Power Systems Protection subtransmission, distribution & industrial levels, Part

III POWER SYSTEMS STUDIES:

In order to be able to adequately select the protective relays in an electrical po
wer system, certain
studies and calculations have to be performed. The degree of complexity varies fro
m one system to
another. Despite this fact certain studies are common to any system, though using
different approaches
and mathematical models. Power systems can be classified, broadly, into radial and
network
configurations (designs). The essential studies to be done are: fault calculations
(parallel and series
faults), load flow, transients and reliability. Fault calculations can be performe
d using the traditional
method of system impedance (reactance) reduction or using the system (network) imp
edance
(reactance) model. The major outputs of studies are: the short circuit current lev
els after the first cycle
(important in calculating the mechanical forces exerted on the system and in speci
fying momentary
ratings), after 3 or 5 or 8 cycle (required to specify the breaking device interru
pting ratings, and the
thermal overloading of the system) and after 30 cycles (if applicable, important f
or time delay
calculations). Load flow studies are performed using Newton Raphson method or fast
decoupled and
successive elimination method of solving simultaneous equations. It is possible to
use other methods.
The admittance (susceptance) network (system) model is used to calculate the equiv
alent elements for
the system under study. The study can be performed for different configurations an
d system
components. It can, also, include for the effects of starting a large motor on the
system. The major
outputs are: the voltage and phase angle of each bus included in the study, the ac
tive and reactive power
flowing between the different buses (nodes) in the system. Transients analysis wil
l vary from one
system to the other and it will depend on the operation of the system, its locatio
n, its extent, the
transients that have to be investigated in order to get a better understanding of
transients in the subject
system. Examples of calculations are: the overvoltages induced in the system due t
o direct lightning
hits, indirect lightning hits, the operation of the breaking devices under fault c
onditions, ferroresonance,
the effect of the L.A. leads on the overvoltages seen by the protected equipment.
Reliability studies, in
general, includes for the relays (plus the other elements) in the system their num
ber, type, failure rate,
and number of hours per failure. The reliability study is function of the degree o
f compexity of the system under study (or design).
Subtransmission and/or distribution system protection:
The electrical power distribution system components constituting the utility porti
on up to the service
entrance in a plant will, typically, have the following major elements: -
overhead high voltage transmission line (eg. 115kV or 230kV) -
high voltage disconnect switches (eg. 115kV or 230kV) -
lightning arresters (station, distribution and maybe riser pole types) -
capacitive voltage transformers power transformers (eg. 230kV/27.6kV, 100MVA) -
M.V. circuit breakers (main, tie and feeders) instrument transformers -
relay/metering panels
overhead distribution lines and poles fuses, insulators & switches -
underground cables, terminations & splices -
distribution transformers (single and three phase) -
reclosers and/or sectionalizers system control & data acquisition equipment -
distribution transformers (single and three phase) -
reclosers and/or sectionalizers system control & data acquisition equipment
For distribution of power from the service entrance boards downstream to the diffe
rent loads and load centers, the major elements are: -
M.V. service entrance board or gear complete with breakers or switches/fuses combi
nation main distribution transformers (dry or liquid filled eg. 27.6kV/600V) -
600V distribution board complete with molded case breakers/switches and/or power b
reakers secondary distribution transformers (600/120/208V) -
600V motor control centres -
M.V. motor starters complete with motor protective relays -
distribution/lighting panels complete with molded case circuit breakers or fuses
interconnecting wires/cables and loads (motors, lighting, appliances, office equip
ment, heating equipment and others) Protection for transformer station:
The power transformers can have any of the following connections: Ydelta, delta-
YG, YDYG, deltaYGYG, YZG, YZGZG.
The protection to the power transformers (example of rating 75/100/125MVA, 230kV/2
7.6kV) will be
against internal faults and is provided through the use of gas relays (in the tran
sformer tank and tap
changer enclosure) and one differential relay. Another differential relay of a dif
ferent type, redundant
(for dependability reasons) may,also, be used. Other faults that may occur and do
not warrant a trip but
rather an alarm or the operation of a bank of fans are: overload and overheating o
f the transformer. For
overvoltage protection, horn gap protectors, lightning arresters and transformer r
od gaps may be used.
Overexciting of the transformer may occur and an overvoltage relay may be used to
indicate or alarm,
rather than to trip. Other devices that are found on transformers in order to indi
cate or protect against a
certain abnormality are: thermometers, winding temperature equipment (thermometers
) and pressure
relief devices. Thermometers indicate top liquid temperature (ambient plus tempera
ture rise of
transformer). Thermometers may have a bimetal spiral in the metal housing, tempera
ture indicating
pointer, drag pointer (resettable). The liquid tight well for the sensing element
allows the removal of the
thermometer with no further steps. Thermometers may have up to three micro switche
s, the first for the
fans (close @ 70 C, open @ 65 C), the second for the alarm (close @ 85, open @ 80)
and the third for
the trip (close @ 85 , open @ 90 ). The winding temperature thermometers can be cl
assified into direct
type and C.T. type. The first type has a capillary tube equiped with porcelain ins
ulator that isolates the
sensing bulb from the thermometer. The bulb is usually placed in direct contact wi
th the low voltage
bus. The second type consists of thermometer bulb, a resistor or thermocouple inse
rted in resistance
heating element which is energized from a current transformer. The heating element
and temperature
sensitive device are mounted in a dry well on the tank wall, the whole assembley i
s then immersed in
the top liquid. Pressure relief devices are used in sealed transformers. The commo
n types are the
diaphragm and the mechanical automatic reseal. The diaphragm is designed to ruptur
e before damaging
pressure can build up. After operation the diaphram has to be replaced. The automa
tic reseal type will
maintain its seal until the threshold pressure (eg. 8psi + 1) is reached, at which
point the valve snaps
open, the full operation takes about 2 milliseconds. The device automatically re-
closes and reseals
when the intermal pressure drops to 4 psi approx. Remote and local indicators to s
how that the device
had operated are, usually, available but not necessarly as a standard part of the
transformer. Restricted
ground (earth) faults may occur when the transformer neutral is grounded through h
igh impedance,
special protection is applied. The protection for this application is provided thr
ough the use of 4 current
transformers (sensors), one in each phase and the fourth in the neutral circuit (b
etween the neutral and
the first terminal of the grounding resistor). The overcurrent relay connected in
a differential protection
configuration is connected across the C.T. in the neutral circuit and the other th
ree current transformers
connected in parallel. For external faults the secondary currents will circulate i
n the current
transformers windings and not through the operating coil (circuit) of the relay; w
hile in case of internal
faults it will flow through the relay (this approach is also used in generator pro
tection under similar
conditions). The differential protection is one that operates when the vectorial d
ifference of two or more electrical quantities of the same type exceeds a pre-
determined value. What makes a protection
differential is the way the circuit is connected. The most extensively used curren
t differential relay is
the percentage. Such relay has operating and restraint coils or circuits. There ar
e two types of
percentage differential relays: the fixed and the variable. The fixed has the foll
owing property: the ratio
of the differential operating current (the difference of the two secondary current
s of the current
transformers on the high and low voltage power transformer windings divided by 2)
to the average
restraining current (the sum of the two secondary currents of the current transfor
mers on the high and
low voltage power transformer windings divided by 2) is a fixed value. The variabl
e has the following
characteristics: the slope of the operating current to the restraint current incre
ases with higher through
currents. The current in the operating coil tends to operate the relay, the curren
t in the restraint coil
tends to prevent this operation. This design is necessary to restrain the relay fr
om operation for any
faults outside the protected zone or for any unbalanced conditions or for the disc
repancies in the
characteristics of the current transformers, avoiding nuisance tripping. Transform
ers draw a steady state
magnetizing current under normal operation (exciting current). This current can va
ry between 1 and 5%
(depending on the design and type of steel used in the core) of the rated full loa
d current of the
transformer. Subjecting transformers to overvoltage, increases the exciting curren
t significantly and due to the non-
linear magnetizing ch/cs of the core, harmonics (third and fifth) will be present.
A pickup
setting above the steady state exciting current would seem good enough, however, t
he amount of
unbalance and the limited restraint at high emergency through current loads, may d
ictate a higher
setting. The choice of the percent slope value is a function of three factors. The
unbalance in the
secondary outputs of the differential zone C.T. may be caused by the tap changer o
f the power
transformer. Secondly, there will be an error current due to the mismatch of the C
.T. taps, it is based on
the average of the restraint currents. Finally, the ratio errors of the current tr
ansformers themselves may
affect the unbalance of the secondary outputs. All these factors have to be taken
into consideration to
get the maximum possible percent unbalance. When transformers are energized, a lar
ge inrush transient
current will flow through the primary of the transformer (and not seen by the seco
ndary windings).
Thus, the operating coil of the differential relay will receive currents with high
peak values, leading to
greater tendency for the relay to operate. The magnitude and wave shape of the inr
ush current is
function of: the magnitude (point) of the supply voltage, at which the transformer
is energized, the
residual flux and its relationship in polarity and magnitude with respect to the i
nstantaneous value of
the steady state flux (corresponding to the particular initial energization point)
, the ratio of saturation
flux density to the operating flux density at rated voltage. The duration of the i
nrush is affected by the
size of the transformer bank and the resistance in the power system from the sourc
e to the transformer.
The magnitude will be affected by the size of the power system, type of steel used
in the transformer
core and its saturation density and the residual flux level. For three phase trans
formers, the electrical
connections of the windings and the magnetic coupling between the phases, affect t
he inrush. The
inrush current is rich in second harmonic components, it varies from 20% to 65%. T
here are another
two types of inrush, other than the initial, the first is the recovery which is th
e inrush that occurs after a
fault external to the bank has been cleared and the voltage rises from the fault c
ondition to the normal
level. The second is the sympathetic inrush which is the inrush to an already ener
gized transformer
while another one in parallel with the first is being energized.
Differential relays may have a second harmonic restraint element to prevent the re
lay operation during transformer energization. A dedicated over-
excitation protection is provided when it is desired to protect
against overvoltage (for short times). Differential relays can have a fifth harmon
ic filter to restrain the
relay from operation (when overexcited). This will prevent the relay (instantaneou
s) operation, due to
overvoltage. The percentage of the fifth harmonic (due to overvoltage) is approxim
ately 35% of the fundamental. The third harmonic is also present when over-
exciting the transformer. The current
transformers should be selected and connected to achieve the following: -
correct secondary currents of the current transformers to reflect the different v
oltages (and
cosequently the full load and fault currents) of the secondary of the power transf
ormer to its primary. -
if there is a phase shift angle between the secondary and primary, the C.T. conne
ction on each side
should compensate for such difference (eg. for a delta or a zigzag connected power
transformer
windings, the current transformers have to be connected in wye; for a wye connecte
d power transformer
windings, The current transformers to be connected in delta). -
the secondary currents through the differential relay should not cause the relay
to operate under
external (through) faults or maximum emergency load and should operate the relay f
or internal faults (should be sufficiently higher than the restraint pick-
up level).
The C.T. ratio is chosen so that it will give a secondary current close to but les
s than the nominal rated
current of the relay at maximum load condition. Two winding percentage differentia
l relays can be used
for three winding transformers, provided the current transformers on the secondary
side of the
transformer are connected in parallel. Its advantage is its cost saving.
In a network where more than one station is fed from the same transmission line th
rough power
transformers, a fault in the protected zone of the transformer should trip the bre
aker or breakers (main)
on the low voltage side, remote tripping of the breakers upstream of this transfor
mer (at terminal
stations) and all low voltage side breakers (main) of transformers connected to th
e same line. The load
break switch on the high voltage side, connected to the transformer high voltage b
ushing, is also tripped
open. When the switch opens, the remote trip signal will be terminated (because of
the disconnect
switch interlock used in the remote trip circuit), the terminal breakers and l.v.
breakers connected to the
other than the faulty transformer are reclosed. For gas protection, Buchholz (pres
sure type) relays
connected between the tank and the conservator (in the piping) are used. One of th
e 2 elements of this
relay is a gas collecting chamber. After a certain amount of gas is collected, a c
ontact is closed to sound
an alarm. The second element contains a vane which is operated by the rush of oil
through the piping.
The first to protect against slow breakdown of insulation, the second against seve
re faults occurring inside the transformer.
The second type of subtransmission/distribution system protection is the overhead
line (H.V. eg. 230kV
or 115kV) carried on transmission towers. This type of protection is applicable to
transformer stations
with ungrounded wye or delta transformer high voltage windings. Assuming a system
that has two lines
feeding a station through a breaker and a half (H.V. bus configuration) and the se
condary of the
transformers have main breakers and a tie breaker between the 2 medium voltage bus
es, under a fault on
a line, a remote trip from the terminal stations is sent to initiate a trip and th
e pertinent M.V. breaker,
that will complete the fault isolation, is opened. In this case, the line protecti
on at the transformer station will be considered as back-
up. If the terminal station has no remote trip capability, this line
protection at the transformer station is the first line of protection to trip the
M.V. breaker. This
protection is achieved through the use of directional phase distance relays (IEEE
#21) and ground residual overvoltage relays (nondirectional).
The use of two independent differential protections on power transformers at trans
former stations, make
it necessary to use circuit breaker failure protection for the main M.V. breakers.
This protection is
controlled from one of the contacts of the breakers auxiliary switch. When this pr
otection is to operate
with a standard configuration of a dual secondary winding power transformer, a sig
nal is sent to initiate
tripping of all breakers necessary to isolate a fault. In the event of failure of
one of the main M.V.
breakers, the breaker failure protection will trip all feeder breakers, the tie br
eaker and two of the
remaining closed main breakers. It also sends remote trip to the terminal station
affected and opens the
transformer disconnect switch (at the right moment while no current is flowing thr
ough the switch) to
isolate the transformer with the faulty breaker, thus permitting a reclose of the
terminal breaker. Circuit breaker re-
closing schemes are used between the terminal and transformer stations. The purpos
e
of having such schemes is to permit reclosing after transient faults on H.V. lines
thus: reestablishing the interrupted interconnections -
terminating any low voltages on customer buses -
restoring the previous level of load security
Automatic reclosing can be classified into delayed and high speed. The latter is d
efined as closing the
circuit breaker after a time delay, just sufficient to allow for the deionization
of the arc. This time = 6
to 10.5 + (system KV/34.5) cycles and it varies from 12 to 17 cycles for 230kV lin
es. As long as
maintaining stability of the system is not a function of reclosing, high speed rec
losing is not a must.
The delayed reclosing is in the range of 510 seconds, this allows the initial syst
em oscillation to decay. Re-
closing is only permitted if specific system conditions are to be satisfied. When
reclosing occurs for more than one circuit element, a pre-
determined sequence is to be set. The control logic to allow the
reclosing can be any combination of the following: voltage presence, undervoltage,
synchrocheck, long
and short time. Two contacts from the voltage relay, one normally open, the other
normally closed,
provide the voltage presence and the undervoltage supervision, respectively. The r
elay picks up at 80%
of the nominal and drops out at 30% of the nominal. The synchrocheck relay provide
d, checks for the
presence of the voltage on both sides of the opened C.B. and that they are within
the limits, it checks,
also, for the phase angle between the two voltages and that they are within a pres
et range for the period of time defined. The long and short-
time time are usually used in conjunction with the voltage
supervision relay (voltage presence using the U/V condition). Generally, any attem
pt to reclose
(automatically) a circuit breaker following a trip is made only if there is a reas
onable probability that
the fault initiating the trip is transient in nature. A single shot reclose scheme
(a practical approach),
provides similar discrimination for line faults. A single close attempt, after the
initial trip, is considered
a test for the nature of the fault. If the breaker recloses and stays for a minimu
m period of 10 seconds,
the fault is assumed to be of a transient nature and the scheme resets (getting re
ady for the next fault).
Reclosure is cancelled, not initiated, if the fault is occurring in a zone where t
ransients are unlikely like
generators, transformers, bus ducts and switchgear bus assemblies. To achieve remo
te trips and reclose,
communication channels are required. Signals can be transmitted through power line
carriers, by
microwave antenna or through a dedicated pair of telephone wires. The last has a d
.c. voltage applied at
the local end to energize voltage sensing relays, installed at the remote ends whi
ch trip/annunciate the
appropriate circuit. Generally, two such channels are provided to improve reliabil
ity. The availability,
routes, size and type of telephone wires vary greatly (eg. #22 to #26 or #19 AWG).
The maximum loop
resistance of the telephone circuit (for two ended circuits) has to be 9600 ohm if
the voltage at the trip
receive relay end is to be 55V d.c., when the sending end has 125V d.c. This resis
tance is equivalent to
approximately 90 km of #22 AWG and 56 km of #24 AWG. When the sending end has 250V
d.c., the
loop resistance can be 10,600 ohms, which is equivalent to 100 km and 61 km of #22
& #24 AWG,
respectively. Monitoring relays, located at one terminal only, are used to indicat
e or annunciate when a
channel becomes defective. The operating time of such protection can be 25 MilliSe
c, when both
channels operate (higher speed of operation is allowed as when both channels are o
perating the chance
of having false signal from both channels simultaneously is quite remote) or when
one channel operates
(to allow for transients and to avoid nuissance tripping) is 85 MilliSec.
The two remaining types of transformer station protection are: the medium voltage
bus protection
(differential, phase O/C and ground O/C relays), the feeder protection. In most ca
ses, the M.V. bus is fed from the zig-
zag secondary winding of the power transformer with the neutral reactor grounded o
r
from the delta winding. Overcurrent relays connected in a differential configurati
on or percentage
differential relays or high impedance bus differential relays are used to protect
against permanent faults
in the bus zone. The common neutral of the differentially connected C.T.s (from th
e main transformer
low voltage breakers, tie breaker and feeder breakers) are grounded at one point o
nly. All current
transformers will have the same ratio and characteristics. All feeder breakers, tr
ansformer breakers and
tie breakers on the faulted bus are tripped and automatic reclosure is inhibited w
hen this relay operates.
This differential protection relay (one per phase) will have an instantaneous and
timed element.
Overcurrent back up protection is provided using phase and ground inverse timed O/
C relays. Reclosure
is inhibited when this relay operates. This differential protection relay (one per
phase) will have an
instantaneous and timed element. Overcurrent back up protection is provided using
phase and ground
inverse timed O/C relays and is set to operate on the same breakers as the main pr
otective relays if the
bus differential scheme fails. Usually, the ground O/C relay requires a high curre
nt range to permit higher pick-
up current settings. The back up protection will trip the breakers as mentioned ab
ove, the
overcurrent relays are connected to current transformers installed in the switchge
ar on the main
transformers secondary breaker or breakers connected to the subject bus.
The feeders (breakers) are protected against overcurrent & short circuit and prote
ction is provided
through the use of different types of relays O/C timed, instantaneous, auxiliary a
nd reclosing (if
required). Other types of relays like the solid state/microprocessor, can provide
the previously
mentioned protection with more flexibility and by using only one relay, substituti
ng for the O/C,
reclosing and auxiliaries. Another advantage of the solid state relay is the amoun
t of data that can be
retrieved under S.C. conditions on the feeder, like the magnitude of the fault cur
rent, the phase or
phases affected. This data is also important to indicate the cumulative currents,
the breaker is subjected
to when interrupting faults. Generally, these relays have built in ammeters to ind
icate the current levels
in the different phases under normal operation. As only radial feeders are covered
here, the relays used are non-
directional. The timed element of O/C relays can have a few shapes such as definit
e time,
inverse, very inverse and extremely inverse. The last provides fastest clearance a
t higher fault values. It
closely approximates the fuse curves which the relay should coordinate with (downs
tream). The extremely inverse characteristics is preferred for cold load pick-
up. Initial cold load inrush can reach 4
times normal peak loads, for a few seconds (about 2 to 10), after which it will de
cay to approximately 1
1/2 times. The two parameters that govern the relay operation are the pickup curre
nt value and the duration the current has to stay above the pick-
up value. High set instantaneous protection are used to
protect that portion of the feeder that is close to the station. Under closein S.C
. conditions, fast
clearance is a must. There is usually another setting in feeder protection called
low set instantaneous. It
is intended for transient faults and is used with a reclosing scheme. It is meant
to reduce the mechanical
and the thermal stress on the feeder (and the equipment or lines connected between
the source and the
faulty point) and to reduce voltage disturbances on the station bus and consequent
ly, the other feeders.
It is set low to cover the entire feeder. When this protection operates and reclos
ing is initiated, the low
set instantaneous is blocked as a fault that persists after reclosing is probably
permanent and requires co-
ordinated (with downstream fuses and reclosers) isolation. The low setting protect
ion is also blocked
during line energization. When discrete relays are used to provide feeder protecti
on, a number of
measuring relay contacts are connected in parallel. When any of these relays opera
te, the trip relay is
energized to trip the C.B., annunciate and initiate reclosing. Reclosing is only u
sed with overhead feeder lines and most probably, will be a single-
shot one. The reclose scheme is disabled through the
use of an auxiliary breaker control switch or protective relay contacts (if the br
eaker was previously
opened manually or tripped by another protection). Supervision for reclosing is pr
ovided through a
timer. For single shot reclose, the breaker is locked out, under the following con
ditions: trip on the
delayed portion of the current/time ch/cs curve, after the previous trip of same o
r low instantaneous,
after first trip on the high instantaneous. Typical settings of these relays are t
he pickup current is
approximately twice the full load current of the feeder and less than the minimum
feeder end fault (3
phase). The minimum feeder end fault is to be isolated in 2 to 3 seconds (this is
for phase timed O/C
protection). For ground timed O/C protection, the feeder end ground fault is to be
isolated in 1.5 to 2 seconds. The pick-
up level is function of the available ground fault current. It has to accommodate
for the possible feeder unbalance loading. Distribution system protection:
From the transformer station, the feeder breakers are connected to cables and out
it goes to overhead
lines into distribution transformers, unit substations or distribution stations. T
he feeders are assumed to be of the radial design (rather than the loop network-
one). At the taps, from the overhead lines to, for
example, underground residential areas or to an industrial plant service entrance
board, a power fuse
and a switching device are usually installed. For a tap into a distribution pole m
ounted transformer, a
series of a fuse cutout, with fuse link plus current limiting fuse are installed a
head of the transformer.
Other switching/protecting components that are found in overhead distribution syst
ems are reclosers
and sectionalizers. In underground systems, fuses and tripping devices are found.
For Reclosers & Sectionalizers, refer to Part II.
For Fuses for Distribution Transformers, refer to Part II.
Industrial systems protection:
In industrial systems the protection of equipment and systems uses a variety of br
eaking/protective
devices. Certain protectiv/breaking devices are integral, others are separate from
each other. The
breaking devices can be: molded case circuit breakers, air magnetic circuit breake
rs, molded case
switches, safety switches, contactors, medium voltage circuit breakers (breaking m
edium can be any of
air, oil, SF6 or vaccum). Also, load break switches and disconnect switches are fo
und in industrial
systems. The majority of the load in such systems is squirrel cage induction motor
s (about 75 % in average of total connected load).
In generators protective schemes, the following types of relays are found: overcur
rent, o/c ground,
differential, negative sequence o/c, reverse power, field failure and ground fault
protection for the field.
For motors, the following types of relays are usually applied: overcurrent, neutra
l or ground overcurrent,
thermal overload, reverse (directional) power relay, phase sequence voltage and
overvoltage/undervoltage relay.
For transformer protection, transformer percentage differential, gas and overcurre
nt relays are found.
For transmission lines, distance relays are used to protect against faults on line
s.
For bus protection, differential relays or overcurrent relays connected in differe
ntial configuration are
used. Certain critical relays may be duplicated (redundancy) for reliability reaso
ns. Backup protection
is also common for critical stations. If the primary protections are to fail, the
back up will take over,
interrupt the circuit or circuits minimizing the disturbances to other load centre
s. For low voltage direct acting tripping devices and fuses, refer to Part II.
For relays refer to Part II. Factory testing:
Static relays testing methods differ from those of electromagnetic relays, as they
have lower burdens,
are more susceptible to higher voltages and disturbances, are built from semicondu
ctor components rather than coils and cores.
For electromagnetic relays, the following tests are performed at the factory: oper
ation, calibration, insulation withstandability and maybe impulse.
For solid state/microprocessor based, the following tests are performed: operation
, current circuit
dielectric (insulation) withstandability tests (eg. 2.5 KV for 1 min. @ 50 or 60 c
/s), other circuits
dielectric (insulation) tests (eg. 2 KV for 1 min. @ 50 or 60 c/s), impulse voltsg
e tests (eg. 5 KV, .5
Joule, shape 1.2/50),fast transient disturbances (eg. 4 KV for 2 min.) and burst t
ests (eg. 1 MHZ, 2 KV decaying to 50 % in 6 cycles and remaining for 2 sec.).
Site testing:
This type of testing can be classified into commissioning and routine maintenance.
The following are typical testing for certain protective relays at the site and p
rior to startup of the plant:
Overcurrent (instantaneous or timed): insulation resistance, pickup value, dropout
and timing. Over/undervoltage: same as overcurrent, above.
Differential: insulation resistance, pickup value, timing and slope characteristic
s. Directional: insulation resistance, pick-
up, timing, polarity check, directional sensitivity and stray operation check.
Reverse power: insulation resistance, polarity, directional sensitivity and stray
operation check. Over/under frequency: insulation resistance, pickup value, drop-
out value and timing. Distance: insulation resistance, pick-
up, timing, polarity check, directional sensitivity, stray operation
check and flag/auxiliary contacts operation.
Negative sequence: insulation resistance, pickup and timing.
Current balance: same as ve sequence, above plus slope characteristics.
Periodic checks on relays to ensure that the setting (adjustment) has not been cha
nged or drifted are
important. At the setting the following is checked (whichever applicable to the re
lay type and
application): operation of relay flags and/or visual indicators (local and remote)
, the tripping of the
associated breaker, the operation of the annunciator panel or sound alarm. The fre
quency of such
testing is function of the following factors: the environment in which the relay i
s installed and operated
(eg. temperature, humidity, degree of pollution), whether the subject protective s
cheme is a backup or
the primary protection, size and importance of equipment being protected, the cons
equences of maloperation of the protective scheme. Adjustments (settings):
As mentioned previously, in order to reach the stage of setting the protective rel
ays, a good
understanding of the system has to be achieved and the necessary calculations and
studies on the system
have been done. For typical relays, the necessary settings will be given hereafter
:
Overcurrent relays: time delayed setting (eg. .5 to 200% of relay rated current),
instantaneous setting (5
tp 30 times delayed relay setting or relay rated current function of type) and ti
me multiplier setting (eg. .05 to 1 in .025 steps).
Over/undervoltage relays: pickup setting (eg. 60 to 110 V), dropout (eg. 70 to 99
%), time delay on
pickup and dropout (eg. instantaneous or .1 to 1 sec.). Differential: pick-
up slope (eg. 20 to 50 %), operating current setting (eg. 20 to 50 % of relay rate
d current -
1 or 5 amp.), unrestrained settable current (eg. 8,13,20 times relay rated curren
t).
Directional: maximum torque angle (eg. 0 to 90 deg.), sector width (30 to 180 deg.
) Reverse power: operating time (eg. 1 to 30 sec or instantaneous), minimum pick-
up values of current and voltage (eg. rated volt, .02 amp.).
Over/under frequency: frequency setting (eg. 59 c/s), timer setting range (.15 to
5 sec.)
Distance: relay reach (eg. .2 to 4.5 secondary ohms or 1.27 to 36.6), maximum torq
ue angle (eg. 60 to 75 deg.)
Negative sequence: tap setting (eg. from 2.5 to 4.5 amp.), pickup setting (eg. fro
m 10 to 40 % of tap setting), time setting (eg. 5 to 20). Current balance: -
ve sequence current pickup (eg. .3 to 1.2), time delay adjustment (eg. .5 to 4 sec
.) Voltage phase unbalance: pickup (eg. 1, 2 or 3 -
ve sequence volt), time delay (4, 8 or 128 cycles). Synchro-
check: magnitude of vector difference voltage (eg. 20 to 60 V), time adjustment (e
g. 1 to 15 sec.), dead busdead line levels (eg. 0 to 120 V).
Loss of field: impedance setting (eg. 2.08 to 56 ohm in 3% steps), undervoltage un
it setting (eg. 65 to 85 %), timer setting (.2 to 3 sec. in .2 sec.).
Reclosing: number of reclosures (eg. 1 or 2 or 3), time between reclosures (eg. .5
to 5 sec. adjusted continuasly). Motor protection: full load current -
FLC (1 to 6 amp. in .1 amp. steps), instantaneous pickip (1 to 10
times full load current in 1 time x step), load jam current & delay (eg. 1 to 10 t
imes FLC in .1 steps &
.5 to 10 sec. in .1 sec.), load loss current & delay (eg. 0 to 1 FLC in .01 steps
& 1 to 20 sec. in .1 sec steps), ground overcurrent pick-
up adjustment (eg. 5 to 50 amp. in primary current and in 1 steps),
ground overcurrent time delay (.04 to 1 sec. in .01 sec.), ve sequence pickup adju
stment (eg. .1 to .5 FLC in .01 steps), -
ve sequence tripping delay (eg. .05 to 5 sec. in .01 sec. steps), RTD trip setting
(eg. 10 to 200 deg.), RTD alarm setting (eg. 2 to 20 deg. below trip setting).
Feeder protection: low set starting current adjustment (eg. .5 to 2.5 times rated
input current 1 or 5
amp.), time setting (.05 to 100 sec. or time multiplier = .05 to 1), high set star
ting current adjustment
(eg. .5 to 20 times rated input current), operating time (.03 to 100 sec.), starti
ng current of the low set
ground (earth) fault (eg. .1 to .5 times rated input current), time setting (eg. .
05 to 100 sec. or time
multiplier = .05 to 10), starting current of the high set ground (earth) fault (eg
. .1 to 4 times rated
current), operating time setting (eg. .05 to 100 sec.), number of high speed reclo
sing (eg. 1), number of
delayed reclosing (eg. 1 to 3 or 4), initiated by overcurrent starting delay prece
ding high speed or
delayed reclosing (eg. .05 to 2.5 sec. or .05 to 5 sec.), initiated by ground faul
t starting delay preceding
high speed or delayed reclosing ( similar to initiated by o/c), dead time of high
speed or delayed reclosing (eg. .1 to 99 sec. or 2 to 999 sec.). Co-
ordinaion studies:
For the coordination study the following data are essential: the relays current-
time characteristics curves, fuses total clearing time-
current & minimum melting timecurrent characteristic curves, total available 3-
phase short circuit current in the system, the 58% IEEE point for transformers con
nected in
delta wye, damage curves for cables & transformers, inrush currents to induction
motors and their
durations, inrush currents for transformers and duration, relays burden data, inst
rument transformers
saturation, excitation, accuracy, ratio, taps number and ratios data.
For a numerical example regarding power transformer protection, refer to EPDS, lev
el 1, lesson 2, question 27
For a numerical example regarding sizing of breakong devices, refer to EPDS, level
1, lesson 3, question 16
For a numerical example regarding principle calculations of power systems analysis
, refer to EPDS, level 1, lesson 5, question 12