Application Generator Protection

General Points

All generators require basic protection against overcurrent and stator short
circuits.

The larger the generator the greater the requirement for protection. Spending
money on protection at the front end will avoid costly generator repairs and loss
of revenue when the generator is out of action.

Generators that run in unmanned situations also require protection to shut down
automatically in case of a fault.

For special applications where supply is critical extended protection is also

required typically for:

Hospitals
Military Installations
Airports
Oil & Gas Industry
Public Utilities

SEG have over 30 years experience generator protection and have developed
four different product lines to suit any application or Budget.

Basic Line – Low cost single function relays for small generators where no specialist
protection is required.

Professional Line – DIN Rail mounted relays suitable for generators ranging from
250kVA to 2MVA. Digital multifunction relays with communication facilities.

High Tech Line – Door or rack mounted digital multifunction relays with
communication facilities and disturbance recording facilities. Suitable for
generators over 2MVA.

Function Line – Comprehensive multi function protection, control and

synchronising systems for medium sized generators 250KVA to 2MVA.

Application Generator Protection

Comprehensive Generator Protection Scheme

Application Generator Protection

Generator Protection – Single functions

Overcurrent Protection (50/51)

For generators below 250KVA circuit breakers with internal thermal and short time

For generators above 250KVA we recommend secondary protection by means of

a CT and IDMT overcurrent relay. This is to protect the stator against thermal
overloading and short circuit current caused by external faults. To protect against
internal faults CTs need to be installed at the generator star point.

The time delay on the overcurrent relay needs to be set with the rest of the power
distributions scheme in mind to achieve correct discrimination. To help with these
time settings we have included our relays on a number of electrical software
packages including Amtech Protect 2003 and ERACS.

Application Generator Protection

Under & Over Frequency Protection (81)

Protection against frequency changes is required for the following circumstances:

Protection against frequency increases and decreases whilst operating in parallel

with the mains (G59 Protection).

For generator shutdown in the event of over-frequency by load shedding due to

a large consumer switching off.

To isolate non-essential loads if a generator running in island operation is in

danger of becoming overloaded.

To isolate the generator in the event of a continuous overload along with a drop
in frequency.

To ensure stable frequency on sites where high power quality is required.

Application Generator Protection

Under & Over Voltage (27/59)

Voltage protection is required for:

Protection against voltage increases and decreases whilst operating in parallel

with the mains (G59 Protection).

Overvoltage protection, possibly caused by an AVR failure causing the exciter to

ramp up to its maximum voltage.

If no AVR is present and the voltage control is manual then sudden changes of
load will result in a voltage increase or decrease.

To protect voltage sensitive customers against fluctuations.

To ensure a stable voltage on sites where high power quality is required.

Application Generator Protection

Voltage phase sequence Supervision (47)

Used a phase sequence supervision in particular for mobile gen-set applications.

To monitor synchronisation voltages in cases where the synchronising unit only

monitors a single phase voltage.

For detection of tripped fuses, for instance MCB at VT secondary circuit.

For ground failure protection – zero sequence detection.

For single phase loss of mains detection.

Application Generator Protection

Differential Protection (87G)

For generators above 1MVA most manufacturers recommend differential

protection as the standard method of protection against phase faults.

Phase faults in generator are rare but can occur and must be protected against.
They can develop in the windings and end turns, where all three phases are in
close proximity, or in the slots if there are two coils in the same slot. These faults
often change to ground faults but must still be detected in either case.

The protected zone is determined by the location of the CT’s, the differential
protection may also operate on double or triple pole short circuits occurring
outside the generator but within this zone.

Application Generator Protection

Reverse Power

All generators running in parallel with other generators or with the public grid must
be protected against motor operation (reverse power)

Diesel driven generators are almost always equipped with anti-motoring

protection in case of generator failure. This protects against the generator acting
like a motor being driven by the mains. There are two main reasons to protect
against this:

When the engine fail begins to act as a motor and will draw around 15% of its
rated power from the system which may be more than the system can supply.

Secondly there is a danger of explosion or fire from unburned fuel in the diesel
engine during motor operation.

Steam turbines tend to over heat when the steam supply is cut off. This is due to
the loss of steam which keeps the turbine blades at a stable temperature.

Application Generator Protection

Mains Decoupling – G59/G10 ~(27/59/81/78)

When a generator operates in parallel with the grid, the electrical supply utilities
require additional stand alone protection for:

Under and Over Voltage

Under and Over Frequency
Loss Of Mains – Either vector surge or rate of change of frequency (df/dt)

This isolates the generator from the grid in the event of a mains failure or
interruption within a very short time.

For more details please refer to the application note on G59 protection.

Application Generator Protection

Negative Sequence Protection

In systems where many single phase loads are fed it is likely that the generator is
load unbalanced which can also be caused by an open phase, one pole of a CB
open or by a stator winding fault.

Unbalanced loading of a synchronous generator causes negative sequence

currents to flow in the stator windings. These currents are reflected to the rotor as
double frequency currents in the rotor iron and can cause severe overheating.

As the power of a generator increases the inverter current carrying capacity of

the rotor increases. For this reason we recommend unbalanced load protection
for generators of 2-4MVA and higher.

Application Generator Protection

Field Failure Protection (40)

Under excitation protection is commonly used on medium sized generators rating

from 2-4MVA and upwards.

When partial or complete loss of excitation occurs on a synchronous machine

reactive power flows from the system to the machine.

Low or under-impedance conditions need to be detected preventing damage

due to out of step operation and system instability. Out of step operation causes
severe mechanical and electrical stresses to the generator.

In addition the MRQ1 relay from the High Tech Line offers additional exciter over
and undercurrent supervision and diode failure supervision.

Application Generator Protection

Stator Earth Fault Protection (51N)

Stator earth fault protection is recommended for all generators with a line to line
voltage greater than 3KV independent of their KVA rating.

As most MV generator stator winding problems are phase to ground faults this is
very important protection.

Application Generator Protection

Rotor Earth Fault (64)

Rotor earth fault protection is recommended for synchronous generators rated

1MVA and above.1

As the field circuit of the generator is ungrounded a single earth fault will not
generally affect the operation of the generator. In the event of a second ground
fault however a portion of the field winding will be short circuited resulting in
unbalanced air gap fluxes which may cause rotor vibration which will damage
the machine very quickly.

The probability of a second ground fault occurring is much greater than the first
one as the first fault increases the stress to ground at other points of the field
winding.

Application Generator Protection