EEP - HV Substation Bus Overcurrent and Differential Protection

The substation bus and switchgear are the parts of the power system used
to direct the flow of power to various feeders and to isolate apparatus and
circuits from the power system. These parts include the busbars, circuit
breakers, fuses, disconnection devices, current transformers (CTs), voltage
transformers (VTs), and the structure on or in which they are mounted.
The essentials of LV/MV/HV substation bus overcurrent and differential protection (on photo: HV
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voltage, metal-enclosed switchgear, medium-voltage control, low-voltage
switchgear, power switchboards, panelboards, motor control centers
(MCCs), bus duct.
Contents:
1. Bus protection in general

2. Types of buses and arrangements
3. Bus overcurrent protection
4. MV and HV bus differential protection
1. Voltage differential relaying scheme
2. Air-core CT (or linear coupler) method
3. Percentage differential relay scheme
4. Current differential relaying scheme
5. Partial differential protection scheme
5. Backup protection
6. LV bus conductor and switchgear protection
7. Conclusion
To isolate bus faults, all power source circuits connected to the bus are
opened electrically by circuit breakers responding to relay action, by direct-
acting trip devices on low-voltage circuit breakers, or by fuses. This
disconnection shuts down all loads and associated processes supplied by
the bus and may affect other parts of the power system.
In view of the system downtime resulting from a bus fault, the equipment
should be designed to be as nearly fault proof as practicable. For
example, the use of metal-clad switchgear enhances reliability because the
enclosure protects the bus from direct lightning strokes.
Medium-voltage metal-clad switchgear uses insulated busbars as standard.

Such busbars reduce accidental faults caused by foreign objects or rodents.
Using metal-enclosed bus duct or insulated cable not directly exposed to
lightning contributes to reliability.
To further reduce the occurrence of faults, the bus and associated

equipment should be installed in a location where they are least
subjected to deteriorating environmental conditions.

make repairs, and to check and test relay performance before a fault
occurs.
Regardless of the steps taken to avoid bus faults, such faults

occasionally occur. High-speed protective relaying or
appropriately rated fuses should be used to minimize fault
duration. Shorter faults limit damage and mitigate the effects on
other parts of the power system. Providing proper bus protection
requires a well-designed system.
Each equipment assembly should be provided with a main protective device

for each power source, either as an integral part of the assembly or in a
remote location. If the main protective device is omitted in an assembly and
provided by an upstream device, the installation may be acceptable if
coordinated protection is provided.
The main circuit breaker sometimes is omitted at the secondary of a power

transformer that is protected on the primary.
This setup reduces the effectiveness of

secondary bus protection because the
transformer reduces the sensitivity of the
primary protection for secondary faults.

When industrial power systems are grounded through a resistance or
reactance to limit fault damage, the short-circuit current available to detect a
ground fault is small and requires sensitive protective relaying.
Furthermore, a delta-wye transformer connection essentially

isolates the primary device from ground faults, especially when
the wye connection is low-resistance-grounded. In this case,
providing sensitive ground-fault relaying is important to initiate the
opening of all sources that can feed the fault.
When supplementary bus differential protective relaying is used, it is

essential that it operate only for bus or switchgear faults. False tripping on
external faults is unacceptable.
Go back to contents ↑

the requirements for continuity of service requirements for the bus and
essential feeders supplied from the bus. Refer to IEEE Std C37.
The methods of protecting substation buses and switchgear vary depending

on voltage and the arrangement of the buses. The bus arrangements most
applicable to industrial power systems are shown in Figure 1, Figure 2,
Figure 3, and Figure 4 below

A simple radial system is similar to Figure 1 except with only one utility line
and supply transformer. Industrial power system voltages fall into three
categories: above 15 000 V, from 15 000 V to 601 V, and at or below 600
V.
The industrial power system usually includes only any distribution

bus 15 000 V and below. However, it may include the distribution,
sub-transmission, or transmission substation bus at a higher
voltage level possibly up to about 35 kV. Bus protective relaying
at this level may create a panel space problem in sections of
equipment supplied by the electric utility.
Usually the industrial facility provides the high-voltage bus relaying.

Compliance with utility practice is mandatory in most cases.
Most systems are radial, and overcurrent protection on each incoming

power source circuit can provide adequate bus protection. On MV and HV
systems, fuses or overcurrent relays that trip circuit breakers are used.
They are supplemented with sensitive ground relays when the system is
lowresistance-grounded.

introduction of electronic trip units for low-voltage circuit breakers to perform
the sensing and timing functions provided significant improvements in the
quality of protection for low-voltage circuits and apparatus.
time protection (Isd); Short-circuits: Instantaneous protection (Ii), Additional ground fault protection
Separate circuitry detects ground faults at much lower levels and clears
them much faster than is possible with direct-acting electromechanical
phase-overcurrent devices alone.

current settings to prevent opening the source circuit breakers upon the
occurrence of a feeder fault. As a result, they cannot provide sensitive high-
speed bus and switchgear protection.
An inverse or definite time-overcurrent relay connected to a CT in the

power transformer neutral-to-ground circuit provides good sensitivity for
ground faults. It should be set to be selective for feeder faults.
If the feeders have ground-sensor instantaneous protection, only a short-

time delay is needed on the relay in the transformer grounding circuit.
Because most faults are ground faults or

eventually become ground faults, good ground-
fault protection greatly improves bus
overcurrent protection.
Bus differential relaying can provide high-speed, sensitive, improved

protection and selectivity for buses and switchgear. It is sometimes used
in addition to overcurrent protection and permits complete overlapping with
the other power system relaying as indicated in Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure
3, and Figure 4 above.
Bus differential relaying normally is applied to more complex systems,

which have multiple sources and perhaps multiple buses at the same
voltage level. The principle reason for selecting such protection is to
ensure protective device coordination that de-energizes the bus only when
absolutely necessary.
This goal justifies the extra cost of high-speed bus differential relaying.
The basic principle is that under normal conditions the phasor

should be zero. Otherwise, a fault has occured within
the protected zone. Where justified, ground-fault differential
relaying should be added to the medium-voltage wye-connected
source transformer for the bus.
This addition provides relatively inexpensive selective protection using

standard transformers and an auxiliary CT connection.
Differential relaying is provided to supplement

overcurrent protection. It is frequently
used on a 15 kV bus, sometimes on a 5 kV
bus, and rarely on any low-voltage bus.
The following factors determine whether this relaying should be provided:
For example, open outdoor buses have a high degree of exposure, and
metal-clad switchgear, properly installed and in a clean environment, have
minimum exposure. Contaminated environments increase the possibilities
of faults, and equipment located in these environments needs better
protection.
The capability of a system to return to a stable, steady-state mode of

operation after a system disturbance may require high-speed bus
differential relaying.
The faster clearing time obtained with high-speed differential

relaying enhances the probability of maintaining stability for the
duration of a fault.

Sectionalized bus arrangements make differential protection more
useful and desirable, particularly when secondary-selective distribution
systems are used. The faulted bus can be isolated quickly and continuity of
service maintained to a portion of the load served by any other bus.
Effects of bus failure on other parts of the power system and associated
processes. If a long scheduled outage period for repairs can be tolerated,
differential protection may not be economically justified.
On a major plant bus, the cost of differential relaying is usually insignificant

when compared with the reduction in damage to the equipment and the
reduced scheduled outage of important plant or process facilities.
If problems exist in coordinating the system overcurrent relay

settings, differential relaying is effective in obtaining selectivity. An
example is a system including multiple major bus distribution
lineups at the same voltage level, with one bus feeding another.
This configuration generally results in unacceptably high
overcurrent relay settings to obtain coordination.
On a bus fed by a local generator, bus differential relaying is recommended

to clear the bus quickly and hold the rest of the system together. The
overcurrent relays used to protect generator circuits generally take
considerable time to operate.
The differential protection methods generally used (in the order of the
quality of protection they provide) are:
1. Voltage-responsive and linear coupler

2. Percentage differential (where applicable)
3. Current responsive
4. Partial differential (sometimes not considered a differential scheme and
called current summation)

the bus, a multicontact auxiliary relay is needed. This auxiliary device
should be a high-speed lockout relay, with contacts in the circuit breaker
closing circuits to prevent panic manual closing of a circuit breaker on the
fault. The lockout relay should be reset by hand before any circuit breakers
can be closed.
Voltage differential relaying uses “through” iron-core CTs. Using a

voltage-responsive (or high-impedance) operating coil in the relay
overcomes the problem of CT saturation. Separate CTs are required in
each bus-connected circuit as shown in Figure 7.
Voltage differential bus protection is not limited as to the number of

source and load feeders and has the following features:
1. High-speed operation on the order of 1 cycle to 3 cycles.

2. High sensitivity that can be set to operate on low values of phase- or
ground-fault currents in most installations.
3. Relay that operates from all standard bushing CTs and from switchgear
through CTs with distributed windings.
4. Relay that is not adversely affected by CT saturation, dc component of
fault current, or circuit time constant.
5. Discrimination between external and internal faults, obtained by relay
settings with no required restraint or time delay.
All CTs should have the same ratio unless high-impedance relays suitable
for use with different ratio CTs are used. Auxiliary CTs should not be used
to match ratios.
CTs with different maximum ratios can be matched by operating

the high-ratio transformers as autotransformers using an
intermediate tap to obtain a match with the maximum tap of the
lower ratio CTs.
All CTs should have low secondary leakage reactance. Wound CTs are
generally not suitable.

transformer bushing-type
Bushing CTs constructed on toroidal cores with completely distributed

windings generally have negligible leakage reactance. A distributed winding
starts and ends at the same point on the core.
Through CTs having suitable characteristics are available for use in

switchgear assemblies.

1. First, it should not trip for any fault external to the zone of protection.
2. Second, it should be capable of operating for all faults internal to the
zone of protection.
Considering the first requirement, refer to Figure 7 above. Assume a three-

circuit-breaker bus with a fault at the location shown. Consider for simplicity
only one of the three phases.
For the fault F3 indicated, the fault current I3 flows through Circuit Breaker
3 with the currents flowing through Circuit Breaker 1 and Circuit Breaker
2. Each current is smaller than, but together sum up to, I3.
Assume that the CTs behave ideally. Then the CT secondary

current produced at Circuit Breaker 3 balances the sum of the currents
produced at Circuit Breaker 1 and Circuit Breaker 2. This current
circulates in the CT secondary circuits and produce little, if any, voltage
across Point A and Point B.
If, for some reason, the CT secondary current at Circuit Breaker 3 does
not balance the sum of the currents produced by the CTs at Circuit
Breaker 1 and Circuit Breaker 2, excess or difference current is forced to
flow through CT 3 and cause the voltage across Point A and Point B to
increase to a point where the relay (Device 87B) will tend to operate.
It thus becomes apparent that the CT at Circuit Breaker 3 has a greater

tendency to saturate than the CTs at Circuit Breaker 1 and Circuit
Breaker 2, for the given fault location, because Circuit Breaker 3 sees the
total current while the other two circut breakers each see only a fraction
of the total.
From the point of view of the relay, the worst condition would be
where the CTs at Circuit Breaker 3 saturate almost completely
and hence produce no detectable secondary current, while the CTs
at Circuit Breaker 1 and Circuit Breaker 2 do not saturate at all
and, hence, reproduce the current faithfully.

approaches zero. If it has no appreciable secondary leakage reactance,
then the only secondary impedance of the CT is its winding resistance.
Thus, for complete saturation of the CT at Circuit

Breaker 3, the voltage developed between Point
A and Point B is the product of (I1 + I2) and the
sum of the total resistance in the circuit between
Point A and Point B and CTs at Circuit Breaker 3
(including the CT secondary resistance).
The differential relay is set so that it does not operate for this voltage. It is
obvious that this voltage depends on the magnitude of the fault current, the
type of fault, and the total resistance. In the case of internal faults, the
secondary currents do not circulate, but rather result in a high enough
secondary voltage to cause the relay to operate.
A nonlinear resistor or a voltage-limiting circuit is connected in

parallel with the sensitive high-impedance operating coil to limit the
voltage that may be attained during high internal faults. To obtain
higher speed operation for high internal faults, the unit is
connected in series with the nonlinear resistor.
When offset-fault current occurs or residual magnetism exists in the CT

core, or both, an appreciable DC component in the secondary current is
present. This condition has caused false tripping when simple unrestrained
low-impedance relays are used for bus differential.

Voltage differential relays are made
insensitive to the DC component by
connecting the relay-sensitive operating coil
in series with a capacitor and reactor.
The circuit is resonant at the fundamental power frequency, and the DC

component is blocked by the series capacitor.
The air-core CT method provides extremely reliable high-speed bus

protection. It is highly flexible to future expansion and system changes.
The couplers can be open-circuited without any difficulties to simplify
switching circuits.
The operating time for one type of linear coupler system is 1 cycle
or less above 150% of pickup and 1 cycle for another type of
linear coupler system. This scheme eliminates the difficulty due
to differences in the characteristics of iron-core CTs by using
air-core mutual inductances without any iron in the magnetic
circuit.
Therefore, it is free of any DC or AC saturation.

The linear couplers of the different circuit breakers are connected in series
and produce secondary voltages that are directly proportional to the primary
currents going through the circuit breakers, as shown in Figure 8.
With the simple series circuit shown in Figure 8:
where:
Esec is voltage induced in linear coupler secondary,

Ipri is primary current (rms symmetrical),
IR is current in relay and linear coupler secondary,
M is mutual impedance, 0.005 W, 60 Hz,
ZC is self-impedance of linear coupler secondary,
ZR is impedance of relay.
During normal conditions or for external faults, the sum of the

voltage produced by the linear couplers equals zero. During
internal bus faults, however, this voltage is no longer zero and

breakers and clear the bus. Linear couplers are air-cored mutual
reactors wound on nonmagnetic toroidal cores so that the adjacent
circuits do not induce any unwanted voltage.
For the conductor within the toroid, 5 V is induced per 1000 A of primary
current. Therefore, by design, the mutual impedance M is 0.005 W, 60 Hz.
In other words, Esec = Ipri × M.
Electronic voltage differential relays are also available, providing faster

operating times than electromechanical relays.
Where relatively few circuits are connected to the bus, relays using the
percentage differential principle may be employed. These relays are similar
to transformer differential relays.
The problem of application of percentage differential relays for

bus protection, however, increases with the number of circuits
connected to the bus. It requires that all CTs supplying the relays
have the same ratio and identical characteristics.
Variation in the characteristics of the CTs, particularly the saturation

phenomena under short-circuit conditions, presents the greatest problem for
this type of protection and often limits it to applications where only a limited
number of feeders are present.

When voltage or linear coupler differential protection cannot be

economically justified, a less expensive current differential scheme may
be considered. This scheme utilizes simple induction overcurrent relays
connected to respond to any difference between the currents fed into the
bus and the current fed from the bus.
The CT arrangements are the same as shown in Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure

3, and Figure 4. The connections are as shown in Figure 7.
A special form of overcurrent relay is available with an internally

mounted auxiliary relay with connections to permit testing the
integrity of the CT circuits for accidental ground faults and
open circuits. The connections are arranged so that while
checking on one phase, the relays in the other two phases are still
providing protection.

relaying, is a modification where one or more of the load circuits are left
uncompensated in the differential system (see Figure 10). For this reason,
naming it a differential scheme may be a misnomer.
This method may be used as primary protection for buses with loads
protected by fuses, as backup to a complete differential protection scheme,
and as local backup protection for stuck load circuit breakers, which fail to
operate when they should.
The phase overcurrent relays are set above the total bus load or the total
rating of all loads supplied from the bus section.
When a normally closed tie breaker separates loads as shown in Figure 10,
this scheme can provide selectivity between the two sources.
In a conventional scheme with relays on each incoming line, a fault on

either bus results in a loss of both incoming lines because
their settings are identical. With the partial differential scheme, a fault on
one bus causes a summation of currents in one set of relays, and a
subtraction of currents in the other set of relays (not shown).
This difference in currents allows the incoming line relays to be

selective, and only the faulted bus is de-energized.

with relays on the load circuits. Consequently, the sensitivity and speed of
partial differential protection is not as good as for full differential protection.
If the primary protective system fails to operate as planned, some form of

backup relaying should be provided in the industrial power system or in the
power supply system.
Bus backup protection is inherently provided by the primary relaying at the

remote ends of the supply lines. This setup is known as remote backup
protection.
It may not be adequate because of system instability and effects on other

power systems, and local backup relaying may be necessary. The
performance of various remote and local backup relaying schemes
has been analyzed.
Circuit breaker failure can cause catastrophic results, such as

complete system shutdown. Local circuit breaker failure or stuck
circuit breaker relay schemes are available to quickly trip line-
side circuit breakers if the circuit breaker on the faulted circuit
fails to operate within a specified time.
However, those schemes are normally applied only on buses where the
extra expense can be economically justified.
Low-voltage bus and switchgear are often protected by current-limiting

fuses, sized to the full-load rating when bus and switchgear have bus
bracings that are less than the available fault current. Current-limiting fuses
are often used to limit the fault current to levels that the bus and switchgear
can handle.

cycles, the bus and switchgear need to be tested and specified for
that period, which is longer than usual: standard bracing tests
are for 3 cycles only.
To reduce the possibility of destructive arcing ground faults on 480Y/277 V

systems, the 480 V bus may be insulated.
Preventing a ground fault from occurring is far

better than shutting down a system or a part of a
system after a ground fault has occurred.

and switchgear should be designed, located, and maintained to
prevent faults. The preferred practice for bus switchgear protection above
600 V is voltage-responsive or linear coupler differential relaying with the
power system designed with a sectionalized bus so that continuity of
service can be maintained to a portion of the load.
The best protective relaying in a single-bus arrangement operates to cut

off power to all circuits supplied by the bus.
Location of the equipment in a good environment and maintenance

on a planned basis help to prevent the need for relays to operate.
If a fault does occur, high-speed sensitive relaying limits the
damage so that repairs can be made quickly and service restored
in a short time.
Fast clearing of faults also can save lives by minimizing explosion and
fire aftermath. Furthermore, fast clearing of human-contact faults has
saved lives or reduced injury.

Reference // IEEE Recommended Practice for Protection and Coordination

of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems
Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for

design of LV/MV switchgears and LV high power busbar trunking (<6300A)
in power substations, commercial buildings and industry fascilities.
Professional in AutoCAD programming. Present on Google+

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The substation bus and switchgear are the parts of the power system used

1 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

1. Bus protection in general

Medium-voltage metal-clad switchgear uses insulated busbars as standard.

To further reduce the occurrence of faults, the bus and associated

2 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Regardless of the steps taken to avoid bus faults, such faults

Each equipment assembly should be provided with a main protective device

The main circuit breaker sometimes is omitted at the secondary of a power

This setup reduces the effectiveness of

3 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Furthermore, a delta-wye transformer connection essentially

When supplementary bus differential protective relaying is used, it is

4 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

The methods of protecting substation buses and switchgear vary depending

5 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

The industrial power system usually includes only any distribution

Usually the industrial facility provides the high-voltage bus relaying.

Most systems are radial, and overcurrent protection on each incoming

7 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

8 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

An inverse or definite time-overcurrent relay connected to a CT in the

If the feeders have ground-sensor instantaneous protection, only a short-

Because most faults are ground faults or

Bus differential relaying can provide high-speed, sensitive, improved

Bus differential relaying normally is applied to more complex systems,

The basic principle is that under normal conditions the phasor

9 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

This addition provides relatively inexpensive selective protection using

Differential relaying is provided to supplement

The following factors determine whether this relaying should be provided:

The capability of a system to return to a stable, steady-state mode of

The faster clearing time obtained with high-speed differential

10 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

On a major plant bus, the cost of differential relaying is usually insignificant

If problems exist in coordinating the system overcurrent relay

On a bus fed by a local generator, bus differential relaying is recommended

1. Voltage-responsive and linear coupler

11 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Voltage differential relaying uses “through” iron-core CTs. Using a

Voltage differential bus protection is not limited as to the number of

1. High-speed operation on the order of 1 cycle to 3 cycles.

CTs with different maximum ratios can be matched by operating

12 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Bushing CTs constructed on toroidal cores with completely distributed

Through CTs having suitable characteristics are available for use in

13 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Considering the first requirement, refer to Figure 7 above. Assume a three-

Assume that the CTs behave ideally. Then the CT secondary

It thus becomes apparent that the CT at Circuit Breaker 3 has a greater

14 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Thus, for complete saturation of the CT at Circuit

A nonlinear resistor or a voltage-limiting circuit is connected in

When offset-fault current occurs or residual magnetism exists in the CT

15 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

The circuit is resonant at the fundamental power frequency, and the DC

The air-core CT method provides extremely reliable high-speed bus

Therefore, it is free of any DC or AC saturation.

16 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

With the simple series circuit shown in Figure 8:

Esec is voltage induced in linear coupler secondary,

During normal conditions or for external faults, the sum of the

17 of 24 https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/subst... 10/11/2018, 5:59 PM

Electronic voltage differential relays are also available, providing faster