Reg. No.

2023-24

COIMBATORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: COIMBATORE-641 014.

(Government Aided Autonomous Institution)

Deprtment: EEE Programme: B.E.

Exam: Mid Semester Examination-I Semester (Sec): VI(I& II)
Subject: Digital Protection for power systems Subject Code: 19EE62
Duration: 2 Hours 30 Minutes Max. Marks: 60

Q.No Part – A ( 10 x 2 =20 Marks) CO# RBT PI

1 List out the main requirements of good protective system.
(i) Selectivity or discrimination
(ii) Reliability
(iii) Sensitivity
1 L1 1.3.1
(iv) Stability
(v) Speed and time
(vi) Adequateness
(vii) Simplicity and economy
2 Why Secondary of C.T should not be open?
Secondary of C.T should not be kept open, Either it should be shorted or
must be connected in series with a low resistance coil such as current coils
of wattmeter, coil of ammeter etc. If it left open, the currentthrough
secondary becomes zero hence the ampere turns produced by secondary
1 L4 2.2.4
which generally oppose primary ampere turns becomes zero (Note: mmf=
NI). As there is no counter m.m.f, unopposed primary m.m.f produce high
flux in the core. This produces excessive core losses , heating the core
beyond limits and Heavy e.m.f‘s will be induced on the primary and
secondary side. This damages the insulation of the winding.
3 Distinguish between primary and secondary protection scheme.
Main or primary protection can fail due to non-functioning of one of
its components in the protective scheme such as relay, CT, PT, trip
circuit or circuit breaker. If the primary protection fails, then there
1 L3 2.2.4
must be an additional protection, otherwise the fault may remain
uncleared which may result into a disaster. The backup protection is
provided either by time grading principle or by duplication principle
to protect the power system.
4 Differentiate IDMT and DMT Relay characteristics.
Definite time lag relays are those which operate after a specific time.
The time lag between instant when the actuating current crosses the
1 L3 2.2.4
pickup level and the instant when relay contacts finally closed, is
constant. This delay does not depend up on magnitude of actuating
quantity.
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In this case, the operation of the relay is inversely proportioned to the

value of current time of the relay tends to a definite minimum time.
5 Define Current Chopping.
Current chopping in circuit breaker is defined as a phenomenon in
which current is forcibly interrupted before the natural current zero.
Current Chopping is mainly observed in vacuum circuit breaker and
2 L1 1.3.1
air blast circuit breaker. There is no such phenomena in oil circuit
breaker.
It is the phenomenon of current interruption before the natural current
zero is reached.
6 Write the common faults occurs in Motor.
• Bearing failure
• Insulation breakdown
• Locked rotor
• Overheating
• Overloads (electrical and mechanical) 2 L1 1.3.1
• Phase imbalance and any voltage imbalance will lead to an even
higher current unbalance.
• Running in reverse
• Shaft misalignment
• Vibration
7 What is recovery voltage and restriking voltage? 2 L2 2.2.4
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8 Identify the suitable relay scheme agonist incipient faults in power

transformer.
Incipient faults of power transformers can be classified into the
following major categories: electrical arcing, electrical corona,
2 L2 1.4.1
overheating of cellulose, overheating of oil. These faults may be
caused due to one or more of the causes.
Buchholz relay is used for protecting transformer against incipient or
internal faults
9 What is meant by inter-turn fault in stator?
The turn-to- turn fault is a short circuit between some turns of the
same phase of a stator winding. The fault occurs due to eventual
insulation degradation and ageing.
In the case of an alternator, inter-turn short circuit faults in the stator 2 L1 1.3.1
winding can lead to a significant imbalance in currents flowing
through different sections of the winding. This imbalance can be
detected by the differential protection scheme, which then operates to
trip the circuit and isolate the fault.
10 List out the merits of Numerical Relays.
1.Compact Size
2. Flexibility
3. Reliability
4. Multi Function Capability
3 L1 1.2.1
5. Different types of relay characteristics
6. Digital communication capabilities
7. Modular frame
8. Low burden
9. Sensitivity
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10. Speed
11. Fast Resetting

Q.No Part – B ( 4 x 10 = 40 Marks) Marks CO# RBT PI

Illustrate Overlapping Zone of Power System with neat sketch.
Zones and types of Protection system
Zones of Protection system
• An electric power system is divided into several zones of protection.
Each zone of protection, contains one or more components of a
power system in addition to two circuit breakers.
• When a fault occurs within the boundary of a particular zone, then
the protection system responsible for the protection of the zone acts
to isolate (by tripping the Circuit Breakers) every equipment within
that zone from the rest of the system.
• The circuit Breakers are inserted between the component of the
zone and the rest of the power system. Thus, the location of the
circuit breaker helps to define the boundaries of the zones of
protection.
Different neighbouring zones of protection are made to overlap each
other, which ensure that no part of the power system remains without
protection. However, occurrence of the fault with in the overlapped
region will initiate a tripping sequence of different circuit breakers so
that the minimum necessary to disconnect the faulty element
11 Typesof Protection (Primary and Back-up Protection) 10 1 L1 1.4.1
Primary Protection
– The primary protection scheme ensures fast and selective clearing
of any fault within the boundaries of the circuit element, that the zone
is required to protect. Primary Protection as a rule is provided for
each section of an electrical installation.
However, the primary protection may fail. The primary cause of
failure of the Primary Protection system are enumerated below.
1. Current or voltage supply to the relay.
2. D.C. tripping voltage supply
3. Protective relays
4. Tripping circuit
5. Circuit Breaker
Back-up Protection
Back-up protection is the name given to a protection which backs the
primary protection whenever the later fails in operation. The back-up
protection by definition is slower than the primary protection system.
The design of the back-up protection needs to be coordinated with the
design of the primary protection and essentially it is the second line
of defence after the primary protection system.
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OR
12 Illustrate the Electromechanical over current relay with neat
sketch.
Depending upon the principle of construction, the following four brad
categories are found.
• Electromechanical
• Solid State
• Microprocessor
• Numerical
Electromechanical over current relay

10 1 L2 1.4.1

Working Principle of Over Current Relay

In an over current relay, there would be essentially a current coil.
When normal current flows through this coil, the magnetic effect
generated by the coil is not sufficient to move the moving element
of the relay, as in this condition the restraining force is greater than
deflecting force. But when the current through the coil increases,
the magnetic effect increases, and after a certain level of current,
the deflecting force generated by the magnetic effect of the coil,
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crosses the restraining force. As a result, the moving element starts

moving to change the contact position in the relay. Although there
are different types of overcurrent relays but basic working principle
of overcurrent relay is more or less same for all.

13a Calculate the PSM of a relay with a relay setting of 150%, if the
fault current is 1500Aand the CT ratio is 150/5.

5 1 L4 2.2.4

13b Illustrate the Protective Relay with neat sketch.

Definition – It is a device that detects fault & gives
command to the breaker to isolate the faulty circuit.
WORKING PRINCIPLE OF RELAYS – The relay circuit can
be divided into three parts –
First part is the Primary Winding of CT (Current
Transformer) which is connected in series with line to be
protected,
Second part is Secondary Winding of CT & relay 5 1 L2 1.4.1
operating coil,
Third part is tripping circuit which may either a.c or d.c. It
consists of asource of supply, trip coil of circuit breaker &
relay stationary contacts. Most of the relays used in power
system are actuated by current /voltage supplied by CT; PT
(Potential Transformer) connected in various combinations.
Having detected the fault, the relay operates the trip circuit
which results in the opening of the circuit breaker and hence in
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the disconnection of the faulty circuits.

OR
14a Discuss the operation of summation transformer with neat
sketch.
Summation Current Transformer

Definition: The transformer which is used for converting the

three-phase quantities into the single phase quantity is known
as the summation transformer. This transformer is mainly
employed for the unbalanced condition in the system and due to
fault condition so that the relay operates properly. The
connection of the summation current transformer is shown in
the figure below. The line CTs are connected to the primary of
the auxiliary CT. Each line CTs energise the different number 5 2 L1 1.4.1
of turns on the primary side of the auxiliary CTs. The resulting
single-phase output appears acrossthe secondary.
The summation transformers are used for comparing the
relaying quantities derived from the current in the three phases
of the primary circuit. It converts the three phase system into
positive, negative and zero sequence components. The simple
arrangement of the phase sequence current segregating network
is shown in the figure below. The summated output will be
according to the fault condition. The summated transformer
have their limitations because of loss of discrimination due to
condensation of information.
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14b Distinguish between Relay and Circuit breaker.

A Relay is a switch used as sensing and controlling device

which makes and closes the contacts electronically or
electromechanically. Relay is also used as a protective device 5 2 L3 2.2.4
which sense the fault signal and sends to the circuit breaker
which make decision to make or break the circuit based on the
provided information by the relay. the energized coil as moving
part (also known as armature) is connected to the relay contacts
while the static coil produces the require electromagnetic field
for armature to make or close the contacts for circuit protection.
A Circuit Breaker is a controlling and protective device which
makes and breaks the circuit manually or automatically in case
of normal and fault conditions like short circuit and over-
current etc. Inside circuit breaker, the relay sense the fault or
specified amount of current and sends the signal to the
electromechanical switch which open the contacts and protect
the circuit in case of excessive current like overload and short-
circuit conditions.

15 Describe the Pilot relaying schemes in power system 10 2 L2

transmission line protection.
1.2.1
In differential protection scheme, the current entering at one
end of the line and leaving from other end of
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the line is compared. The pilot wires are used to connect the
relays. Under normal working condition, the
two currents at both ends are equal and pilot wires do not carry
any current, keeping relays inoperative.
Under an internal fault condition, the two currents at both the
ends are no longer same, this causes
circulating current flow through pilot wires and makes the relay
to trip
Under normal condition, current entering the line at one end is
equal to current leaving from the other
end. Therefore, equal and opposite voltages are induced in the
secondaries of C.T.s. at the two ends
resulting in no current flow, through the relay. Under fault
condition, two currents at the two ends are
different. Thus the secondary voltages of both the end C.T.s
differ from each other. This circulates a
circulating current through the pilot wires and the relays. Thus
the relays trip the circuit breakers to isolate
the faulty section.
The advantages of this method are as follows
It can be used for parallel as well as ring main system.
It provides instantaneous protection to ground faults.
The limitations of this method are as follows
The C.T.s used must match accurately.
The pilot wires must be healthy without discontinuity.
Economically not suitable as the cost is high due to long pilot
wires. Due to long pilot wires,
capacitive effects adversely bias the operation of the relays.
The large voltage drop in the pilot wires requiring better
insulation.

OR
16 Write the concept of Merz price differential protection. Discuss
that how to implement the differential protection scheme for
Star / Delta connected three phase transformer. 10 2 L3 2.2.1
Merz price differential protection is used to protect the
transformer from internal short circuit , Internal ground faults
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and inter turn shorts. Transformer is a static device. Merz price

differential protection is nothing but a percentage differential
protection Which works under the principle of circulating
current scheme.

The two ends of the transformer both primary and secondary

are connected with the current transformer. The output of the
current transformer is given as shown in the figure.
In that, the relay operating coil A, B, and C are connected with
respect to each phase and the CT neutral terminal. Here
the vector sum of the current of each phase is equal to zero,
hence the net current through the relay operating coils A, B and
C is zero. The relay becomes inoperative. During the abnormal
condition, the current flow in both sides of CT becomes
unequal. Therefore, the unbalance current flows in the relay
operating coil. if the current in the relay operating coil is higher
than the pickup value of the relay, then the relay sends the trip
command to the circuit breaker.

Conditions for Transformer differential protection:

While using these circulating current transformer protection,

the following condition must be fulfilled.

CT ratio: For percentage differential protection or normal

differential protection, the Current transformer ratio in the
primary and secondary winding should be the same. But in
the power transformer, we use it as either step-down or step
up the voltage. So that always the current in the primary and
secondary will be unequal. Hence the relay operates the circuit
breaker even there is no fault.

This CT ratio will be eliminated by adding an interposing

current transformer. The interposing current transformer
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matches the current between the primary and secondary CTs. It

is connected to the star connection side of the current
transformer.
17 List the common faults in alternator system and identify the two
suitable of protective schemes for alternator.

Types of Internal Faults in a Generator

Internal faults may be either electrical or mechanical
1. Stator Faults
• Windings overheating
• Windings phase-to-phase fault
• Windings phase-to-earth fault
• Inter-turn fault
2. Rotor Faults
• Earth fault
• Winding short-circuit (wound rotor)
• Overheating
3. Loss of Field / Excitation (The field in an AC
generator consists of coils of conductors within the generator
that receive a voltage from a source (called excitation) and
produce a magnetic flux).
4. Generator Out-of-Step
5. Motor Operation
6. Bearings Overheating and lack of Pressure of Lubrication Oil
7. Vibration 10 3 L3 2.2.1
Stator windings overheating may be caused by permanent
overloads and phase-to-phase and earth faults are due
to insulation breakdown.
Rotor winding short-circuit leads to an increase of excitation
current and a decrease of excitation voltage.
Rotor overheating is a consequence of unbalanced currents at
the stator, due to:
• Single-pole trip
• Stator winding fault
• Negative phase sequence

Types of External Faults in a Generator

External Power System Faults and Abnormal Operating
Conditions are:
• External short-circuit faults
• Non-synchronized connection of generator
• Out-of-step (pole slipping or loss of synch)
• Overloads
• Overspeed
• Phase unbalance and negative phase sequence
• Under and over frequency
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• Under and over voltages

Generator Protection Devices
Generators are the most expensive pieces of equipment on
power systems. The following devices are used for AC and DC
generators protection against the faults occurs in it.
• Stator Earth Fault Protection (Stator windings phase-to-
phase & stator ground or earth faults protection by
Differential Relay)
• Rotor Earth Fault Protection
• Unbalanced Stator Loading Protection (Loss of field
protection and change in reactive power flow)
• Protection against Stator Overheating (Stator windings
and bearings overheating protection & Negative phase
sequence protection)
• Protection against Loss of Boiler Firing
• Protection against Prime Mover & Turbine Failure
(Stator phase unbalance protection)
• Overspeed & overexcitation Protection (core saturation
due to overexcitation)
• Insulation Failure
• Protection against Lubrication Oil Failure
• Low Vacuum Protection
• Protection against Vibration & Under and over
frequency protection
• Back up Protection of Generator
• Protection against Rotor Distortion & Phase
supplementary start protection
• Protection against external short-circuit faults
• Protection against the difference expansion between
stationary and rotating parts of generator
• Reverse Power Protection and Negative Power Flow
Protection

Differential and Stator Earth-fault Protections

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Rotor earth-fault protection

OR
18 Explain the block diagram of Numerical relay architecture and
mention its merits compare to electro mechanical relay.
Numerical Relay
Numerical is the relay in which the measured AC
quantities are sequentially sampled and converted into numerical
data that is mathematically and/or logically processed to make trip
decisions. Numerical relay is the latest development in the area of
power system protection. The design and method of operation
these relays are different from the conventional
electromechanical relays. Numerical relays are based on
numerical devices such as microprocessors, microcontrollers
and digital signal processors etc.
Block diagram of Numerical relay

10 3 L2 2.2.4

A relay using digital device like microprocessor for

decision making based on digital numbers representing
instantaneous values of the signals is called numerical relay,
digital relay, microprocessor based relay or computer based relay.
The voltage and current signals in the power system are brought
down to suitable level using C.T and P.T. The signals from C.T
and P.T are given to the antialiasing filters which are low pass
filters. This removes the unwanted frequency components.
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The signals from the signal conditioning circuits are

sampled using sample and hold circuit. With the help of analog
multiplexer and ADC, the equivalent digital form of analog input
signal is achieved. The analog multiplexer gives the facility to
accommodate a larger number of input signals. The digital
output of ADC is given to microprocessor where it is stored in
the memory. This signal is processed with the help of numerical
relaying algorithm and accordingly trip decision is made. The
trip signal is digital signal hence converted to analog using digital
to analog converter (DAC).This tripping analog signal is given
to the trip coil of a relay.
Characteristics
Compact design and lower cost due to integration of many
functions in to one relay High availability even with less
maintenance due to integral self-monitoring
• No drift (aging) of measuring characteristics due to fully
numerical processing
• High measuring accuracy due to digital filtering and
optimized measuring algorithms
• Many integrated add-on functions, for example, for load
monitoring and event/fault recording
• Local operation keypad and display designed to modern ergonomic
criteria (Menu- driven human interfaces)
-----

QP – Analysis

# Questions (Part A+B+C) Marks % Marks

Bloom’s Taxonomy
Part A Part B
L1: Remembering 1,5,6,9,10 11,14a 25 25
L2: Understanding 7,8 12,13b,15,18 39 39
L3: Applying 3,4 14b,16,17 29 29
L4: Analyzing 2 13a 7 7
L5: Evaluating - - -
L6: Creating - - -
Total 100 100