part of each message so that the recipient can interpret
ability for devices from different suppliers and of the message without the need for any translator
different functionality to communicate successfully with software.
each other. The transport protocol has been separated
from the application protocol, so problems with register
addresses, etc. no longer exist. All that has to be 24.5 SUBSTATION AUTOMATION FUNCTIONALITY
addressed is the transport protocols used, and clients will The hardware implementation provides the physical
normally be able to communicate with devices using one means to implement the functionality of the substation
of a number of common transport protocols. This automation scheme. The software provided in the
standard has an IEC equivalent, IEC 61850. To begin various devices is used to implement the functionality
with, IEC 61850 covers only the field of substation required. The software may be quite simple or extremely
automation, but will gradually be extended to cover the complex - Table 24.6 illustrates the functionality that
same fields as UCA v2.0. Manufacturers are increasingly may be provided in a large scheme.
moving away from protocols with a proprietary element
in them to UCA v2.0/IEC 61850. It is likely that within a The description of the electrical network and the
short time, most protection and control devices will use characteristics of the various devices associated with the
one or other of these standards for communications. network are held within the computer as a database or
One important reason guiding this change is that these set of databases. Within each database, data is
standards permit the use of the XML language for organised into tables, usually on a 'per device' basis that
exchange of data between databases. As the reflects the important characteristics of the device and
information stored in an automation system or control its interrelationship with other devices on the network.
centre comprises a series of databases, information Electrical system configuration changes require
exchange is therefore facilitated. modification of the database using an appropriate
software tool supplied by the automation system vendor.
The tool is normally a high level, user-friendly interface,
24.4.3 Languages so that modifications to the one-line can be drawn
directly on-screen, with 'pick-and-place' facilities for
A communications language is the interpretation of the
relays, lED's, etc. This work would normally be done
data contained in a message. The communications
offline on the Engineers' workstation, if available, or as a
language normally forms part of the overall
background task on the control computer if not. Careful
communications protocol. Obviously, it is necessary for
and extensive checking of the data is required, both
both transmitter and recipient of the message to use the
before and after entry into the database, to ensure that
same language. While a number of communications
no errors have been made. Full testing on the new
standards attempt to specify the language used, there is
configuration using a simulator is recommended prior to
often flexibility provided, leading to manufacturer-
use of the new database on the main control computer
specific implementations. A popular work-around is for
to ensure that there is minimal possibility of errors.
a number of organisations to agree common standards
and set up a certifying body to check for compliance The software is written as a set of well-proven, standard
against these standards. Thus, equipment that complies modules, so there is little or no need for new modules to
becomes to large degree, interoperable. However, the be written and tested for a particular substation. The
latest trend, as exemplified by the UCA v2.0/IEC 61850 required data for the calculations performed by the

Functional area Functionality

Interlocking CB's Isolators Contactors

Tripping sequences CB failure Intertripping Simultaneous trips
Switching sequences Automatic transformer changeover Automatic busbar changeover Restoration of supply following fault Network re-configuration
Load management Load shedding Load restoration Generator despatch
Transformer supervision OLTC control Load management
Energy monitoring Import/export control Energy management Power factor control
Switchgear monitoring AIS monitoring GIS monitoring
Equipment status Relay status CB status Isolator status
Parameter setting Relays Transformers Switching sequences IED configuration
Access control Trend One-line views System views Event logging
HMI functionality curves Interface to Harmonic analysis Remote access Disturbance analysis
SCADA Alarm processing 512
Table24.6: Typical substation automation functionality J
software is held in the network database. This means executed. At this stage, prior to execution, the operation
that adding functionality later is not difficult, so long as is checked against:
the database design has considered this possibility.
a. devices locked out (i.e. prevented from operation)
There may be problems if the electrical system
configuration is altered or additional functionality added b. interlocking of devices/switching sequences
in reading historical data prior to the change. Training of to ensure that the command issued is safe to carry out.
operations personnel will inevitably be required in The action is cancelled and operator informed if it is not
operation of the system, configuration management and safe to proceed, otherwise the action is carried out and
automation system maintenance. Automation system the operator informed when it is complete.
suppliers will be a b le to provide configuration
management and system maintenance services under In a number of systems, some routine switching
contract if required, often with defined cost schedules operations (e.g. transfer of a feeder from one busbar to
and response times so financial management of the the other in a double-bus substation) are automated in
automation scheme once installed is well-defined. software. The operator need only request the 'bus-
transfer' action to be carried out on a particular feeder,
The issuing of commands to switching devices in the and the software is able to work out the correct
system has to be carefully structured, in order to prevent switching sequence required. This minimises the
commands that would cause a hazard from being issued. possibility of operator error, but at the expense of some
A hierarchical structure is commonly used as shown in extra complexity in the software and more extensive
Figure 24.8, beginning with the requirement for an checking at the factory test stage. However, since
operator wishing to issue a command to switching software is modular in nature, substation electrical
devices to log-in to the system using a password. topology is restricted to a small number of
configurations and such sequences are very common, the
software development is essentially a one-off activity for
any particular substation control system. The
development cost can be spread over the sale of a
number of such systems, and hence the cost to any
individual user is small compared with the potential
benefits.

24.5.1 Future Developments

The functionality of a substation automation system is
Figure 24.8: Hierarchical command structure
still evolving, with new applications being steadily
added. Expansion of the functionality of such systems is
Different levels of authority, allowing for restrictions on proceeding in many areas, but two main areas currently
the type and/or location of switching commands capable are attracting significant interest. These are condition
of being issued by a particular operator may be monitoring and web-access.
implemented at this stage. The next level in the
hierarchy is to structure the issuing of commands on an Condition monitoring packages are already implemented
'issue/confirm/execute' basis (Figure 24.9), so that the in automation systems for switchgear, while stand-alone
operator is given an opportunity to check that the packages are available for transformers (Chapter 16).
command entered is correct prior to execution. Under development are similar packages for generators,
CT's, VT's, and batteries. It can be expected that all of
these facilities will be offered as part of a comprehensive
condition monitoring package in substation automation
schemes in the near future. The advantage for the user
is that the condition monitoring package can then form
a component of the Asset Management policy, in order
to determine the schedule for maintenance and
replacement, plus the acquisition of statistics on failure
rates. These can then be used in conjunction with
Figure 24.9: Device selection/operation manufacturers to enhance the design to improve
availability.
The final level in the hierarchy is implemented in
There has already been discussion on the various
software at the bay level and is actioned after the
communication techniques available. Use of the Internet
operator confirms that the switching action is to be
communication techniques for communications to/from and the data to be displayed
a substation offers a cheap, well-proven, widely
d. operator - security access levels, alarm texts, etc.
accessible route for this function. It also enables access
to the data from a broader community, which may be e. external constraints - data addresses for external
useful in some circumstances. However, great emphasis database access
must be placed on the use of secure Internet Once all the data has been defined, the configurator
communications techniques, such as those used in the tools can define the hardware configuration to provide
financial sphere, as the opportunity for unauthorised the required functions at least cost, and the data
malicious access leading to major incidents or loss of required for implementation of the automation scheme.
confidential data is much greater. As cost is the main
driver, it can be expected that automation systems using
such communications techniques will appear in the 24.6.2 System Testing
future, using secure communications techniques, and
that users will have to become more aware of the threats The degree of testing to be carried will be defined by the
involved in order to apply suitable countermeasures. customer and encapsulated in a specification for system
testing. It is normal for testing of the complete
functionality of the scheme to be required prior to
24.6 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND TESTING despatch from the manufacturer. The larger and more
complex the automation scheme, the more important for
These tasks, along with project management, are the most all parties that such testing is carried out. It is accepted
time consuming tasks in the process of realising a control and wisdom that the earlier problems are discovered, the
monitoring system for an electrical network. The strategies cheaper and quicker it is to fix them. Remediation of
available for dealing with these problems vary between problems on-site during commissioning is the most
manufacturers, but typical approaches are as follows. expensive and time-consuming activity. Manual testing
of a network automation scheme is only practical for
small networks, due to the cost of testing. Simulation
24.6.1 System Configuration
tools are necessary for all other automation schemes.
Software tools exist that assist in configuring a modern These tools fall into two categories:
substation or network automation system. The extent to
a. simulator tools that re-create the network to be
which the task is automated will vary, but all require as a
controlled by the automation system.
minimum the details of the network to be controlled,
extending to the individual device level (circuit breaker, b. test management tools
isolator, disconnector, etc.). Where communication to an
existing SCADA system is required, data on the logical
addresses expected by the SCADA system and devices 24.6.2.1 Simulator tools
controlled remotely from the SCADA system will also be Simulator tools are dedicated to the network being
part of the data input. Use can also be made of existing tested. They will normally be provided with a simulation
databases that cover pre-defined network configurations - language that the test team can use to play scenarios,
for example the interlocking equations for a substation bay. and hence determine how the automation system will
Software tools will check the data for consistency, prior react to various stimuli.
to creation of: Process simulator tools may be hardware and/or software
a. the required equipment that forms the automation based and emulate the response of the various devices to
scheme, together with the required be controlled (CB's/isolators/VTs/protection relays, etc).
interconnections They must be capable of closely following the dynamic
response of such devices under multiple and cascade fault
b. the databases for each individual device
conditions. Specific tools and libraries are developed as
The data will be divided into domains, according to the required, including the use of complex software such as
use made of the data: EMTP for simulation of the response to impulse-type
phenomena and the dynamic response of protection
a. process - CB/isolator position, interlocking
algorithms. They may simulate the response of equipment
equation, values of current/voltage
within the control span of the automation equipment, or
b. system - number of bay computers, hardware that of equipment outside of the span of control, in order
configuration of each bay computer, automated that the response of the automation system can be tested.
sequences
Communications simulator tools are used both to load
c. graphical - the links between each mimic display the internal communications network within the
automation system to ensure that all devices are The control of personnel working in the system test area
communicating correctly and that performance of the is also of importance, to ensure tests are unbiased. To
overall automation system is within specification during meet this objective, test team personnel are normally
periods of high communications traffic. These simulators independent of those of the design team. If incremental
are standardised and a single simulator may be able to testing is used, it is sound practice that the final
emulate several items of equipment. External integration test team is also independent of the test
communications simulators test the communications with team(s) that carried out the incremental tests.
an external system, such as a remote control centre. These
will normally be customer-specific, but some standard
simulators may be possible if a standard communications 24.7 EXAMPLES OF SUBSTATION AUTOMATION
protocol such as IEC 60870-5-101 is used. A significant advantage to an asset-owner of using a
substation automation system is the space-savings that
result Space costs money, and hence minimisation of
24.6.3 Test Strategy
space enables new substations to occupy a smaller
The strategy adopted for the testing of the automation physical space. Alternatively, expansion of an existing
system must naturally satisfy client requirements, and substation can be undertaken making use of currently
generally follow one of two approaches: spare bays, but where there is a problem in tightly packed
relay rooms in accommodating the extra equipment.
a. a single test is carried out when all equipment for
the scheme has been assembled, A common need is to update an existing substation,
presently based on electromechanical or electronic
b. incremental tests are carried out as the automation
relays, with modern devices. Figure 24.10 illustrates how
system is built up, with simulator used to represent
the transition to use of a substation automation system
missing equipment.
may be managed - of course, there are other possibilities
The former solution is quickest and cheapest, but can depending on the priority assigned by the asset-owner.
give rise to problems where it is not easy to locate
problems down to the device level. It is therefore used
principally when an upgrade to an existing system is
being carried out.
It is usual for all of the functionality to be tested,
including that specified for normal conditions and
specified levels of degradation within the automation
system. This leads to a large number of tests being
required. Over 500 separate tests may be required for an
automation system of average size in order to
demonstrate compliance with the specification.

24.6.4 Management of System Tests

The large number of tests required to demonstrate the
compliance of an automation system with specification
makes manual techniques for management of the tests
cumbersome and time consuming. The end result is
increased cost and timescale. Moreover, each test may
result in a large amount of data to be analysed. The
results of the analysis need to be presented in an easily
understood form and stored for some time. If changes
are made to software for any reason over the lifetime of
the equipment, the different versions must be stored,
together with a record of what the changes between
versions were, and why they were made. The
management of this becomes very complex, and
software tools are normally used to address the issues of
test schedules, test result presentation, software version
control, and configuration management.
Figure 24.10: Upgrade path for an existing substation
 was installed, using an ALSTOM PSCN3020 substation
automation system. The simplified 33/11 kV one-line
diagram is shown in Figure 24.11. Total generation
capacity amounts to over 170MW. Not shown on the
diagram is an extensive LV network and a number of
3.3kV switchboards feeding motors.

The system has two features that make it unusual from

a control point of view. Firstly, the generation within the
system is distributed, and this results in the possibility of
several island networks being created in the event of a
major electrical incident, each of which are to be run
independently until such time as paralleling of the
islands becomes possible. Secondly, the grid system is
weak, so that import has to be limited to a maximum of
40MW, even under transient disturbances such as the
simultaneous loss of two generators, each of over30MW
capacity.
As a result of these requirements, the standard software
Examples of automation systems on order or installed are was enhanced to allow simultaneous control of up to 3
given in the following sections. autonomous islands within the overall network, each
island having the full range of control facilities including
circuit/device switching, active/reactive power control of
24.7.1 Industrial Network Automation Project generators, voltage and frequency control of each island
A large industrial network was significantly expanded and load shedding. Due to the restrictions on grid
due to the addition of extra processing facilities. As part import, a fast load shedding algorithm was developed, as
of the expansion, a new substation automation system studies indicated that conventional under-frequency
load shedding did not provide the required performance. the main and reserve busbars. Each 345kV bus is split
The fast load shedding scheme involves continuous into 4 sections, with bus section CB's linking the
calculation of the amount of load to be shed in the event sections. Similarly, the 138kV busbars are split into 3
of loss of one or more generators and/or the grid sections. The 20kV busbar is also of double bus
connection, and determination of which loads should be configuration. An ALSTOM PSCN3020 substation
shed, based on operator-set priorities and actual power automation system has been installed to provide local
consumption. In the event of generation loss, load that and remote control and monitoring of the switchgear at
is at least equal to the amount of lost generation is all voltage levels. For the 138kV and 20kV busbars,
disconnected immediately, after which a conventional monitoring is provided by MiCOM M301 Measurement
under-frequency/grid import load shedding strategy is Centres, communicating with BM9100 or BM9200 Bay
invoked to cater for any further generation/load Modules using K-Bus proprietary communications link.
imbalance occurring. Control is exercised directly from the Bay Modules.
Protection relays are generally from ALSTOM's K-series
The substation automation configuration is shown in
and EPAC range, also communicating with the Bay
Figure 24.12, while a sample operator display captured
Modulus using K-Bus. However, line differential and
during system testing is shown in Figure 24.13.
transformer differential relays are from another
manufacturer, and communicate with the same Bay
Modules using the IEC 60870-5-103 protocol, thus
illustrating the use of Bay Modules to provide more than
one communications protocol. For the 345kV busbars,
existing electromechanical-type relays were in use, and
monitoring of these is by use of contacts on the relays
wired back to the Bay Modules.
Communication from the Master Station to the Bay
Modules is by a dual-redundant fibre-optic ring (EFI.P).
Time synchronisation uses a GPS interface to the Master
Station. Remote control/monitoring facilities are
Figure 24.12: System architecture: industrial system
provided, both from a Remote Control Room and a
substation automation example remote Network Control Centre. The latter uses the
DNP3.0 protocol, so that the complete scheme uses 4
different communication protocols.
Figure 24.14 illustrates the system architecture, while
Figures 24.15/16 show part of the 345kV and 138kV
busbars respectively.

24.7.3 Substation Control for an Electrified Railway

A high-speed (auto-transformer fed) railway has a route
length of 500km. A total of 8 traction supply substations
and 41 auto-transformer substations are required to
provide traction power and auxiliary supplies to the rail
line.
All of the forty-nine substations are interconnected by
means of an Ethernet OPC fibre-optic network, forming
Figure 24,13: Sample operator display: industrial system the communications spine of the system. Each
substation automation example substation has a proprietary EFI.P fibre-optic ring
(3.5Mbit/s) that interconnects the Bay Modules with the
communications spine and local operator workstations.
24.7.2 Utility Substation Automation Project The ring is composed of dual fibre-optic cables in a single
This project concerns a 345/138/2OkV substation. The sheath, thus providing two communications channels.
substation consists of two 345kV lines, 2 x 345/138kV Figure 24.17 illustrates the network involved.
transformers and 2 x 345/20kV/20kV transformers. Each
i of the 345kV and 138kV busbars is of conventional
double-bus configuration, with bus couplers connecting
Figure 24.14: System architecture: Utility substation automation project
Figure 24.15: Single line diagram: Utility substation 345kVbusbar (part) Figure24.16: Single line diagram: Utility substation 138kV busbar (part)
Figure 24.17 - Substation automation scheme - High-speed railway line
The substation automation scheme used is the ALST0M length of 500km is large for a substation automation
PSCN3O2O. Traction substations have an incoming scheme and illustrates the geographical span now
supply at either 225kV or 400kV, transformed down to possible. Figure 24.18 shows the topology of the
± 27.5kV for traction and lower voltages for auxiliary substation automation equipment at a traction
supplies. Redundancy in control and supervision is substation, while Figures 24.19-21 show the different
provided through the operator at each substation being levels of detail available to a substation controller via the
able to view and control those substations immediately HMI. Operator functions include control and monitoring
adjacent as well. There is an overall Control Centre to of the substations, remote setting of all relays and
monitor the complete system, using a Gateway on the automatic retrieval of disturbance recordings from relays
Ethernet spine. Approximately 500 Bay Modules are for remote analysis. Data is refreshed at approximately
used, providing control and measurement facilities and 1 second intervals. A notable automation feature is the
also acting as interfaces to the protection relays. automatic reconfiguration of the power distribution
network during faults or other outages to maintain
The significant aspect of this application is the distance
continuity of traction power supplies.
over which the automation scheme is applied using a
standard substation automation scheme. The overall

Figure 24.18: Configuration of a traction substation

figure 24.20: Autotransformer one-line diagram
Figure 24.19; Overview of traction power supplies
Figure 24.21: incoming supplies at a traction substation
• 25 • Distribution System
Automation

25.1 INTRODUCTION
Distribution systems are generally considered to be
supply networks operating at 132kV and below, and to
which consumers are normally connected. Within a
distribution system, a division into primary and secondary
distribution systems is often made, with primary
distribution systems having voltages above 22kV and
secondary distribution systems voltage below this value.
Automation of distribution systems has existed for many
years. The extent to which automation has been applied
has been determined by a combination of technology
and cost. For many years the available technology
limited the application of automation to those parts of
the distribution system where loss of supply had an
impact on large numbers of consumers. Technology was
not available to handle the large amount of
geographically dispersed data required for automation of
distribution systems in rural areas. Even when
developments in technology began to overcome these
problems, the cost of applying the technology was large
in relation to the benefits gained. Often, there was no
financial incentive to apply automation in rural
distribution systems, and consumers were not entitled to
compensation for loss of supply. As relatively few
consumers would be affected by a fault on a rural
distribution system, compared to a similar fault in an
urban distribution system, the number of customer
complaints received was not a sufficiently important
factor to justify investment in network reliability.
Interruptions to consumers in rural areas were treated as
being inevitable.
Recent developments such as privatisation started to
focus attention on the cost to the consumer of a loss in
supply. Interruptions in supply began to be reflected in
cost penalties (directly or indirectly) to the Utility, thus
providing a financial incentive to improve matters. Rural
consumers gradually became more aware of the disparity
in the number of supply interruptions between rural and
urban distribution networks. This led, in conjunction
with an increasing emphasis on Power Quality issues (see
Chapter 23), to pressure on Utilities to improve the actuator, and simple on/off remote control facilities.
situation. In addition, the population in rural areas Technology has been applied to reduce the cost of such
became more dependent on electrical equipment, and devices, thus improving the economics of their
thus the consequences of a supply outage were more application. Therefore, the field of distribution system
significant. automation is a very broad one, and the solution applied
to any particular problem will reflect the particular
The term automation conjures up the use of
circumstances of problem and regulatory regime of the
microprocessors, maybe linked together over a
Utility concerned.
communications network and running special purpose
software to execute a sequence of actions automatically. Figure 25.1 shows typical distribution systems that form
While such technology is employed and forms part of the subject of this chapter, complete with the elements
distribution system automation, the term automation of the distribution system to which automation
may imply nothing more than the ability to close or open techniques are applied. The remaining sections of this
a switch remotely in addition to local (hand) control. It chapter describe the various automation techniques
may involve nothing more than the addition of an available, together with typical applications.

Fiaure 25.1: Elements of a distribution system

25.2 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE APPLICATION widespread. At the same time, overhead lines in rural
OF AUTOMATION TO DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS areas suffer many more faults leading to consumer
supply loss than urban cable networks. These findings
Cost is the main driving factor in the application of an
are not surprising - rural distribution networks are
automation scheme to a distribution network.
commonly in the form of radial feeders whereas urban
Regulatory pressure may also influence the decision. The
networks are often in the form of ring or meshed
cost may arise in many different ways. Savings from
networks to minimise the chances of supply loss to large
implementing distribution system automation result
groups of consumers. Similarly, overhead lines are
from reducing:
normally more prone to faults than underground cables.
a. revenue foregone during outages Because the fault incidence on EHV overhead lines is
b. cost of handling customer complaints significantly lower than for those on distribution
systems, it is also arguable that the technical standards
c. cost of control/maintenance staff relating to overhead lines on distribution networks also
d. cost of compensation to consumers for outages require review.

Less tangible benefits can also be identified, such as Therefore, developments in distribution system
deferral of system enhancement (i.e. deferral of capital automation have concentrated largely on applications to
expenditure) through better knowledge of network the secondary distribution system.
performance. The financial advantage to the Utility of
such benefits may be more difficult to calculate, but
should be incorporated in any financial comparison for a 25.3 PRIMARY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AUTOMATION
proposed scheme. The primary distribution system is generally accepted as
There are inevitably costs incurred through use of an comprising those elements of the distribution system
automation scheme: operating at voltages above 22kV. Distribution uses both
cable and overhead lines, and the power levels involved
a. cost of implementation (capital cost) will enable either a large group of domestic consumers,
b. cost of operation or several industrial plants to be served. Very large
industrial plants may justify their own dedicated feeders
c. cost of maintenance
from the primary distribution substation (Figure 25.2).
and clearly the total costs saved must be in excess of the
total costs of implementation and use to make a scheme
viable.
For many years, automation has been implemented at
voltages above 22kV, simply due to the number of
consumers inconvenienced by a supply outage and the
resulting costs (in whatever form). However, in recent
years, the traditional balance of cost/benefit has been
changed, due to:
1. increasing dependence by communities/industry
on electricity
2. privatisation (in some countries)
3. the spread of electricity supply to ever more
remote areas
4. the cost of training and retaining skilled staff
5. increasing emphasis on Power Quality issues
This change has been in favour of increased automation
of the distribution system, including system voltages
down to LV. Regulatory pressure to improve the
reliability and quality of electricity supply to end-users
produces an outcome that the associated costs are only
acceptable if technology is applied to automate the
secondary distribution system. Therefore, automation of
the secondary distribution system has become more
Figure 25.2: Primary distribution system
Automation of the primary distribution system is well voltage variations can also be stored and downloaded at
established, due to the impact of supply loss on the many regular intervals and provides two main benefits. Firstly,
and diverse consumers that it serves. In addition, the monitoring of Power Quality can be undertaken and
distribution system is usually interconnected, so that loss hence customer complaints readily investigated.
of supply to consumers in the event of a circuit outage is Sufficient information may well be available to establish
minimised. The circuit breakers and protection systems the short-term actions required to correct or minimise
used in the system will already be capable of remote the problem, resulting in fewer customer complaints, and
control/monitoring. However, status information a possible reduction in financial penalties. Secondly, a
on a circuit may be confined to simple review of the loading profile of circuits against time can
on/off/open/closed/tripped indications, and determination be undertaken. Using appropriate plant thermal ageing
of the cause of a trip will still require despatch of a models, the rating of circuits can be reviewed and
maintenance crew to the equipment concerned. Only adjusted. This may result in an enhanced rating being
after the cause of a trip has been determined can fault given to circuits, and hence the postponement of capital
location and rectification take place. expenditure.
Hence modern network automation techniques can be
usefully applied. Application of such techniques brings
25.3.3 Space Requirements
the following advantages:
Many countries have significant pressure on land-use for
a. ability to control a much larger area
infrastructure requirements. A modern microprocessor
b. provision of detailed network performance relay can now undertake the functions previously
information requiring several discrete relays, and of measurement
devices, thus eliminating numerous VT's and CT's,
c. reduction in space requirements
measurement transducers/indicators, auxiliary contacts
d. reduction in staffing on circuit breakers, etc. Wiring between plant items is
much reduced. Use of modern communications
techniques such as data transmission by mobile radio
25.3.1 Control Area Size networks can similarly reduce wiring requirements
The modern electric power network has tight coupling to/from the Control Centre. The space requirements in a
between the various elements - a problem in one area substation for housing the relays associated with the
may have knock-on effects over a wide area. Hence, circuits of a distribution network can be reduced, giving
traditional distribution control rooms serving a limited a significant reduction in expenditure on the buildings
geographical area are being replaced by fewer (perhaps associated with the substation. Benefits can also be
only one for a Utility serving up to 10,000km2 area) and obtained from eliminating separate metering devices,
in these cases older automation systems may not be able reducing space provision and hence cost.
to handle the total I/O count. Either the upper limit on
I/O points will have been reached, or response times to
an event become too slow to be of practical use. Use of 25.3.4 Staffing Levels
a modern automation system permits a reduction in the The reduction in the number of Control Centres leads
number of control centres used, with each centre able to naturally to a reduction in the staffing requirement for
oversee a much wider geographical area. Thus, incidents such places. More importantly, the ability of intelligent
that have an impact outside of the immediate area can relays to report their settings and measured values to a
be dealt with more effectively and hence result in a Control Centre, and to accept revised settings
better response to the incident and fewer customer downloaded from the control centre can lead to
complaints. significant improvements in the quality of supply, while at
the same time reducing the staffing required compared to
a manual system. Distribution systems are subject to
25.3.2 Detailed Network Performance Information regular changes in configuration and loading, and these
Modern microprocessor-based relays can store a wealth may require changes to protection relay settings.
of information relating to the cause of a trip and Manual means of determining protection relay settings
transmit such data, when requested, to a Control Centre. involve site surveys at the substations concerned to
Hence, the nature and possibly the location of a fault can record existing settings, followed by further visits to
be identified. The maintenance/repair crew can be carry out changes as required. Pressures on staffing may
provided with better information, thus shortening circuit mean that such exercises are carried out at extended
downtime and enhancing distribution network intervals. A modern automated distribution system
availability. Data relating to network loading and eliminates much of the manual effort by automation of
the reporting and downloading of relay settings. While A typical urban secondary distribution system is shown
scope still exists for introducing errors into relay setting in Figure 25.3. There is a large proportion of
values, the incidence of these is reduced. Regular underground cable, and final feeders to LV distribution
comparison of settings against desired values increases substations take the form of feeders from Ring Main
the possibility of incorrect settings being identified and Units (RMU's). Several RMU's are connected in a loop fed
corrected, thus minimising the resulting disruption. from one or more substations, the loop normally being
open at some point. The open point is normally chosen
to equalise loading at both ends of the ring as far as
25.4 SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS - possible. The cables forming the ring and all associated
URBAN AREAS switchgear, etc., are sized for single-end feeding of the
A high level of interconnection, either ring or mesh, to whole ring, to allow for an outage affecting the ring
ensure a high degree of availability of supply to the between a substation and the first RMU, or at the
consumer, characterises secondary distribution networks in substation itself.
urban areas. Domestic, industrial and commercial The arrangement of an individual RMU is shown in Figure
consumers will suffer great inconvenience through only a 25.4(a). For many years, only local operation and
relatively short loss in supply of only a few hours, with indications (trip/healthy) were provided, so that
business likely to suffer considerable financial loss if an switching operations required a visit from field staff.
interruption is longer than 2-4 hours. For domestic Trips at an RMU resulting in loss of supply to consumers
consumers, loss of supply for between 4-8 hours is largely were annunciated through customer complaints, no
an inconvenience, though loss may result from spoilage of direct indication to the control room was provided.
freezer contents, etc. and in cold weather may place
vulnerable sections of the community at risk. Such hazards
for a privatised Utility give rise to the potential for
significant financial loss, through claims for compensation.

Figure 25.4: Ring Main Unit

The individual items of plant have developed over many

years and are generally reliable, taken individually. Major
failures of a complete distribution system are rare, and
usually stem from inadequate specification of the
Figure 25.3: Typical urban secondary original equipment, or failure to monitor the condition of
distribution system
equipment with time. This is especially the case where compensation paid can be justification in itself.
loading and/or environmental conditions have changed. Interrogation of relays/(FPI's) can then determine the
However, once a fault occurs (and sooner or later this is feeder circuit on which the fault has occurred, thus
inevitable), location, repair and restoration of normal enabling restoration of supply to customers unaffected
supply can take time. In particular, repair of faults in by the fault to begin immediately. In some cases, it may
underground cables may take some time, as the location be possible to devise automatic sequences for this, thus
must first be identified to within a few metres, and then relieving the control room operator of this duty and
the ground excavated to effect the repair. In the centre enabling concentration on the task of precise fault
of a large city, excavation is not popular and will be location and repair.
expensive. Traffic congestion will ensure that the
Equipment that is used rarely may fail to operate when
response time for a repair crew to arrive at a substation
called upon to do so. Much effort has been paid in
after a fault has been reported is not trivial, especially
protection relay design to avoid this problem, and digital
where (in some privatised Utilities), penalties may be
and numerical relays generally have a self-checking
imposed for loss of supply to consumers lasting more
function that runs regularly and is arranged to alarm if
than 60 minutes.
the function detects an internal fault. However, circuit
The application of automation techniques has therefore breakers and other switching devices that may not
many advantages. This will usually require the provision operate for a considerable period can get stuck in their
of extra features to an RMU. The most common features normal position and thus fail to operate when
added are: commanded to. A number of major system collapses
have been known to occur because of such problems, it
a. capability for remote operation - addition of
being not always possible to provide backup protection
actuators for open/close operation of the various
that will operate in sufficient time. One solution to this
devices that are capable of being operated from a
problem is to exercise such equipment on a regular basis.
remote location
This can be done at little cost to the Utility if carried out
b. provision of remote indications of status of the remotely, but is prohibitively expensive if carried out on
various devices a local manual basis. Finally, through an improved
c. addition of Fault Passage Indicators (FPI's). An FPI knowledge of network performance, network
is a sensor that detects passage of current in excess enhancements may be able to be postponed or
of a defined value, and therefore provides an eliminated, which is a substantial bonus as the costs of
indication that the fault is further from the supply installing new cables in urban areas can be very high.
point (for a radial-fed system) than the FPI Figure 25.5 shows a modern RMU suitable for
installation indoors - practice varies between countries
d. addition of a protection relay for phase/earth faults in such matters, with outdoor installation also being
Note that once it has been decided to provide remote common.
control or indication, some form of communications
interface is also required and the incremental cost of
providing both remote control and indication instead of
one or the other is very small
A typical configuration for an RMU with all options
fitted is shown in Figure 25.4(b).
Traditional manual operation of RMU's can be replaced
by remote control. Many existing designs of RMU can be
adapted in this way, while all new designs have this
feature as standard. The remote communications feature
provides the following features:
1. issuing of commands to open/close the circuit
breaker, etc.
2. provision of status information (position,
availability) etc.
3. voltage and current data
Provision of remote indication of status to a Control
figure 25.5: Modern indoor RMU
Centre enables the response time to a fault to be
reduced. The reduction in customer complaints and
25.5 SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS - 25.5.1 Circuit Breaker Remote Control/Monitoring
RURAL AREAS
This provides a small advantage in alerting the operator
The challenges in network automation for rural areas are to a loss of supply, and a larger one in minimising
similar to those in urban areas, however the network restoration time. Most OHL faults are transient in
topology may be very different. nature, and therefore circuit breaker reclosure after a
short time interval is likely to result in supply being
A typical conventional network topology is shown in
restored. The operator may therefore attempt a manual
Figure 25.6. Due to relatively sparse population, feeders
closure of the circuit breaker to restore supply. Use of an
are generally radial, often with spur lines, and can be
auto-reclose scheme (see Chapter 14) may further
quite lengthy - 60km length of main feeder at 11 kV reduce the disconnection time and relieve the control
being possible. The feeders are usually conventional room operator of workload, especially in conditions of
overhead lines with uninsulated conductors, and fault poor weather when many distribution feeders may suffer
rates for these lines are high in comparison with cables transient faults.
or EHV overhead lines. In some countries, lightly
insulated conductors are used, and these reduce the fault
rates experienced. 25.5.2 Automatic Sectionalisers
An automatic sectionaliser is a switching device that
detects the flow of current in excess of a set value and
opens a switch to disconnect the network downstream of
the device. Because such devices are usually pole-
mounted, in locations remote from a suitable electricity
supply, the sensing and switching mechanism is arranged
to be self-powered. The expense of a transformer, etc. to
provide such a supply from the supply side of the line is
not justified and adds additional complication. By
placing automatic sectionalisers at intervals along the
line, it is possible to disconnect only the faulted section
of line and those beyond it. The number of consumers
affected by a permanent fault is minimised, and a more
precise indication of the location is possible. For circuits
that have more than one feed and a normally open point
(Figure 25.7), loss of supply until the fault is repaired can
be limited to the section in which the fault lies. The
sectionaliser at point B opens automatically and the
operator can take action to open the one at point C. The
faulted section is thus isolated and (subject to system
conditions being satisfactory) the sectionaliser at the
normally open point may be closed.
Figure 25.6: Rural distribution network

Response times for location and repair of faults may be

lengthy, as the only indication of a fault having occurred
may be customer complaints of loss of supply due to the
source circuit breaker having tripped. In this case, all
consumers fed by the line will suffer loss of supply, and
determining the location of the fault may take a
considerable time.
Many possible enhancements taking advantage of
automation techniques to the basic feeder topology are
possible to improve the situation:
a. add remote control/monitoring to the circuit
breaker
b. add automatic sectionalisers
Figure 25.7: Automatic sectionaliser operation
However, there can be drawbacks as well. Grading of the
feeder circuit breaker with the sectionalisers may be
difficult and result in longer fault clearance times for
faults in the section between the circuit breaker and first
sectionaliser. The circuit breaker must be rated for the
resulting fault duty. Consumers situated in healthy
sections of line may suffer extended voltage dips,
which may give rise to problems with equipment. An
illustration of the device is given in Figure 25.8.
A development of the automatic sectionaliser is the
automatic recloser. This device opens when a fault is
sensed, and subsequently re-closes according to a pre-
set sequence. It can be thought of as the distribution
network equivalent to an auto-reclose scheme applied to
circuit breakers on an EHV transmission line. It
overcomes the disadvantage of a sectionaliser in that
transient faults do not result in loss of supply to
consumers downstream of the device.

NB: Consumer connections not shown

*CB's/reclosers/sectionalisersl fitted with transducers for
volts/amps and Fault Passage Indicator CB's/reclosers fitted
with overcurrent/ earth fault relay and automatic reclosing
device.

Figure 25.9: Automated rural distribution

network

The benefits provided are:

a. rapid restoration of supply to all consumers
following transient faults
b. disconnection of the minimum number of
consumers following a permanent fault
c. indication of network performance to the control
centre, including fault location and network
Figure 25.8: Modern automatic sectionaliser loading
d. reduced requirement of field crews to carry out
The first automatic reclosure operates a short time after manual switching
opening and will usually be successful if the fault is a
e. reduced fault location time
transient one. Should a fault still be detected upon the
first reclosure, the recloser deliberately remains closed In common with other distribution systems, intelligent
for a significant time to try and clear the fault by using devices such as circuit breakers and sectionalisers fitted
the arc energy to burn out the cause of the fault. The with remote control and current/power sensing devices
recloser then opens, and closes after a pre-set dead time. can be used to gather information on network operating
Should the fault still exist, a further burn conditions and hence be used as inputs when network
time/open/reclose cycle is carried out, after which a final enhancement is being considered. With existing
open/lockout operation is performed if the fault still equipment, such information may not be available at all
exists. The usual remote control and indication facilities unless a field measurement exercise is undertaken. The
are provided. Some form of condition monitoring may be information can be used not only to identify constraints
used, so that maintenance is requested only when in the network, but also to determine spare capacity
required, and not on the usual basis of the number of much more accurately (in terms of permissible short-
switching operations carried out. Figure 25.9 shows the term overloads possible without excessive temperature
distribution network of Figure 25.6 after application of rises occurring). Network re-inforcement may then
full automation as described above. possibly be postponed or even eliminated, resulting in
reduced capital expenditure requirements. There is also properly specified. Reported experience on schemes in
the potential for improved thermal modelling of plant, to operation suggest that call set-up times may be slow,
produce a more accurate thermal loss-of life indication. and line quality (even in densely populated urban areas)
may not be high, leading to slow data rates and hence
restrictions in the amount of data that can be
25.6 COMMUNICATIONS transmitted in a reasonable time.
Perhaps the most difficult task in automating a
distribution network is selection of the appropriate
communications technique for implementation of the 25.6.3 Mobile Radio
remote control/reporting facilities. Several techniques Mobile radio is a quite attractive option. Many
are available, as follows: companies offer packet-switched data techniques to
a. hard-wired business users. Field experience reported to date
indicates that this method is well suited to both urban
b. Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
and rural areas. The main problem in urban areas
c. mobile radio (packet switched data) appears to be shielding of the required antennas by other
d. conventional or low-powered radio (including buildings or parked vehicles - a problem shared by all
Microwave) communications techniques involving radio. In rural
areas, investment may be required to provide the
e. Power Line Carrier Communication (PLCC)
necessary area of cover, and this may take time to
Trials to date appear to indicate that the choice of achieve, depending on the priorities of the telecomms
communications medium is critical. Therefore, extensive provider involved. However, mobile telecomms service
investigations in this area are required. Not all of the providers are usually keen to expand service coverage
possibilities are suitable for all types of distribution and sites for the required masts may conveniently be
system or geographical area, and this needs to be kept in located along the right-of-way of the distribution
mind. system lines.

25.6.1 Hard-Wired Communication 25.6.4 Conventional Radio

Hard-wired communication is generally not a viable Use of radio as a telecomms medium is well established
option, as the infrastructure will not be available. The amongst Utilities. Low powered radio has been used in a
costs of installing the required cabling will be large, and number of trial installations of distribution system
it will normally be found that there are less expensive automation schemes without significant problems. The
solutions available. However, in cases where there is requirements for base stations are similar to those for
infrastructure already available, this solution will be
mobile telecomms, together with the same possible
attractive. All cabling suffers from the possibility of
hazards. One possible drawback to greater adoption of
faults, and therefore an alternate route, maybe sourced
such techniques is that low-powered radio is not subject
from a telecomms provider, may be required as backup.
to regulation in some countries. There is no guarantee
that interference from systems operating on the same or
25.6.2 Use of PSTN Network nearby frequencies will not occur, nor is there any
mechanism available to ensure that a frequency, once
Use of the existing fixed public telecomms infrastructure chosen, is reserved solely for the user in that area. The
will normally be feasible for urban distribution networks.
regulatory situation could be expected to change if wider
For rural networks, the required infrastructure probably
use of such techniques occurred.
does not exist. Line quality will be of critical importance
and equipment to ensure detection of errors in
transmission, and request repeat transmission of data,
25.6.5 Microwave Transmission
will probably be required. Similarly, as substations are
areas of high electrical interference, appropriate Microwave transmission is a possibility, although
measures to protect the required hardware in substations severely handicapped by the fact that it relies on line-of-
will be required. Technical solutions to these problems sight communications. Numerous repeater stations
readily exist, but appropriate data on the probable may therefore be required in hilly terrain. It does not
interference levels, especially those occurring transiently appear to have been used in trials reported on to date so
under fault conditions or due to lightning strikes on the practical performance cannot be judged. However,
overhead lines are required to ensure that equipment is given appropriate terrain, it still merits consideration.
25.6.6 PLC Communications development and can be expected to be available soon,
producing further enhancements in distribution network
Power Line Carrier is a technique that is well known to
performance.
Utilities and makes extensive use of existing Utility-
owned infrastructure. However, additional equipment is
needed at each substation to ensure that the signal only
25.7.1 Topology Analysis
travels along the desired path and is prevented from
travelling along others and causing unwanted In its' simplest form, topology analysis can be simply an
interference. The additional equipment required can operator display of the distribution network, using
make a new installation expensive, and retrofit on colours to differentiate between the various states in the
existing distribution systems at lower voltages probably network. The network may be displayed in terms of its'
prohibitively so. Space provision for the required line state (energised/non-energised), voltage level, or source
traps and coupling transformers is required, which may of supply.
be difficult to find at many locations. At higher More advanced software tools may involve state
distribution voltage levels (e.g. 66kV/110/132kV), it is estimation of the network, using historical or assumed
more attractive, especially as it may already have been data. This is used to fill in gaps in the known network
installed for other reasons. Data rates may be limited topology, due perhaps to communications failures or use
and transmission failure may occur under fault of legacy equipment without communications facilities
conditions, just at the time when it is most needed. on some parts of the network. The results of the analyses
Whichever communications medium is chosen, care is are displayed and are used as inputs to other software
also needed in the choice of communications protocol. tools.
The common IEC 60870-5-103 master/slave protocol
used by many protection/measurement devices is not
wholly appropriate for such techniques. It requires 25.7.2 Power System Calculations
polling by the master station of the slave devices on a These involve load flow and fault level calculations to
regular basis, whereas initiation by field devices is ideally determine network loading, possible overloads on
required, in order to limit the communications equipment and to ensure equipment is operated within
bandwidth required. Protocol converters may be fault level ratings. Special requirements may exist in
required in the field, making one additional source of implementing solution techniques due to the radial
unreliability. At the Control Centre, a protocol converter nature of the network. It may also be necessary to
will almost certainly be required, to interface to the predict network performance in the future by assuming
SCADA system in use. Each element in the scheme must loads, or to assume data where it is lacking, by use of
be reliable in operation and not be prone to false state estimation techniques. The losses in the
operation in any way, otherwise credibility is rapidly lost. distribution system, or any part of it, can be evaluated to
Not only will the scheme fall rapidly into disuse, but also determine the efficiency of the network and as an input
the experience will colour the assessment of future to intelligent configuration tools to assist the operator in
schemes for many years to come. More information on selecting the most appropriate configuration as network
data transmission protocols is to be found in Chapter 24. conditions change.

25.7 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AUTOMATION 25.7.3 Power Quality Management

SOFTWARE TOOLS
Power Quality has been covered in Chapter 23. Software
To assist the operator of a distribution network, there are can be used for calculating various performance indices
a number of software tools that can be used to assist in relating to Power Quality. The results, whether obtained
making decisions and implementing them. They are: off-line or in real-time, can be used to influence the
a. topology analysis operation of the network to minimise either one or
several of the performance indicators. There may be
b. power system calculations economic benefits for the Utility through more efficient
c. power quality management use of the network and avoidance of financial penalties
where performance targets are not met. The tool will use
d. system configuration management
inputs from the Topology Analysis and Power System
The tools may be available as on-line interactive tools, to Calculation tools in order for the functions to be carried
assist in decision-making, or as off-line tools to study out. Typical user outputs are tap changer and capacitor
the impact of decisions ('what-if' scenarios). Some of switching schedules, energy losses for the whole or
the technology is available now, especially in off-line selected parts of the network for defined periods of time,
form, but all features described are under active harmonic levels, data relating to supply interruptions
(Customer Minutes Lost, etc), and reliability indices for
the network. The data relating to losses can be split into
those that are load related and those that are
independent of load. This data can be input into tools
relating to Asset Management, as the choice of feeder
type/rating and design of transformers, etc. can be
influenced by such factors.

25.7.4 System Configuration Tool

This tools can be used either off-line to examine the
impact of proposed changes to the network, or on-line to
suggest changes to a network to yield optimal results,
according to a number of user-specified criteria. The
impact of proposed switching sequences is also analysed,
to ensure that the duty imposed is within rating. The
user-specified criteria may include those relating to
Power Quality, while required inputs are the outputs
from the Topology and Power System Calculation tools.
A further function of this tool is to calculate the optimal
order of switching in a network to restore supplies after
an incident, while maintaining safety. Alternative
sequences that can be adopted in the event of failure of
a device to respond to a command are also available.
Appendix 1
Terminology

The introduction of computer technology means that the

Protection Engineer must now be familiar with a range
of technical terms in this field, in addition to the terms
long associated with Protection and Control. Below is a
list of terms and their meanings that are now commonly
encountered in the Protection and Control field.
AC
Alternating Current
ACB
Air Circuit Breaker
Accuracy
The accuracy of a transducer is defined by the limits of
intrinsic error and by the limits of variations.
Accuracy c l a s s
A number used to indicate the accuracy range of a
measurement transducer, according to a defined
standard.
Active power (watt) t r a n s d u c e r
A transducer used for the measurement of active
electrical power
ADC
Analogue to Digital Converter
A/D Conversion
The process of converting an analogue signal into an
equivalent digital one, involving the use of an analogue
to digital converter
Adjustment
The operation intended to bring a transducer into a state
of performance suitable for its use
AGC
Automatic Gain Control
Al
Analogue Input
AIS
Air Insulated Switchgear
Alarm Bay
An alarm is any event (see below) tagged as an alarm Set of LV, MV, or HV plant and devices, usually controlled
during the configuration phase by a bay computer
All-or-nothing relay BC
An electrical relay which is intended to be energised by Bay Computer. Computer dedicated to the control of one
a quantity, whose value is either higher than that at or several bays within a substation
which it picks up or lower than that at which it drops out
BCD
Anti-pumping d e v i c e Binary Coded Decimal
A feature incorporated in a Circuit Breaker or reclosing
scheme to prevent repeated operation where the closing BCP
impulse lasts longer than the sum of the relay and CB
operating times Bay Control Point. A local keypad at bay level to control
AO the elements of a single bay
Analogue Output Biased r e l a y
AR A relay in which the characteristics are modified by the
Auto Reclose: A function associated with CB, introduction of some quantity other than the actuating
implemented to carry out reclosure automatically to try quantity, and which is usually in opposition to the
to clear a transient fault actuating quantity

ARBITER Bias current

Proprietary protocol for time synchronisation from The current used as a bias quantity in a biased relay
ARBITER Systems, Inc. Paso Robles, California USA BIOS
Arcing t i m e Basic Input/Output System (of a computer or
The time between instant of separation of the CB microprocessor)
contacts and the instant of arc extinction BT
Auto-transformer Booster Transformer
A power transformer that does not provide galvanic Bo os ter T ra ns for mer
isolation between primary and secondary windings A current transformer whose primary winding is in series
AUX with the catenary and secondary winding in the return
Auxiliary conductor of a classically-fed a.c. overhead electrified
railway. Used at intervals to ensure that stray traction
Auxiliary circuit return currents, with their potential to cause
A circuit which is usually energised by the auxiliary interference in nearby communication circuits, are
supply but is sometimes energised by the measured minimised
quantity
Burden
A u x i l i a r y relay The loading imposed by the circuits of the relay on the
An all-or-nothing relay energised via another relay, for energising power source or sources, expressed as the
example a measuring relay, for the purpose of providing product of voltage and current (volt-amperes, or watts if
higher rated contacts, or introducing a time delay, or d.c.) for a given condition, which may be either at
providing multiple outputs from a single input. 'setting' or at rated current or voltage. The rated output
Auxiliary supply of measuring transformers, expressed in VA, is always at
An a.c. or d.c. electrical supply other than the measured rated current or voltage and it is important, in assessing
quantity which is necessary for the correct operation of the burden imposed by a relay, to ensure that the value
the transducer of burden at rated current is used

AVR C
Automatic Voltage Regulator Capacitance

Back-up protection CAD

A protection system intended to supplement the main Computer Aided Design
protection in case the latter should be ineffective, or to Calibration
deal with faults in those parts of the power system that The set of operations which establish, under specified
are not readily included in the operating zones of the conditions, the relationship between values indicated by
main protection a transducer and the corresponding values of a quantity
realized by a reference standard. (This should not be
confused with 'adjustment', q.v.)
CB C l o s i n g Time
Circuit Breaker The time for a CB to close, from the time of energisation
of the closing circuit to making of the CB contacts
CBC
Compact Bay Controller. Small capacity bay computer Compliance voltage (accuracy limiting
for Medium Voltage applications output voltage)
For current output signals only, the output voltage up to
CBCT
which the transducer meets its accuracy specification
Core Balance Current Transformer
Conjunctive test
CCR
A test of a protection system including all relevant
Central Control Room
components and ancillary equipment appropriately
CDM interconnected. The test may be parametric or specific
Conceptual Data Modelling is an activity whose aims are:
Conversion coefficient
• to define objects and links and naming conventions for The relationship of the value of the measurand to the
their identifications corresponding value of the output
• to guarantee interoperability between subsystems Core B a l a n c e C u r r e n t Transformer
• to define standard exchange formats between system A ring-type Current Transformer in which all primary
configurator and subsystem configurators conductors are passed through the aperture of the CBCT.
Hence the secondary current is proportional only to any
C h a r a c t e r i s ti c angle imbalance in current. Used for sensitive earth-fault
The angle between the vectors representing two of the protection
energising quantities applied to a relay and used for the
declaration of the performance of the relay Counting R e l a y
A relay that counts the number of times it is energised
C h a r a c t e r i s t i c curve and actuates an output after a desired count has been
The curve showing the operating value of the reached.
characteristic quantity corresponding to various values
or combinations of the energising quantities CSV
Character (or Comma) Separated Values format. A
C h a r a c t e r i s ti c I m p e d a n c e R a t i o ( C . I . R .) The widely used format for the exchange of data between
maximum value of the System Impedance Ratio up to different software, in which the individual data items a
which the relay performance remains within the separated by a known character - usually a comma
prescribed limits of accuracy
CT
Characteristic quantity Current Transformer
A quantity, the value of which characterises the
operation of the relay, for example, current for an Current transducer
overcurrent relay, voltage for a voltage relay, phase angle A transducer used for the measurement of a.c. current
for a directional relay, time for an independent time CVT
delay relay, impedance for an impedance relay Capacitor Voltage Transformer. A voltage transformer
C h e c k p r o te c t i o n s y s te m that uses capacitors to obtain a voltage divider effect.
An auxiliary protection system intended to prevent Used at EHV voltages instead of an electromagnetic VT
tripping due to inadvertent operation of the main for size/cost reasons
protection system DAC
CHP Digital to Analogue Converter
Combined Heat and Power DAR
Delayed auto-reclose
C i r c u i t i n s u l a t i o n voltage The highest circuit
voltage to earth on which a circuit of a transducer may DAT
be used and which determines its voltage test Digital Audio Tape
Class index DBMS
The number which designates the accuracy class Data Base Management system
Closing I m p u l s e ti me DCF77
The time during which a closing impulse is given to the LF transmitter located at Mainflingen, Germany,
CB broadcasting a time signal on a 77.5kHz frequency
DCP Direct-on-Line
Device Control Point: local keypad on device level to A method of motor starting, in which full line voltage is
control the switchgear, often combined with applied to a stationary motor
local/remote switch
Drop-out (or drop-off)
DCS A relay drops out when it moves from the energised
Distributed Control System position to the un-energised position
Dead Time (auto-reclose) Drop-out/pick-up r a t i o
The time between the fault arc being extinguished and The ratio of the limiting values of the characteristic
the CB contacts re-making quantity at which the relay resets and operates. This
value is sometimes called the differential of the relay
D e - i o n i s a t i o n t i m e ( a u t o - r e c l o s e ) The time
required for dispersion of ionised air after a fault is DSP
cleared so that the arc will not re-strike on re- Digital Signal Processing
energisation
DT
De la yed Au to-Rec lose Definite time
An auto-reclosing scheme which has a time delay in
E a r t h f a u l t protection system
excess of the minimum required for successful operation
A protection system which is designed to respond only to
Dependent t i m e m e a s u r i n g r e l a y faults to earth
A measuring relay for which times depend, in a specified
E a r t h i n g transformer
manner, on the value of the characteristic quantity
A three-phase transformer intended essentially to
DFT provide a neutral point to a power system for the
Discrete Fourier Transform purpose of earthing
D i g i t a l S i g n a l Processor Effective r a n g e
A microprocessor optimised in both hardware The range of values of the characteristic quantity or
architecture and software instruction set for the quantities, or of the energising quantities to which the
processing of analogue signals digitally, through use of relay will respond and satisfy the requirements
the DFT and similar techniques concerning it, in particular those concerning precision
D i g i t a l S i g n a l Processing Effective s e t t i n g
A technique for the processing of digital signals by The 'setting' of a protection system including the effects
various filter algorithms to obtain some desired of current transformers. The effective setting can be
characteristics in the output. The input signal to the expressed in terms of primary current or secondary
processing algorithm is usually the digital representation current from the current transformers and is so
of an analogue signal, obtained by A/D conversion designated as appropriate
Directional relay Electrical relay
A protection relay in which the tripping decision is A device designed to produce sudden predetermined
dependent in part upon the direction in which the changes in one or more electrical circuits after the
measured quantity is flowing appearance of certain conditions in the electrical circuit
or circuits controlling it
Discrimination
The ability of a protection system to distinguish between NOTE: The term 'relay' includes all the ancillary
power system conditions for which it is intended to equipment calibrated with the device
operate and those for which it is not intended to operate
Electromechanical r e l a y
D i s t o r t i o n factor An electrical relay in which the designed response is
The ratio of the r.m.s. value of the harmonic content to developed by the relative movement of mechanical
the r.m.s. value of the non-sinusoidal quantity elements under the action of a current in the input
circuit
DNP
Distributed Network Protocol. A proprietary EMC
communication protocol used on secondary networks Electro-Magnetic Compatibility
between HMI, substation computers or Bay Computers
Embedded generation
and protective devices
Generation that is connected to a distribution system
DOL (possibly at LV instead of HV) and hence poses particular
Direct-on-Line problems in respect of electrical protection
e.m.f. G l o b a l P o s i t i o n i n g System A system used for
Electro-motive Force ( or voltage) locating objects on Earth precisely, using a system of
satellites in geostationary orbit in Space. Used by
Energising quantity
some numerical relays to obtain accurate time
The electrical quantity, either current or voltage, which
information
along or in combination with other energising quantities,
must be applied to the relay to cause it to function GMT
Greenwich Mean Time
EPROM
Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory GPS
Global Positioning System
E r r o r (of a transducer)
The actual value of the output minus the intended value GTO
of the output, expressed algebraically Gate Turn-off Thyristor
Event H a l f - d u p l e x communications
An event is any information acquired or produced by the A communications system in which data can travel in
digital control system both directions, but only in one direction at a time
FAT High-speed r e c l o s i n g
Factory Acceptance Test. Validation procedures A reclosing scheme where re-closure is carried out
witnessed by the customer at the factory without any time delay other than that required for de-
ionisation, etc.
F a u l t Passage I n d i c a t o r
A sensor that detects the passage of current in excess of HMI
a set value (i.e. current due to a fault) at the location of Human Machine Interface. The means by which a human
the sensor. Hence, it indicates that the fault lies inputs data to and receives data from a computer-based
downstream of the sensor system. Usually takes the form of a Personal Computer
(PC) (desktop or portable) with keyboard, screen and
FBD
pointing device
Functional Block Diagram: One of the IEC 61131-3
HSC
programming languages

Fiducial v a l u e
High Rupturing Capacity (applicable to fuses)
A clearly specified value to which reference is made in
order to specify the accuracy of a transducer. (For HSR
transducers, the fiducial value is the span, except for High Speed Reclosing
transducers having a reversible and symmetrical output HV
when the fiducial value may be either the span or half High Voltage
the span as specified by the manufacturer. It is still
common practice, however, for statements of accuracy HVDC
for frequency transducers to refer to 'percent of centre- High Voltage Direct Current
scale frequency' and, for phase angle transducers, to an I
error in electrical degrees.)
FPI Current
Fault Passage Indicator ICCP
Frequency transducer Term used for IEC 60870-6-603 protocol
A transducer used for the measurement of the frequency ICT
of an a.c. electrical quantity Interposing Current Transformer (software implemented)
F u l l d u p l e x communications A communications I.D.M.T.
system in which data can travel simultaneously in Inverse Definite Minimum Time
both directions IGBT
Gateway
The Gateway is a computer which provides interfaces Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
between the local computer system and one or several
I/O
5CADA (or RCC) systems
Input/Output
GIS Gas Insulated Switchgear (usually
IED
SF6)
Intelligent Electronic Device. Equipment containing a
microprocessor and software used to implement one or
more functions in relation to an item of electrical
equipment (e.g. a bay controller, remote SCADA Knee-poi nt e . m . f .
interface/protocol converter). A microprocessor-based That sinusoidal e.m.f. applied to the secondary terminals
numerical relay is also an IED. IED is a generic term used of a current transformer, which, when increased by 10%,
to describe any microprocessor-based equipment, apart causes the exciting current to increase by 50%
from a computer
L
IGBT Inductance
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
LAN
Independent time measuring relay Local Area Network
LCD
A measuring relay, the specified time for which can be
considered as being independent, within specified limits,
Liquid Crystal Display
of the value of the characteristic quantity
LED
Influence quantity
A quantity which is not the subject of the measurement Light Emitting Diode
but which influences the value of the output signal fora
constant value of the measurand LD
Ladder Diagram. One of the IEC 61131-3 programming
Input quantity languages
The quantity, or one of the quantities, which constitute LDC
the signals received by the transducer from the measured
system
Line drop compensator
Instantaneous relay
A relay that operates and resets with no intentional time L i m i t i n g v a l u e of t h e output c u r r e n t
delay. The upper limit of output current which cannot, by
design, be exceeded under any conditions
NOTE: All relays require some time to operate; it is
possible, within the above definition, to discuss the Local Control Mode
operating time characteristics of an instantaneous relay When set for a given control point it means that the
commands can be issued from this point
I n s u l a te d Gate B i p o l a r T r a n s i s t o r A special
design of transistor that is suitable for handling high Lock-out ( a u t o - r e c l o s e ) Prevention of
voltages and currents (relative to an ordinary a CB reclosing after tripping
transistor). Frequently used in static power control Long-term s t a b i l i t y
equipment (inverters, controlled rectifiers, etc) due to the The stability over a period of one year
flexibility of control of the output
L ow-sp eed a u to-r eclose
Intrinsic error See Delayed Auto-Reclose
An error determined when the transducer is under
reference conditions LV
Low Voltage
I n ve r s e t i m e d e l a y r e l a y
A dependent time delay relay having an operating time M a i n protection
which is an inverse function of the electrical The protection system which is normally expected to
characteristic quantity operate in response to a fault in the protected zone

I n v e r s e t i m e r e l a y with d e f i n i t e m i n i m u m Maximum p e r m i s s i b l e v a l u e s of t h e i n p u t
t i m e (I.D.M.T.) c u r r e n t a n d voltage
An inverse time relay having an operating time that Values of current and voltage assigned by the
tends towards a minimum value with increasing values manufacturer which the transducer will withstand
of the electrical characteristic quantity indefinitely without damage
IRIG-B MCB
Miniature Circuit Breaker
An international standard for time synchronisation MCCB
ISO Moulded Case Circuit Breaker
International Standards Organisation M e a n - s e n s i n g t r a n s d u c e r A transducer which
K-bus (K-bus C o u r i e r ) actually measures the mean (average) value of the
Term used for the Courier protocol on K-Bus interface for input waveform but which is adjusted to give an
K-Relay range manufactured by Alstom output corresponding to the r.m.s. value of the input
when that input is sinusoidal
Measurand Nominal r a n g e of u s e
A quantity subjected to measurement A specified range of values which it is intended that an
influence quantity can assume without the output signal
Measuring element
of the transducer changing by amounts in excess of
A unit or module of a transducer which converts the
those specified
measurand, or part of the measurand, into a
corresponding signal Notching r e l a y
A relay which switches in response to a specific number
M e a s u r i n g range
of applied impulses
That part of the span where the performance complies
with the accuracy requirements NPS
M e a s u r i n g relay Negative Phase Sequence

NS
An electrical relay intended to switch when its
characteristic quantity, under specified conditions and Neutral Section (electrified railways)
with a specified accuracy attains its operating value
Numerical relay
Metering (non-tariff) A protection relay which utilises a Digital Signal
Values computed depending on the values of digital or Processor to execute the protection algorithms in
analogue inputs during variable periods software
Metering (tariff) OCB
Energy values computed from digital and/or analogue Oil Circuit Breaker
inputs during variable periods and dedicated to energy
Off Load Tap Changer -
measurement for billing (tariff) purposes
A tap changer that is not designed for operation while
M i d P o i n t S e c t i o n i n g S u b s t a t i o n A substation the transformer is supplying load
located at the electrical interface of two sections of
OHL
electrified railway. It contains provision for the
coupling of the sections electrically in the event of Overhead line
loss of supply to one section OLTC
Mod Bus On Load Tap Changer.
Proprietary communication protocol used on secondary On Load Tap Changer
networks between HMI, substation computers or Bay A tap changer that can be operated while the
Computers and protective devices transformer is supplying load.
MPSS Opening t i m e
Mid Point Sectioning Substation (electrified railways) The time between energisation of a CB trip coil and the
Multi-element transducer instant of contact parting
A transducer having two or more measuring elements. O p e r a t i n g c u r r e n t (of a relay)
The signals from the individual elements are combined to The current at which a relay will pick up
produce an output signal corresponding to the
measurand O p e r a t i n g t i m e (CB)
The time between energisation of a CB trip coil and arc
Multi-section transducer extinction
A transducer having two or more independent measuring
Operating time (relay)
circuits for one or more functions
With a relay de-energised and in its initial condition, the
time which elapses between the application of a
Multi - shot reclosing
characteristic quantity and the instant when the relay
operates
A reclosing scheme that permits more than one reclosing
O p e r a t i n g t i m e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c The curve
operation of a CB after a fault occurs before lock-out
depicting the relationship between different values of
occurs
the characteristic quantity applied to a relay and the
MV corresponding values of operating time
Operating value
Medium Voltage The limiting value of the characteristic quantity at which
N/C the relay actually operates

Normally Closed

N/O

Normally Open
OPGW Phase a n g l e transducer
Optical Ground Wire - a ground wire that includes A transducer used for the measurement of the phase
optical fibres to provide a communications link angle between two a.c. electrical quantities having the
same frequency
OSI 7 - l a y e r model
The Open Systems Interconnection 7-layer model is a Pick-up
model developed by ISO for modelling of a A relay is said to 'pick-up' when it changes from the de-
communications network. energised position to the energised position
Output common mode interference v o l t a g e Pilot c h a n n e l
An unwanted alternating voltage which exists between A means of interconnection between relaying points for
each of the output terminals and a reference point the purpose of protection
Output current (of a t r a n s d u c e r ) PLC
The current produced by the transducer which is an Programmable Logic Controller. A specialised computer
analogue function of the measurand for implementing control sequences using software
Output l o a d PLCC
The total effective resistance of the circuits and Power Line Carrier Communication
apparatus connected externally across the output
P o i n t of Common C o u p l i n g The interface
terminals
between an in-plant network containing embedded
Output power (of a transducer) generation and the utility distribution network to
The power available at the transducer output terminals which the in-plant network is connected
Output s e r i e s mode i n t e r f e r e n c e voltage An POW
unwanted alternating voltage appearing in series Point-on- Wave. Point-on-wave switching is the process
between the output terminals and the load to control moment of switching to minimise the effects
(inrush currents, overvoltages)
Output s i g n a l
An analogue or digital representation of the measurand Power E l e c t r o n i c Device
Output s p a n (span) An electronic device (e.g. thyristor or IGBT) or assembly
of such devices (e.g. inverter). Typically used in a power
The algebraic difference between the lower and upper
transmission system to provide smooth control of output
nominal values of the output signal
of an item of plant
Overcurrent r e l a y
A protection relay whose tripping decision is related to Power factor
the degree by which the measured current exceeds a set The factor by which it is necessary to multiply the
product of the voltage and current to obtain the active
value.
power
Overshoot t i m e
Power L i n e C a r r i e r Communication A mean
The overshoot time is the difference between the
of transmitting information over a power
operating time of the relay at a specified value of the
transmission line by using a cariier fraquency
input energising quantity and the maximum duration of
superimpozed on the normal power frequency.
the value of input energising quantity which, when
suddenly reduced to a specific value below the operating PPS
level, is insufficient to cause operation Positive Phase Sequence
P a r a m e t r i c c o n j u n c t i v e t e s t A conjunctive test Protected zone
that ascertains the range of values of each parameter The portion of a power system protected by a given
for which the test meets specific performance protection system or a part of that protection system
requirements
Protection equipment
PCB The apparatus, including protection relays, transformers
Printed Circuit Board and ancillary equipment, for use in a protection system
PCC Protection r e l a y
Point of Common Coupling A relay designed to initiate disconnection of a part of an
electrical installation or to operate a warning signal, in
PED
the case of a fault or other abnormal condition in the
Power Electronic Device
installation. A protection relay may include more than
one electrical element and accessories
Protection scheme R e c l a i m time (auto-reclose) The time between
a successful closing operation, measured from the
The co-ordinated arrangements for the protection of one
time the auto-reclose relay closing contact makes
or more elements of a power system. A protection
until a further reclosing sequence is permitted in the
scheme may comprise several protection systems
event of a further fault occurring
Protection system
REF
A combination of protection equipment designed to
Restricted Earth Fault
secure, under predetermined conditions, usually
abnormal, the disconnection of an element of a power Reference c o n d i t i o n s
system, or to give an alarm signal, or both Conditions of use for a transducer prescribed for
performance testing, or to ensure valid comparison of
Protocol
results of measurement
A set of rules that define the method in which a function
is carried out - commonly used in respect of Reference r a n g e
communications links, where it defines the hardware and A specified range of values of an influence quantity
software features necessary for successful within which the transducer complies with the
communication between devices. requirements concerning intrinsic errors
PSM Reference v a l u e
Plug Setting Multiple - a term used in conjunction with A specified single value of an influence quantity at which
electromechanical relays, denoting the ratio of the fault the transducer complies with the requirements
current to the current setting of the relay concerning intrinsic errors
PSTN Relay
Public Switched Telephone Network See Protection relay
PT1OO Resetting value
Platinum resistance temperature probe The limiting value of the characteristic quantity at which
the relay returns to its initial position
Resistance Residual current
The algebraic sum, in a multi-phase system, of all the
I R.M.S.- s e n s i n g t r a n s d u c e r A transducer
line currents
specifically designed to respond to the true r.m.s. value
of the input and which is characterised by the R es id ua l vo l ta ge
manufacturer for use on a specified range of The algebraic sum, in a multi-phase system, of all the
waveforms line-to-earth voltages
(Ratio c o r r e c t i o n Response t i m e
A feature of digital/numerical relays that enables The time from the instant of application of a specified
compensation to be carried out for a CT or VT ratio that change of the measurand until the output signal reaches
is not ideal and remains at its final steady value or within a specified
band centred on this value
Rating
The nominal value of an energising quantity that appears R e v e r s i b l e output c u r r e n t
in the designation of a relay. The nominal value usually An output current which reverses polarity in response to
corresponds to the CT and VT secondary ratings a change of sign or direction of the measurand
RCD R i p p l e content of t h e output
Residual Current Device. A protection device which is With steady-state input conditions, the peak-to-peak
actuated by the residual current value of the fluctuating component of the output
RCP r.m.s.
Remote Control Point. The Remote Control Point is a Root Mean Square
SCADA interface. Several RCP's may be managed with
RMU
different communication protocols. Physical
Ring Main Unit
connections are done at a Gateway or at substation
computers or at a substation HMI ROCOF
Rate Of Change Of Frequency (protection relay)
[Reactive power (var) t r a n s d u c e r A transducer
used for the measurement of reactive electrical RSVC
power Relocatable Static Var Compensator
RTD S p e c i f i c conjunctive test
Resistance Temperature Detector A conjunctive test using specific values of each of the
parameters
RTOS
Real Time Operating System Spring winding time
For spring-closed CB's, the time for the spring to be fully
RTU
charged after a closing operation
Remote Terminal Unit. An IED used specifically for
interfacing between a computer and other devices. ST
Sometimes may include control/monitoring/storage Structured Text: One of the IEC 61131-3 programming
functions languages
SAT S t a b i l i t y (of a transducer) The ability of a
Site Acceptance Test. Validation procedures for transducer to keep its performance characteristics
equipment executed with the customer on site unchanged during a specified time, all conditions
remaining constant
SCADA
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition S t a b i l i t y (of a protection system) The
quantity whereby a protection system remains
SCL
inoperative under all conditions other than those for
Substation Configuration Language. Normalised
which it is specifically designed to operate
configuration language for substation modelling (as
expected by I EC 61850-6) S t a b i l i t y l i m i t s (of a protection system) The
r.m.s. value of the symmetrical component of the
SCP
through fault current up to which the protection system
Substation Control Point. HMI computers at substation
remains stable
level allowing the operators to control the substation
S t ar t in g r e l a y
scs A unit relay which responds to abnormal conditions and
Substation Control System
initiates the operation of other elements of the
Setting protection system
The limiting value of a 'characteristic' or 'energising'
STATCOM
quantity at which the relay is designed to operate under
A particular type of Static Var Compensator, in which
specified conditions. Such values are usually marked on
Power Electronic Devices such as GTO's are used to
the relay and may be expressed as direct values,
generate the reactive power required, rather than
percentages of rated values, or multiples
capacitors and inductors
SFC
Static r e l a y
Sequential Function Chart: One of the IEC 61131-3
An electrical relay in which the designed response is
programming languages
developed by electronic, magnetic, optical or other
Short-term s t a b i l i t y components without mechanical motion. Excludes
The stability over a period of 24 hours relays using digital/numeric technology
S i m p l e x communications system S t a t i c Var Compensator A device that supplies
A communications system in which data can only travel or consumes reactive power, comprised solely of
in one direction static equipment. It is shunt-connected on
Single-shot reclosing transmission lines to provide reactive power
An auto-reclose sequence that provides only one compensation
reclosing operation, lock-out of the CB occurring if it STC
subsequently trips Short Time Current (rating of a CT)
S.I.R. Storage c o n d i t i o n s
System Impedance Ratio The conditions, defined by means of ranges of the
Single element transducer influence quantities, such as temperature, or any special
A transducer having one measuring element conditions, within which the transducer may be stored
(non-operating) without damage
SOE
Sequence Of Events SVC
Static Var Compensator
SOTF
Switch on to Fault (protection)
 System d i s t u r b a n c e time (auto-reclose) U n i t protection
The time between fault inception and CB contacts A protection system that is designed to operate only for
making on successful re-closure abnormal conditions within a clearly defined zone of the
power system
System impedance r a t i o The ratio of the power
system source impedance to the impedance of the Unrestricted protection
protected zone A protection system which has no clearly defined zone of
operation and which achieves selective operation only by
T 101
time grading
Term used for I EC 60870-5-101 protocol
UCA
Tap changer
Utility Communications Architecture
A mechanism, usually fitted to the primary winding of a
transformer, to alter the turns ratio of the transformer by UPS
small discrete amounts over a defined range Uninterruptible Power Supply
TCP/IP UTC
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A Universal Time Coordinates
common protocol for the transmission of messages over
the Internet V

TCS
Trip Circuit Supervision Voltage

TC57 VCB
Technical Committee 57 working for the IEC and Vacuum Circuit Breaker
responsible for producing standards in the field of VDEW
Protection (e.g. IEC 61850) Term used for IEC 60870-5-103 protocol. The VDEW
TF protocol is a subset of the IEC 60870-5-103 protocol
a] Transfer Function of a device (usually an element of a Vector group compensation
control system A feature of digital and numerical relays that
b) Transient Factor (of a CT) compensates for the phase angle shift that occurs in
transformers (including VT's) due to use of dissimilar
T hrough f a u l t c u r r e n t
winding connections - e.g. transformers connected
The current flowing through a protected zone to a fault
delta/star
beyond that zone
Time d e l a y
Voltage transducer
A delay intentionally introduced into the operation of a A transducer used for the measurement of a.c. voltage
relay system VT
Time d e l a y r e l a y A relay having an Voltage Transformer
intentional delaying device X
TPI Reactance
Tap Position Indicator {for transformers)
Z
Transducer (electrical measuring
transducer)
Impedance
A device that provides a d.c. output quantity having a
definite relationship to the a.c. measurand
transducer w i t h offset zero ( l i v e zero) A
transducer which gives a predetermined output other
than zero when the measurand is zero
Transducer w i t h suppressed zero
A transducer whose output is zero when the measurand
is less than a certain value
Unit electrical relay
A single relay that can be used alone or in combinations
with others
 Appendix 2
Figure A2.1 - ANSI number/!EC symbol comparison
ANSI/IEC Relay Symbols

There are two methods for indicating protection relay functions in common use. One is
given in ANSI Standard C37-2, and uses a numbering system for various functions.
The functions are supplemented by letters where amplification of the function is
required. The other is given in IEC 60617, and uses graphical symbols. To assist the
Protection Engineer in converting from one system to the other, a select list of ANSI
device numbers and their IEC equivalents is given in Figure A2.1.