Introduction to Power System Protection

Flow chart of the

Operative states of a protection system tripping decision
process

(i) Violate the inequality constraint, x > Xm, and

To trip the device:
(ii) Violate the time constraint, t > Tm
1

Protective device functional elements Protective Device Operation: Protective Devices and Characteristics - I

Requirements to protective system provide for basis to design criteria

• Reliability: Operate dependably when fault conditions occur, even after

remaining idle for months or years. Failure to do so may result in costly
damages.

• Speed: Operate rapidly to minimize fault duration and equipment damage.

The protective system always measures certain system quantities, such as Any intentional time delays should be precise.
voltages and currents, and compares these system quantities, or some
• Selectivity: A relay system should provide maximum possible service
combination of these quantities, against a threshold setting that is computed
continuity with minimum system disconnection.
by the protection engineer and is set into the device
• Simplicity: Minimize protection equipment and circuitry.
If this comparison indicates an alert condition, a decision element is triggered
• Economy: Provide maximum protection at minimum cost.
3 4
Protection systems have 3 basic components:
1. Instrument transformers Any fault protective device must be selected with regard to three different
2. Protective Relays ratings: the voltage rating, the continuous (load) current rating, and the
3. Circuit breakers interrupting rating

The voltage rating must be high enough to withstand voltages normally

experienced in system operation
A simple overcurrent protection
schematic with: The continuous current rating must be adequate for the normal load current
(1) one type of instrument that is expected to flow in the circuit of application
transformer—the current
transformer (CT), This current rating is often chosen to exceed the maximum load current by a
(2) An overcurrent relay (OC),
margin of 30% or so, at the time of installation, in order to allow for future
and
(3) a circuit breaker (CB) for a load growth
single-phase line.
The interrupting rating refers to the highest current the device will be called
upon to interrupt at rated voltage. This rating is often expressed in MVA.

5 6

Fuse specification is normally based on the following four factors.

• Voltage rating: this rms voltage determines the ability of a fuse to
suppress the internal arc that occurs after the fuse link melts.
• A blown fuse should be able to withstand its voltage rating. Most low
voltage fuse have 250 – 600V rating and medium voltage rating fuse range
from 2.4 – 34.5 kV.
• Continuous current rating: the fuse should carry this rms current
indefinitely, without melting and clearing.
• Interrupting current rating: Is the largest rms asymmetrical current that
the fuse can safely interrupt. Standard interrupting rating for medium
voltage include 65, 80 and 100 kA.
• Time response: the melting and clearing time of a fuse depends on the
magnitude of the overcurrent and specified by a ‘time-current’ curve.
7 8
Example-1: A 415 V distribution system is given in Figure.

Select the suitable rating of fuse for each load and incoming circuit using fuse
time-current characteristic in Figure (next-slide).
9 10

Solution
Fuse selection for each circuit

(1) Lighting load:

20kW
I lighting   27.8 A
3  415V

select 32 A fuse

(2) Heating load:

30kW
I heating   41.7 A
3  415V

select 50 A fuse
11 12
 • From the time-current curve, an 80A fuse would withstand 383A for only
6 seconds.
(3) Motor load:
• Therefore, for a 100A fuse, which would withstand 383A for longer than
Pout 30 kW 10 seconds, would be necessary.
Pin    32.6 kW
 0.92 • To provide discrimination the fuse at incoming circuit must meet the
following requirements:
The motor full load current is • It must carry the normal load current:

32.6kW
I  27.8  41.7  54.7  124.2A
I motor   54.7 A
3  415V  0.83 • It must carry the load + the starting current of the motor
I  27.8  41.7  383  452.5A for 10 s
The starting current for 10 seconds is 7 time than the full load
• From time-current curve, a 125 A fuse would withstand 452.5 A for more
current, therefore
than 10 s.
I  7  54.7  383A
Power fuses are used at installations where the cost of an oil circuit breaker
and all of its associated equipment is not considered economical
13 14

Protection relays and characteristics

A relay is a device that opens and closes electrical contacts to cause the The evolution of protective relays has been described by four "generations" of
operation of other devices under electric control equipment designs, which are defined as follows:

The action of a relay is essentially to detect intolerable or undesirable

(1) Electromechanical relays
conditions within an assigned area
The relay acts to disconnect the area affected to prevent damage to personnel (2) Discrete solid-state relays (static relays)
and property, by operating the appropriate circuit breakers
(3) Rack-mounted, integrated solid-state equipment, packaged for
The purpose of the protective relays and protective relaying systems is to
multiple protective functions
operate the correct circuit breakers so as to disconnect only the faulty
equipment from the system as quickly as possible, thus minimizing the
(4) All digital microprocessor-based relays that measure currents and
trouble and damage caused by faults when they do occur
voltages by sampling the waveforms
One way for classifying relays is according to their function as:
• measuring or
• on-off relays
15 16
Advantages for Using Protective Relays Advantages/Disadvantages

• Detect system failures when they occur and isolate the faulted section • Electromagnetic Relays (EMRs)
from the remaining of the system. – Simplicity
– Not expensive
• Mitigating the effects of failures after they occur. Minimize risk of fire, – Mechanical Wear
danger to personal and other high voltage systems. • Solid-state Relays (SSRs)
– No Mechanical movements
– Faster than EMR
• Features of a digital relaying system:
– No sparking between contacts
1. Economics: cost effective
• Microprocessor-based Relay
2. Reliability: continuously active providing a high level of self-diagnosis.
– Much higher precision and more reliable and durable.
3. Flexibility: Revisions or modifications made necessary by changing – Improve the reliability and power quality of electrical power systems
operational conditions before, during and after faults occur.
4. System interaction: The availability of digital hardware that monitors – Capable of both digital and analog I/O.
continuously the system performance at remote substations. – Higher cost
17 18

Protective Devices Comparison (next lesson) Protective Devices and Characteristics –II (Circuit Breakers)

Circuit Breakers V.S. Relays 1.1 Introduction

• Relays are like human brain; circuit breakers are like human muscle. A tumbler switch with a fuse serves to control the light and other electrical
• Relays ‘make decisions’ based on settings. equipments and is, in a way, a form of switchgear

• Relays send signals to circuit breakers. Based the sending signals circuit On the other hand, a C.B. in a station serves exactly the same purpose but it
breakers will open/close. has many added and much more complex features
The basic construction of any circuit breaker requires the separation of
Fuses V.S. Relays contacts in an insulating fluid which serves two functions here:
• Relays have different settings and can be set based on protection (1) It extinguishes the arc drawn between the contacts when the C.B. opens
requirements.
(2) It provides adequate insulation between the contacts and from each
• Relays can be reset.
contact to earth
• Fuses only have one specific characteristic for a individual type.
Many insulating fluids are used for arc extinction and the fluid chosen depends
• Fuses cannot be reset but replaced if they blow.
upon the rating and type of C.B.
19 20
Initiation of the Arc: The separation of the C.B. contacts which are carrying Thus each emitted electron tends to create others and these in turn derive
current gives rise to an arc without changing much the current waveform energy from the field and multiply

Finally, if the current is high, the discharge attains the form of an arc having a
Initially when the contacts just begin to separate the magnitude of current is
temperature high enough for thermal ionization, which results in lower voltage
very large but the contact resistance being very small, a small voltage appears
gradient
across them
Thus an arc is initiated due to field effect and then maintained due to thermal
But the distance of separation being very very small, a large voltage gradient ionization
is set up which is good enough to cause ionization of the particles between the
Deionization: The arc consists of ionized particles of gases. This arc can be
contacts
interrupted if the contact gap could be deionized.
This high voltage gradient exists only for a fraction of a micro-second. This is the basic principle of arc interruption in all circuit breakers. The
• But in this short period a large number of electrons would have been process of deionization is possible in the following ways:
liberated from the cathode and these electrons while reaching anode, on (i) high pressure
their way would have collided with the atoms and molecules of the gases. (ii) forced convection and turbulence, and
(iii) arc splitting
21 22

Apparatus Protection – I (Generator, Transformer..)

• The incipient fault is a fault that starts as a small thing and gets developed
1.1 Introduction into catastrophic failure.
What is fault?
• Some partial discharge in a void in the insulation over an extended period
• A fault is defined as defect in electrical systems due to which current is
can burn away adjacent insulation, eventually spreading further and
directed away from its intended path. developing into a ‘solid’ fault.
• It is not practical to design and build electrical equipment or networks to
eliminate the possibility of failure in service.
• Passive faults are not real faults in the true sense of the word, but are rather
• It is therefore an everyday fact that different types of faults occur on conditions that are stressing the system beyond its design capacity, so that
electrical systems, however infrequently, and at random locations. ultimately active faults will occur. Typical examples are:
Classification of faults • Overloading leading to over heating of insulation
• Faults can be broadly classified into two main areas which have been Typical • Overvoltage
designated as: examples of • Under frequency
(i) Active faults passive faults
• Power swings
(ii) Passive faults
23 24
 Example: Protection zones
Types of protection
• The need to analyze protection schemes has resulted in the development of
protection coordination programs.
• Protection schemes can be divided into two major groupings:

Protection • Unit schemes

schemes • Non-unit schemes

• Unit type schemes protect a specific area of the system, i.e., a transformer,
transmission line, generator or busbar.
• The most obvious example of unit protection schemes is based on
Kerchief’s current law – the sum of the currents entering an area of the
system must be zero.
25
One line diagram of a system showing primary protection zones 26

Coordination of protective devices is the determination of graded settings to Assume that breaker K operates normally leaving the fault connected to the
achieve selectivity bus terminated by breakers IJM

Primary relays (primary sensitivity) are relays within a given protection Backup relays at locations I and M should be set to operate for the fault on
zone that should operate for prescribed abnormalities within that zone line JK, but only after a suitable delay that would allow breaker J to open
first, if possible
Example: Consider a fault on line JK.
For this condition, relays supervising breakers J and K should trip before any
Local backup relays are an alternate set of relays in a primary protection
others and these relays are called primary relays
zone that operate under prescribed conditions in that protection zone

Often such local backup relays are a duplicate set of primary relays set to
Backup relays are relays outside a given primary protection zone, located in
operate independently for the same conditions as the primary set
an adjacent zone, which are set to operate for prescribed abnormalities within
the given primary protection zone and independently of the primary relays

Example: Suppose a fault on line JK of Figure cannot be cleared by breaker J This constitutes an OR logic trip scheme and is an effective safeguard against
due to relay or breaker J malfunction relay failures
27 28
Example-2: Consider a Δ/Y-connected, 15-MVA, 33/11-kV transformer with Solution: The primary line current 15 x 10 6
Ip 
differential protection applied, for the current transformer ratios shown. is given by  3 33 x10   262.43 A
3

• Calculate the relay currents on full load.

The secondary line 15 x 10 6
Is 
• Find the minimum relay current setting to allow 125 percent overload current is,  3 11 x10   787.30 A
3

The C.T. current in the  5 

i p  262.43   4.37 A
secondary side is  300 

The C.T. current in the  5 

i s  787.30  3  3.41A
secondary side is  2000 

Note that we multiply by √3 to obtain the values on the line side of the Δ-
connected C.T.'s. The relay current on normal load is therefore,
i r  i p  i s  4.37  3.41  0.9648 A

With 1.25 overload ratio, the relay setting should be

I r  (1.25)(0.9648)  1.206 A
29 30

Example-3: Consider a Δ/Y connected, 20 MVA, 33/11 kV transformer with

differential protection applied, for the current transformer ratios shown in Solution:
Figure. Calculate the relay currents on full load. Find the minimum relay
The primary line current is given by
current setting to allow 125 percent overload.

20MVA
Ip   349.91 A
3  33kV

The secondary line current is

20MVA
Is   1049.73 A
3  11kV

31 32
 Apparatus Protection – II (partly)
The C.T. current on the primary side is thus [Bus-bar, transmission line, distance, feeder…]
5
i p  349.91   5.832 A
300
The C.T. current in the secondary side is

5
is  1049.73 A   3  4.545
2000

Note that we multiply by 3 to obtain the values on the line side of the Δ
connected C.T.’s. The relay current on normal load is therefore
ir  is  i p  5.832  4.545  1.287 A

With 1.25 overload ratio, the relay setting should be

ir  1.25  1.287  1.61 A

33 34

Transmission Line Over-current Protection A simple radial system illustrates the point
For transmission line protection in interconnected systems, it is necessary to
provide the desired selectivity such that relay operation results in the least F
service interruption while isolating the fault

This is referred to as relay coordination. There are various possible methods

to achieve the desired selectivity. a

Time/current gradings are involved in three basic methods for radial or loop
circuits where there are several line sections in series

Three methods of relay grading

Time grading: The purpose of time grading is to ensure that the breaker
nearest to the fault opens first, by choosing an appropriate time setting for
each of the relays
b
The time settings increase as the relay gets closer to the source. Principle of time grading
35 36
At each of the points 2, 3, 4, and 5, a protection unit comprising a definite Current grading: The fact that fault currents are higher the closer the fault is to
time-delay over-current relay is placed the source is utilized in the current-grading method
Relays are set to operate at a suitably graded current setting that decreases as the
The time-delay of the relay provides the means for selectivity
distance from the source is increased
The relay at circuit breaker 2 is set at the shortest possible time necessary for An example
the breaker to operate (typically 0.25 second) of a radial
system with
The relay setting at 3 is chosen here as 0.5 second, that of the relay at 4 at 1
current
second, and so on
grading
In the event of a fault at F, the relay at 2 will operate and the fault will be
isolated before the relays at 3, 4, and 5 have sufficient time to operate

The shortcoming of the method is that the longest fault-clearing time is associated
with the sections closest to the source where the faults are most severe
37 Current grading for a Radial System 38

Solution:
Example-4: Consider the radial system shown. Calculate the fault currents
The system voltage is 11 kV;
for faults FA, FB, Fc, FD, and FE.
hence the fault current is given by,
Propose relay settings on the basis of current grading, assuming a 30 percent
V 11,00
relay error margin I 
Xf Xf 3 where Xf is the reactance
from the source to the fault point

For fault FA we have

X FA  0.5  0.25  0.05  2.1  2.9

Thus, the fault current is

11,000
I FA   2189.95 A
2. 9 3
39 40
 For fault FB we have, Since FD is very close to FC,
we conclude that
X FB  0.5  0.25  0.05  0.8

I FD  I FC  8467.8 A
Thus, the fault current is

11,000
I FB   7938.57 A
0 .8 3
For a fault at E we have.
For a fault at C we have,
X FE  0.5
X FC  0.5  0.25  0.75

Thus,
Thus, the fault current is
11,000 11,000
I FC   8467.8 A I FE   12701.71A
0.75 3 0 .5 3

41 42

The relay at 1 should respond to

Example-5:
faults FB and Fc and should be
• Suppose that for the system of the above exercise-1, source level variations
set at 130 percent of fault current
result in changing Xs from 0.5 Ω to 1 Ω.
at FA. Thus,
• Find the resulting fault currents and study their effects on relay response.
I S 1  1.3I FA  2846.93 A

The relay at 2 should respond to faults FE and FD and should be set at

I S 2  1.3I FC  11008.14 A Xs = 1Ω

Note that relay 2 will not respond to FA, FB, and Fc

In practice, there would be variations in the source fault level that result
typically in a reduction of source apparent power by 50 percent 43 44
 Solution: The following are the revised currents: Inverse-time overcurrent relaying: Each of the two methods considered so far
has a disadvantage
11,000 11 , 000
I FA   1867.90 A I FC  I FD   5080 . 68 A
3.4 3 1 . 25 3 Therefore the inverse-time overcurrent relay method has evolved because of the
11,000 11 , 000 limitations imposed by the use of either current or time alone
I FB   4885.27 A I FE   6350 . 85 A
1.3 3 1 3 With this third method, the time of operation is inversely proportional to the fault
current, and actual characteristics are a function of both time and current settings

Relay 1 will still respond to faults FB and Fc. Relay 2 will not respond to any fault Some typical inverse-time
including FE. relay characteristics
• Relay type CO-7 is in
Note the presence of the transformer with X = 2.1 is the main reason for relay 1 to
common use
operate properly
Comparison of CO Curve
Current grading is therefore not a practical proposition to protect the circuit
Shapes
between breakers 2 and 1.
• However, when there is a significant impedance between the breakers, the
scheme is practical.
45 multiples of current tap (pickup)

A radial system There are two settings for this type of relay:
with time-graded 1. Pickup current is determined by adjusted current coil taps or current tap
inverse relays settings (C.T.S.). The pickup current is the current that causes the relay to
applied at breakers operate and close the contacts.
1, 2, and 3
2. Time dial refers to the reset position of the moving contact, and it varies the
Time-graded
time of operation at a given tap setting and current magnitude
inverse relaying
applied to a radial The time characteristics are plotted in terms of time versus multiples of
system current tap (pickup) settings, for a given time dial position

There are five different curve shapes referred to by the manufacturer:

For faults close to the relaying points, the inverse-time over-current method
can achieve appreciable reductions in fault-clearance times

The operating time of the time-overcurrent relay varies with the current
magnitude. 47 48
Detailed characteristics of relay types (CO-7 and CO-8)

(a) CO-7 Time-delay overcurrent relay characteristics 49 (b) Type CO-8 Time-current curves 50