by Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Bogdan Kasztenny, Mangapathirao V.

Mynam, Normann Fischer,

Armando Guzman, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, USA
28
lessons learned
Fault current charac-
Solving Line teristics continue to
change as more wind-

Protection Challenges powered generators

and inverter-based

with sources are added to

the elect r ic power
Solving Line
Protection
Challenges

grid. The system fault

Transient-Based Relays response is not only
different than in the
Edmund O. days of large synchronous generators, but it also varies based on the source design and the
S c h w e i t z e r, I I I
president and chief utility grid code. We have three ways to tackle the rising protection challenges: fine-tune
technology officer of
Schweitzer Engineer- the present protective relays, enforce a better fault response of the sources, and use protec-
ing Laboratories, Inc.
(SEL), is recognized as a tion principles that are less dependent on the sources. This article shares our experience
pioneer in digital power
protection. In 1982, he with transient-based line protection and shows how it helps solve today’s line protection
founded SEL to develop
and manufacture digital challenges.
protective relays and
related products and
Speed has always been a key aspect of protection performance. Fast tripping minimizes
services for electrical
power systems. Dr. Sch-
equipment damage and risk to the system, personnel, and public.
weitzer is an IEEE Fel-
low, a member of the
National Academy of En-
Today’s time-domain and traveling-wave protective relays operate in 1 to 2 ms…about an
gineering, a recipient of
the IEEE Medal in Power
order of magnitude faster than their predecessors. Characteristics of sources, CT saturation,
Engineering, and an in-
ductee into the National
and series compensation have little or no impact on the security.
Inventors Hall of Fame.
He has written dozens
of technical papers, has
received four honorary 1 Transient-based line protective relays then and now
doctorates, and holds
over 200 patents ASEA RALDA (1976) BBC LR-91 (1985) GEC LFDC (1988) SEL-T400L (2017)
SEL-T401L (2020)

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 29
29
Ideally, we want a protection element to The best proof of source-independent protection
respond based on a fault data window that
is as short as possible (speed) and as rich in operation is the timing of the trip command issued
information as possible (selectivity). Tradi-
tionally, the longer the fault data window,
for an internal fault.
the more information it contains.
Therefore, we typically work with a Traveling waves (TWs) are very steep changes in the voltage and current Bogdan Kasztenny
tradeoff between protection speed and se- signals (transitions in the range of 1 to 5 μs). Launched by a fault, TWs are surges specializes in power system
lectivity. This is not necessarily so when of electricity that propagate, reflect, and transmit throughout the network at protection and control. In
unconventional sources dominate the fault nearly the speed of light. They eventually dissipate in a few milliseconds. We his decade-long academic
current. designate a line relay as a TW-based relay if it measures and responds to polari- career, Dr. Kasztenny taught
Unconventional sources challenge ties, magnitudes, and time differences between individual TWs power system and signal
today’s phasor-based line protection ele- Fast incremental quantities are step changes in the voltage and current sig- processing courses and
ments. The key problems are related to nals (transitions in the range of 1 to 2 ms). Fast incremental quantities do not conducted applied research
low fault current and low inertia and affect separate individual TWs but effectively blend many TWs together. Using only 1 for several relay manufac-
directional and distance elements, faulted- to 2 ms of data, fast incremental quantities are unaffected by the source response. turers. Since joining the
phase identification, and remote backup industry in 1999, Bogdan
protection. Waiting for the fault phasors to
stabilize or adding an intentional time delay
2 Relay trips in 0.8 ms for a line fault has designed, applied, and
supported protection,
does not necessarily increase the amount control, and fault-locating
of fault information available to the relay. products, with their global
To the contrary, the longer the protection 2000 installed base counted in
scheme waits, the less clear the situation thousands of installations.
may become as the control algorithms of Bogdan is an IEEE Fellow,
the sources respond to the fault conditions. 0 a Senior Fulbright Fellow,
Transient-based line protection does
A

a Distinguished Member
not use speed for the sake of speed alone. of CIGRE, and a registered
-2000
It also uses speed to overcome problems professional engineer in the
and provide secure and dependable pro- province of Ontario. Bogdan
tection that is independent of the source -4000 has authored over 220
characteristics. technical papers and holds
Transient-based Protection History over 60 patents.
Transient-based protection responds to
300
short-lived features in the relay input cur-
Mangapathirao
rents and voltages. Fault transients are not 200
(Venkat) Mynam
powered by the sources present in the sys-
tem but by the energy stored in the system 100 received his MSEE from the
University of Idaho in 2003
components prior to the fault: transmis- 0
kV

and his BE in electrical and

sion lines, capacitor banks, reactors, and so
electronics engineering
on. To understand this key factor, think of a -100 from Andhra University Col-
Thevenin equivalent network during faults.
-200 lege of Engineering, India, in
In the Thevenin network, all equivalent
2000. He joined Schweitzer
sources are removed, and their terminals are
-300 Engineering Laboratories,
shorted. The change in voltage at the fault Inc. (SEL) in 2003 and is
point is the only source and it drives all the presently working as an
incremental signals in the network. This in- TW87 engineering director in SEL
dependence of the fault signal components TW32F research and development.
from physical sources has been appreciated TD32F He was selected to par-
in protective relaying for decades (Figure 1), 32GF ticipate in the U. S. National
long before the days of wind-powered gen- 32QF Academy of Engineering
erators and inverter-based sources. It fa- Z2 (NAE) 15th Annual U. S.
cilitates fast protection that is independent PILOTRX Frontiers of Engineering
from the load and infeed effects. Symposium. He is a senior
POTT
From the protective relaying point of member of IEEE and holds
TRIP
view, we can categorize fault-induced sig- patents in the areas of
nals as follows: 0 ms 10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms power system protection,
control, and fault location.

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 by Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Bogdan Kasztenny, Mangapathirao V. Mynam, Normann Fischer,
Armando Guzman, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, USA
30
lessons learned
In our relays, we refer to fast incremental The new transient-based relays have an
quantities as time-domain (TD) quantities
Fundamental frequency incremental outstanding security record in the field,
quantities are changes in the voltage and already supported by thousands of relay-years
current phasors. Low-inertia sources and in-
verter-based sources affect these quantities.
of service.
Based on phasors, this type of incremental
quantities is too slow to outrun the prob- sive goal in ac line protection. Refer to Tripping before the sources know
lematic behavior of unconventional sources our in-depth discussion in the tech- The best proof of source-indepen-
A transient-based line protective relay nical paper, “Distance Protection: dent protection operation is the tim-
includes TW-based or TD-based protection Why Have We Started With a Circle, ing of the trip command issued for an
elements. Presently, the known TW and Does It Matter, and What Else Is Out internal fault. Figure 2 shows the relay
TD protection elements and schemes for ac There?” voltages, currents, the TRIP command,
Solving Line
Protection
Challenges

transmission lines are as follows: Recently, we have introduced the and key relay bits for a line fault on a
Directional elements (TW32 and TW50 element as an offshoot of the 345 kV, 60 Hz line. The relay closed
TD32) for use in permissive pilot protection TW87 scheme in applications to a trip-rated output contact in 0.8 ms.
schemes lines terminating on transformers. The TW87 scheme tripped first (0.8
Underreaching distance elements When combined with the TD32 and ms) followed by the POTT scheme
(TW21 and TD21) TW32 elements, it allows sub-milli- (1.4 ms). Both of these schemes use a
Traveling-wave differential scheme second tripping without a protection direct fiber channel. During the 0.8 ms,
(TW87) channel. the line current did not change much.
Traveling-wave overcurrent element

When combined
(TW50)
In the late 1970s, Vitins, Chamia, and
3 Fault clearing time of 33 ms
Liberman proposed what is now known as
the TD32 directional element. The same re- 2000
with two-cycle searchers introduced the TD21 element for
direct tripping without the aid of a protec- 1000
tion channel.
breakers and
Their implementations (often mislabeled 0
as TW-based protection) used high-pass
filters to extract fault transients. The early
A

fast protection
implementations were restrained by the -1000
limitations of the technology available at the
channels, time (static relays). The original manufactur- -2000
ers did not follow through with new relays
transient-based when the technology improved. Nonethe-
less, a handful of utilities used these early
“traveling-wave” relays. After an initial pe-
relays clear the riod of fine tuning the filtering and settings,
they served with a good track record until 200
the last relays were decommissioned about
vast majority of a decade ago.
Also in the late 1970s, Takagi concep- 0
kV

line faults in 1.5 tualized what is now known as the TW87

scheme. The idea assumed high-speed sam-
pling, high-bandwidth communications, -200
cycles. and high-fidelity current and voltage trans-
formers. His work was 40 years ahead of its -400
time.
A practical TW87 scheme that does not
TD32F
require high-fidelity voltage transformers
was first implemented in 2017. PILOTRX
In the early 1980s, Crossley and McLaren POTT
proposed the TW21 element. Unfortu- TRIP
nately, the TW21 element remains an elu-
0 ms 10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms

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 31
It is self-evident that the TRIP command was Transient-based line protection does not use speed for
not based on the fundamental frequency com-
ponent of voltages and currents (source-depen-
the sake of speed alone. It also uses speed to overcome
dent quantities). Instead, the TRIP command problems and provide secure and dependable protection
was based on transients that occurred between
the fault inception and the moment of asserting
that is independent of the source characteristics.
the TRIP bit (source-independent quantities).
Sometimes, when looking at our field re- data windows permit an unprecedented operating speed. Normann Fischer
cords that show a 1.5-cycle fault duration, the Modern transient-based relays are not merely better copies of the early de- received a BSEE with
honors from the University
readers bring up the importance of including signs or theoretical concepts, but clean sheet of paper designs based on the same
of Cape Town in 1993, an
the breaker operating time in our simulations. general principles with new insights, novelty, and attention to detail. The fol-
MSEE from the University
This misunderstanding is understandable be- lowing key factors made these designs possible: of Idaho in 2005, and a
cause in the past, we did not see this kind of line By virtue of being digital rather than analog, the new relays process the PhD from the Univer-
protection system operations. The field case in available information in a much more sophisticated way. Many more measure- sity of Idaho in 2014. In
Figure 2 involves two-cycle SF6 breakers. Actu- ments and security conditions are possible when running explicit calculations 1999, Normann joined
ated in 0.8 ms (trip-coil current starts ramping as compared with using an analog circuit. For example, in addition to extract- Schweitzer Engineer-
ing Laboratories, Inc.,
up 0.8 ms into the fault), the breakers inter- ing a TW signal, the relay evaluates in real time how clean and reliable that TW
where he is currently a
rupted the current in 22.8 ms, for the unprec- signal is before using it for tripping
Distinguished Engineer
edented total fault clearing time of 23.6 ms. By virtue of being digital rather than analog, the new relays include pow- and Vice President of
Such very short relay operating times may erful self-monitoring, data redundancy, and cross-checking features that guard Research and Develop-
bring doubts and suspicions of undesired op- against noise and component failures ment. He has authored
erations. It is true that if the relay acted on pha- By having abundant processing power, the new relays do not settle for and coauthored over 70
sors and attempted to measure these phasors technical papers and 10

in 2 to 3 ms, the results could be catastrophic.

But this is not what transient-based relays do.
4 Fault clearing time of 24 ms
transactions papers. He
has 28 patents related to
electrical engineering and
Transient-based relays do not work on phasors power system protection.
but instead use an entirely different kind of in- 1000
He is currently a senior
formation that is encoded in the first one or two member of IEEE and a
milliseconds of the fault voltages and currents. 500 member of the American
Many individual pieces of transient informa- Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE).
tion are much more reliable fault indicators 0
than phasors.
A

Armando Guzman re-

Modern Implementations -500 ceived his BSEE with
Modern implementations of transient- honors from Guadalajara
based line protection principles are possible Autonomous University
-1000
because of the following technologies: (UAG), Mexico. He received
Fast sampling (1 Msps with 18 bits of true a diploma in fiber-optics
resolution) engineering from the Mon-
Abundant processing power (TW algo- 300 terrey Institute of Technol-
rithms run every microsecond, and TD algo- ogy and Advanced Studies
rithms run every 100 μs) 200 (ITESM), Mexico, and his
High-bandwidth low-latency fiber com- 100 Master of Science and PhD
munications (sending 25 sets of 1 Msps volt- in electrical engineering
ages and currents every 25 μs) 0 and master’s in computer
kV

Reliable submicrosecond time synchroni- engineering from the Uni-

zation over fiber -100 versity of Idaho, USA. Since
Trip-rated solid-state outputs (10 μs clos- -200 1993, he has been with
ing time) Schweitzer Engineering
Modern transient-based relays are marvels -300 Laboratories, Inc. in Pull-
of digital signal processing. For example, the man, Washington, where
SEL-T400L has a processing latency from the he is a distinguished engi-
current change at the input terminals to the clo- TD32F neer. He holds numerous
sure of the trip-rated output of just a fraction of PILOTRX patents in power system
a millisecond. POTT protection, synchrophasor,
The low processing latency and the tran- TRIP and fault-locating technol-

sient-based principles that require very short ogy. He is a senior member

0 ms 10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms of IEEE.

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 by Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Bogdan Kasztenny, Mangapathirao V. Mynam, Normann Fischer,
Armando Guzman, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, USA
32
lessons learned
simplifications, but perform signal pro- lines) to 5 ms (very long lines). The Modern transient-based
cessing following first principles. For operating speed is a strict function of
example, the TD32 directional element the line length and the length of the relays are marvels of digital
is based on six fault loops rather than on associated fiber channel. Using TWs signal processing.
the three voltage and current pairs and a direct fiber channel, the TW87
Field experience gained through scheme is the fastest line protection
deployment of digital TW-based fault scheme possible. The TW87 scheme is ers dependability, security, and speed. The
locators allowed better understanding satisfactorily dependable and performs TD32 element typically operates in 1 to 2
of TWs and transients in secondary especially well on long lines, including ms. When used with a fast protection chan-
voltages and currents series-compensated lines nel, such as direct fiber or a protection-grade
Better simulation tools allow The POTT scheme that uses low-latency multiplexer, the POTT scheme
more thorough validation testing the TW32 and TD32 directional ele- operates reliably and consistently in 2 to 4 ms
As a result, the new transient-based ments is the workhorse of transient- The TD21 element is set to underreach
Solving Line
Protection
Challenges

relays have an outstanding security re- based line protection. The scheme is the remote line terminal and trips directly
cord in the field, already supported by extremely dependable and fast. The without the protection channel in 3 to 5
thousands of relay-years of service. TW32 element is moderately depend- ms. The TD21 element is designed to work
Performance able because of the poor frequency only in strong systems and is satisfactorily
Our to-date field experience with response of the present-day voltage dependable. In weak systems, such as when
the transient-based line relays leads us transformers. When the TW32 ele- only unconventional sources drive the fault
to the following observations (see Fig- ment asserts, however, it operates in current, the TD21 element does not operate
ures 3 through 6). 0.1 ms regardless of the fault and sys- by design and therefore is not a valid option
The TW87 scheme is extremely tem conditions. The TD32 element to address the wind-powered and inverter-
fast and trips on the order of 1 ms (short does all the heavy lifting and deliv- based source challenge
The faulted-phase identification logic
5 Fault clearing time of 25 ms performs exceptionally well, allowing for ex-
tremely fast single-pole tripping and reclos-
6000 ing. Identification of the faulted phase(s) in Xxxx protection

11

a time frame of 1 ms is not trivial because a

4000
fault generates transients in all three voltages
2000
and currents
Overall, the new transient-based relays
A

0 perform remarkably well. They have an ex-

ceptional security record and an impressive
-2000 dependability and speed record. When com-
bined with two-cycle breakers and fast pro-
-4000 tection channels, transient-based relays clear
the vast majority of line faults in 1.5 cycles.
-6000 Dependability and Backup
400 When we set out to design the modern
transient-based relay, we focused on speed
300
and security. Without security, nothing else
200 matters in protective relaying. We accepted
100 that we would obtain the level of depend-
ability that was possible given the level of
kV

0
security that was required. The field experi-
-100 ence exceeded our expectations for depend-
-200 ability. The customary concerns about TWs
did not materialize. Only in a lab, faults hap-
-300 pen at the voltage zero-crossing. In real life,
-400 the insulation must be stressed with some
voltage before it breaks down. As a result,
TD32F all practical faults launch TWs. The TW87
PILOTRX scheme and the TW32 element may lose
POTT some dependability because of the poor fre-
TRIP quency response of the voltage and current
transformers and other factors related to ter-
0 ms 10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms mination impedances and overlap of TWs.

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 33
The TD32 element is fully independent Modern transient-based relays are not merely better copies of the early
on the fault point on wave and does not
have any blind spots. designs or theoretical concepts, but clean sheet of paper designs based on the
Considering the relative strengths and same general principles with new insights, novelty, and attention to detail.
our field experience with the transient-
based protection principles, we recom-
mend applying transient-based relays as tion elements that use them require ments, and contributes to better stability, Transient-based
follows: backup, but they are less affected by given that the new sources have low or no
relays do not
When direct fiber is available, apply unconventional sources than the inertia.
the TW87 scheme phasor-based protection elements By using transient-based line protection, work on phasors
Use the POTT scheme with the and schemes, except the 32G ele- we have practically eliminated the relay op-
TD32, 32G (zero-sequence directional), ment and the 87L scheme. Transient- erating time from the fault clearing time but instead
and Zone 2 elements. Optionally, use the based protective relays work well in equation. Circuit breakers become the next
use an entirely
TW32 element (requires a separate per- strong and weak systems. They oper- frontier for reducing fault duration. We are
missive bit in the protection channel). In ate extremely fast. In strong systems, optimistic and looking forward to solid-state different kind
traditional systems, use the 32Q (nega- the speed limits damage and im- ac breakers.
tive-sequence directional) element as well proves transient stability margins. In In this article, we have referred to many of information
Apply the 87L (line current differ- weak systems with unconventional concepts related to TWs and fast incremental
that is encoded
ential) scheme when possible. The 87L sources, the speed allows outrunning quantities. For more information, refer to our
schemes provide extremely high sensitiv- problems related to the new sources, many technical papers on transient-based in the first
ity and dependability eases the fault ride-through require- line protection.
In strong systems, enable the TD21 one or two
element and the traditional Zone 1 ele-
ment and set them to cover 70 to 80 per- 6 Fault clearing time of 23 ms milliseconds
cent of the line of the fault
Use redundancy and breaker failure 3000
protection with direct transfer tripping voltages and
2000
Xxxx protection

11

(DTT) to reduce reliance on remote back-

currents. Many
up through step distance or overcurrent 1000
protection individual pieces
Strengthen your protection chan- 0
A

nel infrastructure to reduce latency and of transient

-1000
improve availability of unit protection
information
schemes (TW87, POTT, 87L) and DTT -2000
When applying remote backup are much more
protection in weak systems with uncon- -3000
ventional sources, consider using nondi- reliable fault
rectional offset distance characteristics
indicators than
with voltage-based faulted-loop selection 300
The above line protection package will phasors.
allow you to trip for the majority of faults 200
in less than a quarter cycle (assuming a fast 100
protection channel) and will provide mul-
tiple layers of backup for line faults and
kV

0
out-of-zone faults in the system.
Summary -100
Transient-based line protection is a
-200
valuable tool for solving challenges re-
lated to wind-powered generators and -300
inverter-based sources. Advancements in
electronic components, fiber communi-
cations, time synchronization, processing TD32F
power, and simulation tools allowed us to PILOTRX
design high-performance relays that have POTT
worked exceptionally well from day one. TRIP
Fault transients contain a wealth of infor-
mation. They are short lived, and protec- 0 ms 10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms

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