Type GCM05

DC Intertrip Relay

Figure 1:
Type GCM05 relay with lid removed

Features

Typical Applications

Description

Two way group intertripping of

up to 4 remotely connected sites

Figure 2 illustrates four typical

applications, where a fault on the
feeder or transformer will require
the hatched portion of the system to
be isolated to clear the fault.

The GCM05 DC Intertripping Relay

has been designed to provide group
intertripping of up to four remotely
connected sites. The 15kV isolation
level of the unit allows application
for intertripping requirements of
electrical networks where large
induced voltages may be
experienced on the pilot circuits.

Operates using conventional

metallic pilot wires (pilot
resistance from 0 to 2k)
Inherent 15kV isolation eliminates
the need for isolated intertripping
batteries
Powered directly from substation
battery
Inherent self and pilot wire
supervision

A dc intertripping scheme will

achieve this with the utmost
simplicity and reliability.
This requires a pilot pair to be run
between all locations. Up to four
locations can be tripped as a group
provided the pilot pair has a total
resistance of less than 2k.
A dc trip voltage impressed on this
pilot pair will cause the receive
relays at each location to pick up
simultaneously.
Figure 3 illustrates the operational
connections for a single pilot
application.

In comparison to conventional
isolated intertripping batteries and
equipment, the GCM05 provides a
simple means of utilising multiterminal, minimum circuit breaker
power system configurations.
The efficient compact design of the
intertrip relay allows the use of
standard substation batteries and
the elimination of many HV breakers
whilst maintaining effective network
protection and discrimination
without the need for complex voice
frequency, fibre optic or microwave
communication systems.

Tripping zone

Tripping zone
33kV

11kV
11kV

Transformer ended feeders

3 feeder mesh network

Tripping zone

11kV

Tripping
zone

11kV

415V
110kV

415V

3 feeder radial networks

Teed feeder networks

Figure 2: Typical applications: dc intertrip relay

To additional
remote units

Pilot cable

Master

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5

POWER
SUPPLY

INTERTRIP
SEND

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

0
20-150V
+

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5

POWER
SUPPLY

ALARM

INTERTRIP
SEND

10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Relay
faulty
alarm

Intertrip send
initiate

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

0
20-150V
+

Slave

10

ALARM

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay
faulty/alarm

Intertrip send
initiate

+
To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

Figure 3: Typical connection diagram: dc intertrip relay

When used in a retrofit situation, the

relay will replace existing dc relays
and the ancillary isolated battery
banks, therefore eliminating the ongoing procurement and
maintenance costs of such systems.

Principle of Operation
Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram
of the relay. The GCM05 uses a dc/
dc converter, to feed constant
energy pulses through the pulse
transformer into a rectifier circuit
connected to the pilot. The pilot is
connected between all sites within
the Intertrip group.

The pulse transformer provides 15kV

isolation allowing use on pilots
prone to high induced voltages that
occur during system faults.
When an input to any one of the
GCM05 units is energised, remote
tripping of all other units is effected
by increasing the rate of energy
transfer at any site. This raises the
voltage on the pilot above the
tripping threshold of 80V dc.

Initiation may be from a fleeting

contact input and the unit will not
respond to its own intertrip send
signal.

Pilot Supervision
Supervision of the pilots is achieved
by setting one unit as the master
and the remaining units as slave.
The master unit injects a supervision
voltage of approximately 24V dc
onto the pilots. Short, crossed or
open circuits of the pilot wires will
cause each of the remote slave
units supervision contacts to close.
The master unit may detect some
pilot short circuits depending on
position along the cable but will not
detect pilot wire open circuits due to
the supervision voltage it is
injecting.

Security and Reliability

of Operation
Comprehensive self supervision
circuitry in each relay generates an
alarm if any relay is unable to send
or receive a trip signal due to
internal failure. The system is very
secure as at least a 16 fold increase
in the rate of energy transfer is
required to change from the
supervision voltage to the tripping
threshold.
In the event of a capacitor failing to
open circuit in the oscillator circuit,
then the frequency will
approximately double, but remain
well below the 16 fold increase
required to cause a trip send.
Should a capacitor fail short circuit,
then the oscillator output will stop,
causing the intertrip faulty relay to
drop out. In such a case, the relay
will not false trip.
Redundancy has been employed in
other areas whereby a likely failure,
would prevent a signal, either send
or receive from being processed.
An intertrip receive signal cannot be
reset whilst the trip condition still
exists. Likewise, the sending relays
send indication cannot be reset
whilst the trip condition exists.
The internal receive relays coil is
permanently monitored for
continuity. Should an open circuit
occur with this relay, a fault

indication occurs visually via the

receive LED which cannot be reset.
The intertrip faulty alarm relay will
also signal the fault condition by deenergising. In the situation that the
receive relay coil is open circuit and
an intertrip is received from another
unit, the internal intertrip faulty relay
will energise for the duration of the
trip, erroneously signalling that the
unit is functional. The receive relay
will, of course, not signal the trip
received.

Enhanced Security
In a standard configuration, the
GCM05 utilises one pilot pair
between the units. An enhanced
method of operation is where two
separate pilot cable pairs are used,
physically separated and connected
back together at each end.
Pilot faults in one cable will
therefore not disrupt operation of
the intertrip scheme.
A further method offering an
extremely high degree of security,
needed in certain circumstances, is
to operate the protection over two
separate pilot wires as before, but
also to operate the relays as an
independent A & B system
(4 relays). In this arrangement, both
relays must receive the trip signal for
it to be processed. Figure 5 shows
two relays connected to operate in
series and also over two
independent pilot routes.
An internal fault in any relay will
cause the intertrip faulty relay to
close its contacts. Therefore, when
two units are connected in series to
offer this enhanced security, should
one unit develop an internal fault,
closing contacts 15 & 16 which will
result in a trip from the healthy relay
only. Further, when contacts 15 &
16 of any given relay close, so will
contacts 17 & 18 which would be
wired to cause an alarm output.
As mentioned earlier, the master/
slave arrangement has been
designed to provide a check on
pilot continuity. The design of this
feature ensures that the slave unit
will alarm in the event that pilot
continuity is lost. The master unit will
alarm in certain circumstances only,
as stated previously.
4

The consequence of this condition

would be intolerable when used in
the enhanced mode of
configuration.
The reason is that in the event that a
short circuit was to occur on one
pilot pair only and close to the slave
end or an open was to occur on the
same pilot, then whilst that slave unit
will bring up an alarm, the master
may not. In this situation,
operational control will not be
passed to the A system at the
master end in the event that the
short or open occurs on the B pilot,
or vice versa.
Therefore for one way intertripping
applications, both intertrip send
relays should be set to master and
both intertrip receive relays should
be set to slave as shown in Figure 5.
If two way intertripping is required
a further two relays would be
required as shown in Figure 6, (6
relays). The two relays at each end
operating over separate pilots are
set to slave and connected in series.
The two additional relays are set to
master and are located midway
along the pilots to ensure that the
relays set to slave at each end can
detect pilot failures.

50-150V
Intertrip
send

20-50V

0V

DC/DC
converter

VR4

Master/slave

VE

Send

Vx

VR1

+VE

Pulse
generation/detection
circuitry
Supervision

Send/
receive

Receive

Filter

Send

Terminals
pilot

RL1-1
PCB
link

8
Inhibit

RL1

RL1-2

Trip receive
VR1
+

9
10

Level detector
RL1-3

Intertrip receive

11
12

RL1-4

13
14

RL2
Supervision
VR3
+

RL2-1

Level detector

15
16

RL2-2

17
18

Figure 4: Block diagram: dc intertrip relay

Intertrip faulty
supervision alarm

To remote
substation relay B

To remote
substation relay A

Pilot cable B

Pilot cable A

Remote intertrip send relays set to Master

Relay A

Relay B

Slave

Slave

+
Local
substation

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5

POWER
SUPPLY

INTERTRIP
SEND

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

0
20-150V
+

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

ALARM

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5

POWER
SUPPLY

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay
faulty alarm

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

INTERTRIP
SEND

20-150V
+

10

ALARM

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay
faulty alarm

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

Intertrip receive tripping logic

A REC

A REC

B REC

B REC

+
A REC

B REC

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

Figure 5: Typical connection diagram: one way intertrip application with enhanced security operating as independant A and B (receive end)

To remote
substation relay B

To remote
substation relay A

Master relay located midway along pilots

Pilot cable B

Pilot cable A

Remote relays set to Slave

Relay B

Relay A
+

Master

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN

POWER
SUPPLY

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

0
20-150V
+

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

INTERTRIP
SEND

POWER
SUPPLY

10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

INTERTRIP
SEND

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay
faulty alarm

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

INTERTRIP
SEND

20
/
50
+

50
/
150
+

Slave

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN

POWER
SUPPLY

20-150V
+

Local
substation
ALARM

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN

ALARM

20-150V
+

Slave

WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN

POWER
SUPPLY

ALARM

INTERTRIP
SEND

10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

50
/
150
+

Pilot/relay
faulty alarm

Intertrip send
initiate

Intertrip receive tripping logic

A REC

A REC

A REC

B REC

B REC

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

INTERTRIP RECEIVE

20
/
50
+

0
20-150V
+

B REC

Master

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

Figure 6: Typical connection diagram: two way intertrip application with enhanced security operating as independant A and B system with separate Master relays

10

ALARM

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

1. Type of pilot cable used

charging curve to the trip send

circuitry, and this characteristic is
most pronounced when using the
high voltage trip input. In addition,
a dependency exists relating trip
threshold to unit master/slave
operation.
When operating as a master and
using the high voltage trip input, the
actual trip point is higher than the
trip point when operating as a
slave. Therefore, it is suggested that
when using the high voltage trip
input, terminals 4 & 6, the trip input
voltage be as high as possible,
keeping within equipment
specifications, so as to achieve the
shortest delay times. When using
the low voltage input, terminals 4 &
5, minimal delay times are achieved
at nominal input voltage.
If maximum rated voltage of reverse
polarity is applied to the trip inputs
for several seconds, damage is
likely to occur to the input
conditioning circuitry on the
substation interface board. This is
most pronounced when using the
low voltage trip input.

Application Notes
Trip voltage/delay
compromises

The trip voltage transient is an

exponential RC charging curve.
The internal trip receive threshold is
designed to lie in the linear portion
of this characteristic. If the trip
voltage is set below the
recommended 150V level and/or
many units are connected via a high
pilot impedance, the trip receive
voltage threshold may lie above the
knee of the RC charging curve with
consequent increase in the trip
receive delay. For this reason, a
maximum of 4 units can be used
over a pilot impedance of less than
2k.
Group delay characteristics

The further each sending unit is from

the receiving end, the longer will be
the delay time for system operation.
This is proportional to pilot
impedance; the higher the pilot
impedance, the longer the delay at
the units more distant.

2. Trip voltage level

3. Pilot cable impedance
4. Distribution of relays around the
pilot cable and with respect to
one another
5. Number of connected relays
Compatibility of relay with
other products

The GCM05 can provide up to

rated output voltage into a 7k
load, dependent on sub-station
battery voltage level. Provided the
loading does not exceed this, the
GCM05 will operate with other
types of existing dc systems.
Excessive load will not damage the
relay although it will not allow the
full trip level voltage onto the pilots
leading to possible failure to
operate.
In some situations it may be possible
to use the GCM05 as a send unit in
conjunction with existing dc intertrip
receive relays, thereby overcoming
the need for isolated intertrip
batteries. However, the pilot wire
supervision capability cannot be
used nor can bi-directional
intertripping in this configuration.

Intertrip send times

Relay trip input voltage

The intertrip time between sites,

connected via a pilot cable, within
the group is determined by the
combination of:

The trip input conditioning circuitry

on the sub-station interface board
presents an exponential RC

170
155.4

Terminal
blocks

Pilot
cable
+ terminals

155

168

142

178
25

18

Front view

End view

4 4mm holes
4 4mm holes suitable for 19 rack mounting

206

20 max

6 max

Dimensions in mm

30 max
103
50

52

Side view

Figure 7: Mounting details dc intertrip relay

8

Technical Data
Auxiliary supply voltage (Vx)

24/125V dc

Voltage ranges (selectable)

20V to 50V dc
50V to 150V dc

Operating mode

Master

Slave

Intertrip send

Output volts to pilot *

24V dc

<15V dc

150V dc
(adjustable)

Power consumption

<6W

<5W

<12W

* Total ac ripple voltage typically

160mV r.m.s. in all operating
modes.
Input

Terminals 4/5

Terminals 4/6

Pickup

20V dc

50V dc

Drop off

10V dc

25V dc

Max volts

50V dc

150V dc

Pilot receive

Intertrip receive

Pilot/relay faulty

Pilot pickup volts

<80V dc

<20V dc

Pilot drop-off volts

>60V dc

>15V dc

Output contacts

Intertrip receive

4 normally open or 3 normally open

and one normally closed

Pilot/relay faulty supervision

2 normally closed

Contact Ratings

Current

Make and carry

continuously

Break

ac

1100VA with
maxima of 10A
and 250V

Resistive 1100VA
inductive 825VA
with maxima of
10A and 250V

dc

240VA with
maxima of 10A
and 125V

Resistive 240VA
inductive 120VA
with maxima of
10A and 125V

Make: 30A and carry for 3s

Indications

Power
Intertrip send
Intertrip receive

Pilot wire isolation

15kV rms. for 1 minute, between the

pilot wire and other circuits and
earth

AC noise immunity

Up to 400V rms. at 50Hz for 3s

(300 source impedance)

Impedance presented to pilots

22K dc
7000 ac 50Hz
16000 ac > 300Hz

green LED
red LED
red LED

Pilot voltage adjustment

Up to 200V dc
Factory setting = 150V

Intertrip time

Typical values based on send

relay pilot

Voltage = 150V

Pilot cable details

2 ended
scheme

3 ended
scheme

4 ended
scheme

0 ohms

60ms

66ms

70ms

1,000 ohms 1F

65ms

68ms

73ms

2,000 ohms 2F

67ms

72ms

79ms

System reset time

2 seconds from completion of trip

send
Inherent reset time of the intertrip
send relay is 2s
Intertrip receive relay has no
intentional reset time delay

DC supply interruption
IEC 60255-11: 1979

AC ripple on dc supply
IEC 60255-11: 1979

10ms interruption in the auxiliary

supply, under normal operating
conditions, without de-energising
The unit will withstand 12% ac
ripple on the dc supply

Dielectric withstand
IEC 60255-5: 1977

2kV rms for 1 minute between all

terminals and earth
2kV rms for 1 minute between all
independent circuits, with terminals
on each independent circuit
connected together
1kV rms for 1 minute across
normally open contacts

High voltage impulse

IEC 60255-5: 1977

High frequency disturbance

IEC 60255-22-1: 1988 Class III

Three positive and three negative

impulses of 5kV peak, 1.2/50s
0.5J between all terminals of the
same circuit (except output
contacts), independent circuits, and
all terminals connected together
and earth.
2.5kV peak between independent
circuits and independent circuits
and earth.
1.0kV peak across terminals of the
same circuit (except metallic
contacts)

Insulation resistance
IEC 60255-5: 1977
Electrostatic discharge
IEC 60255-22-2: 1989 Class III

10

> 100M at 500V

8kV discharge in air with cover in
place
6kV contact discharge

Fast transient
IEC 60255-22-4 (1992) Class III

2kV, 5kHz applied directly to

auxiliary supply.
2kV, 5kHz applied directly to all
inputs.

Mechanical rating

Relay will perform >50,000

operations

Temperature range

Operating range 10C to +55C

Storage and transit 25C to +70C

Vibration
IEC 60255-21-1: 1988
Shock and bump
IEC 60255-21-2: 1988

Response Class 1
Endurance Class 1
Shock response Class 1
Shock withstand Class 1
Bump Class 1

Seismic
IEC 60255-21-3: 1993

Class 1

Humidity
IEC 60068-2-3: 1969

56 days at 93% RH and 40C

Enclosure protection
IEC 60529: 1989
Weight

IP20
IP50 rack mounted in an enclosure
2.5kg

EMC compliance
89/336/EEC

EN 50081-2: 1994
EN 50082-2: 1995
Product safety
73/23/EEC
EN 61010-1: 1993/A2: 1995
EN 60950: 1992/A3: 1995

Compliance with the European

Commission Directive on EMC is
claimed via the Technical
Construction File route
Generic standards were used to
establish conformity

Compliance with the European

Commission Low Voltage Directive.
Compliance is demonstrated by
reference to generic safety
standards.

Cases
See Figure 7 for case outline details.
Mounting

Supplied as projection mounted, however the unit can be flush mounted by

simply relocating the mounting brackets. The unit must be mounted so that the
terminal block is not at the top. The mounting bracket is designed to fit a rack
mounting frame if required.
Dimensions

Overall dimensions
Length: 237mm
Width: 178mm (including mounting brackets)
Height: 103mm
11