NPS/ 001 / 014 - Technical Specification For Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicators
NPS/ 001 / 014 - Technical Specification For Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicators
NPS/ 001 / 014 - Technical Specification For Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicators
This document supersedes the following documents, all copies of which should be destroyed.
2. Scope
This document applies to pole mounted equipment that identifies the passage of fault current in 3-phase 3-wire and
single-phase 2-wire overhead line systems of earthed and unearthed construction operating between 6.6kV and 20kV.
FPI’s shall be supplied with the ability to identify the fault status locally via a visual flashing light and simultaneously
send a signal to a centralised remote monitoring centre via an inbuilt GPRS communications system.
System Control or Field Engineers shall be able to simply follow the "flashing" lights or GPRS indication along the
overhead line circuit. The fault will lie in the section of line beyond the last instrument to be triggered and before the
next unit not to be triggered. With the exception of battery replacement every 10 years, this item shall be designed to
be maintenance free.
1. Purpose ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Scope..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
2.1 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
3. Technical Requirements ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 General Requirements ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
3.2 General Conditions .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Modes of Operation ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
3.4 Earth Fault Sensitivity Levels ........................................................................................................................................... 5
3.5 Battery Life ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.6 Communications.............................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.7 Testing ............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
3.8 General ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
4. References ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9
4.3 Amendments from Previous Version ............................................................................................................................... 9
5. Definitions .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
6. Authority for Issue.............................................................................................................................................................. 11
Appendix 1 – Schedule of Requirements ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Appendix 2 – Addendum to Suppliers Requirements .................................................................................................................. 13
Appendix 3 – Schedule of Suppliers Technical Data .................................................................................................................... 14
Appendix 4 – Self Certification Conformance Declaration .......................................................................................................... 15
Appendix 5 – Pre-commission testing, Routine Inspection and Maintenance requirements ..................................................... 18
Appendix 6 - Technical Information Check List ............................................................................................................................ 19
3. Technical Requirements
3.1 General Requirements
3.1.1 Description
The FPI shall be designed to continuously monitor the residual current and voltage fields from the overhead
line conductors. The FPI shall be triggered when fault current passes in the line conductors. In the
"alarmed" state it shall flash a high intensity light or red LED (dependent upon fault type). Products that
vary from the current system installed across Northern Powergrid shall provide communication and feature
compatibility.
The arc suppression coils have been installed to manage earth faults that are transient in nature. The
protection system has been designed in such a way that the coil remains in circuit for a specific period of
time limiting the flow of fault current. This action negates the requirement for an immediate circuit breaker
operation and thus allows the system to operate normally for transient faults. If the fault is sustained, the
protection system reverts back to the more traditional resistance earthed protection enviroment detailed
above.
Typically the arc suppresion coils have been designed to be in circuit for the following times before
reverting to resistance earthing :
11kV - up to 30secs.
20kV - up to 5 secs.
A review carried out on the Northern Powergrid distribution system has identified that under certain fault
conditions on primary substations fitted with arc suppresion coils, a fault on one circuit may lead to a
displaced neutral condition and as a result the production of unbalanced capacitive currents flowing down
non faulted circuits. Since this can result in false operation of the FPI's, those equipped with GPRS
communications shall be capable of having their earth sensitivity levels remotely updated during the next
heartbeat health check.
They shall be suitable for continued reliable operation in the temperature range -40C to +70C with
humidity levels of between 0 - 100%. The equipement enclosure shall be UV stable.
Variation in system frequency of 2Hz from the nominal frequency of 50Hz shall not cause a variation of
more than 5 per cent in the operation or resetting characteristics of a fault passage indicator.
3.2.3 Temperature
The unit shall demonstrate stability of operation for the equipment on both Earth Fault and Instantaneous
threshold trip levels against the stated temperature range.
The equipment shall be suitably designed to withstand all likely vibrations present on a wood pole
supporting structure.
3.2.5 UV Stability
The equipment shall be manufatcured from Ultra Violet stable materials including all manufactures markings as
detailed in clause 3.7.6
The unit shall be suitable for recognising permanent, intermittent and transient faults. Since many
overhead line faults are intermittent or transient type, both of which cause auto- reclose operations and no
obvious signs of damage, the FPI shall be designed to interpret the difference between these fault types
and respond accordingly.
A passage of fault current combined with a sustained loss of voltage shall result in a high intensity light
flashing for a designated period of time (as detailes in section 3.3.2 and 3.3.3) depending upon the fault
type. This period will provide sufficient time for field staff to inspect the indicators on the system and patrol
the faulty section of network. A passage of fault current without a sustained loss of voltage shall not result
in the flashing of the high intensity light.
In general the FPI's shall be designed to be graded with the protection curves of adjacent ground or pole mounted
reclosers, thus operating effectivly at all fault levels down to as low as 7amps.
By default the FPI’s units shall be supplied preset with earth fault sensitivity levels programmed for use on the 11kV
system with earth fault sensitivity levels set to 15A. Where these units are required for use on the 20kV system the
default setting shall be amended to 30A.
The FPI's shall be designed such that earth fault sensitivity level can be amended from it's default value to a user
entered value both before it is installed and post installation via the GPRS remote communication system. All such
remote changes to the FPI settings shall be designed to be achieved during the heartbeat health check process by
amending the values in the I Host server software.
FPI's shall be designed to discriminate between magnetic inrush current and fault current.
Average ambient temperature of 16C giving an average self discharge of -2% remaining capacity per annum.
2 Weekly health check messages..
Minimum shelflife of 2 years before installation on the distribution system.
FPI's shall incorporate a battery test facility allowing field staff to confirm the battery health status on site.
3.6 Communications
3.6.1 Communications Medium
The FPI’s shall incorporate a modem that is capable of communicating on the UK GPRS system.
The outstation FPI unit shall be designed to communicate via the GPRS network system into an I-Host Data
Management Software System to report the specified activity detailed in section 3.6.2..
Northern Powergrid utilises iHost to collect and manage GPRS data from FPIs and to link data into other IT
systems. The FPI shall be supported on iHost and use a compatable open protocol such as DNP3. A further
interface has been developed that allows this information to be integrated with the company’s GE Harris
Enmac NMS control system .
3.6.2 Functionality
The system shall be designed to allow fault alarms to be sent via SMS Text messages, or Data Calls.
The modem unit shall be capable of generating multiple alarm events, e.g. permanent faults,
transient faults, system reset after permanent fault, signal strength, battery condition and next
heartbeat time/date.
Once a fault has been detected, the GPRS modem within the FPI shall send an alarm to the I Host
software server. The software shall be designed to populate the customer’s chosen database.
The FPI shall be capable of receiving updated earth fault settings via the communication system.
The FPI unit shall be capable of generating an unsollicited heartbeat message. The scheduled
timing of the message being user definable between day/week/month. At the time for the
scheduled heartbeat check there shall be a maximum of 3 attempts with 2 minute intervals for a
successful transmission. If the heartbeat message is not received due to communication failures
etc. then the controlling server software will generate an alarm event 15 minutes after first
heartbeat due time.
The FPI shall be able to time stamp events with reference to the Server's clock as time messages
are received by the Server and to give differential event stamping to within 1 sec.
3.6.3 Modem
The modem unit shall be designed to accept a Northern Powergrid free issued SIM card that operates with
the companies chosen network provider andcomply with the following standards: -
3.7 Testing
BS EN 61000-6-3: 2007: Emission standards for residential, commercial and light-industrial environments
BS EN 61000-6-2: 2005: Immunity standards for industrial environments.
BS EN 60801-2: 1993: Electrostatic discharge requirements
(Min Values Air 4kV, Contacts 8kV)
BS EN 61000-4-3: 2002: Radiated, radio-frequency, electromagnetic field immunity test
(Min Values 27Mhz - 1Ghz @ 10V/M)
IEC 61000-4-4: 2004: Fast Transients/Bursts
(Min Values +/- 1kV)
3.8 General
The equipment shall be designed for permanent attachment to wood poles with mounting locations approx
3.0m symetrically below the line conductors. They shall operate on flat, triangular and wishbone formation
lines operating in three or single phase modes of operation. There shall be no physical connection between
the FPI and the line or conductors.
The Northern Powergrid preference for fixing the FPI’s to the pole shall be by means of a two point fixing
bracket complete with keyhole style fixing holes suitable for 75mm long M10 or M12 coach screws.
External Markings
Name of manufacturer
Year of manufacture
Serial Number
The units shall be designed to have no visible antenna or aerial
Internal Markings
Serial Number
Manufacturing Batch Code
Battery Installation Date Label (To allow information update when battery is changed)
4. References
The products described within this specification shall comply with all current versions of the relevant
International Standards, British Standard Specifications and all relevant Energy Networks Association
Technical Specifications (ENATS) current at the time of supply.
and specifications
4.1 External Documentation Table amended to show updated references
4.3 Amendments from Section added
Previous Version
5. Definitions
Term Definition
FPI Fault Passage Indicators
NMS Network Management System
GPRS General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) is a packet-based
wireless communication service that provides data rates
from 56 up to 114 Kbps and continuous connection to the
Internet for mobile phone and computer users. GPRS is
based on Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication
system.
Sim Card GPRS phones use a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) smart
card that contains user account information.
Sign Date
6.2 Author
I sign to confirm that I have completed and checked this document and I am satisfied with its content and
submit it for approval and authorisation.
Sign Date
Standard CDS review of 3 years Non Standard Review Period & reason
Yes/No
No Period: 5 years Reason: Update will be dictated by contact renewal date
or any significant changes in the specification or
documents referenced
Sign Date
Senior Policy and Standards
G Hammel G Hammel 08/04/14
Engineer
6.4 Approval
Approval is given for the content of this document
Sign Date
6.5 Authorisation
Authorisation is granted for publication of this document
Sign Date
M Nicholson Head of System Strategy C Holdsworth 08/04/14
Manufacturers shall provide sample calculations demonstrating the design capacity of the battery over the 10 year
service life. The calculations shall include all assumptions, in particular the units remaining capacity for dealing with
fault events after removing the estimated drain detailed in section 3.4 of this specification.
The units shall be suitably protected and packaged prior to despatch to prevent damage in transit and ensure their "fit
for service" status prior to installation by the company.
A3 Packaging Markings
Description Parameters
Available on
offered equipment
System Operating Voltage (kV)
11kV Sensitive Earth Fault Level (A)
20kV Sensitive Earth Fault Level (A)
Live/Dead Line Trip Level (A)
Initial Time Delay
Voltage Reset Time (s)
Temperature Range (ºC)
Humidity Range
Enclosure IP Rating
Enclosure construction material
Quiescent drain
High Intensity Light Flash Rate (s)
High Intensity Light Power Demand – 3 hour flash period (mA.hrs)
Low current demand flash –
Transient fault Power demand – 24 hour flash period (mA.hrs)
Battery Type
Battery Life
Battery Shelf Life
Installation Distance from Conductors (meters)
Unit Impact Resistance (Joules)
Typical fault handling capability for – Units with communication set at 2
weekly heartbeat - (number of faults)
Fault Passage Indicators for overhead lines shall comply with the latest issues of the IEC’s and British Standards quoted within this specification.
Key elements from the above standards and this specification have been quoted to amplify and/or clarify the requirements of those Standards.
This check sheet identifies the particular clauses of the aforementioned Standards relevant to overhead line fault passage indicators.
The manufacturer shall declare conformance or otherwise, clause by clause, using the following levels of conformance declaration codes for each conductor.
Manufacturer:
Product Reference:
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Clause/Sub-clause Requirements Conformance Remarks
Code
BS EN 61000-6-3:2007 Emission standards for residential,
commercial and light industrial
environments.
BS EN 61000-6-2:2005 Immunity Standards – Immunity for
industrial environments
BS EN 60801-2:1993 EMC for industrial-process
measurement and control equipment –
Electrostatic discharge requirements
Min values
Air – 4kV
Contacts – 8kV
BS EN 61000-4-3:2002 EMC – Radiated, radio- frequency,
electromagnetic field immunity test
Min Values
27Mhz – 1Ghz @ 10V/m
80Mhz – 1Ghz @ 10V/m
IEC 61000-4-4:2004 EMC – Electrical fast transient/burst
immunity test
Min values
+/- 1kV
BS EN 61000-4-6:2007 EMC - Immunity to conducted
disturbances induced by radio frequency
fields
Min Values
150khz – 80Mhz @ 10V/m
Capable of GPRS
External Markings
Internal markings
Sufficient numbers of any special equipment or tools needed to test and commission the FPIs shall be provided so as not to
hamper the efficient testing and installation of the FPIs.
Provided
Requirement
(Y/N)
Full product descriptions and part number/reference
Packaging information