CHAPTER 1

Introduction
1.1 Basic Ideas of Relay Protection
An electric power system should ensure the availability of electrical energy
without interruption to every load connected to the system.when the
electric power supply is extended to remote villages the power system
would consist of several thousand kilometres of distribution lines. Ihe
high voltage transmission lines carrying bulk power could extend over
several hundred kilometres. Since all these lines are generally overhead
lines and are exposed, there are many chances of their breakdown due to
storms, falling of external objects, damage to the insulators, etc. These can
result not only in mechanical damage but also in an electrical fault. One
of the sources of trouble to continuous supply is the shunt fault or short-
circuit, which produces a sudden and sometimes violent change in systenm
operation.

Protective relays and relaying systems detect abnormal conditions like

faults in electrical circuits and operate automatic switchgear to isolate
faulty equipment from the system as quickly as possible. This limits the
damage at the fault location and prevents the effects of the fault spreading
into the system. It is the function of the protective relays in association
with the switchgear to avert the consequences of faults. The switchgear
must be capable of interrupting both normal currents as well as fault
currents. The protective relay on the other hand must be able to recognize
an abnormal condition in the power system and take suitable steps to
ensure its removal with the least possible disturbance to normal
operation.

It should be noted that a protective relay does not prevent the

appearance of faults. It can take action only after the fault has occurred.
It would be most desirable if protection could anticipate and prevent
faults, but this is obviously impossible except where the original cause of
a fault creates some effect which can opcrate a protective relay However
there are some devices which can anticipate and prevent major aults
Buchhola relay, a gas operated device which is capable of detecting
Gas accumulation produced by an incipient fault in a transformer.

1.2 Nature and Causes of Faults

The nature of a fault simply implies any abnormal condition which causes
a reduction in the basic insulation strength between phase conductors, or
between phase conductors and earth, or any earthed sčreens surrounding
the conductors. Actually the reduction of the insulation is not considered
as a fault until it produces some effect on the system, that is unil it
results either in an excess current or in the reduction of the impedance
between conductors or between conductors and earth to a value below that
of the lowest load impedance normal to the circuit.

In a power system consisting of generators, 'switchgear, transformers

transmission and distribution circuits, it is inevitable that sooner or later
in such a large network some failure will occur somewhere in the system.
The probability of the failure or occurrence of abnormal condition is
more on the power lines, simply because of their greater length and
exposure to the atmosphere as already mentioned.
Before proceeding to the examination of the several causes of failures
it would be well to classify them according to the causes of their incidence
These are mentioned below.

(a) Breakdown may occur at normal voltage on account of (i) the

deterioration of insulation and (i) the damage due to unpredictable
causes such as the perching of birds, accidental short circuiting by sn
kite strings, tree branches, etc.

(b) Breakdown may occur because of abnormal voltages, though the

sulation is otherwise heaithy to withstand normal voltage. This may
happen because of either (i) switching surges or (ii) surges caused by lightning.

The presentday practice is to provide a high insulation level of the

order of 3 to 5 times the nominal value of the voltage. But still the
lution on an insulator string which is commonly caused by deposited
soot or cement dust in industrial areas and by salt deposited by wind
borne sea-spray in coastal areas cause the insulation strength to decrease
This will initially lower the insulation resistance, and cause a small leakage
current to be diverted, thus hastening the deterioration. Even i the
installation is enclosed, such as sheathed and armoured cables as well as
metal-clad switchgear, deterioration of the insulation occurs because of
ageing. Void formation in the insulating compound of underground
cables due to the unequal expansions and contractions caused by the rise
and fall of temperatures is another cause of insulation failure.
The line and apparatus insulation may be subjected to transient over-
voltages because of the switching operations. The voltage which rises at a rapid rate, may
achieve a peak value which approaches three times phase to neutral voltage. It is for this purpose
that a higher insulation level is provided initially. If the insulation levels have been correctly
chosen an they have not been impaired in the manner described under (a) above, the
system will withstand these routine over-voltages. But if the insulation
has developed some form of weakness, it is at the time of switching tha
failure may be expected. The problems of circuit breaking under faulted
ill be conditions and the magnitude of rise of voltages encountered w
discussed in Chapter 14.

Lightning produces a very high voltage surge in the power system of

the order of millions of volts and thus it is not feasible to provide an
insulation which can withstand this abnormality. These surges travel with
the velocity of light in the power circuits, the limiting factors are the
surge impedance and the line resistance.

1.3 Consequences of Faults

The most serious result of a major uncleared fault is fire which may not
only destroy the equipment of its origin but may spread in the system and
cause total failure. The most common type of fault which is also the
most dangerous one is the short circuit which may have any of the
following consequences:

(1) A great reduction of the line voltage over a major part of the power
system. This will lead to the breakdown of the electrical supply to the consumer and may
produce wastage in production.
(2) Damage caused to the elements of the system by the electrical arc which almost always
accompanies a short circuit.
(3) Damage to other apparatus in the system due to overheating and due to overheating and due
to abnormal mechanical forces setup.
(4) Disturbances to the stability of the electrical system and this may even lead to a complete
shutdown of the power system
(5) A marked reduction in the voltage which may sometimes be so great
that relays having pressure coils tend to fail
(6) Considerable reduction in the voltage on healthy feeders connected to
the system having fault. This may cause either an abnormally high
current being drawn by the motors or the operation of no-voltage
coils of the motors. In the latter case considerable loss of industrial
production may result as the motors will have to be restarted.
 3
1.4 Fault Statistics

It is useful to have some idea of the frequency of the incidence of faults on the different items
items of equipment in a power system. This information is of help in considering the problems of
design and application of protection.
Tabel 1.1 gives an idea of how faults are distributed in the various sections of a power system.

Table 1.1 Frequency of faul occurrence in different links

of a power system.

Equipmen
O.H lines
Cables
Switchgear
Transformers
CTs and PTs
Control Equipment
Miscellaneous

It is of interest to note that faults on overhead lines account for nearly

half of the total number of faults. It would be worthwhile therefore, to
analyse the nature of faults on the overhead lines. On a three phase
system the breakdown of insulation between one of the phases and earth
is known as line to ground fault or a single phase earth fault, the break-
down of insulation between either of the two phases is known as line to
line fault, the breakdown of insulation between two phases and earth is
known as double line to ground fault, and the breakdown of insulation
between the three phases is known as three phase fault
Table 1.2 is a rough guide to the occurrence of these faults.

CORRIGENDUM
Table 1.2 Frequency of different types of faults
occurring in overhead lines
ZONES OF PROTECTION
Note. The L-L- L fault, called the symmetrical three-phase fault, generally
occurs due to the carelessness of operating personnel. Usually the phase
lines are tied up together with a bare conductor in order to protect
lineman working on the ines against inadvertent charging of the line
Occasionally after the work is over, the lineman forgets to remove the
tie-up and when the circuit breaker is closed a threc-phase symmetrical
fault oocurs.

It is evident, herefore, that the line to ground fault occurs most

commonly in overhead line practice. Fortunately a large number of these
faults are transitory in nature and may vanish within a sew cycles-as
would be the case when a twig falls across a line and a cross-arm and
burns itself out or just falls down.

In our country where the neutral is not kept isolated, these eartlh
faults do produce fairly large magnitudes of fault currert. So in designing
a system of protection greater attention should be paid to the reliable
operation of relays under line-to-ground fault conditions.

1.5 Zones of Protection

The protected zone is that part of a power system guarded by a certain

protection and usually contains one or at the most two elements of the
power system. The zones are arranged to overlap so that no part of the
system remains unprotected. Figure (l.1) shows a typical arrangement of
overlapping zones of protection.

Bus bar
relay zone
line relay zone
zone
Generator trans-former relay zone

FIGURE 1.1 Overlapping zones of protection.

When it becomes desirable for economic or space saving reasons to

overlap on one side of a breaker blind spots occur as shown in Fig. (1.2).
It can be seen that for a fault at X the circuit breakers of zone B,
ncluding breaker C will be tripped; however, this does not interrupt the
flow of fault current from zone A, the relaying equipment of zone B must
also trip certain breakers in zone A. This is all right for fault at X, but

FIGURE 1.2 Blind spots.

for faults in zone B to the right of breaker C the operation of breakers in

zone A is not useful. How far this unnecessary operation can be tolerated
will depend on the particular application.

1.6 Essential Qualities of Protection

Every protective system which isolates a faulty element is required to

satisfy four basic requirements: (i) reliability; (ii) selectivity; (iii) fastness
of operation; and (iv) discrimination. Without reliability and selectivity
the protection would be rendered largely ineffective and could even become
a liability.

1.6.1 RELIABILITY

Reliability is a qualitative term. Quantitatively it can be expressed as a

probability of failure. Failure is not confined to protective gear but may
also be due to breaker defects. Therefore every component and circuit
involved in fault clearance must be regarded as a potential source of failure.
Failure can be reduced to a small calculated risk by inherently
designs backed by regular and thorough maintenance. Quality of personnel
must not be overlooked when considering reliability, for mistakes by
personnel are among the most likely causes of failure. Some features of
design and manufacture which make relays inherently reliable are high
contact pressures, dust free enclosures, well braced joints and impregnated
coils. Precautions in manufacture and assembly reduce liability to failure.
Components should be treated to prevent contamination. Acid fluxes
and acid producing insulation should be avoided.
On assembly direct handling of components should also be avoided as far as possible
Reliable Records show that the order of likelihood of failure is: relays, breakers,
wiring, current transformers, voltage transformers and battery. When
relays using transistors are considered, the failure rate goes up still further.
 6
1.6.2 SELECTIVITY

This is the property by which only the faulty element of the system is
isolated and the remaining healthy sections are left intact. Selectivity is
absolute if the protection responds only to faults within its own zone, and
relative if it is obtained by grading the settings of the protections of
several zones all of which may respond to a given fault
Systems of protection which in principle are absolutely selective are
known as unit systems. Systems in which selectivity is relative are non-
unit systems. Examples of the former are differential protection and frame
leakage protection, and of the latter current time graded protection and
distance protection.

1.6.3 FASTNESS OF OPERATION

Protective relays are required to be quick acting due to the following

reasons:
(a) Critical clearing time should not be exceeded.
(b) Electrical apparatus may be damaged if they are made to carry fault
currents for long.
(c) A persistent fault will lower the voltage resulting in crawling and over-
loading of industrial drives.

The shorter the time a fault is aliowed to persist the more load can be
trapsferred between given points on the power system without loss of
synchronism.Figure (1.3) shows typica1 values of power which can be transmitted as a function
of fault clearing times for various types of fault.

Fault clearing time

FIGURE 1.3
Power limit for different types of faults.
 7
It can be seen that three phase faults have a more marked effect on
the ability of the system to remain in step and hence they must be cleared faster than the single
earth fault.
On the other hand relays should not be made extremely fast, i.e less
than 10 milliseconds. This is because when there is any lightning surge
on the line the surge diverters must have sufficicnt time to discharge the
lightning to the ground; otherwise therelayl operate unnecessarily for
transient conditions

1.6.4 DISCRIMINATION

Protection must be sufficiently sensitive to operate reliably under minimum

fault conditions for a fault within its own zone while remaining stable
under maximum load or through fault conditions. A relay should bo
able to distinguish between a fault and an overload. In the case of
transformers the inrush of magnetizing current may be comparable to the
fault current, being 5 to 7 times the full load current. The relay should
not operate for inrush currents. In interconnected systems, there will be
power swings, which should also be ignored by the relay. This discrimi
nation between faults and overcurrents may either be an inherent
characteristic of the relay or may be achieved by connecting auxiliary
devices like the minimum voltage relay. It may be noted that the word
discrimination is sometimes used to include selectivity.

1.7 Primary and Backup Protection

The system is divided into protective zones as explained

earlier, each having its protective relays for determining the existence of a fault in that
zone and having circuit breakers for disconnecting that zone from the
system The relays operate usually from currents and voltages derived from
current and potential transformers or potential devices. A station battery
usually provides the circuit breaker trip current.
Successful clearing depends on the condition of the battery, the continuity of the wiring
and trip coil, and the proper mechanical and electrical operation of the circuit
breaker as well as the closing of the relay trip contacts
In the event of failure of one of these elements, so that the fault in a
given zone is not cleared by the main or the primary protection scheme,
some form of backup protection is ordinarily provided to do the next
best thing. This means first of all to clear the fault automatically if at all
possible, even though this requires disconnection of a considerable portion
of the system. The measures taken to provide backup protection vary
widely depending on the value and importance of the installation and the
consequence of failure.
 8
The backup protection is normally of a form different from the main
protection and should preferably be of the nonunit type, e.g. over current
or distance protection. It is usually for economic reasons not so fast or
as discriminative as the main protection.

1.8 Basic Principle of Operation of Protective System

Each relay in a protection scheme performs a certain function and

responds in a given manner to a certain type of change in the circuit
quantities. For example one type of relay may operate when the current
increases above a certain magnitude, while another may compare current
and voltage and operate when the ratio V/I is less than a given value.
The first relay is known as an overcurrent relay while the latter an under-
impedance relay. Similarly various combinations of these electrical
quantities could be worked out according to the requirements at a parti-
cular situation, because for every type and location of failure there is some
distinctive difference in these quantities, and there are various types of
protective relaying epuipments available, each of which is designed to
recognize a particular difference and to operate in response to it.

1.9 Economic Considerations

We are quite familiar in day-to-day life that there is an economic limit to

the amount that can be spent on different types of insurances in order to
safeguard life and property. Similarly in a power system there is an
economic limit to the amount that can be spent on the protection of the
system. Usually this is a very complex affair since the probability of
failure or fault is a function of component, location, time, etc. All these
factors can lead to different alternatives for the same problem, anda
choice has to be made keeping in view the economic justifiability. The
cost of protection is linked with cost of the plant to be protected and
increases with cost.of the plant. Usually the protective gear should not
cost more than 5% of the total cost. However, when the apparatus to
be protected is of paramount importance like the generator or the main
transmission line, economic considerations are often subordinated to
reliability. Table 1.3 shows the average costs in units per circuit.

9
 Table 1.3 Average costs in units per circuit

Indoor Outdoor

Total avg. circuit cost

Relays
Relay panels
Wiring (metal-clad)
Relay room
CTs
PTs

1.10 Basic Terminology

We define below some of the important terms used in the study of

protective relays and switchgear.

Protective Relay. An electrical device designed to initiate isolation of a part of an electrical

installation, or to operate an alarm signal, in the event
of an abnormal condition or a fault.

Unit or Element. A self-contained relay unit which in conjunction with one or more other relay
units performs a complex relay function, e.g. a
directional unit combined with an overcurrent unit gives a directional
overcurrent relay.

Energizing Quantity. The electrical quantity, i.e. current or voltage either

alone or in combination with other electrical quantities required for the
functioning of the relay.

Characteristic Quantity. The quantity to which the relay is designed to

respond, e.g. current in an overcurrent relay, impedance in an impedance
relay, phase angle in a directional relay, etc. Some relays have a
calibrated response to one or more quantities, such quantities are called
characteristic quantities.

Setting. Thc actual value of the energizing or characteristic quantity at

which the relay is desigued to operate under given conditions.

Power Consumption (Burden), The power consumed by the circuits of the

lay at the rated current or voltage. It is expressed in volt-amperes for
a.c. and watts for d.с.

Pickup. A relay is said to pickup when it moves from the off position
 10

this change occurs is known as pickup value.

Drapout or Reset A relay is said to dropout when it moves from the

on position to the off position. The value of the characteristic quantity
below which this change occurs is known as dropout or reset value.

Operating Time. The time which elapses between the instant of application
of a characteristic quantity equal to the pickup value and the instant when
the relay operates its contacts.

Resetting Time. The time which the operated relay takes to come back
to its initial position as a result of a specified sudden change of the
characteristic quantity, the time being measured from the instant at which
the change occurs.

Overshoot Time. The time during which stored operating energy is

dissipated after the characteristic quantity has been suddenly restored from
a specified value to the value which it had at the initial position of the
relay.

Characteristic Angle. The phase angle at which the performance of the

relay is declared.

Characteristics (of a Relay in Steady State). The locus of the pickup

or reset when drawn on a graph. In some relays the two curves are
coincident and become the locus of balance or zero torque.

Reinforcing Relay. Relay which is energized by the contacts of the

main relay and with its contacts in parallel with those of the main relay
relieves them of their current carrying duty. The seal-in contacts are
usually of higher current rating than those of the main relay.

Seal-in-Relay. Similar to the reinfocing relay described above except

connected to stay until its coil círcuit is interrupted by a switch on the circuit breaker

Primary Relays. Those which are connected directly in the protected circuit
Secondary Relays. Those connected to the protected circuit through current and potential
transformers.

Auxiliary Relays. Relays which operate in response to the opening or closing

of its operating circuit to assist another relay in the performance of its
function. The auxiliary relay may be instantaneous or may have a time
lag and may operate within large limits of the characteristic quantity.

Backup Relay. A relay which operates usually after a slight time delay
if the norma! relay does not operate to trip its circuit breaker. A backup
relay acts as a second line of defence. (11)

Consistency: Accuracy with which the relay can repeat its electrical or
time characteristics.

Flag or Target. A device used for indicating the operation of a relay, it is

usually spring or gravity operated.

Reach. Remote limit of the zone of pr tection provided by the relay

used mostly in connection with distance relays to indicate how far along a
line the tripping zone of the relay extends.

Overreach or Underreach. Errors in relay measurement resulting in wrong

operation or failure to operate respectively.

Blocking. Preventing the protective relay from tripping either due to its
own characteristic or due to an additional relay

QUESTIONS
1. Explain briefly the role of protection in a power system.
2. Describe the essential features of a protective relay with reference to
reliability, selectiyity, speed of operation and discrimination.
3. What are the principal types of faults in a power system? In what
way is a fault harmful to the power system?
4. Define the terms: burden, pickup, reset, operating time.
5. Explain what is meant by primary protection and backup protection.
 12

CHAPTER 2
Basic Principles and Components
of Protection
2.1 Methods of Discrimination
The main requirements and qualities of protection have been outlined in
Chapter 1. Now a brief idea of the methods of discrimination offa ult so
as to cause the appropriate and only the appropriate disconnecting device to
function will be discussed. These methods will, however, be taken up in
detail in subsequent chapters. These methods arc basically of two types:
(a) those which discriminate as to the location of fault. and (b) those which
discriminate as to the type of fault.
2.1.1 METHODS DISCRIMINATIVE TO FAULT LOCATION
The main aim is that the faulty section of the system be isolated and in the
minimum time. The various methods under this category are those in
which the behaviour of the protective apparatus is dependent upon where it
is -situated in the system relative to the point of fault occurrence
(a) Diserimination by Time. By adding time lag features to the control-
ling relays of a number of circuit breakers it is possible to trip the breaker
nearest the fault prior to thosc farther off the point of fault. This simple
scheme may be applied in a radial feeder shown in Fig. (2.1).
The breakers
FIGURE 2.1 Radial feeder.
at A, B, C and D are identical and are set to operate for a given value of
current. For a fault in any section, say CD, if the fault current exceeds
13
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
16
the set value the breakers at A, B and C will trip and the whole feeder
beyond A becomes dead
For providing time lag to the eireuit breakers at A, B, C, and D the
tripping is delayed in the following manner:
D-no added time lag
C-0.4s added time lag
B-0.8s added time lag
A-1.2s added time lag
With such a scheme obviously if the fault occurs in the section CD the
breaker at C will trip after a time of 0.4s and thus will clear the fault with
the result that the feeder up to C will remain alive. A 0.4s step time lag
is necessary to account for the time of operation of circuit breaker and its
relay operation times.
(b) Discrimination by Current Magnitude. This depends on the current
magnitudes as the magnitude of the fault current will also vary with the
location of the fault. If the relays are set to pickup at a progressively
higher current towards the source then a simple feeder system of the type
shown in Fig. (2.1) can be protected. Such a scheme is known as current
graded scheme.
(c) Discrimination by Time and Direction. In the case of a ring main which
forms a closed loop it is not possible to isolate the faulty section with the
help of time alone. Consider the ring main shown in Fig. (2.2). In one case
nondirectional relays with same current setting but different time lags are
2.0
2.0 1.7
0.1
,sf
1.5
1.3
0,5
0.5
1.0
0.9
FIGURE 2.2 Ring main feeder: (a) with nondirectional relays; (o) with
directional and nondirectional relays.
14
METHODS OF DISCRIMINATION
provided which shows that proper discrimination cannot be obtained nor can
this position be improved by varying the time lags from those shown in the
the same ring main directional feature is also
uced as shown by arrows. Now it can be seen that a fault occurring
diagram
In the second case for
introd
on an
y section will be discriminatively cleared without loss of supply.
(d) Diserimination by Distance Measurement. The methods described
above which discriminate by time and current magnitude have limitations of
being applicable to simple systems. Moreover the faults nearer to the
source which are more severe take longer time to clear in the case of time
discrimination systems.
Now if the relays are designed to measure the distance from the breaker
location to the fault and if this distance happens to be less than that to the
next breaker out from the source, the fault is within the section controlled
by the breaker concerned and this trips. If the distance is greater than
that to the next breaker out from the source, the fault is beyond the sec-
tion controlled by the breaker concerned and therefore it does not trip
All successive breakers are controlled in this way and are set to operate
only for faults in their own section
The measurement of distance is achieved in various ways by what are
known as distance relays to be discussed later
(e) Time as an Addition to Current Magnitude or Distance Discrimination
Combination of time with current magnitude discrimination or with distance
discrimination gives practical dimension to protection. It will be seen later
that combination of time and current grading gives the most practical
protection schemes and similarly the time distance discrimination forms
another practical protection scheme. These schemes will be discussed at
length in Chapter 5
(0) Current-Balan
ce Discrimination. The discriminative methods outlined
above may not be adequate for a complex system having interconnections
and alternative parallel paths, etc. This calls for a form of discrimination
which is limited in its scope to one system element which will cause isolation
of this element only in the event of fault in this element and will not respond
to any other fault external to this element, even though the fault current
passes through it. Such a protection is known as unit protection
This form of protection is based on one of the following two principles:
(a) circulating current principle; (b) opposed voltage principle or balanced
voltage principle.
The circulating current principle compares the currents at the two ends
of the protected section. This is illustrated in Fig. (2.3a), the difference of
the current magnitude at the two ends flows through the relay. For an
15
BASİC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
18
external fault the balance of currents is not disturbed and the section or
protected section the balance of currents is disturbed and the relay trips
apparatus is not isolated, whereas for a fault within the apparatus or the
the breakers at the two ends and isolates this section completely.
protecie
tbl
FIGURE 2.3 Unit protection scheme: (a) circulating current protection; (b) balanced
voltage protection.
The principle of balanced-voltage protection is shown in Fig. (2.3b)
Here the relative polarity of the CTs at the two ends is such that there
is no pilot current for the conditions of load or external fault. The CT
secondary voltages will no longer balance and current will flow in the relays
which will trip the circuit breakers at the two ends.
(g) Power-Direction Comparison Discrimination. In this case the com-
parison of the direction of fault power at the two ends of the protected
section is done by directional relays. Urder external fault conditions the
direction of the fault power is outwards at one end of the protected section.
Under internal fault conditions, fault power is fed only into the section
either at both ends or at one end, depending upon whether the source of
power supply is on both sides or only on one side of the protected section.
Figure (2.4) illustrates the principle of power directional comparison.
FIGURE 2.4
Directional comparison.
Considering one end of the line oaly and assuming that power flows into
the line at this end, one of the following three things simultaneously applies
(i) Power flows out at the otherend, which means either load conditions
orexternal fault conditions obtained; so tripping should be prevented.
(ii) Power also flows in at the other end, which means an internal
fault condition and both breakers should trip.
(ii) No power flows either in or out at the other end, meaning thereby
that there is no source on the other end and thus if the power flow
is of sufficient magnitude it is due to fault in the section and the
local breaker on this side only should trip
16
19
METHODS OF DISCRIMINATION
The scheme outlined needs considerable elaboration to give it a practical
shape. This will be discussed later in power line carrier protection.
(h) Phase Comparison Discrimination. This is another form of power
line carrier protection. In this case the phase angle of current at the two
ends of the protected section is compared, which gives an indication
whether the fault is internal or external. Information about the phase
angle of the primary current is transmitted to the other end over the
carrier link.
2.1.2 METHODS DISCRIMINATIVE TO TYPE oF FAULT
There can be cases when the fault currents may not be very high or may
differ little in magnitude from load currents with the result that current
magnitude detection fails to point out such a faul. Such a fault current
however has some peculiarity which distinguishes itself from the normal
load currents. For instance, in a three phase system the currents and
voltages can be resolved into their phase sequence components which would
ultimately give some idea about the nature of the currents or voltages
present.
(a) Zero-Phase Sequence Networks. These networks are commonly used
for the detection of earth faults. By providing a relay at such a place
where it will be energized only by zero-sequence currents an indication
is obtained of an earth fault as shown in Fig. (2.5). Such a relay will
Z ero sequence
relay
Trip circuit
FIGURE 2.5
Zero-sequence relay.
ignore load currents or phase-to-phase short circuits. Hence the setting
of such a relay will have no bearing on the load current values which is
often essential for discrimination or even for adequate protection when
earth currents are limited.
(b) Negative-Phase Sequence Networks. The presence of negative-phase
sequence current represents some form of unbalanced condition such as
17
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
20
phase-to-phase faults other than the symmetrical three-phase faults, broken
conductors, etc. A typical negative phase sequence network is shown in
Fig. (2.6).
NPS
FIGURE 2.6 Negative-phase sequence network.
2.1.3 DISCRIMINATION BY COMBINATIONS oF METHODS SENSITIVE TO
LOCATION AND TYPE OF FAULT
A combination of the methods discriminative to fault location and the
methods discriminative to type of fault is very useful in actual practice.
An example of such a combination is a protective scheme providing
protection by overcurrent and earth fault relays. This uses time current
discrimination and zero sequence device. Such a scheme is shown in
Fig. (2.7).
CTs
o/c
E/F
FIGURE 2.7
Combination of overcurrent and earth fault relays.
2.2 Derivation of a Single-Phase Quantity from Three-Phase Quantities
It will be seen later that auxiliary channels or pilot wires are used to transmit
information from one end of the line to the other end. For a normal
three-phase system three pilots would ordinarily be required which would
18
21
DERIVATION OF A SINGLE-PHASE QUANTITY
obviously be a very costly affair for longer systems, particularly transmission
circuits. It would naturally be p:eferable to have a means of deriving a
single-phase quantity which under both normal and abnormal conditions
will be representative of the three-phase conditions. Sometimes it becomes
necessary to segregate the sequence currents or voltages from corresponding
line currents or voltages in order to simplify the protection scheme by
reducing the number of relays required.
here are two commonly used methods for deriving single-phase
quantity from a three-phase system.
(a) Summation Transformers. The three line current transformers (CTs)
are connected to the primary of an auxiliary current transformer
(summation transformer) as shown in Fig. (2.8). Each line CT energizes
a different number of turns on the primary with a resulting single-phase
output from the secondary. Thus for the typical case shown in Fig. (2.8)
the output is seen to be proportional to the vector sum
(n+2)IR+(n+1)ly+nl
Summated
output
FIGURE 2.8 Summation transformer.
It is also possible to control independently the outputs for earth faults
and phase faults. The output on earth faults is usually considerably more
than that on phase faults so as to provide more sensitive ac ion on earth
faults. Consequently, the pickup setting can be expressed in termis of
combinations of n and 1 for the various faults.
Table 2.1 shows the output current for a given fault current magnitude
in each type of fault in terms of the rated current of CT.
19
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
Table 2.i Effect of summation on pickup settings
Type of faultR-E YE B-E R-Y Y-B B-R R-Y-B
Summation CT
turns
+2 n+1 1 1 2 3
14%
16.5%
20%
90%
90%
45%
52%
Pickup current
Zero output or a negligibly small output may occur under through fault
conditions when there is a phase-to-phase fault on the star side of the
delta/star transformer giving a 1:2: 1 current distribution in the protected
feeder as shown in Fig. (2.9). In general, ho wever, it is possible to choose
tappings which make such cases very unlikely
Output
FIGURE 2.9 1:2:1 Current distribution.
(b) Sequence Networks. In some cases it is desirable to make the
protection respond to a particular phase-sequence component of the three-
phase system of currents or voltages. Zero-sequence and negative-sequence
networks are frequently used in power system protection
Zero-sequence networks are extensively used for earth fault protection.
The connections of such a network are shown in Fig. (2.10). During
FIGURE 2.10 Zero-sequence network.
20
23
DERIVATION OF A SINGLE-PHASE QUANTITY
normal operation and for three-phase and phase-to-phase faults the current
passing through the relay is zero. When a single or double earth fault
occurs, the zero-sequence current flows through the relay
For unbalanced conditions or unsymmetrical faults negative-phase
sequence networks are used. One simple negative-sequence network is
shown in Fig. (2.11). The values of r and C are such as to give a phase
shift of 60. It can be seen from the vector diagrams that for the
Relay
60。
60°
(a) Positive sequence currents
(bl Negati ve sequence currents
FIGURE 2.11 Negative-phase sequence network.
positive-sequence currents the output voltage Vat Vb applied to the relay
s zero whereas for the negative-sequence currents the output voltage
Ya+Vs is of considerable magnitude to operate the relay
ever protection responding to positive-phase sequence components
alone is not used in relaying practice, because under unsymmetrical faults,
such a protection will have less sensitivity due to the fact that the positive-
phase sequence component is only a part of the fault current.
21
24
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
It is possible however to usc a combination of the positive-sequence,
networks as a general rule as
2.12). A combination of positive and negative sequence
negative-sequence and zero-sequence
networks is more common
PPS
network
Niv
Summat ed
Pz output
ne:lwork
nctwork
FIGURE 2.12 Combination of the three sequence networks.
2.3
Components of Protection
The various protective schemes to be described in the chapters to follow
would make use of a wide range of components. Some of the more
commonly used components will be described here in brief.
2.3.1 RELAYS
The main function of a protective relay is to isolate a faulty section with
the least interruption to service by controlling the circuit breaker, when
abnormal conditions develop. Thus the relays may be designed to detect
and to measure abnormal conditions and close the contacts in the tripping
circuit.
The following two categories of relays are most commonly used in
protective relaying:
ing relays: a group including practically all kinds
of relays, e.g. current, voltage, power, impedance, reactance and
frequency, whether minimum or maximum.
(b) Secondary direct-acting relays: a group of overcarrent and under-
instantaneously or with time lag.
ype which are built
voltage relays designed to operate
These are primarily relays of the electromagnetic t
into circuit breaker operating mechanisms,
22
25
COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
2.3.2 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Circuit breakers of various typ
and close them u
es are installed in all power circuits to open
nder normal load conditions. Circuit breakers must
d MVA breaking
correspond to nominal current and voltage rating an
capacity to the l
circuit where they inco
system one or
the protection
oad and fault power conditions at the given point of the
y are incorporated. To isolate a fault from the power
re circuit breakers are required in conjunction with
may be operated either manually or automatically.
Ion here we will assume that it is controlled
elay, so that when opening (tripping) is required
trip coil is energized,
causing the main contacts to part
directly or via an
which releases energy stored in the mechanism thus
. The relay usually closes its contacts
auxiliary relay to close the trip coil circuit through a
ker is to
ere the trip coil current exceeds the relay-contact rating,
le closing the trip coil circuit which is highly inductive the duty
attery thus energizing the trip coil. When more than one brea
be tripped or wh
an auxiliary relay of proper contact rating must be used
Wh
on the relay contacts is not so severe; but while breaking the trip co
current considera ble damage would be done to these contacts. In order
to overcome this difficulty an auxy switch operated by a mechanical
link mechanism of the circuit breaker is connected in series with the trip
coil and relay contacts. This auxiliary switch opens when the breaker
contacts open. This action, however, takes place before the contacts of
the relay open. This ensures that any inductance voltage would appear
across the auxiliary contacts only and not across the relay contacts. The
latter are thus saved from any possibility of burning
The time of operation of circuit breaker actually depends on its design
and usually lies between 0.05 and 0.25s. This must be accounted for
while calculating final fault clearance time
2.3.3 TRIPPING AND OTHER AUXILIARY SUPPLIES
It is quite evident that a source of power supply other than the supply circuit
being protected is required for the operation of the relays and the circuit
breakers. It also goes without saying that such an auxiliary supply should
be the most reliable one. Protective relay and automatic control schemes
in power system practice use two kinds of auxiliary supply: d.c. or a.c.
supply is provided from storage batteries
D.C. auxiliary power
maintained continuously charged by some type of su
The advantages of storage batteries are
independence of a.c. power circuit conditions
pply set or a charger
their high reliability and
and of the existence of faults
Usually the voltage of the auxiliary supply is maintained at 110 V. AII
24
AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
possibie means are exploited in designing the
auxiliary supply circuits to
all the receivers of the
make them most reliable, such as by dividing a
these tbe most important are the protective relas
made for such supplies. Separate buses may ais
alarm or warning signals
Of
eir responsibility into different categories.
rcuits. Use of sectionalized buses is frequently
also be provided for supplying
rcuit breakers and other indicating circuits such as
respect to earth may lead to false tripping due
ypass of the current round the control devices.
pply circuits must have their insulation resistande
evel, as any breakdown in the insulation with
to formation of a path for
of this danger
Because
ery d.c. auxiliary supply installation must include a
monitoring the condition of the insulation (ins
A simple circuit providing such a test is shown in Fig
insulation is healthy the voltage of each pole relative to ea
(insulation resistance to carth)
. (2.13). When the
rth V, and
FIGURE 2.13
Insulation test of d.c. supply.
will be equal and half the voltage between both the poles. In case the
insulation of one pole drops in value with respect to earth, the voltage to
earth of this pole will also drop, but the voltage to earth of the other
pole of the circuit will increase by the same amount.
Wherever conditions permit, it is of decided economic advantage to
use a.c. instead of d.c. auxiliary supply fer circuit breaker control and for
supply for the protective
. Under fault conditions,
the current passing through the secondary of properly selected CTs, will
energizing the protective relay. А.С. auxiliary
relay scheme is mainly derived from the CTs
always be sufficient to reliably trip the associated circuit breaker
feeder overcurrent protection using a.c. auxiiary
Figure (2.14) shows o
supply from CT
During normal operation the relay contacts continuo
breaker trip coil and thus keep the breaker cos Sbut the
abnormal conditions are approached the relay operates to
This puts the trip coil into
other schemes are also possible
ly-closed contacts
breaker closed. As and when
CT circuit and the circuit-breaker trips.
Many Other schemes afe also possible.
25
27
COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
CE
TC- trip co
CB- circuit
CT- current
t r ansiormer
FIGURE 2.14
Relay with a.c. operative power from current transformer
2.3.4 CURRENT TRANSFORMER (CT)
e primary circuit currents which are of high-magnitudes are to be
reduced to values suitable for relay operation with the help of current
transformers (CTs). Thus the CTs esseatially insulate the secondary (relay)
circuits from the primary (power) circuit
secondary which are proportional to those in the primary. The primary
winding of the CT is connected in series with the load and carries the
actual power system currents (normal or fault). The secondary is connected
to the measuring circuit or the relay, which together with the winding
impedance of the transformer and the lead resistance constitutes the
burden of the transformer
Th
s and provide currents in the
The CT is similar in operation to any other transformer so that the
primary current consists of two components, viz. the secondary current
which is transformed in the inverse ratio of the turns ratio and the exciting
current which magnetizes the core. The latter current is not transformed
and is the cause of the transformer errors. It is because of this reason that
certain values of secondary currents could never be produced whatever the
value of primary current, this happons when the core saturates and
disproportionate amount of primary current is required to magnetize the
core
The general shape of a CT magaetization curve is shown in Fig. (2.15).
The shape will change for different core materials. The characteristic is
divided into three regions defined by the ankle point and the knee point.
The boundary between the saturated and unsaturated regions is marked by
the knee point which is defined as the point at which a 10% increase in
secondary voltage produces a 50% increase in exciting current. The other
characteristic curve shown in the diagram is the phase angle of exciting
current which is not of much importance for protective CTs. It may,
however, be noted that the working range of a protective CT extends over
26
28
the full range between the ankle and the knee points and buyond
the imeasuring CT usually operates in the
HASIC PRINCIPLES A:iD COMPONEN y." OF PROTECT iori
buyond, whereas
region of the ankle point, This
10%. Inc'nninn
S0 Increment
1,00
K nou
point
0.90
0,80
rri
Ankle point
T otal exciting current
FIGURE 2, 15.
CT magnetizing characterist
is because of the radical difference in their basic functions. Measuring
CTs require comparatively high accuracy over the range of 10% to 120%
rated current, and it is an advantage if the CTs saturate for currents above
this range in order to protect the instruments. Protection CTs, on the
other hand, require linear characteristics up to the secondary voltage
corresponding to maximum fault current flowing in the connected burden.
Figure (2. 16) shows the charecteristics of two CTs both for the same rated
burden, but one for protection and the other for measurement. It is quite
Protective CT
Measuring CT
Exciting current
FIGURE 2.16. Protective and measuring CTs.
obvious that a core of larger cross section would be required for
protective CT if the material has to be the same. Grain oriented steels
having
CTs and nickel-iron alloys having low exciting ampere-turns per unit
high saturation levels are used as core materials for protective
27
COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
29
length of the core are used for measuring CTs arn
occurs at a relatively low flux density
d the knce point
It is common practice to use IA sccondary ra
practical limit to the number of turns which can be wound on the a
primary CT which is usually about 1500 secondary turns. When n
primary currents much in excess of 1500 A are encountered then the m
bar primary CT with rated secondary current of 5A or 10A along v
auxiliary CTs of 5/1 or 10/1 A respectively, are used
rating CTs. There is a
ated
ain
ith
2.3.5 VoLTAGE TRANSFORMERS
is not possible to connect the voltage coils of the protective devics
It is therefore
directly to the system in case of high voltage systems
necessary to step down the voltage and also to insulate the protective
equipment from the primary (power) circuit. This is achieved by using a
ge transformer (VT) also known as a potential transformer (PT)
which is similar to a power transformer. The voltage transformer is rated
in terms of the maximum burden (VA output) it delivers without exo
specified limits of error, whereas the power transformer is rated by the
secondary output it delivers without exceeding a specified temperature rise.
The output of VTs is usually limited to a few hundered volt amperes and
the secondary voltage is usually 110 V between phases
Ideally a VT should preduce a secondary voltage exactly proportional
to the primary voltage and exactly in phase opposition. This cannot
obviously be achieved in practice owing to the voltage drops in the primary
and secondary coils due to the magnitude and power factor of the
secondary burden. Thus, ratio errors and phase angle errors are
introduced
The limits of ratio and phase angle errors for VTs used for protection
are much larger than those required for measurement purposes only. The
acceptable limits of error for protective VTs as specified by IS:3156
Part III)-1966 are shown in Table 2.2. A three-phase residually
connected VT is shown in Fig. (2.17), where all the three phases
FIGURE 2.17. Three-phase residual VT.
28
30
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF P
PROTECTION
Table 2.2 Limits vo
it of voltage errors and phase displacement
Clss olage (ratio) Piase displacerent
Voltage (ratio)
error (%)
±3.0
L5.0
Phase displacement
minutes)
士 120
+ 300
3.0
of the primary windings are connected between line and earth and the
secondary windings are connected in an open delta. In this caset
residual voltage is equal to three times the zero sequence voltage
order to have a voltage in the secondary circuit there must
sequence voltages in the primary circuit. Hence such an arrangemen
used in neutral displacement schemes and for supplying the voltage circuit
dings are connected between line, and earth and the
be zero
t is
of directional earth fault relays
re two types of voltage transforming devices; the conventional
pe..voltage transformer and the capacitor voltage transformer.
or economic reasons, and the capacitor VT is used for voltages
here a
The wound type VT is conveniently used for system voltages up to or
132 KV f
above 132 KV. The capacitor VT is essen
divider with the basic circuit shown in Fig. (2.18a). Ifthe current flowing
in the output circuit (i.e., in the conncted burden) is negligibl
tially a capacitance potential
C1
V-Input
2 V Output
c2
L oad
FIGURE 2.18. Capacitor voltage divider: (a) basic circuit;
(b) compensated circuit.
But when appreciable current flows in the burden, errors, both in ratio
and phase, are introduced, because of the load current flowing through the
capacitor C1. The voltage drop on load due to reactance of the capacitors
can be compensated by inserting an inductive reactance in series with the load
as shown in Fig. (2.18b). The requirement is that a current flowing in the
burden shall meet zero impedance in the capacitor divider. In other words
the circuit must offer zero impedance to the load current with the line and
29
COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
31
earth terminals short circuited, i c., ωL..1/(eG+wC) Value
C, are so chosen that a major part of the voltage drops across C Le
C<C, so that oLoC The vector diagram of the compens
circuit for a unity power factor (upf) load is shown in Fig. (2.19)
following three conditions are of interest:
() For constant voltage V and a constant voltage V a change
s of C, and
Ct, i.e.
burden, i.c. IB changes Ve, Vea and V
(ii) For zero burden impedance, i.e. output terminals short circuited, the
cuit has C1 in series with L and C, in parallel forms an acceptor
circuit tuned to the fundamental frequency. This results in increasing
e Ve l lea and Is to infinity. To protect from these conditions a
protective spark gap is connccted across C
(iii) For infinite burden impedance or for output terminals open circuited
Vt is zero and V-Ve
C1
FIGURE 2.19 Capacitor VT with upf burden.
2.3.6 LINEAR COUPLER
An iron-cored CT has the limitation of saturation and owing to d.c. offset
transient component present in the fault current, the stability on heavy
through faults may be difficult to obtain.
With air-cored CTs, also known as linear couplers, the problem of
n and d.c. offset transient are overcome. Two major difficulties
roblems are differential saturation and the transference
with relay transient p
of d.c. through the iron-cored CT. These are obviously solved; firstly
because iron has been removed, and secondly because this device transforms
nential waveform with a high degree of attenuation of the d.c.
the expo
offset in the output wave form.
Assuming the primary current i, to have 100% de. offset, ie.
The secondary voltage is given by Mdildt
It can thus be seen that the d.c. component voltage has been attenuated
by a ratio R/X which may be 1/10 to 1/20 depending on the system.
30
32
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
EXAMPLE 2.1
A 100/ 1 A bar primary CT supplies an overcurrent relay set at 10%
pickup and having a burden of iVA. It is required to cater
of 10 times the relay setting. Determine the knee point voltage and
cross-section of the core if the CT has 10 secondary turns. Assume the
flux density in the CT core to be I wb/m2
for a current
Solution. Secondary operating cu
rent of the relay 0,1 A
. Secondary volts 1/0.1-10 V.
For 10 times the current setting the CT secondary voltage is 100 v.
The knee point voltage must be slightly higher than 100 V
The voltage induced in the winding is given by
E-4.44xxfx N
100
4.44 x 50x10
100
or area of cross-section-4.44×50x10x1
-0.045 m2
EXAMPLE 2.2
A summation transformer used for deriving relaying quantities for a pro-
tective syste of phase
sequence RYB. Obtain an expression for the ampere-turn output of the
summation transformer in terms of the input turns ratio between primary
tappings, and the B-phase sequence currents, if system conditions are such
that IB-IBa Hence find the minimum value of n to be used with a
1:1.3:n primary-turns-ratio summation transformer, if positive outputs are
to be maintained when In/Io-4. What would be the effect on the value
of n if a ratio 1:1:n were used?
m is supplied with an unsymmetrical three-phase input
Solution. Let the input-turns-ratio of the summ ation transformer be l:m:r
as shown in Fig. (2.20). Using R-phase as the reference, according to
symmetrical component theory:
FIGURE 2.20
31
COMPONENTS OF PROTICTION
Taking B as the reference phase we can write
Ampere turns oututI(+mtm)
(n)+
Ampere turns output 1, (+2m+3n)-Ip (2m-+D)
1 : ,n :n=1 : 1 .3 : n, for zero output
0-4(3.643")-In.Χ 3.6
3.6 I 3.6
or
If
n3.6
If
l: m: n1:1:n
then
Therefore for
QUESTIONS
1. Describe briefly various methods of fault detection.
2. Explain briefly the principle of time grading in a simple radial systenm
equipped with instantaneous overcurrent and earth-fault relays, and
definite time-delay relays. Show how, by the use of directional relays
this s
assuming the latter to be supplied at one point only
ame principle may be applied to the protection of a ring system,
3. What is a unit protection? Explain the principle of current-balance
protection as applied to a simple two-ended circuit. Show how this
principle can be employed in (a) the circulating-current system; and
(b) the balanced voltage system.
32
34
4. Distinguish between time overcurrent relays, directional relays
5. Find the output of CT having a transformation ratio o
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS OF PROT
ECTION
and
differential relays.
sccondary resistance of 0.1. ohm. Its secondary terminals are
connected to a relay whose burden is 4.5 VA. The resistance of the
connecting leads is 0.15 ohm
(10.75 VA)
33