Significance of

protection systems
T.ANIL KUMAR
Sr.Asst.Engineer
Regional Lab
Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
Ph.No-94906111092

What is protection?
The

process of keeping something or

someone safe and Secure

Electrical

equipment need protection

from abnormal conditions.

WHAT IS A
PROTECTION ?
Why
it
is
required?
Humans
need protection
from
external disease , sun
and whether. All the internal parts of the human
beings are protected naturally. Heart and lungs are
protected by ribs bones from external impact. Brain
is protected by skull.Eyes are protected by eyelids
and by closing eyes. We need cloths to protect us
from external environment conditions.

Similarly electrical equipment needs protection

from any external or internal faults which may
produce a detrimental effect on it.

Objective of Protection
Protect persons and equipment in
the surrounding of the power system
Protect

system

apparatus in the power

Separate

faulty parts from the rest

of the power system to facilitate the
operation of the healthy part of the
system

Electrical faults in the

power system
Transmission
Busbar

lines 85%

12%

Transformer/

Generator 3%

Fault statistics
Single

phase to earth 80%

Two phases to earth 10%
Phase to phase faults 5%
Three phase faults 5%
The probability of line faults caused
by
lightnings are 0 - 2.3 faults/ 100 km
and year

Primary
Relaying

Generator Protection
Circuit Breaker
Low voltage
Protection
Power Trans.
Protection
High voltage
Protection
Transmission

line Prot.

High voltage
Protection

What is a Relay?
A

device which has an electrical /

non-electrical quantity as input

Output

is in form of a switch called

Contacts, which either close or
open depending on the input
quantity

A Simple Relay

Solenoid
Input

Armature

Normally Open Contact

Normally Close Contact

ELEMENTS OF PROTECTION
Bus
Trip Ckt
CB
Current
DC SOURCE

Relay

Voltage

Feeder

CT

CV
T

FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF PROTECTIVE RELAYING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

SENSITIVITY
SELECTIVITY
SPEED
REPEATABILITY
ECONOMY

Any relaying equipment must be sufficiently sensitive so

that it will operate reliably when required under actual
condition that produce the least operating tendency.

12

REQUIREMENTS OF PROTECTIVE RELAYS

SENSITIVITY : The relay shall be sensitive to operate for
minimum quantity of operating parameter.
SELECTIVITY: The relay/scheme should be able to select the
faulty section and isolate.
SPEED : The relay should operate faster so that fault is
isolated as fast as possible.
RELIABILITY : The relay/scheme should operate for all types
of faults with repeatability and reliability.
COST :The relay/scheme should be economical .

Basis of Classifications
Quantity

of response: Voltage, current,

frequency, power etc.

Function:

Detection, time-delay, tripping, alarm,

signaling, flag, contact multiplication etc

Construction:

Numerical

Electromagnetic, Static or

Basic Types Based on Operating

Principle
Attracted

Armature
Moving Coil
Induction
Thermal
Motor-Operated
Mechanical
Static
Numerical

Induction Type Relays

Work only with ac quantities, working principle

same as that of induction motor
For use with single quantity, phase splitting
arrangement is needed
Relay comprises of:

A set of two or more ac magnetic fluxes, which are

displaced in space as well as time,
An induction disc (or cup) which acts as rotor of an
induction motor
A restraining force usually provided by spring

Thermal Relays
Thermal

overload relays based on bimetallic strips

bimetal strip when heated,

changes shape due to unequal
expansion. This phenomenon is used
to close or open contacts

Motor Operated Relays

A small electric motor drives a contact-making
arrangement through reduction gears.
Typical applications include control of complex
sequence of operations, introduction of delay,
repeated auto-reclose of CB or matching of
speed of generator to the network before
energization

Mechanical relays
Various relays responding to:
Pressure
Liquid levels
Fluid flow etc..

Static Relays
Relays making use of various electronic
devices / phenomena such as:
1. Electronic Relays
2. Transductor (magnetic amplifier) relays
3. Rectifier bridge relays
4. Transistor Relays
5. Hall effect relays
6. Gause effect relays

Static Relays(Contd)

Basic measurement using various

static circuitry using analog / digital
techniques
Use of gates and microprocessor etc
for logical decisions
Some basic building blocks are level
detectors, phase comparators etc

Numerical Relays
All input signals are converted to digital
quantities after conditioning using ADCs
All measurements are performed by DSPs
numerically
Relays are highly accurate and immune to drift
and calibration problems.

Application based
classifications

Directional O/C & E/F relays

Distance relays
Differential relays
Over-flux relays
Pilot-wire relays
Phase comparison relays etc..

Directional O/C & E/F

relays
Direction sensing is achieved by
giving voltage input from PT /
CVT
Widely used as back-up
protection for power
transformers

Distance relays
Basically measure impedance with
voltage and current inputs

Most widely used as primary / backup protection for transmission lines

as well as back up protection for
shunt reactors

Phase comparison relay

Makes use of carrier (PLCC or others)

Sends phase information of current to other
end
At each end phase information of both the
ends is compared.
If both ends indicate current flow to the line,
an in-zone fault is inferred

Phase Comparison Relay

(Through fault)
A

A+B

No Trip

A+B

No Trip

Phase Comparison Relay

(In-Zone fault)
A

A+B

Trip

A+B

Trip

NORMAL PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSFORMER

Differential Protection
: DTH31,RADSB,RADHA
Ground Fault Protection
: CAG14, RADHD
Over Current Protection
: CDD,RXIG
Over Load Protection
: VTU,RXEG
Over Fluxing Protection
: GTT,RATUB
Buchholz Relay (OLTC & Main Tank)
Pressure Relief Device
Oil and Winding temp alarms and trips
Oil Level Monitoring (MOLG)

Differential Relays

I1

I2

i1

i2

id=(i1-i2)

TRANSFORMER DIFFERENTIAL
RELAY
For

protecting a transformer, we can

compare the currents on High Voltage Side
and Low Voltage side. It should match as
per the transformer ratio. This comparison
is used in Differential Protection.
In a shunt reactor, the currents on the HV
side and Neutral ends are Compared.
E.g. RADSB

DIFFERENTIAL RELAY FOR

BUS BAR

The Differential Current protection is also

used to protect the Bus Bars. Here the
current entering the bus and leaving the
bus are summed up. The sum should be
zero. The summation can be done in the
relay (ABB scheme) or after paralleling all
CTs, a Voltage Relay can be connected
across (EE (Areva) scheme).
E.g. RADSS

Restricted earth fault

protection

64

RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT

RELAY
To protect a transformer or reactor,
another important protection is Restricted
Earth Fault (REF). The sum of current
entering and leaving a transformer or
reactor is zero. After paralleling all CTs,
the relay is connected across to monitor
the spill current which occurs if there is
earth fault within the protected area.

DIRECTIONAL OVER CURRENT

RELAY
Transformer is also protected with Directional Over
Current Relays where the power flow direction is
also measured by monitoring current and voltage.
Reactor is also protected with Impedance Relay
(Backup Impedance) where the winding
impedance is monitored like a Line Distance
Protection.

OVER FLUX RELAY

Another protection of transformer is Over

Fluxing: Here the V/f ratio is monitored from the

Bus Voltage.
In addition to these, transformer and reactors
are having mechanical protections like :
Pressure Release Device, Winding
Temperature Indicator, Oil Temperature
Indicator, Oil Surge Relay, Gas Operated Relay
(Buchholz). A contact from these mechanical
relays operate the trip relay to trip the circuit
breaker.

OTHER TRANSFORMER
PROTECTION

Transformers are also having Alarms for

Buchholz, WTI, OTI, Magnetic Oil Gauge. If
the transformer is provided with OF (Oil
Forced) ie., pumps, and AF (Air Forced) ie.,
fans, they are automatically switched ON and
OFF through WTI contacts. The WTI is also
wired for control room indication.

LOCAL BREAKER BACK UP

RELAY

Still if a breaker fails to operate due to any problem

like mechanical etc., the Local Breaker Backup
(LBB) or Breaker Failure Relay (BFR) will operate to
trip other related breakers to clear the fault. The LBB
monitors the circuit current for 200 milli second after
a trip command to the breaker, and if the circuit
current is persisting, LBB trips all connected
breakers. This can lead to tripping of Bus Bar, other
end of line etc.

OVER VOLTAGE RELAY

STAGE I ( 110% OF THE
VOLTAGE ) OPERATE AFTER 5
SEC
STAGE II ( 140% OF THE
VOLTAGE)
OPERATE INSTANTLY

AUTORECLOSE PHILOSOPHY
NEED FOR AUTO RECLOSE
1. REDUCING OUTAGE TIME
2. IMPROVED RELIABILITY
3. RESTORATION OF NETWORK STABILITY AND
SYNCHRONISM
4. REDUCTION OF OPERATING COST BECAUSE
OF ABOVE FACTORS
ANALYSIS OF FAULTS
1. TRANSIENT FAULTS
2. SEMI PERMANENT FAULTS
3. PERMANENT FAULTS

Power Swing Blocking (PSB) function

A power swing can be started by sudden load

change due to a fault somewhere in the network.
Close to the centre of the power swing, low
voltage and thus low impedance will occur.
A distance protection relay must then be
blocked during the power swing.
This can be done by measuring the transit time
of the impedance locus passing two dedicated
impedance zones.
Normally the time used is 35-40 ms.

Switch on to Fault (SOTF)

The protection is provided with switch onto
fault feature to cater to breaker closing onto
forgotten earthing device. This also takes
care of auto reclosing on to a permanent
fault. Automatic switch onto fault takes care
of configurations where Line PT is used as
voltage input to the distance terminal.

FUSE FAIL SUPERVISION AND

TRIP SUPERVISION RELAY

THIS FUCTION IS BASED ON CONDITION

3UO > 20 % OF Un / 3 AND 3IO < 20 % OF
In
IT CAN BE SELECTED TO BLOCK PROTECTION
AND GIVE ALARM OR JUST TO GIVE ALARM.
FUSE FAIL SUPERVISION IS BLOCKED FOR
200ms FOLLOWING:
LINE ENERGISATION IN ORDER NOT TO
OPERATE FOR UNEQUAL POLE CLOSING AND
ALSO DURING AUTORECLOSING.

SYSTEM SUPERVISION.