Feeders are line conductors which connect the stations to the areas to be fed by those stations.

So when there is a fault in a feeder, there will be a surge in a current. So for the safety against
such faults, circuit breakers are used. These conditions can be viewed in the work station with
the help of DCS. Let us see feeders and circuit breakers in detail :

Transmission and distribution of electrical power

By transmission and distribution of electrical power is meant its conveyance from the central
station where it is generated to the places where it is demanded by the consumers (like
pumping stations, residential and commercial buildings, mills, factories etc.)

 The maximum generated voltage in advanced countries is 33kV while that in India is
11kV.
 The amount of power that has to be transmitted through transmission lines is very
large and of this power is transmitted at 11kV (or 33kV) the line current and power
loss would be very large. Therefore this voltage is stepped up to a higher value by
using step up transformers located in sub-stations.
 The transmission voltages in India are 400 kV, 220 kV and 132 kV.
 The transmission lines and feeders are 3-phase 3-wire circuits.
 The distributors are 3-phase 4-wire circuits because a neutral wire is necessary to
supply the single-phase loads of domestic and commercial consumers.
 The transmission network is commonly known as Grid.
Electric supply system:

An electric supply system comprises of the following three principle components:

1. Power station.
2. Transmission lines.
3. Distribution lines.
The electrical system is broadly classified as follows:

1. D.C. or A.C. system.

2. Overhead or underground system.
The overhead system is less expensive than the underground one. In our country this system
is mostly adopted for transmission and distribution of power.
 fig(a)

The above figure shows a typical layout of power system between generation and use of
electric power
The various components are discussed below:

1. Generating station (GS): In generating station electric power is produced by 3-phase

alternators operating in parallel.The normal generation voltage is 11kv (it may be
6.6kV or even 33kV in some cases). This voltage is stepped upto 132kV (or more)
with the help of 3-phase transformers. Generally the transmission is carried at 66kV,
132kV, 220kV or 400kV.
Note : Whereas the use of high voltage leads to several advantages including saving
of conductor material and high transmission efficiency, on the other hand, introduces
insulation problems and increases cost of switchgear and transformer equipment.
2. Primary transmission: In this type of transmission, the electric power at 132kV is
supplied to the other system by 3-phase 3-wire overhead system.
3. Secondary transmission: The primary transmission line terminates at the receiving
station (RS) where the voltage isreduced to 33kV by step down transformers. From
this station, the electric power is transmitted at 33kV to large consumers by 3-phase,
3-wire overhead system, and this forms the secondary transmission.
4. Primary distribution: The secondary transmission line terminates at sub-stations(SS)
where voltage is reduced from 33kV to 11kV. The 11kV(3-phase,3-wire) lines run
 along the important road sides of the city. Note: The large/big consumers(having
demand more than 50kw) are normally supplied power at 11kV which they handle it
individually with their own substations.
5. Secondary distribution: The electric power available at 11kv from the primary
distribution line is delivered to distribution substations (DSS, located near the locality
of the consumers) which step down the voltage to 400V, 3-phase, 4-wire secondary
distribution. The single phase residential lighting load is connected between any phase
and neutral (230V) and 3-phase motor load is connected across 3-phase lines (400V)
directly.
The secondary distribution system consists of feeders, distributors and service mains
(see fig (b))

fig(b)

Low voltage (L.V.) distribution system

 Feeders: These are line conductors which connect the stations to the areas, to be fed
by those stations. Normally no tapping are taken from feeders. They are designed
mainly from point of their current carrying capacities.
 Distributors: These are conductors from which several tappings for the supply to the
consumers are taken. They are designed from the point of view of the voltage drop in
them.
 Service mains: These are the terminals which connect the consumer’s terminals to the
distributors.

Feeder Protection
Definition: Feeder protection is defined as the protection of the feeder from the fault so that
the power grid continue supply the energy. The feeder injects the electrical energy from the
substation to the load end. So it is essential to protect the feeder from the various type of
fault. The main requirement of the feeder protection are;
 1. During the short circuit, the circuit breaker nearest to the fault should open and
all other circuit breakers remain in a closed position.
2. If the breaker nearest to the fault fails to open then, backup protection should be
provided by the adjacent circuit breaker.
3. The relay operating time should be small to maintain the system stability without
necessary tripping of a circuit.
Time Graded Protection

This is a scheme in which the time setting of relays is so consecutive that in the event of a
fault, the smallest possible part of the system is isolated. The applications of time graded are
explained below.

Protection of Radial Feeders

The main characteristic of a radial system is that power flow only in one direction, i.e. from
the generator or the supply end to the load end. It has the drawback that continuity of supply
cannot be controlled at the load end in the occurrence of a fault.

In a radial system when the number of feeders is connected in series as shown in the figure. It
is desired that the smallest possible part of the system should be off. This is conveniently
achieved by employing time graded protection. The over current system should be adjusted in
such a way that the longer the relay from the generating station the lesser the time of
operation.

When the heavy fault F occur on any one of the lines, then the power is fed into fault from
the sending end as well as from the receiving end of the line. The direction of power flow
will be reversed through the relay on D, which will be open.

The excess current is then restricted to B until its overload relay operates and trips the circuit
breaker, thus completely isolating the faulty feeder and supplying power through the healthy
feeder. This method is only satisfactory when the fault is heavy and reverse the power at D.
Hence differential protection is also added along with the overloaded protection at both the
end of the line.

Protection of Ring Main System

The ring main is a system of interconnection between a series of the power station by a
different route. In the main ring system, the direction of power can be changed at will,
particularly when the interconnection is used.

The elementary diagram of such a system is shown in the figure below where G is the
generating station, and A, B, C, and D are substation. At the generating station, the power
flow only in one direction and hence no time lag overload relays is used. The time grade
overload relay is placed at the end of the substation, and it will trip only when overload flows
away from the substation which they protect.

Going round the ring in the direction GABCD the relay on the further side of each station are
set with decreasing time lags. At generating station 2 seconds at station A, B, C and 1.5
seconds, 1.0 second, 0.5 second and instantaneous respectively. Similarly going round the
ring in the opposite direction the relay on the outgoing sides would be set as follows.

If the fault occurs at point F, the power F is fed into the fault through two paths ABF and
DCF. The relay to operate is that between substation B and fault point F and substation C and
fault point F. Thus the fault on any section will cause the relay on that section to operate, and
the healthy section will be operating uninterruptedly.
When the fault occurs on the SS4, the relay OC5 should operate first and not any other i.e. the
time require to operate the relay OC4 must be less than the time required for relay OC3 and so
on. This shows that the time setting required for these relays must be properly graded. The
minimum interval of time which can be allowed for the two adjacent circuit breaker depends
on its own clearance time, plus a small time for the safety margin.

With normal circuit breaker in use minimum, the discriminating time between adjustment
breaker should be about 0.4 seconds. The time settings for relay OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4, and
OC5 will be 0.2 seconds, 1.5 seconds, 1.5 seconds, 1.0 seconds, 0.5 second and instantaneous
respectively. Along with the grading system, it is also essential that the time of operation for
the severe fault should be less. This can be done by using time limiting fuse in parallel with
the trip coils.

Protection of Parallel Feeders

The parallel connection of the supply is mainly used for the continuity of the supply and for
sharing the load. When the fault occurs on the protective feeder, the protective device will
select and isolate the defective feeder while the other instantly assume the increased load.

One of the simplest methods for the protection of the relay is the time graded overload relay
with inverse time characteristic at the sending end and instantaneous reverse power or
directional relays at the receiving end as shown in the figure below.