Transformer Fault current .

dinesh selvakumarElectrical design engineer - Transformers at Prolec-ge

in some transformer specification, the customer mentions the fault current
withstand value at HV and LV side and they say the HV and LV bushing has to
withstand this fault current for some time period.
in IS and IEC standard, it is mentioned that the bushing fault current (thermal)shall
be 25 times of the rated current. (i.e) if spec calls for 40 KA for LV side then LV
side bushing need to be 40/25=1.6 KA.
But, this condition can be seen only in a few specifications, if fault current limiting
is a compulsory condition why other customers are not mentioning the above said
conditions in their spec ? this arises question whether this condition is necessary or
not.
pl comment

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24 Ekim 2013
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Nandhakumar Rajaram
Nandhakumar Rajaram
Sr. Electrical Design Engineer in Large Power Transformer
Dear Dinesh,
In aforementioned case 40 kA for system fault current, however transformer will see less short circuit current
depends on percentage impedance of transformer. In that case minimum bushing rating of 1600A is not
required.
For example: 50MVA, 220/33kV, Z=12.5%, YNyn0, 3Ph, Power Transformer.
LV rated current = 874.78 A,
Transformer SC current = 874.78/.125=6998.24A
As per IEC 60137, minimum required withstand thermal short time bushing current is 6998.24/25 = 279.93A
As per standard choosing of bushing current ratings always not less than 120% of rated current, hence required
LV bushing rating is 36kV, 1250A

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Most welcome to add more comments from any Gentleman.

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25 Ekim 2013
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Philippe Mertens
Philippe Mertens
Consultant elektricity Power at Akka Technologies
Nandhakumar is absolutely correct.
There are 3 possibility's here:
1) The fault occurs before te primary terminals. In this case, the grid fault current does not run trough the
transformer. Possibly the short cirquit is also fed by return of the LV power but then this reverse current is
reduced by the transformer's impedance.
2) The fault current is after the secondary terminals of the transformer and then the fault current trough the
transformer is limited by the transformer's impedance again.
3) If the fault is inside the transformer, then the transformer will be total loss and it is useless that only the
bushings will survive this internal short cirquit.

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This means that if the transformer impedance is 20%, the bushings need to be suitable for 5-times In at least and
all the rest is useless but I know that this requirement is indeed often found in transformer spec's. The real
question is not technical but when the customer whant's you to adhere to the spec and has no transformer
understanding in this respect, it's better to provide as required but this must be calculated in offering stage of
course.
I prefer that
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27 Ekim 2013
Ajay J., dinesh S. bunu beendi

Kevin Newman
Kevin Newman
Senior Expert: Design for Quality at ALSTOM Grid

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I completely agree with Phillipe it makes no sense to have a bushing that can survive an internal line ground to
fault when it is likely the resulting arc damage will be catastrophic. There is a related issue, however, that is
worthy of consideration. Some customers require that any protection CTs installed inside the transformer
(generally in the turrets) do have a short circuit rating equivalent to the system fault level. This is a valid
requirement since in the event of such an internal fault you need the CTs to be able to carry the current without
damage at least long enough to be able to trip the circuit breaker. I suppose it could be argued that since the
bushing forms the bar primary of the CT it should also survive but there is a big difference between survival, i.e.
still carrying current and being undamaged by the fault. The CT on the other hand needs to function correctly
until the trip signal is sent. This can have a significant impact on the design of the CT in terms of the secondary
copper area.
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27 Ekim 2013

Philippe Mertens
Philippe Mertens
Consultant elektricity Power at Akka Technologies
In short-cirquit calculations there are two aspects; the thermal aspect ad the mechanical aspect. Thermally the
temperature should not rise during the short-cirquit duration above the absolute temperature limit given by the
standard. In IEC this limit is 250C.
This thermal limit gives you the minimal required wire section for the CT or for the bushing rod/draw lead.
Short-cirquit times are often 1-2 seconds where the protection relay has already seen the fault current but needs
to delay the trip signal according the delay settings. This means that even if the CT is burnt after 0.5 seconds, the
trip signal wil still be given to the switchgear I guess.
A second point is the dynamical short cirquit current that is 2.5 times the RMS value and represents the forces on
the wire or lead. It is important that the wire remains in position and is not mechanically dislocated; it requires a
solid fixture. This peak current appears at the very first alternations of the AC voltage so within 20 milliseconds.
But the forces generated by a short cirquit are also depending on the distance from the other phases and this is
rather high so rather low forces on bushing leads. The CT secondary leads is another point, they need to be
attached properly inside the turret to avoid damage.

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To my opinion, just like Kevin I see the importance of the protection system to give a trip signal in case of an
internal fault with system fault magnetude but this only requires solid fixtures of draw-leads and CT wires. All
external faults will be highly reduced by the transformer impedance and these may never be a problem for
internal wires or components.
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28 Ekim 2013
dinesh S. bunu beendi

dinesh selvakumar
dinesh selvakumar
Electrical design engineer - Transformers at Prolec-ge
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Thank you every one for your answers. Now it's very much clear..
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29 Ekim 2013

Jatin barot
Jatin barot
--

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in addition to above answer I would like to one more thing that Iec specifies that Ith should be 25times of rated
current of bushing.only...for fault current calcualtiob transformer impedance plays major role.as said by
Mr.phillipe ...
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16 Kasm 2013


Shahi Shajahan
Shahi Shajahan
Transformer Engineer

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I would like to add a concern regarding the Neutral bushing of the transformer which is earthed.
As explained by Kevin & Philip the protection CT's need to be responded to the earth faults.Which means the
same fault current will flow through the earthed neutral terminal of the transformer.(i.e Fault current enter into
the transformer through this bushing )
Which means neutral need to be rated for fault current,if the protection CT is also rated for fault level.
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Kevin Newman
Kevin Newman
Senior Expert: Design for Quality at ALSTOM Grid

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But there is no ambiguity for the neutral bushing, it can only ever see the current passing through the transformer
winding so in this case the neutral bushing and associated CTs only have to be dimensioned for the maximum
earth fault current calculated using the transformer positive and zero sequence impedance. This is mentioned in
IEC 60076-1. Unless that is that the transformer has been specified to carry a particular single phase load in
which case this also has to be taken into account. As an interesting aside I recall a design for a traction
application in conjunction with a static balancer. The action of the balancer was to double the zero sequence
component of the load current, this was the only transformer I have seen where the neutral bushing had a higher
rating than the line bushings!
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Karl Egenberger
Karl Egenberger
Co-Founder Crosslink Technology Inc.
It has been my experience that, most of the time, all bushings have the same rating. On the other hand, it would
make sense that, under special circumstances, the neutral bushing would have to have a higher rating to handle
fault current, especially if the CT also has a higher rating.