NEW DESIGN OF GROUND FAULT PROTECTION

J. Blumschein*, Y. Yelgin*

*SIEMENS AG, Germany, email: [email protected]

Keywords: Ground fault protection, directional element, This paper explains the new algorithm in more detail and
faulted phase selection illustrates the advantages of the proposed method using some
real fault records. With the new design the ground fault
Abstract protection takes a lot of advantages regarding phase selection
and directional element from the distance protection. The
Ground fault protection is widely used to protect transmission main difference between distance protection and ground fault
and distribution lines in case of ground faults. Combined with protection remains the different grading. For distance
a directional element and used in a teleprotection scheme protection the sensitivity is limited by the resistive reach. The
ground fault protection can detect and isolate even high basic principle for grading of ground fault protection remains
resistive ground faults which are not seen by distance a simple threshold of zero sequence current.
protection.
Today in general the directional element of ground fault
protection is based on zero sequence components or negative 1 Introduction
sequence components. There is no clear advice which kind of
polarization should be preferred for a special application. In general for single-phase to ground faults the current of the
However there are a lot of maloperations due to incorrect faulted phase is increasing and the voltage of the faulted
result of the directional element of ground fault protection phase is decreasing.
using either zero sequence or negative sequence quantities. Ground fault protection calculates the ground current 3I0 as
Analyzing numerous fault records it seems obvious that these criterion for pickup and grading:
problems with the directional elements cannot be solved using
either zero sequence or negative sequence because these 3I0 = IA + IB + IC (1)
quantities are sometimes very small or not related to the fault.
One great advantage of numerical relays is that these relays If the ground current 3I0 exceeds a certain threshold, the
measure all the voltages and currents of a three phase system. ground fault protection will generate a pickup signal. In case
Analyzing fault records related to complicate cases for ground of directional ground fault protection the direction to fault
fault protection it can be seen that there is much more needs to be calculated to validate the trip command.
information about the fault than used by today’s Electromechanical relays uses zero sequence voltage or zero
implementations of ground fault protection. For instance the sequence current of transformer star point to calculate the
location of the impedance in the complex plane often gives a direction to fault. These quantities were easy to obtain and
clear indication about the direction to fault. valid for all types of fault.
This paper suggests a new design of ground fault protection Later polarizing with negative sequence quantities was
using this additional information given by the numerical applied because negative sequence is more immune against
relays. The starting condition for the ground fault protection mutual coupling of parallel lines. However even polarizing
remains a threshold of zero sequence current. Once this with negative sequence is not a perfect solution.
threshold is exceeded a multi-criteria phase selector selects In chapter 2 three different cases of incorrect operation of
the faulted phase. Several criteria based on magnitudes of directional ground fault protection are explained. Chapter 3
voltages and currents, changes in voltages and currents, introduces a new idea for the phase selection of the ground
symmetrical components and impedances are applied in fault protection using more information about the fault which
parallel. The results of each single criterion are weighted and is available in a multifunctional relay. Chapter 4 explains a
combined to get a final result for the selection of the faulted new idea of a directional element for ground fault protection
phase. based on the combination of different criteria used in distance
Using the information of the faulted phase a multi-criteria protection.
directional element is suggested to estimate the direction to
the fault. Different criteria based on actual voltages, 2 Real-world cases of incorrect operation of
memorized voltages, symmetrical components and delta directional ground relays
quantities are applied in parallel. The final result is obtained
by the multi-criteria directional element as a weighted In the following subchapters three cases of incorrect operation
combination of the result of each single criterion. of directional ground fault protection are explained in detail.
2.1 Case 1: Wrong trip using zero sequence polarization The ground current iE exceeds the sensitive threshold of 50A
primary which leads to a pickup of the ground fault
The first case presents a wrong trip of directional ground fault protection. The current of phase B is raising most which is
protection on a 147 km line, 132 kV in Malaysia. Figure 1 consistent with the pickup of phase B.
shows the impedance trajectories in the complex plane. It can The changes of voltages after fault inception are not very big
be seen that the fault was BG, far away from the polygons of but leaving enough quantity of zero sequence voltage and
distance protection in reverse direction. negative sequence voltage for the directional element.
Figure 3 is showing the zero sequence quantities and negative
sequence quantities in the phasor diagram. It can be seen that
the zero sequence current is leading the zero sequence voltage
by approximately 100° which is a clear indication for a fault
in forward direction. The negative sequence current however
is lagging the negative sequence voltage by approximately
60° which is a clear indication for a fault in reverse direction.
In this case zero sequence quantities are a little larger than
negative sequence quantities. That’s why zero sequence is
chosen as directional element which leads to the wrong trip of
the directional ground fault protection in this case.

Figure 1: Impedance trajectory for the BG fault

Figure 2 shows the currents and voltages for the BG fault and
the related binary signals.

Figure 3: Zero sequence and negative sequence quantities in

the phasor diagram

The reason why zero sequence and negative sequence show a

different direction in this case is not known by the author.
From the theory of a single phase to ground fault zero
sequence and negative sequence should give the same result.
In practical applications however there are a lot of reasons
influencing the directional elements based on zero sequence
or negative sequence [1].
Using additional information like the impedance trajectory
shown in Figure 1 could help to improve the directional
element of ground fault protection.

Figure 2: Voltages, currents and binary signals of BG fault

2.2 Case 2: Wrong polarization due to an error of voltage has a major impact on the wrong direction determination
transformer using negative sequences quantities.
The current of phase A is raising most which leads to a
In [3] a wrong trip of ground fault directional relay for an AG pickup of ground fault protection indicated by the signal
fault in reverse direction was reported which was caused by “67G2”.
an error of a related voltage transformer. Figure 4 shows the The signal “FSA” indicates that the relay detects the faulted
impedance trajectories in the complex plane. It can be seen phase but unfortunately it detects the wrong direction
that the fault AG appears in reverse direction. indicated by the signal “32QF”.

The reason for the wrong decision of the directional element

is shown in Figure 6 presenting the zero sequence quantities
and negative sequence quantities in the phasor diagram. It can
be seen that the negative sequence current is leading the
negative sequence voltage by approximately 160° which is a
clear indication for a fault in forward direction. The zero
sequence current however is lagging the zero sequence
voltage by approximately 100° which is a clear indication for
a fault in reverse direction.
In this case the negative sequence quantities were chosen by
setting to detect the direction to fault. This leads to the wrong
trip of the directional ground fault protection in this case.

Figure 4: Impedance trajectory for the AG fault

Figure 5 shows the currents and voltages for the AG fault and
the related binary signals.

Figure 6: Zero sequence and negative sequence quantities in

the phasor diagram

In [3] it was mentioned, that the fault locator included in the

same relay which was tripping for a ground fault in forward
direction using the function 67N reported a fault AG in
reverse direction.
Figure 5: Voltages, currents and binary signals of AG fault The question was raised why the directional element of the
function 67N does not use the information available for the
There is a significant decrease in the voltage of phase A fault locator.
which is a clear indication for a fault A to ground. The
voltage of phase B shows an asymmetry due to an error of the
voltage transformer. This wrong reading of phase B voltage
2.3 Case 3: Wrong phase selection Due to the transformer on the weak side all three phase
currents are nearly in phase, producing a ground current
At ISA REP a test was conducted using a test system shown which is much bigger than each single phase current.
in Figure 7. This ground current causes a pickup of the ground fault
protection indicated by the signal “67N Pickup”.
Even if there is a significant decrease in the voltage of the
faulted phase the ground fault detection was not able to detect
the faulted phase. Instead of a single pole trip command for
phase B a three pole trip was issued indicated by the signal
“Trip 3-pole”.
The reason for this unselective trip was the method applied to
detect the faulted phase for a single phase to ground fault.
Figure 7: Test configuration at ISA REP This method is based on the relation between the angle of
negative sequence current and the angle of zero sequence
A single phase high resistive fault BG was applied very close current like shown in Figure 10.
to Amarilis substation. At this time the line L-1120 was out of
service. Due to this Amarilis was a weak infeed side with a
I2 = a*I 0
transformer with a delta winding on its 10 kV side.
Figure 8 shows the impedance trajectories in the complex L3-E
plane. The applied fault BG appears on the real axis of the
complex plane in forward direction.
L1-E

I2 = I0

L2-E

I2 = a2*I0

Figure 10: Basic principle of phase selection

According to this principle zero sequence current should lead

the negative sequence current by approximately 120° for a
fault BG.
As shown in Figure 11 the zero sequence current is leading
the negative sequence current by approximately 60° only
Figure 8: Impedance trajectory for the BG fault which is no clear indication for any type of fault. In addition
to this it must be stated, that the magnitude of the negative
Figure 9 shows the currents and voltages for the BG fault and sequence current is very small compared to the magnitude of
the related binary signals. the zero sequence current.

Figure 9: Voltages, currents and binary signals of BG fault Figure 11: Negative sequence current in relation to zero
sequence current for the BG fault
3 Multi-criteria phase selection
Figure 13 gives an example of the output quality of the
If there is a pickup of ground fault protection due to ground voltage criterion. A strong voltage drop in case of a fault
current exceeds the threshold the next step should be to find results in a high quality of the voltage criterion for the related
out the faulted phase. This is important to be able to issue a phase. If the voltage drop is only marginal the quality of the
single pole trip in case of a single phase to ground fault. It is voltage criterion of the related phase will have a low quality.
also important to know the faulted phase to improve the
directional element of ground fault protection which is
explained in the next chapter.
Today the basic principle of phase selection for ground fault
protection is based on the relation between the angle of
negative sequence current and the angle of zero sequence
current like shown in Figure 10.
In a modern multifunctional digital relay there is much more
information about the faulted phase which could be used by
the ground fault protection. The suggestion is to apply at least
parts of the faulted phase selection used by distance
Figure 13: Quality of voltage criterion
protection for the phase selection in ground fault protection.
In [3] an example is given for a multi-criteria loop selector for
Figure 14 illustrates the output quality of the impedance
the distance protection.
criterion. If the measured impedance of a phase to ground
Figure 12 explains the principle of the multi-criteria phase
loop is close to the origin the quality of the phase to be the
selector for the ground fault protection. Several criteria for
faulted phase is high. If the impedance is measured far away
phase selection are applied in parallel. Each criterion gives a
or has an angle which is not typical for a faulted loop the
certain quality for each phase to be the faulted phase.
quality of the impedance criteria is low.
Additional to this each criterion can be weighted according to
its importance for the decision about the faulted phase.
Finally there is a weighted sum of quality for each phase to be
the faulted phase. The faulted phase is chosen to be the one
with the highest quality exceeding a dynamic threshold.
weight 1

Criteria 1 quality

weight 2

Criteria 2 quality
quality phase A

Σ quality phase B
Figure 14: Quality of impedance criterion
quality phase C

Related to case 3 explained in chapter 2.3 the criteria for

weight n
phase selection would work as follow:
Criteria n quality
The voltage criterion would give a high quality for the faulted
A phase B. This is because as seen in Figure 9 the voltage of
B phase B is decreasing and the voltages of the unfaulted phases
C
do not change.
Figure 12: Calculation of phase quality
Also the impedance criterion would give a high quality for the
faulted phase B. This is because as shown in Figure 8 the loop
The following criteria could be applied to get the faulted
BG has the impedance with the smallest reactance showing a
phase for ground fault protection:
high fault resistance only.
The criterion based on symmetrical components gives a low
· Phase current quality for all phases. According to Figure 11 the angle of
· Delta current negative sequence current related to the angle of zero
· Current sample sequence current is on the border between two sections shown
· Current phasor in Figure 10. Additional to this the magnitude of negative
· Phase voltage sequence current is very small compared to the magnitude of
· Delta voltage zero sequence current which limits the quality of this
· Voltage sample criterion.
· Voltage phasor Finally using a weighted sum of different criteria according to
· Impedance Figure 12 the right faulted phase for case 3 can be selected
· Symmetrical components using the concept of multi-criteria loop selector.
4 Multi-criteria directional element
Today the directional element of ground fault protection is
based on zero sequence quantities or negative sequence
quantities. Different manufacturers offer different
characteristics and different recommendations how to use
these elements.
The IEEE PSRC report “Considerations in Choosing
Directional Polarizing Methods for Ground Overcurrent
Elements in Line Protection Applications” [1] explains
known problems with the polarization but is not able to give
recommendations for all use cases. Numerous use cases are
marked with “Study required” or “OK, but study
recommended”.
The idea of this paper is to overcome these problems of
directional element for ground fault protection by using a
multi-criteria directional element applying a structure as
shown in Figure 15.

Figure 16: Results of multi-criteria directional element

applied to case 2

Acknowledgements
The author thanks Ms. Sophie Gray from CenterPoint Energy,
Mr. Jorge Ywasaki from Red de Energía del Perú and
Sarawak Energy Malaysia for sharing fault records used to
explain problems with the directional ground fault protection.

Figure 15: Structure of multi-criteria directional element

References
[1] IEEE PSRC Report “Considerations in Choosing
Using the information about the faulted phase additional Directional Polarizing Methods for Ground Overcurrent
criteria can be used to determine the direction to fault. Elements in Line Protection Applications”, May 2014
Finally the following criteria can be used for the directional [2] SIPROTEC 5 Distance and Line Differential Protection,
element of ground fault protection: Breaker Management for 1-Pole and 3-Pole Tripping
7SA87, 7SD87, 7SL87, 7VK87, Version V7.30 and
· Zero sequence polarization higher, Manual SIEMENS AG, C53000-G5040-C011-8.
· Negative sequence polarization [3] Sophie Gray, “Voltage Potential Device Impact on
· Self polarization (Current and voltage of the faulted Negative Sequence Directionality”, presented at the 70th
phase) Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers
· Memory polarization (Current and memory voltage Texas A&M University 2017
of faulted phase) [4] J. Blumschein, C. Dzienis, Y. Yelgin, “New Design of
· Cross polarization (Current of faulted phase and Distance Protection for Smart Grid Applications”, XII
actual voltage of unfaulted phase) SIMPOSIO IBEROAMERICANO SOBRE
· Memory cross polarization (Current of faulted phase PROTECCIÓN DE SISTEMAS ELÉCTRICOS DE
and memory voltage of unfaulted phase) POTENCIA 2015
· Polarization using delta quantities of faulted phase [5] G. Ziegler, “Numerical Distance Protection: Principles
· Polarization using delta quantities of symmetrical and Application”, Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, 4th
components Edition, ISBN 978-3-89578-381-4, 2011.

Figure 16 shows the result of the multi-criteria directional

element applied to the fault case 2 explained in chapter 2.2.
The binaries show that 7 criteria determine the fault in reverse
direction. This results in a quality of 75% for the
determination of the right direction.
7 Biographies

Jörg Blumschein studied technical

cybernetics and process measurement at the
University Magdeburg where he became a
graduated engineer in 1992. Since 1992 he
works with SIEMENS in the development
department of protection relays. Today he
is the Principal Key Expert for Protection.

Yilmaz Yelgin studied computer science at

the technical university in Berlin and
graduated in 2004. Since 2006 he works
with Siemens in the development
department of protection relays. His main
field of activity is the analysis of reasons
and effects of power swing.