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Electrical Protection and Control System Development Steps, An Overview

Article in Acta Technica Jaurinensis · October 2024

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 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

1.
Mohamed RASHAD, 2.Amer Nasr A. ELGHAFFAR

ELECTRICAL PROTECTION AND CONTROL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT STEPS, AN OVERVIEW

1,2
Alfanar Engineering Service, Alfanar Company, SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract: A power system is not only capable to meet the present load but also has the flexibility to meet the future demands. A power system is designed to generate
electric power in sufficient quantity, to meet the present and estimated future demands of the users in a particular area, to transmit it to the areas where it will be used and
then distribute it within that area, on a continuous basis. Using the optimum protection and control systems with the high voltage substations are considered as the main
objectives to save the system is reliable and curate operation. The protection system in high voltage substation had started by the electro–mechanical relays which improved
to electrostatic relays and updated to the numerical protection relays. The switching and control of the substations had started depending on the manpower for operation and
supervising the system which improved to depend on the SCADA system. This paper introduces the steps and the operation function of using the electro–mechanical,
electrostatic designs and numerical relays to protect the electrical equipment in high voltage substations. Also, this paper study the improvement of the control and
supervising the high voltage substations that reached now to depend on the IEC 61850 communication protocol for the optimum automation system.
Keywords: High voltage substations, Protection system, numerical relays, SAS, IEC 61850

INTRODUCTION opening of a circuit–breaker) or give off an

A protective relay is the device, which gives alarm when the monitored value goes above
instruction to disconnect a faulty part of the the threshold [6–7]. The relay may also be
system. This action ensures that the remaining operated by an external tripping signal; either
system is still fed with power, and protects the from other instruments, from a SCADA master, or
system from further damage due to the fault. by human intervention.
Hence, use of protective apparatus is very The development of modern science and
necessary in the electrical systems, which are technology, especially electronic and computer
expected to generate, transmit and distribute technology, promoted the development of relay
power with least interruptions and restoration technology, such as materials, components and
time [1]. Stability in the power system is defined the manufacturing process of the hardware
as the accurate operation of the system by structure of relay protection device. At the same
recovering a state of operating balance after time, great theoretical progress had been made
any abnormal condition such as faults, over or in the relay protection software, algorithms, etc.
under voltage cases at switching time, load As shown in figure (1), the progress in modern
rejection and at loss of excitation [2]. technology stimulates the development in power
Protection relays, are the important system protection.
characteristic of power system protection helps
to isolate the faculty part of the electrical system
[3]. However, it is important for this relay to
possess certain qualities as dependability and
selective. The relay receives information
regarding the network mainly from the
instrument transformers (voltage and current
transformer), detects an abnormal condition by
comparing this information to preset values, and
gives a tripping command to the circuit breaker
when such an abnormal condition has been
detected [4][5].
Protective relays (or multifunctional devices) are
devices that permanently compare the Figure 1. History of protection system development.
electrical variables of networks (such as current, In the last century from the emergence of
voltage, frequency, power, and impedances) protection to the end of the 1990s, the relay
with predetermined values, and then protection had gone through a number of
automatically emit orders for action (usually the development stages, migrating from electro–
43 | University Politehnica Timisoara – Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara
 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

mechanical to semiconductor, and  The measured values are converted into

subsequently to integrated circuit and analog and / or digital signals and are made
microprocessor technologies. to operate the relays, which in turn isolate the
Today, microprocessor–based digital and circuits by opening the faulty circuits. In most
numeric relays are replacing conventional relays of the cases, the relays provide two functions
in all areas of power system protection [8]. This viz., alarm and trip, once the abnormality is
paper discusses the importance of using the noticed. The relays in olden days had very
protection system with the electrical power limited functions and were quite bulky.
system for saving the stability power system. Also, However, with advancement in digital
this paper discusses the development steps of technology and use of microprocessors, relays
the protection and control system, with focusing monitor various parameters, which give
on the numerical relays. complete history of a system during both pre–
BASIC COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION SYSTEM fault and post–fault conditions.
Protection of any distribution system is a function  The opening of faulty circuits requires some
of many elements and this manual gives a brief time, which may be in milliseconds, which for
outline of various components that go in a common day life could be insignificant.
protecting a system. Electrical faults usually However, the circuit breakers, which are used
occur due to breakdown of the insulating media to isolate the faulty circuits, are capable of
between a live conductor and earth, this carrying these fault currents until the fault
breakdown may be caused by any one or more currents are totally cleared. The circuit
of several factors, mechanical damage, breakers are the main isolating devices in a
overheating, voltage surges (caused by lighting distribution system, which can be said to
or switching), ingress of a conducting medium directly protect the system.
ionization of air, deterioration of the insulating  The operation of relays and breakers require
medium due to an unfriendly environment or old power sources, which shall not be affected by
age, or misuse of equipment. faults in the main distribution. Hence, the other
Fault current release an enormous amount of component, which is vital in protective system,
thermal energy, and if not cleared quickly, may is batteries that are used to ensure
case fire hazards, extensive damage to uninterrupted power to relays and breaker
equipment and risk to human life. Some of coils.
abnormal of the power system are; over voltage,
over loads, unbalanced operation power swings,
transformer inrush current faults, short circuits,
short circuits with ground, open conductors [9–
10]. Figure (2) shows the element of protection
system. Following are the main components of
protection.
 Fuse is the self–destructing one, which carries
the currents in a power circuit continuously
and sacrifices itself by blowing under
abnormal conditions. These are normally
independent or stand–alone protective
components in an electrical system unlike a Figure 2. Elements of protection system.
circuit breaker, which necessarily requires the BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF PROTECTION
support of external components. These requirements are necessary, firstly for early
 Accurate protection cannot be achieved detection and localization of faults, and
without properly measuring the normal and secondly for prompt removal of faulty
abnormal conditions of a system. In electrical equipment from service.
systems, voltage and current measurements Sensitivity, selectivity and speed are terms
give feedback on whether a system is healthy commonly used to describe the functional
or not. Voltage transformers and current characteristics of any protective–relaying
transformers measure these basic parameters equipment [9].
and are capable of providing accurate In order to carry out the above duties, protection
measurement during fault conditions without must have the following qualities [10]:
failure.
44 | University Politehnica Timisoara – Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara
 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

 Selectivity: To detect and isolate the faulty ELECTROMECHANICAL RELAYS

item only. Electromagnetic relays are those relays which
 Stability: To leave all healthy circuits intact to operates on the principle of electromagnetic
ensure continuity or supply. attraction. It is a type of a magnetic switch
 Sensitivity: To detect even the smallest fault, which uses the magnet for creating a magnetic
current or system abnormalities and operate field. Which controls opening and closing of the
correctly at its setting before the fault causes relay. Figure (4) shows the electromechanical
irreparable damage. relay design.
 Speed: To operate speedily when it is called
upon to do so, thereby minimizing damage to
the surroundings and ensuring safety to
personnel.
To meet all of the above requirements,
protection must be reliable which means it must
be:
 Dependable: It must trip when called upon to
do so.
 Secure: It must not trip when it is not supposed
to.
 Reliability: That protective–relaying equipment
must be reliable is a basic requirement. Figure 4. Electromechanical relay.
When protective relaying fails to function ELECTROSTATIC RELAY
properly, the allied mitigation features are largely The relay which does not contain any moving
ineffective. parts is known as the static relay. In such type of
DEVELOPMENT STEPS OF PROTECTION RELAYS relays, the output is obtained by the static
Relays are the electrical devices that accept components like magnetic and electronic circuit
current or voltage signals in an input circuit as a etc as shown in figure (5). The relay which
prompt to switch open or close another circuit or consists static and electromagnetic relay is also
pilot device. In this way, relays are switches that called static relay because the static units obtain
are controlled by some other input. The output is the response and the electromagnetic relay is
to trigger a predictable state change in the only used for switching operation. Figure (6)
connected system. The point of a relay is to use shows the electrostatic relay operation logic. The
a small amount of power to switch to a large advantage of using the electrostatic relays as
amount of power. compared with the electromechanical relays
Relays operate in industrial machines, plant can be summarized as:
equipment, and even consumer–grade vehicles  The static relay consumes very less power
and appliances employing electrical power and because of which the burden on the
control signals [1–4]. Figure (3) shows operating measuring instruments decreases and their
mechanism of electromechanical relay. accuracy increases.
 The static relay gives the quick response, long
life, high reliability and accuracy and it is
shockproof.
 The reset time of the relay is very less.
 It does not have any thermal storage
problems.
 The relay amplifies the input signal which
increases their sensitivity.
 The chance of unwanted tripping is less in this
relay.
 The static relay can easily operate in
earthquake–prone areas because they have
high resistance to shock.

Figure 3. Operating mechanism of electromechanical relay

45 | University Politehnica Timisoara – Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara

 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

The Solid–State Relay provides a high degree of

reliability, long life and reduced electromagnetic
interference (EMI), (no arcing contacts or
magnetic fields), together with a much faster
almost instant response time, as compared to
the conventional electromechanical relay. Also,
the input control power requirements of the
solid–state relay are generally low enough to
make them compatible with most IC logic
families without the need for additional buffers,
drivers or amplifiers. However, being a
semiconductor device, they must be mounted
Figure 5. Electrostatic relay. onto suitable heatsinks to prevent the output
switching semiconductor device from
overheating [10–12]. As shown in figure (8) for the
input output module.

Figure 6. Operation logic of electrostatic relay

The Limitation of Electrostatic Relay can be
summarized as:
 The components used by the static relay are
very sensitive to the electrostatic discharges.
The electrostatic discharges mean sudden
flows of electrons between the charged
objects.
 The relay is easily affected by the high voltage
Figure 8. Modular Input/Output Interface System.
surges. Thus, precaution should be taken for
IMPORTANCE OF NUMERICAL RELAYS
avoiding the damages through voltage
With the fast progress in high–speed
spikes.
 The working of the relay depends on the communication network and information
technology, there were significant developments
electrical components.
 The relay has less overloading capacity. in power system protection found by the
numerical relays that can be summarized as:
 The static relay is more costly as compared to
 Numerical relays are requiring low
the electromagnetic relay.
 The construction of the relay is easily affected maintenance.
 The relay has fast response time.
by the surrounding interference.
NUMERICAL RELAYS  They decrease the burden on the instrument
transformer.
The Numerical protection relay is a type of an
 Simple to configure or reconfigure.
electronic switch that opens or close the circuit
contacts by using electronic component without  Can communicate with the computer.
 It can find multi–function in one relay.
any mechanical operation, as shown in figure
(7).  It can save any disturbance in the power
system.
 It can show the loads in the system.
 It can send the system data and the signals to
the remote control.
The event recorder in the numerical relays is
considered as one of the main advantage points
in the numerical relays. Figure (9) and figure (10)
shows the disturbance recorder retrieved from
numerical relay.

Figure 7. Numerical protection relay

46 | University Politehnica Timisoara – Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara
 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

the MMS number which can introduce in the SAS

configuration with IEC 61850 as the actual
operation function. Also, figure (12) shows the
mapping of MICOM–P546 multi–function
protection relay, which translating the MMS as a
virtual output into the relay that translating in the
SAS configuration to the programmed protection
function [12].

Figure 9. Disturbance recorder part–1 of faut. Figure 11. Converting the protection function to the MMS data object
into SEL–411L IED.
Diff Trip A Virtual Output 1
DDB #583 DDB #256

Diff Trip B Virtual Output 2

DDB #584 DDB #257

Diff Trip C Virtual Output 3

DDB #585 DDB #258

Zone 1 Trip Virtual Output 4

DDB #608 DDB #259

Zone 2 Trip Virtual Output 5

DDB #613 DDB #260

Zone 3 Trip Virtual Output 6

DDB #618 DDB #261

Figure 12. Converting the protection function to the MMS data object
Figure 10. Disturbance recorder part–2 of fault. into MICOM P546.
IEC 61850 TRANSMITTING DATA TO CONTROL Table 1. The text of the protection function in figure (11) and figure (12)
CENTRE No. Abbreviation Protection function text
One of the main important points of using the 1 Z1PT [SEL–411L] Distance protection first zone phase–phase trip
2 Z1GT [SEL–411L] Distance protection first zone phase–ground trip
numerical relays to add the availability to control
3 Z2PT [SEL–411L] Distance protection second zone phase–phase trip
the high voltage substation from remote. These [SEL–411L] Distance protection second zone phase–ground
benefits saved the cost and found the accurate 4 Z2GT
trip
recording and supervising the substations as 5 Z3PT [SEL–411L] Distance protection third zone phase–phase trip
compared with the system that depends on the 6 Z3GT [SEL–411L] Distance protection third zone phase–ground trip
man power. 7 87OP [SEL–411L] Line differential trip
Main reason of developing IEC 61850 was to 8 87LA [SEL–411L] Line differential trip phase–A
create an international standard that will ease 9 87LB [SEL–411L] Line differential trip phase–B
the communication between substation devices 10 87LC [SEL–411L] Line differential trip phase–C
11 Diff Trip A [MICOM–P546] Line differential trip phase–A
using Logical Nodes (LN) and data classes to
12 Diff Trip B [MICOM–P546] Line differential trip phase–B
address the issues regarding the interoperability 13 Diff Trip C [MICOM–P546] Line differential trip phase–C
and interchangeability, which instead of a 14 Zone 1 Trip [MICOM–P546] General distance protection first zone trip
configured IED description (CID) file [11]. IEC 15 Zone 2 Trip [MICOM–P546] General distance protection second zone trip
61850 protocol is starting by translating the 16 Zone 3 Trip [MICOM–P546] General distance protection third zone trip
protection function into the relay to the
Table (1) shows the text of the protection
Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS)
function in figure (11) and figure (12). Once the
data that able to uses for the roots in addressing
protocols are created the next step is to map
data and to report digital statuses and simulated
them to the data models and services of the
alarm inputs.
standard, the HMI inside the substation can show
Figure (11) shows the mapping of the multi–
the unlimited alarms and status. In another hand,
function protection relay SEL–411L into the
to decrease the alarms in the control centre
protection logic to the MMS data which known
which shows a lot of substation alarms, it’s
in this relay type by “PSV**”, where “**” means
possible by the IEC 61850 to compress the
47 | University Politehnica Timisoara – Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara
 ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering | e–ISSN: 2067 – 3809
Tome XVII [2024] | Fascicule 1 [January – March]

matched alarms to one address. The ring links [11] Yehia Sayed, Adel A. Elbaset, Amer Nasr A. Elghaffar. IEC 61850 Communication
between the HV substations are depending on Protocol with the Protection and Control Numerical Relays for Optimum
the Ethernet cables to transmit the digital code Substation Automation System. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
address to reach the control centre throw two Review 13 (2), 2020
main and backup channels. [12] C. M. De Dominicis, P. Ferrari, A. Flammini and S. Rinaldi. On the use of IEEE1588
CONCLUSIONS in Existing IEC61850 based SASs: Current Behavior and Future Challenges. IEEE
A power system is designed to generate electric Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (Volume: 60, 2011), PP:
power in sufficient quantity, to meet the present 3070–3081.
and estimated future demands of the users in a
particular area, to transmit it to the areas where
it will be used and then distribute it within that
area, on a continuous basis. By using the suitable
control system for enhancing the power system
quality to save the system in the safe operation
and control, also to support the operation and
maintenance team to normalize the system in
very low time after interruption or any abnormal
condition.
In this presentation we discussed the
development steps of the protection system
starting from electromagnetic relay to
electrostatic relay and the numerical protection
relay.
Finally, from this paper, its recommended to the
power system designer to uses the numerical
relays, due to these relays can protect various
components such as feeder, Motor, Generator,
Transmission line, Transformers and Busbars.
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