VoltageImbalanceProtectionofSynchronousGenerator

(ANSICode60)

Voltage Imbalance Protection of Synchronous Generator (ANSI Code 60)

SynchronousGeneratorProtection
Inanapparatusprotectionperspective,generatorsconstituteaspecialclassofpowernetwork
equipmentbecausefaultsareveryrare,butcanbehighlydestructiveandthereforeverycostly
whentheyoccur.Ifformostutilities,generationintegritymustbepreservedbyavoidingerroneous
tripping,removingageneratorincaseofaseriousfaultisalsoaprimaryifnotanabsolute
requirement.
Furthermore,protectionhastobeprovidedforoutofrangeoperationnormallynotfoundinother
typesofequipmentsuchasovervoltage,overexcitation,limitedfrequencyorspeedrange,etc.

Figure 0 Typical generatortransformer protection scheme

Tablebelowprovidesalistofprotectiverelaysandtheirfunctionsmostcommonlyfoundin
generatorprotectionschemes.Theserelaysareimplementedasshownonthesinglelinediagram
ofFigure0above..
AsshownintheRelayTypecolumn,mostprotectiverelaysfoundingeneratorprotection
schemesarenotspecifictothistypeofequipmentbutaremoregenerictypes.
ANSI

FunctionDescription

87G Generatorphasephasewindings
protection

RelayType
Differentialprotection

87T

Stepuptransformerdifferential
protection

87U Combineddifferentialtransformer
andgeneratorprotection

Differentialprotection
Differentialprotection

40

Protectionagainstthelossoffield
voltageorcurrentsupply

Offsetmhorelay

46

Protectionagainstcurrent
Timeovercurrentrelay
imbalance.Measurementofphase
negativesequencecurrent

32

Antimotoringprotection

Reversepowerrelay

24

Overexcitationprotection

Volt/Hertzrelay

59

Phaseovervoltageprotection

Overvoltagerelay

60

Detectionofblownvoltage
transformerfuses

Voltagebalancerelay

81

Underandoverfrequency
protection

Frequencyrelays

51V

Backupprotectionagainstsystem
faults

Voltagecontrolledor
voltagerestrainedtime
overcurrentrelay

21

Backupprotectionagainstsystem
faults

Distancerelay

78

Protectionagainstlossof
synchronization

Combinationofoffset
mhoandblinders

Now,letshaveanoverviewofspecificprotectionANSI60Detectionofblownvoltage
transformerfuses.

Lossofavoltagephasesignal
Thelossofavoltagephasesignalcanbeduetoanumberofcauses.Theprimarycauseforthis
nuisanceisablownoutfuseinthevoltagetransformercircuit.Othercausescanbeawiring
error,avoltagetransformerfailure,acontactopening,amisoperationduringmaintenance,etc.
SincethepurposeoftheseVTsistoprovidevoltagesignalstotheprotectiverelaysandthe
voltageregulator,theimmediateeffectofalossofVTsignalwillbethepossiblemisoperationof
someprotectiverelaysandthecauseforgeneratoroverexcitationbythevoltageregulator.
AmongtheprotectiverelaystobeimpactedbythelossofVTsignalare:
Function21Distancerelay.Backupforsystemandgeneratorzonephasefaults.
Function32Reversepowerrelay.Antimotoringfunction,sequentialtrippingand
inadvertentenergizationfunctions.

Function40Lossoffieldprotection.
Function51VVoltagerestrainedtimeovercurrentrelay.
Normallythesefunctionsshouldbeblockedifaconditionoffusefailureisdetected.

Itiscommonpracticeforlargegeneratorstousetwosetsofvoltagetransformersfor
protection,voltageregulation,andmeasurement.

Therefore,themostcommonpracticeforlossofVTsignalsdetectionistouseavoltagebalance
relayasshowninFigure1oneachpairofsecondaryphasevoltage.Whenafuseblows,the
voltagerelationshipbecomesimbalancedandtherelayoperates.Typically,thevoltageimbalance
willbesetataround15%.

Figure 1 Example of voltage

balance relay

Theadventofdigitalrelayshasallowedtheuseofsophisticatedalgorithmsbasedon
symmetricalcomponentstodetectthelossofVTsignal.

WhenasituationoflossofoneormoreoftheVTsignalsoccurs,thefollowingconditions
develop:
Therewillbeadropinthepositivesequencevoltageaccompaniedbyanincreaseinthe
negativesequencevoltagemagnitude.Themagnitudeofthisdropwilldependuponthe
numberofphasesimpactedbyafusefailure.

IncaseofalossofVTsignalandcontrarytoafaultcondition,thereshouldnotbeany
changeinthecurrentsmagnitudesandphases.Therefore,thenegativeandzerosequence
currentsshouldremainbelowasmalltolerancevalue.Afaultconditioncanbedistinguished
fromalossofVTsignalbymonitoringthechangesinthepositiveandnegativecurrent
levels.IncaseofalossofVTsignals,thesechangesshouldremainbelowasmalltolerance
level.
Alltheaboveconditionscanbeincorporatedintoacomplexlogicschemetodetermineifindeeda
therehasbeenaconditionoflossofVTsignalorafault.

Figure 2 Symmetrical component implementation of fuse failure detection

Figure2representsthelogicimplementationofavoltagetransformersingleanddoublefuse
failurebasedonsymmetricalcomponents.

Ifthefollowingconditionsaremetinthesametime(andcondition)duringatime
delaylongerthanT1:
ThepositivesequencevoltageisbelowavoltagesetvalueSET_1,
ThenegativesequencevoltageisaboveavoltagesetvalueSET_2,
ThereexistsasmallvalueofcurrentsuchthatthepositivesequencecurrentI1is

aboveasmallsetvalueSET_4andthenegativeandzerosequence
currentsI2andI2donotexceedasmallsetvalueSET_3,
thenafusefailureconditionwillpickuptooneandremaininthatstatethankstothelatch
effect.Fusefailureofaspecificphasecanbedetectedbymonitoringthelevelvoltageof
eachphaseandcomparingittoasetvalueSET_5.Assoonasthepositivesequence
voltagereturnstoavaluegreaterthanthesetvalueSET_1andthenegativesequence
voltagedisappears,thefusefailureconditionreturnstoazerostate.

Reference:TheelectricpowerengineeringhandbookL.L.Grigsby(