1

CHAPTER 01
FAULT ANALYSIS OF ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM

1.1 Fault in a power system

Fault is an aspect of something that is wrong or not perfect
1.2 Types of Fault:
The Fault in a 3-phase system can be classified into two main categories viz,
1) Symmetrical Faults.
2) Unsymmetrical Faults
1) Symmetrical Fault:
The Fault which gives rise to symmetrical fault current is called a symmetrical fault. The
symmetrical fault occurs when all the three conductors of a 3-phase like are brought together
simultaneously into short circuit condition.
2) Unsymmetrical Fault:
The Fault which gives rise to unsymmetrical fault current is called an unsymmetrical fault.
Various types of unsymmetrical Fault occur in power system. They are-
a) Shunt type fault.
i) Single line to ground(L-G) fault.
ii) line to line (L-L)fault.
iii) Double line to ground (L-L-G)fault.
b) Series type fault
i) Open conductor (one or two conductor open) fault

So power system faults can be broadly divided into two categories.

A) Short Circuit Fault
B) Open Circuit Fault.

A) Short Circuit Fault:

The following definition of a short circuit is taken form an IEEE standard.
“An abnormal connection (including an arc) of relatively low impedance , whether made
accidentally or intentionally, between two points of different potential is called short circuit.
Note: The term fault or short circuit fault is used to desired a short – circuit”.
Symmetrical faults, L-G faults, L-L faults, L-L-G faults are included in this type of fault.
B) Open Circuit Faults:
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Open circuit fault is the series type unsymmetrical fault. An IEC (International
Electrotechnical Committee) – Standard has the following definition of a series fault.
“A fault for which the impedances of each of the three phases are not equal, usually caused
by the interruption of one or two phases is called series type fault”.
1.3 Causes of Fault in a power system:
1.3.1 Causes of Short Circuit:
It may cause due to internal or external effects.
a) Internal effects:
i) Breakdown of equipment or transmission line.
ii) Deterioration of insulation in generator, transformer etc.
iii) Aging of insulation.
iv) Impedance design.
v) Improper installation.
vi)

a) External effects:

i) Insulation failure due to lighting surges.

ii) Overloading of equipment causing excessive heating.
iii) Mechanical damage by public.

1.3.2 Causes of Open Circuit:

Open Circuit faults can be caused due to
i) Broken conductor
ii) Circuit breaker malfunctions in one or several phases.
1.4 Consequences of Fault
Effects of short Circuit Fault:
• The heavy current due to short circuit causes excessive heating which may result
in fire or explotion.
• Power system components caring abnormal currents, get our heated, with
consequence reduction in the life span of their insulation.
• The low voltage created by the fault has a harmful effect on he service rendered
by the power system.
• Power flow is severely restricted or even completely blocked, while the short
circuit lasts.
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• As a consequence of blockage of power flow, power system areas can lose

synchronism. The longer a faults lasts the more is the possibility of loss of
synchronism.

Effect of Open Circuit Faults

• Abnormal system operation.
• Danger to personal.
• Voltage tends to rise well beyond acceptable values in certain parts of the system
with possibility of insulation failure and development of short circuit faults.

1.5 Fault Clearing and System protection

Needs of Fault Clearing:
When a failure occurs on any parts of the system it must be quickly detected and cleared due to
the following reasons.
a) If the fault is not cleared quickly, it may cause unnecessary interruption of source to
the customers.
b) Rapid clearance of the fault prevents the effects of the fault from spreading into the
system.
Fault Clearing System:
A fault clearing system consists of a relay protection system and a circuit breaker. In case of a
fault, the task of the circuit breaker is to clear the fault and the task of the relay protection system
is to detect the fault.
Circuit Breaker:
A circuit breaker is a piece of equipment which can
a) Make or break a circuit either manually or by remote control under normal condition.
b) Break a circuit automatically under fault condition.
c) Make a circuit either manually or by remote control under fault condition.
Protective Relays:
A protective relay is a device that detects the fault and initiates the operation of the circuit
breaker to isolate the detective element from the rest of system.
The relay protection system can be further divided into
a) Transducers
b) Wiring
c) Trip circuit
d) Relays
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i) Magnitude relays
ii) Directional relays
iii) Impedance relays
iv) Differential relays
v) Pilot relays

1.6 Necessity of fault analysis

By fault analysis we can determine bus voltages and line currents during various types of
faults.

i) Need of symmetrical fault analysis

Usually the 3-φ symmetrical short circuit yields the lowest fault current. Hence
relay settings are usually based upon three –phase symmetrical fault because it is
desirable to protect a system for the minimum fault current.

ii) Need of unsymmetrical fault analysis

Since a breaker must interrupt the largest short current that can possible exist, the
size of a breaker is determined by the largest possible fault current. The greater
current usually occurs for either the L-L or L-G fault.

CHAPTER 02
SYMMETRICAL THREE – PHASE FAULTS

2.1 Introduction
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The current flowing when a generator is short circuited is similar to that flowing when an
altering voltage is suddenly applied to a resistance and an inductance in series. However
there are important differences, because the current in the armature effects the rotating field.
The short circuit currents and the reactance of synchronous machines are defined by the
following equations, which apply to an alternator operating at no load before the occurrence
of a 3- phase fault at its terminals.

| I | = |E|gXd (2.1)
|I’|= |E|gX'd (2.2)
|I’’|= |E|gX''d (2.3)
Where
| I | = Steady state current, rms value
| I’ | = Transient current , rms value excluding dc component
Xd = Direct – axis symmetrical reactance.
X’d= Direct – axis transient reactance.
X’’d= Direct – axis subtransient reactance.
|Eg| = rms voltage from one terminal to neutral at no load.
2.2 The bus Impedance Matrix in fault Calculation

We extend our study of fault calculation to a general networks. However , let us proceed to the
general equations by starting with a specific network with which is given bellow in figure-

Fig. 2.1 Reactance diagram with sub transient reactance and sub transient internal voltages.
Reactance values are marked in per unit.
If this network is single phase equivalent of three phase system and we are choose to study
a fault at bus 4. Vf is the voltage at bus 4 before the fault occurs.
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Fig 2.2 : Circuit of fig 2.1 with admittance marked in per unit and a 3- phase fault on bus 4 of the
system simulated by Vf and –Vf in series.
A 3-φ fault at bus 4 is simulated by the network of fig. 2.2 ,where the impedance values of fig.
6.1 have been chanced to admittances. The generated voltages Vf and –Vf in series constitute the
short circuit. Generated voltage Vf alone in this branch would cause no current in the branch.
With Vf and –Vf in series in the branch is a short circuit , and the branch current is If’’.
Admittance rather than impedances have been marked in per unit on this diagram. If E a’’ , Eb’’,
Ec’’ and Vf are short – circuited, the voltage and current are those due only to –Vf. Then the only
current entering at node from a source is that from –Vf and –If’’ into node 4. Since there is no
current in this branch until the insertion of –V f. The node equations in matrix form for the
network with –Vf the only sources are
000-If'' = j -12.330.04.05.00.0-10.832.55.04.05.02.55.0-17.838.08.0-18.0
V1∆V2∆V3∆-Vf (2.4)

When the superscript ∆ indicates that the voltages are due only to –Vf. The ∆ sign is chosen
to indicate the bus admittance matrix. The bus admittance matrix of the network of fig. 2.2 we
obtain the bus impedance matrix. The bus voltage due to –Vf are given by-
V1∆V2∆V3∆-Vf = Zbus 000-If'' (2.5)
And so
If’’= VfZ44 (2.6)
’’
V1∆ = -If Z14 = - Z14Z44 Vf
V2∆= - Z24Z44 Vf
V3∆= - Z34Z44 Vf (2.7)
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When the generator voltage -Vf is short circuited in the network of fig. 2.2 and Ea’’ , Eb’’, Ec’’ and
Vf are in the circuit, the voltages and currents everywhere in the network are those existing
before the fault. By the principle of the voltages existing after the fault occurs. Usually the
faulted network is assumed to have been without loads before the fault. In such a case no current
is flowing before the fault, and all voltages throughout the network are the same and equal to V f.
This assumption simplifies our work considerably, and applying the principle of superposition
gives
V1 = Vf + V1∆ = Vf –If’’ Z14
V2 = Vf + V2∆ = Vf –If’’ Z24
V3 = Vf + V3∆ = Vf –If’’ Z34 (2.8)
V4 = Vf – Vf = 0
These voltages exist when sub- transient current flows and Zbus has been formed for a network
having sub-transient values for generator reactance.
In general terms for a fault on bus k, and neglecting prefault currents,
If = VfZkk (2.9)
And the post fault voltage at bus n is
Vn = Vf - ZnkZkk Vf (2.10)
Using the numeric values of equation (2.4), we invert the square matrix Ybus of that equation and
find
Zbus =
j0.14880.06510.08640.09780.06510.15540.07990.09670.08640.09780.07990.0967
0.13410.10580.10580.1566 (2.11)
Usually Vf is assumed to be 1.000 per unit, and this assumption for our faulted network
If’’ = 1j0.1566 = - j6.386 per unit
V1 = 1- j0.0978j0.1566 = 0.3755 per unit
V2 = 1- j0.0967j0.1566 = 0.3825 per unit
V3 = 1- j0.1058j0.1566 = 0.3244 per unit
Current in any part of the network can be found from the voltages and impedance. For instance,
the fault current in the branch connecting nodes 1 and 3 flowing toward node 3 is
I13’’ = V1-V3j0.25 = 0.3755-0.3244j0.25 = - j0.2044 per unit
Ia’’ = Ea''-V1j0.3 = 1-0.3755j0.3 = - j2.0817 per unit
Other currents can be found in a similar manner, and voltages and currents with the fault on any
other bus are calculated just as easily from thr bus impedance matrix. Equation (2.9) is simply an
application of “Thevnin’s theorem, and we recognize that quantities on the principal diagonal of
the bus impedance matrix are the Thevnin impedances of the network for calculating fault
current at the various buses.
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CHAPTER 03
SYMMETRICALCOMPONENTS

3.1 Fundamentals of Symmetrical Components

Symmetrical components allow unbalanced phase quantities such as currents and voltages to be
replaced by three separate balance symmetrical components.
In three - phase system the phase sequence is defined as order in which they pass through a
positive maximum. Consider the phasors representation of a three - phase balance current shown
in the following fig-

Ib1 Ic2
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Ic1 Ib2
Ia1 Ia2

Ib1 Ic2
Fig: (a) Fig: (b)

Fig: (c)
Fig: 3.1 Representations of Symmetrical Components.
By convention, the direction of rotation of the phasors is taken to be counterclockwise. The three
phasors are written as
Ia1=Ia1<0°=Ia1
Ib1=Ia1<240°=a2Ia1 (3.1)
1 1 1
Ic =Ia <120°=aIa
The order of the phasors is abc . thie is designated the positive phase sequence. When the order is
acb as in fig. (b) ,it is designate the negative phase sequence. The negative phase sequence
quantities are represented as
Ia2=Ia2<0°=Ia2
Ib2=Ia2<120°=aIa2 (3.2)
2 2 2 2
Ic =Ia <240°=a Ia
When analyzing certain types of unbalanced faults, it will be found that a thirt set of balance
phasors must be introduced. These phasors, known as the zero phase sequence, are found to be
in phase with each other which is shown in fig (c) and they are represents as
Ia0 = Ib0 = Ic0 (3.3)
Consider the three phase unbalance currents Ia ,Ib and Ic shown in fig. we are seeking to find the
symmetrical components of the current such that
Ia=Ia0+Ia1+Ia2
Ib=Ib0+Ib1+Ib2 (3.4)
Ic=Ic0+Ic1+Ic 2
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According to the definition of the symmetrical components as given by equation (3.1) &(3.2) and
(3.3) we can rewrite (3.4) all in terms of phase a components .

Ia=Ia0+Ia1+Ia2
Ib=Ia0+a2Ia1+aIa2 (3.5)
Ic=Ia0+aIa1+a2Ia 2
Or

IaIbIc = 1111a2a1aa2Ia0Ia1Ia2 (3.6)

Or Iabc=A.Ia012 (3.7)

Or Ia012=A-1.Iabc (3.8)

Here , A is symmetrical components transformation matrix and is

A= 1111a2a1aa2 (3.9)

And
A-1 = 131111aa21a2a (3.10)

Substitute A-1 in equation (3.8), we have

Ia0Ia1Ia2 = 131111aa21a2a IaIbIc (3.11)

In a three phase system the sum of the line currents is equal to the currents In in the return
path through the neutral. Thus
Ia+Ib+Ic=In (3.12)
And we get, In=3Ia0 (3.13)
Similarly expression exist for the symmetrical components in terms of unbalance voltages are
Va0Va1Va2=131111aa21a2aVaVbVc (3.14)
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3.2 SEQUENCE NETWORKS OF A LOADED GENERATOR

Fig 3.2 represents a 3-φ synchronous gsnerator with neutral grounded through an impedance Zn.
The synchronous machine generates balanced 3- φ internal voltages and is represented as a
positive – sequence set of phasors
Eabc=1a2aEa (3.15)
The machine is supplying a 3- φ balanced load. Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage law to each phase
we obtain
Va=Ea-ZsIa-ZnIn
Vb=Eb-ZsIb-ZnIn
Vc=Ec-ZsIc-ZnIn
In compact form, we have
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Vabc=Eabc-ZabcIabc (3.16)
Transforming the terminal voltages and currents phasors into their symmetrical components
results in
AVa012=AEa012-ZabcAIa012
Multiplying by A-1,we get
Va012=Ea012-A-1ZabcAIa012
= Ea012-Z012Ia012 (3.17)
Since the generated emf is balanced, there is only positive –sequence voltage, i.e.
Ea012=0Ea0 (3.18)
Substituting for Ea012 and Z012 in equation (3.17) ,we get
Va0Va1Va2 = 0Ea0 - Z0000Z1000Z2 Ia0Ia1Ia2 (3.19)

Va0=0-Ia1Z0
Va1 = Ea-Ia1Z1 (3.20)
Va2=0-Ia1Z2

The sequence networks are-

Fig (a) positive-sequence ;(b) negative- sequence; (c) zero- sequence

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CHAPTER 04
UNSYMMTRICAL FAULT

4.1 Introduction
Most of the faults that occur on power systems are unsymmetrical faults, which may consist
of unsymmetrical short circuits, unsymmetrical faults through impedance, or open conductors.
Any unsymmetrical fault causes unbalanced currents to flow in the system, so the method of
symmetrical components is very useful in an analysis to determine the currents and voltages in
all parts of the system after the fault occurrence of the fault.

4.2 Sequence Impedance:

This the impedance of an equipment or component to the current of different sequences.the
impedance offered to flow of positive sequence currents is known as the positive sequence
impedance and denoted by z1. The impedance offered to the flow of zero sequence currents is
known as the negative sequence impedance and denoted by z2. When zero sequence current flow,
the impedance known as zero sequence impedance and denoted by z0 .

4.2.1 Sequence Impedance of Transmission Line:

For transmission line positive sequence and negative sequence impedance are the same.
Negative sequence impedance can be derived by using canon formula. The sequence Impedance
of transmission line is 3 times greater than positive and negative sequence impedance. [2]

4.2.2 Sequence Impedance of Synchronous Machine:

As positive sequence reactance Xd’,Xd”,Xd are used.
Negative sequence reactance is close to positive sequence sub transient reactance.
Zero sequence reactance is approximated to leakage reactance.
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4.2.3 Sequence Impedance of Transformer:

For transformer z0=z1=z2=zl where zl is the leakage reactance. The zero sequence equivalent
circuit of various transformer bank is shown in figure 4.1
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Figure: 4.1 Zero sequence equivalent circuit

4.3 Single Line to Ground Fault

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Fig. 4.2 single line to ground fault on phase a at the terminals of an unloaded generator.
The circuit diagram for Single Line to Ground Fault on an unloaded Y- connected generator
with its neutral grounded through a reactance is shown in fig. 4.1 where phase a is one on which
the fault occurs the relations to be developed for this type of fault will apply only when the fault
is on phase a, but this should cause no difficulty since the phase are labeled arbitrarily and any
phase can be designated as phase a. The boundary conditions at the fault point are-
V a = Z f Ia
Ib = 0
Ic = 0

Then the symmetrical components of currents are-

Ia0Ia1Ia2 = 131111aa21a2aIa00 (4.1)
Ia0 = Ia1 = Ia2 = 13 Ia (4.2)
Substituting Ia1 for Ia2 and Ia0 in equation (3.19) we obtain
Va0Va1Va2 = 0Ea0 - Z0000Z1000Z2 Ia0Ia1Ia2 (4.3)
or
Va1 = Ea-Ia1Z1
Va2=-Ia1Z2
Va0=-Ia1Z0 (4.4)
Phase a voltage in term of symmetrical components is
Va = Va0+Va1+Va2
= -Z0 Ia1+Ea-Z1Ia1-Z2Ia1

= Ea- (Z0+Z1+Z2) Ia1

Zf Ia = Ea- (Z0+Z1+Z2) Ia1

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3ZfIa1 = Ea- (Z0+Z1+Z2) Ia1

Ea= (Z0+Z1+Z2) Ia1

Ia1 = EaZ0+Z1+Z2+3Zf

The fault current is

Ia = 3Ia1 = 3EaZ0+Z1+Z2+3Zf

If the three sequence network of the generator are connected in series as shown in fig. 4.2 we see
that the current and voltages resulting there from satisfy the equations above, for the three
sequence impedance are then in series with the voltages Ea.

Fig 4.3 sequence network connections for single line to ground fault.

4.4 Line To Line Fault

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Fig 4.4 Line To Line Fault between phase b and c.

The circuit diagram for a line to line fault through impedance Z f between phase b and c on an
unbalanced, Y-connected generator with its neutral grounded through a reactance is shown in fig
4.2. the boundary conditions at the point are-

Vb – Vc=Zf Ib (4.5)

Ib = -Ic (4.6)

Ib+Ic = 0 (4.7)

Ia = 0

Then the symmetrical components of current are-

Ia0Ia1Ia2 = 131111aa21a2a0Ib-Ib (4.8)

∴ Ia0 = 0 (4.9)

Ia1 = 13 (a-a2)Ib (4.9)

Ia2 = 13 (a2-a)Ib (4.10)

∴ Ia1 = - Ia2 (4.11)

From equation (3.19) we obtain

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Va0Va1Va2 = 0Ea0 - Z0000Z1000Z2 Ia0Ia1Ia2 (4.12)

∴ Va1 = Ea-Ia1Zf
Va2=Ia1Z2

Va0=-Ia0Z0

Phase b and c voltage in terms symmetrical components are-

Vb=Va0+a2Va1+aVa2

Vc=Va0+aVa1+a2Va2

Vb-Vc=a2-a(Va1-Va2)

= ZfIb

Substituting for Va1 and Va2 we get

a2-aEa-Z1+Z2Ia1=ZfIb

Ia1 = EaZf+Z1+Z2

The phase currents are-

IaIbIc = 1111a2a1aa20Ia1-Ia1

The fault current is-

Ib=-Ic=(a2-a) Ia1

Or Ib=-j√3Ia1

Again the symmetrical components of voltage are given by-

Va0Va1Va2 = 131111a2a1aa2VaVbVc

∴ Va1=Va2
 20

Fig 4.5 sequence network connections for line to line fault.

4.5 Double Line To Ground Fault

Fig 4.6 Double line to Ground fault.

The circuit diagram for a double line to ground fault on phase’s b and c through impedance Zf to
ground on an unloaded, Y-connected generator with its neutral to grounded through a reactance
is shown in fig 4.4. the boundary conditions at the fault point are-
 21

Vb=Vc=Zf(Ib+Ic) (4.13)

Ia=Ia0+Ia1+Ia2=0 (4.14)

Phase b and c voltage in terms symmetrical components are-

Vb=Va0+a2Va1+aVa2

Vc=Va0+aVa1+a2Va2

Since Vb = Vc , hence

Va1=Va2

Substituting for the symmetrical components of currents, we get

Vb=Zf(Ia0+a2Ia1+aIa2+Ia0+aIa1+a2Ia2)

=Zf(2Ia0-Ia1-Ia2

=3ZfIa0

Again

Vb=Va0+a2Va1+aVa2

3ZfIa0 = Va0+a2Va1+aVa2

= Va0+(a2+a) Va1
= Va0-Va1
Now
Va0Va1Va2 = 0Ea0 - Z0000Z1000Z2 Ia0Ia1Ia2
∴ Va0=-Ia0Z0
Va1 = Ea-Ia1Z1
Va2=Ia2Z2
3ZfIa0=-Ia0Z0-Ea+Ia1Z1
Ia0Z0+3Zf=-Ea+Ia1Z1
 22

Ia0=Ea-Ia1Z1Z0+3Zf

Again , Va1=Va2
Ea-Ia1Z1=-Ia2Z2
Ia2=-Ea-Ia1Z1Z2
We can also find that

Ia1=EaZ1+Z2(Z0+3Zf)Z0+Z2+3Zf

And the fault current is

If=Ib+Ic=3Ia0

Fig 4.7 sequence network connections for double line to ground fault.
 23

Chapter: 05

Fault simulation

5.1 Introduction:

Fault Analysis is an important tropic in power system. By simulating various

types of fault at various bus we can determine the line current and bus voltage during the fault.
Fault should be cleared as soon as possible, otherwise excessive current will flow through line, it
can make line damage, voltage at various bus will fluctuate and system will be unstable. So ,it is
very important to clear faulty section from rest of the system as soon as possible. In design of
protective system, we require circuit breaker rating. By fault analysis we can determine circuit
breaker rating.

In this chapter, fault analysis of various power system will be demonstrated by computer
program.

5.2 Computer Program For Fault Analysis :

I have made a computer program by MATLAB

software that can simulate any type of fault of any power system. It can be used simulate fault at
any type at any bus of a power system containing any number of bus. It may contains tap
changing transformer , capacitive effect of transmission line is considered.
 24

In convention fault analysis ,for sake of simplicity pre fault bus voltage is consider 1 per unit. In
actual system pre fault voltage is not equal to 1 p.u. Pre fault voltage depend on load condition .
This pre fault voltage can be determined by load flow studies. In my program there has a
option to consider load effect for pre fault voltage. This program use gauss-seidel method to
determine pre fault bus voltage. You may neglect load effect also. In this case pre fault voltage
assume 1 per unit. The program is shown in next page. You can give data input at MATLAB
Editor or at command window as your wish.

Problem1:

The one line diagram of a simple power system is shown in figure 5.1. The neutral of
each generator is grounded through a current limiting reactor of .25/3 per unit on 100 MVA base.
 25

The system data expressed in per unit on a common 100 MVA base is tabulated below. The
generator are running at no load condition. Simulate various type of fault at various bus.

Figure 5.1:single line diagram of problem 1

 26

Figure 5.2:positive sequence network of problem 1

Figure5.3: negative sequence network of problem 1

Simulation result of this problem is shown in next page

Problem 2: The 11 bus power system of an electric utility company is shown in figure 5.4.The
positive and zero sequence reactance of generator , line and transformer in per unit on a 100
MVA base is tabulated below .The Y- delta x-mer bank between bus 11 and 7 is grounded
through a reactor of reactance .08 per unit. Consider no load effect. Simulate various type of
fault at various bus.
 27

Figure 5.4:single line diagram of problem 2

 28

Table: data for problem 2

Figure5.5: Zero sequence network of problem 2

Simulation result is shown in next page

 29

Problem 3:

Simulate different type of fault on the power system shown in figure 5.6. Necessary data are
given in table below. Consider load effect.

Figure5.6: A five bus power system.

 30

Table: data for problem 3

Simulation result is shown in next page

Chapter: 06
Circuit Breaker
6.1 Arc Phenomenon:
 31

When as short-circuit occurs, a heavy current flows through the contacts of the circuit
breaker before they are opened by the protective system. At the instant when the contacts begin
to separate, the contact area decreases rapidly and large fault current causes increased current
density and hence rise in temperature. The heat produced in the medium between contacts
(usually the medium is oil or air) is sufficient to ionize the air or vapourise and ionize the oil.
The ionized air or vapour acts as conductor an arc is struck between the contacts. The p.d.
between the contacts is quite small and is just sufficient to maintain the arc. The arc provides
low resistance path and consequently the current in the circuit remains uninterrupted so long as
the arc persists.
During the arcing period, the current flowing between the contacts depends upon the arc
resistance The greater the arc resistance, the smaller the current that flows between the contacts.
The arc resistance depends upon the following factors:
(i) Degree of ionization- the arc resistance increases with the decrease in the number of ionized
particles between the contacts.
(ii) Length of the arc- the arc resistance increases with the length of the arc i.e., separation of
contacts.
(iii) Cross-section of- the arc resistance increases with the decrease in area of X-section of the
arc.
6.2 Principles of Arc Extinction
Before discussing the methods of arc extinction, it is necessary to examine the factors
responsible for the maintenance of arc between the contacts. These are:
(i) p.d. between the contacts
(ii) ionized particles between contacts
Taking these in turn,
(i) When the contacts have a small separation, the p.d. between them is sufficient to maintain
the arc. One way to extinguish the arc is to separate the contacts to such a distance that p.d.
becomes inadequate to maintain the arc. However, this method is impracticable in high
voltage system where a separation of many metres may be required.
(ii) The ionized particles between the contacts tend to maintain the arc. It the arc path is
deionised, the arc extinction will be facilitated. This may be achieved by cooling the arc or
by bodily removing the ionized particles from the space between the contacts.
6.3 Methods of arc Extinction:
 32

There are two methods of extinguishing the arc in circuit breakers viz.
1. High resistance method. 2. Low resistance or current zero method
1. High resistance method. In this method, arc resistance is made to increase with time so that
current is reduced to a value insufficient to maintain the arc. Consequently, the current is
interrupted or the arc is extinguished. The principal disadvantage of this method is that enormous
energy is dissipated in the arc. Therefore, it is employed only in d.c. circuit breakers and low-
capacity a.c. circuit breakers.
(i) Lengthening the arc. The resistance of the arc is directly proportional to its length. The
length of the arc can be increased by increasing the gap between contacts.
(ii) Cooling the arc. Cooling helps in the deionisation of the medium between the contacts. This
increases the arc resistance. Efficient cooling may be obtained by a gas blast directed along
the arc.
(iii) Reducing X-section of the arc. It the area of X-section of the arc is reduced, the voltage
necessary to maintain the arc is increased. In other words, the resistance of the arc path is
increased. The cross-section of the arc can be reduced by letting the arc pass through a
narrow opening or by having smaller area of contacts.
(iv) Splitting the arc. The resistance of the arc can be increased by splitting the arc into a
number of smaller arcs in series. Each one of these arcs experiences the effect of lengthening
and cooling. The arc may be split by introducing some conducting plates between the
contacts.
2. Low resistance or Current zero method. This method is employed for arc extinction in a.c.
circuits only. In this method, arc resistance is kept low until current is zero where the arc
extinguishes naturally and is prevented from restriking inspite of the rising voltage across the
contacts. All modern high power a.c. circuit breakers employ this method for arc extinction.
In an a.c. system, current drops to zero after every half-cycle. At every current zero, the
arc extinguishes for a brief moment. Now the medium between the contacts contains ions and
electrons so that it has small dielectric strength and can be easily broken down by the rising
contact voltage known as restriking voltage. If such a breakdown does occur, the arc will persist
for another half-cycle. If immediately after current zero, the dielectric strength of the medium
between contacts is built up rapidly than the voltage across the contacts, the arc fails to and the
current will be interrupted. The rapid increase of dielectric strength of the medium near current
zero can be achieved by:
(a) causing the ionized particles in the space between contacts to recombine into neutral
molecules.
 33

(b) Sweeping the ionized particles away and replacing them by un-ionised particles
Therefore, the real problem in a.c. arc interruption is to rapidly deionise the medium between
contacts as soon as the current becomes zero so that the rising contact voltage or restriking
voltage cannot breakdown the space between contacts. The de-ionisation of the medium can be
achieved by:
(i) lengthening of the gap. The dielectric strength of the medium is proportional to the length of
the gap between contacts. Therefore, by opening the contacts rapidly, higher dielectric
strength of the medium can be achieved.
(ii) high pressure. If the pressure in the vicinity of the arc is increased, the density of the
particles constituting the discharge also increases. The increased density of particles causes
higher rate of de-ionisation and consequently the dielectric strength of the medium between
contacts is increased.
(iii) Cooling. Natural combination of ionized particles takes place more rapidly if they are al-
lowed to cool. Therefore, dielectric strength of the medium between contacts is increased.
(iv) Blast effect. If the ionized particles between the contacts are swept away and replaced by
unionized particles, the dielectric strength of the medium can be increased considerably.
This may be achieved by a gas blast directed along the discharge or by forcing oil into the
contact space.
6.4 Important Terms:
The following are the important terms much used in the circuit breaker analysis:
(i) Arc Voltage. It is the voltage that appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker during the
arcing period.
As soon as the contacts of the circuit breaker separate, an arc is formed. The voltage that
appears across the contacts during arcing period is called the arc voltage. Its value is low except
for the period the fault current is at or near zero current point. At current zero, the arc voltage
rises rapidly to peak value and this peak voltage tends to maintain the current flow in the form of
arc.
(ii) Restriking voltage. It is the transient voltage that appears across the contacts at or near
current zero during arcing period.
At current zero, a high-frequency transient voltage
appears across the contacts and is caused by the rapid
distribution of energy between the magnetic and electric fields
associated with the plant and transmission lines of the system.
 34

This transient voltage is known as restriking voltage (Fig. 19.1). The current interruption in the
circuit depends upon this voltage. If the restriking voltage rises more rapidly tan the dielectric
strength of the medium between the contacts, the arc will persists for another half-cycle. On the
other hand, if the dielectric strength of the medium builds up more rapidly than the restriking
voltage, the arc fails to restrike and the current will be interrupted.
(iii) Recovery voltage. It is the normal frequency (50 Hz) r.m.s. voltage that appears across the
contacts of the circuit breaker after final arc extinction. It is approximately equal to the system
voltage.
When contacts of circuit breaker are opened, current drops to zero after every half cycle.
At some current zero, the contacts are separated sufficiently apart and dielectric strength of the
medium between the contacts attains a high value due to the removal of ionized particles. At
such an instant, the medium between the contacts is strong enough to prevent the breakdown by
the restriking voltage. Consequently, the final arc extinction takes place and circuit current is
interrupted. Immediately after final current interruption, the voltage that appears across the
contacts has a transient part (See Fig. 19.1). However, these transient oscillations subside rapidly
due to the damping effect of system resistance and normal circuit voltage appears across the
contacts. The voltage across the contacts is of normal frequency and is known as recovery
voltage.
 35

6.5 Classification of Circuit Breakers:

There are several ways of classifying the circuit breakers. However, the most general
way of classification is on the basis of medium used for arc extinction. The medium used for arc
extinction is usually oil, air, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) or vacuum. Accordingly, circuit breakers
may be classified into:
(i) Oil circuit breakers which employ some insulating oil (e.g., transformer oil) for arc
extinction.
(ii) Air-blast circuitbreakers in which high pressure air-blast is used for extinguishing the arc.
(iii) Sulphur hexafluroide circuit breakers in which sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gas is used for
arc extinction.
(iv) Vacuum circuit breakers in which vacuum is used for arc extinction.
Each type of circuit breaker has its own advantages and disadvantages. In the following
sections, we shall discuss the construction and working of these circuit breakers with special
emphasis on the way the arc extinction is facilitated.
Oil Circuit Breakers:
In such circuit breakers, some insulating oil (e.g.,
transformer oil) is used as an arc quenching medium. The
contacts are opened under oil and an arc is struck between
them. The heat of the arc evaporates the surrounding oil and
dissociates it into a substantial volume of gaseous
hydrogen at high pressure. The hydrogen gas occupies a volume
about one thousand times that of the oil decomposed. The oil
is, therefore, pushed away from the arc and an
expanding hydrogen gas bubble surrounds the arc region and adjacent portions of the contacts
(See Fig. 19.2). The arc extinction is facilitated mainly by two processes. Firstly, the hydrogen
gas has high heat conductivity and cools the arc, thus aiding the de-ionisation fo the medium
between the contacts. Secondly, the gas sets up turbulence in the oil and forces it into the space
between contacts, thus eliminating the arcing products from the arc path. The result is that arc is
extinguished and circuit current interrupted.
Advantages. The advantages of oil as an arc quenching medium are:
(i) It absorbs the arc energy to decompose the oil into gases which have excellent cooling
properties.
 36

(ii) It acts as an insulator and permits smaller clearance between live conductors and earthed
components.
(iii) The surrounding oil presents cooling surface in close proximity to the arc.
Disadvantages. The disadvantages of oil as an arc quenching medium are:
(i) It is inflammable and there is a risk of a fire.
(ii) It may form an explosive mixture with air
(iii) The arcing products (e.g., carbon) remain in the oil and its quality deteriorates with
successive operations. This necessitates periodic checking and replacement of oil.
Type of Oil Circuit Breakers:
The oil circuit breakers find extensive use in the power system. These can be classified
into the following types:
(i) Bulk oil circuit breakers which use a large quantity of oil. The oil has to serve two purposes.
Firstly, it extinguishes the arc during opening of contacts and secondly, it insulates the current
conducting parts from one another and from the earthed tank. Such circuit breakers may be
classified into:
(a) Plain break oil circuit breakers (b) Arc control oil circuit breakers.
In the former type, no special means is available for controlling the arc and the contacts
are directly exposed to the whole of the oil in the tank. However, in the latter type, special arc
control devices are employed to get the beneficial action of the arc as efficiently as possible.
(ii) Low oil circuit breakers, which use minimum amount of oil. In such circuit breakers, oil is
used only for arc extinction; the current conducting parts are insulated by air or porcelain or
organic insulating material.
Air-Blast Circuit Breakers:
These breakers employ a high-pressure air-blast as an arc-quenching medium. The
contacts are opened in a flow of air-blast established by the opening of blast valve. The air-blast
cools the arc and sweeps away the arcing products to the atmosphere. This rapidly increases the
dielectric strength of the medium between contacts and prevents from re-establishing the arc.
Consequently, the arc is extinguished and flow of current is interrupted.
Types of Air-Blast Circuit Breakers:
Depending upon the direction of air-blast in relation to the arc, air-blast circuit breakers
are classified into:
 37

(i) Axial-blast type in which the air-blast is directed along the arc path as shown in Fig. 19.8 (i).

.
(ii) Cross-blast type in which the air-blast is directed at right angles to the arc path as shown in
Fig. 19.8 (ii).
(iii) Radial-blast type in which the air-blast is directed radially as shown in Fig. 19.8 (iii).
Sulphur Hexaflouride (SF6) Circuit Breakers:
In such circuit breakes, sulphur hexaflouride (SF6) gas is used s the arc quenching
medium. The SF6 is an electro-negative gas and has a strong tendency to absorb free electrons.
The contacts of the breaker arc opened in a high pressure flow of SF 6 gas and an arc is struck
between them. The conducting free electrons in the arc are rapidly captured by the gas to form
relatively immobile negative ions. This loss of conducting electrons in the arc quickly builds up
enough insulation strength to extinguish the arc. The SF6 circuit breakers have been found to be
very effective for high power and high voltage service.
Construction. Fig. 19.11 shows the parts of a typical SF6 circuit breaker. It consists of
fixed and moving contacts enclosed in a chamber (called arc interruption chamber) containing
SF6 gas. This chamber is connected to SF6 gas reservoir. When the contacts of breaker are
opened, the valve mechanism permits a high pressure SF6 gas from the reservoir to flow towards
the arc interruption chamber. The fixed contact is hollow cylindrical current carrying contact
fitted with an arc horn. The moving contact is also a hollow cylinder with rectangular holes in
the sides to permit the SF6 gas to let out through these holes after flowing along and across the
arc. The tips of fixed contact, moving contact and arcing horn are coated with copper-tungsten
arc resistant material. Since SF6 gas is costly, it is reconditioned and reclaimed by suitable
auxiliary system after each operation of the breaker.
Working. In the closed position of the breaker, the contacts remain surrounded by SF6
gas at a pressure of about 2.8 kg/cm2. When the breaker operates, the moving contact is pulled
apart and an arc is struck between the contacts. The movement of the moving contact is
synchronized with the opening of valve which permits SF6 gas at 14 kg/cm2 pressure from the
reservoir to the arc interruption chamber. The high pressure flow of SF 6 rapidly absorbs the free
 38

electrons in the arc path to form immobile negative ions which are ineffective as charge carriers.
The result is that the medium between the contacts quickly builds up high dielectric strength and
causes the extinction of the arc. After the breaker operation (i.e., after arc extinction), the valve is
closed by the action of a set of springs.

Advantages. Due to the superior arc quenching properties of SF6 circuit breakers have
many advantages over oil or air circuit breakers. Some of them are listed below:
(i) Due to the superior arc quenching property of SF6, such circuit breakers have very short
arcing time.
(ii) Since the dielectric strength of SF6 gas is 2 to 3 times that of air, such breakers can
interrupt much larger currents.
(iii) The SF6 circuit breaker gives noiselss operation due to its closed gas circuit and no exhaust
to atmosphere unlike the air blast circuit breaker.
(iv) The closed gas enclosure keeps the interior dry so that there is no moisture problem.
(v) There is no risk of fire in such breakers because SF6 gas is non-inflammable.
(vi) There are no carbon deposits so that tracking and insulation problems are eliminated.
(vii) The SF6 breakers have low maintenance cost. Light foundation and minimum auxiliary
equipment.
(viii) Since SF6 breakers re totally enclosed and sealed from atmosphere, they are particularly
suitable where explosion hazard exists e.g., coal mines.
Disadvantages:
 39

(i) SF6 breakers are costly due to the high cost of SF6.
(ii) Since SF6 gas has to be reconditioned after every operation of the breaker, additional
equipment is required for his purpose.
Applications. A typical SF6 circuit breaker consists of interrupter units each capable of dealing
with currents upto 60 k A and voltages in the range of 50-80 kV. A number of units are
connected in series according to the system voltage. SF6 circuit breakers have been developed for
voltages 115 kV to 230 kV, power ratings 10 MVA to 20 MVA and interrupting time less than 3
cycles.
Vacuum Circuit Breakers (VCB):
In such breakers, vacuum (degree of vacuum being in the range from 10-7 to 10-5 torr) is
used as the arc quenching medium. Since vacuum offers the highest insulating strength, it has far
superior arc quenching properties than any other medium. For example, when contacts of a
breaker are opened in vacuum, the interruption occurs at first current zero with dielectric
strength between the contacts building up at a rate thousands of times higher than that obtained
with other circuit breakers.
Advantages. Vacuum circuit breakers have the following advantages:
(i) They are compact, reliable and have longer life.
(ii) There are no fire hazards.
(iii) There is no generation of gas during and after operation.
(iv) They can interrupt any fault current. The outstanding feature of a VCB is that it can break
any heavy fault current perfectly just before the contacts reach the definite open position.
(v) They require little maintenance and are quiet in operation.
(vi) They can successfully withstand lightning surges.
(vii) They have low arc energy.
(viii) They have low inertia and hence require smaller power for control mechanism.
Applications. For a country like India, where distances are quite large and accessibility to remote
areas difficult, the installation of such outdoor, maintenance free circuit breakers should prove a
definite advantage. Vacuum circuit breakers are being employed for outdoor applications ranging
of applications in rural areas.
6.6 Protective Relays:
 40

A protective relay is a device that detects the fault and initiates the operation of the
circuit breaker to isolate the defective element from the rest of the system.
The relays detect the abnormal conditions in the electrical circuits by constantly
measuring the electrical quantities which are different under normal and fault conditions. The
electrical quantities which may change under fault conditions are voltage, current, frequency and
phase angle. Through the changes in one or more of these quantities, the faults signal their
presence, type and location to the protective relays. Having detected the fault, the relay operates
to close the trip circuit of the breaker. This results in the opening of the breaker and
disconnection of the faulty circuit.
A typical relay circuit is shown in Fig. 21.1. This diagram shows one phase of 3-phase
system for simplicity. The relay circuit connections can be divided into three parts viz.
(i) First par is the primary winding of a current transformer (C.T.) which is connected in series
with the line to be protected.
(ii) Second part consists of secondary winding of C.T. and the
relay operating coil.
(iii) Third part is the tripping circuit which may be either a.c. or
d.c. It consists of a source of supply, the trip coil of the circuit
breaker and the relay stationary contacts.
When a short circuit occurs at point F on the
transmission line, the current flowing in the line increases to an
enormous value. This results in a heavy current flow
through the relay coil, causing the relay to perate by closing its
contacts. This in turn closes the trip circuit of the breaker,
making the circuit breaker open and isolating the faulty section from the rest of they system. In
this way, the relay ensures the safety of the circuit equipment from damage and normal working
of the healthy portion of the system.
 41

Chapter: 07
Protection of Alternator and Transformer

7.1 Differential Protection of Alternators:

The most common system used for the protection of stator winding faults employs
circulating-current principle . In this scheme of protection, currents at the two ends of the
protected section are compared. Under normal operating conditions, these currents are equal but
may become unequal on the occurrence of a fault in the protected section. The difference of the
currents under fault conditions is arranged to pass through the operating coil of the relay. The
relay then closes its contacts to isolate protected section from the system. This form of protection
is also known as Merz-Price circulating current scheme.
 42

Schematic arrangement. Fig. shows the schematic arrangement of current differential

protection for a 3-phase alternator. Identical current transformer pairs CT 1 and CT2 are placed on
either side of each phase of the stator windings. The secondaries of each set of current
transformers are connected in star; the two neutral points and the corresponding terminals of the
two star groups being connected together by means of a four-core pilot cable. Thus there is an
independent path for the currents circulating in each pair of current transformers and the
corresponding pilot P.

The relay coils are connected in star, the neutral point being connected to the current-
transformer common neutral and the outer ends one to each of the other three pilots. In order that
burden on each current transformer is the same, the relays are connected across equipotential
points of the three pilot wires and these equipotential points would naturally be located at the
middle of the pilot wires. The relays are generally of electromagnetic type and are arranged for
instantaneous action should be cleared as quickly as possible.
7.2 Stator inter-turn Protection:
Merz-price circulating- current
system protects against phase-to- ground
and phase-to-phase faults. I does not protect
against turn-to-turn fault on the same phase
winding of the stator. It is because the
current that this type of fault
 43

produces flows in a local circuit between the turns involved and does not create a difference
between the currents entering and leaving the winding at its two ends where current transformers
are applied. However, it is usually considered unnecessary to provide protection for inter-turn
faults because they invariably develop into earth-faults.
In single turn generator (e.g. large steam-turbine generators), there is no necessity of
protection against inter-turn faults. However, inter-turn protection is provided for multi-turn
generators such as hydro-electric generators. These generators have double-winding armatures
(i.e. each phase winding is divided into two halves) owing o the very heavy currents which they
have to carry. Advantage may be taken of this necessity to protect inter-turn faults on the same
winding. Fig. shows the schematic arrangement of circulating-current and inter-turn protection
of a 3- phase double wound generator. The relays RC provide protection against phase-to-ground
and phase to-phase faults whereas relays R1 provide protection against inter-turn faults.
Fig. shows the duplicate stator windings S1 and S2 of one phase
only with a provision against inter-turn faults. Two current
transformers are connected on the circulating-current principle. Under normal
conditions, the currents in the stator windings S1 and S2 are equal and so will
be the currents in the secondaries of the two CTs. The secondary current
round the loop then is the same at all points and no current flows through
the relay R1. If a short-circuit develops between adjacent turns, say on S1, the
currents in the stator windings S1 and S2 will no longer be equal.
Therefore, unequal currents will be induced in the secondaries of CTs and the
difference of these two currents flows through the relay R1. The relay then
closes its contacts to clear the generator from the system.

7.3 Protection of Transformers:

Transformers are static devices, totally enclosed and generally oil immersed. Therefore,
chances of faults occurring on them are very rare. However, the consequences of even a rare
fault may be very serious unless the transformer is quickly disconnected from the system. This
necessitates to provide adequate automatic protection for transformers against possible faults.
Small distribution transformers are usually connected to the supply system through series
fuses instead of circuit breakers. Consequently, no automatic protective relay equipment is
required. However,the probability of faults on power transformers is undoubtedly more and
hence automatic protection is absolutely necessary.
 44

Common transformer faults. As compared with generators, in which many abnormal

conditions may arise, power transformers may suffer only from:
(i) open circuits
(ii) overheating
(iii) Winding short-circuits e.g. earth-faults, phase-to-phase faults and inter-turn faults.
An open circuit in one phase of a 3-phase transformer may cause undesirable heating. In
practice, relay protection is not provided against open circuits because this condition is relatively
harmless. On the occurrence of such a fault, the transformer can be disconnected manually from
the system.
Overheating of the transformer is usually caused by sustained overloads or short-circuits
and very occasionally by the failure of the cooling system. The relay protection is also not
provided against this contingency and thermal accessories are generally used to sound an alarm
or control the banks of fans.
Winding short-circuits (also called internal faults) on the transformer arise from
deterioration of winding insulation due to overheating or mechanical injury. When an internal
fault occurs, the transformer must be disconnected quickly from the system because a prolonged
arc in the transformer may cause oil fire. Therefore relay protection is absolutely necessary for
internal faults.
7.5 Protection systems for transformers:
For protection of generators, Merz-Price circulating-current system is unquestionably the
most satisfactory. Though this is largely true of transformer protection, there are cases here
circulating current system offers no particular advantage over other systems or impracticable on
account of the troublesome conditions imposed by the wide variety of voltages, currents and
earthing conditions invariably associated with power transformers. Under such circumstances,
alternative protective systems are used which in many cases are as effective as the circulating-
current system. The principal relays and systems used for transformer protection are:
(i) Buchholz devices providing protection against all kinds of incipient faults i.e. slow-
developing faults such as insulation failure of windings, core heating, fall of oil level
due to leaky joints etc.
(ii) Earth-fault relays providing protection against earth-faults only.
(iii) Overcurrent relays providing protection mainly against phase-to-phase faults and
overloading.
 45

(iv) Differential system (or circulating-current system) providing protection against both
earth and phase faults.
The complete protection of transformer usually requires the combination of these systems.
Choice of a particular combination of systems may depend upon several factors such as (a) size
of the transformer (b) type of cooling (c) location of transformer in the network (d) nature of
load supplied and (e) importance of service for which transformer is required. In the following
sections, above systems of protection will be discussed in detail.

7.6 Buchholz Relay:

Buchholz relay is a gas-actuated relay installed in oil immersed transformers for
protection against all kinds of faults. Named after its inventor, Buchholz, it is used to give an
alarm in case of incipient (i.e. slow-developing) faults in the transformer and to disconnect the
transformer from the supply in the event of severe internal
faults. It is usually installed in the pipe
connecting the conservator to the main
tank as shown in Fig. 22.11 It is a
universal practice to use
Buchholz relays on all such oil
immersed transformers having ratings
in excess of 750 k VA.
Construction. Fig. 22.12 shows
the constructional details of a
Buchholz relay. It takes the form of a domed vessel placed
in the connecting pipe between the main tank and the
conservator. The device has two elements. The upper element
consists of a mercury type switch attached to a float. The lower element contains a mercury
switch mounted on a hinged type flap located in the direct path of the flow of oil from the
transformer to the conservator. The upper element closes an alarm circuit severe internal fault.
 46

Fi gure: Buchholz relay

Operation. The
operation of Buchholz relay is as follows:
(i) In case of incipient faults within the transformer, the heat due to fault causes the
decomposition of some transformer oil in the main tank. The products of decomposition
contain more than 70% of hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas being light tries to go into the
conservator and in the process gets entrapped in the upper part of relay chamber. When a
predetermined amount of gas gets accumulated, it exerts sufficient pressure on the float
to cause it to tilt and close the contacts of mercury switch attached to it. This completes
the alarm circuit to sound an alarm.
(ii) It a serious fault occurs in the transformer, an enormous amount of gas is generated in the
main tank. The oil in the main tank rushes towards the conservator via the Buchholz
relay and in doing so tilts the flap to close the contacts of mercury switch. This completes
the trip circuit to open the circuit breaker controlling the transformer.
 47

Advantages
(i) It is the simplest form of transformer protection.
(ii) It detects the incipient faults at a stage much earlier than is possible with other forms
of protection.
Disadvantages
(i) It can only be used with oil-immersed transformers equipped with conservator tanks.
(ii) The device can detect only faults below oil level in the transformer. Therefore, separate
protection is needed for connecting cables.
7.7 Applying Circulating-current system to Transformers:
Merz-Price circulating-current principle is commonly used for the protection of power
transformers against earth and phase faults. The system as applied to transformers is
fundamentally the same as that for generators but with certain complicating features not
encountered in the generator application. The complicating features and their remedial measures
are briefed below:
(i) In a power transformer, currents in the primary and secondary are to be compared. As
these two currents are usually different, therefore, the use of identical transformers (of
same turn ratio) will give differential current and operate the relay even under no load
conditions.
The difference in the magnitude of currents in the primary and secondary of power
transformer is compensated by different turn ratios of CTs. It T is the turn-ratio of power
transformer, then turn-ration of CTs on the i.v. side is made T times that of the CTs on the h.v.
side. Fulfilled this condition, he secondaries of the two CTs will carry identical currents under
normal load conditions. Consequently, no differential current will flow through the relay and it
remains inoperative.
(ii) Thereis usually a phase difference between he primary and secondary currents of a 3-
phase power transformer. Even if CTs of the proper turn-ration are used, a differential
current may flow through the relay under normal conditions and cause relay
operation.
The correction for phase difference is effected by appropriate connections of CTs. The CTs on
one side of the power transformer re connected in such a way that the resultant current fed into
the pilot wires are displaced in phase from the individual phase currents in the same direction as,
and by an angle equal to, the phase shift between the power-transformers primary and secondary
 48

currents. The table below shows the type of connections to be employed for CTs in order to
compensate for the phase difference in the primary and secondary current of power transformer.
Power transformer connections Current transformer connection
S. Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
No.
1 Star with Delta Delta Star
neutral earthed
2 Delta Delta Star Star
3 Star Star with neutral earthed Delta Delta
4 Delta Star with neutral earthed Star Delta

Thus referring to the above table, for a delta/star power transformer, the CTs on the delta
side must be connected in star and those on the star side in delta.
(iii) Most transformers have means for tap changing which makes this problem even more
difficult. Tab changing will cause differential current to flow through the relay even
under normal operating conditions.
The above difficulty is overcome by adjusting the turn-ration of CTS on the side of the
power transformer provided with taps.
(iv) Another complicating factor in transformer protection is the magnetizing in-rush
current. Under normal load conditions, the magnetizing current is very small.
However, when a transformer is energized after it has been taken out of service, the
magnetizing or in-rush current can be extremely high for a short period. Since
magnetizing current represents a current going into the transformer without a
corresponding current leaving, it appears as a fault current to differential relay and
may cause relay operation.
In order to overcome above difficulty, differential relays are set to operate at a relatively high
degree of unbalance. This method decreases the sensitivity of the relays. In practice, advantage is
taken of the fact that the initial in-rush currents contain prominent second-harmonic component.
Hence, it is possible to design a scheme employing second-harmonic bias features, which, being
tuned to second-harmonic frequency only, exercise restrain during energizing to prevent
maloperation.
While applying circulating current principle for protection of transformers, above
precautions are necessary in order to avoid inadvertent relay operation.
 49

Chapter: 08
Protection of Bus bars and Line

8.1 Introduction:
Busbars and lines are important elements of electric power system and require the
immediate attention of protection engineers for safeguards against the possible faults occurring
on them. The methods used for the protection of generators and transformers can also be
employed, with slight modifications, for the busbars and lines. The modifications are necessary
to cope with the protection problems arising out of greater length of lines and a large number of
circuits connected to a busbar. Although differential protection can be used, it becomes too
expensive for longer lines due to the greater length of pilot wires required. Fortunately, less
expensive methods are available which are reasonably effective in providing protection for the
busbars and lines. In this chapter, we shall focus our attention on the various methods of
protection of busbars and lines.
8.2 Bus bar Protection:
Busbars in the generating stations and sub-stations form important link between the
incoming and outgoing circuits. If a fault occurs on a busbar, considerable damage and
disruption of supply will occur unless some form of quick-acting automatic protection is
provided to isolate the faulty busbar. The busbar. The busbar zone, for the purpose of protection,
includes not only the busbars themselves but also the isolating switches, circuit breakers and the
associated connections. In the event of fault on any section of the busbar, all the circuit
equipments connected to that section must be tripped out to give complete isolation.
The standard of construction for busbars has been very high, with the result that bus
faults are extremely rare. However, the possibility of damage and service interruption from even
a rare bus fault is so great that more attention is now given to this form of protection. Improved
relaying methods have been developed, reducing the possibility of incorrect operation. The two
most commonly used schemes for busbar protection are:
(i) Differential protection (ii) Fault bus protection
(i) Differential protection. The basic method for busbar protection is the differential
scheme in which currents entering and leaving the bus are totalized. During normal load
condition, the sum of these currents is equal to zero. When a fault occurs, the fault current upsets
the balance and produces a differential current to operate a relay.
 50

Fig. 23.1 shows the single line diagram of current differential scheme for a station
busbar. The busbar is fed by a generator and supplies load to two lines. The secondaries of
current transformers in the generator lead, in line 1 and in line 2 are all connected in parallel. The
protective relay is connected across this parallel connection. All CTs must be of the same ration
in the scheme regardless of the capacities of the various circuits. Under normal load conditions
or external fault conditions, the sum of the currents entering the bus is equal to those leaving it
and no current flow through the relay. If a fault occurs within the protected zone, the currents
entering the bus will no longer be equal to those leaving it. The difference of these currents will
flow through the relay and cause the opening of the generator, circuit breaker and each of the
line circuit breakers.
(ii) Fault Bus protection. It is possible to design a station so that the faults that develop
are mostly earth-faults. This can be achieved by providing earthed metal barrier (known as fault
bus) surrounding each conductor throughout its entire length in the bus structure. With this
arrangement, every fault that might occur must involve a connection between a conductor and an
earthed metal part. By directing the flow of earth-fault current, it is possible to detect the faults
and determine their location This type of protection is known as fault bus protection.
Fig. 23.2 show the schematic arrangement of fault bus protection. The metal supporting
structure or fault bus is earthed through a current transformer. A relay is connected across the
secondary of this CT. Under normal operating conditions, there is no current flow from fault bus
to ground and the relay remains inoperative. A fault involving a connection between a conductor
and earthed supporting structure will result in current flow to ground through the fault bus,
causing the relay to operate. The operation of relay will trip all breakers connecting equipment to
the bus.
 51

8.3 Protection of Line:

Differential Pilot-Wire Protection:
The differential pilot-wire protection is based on the principle that under normal
conditions, the current entering one end of a line is equal to that leaving the other end. As soon
as a fault occurs between the two ends, this condition no longs holds and the difference of
incoming and outgoing currents is arranged to flow through a rela** which operates the circuit
breaker to isolate the faulty line. There are several differential protection schemes in use for the
lines. However, only the following two schemes will be discussed:
1. Merz-Price voltage balance system
2. Translay scheme
1. Merz-Price voltage balance system. Figure shows the single line diagram of Merz-Price
voltage balance system for the protection of a 3-phase line. Identical current transformers are
laced in each phase at both ends of the line. The pair of CTs in each line is connected in series
with a relay in such a way that under normal conditions, their secondary voltages are equal and
in opposition i.e. they balance each other.
 52

Under healthy conditions, current entering the line at one-end is equal to that leaving it at
the other end. Therefore, equal and opposite voltages are induced in the secondaries of the CTs
at the two ends of the line. The result is that no current flows through the relays. Suppose a fault
occurs at point F on the line as shown in Figure. This will cause a greater current to flow through
CT1 than through the pilot wires and relays. The circuit breakers at both ends of the line will trip
out and the faulty line will be isolate.
Figure shows the connections of Merz-Price voltage balance scheme for all the three
phases of the line.

Advantages
(i) This system can be used for ring mains as well as parallel feeders.
(ii) This system provides instantaneous protection for ground faults. This decreases he
possibility of these faults involving other phases.
 53

(iii) This system provides instantaneous relaying which reduces the amount of damage to over-
head conductors resulting from arcing faults.
Disadvantages
(i) Accurate matching of current transformers is very essential.
(ii) If there is a break in the pilot-wire circuit, the system will not operate.
(iii) This system is very expensive owing to the greater length of pilot wires required.
(iv) In case of long lines, charging current due to pilot-wire capacitance effects may be
sufficient to cause relay operation even under normal conditions.
(v) This system cannot be used for line voltages beyond 33 kV because of constructional
difficulties in matching the current transformers.
 54

Chapter: 09
Protection Against Overvoltage

9.1 Introduction
There are several instances when the elements of power system (e.g generators,
transformers, transmission lines, insulators etc.) are subjected to over voltages i.e. voltages
greater than the normal value. these over voltages on the power system may be caused due to
many reasons such as lightning, the opening of a circuit breaker, the grounding of a conductor
etc. Most of the over voltages are not of large magnitude but may still be important because of
their tude but may still important because of there effect on the performance of circuit
interputing equipment and protective devices. An applicable number of these over voltages are of
sufficient magnitude to cause insulation breakdown of the equipment in the power system.
They're fore, power system engineers always device ways and means to limit the magnitude of
 55

the over voltages produced and to control their effects on the ages produced and to control their
effects on the operating equipment. In this chapter, we shall con fine our attention to the various
causes of over voltages on the power system with special emphasis on the protective devices
used for the purpose.
9.2 Voltage Surge
A sudden rise in voltage for a very short duration system is known as a voltage surge or
transient voltage.
Transients or surges are of temporary nature and exist for a very short duration (a few
hundred µ s) but they cause over voltages on the power system. They originate from switching
and from other causes but by far the most important transients are those caused by lightning
striking a transmission lone. When lightning strikes a line, the surge rushes along the line, just as
a flood of water rushes along a narrow valley when the retaining wall of a reservoir at its head
suddenly gives way. In most of the cases, such surges may cause the line insulators (near the
point where lightning has struck) to flash over and may also damage the nearby transformers,
generators or other equipment connected to the line if the equipment is not suitable protected.

Figure 9.1: surge voltage

Figure 9.1 shows the waveform of a typical lightning surge. the voltage build-up is taken
along y-axis and the time along x-axis. It may be seen that lightning introduces a steep-fronted
wave. The of the cases, this build-up is comparatively rapid, being of the order of 1-5 µ s.
Voltage surges are generally specified in terms of rise time t1 and the time t2 to decay to half of
the peak value. For example, a 1/50 µ s surge is one which reaches its maximum value in 1µ s
and decays to half of its peak value is 50 us.
9.3 Causes of over voltages
 56

The over voltages on a power system may be broadly divided into two main categories
viz.
1. Internal causes
(i) Switching surges (ii) Insulation failure
(iii) Arcing ground (iv) Resonance
2. External causes i.e. lightning
Internal causes don not produce surges of large magnitude. Experience shows that surges
due to internal causes hardly increase the system voltage to twice the normal value. Generally,
surges due to internal causes are taken care of by prodding proper insulation to the equipment in
the power system. However, surges due to lightning are very severe and may increase the system
voltage to several times these surges may cause considerable damage. In fact, in a power system,
the protective devices provided against over voltages mainly take care of lightning surges.
9.4 Internal causes of over voltages
Internal causes of over voltages on the power system are primarily due to oscillations set
up by the sudden changes in the circuit conditions. This circuit change may be a normal
switching operation such as opening of a circuit breaker, or it may be the fault condition such as
grounding of a line conductor. In practice, the normal system insulation is suitably designed to
withstand such surges. We shall briefly discuss the internal causes of over voltages.
1. Switching Surges. The over voltages produced on the power system due to switching
surges. A few cases will be discussed by way of illustration:
Case of an open line. During switching operations of an unloaded line, traveling waves
are set up which produce over voltages on the line. As an illustration, consider, consider an
unloaded line being connected to a voltage source as shown in Fig. 24.2.
When the unloaded line is connected to the voltage sources, a voltage wave is set up
which travels along the line. On reaching the terminal point A, it is reflected back to the supply
end without change of sign. This causes voltage doubling i.e. voltage on the line becomes twice
the normal value. If Er.m.s. is the supply voltage, then instantaneous voltage which the line will
have to withstand will be This over voltage is of temporary nature. It is because the line
2 2E.
losses attenuate the wave and in a very short time, the line settles down to its normal supply
 57

voltage E. Similarly, if an unloaded line is witched off, the line will attain a voltage of
2 2E
for a moment before settling down to the normal value.

9.5 Lightning:
An electric discharge between cloud and earth, between clouds or between the charge
centers of the same cloud is known as lightning.
9.6 Protection against Lightning:
(i) Earthing screen
(ii) Overhead wires
(iii) Lightning arresters or surge diverters
9.7 The Earthing Screen:
The power stations and sub-stations generally house expensive equipment. These stations
can be protected against direct lightning strokes by providing earthing screen. It consists of a
network of copper conductors (generally called shield or screen) mounted all over the electrical
equipment in the sub-station or power station. The shield is properly connected to earth on atleast
two points through a low impedance. On the occurrence of direct stroke on the station, screen
provides a low resistance path by which lightning surges are conducted to ground. In this way,
station equipment is protected against damage. The limitation of this method is that it does not
provide protection against the travelling waves which may reach the equipment in the station.

9.8 Overhead Ground Wires:

The most effective method of providing protection to transmission lines against direct
lightning strokes is by the use of overhead ground wires as shown in Fig. 24.7. For simplicity,
one ground wire and one line conductor are shown. The ground wires are placed above the line
conductors at such positions that practically all lightning strokes are intercepted by them (i.e.
 58

ground wires). The ground wires are grounded at each tower or pole through as low resistance as
possible. Due to their proper location, the ground wires will take up all the lightning strokes
instead of allowing them to line conductors.

9.9 Lightning Arresters:

A lightning arrester or a surge diverter is a protective device which conducts the high
voltage surges on the power system to the ground.

Figure 9.2:Basic surge absorber

Fig. 9.2 (i) Shows the basic form of a surge diverter. It consists of a spark gap in series with a
non-linear resistor. One end of the diverter is connected to the terminal of the equipment to be
protected and the other end is effectively grounded. The length of the gap is so set that normal
line voltage is not enough to cause an arc across the gap but a dangerously high voltage will
break down the air insulation and form an arc. The property of the non-linear resistance is that its
resistance decreases as the voltage (or current) increases and vice-versa. This is clear from the
volt/amp characteristic of the resistor shown in Fig. 9.2 (ii).
Action. The action of the lightning arrester or surge diverter is as under:
(i) Under normal operation, the lightning arrester is off th line i.e. it conducts no current
to earth or the gap is non-conducting.
(ii) On the occurrence of overvoltage, the air insulation across the gap breaks down and
an arc is formed, providing a low resistance path for the surge to the ground. In this
 59

way, the excess charge on the line due to the surge is harmlessly conducted through
the arrester to the ground instead of being sent back over the line.
(iii) It is worthwhile to mention the function of non-linear resistor in the operation of
arrester. As the gap sparks over due to overvoltage, the arc would be a short-circuit
on the power system and may cause power-follow current in the arrester. Since the
characteristic of the resistor is to offer high resistance to high voltage (or current), it
prevents the effect of a short-circuit. After the surge is over, the resistor offers high
resistance to make the gap non-conducting.
Two things must be taken care of in the design of a lightning arrester. Firstly, when the surge is
over, the arc in gap should cease, if the arc does not go out, the current would continue to flow
through the resistor and both resistor and gap may be destroyed. Secondly. I R drop (where I is
the surge current) across the arrester when carrying surge current should not exceed the
breakdown strength of the insulation of the equipment to be protected.

9.10 Surge Absorber:

A surge absorber is a protective device which reduces the steepness of wave front of a
surge by absorbing surge energy.
 60

Figure 9.3: surge absorber

Chapter: 10
SWITCHING OVERVOLTAGES
10.1 Introduction :
Among the most common reasons for dielectric failures in an electric system, aside from
lighting strikes, are the over voltages produced by the switching that is normally required for the
ordinary operation of the electrical network.
Switching over voltages can be produced by closing an unloaded line, by opening an
isolating switch, or by interrupting low currents in inductive or capacitive circuits where the
possibility of restrikes exists.
Switching over voltages are probabilistic in nature and their appearances in a system
depend mainly upon the number of faults that must be cleared on a line and on how frequently
 61

routine switching operations are performed on a particular system. This implies that not only
opening operations that are intended for interrupting a short circuit current are responsible for
switching over voltages; but also the many routine operations that are performed, sometimes
daily, in a system. These routine operations are fully capably of producing over voltage effects
by virtue of them altering the system configuration.
As it has been said repeatedly, overvoltages in transimission and distribution sysmes cab not be
totally avoided, but their effects can be minimized. Generally the occurrence and the magnitude
of the over voltage can be limited by the use of appropriate measures such as the use of series or
parallel compensation, closing resistors, surge suppressors; such as metal oxide varistpors, or
sunbbers containing combinations of resistors and capacitors, and in some cases by simply
following basic established procedures for the proper design and operation of a system.
It is Appropriate at this point to emphasize that although circuit breakers participate in the
process of over voltage generation they don not generated these voltages, but rather these
voltages are generated by the system. Circuit break surges. They can do so either by timing
controls or by incorporation additional hardware such as closing resistor as an integral part of the
circuit breaker design.
10.2Contacts closing :
The simple closing of a switch or a of a circuit breaker cab produce significant overvoltages in
an electric system. These overvoltages are due to the system adjusting itself to an emerging
different configuration of components as a result of the addition of a load impedance.
Furthemore, there are changes that are trapped in the lines and in the equipment that is connected
to the system and these charges now must be re-distributed within the system.
In additin, and whenever the closure of the circuit occurs immediately after a circuit
breaker opening operation the trapped charges left over from the preceding opening cab
significacantly contribute to the increase in the magnitude of the overvoltages that may appear in
the system. It is important to note that of the overvoltages that may appear in the system. It is
important to note that preceding opening cam significantly contribute to the increase in the
magnitude of the overvoltages that may appear in the system. It is important to note that of the
overvoltages will be produced by the fast reclosing of in most cases the highest overvoltage swill
b produced by fast reclosing of a line. It should also be realized that the higher magnitudes of the
over voltage produced by the closing or the reclosing operation of a circuit breaker will always
be observed at the open and end of the line.
Although the basic expressions describing the voltage distribution across the source and
the line re relatively simple, defining the effective impedance that controls the voltage
distribution within the elements of the circuit is rather that controls the voltage distribution
 62

within the elements of the circuit is rather difficult and generally can only be adequately handled
with the aid of a computer.
Because of the complexity of the problem no attempt will be made here to provide a
quantitative solution. The aim of this chapter will be to describe qualitatively the voltage surges
phenomena that take place during a closing or a reclosing operation, and during some special
cases of current interruption. The upper limits of over voltages that have been obtained either
experimentally or by calculation will be quoted but only as general guidelines.
 63

10.3 Closing of a Line :

A cable that is being energized from a transformer represents the simplest case of a
switching operation as is shown in figure 10.1 (a).For the sake of simplicity, the transformer has
been represented by its leakage inductance; while the cable is represented by its capacitance. As
a result of this simplification the equivalent circuit cab take the from of the circuilt illustrated in
figure 10.1 (b).
The transient voltage, shown in figure 10.1 (c),oscillates along the line at a relatively low
single frequency and has an amplitude that reaches a peak value approximately equal to twice the
value of the system voltage that was present at the instant at which the closure of the circuit took
place.
Although the above described circuit may be found in some very basic applications, in actural
practice in is more likely to expect that a typical system will consist of a one or more long
interconnected overheat lines, as depicted in figure 10.2 (a). The equivalent circuit, and the
transient response of this system. is shown in figure 10.2 (b) and (c) respectively. The transient
response. As cab be seen in the figure, is determined by the combined impedance of the
transformer
 64

Figure:10.1 Representation of the simplest case of closing into a line. (a) Single line schematic,
(b) Equivalent circuit and (c) Transient surge.

Figure 10.2 :Switching surge resulting from energizing a complex system. (a) Single line
schematic of the system, (b) Equivalent circuit and (c) Surge voltage.
that is feeding the system and by the total surge impedance of the connected lines. The
total surge impedance, as it cab be recalled, is equal to the surge impedance of each individual
line divided by the number of connected lines.
The overvoltage factor for the source is given by the following equation.
 65

1
ks =
X
cos2πo LCI s sin2πi LCI
Z

Where:
f= Power frequency
L= Positive sequence inductance per length of line
C= positive sequence capacitance pear length of line
I = line length
Xs=Short circuit reactance of source
Z= surge impedance of the line
It is evident, by simply observation of the above equation, that a higher power frequency
overvoltage factor can be expected as a result of the following occurrences:
1. When the length of the lines increase
2. when the source reactance increases
3. When the source reactance increases increased number of connected lines and
4. when the power frequency is increased , which means that the overvoltage is higher in a 60
Hz system than in a 50 Hz one.
The overvolate factor for the transient response portion of the phenomeana is not as easy to
calculate manually and a simple formula as in the preceding paragraph is just not available.
However, it is possible to generalize and it can be said that the overvoltage factor for the
transient response is proportional to:
1. the instantaneous voltage difference between the source voltage and the line voltage as the
contacts to of the circuit breaker close,
2. the damping impedance of the lines connected at the source side of the circuit and
3. the terminal impedance of the unloaded line/lines being energized side of the
In any case what is important to remember is:
1. When switching a number of lines the amplitude factor of the overvoltage is always reduced
as the size of the system increases, and
 66

2. The reduction of the amplitude factor is not due to the damping effects of the system but
rather to the superposition of the individual responses each having a different frequency.
10.4 Reclosing of a Line
Since in order to improve the stability of the system it is desirable to restore service as quickly as
possible, it is a common operating practice to recluse a circuit breaker a few cycles after it has
interrupted a fault.
If the interrupted fault happens to be a single phase to ground fault, then it is possible that
a significant voltage may remain trapped in the unfaulted phases. This happens because the three
phases represent a capacitor tht has been switched off at current zero and therefore, because of
the inductive nature of the system, this coincides with the instant where a maximum voltage is
present in the line.
Since the closing of the contacts may take place at any point in the voltage wave, it could
then be expected that when reclosing the circuit, the circuit breaker contacts may close at the
opposite polarity of the trapped change, which, when coupled with the voltage doubling effect
produced by the traveling wave, leads to the possibility of a overvoltage across the contacts that
cab reach a magnitude as high as 4 per unit.
10.5 Contact opening
The opeining of a circuit was previously discussed in the context of interrupting a large
magnitude of current where that current was generally considered to be the result of a short
circuit. However, there are many occasions where a circuit breaker is required to interrupt
currents that are in the range of a few amperes to several hundred amperes, and where the loads
as characterized as being either purely capacitive or purely inductive.
The physics of the basic interrupting process; that is the balancing of the are energy is no
different whether the interrupted currents are small or large However, since lower currents will
contribute less energey to the are is natural to expect that interrupting these lower currents would
be a relatively simpler task; but, this is not always the case because, as it will be shown later, the
very fact that the currents are relatively low in comparison to a short circuit current promotes the
possibility of restrikes occurring across the contacts during interruption. Those restrikes cab be
responsible for significant increases in the magnitude of the recovery voltage.
According to standard established practice, a restrict is defined as being an electrical
discharge that occurs one quarter of a cycle or more after the initial current interruption. A
resignation is defined as a discharge that occurs not later than one eight of a cycle after current
zero.
 67

Figure 10.3: Recovery voltage resulting from the

switching capacitor banks

10.6 Interruption of small capacitive Currents:

The switching of capacitor banks and unloaded lines requires that the circuit breaker interrupts
small capacitive currents. These currents are generally less than ten amperes for switching
unloaded lines and most often less than one thousand amperes for switching off capacitor banks.
Interruption, as always, takes place at current zero and therefore the system voltage, for
all practical purposes is at its peak. This as it should be recalled makes current interruption
relatively easy but, again as it was said before, this gap between the circuit breaker contacts is
very short and consequently, a few milliseconds later as the system recovery voltage appears
across the circuit circuit breaker tow withstand the recovery voltage.
At the time when current interruption takes place theline to ground voltage stroted in the
capacitor in a solidly grounded circuit is equal to 1.0 per unit.
The source side, in the other hand will follow the oscillation of the power frequency
voltage and therefore in approximately one half of a cycle the voltage across the contacts would
reach its peak value, but, with a reversal of its polarity. At this time then the total voltage across
the contacts reaches a value of 2.0 per unit which corresponds to the algebraic sum of the
capacitor voltage charge and the source voltage as is shown in figure 10.3
 68

If the circuit has an isolated neutral connection then the voltage trapped in the capacitor,
for the first phase to clear, has a line to ground value of 1.5 per unit and the total voltage across
the contacts one half of a cycle later will then be equal to 2.5 per unit.
Restries can be thought as being similar to a closing operation where the capacitor is
suddenly reconnected to the source, and therefore it is expected that there will be a flow of an
inrush current which due to the inductance of the circuit absence of any damping effects will
force the voltage in the capactitor to swing with respect to the instantaneous system voltage to a
peak value that is approximately equal to the intital value at which it started but with a reversed
polarity. If the restrike happens at the peak of the system voltage, twhen the capacitor voltage
will attain a charge value of 3.0 per unit under these conditions, if the high frequency inrush
current is interrupted at the zero crossing, which some circuit breakers are capable of doing so,
then the capacitor will be left with a charae corresponding to a voltage of 3.0 per unit and one
half of a cycle later there will be a voltage of 4.0 per unit applied across the circuit breaker
contacts. It the sequence is repeated, the capacitor voltage will reach a 5.0 per unit value, as is
illustrated in figure 4.4. theoretically, and if damping is ignored, the voltage across the capacitor
cab build up according to a series of 1, 3, 5, 7,…….. and so on without limit.
10.7 Interruption of Inductive Load currents:
When a circuit breaker that has an interrupting capability of several tens of kiloamperes is called
upon to itnerrup inductive load currents that are generally in the range of a few tens to some
hundereds of amperes, as for example in the case of are furnace swithching, those currents are
interrupted in a normal fashion, that is at current zero. However, and again due to the high
interruption with the interruption of small capacitive currents.
At the time of interruption the gap between the contacts may be very short, and since the voltage
is at its peak, then in many cases the small gap may not be sufficient to withstand the
fulmagnitude of the revovery voltage which begins to appear across the contacts immediately
following the interruption of the current. As a consequence the are may restike resulting in a
very steep volage chang and in significant overvoltages.
 69

Figure10.4: Voltage escalation due to restrikes during a capacitance switching

operation.

However, because of the randomness of the point at which the restikes take place and due
to the ingerent damping of the circuit, it is very unlike that the upper limit of these ovedrvoltages
will exceed a value of 2 per unit.
There are however special cases that arise when a circuit breaker has ex-generated by a
reignition or a restike. Whenever the high frequency current is interrupted the normal power
frequency recovery voltage reappears across the contacts and in some cases it is possible that a
restike may occur again.
During the interval between the tw reignitions the contact have moved thus increasing the
gap distance and therefore a higher breakdown voltage is to be expected. Nevertheless, during
this interval more magnetic energy is accu available to trigger a breakdown which would occur
at a voltage that is higher than the previous one. This process may repeat itself as successive
reignitions occur across a larger gap and at increased magnetic energy levels, and
 70

Figure10.5: Voltage surges caused by successive reignitions when interrupting low

inductive currents.

therefore, at higher mean voltage levels resulting in a high frequency series of volatage
spikes such as those shown in Figure 10.5.
Because of the statistical nature of this phenomenon it is not possible to establish an
upper limit for the overvoltage; however, it is advisable to be aware of the potential risk and to
use protective devices such as surge arrestors.
It is commonly believed that only vacuum circuit breakers are cappble of chopping currents.
However, this is not the case, all types of circuit breakers cab chop. Nevertheless, what is
different is that the instantaneous current magnitude at which the chopping occurs varies
among the different type of interrupting mediums and indeed it is higher for vacuum
interrupters.
 71

Figure10.6: Typical Current Chopping. (a) Equivalent circuit, (b) Chopped current across the
breaker and (c) Transient voltage across the breaker.

In theory, when current chopping occurs the current is reduced instantaneously from a
small finite value to zero, but, in reality this does not happen so suddenly simply because of the
inductance that is present in the circuit and as it is well known, current cab not change
instantaneously in an inductor. It is therefore, to be expected that some small finite element of
time must elapse for the transfer of the magnetic energy stored in the load the transfer of the
magnetic energy that is trapped in the system inductance.
At the instant when current chopping occurs the energy stored in the load inductance is
transferred to the load side capacitance and thus creating a condition where overvolatage scab be
generated. In figure 4.6 (a) the simplified equivalent circuit is shown and in (b) the voltage and
current relationships are illustrated.
Referring to the equivalent circuit the energy balance equations can be written as:
 72

1 1 1
CE 2m = CE c2 + LI 02
2 2 2

and the overvoltage factor K is given by:

Em  I  L  E
D= =  0   + c
Es  Es  C  E s

Where:
Em = Overvoltage peak
E0 = Peak voltage at supply side
Ec= Capacitor voltage at instant of chop
E0= Instantaneous value of chopped current.
= Surge impedance of the circuit
L
C

As it cab be seen, the magnitude of the overvoltage factor K is highly dependent upon the
instantaneous vale of the chopping current.

10.8 Current Chopping in circuit Breakers other than vacuum :

For air, oil, or SF6 interrupters, the are instability that leads to current chopping is
primarily controlled by the capacitance of the system. the effects of the system capacitance on
the chopping level are illustrated in figure 10.7 . The effects of the capacitance on vacuum
interrupters is also included in this figure for comparison purposes.
 73

Figure10.7: Current Chopping Level as Function of Systme Capacitance for Minimum oil
Circuit Breakker (Mocb), SF6 Gas Circuit Breakers (GCB), Air Blast Circuit Breakers (ABCB),
and Vacuum Circuit Breakdrs (VAC)
Oil Circuit Breakers (MOCB), SF6 Gas Circuit Breakers (GCB), Air Blast Circuit Breakers
(ABCB), and Vacuum Circuit Breakers (VAC).
For gas or oil circuit breakers the approximate value of the chipping curren is given by
the formula
I0 =
λ CL

Where:
λ = Chopping number
The following are typical values for chopping numbers:
For Minimum Oil circuit breakers 7 to 10 × 104
For Air Blast circuit breakers 15 to 40 104
 74

For SF6 circuit breakers 4 to 17 × 104

The values of the system capacitance cab be assumed to be in the range of 10 to 50 nano-
farads.
10.9 Current Chopping in Vacuum Circuit Breakers:
In contrast to other types of circuit breakers the current instability in vacuum interrupters is
not strongly influenced by the capacitance of the system (see figure 10.7), but is dependent
upon the material of the vacuum contacts and by the action of the anode spot created by the
vacuum are. There is no chopping number for Vacuum interrupters but, instead the chopping
current itself cab be specifed as follows:
For Copper-Bismuth contacts current chopping 5 to 17 Amperes
For chrome copper contacts current chopping 2 to 5 Amperes
10.10 Virtual Current Chopping
Virtual current chopping in reality is not a true chopping phenomenon but rather its is the
normal interruption of a fast transient current. Virtual chopping is a phrase that has been
coined to describe the condition illustrated in the simplified circuit shown in figure 10.8
Referring to this figure, the power frequency currents are shown as IA, IB and Ic Assuming that
for example, a current reignition occurs shortly after the interruption of the power frequency
current in phase a, the reignition current ia will then flow to ground through the line to ground
capacitance Cg in the load side of the breaker in in phase A and the components ib and ic flow
in phases B and C due to the coupling of their respective line to ground capacitances.
The high frequency transient current produced by the regnition superimposes itself on
the power frequency; furthermore, the high frequency current could be larger in magnitude
that the power frequency current and therefore it can be larger in magnitude than the power
frequency current and therefore it cab force curren zeroes at times other than those expected
to occur normally with a 50 or 60 Hz current.
At it has been stated before there a some types of circuit breakers which are capable to
interrupt thse high frequency currents, and therefore it is possible to assume \that in some
cased the circuit breaker may clear the circuit breaker may clear the circuit at a current zero
corsiing tha thas been forced bythe high frequency current and power frequency current.
When this happens, as far as the load is concerned, it looks the same as if the power
frequency current has been chpped since a sudden current zero has been forced.
Since the high frequency current zeroes will occur at approximately the same time in all there
phases the circuit breaker may interrupt the currents in all there phases simultaneously thus
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giving rise to a very complicated sequence of voltag transients that may even include
reignitions in all three phases.
Considering that, when compared in a "normal" current chopping, we find that the
instantaneous value of current, from which the load current is forced to

Figure10.8: Virtual current chopping (a) Circuit showing the flow of the induced currents. (b)
Relationships between the three phase currents

Zero is significantly higher but, also that the surge impedance is somewhat lower, then the
line to ground over voltage could be assumed to be at about the same order of magnitude as
the overvoltages that are generated by the conventional current chopping; however, in
heworst case, if the neutral is un grounded one half of the reignition current would return
through each of the other two phases being twice their corresponding line to ground
overvoltage.
10.11Controlling Overvoltages :
Circuit breakers themselves do not generate over voltages, but they do initiate them
by changing the quiescent conditions of the circuit. As it has been stated before the switching
over voltages are the result of two over voltage components the power frequency over
voltage, and the transient over voltage component. Limiting the magnitude of the first is
usually sufficient to within acceptable limits. However, this does not exclude the possibility
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of using appropriate measures to additionally limit the magnitude of the over voltage by
limiting the transient response.
Among the measures that can be taken to reduce the magnitudes fo the power
frequency overvoltages are:
(a) Provide polarity controlled closing
(b) Add closing and or opening resistors across the breaker contacts
(c) Provide a method combining polarity control and closing resistor
(d) Add parallel compensation
(e) Reduce the supply side reactance
The transient overvoltage factor can be controlled by:
(a) removing the trapped charges from the line sysnchronized closing which be accomplished
either by closing a voltage zero of the supply side or by matching the polarity of the line and
the supply side.
(c) Synchronized opening which optimized the contact gap at current zero using pre-insertion
resistors
From all the listed alternatives only resistors can be considered to be an integral part
of a circuit breaker. The practice of including closing resistors as part of a circuit breaker is
relatively common for circuit breakers intended for applications at voltages above 123 kV.
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Reference:
1. Element of Power System Analysis, Fourth Edition
William D. Stevenson
2. Power System Analysis
Hadi Saadat
3.Power System Analysis And Design ,Fourth Edition
Glover,Sarma,Overbye
4.Principal of Power System
V.K.Mehta,Rohit Mehta
5.High Voltage Circuit Breakers
Ruben D.Grazon
6.Switchgear Protection And Power System
Sunil S.Rao