Lec-1: Basics of Distance Protection || Zones of Distance Protection ||

Transmission Line Protection

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_STS3OQqCoA&t=1171s
Time coordination could be set between relay R1 & R2 in the above example.

For this type of time coordination fault closed to the source, like fault at relay R1 will have bigger fault
magnitude and more time delay to operate. However fault far away from the source will have lower
current but shorter clearing time.

For IDMT relay coordination the relay set point set accordingly with the maximum fault level. The
philosophy is fault closer to the source will clear first.
In case 2 one generator is out of service.
Case-1:
When two generator parallel operation Fault current of the first fault is 25.66KA

So the relay 50, must not operate any fault lower than 25.66KA.

Case 2:
When one generator out of service and fault occurred, then the fault magnitude will be 23.095 KA,
which is below the relay set point.

So in this situation the overcurrent relay has a limitation.

If fault current is same like load current it will be a disadvantage of overcurrent protection.
Operating principle of Distance Relay:

Z s= source Impedance :
Z L=Line Impedance
Z load=Load Impedance

Z R= Impedance measured by the relay at the point.

Vr = Ir X Zr
At the location of fault the impedance of line is mZL and remaining line impedance is (1-m)ZL.

As the Load Impedance and current is very lower we ignore it. And the impedance measured by the
relay will be mZL is this case.

And the impedance measured by the relay is independent of the source impedance, which is one of the
limitation of overcurrent relay.

Relay measured the impedance Zf=mZl upto the fault point. Zf=ATAN (X/R)

During normal running the load takes much smaller current compared to fault current.
We have assumed the fault resistance zero. But in actual case there will be some fault resistance.
Effect of Fault resistance on Fault Current:

Now we will consider the effect of fault resistance on the distance protection.
When Fault resistance is introduced the impedance will changed its location as mentioned in the
picture.
Note:
In the case the line is short and impedance relay characteristic also have short reach. By adding
resistance the relay reach increased and measured impedance may fall outside the characteristics and
relay may not operate in the fault condition.

When Resistance introduced to distance relay the normal operation hampers. To overcome this MHO
characteristics will not be used, instead, we use the Quadrilateral characteristics which have higher
resistive coverage.
BY using this type of characteristic we can enlarge the resistive reach however, the reactive reach
remain same.
Impedance Characteristics:
It will operate for any impedance lower than the value whatever in the backward or forward direction.

It is Non-Directional characteristics.

MHO Characteristics:
Inherently, MHO relay is Directional in nature. It will always act on fault in forward direction. However,
fault closer to the origin, the relay might not operate and it will fail to distinguish the fault closer to
origin in Forward or Backward direction. This is the drawbacks of this characteristics.

OFFSET MHO:
This type of relay can detect fault closer to origin in forward and backward direction and have the
coverage.

Quadrilateral Characteristics:
This relay will have more resistive coverage compared to the other characteristics, however the reactive
reach will remain same. Sometimes due to overloading/ higher load current the voltage may remain
same, however the impedance may get lower due to resistive components and it may enter the relay
characteristics and trip the relay which is not desired. This is sometimes called Load Encroachment.
To avoid this portion of Quadrilateral resistive reach cut according to the maximum load current of the
transmission line.
To transmit power from one point to another there must be some angle difference between two
voltages to achieve the load/power flow. Depending upon the angle the power will export or import.
The voltage on the sending end must lead the voltage at receiving end.

The Current in the sending end will lead the current at receiving end. The angle difference between
current prior faults will have more and more effect on the performance of the protection relay. And this
effect keep on increasing with the inclusion of the fault resistance.

For the given example, if there is a source at Bus N, then the Fault Current If would be IM+IN, and the
impedance of the Fault would be

Impedance up to fault location from Bus M + Fault resistance Rf X (IM/IN)

This ratio depends upon the pre fault condition of the network whether the power was export or
import.

Lenticular Characteristics:

As MHO relay have better resistive reach, the lenticular relay is compressed to avoid resistive trip due to
high loading of the line. It has the same reactive reach as MHO relay but lower resistive reach.
Cross/memory Polarization:
When this relay used as polarization purpose or directional application, as due to some fault between
Phase R-GND, voltage may collapse to such a low value that the relay may unable to correctly determine
the polarization of the fault. Due to this phenomenon voltage pf other healthy phases could use for
polarization purpose.

Zones of Distance Protection:

Zone of Protection:

Concept of Zones:
In the example Relay Rm is used to protect the transmission line MN and Relay RN
is used to protect the transmission line NP.
Additionally Relay RM will provide backup protection for Line RN upto some
extent. And Relay RN will provide backup protection for Rest of the Line.
Zone Created by Relay OEM:
In general each relay manufacturer provide 4-5 zones of protection, where Zone-
1,2,&3 are forward protection zone and Zone 4&5 are reverse protection zone.
Zone 1:
In the above example we have used Relay Rm for primary protection of the Line
MN, and set the Zone -1 of relay so that if the impedance become lower than the
set point relay will operate instantaneously. So in zone 1 it will provide complete
protection of the Line MN
Errors of the Relay:
However, there could be errors in protection relay due to errors of CT & VT and
A/D conversion of Numerical Relay Analog signals (5% each).
Error may come from the line parameters also (5% error) . The line parameter
here is the impedance of the line. Impedance is basically same as positive,
negative sequence reactance of the system.
Zero Sequence Resistance:
The zero sequence impedance or reactance depends upon the soil condition or
soil resistivity. The zero sequence magnitude always varies.
Error consider as ±5%.
Setting of Zone 1:
Due to this errors the Zone 1 protection of the Line never set for 100% coverage.
It’s set for 80-90%, generally 80%.
Setting of Zone 2:
So 20% of the Line is unprotected, to cover this Zone 2 Protection is introduced.
Zone 2 is set for 120% of the Line. However, error of CT, CVT, and Relay
Measurement & Line Parameter count for 5% each will ultimately limited the line
protection to 100%. Zone 2 have some time delay, as the fault could be either on
remaining portion of the line or in the adjacent line. That’s why some delay is
added.
Thus complete line protection achieved by implementing Zone 1 & Zone 2.
Setting of Zone 3:
Zone 3 is set for providing backup protection for relay Rn in the line NP. If the
relay at Line NP failed to operate then, relay at MN will operate to clear the fault
after a time delay.
Relays also have Zone 4 & 5

Zone 1: Covers 80% of the Line

Zone 2: Covers 120% of the Line
Zone 3: Covers the longest transmission line from the substation bus.
Zone 1 is instantaneous and Zone 2&3 is time delayed.
Time Setting of Zone 2:
The Time setting of Zone 2 of Relay A= Time Delay of Relay B + Coordination time
Delay+ LBB (Local Breaker Backup Protection).
Time Setting of Zone 3:
Time set so that when Relay 2 Fail to operate and generally set between
800-1000 msec.

Z1A = 80% of ZAB

Z2A = 120% of ZAB
Z3A (forward) = 120% of (ZAB+ZCD). Z3A covers the entire transmission line and
remote substation. Its set as 120% to eliminate any error that effect the 100%
protection of the line.
In the above example there is no benefit in time coordinating Z2G with Z2H.

but normally Protection schemes would not be like this much complex to utilize
separate trip coil and relay for circuit breaker for different zones of protection.
Based on the disadvantages coordination not done in Zone 2 relays.
Very long transmission line G is followed by very short line H & J.
Assume line G is 300KM long and Line H is about 30 KM. Line J is about 30 KM.
For Zone 2 setting of line G we use 120% of the length, which is 360 KM, however
360 KM will reach to some portion of third adjacent Bus J.
Zone 2 Setting of line H is 30X120%= 36 KM
Zone 2 Setting of Line H is (30+30)X120%= 72KM
Zone 2 of Relay G and Zone 3 of Relay H overlaps some portions.

Now for any fault at Line J, if fault within the Zone 2 of Relay H

And the Zone 1 relay H failed to operate then the Zone 2 of Relay H should
operate.

However, the Zone 2 of Relay G has greater reach than Zone 2 reach of relay H.

There could be some case when the fault would be cleared by Zone 2 of Relay G
instead of Zone 2 of relay H.

In the case of shorter line followed by longer line this type of scenario could
happen, to prevent this some measures are normally taken,
1. To eliminate this the Zone 2 setting of longer line is
=(Longer LineX100% + Shorter LineX50%)
=(300X1+30X.50)=315KM
2. Now the Zone 2 of long line relay will not over reach the Zone 2 of short
line relay.
In relays Reverse Zone or Zone 4 protection is provided to protect the reverse side
of the Line, for example Bus Bar of substation.
Sometimes fault may occur in bus bar and due to measurement error relay may
see it as forward fault and trigger the Forward Zone 1 of the relay. To avoid this
scenario Zone 4/Reverse Zone Protection is applied. It is set between 10-25% of
the Principal line.

Normally fault at bus bar will be cleared by the bus bar Protection relay and if the
Bus Protection failed to clear then the Reverse Zone Protection will act to clear
the fault.
For any fault at Line H, the Zone1 of Relay H will operate without any intentional
time delay is about 35msec.
If the Zone1 of Relay H failed to operate or the Circuit Breaker fail to open only
then Zone 2 of Line G will operate to clear the fault. When Circuit breaker fail to
operate the LBB protection will active which operating time is about 200msec.
There should be some coordination time between Zone 2 of Relay G and Zone 1
of Relay H, so that LBB should clear the fault before operating of Relay G. This
Coordination time is generally set at 40msec.
so total (35+200+40) =275msec is required to clear the fault by the Zone 2
protection of Relay G.
Circuit Breaker opening time is considered as 25msec.
Total time is (275+25)=300msec
When fault occurs at Bus H the Relay H & G Starts at the same time, however,
after clearing the fault by the relay H, another relay G must be reset.
Reset time is generally given as 40-50msec. So total Operating time of the Zone2
of G will be (300+50) =350 msec.
For Zone 3 time setting the time set should be the Operating time of Zone2
(350Msec)+ CB opening time (50Msec)+ Reset time (50Msec)+some Coordination
time (50Msec)= 500msec.
This is the minimum possible Zone 3 time setting of Relay G.
However in Power system the Zone 3 time is set between 800-1500Msec.