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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2001

A Primer on Capacitor Bank Protection

Martin Bishop, Senior Member, IEEE, Tim Day, Senior Member, IEEE, and Arvind Chaudhary, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractCapacitor banks are applied in power systems to provide reactive power. The reactive power results in lower current in
lines upstream of the bank improving system voltage and power
factor and reducing line losses. Capacitor banks can be configured
as filters for harmonic reduction. The protection systems for capacitor banks include fuses, surge arresters, and protective relays. This
paper will focus on protective relaying philosophies of grounded
and ungrounded Y-connected shunt capacitor banks, which are
commonly applied on industrial and utility power systems.
Index TermsCapacitor bank overcurrent protection schemes,
capacitor bank protective relaying, capacitor bank unbalance protection.

I. INTRODUCTION

APACITOR banks are normally constructed using individual capacitor units connected in series and parallel to
obtain the required voltage and Mvar ratings. Individual capacitor cans are constructed using series and parallel capacitor
units, called packs.
The purpose of an unbalance protection scheme is the removal of a capacitor bank from the system in the event of a fuse
operation in a fused bank, or a pack failure in a fuseless bank.
This will prevent damaging overvoltages from being impressed
across the remaining capacitor units in the group where the operation occurs, thereby protecting against a situation which can be
immediately harmful to the capacitor units or associated equipment.
There are many methods available for detecting unbalances in
capacitor banks; however, there is no practical method that will
provide protection under all possible conditions. The cost of a
foolproof detection scheme would be economically prohibitive
and physically complicated. For example, all unbalance detection schemes assume that unbalanced phase impedances will result from the outage of one or more capacitor units. It is possible,
of course, to lose units in such a manner that balanced phase
impedances result while overvoltage conditions exist within the
bank. Experience and the small probability that such a condition
would occur have indicated that designing a protection scheme
for such a condition is typically not required.

Paper PID 0122, presented at the 2000 IEEE Petroleum and Chemical
Industry Technical Conference, San Antonio, TX, September 1014, and approved for publication in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS
by the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee of the IEEE Industry
Applications Society. Manuscript submitted for review September 15, 2000
and released for publication May 17, 2001.
M. Bishop and T. Day are with the Systems Engineering Group, Cooper
Power Systems, Franksville, WI 53126 USA (e-mail: Mbishop@Cooperpower.com).
A. Chaudhary is with the Relay and Integrated Systems Group, Cooper Power
Systems, Franksville, WI 53126 USA.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(01)06307-1.

Generally, all unbalance detection schemes are set up to

signal an alarm upon an initial failure or failures in a bank.
Upon subsequent critical failures where damaging overvoltages
are produced, the bank would be removed from the line.
Typical detection schemes associated with grounded-wye
and ungrounded-wye banks are discussed in this paper. Since
delta-connected banks are so seldom used and ungrounded-wye
banks serve the same purpose, delta configurations will not be
evaluated.
II. CAPACITOR BANK CONNECTION
There are certain advantages and disadvantages associated
with grounded- versus ungrounded-wye capacitor banks,
regardless of the unbalance detection scheme used.
The advantages of the grounded-wye arrangement compared
to the ungrounded wye are as follows.
1) The initial cost of the bank is lower, as the neutral does
not have to be insulated from ground at full system basic
impulse insulation level (BIL), as in the case with floating
neutral arrangements.
2) Capacitor switch transient recovery voltages are reduced
since the neutral is grounded and the bank is switched as
three single-phase sections.
The disadvantages of the grounded-wye arrangement are the
following.
1) The grounded neutral may cause telephone interference.
2) It provides a low-impedance fault path to ground. For
this reason, grounded-wye banks are not applied to ungrounded systems.
3) System fault current flows through a failed unit (single
series group).
4) There are high-frequency inrush currents into substation
ground grid.
III. DETECTING BANK PROBLEMS USING UNBALANCE
To help sensitize the reader to the problem of responding
to unbalances in capacitor banks, a numerical example is presented. Consider an externally fused, grounded-wye bank consisting of the series/parallel arrangement of capacitor units as
shown in Fig. 1.
The bank manufacturer will determine the particular series/parallel arrangement based upon tradeoffs between voltage
rating, var requirements, and overall economics. The example
for this discussion shows four series groups per phase and eight
capacitors per group. Assume that a single unit in the lower
group of B Phase fails followed by operation of its associated
fuse. Fig. 2 shows an equivalent circuit of the faulted phase
after fuse operation has removed the failed capacitor from
service.

00939994/01$10.00 2001 IEEE

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BISHOP et al.: A PRIMER ON CAPACITOR BANK PROTECTION

1175

TABLE I
EXPECTED NEUTRAL UNBALANCE FOR 110% INTERNAL VOLTAGE

Fig. 1.

Example capacitor bank configuration.

where
number of series groups;
number of units in each group;
number of units removed.
Substitution into the expression with the values for this example yields the expected neutral current
of nominal phase current
Fig. 2.

Equivalent circuit after single-fuse operation.

The problem at hand is to quantify the voltage stress seen by the

remaining capacitors in the bank. The lower group of Phase B
will now have greater reactance than a healthy group resulting in
an altered voltage divider. Since the remaining capacitors will be
exposed to different electrical stresses, it is of value to calculate
the highest steady-state capacitor voltage following the fuse operation. If the phase-ground voltage is assumed as 1.0 per unit,
the prefault capacitor voltage anywhere in the bank will be 0.25
per unit for this example.
may be found using
However, after operation of the fuse,
straightforward circuit analysis techniques
per unit
This voltage increase of 10.3% is developed across
the other remaining seven capacitors in the series group
where the failure occurred. [1] provides the mathematical
relationship to determine the percent voltage increase for
different bank configurations and number of failed units.
The voltage increase calculated for this example is above
the 110% steady-state voltage rating for capacitor units [2].
Therefore, a protection scheme must be applied to detect
the overvoltage that now exists and trip off the bank before
other capacitors are stressed to the damage point.
A commonly measured signal to reveal the state of unbalance is found at the banks neutral. In this grounded-wye example, the unbalance caused by the fuse operation will result in
neutral current flow: the greater the bank imbalanceand internal voltage stressthe greater the neutral current. (Note that
fusing issues are not covered here; see [3] for discussions.) In
ungrounded banks, the neutral-ground voltage provides a similar indication. Reference [1] details the expressions for predicting this quantity
percent of nominal

A neutral CT and definite-time overcurrent relay would suffice to generate a trip signal for the banks breaker. Table I
shows the value of the neutral quantity (percent of nominal bank
voltage appearing at the neutral for ungrounded banks) for different numbers of series groups. Values in the table are calculated under the assumption that an unbalance sufficient to result
in an internal 110% overvoltage has occurred.
Note that for banks with more series groupsto accommodate higher system voltagesthe external neutral signal
becomes smaller, and more difficult to detect, for like values
of internal voltage stress.
Correct application of an unbalance protection scheme depends upon proper understanding of system conditions that confound reliable measurement of the indicating quantity, in this
case the neutral current. This neutral current (or voltage if ungrounded) is influenced by unbalances in the system bus voltages as well as can failures. Even though the bank may be perfectly healthy, a system voltage unbalance may result in a false
trip by causing sufficient neutral current flow, or , if a bona fide
bank problem does exist, it may be masked by the phasor relationship of the unbalanced bus voltages combining to reduce
the magnitude of neutral current calculated above. A robust protection scheme should provide means for compensating for the
effects of system voltage unbalance.
Assuming a healthy bank (no blown fuses) and balanced bus
voltages, a neutral current may still be present due to manufacturing tolerances of the individual capacitors. That is, not
all phases have the same capacitive reactance. This is usually
a secondary concern in modern banks but is more problematic
in banks with many series groups where the measured signal
is small. A robust protection scheme should provide means for
compensating for this inherent imbalance due to manufacturing
tolerances.
The neutral current detection scheme mentioned above has
an additional shortcoming: although unlikely, if one unit fails in
each of the three phases, overvoltages will exist within the bank.
However, since all phases have the same reactance, there is no

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2001

bank unbalance and, hence, no neutral current. The protection

schemes presented in the next section will address such limitations.
IV. SINGLE-SIGNAL UNBALANCE DETECTION
The following discussions refer to both single and split-wye
banks. Assuming a given system voltage and bank size, the
single-wye bank affords the following advantages over split
wye: each series group contains more units which yields a
reduced voltage stress when any unit fails, and the bank may
require less substation area and connection material. Conversely, the split-wye bank has fewer parallel units per series
group thus reducing the parallel stored energy that can reduce
fuse interrupting duty and capacitor rupture probabilities.

Fig. 3.

Unbalance protection scheme using neutral-to-ground current sensing.

A. Grounded-Wye-Connected Capacitor Banks

For a grounded-wye bank or each wye of a split
grounded-wye bank, the allowable number of units that
can be removed from one series group, given a maximum
on the remaining units, can be calculated using the following
formula:

If is fractional, use the next lower whole number. The relay

is then set to signal the alarm upon failure of units. To determine the neutral-to-ground current flow and relay setting upon
loss of units for the protection schemes shown in Figs. 3 and
4, use the following formula:
Amperes
The relay would further be set to trip the bank upon loss of
units. The neutral-to-ground current flow and relay setting
in place of .
can be determined using
The percentage of overvoltage for any number of units removed from a series group can be determined by the following
formula:

where
applied line-to-neutral voltage;
rated voltage of capacitor units;
voltage on remaining units in group with
units remaining;
neutral-to-ground current flow;
rated current of one phase;
number of series groups per phase;
number of parallel units in one series group;
number of units removed from one series group.
The advantage of the unbalance protection scheme shown in
Fig. 3 using the neutral-to-ground current sensing is its relative
low cost.
The disadvantages of this scheme are as follows:

Fig. 4. Neutral-to-ground current sensing in a double-wye-connected bank.

1) sensitive to system unbalance (unless compensated with

real-time input of zero sequence system voltage) which
may prevent application on large banks;
2) sensitive to triple harmonics and will generally require a
filter circuit or a special relay;
3) no indication of involved phase;
4) masks balanced failures.
In the scheme shown in Fig. 4, a split-wye-connected bank
uses two current transformers and one overcurrent relay. Unbalance current flowing in the ground connections due to system
voltage unbalance will circulate in the CT secondary circuit
and will not flow through the relay; internal unbalances will
result in relay operating current. The advantages of the protection scheme for double-wye-connected capacitor banks shown
in Fig. 4 are as follows:
1) scheme not sensitive to system unbalance; and thus, it is
sensitive in detecting capacitor unit outages even on very
large multiseries group capacitor banks;
2) not affected by harmonic currents;
3) relatively inexpensive protection scheme;
4) possible to compensate for inherent capacitor tolerances.
The disadvantages of the Fig. 4 scheme are as follows:
1) no indication of involved phase;
2) masks balanced failures (although relatively unlikely).
A voltage unbalance sensing relay scheme can be applied on a
grounded-wye-connected bank using three voltage transformers
(VTs) as shown in Fig. 5. (In place of the VTs, it may be economical to use capacitive coupled potential devices, resistive dividers, or a combination of these.) This can be created using a
large-capacitance unit in the series group at the ground potential and low-voltage VTs. The zero-sequence voltage is present
during unbalance conditions in the bank. The advantage of the
scheme shown in Fig. 5 is that the scheme can be adjusted to
account for constant system unbalances.
The disadvantages of the scheme shown in Fig. 5 are as follows:
1) if system unbalance changes, the detection circuit setting
will also have to be adjusted;

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BISHOP et al.: A PRIMER ON CAPACITOR BANK PROTECTION

1177

Fig. 7. Unbalance protection scheme for an ungrounded-wye-connected

capacitor bank using neutral voltage sensing.
Fig.
5. Zero-sequence
voltage-sensing
grounded-wye-connected bank.

method

for

single

one series group, given a maximum

on the remaining units
can be calculated using the following formula:

If is fractional, use the next lower whole number. The relay

is then set to signal the alarm upon failure of units. To determine the neutral shift voltage and relay setting upon loss of units
for the protection scheme shown in Fig. 7, use the following formulas:

Fig. 6. Differential voltage sensing for a single grounded-wye-connected bank

method.

2) sensitive to triplen harmonics and will generally require

a filter circuit or a special relay;
3) relatively expensive protection scheme;
4) No indication of involved phase;
5) masks balanced failures (although relatively unlikely).
The protection scheme shown in Fig. 6 uses voltage inputs
from VTs connected to the bus and also connected into the
bank. This allows the protective device to develop a differential
voltage signal. The scheme self-compensates for system voltage
unbalances. The advantages of the protection scheme shown in
Fig. 6 are as follows:
1) scheme not sensitive to system unbalance and, thus, it is
extremely sensitive in accurately detecting capacitor unit
outages even on very large multiseries group capacitor
bank;
2) indicates involved phase and possibly which portion of
the phase;
3) possible to compensate for inherent capacitor tolerances.
The disadvantages of the scheme shown in Fig. 6 are as follows:
1) relatively expensive protection scheme due to the quantity
and ratings of the VTs;
2) masks balanced failures;
3) subject to blocking in case of loss of potential from the
bus VTs.

V
The relay would further be set to trip the bank upon loss of
units. The neutral shift voltage and relay setting can be
in place of .
determined by the same formulas using
Similar equations can be derived to determine the relay settings
of for the protection scheme shown in Fig. 9.
For the protection schemes shown in Fig. 7 and each wye
of the protection scheme shown in Fig. 9, the percentage overvoltage for any number of units removed from a series group
can be determined by using the following formula:

where
neutral shift voltage;
applied line-to-neutral voltage;
rated voltage of capacitor units;
volts on remaining units
units removed;
number of series groups per phase;
number of parallel units in one series group;
number of units removes from one series group.
For the split-wye arrangement of Fig. 8, the allowable number
of units that can be removed from one series group, given a
on the remaining units, can be calculated with
maximum
the following formula:

B. Ungrounded-Wye-Connected Capacitor Banks

For the single-wye arrangement of Fig. 7, and each wye of
Fig. 9, the allowable number of units that can be removed from

If is fractional, use the next lower whole number. The relay

is then set to signal the alarm upon failure of units. To deter-

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1178

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2001

mine the neutral current flow and relay setting upon loss of
units, the following formula may be used:
Amperes
The relay would further be set to trip the bank upon loss of
units. The neutral current flow and relay setting can be
in place of .
determined by this same formula using
The percentage of overvoltage for any number of units removed from a series group can be determined using the following formula:

Fig. 8. Unbalance scheme for an ungrounded-split-wye-connected capacitor

bank using neutral CT.

where
applied line-to-neutral voltage;
rated voltage of capacitor units;
volts on remaining units
units removed;
current between neutrals of two banks;
rated current of one unit;
number of series groups per phase;
number of parallel units in one series group;
number of units removed from one series group.
Fig. 7 shows a connection diagram for a neutral
voltage sensing unbalance protection scheme for an ungrounded-wye-connected capacitor bank. This scheme may
be used to protect banks of relatively modest size. A VT is
connected between the center point of the wye connection and
the substation ground. Another type of voltage transducer,
e.g., coupling capacitor voltage transformer (CCVT), might
be a more economical application in some high-voltage applications. If all capacitor units are in service and the system
voltage is balanced, then the center of the wye should be very
close to ground potential. An overvoltage relay senses voltage
that appears between the center point of the wye connection
and ground indicating an unbalance in the bank due to a
capacitor that is out of service, or due to system unbalance. The
advantages and disadvantages of the scheme shown in Fig. 7
are the same as those for the scheme shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 8 shows the connections for a neutral current sensing
unbalance protection scheme for an ungrounded-split-wye connected capacitor bank. This is a common and simple connection
to negate the effects of system voltage unbalance. A CT is connected between the center point of the wye connection of each of
the two wye-connected banks. If all capacitor units are in service
only small values of current flows in the connection. An overcurrent relay senses current that flows between the center point
of the wye connection of each bank indicating an unbalance in
the bank due to a capacitor that is out of service. The advantages
and disadvantages of the scheme shown in Fig. 8 are the same
as those for the scheme shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 9 shows a variation of the split-wye scheme of Fig. 8 except voltage versus current sensing is employed. The operation
principles of the two schemes are similar as are the advantages
and disadvantages. Since the VT measures small signals relative to its rating, the CT scheme generally displays greater sensitivity.

Fig. 9. Neutral voltage unbalance scheme for an ungrounded-split-wye

capacitor bank.

Fig. 10.

Impedance-based operation characteristic.

V. IMPEDANCE-BASED UNBALANCE DETECTION

An impedance-based unbalance method was developed in
which the bus voltage and capacitor bank phase currents are
used to determine the actual impedance of each phase of the
capacitor bank. An offset mho characteristic is used. In the
case of an ungrounded-wye bank, a fourth voltage, that of the
capacitor bank neutral to ground is also required to properly
determine the impedance [4].
The capacitor banks nominal impedance is calculated from
its nameplate ratings. This establishes a normal operating point
axis, given by
:center. See Fig. 10. This calcuon the
lation is accomplished using the following formula:
(Ohms, secondary)
At time of relay commissioning, provisions are made to adjust these ideal values to null out any influences of manufacturer
tolerances in the capacitors and the voltage and current transducers. Typically, an alarm level is computed whereby the relay
indicates that some initial capacitor failure has occurred, but the

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BISHOP et al.: A PRIMER ON CAPACITOR BANK PROTECTION

Fig. 11.

Per-string impedance unbalance method for fuseless capacitor banks.

steady-state overvoltages in the capacitor bank are within the

capacitor withstand capabilities on a continuous basis. A trip
level corresponds to the number of capacitor failures that result
in a steady-state overvoltage in excess of the continuous rating
of the capacitors, typically 110% of rated.
Advantages: The advantages of the impedance method compared to the methods previously discussed are as follows.
1) It is inherently immune to the masking caused by balanced failures.
2) It is inherently immune to effects of system voltage unbalance.
3) Faulted phase discrimination is inherent to the scheme.
4) For grounded banks where phase CTs will be applied for
overcurrent protection, the use of impedance methods ensures that no other sensing devices are required, reducing
the cost of the capacitor bank.
Disadvantages:
1) Since impedance is a mathematical combination of
voltage and current, the error associated with the measurement of each is compounded. In the implemented
system, an overall uncertainty less than 0.5% was realized; this is suitable accuracy for a very large population
of banks. Grounded banks permit much less expensive/higher accuracy CTs to be utilized if located in the
neutral end of the bank.
2) Phase CTs are required if not being used for phase overcurrent protection.
3) It is subject to blocking in case of loss of potential from
the bus VTs.
4) It may require special provisions to account for
impedance changes over temperature.
Advantage with Fuseless Capacitor Banks: The impedance
method is very appealing for fuseless capacitor bank applications. In the event of a protective relay alarm or trip in a fuseless bank, it is difficult to determine which capacitor unit or
units contain failed elements as there is no external indication
of failure. Because each phase of a fuseless bank is divided into
parallel strings of capacitors Fig. 11, it is possible to place a CT
in each string of each phase. This provides the ability to discriminate not only which phase is faulted, but which string or strings
contain faulted units.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented an overview of capacitor bank protection schemes, discussing the variety of techniques that can

1179

be applied to detect unbalances due to failure of individual capacitor units in the bank. The problem of measuring external
quantities to determine the internal voltage distribution within
the bank was described. Equations were presented to determine
the resulting unbalance as cans are removed from service for
both grounded banks and ungrounded banks.
Protection technologies have been developed by the industry
to overcome some of the difficulties in sensing problems within
capacitor banks. The capabilities of microprocessor based relays allow the protection engineer to implement sophisticated
protection logic at a reasonable cost. A new technique using
impedance monitoring devices was also presented.
REFERENCES
[1] IEEE Guide for the Protection of Shunt Capacitor Banks, IEEE C37.992000.
[2] IEEE Standard for Shunt Power Capacitors, IEEE Standard 18-1992.
[3] M. T. Bishop, S. R. Mendis, J. C. McCall, and W. M. Hurst, Capacitor
overcurrent protection for industrial distribution systems, presented at
the IEEE Petroleum and Chemical Industry Tech. Conf., Vancouver, BC,
Canada, September 1114, 1994, Paper PCIC-94-33.
[4] J. McCall, T. R. Day, S. Wu, and T. Newton, New techniques for capacitor bank protection and control, presented at the Western Protective
Relay Conference, Spokane, WA, Oct. 1999.

Martin Bishop (S79M79SM92) received the

B.S.E.P.E. and M.S.E.P.E. degrees from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
He is the Supervisor of the Reliability Improvement Studies Section, Systems Engineering Group,
Cooper Power Systems, Franksville, WI. The
section is responsible for studies related to power
systems reliability, including overcurrent protection
system applications and the impact on power quality.
The section is also responsible for applications of
the V-PRO II program, and the Distrely program
for distribution reliability analysis. He is also an instructor in the Cooper
Power Systems Overcurrent Protection Workshop, the Distribution Analysis
Workshop, and the Transformer Application and Protection Workshop.

Tim Day (M88SM00) received the M.S.E.E. degree from Washington State University, Pullman, in
1991.
He is a Senior Power Systems Engineer in
the Systems Engineering Group, Cooper Power
Systems, Franksville, WI. His present professional
endeavors include modeling and analysis of electrical power systems in order to assess and optimize
protection schemes. He enhances existing protective
algorithms and develops customized schemes for the
EdisonPro line of relays and incorporates Cooper
Power Systems simulator to verify all scheme modifications.

Arvind Chaudhary (S85M85SM94) received

the B.S.E.E. degree from the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore, India, the M.S.E.E. degree from
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and the
Ph.D. degree with a concentration in electric power
engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg.
He is a Staff Engineer with the Protective Relays
and Integrated Systems Group, Cooper Power Systems, Franksville, WI. He is responsible for relay applications for the Cooper lines of relays and relay settings for power system equipment, including capacitor banks. His previous experience has included Sargent & Lundy consulting engineers (19911998) and
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, India (19791983).

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