UNIT III

APPARATUS PROTECTION
 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• Current Transformers (CT) are used to reduce the heavy
current flowing in an element of a power system to low values
that are suitable for relay operation
• Current rating of a protective relay is usually 1A or 5A. Besides
reducing the current level, the CT also isolates the relay circuit
from the primary circuit (high voltage power circuit)
• Requirements of CTs used for Protection:
• A CT used for instrumentation (measurement) is required to
be accurate over the normal working range of currents,
whereas the CT used for protection is required to give a
correct ratio upto several times rated primary current

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 2

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• It is due to the fact that the relays has to perform reliably at
normal as well as fault currents (many times normal rated
currents)
• For many applications, its accuracy is not important at current
less than the rated value
• CT’s may be either protective CT’s or measuring CT’s
• As a rule, CT ratio error is very important in protective CT’s
and phase angle error is less important
• Both CT’s and PT’s come under the title “Instrument
Transformers”

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 3

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• Terms and Definitions:
1. Rated or Actual transformation ratio
= Actual primary current
Actual secondary current
Rated or nominal transformation ratio
= Rated Primary Current
Rated Secondary Current
2. Burden
The value of load connected across the secondary of CT,
expressed in VA or ohms at rated secondary current.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 4

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• Circuit connected to the secondary winding is termed as “Burden”.
If the term ‘load’ is used, it refers to the primary current magnitude
• Burden in expressed preferably in terms of impedance of the circuit
connected to the secondary
• British method is to specify the burden on CT in VA at rated
secondary current and at specified p.f.
• Thus the burden can be expressed in the following two forms
1. The burden is 0.5  at 5A secondary current or
2. Its VA will be I2R = 52 * 0.5 = 12.5 VA
• Total burden on CT is that of the relays, meters, connecting leads
and the burden due to secondary resistance of secondary winding
of CT, burden is given by manufacturers

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 5

3. Ratio error or Current error:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 6

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
4. Phase angle error:
• Phase difference between the primary current phasor and
the reversed secondary current phasor is termed as the
'phase-angle error' of the CT.
• In power measurements, it is must that the phase angle of
secondary current is to be displaced exactly by 180 from that
of primary current of CT, similarly for voltage transformer also
• But actually it is not so. The error introduced due to this fact is
called phase angle error i.e. for a perfect (ideal) current
transformer, phase difference between primary and reversed
secondary phasors is zero.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 7

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
5. Accuracy (Class)
• Accuracy class is assigned to the CT with the specified limits of ratio
error and phase angle error. The accuracy of a CT is expressed in
terms of the departure of its ratio from its true ratio (ratio error)
• Ratio error of a CT depends on its exciting current. When primary
current increases, CT tries to produce corresponding secondary
current, and this needs a greater secondary emf, core flux density
and exciting current
• At one stage, secondary current hardly increases at all for any
further increase in primary current. At this stage, CT becomes
saturated.
• Thus the ratio error depends on saturation. An accuracy of about
2% to 3% of the CT is desirable for distance and differential relays,
whereas for many other relays, a higher percentage can be
tolerated.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 8

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• Classification of CTs
Classification of CTs Based on Technology
(i) Electromagnetic CTs
(ii) Opto-electronic CTs
(iii) Rogowski Coil
Classification of CTs Based on Application
(i) Measuring or metering CTs
(ii) Protective CTs
Classification of CTs Based on Location
(i) Indoor CTs
(ii) Outdoor CTs

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 9

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• CT Construction: (Electromagnetic Type)

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 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• These CTs can be classified into the following two categories:
(i) Bar primary CTs or Toroidal CTs (ii) Wound primary CTs
• Bar Primary CTs do not contain a primary winding and instead
a straight conductor (wire) which is a part of power system
and carries the current acts as the primary. In this type of CTs,
the primary does not necessarily form a part of the CT.
• The primary conductor (wire) that carries current is encircled
by a ring type iron core on which the secondary winding is
wound uniformly over the entire periphery to form a toroid
• A small gap is left between start and finish leads of the
winding for insulation.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 11

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• This type of construction has a negligible leakage flux of both
primary and secondary and hence, possesses low reactance
• As there is only one primary turn; primary current should be high
enough (about 400 A) to produce sufficient exciting ampere-turns
(AT) to give reasonable output.
• Wound primary CTs have the primary and secondary windings
arranged concentrically, the secondary winding invariably being the
inner winding
• Cores are usually assembled from stampings of E, I, L or C shape
depending on whether the core is a simple rectangle or of the
three-limb shell-type
• The primary winding is wound on the core. As the primary turns are
fewer, they cannot be distributed uniformly over the iron core
• Such CTs have high leakage flux and hence high reactance

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 12

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
Modern Trends in CT Design:
• High voltage CTs are oil filled type. Above 400 kV, severe insulation
problems occurs leads to extremely expensive CT’s.
• These problems are overcome using SF6 (gas) and clophen (liquid)
as insulation, thus reducing size and cost of CT’s
Linear Couplers:
• CT core may be of iron or non-ferrous material, usually air or
plastic. An iron cored CT has high power output used for
electromagnetic relays and a CT having non-ferrous material has
low power output suitable for static relays.
• An air or plastic cored CT has a linear characteristic and is called as
“Linear Coupler”
• Such CTs have no saturation limit and hence no transient errors, i.e.
ratio and phase angle errors are nil.

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 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
• Problems caused by DC transients are also reduced to a great
extent. Such CTs does not have lead resistance problem
• A CT with a small air gap in its iron core has also linear
characteristics and has no transient errors. Such CTs are called
“Transactors”
Open circuited secondary of CT:
• The secondary of CT should not be left open circuited. If it is left
open then the voltage across the secondary rises to a high value,
results in zero secondary current and hence reduced back emf.
Therefore, the working flux increases and core gets saturated.
• Secondary emf increases due to increased flux, so the primary gets
overheated and core also gets overheated, leads to dangerous
condition

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 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
Testing of CT’s:
1. Type Tests:
• It is conducted on few CT’s to confirm design and ratings.
• It includes verification of terminal markings and polarities,
short time current test, temperature rise test, impulse
voltage test, high voltage power frequency voltage withstand
test on primary, over-voltage test, inter-turn test, etc.
2. Routine Tests:
• It is conducted on each CTs before the despatch
• It includes verification of terminal markings and polarities,
high voltage power frequency voltage withstand test on
secondary, determination of errors and accuracy class

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 15

 CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
Applications:
1. To supply the stepped down current to the relay coil in the
event of any over loading or short circuiting of the
equipment lines
2. To measure power of a load, in conjunction with a wattmeter
3. To measure large currents in conjunction with small range
meters.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 16

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
Representation of PT:

N1 N2

• KN = Nominal ratio = N1/N2

• Kv = Actual Voltage ratio = Primary Voltage
Secondary Voltage
• Residual voltage, VRD = Vector sum of 3 line to earth voltages,
i.e. VRD = VRN + VYN + VBN

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 17

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
• Potential Transformers (PT) or Voltage Transformers (VT) is the
step down transformer and steps down the voltage in a
known ratio.
• PT’s are used for measurement and protection, may be either
single phase or three phase used for directional and distance
protection
• Primary of PT is connected to power circuit between phase
and ground
• VA rating of PT’s is smaller as compared with that of power
transformers. Voltage rating of protective relay is usually 110V

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 18

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
% ratio error =
Where,
– K = Nominal voltage ratio
– Vs = Secondary voltage
– Vp = Primary voltage
• PTs used for protection require errors to be limited over a
wide range of voltages under fault conditions
TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION:
i. Electromagnetic type
ii. Capacitor type

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 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
(i) Electromagnetic Type:
• Used up to 132 KV. It is similar to a conventional wound type
transformer with additional features to minimise errors
• As its output is low, it differs from power transformers in physical
size and cooling techniques
• voltage rating of a VT governs its construction. For lower voltages,
up to 3.3 kV, dry type transformers with varnish impregnated and
taped windings are quite satisfactory.
• For higher voltages, oil immersed VTs are used.
• Recently VTs with windings impregnated and encapsulated in
synthetic resins have been developed for higher voltages. This
technique has made it possible to use dry type VTs for system
voltages up to 66 kV

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 20

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
• For voltages above 132 kV, if electro-magnetic type VTs are to be
used several VTs are connected in cascade
• In cascade connection, the primary windings of CTs are connected
in series, though each primary is on a separate core.
• Coupling coils link all primary windings so as to keep effective
leakage inductance to a low value and distribute voltage equally.
• Such an arrangement is conveniently placed in a porcelain
enclosure.
• Electromagnetic type VTs are used at all power system voltages and
are usually connected to bus.
• As the voltage decreases, accuracy of electromagnetic type VTs
decreases but is acceptable down to 1% of normal voltage.
• For high speed distance protection, electromagnetic type VTs are
preferred
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 21
 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
(ii) Capacitor Type PT

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 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
• At higher voltages, electromagnetic type VTs become very
expensive and hence it is a common practice to use a capacitance
voltage divider
• Here, V2 may be only about 10% or less of the system voltage. This
arrangement is called a Coupling Capacitor Voltage Transformer
(CCVT) or a capacitor type VT and is used at 132 KV and above
• Reactor L is included to tune capacitor VT to reduce the ratio and
phase angle errors with the variation of VA burden, frequency, etc.
• Reactor is adjusted to such a value that at system frequency it
resonates with the capacitors.
• Capacitor type VTs are more economical particularly where high
voltage capacitors are used for carrier-current coupling
• Transient performance of a capacitor type VT is inferior to that of
an electromagnetic type.

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 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
• A capacitor type VT has the tendency of introducing harmonics in
the secondary voltage.
• Performance of the voltage divider type capacitor VT is not as good
as that of the electromagnetic type.
• Performance of high speed distance relays is less reliable with
capacitor type VTs.
• Errors of capacitor type VTs can be reduced by reducing its burden.
It is because series connected capacitors perform the function of
potential divider if current drawn by burden is negligible compared
to current flowing through capacitors connected in series.
• Its performance is affected by supply frequency, switching
transients, magnitude of connected burden, etc.
• Carrier current equipment can be connected via CVTs capacitor.
Therefore there is no need of separate coupling capacitors.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 24

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
Protection of PTs:
• HRC fuses on primary side upto 11kV, and on secondary side
for over current protection of electromagnetic unit, spark
gaps or lightning arrestors in parallel with intermediate
capacitor for over voltage protection
Testing of PTs: (Similar to Current Transformers)
1. Insulation test
2. High voltage test
3. Polarity test
4. Error measurements
5. Core loss measurements

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 25

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
Application of PTs:
1. Directional over-current relaying, reverse power protection,
distance protection, etc. where phase relationship between
Voltage and Current is important, accuracy class 3 (3% voltage
error) is preferred
2. In applications, where phase angle is not significant; accuracy class
5 (5% voltage error) is preferred. Such applications include under-
voltage, over-voltage, voltage restrained protection
3. For high speed distance relays, electromagnetic type VTs are
preferred
4. Used for metering and measurements (Accuracy Class: 0.1 – 1 %)

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 26

 POTENTIAL TRANSFORMERS
Problem 1:
• The no load current components of a CT are:
Magnetising component= 102 A;
Core loss component = 38 A
• The current transformation ratio is 1000/5 A. Calculate the
approximate ratio error at full load

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 27

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Two major items of equipment in a power system are the
generators and transformers. Chances of fault occurrence on
them are very rare but the damages caused by the faults
usually takes much more time and money to repair
• A fault in a generator/transformer always require some
attention of the supervisory staff while rapid reclosing of CB’s
is feasible on lines
• Power transformers are static devices, totally enclosed and
usually oil immersed,  chances of fault occurrence on them
are very rare
• But even a rare fault may be very serious unless transformer
is quickly disconnected from the system. Hence automatic
protection of transformers is essential and atmost importance

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 28

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Common Transformer Faults:
• As compared with generators, in which many abnormal conditions
may arise, power transformers may suffer only from :
(i) open circuits
(ii) overheating
(iii) winding short-circuits e.g. earth-faults, phase-to-phase faults
and inter-turn faults.
(i) Open circuit in one phase of a 3-phase transformer may cause
undesirable heating.
• In practice, relay protection is not provided against open circuits
because this condition is relatively harmless. On occurrence of such
a fault, transformer can be disconnected manually from the system.

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
(ii)Overheating of the transformer is usually caused by sustained
overloads or short-circuits and very occasionally by the failure of
the cooling system.
• The relay protection is also not provided against this contingency
and thermal accessories are generally used to sound an alarm or
control the banks of fans.
(iii)Winding short-circuits (also called internal faults) on the
transformer arise from deterioration of winding insulation due to
overheating or mechanical injury
• When an internal fault occurs, transformer must be disconnected
quickly from the system because a prolonged arc in the transformer
may cause oil fire.  relay protection is absolutely necessary for
internal faults.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 30

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Choice of a protective gear for a transformer depends upon
several factors such as (i) type of transformer (ii) size of the
transformer (iii) type of cooling (iv) system where used (v) the
importance of service for which it is required
• For power transformers, protection is to be provided against
dangerous overloads and excessive temperature rise
• Differential protection is most important type of protection
used for internal phase-to-phase and phase-to-earth faults
• Other protection systems against internal faults are Buchholz
protection, core balance (earth) leakage protection, combined
leakage and overload protection, restricted earth fault
protection

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Percentage Differential (or) Merz-Price protection of
Transformers:
• Percentage differential protection is used for the protection of
large power transformers (5 MVA and above) against internal
short circuits
• It is not capable of detecting the incipient faults.
• Fig. shows the schematic diagram for CT connections
• Assume a turns ratio of 1:1, note that the star point is
grounded

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• CT Connections:

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Because of the turns ratio of 1 : 1, the primary and secondary
windings currents are equal. i.e. IA = Ia, IB = Ib IC = Ic
• Line currents on star side are same as phase currents Ia, Ib and Ic.
• Line currents on the delta side are IC – IA (or) IA – IC, IB – IA and IC – IB
as shown in the Fig. below
• Note IC – IA (or) IA – IC are all phasor differences
•  if we connect secondary windings of CTs on both sides in star,
then currents would not match up and a spill current would result
• But if the secondary windings of CTs on Star side are connected in
Delta, then line currents would exactly match with the secondary
currents of CTs on delta side, provided these are connected in Star.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 34

TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 35

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• So to supply matching current in operating winding of relay,
CT’s on Y side of the transformer are connected in  and CT’s
which are on  side of the transformer are connected in Y
• In case of Y -  connected transformer there is a phase shift of
30 in line currents, above mentioned CT’s connections will
correct this phase shift
• Moreover, zero sequence current flowing on the Y side of the
transformer does not produce current outside the  on other
side
•  zero sequence current should be eliminated from Y side,
this also fulfilled by CT’s connection in  on Y side of
transformer
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 36
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• In case of Y – Y connected transformer, the CT’s on both the
sides should be connected in 
• In case of Y – Y connected transformers, if the star point is not
earthed, CT’s may be connected in Y on both the sides
• But if Y point is earthed and CT’s are connected in Y, the relay
will also operate for external faults
• Fig. shows the schematic diagram of % differential protection
for a  - Y transformer
• Assume a turns ratio of 1:1, note that the star point is
grounded

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 37

R
O

38
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• OPERATION:
• O and R are the operating and restraining coils of the relay
• Connections are made in such a way that under normal conditions
or in of case of external faults NO current flows through the
operating coil of the relay, consequently, the relay does not operate
• External Fault:
• if a external fault occurs on phase “C”, then there is an over current
in the Phase-C. This current is supplied through two of the lines IA –
IC and IC – IB on the  side of the transformer
• Similarly due to  connections of CT secondary windings on the Y
side of transformer, two pilot wires (Ic – Ib and Ia - Ic) carry the fault
current, with the result that current circulates in two of the %
differential relay units and there is NO current in the spill path
(operating coil). Thus the scheme remains stable.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 39

40
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Internal Fault:
• If a fault occurs on the winding (Internal fault), currents on
delta side are exactly same as those in case of external fault
• However, since the fault is internal, there is NO fault current
through the primaries of CT’s on the star side
• The path of fault current is shown in bold lines.
• It can be seen from the figure that the fault current flows
through the spill path in two of the % differential units
causing them to operate thus tripping out the transformer

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 41

42
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• The relay settings for transformer protection are kept higher than
those for alternators
• Typical value of alternator is 10% for operating coil and 5% for bias.
The corresponding values for transformer may be 40% and 10%
• Reasons for a higher setting in case of transformer protection are:
(i) A transformer is provided with on-load tap changing gear. CT ratio
can not be changed with varying transformation ratio. CT ratio is
fixed to suit the nominal ratio of power transformer.  for taps
other than nominal, an out of balance current flows through
operating coil of relay during load & external fault conditions
(ii) When the transformer is on “No-Load”, there is no-load current in
the relay, so its setting should be > no-load current

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 43

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Problems encountered in Differential Protection of
Transformers:
1. Unmatched characteristics of CTs
2. Ratio change as a result of tap changing
3. Magnetising inrush current
4. Difference in length of pilot wires on either side of relays

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 44

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Protection against Magnetising Inrush Current:
• When an unloaded transformer is switched on, it draws a large
initial magnetising current (several times rated current of
transformer), called magnetising inrush current
• As inrush current flows only in primary winding, differential
protection will see this inrush current as an internal fault.
• Harmonic contents in the inrush current are different than those in
usual fault current.
• DC component varies from 40 to 60%, second harmonic: 30 to 70%
and third harmonic: 10 to 30%. Other harmonics are progressively
less.
• Third harmonic and its multiples do not appear in CT leads as these
harmonics circulate in delta winding of the transformer and delta
connected CTs on the Y side of the transformer.
• As second harmonic is more than in the fault current, this feature
can be utilised to distinguish between a fault and magnetising
inrush current.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 45

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 46
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Fig. shows a high speed biased differential scheme with harmonic
restraint feature. Relay is made insensitive to magnetising inrush
current
• Operating principle is to filter out harmonics from the differential
current, rectify them and add them to the percentage restraint.
• Restraining coil is energised by a d.c. proportional to bias winding
current as well as the d.c. due to harmonics
• Harmonic restraint is obtained from tuned circuit XC and XL, allows
only current of fundamental frequency to flow through operating coil
• DC and harmonics (mostly second) are diverted into the rectifier
bridge feeding restraining coils.
• Relay is adjusted so as not to operate (not to open) when the second
harmonic (restraining) exceeds 15% of the fundamental current
(operating). The minimum operating time is about 2 cycles

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• DC offset and harmonics are also present in the fault current,
particularly if CT saturates
• Harmonic restraint relay will fail to operate on the occurrence of an
internal fault which contains considerable harmonics due to an arc
or saturation of CT
• To overcome this difficulty, an instantaneous over-current relay
(high set unit) is also incorporated in harmonic restraint scheme.
• This relay is set above the maximum inrush current. It will operate
on heavy internal faults in less than one cycle.
• In an alternative scheme, known as harmonic blocking scheme, a
separate blocking relay whose contacts are in series with those of a
biased differential relay is employed. The blocking relay is set to
operate when second harmonic is < 15% of the fundamental

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
BUCHHOLZ RELAY (GAS ACTUATED RELAY):
• Buchholz relay is a gas-actuated relay installed in oil immersed
transformers (> 750 kVA) for protection against incipient faults
• It gives an alarm in case of incipient (slow-developing) faults and
disconnects transformer from supply for severe internal faults
• It is used to supplement biased differential protection of the
transformer because Buchholz relay cannot necessarily detect short
circuits within the transformer or at the terminals
• Fault inside the transformer tank slowly produces heat,
decomposing solid or liquid insulating material, produces
inflammable gases
• Buchholz relay gives an alarm when a specified amount of gas is
formed. Analysis of gas collected in relay chamber indicates type of
incipient fault.

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TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Construction:
• Buchholz relay is usually installed in the chamber connected
in between conservator and the main tank as shown in Fig.
• Device has two elements, upper element consists of mercury
type switch attached to hollow float, mounted on a hinge.
• Lower element also contains the same elements located in
the direct path of the flow of oil from the transformer to the
conservator.
• Upper element closes an alarm circuit during incipient faults
whereas lower element is arranged to trip the CB in case of
severe internal faults.

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Operation:
(i) In case of incipient faults within the transformer, heat due to
fault causes decomposition of transformer oil in main tank.
• Products of decomposition contain more than 70% of
hydrogen gas, being light tries to go into conservator and in
the process gets entrapped in upper part of relay chamber.
• When a pre-determined amount of gas gets accumulated, it
exerts sufficient pressure on the float to cause it to tilt and
close the contacts of mercury switch attached to it.
• This completes the alarm circuit to sound an alarm

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
(ii)If a serious fault occurs in the transformer, an enormous
amount of gas is generated in the main tank.
• Oil in the main tank rushes towards the conservator via the
Buchholz relay and in doing so tilts and close the contacts of
mercury switch (lower).
• This completes the trip circuit to open the circuit breaker
controlling the transformer
Advantages
(1) It is the simplest form of transformer protection.
(2) It detects the incipient faults at a stage much earlier than is
possible with other forms of protection.

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
Disadvantages
(1) It can only be used with oil immersed transformers equipped
with conservator tanks.
(2) It do not protect the connecting cables which must therefore
have a separate protection
(3) It is a slow acting device, minimum operating time is 0.1 sec,
average time is 0.2 sec. Too sensitive settings are subjected to
false operation on shock and vibration caused by conditions
like earth quakes, mechanical shock to the pipe, tap changer
operation and heavy external faults.

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 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Earth Fault (or) Core Balance Leakage Protection:
• An earth-fault usually involves a partial breakdown of winding
insulation to earth. Resulting leakage current is considerably
less than the short-circuit current
• The earth-fault, if continued for a long time, cause
considerable damage (ultimately develops into a short-circuit)
• It is profitable to employ earth-fault relays in order to ensure
the disconnection of earth-fault or leak in the early stage.
• It is essentially an over-current relay of low setting and
operates as soon as an earth-fault or leak develops.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 55

TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 56

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Three leads of primary winding of power transformer are taken
through the core of a CT which carries a single secondary winding.
• The operating coil of a relay is connected to this secondary.
• Under normal conditions, vector sum of three phase currents is
zero and there is no resultant flux in the core of CT (no matter how
much the load is out of balance)
• Consequently, no current flows through the relay and it remains
inoperative. However, on the occurrence of an earth-fault, the
vector sum of three phase currents is no longer zero.
• Resultant current sets up flux in the core of the C.T. which induces
e.m.f. in the secondary winding. This energises relay to trip the
circuit breaker and disconnect faulty transformer from the system.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 57

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Combined Leakage and Overload Protection:

58
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Core-balance protection suffers from drawback that it cannot
provide protection against overloads. If a fault or leakage
occurs between phases, core-balance relay will not operate.
• In combined leakage and over-load protection (Fig.), two
overload relays and one leakage or earth relay are connected.
• Earth relay has low current setting and operates under earth
or leakage faults only. Overload relays have high current
setting and are arranged to operate against faults between
phases.
• Trip contacts of overload relays and earth-fault relay are
connected in parallel.  with energising of either overload
relay or earth relay, the circuit breaker will be tripped.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 59

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• Restricted Earth Fault Protection

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 60

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• This type of protection is provided to detect earth-faults
within the protected zone of the transformer
• C.T. is fitted in each connection to the protected winding and
circuit secondary windings are connected in parallel to relay
• Earth faults on secondary side are not reflected on primary
side, when primary winding is delta connected or has
unearthed star point (Figs. a and b)
• In such cases, an earth fault relay connected in residual circuit
of 3 CT's on primary side operates on internal earth faults in
primary windings only. Because earth faults on secondary side
do not produce zero sequence currents on primary side.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 61

TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 62

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• For internal earth faults sum of zero-sequence currents is = 2 times
total fault current, but for external faults zero-sequence currents
are either absent or sum to zero in line & neutral-earth connection
• Restricted earth fault protection may then be used for high speed
tripping for faults on star connected earthed secondary winding of
power transformer as shown in Fig c.
• An earth fault (F1) beyond the transformer causes the currents I2
and I1 in CT secondaries,  resultant current in earth fault relay is
negligible
• For earth fault within transformer star connected winding (F2), only
I2 flows (through earth fault relay) and I1 is negligible.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 63

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• When fault occurs near to neutral point of transformer,
voltage for driving earth fault current is small. Hence fault
current is low.
• If relay is to sense such faults, it has to be too sensitive and
would  operate for spurious signals (external faults &
switching surges)
• Hence the practice for relay setting is of the order of 15% of
rated winding current. Such setting protects restricted portion
of the winding. Hence the name “Restricted earth fault
protection”
• Stabilizing resistor is connected in series with the relay to
avoid magnetizing inrush current and also saturation of CT
core
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 64
 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
Other Types of Protection:
1. Over fluxing protection
2. Frame leakage protection
3. Neutral displacement protection
4. Generator-Transformer unit protection
5. Overheating protection
6. Protection of 3-winding and earthing transformer
7. Gas actuated devices
1. Pressure (oil) relief devices
2. Rate of rise of pressure relay
3. Gas accumulator (Buchholz relay)

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 65

 TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
• A 3 phase transformer rated for 33 kV/6.6 kV is connected in
star/delta and the protecting CT on the low voltage side have a ratio
of 400/5. Determine the ratio of CT on the high voltage side.
• Solution:
• Since the LT side is  connected, the CT’s on that side will be Y
connected  if 400 A is the line current, CT secondary current is 5 A
• The line current on the Y side of the power transformer will be 400
X 6.6 / 33 = 80 A
• CT’s on the Y side are  connected and the current required on the
relay side of CT is 5 A.  the current in the CT secondary (phase
current) is 5/3
• The CT ratio on HV side will be 80 : 5/3

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 66

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• The following are the various types of faults that can occur on an
alternator:
STATOR FAULTS:
• The faults possible are:
i. phase-to-phase faults
ii. phase-to ground faults and
iii. inter-turn faults
• Most of the faults occur on stator windings and their connections,
and the majority of these are earth faults.
• They may damage the laminations due to heat generated at the
point of fault and hence need partial reinsulation and rebuilding of
the core which is very costly and time consuming.
• The phase-to-phase and interturn faults are less common as
compared to the phase-to-ground faults.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 67
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• ROTOR FAULTS:
• There may be ground faults or short between field winding turns,
caused by severe mechanical and thermal stresses acting upon
winding insulation
• Modern practice is to operate generator with its field winding
isolated from earth and a simple LG fault does not give any fault
current
• A second fault to earth will short circuit part of field winding and
may thereby produce an unsymmetrical field system which gives
rise to unbalanced forces on rotor and results in excess pressure on
bearings and shaft distortion if the fault is not removed quickly.
• It is necessary to know the existence of first occurrence of earth
fault so that corrective measures are taken before the second fault
occurs (which results in asymmetry of air-gap fluxes, severe
vibration of rotor causes damage to the bearings)

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 68

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Abnormal running conditions:
• These conditions involve:
i. Unbalanced loading,
ii. Overloading,
iii. Over speed,
iv. Overvoltage,
v. Failure of prime mover and
vi. Loss of excitation
i. Unbalanced loading results in circulation of negative sequence
currents in stator winding which gives rise to rotating magnetic field
• This field rotates at double the synchronous speed with respect to
the rotor and induces a voltage of double the frequency in the rotor
conductor. If the degree of unbalance is large these currents will
over-heat the rotor stamping and the field winding.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 69

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
ii. Over loading of the stator will over-heat the stator winding
which may damage insulation depending upon degree of
overloading
iii. Sudden loss of load may cause the machine to over speed
iv. Over-voltages are caused by over-speeding of the generator
or due to defective voltage regulator.
v. Failure of prime mover results in motoring of synchronous
generator and thus draws power from the system in case it is
not a single generator system. This may lead to a dangerous
mechanical condition, if allowed to persist.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 70

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
vi. Loss of excitation of a generator may result in loss of
synchronism and slightly increased generator speed since
the power input to machine remains unchanged.
• Machine behaves as an induction generator and draws its
exciting current from the system which is equal to its full load
rated current and supplying power at a leading power factor.
• This leads to overheating of the stator winding and rotor body
• Loss of excitation may also lead to pole slipping conditions
which result in voltage reduction for outputs above half the
rated load

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 71

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
PROTECTION SCHEMES:
• Stator protection
(a) Percentage differential protection
(b) Protection against stator inter-turn faults
(c) Stator-overheating protection
• Rotor protection
(a) Field ground-fault protection
(b) Loss of excitation protection
(c) Protection against rotor overheating because of unbalanced three-
phase stator currents
• Miscellaneous
(a) Overvoltage protection
(b) Overspeed protection
(c) Protection against motoring
(d) Protection against vibration
(e) Bearing-overheating protection
(f) Protection against auxiliary failure
(g) Protection against voltage regulator failure
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 72
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• STATOR PROTECTION
(a) Percentage/Merz-price Differential/Biased/Longitudinal Protection

73
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• It is used for the protection of generators above 1 MW. It protects
against winding faults. (phase to phase and phase to ground faults)
• For an external fault condition, the currents sent by the CTs on both
sides of the stator winding cancel each other and there is no spill
current in the operating coil, therefore the relay does not operate
• For an internal fault, operating coil carries sum of the currents sent
by both CTs and therefore it operates and trips the circuit breaker.
• The percentage differential protection does not respond to external
faults and overloads. It provides complete protection against phase
to phase faults. It provides protection against ground faults to
about 80 to 85 % of the generator stator windings.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 74

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• It does not provide protection to 100 % of the winding because it is
influenced by the magnitude of the earth fault current which
depends upon the method of neutral grounding.
• When neutral is grounded through an impedance, the differential
protection is supplemented by sensitive earth fault relays
• It is a general practice to use neutral resistance earthing in order to
avoid the adverse effects of earth fault currents.
• In such a case it will not be possible to protect whole of the stator
windings of a star-connected generator against earth faults
• When an earth fault occurs near neutral point, a small fault current
flows because of small emf of short-circuited portion of winding.
• This current, which is further reduced by the resistance of the
neutral earthing, may not cause the relay to operate.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 75

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• The magnitude of the Unprotected zone depends upon value
of resistance employed in neutral earthing and relay setting.
• Makers of protective gear speak of "protecting 80 or 85 % of
the winding“ i.e. fault in 20 or 15 % of winding near neutral
point cannot cause tripping (this portion remains
unprotected!)
• If the relays with very low settings are used for protection of
adequate portion of generator stator winding, it will not be
desirable for reliable stability on heavy through phase-faults.
• In order to overcome the above difficulty, the modified
scheme shown in fig. below has been developed.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 76

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Modified Differential Protection for Alternators

s1 s2

77
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Here setting of earth-fault relay is reduced without impairing
stability.
• In this scheme two elements are arranged for phase fault
protection and the third for earth fault protection only.
• Two phase elements (A and C) together with a balancing resistor
(BR) are connected in star and earth relay (ER) is connected
between this star point and neutral pilot wire.
• Star-connected circuit is symmetrical as regards impedance and any
symmetrical spill current due to high through phase-fault will cancel
at relay star point and will not flow through earth fault relay
• It is possible with this scheme of protection to operate with a
sensitive earth fault relay and still maintain a high degree of
stability
• This sensitive operation of earth fault relay enables low setting
which provides protection to a greater % of stator windings.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 78
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Operation:
• If earth fault occurs on any one phase, out-of-balance secondary
current in CT’s in that phase, will flow through the earth relay and
via pilot wires S1 and S2 to the neutral of the CTs. This will cause
operation of earth fault relay only.
• If a fault occurs between two phases, the out-of-balance currents
will circulate round the two CT secondaries via any two of the coils
(pair A & BR or C & BR) without passing through the earth relay.
Therefore only the phase-fault relays will operate
• For stator faults, tripping of CB to isolate faulty generator is not
sufficient to prevent further damage as generator will still continue
to supply power to fault until its field excitation is suppressed
• Therefore, percentage differential relays initiate an auxiliary relay
which in turn trips the main and field circuit breaker, shuts down
the prime mover and operates an alarm.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 79

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Restricted Earth Fault Protection:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 80

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• In small-size alternators, star point is not available (it is made
inside the generator) and if it is grounded through some low
impedance, % differential relaying for ground faults only can
be provided.
• This protection is known as restricted earth fault protection
(Fig.)
• It can be seen that for an external fault, the current cannot
flow through the operating coil and hence the relay does not
operate.
• For an internal fault, the current will flow only through the CT
in the neutral and not in the winding CTs. Therefore, the
current will flow through the operating coil and the relay will
operate.
• It can be used only for earth faults and not for phase faults
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 81
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(b) Stator Inter-turn Fault or Transverse Percentage Differential
or Split-Phase Protection:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 82

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Longitudinal differential protection cannot be used for inter-turn
faults because the currents at the two ends of the winding remain
same.
• Differential protection against inter-turn faults is provided only for
machines with multi-circuit winding (more than one coil per phase)
• The method used for protection is known as split-phase relaying. If
number of circuits is even, they are divided into two equal groups
of parallel circuits with a CT for each group.
• If the number is odd, number of circuits in each of two groups will
not be equal and CTs must have different primary current ratings so
that under normal conditions their secondary currents will be equal
• Split phase relaying will operate for any type of short circuits in the
generator winding. The scheme is shown in Fig. (a).

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 83

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• For single turn generators (ex. Large steam turbine generators),
there is no necessity of protection against inter-turn faults.
• Fig. a shows inter-turn protection of a 3 phase double wound
generator (as they have to carry very heavy currents)
• The primaries of CTs are inserted in these parallel paths and
secondaries are cross-connected
• When there is no fault, currents flowing through two parallel paths
will be equal and  no current will flow through relay operating coil
• But during inter-turn fault in phase winding, the currents flowing
through the two parallel paths will be different and hence the relay
will operate the CB.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 84

85
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• For protection against inter-turn faults of winding having one circuit
per phase one of the methods suggested uses a five limb voltage
transformer with a tertiary winding.
• It uses zero sequence component of voltage caused by the
reduction of emf induced in the faulty phase.
• In this arrangement, a voltage transformer primary is connected
between each phase terminal and neutral of the winding. The
secondary leads are connected in open delta. The tertiary winding
along with secondary winding are connected to a wattmetric relay.
• The zero sequence voltage (residual voltage of the generator
terminals) appears across tertiary winding which is zero in normal
condition and has some voltage under abnormal condition.
• This residual voltage circulates currents in the current coil of the
watthour metric relay and the secondary of the transformer feeds
the potential coil of the relay for its operation

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 86

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(c) Stator Overheating Protection:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 87

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Overheating of the stator may be caused by the failure of the
cooling system, overloading or short circuit faults
• Modem generators employ two methods to detect
overheating
• In one method, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the
cooling medium which may be hydrogen/water are compared
• The second scheme employs a temperature detector unit
(thermistors, thermocouples or Resistance Temperature
Detectors), relay and Wheatstone bridge for the purpose
• The temperature sensing elements are embedded in the
stator slots at different locations and are connected to a
multi-way selector switch which operates an alarm and relay.
• When the temperature exceeds a certain preset maximum
temperature limit, the relay sounds an alarm.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 88
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• For small generators, a bimetallic strip heated by the
secondary current of the CT is placed in the stator circuit. This
relay will not operate for the failure of the cooling - system.
• Thermocouples are not embedded in the rotor winding as this
makes the slip ring connections very complicated.
• Rotor temperature can be determined by measuring the
winding resistance.
• An ohm-meter type instrument, energised by the rotor
voltage and current and calibrated in temperature is
employed for the purpose.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 89

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• ROTOR PROTECTION:
(a) Rotor Earth Fault Protection:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 90

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• A dc voltage is impressed between the field circuit and earth
through a polarised moving iron relay
• A small power supply is connected to positive pole of field circuit.
• A fault detecting relay and a high resistance to limit the current are
connected in series with this circuit.
• An earth fault at any point on the field circuit will pass a current of
sufficient magnitude through the voltage source, earth fault relay
and earth fault point, causes the operation of the relay
• Since positive terminal of bridge rectifier is grounded, during
normal condition, current will flow from exciter to relay via R, but
relay will not operate as current is very low (limited by R)
• During fault, current flows in the Reverse direction

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 91

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(b) Loss of Excitation:

Very large alternators cannot be allowed to run asynchronously for

long as relative motion between stator field and rotor induces
large currents in rotor body (high rate of heating of rotor surfaces)
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 92
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• The protection scheme uses an offset mho relay or directional
impedance relay having a characteristics as shown is recommended
• Offset mho relay is operated from a.c. current and voltage at the
generator terminals.
• Relay setting is so arranged that relay operates whenever excitation
goes below a certain value and the machine starts running
asynchronously
• During normal steady state operation, impedance seen from stator
terminals lies in First quadrant and after loss of excitation, it enters
into the Fourth quadrant by following the locus as shown in fig.
• By enclosing this region within the relay operating characteristics,
the relay will operate, which trips the field CB and the generator is
disconnected from the system

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 93

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(c) Protection against Rotor Overheating (Unbalanced Loading)

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 94

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• The negative sequence component of unbalanced stator currents
cause double frequency current to be induced in the rotor iron.
• High value of this component leads to severe overheating of rotor
• The unbalanced condition may arise due to the following reasons:
(i) When a fault occurs in the stator winding
(ii) An unbalanced external fault which is not cleared quickly
(iii) Open-circuiting of a phase
(iv) Failure of one contact of the circuit breaker
• Time for which the rotor can be allowed to withstand such a
condition is related by the expression I22t =K
where, I2 = negative sequence component of the current, t = time,
and K = constant which depends on the type of generating set and
its cooling system, K = 7 for turbo-generator with direct cooling, K =
60 for a salient-pole hydro generator
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 95
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• Over-current relay used here has a long operating time
characteristic (0.2 to 2000 s) with a facility of range settings so
as to permit its characteristics to be matched to I22t
characteristics of the machine
• It has a typical shaded pole construction with a special
electromagnet.
• The negative sequence filter has an output proportional to I2
• It actuates an alarm as well as the time-current relay which
has a very inverse characteristic.
• Alarm unit also starts a timer, which makes a delay in the
operation of relay to prevent it from unnecessary operation
on unbalanced loads of short duration

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 96

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• MISCELLANEOUT PROTECTION
(a) Over Voltage Protection:
• Overvoltage may be caused by a defective voltage regulator or it
may occur due to sudden loss of electrical load on generators.
• When a load is lost, there is an increase in speed and hence the
voltage also increases.
• In case of a steam power station, it is possible to bypass the steam
before the speed reaches a limit above which a dangerous
overvoltage can be produced.
• In hydro-stations it is not possible to stop or divert water flow so
quickly and overspeed may occur.
• Therefore, overvoltage relays are provided with hydro and gas-
turbine sets. But overvoltage relays are not commonly used with
turbo-alternators.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 97

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
• The protection used is an a.c. over voltage relay which has a
pick-up value of 110% of the normal value and operates
instantaneously at about 130% to 160% of the rated voltage.
• The relay unit should be compensated against the frequency
and it should be energized from a potential transformer other
than the one used for the automatic voltage regulator.
• The operation of the relay introduces resistance in the
generator or exciter field circuit and if over-voltage still
persists, the main generator breaker and the exciter field
breaker is tripped.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 98

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(b) Overspeed Protection:
• The speed goes up whenever there is sudden loss of load i.e., there is
sudden loss in output of the generator.
• This reduction in output can be detected using a wattmetric relay at the
generator terminals which operates instantaneously to close its contacts.
• A second relay monitors the steam input to the turbines at a chosen stage
and the contacts are held closed when the steam pressure is in the full
load region.
• The speed governor normally controls its speed. It is designed to prevent
any speed rise even with a 100 % load rejection.
• An emergency centrifugal overspeed device is also incorporated to trip
emergency steam valves when the speed exceeds 110 %.
• Severe electrical faults also cause overspeed and hence HV, field circuit
breakers and the steam turbine valves are tripped simultaneously.
• As water flow cannot be stopped quickly, hydrosets are provided with
overspeed protection, the setting of overspeed relays is 140%.
• Overspeed relays are also provided with gas-turbine sets.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 99
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(c) Protection against Motoring:
• When the steam supply is cut off, the generator runs as a motor.
• The steam turbine gets overheated because insufficient steam
passes through the turbine to carry away the heat generated by
windage loss. Therefore a protective relay is required for the
protection of the steam turbine.
• Generally, the relay operates when power output falls below 3%.
• A sensitive reverse power relay is available which has an operating
setting of about 0.5 % of the generator's output.
• Hydrosets sometimes require protection against motoring.
• Cavitation problems arise in water turbines at low water flow.
Protection is provided by reverse power relay having an operating
setting of 0.2 to 2% of the rated power.
• A diesel set and gas turbine require 25% and 50% setting
respectively.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 100

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(d) Protection against Vibration:
• Rotor earth fault protection and negative sequence protection
of generator against unbalanced loads, prevent or reduce
vibration under those circumstances.
• A vibration detector may be mounted on one of the bearing
pedestals in the case of a horizontal shaft generating set, or
on the upper guide-bearing in case of a vertical shaft
generating set
• It may be set to trip the machine or initiate an alarm when the
radial deflections of a certain duration exceed a pre-
determined value.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 101

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(e) Bearing Overheating Protection:
• Bearing overheating can be detected by a relay actuated by a
Thermometer-type bulb inserted in a hole in the bearing, or
by a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) relay, such as
used for stator-overheating protection, with the detector
embedded in the bearing.
• In case lubricating oil is circulated through the bearing under
pressure, the oil temperature may be monitored if the system
has provision for giving an alarm, if the oil circulation is
stepped.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 102

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(f) Protection against Auxiliary Failure:
• The power plant auxiliaries are very important for the running
of the generating sets. High grade protective equipment is
employed for their reliable operation.
• For large generating sets, protection against loss of vacuum
and loss of boiler pressure are provided. Such failures are due
to the failure of the associated auxiliaries.
• So the protection provided for the loss of vacuum and loss of
boiler pressure provides to some extent protection against
the auxiliary failure.
• In the case of such failures generating sets are shut down
• Protection against the failure of induced draught fans is also
provided.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 103
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(g) Protection against Voltage Regulator Failure:
• Modem quick response automatic voltage regulators are very complex.
They are subject to component failures. Suitable protective devices are
provided against their failure.
• A “Definite Time DC Overcurrent Relay” is provided which operates when
there is overcurrent in the rotor circuit for a period longer than a
prescribed limit. In such a situation, the excitation is switched to a
predetermined value for manual control.
• The supply for the regulator reference voltage is given from a separate
voltage transformer. Protection is also required against the failure of the
regulator reference voltage. An under voltage relay is used for this
purpose.
• A better approach is to use a “Voltage Balance Relay” which compares the
voltage derived from the instrument transformer with the voltage derived
from the voltage regulator transformer. If there is mal-operation of the
voltage regulator due to the failure of the reference voltage, the relay
operates and switches the excitation to a predetermined value for manual
control

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 104

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(h) Protection against Pole Slipping:
• In case of system disturbances after the operation of circuit breaker or
when heavy load is thrown or switched on, the generator rotor may
oscillate.
• Consequently, variations in current, voltage and power factor may take
place. Such oscillations may disappear in a few seconds. Therefore, in such
a situation, tripping is not desired.
• In some cases, angular displacement of the rotor exceeds the stability limit
and the rotor slips a pole pitch.
• If the disturbance is over, the generator may regain synchronism. If it does
not, it should be tripped.
• An alternative approach is to trip the field switch and allow the machine
to run as an Asynchronous Machine, thereby removing the oscillations
from the machine.
• Then the load is reduced to a low value at which the machine can re-
synchronise itself.
• If the machine does not re-synchronise, the field switch is reclosed at the
minimum excitation setting. This will cause the machine to re-synchronise
smoothly.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 105
 GENERATOR PROTECTION
(i) Field Suppression:
• When a fault occurs in the generator winding, the circuit breaker
trips and the generator is isolated from the system.
• However, the generator still continues to feed the fault as long as
the excitation is maintained, and the damage increases. Therefore,
it is desirable to suppress the field as quickly as possible.
• The field cannot be destroyed immediately. The energy associated
with the flux must be dissipated into an external device.
• To achieve this, the field winding is connected to a discharge
resistor to absorb the stored energy.
• The discharge resistor is connected in parallel with the field winding
before opening the field circuit breaker

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 106

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
1. The neutral point of a three-phase 20 MVA, 11 kV alternator is
earthed through a resistance of 5 ohms, the relay is set to operate
when there is an out of balance current of 1.5 A. CTs have a ratio of
1000/5. What is the percentage of winding protected? Also
calculate earthing resistance required to protect 90% of the winding

107
GENERATOR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 108

 GENERATOR PROTECTION
2. A 5000 kVA, 6600 V, star-connected alternator has a synchronous
reactance of 2 /phase and 0.5  resistance. It is protected by a
Merz-price balanced current system which operates when out-of-
balance current exceeds 30% of load current. Determine what
proportion of alternator winding is unprotected if the star point is
earthed through a resistance of 6.5 

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 109

GENERATOR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 110

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection of three-phase induction motors and synchronous
motors are only considered.
Types of Faults:
1. Stator Faults: Stator faults include phase-to-phase faults, earth
faults and inter-turn faults.
• Faults in the motor windings occur mainly due to insulation failure
that may occur due to excessive temperature rise
• Phase-to-phase faults are rare because enough insulation is
provided between phases.
• Earth faults are more likely to occur. Inter-turn faults invariably
develop into earth fault, so it is considered unnecessary to provide
separate protection against inter-turn faults.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 111

 MOTOR PROTECTION
2. Rotor Faults: Such faults are more likely to occur in wound rotor
motors. Faults in wound rotors may be either earth faults
(conductor-to-earth faults) or inter-turn faults, which are caused
by severe mechanical and thermal stresses
• Other faults that are likely to occur include failure of bearings and
faults in starters and associated circuits.
Abnormal Operating Conditions:
1. Prolonged Overloading: It is caused by excessive mechanical
loading, short-time cyclic overloading. It causes excessive
temperature rise of winding and deterioration of insulation
resulting in winding fault.
2. Stalling: Due to mechanical problem or overload at start, motor
may stall and may refuse to start. It draws excessive current.
Hence immediate isolation of motor from supply mains is essential

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 112

 MOTOR PROTECTION
3. Unbalanced Supply Voltages: Unbalanced three-phase supply
causes negative sequence current to flow in the motor that is likely
to cause overheating of the motor.
4. Single Phasing: This is caused when one of the supply lines get
disconnected due to blowing of a fuse or open-circuit in one of the
three supply connections.
In such conditions, motor continues to operate, provided that the
load does not exceed 57.7% of normal rating.
Single phasing may cause extreme magnetic unbalance, reduction
in torque and overheating due to negative phase sequence
currents - damage the motor
5. Under-Voltage: Under-voltage supply will generally cause the
motor to draw more current for a given load

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 113

 MOTOR PROTECTION
6. Reverse Phase: Direction of rotation of a poly phase motor is
reversed if the phase sequence is changed.
7. Loss of Synchronism: A synchronous motor may pull out of
step due to severe overload or reduction in supply voltage.
• Starting Current:

114
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• An induction motor draws a very large starting current of the order
of 6 to 8 times the full-load current if started direct-on-line.
• Amplitude of the starting current may be comparable to fault
current.  an over-current relay must be able to discriminate
between these two currents
• Hence, coordination between the starting characteristic of the
motor and the over-current relay is required.
• Fig. shows starting current superimposed on the thermal capability
curve of the motor, and the characteristic of an over-current relay
• It can be seen from fig. that OC relay characteristic must be above
starting characteristics but below thermal characteristics of motor.
• This will ensure that the protective relay does not operate during
starting of the motor but will positively operate when the load
exceeds the motor's thermal capability.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 115

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection Requirements:
• Motor protection should be simple and economical. Cost of
protective system should be within about 5% of motor cost. The
motor protection should not operate during starting and permissible
overloads. The choice of motor-protection scheme depends upon the
following:
— Size of motor, rated voltage, power
— Type : squirrel-cage or wound rotor
— Type of starter, switchgear and control gear
— Cost of motor and driven equipment
— Importance of process, whether essential service motor or not?
—Type of load, starting currents, abnormal conditions, etc.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 116

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection of Low-Voltage (Below 1,000 V) 3-Phase Induction
Motors:
• These are the most widely used industrial motors. Circuit
diagram for a magnetic contactor starter for a low-voltage 3-
phase induction motor is shown in fig.
• It essentially consists of a set of 'start' and 'stop' push buttons
with associated contacts, overload and under voltage
protective devices
• Start push button (green coloured) is a momentary contact
switch that is held normally open by a spring. The stop push
button (red coloured) is held normally closed by a spring.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 117

118
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Operation:
• When ON push button (6) is pressed, control coil (5) gets
voltage from supply. The coil current flows through contacts
of (6) and (7)
• The energized coil lifts the contactor (4) and closes Main
contact (RYB) and auxiliary contact (C).
• The ON push button (6) is then shunted by auxiliary contact
(C). Motor starts running continuously
• If motor is to be stopped, OFF button (7) is pressed. The
control coil is de-energized. The contactor (4) opens by spring
action and gravity. Therefore motor stops running.
• If supply voltage fails, control coil is de-energized and
contactor opens.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 119
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Thermal over-load relays are used for overload protection. It
is basically a bimetallic strip between two contacts and
remain in series with the motor
• During overloading, motor current increases causing heating
of strip
• Due to bimetallic structure the strip bends depending upon
the respective linear expansion of the two metals in the strip.
• Bending of bimetallic strips causes movement of a common
lever which in turn opens/operates the OFF button in case of
overloads.
• In case of bigger motors relays are connected in secondary
circuit of CTs
• HRC fuses are used for short-circuit protection of motors. It is
used to prevent undue damage to the motor and the starter.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 120
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection of Large Motors:
• Large motors are provided protection against faults in
windings and associated circuits, excessive overloads and
short-circuits, under voltage, phase unbalance and single-
phasing, phase-reversal and switching over voltages.
• Characteristics of relays are such that operating time reduces
with the increase in the magnitude of the fault current
• Protection against short-circuits is provided by high set
instantaneous over current and earth fault relays

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 121

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• STATOR PROTECTION (Phase-to-Phase Fault Protection):

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 122

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Stator short-circuits can be either to earth or between phases.
The thermal or instantaneous overcurrent relays are
provided for this protection
• Phase-fault protection is provided by two high-set
instantaneous O/C relay with setting is well above the
maximum starting current
• Earth-fault protection is provided by means of a simple
instantaneous relay having a setting of approximately 30% of
the motor full load current in the residual circuit of three CTs.
• Operation of relay due to CT saturation during initial high
starting current can be avoided by increasing voltage setting
of the relay by inserting a stabilizing resistor in series with it
• When a motor operates on an unearthed neutral system
differential protection is provided
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 123
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Overload Protection of Induction Motors:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 124

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Overload protective devices (embedded in stator slots) can be
grouped as:
— Those which respond to motor current, e.g. bimetal relays,
electromagnetic relays, static relays
— Those which respond to winding temperature, e.g.
thermostats, thermistors, thermocouples, etc.
• The current sensing overload protecting devices can sense the
following abnormal conditions:
1. Overloads, under-voltage
2. Single phasing
3. Locked rotor, stalling
4. Heavy starting
5. Continuous overloads
6. Heavy breaking.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 125
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• However, the following conditions can be sensed only by the
embedded thermal devices :
1. Temperature rise due to higher ambient temperature.
2. Temperature rise due to failure of cooling system
3. Temperature rise due to other causes
• The purpose of thermal-overload protection is to protect the
motor insulation from excessive thermal stresses
• During full load, temperature of motor winding reaches almost
maximum permissible unit
• During abnormal condition, temperature of stator winding rises
exponentially with time under moderate overloads
• Rate of temperature rise is determined by losses and thermal time
constant of stator. Heat loss from motor to surrounding air
depends upon ambient temperature, ventilation & design aspects.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 126
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• For any machine, thermal withstand curves (motor heating
characteristics) can be drawn for 'cold‘ and 'warm' conditions
• ‘Replica' type thermal relay whose characteristic is an
approximate replica of motor heating curve trips at a point
where the motor heating curve crosses relay characteristics
• Relay is compensated for ambient temperature variation so it
can protect motor for both cold start and hot start conditions
• Inverse time O/C relay will tend to over protect at low current
and under protect at high currents. However, O/C relay is very
easy to adjust & test and it is self-reset
• O/C relays gives an alarm for overloads about 115% of rated
current of motor and trips beyond this point
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 127
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection against Unbalance:
• The voltage supplied to three phase induction motor can be
un-balanced due to any of the following reasons:
— Single phase loads on distribution service line
— Fuse blown out or short circuit within or outside the motor
— Phase failure by blown fuse (single phasing)
• Negative sequence currents caused by unbalanced voltage
results in rotating magnetic field revolving in opposite
direction
• This field induces double frequency currents in the rotor body
and conductors, leads to rotor and stator heating

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 128

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Unbalanced protection provided to a motor should not disconnect
the motor for permissible unbalance of short duration
• Permissible loading depends upon percentage unbalance and ratio
of positive sequence impedance to negative sequence impedance
• Unbalanced protection can be based upon the following methods:
1. Bimetallic relays arranged to trip faster for unbalanced currents.
2. Single phase relays sensing overcurrent in heavily loaded phases.
3. Phase unbalance relays.
• For smaller motors, separate phase unbalance relay is not justified.
• For larger motors, additional unbalanced current relays are
provided. The secondary currents of CT/PT's are fed to negative
phase sequence filter. The output of it is given to a O/C relay

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 129

MOTOR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 130

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• There are certain situations where the negative sequence
relay does not operate correctly
• For example, if there is an open circuit fault between supply
and relay then the relay measures negative sequence voltage
across motor, which is substantial and  relay operates
correctly (Fig.a)
• However, if open circuit is between relay and motor (Fig.b)
then negative sequence relay does not operate as the
negative sequence component of supply voltage is very small
• So to detect the negative sequence component in the line
currents, Single phasing method is used

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 131

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Protection against Single-Phasing (Phase Failure):
• Single phasing occur because of non-closure of one pole of a three-
phase contactor or circuit breaker, a fuse failure or similar causes
• Single phasing causes unbalanced stator currents. The negative
sequence component of it causes heating of rotor
• The motor has a limited ability to carry negative sequence currents,
because of thermal limitations.
• Single phasing causes the motor to develop insufficient torque,
leading to stalling, making the motor to draw excessive current and
finally leads to burn out unless the motor is tripped.
• The thermal capability of motor, I22t (heating characteristics)
represents the energy liberated as heat due to negative sequence
current I2

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 132

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• A 3-phase induction motor continues to run even if one of the
supply lines is disconnected. The whole power is then supplied
through two windings and they are likely to get overheated
• For small motors, separate protection against single phasing is
generally not necessary as thermal relays sense increased current
in healthy phases due to single phasing
• During single phasing, the current in healthy phases increases by 3
times. This increases the heating of motor windings.
• Negative sequence component causes magnetic flux rotating in
opposite direction to the main flux
• Thereby double frequency currents are induced in rotor body and
rotor conductors, causes rotor heating (very high)
• This heating is not detected by replica type thermal relays
protecting the stator winding.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 133
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• The phase overcurrent relays act slowly. Hence single phasing
causes major damage to motor rotor.
• In some applications like elevator motors, where it is dangerous to
eliminate plugging and reversing, the motor should be
disconnected instantaneously when single phasing occurs.
• The phase unbalance relays are provided for large motors. But they
are with time lag depending upon magnitude of unbalance.
• “Single phasing preventers” are used for small motors. These are
connected to secondaries of line CT's. These contain a negative
sequence filter. The output of negative sequence filter is fed to a
level detector which sends tripping command to starter or circuit
breaker when negative sequence current exceeds a pre-set limit.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 134

MOTOR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 135

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• The O/C IDMT relay has a long operating time and has a range of
settings to allow its characteristics (I22t = K) to be accurately
matched to those of the motor
• When excessive heating occurs due to overloading or single
phasing, thermistors embedded in the stator causes the tripping as
a result of change in the resistance.
• Fig. illustrates the block diagram of an over temperature protective
scheme for a three phase Direct On-Line start type squirrel cage
induction motor
• Negative Thermal Coefficient (NTC) thermistors are located at the
surfaces of the three stator winding phases (one on each phase)
and are electrically connected into the temperature sensing circuit.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 136

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• The signal from the temperature sensing circuit is fed to a switching
amplifier which causes a relay to operate when this signal equals or
exceeds a preset level.
• A normally closed (N/C) contact of this relay is connected in the
control circuit. During normal loads signal from the temperature
sensors is below preset value and the relay is non-operative.
• Its N/C contact keeps the control circuit energized and the
contactor remains closed. When the temperature reaches its upper
limit the signal from the temperature sensing circuit causes an
output in the amplifier and the relay operates to open its contact.
• The control circuit gets de-energized and the contactor opens to
disconnect the motor from supply.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 137

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Advantages:
i. It can be used for motors of different ratings but of the same class
of insulation.
ii. The temperature at which the relay operates is adjustable.
iii. An advance warning about the rising of temperature can be given
if three additional thermistors, set to operate at a slightly lower
temperature are installed
iv. Protection is provided even if one or two of the three thermistors
get overheated. Thus the scheme has an inherent capability of
protection against single phasing
v. When the temperature of the motor winding and in consequence
that of the thermistor has dropped to a low value the relay
automatically resets and it is possible to restart it.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 138

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Reverse Phase Protection:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 139

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• The direction of rotation of an induction motor depends upon
the phase sequence of the supply voltage
• Assuming after the repairs, the phase sequence of supply is
reversed, the motor will run in wrong direction
• In some applications, phase reversal is dangerous, e.g.
elevators, cranes, hoists, trams etc. In such applications phase
reversal relays should be provided
• The phase reversal relay may be provided at main incoming
substation of industrial works
• The phase reversal relay based on electromagnetic principle
comprises a disc motor driven by magnetic system actuated
by secondaries of two line CT's or VT's.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 140

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• For correct phase sequence (RYB) the disc exerts torque in positive
direction so as to keep the auxiliary contacts closed
• When phase reversal takes place, the torque reverses and the disc
rotates in opposite direction to open the contacts
• Thereby the magnetic coil of starter can be de-energized or circuit
breaker can be tripped.
• The solid-state phase reversal relays and phase failure relay senses
the phase reversal or phase failure.
• Its torque is proportional to sine product of two line-to-line voltages
• The relay will not close its contacts and hence the motor will not
start unless all the three phases are present in the correct sequence

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 141

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Under Voltage Protection:
• Operation of motor on undervoltage will generally cause
overcurrent and thus can be protected by overload devices or
temperature sensitive devices
• However, a separate single-element undervoltage relay
energized with phase-earth or phase-phase voltage can be
provided to protect against a three-phase drop in voltage or
an attempt to start with low voltage on all phases
• A time delay is usually incorporated to prevent tripping by a
transient voltage drop.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 142

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Loss of Synchronism:

143
 MOTOR PROTECTION
• A synchronous motor may pull out of step due to severe
overload or due to reduction in supply voltage.
• Such a condition may be detected by a relay which responds
to change in power factor that occurs when there is pole
slipping
• One such typical circuit is shown in Fig. The voltage between
two phases is compared with the current in the third phase;
an attracted armature relay energized from a full-wave
rectifier bridge is differentially connected and is in the
operated state so long as the motor is in synchronism (step)
• A nonlinear resistor protects the rectifiers and extends the
operating range of the relay.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 144

 MOTOR PROTECTION
• Stator Earth Fault protection / Core Balance Protection /
Zero Sequence Current Transformers (ZSCT) Protection:
• Same as Generator Protection (Refer Previous slides)

• Inter-Turn Fault Protection:

• Same as Generator Protection (Refer Previous slides)
• Usually will not be provided; except large motors.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 145

BUSBAR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 146

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• The word “bus” is derived from the Latin word “omnibus”
which means Common for All
• Busbars are nerve-centres of the power system where various
circuits are connected together. These are NODES of the
electrical circuit
• Fig. shows a busbar having an N1 number of incoming lines
and an N2 number of outgoing lines. The protective zone, to
be generated by the protective relays is also shown.
• Under normal power flow condition sum of incoming currents
is equal to the sum of outgoing currents, i.e.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 147

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Thus, there is a large concentration of short-circuit capacity at
busbars. A fault on busbar (rare) causes enormous damage
• When protective relays operate to isolate the busbar from the
system, there is a large disruption to the loads
• Busbars are located in switchyards, substations and supply
kiosks. The switchyards because of their outdoor nature are
subject to vagaries of weather
• The substations are well protected in all respects and fault
probability is indeed very low
• Similarly, supply kiosks are totally enclosed and sealed.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 148

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• The bus zone, for the purpose of protection, includes not only
the busbars themselves but also the isolating switches, circuit
breakers and associated connections
• In the event of fault on any section of the busbar, all circuit
equipments connected to that section must be tripped out to
give complete isolation
• Busbar protection needs special attention because of the
following reasons:
1. Fault level (short circuit capacity) at busbars is very high
2. Fault on the busbar would result in widespread supply
interruption
3. System stability is adversely affected

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 149

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Causes of faults:
• Weakening of insulation because of ageing, corrosion
because of salty water, breakdown of insulation because of
over-voltages, foreign objects and so on.
• Because of low probability of busbar faults, for many years, it
was considered unnecessary to provide explicit protection to
busbars
• Busbars fall in the overlap between protective zones on either
side, so they do get back-up protection.
• However, as the system voltage went on increasing and short-
circuit capacities went on building up, it was no longer
advisable to leave busbars unprotected on a primary basis

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 150

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Bus zone faults can generally be classified as,
i. Failure of CB’s or failure to clear under through fault conditions
ii. Insulation failure due to material deterioration
iii. Flashover caused by prolonged and excessive overvoltages
iv. Errors in the operation and maintenance of switchgear
v. Foreign objects accidentally falling on busbars
• There are several types of busbar arrangements. Busbars are
usually bare rectangular, round tubes, round solid bars or square
tubes cross section, usually of aluminium (less frequently copper).
• The most commonly used schemes for busbar protection are:
1. Bus backup protection
2. Differential protection
3. Fault bus or Frame leakage protection
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 151
 BUSBAR PROTECTION
1. Bus backup protection

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 152

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• In principle it is the simplest of all to protect the buses with
aid of backup protections of connected supplying elements
• When no separate bus protection is provided but distance
protection is provided, it is possible to cover busbars within
zone 2 reach of distance relays
• Referring to fig., the bus A is covered in the second step of
distance protection B. Thus, in the event of fault on bus A, the
distance protection B will operate if protection (a) fails
• In such a system, the protection is slow and there can be
unwanted disconnection of all incoming parallel circuits of A

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 153

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Distance protection is widely employed for the protection of
transmission lines, hence it is quite economical to use the
same for bus protection.
• Above scheme may be quite satisfactory for small switch gear
installations but for large and important installations a
separate bus zone protection is provided.
• Referring to fig.
a) Local over-current protection at station A provides the
primary protection to bus zone A
b) Remote over-current protection or impedance protection at
station B provides back-up protection to bus zone A
c) Local over-current protection of incoming lines or feeders at
station B provides primary protection to bus B
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 154
 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Drawbacks of such protection are:
i. Delayed action
ii. Disconnection of more circuits in case there are two or more
incoming lines and
iii. Exact discrimination is not possible.
• Bus backup protection may also mean that in case the
breaker fails to operate for a fault on the outgoing feeder,
then it must be regarded as a bus fault
• It should then open all breakers on that bus. Such a backup
protection can be provided with appropriate time delay
through a timer.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 155

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
2. Differential Protection of Busbars:
Selection of CT Ratios:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 156

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Fig. shows a busbar, having two incoming feeders and one outgoing
feeder being protected by a simple differential protection scheme.
The currents shown are for normal load flow
• Let us decide the CT ratios on the basis of maximum primary load
current seen by each CT
• Thus, CTs on the incoming feeder will have CT ratios of 1000/1 A
and 2000/1 A, respectively. The CT on the outgoing feeder will have
a CT ratio of 3000/1 A.
• However, with this choice of CT ratios, it can be seen from the
diagram that there is a spill current even during the healthy
condition. Thus, the method of selecting CT ratio on the basis of
maximum primary current seen by the feeder is not correct.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 157

BUSBAR PROTECTION

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 158

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Fig. shows the correct method of setting the CT ratios for the
busbar differential protection.
• It can be seen that CT ratios of all the CTs are equal and are
based on the primary current of that feeder which carries
maximum current
• Thus all the CT ratios are 3000/1 A.  there is no spill current
through OC relay and the scheme remains stable.
• An important Rule for the selection of CT ratios for all the CTs
in a busbar differential protection,:

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 159

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Differential Protection

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 160

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• For main bus-bars in power stations, due to their importance, it is
required that disconnection be without any delay in case of faults
• Hence it is imperative to use a differential current protection
without time delay
• The protection is based on simple circulating current principle that
under normal or external fault conditions, sum of currents entering
into a busbar will be equal to sum of currents leaving the busbar
• In case sum of these currents is not zero, it must be due to a short-
circuit either a ground fault or phase to-phase fault.
• Hence this protection scheme is applicable to both types of faults
i.e., phase-to-phase faults as well as ground faults.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 161

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Fig. shows single line diagram of Current Differential scheme for a
station busbar. It is fed by a generator and supplies load to 2 lines
• Secondaries of CTs in generator, lines 1 and 2 are all connected in
parallel. Protective relay is connected across this.
• All CTs must be of the same ratio regardless of the capacities of the
various circuits
• Under normal load or external fault conditions, sum of the currents
entering the bus is equal to those leaving it and no current flows
through the relay
• If a fault occurs within the protected zone, the currents entering the
bus will no longer be equal to those leaving it
• Difference of these currents will flow through relay and cause the
opening of the generator CB and each of the line circuit breakers.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 162
 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Main drawback of differential overcurrent protection is difference
in the magnetic conditions (saturation) of iron-cored CTs which may
cause false operation of the relay at the time of an external fault
• Even with identical CTs having large iron cores to avoid the
saturation with maximum fault currents dc transient component
creates problem due to its slow decay.
• Biasing of differential relays improves the stability considerably but
does not solve the problem completely.
• Better discrimination between internal and external faults can be
had if high impedance bus differential relay is used
• High impedance relay is an overcurrent relay with a series
resistance, remains stable against spill currents due to external
faults or CTs inaccuracies.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 163

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Another method of protecting busbar sections is by means of
Voltage Differential protection, which overcomes the
difficulties of iron cored CTs
• In this scheme, CTs without iron Cores known as Linear
Couplers are employed so that they have a much larger
number of secondary turns than an iron-core CT.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 164

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• In this scheme, secondary windings of CTs are connected
together in series and the differential relay coil is connected
across them as illustrated in fig.
• Under normal operating conditions or under external fault
conditions, sum of voltages induced (proportional to primary
currents) in the secondary windings is zero
• But in the event of an internal fault on the busbar, voltages of
the CTs in all source circuits add to cause the flow of current
through secondary windings and differential relay
• This scheme provides high speed protection for a relatively
small net voltage in the differential circuit.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 165

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
3. Frame Leakage or Fault-Bus protection

166
 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• It is possible to design a station so that faults that develop are
mostly earth-faults.
• This can be achieved by providing earthed metal barrier
(Fault Bus) surrounding each conductor throughout its entire
length in the bus structure and connected to conductor
through insulator
• With this arrangement, every fault that might occur must
involve a connection between a conductor and an earthed
metal part.
• By directing flow of earth-fault current, it is possible to detect
the faults and determine their location. This type of
protection is known as fault bus protection

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 167

 BUSBAR PROTECTION
• Metal supporting structure or fault bus is earthed through a
CT. A relay is connected across the secondary of this CT
• Under normal operating conditions, there is no current flow
from fault bus to ground and the relay remains inoperative.
• A fault involving a connection between a conductor and
earthed supporting structure will result in current flow to
ground through fault bus, causing the relay to operate
• Operation of relay will trip all breakers connected to the bus
• Sometimes an impedance is connected in the earth
connection to limit the short circuit current during line-to-
earth fault

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 168

 TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION
• Probability of faults occurring on the lines is much more due to
their greater length and exposure to atmospheric conditions
• Protection schemes employed for alternators and transformers,
with slight modifications, may also be employed for protection of
transmission lines
• The requirements of line protection are:
i. In the event of a short-circuit, circuit breaker closest to the fault
should open, all other CBs remaining in a closed position
ii. In case the nearest breaker to the fault fails to open, back-up
protection should be provided by the adjacent circuit breakers.
iii. Relay operating time should be just as short as possible in order to
preserve system stability, without unnecessary tripping of circuits.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 169

 TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION
• Protection of lines presents a problem quite different from the
protection of generators, transformers and busbars
• While differential protection is ideal method for lines, it is much
more expensive to use.
• Two ends of a line may be several kilometers apart and to compare
two currents, a costly pilot-wire circuit is required. This expense
may be justified but in general less costly methods are used
• There are several protective schemes for transmission lines and
may be grouped into two groups, “Non-unit” type and “Unit” type.
• Non-unit type of protection includes time-graded over-current,
current-graded over-current and distance protections, while unit
type protection includes pilot-wire differential protection, carrier-
current protection based on phase comparison method etc.
UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 170
 TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION
• As ground faults are more frequent on overhead transmission lines
and ground fault current is different from phase fault current in
magnitude, separate protection systems are necessary
• Time graded O/C protection is normally employed for back-up
protection in large transmission systems or where time-lag can be
permitted
• Distance protection is used when time-lag cannot be permitted
from considerations of stability.
• For very short lines Reactance type is preferred, for medium length
lines, Impedance relay suits and for longer lines mho relays are
suitable
• Pilot-wire protection operate only for faults occurring within the
protected zone and no back-up protection
• Carrier current protection is employed for long and inter-connected
lines

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 171

 TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION
• NON-UNIT TYPE PROTECTION:
A. Time-Graded Over Current Protection:
• Time discrimination is incorporated here, i.e., time setting of relays
is so graded that in the event of fault, the smallest possible part of
the system is isolated. A few important cases are discussed here.
1. Radial feeder:
• The main characteristic of a radial system is that power can flow
only in one direction, from generator or supply end to the load.
• It has the disadvantage that continuity of supply cannot be
maintained at the receiving end in the event of fault.
• Time-graded protection of a radial feeder can be achieved by using
(i) Definite time relays and (ii) Inverse time relays.

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i. Using definite time relays:
• In Fig., time of operation of each relay is fixed and is independent
of the operating current.
• In this system, time setting of O/C relays is such that farther the
relay from the generating station lesser is the time of operation.
• Relay 4 (OC4) has an operating time of 0.5 second while for other
relays, time delay is successively increased by 0.5 second.
• If a fault occurs in the section between OC4 and OC5, it will be
cleared in 0.5 second by relay, OC4 and CB4 because all other
relays have higher operating time.
• If the relay at OC4 fails to trip, OC3 relay will operate after a time
delay of 0.5 second i.e. after 1 second from the occurrence of
fault. In this way only a part/section will be isolated.

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• The disadvantage of this system is that
1. if there are a number of feeders in series, tripping time for faults
near supply end becomes high (2 seconds in this case). However,
in most cases, it is necessary to limit the maximum tripping time
to 2 seconds. This disadvantage can be overcome to a reasonable
extent by using inverse-time relays
2. Time lag is to be provided which is not desirable on short-circuits
3. It is difficult to coordinate and requires changes with the addition
of loads
4. It is not suitable for important long distance transmission lines
where rapid fault clearance is necessary to ensure stability of the
systems

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ii. Using Inverse time relays:

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• Fig. shows the over current protection of a radial feeder using
inverse time relays in which operating time is inversely
proportional to the operating current
• With this arrangement, farther the circuit breaker from the
generating station, the shorter is its relay operating time
• Three relays at A, B and C are assumed to have inverse-time
characteristics.
• A fault in section BC will give relay times which will allow
breaker at B to trip out before the breaker at A.

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2. Parallel feeders

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• Where continuity of supply is particularly necessary, two
parallel feeders may be installed.
• If a fault occurs on one feeder, it can be disconnected from
the system and continuity of supply can be maintained from
the other feeder.
• Parallel feeders cannot be protected by non-directional O/C
relays only. It is necessary to use directional relays also and to
grade the time setting of relays for selective trippings
• Fig. shows the system where two feeders are connected in
parallel between the generating station and the sub-station.

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• The protection of this system requires that
i. Each feeder has a non-directional overcurrent relay at the
generator end. These relays should have inverse-time
characteristic
ii. Each feeder has a reverse power or directional relay at the
sub-station end. These relays should be instantaneous type
and operate only when power flows in reverse direction i.e.
in the direction of arrow at C and D
• Suppose an earth fault occurs on Feeder II, it is desired that
only circuit breakers at B and D should open to clear the
fault whereas Feeder I should remain intact to maintain the
continuity of supply.

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• The shown fault is fed via two routes, viz.
a) Directly from the supply end via the relay B
b) From Feeder I via A, C, receiving end sub-station and D
•  power flow in relay C will be in normal direction but is
reversed in the relay D. This causes the opening of circuit
breaker at D. Also the relay B will operate while relay A
remains in-operative
• It is because these relays have inverse-time characteristics
and current flowing in relay B is in excess of that flowing in
relay A. In this way only the faulty feeder is isolated

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3. Ring main system:

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• In this system, various power stations or sub-stations are
interconnected by alternate routes, forming a closed ring.
• In case of damage to any section of the ring, that section may
be disconnected for repairs, and power will be supplied from
both ends of the ring, maintaining continuity of supply
• Fig. shows single line diagram of a typical ring main system
consisting of one generator G supplying four sub-stations S1,
S2, S3 and S4
• In this arrangement, power can flow in both directions under
fault conditions.  it is necessary to grade in both directions
round the ring and also to use directional relays

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• In order that only faulty section is isolated under fault conditions,
types of relays and their time settings should be as follows:
i. Two lines leaving the generating station should be equipped with
non-directional overcurrent relays (relays at A and J)
ii. At each sub-station, reverse power or directional relays should be
placed in both incoming and outgoing lines (relays at B, C, D, E, F,
G, H and I)
iii. There should be proper relative time-setting of the relays.
• As an example, going round the loop G S1 S2 S3 S4 G; outgoing
relays (viz at A, C, E, G and I) are set with decreasing time limits
e.g. A= 2.5 sec, C= 2 sec, E= 1.5 sec G = 1 sec and I = 0.5 sec

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• Similarly, going round the loop in opposite direction (i.e. G S4 S3 S2 S1
G), outgoing relays (J, H, F, D and B) are also set with a decreasing
time limit e.g. J= 2.5 sec, H= 2 sec, F= 1.5 sec, D= 1 sec, B = 0.5 sec.
• Suppose a short circuit occurs at the point as shown in Fig. In order
to ensure selectivity, it is desired that only circuit breakers at E and
F should open to clear the fault whereas other sections of the ring
should be intact to maintain continuity of supply.
• Power will be fed to the fault via two routes viz (1) from G around
S1 and S2 and (ii) from G around S4 and S3.
• It is clear that relays at A, B, C and D as well as J, I, H and G will not
trip.  only relays at E and F will operate before any other relay
operates because of their lower time-setting.

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B. Current-Graded Over Current Protection:
• An alternative to time grading or in addition to time grading,
current grading protection can be applied when the
impedance between two substations is sufficient.
• It is based on the fact that the short-circuit current along the
length of the protected circuit decreases with the increase in
distance between the supply end and the fault point.
• If the relays are set to operate at a progressively higher
current towards the supply end then the drawback of long
time delays occurring in graded time lag system can be
partially overcome. This is known as “Current grading”.

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• Current-graded systems normally employ high-speed high-set
overcurrent relays.
• A simple current-graded protection scheme applied to a radial
feeder is shown in fig.
• It consists of high-set overcurrent relays at A, B and C with
settings such that relay at A would operate for faults between
A and B, the relay at B for faults between B and C and the
relay at C for faults beyond C.
• The current setting diminishes progressively from the supply
end to the remote end of the line.

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• In practice, however, this protection scheme poses some difficulties
which are given below:
1. Relay cannot differentiate between faults very close to, but are on
each side of B i.e., if a fault is very near to station B in section BC,
relay at A may feel that it is in section AB because there may be
very little difference in the fault currents. Hence for discrimination
the relays are set to protect only part of the line, usually 80%
2. The fault currents are different for different types of faults and so
a certain difficulty is experienced in relay setting
3. For ring main systems, parallel feeders, interconnected systems,
where power can flow to the fault from either direction, a system
without directional control is not suited

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• Distance Protection of Transmission Lines:
• Both time-graded & pilot-wire (differential) system are not suitable
for the protection of very long high voltage transmission lines
• The former gives an unduly long time delay in fault clearance at the
generating station end and the pilot-wire system becomes too
expensive owing to the greater length of pilot wires required
• This has led to the development of distance protection in which the
action of relay depends upon the distance (or impedance) between
the point where the relay is installed and the point of fault
• This system provides discrimination protection without employing
pilot wires.

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• Fig. shows a simple system consisting of lines in series such

that power can flow only from left to right
• Relays at A, B and C are set to operate for impedance less
than Z1, Z2 and Z3 respectively.
• Suppose a fault occurs between sub-stations B and C, fault
impedance at A and B will be Z1+Z and Z respectively.
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• It is clear that, only relay at B will operate. Similarly, if a fault
occurs within section AB then only relay at A will operate. In
this manner, instantaneous protection can be provided
• In actual practice, it is not possible to obtain instantaneous
protection for complete length of the line due to inaccuracies
in the relay elements and instrument transformers
• Thus the relay at A would not be very reliable in
distinguishing between a fault at 99% of the distance AB and
the one at 101% of distance AB.
• This difficulty is overcome by using 'three-zone' distance
protection shown in Fig. (ii).

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• In this scheme of protection, three distance elements are
used at each terminal.
• Zone 1 element coven first 90% of the line and is arranged to
trip instantaneously for faults in this portion
• Zone 2 element trips for faults in remaining 10% of line and
for faults in next line section, but a time delay is introduced to
prevent the line from being tripped if fault is in next section
• Zone 3 element provides back-up protection in the event a
fault in the next section is not cleared by its breaker.
• Time delay for Zone 2 is normally 0.2 – 0.5 second and for
Zone 3 it is 0.4 – 1 seconds.

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• Impedance Relay Protection:

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• An impedance relay responds if the impedance seen by the
relay is less than its setting and the relay operates
• Impedance relays are non-directional relays and  need a
directional relay with them.
• The characteristic of the impedance relays with a directional
unit for 3-zone protection is shown in Fig. (a)
• While designing the relays, it is usual to make maximum
torque angle,  smaller than the impedance angle,  of the
line so that the effect of the arc resistance is reduced
• The contact circuit for a 3-zone impedance protection is
shown in Fig. (b).

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• Parallel lines in Fig. (b) represent the contacts of the various units;
D-directional unit, Z1, Z2, Z3 - 3-zone units and T2, T3 - timing units.
T2 and T3 are operating times for zones 2 and 3 respectively
• Since Z3 unit starts when the fault lies in any of the zones 1, 2 or 3
as the impedance of fault will be less than Z3, Z3 is the starting unit
and  the timer unit is placed in series with Z3 unit
• Now for a fault in zone 1, all three units will start but since the
operating time of unit 1 is smallest, this will operate and the faulty
section will be isolated from the source
• In case the fault is in second zone, units Z2 and Z3 will start but unit
Z2 will operate in time T2 and isolate the faulty section from source.

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• Reactance Relay Protection:

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• A reactance relay responds only to reactance component of
impedance. It is a non-directional relay and directional unit of
the type used along with impedance relay cannot be used
• A mho relay is used as the starting relay along with the
reactance relay. Fig. (a) shows the characteristics of the
reactance relays for 3-zone protection
• Mho unit prevents operation of reactance units under load
conditions. Also it gives protection for 3rd zone of scheme
• The contact arrangement for 3-zone protection using
reactance relays is given in Fig. (b)

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• The operation is explained as follows:
• Contact circuit is connected between d.c. supply terminals
• If fault is in first zone, all three units X1, X2 and S start. Since
operation of X1 takes the least time, contact X1 is closed
• CBa (auxiliary contact of circuit breaker) is a normally closed
contact;  trip coil gets energized - operates the circuit
breaker, thus isolating the faulty section of the line
• Similarly, the operation of the contact circuit can be explained
if the fault is in zone 2 or 3

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• Mho Relay Protection:

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• Mho relay, inherently being a directional relay, does
not need additional unit for the purpose.
• Fig. (a) shows the characteristics for 3-zone
protection.
• The contact arrangement is shown in Fig. (b).
• The operation of this circuit is similar to the circuits
for reactance relays.

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• UNIT TYPE PROTECTION:
• Differential Pilot-Wire Protection:
• Differential pilot-wire protection is most satisfactory and is widely
employed on account of the advantages such as simplicity,
flexibility, a high stability ratio, rapid fault clearance
• Principle: Currents compared at each end of line or feeder by the
use of pilot wires should be same under normal operating
conditions and equality is lost only when there is a fault in between
• The system is quite similar to that employed for the protection of
alternators and transformers and the difference lies only in the
length of pilot wires.
• There are several differential protection schemes in use for lines
but a few will be discussed here.

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1. Current Balance Differential Protection:

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• In the Fig., CT1 and CT2 are connected in delta because star
connection would require four pilot wires, the fourth pilot-wire
being connected between two star points
• The diverting resistances DR1 and DR2 cause same current to flow
through the operating coils O1 and O2. The restraining coils R1 and
R2 are connected to the pilot wires P1, P2 and P3
• Let there be a fault in the R-phase at point F. The excess current in
the secondary of CT1 will flow to junction ‘a’ where it will divide into
two parallel paths:
• One path through operating coil O1 and DR1 shown by solid arrows,
and another path through restraining coil R1, pilot wire P1,
restraining coil R2, junction ‘b’, operating coil O2, diverting
resistance DR2, junction ‘c’ and then to junction ‘d’ through pilot
wire P3 as shown by dotted arrows.

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• Junctions ‘c’ and ‘d’ are return paths for CT2 and CT1
respectively
• The advantages of this protective scheme are given below.
1. The relay operating current increases automatically with the
increase of through fault current which eliminates the
possibility of malfunctioning of the relay
2. As the pilot capacitive current flows through the restraining
coil instead of operating coil, this current adds to restraint.

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2. Merz-Price Voltage Balance System:

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• In 3-phase systems each conductor has its own pair of CT’s
and relays. Identical CT’s are placed in each phase at both
ends of the line.
• The secondaries of CT’s connected in series opposition by
means of pilot wires.
• In normal conditions, equal currents flow at the two different
ends, so induced voltages in the secondaries of CT’s are equal
and in opposition, i.e. they balance each other.
• As the CT’s secondaries are connected in series opposition
their secondary ends are equalised resulting into no
circulating current in the relays.

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• But whenever fault occurs, currents differ at two ends, so induced
emf’s in the secondaries of CT’s will differ and circulating current
will flow through pilot wires, relays & faulty feeder will be isolated
• Advantages:
i. This system is independent of operating voltage and fault power
factor
ii. This system can be employed for protection of both, ring mains as
well as parallel feeders.
iii. It provides instantaneous protection for ground faults, so the
possibility of these faults involving other phases is reduced.
iv. It provides instantaneous relaying thereby reducing the amount
of damage to overhead conductors resulting from arcing faults

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• Disadvantages:
i. Accurate matching of current transformers is very essential
ii. If there is a break in the pilot-wire circuit, the system will not
operate
iii. This system is very expensive owing to the greater length of
pilot wires required.
iv. In case of long lines, charging current due to pilot-wire
capacitance effects may be sufficient to cause relay
operation even under normal conditions
v. This system cannot be used for line voltages beyond 33 kV
because of constructional difficulties in matching the CTs.

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3. Translay Protection System:

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• The name “Translay” (Transformer + relay) is evolved from
the fact that the relay embodies a transformer feature
• This system is similar to voltage balance system except that
here balance or opposition is between the voltages induced
in the secondary windings wound on the relay magnets and
not between the secondary voltages of the line CTs
• This permits to use CTs of normal design and eliminates one
of the most serious limitations of original voltage balance
system, namely its limitation to the system operating at
voltages not exceeding 33 kV.

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• Schematic arrangement:
• Relays used in the scheme are over-current induction type
relays
• Each relay has two electromagnetic elements. Upper element
carries a winding (11 or 11a) which is energised from
secondaries of line CTs connected in the phases of the line to
be protected
• Upper element also carries a secondary winding (12 or 12a)
connected in series with the operating winding (13 or 13a) on
lower magnet in such a way that voltages induced in them
oppose each other
• Note that relay discs and tripping circuits have been omitted
in the diagram for clarity

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• Operation: When the feeder is sound, currents at its two ends are
equal so that the secondary currents in both sets of CTs are equal.
• Consequently, the currents flowing in the relay primary winding 11
and 11a will be equal and they will induce equal voltages in the
secondary windings 12 and 12a
• Since these windings are connected in opposition, no current flows
in them or in the operating windings 13 and 13a
• In the event of a fault on the protected line, line current at one end
must carry a greater current than that at other end.
• Voltages induced in secondary windings 12 and 12a will be different
and current will flow through operating coils 13, 13a and pilot
circuit
• Under these conditions, both upper and lower elements of each
relay are energised and a forward torque acts on each relay disc.
• Operation of the relays will open the circuit breakers at both ends
of the line.

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(i) Suppose a fault F occurs between phases R and Y and is fed
from both sides as shown in Fig., this will energise only
section 1 of primary windings 11 and 11a and induce voltages
in the secondary windings 12 and 12a
• As these voltages are now additive  current will circulate
through operating coils 13, 13a and pilot circuit
• This will cause the relay contacts to close and open the circuit
breakers at both ends
• A fault between phases Y and B energises section 2 of primary
windings 11 and 11a whereas that between R and B will
energise the sections 1 and 2.

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(ii) Now imagine that an earth fault occurs on phase R. This will
energise sections 1, 2 and 3 of the primary windings 11 and 11a
• Again if fault is fed from both ends, the voltages induced in the
secondary windings 12 and 12a are additive and cause a current to
flow through the operating coils 13, 13a
• Relays  operate to open circuit breakers at both ends of the line
• In the event of earth fault on phase Y, sections 2 and 3 of primary
winding 11 and 11a will be energised and cause relays to operate
• An earth fault on phase B will energise only section 3 of relay
primary windings 11 and 11a

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• Advantages:
i. The system is economical as only two pilot wires are
required for the protection of a 3-phase line
ii. Current transformers of normal design can be used
iii. Pilot wire capacitance currents do not affect the operation of
relays.
• NOTE: The above scheme is further simplified by using
“summation transformer” which is a device that reproduces
the poly-phase (3 phase) line currents as a single phase
quantity, which is used for a relay (single element) operation

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• CARRIER CURRENT PROTECTION:

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• Pilot wire protection is usually limited to circuits of length 10
miles or so. For longer overhead lines the power line itself
may be used as the channel between terminal equipments
• The power T.L. operates at very high voltage levels, whereas
carrier signalling equipment (carrier current transmitter and
receiver) operate a much lower voltage
•  a method of coupling the two so that neither high voltage
line gets shorted through carrier equipment nor does the
signalling equipment get damaged due to Extra High Voltage
• Frequency range of carrier signal is 50 kHz to 700 kHz, the
power level is 10-20 W

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• In carrier current scheme, carrier signal can be used either to
prevent or initiate the tripping of a protective relay
• When the carrier signal is used to prevent the operation of
relay, it is known as “Carrier Blocking Scheme”
• When the carrier signal is employed to initiate tripping, the
scheme is known as “Carrier Tripping or Transfer Tripping or
Permissive Tripping Scheme”
• Each end of the line is provided with identical carrier current
equipment consisting of transmitter, receiver, line-tuning unit,
master oscillator, power amplifier, etc.

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• Coupling Capacitor:

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• The carrier equipment is connected to the transmission line
through 'Coupling Capacitor' which offers low reactance
(Xc=1/Cc = 150 ) to carrier frequency (500 kHz) but high
reactance (Xc= 1.5 M) to power frequency (50 Hz)
• Thus coupling capacitors allows carrier frequency signals to
enter the carrier equipment but does not allow 50 Hz power
frequency currents to enter the carrier equipment
• To reduce impedance further, a low inductance is connected
in series with coupling capacitors to form a resonance at
carrier frequency.

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• Line Trap Unit:

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• Line trap unit is inserted between busbar and connection of

coupling capacitor to the line
• It is a parallel tuned circuit comprising L and C. It offers low
impedance (less than 0.1 ohm ) to power frequency currents
(50 Hz) and high impedance to carrier frequencies.
• This unit prevents the high frequency signals from entering
the neighbouring line, and the carrier currents flow only in
the protected line.

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• Protection and Earthing of Coupling Equipment:

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• Over voltages on power lines are caused by lightning,
switching, faults, etc. produce stress on coupling equipment
and line trap unit
• Non-linear resistors in series with a protective gap is
connected across line trap unit and inductor of coupling unit
• The gap is adjusted to spark at a set value of overvoltage
• Base of coupling unit is earthed by earth rod in the vicinity to
obtain low earth-resistance
• Drainage coil (L) and coupling capacitor provides isolation
from power lines.

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• Electronic Equipments:
• There are generally identical electronic units are installed at
each end. They are:
i. Transmitter
ii. Receiver and
iii. Relay unit
1. Transmitter Unit:

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• Frequencies between 50 to 500 kHz are employed in different
frequency bands. Carrier frequencies are generated in
oscillator, it can be a tuned one or crystal oscillator.
• The output voltage of the oscillator is held constant by
voltage stabilizers.
• This output is fed into the amplifiers to overcome the losses
of the signals in the transmission line because of weather.
• The control unit of transmitter switches the device which
interconnects the oscillator to the amplifier

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2. Receiver and Relay Units:

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• The high frequency signals arriving from remote end are received
by Receiver. Receiving unit comprise
– An attenuator, which reduces the signals to a safer value.
– Matching transformer or matching element to match the impedances of
line and receiving unit
– Band pass filter, which restricts the acceptance of unwanted signals
(signals from adjacent sections, spurious signals.)
• The spurious signals are caused by short-circuits, radio interference.
• To avoid the mal-operation due to noise, a setting above 2
milliwatts (above noise level) is recommended to the receiver.
• To avoid operation due to spurious signals, the carrier signals
should have higher power level (20 W) and receiver should be set at
a higher level (5 milliwatts).
• Before feeding the signals to amplifier detector, the signals should
be attenuated to avoid overloading.

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• Advantages:
1. Simultaneous reclosing of CB’s is possible as reclosing signal
is sent simultaneously
2. It prevents shocks to the systems as faults are cleared rapidly
3. For simultaneous faults, it provides easy discrimination
4. Tripping due to synchronising power surges does not occur
5. Best suited for fast relaying, reliable system
6. No separate wires are required for signalling, as the power
line themselves carry the power.

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• Operational Techniques in Carrier Current Protection:
• There are different methods of carrier current protection such
as:
1. Directional comparison method
2. Phase comparison method
• Directional comparison method
• It operates on the basis of comparison of the fault-power
flow directions at the two ends of the protected line
• Operation takes place only when the power flow reverses for
an internal fault on the line
• The relays at both ends of protected line respond to fault
power flowing away from the bus (tripping direction)

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• Phase Comparison Method

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• It compares the phase angles of current entering one end with that
of current leaving the other end of protected zone
• Magnitudes of currents are not compared. It provides only main
protection and no back-up protection
• To achieve phase comparison on the lines, the cline CT’s are so
connected that their secondary currents are 180 out of phase
when current is flowing in the feeder under both the normal and /
or external fault condition.
• When an internal fault takes place, the current at one of the ends
reverses and thus the two currents are in-phase (when fed from
both the ends) and therefore, there is time when no signal is being
received and the relay operates.
• In case the feeder is fed from one end, for an internal fault the
current at one of the ends reduces to zero and hence again there is
a time no signal is received and the relay operates

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 234

 TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION
• The block diagram shows the equipments required at one end
of the line. Similar equipment is connected at other end of
the same line
• The 3 phase line currents are reduced to 1 phase quantity
using summation transformer and is fed to a sequence
network which is sensitive to only negative sequence currents
• The output of sequence network is fed to starting equipment
(starter), modulator and directly to comparator.
• The starter operates in 2 stages known as low set and high
set. Low set relays start the comparison and high set relays
control the tripping circuit.
• The contacts of the low set relay allow the 50 Hz output from
sequence network.

UNIT-III EE6702 Protection and Switchgear 235