Switchgear & Protection ~21427

PROTECTIVE RELAYS
Unit - III

Dr. Mahesh S. Narkhede

Electrical Engineering Department
Government Polytechnic, Nashik
[email protected]
https://drmaheshsnarkhede.wordpress.com/
 OUTCOME
After studying this topic you will be able to

► Describe need for different types of relays.

► State the terms related to relays.
► Explain concept of over current and directional relays.
► Explain construction and working principle of various
relays
► Explain setting of relays.
► Solve simple numerical on the PSM and TSM of relays.

2
 Concept of protective relaying:
 An electrical power system consists of generators,
transformers, transmission lines, distribution lines etc. In
the every-day operation of a power system, there is the
possibility of disturbances in normal operation and the
occurrence of faults in the separate parts of power
system equipment
 The most common form of disturbance in normal
operation of electrical equipment is overloading due to
which the flow of current exceeds rated value.
 The most severe and common form of fault is short
circuit.
 Some defects other than short circuit ,are also called as
faults. For instance, the failure of electric current
conducting path due to a break in an electrical
conductor is a type of fault.
SGP Protective Relaying 3
 The short circuit current considerably exceeds the rated
current of the affected part and can disturb the normal
operation of an electrical power system. The short circuit
current leads to damage of the equipment or the circuit
element in which it develops. It also causes a
considerable drop in voltage and frequency.
 An electric power system needs protective devices and
arrangements that will automatically and very quickly
disconnect the faulty section from healthy section to
keep normal operation or initiate an alarm of disturbance
in normal operating conditions.These functions are
performed by systems of protective relays.
 In other words, protective relaying senses faults or the
disturbances in normal operating conditions in any part
of the power system and isolates that part from the
healthy system, or gives an alarm.
SGP Protective Relaying 4
 Desirable Qualities or Fundamental
Requirements of Protective Relaying :
The principal function of protective relaying is to isolate
promptly any element of the power system, when it under
goes a short circuit or starts operating abnormally.The
protective relays should have following following qualities.
1.Selectivity and discrimination.
2.Quickness of action or fastness of operation (Speed).
3.Sensitivity , power consumption.
4.Reliability.
5.Stability.
6.Simplicity and
7.Economy.
SGP Protective Relaying 5
 1.Selectivity and Discrimination
Selectivity is the quality of a protective relaying by which it is able
to “select’ (search out ) correctly the faulty part of the system and
isolate it from the healthy part of the system, by tripping the
nearest circuit breaker.
Also,it should be able to distinguish whether a fault lies within its
zone of protection or outside the zone. The quality,
‘Discrimination’, enables the protective relaying to distinguish
between
i) Normal and abnormal condition
ii) Abnormal condition within its zone of protection
iii) Abnormal condition outside its zone of protection.
The relay should also be able to discriminate between a fault and a
transient condition like power surges or magnetising inrush
current of a transformer. The magnetising inrush current of a
transformer may be 5 to 7 times the full load current.

SGP Protective Relaying 6

If fault occurs at point F as shown, the short circuit current
Isc will flow through the circuit breakers CB-1,CB-2 and CB-
3. So only circuit breaker CB-3 should operate. Then we say
that the protective relaying is having selectivity.

SGP Protective Relaying 7

2. Reliability
It means ‘trust - worthiness’. The protective relaying should
operate reliably when a fault occurs in its zone of protection.
In other words, it should not fail to operate in the event of
faults in its ,zone of protection. The failure of protective relay
may be due to the failure or fault in the component or
element of protective relay systems. Its components are the
protective relay, C.T., P.T., battery, circuit breakers, etc. To
obtain a high degree of reliability,care should be given to the
design,testing,installation,maintenance of the various
elements of the protective system. The relay contact
material, contact pressure are also very important aspects
as far as, reliability is considered. A typical range of
reliability of a protective system is 98 % to 99% in the Soviet
Union and in other countries it is 80 % to 90 %.

SGP Protective Relaying 8

3.Sensitivity
Sensitivity is the ability of relay system to operate when the
operating current or fault current just exceeds its preset value
called as pick-up current. The relay should not operate when the
current in the relay coil is below its pick-up value.
Sensitivity of a protective system is expressed by a sensitivity
factor, Ks.
It is required that the sensitivity factor should not be less than
1.5 to 2 in value.
4.Quickness of action/ fastness of operation: (Speed &Time
of operation)
Quick disconnection on occurrence of a short circuit decreases
the amount of damage, helps maintaining the stability of
machines operating in parallel, ensures normal

SGP Protective Relaying 9

operating conditions in the healthy section of the system.
Also,it decreases the possibility of spreading of a fault into the
power system.Though fast fault clearing is desirable, time lag
is purposely provided in many protective systems for the
following purposes.
i)To distinguish between main and back up protection.
ii)To prevent the operation of relay during transients, motor
starting currents, load permissible fluctuations etc.

5.Stability
It is the quality of a protective system by virtue of which the
protective system remains inoperative i.e.it does not operate
and remains stable under certain specified conditions such as
system disturbances, through faults (i.e faults outside its zone
of protection), transients etc.

SGP Protective Relaying 10

6. Simplicity
The protective relaying system should be simple so that it can be
easily maintained. Reliability is very closely related to simplicity.
If the protective system is simpler, there will be greater reliability.
7. Economy
The cost of protective scheme should be about 1% of the total
cost of equipment to be protected, but should not be more than 5
% of the total cost of the equipment to be protected except when
the equipment to be protected has got utmost importance (i.e.
generators,main transmission lines, etc).Now a days micro-
processor-based protective relays are used, the cost of scheme
with microprocessors is about 15 times more than those without
microprocessors.
If the computer performs other control functions in addition to
protection, then the micro-processor based protective scheme is
economical otherwise not.

SGP Protective Relaying 11

Functions of Protective Relaying
1) To give an alarm or to close the trip circuit of circuit
breaker so as to disconnect any element of power system
when it undergoes short circuit, or it starts operating
abnormally.
2) To disconnect the faulty part as quickly as possible to
minimize the damage to faulty part and to improve the
system stability and service continuity.
3) To disconnect the part which starts operating abnormally
so as to prevent the subsequent faults.
4) To provide an indication of the types of fault.
5) To locate the faultyarea in which the fault has occurred.
6) To localise the effect of fault by disconnecting the faulty
part from the healthy part causing least disturbance to the
healthy system.

SGP Protective Relaying 12

Basic Relay Terminology:
 Relay: A relay is an automatic device by means of which
an electrical circuit (trip circuit or alarm circuit etc) is
controlled (opened or closed) with a change in the same
or another electrical circuit.

 Protective Relay : A protective relay is an automatic

device which detects an abnormal condition (any
disturbance or fault) in an electrical circuit and initiates
the operation of a circuit breaker to isolate the faulty
element of the system. In some cases it may give an
alarm or some visible indication to watchful operator.

SGP Protective Relaying 13

Protective relays detect the abnormal conditions in electrical
circuits by constantly measuring the electrical quantities (e.g.
I,V,f,Z,phase angle etc.) which are different under normal and
fault conditions.. After detecting the fault, the relay operates to
close the trip circuit of the C.B. which results in the opening of
the C.B. contacts and hence in the disconnection of the faulty
part of the system.
Relay Time: An important characteristic of a relay is Relay
Time. Relay Time is length of the time from the instant when
the actuating element is energized to the instant when the
relay contacts are closed.
Sometimes it is desirable and necessary to control the
operating time of a relay. For this purpose, mechanical
accessories are used with relays.

SGP Protective Relaying 14

 Pick-up current :It is the minimum current in the relay
coil at which the relay starts to operate.
Reset Current / Voltage : A relay is said to dropout or
reset when it comes back to original position i.e. when
relay contacts open from its closed position. The value of
an actuating quantity current or voltage below which the
relay resets is called reset value (Current/Voltage) of
that relay.
Reset Time : It is defined as the time taken by the relay
from the instant of isolating the fault to the moment when
the fault is removed and the relay can be reset.
Current setting: The current setting of relay is
expressed in percentage ratio of relay pick up current to
the rated secondary current of CT.

SGP Protective Relaying 15

 For example, suppose, you want that, an over current
relay should operate when the system current just
crosses 125% of rated current. If the relay is rated with 1
A, the normal pick up current of the relay is 1 A and it
should be equal to secondary rated current of current
transformer connected to the relay.
Then,the relay will be operated when the current of CT
secondary becomes more than or equal to 1.25 A.
As per definition,

The current setting is sometimes referred as current plug

setting.
The current setting of over current relay is generally
ranged from 50 % to 200 %, in steps of 25 %. For earth
fault relay it is from 10% to 70% in steps of 10%.
SGP Protective Relaying 16
Current setting is usually achieved by the use of tappings on
the relay coil. The taps are brought out to a plug bridge as
shown in above figure. The number of turns on the relay coil
is changed by changing position of the plug bridge. It
changes the torque on the disc and hence the pick up value
also.
SGP Protective Relaying 17
Plug Setting Multiplier (PSM) :It is defined as the ratio of
fault current in relay coil to the pick up current.
PSM = Fault current in relay coil / Pick up Current or
PSM = secondary Current / Relay current setting
Time Setting :
• The operating time of inverse time relays can be set at a
desired value. The time setting is adjustable from 0 to
1,i.e. 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, …0.9,1. The time setting is usually
known as the time multiplier setting (TMS). The value
selected is a multiple of the operating time shown on the
time/current characteristic curve drawn for a time setting
of 1. i.e. corresponding to TMS = 1 as shown in figure
https://www.electrical4u.com/pick-up-current-current-setting-plug-setting-multiplier-and-
time-setting-multiplier-of-relay/

SGP Protective Relaying 18

• TMS:The time multiplier setting for an inverse time relay
is defined as the ratio of the required time of operation
(T) to the time obtained from the relay characteristic at
TMS = 1.0 and using the PSM equivalent to maximum
fault current.

SGP Protective Relaying 19

• Suppose that at a particular value of the current or plug
setting multiplier (PSM), the operating time is 4.0
seconds with TMS = 1. The operating time for the same
current with TMS = 0.1 will be 4.0 x 0.1 = 0.4 second. In
other words, if the time from the curve is 4.0 seconds
(TM) and the operating time required is 0.4 second (T)
the TMS must be,
TMS = T/TM =0.4/4.0 = 0.1.
Where,
T = the required time of operation and
TM = the time obtained from the relay characteristic curve
at TMS = 1.0 and employing the PSM equivalent to
maximum fault current.

SGP Protective Relaying 20

 Example :
• Determine the operating time of an over current relay of the current
rating of 5A having a current setting of 150 % and TMS = 0.4, C.T.
ratio = 400/5, fault current = 2400A At TMS=1, opening time at
various PSM’S are
PSM 2 4 8 10 20

Operating Time 10 5 3 2.8 2.4

 Solution : Relay current setting = 150 % i.e. the pick up current will
be more by 50% than 5A i.e. 5 x 1.5 = 7.5A
C.T.ratio = 400/5 = 80
P.S.M= Primary Fault Current / (Relay current setting x C.T.ratio)
2400/(7.5x80) = 4
i.e. P.S.M = 4, Operating time from the given table for PSM = 4 is 5
seconds. This time is for TMS = 1, Therefore the operating time for
TMS = 04 will be 5 x 0.4 = 2.0 seconds
SGP Protective Relaying 21
Basic Relays
Most of the relays used in the power system are of electro - mechanical
type.They work on the following two main operating principles.
Electromagnetic attraction (actuated by d.c.or a.c.quantities)
Electromagnetic induction (actuated by a.c. quantities only).
Thus, the basic relays can be classified as
Electromagnetic attraction type and
Electromagnetic induction type
Electromagnetic Attraction Type Relays
The important types of electromagnetic attraction type relays are
1)Attracted armature type relays,
2)Plungcr type or solenoid type relays,
3)Balanced beam type relays.

SGP Protective Relaying 22

Balanced Beam Type Relay:

It consists of a horizontal beam pivoted at its center with one

armature attached each of its side. There are two coils as
shown. Under normal operating conditions, the current through
the operating coil is such that the beam remains in horizontal
position till the operating force becomes more than restraining
force.
When a fault occurs, the current in the operating coil becomes
more than the pick up value and the beam tilts,i.e. attracted
to close the trip circuit of circuit breaker to disconnect,
SGP Protective Relaying 23
the faulty section. The current in the operating coil gives
operating force while the current in the other coil gives
restraining force. The beam is given slight mechanical bias
by means of a spring such that under normal conditions,
the contacts are kept open.
In impedance balance relay, the two coils are energised by
voltage and Current.
Operating Principle:
The net torque is given by,
Net Torque, T = K1I12-K2I22(neglecting spring effect)
where I1 = current in operating coil
I2= current in restraining coil
K1 and K2 are constants.
SGP Protective Relaying 24
When the relay is on the verge of operation, the net torque
is zero, therefore, 0 = K1I12-K2I22
Therefore , K1I12=K2I22
i.e. (I1/I2)2 = K2/K1 .
i.e. I1/I2 = K2/K1
The operating characteristic of the relay is is an approximate
straight line. It is slightly curved for low currents due to the
effect of spring.

SGP Protective Relaying 25

 Electromagnetic Induction Type Relays :
Electromagnetic induction relays are most widely used for
protective relaying purposes involving only A.C. quantities.
Induction relays operate on the principle of the induction
motor. Here torque is produced when one alternating flux
reacts with eddy currents induced in a disc called rotor, by
another alternating flux of the same frequency but displaced in
time and space.,In other words, the torque in these relays is
produced by the interaction of one of the magnetic fields with
the eddy currents induced in the disc by the other.
Hence, an induction relay essentially consists of a pivoted
aluminium disc placed in two alternating magnetic fields.
There are two types of construction of induction relays as:
• The shaded pole type and The watthour - metric type.
SGP Protective Relaying 26
 Shaded - pole type induction disc relay :
• Figure shows the general arrangement of shaded - pole
structure.
• It consists of a pivoted aluminium disc which rotates in
the air gap of an electromagnet shown.One-half of each
pole of the electromagnet is surrounded by a copper
band known as shading ring or shading band.
• When it is actuated by a.c. current, the two rings have
eddy currents induced in them by the alternating flux of
the electromagnet. The magnetic flux set up by these
induced currents cause the flux in the portion of the iron
surrounded by the shading rings to lag in phase by 
(400 to 500 ) behind the flux in the unshaded portion of
the shaded poles. Due to the interaction of the two fluxes
differing in phase, will produce the necessary torque to
rotate the disc. The torque is proportional to the product
of the two fluxes.
SGP Protective Relaying 27
• If  s and  u are assumed to be proportional to the
current I in the relay coil. Then,
T  I2 sin

SGP Protective Relaying 28

SGP Protective Relaying 29
 Watt-hour-meter type induction - disc relay :
• This type of construction is employed in watthour meters
(energy meters) and hence the name of the relay of this
type is watthour - meter type induction - disc relay.
• Figure shows the general arrangement of this type of
relay.
• It consists of two electromagnets (upper and lower). A
pivoted aluminium disc is arranged between the poles of
the two electromagnets. The upper electromagnet carries
two windings primary and secondary windings. The
primary winding carries the relay current I1 while the
secondary winding is connected to the winding over the
lower magnet as shown in figure.

SGP Protective Relaying 30

SGP Protective Relaying 31
• The current I1 , in the primary winding induces e.m.f. (by
transformer action) in the secondary. Due to this, e.m.f.
induced in the secondary, a current I2 is circulated in it.
The currents I1and I2 produces alternating fluxes 1 and
2 respectively. Each flux cuts the aluminium disc. The
two fluxes 1 and 2 differ in phase by an angle  . The
two fluxes produce the driving torque in the disc which is
proportional to 12sin .

SGP Protective Relaying 32

 Thermal relay:
• Figure shows schematic arrangement of this relay.
Current proportional to system current is made to flow
through heating coil of the relay.

SGP Protective Relaying 33

The bimetallic strip gets heatamakes the contact of insulated
are with the bimetallic striped by means of heat produced by
heating coil. A moving contact is fixed to an insulated pivoted
arm. The spring “S” makes the contact of insulted arm with
the bimetallic strip. The tension of spring “S” can be changed
by movement of the sector shaped plate “A”. At room
temperature , the strip is straight but when current flows
through heating coil, it bends due to which tension of the
sopring is reduced at the set value of current.Th”e bedning
of strip is sufficient to close the relay contacts against the
force of spring “S”. Thus trip circuit of breaker gets signal for
operation.
Such type of ocvercurrent relay is mostly used for protection
of Motor.
SGP Protective Relaying 34
 Static relay :
• Static Relay is a relau without any moving parts .It is a
combination of various devices. Its output is to give
command to trip circuit.

SGP Protective Relaying 35

• The rectifier receives AC signal from transducer or
secondary of CT. It recifies AC signal into DC and feeds
it to relay measuring ubit.Relay measuring ubit consists
of Comparator, Level Detector, Filter , Voltage stabilizer.
The output of relay measuring unit is amplified by
ampliier. The amplifier ouptut is feed to output device
which actuates the trip circuit. Since all devices except
output device are of either semiconductor type, their
speeds of operation are fast.Hence static relays are
faster in operation than electromagnetic relays.

SGP Protective Relaying 36

Static Over current relay :
static over current relays offer several advantages over the
electromagnetic form:
1. Low CT burden – The VA consumption of static
overcurrent relays is quite low (7 mVA to 100 mVA) as
compared with that of electromagnetic relays (1VA to 3VA)
so that smaller CTs are required. The performance of CT
under short-circuit condition is also improved.
2. Compact in size – The size of a single three-phase
overcurrent relay may be about one-fourth of three
electromagnetic relays. Hence less panel space is required
in case of static overcurrent relays.

SGP Protective Relaying 37

3. Possibility of Instantaneous Reset. In case of static
overcurrent relays instantaneous reset is possible. This
is due to the absence of moving parts, which facilitates
the application of automatic reclosing of breakers.
4. No over-reaching tendencies and more accurate time-
current characteristic.
5. Less maintenance, long life and not affected by shock
and vibration.

SGP Protective Relaying 38

The block diagram of an instantaneous over current relay is
shown in following figure. The same construction may be
used for under-voltage, overvoltage or earth fault relays
too.

The secondaries of the line CTs are connected to a

summation circuit (not shown in the figure). The output of
this summation CT is fed to an auxiliary CT, whose output
is rectified, smoothened and supplied to the measuring unit
(level detector).

SGP Protective Relaying 39

The measuring unit determines whether the quantity has
attained the threshold value (set value) or not. When the
input to measuring unit is less than the threshold value,
the output of the level detector is zero.
For an overcurrent relay-
For Iinput < Ithreshold ; Ioutput = 0
For Iinput > Ithreshold ; Ioutput = Present
In an actual relay, Ithreshold can be adjusted.
After operation of the measuring unit, the output is
amplified by the amplifier. The amplified output is given
to the output circuit to cause trip/alarm. If time delay is
desired, a timing circuit is introduced before the level
detector.
SGP Protective Relaying 40
 Comparison between Static and Electromagnetic Relay

SGP Protective Relaying 41

 Microprocessor Based relay:
• This relay is able to combine a large number of
protective and monitoring functions in single relay unit.

SGP Protective Relaying 42

 Microprocessor Based Over current relay:

SGP Protective Relaying 43

 Microprocessor Based Over current relay:


Current is taken from C.T. and given to I to V converter
because many electronics circuit require voltage signal for
operation.

The A.C. voltage is converted into D.C. voltage by using
rectifier.

This D.C. voltage is proportional to load current only.

The output of rectifier is given to Multiplexer.

The Multiplexer gives output to A/D Converter where Analog
DC voltage is converted to Digital form (in form of O and 1 i.e.
binary form).

Microprocessor understands only codes in 0 and 1 form.

SGP Protective Relaying 44

• Microprocessor gives S/C (start of conversion) signal to
A/D converter (I.e. analog to digital conversion is started
and HP gives permission to A/D convertor for this by
sending S/C)
• When converting from analog to digital is over (finish) then
A/D converter sends E/C signal to HP (E/C – End of
Conversion).
• When work of A/D is over then up compare the magnitude
of this incoming current with required current value (I.e. set
value or reference value).
• If incoming value is more – fault is occurring and trip signal
is send to CB circuit breaker.

SGP Protective Relaying 45

 Salient Features / Advantages of Microprocessor
based relay
1) Single relay for multiple functions.
2) High flexibility
3) Digital display of quantities.
4) Intelligent Self monitoring feature.
5) Increased reliability.
6) Data interface access.
7) User friendly.
8) High speed.

SGP Protective Relaying 46

3.5 Over current relay-Time current characteristics
• A protective relay that operates when the current flowing
in the circuit reaches a predetermined value is called
Over current Relay. The predetermined value of the
current at which the relay starts operating by initiating a
trip signal is known as its pick-up value.
• The applications of over current relay include protection
of distribution lines,large motors, power equipment, etc.
Most of the over current relays used for overcurrent
protection are of electromagnetic type. But due to the
rapid evolution of technology, numerical overcurrent
relays based on microprocessors or microcontrollers are
used nowadays for over current protection.

SGP Protective Relaying 47

Types of Over current Relays :
Based on the relay operating time-characteristics, over
current relay can be classified into the following types,
• Definite time over current relay
• Instantaneous over current relay
• Inverse time over current relay
• Inverse definite minimum time (IDMT) over current relay
• Very inverse time over current relay
• Extremely inverse time over current relay.

SGP Protective Relaying 48

Definite Time Over current Relays :
These relays operate after a predetermined time when the
current exceeds its pick-up value. Here, the operating time
of the relay does not depend on the magnitude of the
current above the pick-up value. A time delay mechanism is
provided to get desired operating time.
Instantaneous Over current Relays :
They operate immediately when the current exceeds its
pick-up value without intentional time delay. It is given as,
I2*t = k (constant)
Where I is the current in the relay coil and t is Relay time.
SGP Protective Relaying 49
Inverse Time Over current Relays :
In these, the operating time of the relay reduces as the fault
quantity increases in magnitude. Normal practice is such
that they are more inverse when nearer to pick-up value
and become less inverse as it increases.

SGP Protective Relaying 50

Inverse Definite Minimum Time (IDMT) Over current
Relays :
These relays have the combined characteristics of definite
Time and inverse time relays. The IDMT relays operate as
Inverse time relay i.e., there exists an inverse relationship
between time and current for lower values of fault current.
While for higher values of fault current the relay acts as the
definite time relay where the operating time is independent
of fault current

SGP Protective Relaying 51

Very Inverse Time Over current Relays :
These relays exhibit more inverse characteristics between
time and current than that of an inverse time or IDMT relay.
Extremely Inverse Time Over current Relays :
The time-current characteristics for these relays are
steeper than that of very inverse over current
characteristics. They are required for fuse coordination and
thermal protection of transformers, induction motors,
alternators, expensive cables, etc.

SGP Protective Relaying 52

 Time-Current Characteristics :

SGP Protective Relaying 53

3.7 Distance Relaying (Distance protection Relay)
What is Distance protection?
Distance protection is a type of power system protection
that is designed to detect and isolate faults on power
transmission lines. It works by measuring the impedance of
the line and comparing it to a pre-set value. When a fault
occurs, the impedance of the line changes, and the
distance relay detects this change and sends a signal to
the circuit breaker to isolate the faulted section of the line.

SGP Protective Relaying 54

Distance protection is commonly used for transmission
lines, where faults are more likely to occur due to the high
voltage and current levels. It is a reliable and fast-acting
form of protection, capable of detecting faults quickly and
accurately, which helps to minimize damage to the power
system and prevent power outages.

SGP Protective Relaying 55

Working Principle Distance protection
Distance protection is a type of protection relay that
operates on the principle of impedance measurement to
detect and isolate faults in a power system.
Impedance measurement: Distance protection relays
measure the impedance of the power system using the
voltage and current signals at the relaying point.
Impedance is the ratio of voltage to current in a circuit, and
it varies depending on the distance between the relay and
the fault.

SGP Protective Relaying 56

Impedance characteristic: The relay's impedance
characteristic is a plot of the measured impedance versus
the distance from the relay. This characteristic is
programmed into the relay and is based on the
characteristics of the power system components.

Fault detection: When a fault occurs in the power system,

the impedance measured by the relay changes, and the
impedance characteristic is used to determine the location
of the fault. The relay compares the measured impedance
to the impedance characteristic and operates if the
measured impedance falls outside the characteristic.

SGP Protective Relaying 57

Zone settings: The impedance characteristic is divided
into zones, and the relay is programmed with zone settings.
Each zone represents a distance from the relay, and the
zone settings determine the relay's operating time for faults
in that zone. The time delay is set to allow upstream
protection to operate before the distance protection
operates.

Fault clearing: When the relay operates, it sends a trip

signal to the circuit breaker to isolate the fault. The trip
signal is sent after the time delay set by the zone settings
has elapsed. The circuit breaker opens, and the fault is
cleared.

SGP Protective Relaying 58

In summary, distance protection relays detect faults by
measuring the impedance of the power system and
comparing it to a programmed impedance characteristic.
The relay operates if the measured impedance falls outside
the characteristic and sends a trip signal to the circuit
breaker to isolate the fault.

SGP Protective Relaying 59

Fault clearing: When the relay operates, it sends a trip
signal to the circuit breaker to isolate the fault. The trip
signal is sent after the time delay set by the zone settings
has elapsed. The circuit breaker opens, and the fault is
cleared.
In summary, distance protection relays detect faults by
measuring the impedance of the power system and
comparing it to a programmed impedance characteristic.
The relay operates if the measured impedance falls outside
the characteristic and sends a trip signal to the circuit
breaker to isolate the fault.

SGP Protective Relaying 60

Definite Distance Relay: The constructional design of this
type of relay can be a balanced beam-type or induction disc
type that operates instantaneously for the fault up to a
predetermined distance from the relay. The below shows
the balanced beam type definite distance relay.

SGP Protective Relaying 61

Definite Distance Relay:

Construction :

It consists of a balanced beam pivoted about its central

point and two armatures of the two electromagnets
attached at the two ends of the beam. Two electromagnets
are placed below two armatures and are energized by
current and voltage transformers respectively which are
connected in the circuit to be protected. The beam is
provided with a moving contact in order to close the
contacts of the trip circuit. The design of the relay is in such
a way that the torque produced by the two electromagnets
are in the opposite directions.

SGP Protective Relaying 62

Working Prinicple of Definite Distance Relay :

Under normal conditions, the restraining torque i.e., the

torque provided by the restraining coil due to the voltage
element, is greater than that of the operating torque
provided by the operating coil due to the current element
and thus the relay contacts remain open. Hence the relay is
inoperative.

When a fault occurs within the protected zone, the voltage

applied to the relay decreases and the current increases
i.e., the ratio V/I which is the impedance also decreases

SGP Protective Relaying 63

Once the ratio falls below the preset value, the operating
torque prevails the restraining torque which in turn pulls the
beam towards the operating coil side. This causes the
moving contact to close the contacts of the trip circuit and
thus the relay operates by opening the circuit breaker.

The torque produced by the voltage coil is proportional to

V2 while that by the current coil is I2. The relay will operate
when the torque produced by the voltage coil is less than
that produced by the current coil. From this, we can write,

SGP Protective Relaying 64

Where K1 and K2 are constants that depend on the ampere-
turns of the two electromagnets. Thus, the setting value of
the relay can be changed on the coil.

SGP Protective Relaying 65

Characteristic of Definite Distance Relay :

For the entire length AB of the line, the time of operation

remains constant, irrespective of distance. But if a fault
occurs in the section of line which is not protected, the
operating time becomes suddenly infinite. Towards the end of
the protected zone, the curve rises gradually. The quality of
protection provided by the definite distance relays is superior
to that provided by over current
SGP relays.
Protective Relaying 66
Time Distance Relay :

SGP Protective Relaying 67

Construction of Time Distance Relay :

In a time distance relay, the operating time of the relay is

proportional to the distance of fault from the relay point.
The operating time for the faults nearer to the relay is less
compared to the faults away from the relay. Thus,

Operating time ∝ V/I ∝ Z ∝ Distance

The construction of a time distance relay is similar to the

induction type over current relay with two current-driven
electromagnets with a rotating disc between them. The
spindle that carries the disc is attached to another spindle
by a spiral spring coupling.

SGP Protective Relaying 68

The moving contact is connected to the upper spindle
which closes the trip circuit when comes under contact with
trip circuit contacts. The trip circuit is normally kept open by
placing the upper spindle at a position by an armature
against the pole face of an electromagnet (restraining coil)
excited by the voltage of the circuit to be protected.

Woking of Time Distance Relay :When there is no fault in

the line i.e., under normal operating conditions, the force
exerted by the restraining coil will be greater than the force
exerted by the operating coil. This doesn't allow the upper
spindle to rotate and it remains at the same position holding
moving contact away from the trip circuit. Thus the trip
circuit is left open in normal conditions i.e., the relay is
inoperative.
SGP Protective Relaying 69
When a fault occurs, the disc starts rotating and it also
rotates the spindle which carries it. The rotation of the
spindle causes the spiral spring to wound up till the tension
of the spring is sufficient to pull the upper spindle from the
force exerted by the pole face of the restraining coil.

Once the force exerted by the operating coil becomes

greater than the restraining coil. The upper spindle starts
rotating and closes the trip circuit by making moving
contact in contact with the trip circuit contacts and thus
opens the circuit breaker to isolate the faulty section.

SGP Protective Relaying 70

3.8 Directional relay (watt-hour meter) :

SGP Protective Relaying 71

An over current relay will operate for fault current flow in
any direction, i.e., either in forward or in the reverse
direction. In order to achieve the operation of the relay in
the forward direction, a directional feature is added to the
over current relay by adding a directional relay to the over
current relay, such a relay will respond to fault flow in a
particular direction.

Principle of Directional Overcurrent Relay :

A directional over current relay operates on the same

principle as that of an over current relay. But in an over
current relay, the driving torque is developed due to the
magnetic fields produced by the operating current of the
circuit given through a current transformer.
SGP Protective Relaying 72
While in the case of directional over current relay the
driving torque is developed due to the magnetic fields
produced by both the operating current and voltage of the
circuit in which it is connected for protection. The relay
operates when the current exceeds a predetermined set
value in a specified direction.

Construction of Directional Over current Relay :

The schematic diagram of the directional over current relay

is shown in previous slide. It consists of two relay units
mounted in a common case, namely

1) Directional relay unit, and

2)SGPNon-directional or overProtective
current relay unit.
Relaying 73
1. Directional element: It is essentially a directional power
relay which operates when power flows in a specific
direction. The potential coil of this element is connected
through a potential transformer (P.T.) to the system
voltage. The current coil of the element is energised
through a C.T. by the circuit current. This winding is carried
over the upper magnet of the non-directional element. The
trip contacts (1 and 2) of the directional element are
connected in series with the secondary circuit of the over
current element. Therefore, the latter element cannot start
to operate until its secondary circuit is completed. In other
words, the directional element must operate first (i.e. con­
tacts I and 2 should close) in order to operate the over
current element.

SGP Protective Relaying 74

2. Non-directional element: It is an over current element
The spindle of the disc of this element carries a moving
contact which closes the fixed contacts (trip circuit
contacts) after the operation of direc­tional element.

It may be noted that plug-setting bridge is also provided in

the relay for current setting .The tappings are provided on
the upper magnet of over current element and are
connected to the bridge.

SGP Protective Relaying 75

Operation: Under normal operating conditions, power
flows in the normal direction in the circuit protected by the
relay. Therefore, Induction Type Directional Over current
Relay (upper element) does not operate, thereby keeping
the over current element (lower element) unenergised.
However, when a short-circuit occurs, there is a tendency
for the current or power to flow in the reverse direction.
Should this happen, the disc of the upper element rotates
to bridge the fixed contacts 1 and 2. This completes the
circuit for over current element.

SGP Protective Relaying 76

The disc of this element rotates and the moving contact
attached to it closes the trip circuit. This operates the circuit
breaker which isolates the faulty section. The two relay
elements are so arranged that final tripping of the current
controlled by them is not made till the following conditions
are satisfied :

1) current flows in a direction such as to operate the

directional element.

2) current in the reverse direction exceeds the pre-set

value.

3) excessive current persists for a period corresponding to

the time setting of over current element.
SGP Protective Relaying 77
Application (Need) of Directional Over current Relay :

It is used in parallel feeder protection ..

SGP Protective Relaying 78

Non-directional relays A1 and B1 are required at the
sending end of the feeders. The direction of the operation
relays is indicated by the arrowheads (↔). At the receiving
end of the feeders, directional overcurrent relays are
required. The relays A2 and B2 are directional overcurrent
relays. The directions of the operation of these relays are
indicated by the arrowhead (←). When there is a fault F on
the feeder the current in the feeder reverses and it makes
directional relay A2 operate and trips the feeder. Thus, the
faulty feeder is isolated from the system, and continuity of
the supply remains through the healthy feeder.

SGP Protective Relaying 79

3.9 Operation of current and voltage Differential Relay

Differential Relay Working Principle

Differential relay works on the principle of comparison

between the phase angle & two or more same electrical
quantities magnitudes.

SGP Protective Relaying 80

In the above differential relay circuit, there are two current
transformers which are connected to any face of the power
transformer like one CT is connected on the primary side
and the other is connected at the secondary side of the PT
(power transformer). This relay simply compares the flow of
currents on both sides. If there is any unbalance in the
current flow of the circuit then this relay tends to operate.

These relays can be current balance differential, voltage

balance differential & percentage differential relays.

SGP Protective Relaying 81

Current Balance Differential Relay

This differential relay works whenever there is a fault in the

protected region then there will be a variation in the
entering & leaving current of that region. So by comparing
these currents either in phase or magnitude or in both, we
can detect the fault within the protected region. If the
difference beats a fixed value then this relay compares the
two currents & transmits a trip signal to the circuit breaker..
The differential relay protection circuit connections for the
normal condition or external fault & during internal fault are
shown in the following figure correspondingly.

SGP Protective Relaying 82

When the flow of current into the protected region is
dissimilar i.e (I1 – I2 ≠ 0) circulating current operates the
relay
SGP Protective Relaying 83
Voltage Balance Differential Relay

The two CTs are simply connected at both sides of the element
to be protected that is alternator winding which is shown in the
above figure. This type of relay simply compares two voltages
either in phase or magnitude or in both & it trips the relay circuit
if the difference exceeds a fixed set value.
SGP Protective Relaying 84
The CT’s primary windings have similar current ratios which
are connected with the pilot wire in series. CTs secondary
windings are connected to the operating coil of the relay.

The flow of current in both the main windings of CTs will be

the same at normal operating conditions, so, there is no
flow of current in the operating coil of a relay.

In the faulty conditions, a phasor difference will exist within

the primary coil’s currents. Thus, there is also a difference
in voltage at the second winding. Now a phasor difference
will exist in the secondary coil’s voltage which is fed to the
operating coil of the relay.

So relay will operate under fault condition.

SGP Protective Relaying 85
 References:
1.https://www.electricaldeck.com/
2.https://www.elprocus.com/

SGP Protective Relaying 86

 THANK YOU

HAPPY LEARNING!
Dr.Mahesh S. Narkhede
Electrical Engineering Department
Government Polytechnic, Nashik
[email protected]
https://drmaheshsnarkhede.wordpress.com/