Feeder Protection

Protection of Feeders
Er.Sandeep Yadav , Xen , Protection Division , HVPNL,Gurgaon

As we go towards high voltages , it becomes very costly & unsafe to measure the circuit current by putting ammeter in circuit.
We need a sensing device , which sense the heavy line current and gives a replica Of this current for metering & protection circuits.

Current Transformer(C.T) performs the task. Transformer is a device used to step up or step-down the circuit voltages & currents.
Nos turns on secondary side of a C.T. are always more than primary nos turns So we can say that a C.T. is a Step-Up transformer , which step-up the voltage on secondary side. All transformers works on the principle that Power on primary side = Power on secondary side Vp x Ip = Vs x Is In case of C.T. Is << Ip so Vs>>Vp

IMPORTANT
Open circuit secondary of C.T. can generate high voltage on high loads and May prove very harmful. So the secondary circuit of C.T. should never left open.

CASE

01
Single core-single ratio current transformer is the simples t one having 2 terminals on secondary side (proba-bly names a s 1S1 & 1S2)

CASE

02

Two core-single ratio current transformer have two cores , one for metering & another for protection. The secondary windings of both the cores are wound on a common primary bar. With the passage of c urrent on primary winding/bar , secondary currents produced in both the windings as per the C.T. rati o. In case of a two core C.T. , if one core isnt being used , same should be shorted to avoid any formati on of H.V on secondary side and hazard.

CASE

03
In a single core double ratio C.T. three secondary terminals will be there. To utilize full ratio , connect secondary circuit to 1S1 & 1S3 and to utilize the half ratio , connect secondary term inals to 1S1 & 1S2. 1s1-1s2 1s1-1s2 50/5A 100/5A

How to denote C.T. ratio?

Nos sec. terminals/core=Nos Ratio+1 i.e. in the given example it is 3+1=4 e.g. 1s1,1s2,1s3,1s4 As it is a 4cores, 3 ratio C.T. , total nos secondary terminals =( (nos ratio+1) x nos cores ) = (3+1)x4=16Nos

Voltage Transformer or Potential transformer is used to step down the voltage from a higher level (primary side) to low level (secondary side) so that same may be used for metering & protection circuits. Most of the V.T/P.T are of single ratio/two core types. i.e. 220000/

Normally we connect the P.Ts on Ph to ground configuration i.e. for a 220KV P.T , Ph-G voltage will be 220000/1.732 = 127020V or 127KV and the secondary voltage will not be 110V but will be 110/1.732=63.3V

Never short the secondary terminals of a PT/VT if not in use as it may lead to damage of the secondary winding of the Instrument transformer

The ferrules of the P.T/Voltage circuits are generally denoted by E (prefix)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Fault current sensed by C.T. C.T. secondary circuit fed fault current to Relay. Relay operates. Relay contacts acts as a switch for d.c. tripping circuit. Relay contacts closes the path of d.c. tripping circuit. C.B. trips. Fault cleared.

Case1

01
During a fault of Ph-Ph fault (all phases) , the vector sum o f the fault currents flowing in the secondary circuit of all th e C.Ts.will be Zero. No current will flow through Earth Fau lt Relay. As seen , for a fault current of 4500A,25A (i.e. 5x4 500/900=25) will flow through all the over-current relays. As relays are set at 5A , it will faces 5 times current. Hence the Over-current Relays of all phases trips simultaneously

Phase-to-Phase Fault

Case1

02
It observed that during an earth fault as shown , 24th times current (i.e. rated for 1A) will flow through E/f relay & 9 times current(i.e. rated for 5A) flow through the O/c r elay of phase under ground fault , so Earth Fault relay will pickup prior to O/c relay & trip the CB to isolate the fault.

Phase-to-Ground Fault

On every Over current/Earth Fault relay , you will get a s imilar scale. This scale represents the characteristic of the relay. The formulas written in side describe the relati onship between current & time for different characteris tics.

We have a transmission line having line C.T. of 300/1A. Relay PSM (Plug Setting Multiplier) i.e. Current setting of Relay=1A (100%) Relay TMS (Time Multiplier Setting) 0.1 (i.e 10% of full sace of 1.0) Fault Current (Assume) 1200A (Case 1) Fault Current (Assume) 1500A (Case 2)

We cant set an Over current /Earth fault relay operating timings directly as it is dependent on many factors and primarily depends on Fault Current. Being i nverse characteristic, if Fault current increase , the operating time of relay decrease. A higher value of TMS will cause long tripping time and lower valu es of TMS will results in lower tripping time. Sometimes , for same type of faults at a same location , the fault current may change and tripping timing of relays wil l differ. The fault current is dependent on the Fault MVA level, Distance of fault from Generators, Nos generators operating in Grid etc.

Case

01

Fault Current = 1200A , C.T.Ratio = 300/1A , Relay Rating = 1A , Plug Setting Multiplier = 100% C.T. Secondary Current = 1200x1/300=4Amp

We can also see from the characteristic scale that at 4 times current operating time will be 4.97s. Now if we set a TMS of 0.1 i.e. 10% , the time taken by relay to trip = 4.97x0.1=0.497s or 497ms If we set TMS at 0.05 then relay will take 4.97x0.05=0.248s or 248ms to trip.

Case

02

Fault Current = 1500A , C.T.Ratio = 300/1A , Relay Rating = 1A , Plug Setting Multiplier = 100% C.T. Secondary Current = 1500x1/300=5Amp

If set a TMS of 0.1 i.e. at 10% ,so time taken by relay to trip = 4.27x0.1=0.427s or 427ms If we set TMS at 0.05 i.e. at 5% ,then relay will take 4.27x0.05=0.213s or 213ms to trip.

So we can easily interpret that the operation time taken by the relay is largely depends on fault current. On the other hand, the fault current may not be same at every time for a fixed location & for an identical type of fault. Fault current depends on following parameters also; Short circuit power of in feed Line Impedance Arc resistance Type of Earthing Treating of Star point Voltage level.

Important

Over-current protection is very appealing and attractive because of its inherent simplicity. However, it has some major drawbacks which causes it to mal-operate. In LV systems, however, mal-operation of relays can be tolerated. The only consideration in LV systems is the continuity of supply to the consumers. In EHV systems , mal-operations cannot be tolerated. This is because EHV lines are part of an interconnected grid. Any mal-operation on these systems jeopardizes the stability of the electric grid.

Case

01
During normal operation of the power system, if secondary circuit of one of the C.T. gets open circuit , it will lead to mal-operation of Earth Fault Relay (even without any earth fault)

Suppose a condition, when Y phase C.Ts secondary gets opened due to any reason (may be due to continuous sparking, sulphation , looseness etc). & Load is running balan ced on all the phases.

2.5A current in Earth fault relay wil l definitely cause the tripping of Ea rth Fault relay set at 1A.

Case

02
If a jumper of any phase of transmission line gets ope ned (but doesnt drop to ground & make Earth fault) , the loa d current through that phase drop to zero(0) and we will get out-of-balance current of 2.5A. So we will get an Earth Faul t Relay operation without actual Earth Fault.

2.5A current in Earth fault relay wil l definitely cause the tripping of Ea rth Fault relay set at 1A without occura nce of a real Earth fault.

Case

03
During Closing of the circuit breaker , if due to any reaso n , any phase contacts arent closed properly , same ma y lead to drop the current & voltage on that phase to zero. Th is condition cause a out-of-balance current of 2.5A (as calculated in previous examples) and will cause the mal-operation of earth Fault Relay .i.e. the Earth fault re lay will trip without actual Earth fault.

2.5A current in Earth fault relay wil l definitely cause the tripping of Ea rth Fault relay set at 1A without occurr ence of a real Earth fault. So it is concluded that opening of a current circuit both on pri mary & secondary side of a C.T. may cause the out-of-balance current in Earth fault relay

THANK YOU !! Er.Sandeep Yadav

+919310404372
https://www.facebook.com/sanrwr [email protected] [email protected]