Optimal Overcurrent Relay Coordination in

Distribution System
Manohar Singh, B. K. Panigrahi, Senior Member, IEEE and A. R. Abhyankar, Member, IEEE

Abstract-- Coordination of overcurrent relays in a meshed

distribution system is a challenge task for the protection
engineers. Initially it was done manually. Linear and non-linear
programming optimizing techniques are very frequently used for
Coordination of overcurrent relays. Presently artificial
intelligence is applied for optimal co-ordination of Overcurrent
(OC) relays. This paper discusses application of genetic
algorithm for optimal coordination of OC relays in a loops
distribution system. Combination of primary and backup relay is
chosen by using graph theory, to avoid misoperation of relays.
Index Terms-- Distribution system, genetic algorithm graph
theory, meshed, overcurrent relays

I. INTRODUCTION
Protection systems must respond quick, selective and
reliable to faults in the distribution system. Overcurrent
protection, one of the basic protective relaying protection
schemes is frequently used for distribution system protection.
Overcurrent protection is more economical and therefore,
favored on a distribution level. It operates without the
application of costly communication equipment as needed in
distance and differential protection schemes.
Selectivity problem of overcurrent relays can be tackle by
time grading. But this result in delayed relay operational time
for faults which are more severe and close to the source.
Inverse type overcurrent relay clears the heaviest fault
quickly. Backup protection is provided to each unit if primary
relay fails to operate. Primary and backup relay pairs are
chosen from the graph theory so that there is proper
coordination between Primary and backup relay pairs. To
coordinate this backup protection with the primary relay
characteristic will ensure that the backup relay has sufficient
time delay to allow the primary relay (and its breaker) to clear
the fault.
Several methods have been proposed for the coordination
of overcurrent relays. These methods can be classified into
three classes: trial and error [1], topological analysis method
[2, 3], and optimization method. However, the solutions found
by the first two classes, are not optimal in any strict sense, but
only the best of the tried possible solution. In other words,
Manohar Singh, Research Scholar Department of Electrical Engineering,
IIT-Delhi (e-mail: manoharsingh33@gmail.com).
Dr. B. K. Panigrahi is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IITDelhi(bkpanigrahi@ee.iitd.in, Delhi-110016, INDIA
Dr. A. R. Abhyankar is with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
IIT-Delhi(abhyankar@ee.iitd.ac.in, Delhi-110016, INDIA
(978-1-4673-0136-7/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE)

relay time multiplier settings are relatively high. In the optimal

methods, the operating times of the relays are minimized,
subject to the so-called coordination constraints, relays
characteristic curves and the limits of the relays settings.
In the optimization method, some researchers used nonlinear programming for determining the optimal setting of
pickup current and a linear programming for optimizing the
time multiplier settings of the relays [4-5]. Other researchers
[6] applied the linear programming technique only to
minimize operating time while the pickup currents are selected
based on experience. Due to the complexity of nonlinear
optimal programming techniques, the coordination of
overcurrent relays is commonly performed by linear
programming techniques, including the simplex, two phase
simplex and dual simplex methods. In these methods the
current setting of the relays is assumed to be determined prior,
and only find the time multiplier setting of the relays.
Generally this is not the global optimum solution of the
problem.
In this paper, an optimal coordination method for
overcurrent relays is proposed. The time multiplier setting of
all relays is considered as optimization parameters and they
are obtained simultaneously in an optimal manner. The
proposed method is tested in a 3-bus distribution system
which consists of the 25MVA, 11kV power system feeding to
ring connected distribution system.
II. OPTIMAL RELAY COORDINATION PROBLEM
In the coordination program, two types of tap settings,
namely current settings and time dial settings must be
calculated. The current setting for each relay is determined by
two parameters, namely the minimum fault current and the
maximum load current [1], [5]. For TDS calculation, objective
function is optimized using optimization technique. The
objective function in (1) is sum of total operating time of all
the overcurrent relays located at different location of
distribution system.
n

min(objective.. function ) = wi * f ( I p , I i ) * TDS (1)

i =1

min( Z ) = wi * ti ,k
i =1

n is the number of relays,

ti , k is the operating time of the

relay Ri , for fault in zone k, and

operating time of the relay

(2)

wi is weight assigned for

Ri .If the length of different

wi = 1 .The

feeders of distribution system same, then

objective function in (1) is subjected to following set of

constraints for proper relay coordination.
TDSi , are time dial setting for relay Ri and f ( I p , I i )
term depends upon the relay setting, fault current and relay
characteristics. As per IEC and ANSI/IEEE Standards,
f ( I p , I i ) term is defined in (3)

f (I p , Ii ) =

+L
1

(3)

TABLE I
VALUES OF , AND l FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF OCRS [4]
L

Relay type

Standard

Moderately inverse

IEEE

0.02

0.0515

0.114

Very inverse

IEEE

2.0

19.61

0.491

Extremely inverse

IEEE

2.0

28.2

0.1217

Standard inverse

IEC

0.02

0.14

0.0

Very inverse

IEC

1.0

13.5

0.0

Constraints of the problem are as given below:

Normal Coordination Constraints
1) Limits on Problem Variables:
I) Bounds on time dial setting (TDS) of each relay

TDS imin TDS i TDS imax

TDS

min
i

and

TDS

value of TDS of relay

max
i

are

Ri . TDS

min
i

(4)

minimum and maximum

max

and TDS i

are taken as

0.025 and 1.2 sec.

II) Relay characteristic, Bounds on pickup current
( I P ) setting of each relay

top = a * TDS
a = 1 + L; M =

(5)

I fault
I pickup

min
max
I pickup
I p I pickup
For standard IDMT relay, is 0.02 and is 0.14 as per

IEC shown in table.

2) Limits on Primary Operation Time:
All of the primary operating time corresponding to each
possible fault location should be less than a maximum allowed
time delay and more than some minimum predecided time
considering transient conditions [5].
3) Coordination criteria (Selectivity Constraint):
Fault is sensed by both primary as well as secondary relay
simultaneously. To avoid mal-operation, the backup relay
should take over the tripping action only after primary relay
fails to operate. If R j is the primary relay for fault at k,
and Ri

is backup relay for the same fault, then the

coordination constraint can be stated as;

(6)

where, t j ,k is the operating time of the primary relay R j , for

fault at k; ti ,k is the operating time for the backup relay

Ri ,

for the same fault at k, t is the coordination time interval

(CTI) generally taken as 0.3 sec.
III. REVIEW OF GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR OPTIMAL RELAY
COORDINATION

M is plug setting multiplier and determines the slope of the

relay characteristics. The values of , and L for various
standard overcurrent types of relay is given in Table 1.

t i ,k t j ,k = t

GA is a search method that mimics the biological process

of natural evolution and the idea of the survival of the
fittest. Starting with a population of randomly created
solutions, the solutions with better fitness are more likely to be
chosen as a parent to produce new solutions (offspring) for the
next generation. The classical optimization methods have
limitations in searching for global optimum point and
sometimes trapped in local optimum point. In recent years,
heuristic optimization techniques have aroused intense interest
due to their flexibility, versatility and robustness in seeking
global optimal solution [7].
GA like all other optimization methods needs initial values
which are chosen randomly. The aim is to find out the
optimum value of TMS for all relays, hence TMS of relays are
taken as variables. As the TMS of relays are continuous, it is
more logical to represent them by floating point numbers,
rather than representing in the form of strings of 0 and1, as it
is done in binary GA. At the end of every iteration the new
value of TSMs of relays is given to the algorithm. The process
is terminated when stopping criteria is meeting.
To evaluate the fitness of each chromosome, it is essential
to define an objective function (OF). The purpose of
optimization is to minimize the OF. The chromosomes are
evaluated regarding the OF and the chromosomes which have
more effectiveness will be used for producing new generation
of chromosomes.
The flowchart of a GA is shown in Fig. 1. Each design
variable is represented by a floating point number and if there
are n design variables then, a design vector is represented by
a string of total n floating point numbers. This string is
called a chromosome. GA starts with a group of
chromosome known as population. The initial population is
generated randomly by keeping the value of each variable in
the range specified by its lower and upper bounds. The basic
operations of natural genetics reproduction, crossover, and
mutation, are implemented during numerical optimization.
Reproduction is a process in which the individuals are
selected based on their fitness values relative to that of the
population. Thus individuals (chromosomes) with higher
fitness values have a greater chance of being selected for
mating and subsequent genetic action. Consequently, highly
fit individuals live and reproduce, and less fit chromosomes
die. After reproduction, the crossover operation is
implemented. Crossover is an operator that forms new
chromosomes, called offsprings, from two parent
chromosomes by combining part of the information from
each.

Fig.2. A single-end-fed single-loop distribution system [9]

TABLE II
BUS INCIDENCE MATRIX

Fig.1 Flowchart of genetic algorithm

TABLE III
PRIMARY-BACKUP RELATIONSHIP OF RELAYS

Mutation in each iteration will cause the algorithm not to

trap in local minimums. After a fixed number of generations,
the process will be terminated. Increasing the number of
generations will lead to the better solutions and on the other
hand, will increase the run time. The required number of
generation varies from system to system depending on the
system complexity and the size of population [6].
IV.

ALGORITHM FOR SELECTION OF

PRIMARY/BACK UP RELAY PAIRS

All the primary/backup pairs for the network can be

determined by constructing the nodal incidence matrix (Table
II) using graph theory. The primary/backup pairs can be
estimated from the augmented incidence matrix as follows [8].
Step 1 Consider column 1 which corresponds to relay
number 1; find the negative element in that column
Step 2 Find the row corresponding to the negative element,
which is row number 2 in this case.
Step 3 Find the positive elements corresponding to row
number 2 except the positive element in column
number 2 (which represents the relay on the other
terminal of the line). Thus relay R1 is considered as
backup relay to primary relays R4.
Step 4 Steps 1-3 are repeated for other backup relays.
For the network shown in Fig. 2, it is possible to determine
the primary/backup pairs given in Table III.

V.

CASE STUDIES

Optimization problem are framed for ring main distribution

system as shown in case.1 and case.2. Our aim is to optimize
the TMS setting of various directional overcurrent relays
(DOCR) installed at various location of ring main feeder.
A CASE STUDY 1
In case 1 single end fed, single loop distribution system,
with four DOCRs, and two OCR (overcurrent relays) on
source side, as shown in Fig. 2, are considered. The line data
for the system is given in Table IV. The line charging
admittances are neglected.
TABLE IV LINE DATA FOR SYSTEM
Line

Impedance ()

1-2

0.08+j1

2-3

0.08+j1

1-3

0.16+j2

Four different fault points were taken for illustration. The

load currents during the fault were assumed to be negligible.
The source is of 25 MVA, 11kV. Source ratings were taken as
base quantities (base MVA and base kV). The source
impedance is (0+j 0.25) pu. The primary-backup relationships
of relays for the four fault points are given in Table 3. The CT
ratio, are given in Table V.

overcurrent relay is given in Table.VII. The result is

compared with the Bhide et al for the same problem. The
proposed algorithm gives more minimized objective
function as compare to Bhibe et al. operating time of
primary and backup pair is tabulated in Table VIII.

TABLE V
CT RATIOS AND PLUG SETTINGS OF RELAYS
Relay

CT ratio

1000:1

300:1

1000:1

600:1

600:1

600:1

TABLE VII
OPTIMIZED TDS
TMS

Bhibe et al

Proposed

TMS(1)

0.0765

0.0590

TMS(2)

0.034

TMS(3)

Problem formulation
In this case there are six variables (TMS of six relays), six
constraints due to bounds on relay operating time and four
constraints due to coordination criteria (actually there are five
constraints due to coordination criteria, but one of them is
redundant). The minimum operating time of each relay is
taken as 0.1 s. The normal range of TMS is taken as 0.025 to
1.2. This constraint is also taken into account. The CTI is set
to its typical value of 0.3 s. TMS of the six relays are taken as
TMS1TMS6.
Fault current at different location and corresponding relay
coefficients for a standard IDMT relay having and , 0.02
and 0.14 respectively are shown in Table VI.

0.0339

0.0250
0.0250

TMS(4)

0.036

0.0300

TMS(5)

0.0711

0.0640

TMS(6)

0.0294

0.0250

Min(z)

15.1170

11.9435

TABLE IX
COMPARSION OF OPERATING TIME OF PRIMARY AND
BACKUP

TABLE VI
CURRENT SEEN BY THE RELAYS AND THE

a j ,i CONSTANT

B CASE STUDY 2
In this case a single end fed, multi loop distribution
system, with eight OC relays as shown in Fig. 3 is considered.
The system is multi loop system because depending on the
fault point, different configurations (depending on the
direction of current in various feeders) are formed. Six
different fault points are taken for illustration

The objective function is defined as under

Min(Z)

= 38.1252

+ 36.6709
+ 13.4823

* TMS(1)

* TMS(3)
* TMS(5)

+ 9.2049
+ 4.3590

+ 2.3451

* TMS(2)

(7)

* TMS(4)
* TMS(6)

The constraints due to coordination criteria are

5.8375
3.3674

* TMS
* TMS

(4)
(1)

- 1.4553
- 3.3674

* TMS
* TMS

(2) 0.3
(3) 0.3

3.3674
28.039
5.2636

* TMS
* TMS
* TMS

(5)
(3)
(1)

- 3.3674
- 4.3590
- 5.2636

* TMS
* TMS
* TMS

(4)
(6)
(3)

0.1 TMS(i)

0.025,

0.3
0.3
0.3

i = 1 to 6

Result
The above mathematical model of case 1 is optimized
using Genetic algorithm. The optimize TDS of six

Fig. 3 A single-end-fed multi-loop distribution system [10]

The total fault current and primary-backup relationship of

relay for the six fault points are given in Table X.
TABLE X
PRIMARY-BACKUP RELATIONSHIP OF RELAYS CASE 2

TABLE XIII

All relays are assumed to have plug setting of 1 and CT

ratio of 100: 1.

COMPARSION OF OPERATING TIME OF PRIMARY AND

BACKUP

Problem formulation
The optimization problem is formed in the same way as
explained in illustration I. In this case there are eight variables
(TMS of eight relays), eight constraints due to bounds on
relay operating time and nine constraints due to coordination
criteria.
TABLE XI
CURRENT SEEN BY THE RELAYS AND THE

a j ,i CONSTANT

CONCLUSION

Min(Y) = 47.45 * TMS(1) + 48.45 * TMS(2)

+ 29.40 * TMS(3) + 24.90 * TMS(4)
+ 13.0 * TMS(5) + 14.0 * TMS(6)

(8)

+ 11.0 * TMS(7) + 19.3 * TMS(8)

The constraints due to coordination criteria are

3 . 30 * TMS ( 3 ) 3 . 30 * TMS ( 8 ) 0 . 3
3 . 35 * TMS ( 2 ) 3 . 90 * TMS ( 4 ) 0 . 3
3 . 45 * TMS (1 ) 3 . 90 * TMS ( 4 ) 0 . 3
4 . 00 * TMS ( 4 ) 4 . 00 * TMS ( 7 ) 0 . 3
5 . 00 * TMS (1 ) 10 . 0 * TMS ( 4 ) 0 . 3
5 . 00 * TMS ( 2 ) 10 . 0 * TMS ( 4 ) 0 . 3

GA method for optimum coordination of overcurrent relays

in distribution system is presented in this paper. Misoperation
of relays in relay coordination problem can be reduced to
minimum by proper selection of primary and backup relay
pairs. Moreover, the proposed GA minimizes the objective
function more effectively as compare to other optimization
techniques. The algorithm is tested for two ring connected
distribution feeder. Operating time of relay found to
satisfactory as compare to Bhide et al case studies conducted
for the same systems.
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4 . 00 * TMS ( 3 ) 4 . 00 * TMS ( 8 ) 0 . 3
2 . 00 * TMS ( 8 ) 8 . 00 * TMS ( 5 ) 0 . 3
2 . 00 * TMS ( 8 ) 8 . 00 * TMS ( 6 ) 0 . 3

0.1 TMS(i)

0.025, i = 1 to 8

Result
The optimum values of TDS obtained using GA technique
are given in Table XII.
TABLE XII OPTIMIZED TDS

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