Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Presented at the
69th Annual Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
April 29–May 1, 2015
A. Typical Applications of Ungrounded Systems higher voltages due to the extra size and insulation material
Ungrounded systems are best suited to facilities with required.
critical loads. For example, in industrial facilities that Not only must an ungrounded system contend with line-to-
manufacture products with long production cycles, power loss line voltages, it must also contend with transient voltages that
would ruin an entire batch or process. The auxiliary bus of a can exceed 5 per unit of nominal system voltage if restrikes
generation plant, which supplies power to critical oil lube occur in quick succession [4]. Voltage transients decrease
pumps and cooling water pumps for the generator, is another quickly on effectively grounded systems because there is a
commonly ungrounded system. Ungrounded systems allow low-impedance path to ground. Ungrounded systems have a
operators to conveniently time an outage to locate and clear a high-impedance path to ground through line-to-ground-
fault [3]. connected equipment, such as instrument transformers, surge
arresters, and natural capacitance. These high-impedance
B. Ground Fault Protection for Ungrounded Systems paths cause transients to decrease slowly and may not quickly
Zero-sequence current magnitudes in ungrounded systems subdue voltage spikes. A situation could develop where
do not change enough to apply a traditional overcurrent multiple restrikes from arcing ground faults lead to a buildup
scheme. Flux balance current transformers (CTs) can be of voltage several times the nominal peak line-to-neutral
applied on medium- and low-voltage systems if the voltage [5].
conductors are insulated. Otherwise, voltage-based schemes To illustrate, Fig. 3 shows an ideal case with no
must be used to detect problems. Voltage-based schemes dampening. The system is pseudoconnected to ground through
operate by looking at zero-sequence voltages developed line-to-ground capacitances and capacitor current leads the
during unbalanced conditions. Relay pickups are set above voltage by 90 degrees [6]. VS is a normal voltage waveform
normal unbalanced fluctuations but sensitive enough to detect used as reference. The dashed line is the deviation from the
when the system is connected to ground. normal voltage waveform caused by the voltage capacitance
1) Measuring Zero-Sequence Voltage (VC) and the reference voltage (VS). When the reference
Voltage protection on ungrounded systems requires a voltage reaches the first peak in Fig. 3, the arc self-
connection to three phase instrument voltage transformers extinguishes because the current is at zero, but the system
(VTs). The secondary sides of the three phase VTs are capacitance holds the voltage. The system voltage continues
connected together in a broken-delta configuration, and two its cycle according to the new reference point, resulting in the
wire leads are brought to a single overvoltage relay. A deviation waveform. The voltage difference reaches twice the
stabilizing resistor can be used to dampen out transients. Zero- original voltage at the negative peak of the reference voltage
sequence current that circulates in the delta develops a voltage and a restrike occurs. The momentary connection to ground
according to the impedance of the transformer winding. The changes the capacitance offset voltage by an additional 2 per
voltage is across three windings, so the relay connected to the unit. In the next half cycle, the voltage difference reaches four
broken delta measures 3V0. times the initial value and a second restrike occurs. At this
point, an insulation failure and permanent fault is likely [7].
2) Calculating Zero-Sequence Voltage 6
Measuring 3V0 only requires two wires but does not Capacitor Voltage (VC)
5
provide individual phase measurement of the voltage. Modern
microprocessor-based relays make it possible to calculate 3V0 4
3V0 = VA + VB + VC (1) 0
–1
C. Problems With Ungrounded Systems
–2
There are two significant tradeoffs for using an ungrounded
–3
system.
Difference VS – VC
–4
1) Voltage Ratings and Transients
–5
While ground fault current is limited during a fault when a
system is operated ungrounded, operating ungrounded does –6
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3
not minimize voltage stress on equipment. Notice in Fig. 2 Time (cycles)
that during the SLG fault, the faulted phase potential decreases Fig. 3. Transient Overvoltage From a Restriking Ground Fault
nearly to zero and the potential on the unfaulted phases
increases by a factor of 1.73. Therefore, power system 2) Selectivity
equipment on ungrounded systems must be rated for line-to- As stated previously, ground faults on ungrounded systems
line voltages. Adding insulation on low-voltage equipment is have small levels of current flowing to the fault, so it is
relatively easy but becomes increasingly cost-prohibitive at generally not possible to accurately locate the fault based on
3
current. Voltage-based schemes can only tell if there is a fault B. Grounding Transformer
somewhere on the system. Therefore, operators have to isolate As the name implies, grounding transformers provide a
individual sections and determine where the fault is by trial ground source to the system. If a ground path cannot be added
and error, which can take hours in some cases. without reconfiguring a power transformer, a grounding
transformer can be a more cost-effective solution. Grounding
III. EFFECTIVE GROUNDING transformers are shunt connections to ground and do not have
Typically, most high-voltage systems are effectively to be rated for the full megavolt-ampere load of the system,
grounded. One reason for this can be found in the definition of making them much cheaper and smaller than replacement
an effectively grounded system in the National Electric Safety power transformers. Two common types of grounding
Code (NESC), which states: transformers are two-winding grounded neutral wye-delta and
zig-zag. The grounded neutral wye-delta transformer is
An effectively grounded system is
connected with the wye to the primary and the delta unloaded.
intentionally connected to earth through a
This allows zero-sequence current to flow from the wye
ground connection or connections of
neutral connection through each of the phase windings in the
sufficiently low impedance and having
primary. Even though the delta winding is unloaded, zero-
sufficient current carrying capacity to limit
sequence current circulates inside the delta-connected
the buildup of voltage levels below that
windings. The zig-zag transformer has six coils wound around
which may result in undue hazard to persons
three magnetic cores. The two coils on each magnetic core are
or to connected equipment. [8]
from different phases and are wound in opposite directions
In contrast to ungrounded systems, where high voltages can from each other, allowing the ampere-turns from zero-
develop, effectively grounded systems prevent such sequence current produced by the coils to balance each other,
occurrences. The tradeoff is high ground fault current, which resulting in low series impedance for the zero-sequence
must be interrupted quickly to prevent equipment damage. current [10].
Current-based schemes are used and, with proper
coordination, can provide selective isolation of ground faults. IV. CASE STUDY
Even though load interruption occurs, effectively grounded A. Description of the System
systems are generally preferred for transmission systems
Fig. 4 shows a basic one-line drawing of the system in this
because of selectivity and the avoidance of voltage buildup.
case study. It consists of a 230 kV line source feeding parallel
There are a few ways to effectively ground a system.
230/60 kV transformers to a 60 kV bus, a 60/4 kV transformer
A. Wye-Connected Transformers feeding a radial load, and a short transmission line to a
Wye-connected transformers can be used on ungrounded 60/12 kV substation feeding a radial load. During normal
systems by simply not connecting the neutral point to ground. operation, either Transformer A or B is in service and either
Most of the time, though, the neutral is connected to ground Transformer D or E is in service. The offline transformers
because the wye-connected transformer provides a convenient serve as standbys.
location for an effective ground connection that does not Substation 1
require any additional capital costs. The transformer generally Source
has to have a second winding, configured as a delta 230 kV
connection, that provides a low-impedance path for the flow
A B
of zero-sequence current, which establishes the system ground
reference.
When applying a two-winding delta-wye or wye-delta
transformer, it is important to understand which connection to
apply to which side. Common practice dictates placing the 60 kV
delta connection on the source (upstream) side and the wye on
the load (downstream) side. Grounding the wye on the Short Transmission Line
downstream side allows zero-sequence current to flow from
the grounded neutral connection through the wye transformer
winding and downstream to the ground fault. The high-side 4 kV
Load B Substation 2
B. Identifying the Problem In this case study, the solution selected was a protection
This case study covers three issues with the system. First, scheme covering both grounded and ungrounded scenarios.
notice the configuration of Transformers A, B, D, and E. The The drawbacks of possibly operating ungrounded were
delta-wye configuration is reversed from the one discussed acceptable compared to the large capital costs of effectively
previously; the transformers are oriented with the delta grounding.
winding on the load side and a grounded wye on the source D. Implementing the Protection Scheme
side. Transformer C is delta-delta and therefore does not have
Protecting a system during effectively grounded and
a ground connection. The 60 kV system is effectively
ungrounded power system states requires a combination of
grounded through the wye winding of Transformer D or E.
current and voltage protection. Fig. 6 shows a sample of the
Second, the effective ground connection is downstream from
relays applied to provide protection.
Breakers D and E. If both breakers open, the 60 kV system
Relay 1 contains overcurrent and distance elements to
will no longer be effectively grounded. However, the system
protect the line toward Breakers D and E. Because a ground
could remain in service and still serve load through
source does not exist behind the relay, the distance elements
Transformer C. Third, notice that the 60 kV transmission line
will not operate for a phase-to-ground fault on the line.
is connected directly to the 60 kV bus. Depending on the type
Further explanation of this is provided in Section V.
of fault on the transmission line, Breakers A and B might not
need to trip. Substation 1
Source
C. Solutions to the Problem 230 kV
The obvious solution is to reconfigure the delta-wye
A B
transformer windings so that the delta side is connected to the
source and the grounded wye is connected to the load.
Because the system is radial, there would always be a ground
connection while in service. However, this project already had Relay 2
all the power transformers ordered and built, so replacing 60 kV
Relay 1
them was deemed too costly.
The next logical alternative is to install a grounding Short Transmission Line
transformer on the 60 kV bus and remove the ground
connections on Transformers D and E to allow for easier
coordination, as shown in Fig. 5. While purchasing and 4 kV Relay 3
installing a grounding transformer on the 60 kV system is far C
D E
less costly than replacing the power transformers, it would
Load A
still require a large capital investment and delay the schedule.
Substation 1
12 kV
Source
230 kV
Load B Substation 2
A B Fig. 6. Relaying Applied to the 60 kV System
A B
VC
Broken-Delta Relay 2
Stabilizing Resistor
60 kV
Relay 1
Fig. 8. Relay 2 Six-Wire VT Connection
Short Transmission Line
The six-wire connection is a feature not available in all
relays. Careful selection of a relay with six connections at the
beginning of the design can save years’ worth of operating 4 kV Relay 3
costs on electricity usage alone. While the relay needs six C
voltage connections for this application, only four conductors D E
are required between the VT and the relay, which can be Load A
helpful for retrofit projects. For these reasons, the six-wire
connection was determined to be the best choice for this Breaker Closed 12 kV
application.
Breaker Open
Load B Substation 2
Substation 1
Source
230 kV
Current
A B
Relay 2
60 kV
Relay 1
Voltage
Short Transmission Line
4 kV Relay 3
C
D E
Load A
Fig. 11. Relay 1 Event Capture
12 kV
Current
Load B Substation 2
A. Sequence of Events
Event reports were gathered from three relays on the 60 kV
system. Each relay was synchronized with satellite clocks in
order to ease event comparison. At 3:45 p.m. and
16.440 seconds, Relay 1 picked up on the phase overcurrent
Voltage
180 degrees out of phase. The voltage graph shows that only
the Phase B voltage collapsed while Phase A and Phase C
remained healthy and 120 degrees out of phase from each
other.
Voltage
As soon as the breaker operates, the zero-sequence voltage the three windings. One phase feeds the fault directly while
increases high enough to pick up both zero-sequence the other phases flow upstream to Transformer B, where they
overvoltage elements (59P1 and 59P2) set in the relay. The combine to feed the fault from the other direction. Notice the
magnitude of the zero-sequence voltage begins its natural similarities between the current flow on the three-phase circuit
decay until a few cycles later when it quickly drops back to and the event reports. The delta winding has two phases with
zero, leaving the system ungrounded and unfaulted. current flowing in and one phase with current flowing out.
The first thing to ascertain from these three relay events is The current shown in the event report from Relay 1 in Fig. 11
which phase was faulted. Looking at the voltages, only matches this expectation. Two of the phases are 180 degrees
Phase B collapses during the fault. After the breaker opens, out of phase from the faulted phase. The current shown in the
but before the zero-sequence voltages disappear, Phase B is event report from Relay 3 in Fig. 12 also matches. All three
suppressed while the other phases remain relatively intact. currents are flowing in the same direction and are in phase
Therefore, it can be concluded that the fault was a single- with each other.
phase-to-ground fault on Phase B. Further analysis requires a
detailed look at the sequence components.
C. Sequence Diagram of Faulted System
For the purposes of sequence component analysis, the
system can be simplified as shown in Fig. 14.
Short 60 kV
Transmission Line
230 kV 12 kV
B D
System Load B
Fig. 16 shows the three-phase circuit of the simplified Transformer B Line Transformer D Load
(Z0) (Z0) (Z0) (Z0)
diagram. The delta winding on the left side is the low-side B D
delta winding of Transformer B, and the wye winding on the
right side is the high side of Transformer D.
Notice the current path when the system is grounded and
Fig. 17. Sequence Diagram of Fault When Breaker D Is Open
Breaker D is closed. Zero-sequence current flows up the
neutral connection of the wye winding and then splits among
8
VII. REFERENCES
[1] IEEE Standard 142-1991, IEEE Recommended Practice for Grounding
of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems.
[2] J. Roberts, H. J. Altuve, and D. Hou, “Review of Ground Fault
Protection Methods for Grounded, Ungrounded, and Compensated
Distribution Systems,” proceedings of the 55th Annual Conference for
Protective Relay Engineers, College Station, TX, April 2002.
[3] L. V. Dusang, “A Ground Fault Protection Method for Ungrounded
Systems,” proceedings of the IEEE Electric Power Conference,
Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 2008.
[4] D. Reimert, Protective Relaying for Power Generation Systems.
Fig. 18. Zero-Sequence Current Flow With Breaker D Open CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2005.
[5] R. Beltz, I. Peacock, and W. Vilcheck, “Application Considerations for
D. Other Observations During Event
High Resistance Ground Retrofits in Pulp and Paper Mills,” proceedings
Relay 1 picked up on an overreaching Zone 3 phase of the 46th Annual Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Conference,
element instead of a Zone 1 element for a fault on the Atlanta, GA, June 2000.
transmission line. Fig. 16 helps to explain why Relay 1 did not [6] Eaton, “Transient Overvoltages on Ungrounded Systems From
Intermittent Ground Faults,” August 2009. Available:
operate on the Zone 1 distance elements. Without a ground
http://www.eaton.com.
source behind the distance relay, the relay cannot accurately [7] P. E. Sutherland and A. Mansoor, “Conversion of Ungrounded Systems
determine the impedance for a phase-to-ground fault. Had the to High-Resistance Grounding Systems,” proceedings of the 42nd
fault been phase-to-phase, the distance relay would have been Annual IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Technical
able to accurately identify the impedance. Conference, Detroit, MI, April 2006.
Load A never experienced a power interruption during the [8] IEEE Standard C2-2012, 2012 National Electrical Safety Code (NESC).
fault, which highlights the benefit of an ungrounded system. [9] J. L. Blackburn and T. J. Domin, Protective Relaying: Principles and
Applications, 3rd ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2007.
The zero-sequence voltage relay began timing during the
[10] M. Shen, L. Ingratta, and G. Roberts, “Grounding Transformer
transient caused by the breaker removing the ground source. Application, Modeling, and Simulation,” proceedings of the IEEE
However, the fault was temporary in nature, so the relay Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, July 2008.
dropped out before the timer expired.
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
VI. CONCLUSION Darren De Ronde received a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering
from Calvin College in 2003. He has worked on designing substation control,
Protection system designs require careful consideration of
automation, and protection systems for a variety of utilities in the Upper
the grounding method; physical changes to the system Midwest and California. Darren joined Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories,
grounding must be accompanied by corresponding changes to Inc. in 2011 as a protection engineer in the California Bay Area. He is a
the protection schemes. Using consistent grounding methods registered professional engineer in the states of Minnesota and California and
has been an IEEE member for 13 years.
leads to consistent protection schemes. Protection engineers
must not only understand the implications of different Rick VanHatten received his BSEE from South Dakota State University in
grounding methods but must also be proactive in the planning 1974 and is an IEEE PES member. He has broad experience in the field of
and design stages of a project to ensure that proper techniques power system engineering, operations, and protection. Upon graduating, he
served for 32 years at Iowa Public Service, Midwest Resources, and
are applied. MidAmerican Energy, where he worked in substation, distribution, and
Choosing a relay that allows for a six-wire VT connection, transmission engineering; system operations; and substation operations,
instead of the more common four-wire connection, allows for managing various engineering groups. He has led a variety of utility projects
to design and build electric and gas metering shops, plan for Y2K
phase-to-phase voltage measurements on a broken-delta VT contingencies, and consolidate utility switching practices. In 2006, he joined
connection. In addition, a six-wire connection provides Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc., where he is an engineering
adequate transient dampening using stabilizing resistors supervisor. Previously, he worked for two years for Cooper Power Systems in
the energy automation solutions group (formerly Cannon Technologies) in the
without needless power dissipation during normal system area of substation automation and integration.
conditions.
This case study highlights a system that uses a combination Austin Wade received his BS in Electronic and Electrical Engineering,
of current- and voltage-based protection in order to operate the summa cum laude, from California State University, Sacramento, in 2013. He
joined Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. in 2012. He is presently
system as either effectively grounded or ungrounded. Even working as a protection engineer in the Engineering Services division. He is a
with this added complexity, it is still possible to design a member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society.
protection scheme with proper selectivity, albeit with certain
caveats and atypical results. In particular, distance relaying
may not be capable of protecting against ground faults on a
transmission line, breakers may operate downstream instead of
upstream from a fault, and voltage transients may require the
relay to wait a short time to prevent misoperation during a
grounded-to-ungrounded transition.
© 2014, 2015 by Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
All rights reserved.
20150318 • TP6668-01