2015 Relay School

Bus Protection
Mike Kockott
March, 2015
History of Bus Protection
Circulating current differential (1900s)

High impedance differential (1940s)

Percentage restrained differential (1960s)

First generation numerical differential (late 80s / early 90s)

Measurement Principle
Differential - measures all currents into, and out of, the protected zone

Boundary of the protected zone defined by the current measuring points (CTs)

ZA ZB

Ideally, for balanced conditions (no in-zone fault), currents will balance, i.e. current
into the zone = current out of the zone

Total IOUT = -(Total IIN) [Total IIN + Total IOUT = 0]

For in-zone fault, currents no longer balance, i.e. current into the zone current
out of the zone
Measurement Principle
Traditionally, bus differential relays measure the secondary currents of
magnetic core CTs
non-linear devices
needs to be taken into account in the measurement design of bus differential
relays

Example: external fault

primary currents will always be balanced
on secondary side, this same balance may not be measured
Magnetic Core CTs (Non-Linear Phenomena)
CT saturation
occurs for high primary current conditions
no longer able to transform primary current
when fully saturated, a CT is no longer a current source, but instead has just a
resistance value

Remanence
random parameter that can improve or reduce ability to transform primary current

Secondary dc transient
occurs on interruption of primary current
takes the form of an exponentially decaying dc current
caused by discharge of stored energy
Magnetic Core CTs (Non-Linear Phenomena)
The non-linear phenomena of magnetic core CTs have the tendency to cause
unwanted operation of bus differential relays

so each type of bus differential relay (high impedance, numerical, etc.) must have
the means to overcome this non-linear behaviour in its measurement design
High Impedance
All CT secondary circuits are galvanically connected
it is this galvanic connection
between the CT circuits that
is used to overcome the non-
linear phenomena
RL

RL RL
High Impedance
How does it work
a high resistance RHIGH is
placed in series with the
operating element to limit the
level of false differential
current through the RL
differential branch (during
through flow conditions) RL RL
RHIGH is the effective total
resistance of the relay loop
RL is the total lead resistance RHIGH Metrosil
of the CT loop

I>
High Impedance
External (through flow) fault
no CT saturation

RL

RL RL

RHIGH Metrosil

I>
High Impedance
External (through flow) fault
full CT saturation
the maximum differential
branch current for an
external fault with a fully
saturated CT is: RL
(RL+RCT)max
Idiffmax = Iunbmax* R +(R
HIGH L+RCT)max RL RL
to ensure stability (no
unwanted operation), Idiffmax
for an external fault with a RHIGH Metrosil RCT
fully saturated CT must be
less than the set I> pickup
requires the maximum
resistance of the saturated I>
CT loop (RL+RCT) to be low
High Impedance
Criteria to be met:

CT secondary loop resistance

must be low (with a similar value in all bays)

CT requirements
all CTs must have the same ratio and magnetising characteristics

Requirements incur additional expense

Quite reliable and very sensitive

Gives operating times of less than one cycle for internal faults
Percentage Restrained

Developed to lessen the restrictions on CTs imposed by high impedance

All CT secondary circuits are galvanically connected
Again, it is this galvanic connection between the CT circuits that is used to
overcome the non-linear phenomena of the CTs
Percentage Restrained

iOUT
iD

iIN

All measurement decisions are based on these three quantities

operation (measurement) of the relay does not depend on the number of
connected bays to the protected zone
Percentage Restrained

Incorporates a stabilising feature

Rl = the total saturated CT Iin
secondary loop resistance Id
(total lead loop RL+RCT)
Rd = the relay differential Rd Rl
branch resistance

For operation, the differential current set % of incoming (stabilising) current

e.g. for x% setting, the differential current x% of the incoming current

For stability, the differential current < set % of incoming (stabilising) current
Rl
e.g. for x% setting Rl+Rd must be < set x (pu), i.e. the total CT secondary loop
resistance must be less than a required value
Percentage Restrained

Stability (no unwanted operation) for external faults, even with fully saturated
CT, is guaranteed for differential current below the characteristic

Idiff Operate
Idiff > x*Iin
operate
Stable
stable
Idiff x*Iin
Rl
Iin x> Rl+Rd
Percentage Restrained

Improvements over high impedance differential

less severe CT requirements
can accommodate different CT ratios using auxiliary current transformers
can tolerate other relays on the same CT core
allows much higher resistance to be included in the secondary circuits of the
main CTs than in the high impedance scheme

Fast operating times for internal faults

detect 1 - 3 ms
trip output 9 - 13 ms
Earlier Generations

Short comings
unable to detect open CT
requires interposing (auxiliary) CTs to match main CT ratios (percentage restraint,
not possible for high impedance)
double bus (single circuit breaker)
requires switching in CT circuits
requires bistable (flip-flop) relays to replicate disconnector status for zone
selection, trip output selection

ZA
A A
ZA
1
B
B
ZB ZB

1
Earlier Generations

Check zone required to ensure stable operation for

open CT
requires one set of CT cores for ZA/ZB, and a separate set of CT cores for CZ
problems with disconnector auxiliary contacts
ZA
6

5
ZB

all x to ZA 1 2 3 4
all y to CZ

ZA-DIFF op CZ-DIFF op 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x to ZA/ZB

Trip-ZA
5x to ZA
ZB-DIFF op CZ-DIFF op
Trip-ZB
6x to ZB
1y, 2y, 3y, 4y to CZ
Numerical
Analog inputs are galvanically isolated

RL RL
R R
CT not E E
CT
L RCT L
saturated saturated
A A
Y Y

Each analog input quantity is sampled and converted to a numerical number

these numerical numbers are used in the algorithms
it is therefore not possible to copy and directly re-use the analog technique
Numerical
Recap: earlier generations
all CT secondary circuits are galvanically connected used to overcome the non-
linearity of the CTs
the secondary circuit loop resistance was the critical factor

Numerical
the analog inputs are galvanically isolated
the secondary circuit loop resistance is no longer the important factor
the critical factor now is the time available to make the measurement, i.e. the time
to saturation [the CTs must be able to correctly reproduce the current for a
minimum time before saturation of the CT begins]
for practical protection class CTs, time to saturation, even under extremely heavy
CT saturation, is around 2 ms the design criterion used for the numerical
algorithm
Numerical
Review: measured signal relationships
Zone operating condition Incoming current iin Outgoing current iout Relationship
between
iin, iout, & id

Normal through load Load current to the Load current from the iin = iout
differential zone differential zone id 0

External fault without CT Fault current to the Fault current from the iin = iout
saturation differential zone differential zone id 0

External fault with CT Fault current to the Fault current from the iin >> iout
saturation differential zone differential zone id iin

Internal fault Fault current to the Outfeed current from the iin >> iout
differential zone differential zone id iin
Numerical
Internal fault Iin
Iout

Id

External fault without CT saturation Iin

Iout

Id
critical criterion the
External fault with CT saturation Iin time available to make
Iout the measurement
[initial correct
reproduction of the
Id current before CT
saturation occurred]
Numerical
External fault with CT
saturation

Numerical
differential Trip
relay
IC
Numerical
Internal fault

Numerical
differential Trip
relay
Numerical
Short comings of earlier generations now overcome
detection of open CT circuit without requiring check zone
no need for dedicated CT cores with identical secondary windings (ref high
impedance)
no interposing CTs required any CT ratio difference can be accommodated
(practical limit is typically around 10:1)
double bus (single circuit breaker)
no switching in CT circuits (software zone selection and allocation)
no requirement for additional bistable (flip-flop) relays to create the
disconnector status replica internally achieved replica now generated within
the software based on the zone selection inputs
no need for additional tripping relays tripping logic based on internal software
zone selection replica
Numerical
Numerical
Features
zone differential protection

additional sensitive differential protection

for added security, can
have an external release
via a binary input signal
broken delta
connected 59N pickup
neutral point
connected 50N pickup
Numerical
Features
open CT detection
detection per zone per
phase
action per zone per phase

check zone
Numerical
Features
zone selection
disconnector auxiliary contacts connected to binary inputs
zone selection takes place in software based on binary input status

zone interconnection (i.e. load transfer) [two zones must merge as one]
automatic (e.g. for double bus, single breaker, using the already required zone
selection binary inputs)
externally driven (other applications) by connecting the applicable switchgear
auxiliary contact to a binary input

disconnector and/or CB position supervision & alarming

Application Types
Single bus

one zone, no selection (fixed to zone), no zone interconnection

Single bus with bus section

ZA ZB

two zones, no selection (fixed to zone), no zone interconnection

Application Types
Single bus with bus disconnector
ZA ZB

two zones (disconnector open), no selection (fixed to zone), one zone for
interconnection (disconnector closed)

1 circuit breaker

two zones, no selection (fixed to zone), no zone interconnection

Application Types
Double bus (single circuit breaker)
ZA

.. .
ZB

two zones, selection (disconnector closed on either ZA or ZB), one overall zone for
interconnection (disconnectors of the same object closed on both ZA and ZB)
Numerical
Double bus (single circuit breaker)
disconnector status fed to numerical IED via binary inputs zone selection made in
software

A IED
1.0 T
ZA
X ZA
A 0.0 F
B
B
1.0 T
ZB
X ZB
0.0 F
1
A/D conversion
1 Multiplication by CT ratio
Take account of star-point direction
Numerical
Double bus (single circuit breaker)
check zone required to ensure stable operation for
incorrect disconnector auxiliary contact status

Selection of which CT
currents to include in ZA is ZA-DIFF
made using disconnector &
auxiliary contacts ZA-OCT & ZA-TRIP

Selection of which CT
currents to include in ZB is ZB-DIFF
made using disconnector &
auxiliary contacts ZB-OCT & ZB-TRIP
No selection of which CT
currents to include in the CZ
is made using disconnector
CZ-DIFF
auxiliary contacts

for numerical IEDs with open CT detection, there is no need for the check zone
to be supplied from separate CT cores to the main zones
Numerical
Single bus

all fixed to ZA, no connection to CZ

1 circuit breaker

all fixed to ZA, no connection to CZ

all fixed to ZB, no connection to CZ

Numerical
Double bus (single circuit breaker)
ZA fixed to ZB, no
6
connection to CZ
fixed to ZA, no
5 connection to CZ
ZB

all connected to ZA/ZB based on

1 2 3 4
selection, all connected to CZ

ZA

fixed to ZA and -ZB,

5
ZB no connection to CZ

all connected to ZA/ZB based on

1 2 3 4
selection, all connected to CZ

zone selection to be made with a and b contacts, or just b contacts

Numerical
Double bus (single circuit breaker)
bus coupler with one CT sequence of operation for a fault occurring between the
CB and the CT
fault internal to ZA, but external to ZB
ZA operates immediately trips the bus coupler CB, but the fault is not cleared
when the bus coupler CB has opened, use its open status to force the
measured bus coupler current to zero (mult by 0)
ZB now no longer balanced, i.e. Iout Iin, so will operate
remove the force to zero with the CB close pulse

ZA

Open = logic1
ZB
5 x0 87B
ZB

1 2 3 4
Numerical
Zone interconnection

ZA
6

5
ZB

1 2 3 4

before zone interconnection

ZA = 1, 3, 5
ZB = 2, 4, 6
Numerical
Zone interconnection

ZA
6

5
ZB

1 2 3 4

during zone interconnection (e.g. bay 2)

in/out bays force all in to both ZA and ZB zones, except if out of service
before zone interconnection occurs
BC bay force out of both ZA and ZB zones
ZA = 1, 3, X
5 + 2, 4 = 1, 2, 3, 4
ZB = 2, 4, 6
X + 1, 3 = 1, 2, 3, 4
ZA = ZB, giving effectively one overall zone
Numerical
Zone interconnection

ZA
6

5
ZB

1 2 3 4

during zone interconnection (e.g. bay 2)

bay 3 out of service before zone interconnection occurred
ZA = 1, X
5 + 2, 4 = 1, 2, 4
ZB = 2, 4, X
6 + 1 = 1, 2, 4
Numerical
Zone interconnection
ZA ZB

1 2 3 4 5 6

before zone interconnection

ZA = 1, 3, 5
ZB = 4, 5, 6
Numerical
Zone interconnection
ZA ZB

1 2 3 4 5 6

during zone interconnection

in/out bays force all in to both ZA and ZB zones, except if out of service
before zone interconnection occurs
ZA = 1, 2, 5 + 2, 4, 6 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
ZB = 2, 4, 6 + 1, 3, 5 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
ZA = ZB, giving effectively one overall zone
Numerical
Zone interconnection - summary

no zone interconnection
no zone interconnection
ZA ZB

ZA

.. .
no zone interconnection
ZB

ZA ZB

zone interconnection when both disconnectors

of one bay closed two zones merged into one
zone interconnection when disconnector closed overall zone
two zones merged into one overall zone
Numerical
Zone interconnection
ZA
A
A IED
B 1.0
ZB
T
X ZA
0.0 F
1 B

automatic, as both disconnector 1.0 T

statuses are monitored for zone 0.0 F

X ZB

selection (entered via BIs)

ZA ZB &

trigger zone
disconnector status entered via OR
interconnection
BI
Numerical
End fault protection
CTs object side of the CBs
when an object CB is open, stop the measuring boundary at the open CB contacts
to remove the over-trip zone, and activate fast 50 protection to trip the remote end

Open = logic1

over-trip zone x0 87B

50
BLK Transfer trip to
remote end
CTs busbar side of the CBs Remove 50 block when CB open
when an object CB is open, extend the measuring boundary to the open CB
contacts to remove under-trip zone

x0 87B
under-trip zone
Open = logic1
Further Numerical Technology Benefits over Earlier Types
Ability to communicate, built-in self-supervision
Built-in disturbance recorder, event recorder
Built-in independent 50BF breaker failure protection for every circuit breaker
Built-in multi-step independent 51 backup overcurrent protection for every
bay
LHMI operator interface, also showing critical overview information
etc.