Unit 5 symmetrical fault analysis

1. Introduction

in practice, any disturbance in the normal working conditions is termed as a FAULT. The effect
of fault is to load the device electrically by many times greater than its normal rating and thus
damage the equipment involved. Hence all the equipment in the fault line should be protected
from being overloaded. In general, overloading involves the increase of current up to 10-15 times
the rated value. In a few cases, like the opening or closing of a circuit breaker, the transient
voltages also may overload the equipment and damage them.

In order to protect the equipment during faults, fast acting circuit breakers are put in the lines. To
design the rating of these circuit breakers or an auxiliary device, the fault current has to be
predicted. By considering the equivalent per unit reactance diagrams, the various faults can be
analyzed to determine the fault parameters. This helps in the protection and maintenance of the
equipment.

Faults can be symmetrical or unsymmetrical faults. In symmetrical faults, the fault quantity rises
to several times the rated value equally in all the three phases. For example, a 3-phase fault - a
dead short circuit of all the three lines not involving the ground. On the other hand, the
unsymmetrical faults may have the connected fault quantities in a random way. However, such
unsymmetrical faults can be analyzed by using the Symmetrical Components. Further, the
neutrals of the machines and equipment may or may not be grounded or the fault may occur
through fault impedance. The three-phase fault involving ground is the most severe fault among
the various faults encountered in electric power systems.

Broadly speaking the faults can be classified as: 1. Shunt faults (short circuits). 2. Series faults
(open conductor). Shunt type of faults involve power conductor or conductors-to-ground or short
circuit between conductors. When circuits are controlled by fuses or any device which does not
open all three phases, one or two phases of the circuit may be opened while the other phases or
phase is closed. These are called series type of faults. These faults may also occur with one or
two broken conductors. Shunt faults are characterised by increase in current and fall in voltage
and frequency whereas series faults are characterised by increase in voltage and frequency and
fall in current in the faulted phases. Shunt type of faults are classified as (i) Line-to-ground fault;
(ii) Line-to-line fault; (iii) Double line-to-ground fault; and (iv) 3-phase fault. Of these, the first
three are the unsymmetrical faults as the symmetry is disturbed in one or two phases. The
method of symmetrical components will be utilized to analyse the unbalancing in the system.
The 3-phase fault is a balanced fault which could also be analysed using symmetrical
components. The series faults are classified as: (i) one open conductor, and (ii) two open
conductors. These faults also disturb the symmetry in one or two phases and are, therefore,
unbalanced faults. The method of symmetrical components can be used for analysing such
situations in the system. Here we will discuss only the shunt type of faults.
Causes of faults :

2.Transients on a transmission line

Now, let us Consider a transmission line of resistance R and inductance L supplied by an ac

source of voltage v, such that v = Vm sin (t+) as shown in figure 1. Consider the short circuit
transient on this transmission line. In order to analyze this symmetrical 3-phase fault, the
following assumptions are made:
 The supply is a constant voltage source,
 The short circuit occurs when the line is unloaded and
 The line capacitance is negligible.
 Figure 1. Short Circuit Transients on an Unloaded Line.
Thus the line can be modeled by a lumped R-L series circuit. Let the short circuit take place at
t=0. The parameter,  controls the instant of short circuit on the voltage wave. From basic circuit
theory, it is observed that the current after short circuit is composed of the two parts as under: i
=is +it, Where, is is the steady state current and it is the transient current. These component
currents are determined as follows.

Consider, v = Vm sin (t+)

= iR + L (di/dt) (1)

and i = Im sin (t+-) (2)

Where Vm = 2V; Im = 2I; Zmag = [R2+(L)2]= tan-1(L/R) (3)

Thus is = [Vm/Z] sin (t+-) (4)

Consider the performance equation of the circuit of figure 1 under circuit as:

iR + L (di/dt) = 0

i.e., (R/L + d/dt)i = 0 (5)

In order to solve the equation (5), consider the complementary function part of the solution as:
CF = C1 e(-t/) (6)

Where  (= L/R) is the time constant and C1 is a constant given by the value of steady state
current at t = 0. Thus we have,

C1 = -is(0)

= - [Vm/Z] sin (-)

= [Vm/Z] sin (-) (7)

Similarly the expression for the transient part is given by:

it = -is(0) e(-t/)
 = [Vm/Z] sin (-) e(-R/L)t (8)

Thus the total current under short circuit is given by the solution of equation (1) as [combining
equations (4) and (8)],

i =is +it

= [2V/Z] sin (t+-) + [2V/Z] sin (-) e(-R/L)t (9)

Thus, is is the sinusoidal steady state current called as the symmetrical short circuit current and it
is the unidirectional value called as the DC off-set current. This causes the total current to be
unsymmetrical till the transient decays, as clearly shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Plot of Symmetrical short circuit current, i(t).

The maximum momentary current, imm thus corresponds to the first peak. Hence, if the decay in
the transient current during this short interval of time is neglected, then we have (sum of the two
peak values);

imm = [2V/Z] sin (-) + [2V/Z] .10)

now, since the resistance of the transmission line is very small, the impedance angle , can be
taken to be approximately equal to 900. Hence, we have
 imm = [2V/Z] cos  + [2V/Z] 11)

This value is maximum when the value of  is equal to zero. This value corresponds to the short
circuiting instant of the voltage wave when it is passing through zero. Thus the final expression
for the maximum momentary current is obtained as:

imm = 2 [2V/Z] (12)

Thus it is observed that the maximum momentary current is twice the maximum value of
symmetrical short circuit current. This is refered as the doubling effect of the short circuit current
during the symmetrical fault on a transmission line.

3. Short circuit of an unloaded synchronous machine Short Circuit Reactances

Under steady state short circuit conditions, the armature reaction in synchronous generator
produces a demagnetizing effect. This effect can be modeled as a reactance, Xa in series with the
induced emf and the leakage reactance, Xl of the machine as shown in figure 3. Thus the
equivalent reactance is given by:

Xd = Xa +Xl (13)
Where Xd is called as the direct axis synchronous reactance of the synchronous machine.
Consider now a sudden three-phase short circuit of the synchronous generator on no-load. The
machine experiences a transient in all the 3 phases, finally ending up in steady state conditions.

Figure 3. Steady State Short Circuit Model

Immediately after the short circuit, the symmetrical short circuit current is limited only by the
leakage reactance of the machine. However, to encounter the demagnetization of the armature
short circuit current, current appears in field and damper windings, assisting the rotor field
winding to sustain the air-gap flux. Thus during the initial part of the short circuit, there is
mutual coupling between stator, rotor and damper windings and hence the corresponding
equivalent circuit would be as shown in figure 4. Thus the equivalent reactance is given by:

Xd” = Xl +[1/Xa + 1/Xf + 1/Xdw]-1 (14)

Where Xd” is called as the sub-transient reactance of the synchronous machine. Here, the
equivalent resistance of the damper winding is more than that of the rotor field winding. Hence,
the time constant of the damper field winding is smaller. Thus the damper field effects and the
eddy currents disappear after a few cycles.

Figure 4. Model during Sub-transient Period of Short Circuit

In other words, Xdw gets open circuited from the model of Figure 5 to yield the model as shown
in figure 4. Thus the equivalent reactance is given by:

Xd’ = Xl +[1/Xa + 1/Xf ]-1 (15)

Where Xd’ is called as the transient reactance of the synchronous machine. Subsequently, Xf
also gets open circuited depending on the field winding time constant and yields back the steady
state model of figure 3.

Figure 5. Model during transient Period of Short Circuit

Thus the machine offers a time varying reactance during short circuit and this value of reactance
varies from initial stage to final one such that: Xd  Xd’  Xd’

Short Circuit Current Oscillogram

Consider the oscillogram of short circuit current of a synchronous machine upon the occurrence
of a fault as shown in figure 6. The symmetrical short circuit current can be divided into three
zones: the initial sub transient period, the middle transient period and finally the steady state
period. The corresponding reactances, Xd,” Xd’ and Xd respectively, are offered by the
synchronous machine during these time periods.

Figure 6. SC current Oscillogram of Armature Current.

The currents and reactances during the three zones of period are related as under in terms of the
intercepts on the oscillogram (oa, ob and oc are the y-intercepts as indicated in figure 6):

RMS value of the steady state current = I = [oa/2] = [Eg/Xd]

RMS value of the transient current = I’ = [ob/2] = [Eg/Xd’]

RMS value of the sub transient current = I = [oc/2] = [Eg/Xd”] (16)

4. Concept of Short circuit capacity:

Consider Fig.. The diagram shown is a part of a large interconnected system. Assume that a
symmetrical short circuit occurs at bus 1. The prefault voltage of bus is 1 p.u. and as soon as the
fault takes place, the voltage of this bus reduces to almost zero. The voltage of the other buses
will sag during the short-circuit and the reduction in voltage of various buses is an indication of
the ‘‘strength’’ of the network. We normally are interested in knowing this strength and the
severity of the short-circuit stresses. Both these objectives are met by a quantity known as short-
circuit capacity or fault level of the bus in question. By strength of a bus is meant the ability of
the bus to maintain its voltage when a fault takes place at other bus. Of course when a fault takes
place at the bus in question, the voltage of this bus will reduce to zero but in case a fault takes
place at some other bus then how far the bus in question is able to maintain its voltage is a
measure of the strength of the bus.

The short-circuit capacity is defined as the product of the magnitude of prefault voltage
and post-fault current. Since the strength of a bus is directly related to its short-circuit capacity,
the higher the short circuit capacity of the bus the more it is able to maintain its voltage in case of
a fault on any other bus. Also it can be seen that higher the short-circuit capacity, lower will be
the equivalent impedance as seen between the faulted bus and the zero potential bus of the
system. For a bus which is infinitely strong or which has infinite short-circuit capacity will have
zero equivalent impedance. In fact such a bus is known as ‘‘infinite bus’’. Such a bus is
characterized by a zero equivalent impedance and it is able to maintain constant voltage
irrespective of where the short circuit takes place except, of course, for a short circuit on the bus
itself, when its voltage will reduce to zero. Whenever a short circuit takes place at a bus with
higher short-circuit capacity or fault level, high current flows in the bus. This taxes the circuit
breaker. The short-circuit stress to which a breaker is subjected is directly related to short-circuit
capacity rather than the shortcircuit current for two reasons. The first job of the breaker is to
extinguish the short-circuit current and once it has extinguished the arc, the breaker contacts
must maintain sufficient insulation strength to withstand the voltage (recovery voltage) that
appears across them. Since the recovery voltage is 1 p.u. it is logical to rate a breaker for both the
post-fault current and prefault voltage, i.e., in terms of short-circuit capacity rather than the
short-circuit current

5. Derivation of short circuit capacity interms of MVA and Zpu (or)

Calculation of 3-phase Short-Circuit Currents (or) short circuit MVA
Calculations
It is well that the impedance of the alternator grows from the instant of short circuit to the steady
state condition. Which impedance should be considered for evaluating the short-circuit currents,
depends upon whether subtransient, transient or steady state short circuit current is required

Problem

Two generating stations having short-circuit capacities of 1200 MVA and 800 MVA
respectively and operating at 11 kV are linked by an interconnected cable having a
reactance of 0.5 ohm per phase. Determine the short-circuit capacity of each station.

Solution: Assuming base MVA as 1200, the per cent reactance of one generating station
is 100% and that of the other is 1200 800 × 100 = 150%
6. Series reactors – selection of reactors
Reactor is a coil which has high inductive reactance as compared to its resistance and is
used to limit the short circuit current during fault conditions. To perform this function it
is essential that magnetic saturation at high current does not reduce the coil reactance. If
an iron cored inductor is expected to maintain constant reactance for currents two to three
times its normal value it will turn out to be very costly and heavy. Therefore air cored
coils having constant inductance are generally used for current limiting reactors. Air
cored reactors are normally of two types: (i) oil immersed type, and (ii) dry type.

Oil immersed reactors can be cooled by any of the means used for cooling the power
transformer whereas the dry type are usually cooled by natural ventilation and are
sometimes designed with forced-air and heat exchanger auxiliaries. Reactors are usually
built as single phase units. With the increase in interconnection of power system the fault
levels are increasing. It is, therefore, necessary to increase the reactance by introducing
reactors at strategic points in the system.

The following are the various possibilities: (i) Generator Reactors: The reactance of
modern alternators may be as high as 2.0 p.u. which means even a dead short-circuit at
the terminals of the alternator will result in a current less than full load current and,
therefore, no external reactor is required for limiting the short circuit current of such a
machine. However, if some old machines are being used alongwith the modern alternator,
these old machines need the reactors for limiting the short circuit current. The location of
reactors is given in Fig. (a).

(ii) Feeder Reactor: The per unit value of reactance of a feeder based on its ratings may
be small but when compared with the rating of the whole system, its value is quite large
and hence a small reactor will be effective in limiting the short circuit current should a
fault occur close to the generating station. In case this feeder reactor is not there, a fault
in such a location would bring the bus bar voltage almost down to zero value and there is
a possibility of various generators falling out of step. We know that, to improve the
transient stability of a system the critical clearing angle should be as small as possible,
i.e., the breakers should be as fast as possible. In order to obtain this situation and at the
same time to reduce the current to be interrupted the feeder must be associated with a
reactor (Fig.(b))

(iii)Busbar reactor: There are three methods of interconnecting the busbar through the
reactors as shown in Fig. (c-e). The simple method is suitable for plants of moderate
output whereas for largesized plants either the star or ring system of connection is used. It
is to be noted that any transfer of power from say section A to section B of the
generators, a difference in potential between the bus section is developed. If the power to
be transferred is wattless the difference in voltage between the bus section will be much
more as compared to when active power of same magnitude will be transferred.
 Refer to phasor diagram for the two conditions when resistance of the system is
neglected. VAp is the voltage of bus A when active power is transferred and VAq is the
voltage of bus A when reactive power of same magnitude is transferred from A to B.
Since the allowable voltage difference between the bus sections is quite limited it is
desirable to meet the wattless requirement of load at bus B by adjusting excitation of the
plant at B and the active power requirement can be met by transferring power from A to
B.
 QUESTION BANK

1. Discuss the harmful effects of short circuit fault on the power system.

2. Describe the transients on a transmission line and derive necessary expressions

3. What do you understand by a short circuit? Discuss the possible causes of short circuit in the
power system.

4. Explain short circuit current waveform when sudden 3-phase short circuit takes place at the
terminals of an unloaded 3-phase alternator. Discuss briefly on the different reactance offer by the
alternator .

5. Define short circuit capacity of bus and derive expression for Short circuit MVA

6. A generator and motor are rated of 20 MVA, 11 kV and both have sub transient reactance of
15% and line reactance of 10% on the base of machine ratings. The motor drawing 15 MW at 0.85
p.f leading. The terminal voltage is 10.5 kV when a symmetrical fault occurs at generator
terminals; determine the sub transient current in generator, motor and at the fault point with
necessary diagrams

7. A transformer rated at 75 MVA and having a short circuit reactance of 0.02 p.u is connected to
the bus bar of a generating station which is supplied through two 12.6 kV feeders each having an
impedance of (1.5+j 4) . One of the feeder is connected to the generating station using generator
capacity of 50 MVA connected to its bus bars having a short circuit reactance of 0.2 p.u and other
feeder to a generator with 25MVA and having a reactance of 0.35 p.u. Calculate the MVA
supplied to the fault in the event of a short circuit occurring between the secondary terminals of the
transformer

8. Three 6.6 KV alternators of rating 3 MVA, 5 MVA and 7 MVA having per unit reactances of
0.09, 0.16, and 0.18 respectively are connected to a common bus. From the bus, a feeder cable of
reactance 0.135 ohm connects to a sub-station. Calculate the fault MVA, if a 3-phase symmetrical
fault occurs at the sub-station

9. A generator (rated: 25MVA, 12. KV, 10%) supplies power to a motor (rated: 20 MVA, 3.8 KV,
10%) through a step-up transformer (rated:25 MVA, 11/33 KV, 8%), transmission line (of
reactance 20 ohms) and a step-down transformer (rated:20 MVA, 33/3.3 KV, 10%). Write the pu
reactance diagram. The system is loaded such that the motor is drawing 15 MW at 0.9 leading
power factor, the motor terminal voltage being 3.1 KV. Find the sub-transient current in the
generator and motor for a fault at the generator bus. [Answer: Ig” = 9.337 KA; Im” = 6.9 KA]

10. Two generators are connected in parallel to the I.v. side of a 3-phase delta-star transformer as
shown in Fig. E.6.6. Generator 1 is rated 60,000 KVA, 11 KV. Generator 2 is rated 30,000 KVA,
11 KV. Each generator has a subtransient reactance of xd = 25%. The transformer is rated 90,000
KVA at 11 KV f.. / 66 KV Y with a reactance of 10%. Before a fault occurred the voltage on the
h.t. side of the transformer is 63 KY. The transformer in unloaded and there is no circulating
current between the generators. Find the subtransient current in each generator when a 3-phase
short circuit occurrs on the h.t. side of the transformer.

11. A 33 KV line has a resistance of 4 ohm and reactance of 16 ohm respectively. The line is
connected to a generating station bus bars through a 6000 KVA stepup transformer which has a
reactance of 6%. The station has two generators rated 10,000 KVA with 10% reactance and 5000
KVAwith 5% reactance. Calculate the fault current antl short circuit KVA when a 3-phase fault
occurs at the h.v. terminals of the transformers and at the load end of the line.

12. A-3-phase, 25 MVA, 11 KV alternator has internal reactance of 6%. Find the external
reactance per phase to be connected in series with the alternator so that steady state short circuit
current does not exceed six times the full load current.(ans 0.516428 ohm)

13. A 3-phase generating station has two 15,000 KVA generators connected in parallel each with
15% reactance and a third generator of 10,000 KVA with 20% reactance is also added later in
parallel with them. Load is taken as shown from the station bus-bars through 6000 KVA, 6%
reactance transformers. Determine the maximum fault MVA which the circuit breakers have to
interrupt on (i) t.v. side and (ii) as h.v. side of the system for a symmetrical fault
 Short questions and answers
1. What is meant by short circuit fault?

Short circuit faults involve power conductor or conductors-to-ground or short circuit between
conductors. These faults are characterized by increase in current and fall in voltage and
frequency.

2. What is a reactor?

Reactor is a coil, which has high inductive reactance as compared to its resistance and is used to
limit the short circuit current during fault conditions.

3. What is the need for short circuit studies or fault analysis?

The short circuit studies are essential in order to design or develop the protective schemes for
various parts of the system. The protective scheme consists of current and voltage sensing
devices, protective relays and circuit breakers. The selection of these devices mainly depends on
various currents that may flow in the fault conditions.

4. What is the reason for transients during short circuits?

The faults or short circuits are associated with sudden change in currents. Most of the
components of the power system have inductive property which opposes any sudden change in
currents, so the faults are associated with transients

5. Why faults occur in a power system?

Faults occur in a power system due to insulation failure of equipments, flashover of lines
initiated by a lightening stroke, permanent damage to conductors and towers or accidental faulty
operations

6. How are the faults classified?

In one method, the faults are classified as, 1. Shunt faults - due to short circuits in conductors
2. Series faults - due to open conductors. In another method, 1. Symmetrical faults - fault
currents are equal in all the phases and can be analyzed on per phase basis 2. Unsymmetrical
faults – fault currents are unbalanced and so they can be analyzed only using symmetrical
components

7. List the various types of shunt and series faults.

Various types of shunt faults are 1. Single line-to-ground fault 2. Line-to-line fault 3. Double
line-to-ground fault 4. Three phase fault Various types of series faults are, 1. One open conductor
fault 2. Two open conductor fault

8. What is meant by symmetrical fault?

The fault is called symmetrical fault if the fault current is equal in all the phases. This fault
conditions are analyzed on per phase basis using Thevenin’s theorem or using bus impedance
matrix. The three-phase fault is the only symmetrical fault.

9. For a fault at a given location, rank the various faults in the order of severity.

In a power system, the most severe fault is three phase fault and less severe fault is open
conductor fault. The various faults in the order of decreasing severity are, 1) 3 phase fault 2)
Double line-to-ground fault 3) Line-to-line fault 4) Single line-to-ground fault 5) Open conductor
fault

10. What is meant by fault calculations?

The fault condition of a power system can be divided into sub transient, transient, and steady
state periods. The currents in the various parts of the system and in the fault locations are
different in these periods. The estimation of these currents for various types of faults at various
locations in the system is commonly referred to as fault calculations

11. What are the assumptions made in short circuit studies of a large power system network?
(1)The phase to neutral emfs of all generators remain constant, balanced and unaffected by the
faults. 2) Each generator is represented by an emf behind either the subtransient or transient
reactance depending upon whether the short circuit current is to be found immediately after
the short circuit or after about 3 – 4 cycles. 3) Load currents may often be neglected in
comparison with fault currents. 4) All network impedances are purely reactive. Thus the series
resistances of lines and transformers are neglected in comparison with their resistances. 5)
Shunt capacitances and shunt branches of transformers are neglected. Hence,transformer
reactances are taken as their leakage reactances

12.What is synchronous reactance?

The synchronous reactance is the ratio of induced emf and the steady state rms current (i.e., it is
the reactance of a synchronous machine under steady state condition). It is the sum of leakage
reactance and the reactance representing armature reaction. It is given by, Xs = Xl + Xa Where,
Xs = Synchronous reactance Xl = Leakage reactance Xa = Armature reaction reactance

13. Define subtransient reactance.

 The subtransient reactance is the ratio of induced emf on no-load and the subtransient
symmetrical rms current, (i.e., it is the reactance of a synchronous machine under subtransient
condition). It is given by

14. .What is the significance of subtransient reactance and transient reactance in short circuit
studies?

The subtransient reactance can be used to estimate the initial value of fault current immediately
on the occurrence of the fault. The maximum momentary short circuit current rating of the circuit
breaker used for protection or fault clearing should be less than this initial fault current. The
transient reactance is used to estimate the transient state fault current. Most of the circuit
breakers open their contacts only during this period. Therefore for a circuit breaker used for fault
clearing (or protection), its interrupting short circuit current rating should be less than the
transient fault current

15. How symmetrical faults are analyzed?

The symmetrical faults are analyzed using per unit reactance diagram of the power system. Once
the reactance diagram is formed, then the fault is simulated by short circuit or by connecting the
fault impedance at the fault point. The currents and voltages at various parts of the system can be
estimated by any of the following methods. 1) Using Kirchoff’s laws 2) Using Thevenin’s
theorem 3) By forming bus impedance matrix

16. Define doubling effect and DC off-set current. Doubling effect:

If a symmetrical fault occurs when the voltage wave is going through zero then the maximum
momentary short circuit current will be double the value of maximum symmetrical short circuit
current. This effect is called doubling effect. DC off-set current: The unidirectional transient
component of short circuit current is called DC offset current.