Bus Bar Protection

Outline
Bus arrangements

Bus components Bus protection techniques

Single bus - single breaker

ZONE 1

----

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Distribution and lower transmission voltage levels No operating flexibility Fault on the bus trips all circuit breakers

Multiple bus sections - single breaker with bus tie

ZONE 1 ZONE 2

Distribution and lower transmission voltage levels Limited operating flexibility

Double bus - single breaker with bus tie

ZONE 1 ZONE 2

Transmission and distribution voltage levels Fault on a bus disconnects only the circuits connected to that bus

Main and transfer buses

MAIN BUS
ZONE 1

TRANFER BUS

Increased operating flexibility A bus fault requires tripping all breakers Transfer bus for breaker maintenance

Double bus single breaker w/ transfer bus

ZONE 1 ZONE 2

Very high operating flexibility Fault on a bus disconnects only the circuits connected to that bus Transfer bus for breaker maintenance

Double bus - double breaker

ZONE 1

ZONE 2

High operating flexibility Line protection covers bus section between two CTs

Breaker-and-a-half bus
ZONE 1

ZONE 2

Used on higher voltage levels More operating flexibility Requires more breakers Middle bus sections covered by line or other equipment protection

Ring bus

L1

L2

TB1

B1

B2

TB1

L3

L4

Higher voltage levels High operating flexibility with minimum breakers

Bus components
BUS 1 BUS 2

breakers

ISO 1

ISO 2

Low Voltage circuit breakers

CB 1 ISO 3 BYPASS

SF6, EHV & HV - Synchropuff

Disconnect switches & auxiliary contacts

BUS 1

BUS 1
BUS 2

+
ISOLATOR 1

7B

7A ISOLATOR 1 OPEN
F1a F1c F1b Contact Input F1a On Contact Input F1c On

ISO 1

ISO 2

BUS 1
ISOLATOR 1

+
7B 7A ISOLATOR 1 CLOSED
F1a F1c F1b Contact Input F1a On Contact Input F1c On

CB 1 ISO 3 BYPASS

Current Transformers
BUS 1 BUS 2

ISO 1

ISO 2

Gas (SF6) insulated current transformer Oil insulated current transformer (35kV up to 800kV)
CB 1 ISO 3 BYPASS

Bushing type (medium voltage switchgear)

Bus Bar Protection Requirements

High bus fault currents due to large number of circuits connected:
CT saturation often becomes a problem as CTs may not be sufficiently rated for worst fault condition case large dynamic forces associated with bus faults require fast clearing times in order to reduce equipment damage

False trip by bus protection may create serious problems:

service interruption to a large number of circuits (distribution and subtransmission voltage levels) system-wide stability problems (transmission voltage levels)

With both dependability and security important, preference is always given to security

Bus Protection Techniques

Overcurrent (unrestrained or unbiased) differential Overcurrent percent (restrained or biased) differential High-impedance bus differential schemes Low-impedance bus differential schemes

Overcurrent (unrestrained) Differential

Differential signal formed by summation of all currents feeding the bus CT ratio matching may be required On external faults, saturated CTs yield spurious differential current Time delay used to cope with CT saturation

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Relay

Simple Low cost Different ratios of CTs can be used with the help of Aux CT

Advantages

Disadvantages
High operating time All CTs must have equal ratio Low sensitivity Degree of CT saturation level to be very low

High Impedance relay

Relay R

High Impedance Differential

Operating signal created by connecting all CT secondaries in parallel
o CTs must all have the same ratio o Must have dedicated CTs

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Overvoltage element operates on voltage developed across resistor connected in secondary circuit Accuracy dependent on secondary circuit resistance
o Usually requires larger CT

cables to reduce errors higher cost

Cannot easily be applied to reconfigurable buses and offers no advanced functionality

Advantages
It avoids the problem of unequal CT performances. It uses high impedance voltage relay. Highly sensitive and fast.

Disadvantages
All CTs must have equal Turns ratio All CTs must have high Knee point voltage preferably twice the nominal value The CT must be exclusively used for differential protection.

Percent Differential
Percent characteristic used to cope with CT saturation and other errors Restraining signal can be formed in a number of ways No dedicated CTs needed Used for protection of reconfigurable buses possible

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Low Impedance Percent Differential ( Digital relay)

Individual currents sampled by protection and summated digitally
o CT ratio matching done internally (no auxiliary CTs) o Dedicated CTs not necessary

Additional algorithms improve security of percent differential characteristic during CT saturation Dynamic bus replica allows application to reconfigurable buses
o Done digitally with logic to add/remove current inputs from differential

computation o Switching of CT secondary circuits not required

Low secondary burdens Additional functionality available

o Time-stamped event recording o Breaker failure protection

Relay

Low Impedance Differential (Distributed)

Data Acquisition Units (DAUs) installed in bays Central Processing Unit (CPU) processes all data from DAUs Communications between DAUs and CPU over fiber using proprietary protocol Sampling synchronisation between DAUs is required Perceived less reliable (more hardware needed) Difficult to apply in retrofit applications

52 DAU

52 DAU

52 DAU

CU copper fiber

Low Impedance Differential (Centralized)

All currents applied to a single central processor No communications, external sampling synchronisation necessary Perceived more reliable (less hardware needed) Well suited to both new and retrofit applications.

52

52

52

CU copper

Bus bar protections

Standard practice
400 kV
Duplicated main protection per zone (bus) Two prot connected to different CT cores Preferably, both main protections on different principle Two out of two principle(main 1 & 2) for tripping

220 kV / 132 kV
One main protection per zone (bus) Single CT core is switched to respective main zone through switching relays Common check zone for all the buses connected to an independent CT core other than main protection Tripping based on operation of both main and check zone

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