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A New Power Swing Detection Scheme for Distance Relay Operations

Article · January 2009

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 A New Power Swing Detection Scheme for
Distance Relay Operations
Ahmad Farid Bin Abidin, Azah Mohamed, Hussain Shareef
.Many techniques have been introduced to block the trip
Abstract—This paper presents a new detection scheme based on signals during power swing. One of the earliest techniques is
the derivative of the line reactive power as seen by a relay to prevent the using of a negative sequence current magnitude and a
distance relay mal-operation during power swings. This proposed derivative of current angle to dictate the relay operation during
scheme overcomes the shortcoming of conventional power swing
fault and power swings [4]. This technique is very fast by
detector (PSD) by removing the pre-defined R-X diagram. The
conventional PSD has the difficulty in obtaining the timer setting at sending the blocking signals in 10ms according to the test
pre-defined R-X diagram due to varying cycle of power swings. To conducted on the Nordic 32 lines system. Although the results
illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed detector, the simulation were promising in blocking false trip signals during power
were conducted on the IEEE 39 bus test system using the PSS/E swing, the possibility of false trip signals during fault
software. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed clearance was noted. A combination of waveform of swing
detection technique to distinguish between a fault, fault clearance and
center’s voltage (WSCV) and synthetic negative sequence
power swing in order to activate the correct relay trip signals during
power swings. vector has been utilized to block the tripping signals during
power swing [5]. The technique seems to be rigorous in
discriminating power swing and high fault resistance for
Keywords—distance relay, line reactive power, power swing protection purposes. However, it requires two computationally
detector (PSD), power swings heavy steps of derivative operation for WSCV. There is also a
time delay of about 30-40 ms before a power swing blocking
I. INTRODUCTION scheme can be activated and hence the method is relatively
slow as compared to the technique in [4].
P ower oscillation which is inherent to power systems may
result from any event such as line switching, short circuit
faults, generator tripping or load shedding. During power
A technique based on Vcosθ was introduced in which the
technique takes 30-50 ms to activate a power swing blocking
oscillation, the measured apparent impedance, Za at relay scheme [6]. However, further testing is needed in larger power
location may decrease and it could enter the relay tripping systems before the existing technique can be deployed to a
zone. For this situation, the relay needs to make a proper distance relay. The derivative of real power and reactive power
justification either to activate the tripping signals or to block has been integrated to develop an unblocking scheme for
the tripping signals. Power oscillation can be classified into distance protection during symmetrical faults in power systems
two type, which is, stable swing and unstable swing [1,2]. [7-8] . This technique is very complicated and computationally
During stable swing, tripping actions should be avoided at all inefficient since it requires instantaneous product of voltage,
costs [2]. When a power swing occurs, a change appears in the current and angle to obtain the real and reactive powers. The
relative phase angle between two groups of generators [1-3]. unblocking scheme sends the trip signals after 30 ms in the
As consequences, the measured apparent impedance is event of a fault.
oscillating during power swing and it may initiate the distance A more advanced technique using adaptive neuro fuzzy
relay to send false trip signals due to low measured impedance system has been developed to block the relay trip signals
during power swing. during power swings [9]. However, no justification has been
done on Zone 3 relay operation setting considering that this
zone is the most vulnerable zone during power swings. In
addition, the relay response time is more than 40 ms which is
very slow as compared to other techniques [4-8]. In this paper,
a new detection approach by using the derivative of the line
reactive power has been proposed to block false tripping
signals during power swings. The proposed detector has been
tested on the IEEE 39 bus system. A comparison with the
technique in [4] is also made to ascertain the validity of the
proposed approach.
 II. DISTANCE PROTECTION DURING TRANSIENT INSTABILITY (2)
Transient stability is the ability of the system to withstand
contingencies by surviving the transient conditions to where Z T = Z Line + Z1 + Z 2
acceptable steady-state operation [10-11]. It deals with the
effect of large and sudden disturbances such as the occurrence S2 = E2 ( E1 cos θ − E2 sin θ − E2 ZT )* (3)
of a fault, the sudden outage of a line or the sudden application
or removal of loads [12]. The fundamental phenomena At transmission lines since the reactance component is more
appearing in a power system in case of transient instability are dominant as compare to the resistance component, then,
power oscillations. Generally, power oscillations can be equation (2) becomes,
divided into three different categories [1];
i. Local plant mode oscillations or inter machine S2 = E2 ( E1 cos θ − jE2 sin θ − E2 jX T )* (4)
oscillations with a frequency range of 0.7 - 2 Hz (6 Hz),
ii. Inter-area oscillations, where groups of generators are
where ZT ≈ jX T
swinging against each other in the frequency range of 0.4
- 0.7 Hz
iii. Large sub-systems oscillating against each other where By expanding equation (3), we get,
the swinging frequency usually is in the order of 0.1 - 0.3 S2 = (E1E2 sin θ X T ) + j ( E1E2 cos θ + E22 jXT ) (5)
Hz.
Considering the relation between apparent power, real power
Power oscillations may be the source of incorrect distance and reactive power which is give by,
protection behavior as the cycle times of the oscillations are in
the same time range as the timer settings of the distance S 2 = P2 + jQ2 (6)
protection. The two machine system in Fig. 1 is used to
analyze the performance of distance protection during power
oscillations [4]. By studying the apparent impedance as seen Hence, the real part of equation (5) can be written as,
by a relay located at bus a, the different transfer angles the P2 = E1 E2 sin θ X T (7)
effect of power oscillations can be examined. The analysis
made in this section is similar to the one given by Kundur in
From (7), the transmission angle, θ is described as,
[1].

θ = sin −1 (X T P2 E1 E2 ) (8)

The measured apparent impedance seen by the a relay at the

bus a, Z a during a power swing can be derived by considering
the following equation,
I a = (E1∠θ − E2∠0) (Zline + Z1 + Z2 ) (9)
Va = E1∠θ − I a Z1 (10)

Z a = Va I a = (E1∠θ E1∠θ − E2∠0)ZT − Z1 (11)

Fig. 1 Simple two machine power system where

In Fig. 1, E1 and E 2 are the internal voltages of the Va :Voltage at bus a,

I a : Current flowing from bus a to bus b
machines and Z1 and Z 2 are the transient impedance. E 2 is
assumed to be the reference phasor and θ represents as the
For the case of E1 = E 2 , the impedance becomes,
transmission angle. As the transferred real power increases,
this angle becomes larger. The relation between transferred Z a = (ZT 1∠θ − 1∠0) − Z1 (12)
power, P2 and transmission angle, θ is described by the
Simplifying (12) further, we get,
equation below,
Z a = ((Z T 2) − Z1 ) − j ((Z T 2) cot(θ 2)) (13)
S2 = E2 I 2* (1)
For a stable swing, θ increase gradually until a maximum
S 2 = E2 ( E1 − E 2 Z T ) * value is reached, where the trajectory shifts direction and
θ decreases until a minimum value is reached, where the trajectory enters and leaves two thresholds (circles or
trajectory ones again shifts direction. This sequence of events blinders). If the times, the swing impedance requires to pass
is repeated until the oscillations are damped out. If the through the two impedance set points is longer than a set time
trajectory of θ reaches beyond the angle of 180 degrees, the ∆t, the swing detector will block the distance relay’s tripping
swing can be considered unstable. signals.
The fluctuations of voltage and current in case of power Based on the relay setting procedure, if the inner line is not
swings make it difficult for the relay to discriminate between passed, the device declares a stable swing while in case the
3-phase faults and power swings. Impedance calculations inner line or circle is penetrated after the timer has expired; the
based on these measurement quantities suggest similar device signals an unstable swing. However, depending on the
conditions as under system faults. Thus, the swing impedance system configuration nearby the relay, this solution may not be
trajectory may enter the relay operating zone or even the acceptable with respect to line length, fault clearing, load
instantaneous impedance zone of distance relays as shown in discrimination and the nature of possible power swings.
Fig. 2.
During stable swings, the swing impedance trajectory
returns to the actual load impedance locused. Thus, all
distance relays in the power system subject to swings need to
be securely blocked for the time the swing impedance remains
within the distance relay characteristic in order not to disrupt
the power system integrity.

Fig. 3 Two Line Blinders PSD

IV. FORMULATION OF NEW DETECTOR DURING POWER

SWING
The fundamental behavior of a line reactive power
Fig. 2 The swing impedance trajectory entering the immediately before and after a three phase fault can be
relay operating zone explained by using a simple power system shown Fig. 4.

III. CONVENTIONAL POWER SWING DETECTOR

The most conventional method used for Power Swing

Detectors (PSD) is based on the transition time through a
blocking impedance area in the RX-diagram. Basically, the
method uses the feature that the movement of the apparent
impedance during power swings is slow as compared to its
movement for short circuit faults. Fig. 3 shows the
characteristics of Power Swing Detector (PSD) schemes using
line detector.
The swing impedance moving along its trajectory needs
some time to travel through the two blinders shown in Fig.3.
Its trajectory speed is slow compared to the sudden impedance
jump when faults occur. At the instant of faults, the impedance
jumps instantly from load to fault impedance. Fig. 4 A simple power system model
The conventional power swing detection is based on the
time ∆t that elapses as the traveling swing impedance
The proposed criterion is based on the fact that most of the Vline : line voltage
reactive power during a fault is consumed by the line Vload : load voltage
reactance. Initially, the input power to the system is defined as,
S load : apparent power of the load
S s = Vs I s* (14) Pload : real power of the load
Qload : reactive power of the load
The current, I s is given by, S line : apparent power of the line
Pline : real power of the line
I s = Vs (Z line + Z load ) Qline : reactive power of the line
(15)
From Fig. 4, the apparent power of the system is composed of
Substituting (15) into (14), we get, the combined apparent power of transmission line and load,
which is given by,
S s = Vs (Vs (Z line + Z load )) *
S s = S line + S load
2 = Pline + jQline + Pload + jQload (22)
= Vs (Zline + Zload ) (16)

Assuming that Pline << Qline equation (22) then is written as,
By using the Kirchoff Voltage Law , the voltage Vs can be
written as;
S s = jQline + Pload + jQload (23)
V s = Vline + Vload (17)
During a power swing, the load impedance is significantly
larger than the line impedance, that is,
Substituting (17) into (16), we get;

2
Z line << jZ load (24)
S s = Vline + Vload (Z line + Z load ) (18)
The simplified apparent power at the sending end, S s ' can be
written as
Then, the line impedance, Z line of the power system is be
represented as, 2
Ss ' = Vload Zload = Pload + jQload (25)
Z line = Rline + jX line (19)
Based on the above equation, the corresponding power system
The resistive component, Rline at transmission lines is very model during power swing is further simplified as shown in
Fig. 5.
small and hence it is neglected. Thus, equation (19) becomes,

Z line = jX line (20)

Substituting (20) into (19), we get,

2
Vline + Vload
Ss = (21)
jX line + Z load

where,

S s : apparent power at sending end

Vs : nominal voltage at sending end
I s : current flow at the line
Z line : line impedance
Rline : line resistance
X line : reactance of the line Fig. 5 The simplified power system model during power
swing
Z load : load impedance
By subtracting (25) from (23), value of line reactive power is,

jQline = 0 (26)

Based on equation (26), it can be deduced that during power

swing, no reactive power is consumed by the line.
Unlike the case of power swing, the line impedance during a
fault is very large compared to the load impedance and
Vline ≈ V s . Thus, equation (21) becomes,

2
Ss = Vline jX line (27)

Thus, during a fault, the line reactive power changes

significantly during a fault. Equations (26) and (27) show that
the line reactive power is abruptly changing from 0 to S s .
This feature can be used as a detection criterion for distance
relay operation to avoid triggering of false tripping signal due
to power swing. Based on this criterion, it is possible to
propose the use of rate of change of the line reactive power,
dQline/dt to discriminate between a fault and a power swing so
that the relay operates only due to a fault.

V. TEST RESULTS
Fig. 6 The IEEE 39 bust test system

Large figures and tables may span both columns. Place The IEEE 39 bus test data are constructed based on PSS/E
figure captions below the figures; place table titles above the format raw data. The 39-bus system has 10 generators
tables. If your figure has two parts, include the labels “(a)” and GENROE and 10 exciter, ESDC1A type. The parameters of
“(b)” as part of the artwork. This section describes the generators GENROE and exciter, ESDC1A type are tabulated
simulations and tests that have been performed in order to in as shown Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
study the behavior of the proposed detector under power swing
conditions. The proposed detector is studied on the IEEE 39 TABLE 1
bus test system by using the commercial PSS/E software THE PARAMETERS OF GENERATORS GENROE
version 31. The test system consists of 10 generators 18 loads Parameter Value
and 36 lines as shown in Fig. 6.
T'do (> 0) 10.2
T''do (> 0) 0.03
T'qo (> 0) 1.5
T''qo (> 0) 0.04
Inertia H 4.2
Speed Damping D 0
Xd 1
Xq 0.69
X'd 0.31
X'q 0.31
X''d = X''q 0.2
Xl 0.125
S(1.0) 0
S(1.2) 0
 version of the file IEEE39bus_converted.sav is used for
TABLE 2 performing dynamic stability studies.
THE PARAMETERS OF EXCITER, ESDC1A TYPE
Parameter Value TABLE 3
SET OF PSS/E FILES TO CARRY OUT LOAD FLOW AND DYNAMIC
TR 0
SIMULATION
KA 5
File Name Description
TA 0.06
Base case
TB 0
IEEE39bus.raw input data
TC 0 file
VRMAX or zero 5
Main load
VRMIN -5
IEEE39bus_unconverted.sav flow solved
KE or zero -0.05 case
TE (> 0) 0.25
KF 0.04 Single line
diagram
TF1 (> 0) 1 IEEE39bus.sld
drawing
0. Switch 0 datafile
E1 1.7
Base case
SE(E1) 0.5
IEEE39_stability.dyr Dynamic
E2 3 data file
SE(E2) 2
Converted
saved case
file with
A. Simulation Procedure IEEE39_converted.sav
loads and
The dynamic simulation of a power system s using PSS/E generators
software has three basic steps: converted

i. Construction of a set of differential equations describing

the behavior of the physical system in general. Base case
IEEE39_basecase.snap
ii. Determination of a set of values of constant and variable snap shot file
parameters.
iii. Integration of the differential equations with the values
determined in Step 2 as initial conditions. Base case
IEEE39_event.snap
event file
The following procedure need to be fulfilled before conducting
dynamic simulation. Base case
sequence
IEEE39_seq.snap
i. Creating from scratch a RAW file using an already impedance
created RAW file. file
ii. Running a successful load flow case and checking to
ensure that all violations are resolved. For the purpose of conducting studies on power swing, five
iii. Converting loads and generators in the saved load flow different fault cases with the following sequence of actions are
case (.sav) file. implemented in the dynamic simulation as described below:
iv. Creating a DYRE file.
v. Running the base case static load flow analysis. Case 1: Three phase fault at line connecting buses 5-8 from 1
vi. Running the dynamic analysis and plotting of results to 1.15s, followed by fault clearance and line trip
Case 2: Three phase fault at line connecting buses 6-7 from 1
Every dynamic simulation is based on a load flow case that to 1.15s, followed by fault clearance and line trip.
provides the required transmission network data, load data, Case 3: Three phase fault at bus 5 from 1 to 1.15s, followed by
and generator positive sequence model. The set of files given fault clearance and bus disconnect
Case 4: Three phase fault at bus 6 from 1 to 1.15s, followed by
in Table 3 are required to carry out load flow analysis and
fault clearance and bus disconnect
dynamic stability simulation by assessing PSS/ psslf4 and
Case 5: Three phase fault at bus 11 from 1 to 1.15s, followed
PSS/E pssds4 files, respectively. In addition, the converted
by fault clearance and bus disconnect
From the above cases, 3 different relays have been identified
to be operating falsely during power swings. The identified
mal-operating relays on from the case studies are:

Case 1: Relay at bus 6

Case 2: Relay at bus 5
Case 3: Relay at bus 6
Case 4: Relay at bus 14
Case 5: Relay at bus 14

In order to justify the reliability of the proposed detector,

another three phase faults need to be simulated during power
swing occurrences. The locations of the entire faults are
simulated at 200% of the distance relay protected zone. These
entire faults are simulated at 3-3.05 second of the simulation Fig. 8 The apparent impedance enters the relay
time. The active power variation at bus 6 during simulation is operating zone during fault and power swing at relay bus
shown in Fig.7. 6

B. Results of ldθ/dtl
One of the fast detectors used to discriminate a fault and a
power swing employs the use of negative sequence current
magnitude and the magnitude of derivative of current angle,
ldθ/dtl [4]. However, identical values of ldθ/dtl may appear
during fault and fault clearance as the increment of current
angle is very substantial in both situations. The results in Fig. 9
and 10 show clearly the ldθ/dtl values of the affected relay
during fault, fault clearance and power swing for the case.

Fig. 7 Active power profile at bus 6

From Fig. 7, it is clearly observed that the first fault has been
created at 1 second until 1.15 second which causes a power
swing to appear after the fault clearance. Subsequently, a
second fault which is located at 200% away of the relay
boundary has been created at 3 second. During the simulation,
the apparent impedance, Za seen by the distance relay at bus 6
is very low during the fault and power swing conditions. The
apparent impedance or impedance trajectory enters the relay
operating zone at both situations as shown in Fig. 8.
Once the apparent impedance, Za enters the relay operating Fig. 9 Result of ldθ/dtl
zone, the distance relay may send the trip signals to the
breaker to clear the fault. However, during power swing, the
trip signals should be blocked to avoid false tripping. The As can be seen from Fig. 9, the range of ldθ/dtl is
proposed additional detection criteria is then introduced in approximately between 2,100 degree/second to 9,500 degree/
distance relay in order to avoid such undesirable relay second during the fault. The results of ldθ/dtl values during
operation. power swing are depicted in Fig. 10, where the value of ldθ/dtl
is between 9 degree/second to 45 degree/second.
 [4] M. Jonsson and J. Daalder, A New Protection Scheme to Prevent Mal-
Trips Due to Power Swings, IEEE/PES Transmission and Distrib. Conf.
and Expo., Vol. 2, 2001, pp. 724 – 729.
[5] X.Lin, Y. Gao and P.Liu, , A Fast Unblocking Scheme for Distance
Protection to Identify Symmetrical Fault Occurring During Power
Swings, IEEE Trans. on Power Del., Vol 1, 2008, pp. 73-77.
[6] B. Su,. X. Z. .Dong, Z.Q.Bo, Y.Z.Sun, B.R.J Caunce, D.Tholomier and
A.Apostolov, Fast Detector of Symmetrical Fault During Power Swing
for Distance Relay, IEEE Power Eng. Soc. Gen. Meet., Vol. 2, 2005,
pp.1836 – 1841.
[7] L.Xiangning, Z.Qing, L.Wenjun, W.Kecheng and W. Hanli, A Fast
Unblocking Scheme for Distance Protection to Identify Symmetrical
Fault Occurring During Power Swings, IEEE Power Eng. Soc. Gen.
Meet., 2006, pp.1-8.
[8] H. K. Zadeh and Z. Li, A Novel Power Swing Blocking Scheme Using
Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System, Electr. Power Syst. Research
J., 2008, vol. 78, pp. 1138-1146.
[9] P. M. Fonte and J. C. Quadrado, Stability Modelling of WECS for
Power Generation, WSEAS Trans. on Circuit and Syst., 2005, vol. 3, pp.
1591-1596.
[10] S. Jalilzadeh and S.Jadid, Improvement of transient stability by
variation generator parameters and high speed fault clearing, WSEAS
Fig. 10 Result of ldθ/dtl (enlarge)
Trans. on Syst., 2005, vol. 4, pp. 609-616
[11] V.G. Parkash, C. P. Singh and R. Dahiya, Transient Stability
The results from both figures prove that the ldθ/dtl is very Improvement of SMIB With Unified Power Flow Controller, 2nd
promising in distinguishing between a fault and a power swing. WSEAS Int. Conf. on Circuits, Systs., Signal and Telecommun.
(CISST'08), 2008, pp. 1155-1149.
However, it can be noted that the ldθ/dtl values are not suitable [12] N. M. Hanoon, B.P.Kartik and O.M.Ahtiwash, A Neuro-Control
to differentiate between fault and fault clearance as shown in Approach for Flexible AC Transmission Systems, , WSEAS Trans. on
Fig. 9. From the figure, it can be deduced that, the value of Syst., 2004, vol. 3, pp. 964-968
ldθ/dtl is apparently in similar range for fault and fault
Ahmad Farid Bin Abidin received the B.E.E.S degree from University
clearance. The distance relay installed in these lines may send Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia, in 2000 and M.S.E.E. from
false trip signals during fault clearance operation. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia, in 2005. He is currently a
PhD student at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and System, UKM.
His research interests are in power system stability and power quality. He is a
student member of IEEE.
VI. CONCLUSION
The use of dQLine/dt has been proposed as a new detection
.Professor Azah Mohamed received her B.Sc from University of London in
technique to block the distance relay trip signals during power 1978 and M.Sc and Ph.D from Universiti Malaya in 1988 and 1995,
swing. Time domain simulations were first carried out under respectively. She is a professor at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and
the conditions of fault and power swing. The proposed Systems Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her main research
interests are in power system security, power quality, artificial intelligence
detector has been tested to evaluate its effectiveness in and distributed generation. She is a senior member of IEEE
differentiating between a fault, power swing and fault
clearance. The results show that the dQLine/dt can effectively
.Hussain Shareef received his BSc with honours from IIT, Bangladesh, MS
differentiate the fault, fault clearance and power swing unlike
degree from METU, Turkey, and PhD degree from UTM, Malaysia, in 1999,
the use of ldθ/dtl. 2002 and 2007, respectively. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of
Electrical, Electronics, and Systems Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia. His current research interests are power system deregulation, power
quality and power system distribution automation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Universiti
Teknologi MARA for financial support in terms of scholarship
and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for financial support on
the project.

REFERENCES

[1] S. H. Horowitz, and A. G. Padke, Power System Relaying, John Wiley

& Sons, Ltd, West Sussex, England, 2008 .
[2] S. Jiao, Z.Bo, W. Liu, Q.Yang, , New Principles to Detect Faults
During Power Swing, Seventh IEE Int. Conf. on Dev. in Power Syst.
Protect. 2001, pp.515 - 518 .
[3] P. Kundur, Power System Stability and Control McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1993.

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