IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO.

1, MARCH 2003

57

Analysis of Operating Conditions of Ground-Fault

Protection Schemes for Generator Stator Winding
Mieczyslaw Zielichowski and Marek Fulczyk

AbstractThis paper presents results of simulation studies of

the influence of methods of grounding the stator winding of the
unit-connected generator neutral on the operating conditions of a
100-percent ground-fault protection excited by the third-harmonic
voltage ratio in the generator neutral and at its terminals. The
analysis was performed for a generator with the neutral grounded
through a ground-fault neutralizer, a third-harmonic stop filter, a
resistor, and a capacitive voltage divider. The influence of the parameters of the particular elements of the grounding circuits on
the voltage-feeding measuring element of the protection was determined. The capacitance to ground of the generator breakers
was taken into account. The simulations were run for 1110-MVA
unit-concerted generator at ground faults along the whole length
of the generator stator winding.
It has been found that the method of grounding the generator
neutral and the parameter of the grounding elements significantly
influences the operating conditions of this protection. It is shown
that through the proper selection of these parameters, the groundfault protection of whole stator winding, counting from the generator neutral to the terminals is ensured.
Index TermsFault location, generators, grounding, protection,
windings.

I. INTRODUCTION

ROUND FAULTS are the most common causes of

damage to the stator winding of the unit-connected
generator and the direct cause of phase-to-phase faults. The
effects of these faults depend on the energy emitted in the
ground-fault channel and on the ground-fault overvoltages [1].
By influencing the parameters connected in the neutral and
at the generator terminals to ground, it is possible to create
conditions under which erosion of the magnetic circuit caused
by a ground-fault arc is insignificant or totally eliminated
and ground-fault overvoltages are not dangerous to the stator
main insulation. Then, the occurrence of a line-to-line fault in
the generator circuits, if the ground-fault protection operates
property, is practically impossible. In these conditions, the
optimum protection of generator-transformer units against the
effects of ground faults in the stator windings is ensured.
Considering the results of investigations into ground-fault
processes and the results of analysis of failures of currently used
unit-connected generators, it is thought that the ground-fault
protections of the stator windings should detect ground faults
at any point of the winding, including the generator neutral [2],
Manuscript received September 8, 1999; revised May 16, 2002.
M. Zielichowski is with the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering,
Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw 50-370, Poland (e-mail:
zielicho@elektryk.ie.pwr.wroc.pl).
M. Fulczyk is with the ABB Corporate Research, Krakow 31-038, Poland
(e-mail: marek.fulczyk@plcrc.mail.abb.com).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEC.2002.808382

[3]. Moreover, in order to minimize the possibility of improper

operation of the generator ground-fault protection system, the
particular types of protections forming this system should use
different excitation parameters [4][6].
The ground-fault protection system excited by the thirdharmonic voltages ratio to ground in the generator neutral
and at the terminals of the stator windings belongs to the
group of 100-percent generator ground-fault protections [7][9].
This protection system is employed more often, especially in
high-power generators, because it is possible to optimize its
operating conditions in unit-connected generators with different
parameters in the transversal branch.
The parameters of the elements grounding the generator neutral and the capacitance to ground of the generator breakers
influence the ground-fault phenomena and the operating conditions of the protection system (i.e., the voltage level feeding
its measuring element [2], [7]). In order to limit the direct
effects of ground faults and to optimize the operating conditions of the protection, ensuring the trip out of the generator
at an arcing ground fault at any point of the stator winding,
the above relationships should be determined.
II. EQUIVALENT SCHEME OF GENERATOR-TRANSFORMER
SYSTEM
The simulation studies of the influence of the method of
grounding the unit-connected generator neutral on the operating conditions of the ground-fault protection excited by the
third-harmonic voltages ratio to ground in the neutral and at
the generator terminals were carried out for a generator-transformer unit equipped with the additional capacitance to ground
of generator breakers and without this capacitance.
Equal true ratios of the voltage transformers feeding the protection system, installed in the neutral and at the generator terminals, were assumed. The simulations were run for 1110-MVA
units at ground faults along the whole length of the generator
stator winding. The resistance of the breakdown channel during
an arcing ground fault in the main insulation of the generator
stator was determined by experiments carried out on real generator-transformer units installed in the power system [10], [11].
The resistance of 10 was assumed in simulation [7], [8], [12].
The third-harmonic voltage feeding the measuring element
of the protection system at a ground fault in the generator stator
was determined on the basis of the system equivalent scheme
shown in Fig. 1. The simplifications introduced into this scheme
do not have any significant effect on the third-harmonic voltage
feeding the measuring element of the protection system.
In the analyzed equivalent unit scheme, actual resistance
of the ground-fault channel in the main insulation of the gener-

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ator stator winding was divided in two equivalent admittances

and
, connected in the generator neutral and at the
terminals of the stator windings, respectively [8]. These admitand
tances include the nonlinear dependence of
voltages, induced in the particular parts of the stator winding,
on the distance of the ground-fault location from the generator
neutral.
For the same ratios of voltage transformers and , feeding
the protection system and for the balanced system during the
), the relative value of
normal operation of the unit (
the third-harmonic voltage feeding the measuring element of the
protection is given by the following relation:

(1)
is calculated in relation to total third-harmonic
where voltage
, recalculated in secondary circuit, induced in the
voltage
stator winding between neutral and terminals.
III. SYSTEM GROUNDING GENERATOR NEUTRAL
An analysis of the operating conditions of the ground-fault
protection of the generator stator winding was made for the
system grounding generator neutral shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. Equivalent scheme of unit-connected generator for third-harmonic

voltage: GFP-third-harmonic ground-fault protection; T , T -voltage
transformers; Y
-admittance of the system grounding generator neutral;
Y , Y -admittance reflecting the parameters of the unit, connected in the
,Y
-equivalent
neutral and at the generator terminals, respectively [7]; Y
admittance of the breakdown channel, connected in the generator neutral and
, E
-third-harmonic
at the generator terminals, respectively [8], E
voltages induced in generator stator winding between ground-fault location
x and generator neutral and between generator terminals and ground-fault
-third-harmonic voltages induced in
location, respectively [8]; E
generator stator winding between generator neutral and generator terminals;
Up-third-harmonic voltage feeling the measuring element of the protection;
x-relative distance of the ground-fault location from the generator neutral.

A. Neutral Grounded Through Neutralizer

Tests have shown that the grounding of the generator neutral
through a neutralizer (Fig. 2(a)) poses no overvoltage danger
to the main insulation of the stator winding during interrupted
arcing ground faults [2]. For this grounding method, groundfault overvoltages are similar to the overvoltages in the generator with the ungrounded neutral and they do not exceed the
double amplitude of the generator phase voltage. Since a neutralizer decreases the heat energy emitted in a ground-fault arc,
practically eliminating the erosion of the stator magnetic circuit,
its use brings significant benefits. Still, one should take it into
account that for some types of ground-fault protection systems,
the possible range of variation of the neutralization coefficient
of the capacitive component of ground-fault current is limited.
Generator-transformer units are usually equipped with two
independent ground-fault protection systems using different
excitation criteria. One of them is often a system excited by the
zero-sequence component of voltage [3]. Since the neutralizer
influences the unit impedance in the zero-sequence circuit
,
(Fig. 3), it determines the level of zero-sequence voltage
transformed on the generator side through the capacitance
between the windings of the main transformer, at ground faults
in power system (Fig. 4). The condition of selective operation
of the protection system, consisting in the trip-out of the unit
by this system only at ground faults in the protected zone,
limits the variation range of the neutralization coefficient of
capacitive component of ground-fault current.
Taking into account the actual unit parameters, the groundfault current in a generator equipped with this system can be
decreased below 1 A and its minimum will depend on the capacitance of the generator breakers.

Fig. 2. Equivalent scheme of system grounding generator neutral;

a) neutralizer, b) resistor, c) resistor with connected in series thirdharmonic
stop filter, d) capacitive voltage divider.

Fig. 3. Equivalent scheme of generator-transformer unit for zero-sequence

component at ground fault in power system; U zero-sequence voltage
component in power system during a ground-fault, U zero-sequence
voltage in generator circuit, C - capacitance between low- and
high-voltage windings of main transformer.

If the unit is not protected by a system excited by the zerosequence voltage component, the neutralization coefficient can
be close to unity. In this way, the level of a ground-fault current
in the arcing channel is determined by its active component
which depends mainly on the neutralizer resistive parameters
and it usually equals 5% of the capacitive component of the
ground-fault current. In units equipped with generator breakers
without additional capacitance, this current does not exceed
0.2 A.

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59

where
is a value of the grounding resistance of the generator
neutral.
The value of primary grounding admittance in systems with
a grounding transformer equals
(4)

Fig. 4. Relative value of zero-sequence voltage in generator circuit, calculated

to voltage U , versus neutralization coefficient and phase capacitance to
0:003 F and unit phase
ground of generator breakers at capacitance C capacitance (without generator breakers capacitance) to ground 0.4 F.

For this method of grounding, the generator neutral, resultant

for the third harmonic and the
neutralizer admittance
values of the particular elements in its equivalent scheme
(Fig. 2(a)) are calculated using the following relation:
(2)
where
;
;
neutralization coefficient defined as a ratio of the
inductive component to the capacitive component
of the ground-fault current [2];
,
pulsation for the first and third harmonic;
equivalent phase capacitance of the unit to ground.
The voltage feeding the measuring element of the protection
system excited by the third-harmonic voltage is calculated from
relation (1) at ground faults along the whole length of the stator
winding for the neutralization coefficient in the range from 0 to
2 and at the phase capacitance to ground of generator breakers
in the range from 0 to 0.8 F.

where is a ratio of the grounding transformer.

The operating conditions of the ground-fault protection
excited by the third-harmonic voltage was determined for
, changing in the range from 0 to infinity at
resistance
different values of the additional capacitance to ground of the
generator breakers.
C. Neutral Grounded Through Series Circuit of Resistor and
Third-Harmonic Stop Filter
This method of grounding the generator neutral consist in the
with the third-harseries connection of a 1000 resistor
monic stop filter [Fig. 2(c)]. This filter is characterized by a low
value of impedance for the fundamental harmonic. Therefore,
the equivalent impedance of the grounding system of the gener, which
ator neutral for this frequency is close to resistance
ensures the proper operation of the ground-fault protection excited by the zero-sequence voltage along a considerable length
of the stator winding (more than 95%). The impedance of the
grounding system of the generator neutral for the third harmonic
reaches a significant value and it is close to the impedance of
the third-harmonic stop filter. Thanks to this, the operating conditions of the ground-fault protection excited by the third harmonic are changing.
The parameters of the stop filter influence both the operating
conditions of the ground-fault protection and the ground-fault
phenomena in fast transients during interrupted arcing faults.
An analysis of fast transients in such systems showed that the
stop filter poses no overvoltage danger to the main insulation of
the stator winding of the unit-connected generator [9].
In this method of grounding the neutral, the resultant admittance of the grounding system for the third harmonic equals

B. Neutral Grounded Trough Resistor (High Resistance)

The grounding resistor is connected directly between the neutral and the ground or into the circuit of the secondary winding
of the grounding transformer [Fig. 2(b)]. When selecting its resistance, the operating conditions of the ground-fault protection
excited by zero-sequence voltage, the erosion of the magnetic
circuit of the stator, the damage to the main insulation of the
winding caused by a ground-fault current, and the overvoltage
danger are taken into account. In such schemes, grounding reusually exceeds 1 k and the ground-fault current
sistance
during faults at the generator terminals usually equals several
amperes [1].
In the considered case, the admittance of the grounding
system of the generator neutral was calculated from the following relation:
(3)

(5)
Simulation tests were run for the parameters of the third-harF,
H and for the
monic stop filter:
.
1000 resistor
D. Neutral Grounded Through Capacitive Voltage Divider
In this method of grounding the generator neutral [Fig. 2(d))],
the capacitive voltage divider performs a function of a capacitive
voltage transformer, feeding the protection system excited by
the zero-sequence voltage component, connected to the termi. Similarly as for the grounding of the
nals of capacitance
neutral through a resistor, the maximum level of ground-fault
current equals several amperes. Whereas the particular capacitances of the grounding system result from the proper operation
of the protection system excited by the zero-sequence voltage.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO. 1, MARCH 2003

The resultant admittance of the voltage divider is given by

this relation
(6)
where

(7)
an offset coefficient of the protection excited by
the zero-sequence voltage component (assumed to
equal 0.7);
a relative length of the stator winding phase protected by the ground-fault protection excited by the
zero-sequence voltage component in relative units
(assumed to equal 0.97);
capacitance between the windings of low and high
voltage of the main transformer;
generator phase voltage.
Simulation tests were run for different values of the capacitance to ground of the generator breakers.

Fig. 5. Voltage third-harmonic feeding measuring element of ground-fault

protection versus distance of fault location from neutral and neutralization
0 F, (b) C = 0:4 F (c) k = 0, (d) k = 1.
coefficient; (a) C

B. Resistor
IV. ANALYSIS OF SIMULATION RESULTS
Since it was found that the results of the simulation tests did
not differ markedly among the particular types of generators,
the results were analyzed for an 1100-MVA unit. Parameters of
unit-connected generator are: voltage 24 kV, current 26.7 kA,
capacitance to ground of main insulation of generator stator
winding phase 0.21 F, external capacitance of unit seen from
generator terminals 0.058 F, generator reactance in over transients states 0.27 p.u., and zero-sequence reactance of generator
0.13 p.u. The resultant admittance of the branch grounding the
generator neutral was calculated by applying relations (2), (3),
(5), and (6).
A. Ground-Fault Neutralizer
The third-harmonic voltage in the branch of the measuring
element versus the distance of the location of ground faults from
the neutral, for the same ratio of voltage transformers feeding
the protection system in units equipped with generator breakers
without capacitance to ground, is shown in Fig. 5(a). In these
schemes, the neutralizer does not influence significantly the
operating conditions of the ground-fault protection. The level
of the neutralization coefficient also affects slightly the thirdharmonic voltage feeding the protection measuring element in
units equipped with additional capacitance to ground [Fig. 5(b)].
As it is seen in Fig. 5(c)(d), the capacitance to ground of the
generator breakers affects the operating conditions of groundfault protection to a higher degree than does the level of the
neutralization coefficient.
Generally, it can be stated that both the neutralization coefficient and additional capacitance to ground of generator breaker
influence to a small extent the operation of the ground-fault protection excited by the voltage third harmonic.

As it is seen in Fig. 6, independent of the level of generator

breaker capacitance, at the resistance grounding the generator
neutral lower than approximately 5 k , its value affects significantly the voltage feeding the measuring element of the
protection system. In this case, the operating conditions of
the protection improve or worsen depending on the location
of a ground fault as grounding resistance increases. The improvement occurs in the part of the stator winding close to
the neutral and the deterioration affects the part close to the
terminals. The location of ground fault, for which the voltage
feeding the protection system is minimum and the level of
minimum voltage also changes. At grounding resistance higher
then approximately 5 k , the operating conditions of protection change slightly as the grounding resistance increases.
C. Series Arrangement of Resistor and Third-Harmonic
Stop Filter
For this method of grounding the generator neutral, the
voltage feeding the measuring element of the ground-fault
protection is the highest during ground faults close to the
neutral (Fig. 7). Irrespective of the level of the generator
breaker capacitance, this voltage decreases as the location
of a ground fault moves away from the generator neutral.
Thus, in these systems, the most disadvantageous operating
conditions of the protection occur during ground faults at the
generator terminals. In order to ensure the proper operation
of the protection at ground faults along the whole length of
the winding, the verification of the parameters of the system
grounding the generator neutral at ground faults close to the
terminals is required. This applies to all units, independent of
the level of capacitance of the generator breakers.

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61

Fig. 8. Voltage third-harmonic feeding measuring element of ground-fault

protection system versus distance of ground-fault location from neutral and
additional capacitance to ground of breakers in generator with neutral grounded
through capacitive voltage divider.
Fig. 6. Voltage third-harmonic feeding measuring element of ground-fault
protection versus distance of ground-fault location from neutral and grounding
resistance of neutral; (a), (b), (c) C
0:4 F, (d) C = 0 F.

Fig. 7. Voltage third-harmonic feeding measuring element of ground-fault

protection system versus distance of ground-fault location from neutral and
additional capacitance to ground of breakers in generator with neutral grounded
through resistor connected in series with third-harmonic stop filter.

D. Capacitive Voltage Divider

As shown in Fig. 8, for the grounding of the neutral through
the capacitive voltage divider, the operating conditions of the
ground-fault protection are the worst during ground faults in the
generator neutral. As the distance of the ground-fault location
from the neutral increases, the voltage feeding the measuring element increases nonlinearly and continuously reaching the maximum for ground faults at the terminals. The lower value of the
capacitance of the generator breakers, the higher the voltage. In
generators equipped with generator breakers without additional
capacitance to ground, the zone close to the neutral will not be
protected by the ground-fault protection system.

V. CONCLUSIONS
1) The operating conditions of the ground-fault protection
system excited by the ratio of the third-harmonic voltages in the neutral and at the generator terminals depend
on the method of grounding the generator neutral. The
grounding system influences both the range and character
of changes in the voltage feeding the measuring element
of the protection during ground faults along the whole
length of the stator winding.
2) When the neutral is grounded through a ground-fault neutralizer, the neutralization coefficient of the capacitive
component of the ground-fault current and the value of
the additional capacitance to the ground of the generator breakers influence the operating conditions of the
ground-fault protection only to a limited degree.
3) If the grounding resistance of the generator neutral is
lower than 5 k , the grounding resistance of the generator
neutral influences significantly the voltage feeding the
measuring element of the protection system, independent
of the value of generator breaker capacitance. At resistance higher than 5 k , this influence practically decays.
4) If the generator neutral is grounded through a series
arrangement of a resistor and a third-harmonic stop filter,
the voltage feeding the measuring element of the protection system decreases as the distance of the ground-fault
location from the neutral increases. A proper choice of
stop filter parameters allows one to create conditions
under which the protection system covers practically
100 percent of the stator winding.
5) The grounding of the generator neutrals through a capacitive voltage divider, especially in units equipped with generator breakers without additional capacitance to ground,
can make impossible the protection of the part of the
stator winding close to the neutral.
6) The operating conditions of a protection system excited
by the third-harmonic voltage must be analyzed if any

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO. 1, MARCH 2003

changes in the parameters of the transversal branch of

the generator-transformer unit are made. The proposed
methods enable the optimization of these parameters to
ensure the proper operation of the protection system and
the minimization of damage caused by ground faults.
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[1] M. Zielichowski, Erosion du circuit magntique des stators de turbognrateurs pendant les courts-circuits la terre, Revue Electricit,
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[2] M. Zielichowski and M. Fulczyk, Influence of neutraliser on ground
fault overvoltages in generator stator windings, in Proc. Second European Conf. Power Syst. Transients, Lisbon, Portugal, 1995, pp. 3338.
[3] J. W. Pope, A comparison of 100% stator ground fault protection
schemes for generator stator windings, IEEE Trans. Power Apparat.
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[4] X. G. Yin, O. Malik, G. Hope, and D. Chen, Adaptive ground fault protection schemes for turbogenerators based on third harmonic voltages,
IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 5, pp. 595603, Apr. 1990.
[5] S. Shiwen and S. Binhua, Analysis of ground protection of unit
connected generator using third harmonic, in Proc. Fourth Int. Conf.
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[6] W. W. X. Xiaoping and Z. Xiling, New developments of third harmonic
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[7] M. Zielichowski and M. Fulczyk, Optimization of third harmonic
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149162, 1998.
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[9] M. Zielichowski, Optimization of third harmonic ground-fault protection schemes for unit connected generators, in Proc. Int. Power Eng.
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Mieczyslaw Zielichowski was born in 1941. He received the M.Sc., Ph.D., and
D.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland, in 1964, 1969, and 1989, respectively.
Currently, he is Professor with the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering
of the Wroclaw University of Technology. He was the bursar of the French Government from 1979 to 1980, and in 1979, joined the Institut National Polytechniqe de Grenoble/France. His main research interests include power systems,
control, as well as protection and power apparatus.

Marek Fulczyk was born in 1968. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from the Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland, in
1993 and 1997, respectively.
Currently, he is a Researcher with ABB Corporate Research in Cracow,
Poland. His special research and professional interest are in the field of power
system protection, 3-D modeling, and simulations of electric fields.