An Overview Of Short Circuit Current (part 1)

http://electrical- engineering- portal.com/an- overview- of- short- circuit- current- part- 1 February 25, 2013

Asif Eqbal

An Overview Of Short Circuit Current (part 1)

Basic concept
There are essentially four types of faults: three-phase, single line-to-ground, double line-to-
ground, and line-to-line.

Each of these types of faults can result in different magnitudes of fault current.

In all types, however, there is a common element: an abnormally low-impedance path or shorted
path for current to flow, hence the name short circuit current. Such a condition can lead to
extremely high currents.

By Ohm’s Law, voltage equals current times impedance (resistance). Therefore, when the
impedance becomes very low and the voltage does not change, the current becomes very high.
Large electrical currents produce a lot of heat transfer, which increases the temperature of
cables, transformers, etc.

The increase in temperature can cause insulation damage. These currents also produce high
magnetic forces, which can actually bend buses in switchgear.
High fault currents cause magnetic forces that are proportional to the square of the fault
current.

Mathematical background, X/R ratio and type of f ault current

The treatment of electrical faults should be carried out as a function of time, from the start of
the event at time t = 0+ until stable conditions are reached, and therefore it is necessary to use
differential equations when calculating these currents.

In order to illustrate the transient nature of the current, consider an RL circuit as a simplified
equivalent of the circuits in electricity distribution networks.

This simplification is important because all the system equipment must be modeled in some
way in order to quantify the transient values which can occur during the fault condition.

For the circuit shown in Figure, the mathematical expression which defines the behavior of
the current is:

e(t) = L di + Ri(t)

This is a differential equation with constant coefficients,

of which the solution is in two parts:

ia (t): ih (t) + ip (t)

Where:

ih(t ) is the solution of the homogeneous equation

corresponding to the transient period. RL circuit as a simplif ied equivalent
ip (t ) is the solution to the particular equation of the circuits in electricity-
corresponding to the steady-state period. distribution networks

By the use of differential equation theory, the complete

solution can be determined and expressed in the following form:

Where:

α – the closing angle which defines the point on the source sinusoidal voltage when the fault
occurs

Ø = tan- 1(ωL/R) or Ø = tan- 1(X/R)

The second term in the equation for fault current is recognized as the DC component of the
current, and has an initial maximum value when:
α - Φ = ± π / 2, and zero value when α = Φ.

Notes:

Here we introduce the concept of X/R ratio. We can very well see that since ωL = XL or
simply X hence DC component of fault current to large extent depends upon Ø = tan-
1(X/R) or simply X/R ratio.

The X/R ratio is important because it determines the peak asymmetrical fault current.
In X/R ratio when X equals zero, there is only symmetrical current with no DC component.
With R equals zero, the DC component would never decay. One can say there will always
be both resistance and reactive components in the system.
The resistance and reactance of a circuit establishes a power factor.
The power factor (p.f.) is given by the following equation: p.f. = cos(tan-1(X/R)) this
equation means that the power factor and X/R ratio are related.
Therefore, system power factor and system X/R ratio are different ways of saying the
same thing. Please note that as power factor decreases, the X/R ratio increases.

It is impossible to predict a that is at what point the fault will be applied or take place on the
sinusoidal cycle and therefore it is not possible to determine exactly what magnitude the DC
component will reach.

Symmetrical f ault current

If in a circuit mainly containing reactance a short circuit occurs at the peak of the voltage wave,
the short-circuit current would start at zero and trace a sine wave which would be symmetrical
about the zero axis.

This is known as a symmetrical short circuit current.

Asymmetrical f ault current

Right after a fault occurs, the current waveform is no longer a sine wave.

Instead, it can be represented by the sum of a sine wave and a decaying exponential. Figure
below illustrates this phenomenon. Please note that the decaying exponential added to the
sine wave causes the current to reach a much larger value than that of the sine wave alone.

The waveform that equals the sum of the sine wave and the decaying exponential is called the
asymmetrical current because the waveform does not have symmetry above and below the
time axis.

The sine wave alone is called the symmetrical current because it does have symmetry above
and below the time axis.
 Sine wave, decaying exponential and their sum

Hence we can define asymmetrical fault current in the following way: If, in a circuit containing
only reactance, the short circuit occurs at any point at the peak of the voltage wave, there will
be some offset of the current.

The amount of offset depends upon the point on the voltage wave at which the short circuit
occurs.

This is known as asymmetrical short circuit current. Maximum asymmetry occurs when short
circuit takes place when voltage is zero.

Asymmetrical fault remains only for few cycles after which it becomes symmetrical fault.
Decay of asymmetrical component depends on the value of X/R. More the value of R, faster is
the decay of asymmetrical fault current.

Magnitude of asymmetrical fault current is more than that of symmetrical fault current.

If the short circuit current does not include DC component it is called symmetrical short circuit
current. If the short circuit current contains DC component it is called as asymmetrical
component.

Figure above represents the short circuit current with and without DC component.

Will be continued soon…