Generator Protection | 5.1 Introduction The generators used in the power system are the alternators which produce very high ac. voltages. The protection of generators is very much complex due to the following reasons, nd 1. The generators are very large machines producing very high voltages connected to busbars. Various other equipments are always associated with the generators. Such equipments are prime movers, excitation systems, vollage regulators, cooling systems etc. Thus protection of generators must consider the presence of these other equipments also, 3. The generators are v costly, expensive and very important factor in a power system, The protection scheme must be such that it should not shut off the generators as far as possible, The shut off generators result in a power shortage. All these factors make the design of protection scheme for the generator, very much complex Before studying the various protection schemes for the generators, let us discuss various faults which can occur associated with the generators, 5.2 Generator Faults The various fatilis which can occur associated with a generator can be classified as, 1. Stator faults : The faults associated with the stator of the generator. 2 Rotor faults : The faults associated with the rotor of the generator. 3. Abnormal running conditions : This includes number of abnormal conditions which may occur in practice, from which the generator must be protected Let us discuss these faults in detail 6-1)Protection and Switchgear 5-2 Gonorator Protection 5.2.1 Stator Faults: The stator faults means faults associated with the three phase armature windings of the generator. These faults are mainly due to the insulation failure of the armature windings. The main types of stator faults are, 1 «¢ to carth faults hase to phase faults 3. Inter-turn faults involving turns of same phase winding. The most important and common fault is phase to earth fault. The other two are not very common while inter-turn fault is very difficult to detect 5.2.4.4 Phase to Earth Faults These faults mainly occur in the armature slots. The faults are dangerous and can cause severe damage te the expensive machine. The fault currents less than 20 A cause egligible burning of core if machine is tripped quickly, But if the fault currents are high, severe burning of stator core can take place. This may lead to the requirement of replacing the laminations which is very costly and time consuming. So to avoid the damage due to phase to earth faults, a separate, sensitive earth fault protection is necessary for the generators alongwith the earthing resistance. 5.2.1.2 Phase to Phase Favits The phase to phase faults means short circuit between two phase windings. Such faults are uncommon because the insulation used between the coils of different phases in a slot is large. But once phase to earth fault occurs, due to the over heating phase to phase fault also may occur. This fault is likely to occur at the end connections of the armature windings which are overheating parts outside the slots. Such a fault causes severe arcing with very high temperatures, This may lead to melting of copper and fire if the insulation is not fire resistant, 5.2.1.3 Stator Inter-Turn Faults The coils used in the altemators are generally multitum coils. So short circuit between the tims of one coil may eccur which is called an inter-turn fault. This fault occurs due to current surges with high value of (L di/dt) voltage across the tums. But if the coils used are single turn then this fault can not occur. Hence for the large machines of the erder of 50 MVA and more, it is a normal practice to use single turn coils. But in some countries, multiturn coils are very commonly used where protection against inter-turn faults is must.Protection and Switchgear 5-3 Generator Protection 5.2.2 Rotor Faults The rotor of an alternator is generally a field winding as most of the alternators are of rotating field type. The field winding is made up of number of turns. So the conductor to earth faults and short circuit between the tums of the field winding, are the commonly occurring faults with respect toa rotor. These faults e caused the severe mechanical and thermal stresses, acting on the field winding insulation. The field winding is generally not grounded and hence single line ta ground fault does not give any fautt current. A second fault to earth will short circuit the part of the field winding and may there by produce an unsymmetrical field system. Such an unsymmetrical system gives rise to the unbalanced forces on the rotor and results in excess pressure on the bearings and the shaft distortion, if such a fault is not cleared very early. So it is very much necessary to know the existence of the first occurrence cof the earth fault s0 that corrective measures can be taken before second fault occurs, The unbalanced loading on the generator is responsible to produce the negative sequence currents, These currents produce a rotating magnetic field which rotates in opposite direction to that of rotor magnetic field. Due to this field, there is induced em. in the rotor winding. This causes overheating of the rotor. Rotor earth fault protection and rotor temperature indicators are provided to large rating generators. re the essential and §.2.3 Abnormal Running Conditions In practice there are number of situations in which generator is subjected to some abnormal running conditions. The protection must be provided against the abnormal conditions, These abnormal conditions include 1. Overloading 2. Overspeeding Unbalanced loading 3 4. Overvoltage 5. Failure of prime mover 6 Loss of excitation (Field failure) Cooling syste failure 5.2.3.1 Overloading Due to the continuous overloading, the overheating of the stator results. This may increase the winding temperature. If this temperature rise exceeds certain limit, the insulation of the winding may get damaged. The degree of overloading decides the effects anct temperature rise. The overcurrent protection is generally set to very highProtection and Switchgear 5 ‘Generator Protection Je hence continuous overloads of less value than the setting cannot be sensed by reurrent protection. §.2.3.2 Overspeeding In case of hydraulic generators a sudden loss of load results in overspeeding of the generator. This is because the water flow to the turbine cannot be stopped of reduced instantly. Generally a turbogovernor is provided to prevent the ovespeeding, But if there is any fault in the turbine governor then the dangerous overspeeding may take place, Hence it is necessary to supervise the working of turbine governor and take some corrective measures if there is some fault in the governor. 5.2.3.3 Unbalanced Loading The unbalanced loading of the generator results in the circulation of negative sequence currents. These currents produce the rotating magnetic field. This rotating magnetic field rotates at the synchronous speed with respect to rotor. The direction of rotation of this magnetic field is opposite to that of rotor. Hence effectively the relative speed between the two is double the synchronous speed. Thus the em. gets induced, having double the normal frequency, in the rotor winding. The circulating currents due to the induced ¢.m.f. are responsible to overheat the rotor winding as well as rotor stampings. Continuous unbalanced load more than 10% of the rated load causes tremendous heating which is dominant incase of cylindrical rotor of truboaltemators The reasons for the unbalanced load conditions are, 1. Occurrence of unsymmetrical faults near the generating station. 2. The failure of phases, cuit breaker near the generating station in clearing all the three Negative sequence protection is important to prevent dangerous situations due to negative sequence currents which are because of unbalanced load conditions. 5.2.3.4 Overvoltage The overvoltages are basically due to the overspeeding of generators, Another son for the overvoltages is the faulty operation of voltage regulators. Not only’ the ternal overvoltages are dangerous but atmospheric surge voltages can also reach to the generators, Such atmospheric surge voltages are generated by direct lighting strokes to the aerial lines of high voltage system. Inductively and capacitively, these surges can get transferred to the generator. To protect the generators from surge voltages, the surge arresters and surge capacitors are often used. At the time of restriking across the contacts of circuit breakers, the transient over voltages get generated. Such surges are called switching surges and can be limited byProtection and Switchgear 5-5 Generator Protection the uses of modern circuit breakers. R-C surge suppressors also help in reducing switching surges. Another situation, when the transient overvoltages are generated, is when the ares are grounded. During arcing grounds, the transient voltages having amplitudes five times more than the normal line to neutral peak amplitude are generated. Such transient voltages are dangerous and can be reduced by using resistance earthing. 5.2.3.5 Failure of Prime Mover The failure of prime mover results in motoring operation of synchronous generator. The generator draws active power from the network and conti at synchronous speed as a synchronous motor. This may lead to dangerous mechanical e ng of the steam turbine blades may result. To prevent this the reverse power protection wes to run nditions if allowed to persist for more than twenty seconds. The serious overhea achieved by directional power relays is used. 5.2.3.6 Loss of Excitation The loss of excitation or reduced excitation is possible due to the field failure ie opening of field winding or due to short ci exciter system, ft in field or due to some fault in Such loss of excitation results in loss of synchronism within a second and this causes the increase in speed of the generator. Since power input to the machi remains same, the generator starts working as an induction generator, drawing the reactive power from the bus. The machine starts drawing an exciting current from the system, which is equal to the full load rated value. This leads to the overheating of the stator winding and the rotor body due to induced currents. The loss of excitation may also lead to the pole slipping condition which results in the voltage reduction for the output above half the rated load, Loss of excitatien should not persist for long and corrective measures like disconnection of altemator should be taken immediately. For this a tripping scheme can be used which can trip the generator circuit breaker immediately when there is a field failure. 5.2.3.7 Cooling System Failure The {allure of cooling system also causes severe overheating to rise the temperature above safe limit. This may lead to insulation failure, causing some other faults to occur. The thermocouples or resistance thermometers are used in large machines to sense the temperature. The corrective measures are taken whenever the temperature exceeds the limit Apart from the above dominant abnormal conditions, some conditions may exist wiich are rare in practice, Such conditions are, wrong synchronization, localProtection and Switchgear 5-6 Generator Protection overheating, leakage in hydrogen circuit, moisture in the generator winding, oxygen in water circuit, vibrations, bearing currents, excessive bearing temperature etc. 5.3 Basic Differential Protection Scheme for Generators A basic differential protection scheme used for the generators is shown in the Fig. 5.1. It is known that the differential relay operates when the phasor difference of two or more similar electrical quantities exceeds a predetermined value Generator ct. ‘wineang cr External faut ~~ pitferentis! Fig. 5.1 Suppose the current | flows through the primary of CTs to the external fault. If the twa CTs have same ratio, then no current will flow through the relay and it remains inoperative. relay But now if an internal fault occurs at point X as shown in the Fig. 5.2, the current flows through the fault from both the sides. The primary currents are [, and I; while the secondary currents are i, and iy, So the current flowing through the relay will be i; + ip Even some current flowing out of one side while a large current entering the other side will cause the differential current. Such a current is responsible to operate the relay Different relayProtection and Switchgear $-7 Generator Protection ‘Thus the relay current is proportional to the phasor difference between the currents entering and leaving the protected circuit and if the differential current exceeds the pickup value, the relay operates This basic differential scheme has following disadvantages 1, This circuit operates inaccurately with heavy external faults. 2 The CTs may saturate and cause unequal secondary currents and the difference of secondary currents may approach the pickup value to operate the relay unnecessarily. These disadvantages are overcome in the percentage differential relay. §.4 Basic Percentage Differential Protection Scheme for Generators This protection scheme is also called biased differential protection scheme. The Fig. 5.3 shows the connections of the percentage differential relay, in such a protection scheme. Generator winding ——— Operating 5 ' call Restraining cot Fig. 5.3 Percentage differential protection scheme The fault occurs at point X and the primary currents in the circuit are 1, and I; The CT, secondary currents are i, and i;. The current flowing through the operating coil of the relay is i, ~ i While the current flowing through the restraining coil of the relay is; \ the restraining coil. +2). This is because the operating coil is connected to the midpoint of Thus if the number of tums of the restraining coil is N then i, flows through N,N im vol and i; flows through remaining N, The total ampere tums are eN 2Protection and Switchgear 5-8 ‘Generator Protection 4 | This is as good as the flow of current 2} through the entire restraining coil The operating characteristics of such a biased differential relay is shown in the Fig. 5.4 The characteristics shows that t except at low currents, ratio of differential operating current to average restraining current is a Operating currant Operating region ine Nonoperating region = ve torque fixed percentage. Hence the relay is called the percentage differential relay This basic percentage Resting differential protection scheme current forms the basis of _ the practically very commonly used percentage differential protection scheme for alternator stator windings. This popular as Biased differential protection or Mers-Price protection scheme is know Let us discuss the details of Merz-Price protectis n scheme for the three phase ernator stator windings 5.5 Merz-Price Protection of Alternator Stator Windings This is most commonly used protection scheme for the alternator stator windings. The scheme is also called biased differential protection and percentage differential protection In this method, the currents at the two ends of the protected section are sensed using current transformers. The wires connecting relay coils to the current transformer secondaries are called pilot wires Under normal conditions, when there is no fault in the windings, the currents in the pilot wires fed from C.T. secondaries are equal. The differential current i) - iy through the operating coils of the relay is zero, Hence the relay is inoperative and system is said to be balanced. When fault occurs inside the protected section of the stator windings, the differential current i, - {, flows through the operating coils of the relay. Due to this current, the relay operates, This trips the generator circuit breaker to isolate the faulty section. The field is also disconnected and is discharged through a suitable impedance. The Fij star connected 4 5.5 shows a schematic arrangement of Merz-Price protection scheme for a ' nator.Protection and Switchgear Generator Protection ‘iar sonnectes sSlamalr stale cH. ‘weg a rota Arena - eartng on i coreg ol ¥ 8 aot wn 0.6.» Oporaing ont RC. Restraining cot CB Creat breaker Peteeniags —— (terete ralay Fig. 5.5 Merz-Price protection for star connected alternator The differential relay gives protection against short circuit fault in the stator winding of a generator. The C.T.s are connected in star and are provided on both, the eutgoing side and machine winding connections to earth side. The restraining coils are energized from the secondary connection of C.T.s in each phase, through pilot wires The operating, coils are energized by the tappings from restraining coils and the CT neutral earthing connec ¢ delta connected alternator stator winding, as shown in the Fig. 5.6. Delta carmela abarsatae ex. state vending a cata = eaching mewn | OS —— Operating cot RE —e Rosimining oot CB = Creu oroaker Percentage ‘amarentalrsiay Fig. 5.6 Merz-Price protection for delta connected alternatorProtection and Switchgear Generator Protection The C.T.s on the delta connected machine winding side are conne while the C.T.s at outgoing ends are connected in star. The restraining coils are placed in each phase, energized by the secondary connections of C.T.s while the operating coils are energized from the restraining coil tappings and the C.T. neutral earthing. If there is a fault due to a short circuit in the protected zone of the windings, it produces a difference between the currents in the primary windings of C.T.s on both sides of the generator winding of the same phase, This results in a difference between ndary currents af the two current transformers. Thus, under fault conditions, a differential current flows through the operating coils which is responsible to trip the relay and open the circuit breaker. The differential relay operation depends on the relation between the current in the operating coil and that in the restraining coil. the se addition to the tripping of circuit breaker, the percentage differential relay trip hand reset multicontact auxiliary relay. This auxiliary relay simultaneously initiates the following operations, L. Tripping of the main circuit breaker of generator 2 Tripping of the field circuit breaker 3. Tripping of the neutral circuit breaker if it is present 4. Shut down of the prime mover Turn on of CO, gas if provided for safety of generator under faulty conditions, 6. Operation of alarm and for annunciator to indicate the occurrence of the fault and the operation of the relay the field must be opened immediately otherwise it starts feeding the fault. When differential relaying is used for the protection, C.T's at both the ends of generator must be of equal ratio and equal accuracy otherwise if the error is excessive, wrong operation of the relay may result. The causes of unequal currents on both the sides of C-T’s without any fault are ratio errors, unequal lengths of the leads, unequal secondary burdens ete This scheme provides very fast protection to the stator winding against phase to phase faults and phase to ground faults. If the neutral is not grounded or grounded through resistance then additional sensitive earth fault relay should be provided. The advantages of this scheme are, 1. Very high speed operation with operating time of about 15 msec. 2. It allows low fault setting which ensures maximum protection of machine windings. 3. It ensures complete stability under the most severe through and external faults.Protection and Switchgear 5-14 Generator Protection 4. It does not require current transformers with air gaps or special balancing features. 5.6 Restricted Earth Fault Protection of Generator Generally Merz-Price protection based on circulating current principle provides the tion against intemal earth faults. But for large genes tors, as tl se are cos nal protection scheme called restricted earth fault protection is provided When the neutral is solidly grounded then the generator gets completely protected against earth faults. But when neutral is grounded through earth resistance, then the stator windings get partly protected against earth faults. The percentage of winding protected depends on the value of eart ing resistance and the relay setting, In this scheme, the value of earth resistance, relay setting, current rating of earth resistance must be carefully selected, ‘The earth faults are rare near the neutral point as the voltage of neutral point with respect to earth is very less. But when earth fault occurs near the neutral point then the insufficient voltage across the fault drives very low fault current than the pick up current of relay coil. Hence the relay coil remains inoperative. Thus 15 to 20% winding from the neutral side remains unprotected in this scheme. Hence it is called restricted earth fault protec protect 85% of the winding jon. It is usual practice to The restricted earth fault protection scheme is shown in the Fig, Neutral point Restricted earth fault relay Fig. 5.7 Restricted earth fault protection Consider that earth fault occurs on phase B due to breakdown of its insulation to earth, as shown in the Fig. 5.7. The fault current |, will flow through the core, frameProtection and Switchgear 5-12 Generator Protection of machine to earth and complete the path through the earthing resistance, The C:T secondary current |, flows through the operating coil and the restricted earth fault relay coil of the differential protection. The setting of restricted earth fault relay and setting of overcurrent relay are independent of each other. Under this secondary current I, the relay operates to trip the circuit breaker. The voltage V\. is sufficient to drive the enough fault current I, when the fault point x is away from the neutral point If the fault point x is nearer to the neutral point then the voltage Vp, is small and not sufficient to drive enough fault current 1. And for this 1, relay cannot operate. Thus part of the winding from the neutral point remains unprotected. To overcome this, if relay setting is chosen very low to make it sensitive to low fault currents, then wrong operation of rel y may result, The relay can operate under the conditions of he. y through faults, inaccurate CTs, saturation of C.T.s ete. Hence practically 15% of from neutral point is kept unprotected, protecting the remaining 85% of the winding against phase fo earth faults 5.6.1 Effect of Earth Resistance on % of Winding Unprotected Let us see the effect of earth resistance on the % of the winding which remains unprotected Consider the earth resistance R used to limit earth fault current as shown in the Fig. 58 The value of the resistance K limits the earth fault current If the resistance R is very small i.e, the neutral is almost solidly grounded, then the fault current is very high. But high Earth fault currents are not desirable resistance hence small R is not preferred Fig. 8.8 for the large machines For low resistance R, the value of R is selected such that full load current passes through the neutral, for a full line to neutral voltage V. In medium resistance R, the earth fault current is limited to about 200A for full line to neutral voltage V, for a 60 MW machine. In high resistance R, the earth fault current is limited to about 10 A. This & for distribution transformers and generator-transformer units. usedProtection and Switchgear $-13 Gonerator Protection Now higher the value of earth resistance R, less is the earth fault current and less percentage of winding gets protected. Large percentage of winding remains unprotected. Let V = Full line to neutral voltage 1 = Full lond current of largest capacity generator R = Earth resistance Then the value of the resistance R is. Vv Req And the percentage of windi protected given by, | % of winding unprotected = ®!s 100 ue where 1, = Minimum operating current in the primary of CT If relay setting used is 15% then 1, is 15 machine and so on. € protect of the full load current of the largest ge of windings of small capacity ma nes running parallel get iter percenta 4 ‘amp Example 5.1: A generator is protected by restricted earth finult protection. ‘The are 13.2 kV, 10 MVA. The percentnge of winding protecied against phase to ground fiult is 85%, The relay setting is such thot it trips for 20% ont of balance. Calculate the resistance to be added in the neutral to ground connect Solution : ‘The given values, Vo = 12kV Ra ng = 10 MVA From rating, calculate the full load current, Rating in VA 10108 hs = a V3 Vy V3*13.2«108 = 437.386 A Relay setting is 20% out of balan ¢ i. 20% of the rated current activates the relay + 20 ay L 4387 .386x 87.477 A Minimum operating currentrotection and Switchgea 5-14 Generator Protection V = Line to neutral voltage °% of winding u R= 13.0680 mp Example 5.2: A star connected 3 phase, 12 MVA, T1 KV alternator has a phase reactance of 10%. It is protected by Mera-Price circulating current scheme which is set to operate for fault current not less than 200 A. Calculate the value of earthing resistance to be provided im order to ensure that only 15% of the alternator winding remains unprotected Solution : The given values are, V, nkV Rating = 12 MVA Rating = V3 I, 12«10® = V3«11%109 x1, 12x10 = ¥3x 11x 10% = 629.8366 A = I = rated current _ Hx = 29 V Gi 6350.85: ‘% Reactance = —>x100 where reactance per phase and 1 = rated current 629.8366 X 6350, 8529 6 ® 100 xX = 100830 Reactance of unprotected windingProtaction and Switchgear 5-45 Generator Protection (@e of unprotected winding) « (X) 15 79572-0083 = 015122 v = voltage induced in unprotected winding 15 5 = =x V = 0.15% 6350,8529 709% V = 0-15%6350.852: = 992.6279 V i = Fault current = 200A Z = Impedance offered to the fault v _ 982.6270 i 200 4.76310 (l} Z = f+] (reactance of unprotected winding) Z = rej O15I2R 12Z| = Je? (0.15127 » Q) Equating (1) and 2), 47631 = fr? + (0.1512)? 22.6875 = r* + 0.02286 P= 266d r= 476079 This is the earthing resistance required. 5.7 Unrestricted Earth Fault Protection The unrestricted earth fault protection uses a residually connected earth fault relay. It consists of three C-T.s, one in each phase. The secondary windings of these CT's are connected in parallel, The earth fault relay is connected across the secondaries which carries a residual current. The scheme is shown in the Fig. 5.9- When there is no fault, under normal conditions, vector sum of the three line currents is zero, Hence the vector sum of the three secondary currents is also zero.Protection and Switchgear Earthing resistance: To tip creult Fig. 5.9 Unrestricted earth fauit protection . and I, are €.T, secondary currents then under normal conditions we i,tiget, = 0 The sum of the three currents is residual current Ig, which is zero under normal conditions. The earth fault relay is connected in such a way that the residual current flows through the relay operating coil. Under normal condition, residual current is zero se relay does not carry any current and is inoperative. However in presence of earth fault condition, the balance gets disturbed and the residual current Ips is no more zero. If this current is more than the pickup value of the earth fault relay, the relay operates and opens the circuit breaker through tripping of the trip circuit In the scheme shown in the Fig. 5.9, the earth fault at any location near or away from the location of C-T's can cause the residual current. Hence the protected zone is not definite. Such a scheme is hence called unrestricted earth fault protection. 5.8 Balanced Earth Fault Protection In practice for small rating alternators, the neutral ends of the three phases are connected to a single point. Hence it is not possible to introduce C.T. in each phase on neutral side as required in Merz-Price protection. In such cases, the balanced earth fault protection can be used.Protection and Switchgear 5-17 Generator Protection The balanced earth fault protection is shown in the Fig. 5.10. Generator Jnvoes, er casi Popp Fig. 5.10 Balanced earth fault protection At the outgoing side, the three C-T-s are connected in parallel as are connected in unrestricted earth fault protection. A single CT. is connected on the neutral side in the pilot wire connecting neutral of alternator fo earth. The neutral earthing is achieved through the earthing resistance. A relay is connected across the C-T. secondaries Under norma! conditions, the alternator line currents add to zero. Hence the vector sum of the currents through the secondaries of C.T. ig also zero. Thus no current flows igh the relay and as ne tral carries zero current hence no current is supplied to lay is inoperative If the fault appears at F, at a position outside the protected zone then the sum of the alternator line currents is exactly equal to the current in the neutral. Thus zero current flows through the relay is inoperative But if the fault occurs at F, which is the protected zone t alternator line currents is different than the current through neutral side current transformer, Hence a residual current flows through the relay. If this is greater than the pickup value of the relay, the relay operates. This trips the tripping circuit, opening the circuit breaker vector sum of By this scheme, the protection against earth faults is restricted to the region between the neutral and the position where line current transformers installed.Protection and Switchgear 5-18 Generator Protection 5.9 100% Earth Fault Protection AS seen uptill now, no protection scheme is in a position to give complete protection to the stator of generator against earth faults. The maximum protection achieved is upto 85 to 90% from the schemes discussed uptitl now But in modern days it is possible to provide 100% earth fault protection to the jor of the generator. It uses a coupling transformer and the coded signal current: scheme is shown in the Fig, 5.11 of 125 Hz Fig. 5.11 100% earth fault protection A coupling transformer is connected between the earth and the earthing resistance R ie, in neutral to ground circuit, The primary of the coupling transformer is excited by coded signal current source. This coded signal current has a frequency of 12.5 Hz. This current is continuously injected into the generator stator winding through the secondary of the coupling transformer. During the normal condition the signal current injected into the stator flows through stray capacitance of the generator and directly connected system. But when earth fault occurs, .e stray capacitance is bypassed. This increases the monitoring current. This increase is measured by a measuring device. Depending upon this measurement an immediate corrective action is taken. This scheme gives the protection of 15 to 20% of stator winding from the neutral side, the portion which is unprotected by Merz-Price protection. The remaining portion is protected by Mere-Price protection. Overall 100% of stator winding gets protected against earth faultsProtection and Switchgear 5-19 Generator Protection $.10 Stator Protection Against Interturn Faults The Merz-Price protection system gives protection against phase to phase faults and earth faults. It does not give protection against intertumn faults. The interturn fault is a short circuit between the turns of the same phase winding. Thus the current produced due te such fault is a local circuit current and it does not affect the currents entering and leaving the winding at the two ends, where CTs are located. Hence Merz-Price protection cannot give protection against interturn faults. In single turn generator, there is no question of interturn faults but in multiturn generators, the interturn fault protection is necessary. So such interturn protection is provided for multiturn generators such as hydroelectric generators. These generators have double winding armatures, This means, each phase winding is divided into two halves, due to the very heavy currents which they have to carry. This splitting of single phase winding into two is advantageous in providing interturn fault protection to such hydroelectric generators, The Fig. 5.12 shows the interturn fault protection scheme used for the generator with double winding armatures. GL. Two parallel paths. Siem phase P-———> Phase winding Fig. 5.12 Interturn fault protectionProtection and Switchgear §-20 Generator Protection The scheme uses cross differential principle, Each phase of the generator is doubly wound and split into two parts $, and $; as shown in the Fig. 5.12. The current transformers are connected in the two parallel paths of the each phase winding. The secondaries of the current transformers are cross connected. The current transformers work on circulating current principle. The relay is connected across the cross connected secondaries of the current transformers. Under normal operating, conditions, when the two paths are sound then currents in the two parallel paths S, and S, are equal. Hence currents in the secondaries of the current transformers are also equal. The secondary current flows round the loop and is same at all the points. Hence no current flows through the relay and the relay is inoperative If the short cireuit is developed between the adjacent turns of the part S, of the winding say then currents theough S; and S; no longer remain same, Thus unequal currents will be induced in the secondaries of the current transformers. The difference of these currents flows through the relay R. Relay then closes its contacts to trip the circuit breaker which isolates the generator from the system. Such an interturn fault protection system is extremely sensitive but it can be vound armatures. applied to the generators having doubly 5.11 Rotor Earth Fault Protection The rotor circuit of the alternator is not earthed and dc. voltage is imposed on it: And hence single ground fault in rotor does not cause circulating current to flow through the rotor circuit. Hence single ground fault in rotor does not cause any damage to it. But single ground fault causes an increase in the stress to ground at *r points in the field winding when voltages are induced in the rotor due to jents. Thus the probability of second ground fault increases. If the second ground fault occurs then part of the rotor winding is bypassed and the currents in the remaining portion increase abruptly. This causes the unbalance of rotor circuit and hence the mechanical and thermal stresses on the rotor. Due to this, rotor may get damaged. Sometimes damage of bearings and bending of rotor shaft takes place due to the vibrations, Hence the rotor must be protected against earth fault Method 1; In this method a high resistance is connected across the rotor circuit. It is provided with centre tap and the centre tap point is connected to the ground through a sensitive earth fault relay as shown in the Fig. 5.13.Protection and Switchgear Genorator Protection High resistance: + Sensitive ‘earn Loot Bt tear Brete 2 slay Fiat warding oe 5,13 Rotor earth fault protection Except the centre point, the earth fanlt relay detects the earth faults for most of the rotor circuit. Thus most of the rotor winding part is protected against the earth faulis Method 2 : The modem method of providing earth fa injection or a.c, injection. The scheme is shown in the Fig. 5.14 it protection includes dic A small dc. power supply is connected to the field circuit. A fault detecting sensitive relay and the resistance Excher Generator ees ernie are also connected in series with the circuit This high resistance limits the current through the circuit. Resistance for current lening Sensitive A fault at any relay point on the field circuit will pass a current of — sufficient usilary magnitude through the | 5 relay to cause its operation. The dc. supply is preferred and simple to use and it has no problem of the = leakage currents. In case of ac. injection, Fig. 5.14 Rotor earth fault protection the high resistance is replaced by a capacitor.Protection and Switchgear 5-22 The earth fault relays are instantaneous in operation and are connected to an alarm circuit for indication and to take the proper action. This is because, a single ground fault does not require an immediate action of isolating the generator. 5.12 Protection Against Loss of Excitation The lose of excitation of the generator may result in the loss of synchronism and slightly increase in the generator speed. The machine starts behaving as an induction generator, It drawn reactive power from the system which is undesirable, The loss of excitation may lead to the pole slipping condition. Hence protection against loss of excitation must be provided. The protection is provided using directional distance type relay with the generator terminals When there is loss of excitation, the equivalent generator impedance varies and traces a curve as shown in the Fig. 5.15. This Fig. 5.15 shows the loss of excitation aracteristics alongwith the relay operating characteristics, on R-X diagram. wR Locus of equivalent (gonerasor impecance dug fe ascii Fig. 5.15 Loss of excitation characteristics The equivalent generator impedance locus traces a path from first quadrant of R-X diagram to the fourth quadrant, The distance relay is used which covers the portion of the fourth quadrant where impedance locus path exists. Thus when the impedance takes value in the region covered by the relay characteristics, the relay operates. The relay operates when generator first starts to slip poles. Then relay trips the field circuit breaker. And it disconnects the generator from the system, too. When the excitation is regained and becomes normal, the generator can then be retumed to service instantlyProtection and Switchgear 5-23 Generator Protection 5.13 Negative Sequence Relays The negative relays are also provide protection against negative sequence component of unbalanced currents existing due to unbalanced loads or phase-phase faults, The unbalanced currents are w as these currents can cause lied phase unbalance relays because these relays us from generators and motors point of v overheating, Negative sequence relays are g generators and motors against unbalanced currents lly used to give protection t A negative sequence relay has a filter circuit which is operative only for negative sequence components. Low order of over current also can cause dangerous situations hence a negative sequence relay has tow current settings. The earth relay provides protection for phase to earth fault but not for phase to phase fault. A negative sequence relay provides protection against phase to phase faults which are responsible to produce negative sequence components. The Fig, 5.16 shows the schematic arrangement of negative phase sequence relay cr, Fig. 5.16 Negative phase sequence relayProtection and Switchgear 5-24 Basically it consists of a resistance bridge network. The magnitudes of the impedances of all the branches of the network are equal. The impedances Z, and Z, are purely resistive while the impedances Z, and Z, are the combinations of resistance and reactance. The currents in the branches Z> and Z, lag by 60° from the currents in the branches Z, and Z,. The vertical branch B-D consists of inverse time characteristics relay, The relay has negligible impedance. The current Iy gets divided ™ 72 into two equal parts f, and I;. And I, lags 1; by 60% The phasor diagram is shown in the Fig. 5.17. Rt = ie Let 1, = L The perpendicular is drawn from point A on the diagonal meeting it at point B, as shown in ° aA? the Fig. 5.17. This bisects the Fig. 5.17 diagonal. « |e OB = > Now in triangle OAB, oB cos = OR 8 (5) 2 ree =k (uy Now I, leads Ip by 30° while [, lags I by 30° Similarly the current Ip gets divided into two equal parts 1, and 1,. The current lags t, by 60°. Fromm equation (1) we can write, 1 K =h=h (2) ‘The current 1, leads Ig by 30° while current I, lags Ip by 30° The current entering the telay at the junction point B in the Fig. 5.16 is the vector sum of Ij, Iy and lyProtection and Switchgear 5-25 Generator Protection Tray = hh +1; le ly + -& (leads Ix by 30% + 2 (lags Ip by y a! 30) va igs In by 309) The vector sum is shown in the Fig. 518 when the load is balanced and no tive sequence currents exist. neg. te Tk can be seen from the i+i haley = Thus the current entering the relay at point B is zero. Similarly the newultant current at junction D is also zero, Thus the relay is inoperative for a balanced system Now consider that there is unbalanced load on generator or motor due to which negative sequence currents exist. The phase sequence of C.T. secondary currents is as shown in the Fig. 5.19 (a). The vector diagram of I, Is and Ty is shown in the Fig, 5.19 (b) under this condition. The components 1, and I are equal and opposite to each other at the junetion point B. Hence 1, and ly cancel each other. Now the relay coil carries the current ly and when this current is more than a predetermined value, the relay trips closing the contacts of trip circuit which opens the circuit breaker,Protectio (a) GT. secondary currents Fig, 5.19 Negative sequence currents Zero Sequence Currents ; The zero sequence components of secondary currents are shown in the Fig. 5.20 (a). We know that, ~ | (a) (b) te) Fig. 5.20 Zero sequence currents ta ty by ie = Tal, iy = fyoty These sums are shown in the Fig. 5.20 (b) and (c). It can be seen from the Fig. 5.20 (d) that, i+, = fy in phase with by The total current through relay is f) +i, +[y, Thus under zero sequence currents the total current of twice the zero sequence current flows through the relay. Hence the relay operates to open the circuit breakerProtection and Switchgear 8-27 Generator Protection To make the relay sensitive to only et negative sequence currents by making it inoperative under the influence of zero sequence currents is possible by GT. connecting the current transformers int delta as shown in the Fig. 5.21. Under delta connection of current transtor in the eT no zero sequence current can flow network. Fig. 5.21 Delta connection of C.T.s 5.13.1 Induction Type Negative Sequence Rel y her commonly used negative sequence relay is induction type. Its construction is similar to that of induction type over current relay. The schematic diagram of this type of relay is shown in the Fig. 5.22 ny ® Fig. 5.22 Induction type negative sequence relay The central limb of upper magnet carries the primary which has a centre tap. Due to this, the primary winding has three terminal 1, 2, and 3. The section 1-2 is energized from the secondary of an auxiliary transformer to R-phase. The section 2-3 is directly energized from the Y-phase current The auxiliary transformer is a special device having an air gap in its magnetic circuit. With the help of this, the phase angle between its primary and secondary can