Simulation-Based Investigations of the Distance

Relay Protection for Extended Double-Circuit Lines

Mohamed F. Abdel-Fattah and Grétar Áss Sigurðsson
Department of Engineering, School of Technology
Reykjavik University
2023 23rd International Scientific Conference on Electric Power Engineering (EPE) | 979-8-3503-3593-4/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/EPE58302.2023.10149240

Reykjavik, Iceland
orcid.org/0000-0002-2184-0602 | [email protected] and [email protected]

Abstract— As transmission lines are an extremely vulnerable For protection systems selectivity, time of trip and
part of the aging infrastructure, they are still a vital part of our sensitivity are critical aspects of every protection scheme [5].
society. As they are exposed to the harsh environment, they are In high-voltage transmission systems, distance protection
incredible prone to faults and therefore it is vital to have schemes provide an excellent protection and have been used
protection relays for protecting the transmission lines, reliable for decades [1], [6]. Distance relays estimate the
equipment and increase the flexibility and resilience of our resistance and reactance of the line impedance and estimate
power system. One of the most reliable protections is the the proportion of the line length between the fault location and
distance protection and often used for transmission lines. With the location of the relay. The distance relay is a non-unit
digital relays, real-time monitoring of the impedance is possible
protection of a system and can work both as a primary and a
and operate at high speeds. This paper implements a model for
extended double-circuit line circuit using Matlab/Simulink
backup protection [4]. There are several types of distance
software to investigate the performance of the three-zones relay characteristics with different function and theories like
distance protection for extended double-circuit transmission mho, quadrilateral, reactance, admittance, polarized mho,
lines, under different fault types and different fault distances. offset mho and even more [7]. The downside of analog
method for mho distance relay does not calculate the
Keywords—Distance protection, Matlab/Simulink simulation, impedance, but digital relays could calculate the impedance in
Mho relay, Symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults, Double-circuit real time [6]. The distance relays operate by using voltage and
line protection current phasors for impedance calculations and can determine
if a fault occurs within a set zone. Usually the zone settings
I. INTRODUCTION are set at 80%, 120% and 200-225% of the lines [8].
Power systems are an incredible complex system and vital The impedance calculations can be implemented for faults
for modern societies. Power systems are composed of like single line to ground (L-G), double line to ground (L-L-
complex parts like generators, transformers, and distribution G), line to line (L-L) and a three phase faults (L-L-L) [3]. To
lines [1] and a key component for stable operations is of simulate the fault and distance relays, Matlab/Simulink has
course the protection systems. Since the infrastructure of been used and proven to be a reliable tool for simulations of
power systems as a whole is so vast there is incredible capital faults and protection system relays and is a powerful analysis
investment in power systems and therefore the protection of software package since it offers a wide selection of libraries
the system as a whole is incredibly important. Transmission that allow for detailed simulations [7], [8]. In this paper, a
lines are one of the most vulnerable parts of a power system model of 100 km double-circuit transmission line with
and especially overhead transmission lines as they are exposed extension of 100 km single-circuit line is simulated, and then
to the harsh environment, extreme weather events and other different types of faults applied along the line to investigate
external factors, therefore transmission lines are the part of the the performance of a distance relay, with mho characteristic,
power system that is most prone to faults [2]. As a result, for fault detection and location.
power systems often experience short circuit and symmetrical
and unsymmetrical high-level fault current flow that can have
II. MODEL DESCRIPTION
damaging effects on equipment. Protection schemes for power
systems consists of breakers, current transformers, voltage The benefits of a double-circuit line are obvious, and of
transformers, relays to isolate parts of a power system to course allows for more stable connections in a system. The
isolate faults. As the protection relay sends a signal to a circuit considered model consists of 220 kV, 100 km double-circuit
breaker that opens the circuit. Protection relays can be transmission line with extension of 100 km single-circuit line,
categorized as electromechanical, static and numerical. with required models for different fault types, at different
Numerical relays are based on digital devices and composed locations. The model was set up in Matlab as a double single-
of microprocessors or microcontrollers and they analyze circuit lines, for both simplification and further design
current and voltage signals by monitoring and sampling it at possibilities. The mutual effect is expected to be little.
desired times which can be used for calculating if a trip Furthermore, the model could be used for future fault
decision is to be made and thereby sending a signal to open a investigations for both double-circuit line and double single-
circuit breaker. Not so surprisingly numerical distance relays circuit lines.
have been taking over static distance relays and
A. Extended Double Circuit Transmission Line
electromechanical relays [3]. There are several approaches
and schemes for power system protection. Combined Double-circuit overhead transmission lines have been
protection schemes such as distance and differential studied, as in [9]-[10]. The aim here is to create an extended
protection method, overcurrent protection, especially for double-circuit line with two utility grids connected at each
connections of renewable energy, are presented in [4]. side and a step-up transformer from 13.8 kV to 220 kV.

979-8-3503-3593-4/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE

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 Then apply various types of faults to investigate and
develop the distance protection scheme. To find suitable
parameters for the system, data from various sources, [11],
[12], and [13], are used to creating a realistic system. The
distance relay is located on the lower line L1 of the double-
circuit. The three lines are modelled using symmetrical Pi
model, as a one Pi section for L2 and five Pi sections for L1
and L3, to simulate different faults at different locations, as
shown in Figs. 1-4. The accuracy of Pi model is accepted for
the modelled length and no need for using uniform line model.
Circuit breakers (CB) are placed at buses, at each end of both
lines, which receive signals to be closed. The simulated
system is shown in Fig. 1. As the system model was so large
in scale, a subblock is created for the L1 and L3 (extended
line). The subsystem blocks for the transmission lines can be Fig. 1. Matlab/Simulink model for 100 km double-circuit (L1 and L2)
seen in Fig. 2 for the double-circuit line (L1), and in Fig. 3 for extended by a 100 km single-circuit (L3) overhead 220 kV transmission line
the extended line (L3). It can be seen that each part of the
transmission line is attached to a fault block. The fault block
can be controlled through Matlab. The fault block is simple in
design and uses the Simulink library to create faults and a
Boolean logic block is added to control what system and at
what time the fault occurs. The subsystem block in Simulink
for the faults can be seen in Fig. 4.

B. Model Parameters
The power systems consist of 13.8 kV three phase
generator and a step-up transformer of 4000 MVA that
increases the voltage to 220 kV and the circuit becomes a Fig. 2. Matlab/Simulink model for one of the double-circuit overhead 100
double circuit where each line is 100 km and with the same km, 220 kV transmission line (L1)
parameters, on the other end of the line there is a 100 km
extension of the line before it reaches a three-phase voltage
source of 220 kV and 20.000 MVA. The parameters for the
transmission line are given in Table I.

TABLE I. TRANSMISSION LINE DESIGN PARAMETERS

Transmission Line
Sl. No Values
Parameters
1. Length of Transmission Line 200 km
2. Nominal Frequency 50 Hz
Fig. 3. Matlab/Simulink model for 100 km extended overhead 220 kV
3. Voltage 220 kV transmission line (L3)
4. Line Resistance (R1= R2) 0.01273 Ω/km
5. Line Inductance (L1 =L2) 0.9337  10 H/Km
6. Line Capacitance (C1= C2) 12.74  10 /
7. Zero Sequence Resistance, R0 0.3864 Ω/Km
8. Zero Sequence Inductance, L0 4.1264  10 H/Km
9. Zero Sequence Capacitance, C0 7.751  10 /Km

C. Fault Impedance Calculations

To measure the fault impedances as seen by the distance
relay the impedance formulas can be seen in Table II. To
implement a distance protection scheme it is vital to have a
clear understanding of the calculations for the fault
impedances. For the system is a three-phase system, we have:
• Va, Vb and Vc: Voltages of phases a, b and c.
• Ia, Ib and Ic : Currents of phase a, b and c.
• The zero-sequence current is given in (1).

I0 = ( Ia + Ib + Ic ) / 3 (1) Fig. 4. Fault control block in Matlab/Simulink

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 TABLE II. FAULT IMPEDANCE ALGORITHM Therefore, the zones' setting impedance values are as follows.
Fault Types Calculations/Algorithm
ZZone1 = 80 (0.01273+j0.2933)

Phase A-Ground (A-G)   ZZone1 = 1.0184+j23.464 = 23.4861∠ 87.52° Ω
  3 ! !

" ZZone2 =100 (0.01273+j0.2933) + 2×20 (0.01273+j0.2933)

Phase B-Ground (B-G) " 
"  3 ! ! ZZone2 = 1.7822+j41.066 = 41.1047∠ 87.52° Ω
#
Phase C-Ground (C-G) #  ZZone3 =100 (0.01273+j0.2933) + 2×100 (0.01273+j0.2933)
#  3 ! !

 % "
ZZone3 = 3.8190+j87.999 = 88.0818∠ 87.52° Ω
Phase A-B, A-B-Ground (AB, AB-G) $ 
 % "
III. FAULT IMPEDANCE MODEL IN SIMULINK
 % #
Phase A-C, A-C-Ground (AC, AC-G) &  The three-phase current and voltage waveforms are
 % #
measured using a measurement block, before the values are
" % #
Phase B-C, B-C-Ground (BC, BC-G) $&  used for calculations of the impedance values, the signals are
" % #
filtered through a discrete Fourier filter. For impedance
Phase A-B-C $& 
 &
, ()
$ calculations of the different faults, three different blocks are
 # $ designed based on [7], [3] and [15]. Within the distance relay
block, the signals needed are sent to each calculation block
The residual compensation factor (K0) is often used in based on the fault impedance algorithm, as seen in Fig. 5. For
distance relay to compensate for the difference between the the top block for calculating the impedance of L-L fault
phase impedance and the ground impedance [4]. The between phase A-B or A-B-G, the Simulink model can be
compensation factor is given in (2), where k is generally a seen in Fig. 6. For three phase faults and three phase faults to
value of 1 or 3 depending on the design [14]. ground the impedance block was simply VA/IA as seen in
Fig. 7. For, the single line to ground block, the sequence
K0 = ( Z0 – Z1 ) / k Z1 (2) compensator factor are calculated in Matlab m-file that run
the Simulink model. The impedance calculation block in
Where Z0 represents the zero sequence impedance and Z1 the Simulink can be seen in Fig. 8.
positive sequence impedance.

The model parameters in Table I are used, and there is still

some modifications needed especially on the reactance side as
we need to get the impedance values in the form of Z=R+jX.
Using a frequency (f) of 50 Hz, the positive and zero sequence
impedances could be calculated as in (3) and (4).

Z1 = R1 +j2(50) L1 = 0.01273+j0.2933 Ω/Km

Z0 = R0 +j2(50) L0 = 0.3864+j1.2963 Ω/Km

Fig. 5. Distance relay model
D. Mho Characteristic for Distance Relay
The standard approach for zones setting is to take the
impedance of the line at 80%, 120% and 200-225%. The line
in question is L1 as has a length of 100 km and is the lower
part of the double-circuit line as seen in Fig. 1. The faults are
located at 30, 50, 80, 90, 100 km in Line L1 and on 110, 120,
150, 175 and 200 km on the extended line L3, which occur
outside of the double-circuit zone. Since the parameters for
all lines are the same (ZL1= ZL2= ZL3), the zone setting for
zone 2 and 3 needs to account for the split of the fault current.
Fig. 6. L-L fault model, between phases A-B and A-B-G
Then, we could use current division as follows.

IFault-L1 = IFault-L3 × ZL2 / (ZL1 + ZL2) = 0.5 IFault-L3

The seen impedance by the relay is the ratio between the

voltage to the current (Z =V / I). Due to unequal fault currents,
for faults in the extended line, the impedance of the L3 part
must be doubled. Fig. 7. Three phase fault model

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Fig. 8. Single line to ground model (A-G)
Fig. 12. Voltages and currents during L-L-G fault (A-B-G) at 30 km.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
The model is ran in Matlab environment and designed to
implement desired faults at specific locations and display the
impedance diagram (R-X diagram). To confirm the correct
operation, the system is ran without any faults, and the voltage
and current waveforms can be seen in Fig. 9. The current and
voltage during a fault, at a distance of 30 km, can be seen in
Figs. 10-13.

Fig. 13. Voltages and currents during a fault A-G at 30 km.

During faults, the three-phase distance relay blocks, which

are connected to the transmission line, calculate the
impedance from the differences of phase voltages and phase
currents, thereby tracking the impedance and based on the
impedance values, a signal could be sent to a circuit breaker
to open. Since the model is a high-voltage of 220 kV and of a
total length of 200 km, as the fault gets closer to the second
Fig. 9. Voltage and current waveforms bus where the two transmission lines meet, there will be an
increase in fluctuations. Therefore, the faults are going to be
broken up into zones. For reference, Zone 0 is added for the
full line impedance (100 km, distance 100%).
A. Faults within Zone 1
The Zone 1 setting is 23.4861∠87.52° Ω. Different faults
were created at different distances of 30, 50 and 80 km, and
the results are shown in Table III. The trajectory of the
measured impedance with time, for different fault types at
different impedances, are shown in Figs. 14-19. The greatest
difference between the Zone 1 at 80 km and the measured
value is for a line to ground fault (A-G) that had a measured
impedance of 22.22∠88.09° Ω. while A-B, A-B-G and A-B-
Fig. 10. Voltage and current waveforms during A-B fault at 30 km. C were at 23.55∠87.5° Ω..
TABLE III. FAULT IMPEDANCE

Fault Fault Impedance Zones (Ω)

Location A-G A-B A-B-G A-B-C-G
30 km 8.74∠87.79° 8.81∠87.52° 8.81∠87.52° 8.81∠87.51°
50 km 14.44∠86.48° 14.69∠87.51° 14.69∠87.51° 14.69∠87.51°
80 km 22.22∠88.09° 23.55∠87.50° 23.55∠87.50° 23.55∠87.50°
90 km 23.67∠90.45° 26.50∠87.46° 26.50∠87.49° 26.51∠87.50°
100 km 17.05∠132.4° 29.49∠87.56° 29.49∠87.56° 29.48∠87.52°
110 km 20.25∠144.8° 35.44∠87.52° 35.44∠87.52° 35.43∠87.50°
120 km 24.27∠154.4° 41.45∠87.54° 41.45∠87.54° 41.42∠87.47°
150 km 39.91∠172.1° 59.58∠87.49° 59.58∠87.49° 59.57∠87.47°
175 km 54.93∠178.7° 74.94∠87.43° 74.94∠87.43° 74.94∠87.42°
Fig. 11. Voltages and currents during a three-phase fault (A-B-C) at 30 km. 200 km 50.17∠130.7° 90.58∠87.42° 90.58∠87.42° 90.57∠87.41°

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Fig. 14. Impedance trajectory at 30 km A-B fault Fig. 17. Impedance trajectory at 30 km A-G fault

Fig. 15. Impedance trajectory at 30 km A-B-C fault Fig. 18. Impedance trajectory at 50 km A-G fault

Fig. 16. Impedance trajectory at 30 km A-B -G fault Fig. 19. Impedance trajectory at 80 km A-G fault

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B. Faults within Zone 2 The Mho relay impedance characteristics have been used
The Zone 2 setting is 41.1047∠87.52° Ω. For faults A-B, with a three zones settings. Based on the results, it clear that
A-B-G and A-B-C the measured impedance value seemed to the distance relay could be applied for extended double-circuit
match fairly closely as seen in Table III. However, the A-G transmission lines, although some minor setting modifications
fault impedance value drops drastically and the phasor angle are needed for more accurate results of a phase to ground (A-
reached over 90° at the 90 km. The trajectory of the measured G) fault. The line is modelled, in Matlab, as a double single-
impedance with time, for A-G fault at 90 km, is shown in Fig. circuit lines for simplification and further investigation
20. possibilities, and the mutual effect is expected to be little.
Then, the model could be used for future fault investigations
for both double-circuit line and double single-circuit lines.
The accuracy of Pi model is accepted for the modelled length
(maximum of 100 km) and hence no need for using uniform
line model. Future work might propose a new setting with a
recommended characteristic of distance relays, and consider
different types of protective relays applicable to the
considered system and investigate the effect of line length in
the proposed modelling here.
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