Protection Control & Design Engineer

Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

1.)What is BCU in the substation?

 BCU is the Bay control Unit.
 The main function of BCU is to monitor the whole system remotely.
 In addition to the monitoring functions, BCU also used for control the MV or HV substations from remote.
 Protection functions are implemented within the BCU, called a Bay control Protection Unit(BCPU)
2.)Parts of BCU?
 Binary input Analog input Binary output Control switches Display & LED Communication Port

3.)Brief about the Parts of BCU

 Binary Input-Any signal is required to transfer to the remote or required for interlock shall be wired to binary Input
 Binary Output-Remote signal is executed via Binary Output(BO)
 Analog Input-Current/Voltage Inputs & Transducer output(4-20mA or 0-20mA) shall be wired to Analog Input
 Control Switch-Control switch is used to control the equipment in the feeder
 Communication channel-It is used to communicate the IED with the SCMS system/Control Center
 LED-It is used for Local/Status Purpose

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

4.)BCU Catalog:-
Some of the BCU catalogue are shown here for the examples

 In the above image, if you see that watch dog contact is F3 & F4.
 Power supply card is F1 & F2.
 For Time synchronization separate port is available which is mention as slot “A”.
 some device like Fault Monitoring system to Master Unit communicates through Profibus which is mention as slot
“B”.
 Fiber Optic port RS485 which is mentioned as slot “C”. Then finally Binary Input is available

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

In the below image you will see the Binary Inputs, Binary outputs, Analog inputs are mentioned

5.)What are the Types of Soft Signals are used in the Substation Automation system
 SPI-Single Point Indication
 DPI-Double Point Indication
 SCO-Single Command

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

 DCO-Double Command
 AI-Analog Measurement
 REG STP-Regulation Command
6.)What is the electrical interlock done in the substation?
 Interlock is nothing but combination of NC & No contacts.
 The electrical interlocking is done to make sure that the equipment as well as human safety
7.)What is the software interlock & how it is achieved in the substation?
 An interlock achieved through Softlogic is called Software interlock
8.)What are the logic gates are used in the interlock?
The following logic gates are used in the Boolean function

The following logic gates are used in the interlocks

9.) What is communication in the Substation Automation system?

 Communication is the conveyance of information from a source to destination.
 In substation automation, computer is the transfer of information from one computing device to another.
 if the problems with synchronization, language & protocol can all cause communication failure
 The substation communication might be in the form of dedicated link between two devices, or it may be over some
form of communications network.
 The international standard organization(ISO) recognized the need for a framework for inter-device data
communications, and in 1984 introduced the Open system Interconnection(OSI) model.
 The OSI divides the data communication process into seven distinct layers
Layer Type Data unit Layer Name of Layer Function

Host Layers Data 7th Layer Application layer Communication Application

6th Layer Presentation Layer Encryption & Data representation

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

5th Layer Session layer Inter-host communication

Segment 4th Layer Transport Layer End-to-End Connection & reliability
Media Layers Packet 3rd Layer Network Layer Logical Addressing
Frame 2nd Layer Link Layer Physical Addressing
Bit 1st Layer Physical Layer Media, signal & Binary transmission

a.)OSI Layer 1
 It is the physical layer.
 Every data message is transmitted on some medium.
 This medium usually takes the form of cables, wires or optical fibers
b.)OSI Layer 2
 It is the data Link layer.
 The physical layer provides the Data link layer with bits.
 The data link layer now provides some intelligence to this sequence of bits by defining data frames.
 A commonly used Data link layer is ethernet.
Examples
Equipment that work at this layer are Ethernet switches & bridges
c.)OSI Layer 3
 It is the network layer.
 The network layer is concerned with packet delivery.
 Logical paths are established between the sending & receiving equipment by adding information onto the data frame
which defines where the packet has come from, and where the packet is going to.
 This takes the form of a logical source and destination address for each packet of information. A commonly used
network protocol is IP(Internet Protocol).
d.)OSI Layer 4
 It is the Transport Layer.
 The transport layer is the first layer that is not concerned with the mechanics of the data transfer.
 It is concerned with managing & sequencing the packets once they have arrive.
 There is an array of transfer protocols ranging from the very simple, which simply accepts the data as it comes in, not
caring about whether the packets have errors nor even if they are in the right order
 Through to quite complex protocols which check the data for errors, send out an acknowledgement to the sending
equipment, order the packets into the correct sequence and present the data to the next layer guaranteed error-free and
correctly sequenced.
 A more sophisticated widely used transport layer protocol used is TCP(Transmission Control Protocol).

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

e.)OSI Layer 5
 It is the session layer.
 The first four layers establish a means of reliable communication between two IED’s(computers), but they don’t deal
with intelligent management of the communication.
 This is performed at the session layer.
 It is the first layer that has user interaction.
 Session layer software can implement password control, monitor system usage, and allow a user interaction with the
communication
f.)OSI Layer 6
 It is the presentation layer.
 As the name implies, the presentation layer concerns itself with how the data is presented
g.)OSI Layer 7
 It is the application layer.
 The Application layer is the layer that interacts with the user.
 This is the main software that allows the user to define communication.

Examples of Application level protocols:-

File Transfer protocol(FTP)
Hypertext Transfer protocol(HTTP)
Post Office Protocol 3(POP3 ) or Simple mail transfer protocol(SMTP)
10.) Physical connection to IED’s for SCMS:-
 In Substation control and automation systems, connection to IED communications port at the physical layer (OSI
Layer 1) is generally to one of three standards
RS232
RS485
Ethernet
11.)What is RS232 connections:-
 It is suitable for point-to-point connection.
 It uses switched single-sided 12V(nominal) signals for data transmission as well as handshake signals to control the
communication

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

12.) What is RS485 connection:-

 RS485 provides a two-wire half-duplex connection designed for multi-drop connections it more suitable than EIA232
for use in automation schemes.
 The multi-drop connection (sometimes called daisy-chaining) generally has a limit of 1km

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

13.)What is Ethernet(RJ45) connection:-

 It is the most widespread LAN technology.
 Standard signaling speeds are 10Mbps,100Mbps or 1Gbps
 The specification allows connection to be made either electrically using an RJ45 connector, or by direct fiber-optic
connection

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

14.)Types of FO cables:-
There are two types of FO cables
a.)Single Mode FO cables:-
Single mode fiber is used for long distance.
Laser has its light source.
It is used for remote end communication
b.) Multimode(MM) FO cable:-
Multimode fiber is used for short distance.
LED has its light source.
It is used for SCMS communication

15.)What are the types of Network Topologies?

Ethernet Topologies are divided into two
Star Topologies
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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

Ring Topologies
a.)Star Topologies:-
 In the star Topology, a physical connection runs from each device on the network to a central location, usually an
Ethernet switch.

b.)Ring Topology:-
 In the Ring Topology, a physical connection is daisy-chained around the devices in the form of a ring

Drawback of Ring Topology:-

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

 Ring Topology connection due to the risk of traffic getting stuck in an endless loop around a ring and the consequent
paralysis of the network as the amount of stuck traffic increased.
Remedies:-
To overcome the Traffic limitation in the ring topology, the following protocols are introduced.
STP-Spanning Tree Protocol (IEEE 802.1D)
RSTP-Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (IEEE 802.1W)

16.) Redundancy in Communication Network:-

a.) Dual Homing Star Topologies
b.) Rapid Spanning tree Topologies

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

17.)Redundancy Requirement for Substation Automation Networks:-

a.) High Availability Automation network:-
 The standard IEC 62439-3 (Industrial Communication networks-High availability automation networks) was
developed for substation automation
b.) Parallel Redundancy Protocol:-
 The standard IEC 62439-3 Clause:4 which describes a Parallel Redundancy Protocol(PRP)
c.) Seamless Redundancy Protocol:-
 The standard IEC 62439-3 Clause:5 which describes High Availability Seamless Redundancy(HSR)

18.)What is Bump less Redundancy

 PRP & HSR are appropriately suited to the needs of substation automation networks, providing true static redundancy.
 This is also known as Bump less Redundancy

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

19.)Examples of PRP Network:-

 A PRP compatible device has two ports operating in parallel, each port being connected to a separate LAN segment.

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

12.) Example of HSR Network:-

 HSR works on the premise that each device connected in the ring is a doubly attached node running HSR

13.)What is SCMS?
 SCMS is Substation Control & Monitoring system.
 SCMS also called as Substation Automation system.
 Main task is to monitor and control an electrical grid system based on the information it collects from the substations
within that system.
 SCMS is based on an Ethernet Network using IEC 61850 protocol.
14.)What is IEC 61850?
 In the early 1990s the Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI) in the US started work on a Utility Communications
Architecture(UCA).
 The goal was to produce industrial agreement regarding substation integrated control, protection, and data acquisition,
to allow interoperability of substation devices from different manufacturers
15.)Benefits of IEC 61850:
The major Benefits of the standards are as follows:
Lower Installation cost
Lower Transducer cost
Lower communication cost
Lower extension cost
Lower Integration cost

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

16.) Levels of SCMS:-

a.) Level-1 Bay Level
Bay Control Unit(BCU)
IED(Protection Relays)
Ethernet Switch
b.) Level-2 Station Level
Server
GPS
Ethernet Switch
c.) Level-3 Control Center Level
Gateway
d.) Level-4 Cybersecurity (DMZ- De militarized zone)
Firewall
17.) Control & Automation Function:-
The SCMS control is implemented as three different levels of operation
a.)Local Control Panel/Bay control Level:-
 If the Local Control Panel device is put in Local mode, the operator will be able to perform the control operation only
from the LCP itself.
 Only if the device/BCU is in Remote mode, the control operation will be done through the station and/or the Remote
Control Center
b.)Station Control Panel/Station Panel:-
 The device will be controlled from the Operator or Engineering workstation if the station level is in Local mode.
 If the station level is in Remote mode, control operation will be done by the Remote control center.
c.)Remote Control Panel/Remote Level:-
 The device shall operate from the Remote Control Panel only when Local control Panel & station Control Panel are in
Remote mode

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 Protection Control & Design Engineer
Subbiahkannan
Mail id:[email protected]

18.) Different Levels of operation in SCMS system

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