1

8|System Protection

W E S T E R N E L E C T R I C I T Y C O O R D I N A T I N G C O U N C I L
 Course Outline
1. Introduction to WECC
2. Fundamentals of Electricity
3. Power System Overview
4. Principles of Generation
5. Substation Overview
6. Transformers
7. Power Transmission
8. System Protection
9. Principles of System Operation
 Overview
• Purpose of Protection Systems
• Characteristics of Protection Systems
• Types of Relay and Applications
 Purpose
• Then we examine how a protection system
operates. The primary purpose of the
protection system is to detect faults and, as
rapidly as possible, "clear" faults.
• Faults are physical conditions that cause a
device, component, or element to fail to
perform in the required manner; for example,
a short circuit or a broken wire.
 Causes of Faults
• Some of the common causes of faults are:
• A tree limb comes in contact with an energized
overhead wire.
• An overhead wire breaks due to snow or ice loading,
or because a car strikes the utility pole causing the
wire to come in contact with the ground.
• Power system components such as circuit breakers or
transformers malfunction; or the insulation fails due to
wear, age, or repeated operations.
• Lightning strikes an overhead wire, either causing
physical damage or creating charged air molecules
that serve as a path on which fault current can flow.
 Protection System
• Rapid operation of the protection system
accomplishes the following:
• Maintains Safety
– Maintains Personnel and Public Safety. A downed
wire that has not been electrically isolated is still
energized. This presents a safety hazard to people
who may attempt to move it or who inadvertently
contact it.
 Protection System
• Prevents Damage
– Prevents More Extensive Damage. Short circuit
currents during faults are many times the normal load
currents. If the flow of the current is not interrupted
quickly, components of the electric system may be
damaged. In addition, some faults can cause over-
voltages that exceed the rating of the insulation of
some components, resulting in further damage to the
equipment. The overvoltage's are usually transient
and are produced from simple circuit changes, such
as a circuit breaker opening or the grounding of a
conductor.
 Protection System
• Prevents Stability Problems
– Prevents Power System Stability Problems. Faults
that remain on high-voltage transmission
equipment or on generators can cause system
stability problems. Power system stability is
discussed in more detail in Module 9: Principles
of Power System Operation.
 Characteristics
• Protection systems have three major
components:
• 1) Measuring Devices
• 2) Protective Relays
• 3) Control Circuitry
 Measuring Devices
• Most protection systems analyze power system
current flow and/or voltage to determine whether a
fault exists. Sudden changes in these quantities could
indicate that a fault exists.
• For example: either a sudden increase in current flow
to many times the normal load current, or a significant
increase or decrease in line voltage could indicate that
a fault exists somewhere.
• The protection system cannot directly use the voltage
and current measurements from the high-voltage
equipment as inputs. Therefore, these values must be
scaled down.
 Measuring Devices
• The following devices perform this function:
– current transformers (CTs)
– voltage transformers (PTs)
– coupling capacitance voltage transformers
(CCVTs)
 Current Transformer (CT)
• Power system current is measured by current
transformers; commonly called CTs. CTs
reduce or scale down the actual current to
proportional values of a few amperes for use
by the protection system.
• Most CTs are donut-shaped and are installed
over the bushings of power transformers,
circuit breakers, or generators.
 Current Transformers (CTs)
• CTs produce a small secondary current flow (a
few amps) that is proportional to a larger
primary current flow in the power system.
• The turns ratio of the CT may be 2500:1. This
allows the current to be reduced to make it
useable for metering and relays.
Bushing Mounted (CT)
Metering CT’s
Current Transformer (External)

Metering CT’s
 PT’s and CCVT’s
• Power system voltage is measured either by
voltage transformers or coupling capacitance
voltage transformers (CCVTs), depending on the
voltage level being measured. Both devices
reduce electric system voltage down to
proportional values of 120 volts or less.
• Voltage transformers are simple magnetic core,
wire-wound transformers. They are usually
referred to as PTs, short for potential
transformers. PTs operate in the same way as
step-down power or distribution transformers.
 PT’s and CCVT’s
• At voltage levels of 100 kV or higher, the cost of
PTs becomes very high. At these voltage levels,
therefore, CCVTs are typically used. A CCVT is a
stack of capacitors connected between the points
of voltage measurement. The desired 120 voltage
level is obtained by voltage division.
The accuracy of CCVTs is less than that of PTs.
CCVTs may not be acceptable, where high accuracy
is required, such as for billing or metering
functions.
CCVT
Voltage measuring
transformers
69kV PT’s
San Luis Valley 115kV Bus “B” PT’s
 Protective Relays
• Protective relays are protection system devices
which compare power system voltages and currents
to normally-expected values to determine whether
the protected device has a fault.
• The earliest types of protective relays, many of
which are still in use today, were built using
electromechanical components, such as gears,
springs, mechanical timers, and induction disks.
Protective Relays

Induction Disc Relay Element

Electromechanical Time Overcurrent
Electromechanical Time Overcurrent
• A time overcurrent relay (51) operates if an
abnormally high current exists for a predetermined
period of time. This relay looks and operates like your
household watt-hour meter.
• Currents above a specified minimum operating level,
called the pickup, cause the induction disk to rotate.
Unlike the disk of a watt-hour meter, the relay's
induction disk turns only far enough to close the relay
contacts.
• The disk keeps turning as long as the pickup current
exists. The greater the current, the faster the disk
turns.
 Protective Relays

Magnetic Attraction Element for Electro-mechanical Relay

 Target
• If the fault stays on long enough, the turning
causes the contacts mounted on the disk to
touch the contacts mounted on the frame of the
relay, completing a trip circuit. An indicator,
called a target, is displayed when the relay
operates. The target remains displayed until it is
manually reset.
• If the fault current is removed (cleared) before
the trip circuit is completed, the disk stops
turning and a spring returns the disk to its
starting position.
Targets
 Microprocessor Relays
• Though many utilities continue to use
electromechanical relays, manufacturers have
introduced new designs. Over the past 20
years or so, utilities have been using "static"
relays that are built using transistors and
other electronic components.
• More recently, relays which use
microprocessors have been introduced.
 Microprocessor Relays
• Microprocessor relays are computer-based and have several
advantages over the electromechanical and static counterparts,
including:
• Perform Self-Diagnosis: Microprocessor relays can generate an
alarm to warn maintenance personnel that a possible problem
exists, so repairs can be performed before the relay is called upon
to operate. With electromechanical and static relays, problems are
discovered during periodic inspections or when the relays fail to
operate when faults occur.
• Occupy Less Space on Control Panels: Microprocessor relays
typically perform the functions of several traditional relays, and
therefore take up less overall space on the control panel.
• Perform Advanced Functions: Microprocessor relays can provide
information on fault location and can store fault data for analysis.
 Control Circuitry
• The third component of the protection system is
the control circuitry. The control circuitry
includes control wiring, switches, batteries, and
other equipment needed to operate substation
breakers to isolate the fault.
• The control circuitry is activated after the relays
determine that a fault has occurred. The control
circuitry sends a signal to the trip coil that opens
the appropriate circuit breakers to isolate the
faulted equipment from the rest of the power
system.
Protection Zones
 Back Up Protection
• Like any other system, protection systems do
occasionally fail to perform. Failure to properly clear a
fault is extremely dangerous. (Reasons for avoiding
protection system failure are listed in the Purpose
section of this module.)
• The protection system's failure to perform may be
caused by a malfunction of any of the following:
– measuring devices
– relays
– control circuitry
– breaker electrical or mechanical components
 Types of Relays & Application
• Line Protection Systems
• Substation Equipment Protection Systems
• Generator Protection Systems
• Remedial Action Schemes
 Line Protection Systems
• Distribution Feeder
– Distribution feeders are subjected to a variety of
faults, including those due to wind, lightning, tree
limbs, and equipment failures.
– These faults may be transient or may be
permanent.
– If the fault is transient, fast clearing minimizes the
damage and may prevent the fault from
becoming permanent.
 Line Protection Systems
Fuses generally isolate faulted portions of distribution
feeders
• The fuse blows:
– quickly for high currents
– slowly for low currents
Line Protection Systems
 Pickup/Instantaneous Setting
• The minimum current at which the relay operates is
called the pickup.
• For currents that are just above the pick-up, the
time-to-operate is very long. If current is below the
pickup, the relay does not operate.
• Instantaneous Setting
• An instantaneous setting is a predetermined value
of fault current above which some overcurrent
relays operate "instantaneously" (with no time
delay).
Relay Coordination with Fuses
 Transmission Line Protection
• Protection systems for transmission lines are
usually more complex than distribution line
protection systems because of the following
features:
– As part of a power grid, transmission lines connect
many generators. Therefore, current can flow in
either direction on the line.
– Faults on adjacent circuits can result in fault current
flow in unfaulted lines in either direction.
– Relaying is required to detect fault location and trip
only the faulted line. (The overcurrent relays used for
distribution line protection are unable to determine
current direction.)
 Transmission Line Protection
– The amount of current flow to a transmission line
fault depends heavily on the overall condition of
the power system (that is, what generators are
on-line, what transmission lines are out of
service, and so forth). Because the amount of
current flow is somewhat unpredictable,
overcurrent relay settings would have to be very
conservative. This could lead to unnecessary
tripping.
 Transmission Line Protection
– Fault current levels are usually high on
transmission lines. If faults are not cleared rapidly,
they can cause system instability, as well as
extensive damage to equipment and possible
personal hazards.
Types of Transmission Line Protection
• (1) Directional Overcurrent Relaying
• (2) Distance Relaying
• (3) Pilot Schemes
• (4) Out-of-Step Relaying
• (5) Single Pole Relaying
Non-Directional/Directional
Overcurrent Relaying
 Distance Relaying
• The "distance" in a distance relay refers to
electrical distance or impedance. A distance relay
monitors the voltage and current, compares the
two, and computes Z. If this value is within the
pre-set value of Z for the relay, the relay
operates.
• Recall from Module 2: Fundamentals of
Electricity that impedance (Z) is:
Distance Relaying
 Distance Relaying
• Distance relays may be
– directional – they detect faults in one direction only
– non-directional – they detect faults in both directions
• It would be ideal if a distance relay could be set
to detect faults all the way to the end of the
protected line by setting the trip impedance
equal to the line impedance at the far end
terminal
Distance Relaying (Zones)
 Pilot Schemes
• To provide high-speed tripping for end-zone
faults (beyond Zone 1's reach) on a transmission
line section, we must provide some form of
communication channel between the line section
terminals.
• A communication or "pilot" channel provides this
capability. It allows the relays to compare fault
conditions at the line terminals to determine
whether the fault is internal or external to the
protected zone.
 Pilot Schemes

Transfer Tripping
Directional Comparison
Phase Comparison
Pilot-Wire
 DISTANCE RELAYING

ZONE 1

A B C

ZONE 2
 DISTANCE RELAYING

ZONE 1

A B C

ZONE 2
 DISTANCE RELAYING

A B C

What the targets tell you about location of

the fault
 Directional Comparison
• Another variation of the pilot scheme is the
directional comparison scheme.
• In this scenario, fault-detecting directional
distance relays at each line terminal
determine the direction of the fault current
and compare their individual results over the
pilot or communication channel.
Directional Comparison
 Phase Comparison
• Phase comparison systems, another variation
of the pilot scheme, use overcurrent fault
detecting relays to compare the relative
phase angles of the currents at the two
terminals via the communication channel.
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

A B C
A B
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

A B C
A

B
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

CURRENT FLOW

A B C
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

A B C
B

A
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

CURRENT FLOW

A B C
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

CURRENT FLOW

A B C
A

B
 PHASE COMPARISON RELAYING

CURRENT FLOW

A B C
B

A
 Pilot Wire
• Another commonly-used type of pilot
protection system is the pilot wire relay
system.
• This system compares the magnitude and
phase angle of the current flowing at each
end of the line to determine whether an
internal fault exists.
 PILOT WIRE RELAYING

A B C
 Out-of-Step
• Definition: Swings
• Protection systems must function properly
during power system "swings".
• Swings are oscillations of generators with
respect to other generators due to sudden
changes of load, switching, or faults.
• To function properly, out-of-step (OOS)
protection systems must be able to:
– trip for non-recoverable stability conditions and true
faults
– block tripping for recoverable swings
 How Out-of-Step Works
• If the impedance decreases suddenly to the
relay's trip setting, a true fault has likely
occurred. Therefore, tripping is required.
• If the impedance decreases gradually to the
relay's trip setting, this most likely is due to
swinging generators rather than a fault in the
relay's protected zone. Therefore, the relay
holds off tripping until it determines whether
the system can recover from the swing.
 How Out-of-Step Works
• If the impedance returns to normal within a
pre-determined time period, the relay
assumes that the system has recovered and
no tripping occurs.
• If the impedance stays low for a specified
time period and then gradually moves above
the trip setting, the system is probably
unstable, so tripping occurs.
 Single Pole Relaying
• Definition: Single Pole Tripping
• Most transmission line faults are temporary
single-phase-to-ground faults.
• They can be cleared by opening and reclosing
only the faulted phase.
• This method is known as single pole tripping.
It leaves the other two phases intact and
minimizes the shock to the power system.
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
SS SS SS SS SS SS
SS SS SS SS SS SS

SS SS
SS SS
 SINGLE POLE TRIPPING
G G
R R
I I
D D
SS SS SS SS SS SS
SS SS SS SS SS SS

SS SS
SS SS
 Relay Types - Practice
http://bsc-houdini.bsc.nodak.edu/onlinepres/ILTs/Transmission_Line_Relaying.swf
Substation Equipment Protection
• Shunt Equipment Protection
• Bus Protection
• Transformer Protection
• Circuit Breaker Failure Protection
• Underfrequency Load Shedding
 Shunt Equipment Protection
• Shunt equipment, such as a capacitor bank, is
usually protected using:
– Time overcurrent or differential relays which open
circuit breakers or circuit switchers to de-energize
this equipment during a fault.
• Or
– Fuses that blow to de-energize the device when
high current flow occurs.
 Bus Protection
• Substation buses usually have one or more
incoming lines that are sources of fault current,
and multiple outgoing lines, that may or may not
be sources of fault current.
 Bus Protection
• Differential protection is the most sensitive
and reliable method for protecting substation
buses, because:
– all currents entering and leaving the bus are
added
– the difference between the incoming and
outgoing currents is the input to a sensitive
overcurrent relay.
 Transformer Protection
• The most common forms of protection systems for
substation transformers are overcurrent, differential
and sudden pressure detection.
• Transformer overcurrent and differential protection
systems are similar in concept to the previously
discussed applications, in that:
– Transformer overcurrent relays detect abnormally high
current flow to the transformer.
– Transformer differential relays subtract the current leaving
the transformer from the current entering the
transformer, and then use the difference current to
determine if an internal fault exists.
 Transformer Protection
• However, both of these schemes are complicated by
magnetizing in-rush current flow to the transformer.
• When a transformer is first energized, a transient
magnetizing or exciting current may flow.
• In-rush current can reach peak values of up to 30
times the full-load value, which is more than enough
to cause an overcurrent relay to operate.
 Harmonics
• To prevent overcurrent and differential relays from
operating on inrush current, we must use special
relays with reduced sensitivity to inrush currents.
• Typically, such relays filter out the harmonic content of
the current before deciding whether a fault exists.
• Harmonics are electric currents that alternate at a
frequency other than 60 Hz.
• In some cases, the harmonic portion of the current
restrains the operation of the relay until the inrush
currents decay (die out) to an insignificantly small
value.
 Transformer Sudden Pressure
• Transformer sudden pressure relays operate if
the gas pressure in the transformer abruptly
rises to a certain level.
• Sudden pressure increases indicate a fault.
• Transformer gas usually results when "arcing"
from internal faults breaks down the
transformer's insulating oil.
 Breaker Failure Protection
• Problems can occur which prevent a circuit breaker
from operating when called upon by a protection
system.
• Faults that are not cleared by the primary protection
system and associated circuit breakers almost always
will eventually be cleared by protection systems in
adjacent protection zones.
• But the delay in clearing the fault can be intolerable
on high-voltage facilities.
 Breaker Failure Protection
• Circuit breakers at
important high-
voltage facilities
are frequently
equipped with
circuit-breaker-
failure detection
circuitry.
 Underfrequency Load Shedding
• In a stable power system, the generator
control systems usually maintain system
frequency very close to 60 Hz.
• Sudden or large changes in generating
capacity due to the loss of a large generator
or tie-line can cause a severe generation/load
imbalance, resulting in a frequency decline.
 Generator Protection
• Although the frequency of generator faults is
low, the potential for severe damage and
consequently long outages is high.
• Therefore, some of the most complex and
sensitive protection systems are used for the
generators.
 Generator Protection
• Some of the most common methods of
detecting faults in generators are:
– Winding Differential Protection
– Ground Fault Protection
– Detection of Unbalanced Faults
– Overload Protection
– Loss-of-Excitation Protection
– Generator Motoring Protection
– Generator Protection at Reduced Frequencies
 Winding Differential
• With the winding differential protection
scheme, the currents in each phase on each
side of the machine are compared in a
differential circuit.
• Any significant difference in current is
interpreted as some form of fault and the
relay operates.
 Ground Fault Protection
• It is difficult to detect small generator ground faults
before they become big ones. Current-type relays are
generally inadequate for detecting generator ground
faults.
• It is more common for the protection system to
measure the voltage of the generator neutral with
respect to ground.
• A sensitive over-voltage relay is connected across the
resistor of the generator neutral.
• A ground fault anywhere in the generator's protection
zone causes a voltage to appear across the neutral
resistor, operating the relay to trip the generator.
 Detection of Unbalanced Faults
• We know from Module 2: Fundamentals of
Electricity, that electric power systems are three-
phase and normally balanced on all phases.
• Sometimes abnormal conditions exist on parts of
the system causing unbalanced conditions. These
include:
– single phase-to-ground faults
– line-to-line faults
– unbalanced voltages
– open circuits
 Detection of Unbalanced Faults
• To protect the
generator from
damage caused by
unbalanced faults, a
relay system called
negative phase
sequence
(unbalance) relaying
is used to sense the
condition and trip
the machine.
 Overload Protection
• Most large generators are equipped with
resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) that
detect overheating due to overload.
• Typically, the outputs from this RTD drive a
warning light to inform the plant operator of
the potential overload conditions.
• The RTD may also be used to provide a trip
signal.
 Loss-of-Excitation
• Recall from Module 4: Principles of Power
Generation, that the function of the
generator excitation system is to provide
direct current for the generator rotor
windings (field windings). The generator
excitation system:
– maintains generator voltage
– controls reactive power flow
– assists in maintaining power system stability
 Generator Motoring
• If an undetected prime mover problem occurs
(e.g., low steam or water flow), the input to the
turbine may be too low to meet all the losses in
the generator.
• The turbine compensates for this deficiency by
absorbing real power from the power system.
• Now, the machine is performing in a manner
similar to a synchronous motor.
• A protection system that detects reverse power
flow (into the machine) identifies generator
motoring.
Generator Protection at Reduced
Frequencies
Under-Frequency Over-Frequency Time Delay
Limit (Hz) Limits (Hz) Before Tripping

60.0-59.5 60.0-60.5 NA (Normal)

59.4-58.5 60.6-61.5 3 minutes

58.4-57.9 61.6-61.7 30 seconds

57.8-57.4 7.5 seconds

57.3-56.9 45 cycles

56.8-56.5 7.2 cycles

<56.4 >61.7 Instantaneous Trip

 Remedial Action Schemes
• Remedial action schemes (RAS), also called special
protection systems, initiate actions to prevent power
system instability and equipment overloads if critical
network elements are lost.
• Remedial action scheme requirements are unique for
each power system.
• These protection schemes typically result from
engineering studies that identify potential system
"weak" spots if certain contingencies occur.
• A contingency is the loss of one or more power system
elements, such as a transmission line, transformer, or
generator.
 Remedial Action Schemes
• The types of functions performed by remedial
action schemes include:
– tripping selected generating units
– inserting capacitors or dynamic braking resistors
– shedding load
– tripping selected transmission lines
 Remedial Action Schemes
• These functions are performed to prevent
overloading lines and losing critical facilities.
Causes of protection system failures
• The relays are only as good as the system they
are connected to.

• The biggest causes of protection system failure

are:
1. Instrument transformer failure -
a. CTs, PTs, CCVTs, CCPDs, etc fail
2. Protective Relay Misoperation
3. Control Circuitry failure.
a. Open in control circuitry (open trip coil, mice/rat chew through
wirers, etc.)
Questions?