HV Protection Manual 0511

SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 2
THE REASONS FOR PROTECTION. .............................................................. 2
ROLE OF PROTECTION. ............................................................................. 3
PROTECTION PRINCIPLES ......................................................................... 4
HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 1

INTRODUCTION
Any consideration of an Electrical Distribution System is not complete without
some thought being given to Protection.
Electrical Equipment which is correctly installed and maintained is normally

very reliable, but the consequence when this equipment does become faulty
can be out of all proportion in terms of danger, extensive damage and loss of
production unless it is adequately “protected”.
The function of ‘protection’ in this sense is not as the name implies preventive
but it is the ambulance at the foot of the cliff rather than the fence at the top.
This manual is designed to enhance the basic knowledge including the

examination of the need for protection, protection components and basic
protection testing. Design of new protection systems is not covered but
sample existing systems are studied. Design of a protection system requires
more advanced information and knowledge than can be given in this manual.
By the end of the manual and the associated practical exercises all readers
will have increased their knowledge of the theory and practice of protection
systems.
The Reasons for Protection.
Electrical plant, machines and distribution systems must be protected against
damage which may occur through abnormal conditions arising.
Abnormal conditions may be grouped into two types:

• Operation outside the designed ratings due to overloading or
incorrect functioning of the system.
• Fault conditions due usually to breakdown of some part of the
system.
The first condition is usually 'chronic' - that is, it may persist for some time and
is often acceptable for a limited period. It may give rise to temperatures
outside the design limit of the machines and equipment, but, unless these are
very excessive or very prolonged, it seldom causes sudden or catastrophic
failure. It can usually be corrected before it leads to breakdown or a fault
condition.
The second condition on the other hand is 'acute' and arises from electrical or
mechanical failure which, once established, produces a condition beyond
control. It usually gives rise to very severe excess currents which will quickly
cause catastrophic failure of other electrical and mechanical plant in the
system unless the fault is rapidly isolated. It may be caused by a breakdown
of insulation due to a material failure or overheating or to external conditions
such as weather, or it may be due to physical damage to an item of plant or
cable.

Automatic protection against these conditions is possible in electrical
installations because it is easy to measure various parameters, to detect
abnormalities, and to set in motion the protective action the instant an
abnormality arises.
An electrical network normally operates within its designed rating.

Generators, transformers, cables, switchboards, busbars and connected
apparatus are each designed to carry a certain maximum current. Most can
carry a moderate overload for a short time without undue overheating.
However, if a fault should develop somewhere in the system, that is to say a

phase to phase short circuit or a phase to earth breakdown, then all
connected generators will feed extremely high currents into that fault, which
will be limited only by the impedance of the complete circuit from generator to
fault. Fault currents can be ten to twenty times the normal full load current.
Such currents will quickly cause intense overheating of conductors and

windings, leading to almost certain breakdown unless they are quickly
disconnected; they will also give rise to severe mechanical forces between the
current carrying conductors or windings. All such apparatus must be
manufactured to withstand such forces.
The purpose of automatic protection is to remove the fault from the system
and so break the fault current as quickly as possible. Before this can be
achieved, the fault current will have flowed for a finite, if small, time, and much
heat energy will have been released. Also the severe mechanical forces
referred to above will already have occurred and subjected all conductors to
intense mechanical stress.
Role of Protection.
Protection is needed to remove, from the system, as speedily as possible any
part of the equipment in which a fault has developed. So long as it is
connected the whole system is in jeopardy from three main effects of the fault,
namely:
• A risk of extended damage to the affected plant.
• A risk of damage to healthy plant.
• A risk of extending the outage to other plant on the system, with
resultant loss of protection and interruption of vital processes.
It is the function of protective equipment, in association with the automatic

switch fuse, contactor or circuit breaker to avert those effects.

Protection Principles
Protection of an electrical system is provided for one or more of the following
principles:
• To maintain electrical supplies to as much of the system as possible
after a fault has been isolated.
• To protect the generators and other plant against damage due to
abnormal conditions and faults.
• To protect the consumer equipment against damage due to abnormal
conditions (e.g. Overload).
• To isolate faulty equipment to limit the risk of fire locally.
• To limit damage to the cable system resulting from a fault.
These principles will determine the type of protective equipment fitted in any
installation. It will be noted that the first principle conflicts with the other
requirements to some extent. For example, the best way to protect a
generator against damage by fault currents is to disconnect it, but it would not
then be available to supply other consumers.
Where continuity of supply is considered essential alternative feeds are

necessary. But, if full advantage is to be gained from this additional capital
outlay, the protection must be highly ‘selective’ in its function.
For this it must possess the quality known as ‘discrimination’ whereby it is

able to select and disconnect only the faulty element leaving all others in
normal operation so far as it is possible.

SECTION 2
MEASUREMENT
Contents
MEASUREMENTS - GENERAL ........................................................... 6

Direct Measurement 6
Indirect Measurement 7
Instrument Accuracy 8
VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER DESIGN ............................................................. 9
CURRENT TRANSFORMER DESIGN ........................................................... 10
TERMINAL MARKINGS ............................................................................. 12
SPECIAL DANGERS WITH CURRENT TRANSFORMERS ................................. 13
BURDEN ................................................................................................ 15
Calculation of an instrument transformer burden 15
Location of CTs and VTs 16
Instruments 16
CURRENT AND VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS FOR PROTECTION .... 18
CURRENT TRANSFORMERS ............................................................ 18
Design 18
Operation 20
Open-Circuited Current Transformer 22
Short-Time Factor 23
Accuracy Limit Factor 23
Specification of Current Transformers 24
Rated Secondary Current 24
Secondary Winding Impedance 25
Primary Windings 25
Application 25
Effect of CT Magnetising Current on Relay Setting 27
Quadrature or Air-Gap Current Transformers 27
Summation Current Transformer 27
VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS ............................................................. 28
Accuracy 28
Protection 28
Residual Connection 28
CAPACITOR VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS .................................................... 29

Measurements - General
In a.c. power systems it is necessary continually to monitor the voltage,
currents, power and similar quantities in the various parts of the system. This
is done by the use of instruments - that is by indicating voltmeters, ammeters,
wattmeters etc. The same measured quantities are also used to protect the
system by means of relays, which are devices to detect when any of the
quantities is going outside the predetermined limit. They initiate whatever
automatic action is necessary to restore the situation or disconnect faulty or
overloaded apparatus.
Almost all electrical instruments and relays depend for their action on
measurements of voltage or current or combinations of the two.
Measurements of frequency are obtained from analysing a voltage
measurement.
Direct Measurement
2 3
1 Switch
Positions
V V 1 R-Y
2 Y-B
1 3 3 B-R
2
Single Phase Three Phase
(a) Voltage
Single Phase Three Phase

Clip-on Ammeter
(any phase)
(b) Current
FIGURE 2.1 - DIRECT MEASUREMENT
Voltage and current samples are taken either directly or indirectly from the
conductors of the circuit to be monitored. In the simplest case (direct
measurement) the voltage is taken by tapping the main conductors. The
tappings must always be protected by fuses which, for a voltage-operated
instrument or relay, are quite lightly rated, though still able to deal with the full
fault capacity of the system. In the 3-phase case a selector switch may be
used to measure voltages between any desired phases, as shown in Figure

2.1(a).
Direct measurement of current in a single-phase circuit is obtained by placing

the instrument's current-operated coil in series with a main conductor, shown
in Figure 2.1(b). In the 3-phase case it is not possible to select phases for
current measurement unless current transformers are used. It would
otherwise be necessary to break each phase to connect the ammeter, and
this would not be acceptable. Selection with the use of current transformers is
shown under 'Indirect Measurement' in Figure 2.2. Alternatively three
separate ammeters may be used.
The currents in the separate phases can, however, be measured

independently by use of a clip-on type ammeter. Different ammeter
instruments can be plugged into the tongs to give current ranges from 10A to
1000A. On some types the range is altered by a switch on the tester.
Direct measurement has serious disadvantages. In high-voltage systems the

instrument or relay would have to be insulated up to the full system voltage,
which for a normal sized switchboard instrument is not practical. Current-
operated instruments would not only have to be insulated up to the full system
voltage, they would also have to carry the full normal current of the circuit and
to withstand the extreme fault currents. This, too, is not practical except for
the lightest circuits.
Indirect Measurement
To overcome these objections indirect measurement is employed.
Transformers are used not only to scale down the quantities actually
measured, but also to isolate the instrument or relay from the main system
voltage. Such transformers, which are designed specifically for this purpose,
are known as instrument transformers.
Instrument transformers are of two types - 'voltage transformers' (VT) and

'current transformers' (CT). They are shown diagrammatically in Figure 2.2
for both single-phase and 3-phase systems. For 3-phase there may be either
three separate single-phase VTs (with their ratios adjusted for the star
connection), or else a 3-phase unit, which is more usual. Current
transformers are always provided as separate single-phase units.
The secondary voltages and currents may be chosen as desired, but in

practice the VT secondary voltage is usually 110V line-to-line, and the CT
secondary current 5A or 1A (refer to a later paragraph in this section for
special precautions when dealing with CT secondaries).
To select the phases between which voltages are measured, a 3-position

selector switch is used, as in Figure 2.1(a), but connected to the VT
secondaries. Further positions may be provided to measure voltages
between each phase and neutral.
To select the phases in which currents are measured, a special selector

switch is used which inserts the ammeter into the CT secondary of the desired

phase and at the same time allows the secondary currents of the other two
phases to pass. To avoid open-circuiting the CT secondaries, all contacts are
of the make-before-break type. This is shown in Figure 2.2(b), bottom right.
VT 110V
110V (line)
Voltage
Operated Wattmetric
VT 110V Relay Relay
V
Current
Operated Voltage
CT Relay Current Operated Wattmetric
(5 or 1A) Operated Relay Relay
A Relays
(a) Single Phase CTs

(5 or 1A) A
(b) Three Phase

FIGURE 2.2 - INDIRECT MEASUREMENT WITH INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS
A VT feeds, through secondary fuses (except in the earthed line), all voltage-
operated instruments and relays in parallel, single- or 3-phase as required.
Current-operated instruments and relays are connected in series with the CT
secondary whose phase is being used. Fuses must never be used in a CT
secondary circuit (see special precautions). Instrument transformer
secondaries must always be earthed. With star-connected VT secondaries it
is normal practice to earth one phase (usually the yellow) and not the star-
point. CT secondaries are normally commoned at some point, and it is usual
to earth this common line, as shown in Figure 2.2(b).
Instrument Accuracy
Since the purpose of instruments and relays is to monitor the actual
conditions in the main power line, it is necessary that VTs and CTs reproduce
those conditions, to a stepped-down scale, as accurately as possible. That is
to say their voltage ratio or current ratio must be correct and constant over
their whole range of operation; they must not introduce undue phase shift
while doing so (important for wattmeters); and they must reproduce unbalance
conditions exactly.
The extent to which these conditions are met determines the accuracy class
of the instrument transformer. A distinction is drawn between 'measuring' and
'protective' types. For measurements, the accuracy within, and a little above,
the normal working range is important, but accuracy in the overcurrent and
fault ranges of current does not matter. On the other hand, a protective CT
must deliver accurate currents in the fault range, whereas accuracy in the
working range is unimportant. This gives rise to two different design
concepts.

The classes of accuracy are laid down by British Standards. For each type
different ranges of accuracy are specified for measurement and for protective
transformers according to the purpose for which they are to be used. The
ranges are as follows:
VTs CTs
Class Voltage Phase Class Current Ratio Phase

Ratio Displ Error Displ
Error
Measureme
nt ±0.1% ±15' 0.1 ±10.25 - 0.1% ±10'-5'
0.1 ±0.2% (angle) 0.2 ±0.5 - 0.2% ±20' - 10'
0.2 ±0.5% ±10' 0.5 ±1.0 - 0.5% ±60' - 30'
0.5 ±1.0% ±20' 1 ±2.0-1.0% ±120' - 60'
1 ±3.0% ±40' 3 ±3% not spec.
3 not 5 ±5% not spec.
spec.
Protective
3P ±3% ±120' 5P ±5% ±60'
6P ±6% ±240' 10P ±10% ±60'
Special X as specified
Most indicating instruments on onshore and offshore switchboards are fed

from VTs and CTs of Class 0.5, and most protective relays from VTs Class 3P
and CTs Class 5P. There are, however, exceptions (for example differential
relays are fed from Class X CTs), and it is necessary to refer to drawings for
particular cases.
If it is ever necessary to check or recalibrate a switchboard instrument or

relay, it must always be done with instrument transformers of a class higher
than those with which it normally runs.
Voltage Transformer Design
A voltage transformer is made basically like an ordinary open-type power
transformer, with separate HV and LV windings. It is, of course, much
smaller, having ratings in the range 15 to 200VA per phase. The loading on a
VT (or CT) is termed 'burden', not 'load'; an instrument transformer burden is
always measured in volt-amperes, never in watts. At voltages up to those
found on offshore installations most VTs are dry-type, often embedded in
synthetic resin. They are usually located inside the switchboards. On shore
equipments, especially when associated with high-voltage oil circuit-breakers,
VTs are often in oil-filled tanks.
The high-voltage VT primary fuses are of the HRC type. They have a low
current rating but are capable of breaking the full busbar fault current of the
HV system. They are located in the VT compartment and with some types
are embodied in the VT itself.

Access to the high-voltage VT and its fuses is through the VT compartment
door. This cannot be opened until the VT has been isolated. The manner of
isolation varies with different manufacturers.
Current Transformer Design
A current transformer can take one of two forms. One type is wound like an
ordinary transformer, with primary and secondary windings round a common
core. As a CT steps current down, it steps voltage up. The primary winding,
though connected in the system's high-voltage system, is in fact the LV (high
current) winding as far as the transformer is concerned, and the secondary is
the HV (low current) winding. Wound-primary CTs are used where the
primary current is low and where it is necessary to have several primary turns
to achieve enough ampere-turns in the CT. The examples shown in Figure
2.3(a) and (b) are typical; burdens are in the range 5 to 30VA per phase.
Wound-primary CTs must be able to withstand the full voltage and fault
current of the main system on their primary windings.
FIGURE 2.3 - TYPICAL CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
An alternative form of CT is known as the 'bar' or 'ring' type. It has no primary

'winding' as such but uses the main conductor itself as a 'one-turn' primary.
The flux surrounding the conductor, due to the current it is carrying, links the
closed iron core of the CT and induces voltage in the secondary winding,
which is wound as a toroid around the circular core. The secondary circuit is
closed through its burden, and the current which flows in it is an exact scaled-
down replica of the primary current in the conductor.
Bar-type CTs are generally used whenever the current ratio (e.g. 1500/1A) is
large enough. They are also convenient in that several can easily be stacked
over a single existing conductor. It is very important that they be placed the
right way up, otherwise the secondary terminal voltages and current flow will
be reversed. By convention the secondary terminal S1 always has the same
polarity as primary terminal P1, or as that of the end of the bar emerging from
the face marked P1. This type of CT is shown in Figure 2.3(c). Its
construction is not limited by the fault current of the main system.

FIGURE 2.4 - BAR TYPE CT SHOWING CONSTRUCTION DETAIL
Another important difference between a CT and other types of transformer lies

in its magnetisation. The magnetising current, and therefore the flux, of a
power transformer or a VT is constant and depends only on the applied
voltage. However a CT when it has no burden is effectively short-circuited,
and no voltage is present, whatever the primary current; therefore there is no
core flux. If the burden is increased, so also is the voltage for a given current,
as explained below, and this causes the magnetisation to increase. Thus with
a current transformer the magnetisation is variable not only with the current,
but it also is increased depending on the burden connected.
In the limit, if the burden is increased beyond the rating of the CT, the core will
saturate, and the current ratio of the CT will no longer hold; it will become
inaccurate. Moreover the iron losses will rise sharply and may cause severe
overheating of the CT and possibly damage to it.

Terminal Markings
The terminals of a CT should be marked as indicated in Figure 2.4. The
primary current flows from P1 to P2 and it is standard to put P1 nearer to the
circuit breaker. The secondary current flows from S1 to S2 through the
burden.
P1 P1
S1
S1
S2
S2 S3
P2 S4
P2
(a) Single Secondary (b) Single Secondary

- No Tappings With Tappings
P1
S1 P1 C1
S2 S1
S3
S2
S4 C
P2 2
P2
(c) Multi Secondary (d) Primary in
Windings Sections
FIGURE 2.5 - CT TERMINAL MARKINGS

Special Dangers with Current Transformers
When a CT secondary circuit is closed, a current flows through it which is an
exact proportion of the primary current, regardless of the resistance of the
burden. In Figure 2.6(a) the secondary of the CT (assumed to have a ratio of
1000/5A and to have 1000A flowing in the primary) is carrying exactly 5A,
and, since the secondary terminals S1 and S2 are short- circuited, there is no
voltage between them.
1000A 5A
P1
CT S1 Short
1000/5A 0V
Circuit
S2
P2
(a) Zero Burden Burden 0VA
1000A 5A
P1
CT S1
1000/5A 0.5Ω 2.5V
S2
P2
Burden 12.5VA
(b) Typical Burden
1000A 5A
P1
CT S1
1000/5A 5Ω 25V
S2
P2
(c) High Burden Burden 125VA
FIGURE 2.6 - VOLTAGE AND BURDEN OF A CURRENT TRANSFORMER
If the now short-circuit is replaced by a resistance of, say, 0.5 ohm (as in
Figure 2.6(b)), the same 5A will flow through, causing a volt-drop of 2.5V and
a burden of 5 x 2.5 = 12.5VA. If the resistance were increased to 5 ohms (as
in Figure 2.6(c)), the terminal voltage with 5A flowing would rise to 25V and
the burden to 125VA. The greater the resistance, the greater would be the
voltage and burden until, as it approached infinity (the open-circuit condition),
so also in theory would the voltage (and burden) become infinite. This cannot
of course happen in practice because the CT would saturate or the terminals
flash over due to the very high secondary voltage between them. But it does
show the danger of open-circuiting the secondary of a running CT. Lethal
voltages can be produced at the point of opening. This is why CT
secondaries are never fused.

The danger from an open-circuited CT is twofold. It can produce lethal
voltages and so is a very real danger to personnel. The high voltage across
the secondary winding could also cause insulation failure in that winding,
leading at best to inaccuracy and at worst to burnout or fire.
Before ever an instrument or relay is removed from the secondary loop of a

running CT (if such a thing had to be done), the wires feeding that instrument
must first be securely shortcircuited at a suitable terminal box or, better, at the
CT itself. Similarly, if a running CT is ever to be taken out of circuit, it must
first be firmly shorted. CTs with 1A secondaries are more dangerous than
those with 5A, as the induced voltages are higher.
To prevent this danger many CT secondaries are permanently short-circuited

by a 'metrosil', which is a non-linear element with a high resistance at low
voltages but which breaks down to almost a short-circuit at the higher and
dangerous voltages. It does, however, somewhat reduce the accuracy of the
CT and is not always acceptable for this reason.
There is also a range of CTs designed to saturate if their burden becomes

excessive, so that even on open-circuit their secondary voltage will not
exceed about 100V. It is not safe, however, to assume that such CTs are
fitted in any particular case.
WARNING
WHENEVER POSSIBLE THE MAIN CIRCUIT SHOULD BE MADE DEAD
BEFORE INTERFERING WITH CT SECONDARIES OR THEIR
INSTRUMENTS OR RELAYS.

Burden
The load of a current transformer is called the burden and can be expressed
either as a VA load or as an impedance. In the former case the VA is taken to
be at the CT nominal secondary current. For example, a 5VA burden on a 1A
transformer would have an impedance of 5 ohms:
5VA
= 5V
1A
5V
impedance = =5 Ω
1A
or on a 5A current transformer:
5VA = 1V
5A
impedance = 1V = 0.2 Ω
5A
All burdens are connected in series and the increase in impedance increases
the burden on the current transformer. A current transformer is unloaded if
the secondary winding is short-circuited as under this condition the VA burden
is zero because the voltage is zero. The errors of transformation depend on
the angle of the burden as well as its impedance.
Calculation of an instrument transformer burden

Instrument transformers are rated according to the burden that they can carry
and still remain within their specified accuracy. The burdens are usually given
in VA units (i.e. power factor is ignored), and all burdens are simply added
together. Manufacturers of instruments and relays similarly state the burdens
of these devices in VA. Thus, if a CT operates an ammeter (2VA), a current
relay (3VA) and, say, the current coil of a kWh meter (4VA), the total burden
on the CT of these three devices will be 9VA.
The burden imposed by long secondary pilot leads, however, cannot be

ignored. If, for example, the total resistance of a CT secondary run were 0.5
ohms (go and return) and the CT had a 5A secondary, the total volt-drop
across the pilots would be 0.5 x 5 = 2.5 V. With 5A current flowing in them,
the burden of the pilot leads would be 2.5V x 5A = 12.5VA, and this would
need to be added to that of the instruments (9VA above) to give a total burden
on the CT of 12.5 + 9 = 21.5VA. It must therefore have a rating sufficient to
meet this total burden. In general, pilot leads impose far less VA burden on a
1A current transformer than on a 5A.
In Figure 2.5 a 20VA CT with full-load secondary current of 5A supplies two

ammeters, a current relay, a wattmeter and a kWh meter with VA burdens as
shown. The pilot leads have a resistance of 0.1 ohm per core. Is the 20VA
rating of the CT sufficient?

0.1Ω
A A R W kWh
20VA 2VA 2VA 3VA 2VA 4VA

5A
0.1Ω
FIGURE 2.7 - CALCULATION OF CT BURDEN
Total instrument burden = 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 4 = 13VA.

Total pilot load resistance = 2 x 0.1 = 0.2Ω.
With 5A secondary current, volt-drop in leads is 5 x 0.2 = 1 V.
Burden imposed by both leads = 5A x 1 V = 5VA.
∴ Total burden on CT = 1 3 + 5 = 1 8VA.
As the CT is rated 20VA, it has sufficient margin.
The reader should work out for himself what would be the total burden if the
CT had a 1A secondary.
Location of CTs and VTs

Current and voltage transformers can be located anywhere desired where the
primary conductors are available, but in HV switchgear they are usually
incorporated in special chambers in the switchgear unit itself. Manufacturers'
arrangements vary a great deal and the relevant manuals should be consulted
before attempting to locate any current or voltage transformers
Instruments
A.C. instruments include voltmeters, ammeters, wattmeters, varmeters,
power factor meters, frequency meters and synchroscopes. Voltmeters,
ammeters and frequency meters are almost all of the moving-iron or
transducer-operated type, with an accuracy of 2% full-scale deflection.
Wattmeters and varmeters are of the dynamometer type, and power factor
meters and synchroscopes have two sets of fixed coils and a moving-iron
armature. All voltage-operated coils (except those for 415V or 440V or less
which may be direct-fed) are fed through VTs, and all current-operated coils
through CTs at all voltages.
Since wattmeter, varmeter, power factor meter and frequency meter

movements tend to be expensive, an alternative which is often used is the
transducer-operated instrument. Here the VT and CT signals are fed into
static electronic ac/dc transducers, and a d.c. voltage signal is produced from
each which faithfully represents the a.c. watts, vars, power factor or
frequency. These are led to simple d.c. voltmeter-type moving-coil
instruments, but which are scaled in watts, vars, power factor or hertz. Many
such instruments can be connected in parallel. Figure 2.8 shows typical
connections.

VT 110V
CTs
5A Instrument
Transducers
D.C. Signals
cos
W var φ
Hz
cos
W var φ Hz
FIGURE 2.8 - TRANSDUCER OPERATED INSTRUMENTS
Where two or more such instruments are used from the same transducer,
they are connected in parallel. Some instruments have their transducer in the
instrument case; others have the transducer in a separate box, especially if it
operates more than one instrument.
Kilowatt-hour or megawatt-hour meters are also fed through VTs and CTs
whose connections are the same as for a wattmeter.

CURRENT AND VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS FOR
PROTECTION
CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
The current transformer is well established but it is generally regarded as
merely a device which reproduces a primary current at a reduced level. A
current transformer designed for measuring purposes operates over a range
of current up to a specific rated value, which usually corresponds to the circuit
normal rating, and has specified errors at that value. On the other hand, a
protection current transformer is required to operate over a range of current
many times the circuit rating and is frequently subjected to conditions greatly
exceeding those which it would be subjected to as a measuring current
transformer. Under such conditions the flux density corresponds to advanced
saturation and the response during this and the initial transient period of short-
circuit current is important.
It will be appreciated, therefore that the method of specification of current

transformers for measurement purposes is not necessarily satisfactory for
those for protection. In addition an intimate knowledge of the operation
current transformers is required in order to predict the performance of the
protection.
Current transformers have two important qualities:

1. They produce the primary current conditions at a much lower level
so that the current can be carried by the small cross-sectional area
cables associated with panel wiring and relays.
2. They provide an insulating barrier so that relays which are being
used to protect high voltage equipment need only be insulated for a
nominal 600V.
Design
Current transformers conform to the normal transformer e.m.f. equation
where the average induced voltage is equal to the product of the number of
turns and the rate of change of magnetic flux (Φ). The normal design criterion
is to limit the flux to the value where saturation commences-known as the
knee-point flux and therefore it is the maximum value of the magnetising
current which produces this flux. Magnetising current and consequently flux
changes from zero to maximum in ¼ cycle and therefore the rate of change of
flux is:
Φ - 0 = 4Φ webers/cycle
¼
or at a frequency of f cycles/s
4Φ f webers/s
giving an average induced voltage of:
Vav = 4Φ f N

where N is the number of turns or in r.m.s. values the knee-point voltage is:
V = 4.44 Φ f N as V = 1.11 Vav
also as flux Φ = flux density, B(tesla) x core area, s (m2) the knee-point
voltage is
V = 4.44BsfN.
Example
The flux density of electrical sheet steel is about 1.5 tesla at knee-point which
for a ring-type current transformer of known ratio makes the knee-point
voltage fairly easy to estimate if the approximate dimensions of the core is
known. For example a CT ratio of 300/1 with a core area of 40 x 30 mm
would have a knee-point flux of:
1.5 x 40 x 30 x 10-6 = 0.0018 weber
which on a 50Hz system would produce a knee-point voltage of:
V = 4.44 x 0.0018 x 300 x 50 = 120V (or 144V on a 60Hz system)

Operation
A representation of a ring-type current transformer is shown in Figure 2.9. R2
is the secondary winding resistance, Ie the magnetising current and Rb, and
Xb are the burden resistance and reactance. The primary ampere-turns must
equal the sum of the secondary ampere-turns and the magnetising ampere-
turns.
N1I1 = N2 (I2 + Ie )
In practice Ie is small compared to I2 and is therefore ignored in all CT

calculations with the exception of those concerned with ratio and phase angle
error.
The magnetising current depends on the voltage V2 which in turn depends on

the product of the secondary current and the impedance of the burden plus
the CT secondary winding resistance. That is, by Ohm's Law:
V2 = I2 (R2 + Rb +jXb)
Note. The term (R2 + Rb +jXb) is not a simple arithmetic sum as Xb is 90° out
of phase with R2 and Rb and so must be added by vectors. To denote this the
prefix "j", is used which literally means "advance by 90°" The voltage I2Xb is
therefore 90° ahead of I2R2 and I2Rb and Vb = I2(Rb +jXb)
R2 I2
Ie
Rb
V2 Vb
Xb
FIGURE 2.9 - EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OF A RING-TYPE CURRENT TRANSFORMER
If a vector diagram is drawn, Figure 2.9, then the ratio error, which is the
difference in magnitude of I1 and I2, and 0, the phase angle error, becomes
apparent.
The magnetising current Ie lags V2 by 90°. It can be seen that if the burden
was wholly resistive then the ratio error would be a minimum and phase-angle
error maximum, whereas if the burden was wholly reactive then the ratio error
would be maximum and the phase-angle error minimum.

I1
Ie
Vb
I2R2
V2
I2
FIGURE 2.10 VECTOR DIAGRAM OF A RING-TYPE CURRENT TRANSFORMER
Figure 2.11 shows a magnetising characteristic for a 100/1A current

transformer. It has been previously stated that Ie is small compared to I2 up to
and beyond the knee-point of the characteristic. Hence the ratio and phase-
angle errors will also be small. This means that the primary-secondary
current relationship will be maintained to this point,
i.e. where the product I2 (R2 + Rb +jXb) is 120V,
e.g. if R2 = 1Ω and Rb +jXb = 7.5 +j0Ω then linearity would be maintained up

to a secondary current of
V
I2 = = 14.1A or 14.1 x CT rating.
R2 + Rb +jXb
Alternatively, if linearity is required up to, say 20 x CT rating then the total

impedance should not exceed
120
R2 + Rb +jXb = = 6Ω
6

140
V KP 10% increase
120
50%
increase
100
Voltage (V2)
80
60
40
20
0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25

Magnetising Current Ie (Amperes)
FIGURE 2.11 - CT MAGNETISING CHARACTERISTIC
Open-Circuited Current Transformer

If the impedance Rb +jXb is very high then the voltage calculated from
I2 (R2 + Rb +jXb) would be very large, well above knee-point value and Ie
would become significantly large in the ampere-turn balance equation
N1I1 = N2 (I2 + Ie) and I2 would be reduced. The limiting value is when the CT
secondary winding is open-circuited and I2 = 0. All the input ampere-turns will
he used as magnetising ampere-turns and will drive the current transformer
Into saturation. As can be seen from Figure 2.11 the greatly increased
magnetising current will not cause much increase to the average voltage.
However, the change in flux from zero to the knee-point value is not
accomplished in ¼ cycle but in perhaps 1/100 of this time. Thus the rate of
change of flux and, therefore, the induced voltage during this period would be
about 100 times the knee-point voltage. Insulation can be damaged by this
high short-duration voltage and overheating caused by the great increase of
iron losses.

Short-Time Factor
When a current transformer is used in a power system it may be subjected to
fault current many times larger than its primary rating and, therefore, it must
he able to withstand the effects of this current for the time for which it is likely
to persist. The maximum current which it can carry without mechanical and
thermal damage is expressed as a multiple of its rated current and is known
as the short-time factor. For example, a current transformer of ratio 200/5
which is capable of withstanding a current of, say, 13,000 A would have a
short-time factor of 65. Such a short-time factor would always be associated
with a period of duration of the current for example 3 s. Smaller currents
would be permissible for longer periods, the permissible time increasing as
the square of the reduction of current. Larger currents, however, are not
necessarily permissible for any period of time, since electromagnetic forces
have also to be considered.
Accuracy Limit Factor

When a current transformer is used to energise a protective relay it must
maintain its characteristic ratio up to some multiple of its rated current. This
multiple, which depends on the type and characteristics of the protection, may
be 10, 20 or some even higher value and is known as the "Accuracy Limit
Factor".
The small ratio error introduced by the magnetising current is often

compensated for in the case of measuring current transformers by slightly
modifying the ratio of primary to secondary turns from the nominal ratio. For
example, a 100/1 current transformer might have one primary turn and 98
secondary turns so that the transformation ratio would appear to he 100 to
1.02 A, but when it is used to supply its rated burden the secondary current is
reduced from the above value to 1 ampere by the magnetising losses.
Although the burden of a protective scheme is only a few VA at rated current,

if the accuracy limit factor is high the output required from the current
transformer may be considerable. On the other hand, it may be subjected to
a very high burden. For example, in the case of overcurrent and earth-fault
protection having elements of similar VA consumption at setting, if the
overcurrent elements are set at 100% an earth-fault element set at 10% would
have 100 times the impedance of the overcurrent elements. Although
saturation of the relay elements modify this somewhat, it will be seen that the
earth-fault element is a severe burden and the current transformer is liable to
have considerable ratio error in this case. For this reason it is not very much
use applying turns correction to current transformers used for protective
purposes and it is generally simpler and more satisfactory to wind them with
turns corresponding to the nominal ratio.

Specification of Current Transformers
A method of specifying current transformers for protective purposes is
detailed in BS3938. In this specification they are defined in terms of rated
burden, accuracy class and accuracy limit.
Standard values of rated burden are:

2.5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 30 VA.
Two accuracy classes are quoted 5P and 10P which gives a composite error
at rated accuracy limit of 5% and 10% respectively.
Standard accuracy limit factors are:
5, 10, 15, 20 and 30.
The method of describing a current transformer is as follows: 15VA Class

5P20 which means that it is rated for a burden 5VA and will not have more
than 5% error at 20 times rated current.
It is frequently more convenient to refer directly to the maximum useful
voltage which can be obtained. In this connection, the knee-point of the
magnetisation curve is defined as that point at which an increase of 10% of
secondary voltage would increase the magnetising current by 50%. Design
requirements for current transformers for general protective purposes are
frequently specified in terms of knee-point voltage magnetising current at the
knee-point or at some other point, and secondary resistance. These are
known in general as 'Class X', current transformers.
Rated Secondary Current

Current transformers are usually designed to have rated secondary currents
of 0.5A, 1A or 5A. Most burdens will require a definite amount of VA at rated
current and consequently will have an impedance which varies inversely as
the square of the rated current, so that the value of the rated secondary
current does not appear to be important. Many burdens, however, are
situated at some distance from the corresponding current transformers and,
as the wire size of the interconnecting leads is usually large enough to carry
the current produced by a current transformer of any secondary rating, the
leads introduce a definite resistance and therefore more burden at the higher
rated currents, e.g. lead resistance 1 ohm at 1A correspond to 1VA; lead
resistance 1Ω at 5 A corresponds to 25VA. Clearly in all cases where leads
may be appreciable there is a great advantage in using the lower rated
current transformer. Modern practice favours the use of the 1A secondary
windings.

Secondary Winding Impedance
Bearing in mind the high value of secondary current which a protective current
transformer may be required to deliver, it is desirable to make the secondary
winding resistance as low as practicable to limit copper tosses and therefore
heating.
In the case of wound primary-type current transformers winding reactance

also occurs, although its precise measurement and definition is a matter of
some difficulty. Ring-type current transformers with a single symmetrical
primary conductor and a uniformly distributed secondary winding have no
secondary reactance.
Primary Windings
To achieve a reasonable output from a current transformer having a primary
rating of 80A or less would require a large core area and therefore it is more
economical to increase the primary winding from a single turn to two, three or
more turns. This of course necessitates an increase in secondary turns which
increases knee-point voltage for a given core area. The additional primary
turns may be attained by passing the primary conductor through a ring-type
transformer a number of times or it may be a specially constructed
transformer with a primary winding.
Application
In specifying current transformers the connected burden and mode of
operation must be taken into account paying attention not only to the wide
range of devices which may be connected, but also to the variation of
impedance over the range of setting any relay. For example, the normal
burden of an overcurrent relay is 3VA at setting. The normal setting range of
the relay is 50% to 200% of nominal current. Therefore a 1A relay set to 50%
would have a setting current of 0.5 A and the voltage across the coil at this
current would be
3VA
V= = 6V
0.5A
and the impedance would be

6V
Z= = 12Ω
0.5A
At a setting of 200% the setting current would be 2 A, the voltage
3VA
V= = 1.5V
2A
1.5V
Z= = 0.75Ω
2A

If the characteristic of the relay is to be maintained up to 20 times the relay
setting, then a knee-point voltage not less than
20 x 6V = 120 V for a 50% setting

or 20 x 1.5V = 30 V for a 200% setting
would be required. The former is more onerous and therefore the lowest
setting must be taken into account when specifying the knee-point voltage.
There is, however, an alleviating factor in that a relay operating at 20 times its
setting will have saturated magnetically and therefore the impedance will be
reduced. The reduction for an overcurrent relay is about half the impedance
at setting which means that in the above case a knee-point voltage of 60 V
would be satisfactory
In many cases the current transformers associated with the over-current

protection must also cater for earth-fault relays. An earth- fault relay having a
minimum setting of 20% would have voltage at setting of
3VA
= 15V
0.2A
15V = 75Ω
0.2A
The maximum earth-fault level may be restricted to twice the CT primary
rating and therefore 10 times the relay setting. The knee-point voltage should
therefore be greater than 10 x 15V = 150V, or allowing for saturation, 75V.
In this case the size is determined by the earth-fault relay. A suitable current
transformer would be a 7.5VA Class 5P10. This would produce a voltage of
7.5V at rated current when connected to a 7.5Ω burden and would have only
5% error at 10 times rated current, i.e. at a voltage of 10 x 7.5V = 75 V.
From the specification in the form 7.5 VA Class 5P10, the knee-point voltage
can be estimated. If it has a 5A secondary winding then at rated current it
would produce 1.5V across the rated burden and at 15 times rated current
22.5V. As a rough guide the knee-point voltage is the product of the VA rating
and the accuracy limit factor divided by the rated secondary current.
Class 5P is specified when phase-fault stability and accurate time grading is
required. When these are unimportant Class 10P is suitable.
It may be that more than one relay is to be connected to one set of current
transformers in which case the total burden must be calculated. It is generally
sufficient to add the burdens arithmetically but it should be borne in mind
some alleviation may be available by adding the burden vectorially in case of
difficulties in design.
It is not good engineering practice to specify a current transformer which is

substantially larger than necessary as there is no advantage in performance
and its cost would be higher and its dimensions greater.

Effect of CT Magnetising Current on Relay Setting
The overall setting of a protection system is affected by the magnetising
current of the current transformers and, whilst the effect may not be significant
in the case of overcurrent relays, it can have some effect on the overall setting
of an earth-fault relay and can sometimes have a profound effect on
differential protection systems particularly where a large number of current
transformers are connected together. For example, a busbar zone protection
scheme.
The primary operating current (P.O.C.) of a protection System is the sum of

the relay setting current and the magnetising current of all the connected
current transformers at the voltage across the relay at setting multiplied by the
CT ratio.
Quadrature or Air-Gap Current Transformers

A quadrature or air-gap transformer is merely a current transformer with an air
gap so that most of the primary ampere-turns are used to magnetise the core.
This means that the flux, and therefore the secondary voltage, is proportional
to primary current. More correctly, the secondary voltage is proportional to
the rate of change of flux and therefore lags the primary current by 90° hence
the name quadrature current transformer.
Summation Current Transformer

There are two applications of the summation current transformer. One is the
adding together the secondary current from a number of current transformers
and is mainly used for measuring purposes. The other is used in pilot-wire
protection systems to convert the inputs from the current transformers in each
phase to a single output for comparison with a similar output from the remote
end via the pilot wires.
In the former case any input winding not in use must be left open-circuited.

VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS
The voltage transformer in use with protection has to fulfil only one
requirement, which is that the secondary voltage must be an accurate
representation of the primary voltage in both magnitude and phase.
To meet this requirement, they are designed to operate at fairly low flux
densities so that the magnetising current, and therefore the ratio and phase
angle errors, is small. This means that the core area for a given output is
larger than that of a power transformer, which increases the overall size of the
unit. In addition, the normal three- limbed construction of the power
transformer is unsuitable as there would be magnetic interference between
phases. To avoid this interference a five-limbed construction is used, which
also increases the size. The nominal secondary voltage is sometimes 110V
but more usually 63.5V per phase to produce a line voltage of 110V.
Accuracy
Only in a few of the many protection applications is the phase angle and ratio
errors likely to be much significance. However the likelihood of a voltage
transformer being provided solely for protection is small and therefore the
more stringent accuracies of instrumentation and metering are usually
required.
All voltage transformers are required by British Standard to have ratio and
phase-angle errors within prescribed limits over a 80% to 120% range voltage
and a range of burden from 25% to 100%.
For protection purposes accuracy of measurement may be important during

fault conditions when the voltage is greatly suppressed. Therefore a voltage
transformer for protection must meet the extended range of requirements over
a range of 5% to 80% rated voltage and, for certain applications, between
120% and 190% rated voltage.
Protection
Voltage transformers are generally protected by HRC fuses on the primary
side and fuses or a miniature circuit-breaker on the secondary side. As they
are designed to operate at a low flux density their impedance is low and
therefore a secondary side short-circuit will produce a fault current of many
times rated current.
Residual Connection
It is important that a voltage of the correct magnitude and phase angle is
presented to directional earth-fault relays and the earth-fault elements of
impedance relays. As an earth-fault can be any one of the three phases it is
not possible to derive a voltage in the conventional manner. The solution is to
use the residual or broken delta connection as shown in Figure 2.12

r
R
Figure 2.10 - BROKEN DELTA CONNECTION OF A VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER
Under three-phase balanced conditions the three voltages sum to zero. If one
voltage is absent or reduced because of an earth-fault on that phase, then the
difference between the normal voltage and that voltage is delivered to the
relay. A secondary winding for this type of connection is in addition to the
normal secondary winding.
Capacitor Voltage Transformers
At voltages of 132kV or more, the cost of electromagnetic voltage
transformers is very high. A more economical proposition is the capacitor
voltage transformer. This is virtually a capacitance voltage divider with a
tuning inductance and an auxiliary transformer as shown in Figure 2.11.
Any simple voltage-divider system suffers from the disadvantages that the
output voltage varies considerably with burden. If, however, C2 is tuned with
a reactor, the burden can be varied over a wide range with very low
regulation. It is not feasible to produce directly the usual 63.5 V as C2 would
be impossibly large and therefore a potential of around 12 kV is developed
across C2. This is applied to the electromagnetic unit and the 63.5 V derived
from its secondary winding. This method also has the advantage that a
tapped winding can be provided to accommodate the fairly wide tolerances of
capacitors.

Line
C1
T
C2 Rb
Xb
Figure 2.11 - CAPACITOR VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER

SECTION 3
RELAYS
CONTENTS
RELAYS - GENERAL.............................................................................. 32
TYPES AND APPLICATIONS .............................................................. 32
CLASSIFICATIONS ............................................................................. 32
TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS ...................................................... 33
Attracted Armature Control Relays 33
Protection Relays 35
RELAYS - ELECTROMECHANICAL .................................................... 37
INDUCTION RELAYS ......................................................................... 37
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS .................................................................. 40
Wattmetric Relay 40
kVAr Relay 40
Phase-angle-compensated Relay 40
Overcurrent Relay 41
Over- or Undervoltage Relay 41
ATTRACTED-ARMATURE RELAYS ................................................... 43
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS ................................................................... 46
ALL-OR-NOTHING RELAYS ....................................................................... 46
Measuring Relays. 46
MOVING-COIL RELAYS............................................................................ 46
THERMAL RELAYS .................................................................................. 48
MEASUREMENT ................................................................................. 49
Single Quantity Measurement 49
Product Measurement 49
TIMING RELAYS ................................................................................. 49
Short-time Relays 49
Medium-value Accurate-time Delays 50
Long-time Relays 50
DESIGN ............................................................................................... 50
Simplicity 50
High Operating Force 50
High-Contact Pressure 51
Contact Circuit Voltage 51
Contact-making Action 51
Minimum Size of Wire 51
Enclosures 51
STATIC RELAYS .................................................................................... 53

RELAYS - GENERAL
In any sizeable electrical installation the control systems incorporate, apart
from simple switches, various devices - mostly electrically actuated switching
devices - which are required to carry out automatic, remote or other functions
without the benefit of manual control. Traditionally these have been
electromechanical devices, but there is now an increasing tendency for 'solid-
state' techniques to be used for such purposes.
The kinds of device commonly found in power installations - onshore and

offshore - are described below, together with some account of the functions
they normally perform.
TYPES AND APPLICATIONS
Relays operate contacts in response to an electrical input of relatively low
power (the term is also used, though inaccurately, for devices controlled by
other inputs, such as temperature). Typical uses are remote control, electrical
isolation between control circuits, protection of equipment against potentially
damaging conditions, and the interlocking of switchgear to prevent inadvertent
misuse.
CLASSIFICATIONS
A relay may be classified in three ways:
• Type.
Nearly all relays are operated either electro-magnetically or
electronically. The most common electromagnetic types are
attracted-armature, induction disc and reed.
• Characteristics.
Relays can be divided into those which have no precisely defined
characteristics and simply operate 'instantaneously' when an input is
applied, and those which are calibrated, in terms either of operating
level (current, voltage, etc.), or of operating time, or of both. If both,
the level and time calibrations may be independent, or may be
related by an inverse-time characteristic. Different characteristics
may be combined within one relay or relay unit.
• Application.
Any type of relay may be used, within limits, for many different
purposes, although it is usual to employ the simplest type which
meets the requirements. The basic function implied by the word
'relay', and the simplest in practice, is to repeat in one circuit the
effect of a signal in another circuit - for the purpose of isolation or
interlocking, for example. More complicated functions, calling for
special calibrated relays, include the many different forms of
protection. These relays are designated according to their specific
purpose - e.g. overcurrent relay, undervoltage relay, negative phase-
sequence relay etc.

TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS
For the purposes of description, relays may be grouped here as:
• Control relays:
those that perform no specific function other than operating their
contacts in response to an input, with or without a specific time delay
(often referred to as 'auxiliary relays').
• Protection relays:
those that are calibrated to operate in accordance with closely
defined characteristics for specific purposes.
Attracted Armature Control Relays

Control relays are mostly of the simple attracted-armature type, having two
states: energised or de-energised. The control supply is typically direct
current at 24V or 110V. Figure 3.1 shows a typical construction.
A.C. relays are also used with a slightly modified magnetic structure,
including a shading ring around part of the pole face to reduce vibration due to
the alternating flux.
FIGURE 3.1
A CONTROL (INTERPOSING) RELAY ATTRACTED ARMATURE TYPE WITH TWO NC
AND TWO NO CONTACTS
Individual contacts may be arranged to be opened ('normally closed') or

closed ('normally open') by the energising of the operating coil (see Figure
3.2); the types of contact may be mixed on one relay. They may also be
combined to act as changeover contacts.

FIGURE 3.2
RELAY CONTACTS SHOWN IN THE DE-ENERGISED STATE
It is important to note that the designations normally open' (NO), 'normally

closed' (NC) and 'changeover' (CO) define the types of contact fitted to the
relay and refer to the states of the contacts when the relay is de-energised, or
in its 'shelf' state. They do not necessarily relate to the usual state of the relay
(which might be energised or de-energised) when it is in use in a circuit. A
corresponding convention applies to circuit diagrams, in which contacts
should always be shown for the de-energised condition of the relay regardless
of its normal function. Normally open contacts are sometimes referred to as
'make' contacts, and normally- closed as 'break' contacts, indicating what
happens when the relay becomes energised.
Usually, when a relay is energised, the normally cIosed contacts open before
the normally- open contacts close ('break-before-make'). For special
requirements they may be specified as make-before-break, so that for a very
short period as the relay operates all the contacts are closed simultaneously.
'Instantaneous' operation in a relay means that it is not deliberately designed

to introduce a delay, the operating time being normally a few tens of
milliseconds. For particular purposes it is possible to increase the operating
time by large amounts by simple expedients such as mounting a copper slug'
on the magnetic core.
A control function may in some cases require a much longer time delay than
the operating time of a simple relay; possibly it may need to be adjustable.
Time-delay relays operate on a variety of principles, including thermal
elements, clockwork escapements, induction discs, dash pots, pneumatic
cylinders and synchronous motors. Modern relays increasingly make use of
electronic timing circuits.
Relays are often provided with 'flags', which indicate clearly when the relay
has operated and remain showing, even though the relay is subsequently de-
energised, until reset by hand. It is very important that, when some mishap in
a system has resulted in a trip, dropped flags should not be reset until a
written record has been made of which flags have fallen, so avoiding a loss of
valuable information. This applies especially to protection relays - see below.

Protection Relays
A control relay, as described above, operates with an 'on-off', or 'digital', input
of sufficient magnitude to actuate its contacts. By contrast a protection relay
for use against overcurrent or other potentially damaging conditions in an
electrical machine or system responds accurately to the level of its operating
signal and is actuated when the signal exceeds, or falls short of, a preset
value. Such a relay is sometimes referred to as a 'measuring relay'.
Depending upon whether it responds to an excess or a shortfall, it is termed
an 'overcurrent ('overvoltage', 'overfrequency etc.) relay or an undercurrent'
('undervoltage', 'under- frequency') relay.
Many relays of this type provide a time delay, which may be fixed (definite) or
'inverse'. With an inverse-time characteristic the delay decreases as the input
signal increases, so that protection becomes more rapid as the severity of a
fault increases.
Most protective relays are fitted with flags which indicate when they have
operated and remain showing until they are reset by hand, even though the
relays themselves revert to their normal states as soon as the fault is
removed.
Protection relays are mostly of three basic types:
Attracted-armature.
This type is used when 'instantaneous' operation is required, and it can be
energised by either direct or alternating current. It is fundamentally similar to
the attracted-armature control relay referred to earlier, but unlike the control
relay it is calibrated in terms of operating current or voltage. The calibration
depends upon the restoring force applied to the armature by gravity or by a
spring. The operating current level is set by an adjusting screw at the top of
the relay which controls the armature backstop or adjusts the control spring -
see Figure 3.3.
FIGURE 3.3
INSTANTANEOUS OVERCURRENT RELAY
For overcurrent protection - a common application - the relay is normally fed

from a current transformer at a nominal current of 1A or 5A. In 3-phase

systems three relays are assembled in one unit, or two in a 3-wire circuit (see
manual 'Electrical Protection'), each coil being fed by a separate current trans-
former. Like other 'instantaneous' relays, the instantaneous overcurrent relay
takes a finite time to operate, usually not more than about 0.2 seconds, and
its overall characteristic is shown, somewhat idealised, in Figure 3.3. Other
common uses are for undercurrent, undervoltage, overvoltage and earth-fault
protection.
Induction Disc.
The induction disc relay functions by the interaction of the magnetic flux which
is generated by an energising coil and passed through the disc, and of the
eddy currents which are produced in the disc by the same flux or by a second
coil. The mechanism is described in the manual 'Fundamentals of Electricity
3' in relation to instruments, such as the integrating kilowatt-hour meter (e.g.
the domestic 'meter'). For protection purposes this type of relay has the
advantages that its operating time can be controlled over a wide range by
means of eddy- current braking magnets and that a wide variety of functions
can be obtained by using different arrangements of operating magnets and
coils. The actual operating current level can be varied by adjusting a light
restraining hairspring.
Electronic Relays.
To a considerable extent protection relays of the electro-magnetic type, in
which a moving armature or disc is actuated by some kind of electromagnet,
are being superseded by electronic types. In these the functions of signal
detection and processing are carried out by entirely static circuits, and only
the final operation of contacts is done by electromechanical relays, which can
be of any suitable but simple control type. The advantages of this technique
include a greater flexibility in providing virtually any desired function, however
complex, better accuracy, ease of adjustment, and the usual benefits of static
circuits with regard to reliability and freedom from regular servicing
requirements.

RELAYS - ELECTROMECHANICAL
When two protection devices are required to discriminate the chosen settings
will depend on how closely the devices can be guaranteed to conform to their
characteristic curves. Most of the devices covered in Chapter 1 have fairly
generous tolerances in both operating levels and time and therefore if close
discrimination is required then protection relays would have to be used.
A relay is a device which makes a measurement or receives a signal which

causes it to operate and to effect the operation of other equipment.
A protection relay is a device which responds to abnormal conditions in an

electrical power system to operate a circuit-breaker to disconnect the faulty
section of the system with the minimum interruption of supply.
Many designs of relay elements have been produced but these are based on
a few basic operating principles. The great majority of relays are in one of the
following groups.
• Induction Relays
• Attracted-armature relays.
• Moving-coil relays.
• Thermal relays.
• Timing Relays.
INDUCTION RELAYS
Induction relays operate on the same principle as the induction motor. Torque
is produced by subjecting a moving conductor to two alternating fields which
are displaced in both space and time. The moving conductor is typically a
metal disc which is pivoted so as to be free to rotate between the poles of two
electromagnets. Torque is produced by the interaction of upper
electromagnet flux and eddy currents induced in the disc by the lower
electromagnet flux, and vice versa. The torque produced is proportional to
the product of upper and lower electromagnet fluxes and the sine of the angle
between them.
T ∝ ΦaΦb sin A.
This means that maximum torque is produced when the angle between the
fluxes is 90° and as Φa and Φb are proportional to Ia and Ib
T ∝ IaIb sinA.

Ia Ia and Φa
1 3 5
Ib Disc
Ib and Φb
2 4
(a) Electromagnetic Induction Relay (b) Vector relationship for

Maximum Torque
1 2 3 4 5
(c) S - N - S
(d) - S - N -
(e) N - S - N
(f) - N - S -
(g) S - N - S
Sliding Flux Diagram
FIGURE 3.4 - ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION SYSTEM
Consider the system shown in Figure 3.4 (a) and let Ia and Ib be in quadrature.
This would be the condition if the upper coil, which is inductive, was supplied
from system voltage and the lower coil with system current at unity power
factor.
Φa and Φb the upper and lower electromagnetic fluxes are phase with Ia and Ib
respectively. Figure 3.4 (b) shows the vector diagram and Figure 3.4(c)
shows the displacement in space of the relay pole faces. 1 and 5 are the
outer poles of the upper electromagnet: 3 is the central pole of this magnet
and 2 and 4 are the poles of the lowest electromagnet.
At the moment of time shown by the vector diagram, Ia is a maximum in the

positive direction and if pole 3 is assumed to be N then poles 1 and 5 are S.
Ib = 0 and therefore poles 2 and 4 have no polarity. One-quarter cycle later Ia
= 0 and poles 1, 3 and 5 have no polarity. Ib is a maximum in the negative
direction and if pole 2 is assumed to be S then pole 4 is N. This condition is
shown in Figure 3.1(d). Figures. 3.4(e), 3.4(f), and 3.4(g) show the
conditions at ¼ cycle intervals. From this diagram it can be seen that a sliding
flux is produced which causes disc movement from left to right. Reversal of
polarity of either electromagnet will result in disc movement in the opposite
direction.

Torque applied to a disc without control would, of course continually
accelerate the disc to a speed limited only by friction and windage. Control is
provided in two ways:
• By a permanent magnet whose field passes through the disc and
produces a braking force proportional to disc speed. This controls
the time characteristic of the relay.
• By a control spring which produces a torque proportional to disc
angular displacement. This controls disc speed at low values of
torque and determines the relay setting.
Ib and Φb
Ia and Φa
Φ’
Φ’
Quad Loop I’ and Φ’ a
e’
Figure 3.5 The Effect of a Quad Loop on the Upper Electromagnet Flux
From Figure 3.5 it can be seen that disc speed is dependent on torque, and
as disc travel over a fixed distance is inversely proportional to time.
IaIb sinA ∝ 1
t
which is an inverse time characteristic.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
Wattmetric Relay
The upper coil is supplied by voltage and the lower coil by current. The
voltage coil is very inductive and the voltage coil current, I1 lags the voltage by
about 80°. At unity power factor the phase angle between upper and lower
coil fluxes would be 80°. For a wattmetric relay it is necessary for maximum
torque to be produced at unity power factor and therefore the fluxes must be
90° apart. To modify the upper coil flux a quadrature compensating loop,
known as a quad loop, is used. This is merely a short-circuited turn of wire
around the centre limb of the electromagnet. An e.m.f. is generated in the
loop proportional to the rate of change of upper electromagnet flux. This
e.m.f., which lags the upper electromagnet flux by 90°, produces a current 'I'
which in turn produces a flux 'Φ', both flux and current are in phase with the
e.m.f. The net effect is to produce a secondary flux, lagging the main flux by
90°, which modifies the upper electromagnet flux so that it lags the voltage by
90°. Where accurate measurement is required, e.g. kWh meters, the quad
loop is made adjustable. The relay torque is therefore:
T ∝ IaIb sin(A + 90) ∝ VI sinA.
kVAr Relay
For a wattmetric relay the correct phase angle is produced with say, R/N
voltage and R current. If R current was associated with Y/B voltage then the
voltage phase shift is -90° and the relay torque is
T ∝ IaIb sin(A + 90 - 90) ∝ VI sinA.
Phase-angle-compensated Relay
From the above it can be seen that relays having maximum response to any
chosen phase angle can be produced. For example, Figure 3.6 shows a relay
with 45° compensated connections. Maximum torque is produced when the
current lags the voltage by 45° by associating R current with Y - B voltage and
connecting a resistor in series so that the voltage coil circuit current lags the
voltage by 45° then:
T ∝ IaIb sin(A + 90 - 45) ∝ VI sin(A + 45)
Figure 3.6 (b) shows the vector diagram for this connection.

Vr
Vy-b
Vcoil
Vcoil Vres
Ir
V Vy-b
Icoil
Vb Icoil
Vy
Se
I
tti
ng
Ir Vres
Figure 3.6 - Compensated Induction Relay

(Producing Maximum Torque at a System Phase Angle of 45°)
Overcurrent Relay
In an overcurrent relay a transformer connection is used. The upper
electromagnet carries two windings, a primary which is fed from the current
transformers and a secondary which feeds the lower electromagnet winding.
As the secondary current is dependant on the primary current and the phase
angle between these is fixed, the relay torque is T ∝ I2
Over- or Undervoltage Relay

This is similar to the overcurrent relay but the upper electromagnet winding is
connected to the voltage supply. In the case of an undervoltage relay the
contacts are arranged so that they make when the relay resets. T ∝ V2
In last two applications where only one quantity is to be measured then an

electromagnet as shown in Figure 3.7 may be used.
Coil
Short-Circuited Turn Disc
Figure 3.7 Induction Relay for Single Quantity Measurement

The short circuited turn produces a phase displacement in the fluxes in
adjacent poles causing movement of the disc. The torque is proportional to
the square of the current.
Further application using this type of electromagnet are where the relay is
required to respond to the sum of more than usually the difference between
two quantities, for example when used in a biased differential scheme where
the vector sum is compared to the vector difference of two currents.

Coil A
Operate
Coil B
Bias
Generator
Coil B
Coil A
Figure 3.8 Principle of Biased Differential Protection
The simple explanation of the use of this type of protection is as follows. It is

based on discrimination by comparison. If current flowing into the generator is
the same as current flowing out then there is no fault and the relay should not
operate.
If the currents are not the same then there is a fault and the relay should
operate.
Coil A produces a torque in the disc in the direction to close the contact. The
current in this coil is the vector sum of the input and output current - zero if
there is no fault - whilst coil B produces a torque to open the contact. The
current in this coil is the vector difference - maximum when there is a fault in
the generator.
A further type of relay is the induction cup relay. The four-pole electromagnet
has an iron core and a copper cylinder which is free to rotate in the air gap
between the pole faces and the core. This arrangement produces a high
torque and is used mainly in high-speed protection schemes. As the air gap
is small a high degree of accuracy is required in matching which makes it an
expensive relay to manufacture.
The relay can be used as a simple product relay, e.g. VIcosA, VIsinA, etc.,
or in the eight-pole version as a polyphase device.
ATTRACTED-ARMATURE RELAYS

mmf = NI (ampere-turns)
mmf
I
Φ
N turns
Reluctance Reluctance
of Iron of Air Gap
FIGURE 3.9 - ATTRACTED ARMATURE RELAY
The attracted-armature relay comprises an iron-cored electromagnet which

attracts an armature which is pivoted, hinged or other wise supported to
permit motion in the magnetic field.
The force exerted on the armature is given by the equation

2
Force F = B s newtons
2μ0
where B is the flux density in Wb/m2, s is the effective area of the magnetic
pole in m2, and μ0 is the permeability of free space = 4 πx 10-7.
The magnetic circuit can be represented in a similar manner to an electric

circuit. Figure 3.9, using magneto-motive force (m.m.f.) in ampere-turns
applied to the reluctance of the iron and air gap in series - represented by
resistance - which causes a flux Φ to flow in the circuit. The permeability of
the iron is about 5000 times that of air which means that most of the m.m.f.
will be used to magnetise the air gap. When the relay starts to operate, the
length of the air gap, and therefore the reluctance, decreases which causes
the flux, and the force to increase. The effect of this in practical terms is that
when the current in the coil reaches a value which produces sufficient force to
move the armature - movement of the armature itself causes the flux and the
operating forces to increase. So that once the armature moves it accelerates
with increasing force until it is fully closed. This is the reason that contractors
are very successful because once the contractor starts to move positive
contact making is assured.
The snap action which is beneficial from the point of positive operation is
sometimes a drawback in that the relay will not drop out until the flux density
is reduced to below the pick-up value. As the magnetic circuit reluctance has
been decreased by the closing of the armature a large reduction in ampere-
turns is required to decrease the flux density to its original value, i.e. the relay
has a low drop-off/pick-up ratio. In some applications this can be
inconvenient and in these instances the ratio can be improved by reducing the
change in reluctance by not allowing the armature to close completely. In fact
the ratio can be controlled by adjustment of the final air gap. An increase in
drop-off/pick-up ratio reduces contact rating and operating speed.

In the simple case the moving contacts are carried by the armature or the
armature is arranged to operate the contacts by means of a rod which pushes
the contacts together (or apart if normally closed).
Control is generally by gravity assisted to a small extent by the contact spring

pressure although in some cases spring control is used. Relays for use in a.c.
circuits tend to vibrate no matter how large the operating quantity as the flux
must pass through zero every half-cycle and during this period the armature
tends to release, To eliminate this it is usual to split the electromagnetic pole
face and surround one-half by copper loop. The current induced in this loop
compared with that passing through the other half of the pole and therefore the
net flux is never zero. Alternatively vibration can be prevented by supplying the
relay through a rectifier. In this case coil inductance maintains the flux during
the idle portions of the cycle.
In d.c. operated relays residual flux is the problem and may prevent release
of the armature. In order to reduce it to a low value the armature should not
bed entirely on both poles of the electromagnet in the closed position but
should always have a non-magnetic stop, to ensure that there is a small air
gap.
In general attracted -armature relays are used.
• as auxiliary repeat relays and for flag indicators. These are known as
“all-or-nothing relays”.
• as measuring relays where a drop-off/pick-up ratio of less than 90%
can be tolerated

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
All-or-nothing Relays
Tripping relays.
These are multi-contact relays designed to be energised for a short time. The
coil power is high resulting in an operating time of approx. 0.01 s. The relay
can be self-resetting or of the latching type which are reset by hand or, with
the addition of a second coil, electrically reset.
Auxiliary relays.
These are for operation from auxiliary d.c. supply and are used as repeat
contactors to provide additional contacts and/or flag indicators with induction
relays, moving coil relays or mechanical devices such as thermometers,
buchholz relays etc.
Measuring Relays.
The relay is suitable for all single quantity measurements, i.e. voltage,
current, etc. Such relays usually have a range of adjustment by altering the
number of effective turns in the coil in the case of current measuring relays,
by changing the resistance in series with the coil in the case of voltage
measuring relays or by adjustment of a spring so that the force required to
pick up the relay can be changed.
Moving-Coil Relays
The moving-coil relay consists of a light coil which when energised, moves in
a strong permanent magnet field. The coil can either be pivoted between
bearings as in the usual moving-coil instrument (D’Arsonval movement,
Figure 3.10) or suspended in the magnet field in the manner of the moving-
coil loudspeaker (axial movement, Figure 3.11),
1
2
6
3 Key
4 1 - Permanent Magnet
2 - Coil
5
3 - Yoke
4 - Non-Magnetic Spacer
5 - Pivot
5 6 - Relay Contacts
2
6
1 3
FIGURE 3.10 - D’ARSONVAL MOVING-COIL RELAY

In both cases the movement is very sensitive, that is, very little energy is
required to produce operating force. It is for this reason, coupled with its
ability to withstand high overloads, that it is almost invariably used in modern
high-speed protection schemes.
The force produced is proportional to the product of the permanent magnet

flux and the coil current. But, as the permanent magnet flux in any one relay
is constant over the range of coil movement, the force is proportional to the
coil current. The relay is polarised by the permanent magnet and must be
used with a rectifier for all a.c. applications.
In the axial moving-coil relay the coil movement is essentially small whereas
this need not be the case with the D’Arsonval relay. The latter, whilst it does
not have a short contact travel in its high-speed applications; can have a
contact movement of up to 80°.
Movement damping is accomplished in both types by use of a metal coil

former which acts as a shorted turn which will have a current induced in it, in
such a direction as to oppose motion when the coil moves. In long travel
relays the effect can be also used to introduce a time delay.
Control in both types of relay is by spring; leaf springs in the axial relay and a
spiral spring in the D’Arsonval type. Current is conveyed to the coil and the
moving contacts carried by the coil by ligaments which in the D’Arsonval type
are light spiral springs. The D’Arsonval movement is extremely sensitive,
“galvanometer class” sensitivity is obtainable for special applications with a
setting power as low as 20 x 10-6 watts. As the movement is proportional to
current the contact differential ratio is nominally zero but on account of pivot
friction, contact adhesion, etc., it is nominally 2%, i.e. drop-off/pick-up ratio =
98%.
Leaf Springs
Coil S
Permanent N
Magnet N
Coil Former
S
Yoke
FIGURE 3.11 - AXIAL MOVING-COIL RELAY

In the long-travel relay it is usual to provide a calibrated scale along which the
fixed contact can be set. In addition a 3-1 spring wind-up is allowable to
widen the scale over the required operating range, e.g. an overvoltage relay
could have a scale of say, 100% or 150%. Two independently adjustable
fixed contacts can be provided for use as low and high contacts with a side
zero relay or forward and reverse with a centre zero relay.
The axial relay is less sensitive but is very robust.. It has the advantage of
having no bearings but on the other hand is affected by gravity if the relay
case is not correctly aligned on the panel. In general moving-coil relays are
used
• where a sensitive (low energy) relay is required,
• to provide a high drop-off/pick-up ratio,
• where the relay can be subjected to a continuous overload of many
times its setting,
• in high-speed protection schemes.
The importance of a sensitive relay with a high overload capability can be

appreciated when the conditions of operation of a protection scheme are
considered.
A relay may be required to have a setting of, say, 10% normal current and yet
be capable of carrying, say, 50 times normal current, which means that the
relay must be capable of carrying 500 times setting current or 500² times
setting power. With the moving-coil relay with a setting of 20μW the power at
maximum fault condition is only 5W.
Thermal Relays
These are relays in which the operating quantity generates heat in a
resistance winding and so affects some temperature-sensitive component.
Most protective relays of the thermal type are based upon the expansion of
metal, a typical example being the use of bimetal material.
Bimetal is available in strips which are formed by welding two bars of different
metals together throughout their length and then rolling out the composite bar
to form a thin sheet. When a strip of this material is heated the difference in
expansion rates of the two metals cause the strip to bend into a curve. The
amount of motion of the end of the strip being magnified compared with the
actual expansion of the individual metals. Relays can be constructed using
straight pieces of bimetal or a longer strip may be coiled into a spiral thereby
producing a large amount of motion in a constant space. The bimetal strip
can be heated directly by passing current through it. In this case it is usually
split longitudinally except at the extreme end so forming an elongated U. The
two divided ends are clamped to a support and current is fed through the loop.
This results in the bimetal becoming heated and causing motion of the tip
through a proportionate angle.

MEASUREMENT
Single Quantity Measurement
This classification covers al simple relays such as those detecting current or
voltage levels. The choice depends on the characteristic required.
Product Measurement
This subject has been partially discussed under induction relays where it was
shown that the induction relay can readily be used to measure the product of
two alternating quantities. The typical example of this is in power and
directional types of relay.
It is interesting to note that other types of element can make a product

measurement if the applied quantities are first mixed. For example, a beam
relay is a natural amplitude comparator. If, however, two alternating signals A
and B are first summated and then applied to the relay so that one coil is
energised by the sum A + B, whilst the other coil is energised with A - B then
the relay becomes a phase comparator as the forces will only equal when
there is a phase difference of 90° between A and B. Such an arrangement
has been used as a directional relay.
On the other hand, if the two signals are summated as before and applied to
the two windings of a power-type induction relay, then this combination will
become a simple amplitude comparator because (A + B) and (A - B) have the
same polarity only if A is greater than B.
These concepts are useful in designing new schemes with complicated

response functions. When dealing with simple measurements it must be
realised that some elements are fundamentally more suitable for amplitude or
phase comparison than others, since notwithstanding the above algebraic
conversions, errors must also be considered and these sometimes limit the
range of application of an apparently suitable arrangement.
TIMING RELAYS
In some circumstances a time delay is required in conjunction with protection
relays. These fall into three distinct groups.
Short-time Relays
A short-time lag can be easily imposed using an attracted-armature type
element, by fitting a solid copper cylinder to occupy a portion of the normal
winding space. The “copper Slug” may be placed at either end of the core,
but it is most powerful when situated at the armature end. In this position it
delays both operate and release functions of the relay by virtue of the eddy-
currents induced in it which resist a change in the core flux. Time relays of
the order of 50ms in the operate sense and 200ms for release are possible.

Medium-value Accurate-time Delays
For this application a more elaborate mechanism is employed. The relay is
powered by a solenoid or attracted armature element, either of which
compresses a spring. The other end of the spring drives a train of gears and
an eddy-current brake system comprising a disc or drum rotating in a
permanent-magnet field. The spring shaft also carries a contact arm which
rotates as the gears run and ultimately makes contact at the end of its travel.
A ratchet is usually fitted so that the relay can reset instantly when the coil is
de-energised. This type of relay can give a maximum time delay in the range
of 1.0 to 30s and can be adjustable for any one value over a 10 to 1 range.
Long-time Relays
Relays of this class are usually of the motor-operated type. The motor may
be d.c. or a.c., either synchronous or induction, and will drive through gearing
of such ratio that the operating time is achieved. The operating range extends
from a few seconds up to hours, there being in principal no upper limit. When
the gear ratio is high it is usual to incorporate a friction clutch in the drive
chain, to avoid excess stress being built up should the motor continue to
operate after the contact has completed full travel.
DESIGN
Many other designs of relays are possible and a great many other
arrangements have been used and providing that the necessary operating
function is obtained, it only remains to say that the only other essential
requirement is absolute reliability.
The protection relay, as distinct from a control relay, may remain inoperative
for long periods but when operation is called for the response must be both
immediate and accurate. For example, a busbar protection relay may operate
under fault conditions perhaps only once in its normal span of life. If on this
occasion should the relay be incapable of performing its function owing to
some deterioration which has taken place, then its provision has been in vain.
Furthermore, the very fact that it has remained inactive for a long period is the
condition which is liable to lead to the mechanism becoming stuck so as to be
inoperative. Hence protective relays are designed with certain principles in
mind.
Simplicity
In so far as this is compatible with achieving the necessary measurements,
simplicity is the most desirable characteristic. Any reduction in number of
components reduces the possible caused of difficulty and simplicity in
operation assists the maintenance staff and generally results in higher
standard of maintenance.
High Operating Force

Relays are designed with as high a working force as possible to minimise the
effects of friction so that should it vary during the life of the relay the overall
effect on the performance is negligible.

High-Contact Pressure
This is closely related to the working force but is also governed by the contact
shape. To this end domed or cylindrical form contacts are used so that the
contact-making area is small with the result that a given force corresponds to
a high pressure.
Contact Circuit Voltage

For general purposes contacts are made from silver which is excellent in its
general characteristic. In bad atmospheres, however, it is liable to form
surface layers of oxide or sulphide, which are not a great detriment unless the
layer is excessively thick. In general contact difficulties are encountered
• where there is a bad atmosphere,
• where the tripping voltage is low (30V or less),
• with low torque relays, i.e. where contacts make on resetting or with
thermal relays.
Contact-making Action
Contacts should close together with a certain amount of wiping or scraping
action in order to help in breaking down the surface films of oxide or other
contaminants and should be designed so that they do not bounce apart or
chatter after first closing. It is very difficult to ensure that the impact between
the contact tips on making does not result in a rebound but the effect can be
minimised by suitable design. Many complex arrangements have been
evolved, but for normal purposes the main requirement is to ensure that the
moving contact has a lower natural frequency than the fixed one. It is also
important to ensure that the rest of the element and moving system does not
generate excessive vibration which can be passed on to the contact. Any
chattering from such a source might lead to excessive burning of the contact
tips.
Minimum Size of Wire

It is desirable that protective relay coils should not be wound with a wire which
is thinner than 0.1mm to guard against the risk of mechanical fracture. An
even more serious problem is that of corrosion. It is most important that all
the insulating materials with which the coil is wound should be absolutely
neutral and incapable of releasing even small traces of substances with
corrosive tendencies. Even when this is done coil corrosion can occur if the
coil is allowed to assume a positive potential relative to earth. Should this be
the case the wire is an anode and any small leakage current will deposit
copper from the wire which in time will be corroded away by this electrolytic
action. Even with moderate potentials and quite high insulation resistance to
earth the wire can be completely severed by this action within a short time.
Hence, it is desirable that all d.c. coils should be connected to the negative
pole of the battery or maintained at a negative potential relative to earth by
some other means.
Enclosures
Even robust relays have to be regarded as precision measuring instruments
and although they may work well when first produced they will not maintain

this quality if exposed to accumulations of dust and other deposits from the
atmosphere. Therefore the relay should be enclosed in a substantial and
tight-fitting case which is made as dust-proof as possible by the fitting of
gaskets although it should still be possible for the relay to breathe slightly.
under these circumstances the relay should remain in good condition for long
periods.

STATIC RELAYS
Relays based on electronic techniques offer many advantages over the more
usual electromechanical type. Apart from the obvious advantage of no
moving parts the power requirements are low and therefore smaller current
and voltage transformers can be used to provide the input. Additional benefits
are improved accuracy and a wider range of characteristics.
FIGURE 3.12 - MICROPROCESSOR-BASED OVERCURRENT RELAY
The invention of the transistor and the microprocessor has allowed the
development of static relays but difficulties were experienced because the
high voltage substation proved to be a very hostile environment to the device.
The close proximity of high voltage heavy current circuits produces conditions
which could damage the transistor because of its low thermal mass or cause
mal-operation of the relay because of the electromagnetic or electrostatic
interference.
A lot of research and development has taken place and commercial relays
which meet very exacting standards have been produced. Electromechanical
relays will represent the bulk of relays manufactured and it is unlikely that
there will be a sweeping change-over to static relays particularly where the
electromechanical relay is adequate. However, most of the current
development in protection is in static relays.

The large application potential of the digital integrated circuit has led to
enormous expenditure on research and development which has resulted in
microprocessors with spectacular computing capabilities at a low cost. It is
fairly certain that microprocessors will ultimately dominate protection and
control systems.
The utilisation of microprocessors in the field of protection means that the

logic part of the relay can be replaced by a programme held in the
microprocessor memory. This enables a relay function to be specified by
software which widens the scope of the relay and allows a single relay to be
provided with a number of characteristics.
Experience has been gained with microprocessors in high voltage substations

over a number of years by using them for voltage control, automatic switching
and reclosing and other control functions. Therefore difficulties which arise in
this environment have been overcome.
An example of the versatility of the microprocessor is demonstrated in one of

the first protection applications. This is an overcurrent relay which has a
setting range of 10% to 200%, an extremely wide range made possible by the
low power requirements of the relay, and a choice of five different
characteristics. Figure 3.13 shows the block diagram of the relay.
The CT current is reduced to a more suitable level by an interposing current

transformer in the relay. The current is rectified and passed through a
resistance network which produces a voltage output which is proportional to
current. The network provides the current setting control by switches
mounted on the front of the relay and its output is fed into the analogue-digital
converter which is part of the micro-processor.
Three other banks of switches are mounted on the front of the relay. The
switches are connected to separate input ports on the microprocessor and
control the time multiplier setting, the high-set relay setting and selection of
the type of characteristic required, i.e. normal, very or extremely inverse, long
time inverse or definite time.

Instantaneous
(High Set)
Output output Relay
Driver Time/current
output Relay
Microprocessor 0.4/0
0.2/0 Time multiplier
0.2/0
Interposing Current 0.1/0 setting switches
Transformer 0.05/0
0.05/0.025
To Current
Transformer
α
Analogue 16/0 Instantaneous
8/0 (High Set)
to digital 4/0
converter 2/0 setting switches
1/0
0.2/0.1 0.4/0 0.8/0

0.2/0 0.4/0
Current setting network
Characteristic
selector switches
FIGURE 3.13 - SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM

SECTION 4
FAULTS AND FAULT LEVELS
CONTENTS
FAULTS AND FAULT LEVELS .............................................................. 57
SYMMETRICAL AND ASYMMETRICAL FAULTS ............................... 65
FAULT CALCULATIONS ..................................................................... 68
IMPEDANCE ....................................................................................... 68
FAULT LEVEL ..................................................................................... 68
GENERATORS ................................................................................... 75
CABLES .............................................................................................. 78
SOURCE IMPEDANCE ....................................................................... 80
MOTORS ............................................................................................. 80
PRACTICAL EXAMPLES 80
EARTH FAULTS .................................................................................. 83

GENERAL
An electrical network normally operates within its designed rating. Generators,
transformers, cables, transmission lines, switchboards, busbars and
connected apparatus are each designed to carry a certain maximum current.
Most can carry a moderate overload for a short time without undue
overheating.

phase-to-phase short-circuit or a phase-to-earth breakdown, then all
connected generators will at first feed extremely high currents into that fault,
which will be limited only by the impedance of the complete circuit from
generator to fault. Fault currents can be ten or more times the normal full-load
current.

disconnected. They will also give rise to severe mechanical forces between
the current-carrying conductors or windings. All such apparatus must be
manufactured to withstand these forces. A fault current of 50 000A(rms)
flowing in two busbars 3 inches apart will produce between them a peak
mechanical force of nearly half a ton-force per foot run of bars.
achieved, however, the fault current will have flowed for a finite, if small, time,
and much heat energy will have been released. Also the severe mechanical
forces referred to above will already have occurred and will have subjected all
conductors to conductors to intense mechanical stress.
FAULT LEVEL CALCULATION

In order to design electrical equipment to withstand the expected thermal and
mechanical stresses, and to engineer the protective system to operate
decisively and quickly, it must be possible to calculate the maximum fault
current to be expected anywhere in the system under the worst possible
conditions.
Phase-to-phase and phase-to-earth faults may be metal-to-metal, but more

probably they will be arcing faults where the arc itself has some resistance
which will reduce the flow of fault current. However, for calculation purposes
the worst condition is considered, and short-circuits are assumed to be
’bolted’ – that is, it is assumed that all three conductors are firmly bolted
together and that the fault itself has zero impedence.
In order to understand the fault conditions in an a.c. network, it will be helpful

to consider what happens in the simpler d.c. case.

D.C. Case
Referring to Figure 4.1, suppose the full-load current / of a d.c. generator is
produced with an external load resistance R. If E is the emf and r the internal
resistance of the generator, then the internal voltage drop is I.r and the
terminal voltage (that is, rated voltage) V of the generator at full load is E – I.r.
Suppose the internal drop is, say, 20% of the open-circuit voltage E
(assuming that there is no automatic voltage regulation).
FIGURE 4.1 – D.C. GENERATOR ON LOAD

If now the external load R is decreased so that the current doubles to 2l, then
the internal drop increases to 2l.r, or 40%. If R is further reduced so that the
current is trebled to 3l, then the internal drop increases to 3l.r, or 60%.
Similarly a current of 4l will cause an internal drop of 80%, and 5l would
produce 100%.
A 100% internal drop means that the whole emf is used in overcoming the
internal drop, and there is no voltage left between the terminals - that is, they
are effectively at short-circuit. Put the other way, a dead short-circuit across
the generator produces a current five times (1/20% or 1/0.2) full-load current.
The generator is then said to have an internal resistance of 20%. This is an
alternative way of expressing it instead of in ohms.
A.C. Case
The same argument applies to the a.c. generator shown in Figure 4.2, except
that, instead of internal resistance, there is now impedance. However, in all
a.c. generators the internal impedance is almost wholly reactive, and it is
therefore customary to talk of a generator’s ‘reactance’ x and to ignore the
resistance. It is, like the resistance in the d.c. case, expressed as a
percentage. Therefore a generator with a reactance of 20% will deliver 1/0.20,
or five times, full-load current on short-circuit.

This method of using percentages rather than ohms avoids having to consider
the size (kVA) or voltage of the particular generator. The above applies
whatever its size or voltage.
FIGURE 4.2 – A.C. GENERATOR ON LOAD

An a.c. generator has in fact a varying reactance, which increases as the fault
proceeds, due to its complicated magnetic behaviour. For fault calculation
purposes however the lowest reactance at the beginning of the fault is always
taken; it is the ‘sub transient’ reactance and is typically between 8% and 20%
on most generators. This is the most severe condition.
A similar argument applies to transformers where the reactances are typically

between 4% and 10%. A transformer reactance however is fixed and does not
vary as the fault proceeds.

FI
GURE 4.3 – SIMPLE FAULT CALCULATION
Figure 4.3(a) shows a typical, but simple, network comprising two generators,
two transformers and an HV and LV distribution system. A fault at a point P on
one of the HV feeders would, if all HV breakers were closed, be fed by both
generators (as before), but they would be in series with one transformer if the
LV section breaker were open, or with both transformers in parallel if it were
closed.
The exact calculation should, strictly, also take into account the resistances of
the generators and transformers as well as the impedances of the connecting
cables, but for a rough calculation with platform-sized lengths of cable these
can be disregarded.
Figures 4.3(b) and 4.3(c) show the reactance equivalent of each of the
elements of the network, with the percentage reactance placed against each.
Since the size of each generator is 5 000kVA the impedance of all other
elements, such as that of the transformers, must be raised to this ‘base’. So,
though the transformers are each rated 5% at 500kVA, they are entered as
50% at 5 000kVA, giving the same short-circuit current. The ‘adjusted’
reactances are shown in Figures 4.3(b) and (c) in red. It should be noted that
any figure, such as 100 000kVA, may be chosen as base; it makes no
difference to the result.

Choosing as a base the kVA of the largest generator is merely a convenience.
(For onshore grid network calculations, 100 000kVA base is usually chosen.
In those cases generator and transformer resistances and cable impedances
cannot be ignored.)
The adjusted reactances are then resolved by ordinary series-parallel network

methods until they become a single reactance. Thus in Figure 2.3(b) the
reactance up to the point P with both generators connected is two 15% in
parallel, equivalent to one 7 .5%. To the chosen base of 5000kVA the fault
level at P is:
5000/0.75 = 67 000kVA, or 67MVA
(Note: For the purpose of calculation, percentages are expressed as ‘per unit’.
Thus 7 .5% = 0.075 p.u.)
For point Q with one transformer connected there is a further series reactance
of 50% to add, making 57.5% in all. The fault level at Q would be:
5000/0.575= 8 700kVA, or 8.7MVA
For point Q with two transformers in parallel (Figure 2.3(c)) there is a further
series reactance of 25% to add (derived from the two 50% in parallel), making
32 ½ % in all. The fault level at Q would then be:
5000/0.325 = 15 400kVA, or 15.4MVA
If the generators had been of different sizes – say 5 000kVA and 2 500kVA,
each with reactance 15% - the larger would have been chosen as ‘base’ and
the smaller raised to it – that is, call it 5000kVA at 30%, and proceed as
before.
This calculation, though much simplified, illustrates the basic method of

making fault calculations. It shows too the advantage of regarding all
reactances as percentages; the actual voltage levels have not come into the
calculation. It also illustrates the considerable reducing effect of transformers
on a system fault level.
The fault levels so calculated would apply respectively to the whole HV

system and the whole LV system, and they are usually marked in MVA on
drawings. The switchgear at each level must be capable of breaking the
currents appropriate to those levels, and all conductors, busbars, cables, etc,
must be able to withstand the thermal and mechanical stresses induced by
those currents. Armed with the result of his fault calculations, the designer will
specify exactly what the various items of equipment are required to withstand.
Fault levels calculated as shown are expressed in MVA, which is usually

sufficient for most purposes, but if actual fault currents are needed, the MVA
is converted to current (kA) by dividing by √3 times the voltage (kV). Thus:

67MVA at 6.6kV = 5.9kA = 5900A
8.7MVA at 440V = 11.4kA = 11400A
15.4MVA at 440V = 20.2kA = 20200A
(Note that MVA /3kV gives the current in kA.)

These are all rms symmetrical currents.
From the above calculations two points should be noted:
• A single transformer between the source of supply and an LV

switchboard greatly ‘cushions’ the MVA fault level beyond it and reduces it
drastically. In this case an HV fault level of 67MVA is reduced by the
transformer to 8.7MVA.
• Notwithstanding the great reduction of MVA by a transformer, the

actual fault current on the LV side is actually increased – in this case from
5900A to 11400A. This is because the smaller MVA is obtained from a still
smaller voltage.
FAULT LEVELS AT LOW VOLTAGE SWITCHBOARDS

Whereas ample designs of switchgear exist to handle the fault levels to be
found on the largest offshore and onshore high-voltage systems, this is not
the case on the low-voltage boards. As will be seen from the above
calculation, the LV fault currents are in general higher than the HV – in some
cases much higher indeed. On many offshore installations the LV fault level
with the LV section breaker closed (that is, with both transformers feeding in
parallel) exceeds the breaking capacity of the largest LV circuit-breaker
available.
It is therefore necessary to ensure that the switchgear fitted is not subjected to

such a possible fault. From the above calculation it can also be seen that the
LV fault level with one transformer feeding is about half of that with two.
Therefore it is arranged in such cases that the two transformers should not be
allowed to feed in parallel. The LV section breaker is normally kept open when
both transformers are feeding (the normal condition). The section breaker my
only be closed if one or other transformer supply breaker is open. This is
known as the ‘two-out-of-three’ method. Any two LV breakers out of the three
(two incomers and one section) may be closed at any one time, but not all
three. Interlocks prevent this.
However, this arrangement may be temporarily ‘cheated’ and vulnerability

accepted when changing over from one transformer to the other. For a short
period the operation of the interlock is delayed to avoid interrupting supplies to
the board. If one of the three breakers is not opened within that short time
(typically 30 seconds) the section breaker will trip automatically.

ASYMMETRICAL FAULT CURRENTS
The fault currents as derived from the above calculation, using the percentage
reactances of the various items of plant, are all ‘rms symmetrical’.
FI
GURE 4.4 – ASYMMETRICAL FAULT CURRENT
The actual currents which occur in the early part of a fault however are
generally asymmetrical, giving a greater heating rate. Moreover the highest
mechanical forces will occur within the first asymmetrical peak of current, as
shown in Figure 4.4. This can, with 100% asymmetry, be up to 2.55 times the
rms symmetrical value, so the 67MVA at 6.6kV referred to above, equivalent
to 5.9kA rms symmetrical; can rise to 15kA asymmetrical peak. It is the latter
figure which determines the mechanical strength of the busbars and other
equipment.
When a fault current is quoted in kA it is always wise to add the words ‘rms
symmetrical’ if that is what is meant. This avoids confusion with ‘kA peak
asymmetrical’ which is often quoted in addition. Fault levels quoted in MVA
are always rms symmetrical.

PROSPECTIVE FAULT CURRENT
In some cases the actual fault current, even with a bolted short-circuit, may be
limited by the operation of the protection device itself – notably in the case of
a current-limiting fuse which can interrupt the current before it reaches its first
peak. In that case the current never attains it calculated level. However for the
purposes of calculation it is assumed that no such limiting effect occurs and
that the current will reach its calculated value. This value is called the
‘prospective fault current’, even though, in certain given systems, the fault
current will not reach that level.
Fuses are given the credit in their ratings for interrupting the full prospective
fault current notwithstanding that they do so by preventing it ever happening.
NON SYMMETRICAL FAULTS

A short-circuit between two phases results in a lower fault current than does a
symmetrical short-circuit, because it is driven through the impedance of two
phases by the line voltage which is only √3 times the phase voltage. This
condition therefore requires no further consideration here.
EARTH FAULTS
Earth-fault currents, especially when limited by earthing resistors, are dealt
with in Chapter 5. Having only 1/√3 of the system voltage behind them, they
are in general lower than the short-circuit fault currents and will not therefore
influence the fault level calculations.

FAULTS AND FAULT LEVELS
Before selecting a protection system we must consider the kind of fault which
may occur.
The principal types are:

• 3 Phase (with or without earth)
• Phase - to - phase
• Phase - to -Earth
• Double Phase - to - Earth
Sometimes there are open-circuits involved. Transformers and motors are

also subject to short circuits between turns of the same winding.
Only the 3 phase short circuit is a balanced condition. The others are
unbalanced and require a knowledge of the method known as ‘symmetrical
components’ before they can be fully analysed.
SYMMETRICAL AND ASYMMETRICAL FAULTS
When a short-circuit occurs, it may be between two of the three lines of a 3-
phase system, or it may involve all three. The fault current may pass between
phases as an arc which has some resistance and so limits the current, or
there may be metal-to-metal contact, a so- called 'bolted' fault, where the
impedance is zero. As an item of switchgear must be able to deal with the
most severe possible case it is always assumed that the fault is a 3-phase
bolted one, and that the whole circuit is mainly inductive with little resistance.
FIGURE 4.5 - PARTIAL CURRENT ASYMMETRY AT ONSET OF A FAULT

It is known that with an inductive fault the current which immediately follows is
in general partially asymmetrical. The asymmetry will be complete (100%) if
the fault occurs at the instant of a voltage zero. If it occurs at a voltage peak,
positive or negative, the asymmetry is zero (0%) - that is to say, the current
wave is then wholly symmetrical.
Figure 4.5 shows the general case where the asymmetry is partial (between
0% and 100%). The point on the voltage wave at which a fault may occur is of
course entirely random. So therefore is the degree of asymmetry which will
occur in any particular case.
This asymmetrical current wave is regarded as resolved into two parts: a

symmetrical a.c. wave plus a steady but decaying 'd.c. component' whose
rate of decay is mainly the R/L ratio of the fault circuit; the d.c. component is
also shown in Figure 4.1. The quicker the decay of the d.c. component, the
quicker the fault current resumes symmetry.
With complete asymmetry the first peak of the asymmetrical current wave is
almost double the amplitude of the a.c. component at that time - that is 2 x √2
(= 2.82) times its rms value. However by the time the first current peak is
reached there has already been some decay of the d.c. component, and it is
usual to take the first current peak as approximately 2.55 times the rms value
of the a.c. component. This figure however may differ slightly in special cases.
FIGURE 4.6 - THREE PHASE CURRENT ASYMMETRY (GENERAL CASE)

Although Figure 4.2. shows the a.c. component as having constant amplitude,
it does in fact gradually reduce in size as the current moves from its initial
subtransient value towards the transient.
For reasons which it is not necessary to go into here, an asymmetrical current

is less difficult to break than a symmetrical one. Therefore, in order that the
circuit-breaker is able to deal with the most difficult case, it is required, when
testing, that the bolted fault shall continue long enough for the d.c. component
to decay to a specified level. This level depends on the opening time of the
breaker itself (i.e. from instant of trip signal to separation of contacts) and may
be of the order of 15%, after which the current is regarded as 'symmetrical'.
At Switchgear Testing Stations a deliberate delay is introduced between the
onset of the fault and the trip signal to the breaker on test to ensure that this is
so.
In 3-phase switching the asymmetry will in general be partial in all phases, as

shown in Figure 4.6, and the percentages, taking account of sign, will always
add up to zero. (In Figure 4.6 they are -27 +97 -70 = 0.) If one phase
happens to be symmetrical (0% asymmetry) the other two, being displaced
120°, must both be partially asymmetrical.
The breaking capacities of circuit-breakers are always rated in kA (or MVA)

'rms symmetrical'. The peak asymmetrical current rating in kA may
additionally be given. All system fault calculations are made to determine the
required rms symmetrical breaking current rating of the switchgear to be
installed.
This analysis is necessary if the amount of fault current that will flow is to be
correctly predicted but is beyond the scope of this course.

phase-to-phase short-circuit or a phase-to-earth breakdown, then all
connected generators will at first feed extremely high currents into that fault,
which will be limited only by the impedance of the complete circuit from
generator to fault. Fault currents can be ten or more times the normal full-
load current.

disconnected. They will also give rise to severe mechanical forces between
the current-carrying conductors or windings. All such apparatus must be
manufactured to withstand these forces.
A fault current of 50000A (rms) flowing in two busbars 3

inches apart will produce between them a peak mechanical
force of nearly half a ton-force per foot run of bars.
achieved, however, the fault current will have flowed for a finite, if small, time,

and much heat energy will have been released. Also the severe mechanical
forces referred to above will already have occurred and will have subjected all
conductors to intense mechanical stress.
FAULT CALCULATIONS
In order to predict the performance of a protection scheme it is necessary to
know what the fault conditions will be. Although some relays will be required
to deal with overloads, undervoltages, etc., the majority will be concerned with
the detection of short-circuit conditions. To determine the fault level when a
short-circuit occurs requires a knowledge of the impedance of the various
components of the power system and the ability to calculate the current in
every part of the system.
IMPEDANCE
Although an impedance consists of a resistance and a reactance it is usually
sufficient to take only the reactance into consideration in fault calculations. If
a computer is used for the calculation it is just as simple to include resistance
but if other means are used its inclusion is an unnecessary complication.
Inmost cases the exclusion of resistance is justified in that the resistance is
only a small fraction of the impedance and even if it were as high as 20% it
would only change the impedance by about 2%.
The exception is in cables where, if the cross-sectional area is small, the

resistance is of the same order as the reactance. However, as cables have a
very low impedance compared to transformers and generators the overall
effect of ignoring resistance is small.
FAULT LEVEL
When evaluating relay performance it is usual to use the three phase fault
level and, if earth-fault relays are involved, the earth fault level. It is
appreciated that a phase-phase fault is far more likely than a three-phase
fault; however, the three-phase value is used on the basis that it is the most
onerous condition.
Calculation of a three-phase fault is fairly straightforward as it is a balanced
fault. That is, the current in each of the three phases has the same
magnitude and they are 120° apart. Therefore all that is required is to
calculate the current in one phase using the phase-neutral voltage and the
impedance per phase.
For example, an 11kV generator has an impedance of 1.61Ω/phase:
phase voltage = 11,000 = 6350V,

√3
fault current = 6350 = 3944A,

1.61
Although current is used in determining relay settings it is more usual to

perform fault calculations in MVA as this avoids complications when there is a
change in voltage, i.e. when transformers are involved.

-6
Therefore, fault level = 3 x 6350 x 3944 x 10 = 75MVA,
or √3 x 11kV x 3.94kA = 75MVA.
A quicker way would be to perform the calculation in one operation,

11,000 -6
viz. 3 x 11,000 x x 10 = 75MVA
3 x 1.61
or in symbols
-6
3V x V x 10 = V2 -6
x 10
3Z Z
or if V is in kV
fault MVA = V2
Z
If the generator was rated as 15 MW, 0.8 power factor then the rating would
be:
15 = 18.75 MVA.
0.8
The rating as a fraction of fault level would be
18.75 = ¼ or 25%
75
This ratio is known as the percentage impedance or Z%. Generator and
transformer impedances are generally expressed in this way
MVA rating
Z% = x 100% = MVA rating
x Z x 100%.
fault level V2
Another example Generator 12.5 MVA, 20%:
three-phase fault level = 12.5 x 100% = 62.5 MVA.

20%
Rather than calculate in percentages, and multiply by 100% every time, it is
convenient to use per unit values. For instance, 20% means every 20 in 100
and it could be written 0.2 p.u., i.e. 0.2 in every 4.

Therefore, for the above generator Z p.u. = 0.2:
12.5
three-phase fault level = = 62.5 MVA.
0.2
or the previous generator Z p.u. = 0.25:
three-phase fault level = 18.75 = 75 MVA.

0.25
It is also more convenient to convert all per unit impedances to a common
base, say 10 MVA, in the following manner:
18.75-MVA generator Z p.u. = 10 x 0.25 = 0.133 p.u..,

18.75
12.50-MVA generator Z p.u. = 10 x 0.2 = 0.16 p.u..

12.5
The reason for this is so that the relative values of impedance can be
attributed to every component in the circuit and therefore allows easy
calculations.
If a transformer rated at 4 MVA having an impedance of 6% is connected to

the 18.75 MVA generator and both impedances are converted to a base of 10
MVA, then the generator impedance is 0.133 p.u. and the transformer is
10 x6% =0.15 p.u. .
4 100%
The fault level on the secondary side of the transformer is
10 MVA = 10 =35.3MVA.
0.133 + 0.15 0.283
If there were two 4 MVA transformers in parallel each having an impedance of

6% then the total current impedance for a fault on the secondary side would
be
0.133 0.15
+ = 0.208 p.u.
2
and the fault level would be
10 MVA = 48 MVA.
0.208
If one of the transformers instead of being 4MVA was 3MVA with an
impedance of 6% then the system would be as Figure 4.3:

E
0.133
3MVA 4MVA
6% 6%
0.2 0.15
(a) (b)
E E = 10MVA
0.133
45.7
0.086 0.219
10
= 45.7MVA
0.219
(c) (d)
E
E = 10MVA
45.7 0.133
0.133
45.7 19.5 26.2
3.93 0.2 0.15

0.086
(e) 3.93 = 45.7 x 0.086 3.93 3.93

(f) = 19.5 = 26.2
0.2 0.15
2400A
1025A 11kV
1375A
3400A 3.3kV 5600A
(g) System Diagram showing Current Flow

FIGURE 4.3 POWER SYSTEM DIAGRAM

Zgen = 0.133 p.u.
ZT1 = 0.15 p.u.
ZT2 =10x 6 = 0.2 p.u.

3 100
Z = 0.086 p.u..
and the fault level

10 = 45.7 MVA.
0.133 + 0.086
By the application of Ohm's law the fault current for any power system can be
calculated by constructing an impedance network in which all the components
are represented by a per unit impedance and the fault level is the "current"
which is determined by dividing the MVA base the "voltage"-by the per unit
impedance.
In the example the fault level is 45.7MVA. Across the two transformers in
parallel the "voltage" is 45.7 x 0.086 = 3.93 and therefore the contribution to
the fault through the 4MVA transformer is
3.93 = 26.2MVA
0.15
and through the 3MVA transformer
3.93 = 19.5MVA
0.2
Figure 4.3 shows the steps of calculation starting with the system diagram
with reactances at (a), the impedance diagram at (b), the circuit reduction at
(c) and (d) and the establishment of MVA flow at (e) and (f) culminating in the
system diagram with current flow at (g) calculated from I = MVA/√3V. In an
actual calculation some of these steps would be omitted but the object
remains the same. No matter how complicated the network is, the object is to
reduce it to a single impedance from which the fault MVA and its flow in
various parts of the circuit is determined so that the performance of the
protection can be predicted.
The elements of a power system are specified as follows:

(a) Generators and Transformers-per cent impedance on rating.
(b) Feeders and Interconnectors-actual impedance/phase.
(c) Reactors-voltage drop at rated current.

To convert these to per unit values on a common base
(a) Z p.u. = Z% x MVA base

100 MVA rating
(b) Z p.u. = Z x MVA 2base

V
(c) Z p.u. = VR x MVA base

IR V2
Figure 4.4 shows a diagram with all these power system components.
Using a 10 MVA base:
Generator 20 MVA, 25%
Xg = 25 10x = 0.125 p.u.

100 20
Generator
20 MVA
25%
a
Interconnector
0.05Ω
b 11 kV
Transformer
4 MVA
6%
c 3.3 kV
Feeder
0.008Ω
d
Reactor
43.7V
800A
e
FIGURE 4.7 - TYPICAL IMPEDANCE VALUES OF THE COMPONENTS OF A POWER
SYSTEM

Interconnector 0.05Ω, 11kV
10
X = x 0.05 = 0.004 p.u.
11I 2
Transformer 4MVA, 6%
X6T = 10 x = 0.15 p.u.

100 4
Feeder 0.008Ω, 3.3kV

10
Xf 2= x 0.008 = 0.007 p.u.
3.3
Reactor 43.7V, 800A
X10R = 43.7 x = 0.05 p.u.

3.32 800
Fault at a 10
= = 80MVA,
0.125
Fault at b = 10 10 = = 77.5MVA,
0.125 +0.004 0.129
Fault at c = 10 10 = = 35.8MVA,
0.129 +0.15 0.279
Fault at d = 10 10 = = 35MVA,
0.279 +0.007 0.286
Fault at e = 10 10 = = 29.8MVA,
0.286 +0.05 0.336
Typical impedance values can be attributed to all components of a power

system in the absence of definite information. Transformer impedances are
usually easy to determine as the value is marked on the rating plate. The
impedance of generators is usually of secondary importance as most
distribution systems generally have a much higher infeed and fault
contribution from the public electricity supply system. There is, however, a
continuing increase in offshore installations which there is no external supply.
In this case the performance of the generator is of prime importance.

GENERATORS
The performance of a generator under fault conditions is more complicated
than that of any other part of the distribution system.
The fault current is initially about 8 times full-load current decaying rapidly to 5
times full-load current and then decaying less rapidly to less than full-load
current. The three stages are known as sub-transient, transient and
synchronous respectively.
The synchronous or steady-state reactance of a generator is high because of

armature reaction and is in the range of 4.5 to 2.5 p.u. at the machine rating.
The value used is made up of two components the actual reactance of the
machine which is small and a fictitious reactance. When a fault occurs the
current lags the voltage by 90° and the position of the field is such that it is
demagnetised by the current flowing in the stator conductors so that the air-
gap flux and therefore the generated e.m.f. is low. Rather than use this low
e.m.f. and calculate the fault current by dividing it by the actual reactance it is
more convenient to use the initial e.m.f., E, and divide it by a fictitious value to
obtain the same result. The rapid change of flux due to the demagnetising
effect of the stator current results in an induced current in the field which
opposes the change and tends to maintain the field flux. Thus the initial flux,
e.m.f. and fault current are somewhat higher than the steady-state value, and
decay exponentially towards the steady-state value. Once again a fictitious
value of reactance coupled with the e.m.f. is used in calculation-the reactance
being termed the transient value. There is one other effect and that is the
damper winding in the pole face will also produce a flux opposing
demagnetisation and will result in a fault current slightly higher than that
produced under transient conditions. This fault current is of very short
duration, it decays exponentially, and the fictitious value associated with it is
known as the subtransient reactance.
The reactance values associated with a generator are typically
• Subtransient reactance Xd" value 0.12 p.u.
• Transient reactance Xd' value 0.16 p.u.
• Synchronous reactance Xd value 2 p.u.
The e.m.f. at no load would be the same as the system voltage, V, which at
the nominal value is 4. At any other load the e.m.f. would be greater:
E" = [(V + X"d I sin φ)2 + (X"d I cos φ)2]½,
E' = [(V + X'd I sin φ)2 + (X'd I cos φ)2]½,
E = [(V + Xd I sin φ)2 + (Xd I cos φ)2]½,

At normal system voltage where I is the p.u. value of load = 1 at rated MVA
and cosφ is the power factor of the load.
E" = [(1 + X"d I sin φ)2 + (X"d I cos φ)2]½,
for the value given at full load 0.8 p.f.
E" = [(1 + 0.12 x 1 x 0.6) 2 = (0.12 x 1 x 0.8)2] ½,

E" = 4.076.
Subtransient current (or MVA) =1.076 = 8.97 X FL current

0.12
or 8.97 x rated MVA.
Another example:
at 70% load, 0.9p.f.,
cosφ= 0.9, φ = 25.8°,
sinφ= 0.436,
E' = [(1 + 0.16 x 0.7 x 0.436)2 + (0.16 x 0.7 X 0.9)2]½,

E' = 1.054.
Transient current (or MVA) = 1.054 = 6.58 x FL current

0.16
or 6.58 x rated MVA.
The above are the initial values of the current under short-circuit conditions.
The value would disappear in a fraction of second whilst it would take several
seconds for the transient value to decay.
The decay is exponential and typical time constants are

T"d0 = 0.1s,
T'd0 = 5s.
These are open-circuit time constants, under short-circuit conditions the value
is modified as follows:
T"d = X"d T"d0.

Xd
T'd = X'd T'd0.

Xd

These would be the time constants for a terminal fault. If the fault was on the
secondary side of a transformer, reactance XT, connected to the generator
then the short-circuit time constants would be
X"d + XT
T"d = T"d0.
Xd + Xt
X'd + XT
T'd = T'd0.
Xd + Xt
The subtransient current is of interest only to the switchgear designer to

determine closing duty. As far as protection is concerned it has disappeared
before any relay operation.
Both the transient and synchronous values are used to determine the
performance of the protection. The transient value for high-speed and
instantaneous schemes and the synchronous value for any scheme that has a
time delay.
In practice as soon as the fault occurs there would be a reduction in voltage

which would cause the automatic voltage regulator to increase the field thus
increasing the synchronous value from no-load to the value for full load.
Figure 4.8 shows the values calculated above in a graphical form.
8000
Sub-transient
Current (amperes)
6000
4000
Transient
Effect of voltage
Generator on full
load before fault regulator
2000
Generator on no t=∞
load before fault Synchronous
t=∞
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Time (seconds)
FIGURE 4.8 - PERFORMANCE OF A 15MW GENERATOR UNDER FAULT CONDITIONS

CABLES
The resistance of a cable is determined by the cross-sectional area of the
conductors but the reactance depends on the distance between the
conductors, i.e. the insulation thickness which depends on the voltage. The
inductance can be calculated from
L = 0.46 log d μH/m

r
where d is the distance between conductor centres and r is the conductor
geometric mean radius. It should be remembered that the cable made from a
number of strands and the radius which is calculated from area = πr2 is not the
geometric mean radius which is approximately 78% of that value. Also the
actual radius which is used in conjunction with the insulation thickness to
determine d is 15% larger than the calculated value.
Example 400 mm2 cable, 3-core screened, 6350/11000V
400 ½
re = = 11.28mm
π
r = 0.78 x 11.28 = 8.8
insulation thickness 5.6mm
d = (1.15 x 11.28)2 + 5.6 = 31.54 mm
L = 0.46 log33.8 = 0.255μH/m

8.8
and the reactance at 50Hz, X = 2πfL = 2π x 50 x 0.255 = 80 μΩ/m
Where three single-core cables are used there is an increase in reactance

because the distance between the conductors is increased. A 400 mm2
single-core cable has all overall diameter of 39 mm and therefore if the three
cables are mounted in trefoil formation (Fig 4.6(a)) then
L = 0.46 log 39 = 0.297μH/m

8.8
and the reactance at 50Hz X = 93.4 μΩ/m
If the cables are laid flat as in Figure 4.6(b) then d is the geometric mean
distance which is:
d = (d1d2d3)1/3 = (39 x 39 x39 x 2)1/3 = 49.2 mm
L = 0.46 log 49.2 = 0.343μH/m

8.8
and the reactance at 50Hz
X = 108 μΩ/m

There is no need to calculate the value in every instance, a close
approximation can be obtained by using typical values.
d3
d d1 d2
(a) Single-core Cables in Trefoil (b) Single-core Cables laid Flat
FIGURE 4.9 CABLE FORMATION
Reactance in μΩ/m
Three-core Trefoil Flat
11kV 80 95 110
415V 75 87 100
From the actual reactance the per unit reactance at the chosen base can be
calculated from
Z p.u. = MVA 2base x Z (where V is in kV)

V
for example
1 km, 11kV three-core cable
X = 1000 x 80 x 10-6 = 0.08Ω
X p.u. = 10x2 0.08 = 0.0066pu

11
15m, 415 V, three-core cable
X = 15 x 75 x 10-6 = 0.001125Ω
X p.u. = 10 x 0.001125 = 0.065pu

.4152
Comparison of the per unit reactance values shows that the 415V cable will
have a much greater effect on the fault current than the much longer 11kV
cable.

SOURCE IMPEDANCE
This is merely a value which represents the impedance between the system
under consideration and the source. The value is determined by the fault
level at the incoming busbar. If the actual fault level is not known then a value
based on the switchgear rupturing capacity is used. For example, if the fault
level or rupturing capacity is 250 MVA then the source impedance on a 10
MVA base is
10 = 0.04pu
250
Figure 4.7(a) shows part of a typical distribution system and Figure 4.7(b) the
impedance diagram. As can be seen an impedance of 0.04 has been
included to limit the fault level at the plant substation 11kV busbars to 250
MVA.
MOTORS
There is also a contribution to a fault from any induction motors which are
connected at the time of the fault. The initial value will be roughly equal to the
motor-starting current but will decay rapidly to zero. It is mainly of interest to
switchgear and power system designers as the affect on differential protection
is small and the current will have disappeared by the time overcurrent relays
operate. It could affect the operation of fast-acting devices such as fuses or
miniature circuit-breakers but the accuracy of these devices is not of high
order and therefore a precise appraisal is unnecessary.
Synchronous motors behave in the same way as generators, the fault passing
through the subtransient, transient to the synchronous stage.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Figure 4.10(a) shows part of a typical distribution system. There is an
incoming 11 kV supply to the plant substation. Two 11kV interconnectors to
the pump house substation where there are two 11/0.415 kV transformers
The first step is to construct an impedance diagram to a common base, say

10 MVA. The fault level at the plant substation 11 kV busbars is 250 MVA
and therefore the source impedance
10
Xs = = 0.04 p.u.
250
The two interconnectors are each two 300 mm2 cables in parallel and
therefore the reactance of each interconnector is
½ x 600 x 80 x 10-6 = 0.024Ω

10
XI = 0.024 x 2 = 0.002pu
11

E = 10
Plant Substation
0.04
X X 11kV
X
X X
2x300mm2
2x300mm2
3 - core
3 - core
600m
600m
0.002 0.002
X X
11kV
X
X X
1.25MVA 1.25MVA 0.48 0.48

6% 6%
6x1000mm2 6x1000mm2
1 - core 1 - core 0.0726 0.0726
25m X X 25m
415V
X
(a) System Diagram (b) Impedance Diagram
125 125
250
(6400A) (6400A)
122 122
244
(21.9kA) (21.9kA)
15.75 15.75
31.5 2 Trans
16.8 1 Trans
(C) MVA and Current Flow

FIGURE 4.10 SYSTEM, IMPEDANCE, MVA AND CURRENT FLOW DIAGRAMS

The two 1.25 MVA transformers are each
XT = 10 x 6 = 0.48pu
1.25 100
The interconnecting cables to the switchgear are assumed to be flat in
configuration:
½ x 25 x 100 x 10-6 = 0.00125Ω

10
XC = 0.00125 x = 0.0726pu
0.4152
From this diagram the fault level at any particular part can be determined. In
more complicated arrangements it may be necessary to calculate the
combined impedance of various parts of the system and redraw the
impedance diagram to simplify it to the extent where the calculation is
straightforward. It may be that more than one redraw is necessary before the
calculation can be made.
Returning to the impedance diagram of the system shown in Figure 4.10(b):
a fault at the plant substation 11 kV busbar is

10
= 250 MVA, of course,
0.04
a fault at the pump house substation 11kV busbar is
10 10
= = 244 MVA,
0.04 + ½(0.002) 0.041
a fault at the 415V busbar is
10
=10 = 31.5 MVA,
0.041 + ½(0.48 + 0.0726) 0.3173
with two transformers, and
10
0.041 + 0.48 + 0.0726 =10 = 16.8 MVA,
0.5936
with one transformer.
Note that if only one transformer is connected the current per transformer is
greater than if two transformers were connected. The system diagram and
the flow through the various parts of the system is as shown in Figure
4.10(c). Alternatively the actual current flow, marked in brackets, can be
shown.

EARTH FAULTS
The earth-fault level of a distribution system is determined by the method by
which it is earthed. Although earthing at each substation is by means of
electrodes driven into the ground, very little of the earth-fault current flows via
this route.
In distribution system at the higher voltages, i.e. 33kV, 11kV and 6.6kV, the
main earth-fault current flow is via the cable sheath and armouring whereas at
the utilisation voltages of 3.3kV and below the main earth fault is usually a
direct bonded conductor from the equipment to the distribution transformer.
Because the cable sheath and armouring are used on the higher voltages the
earth-fault path has a higher impedance than if it was directly bonded. This
means that for an earth fault at a location removed from the substation where
the distribution transformer is installed a higher proportion of the voltage will
be dropped in the return path of a value such that the voltage at the fault
would be unacceptably high. It is for this reason that all metalwork at each
location must be earthed. When this is done it means that the whole area is
at high voltage and as such does not constitute a danger. It does, however,
stress the insulation of any connections between the fault area and the
distribution point, e.g. pilot wires or telecommunications circuits. Because of
the latter there is a requirement that the rise of earth voltage shall not exceed
430 V at any point. To meet this requirement, in general, requires that 33 kV,
11 kV and 6.6 kV systems be earthed via a neutral earthing resistor.
The effect of a neutral earthing resistor is to limit the earth-fault current to a

relatively low value, which means that during an earth fault most of the
phase/neutral voltage is dropped across this resistor.
The reduction in fault current is also necessary so that the earth-fault current
does not exceed the current-carrying capability of the sheath and armour.
Table 4.1 gives typical resistance values for cable sheath and armour.
Conductor size Lead Steel Combined

(mm2) sheath armour
50 1250 700 450
70 1050 650 400
95 950 600 370
120 870 570 340
150 760 540 310
185 700 500 290
240 570 460 250
300 500 340 200
400 430 310 180
TABLE 4.1. - RESISTANCE OF LEAD SHEATH AND STEEL WIRE ARMOUR FOR
THREE-CORE PILCSWA, 6350/11,000V CABLE

The value of resistance chosen for the neutral earthing resistor is such that
the earth-fault current is limited to around the full-load current of the
transformer and so, for the purpose of assessing relay performance, it can be
assumed that this will be the earth-fault level of the whole system.
Usually each transformer will have its own neutral earthing resistor and all
transformers in a group must be earthed. There will be, therefore, an earth-
fault level throughout the system which, as far as the protection is concerned,
is dependent only on the number of transformers connected.
The earth-fault level of a 415 V system is almost indeterminate. The rupturing

capacity of the switchgear is usually 31 MVA which is a maximum fault current
of 43,000 A and yet if the fault path has an impedance of only 0.1Ω the fault
current is reduced to almost a twentieth of that value.
E=1
E=1
500MVA 11kV 0.002
X
X X Source
0.002
1MVA
6%
0.03
Cable Transformer 0.06 = 0.03
0.004 p.u. =
2 2
X X
415V
X
0.002
X Cable 0.004
= = 0.002
Cable 2 2 0.002
0.01 p.u.
Bonding 0.01
B
1MVA Base Cable
0.01 0.01
(a)
3-phase fault
earth fault
FIGURE 4.11 IMPEDANCE DIAGRAM SHOWING EARTH RETURN IMPEDANCE

As shown earlier cable impedance does have a large effect on the fault level
at 415V and a sufficiently accurate value of earth-fault level can be obtained if
the reactance of the return path is assumed to be the same as the cable
reactance from the transformer to the fault. In other words, in the system
shown in Figure 4.8 for a fault at B the three-phase fault level would be:
1 1 = = 22.7MVA
0.002 + ½(0.06 + 0.004) + 0.01 0.044
(31.6kA)
and the earth-fault level approximately

1 1 = = 17.9 (24.9kA)
0.044 + ½(0.004) + 0.01 0.056

SECTION 5
PRINCIPLES OF DISCRIMINATION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 87
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATION. ......................................................... 89
DISCRIMINATION ................................................................................... 90
THE NEED ........................................................................................... 90
THE APPLICATION ............................................................................. 90
DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN FUSES, MCCBS AND MCBS ............... 92
BACKUP FUSES ................................................................................. 92

INTRODUCTION
Protection is needed to remove as speedily as possible any part of the
equipment in which a fault has developed. So long as it is connected the
whole system is in jeopardy from three main effects of the fault, namely:
• a risk of extended damage to the affected plant.
• a risk of damage to healthy plant.
• a risk of extending the outage to other plant on the consumer’s
premise and even to other consumers of the Board, with resultant
loss of protection and interruption of vital processes.
It is the function of protective equipment, in association with the automatic
switch fuse or circuit breaker to avert those effects.
Where continuity of supply is considered essential alternative feeds are

necessary. But, if full advantage is to be gained from this additional capital
outlay, the protection must be highly ‘selective’ in its function.
For this it must possess the quality known as ‘discrimination’ whereby it is

able to select and disconnect only the faulty element leaving all others in
normal operation so far as it is possible.
If we consider some typical electrical layouts the need for discrimination will
become clear.
Figure 5.1:- shows an 11kV Oil fuse switch (OFS) controlling a transformer
beyond which there are a bank of Low Voltage (LV) fuses. Clearly a fault as
indicated must be interrupted by fuse A so that supply may continue to the
other circuits. The 11kV OFS must not trip.
415/240V
11kV
X
Fault Current
FIGURE 5.1 - 11KV OIL FUSE SWITCH
Figure 5.2 shows a Radial System. A fault as indicated must be interrupted

by a circuit breaker at C, even though the fault is on the LV side of one
transformer. The Board owned circuit breaker must not trip.

11kV
X
A X B X C X
X X 415/240V X X
FIGURE 5.2 RADIAL SYSTEM WITH CIRCUIT BREAKERS
If the protection has discriminated correctly supply will remain via the two
transformers controlled by A and B.
Repairs will, of course, be required before supply can be restored to the

remaining two transformers.
Figure 5.3 shows a Closed Ring Main System. A fault as indicated must be
cleared by circuit breaks at A and B so that all supplies remain uninterrupted.
Main S/S S/S No 1

X
X X X X A
X S/S No 3 S/S No 2
X X X B
FIGURE 5.3 - CLOSED RING MAIN SYSTEM
Figure 5.4 shows a more economic Ring Main System using non-automatic oil
switches. A fault as indicated must, however, be cleared by a circuit breaker
at the main substation thereby causing loss of supply to substation No. 1.
This supply can be restored by manual switching before repairs commence.

Main S/S S/S No 1
X
X X
X S/S No 3 S/S No 2
FIGURE 5.4 OPEN RING MAIN SYSTEM
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATION.
The type of layout will depend upon how important the supply of electricity is,
the load required, and whether, in the circumstances, the capital outlay can be
justified considering that OCB’s with relay protection may cost over 4 times as
much as a fuse switch or contactor with fuse backup.
The cost of protection, however, can be likened to a premium for insurance

against damage to plant and loss of supply. The cost will normally be small
compared to the amount of capital protected.
With your insurance it is not sufficient to await a disaster before reading the
small print to see if you are covered. So it is with Protection that you must
pay close attention to detail, before a fault occurs, to ensure that the
maximum benefit is obtained.

DISCRIMINATION
THE NEED
It has already been stated that one of the main purposes of protection was to
remove a faulty equipment or circuit from the electrical system so that as
much as possible of the system could continue to function normally. It is
therefore desirable that any particular fault should be cleared by that
protection device which will perform the service with the least effect on
healthy parts, and not by some device further upstream which would
disconnect an unnecessarily large section of the system. For example, if a
fault occurs on one of a number of circuits fed from one transformer, it is
better to isolate that particular circuit by its own circuit breaker or fuse than
that the transformer should be disconnected from the supply by its primary
overcurrent protection or the generator tripped. This preferential or selective
operation of protection devices is known as 'discrimination'.
THE APPLICATION
Almost all switchgear is fitted with overcurrent protection of some sort. If a
fault develops low down in the system, fault current will flow right through the
network from the supply generator, through every intervening switch, down to
the fault point itself. All these overcurrents will be detected by the relays of
each individual switch, and, if no steps were taken to prevent it, all might trip
together, so shutting down the whole system for what might have been a
purely local fault.
G
T3
CX
i
X X BX F t
Q t
T3
X
T2 T2 C
B
T1
XAX X X i A
F i
P t
Load Load
I III
Load Load T1
II IV i
F
FIGURE 5.5 SIMPLE DISCRIMINATION

The overall protection system is therefore developed so that the breaker (or
fuse) nearest the fault operates first, thereby isolating only the fault itself. If
this does not clear it, the breaker nearest upstream of the fault operates next,
thereby isolating only the minimum number of consumers. If this one does
not clear, the next upstream breaker operates, and this continues until the
generator breaker trips, but only as a last resort. Each breaker backs up the
one below it.
It has already been shown that most protective devices, such as overcurrent
relays and fuses, have an inverse-time characteristic as shown in the middle
column of Figure 5.5. This causes the tripping time to vary inversely as the
magnitude of the fault current. It has also been shown that in relays the
characteristic curve can be altered by adjustment of the relay current and time
settings. For fuses the characteristic cannot be altered, but a different
characteristic can be obtained by choosing a different fuse.
In Figure 5.5 it has been assumed that relay settings have been chosen and
applied:
• for the generator circuit-breaker (breaker C),
• for the HV feeder circuit-breaker (breaker B),
• for the LV feeder overcurrent device (breaker or fuse A),
as shown in the characteristic curves of the middle column. For the purposes
of direct comparison the three curves have been drawn to the same scales of
time and current referred to a common base voltage.
All three curves are superimposed on the right. If the settings have been
properly chosen, the curves should appear as shown, each clear of the other
at all points. Since these curves are subject to tolerance (a relay accuracy of
+7% is usual, and there will be other errors), the curves should all be well
clear of each other.
If a fault of current value F (adjusted to a common base voltage) appears at

point P on the network, the fault current flows through all the breakers A, B
and C. Characteristics of A, B and C show that this current would trip (or blow
the fuse) A in time T1 , B in time T2 and C in time T3. Provided that A does trip
or blow in time T1 , the fault will be removed and B and C will not trip at all and
all the other consumers on both boards will remain in service.
Should A fail to trip or blow, or if the fault were at point Q higher in the
network, the first breaker to trip would be B in time T2, but C would remain
closed. More consumers would be lost, but the generator would remain on-
line feeding all others. Only if both A and B failed to clear would C trip and
take the generator itself off-line.
It should be noted that the time delay increases as the tripping point moves
nearer the supply source (in this case the generator). For this reason
generators and their HV switchgear have to have a 3-second through-fault
rating under British and European rules, calling in general for heavier

copperwork, whereas distribution switchgear normally has only a 1-second
through-fault rating. (The 3-second rating does not apply in the US.)
DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN FUSES, MCCBs AND MCBs

To achieve adequate discrimination between two fuses of similar type, it is
usual to give the major fuse about three times the normal current rating of the
minor fuse. Between a moulded case circuit-breaker and a minor fuse the
ratio can be reduced to about two.
Because Moulded Case Circuit-breakers (MCCBs) and Miniature Circuit-

breakers (MCBs) have instantaneous trips in addition to their normal thermal
trips, they will not discriminate with each other at the higher currents. For this
reason it is bad practice to install two MCCBs or MCBs in series, even though
they may have different trip units.
BACKUP FUSES
Contactors, MCCBs and MCBs are not described as part of this manual and
although they can all close onto a fault and carry it for a very short time, their
breaking capacities are strictly limited and are far below those of conventional
circuit-breakers.
When used to control equipment in networks, their breaking capacities are

usually much lower than the fault levels of the system at the points where they
are installed. For example, a high-voltage contactor with a maximum
breaking capacity of, say, 180MVA at 6.6kV is often used on a high-voltage
switchboard where the fault level may be 500MVA. Similarly low voltage
contactors with a maximum breaking capacity of 15MVA at 440V, or an
MCCB with a breaking capacity of l5MVA, may well be installed in an LV
system where the fault level is 3lMVA, or even 50MVA. If any one of these
was ever called upon to break such fault currents, it would undoubtedly fail
and probably cause a fire. To remove these risk contactors, MCCBs and
MCBs are where necessary backed up by HRC fuses in series. Such fuses
would be chosen with a breaking current rating to suit the fault levels of the
system at the switchboard in which they are used. LV fuses used on offshore
or onshore installations have a maximum breaking current rating up to an
equivalent of 61MVA.

G
X T1
50MVA P
HRC
Fuse
T2
Fuse
Contactor i
or MCCB F1 F F2
(9MVA)
Max Permissible
Fault Current for
MCCB or Contactor
FIGURE 5.6 DISCRIMINATION BY BACKUP FUSE
An LV back-up fuse and its contactor are shown (in single-line) in Figure 5.6
(a). The fuse, and the contactor (or MCCB) in series with it, both pass the
same fault current. The characteristics of most HRC fuses, which are thermal
devices and therefore of the inverse-time form, are generally of a somewhat
different shape from those of the overcurrent relay protecting the contactor or
of the MCCB tripping device. Two typical characteristics, for the fuse and for
the contactor relay or MCCB, are shown in Figure 5.6(b).
The contactor relay or MCCB settings and the HRC fuse ratings are so
chosen that their characteristics cross just below the limiting breaking current
(for example 20kA at 440V) of the contactor or MCCB. Suppose the curves
cross at point P, corresponding to the maximum permissible fault current F for
the contactor or MCCB, then for a fault current F1 less than F, the contactor or
MCCB will be the first to open in time T1 , and it will be well within its rating.
For a fault current F2 greater than F which could damage the contactor or
MCCB, the fuse will operate first in time T2, so protecting the contactor or
MCCB which will then open on a 'dead' circuit. Fuses can even be used to
back up a main circuit-breaker where the fault level is near to, or exceeds, its
rated breaking capacity. (This can happen, for example, when the generating
capacity of a network is extended after the switchgear has been installed.)
This use of fuses as a back-up for both HV and LV switchgear is very

common on offshore installation systems. Unlike circuit-breakers or
contactors they cannot be reclosed but must be physically replaced after
blowing.
It should be noted that the back-up fuse selected is chosen solely for its
characteristic curve and not for its normal current rating. It is not intended as
overload protection, which is catered for by the contactor. It is there only to
protect the contactor itself against heavy short-circuits. The actual normal
current rating of such a fuse may seem to bear little relation to the load on the
circuit in which it is used, and it must always be replaced by an identical fuse,

not one with a normal rating apparently more suited to the circuit. If this is not
done the whole back-up protection is lost.
BASIS OF OVERCURRENT PROTECTION

Overcurrent protection is related primarily to heating effects in, and in some
circumstances to electromechanical forces on, electrical conductors and may
cover both fault and overload protection.
Overcurrent protection methods may be divided into three categories

according to the type of device used:
• Overcurrent relay tripping a circuit-breaker or contactor .
• Direct tripping device (‘release’) on a circuit –breaker or contactor.
• Fuse.
A distinction should be made between the terms ‘overcurrent’ and ‘overload’.

Whereas the mechanical overloading of a machine will certainly cause
overcurrents, overcurrents can occur from causes other than overloading – for
example, stalling or single-phasing of a motor, short-circuits or earth faults,
none of which is an overload.
The term ‘overload’ should be reserved for mechanical loading, and the word
‘overcurrent’ should be used in its literal sense. All the devices described in
this chapter are true overcurrent sensors.
OVERCURRENT PROTECTION RELAYS

Overcurrent devices, though all depend on an excess of current to operate
them, are of several different forms; these are described below.
Instantaneous Overcurrent
An instantaneous overcurrent relay is shown pictorially in Figure 3.1. It

consists of a simple iron armature attracted by coil carrying the current from a
line current transformer and restored to its rest position either by gravity or by
a control spring. When the current in the coil just exceeds a certain preset
value, the pull on the armature overcomes the spring or gravity and causes it
to close. In so doing it operates auxiliary contacts which initiate a tripping
circuit or other desired function.
Though termed ‘instantaneous’ this type of relay nevertheless requires a small

but finite time to operate; this is usually taken to be a maximum of 0.2
seconds, but it is often much less. The current/time characteristic is thus a
‘square’ one as indicated in Figure 3.1(c). The value of the current required to
operate the relay is set by the screw adjustment at the top.
In a single-phase system a current transformer in one line is connected to the

relay coil. In a 3-phase system a current transformer in each phase is
connected to one of three relay coils. The three relay elements may be
enclosed in one case or in separate cases. However, in a 3-phase, 3-wire.

system any overcurrent in one line must be accompanied by an overcurrent in
one
FI
GURE 5.7 – TYPICAL INSTANTANEOUS OVERCURRENT RELAY
or both of the return lines. Therefore, to achieve complete overcurrent

protection in a 3-wire system, it is only necessary to provide overcurrent relay
elements in two of the three phases.
Inverse Definite Minimum Time Overcurrent (IDMT)
An inverse-time overcurrent relay is shown pictorially in Figure 5.8. It has an

'induction-type' movement similar to that of a household meter. It consists of a
rotating aluminium disc driven by a shaded-pole magnet element which
receives the driving current from the CT in the circuit to be monitored.
As in a household meter, the disc also revolves between the poles of an eddy-
current brake magnet; it is restrained by alight pre-tensioned control
hairspring.
The relay is used with current transformers in single-phase or 3-phase
systems as described for simple overcurrent type and as shown in Figures
5.8(a) and (b).
When normal current flows from the CT a driving torque is applied to the disc,
but it is prevented from rotating by the pre-tensioned spring. If the current
exceeds a certain preset value the disc begins to move and is driven, against

the drag of the brake, right round until a contact on the spindle touches a fixed
contact.
FIG
URE 5.8 – TYPICAL INVERSE TIME OVERCURRENT RELAY
The greater the excess of current above this value, the greater the drive
torque and the faster the disc tries to rotate. But the drag of the eddy-current
brake also increases with the speed of rotation, and its slowing effect is
greatest at the highest currents.

The combined effect of this is to produce a time/current characteristic as
shown in Figure 5.8(c). For currents less than a certain minimum the disc
does not move at all. For currents in excess of the 'just move' minimum the
disc moves, and the operating time becomes shorter with increasing current -
that is, it has an 'inverse-time' characteristic.
Two setting adjustments are possible with this relay: current and time. Current
adjustments are made by fixed taps on the driving coil. They are usually set
by moving a peg between a number of holes on the front of the relay face.
Typically the range is from 50% to 200% of the normaI operating current (1 A
or 5A depending on the CT used). The time adjustment is made by moving
the 'fixed' contact so as to increase or decrease the travel of the disc before
the contacts touch. The relay is fitted either with a time-scale marked in
seconds, or more usually with a 'time multiplier' adjustment, which is used in
conjunction with curves supplied with the relay.
Relays could be custom-made to operate with any given CT and any given
circuit data, but in practice relays are manufactured to certain standard
conditions, and adjustments are provided to match this standard relay into a
wide variety of circuit arrangements. This results in a fairly complicated setting
procedure which is described in detail below.
Setting of an IDMT Relay
A standard inverse-time overcurrent relay designed to work on a nominal

secondary current of 1 A is fed from a 400/1 A current transformer. Suppose
the normal full-Ioad line current is 500A, then at full load the CT secondary
current will be 1.25A -higher than the relay's designed working current. The
relay must therefore be slightly desensitised. The operating coil has several
taps, and a tap which reduces the effective turns by 20% is chosen by
inserting the plug in the 125% socket.
Thus, 1.25A (the actual or 'effective' current) through 20% less turns has the
same effect (ampere-turns) as the designed 1 A through the full turns; that is
to say, with the 1.25A coming in, the relay will operate as designed for a 1 A
input, and it will have the same designed characteristic time/current curve.
Thus the current plug setting compensates for any deviation between the CT
rated primary and the actual full-load current. If there is no deviation the plug
is set at 100%.
For cases where the CT primary current rating is greater than the full-load
current, the relay must be made more sensitive, and the tappings are
extended below the nominal 1 A (100%) so as to increase the effective turns
(an 'auto-transformer' effect). Hence there are 75% and 50% plug positions. It
should always be remembered that settings below 100% make the relay more
sensitive, and settings above 100% make it less sensitive.
The plug settings 50% to 200% are seven discrete sockets, and no
intermediate position is possible. If a calculated setting (e.g. 110%) comes
between two positions, the next higher setting should be used.

Some relays, instead of having plugs marked in current percentages as
already described, are marked in CT secondary amperes - for example 0.5,
0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2.0A instead of 50%, 75%, 100%,1 25%, 150%,
175% and 200% -but the purpose is the same.
Other relays are designed for use with 5A current transformer secondaries. If
the plugs are marked in current amperes, the markings would be 2.5, 3.75,
5.0, 6.25, 7.5, 8.75 and 10.0A.
If the calculated line fault current is, say, 5000A -that is, 10 times the normal
full-load current in the case of Figure 3.3 -the CT secondary will then give
12.5A. Note that this is 10 times the plug setting, not 10 times the nominal 1 A
(= 100% setting). Consequently the horizontal axis of the characteristic is
scaled in 'Current (Multiples of Plug Setting 50% -200%)’, not simply in
multiples of full-load current.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine what current and timing settings
should be put on the relay to achieve any desired time delay in its operation
when subjected to a given short-circuit current. It therefore only remains,
having determined the current operating plug setting for the calculated short-
circuit current at the point where the relay is installed, to choose the time
multiplier which will give the desired time delay.
FI
GURE 5.9 RELAY SETTING CURVES
Figure 5.9 is a set of time/current characteristic curves as provided with a
typical IDMT relay. Both scales are logarithmic.

For the above circuit it has already been determined that a plug setting of
125% is required, and that a short-circuit current of 5000A will mean a current
10 times that of the plug setting. If in Figure 3.4 a vertical line is drawn
through the current multiplier point '10' on the horizontal axis, this is the 'relay
operating line' for that short-circuit current.
Suppose the discrimination calculation requires a time delay of 1.35 seconds

at this point in the network. Draw a horizontal line through the point 1.355 on
the 'Operating Time' (that is vertical) axis. Let it cut the vertical relay operating
line at point P.
It will be seen from Figure 5.9 that p lies between the Time Multiplier curves
0.4 and 0.5. By interpolation it would be 0.44. Although such a setting would
be possible, it is usual to choose the next higher, namely 0.5 (point Q). This
setting will actually give a time delay of 1.5 seconds at 5000A -very slightly
higher than the desired 1.35, which errs on the safe side.
Similarly, if a calculated current plug-setting came between two sockets, the

next higher plug-setting should be used. This too errs on the safe side in
making the relay marginally less sensitive, needing slightly more time to
operate for a given fault current.
Example
It is required to determine the current and timing settings on an OCIT relay to
give a 1.35s delay with a short-circuit current of 5000A. Full-load current is
450A and the CT ratio is 400/1 A. (Note that in this example the full-Ioad
current is slightly different from before in order to show how an 'in-between'
figure should be interpolated.)
The setting sequence is shown in Figure 5.10 and uses the curves of Figure
5.9.

FI
GURE 5.10 – TO FIND THE SETTINGS
It should be noted that the plug setting in this case comes out at 1.125, or
112.5%. There is no such plug position, so the next higher one, 125%, is
chosen.
From here, the plug having been inserted in the 125% position, carry on as
before. The 5000A short-circuit current represents 10 times the chosen plug
setting. Draw a vertical line through '10' on the Current Multiplier axis of
Figure 3.4 and let it cut the horizontal through the desired delay time of 1.35
seconds. The crossing point P falls between the Time Multiplier curves 0.4
and 0.5, so the larger is chosen. This will give an actual time delay (horizontal
through Q) of 1.5 seconds, slightly longer than the 1.35 desired.

Combined Inverse Time Overcurrent and High Set
Instantaneous Relay
An inverse-time relay may be equipped with an additional instantaneous
element in the same casing but operating at a 'high-set' current value. This
gives it the feature of a combined 'inverse-time and high-set instantaneous'
relay, the instantaneous feature overriding the time delay only on the most
severe faults.
This arrangement is particularly desirable where overcurrent protection is

installed near the generator end of a network. It is at this end that
discrimination requires the longest delays, and a purely inverse-time relay
would allow a severe short-circuit to persist until eventually cleared. An
overriding high-set instantaneous overcurrent relay, fed through the same
CTs and actuating the same trip circuit, would clear such currents very
quickly. It would however operate only on severe faults and would take no
part in fault currents below its own high setting.
Usually a 3-element IDMT relay (one per phase) would be combined with two
instantaneous high-set elements in two phases only -all in a single case.
Inverse and Definite Minimum Time

An inverse and definite minimum time overcurrent relay is shown pictorially in
Figure 5.11. The current transformer arrangements with single-phase or 3-
phase systems are similar to those for the simple overcurrent relay and are
shown in Figures 5.11(a) and (b).
This relay is simply a variation of the inverse-time type shown in Figure 5.8,
but here the characteristic, instead of tending towards zero time for the
highest fault currents, now tends towards a definite and finite small value, as
in Figure 5.11(c). This is built into the relay and cannot be adjusted.
The relay is similar in construction to the normal inverse-time type shown in

Figure 5.8.
The purpose of this variation is to render the relay settings more accurate. All
characteristic curves are subject to tolerance, and the separation of the
sloping curves of Figure 5.8 at the high-current end for different relays has to
be enough to allow for such tolerances. Therefore tripping delays would need
to be longer than would be necessary with more accurate curves. The definite
minimum time feature at the highest currents, making the curves horizontal at
those currents, enables greater accuracy (that is, smaller tolerance) to be
achieved, resulting in less separation of the curves and consequently shorter
tripping times.
An IDMT relay may be combined with instantaneous high-set overcurrent

elements as described for an OCIT relay in paragraph 3.2.4. It is shown in
dotted outline in Figure 3.6.

FIGURE 5.11 - TYPICAL INVERSE AND DEFINITE MINIMUM TIME
OVERCURRENT RELAY
Relays - General
Most protective relays are fitted with flags which indicate when they have
operated. They show the operator, for example, which of the protective
systems may have caused a turbo-generator to have tripped out. Such relays
are themselves normally self-resetting -that is, they revert to their normal state
as soon as the fault has been removed. This may occur either because the
circuit-breaker has tripped, so disconnecting the fault, or because the fault
itself has disappeared. The flag however remains showing until it has been
reset by hand.
In some protective systems, particularly for generators and transformers, all

the protective relays trip the breaker through an intervening hand-reset trip, or
'lock-out', relay (TH). It too has a flag, but this relay, having once operated,
does not reset itself automatically and so prevents the breaker being reclosed
until the relay has been deliberately reset by hand. This prevents accidental
reclosure onto a fault, and the breaker remains locked out until cleared by the
operator resetting the lock-out relay.
Whenever an item of plant has tripped because one of the protective systems
has operated, it is most important that the operator should not reset the relay
flags until he has carefully noted down which flags are showing. If this is not

done, all evidence of the cause of the malfunction will be lost. The lock-out
relay must on no account be reset until it is safe to operate the plant again.
Electronic Relays
Those relays which have so far been described are of the 'electromagnetic'
type, where an electromagnet provides the driving force to a mechanical
system of moving armature or rotating disc and mechanical contacts.
Many of these relays are now being superseded on offshore, and numerous
onshore, insulations by electronic types which are entirely static except for
their final output contacts. Electronic circuits carry out the detection,
processing and timing; only the output circuit is passed through normal
electromagnetic auxiliary contacts to the external trip circuits. This also
isolates the trip circuits proper from the electronics.
An electronic counterpart exists for almost every relay described in this and
succeeding chapters. To illustrate the principle of operation, a single-phase,
electronic inverse-time and instantaneous overcurrent relay is described here
and shown in Figure 5.12.
The input from the line current transformer is fed through a small adapting
transformer to a low-pass filter R 1-C1 which suppresses transient voltage
surges. A voltage proportional to the input current is developed across the
current-setting potentiometer R2. This voltage is applied to the bridge rectifier.

FI
GURE 5.12 - ELECTRONIC OVERCURRENT RELAY
The d.c. output voltage, which is proportional to the line current, is used to
charge the capacitor C2 through the potentiometer R5. The setting of this
potentiometer determines the rate at which the voltage across C2 increases
and hence the timing of the inverse-time operating characteristic of the relay.
When the voltage across C2 reaches a predetermined value, the detector
circuit operates to switch the electromechanical relay RLA through the output
amplifier and power transistor T2.
Instantaneous operation is obtained by applying the output voltage of the

bridge rectifier directly to the input of the amplifier through R4. Thus, for
higher values of fault current, the inverse-time delay circuit is bypassed.
The power supply for the solid-state circuits is applied through 03 and R6. It is
stabilised by zener diode DZl, and spike protection is afforded by R7 and C3.
The diode D3 protects against reversed polarity of the d.c. power supply.
By suitable choice of elements the electronic relay current/time characteristic

can be made to reproduce exactly that of the equivalent electromagnetic type.
Having virtually no moving parts, they are, in general, more robust, smaller
and lighter. Current and time settings in this case are applied through simple
variable resistors.

SECTION 6
SHORT CIRCUIT AND EARTH FAULT PROTECTION
CONTENTS
FUSES ................................................................................................... 106
THE HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY (HRC) FUSE ........................... 106
EARTH FAULT AND EARTH LEAKAGE PROTECTION ..................... 115
SYSTEM EARTHING - GENERAL ..................................................... 115
UNEARTHED SYSTEMS .................................................................. 115
EARTHED SYSTEMS........................................................................ 116
EARTH-FAULT CURRENTS ............................................................. 117
RESISTANCE EARTHING ................................................................ 118
MULTIPLE GENERATOR EARTHING .............................................. 119
TRANSFORMER SECONDARY EARTHING .................................... 120
DRILLING PACKAGES...................................................................... 121

FUSES
THE HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY (HRC) FUSE
A fuse consists essentially of a length of metallic wire or strip carrying the circuit
current which, if that current exceeds a certain stated value for a certain minimum
time, will melt and break the path of the current in that circuit. It has both a normal
current rating corresponding to its service current and a breaking current rating
corresponding to the maximum fault current of that part of the system m which it
will be used.
Originally fuses consisted merely of a length of suitable wire stretched between

the terminals of a holder, the holder being designed to plug into permanent fixed
sockets. These had the disadvantages of having much exposed live metal, and
the melting open wire tended, under some conditions, to give rise to severe
arcing and risk of fire. The wire also tended to corrode and weaken with the
passage of time.
The open-wire fuse is no longer used, haying been superseded by the cartridge
type. That used on offshore and onshore installations consists of an outer
ceramic tube in which there is a silver fusible element completely surrounded by
quartz powder, as shown on the left of Figure
6.1.
FI
GURE 6.1 - PRINCIPLE OF THE HIGH RUPTURING CAPACITY FUSE

If sufficient current flows through the silver element for sufficient time, the
element melts and vaporises; it reacts chemically with the quartz, under the
heat of the arc, to produce a block of highly insulating material in the path of
the arc, as shown on the right of Figure 3.10. This rapidly suppresses the arc
and, unless the current is much in excess of the fuse rating, it will break the
fault current within a matter of milliseconds. Such fuses can break very large
prospective fault currents by simply preventing those currents from ever
building up. The fuses are consequently known as 'High Rupturing Capacity'
(HRC) type.
FI
GURE 6.2 - FAULT CURRENT IN OPEN WIRE AND HRC FUSES
Figure 6.2 (a) shows a fault current passing through an open-wire fuse. The
current may continue for several cycles of arcing before it is eventually broken
at a current zero.

When a moderate fault current passes through an HRC fuse the melting time
will be comparatively slow, and the current may continue for several cycles
before it is broken – in fact the HRC fuse will behave just like the open-wire
type in Figure 6.2 (a). If however the fault current is very large, the melting
time will be less than one-quarter of a cycle. The ensuing arcing time is so
short that the current is broken even before it reaches its first peak, as shown
in Figure 6.2 (b). Such a fuse is said to exhibit 'cut-off'. If the current wave is
wholly asymmetrical the first peak is not reached until half a cycle has
elapsed, and cut-off may occur if the melting time is somewhat longer -i.e.
less than half a cycle. If it had not been for this cut-off, the fault current would
have risen to its full-fault peak (called the 'prospective current' peak) before
reaching its first zero. The fuse, by cutting off, has protected the whole system
from the effects of this severe peak. It is therefore given credit for having
interrupted the full prospective current, even though in fact the current may
never reach it because of cut-off. The fault rating of an HRC fuse is
consequently very high for its size.
There is often confusion between the 'normal' and 'breaking' current ratings of
a fuse. The normal rating is matched to the load and is the maximum value of
current which the fuse can carry continuously without melting or deteriorating.
The breaking rating is the maximum prospective current which the fuse can
safely interrupt at its rated voltage; it is usually quoted in kiloamperes (kA) rms
symmetrical and is related to the system fault level.
The energy needed to melt a fuse is the product of the rate of heat generation
(in watts) due to the fault current in the resistance of the element and of the
total time during which such heat is being generated. It is I2 R x t, where I is
the rms current, R the resistance of the element and t the total time. Since R
is virtually fixed for any given size of fuse, the energy released is proportional
to I2 t.
A specific fuse element requires a given I2 t to melt it. Therefore when I is very
large, t (the melting time) will be very small, as indicated in Figure 6.2 (b). I2 t
is often referred to as the 'let through' energy.

FI
GURE 6.3 FUSE CHARACTERISTIC
If the melting (or 'pre-arcing') time t is plotted against I (usually on log paper),
the curve of Figure 6.3 is produced. Most of this is the familiar inverse-time
curve which many relays also have. There is of course a minimum current
which will never melt the fuse however long it is applied, but above this lower
limit the fusing time varies inversely as the current. The upper limit is set by
the ability of a given make and size of fuse to absorb the 12t energy and to
handle the mechanical forces involved.
As the fault current becomes higher, the melting (or pre-arcing) time becomes
shorter until the point is reached where it is less than one-quarter of a cycle
(0.004 seconds at 60Hz), and cut-off begins. From this point on the
characteristic changes and becomes almost linear, as shown on the extreme
right of Figure 3.12 (this is because 'rms' no longer has any meaning). With a
fully asymmetrical current wave, cut-off may occur up to one-half of a cycle
(0.008 seconds at 60Hz) after the onset of the fault.

Fusing Element
Figure 6.4 shows a silver wire as the fusing element. This is normal with small
fuses, but for larger ones a silver {or sometimes copper) strip is often used, as
shown in Figure 3.13.
FI
GURE 6.4 - BASIC CONSTRUCTION OF AN HRC FUSE LINK
The strip has a number of constrictions which form hot spots and assist rapid
melting under short-circuit conditions. For the heaviest currents a number of
such strips may be connected in parallel within the common housing, or many
separate fuse-Iinks may be permanently bonded in parallel to form a single
multiple link.
Fuse Mountings
Within an equipment, especially high-voltage assemblies, fuses are often
mounted without individual enclosure on pillar insulators or directly on
busbars. Reliance for safety is placed on the metal enclosure of the HV
compartment which houses them. Interlocks prevent the compartment being
opened until the circuit has been made safe.
On low-voltage distribution boards fuses are housed in a fuse assembly such

as the typical one shown in Figure 6.5. The replaceable ceramic cartridge with
its metal terminal caps is known as the 'fuse-Iink' and is held in an insulated
'fuse-carrier' which completely shrouds all live metal. The carrier is supported
on an insulated 'fuse base', where it is firmly fixed by various mechanical
means, amongst them tongue contacts, butt contacts held by insulated screw
pressure, or wedge contacts pressed in by insulated screws. A tongue-contact
type is shown in Figure 6.5.

FIGURE 6.5 - COMPLETE LOW VOLTAGE FUSE ASSEMBLY (TYPICAL)
Fusing Factor
A fuse has a 'normal current rating', which is the current which it can carry
continuously without melting or deteriorating and without altering its
characteristic. The current which, under specified ambient temperature
conditions, will just cause the fuse to melt after a prolonged time (usually
taken to be four hours) is termed the 'minimum fusing current'.
The ratio minimum fusing current is called the 'fusing factor' of that fuse.
normal rated current

Fuses are manufactured to different fusing factors for various applications.
They are given classification accordingly as follows:
Class 02 Fusing factor greater than 2.0

Class 01 Fusing factor between 1.5 and 2.0
Class P Fusing factor between 1.2 and 1.5
In Figure 3.12 the time/current characteristic of the 100A (normal rating) fuse
is shown to become almost vertical after 10 seconds, at which point the
minimum fusing current is 125A. After four hours it will still be only 125A, as
the curve is vertical. The fusing factor in this case is 125/100 or 1.25, and its
Class is therefore P.
Fuses which protect motor circuits often have a dual rating. Against steady
overloads a fusing factor of about 1.2 (Class P) is usual, but, to allow starting
currents to flow, a short-time overcurrent rating of the order of 1.6 times
normal is given (this is inherent in their time/current characteristics). Such a
fuse with a normal 100A rating would be termed '100M160'. A marking of this
type indicates that the fuse is specifically for motor protection.
Obviously the surrounding temperature, as well as the manufacturing

tolerances, will affect the precise current at which the fuse will melt; the higher
the ambient temperature, the less the current (and therefore the heat} needed
to melt the metal. Consequently the fusing factor, though easy enough to
understand, is not a precise quantity and should therefore be used with care.
To overcome this the International Standards, and even the latest British
Standard No.88, no longer refer to fusing factor but use instead two other
quantities: the 'maximum non-fusing current' and the 'minimum fusing current',
which represent the lower and upper limits of the grey area in between. The
maximum non-fusing current is that current which, under any normal
operating conditions, will never melt the fuse no matter how long it is
sustained. The minimum fusing current is that current which, under any
normal operating conditions, will be guaranteed to melt the fuse if sustained
for the specified time (usually stated to be four hours or one hour).
These two quantities are usually given, like the fusing factor, as a multiple (or
percentage) of the normal rated current: e.g. a maximum non-fusing current of
1.2 times rated current and a minimum fusing current of 1.6 times. Such a
dual rating would previously have been referred to as a fusing factor of 1.4,
being the average of the two.
In practice, with varying ambient temperature and with normal manufacturing

tolerances, the current which will just fuse the element when sustained for the
specified time will fall somewhere between these two extremes. Thus a 100A
normal rated fuse may have a maximum non-fusing current of 120A and a
minimum fusing current of 160A. We know then that it will never fuse below
120A and that it is guaranteed to fuse above 160A if sustained for the
specified time. In practice it may fuse anywhere between.

Because of these uncertainties, particularly at low overcurrents, fuses are not
particularly effective in the low overcurrent region and are not generally
suitable for overload as distinct from short-circuit protection. In such cases the
contactor, if fitted, provides the protection against overload.
Service of Fuses
Fuses may be used in various ways to protect equipment downstream of

them. These services may be grouped as follows:
General Application. The fuse protects all equipment and cable against the
effects of overcurrent, the degree of protection depending on the type and
rating of the fuse selected.
Close Excess Current Protection. The fuses used have a low fusing factor -
that is, the ratio of the minimum fusing current to the normal full-load current -
which enables the cables to be used to their fullest rating.
Motor Protection. The fuses have special time/current characteristics which

enable them to pass the repeatedly large, and sometimes prolonged, motor
starting currents without melting or deteriorating but will still protect the motor
against steady overloading (with small motors} and stalling. Motor fuses
generally have to run well below their rated full-load currents to allow for
direct-on-line starting currents to flow without melting them. Consequently
they do not protect the motor against normal overloads, although they do
protect the motor and supply system against short-circuits. Most motor fuses
are specially designed to withstand repeated starting surges without fatigue,
which would otherwise shorten their life. Fuses intended for application to
motor supplies are given restricted continuous current ratings ('M' ratings) as
compared with their fusing characteristics. Thus a 'TIA32M63 fuse has a
continuous rating of 32A but a rating of 63A for the period of starting.
Semiconductor Protection. Fuses are used for two purposes in

semiconductor equipment. In a large equipment which contains groups of
diodes or thyristors in parallel individual cells are often fused to enable them
to be disconnected from the circuit if they fail to short-circuit, so allowing the
equipment to continue operating. A more demanding duty is the protection of
semiconductor devices or assemblies against external faults. Semiconductor
devices have very limited overcurrent capability, and it is generally necessary
to use special fast-acting fuses carefully matched to the semiconductor
ratings and the circuit characteristics.
D.C. Fuses. In a d.c. circuit there are not the periodic current zeros that occur
in a.c. circuits, so the mode of fuse operation described above in relation to
moderate overcurrents does not apply. For this reason fuse protection against
low or moderate overcurrents in d.c. circuits demands very careful
consideration to avoid a dangerous arcing situation within the fuse,
particularly if the circuit is inductive.

Back-up Fuses. Fuses used to back up contactors or other switch gear used
in areas where the fault level exceeds the breaking capacity of the switch are
discussed in Chapter 4, 'Discrimination'.
Specification of Fuses
In order to specify a fuse its properties must be given in four classes. These
are:
- Application (e.g. industrial, domestic).
-Electrical characteristics (e.g. voltage, normal current, breaking current,
single-
phase or 3-phase system).
-Operating characteristics (e.g. general purpose, close-protection, motor
protection, semiconductor protection, time/current characteristic).
-Physical design (e.g. type of contacts, replacement of links, degree of
physical
protection, non-interchangeability).
Trigger Fuses
Certain fuses are fitted with a device which releases a trigger when the fuse
blows. This may be actuated by a spring which is held in tension until the
element melts, or it may be operated by a small explosive charge. The trigger,
when released, may be used merely to indicate the blown fuse or else to trip a
circuit-breaker mechanically by a trip-bar, or it may close a contact which trips
it electrically.
Trigger fuses with tripping facilities are a protection against the effects of
single-phasing. If anyone of the three fuses protecting a motor blows., its
trigger makes (or breaks) a contact which trips the contactor and opens all
three phases. Trigger-operated contacts are also used to give a 'Fuse Blown'
alarm.
There are special symbols (BS 3939, Nos. 3.10.5 and 3.10.6) which should be
used on diagrams to indicate trigger fuses.

EARTH FAULT AND EARTH LEAKAGE PROTECTION
SYSTEM EARTHING - GENERAL

Offshore electrical power supply systems consist of high-voltage generators,
some HV distribution, power step-down transformers and a low-voltage
distribution system. Onshore systems have all these except the generators.
If neither the HV nor the LV systems were earthed, conductors could become
charged up to any voltage above earth, with risk of breakdown of their
insulation to earth. In particular, if there were a failure of insulation between
the HV and LV sides of one of the transformers, high voltage could appear on
the LV system, whose insulation is not designed to withstand it.
Therefore it is the practice to tie both systems to earth potential, so that

neither is free to 'float away', and no part of the system can be at a higher
voltage to earth than the nominal voltage of that system. If the earthing point
is properly chosen it can be even less.
UNEARTHED SYSTEMS
Consider a high-voltage generator or transformer with three output terminals
R, Y and B and completely unearthed, as shown in Figure 6.1(a). The voltage
vector diagram is below, and the three line-to-line voltages VRY, VYB and VBR
form a closed triangle. The 'origin' 0, the point of zero potential, does not
appear on the diagram because the voltages of the system are not related in
any way to earth; they float quite freely. The vector diagram shows only their
relationship to each other, not to earth. The above applies whether the
generator or transformer is star- or delta-connected.
FIGURE 6.6 UNEARTHED SYSTEM
Suppose now a solid earth is applied, say to blue phase, as shown in Figure
6.6(b). Then the point B of the vector diagram becomes the origin 0, which is
the point of zero potential (i.e. earth). The shape of the diagram is not altered,

and the points R and Y have the same positions relative to B as before. But
since B is now at the origin, the actual voltage-to-earth of the red phase is
OR, equal to the line-to-line voltage VBR, and the actual voltage-to-earth of
yellow phase is OY, equal to the line-to-line voltage VYB.
Hence, in an unearthed system, the accidental earthing of one line will cause
both the other lines to take up voltages to earth equal to the line voltage of the
system. This applies equally to generator-fed high-voltage and to
transformer-fed low-voltage systems.
If the generator or transformer feeding the system is star-connected, the

voltage-to-earth 'ON' of the neutral point N is then, as seen in Figure 6.1(c),
the phase voltage (equal to line voltage divided by √3) above earth when one
of the lines is accidentally earthed. If the system is 4-wire (three phase and
neutral), then the neutral connections of the whole system take up that
voltage when a line-earth occurs. This is sometimes referred to as 'neutral
shift'.
EARTHED SYSTEMS
In order to 'anchor' the system voltage to prevent it floating free it is usual
(and it is always done at onshore installations and on offshore platforms
except the Drilling Packages) to tie one point of the system permanently to
earth. For the sake of symmetry the point chosen is the neutral of the supply
element, generator or transformer. To provide such a neutral point, the
element must be star-connected. Figure 6.7 shows a star-connected earthed
system, which may be HV generator-fed or LV transformer-fed.
FIGURE 6.7 EARTHED SYSTEM
This arrangement has a further advantage. At the bottom of Figure 6.2(a) is

the vector diagram for such a system. The three vectors NR, NY and NB at
120° apart represent the three phase voltages VR, VY and VB relative to the
neutral point N: but as the neutral point N is earthed, it is the same as the

origin 0. The three line-to-line voltages VRy, VYB and VBR are represented by
the vectors RY, YB and BR.
Since the origin 0 is at the neutral point, the voltage-to-earth of the three
terminals R, Y and B can never exceed their phase voltage VR (= VY = VB),
which is only 1/√3 of the line-to-line voltage.
Even if one line, say blue, were accidentally earthed, this would still be the
case. The situation of Figure 6.2(b) would result. Blue phase would be
completely short-circuited, since both ends B and N would be at earth
potential; the phase voltage VB would disappear and B would move to 0. But
the other phase voltages VR and VY to earth - that is, the distance of the
points R and Y from the origin 0 - would not be affected (unlike with the
unearthed system), and they would remain at line-to-line voltage divided by
√3, just as before the accidental earth.
Thus, whereas in an unearthed system any line can rise to full line voltage-to-
earth in the event of an earth fault on a line, in an earthed system the voltage-
to-earth of the lines cannot exceed system phase voltage - that is, 1/√3 (or
0.58) times the system line voltage. Therefore an earthed system can use a
lower level of insulation and is thus less costly than an unearthed system of
the same line voltage. For example, an unearthed 6.6kV system must be
insulated throughout for the full 6.6kV to earth, whereas the corresponding
earthed system need only be insulated for 3.8kV. This is particularly
significant at the higher voltages, especially those used onshore, where
insulation becomes increasingly important and costly.
It should be noted that a single line-to-earth fault on an unearthed system will

not cause any fault current to flow, since there is no path for it (Figure 6.1(c)).
There is nothing to operate an earth-fault relay and so to trip the circuit-
breaker. Therefore a single earth fault on an unearthed system will not shut
down the system. (Note that two simultaneous earth faults become a line-to-
line short-circuit, and the ensuing overcurrent will then trip the breaker.)
EARTH-FAULT CURRENTS
A solidly earthed system is shown in Figure 6.8(a), where an earth fault has
appeared on blue phase. It is clear that a short-circuit current will flow
between blue phase terminal and the neutral point via the earth link. This
short-circuits blue phase and produces a fault current limited only by the
impedance of the generator phase winding; such a current could initially be
many times the normal designed full-load current of the generator and, if
allowed to continue, could permanently damage it by overheating the winding
insulation or by mechanical strain. A further hazard is the situation at the fault
point itself. The fault is most likely to take the form of an arcing earth, and the
fierce short-circuit current could cause intense local heating by the arc at the
fault point, with risk to personnel and likelihood of fire.
This might be regarded as a disadvantage of an earthed system. It would not

occur on an unearthed machine with a single fault, as there would be no

return path for the fault current. A compromise is therefore made, especially
in high-voltage systems, whereby the voltage-limiting effect of an earthed
system is retained, but the earth-fault currents which result are reduced to a
level which is not damaging to the generator, at least for short periods, and
which also limits the energy released by the arc at the fault point.
FIGURE 6.8 NEUTRAL EARTHING
RESISTANCE EARTHING
This is achieved by the method shown in Figure 6.8(b). Instead of earthing
the generator neutral point solidly, it is earthed through a heavy-duty, short-
time rated resistance of low ohmic value. It can be seen from the figure that,
in the event of a line earth, the short-circuit current in the earthed phase is
now limited not only by the impedance of the machine's winding, but also by
the earthing resistance. Since a generator's impedance is almost wholly
reactive (X), it adds vectorially to the earthing resistance (R) to limit the
current to produce an impedance (Z) to the fault current, as shown on the
right of the figure.
If the value of the resistance is correctly chosen, the earth-fault current can be
limited so as not to exceed the normal full-load current of the generator, or
indeed it may be chosen to limit it to half, or even a quarter or less, of the full-
load current. Clearly it is desirable to limit it as much as possible, but
sufficient fault current must be allowed to remain, even with less-serious earth
faults, to actuate the protective gear. In the vector diagram of Figure 6.3(b)
the reactance vector X is combined with the resistance vector R to give the
total impedance Z which limits the current. If the current had to be limited yet
further, the resistance would have to be increased as shown dotted in the
figure.
With the 15MW generator sets on some installations, the resistance value
chosen was 10 ohms which, with a typical generator reactance value of 0.63

ohm, gives an earth-fault current of about 400A, one-quarter of full load. On
other sets the fraction may be a little more. Usually the resistance value is so
much greater than the generator's reactance that the latter may be neglected -
i.e. Z = R.
The earthing resistance itself must carry the limited fault current until the
generator is tripped, so it must be heavy duty. It is usually arranged to be
short-rated for 15 or 30 seconds only. It is customarily used with an isolating
link or switch; this must always be opened when megger testing the generator
windings for insulation resistance.
Example
An 18MVA, 6.6kV star-connected generator is provided with a neutral earthing
resistor. What must be the value of this resistor if it is to limit the earth-fault
current of one phase to one-half of the full-load current? (The reactance of
the generator winding may be neglected.)
First calculate the full-load current IF

KVA 18000
IF = = = 1575A
√3kV √3x6.6
Fault current (IE) is to be limited to half this:
IE =1575 = 788A ... (i)

2
In Figure 6.3(b) the fault current IE is given from the fault circuit whose emf is
the phase voltage VP where VP = VL/√3= 3.81kV. Ignoring the generator's
phase reactance X, the fault current is given by Ohm's Law:
VP
IE =
R
V 3
or R = P = 3.81 x 10 from (i) above
IE 788
= 4.84 ohms
MULTIPLE GENERATOR EARTHING

Ideally a system consisting of several generators in parallel should only be
earthed at one point, in order to prevent harmonic currents circulating
between the generators through their neutral points and so increasing their
loading. This means that, if more than one set is running, only one link should
be closed. In practice, however, most generators are now designed to accept
such currents, and links are left closed in all machines (see Figure 6.9).
There are exceptions; sometimes the links are monitored by a logic system
which gives an alarm at the control board if the correct ones have not been
closed or opened as necessary.

FIGURE 6.9 MULTIPLE EARTHING OF GENERATORS
TRANSFORMER SECONDARY EARTHING

Whereas resistance-earthing of HV generators is common throughout all
platforms, the secondary neutral points of all transformers are solidly earthed,
either at the transformer itself or more usually through the neutral busbar of
the LV switchboard which it supplies. There is then no resistor to limit the
earth-fault current.
FIGURE 6.10 TRANSFORMER EARTHING
The reason for this is two-fold. First, the secondary (high-current) windings of
power transformers are, in any case, robust and can withstand better than an
HV generator the full earth-fault currents allowed by a solid earth. Secondly,
the amount of energy available to be released at the fault by an arcing earth is
much less downstream of a transformer than on the HV side, where it comes

straight from the terminals of the generators. This factor is therefore of less
importance.
DRILLING PACKAGES
The power systems of platform drilling packages are usually separate from
those of the platform itself; they consist of diesel-driven 600V generators
which are delta-connected. As such they cannot be earthed, and drilling
systems are consequently run unearthed. At 600V system voltage, any
voltage rise on the healthy lines due to an earth fault on one line is not large
enough to be significant.
Drillers prefer the use of unearthed systems since, as explained earlier, a

single earth fault will not cause the supply to trip. Loss of power while a drill is
in the hole can be serious, leading possibly to the total loss of the equipment.

SECTION 7
GENERATOR PROTECTION
CONTENTS
GENERATOR PROTECTION ............................................................... 123
INSULATION FAILURE ..................................................................... 123
EARTHING BY RESISTOR ............................................................... 123
EARTHING BY TRANSFORMER ...................................................... 124
STATOR PROTECTION .................................................................... 124
EARTH-FAULT PROTECTION .......................................................... 125
ROTOR EARTH-FAULT PROTECTION ............................................ 126
UNSATISFACTORY OPERATING CONDITIONS ................................ 128
UNBALANCED LOADING ................................................................. 128
OVERCURRENT PROTECTION ....................................................... 129
OVERLOAD ....................................................................................... 130
FAILURE OF PRIME MOVER ............................................................ 130
LOSS OF FIELD ................................................................................ 131
OVERSPEED .................................................................................... 132
OVERVOLTAGE ............................................................................... 132
PROTECTION OF GENERATOR/TRANSFORMER UNITS ................. 133

GENERATOR PROTECTION
The a.c. generator needs protection against a number of conditions some of
which require immediate disconnection and some that rnay be allowed to
continue for some time. In broad terms the former are connected with
insulation failure whilst the latter are generally associated with unsatisfactory
operating conditions.
Of all the items of equipment which make up a power system the generator is
unique in that it is usually installed in an attended station and is therefore
subject to more or less constant observation. The point here is that some of
the unsatisfactory operating conditions could be dealt with by an operator
whereas if the generator was not attended tripping would be the only course
of action.
INSULATION FAILURE
Stator faults are caused by the breakdown of the insulation between the
armature conductor and earth; between conductors of different phases or
between conductors of the same phase.
The most likely place for an earth fault to occur is in the stator slots. Arcing
will probably occur resulting in the burning of the iron at the point of fault and
welding the laminations together. Replacement of the faulty conductor may
not be very difficult but the damage to the core cannot be ignored as the fused
laminations could give rise to local heating. In severe cases it may be
necessary to dismantle and rebuild the core which is a lengthy and costly
process.
To reduce the possibility of damage earth-fault current is usually limited by

earthing the generator neutral point via a resistor, reactor or transformer.
Practice varies as to the value to which the current is limited. From rated
current in some cases to very low values in others.
EARTHING BY RESISTOR
Earthing by means of reactors is uncommon and earthing by transformer is
usually limited to large machines. In an industrial system the generator, which
is usually directly connected to the power system without a transformer, is
earthed by a resistor which has a fairly low value. The earth-fault current is
usually limited to between 50% and 200% of the rated current.
In cases where the generator is connected to the distribution system via a

generator transformer a resistor designed to allow an earth-fault current of
about 300 A is used irrespective of generator rating.

EARTHING BY TRANSFORMER
The other approach to earthing is to limit the current to a level where burning
does not readily occur. This level is said to be 5A. To achieve this high-
impedance transformers have been used. Initially voltage transformers were
used operating at a fairly low flux density but overvoltage problems arising
from the capacitance of the stator windings has resulted in the general use of
distribution transformers. The secondary winding is loaded with a resistor so
that under earth-fault conditions a maximum of 5A will flow.
Phase-to-phase faults are far less likely than earth faults and, as they are
easily detected, damage caused can be limited by rapid disconnection. On
the other hand, interturn faults, which are also uncommon, are very difficult to
detect and are generally only detected and cleared when they have
developed into an earth fault.
STATOR PROTECTION
Differential protection using high-impedance relays is usual for stator
protection and is applied on a phase-by-phase basis. As the leads between
the two sets of current transformers may be long the resistance will be fairly
high but as the maximum through-fault current will be less than 10 times full-
load current a reasonably low voltage setting can be applied. This means that
the CT magnetising current will be low and therefore a low overall current
setting can be expected.
The overall setting has a direct bearing on the amount of the generator
winding which is protected. This can be calculated as follows:
Max. fault current-say 5 x CT rating.
Overall protection setting say 6%.
Amount of winding protected
100% - 6% = 98.8%.
5
This would be for a phase-phase fault. For an earth fault where the current is
limited to the full-load value only 94% of the winding would be protected. In
fact slightly less as the full-load current of the generator is usually less than
the CT rating.
If the required voltage setting was high because of, say, long CT leads or if
the CT magnetising current was high then the overall current setting may be
much higher than 5%. This means that the amount of generator winding
protected is also reduced maybe to an unacceptable level for earth faults. In
this case a biased differential relay would alleviate the position.
The use of a biased relay means that the relay-coil circuit impedance can be
reduced to about a twentieth of the impedance of the relay coil in the
unbiased scheme. This naturally reduces the voltage setting and the CT
magnetising current at setting resulting in an overall setting of about 5%.

Star Point Stator Winding
Bias
Operate
Rs
FIGURE 7.1 BIASED DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION. ONE PHASE ONLY SHOWN
The biased differential scheme is shown in Figure 7.1 and the value of the
stabilising resistor, Rs, can be calculated from
RS = RCT + RL + ½RB
B
where B is the ratio of bias coil turns to operate coil turns and is known as the
bias ratio and RB is the resistance of the bias coil.
EARTH-FAULT PROTECTION
Where the maximum earth-fault current is restricted to a fraction of the
generator rating earth-fault protection is essential to compliment the
differential protection scheme.
This earth-fault protection frequently comprises an instantaneous relay having

a setting of 10% to 20% and the IDMT relay with a setting of 5% to 10%. Both
relays would be connected to a simple current transformer having a primary
current rating equal to that of the earthing resistor. Earth faults will be
detected in 90% to 95% of the generator winding even though the maximum
earth-fault current may be as low as 5% of the generator rating.
Even where the main differential protection scheme is expected to provide

adequate protection for earth faults an IDMT relay, connected to a current
transformer in the generator neutral-earth connection, is used to provide back-
up protection. Where the generator is directly connected to the power
system, i.e. without a generator transformer, it provides back-up protection
for the busbars and the whole system. In this case it should have a very long
time delay and should be thought of as the last line of defence.

ROTOR EARTH-FAULT PROTECTION
The field system of a generator is not normally connected to earth and so an
earth-fault does not cause any current to flow to earth and does not, therefore,
constitute a dangerous condition. If a second earth-fault occurs a portion of
the field winding may be short-circuited resulting in an unbalanced magnetic
pull on the rotor. This force can cause excessive pressure on the bearings
and consequent failure or even displacement of the rotor sufficient to cause
fouling of the stator. The overheating in the rotor can cause deformation of
the winding which could lead to the development of short-circuits.
Two main methods are used for detecting earth-faults in the rotor circuit. In
the first method a high-resistance potentiometer is connected across the rotor
circuit the centre point of which is connected to earth through a sensitive relay
(see Figure 7.2). The relay will respond to earth faults occurring over most of
the rotor circuit.
Exciter Generator
Field
Figure 7.2 - ROTOR EARTH FAULT DETECTION - POTENTIOMETER METHOD

-
Exciter Generator
Field
Aux. a.c.
Supply
Figure 7.3 - ROTOR EARTH FAULT DETECTION - NEGATIVE BIASING METHOD
There is, however, a blind spot at the centre point of the field winding which is
at the same potential as the mid-point of the potentiometer. This blind spot
can be examined by arranging a tapping switch which when operated shifts
the earth point from the phase rotation, produce a magnetic field which
induces currents in the rotor at twice the system frequency. This causes
considerable heating in the rotor and would cause damage if allowed to
persist.

UNSATISFACTORY OPERATING CONDITIONS
These conditions in general do not require immediate disconnection and, it
could be argued that, in an attended station the operator could take the
necessary action to remove the condition. Undoubtedly this is possible in
some cases but on no account should protection be omitted on this basis.
UNBALANCED LOADING
Unbalanced loading of the generator phases results in the production of
negative phase sequence (NPS) currents. These currents, which have a
phase rotation in the opposite direction to the normal
Each generator will have a negative phase-sequence rating which can exist
continuously without damage, typically 0.15 p.u. of generator FL current, and
an I2t rating when the current exceeds the continuous value, typically I2t = 20.
Where I is per unit NPS current and tis the time in seconds e.g. the generator
would carry a NPS of current 15% full-load current continuously and NPS
current of 30% full-load current for a time of
20
0.32t = 20 t= = 222s.
0.32
In fact the time would be longer than the calculated value as there would be
some heat dissipation. An I2t value assumes no heat dissipation and
therefore the longer the time the more inaccurate the result. The result will be
fairly accurate up to 2 minutes.
The actual negative phase-sequence current is difficult to determine from the

ammeters measuring the load current in each phase. It is not greater than
65% of the unbalanced current.
Relays to detect the condition usually have an IDMT characteristic matched to

the I2t value. The relay is connected to a network which separates the
positive and negative phase-sequence currents. The basis of the network is
to produce a phase shift of 60° in some components of the phase currents
such that when the phase rotation is positIve, i.e. r, y, b, r, the net current in
the relay is zero. When the phase rotation is negative, i.e. r, b, y, r, a
proportion of the current flows in the relay. Any current which flows in the
generator neutral is known as zero-sequence current and this must be
eliminated if the network is to function correctly. Where the generator is
connected to the system via a delta/star transformer any zero-sequence
current means that there is a fault on the generator circuit and this will be
cleared by earth-fault protection. If the generator is directly connected then
zero sequence is eliminated by connecting in delta the current transformers
which feed the NPS network. In this case the relay setting is related to the CT
current x 1.73.
There is sometimes a reluctance to apply NPS protection as all generators will
be subject to the same conditions and could lead to all generators tripping at
the same time. An early warning of the condition can be provided by an
instantaneous relay connected to the NPS network to provide an alarm after a
short fixed time delay.

OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
An IDMT relay is generally used as back-up protection but the operation of
this relay is complicated because of the current decrement in the generator
during fault conditions. In some cases a setting is chosen, such that the relay
will not eperate for a system fault but will only respond when fault current is
fed into the generator, in this way it only acts as a back-up to the main
generator protection.
In most industrial installations the relay is required to act as back-up to the

system protection and settings must be chosen to ensure positive operation.
The operation of IDMT relays under generator decrement conditions can be

calculated by dividing the decrement curve into a number of zones of width,
say 0.1 s. The mid-ordinate is the current level which is converted to a
multiple of the relay setting and the time for full travel determined
The difficulty in application arises from the variation in the current decrement
depending on generator conditions prior to the fault. From a no-load condition
the current will decay to less than full-load current whereas from the full-load
condition the final current will be greater than full-load current because the
field current is higher. The former case will be modified if there is a voltage
regulator as this will attempt to boost the field with a consequent increase in
final current. This would have a large effect on the relay and therefore a
normal IDMT relay is generally unsatisfactory. However, this method can be
used to determine settings of feeder and transformer IDMT relays in finite
busbar systems. For example, in off-shore installations or any location where
the only supply is local generation. The multiples of setting current in this
case will be much greater because the feeder and transformer rated current
will only be a fraction of that of the generator. The higher multiples of setting
means that the effect of the difference in generator decrement between no
load and full load will be small.
It may be that the current will decay to a level where it is insufficient to cause
the overcurrent relay to trip. In these circumstances it is necessary to provide
a relay which not only responds to current but also to the level of voltage.
The principle of operation is that an IDMT relay with a setting much less than
the full-load current of the generator has a feature added which increases the
setting to above full-load current when full system voltage is present.
By this means the longer operating times, for discrimination with system
protection when the fault is remote, will be attainable as the voltage is high.
Close-up faults will remove the voltage restraint to enable the relay to operate
in the relatively fast time appropriate to the lower setting.
The relays for this type of protection can be either voltage restrained, where
the voltage element operates as a restraint on the same disc as the
overcurrent element, or voltage controlled, where the setting of the
overcurrent relay is changed by means of a voltageoperated attracted-
armature relay.

OVERLOAD
Overload protection is not generally provided for continuously supervised
machines but on large machines resistance thermometers or thermocouples
are embedded in the stator winding. There is some possibility of overload in
terms of MVA for, although the governors will restrict MW, the AVR may
cause the machine to deliver a disproportionate share of the MVAr. In cases
where overload protection is to be provided this would probably be of the
thermal type with a characteristic to match the generator thermal capacity.
Overload and overcurrent relays should not be confused as they perform

completely different functions. An overload relay operates in the hundreds to
thousands of seconds range whereas an overcurrent relay operates in the
one- to ten-second range.
FAILURE OF PRIME MOVER
In the event of a prime mover failure the generator continues to run but as a
synchronous motor and this can cause a dangerous condition in the prime
mover. In a steam turbine the turbulence of the steam In the turbine causes a
temperature rise which can quickly reach serious proportions in pass-out sets.
In condensing sets the temperature rise is not as fast and therefore less
urgent action is needed. In engine-driven sets the loss of motive power is
likely to be due to mechanical failure and the continued running of the set is
likely to cause damage.
The machine, as a synchronous motor, will draw power from the system and it
is this reverse power which is detected by the protection. The power required
is usually small, about 10% in case of large turbo-alternators. The power
factor depends on the excitation of the machine and can be quite low and
either leading or lagging. This means that the reverse power relay must
respond to a low value of power when the MVAr is high and consequently
must be sensitive and have only a small phase-angle error.
A single-element relay is used because the power will be balanced in the

three phases. It is used in conjunction with a time-delay relay to prevent
operation during power swings and synchronising.

LOSS OF FIELD
Failure of the field system results in acceleration of the rotor to above
synchronous speed where it continues to generate power as an induction
generator the flux being provided by a large magnetising component drawn
from the system. This condition can be tolerated for a short time but clearly
there will be increased heating of the rotor because of the slip-frequency
currents which flow.
Loss of field can be detected by a simple undercurrent relay connected to a

shunt in the field circuit. It must have a setting below minimum field current
and a time delay if field forcing is used. A time-delay relay is also required as
the undercurrent relay may respond to the slip-frequency circuit in the field
circuit. This relay would have an instantaneous pick-up and a time-delayed
drop off to maintain the circuit to the main time-delayed relay.
The more up-to-date method is to detect the loss of field on the a.c. side of
the generator by comparison of the stator voltage and current. By either a
relay measuring the reactive power (MVAr) which is being imported or by an
impedance relay which has a characteristic as shown in Figure 7.4. As can
be seen under normal operation the apparent impedance, as measured by
stator voltage and current is well away from the tripping zone. When there is
a loss of field the impedance vector moves to the operation zone.
FL Condition
Generator
Terminal
Fault
Loss of Field Locus
Relay Characteristic
Tripping
Zone
FIGURE 7.4 - DETECTION OF GENERATOR FIELD FAILURE

OVERSPEED
The speed is very closely controlled by the governer and is held constant as
the generator is in parallel with others in an interconnected system. If the
circuit-breaker is tripped the set will begin to accelerate and although the
governer is designed to prevent overspeed a further centrifugal switch is
arranged to close the fuel valve.
There is still a risk, however, that the fuel valve will not close completely and
even a small gap can cause overspeed and so where urgent tripping is not
required it is usual to lower the electrical output to about 1% before tripping
the circuit-breaker. A sensitive under-power relay is used to detect when this
value is reached.
OVERVOLTAGE
Voltage is generally controlled by a high-speed voltage regulator and
therefore overvoltages sbould not occur and overvoltage protection is not
generally provided for continuously supervised machines. On unattended
machines an instantaneous relay set at, say 150% is used to cater for
defective operation of the voltage regulator.

PROTECTION OF GENERATOR/TRANSFORMER UNITS
Where a generator is connected to the power system by means of a generator
transformer it is usual to protect the generator and transformer as a single unit
using biased differential protection.
The current transformer balance is produced in terms of both phase and

magnitude, i.e. in the arrangement shown in Figure 7.5 there is an overall
phase change of 30° which is corrected by connecting a set of auxiliary
current transformers in delta. Because of the difference in current transformer
ratios the settings of the generator transformer protection has to be somewhat
higher than the settings of the generator protection. Because of this the
generator is sometimes protected separately but is also included within the
zone of the generator-transformer protection as an extra insurance. The
transformer is connected directly to the generator and so no harmonic
restraint circuit is required in the protection as no switching can occur. There
is a low level of magnetising inrush current following a fault when the voltage
is restored from being depressed but this is usually insufficient to unbalance
the protection. Figure 7.5 shows a complete protection system for a
generator.
Generator Bucholz
Transformer Restricted Earth Fault
Generator Transformer
Differential
VT Overvoltage
Generator Differential
Reverse Power
Overspeed Loss of Field
Overcurrent
Generator
Rotor
E/F
Negative Phase Sequence
Instantaneous Earth Fault

IDMT Earth Fault
FIGURE 7.5 GENERATOR PROTECTION

SECTION 8
TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
CONTENTS
TRANSFORMER PROTECTION........................................................... 135
GENERAL ......................................................................................... 135
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION FOR TRANSFORMERS .................. 137
RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT PROTECTION FOR TRANSFORMERS138
SPECIAL TRANSFORMER PROTECTION ....................................... 138
'Qualitrol' Protection (Q) 138
Buchholz Relay 139
Interlocks and lntertrips 140
Coolant Level 140
Sealing Monitor 140
Over-temperature Protection 140
EARTHING ........................................................................................ 141

TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
GENERAL
All main transformers which transmit bulk power between the generators and
the low-voltage distribution system of an offshore installation, and between
the Supply Authority's system and the low-voltage equipment in onshore
installations, have their own individual protective systems. This is to protect
the transformer against damage due to electrical faults arising both outside
and inside it.
A typical transformer protection scheme is shown in Figure 8.1 , which also

shows associated instrumentation. Many of the general protection measures
described earlier are applied also to transformers, but in addition there are
some more specific ones.
FIGURE 8.1 - TYPICAL TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
Points worthy of note in Figure 8.1 include the following:

* Overcurrent protection is on the HV side only. It is provided by two
inverse- time elements combined with an earth-fault element
(2OCIT/E) together with two instantaneous high-set overcurrent
elements (2OC), all in the same case. The relay operates to trip the
HV circuit-breaker directly and both the HV and the LV breakers
through the lock-out relay (TH). The time and current settings will be
determined by the overall discrimination plan. Overcurrent on the LV
side causes corresponding overcurrent on the HV side, which
therefore takes care of both overloading and LV short-circuits.
* Restricted earth-fault protection is used on the secondary side (it
is the only secondary-side protection), with four protective type CTs.

The relay operates instantaneously to trip both the HV and the LV
breakers through the lock-out relay.
* Lock-out hand-reset relay (TH).
* There is interlocking and intertripping from the HV to the LV
circuit-breakers (but not in reverse).
* Instrumentation includes a maximum-demand ammeter with an
alarm contact.

DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION FOR TRANSFORMERS
It is explained in Section 7 that differential protection must be provided for
generators because an internal fault is self-fed and would not be cleared by
the generator supply breaker. Such differential protection, not forming part of
the discrimination ladder, is arranged to operate instantaneously.
In the case of transformers however there is a circuit-breaker upstream of the

unit, and this can clear an internal fault by removing the supply that feeds it. If
the upstream circuit- breaker protection has an instantaneous 'high-set' relay
(as here), the clearance can be immediate.
Therefore it is not usual practice to provide differential protection to offshore,

or to smaller onshore, transformers, but to rely on the HV protection to clear
any internal primary or 'through' fault. Internal earth faults on the secondary
side are within the protected zone and are dealt with by the REF protection.
Nevertheless large onshore transformers are often provided with full

differential protection using three primary side and three secondary side
current transformers. This gives the same benefits as restricted earth-fault
protection and, in addition, rapid protection against inter-phase faults in the
transformer as well as earth faults on the primary (delta) winding. In these
respects it is far superior to REF protection.
The difference between the primary and secondary currents in a transformer

because of its turns ratio does not prevent the necessary balance in the
differential relay circuits so long as the current transformer ratios are in
inverse proportion to that of the power transformer. Where, as is usually the
case, the power transformer has delta/star windings, which introduce a phase
shift between primary and secondary currents, a star/delta arrangement of the
CT secondary windings is necessary to achieve balance in the secondary
circuit.
Allowance has to be made, in differential protection schemes for transformers,

for the magnetising inrush currents which flow only in the primary windings
when the transformer is switched onto the supply; they are not reflected in the
secondary windings and therefore appear similar to primary fault currents,
which may falsely operate the differential protection. The simplest solution is
a short time delay in the relay - an induction disc relay may be used - although
there are more subtle solutions available in cases where a delayed response
is not desirable.

RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT PROTECTION FOR
TRANSFORMERS
It should be noted that, although restricted earth-fault protection will operate
satisfactorily for internal solid-earth faults on most parts of transformer
secondary windings, a high-impedance fault to earth may not give rise to
sufficient fault current to operate the relay, even though it is given a light
setting.
Winding
Unprotected
FIGURE 8.2
PROTECTION OF TRANSFORMER WINDING BY RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT
PROTECTION
Another point to be noted is that, if the fault occurs near the star-point, the
voltage at that point may not be sufficient to cause a fault current high enough
to operate the relay. This situation is shown in Figure 8.2. Thus, although
restricted earth-fault protection is usually installed for transformer
secondaries, it cannot be regarded as one hundred per cent certain to
operate.
SPECIAL TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
In addition to the protection listed above, whose purposes have already been
explained, there are the following additional features special to transformers:
'Qualitrol' Protection (Q)

Qualitrol protection is fitted only on sealed transformers such as those used
on offshore installations. It is a proprietary device fitted at the top of the
transformer. It detects over- pressure within the transformer and, if it exceeds
a certain preset level, trips both HV and LV circuit-breakers simultaneously
through a flag relay (FG) and the lock-out relay (TH). The device has a
spring-loaded discharge disc to relieve pressure immediately if it builds up too
quickly.
On large oil-filled grid and similar transformers internal pressure is normally
relieved into the conservator. Nevertheless it is customary to fit such
transformers with a pressure relief diaphragm on the tank top.

Buchholz Relay
Although termed a 'relay', this is in reality a mechanical device named after its
inventor.
FIGURE 8.3 - BUCHHOLZ RELAY
The device is fitted in a horizontal section of the pipe running between the
main tank and the conservator in large oil-filled transformers.
It consists of two parts as shown typically in Figure 8.3, a gas trap and a
surge section. If an insulation weakness begins to develop under oil in any
part of the transformer winding, small discharge currents start and create tiny
bubbles of gas. As the breakdown slowly progresses, the rate at which gas is
evolved increases. The bubbles rise slowly to the tank top and pass on,
through the connecting pipe, towards the conservator. On the way they pass
through the Buchholz relay and are caught in the gas trap. Over a period of
time enough gas is accumulated to cause the oil remaining there to have a
free surface, and a float gradually lowers until, on reaching a preset level, it
actuates a mercury switch. This is usually arranged to give an alarm, since
the process is gradual and has not yet reached breakdown stage calling for
immediate disconnection.
The lower part is the surge section. Here a vane is suspended vertically
across the flow of oil between the tank and conservator and is held firmly
against a stop by a counterweight. Normally the oil flow is very slight,
depending only on temperature changes in the transformer, and the vane
does not move. But if there is a complete electrical breakdown in any winding
under the oil a power arc will develop inside the tank, causing an expanding,
high- pressure bubble of oil vapour round the arc. This will rapidly displace oil

from the tank into the conservator, causing a surge of oil past the vane, which
will swing against the action of the counterweight and actuate another
mercury switch. Because an actual breakdown will have occurred, this
contact is always arranged to trip the supply side of the transformer.
The above describes the operation of a typical Buchholz relay in principle.

Different manufacturers have added many refinements to this basic design.
Interlocks and lntertrips

Interlocking and intertripping is provided between the HV and LV breakers. If
the HV breaker opens for any reason, whether tripped by a fault or operated
manually, the LV breaker (if closed) trips in sympathy and cannot be reclosed
until the HV breaker has been closed first.
It will be seen from Figure 8.1 that a fault, whether on the HV or LV side,
operates through the lock-out relay and trips both the HV and the LV circuit-
breakers simultaneously. This is to ensure that, after such a fault, not only is
the transformer isolated from its normal supply side but also that it cannot be
back-fed from the LV side.
The intertrip acts as a back-up for this, but it is also needed to ensure
sympathetic opening of the LV breaker when the HV breaker is opened by
hand, as distinct from by a fault.
Coolant Level
A sight-glass is provided to check the coolant level within the tank of a sealed
transformer. The level varies with temperature, and allowance must be made
for this; level marks for 15°C and 45°C may be given.
Conservators of large oil-filled transformers usually have a sight-glass to

indicate oil level.
Sealing Monitor
A centre-zero pressure/vacuum gauge may be provided to indicate pressure
in the vapour space over the liquid coolant of a sealed transformer. The
transformer is filled to a level marked on the sight-glass and sealed at a
specified temperature - say 45°C. In service any variation above or below this
temperature, due either to change of ambient temperature or to transformer
loading, causes the liquid level to fall or rise slightly and a consequent small
vacuum or pressure to be indicated on the gauge.
If the pressure shown by the gauge moves over a range less than its normal
one, it may indicate a failure of the tank sealing allowing air to be 'breathed' in
and out. Such a situation should be investigated.
Over-temperature Protection
Whereas winding temperature can be monitored by normal temperature-
sensing, a special arrangement is sometimes used in large liquid-filled
transformers.

In this application Negative-Temperature-Coefficient (NTC) thermistors are
used in temperature-monitoring instruments. They are suspended in the oil in
a housing with a heating element and employ the technique of 'thermal
imaging'. The thermistor is connected into a resistance bridge, whose output
may operate indicating instruments as well as actuating alarms and trips
through an electronic detector circuit.
Whereas NTC thermistors can operate over a range of temperatures by

adjustment of the associated measuring circuits, a PTC thermistor is made to
change its resistance at a particular temperature, subject to a small tolerance.
It is more suitable for detecting overtemperature at particular locations in
equipment - for example, at hot spots in generator or motor windings into
which they can be embedded during manufacture. As the PTC thermistor
passes through its critical temperature, the sudden change of resistance can
be made to actuate an alarm or even to give a trip signal.
EARTHING
On all offshore and onshore installations the transformer secondary star-point
is usually solid-earthed either through a link or through the neutral bar of the
LV switchboard which it feeds as a 4-wire system. The earth connection can
be isolated when desired (for example when megger-testing the secondary)
by means of a link at the switchboard, or, where the earth connection is made
through a link in the 3-pole circuit-breaker, by withdrawing and isolating the
circuit-breaker unit itself.
Care must be taken, after opening an earth link for any reason, to ensure that
it is replaced immediately after the test. The whole protection of the
transformer may depend on it.

SECTION 9
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
CONTENTS
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION............................................................. 143
THE PRINCIPLE ................................................................................ 143
Circulating Current (cc) Principle 144
Balanced Voltage (bv) Principle 144
CIRCULATING CURRENT SYSTEM................................................. 145
Voltage Distribution 145
3-Phase Protection 147
Differential Protection of a Transformer 148
BALANCED VOLTAGE SYSTEM ...................................................... 149

THE PRINCIPLE
Differential protection depends on a method of fault detection based on the
principle that the total current flowing into one part of a system is equal to the
total current flowing out of it unless there is some unintended alternative path
for it in between. This is just another statement of Kirchoff's Law.
This type of protection is used to guard against faults arising only within the
protected unit, ignoring those occurring outside it. The unit itself then
becomes the 'protected zone'. It is in some respects similar to restricted
earth-fault protection but should not be confused with it. REF guards only
against earth faults in the protected zone, whereas differential protection
covers also phase-to-phase faults within the zone. It does not however deal
with inter-turn faults within one phase - say in a generator - since that will not
cause differing currents at the two ends.
Differential protection is insensitive to through faults - that is, to faults outside

the protected zone - because the same fault current flows through both ends
of the zone. It may therefore be used to provide relatively sensitive protection
for the equipment inside the protected zone without its being affected by the
discrimination scheme of the whole network. The advantage of this is
particularly apparent in the case of generators and large bulk power
transformers, which may demand rapid and sensitive protection against
internal faults but which, because of their position at the high-level end of the
power supply system, would be among the last items to be tripped in the
event of a through-fault.
FIGURE 9.1 - DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION

The term 'differential protection' (symbol DIF) is used generally throughout the
offshore installations, but elsewhere it may be known by the names 'Merz
Price' (after the original inventors), 'Unit', 'Circulating Current' or 'Balanced
Voltage' protection. All these terms may be met as well as such trade names
as 'Translay' and 'Solkor' which introduce variations into the basic scheme.
Differential protection is basically of two kinds, as shown in Figure 9.1. The

two kinds are described in principle below.
Circulating Current (cc) Principle

Figure 9.1(a) shows identical current transformers connected at each end of
any piece of electrical equipment - a generator, a motor, or even a length of
cable - through which a current is flowing. A single-phase circuit has been
used for simplicity. The CT secondaries are connected by 'pilot cables' in a
loop as shown, and a voltage-sensitive relay is connected across the pilots at
about their mid-points.
Current flowing through the electrical unit causes a secondary current through
both CTs to circulate round the pilot circuit without producing any current in
the relay. A fault within the zone between the two CTs (the protected zone)
will on the other hand cause secondary currents of differing values in the two
CTs, and their difference current will flow through the relay. If this difference
is sufficient, the relay will operate.
Balanced Voltage (bv) Principle

Figure 9.1(b) shows another arrangement where the two current transformers
are connected in opposition and the relay is in series. With the same primary
current flowing through both, the secondary emfs oppose each other and no
secondary current flows in the pilot circuit - the voltages are balanced.
In the event of an internal fault causing differing primary currents in the CTs,
the two opposing secondary emfs will no longer be equal, and current will flow
round the pilot circuit, causing the series relay to operate.
It should be noted that in the balanced voltage system the CT secondary

current flows normally, and the CTs are effectively on open circuit, giving high
voltages on the pilot lines. Moreover this condition would cause the
overburdened CTs to saturate and become inaccurate. Special CTs are used
having an air-gap or other non-magnetic gap to avoid saturation.

CIRCULATING CURRENT SYSTEM
Voltage Distribution
The simplified explanation of circulating current protection as given above
needs some further attention in order to understand how it works in practice.
In particular the distribution of voltages round the secondary loop will be
described.
If the potentials at all points round the secondary loop are plotted, beginning
at O where the potential is zero, the curve will be as shown in Figure 9.2(a).
From O to A the potential will rise due to the emf in the CT; from A to B it will
steadily fall due to the resistance of the pilot leg AB; from B to C it will rise
again within the CT; and from C to O it will fall once more to zero due to the
resistance of the leg CO.
FIGURE 9.2 - CIRCULATING CURRENT PROTECTION VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION
At a certain point P midway between the two CTs the potentials of the two
secondary lines (red) will be equal because of symmetry. A voltmeter applied
across them there would read zero. If a relay were connected across the
lines at that point it would be unaffected.

If now a fault or leakage developed somewhere inside the equipment, part (or
all) of the 'go' current would be shunted into the return line, so that the
currents I1 and I2 on either side of the equipment would be unequal. So,
therefore, would be the CT secondary voltages, and the potential curves
would be distorted as shown red in Figure 9.2(b), the voltage gradients on the
faulty side being greater than on the other. They are no longer symmetrical,
and the crossover voltage-balance point has moved from P to some other
point Q. At P there is now a voltage difference between the lines (P1-P2); and
the relay (an attracted-armature instantaneous type) inserted at that point
would be energised. If the relay setting were sufficient, it would operate to trip
whichever circuit-breakers it was necessary to open. The relay setting range
is typically 5 to 20% of normal full-load current.
It has been shown that the relay must be connected at the point in the pilot
lines where, under normal conditions, the voltages are equal. In practice such
a point is not easy to find.
FIGURE 9.3 - CIRCULATING CURRENT PROTECTION WITH RESISTANCE
What is done is to insert resistances into the pilot circuit so that most of the
voltage drop in each line is concentrated in the resistors. The crossover point
is then bound to be somewhere in the resistors themselves, so they are
provided with tappings, which can be adjusted until the balance point is found.
By this means the crossover point, instead of being at some unknown place
far from the switchboards, is brought as a 'resistance box' right into the
switchboard where the relay itself is installed.
The resistances add to the burden on the CTs, but this is acceptable.
For satisfactory operation it is essential that the pairs of CTs be accurate and
perfectly matched. Therefore they are usually of the special class of accuracy
(Class X) and are supplied as matched pairs.
Since differential protection operates only over a limited zone, it does not form
a step in the discrimination ladder. It is therefore instantaneous in operation
and the relay can be given a very low setting.

3-Phase Protection
Figures 9.1 to 9.3 show, for simplicity, a single-phase system, but the principle
can be applied - and usually is - to 3-phase systems.
Three carefully balanced pairs of CTs of high accuracy are inserted, one pair
into each of the three phases, and voltage balance is measured between
each secondary line and neutral by a 3-element relay. A resistance box
containing three tapped resistors is used as described above. This is shown
in Figure 9.4.
The 3-phase system requires four pilot lines between the sets of CTs, with
further lines from the relay contacts to trip the circuit-breaker. For long lines
variations of the system such as 'Translay' and 'Solkor' operate over only two
pilot lines and can initiate tripping simultaneously at both ends. It should be
noted also that differential protection will operate on both internal phase-to-
phase and earth faults, and in this respect it is superior to restricted earth-fault
protection.
FIGURE 9.4 - DIFFERENTIAL (CIRCULATING CURRENT) PROTECTION (3-PHASE)

Differential Protection of a Transformer
The differential protection so far described, whether circulating current or
balanced voltage, depends on identical and matched current transformers at
both ends of each phase. For most electrical units the incoming and outgoing
currents are, or should be, the same. This applies to generators, motors and
cables, but it is not true of transformers.
The outgoing current in any phase of a transformer differs, ideally, from the
incoming in inverse proportion to the voltage ratio. For example a 2000kVA,
6600/440V transformer (ratio 15:1) has a primary current of 175A but a
secondary current of 2625A (ratio 1:15).
Therefore, to achieve balance of the CT secondaries, the CT ratios must be

inversely proportional to the main transformer voltage ratio, as shown in
Figure 9.5 (a).
Most distribution transformers are delta/star connected, and this affects the
line current ratio in the individual phases by a factor of √3. If the main
transformer is delta/star connected, then the three CT secondaries must be
connected in the opposite sense, namely star/delta. This is shown in Figure
9.5(b).
FIGURE 9.5
DIFFERENTIAL (CIRCULATING CURRENT) PROTECTION OF A TRANSFORMER

BALANCED VOLTAGE SYSTEM
As stated in paragraph. 9.1 the balanced voltage system is less used than the
circulating current type.
One consequence of the high voltage on the pilot lines is that it can give rise
to appreciable shunt capacitive currents if the pilot cable is long; these can
lead to inaccurate operation unless special steps are taken to deal with them.
It is for these and other reasons that the circulating current type of protection
is generally preferred. In the US the balanced voltage system is referred to as
'transactor'.

SECTION 10
MOTOR PROTECTION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 151
CONTROL ......................................................................................... 151
PROTECTION - GENERAL ............................................................... 151
MECHANICAL OVERLOADING ........................................................ 151
SHORT CIRCUIT ............................................................................... 152
EARTH FAULTS ................................................................................ 153
STALLING ......................................................................................... 153
SINGLE PHASING............................................................................. 154
MOTOR WINDING TEMPERATURE PROTECTION......................... 155
STARTING TIME ............................................................................... 155
OVERLOAD PROTECTION .................................................................. 158
INSULATION FAILURE ........................................................................ 160
SETTINGS ............................................................................................. 161
DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION............................................................. 165
LOSS OF SUPPLY ................................................................................ 166
SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS .................................................................. 168

INTRODUCTION
For many years a comprehensive system of motor protection has been
considered essential for vital services and industrial processes to safeguard
machines and their cables from damage caused by overcurrents. Mechanical
overload, stalling, single-phasing and short-circuits are some of the potential
hazards. All of these result in overcurrents and are usually detected by either
time delayed or instantaneous overcurrent relays. The vast majority of
electric motors, whether operating on high or low voltage, is of the squirrel-
cage induction type, and many except the very largest are direct-on-line
started.
CONTROL
Most motors are switched on and off by contactors, and in most cases it is
necessary to provide back-up fuses to protect the contactor itself, as well as
the circuit, against high-level faults such as short-circuits which are beyond
the breaking capacity of the contactor. The fuses have special ratings both to
ensure discrimination in relation to the tripping characteristic of the contactor
and to prevent their being blown by the starting current of the motor. They do
not protect the motor against overloads; this is a function of the contactor.
PROTECTION - GENERAL
Like any other piece of electrical plant a motor, whether HV or LV, must be
protected against overcurrent and usually against earth fault. In larger motors
over-temperature may also need to be monitored in both the cooling air and
the windings themselves.
Overcurrent in a motor can be caused by any of five conditions:

* mechanical overloading
* short-circuit
* stalling
* single-phasing
* earth fault or leakage.
MECHANICAL OVERLOADING
A motor may be overloaded mechanically by either overloading the driven end
(e.g. pump or compressor) beyond its rating or by some internal mechanical
malfunction such as a stiff bearing. Either may cause a rise of active current
above the full-load rated current of the motor. Mechanical overloading is
probably the commonest cause of overcurrent in a motor.
The motor is protected by an inverse-time overcurrent device which will cause

the contactor to trip if the overcurrent is sufficiently high and persists. The
device usually takes the form of a thermal element in each phase, either
directly or CT-operated. It has an inverse-time characteristic which is more
nearly matched to the thermal behaviour of the motor itself than that of the
inverse-time electromagnetic overcurrent relay described earlier. It must
allow the large starting current (up to five times full-load current) to flow during
the run-up period without operating, but it must trip the motor if even a small
overcurrent persists for a longer period. A typical setting of such a device
would be 110% full-load continuous current with the appropriate time setting.

For short starting times the inverse-time characteristic must be such that the
starting current and run-up time are taken into account. In this respect it must
be remembered that high-inertia loads such as a motor-generator set or a
compressor take much longer to run up than, say, a centrifugal fan.
For the majority of LV motors and a few HV motors the inverse-time device is
thermal. For the smaller LV motors it is in series with the motor itself, but for
the others it is a separate relay operated through CTS. For most HV motors
on the later platforms however, the device is wholly electronic but with a
similar characteristic; it too is a separate relay, CT-operated (see Figure
12.1(b)). Where these relays are separate the overcurrent device is
combined with certain other features into a single ‘Motor Protection Relay’
which is further discussed later.
A characteristic of inverse-time relays which is particularly noticeable in

thermal relays, and which has to be taken into account in allowing for starting
current, is ‘overshoot’ (or ‘overrun’). This means that if the relay is energised
with something more than its minimum operating current it may close its
contacts even after the current has subsequently fallen below the operating
level. For example, a motor could be tripped after it had safely started and
reached full speed, even though the relay had not operated during the starting
period. This can have a considerable effect on the discrimination that can be
achieved between starting and overload currents, unless complications are
added to the protection scheme.
Whereas the contactor with its inverse-time overcurrent device (thermal or

electronic) provides overload protection for the motor, such contactors cannot
in general clear a fault of short-circuit proportions. For this they must be
backed up by series HRC fuses.
When used with motors such fuses must have special characteristics. They
must have a continuous rating which will allow them to pass the full-load
current of the motor continuously, and they must also allow the considerably
greater starting current to pass for the period of the run-up time without
melting the fuses.
SHORT CIRCUIT
A short-circuit in a motor circuit will cause a severe overcurrent. One of the
more vulnerable places to short-circuit in a motor is the incoming cable box
where a too-small radius or imperfect jointing could lead to weakness. As
many process motors are located in hazardous areas, it is essential to clear
the circuit in the quickest possible time under these conditions.
The overcurrent produced by a short-circuit will operate the inverse-time

device in a relatively short time, but in general not short enough to cause a
trip before the fuse blows. Indeed it is important that the contactor should
NOT operate as it is not rated to clear fault currents. Where HV or LV motor
feeders are provided with back-up fuses, it is these that will blow first and
clear the fault very quickly. Where very large motors are fed through circuit-
breakers and there are no back-up fuses, the inverse-time protection will be

backed up by a high-set instantaneous overcurrent relay element to trip the
circuit-breaker instantaneously without waiting for the inverse-time element to
operate. Its setting will be well above the motor overload and starting current
levels.
EARTH FAULTS
Earth faults, especially those occurring in solidly earthed systems, will also
give rise to severe overcurrents in the affected phases. They may be dealt
with by an earth-fault relay which trips the contactor. With small motor
starters where the thermal overcurrent devices are direct-connected, the relay
is usually energised by a core-balance CT through which the three cables
pass. With larger motors where there are CTS, these may be used to provide
an earth-fault signal by their spill current. The earth-fault relay may be
separate or may be part of the composite ‘Motor Protection Relay’.
The same consideration will apply to earth faults in HV motors. Nearly all HV
systems are resistance-earthed, which limits earth-fault currents to a low level
that will not actuate the fuses or high-set instantaneous relays. Here also an
earth-leakage relay operated through CTS is necessary, but the fault current
is then well within the breaking capacity of the contactor.
STALLING
Stalling can occur if the motor becomes heavily overloaded - for example by a
mechanical seizure of a bearing or of the driven element, or it may be unable
to start against an excessive load. In all these cases the stalled motor draws
its ‘locked rotor’ current (that is, its maximum starting current) as long as the
supply remains connected, and severe overheating results. The condition is
aggravated by the lack of ventilation while the rotor is stationary. There is
also a temptation to make repeated attempts to start if unsuccessful the first
time.
More rarely, stalling can occur if the whole power network goes unstable and
begins to run down, causing all motors throughout the system to lose speed.
If the system recovers while the run-down is proceeding, all the motors in the
system will find themselves running at a large slip and all taking nearly their
full starting currents. The combined effect on the generators of all these
simultaneous starting currents will be to depress the system voltage to such a
level that some of the larger motors may not develop sufficient torque to
recover against their loads. They will then continue to run down and stall.
This is sometimes called the ‘Patrickson Effect’.
The long period of drawing ‘starting current’, though not actually starting, will
appear as a normal overcurrent and should, in principle, be dealt with by the
motor thermal overcurrent protection, but difficulty arises when this protection
has to discriminate between normal starting current (which is present during
the run-up time but then disappears) and the stalled motor current (which
persists).
This problem is particularly difficult if the run-up time of the motor is of the
same order as the motor stall (or locked rotor) withstands time. It is still worse

in the case of high-inertia loads, where the run-up time may well be longer
than the stall withstand time. For these situations ‘stall relays’ are sometimes
used, especially with HV motors.
Stall relays are of two types: one using electric sensing of the motor starting
current, and the other using detection of actual rotation. The former uses a
current-sensitive element and a timer. On a normal start the current-sensitive
element energises, but the timer prevents its causing a trip unless the normal
run-up time has elapsed. On a genuine stall the timer will trip the motor after
run-up time has expired if the overcurrent is still present. This type of relay is
often fitted with a ‘thermal memory’ which prevents a restart until sufficient
cooling time has elapsed. The stall relay is sometimes included with other
elements in a combined ‘Motor Protection Relay’.
The other type of relay uses a shaft rotation detector. This form is most
suitable when the motor safe stall withstand time is very close to the motor
run-up time, or even less as in the case of the very large gas re-injection
motors on certain offshore installations. The rotation method is a more
accurate indication of a stall condition. However it does no incorporate any
‘memory’ to protect against quick restarting, and it must be used in
conjunction with some form of lock-out protection.
SINGLE PHASING
A problem special to 3-phase motors is single-phasing. Any such induction
motor needs three phases to produce its rotating field and to provide the
necessary starting torque, but once running, the removal of any one of the
phases will not necessarily stop it. It will however reduce the driving torque
and will also increase the current in the two remaining phases. If the motor
were already well loaded it would eventually trip on sustained overcurrent. If,
however, the mechanical loading on the motor were not too high, there might
still be sufficient torque to drive the load. Also the current, although
increased, might still not be enough to actuate the inverse-time overcurrent
relay set, typically, to 110% full-load current. The situation could therefore
pass unnoticed except for a high-pitched whine from the motor, and no actual
harm would result.
There is a much greater risk, however, when attempting to start. If the single-
phasing had occurred while the motor was running partially loaded and had
not been noticed, the motor would have been stopped normally when the
operation was complete, but still in its single-phased state. If later an attempt
were made to restart it, there would be excessive starting current but no
starting torque, and it would remain stationary. As the overcurrent relay is set
to allow adequate run-up time, this situation could persist for a dangerously
long time with no ventilation in the stationary motor. Still worse, the operator
might make several attempts to start, and each time the relay would reset and
allow full run-up time afresh. Eventually the motor would probably burn out
before the overcurrent relay disconnected it. Therefore if a motor fails to start
after two attempts, the operator must make no further attempts to start it until
the cause has been found and corrected.

A general 'Rule of Thumb' that can be applied is that motors over 50kW are
only suitable for two successive starts (even if successful) when cold.
Another one-start attempt is allowable after a cooling period of 30 minutes at
standstill. No more than three starts may be attempted in any one hour.
Damage to a motor by single-phasing is caused by overheating of the

windings due to the prolonged excessive currents in two of the phases. It is
normally prevented by the protection system. In the case of small motors
provided with thermal overcurrent protection, the three thermal elements are
mounted in such a way that unequal heating produces a differential
movement which causes the contactor to trip.
With some HV and larger LV motors where protection is through current

transformers and where thermal overcurrent protection is used, the single-
phasing protection is provided by these same overcurrent elements where
unequal heating produces the differential movement.
With motors which are protected by electronic relays the device includes a
special element which detects the single-phase condition, whether the motor
is running or being started. It is referred to as a ‘single-phasing’ or ‘Negative-
Phase-Sequence’ (NPS) relay.
Single-phasing can be caused by the blowing of one of the three back-up

fuses, by the possible welding of contactor contacts or, less probably, by the
open-circuiting of one line due to damage or vibration. It will not occur
however with HV fuses where they are fitted with external striker-pin contacts
which trip the contactor if any one of them blows.
MOTOR WINDING TEMPERATURE PROTECTION
Over-temperature protection is sometimes used, in addition to the thermal
overcurrent protection afforded by the Motor Protection Relay, to safeguard
the windings of a motor.
Three main types of temperature sensor are used:

* thermocouple
* Resistance Temperature Device (RTD)
* thermistor
The sensing elements are normally embedded in the winding insulation,

usually in the overhang.
STARTING TIME
A major problem in motor design and protection is to ensure that the starting
current can flow for long enough to accelerate the motor without bringing out
the motor’s overcurrent protection, while at the same time not impairing the
close protection given to the motor while it is running.
For this purpose a time-quantity ‘tE’ is considered. This is defined as the time
taken for the motor’s windings, while carrying the starting current IA
continuously, to be further heated from the maximum temperature reached in

rated service and in a maximum ambient temperature to the limiting allowable
temperature. The tE time of the motor should be given on its nameplate.
The thermal relay for protecting a squirrel-cage motor should be selected so

that the tripping time read from the thermal relay’s time/current characteristic
using the IA/IN ratio (ratio of starting to normal rated current) is not larger than
the motor’s stated tE time.
The present day tendency is to employ motors to the limit of their thermal
margins and to cater for this a relay with an inverse-time characteristic, similar
to the thermal time characteristic of the motor, is used. The characteristic
must allow the motor starting current to flow for a time in excess of the motor
starting time.
It may be that a short resume' of the operation of the three-phase induction
motor would be useful at this point. The three-phase voltage produces
current in the stator winding which sets up a rotating magnetic field. This field
flux cuts the short-circuited rotor conductors and induces a current in them.
The interaction of the current and flux produces a torque which causes
rotation. Figure 10.1 shows a torque-speed curve for a typical motor and
superimposed on this curve is the torque-speed curve of a fan. Underneath is
the current-speed curve for the motor. As can be seen the current is at
starting current level until about 80% speed is reached.
A
Fan
Fan (dampers closed)
B
Figure 10.1 - Current/Speed, Torque/Speed and Current/Speed Characteristics
The torque increases until it reaches a maximum, in this case at 90% speed,
and the value at this point is known as pull-out torque. A further increase in
speed causes the torque to decrease until it would become zero if 100%
speed could be reached. At zero speed the torque is in excess of that
demanded by the fan and therefore the motor accelerates. The speed
increases steadily as the excess torque is roughly the same value up to 30%
speed.

After 40% speed there is a large excess of torque and so the machine
accelerates quickly until it delivers the amount of torque required by the fan at
A. If the fan dampers were closed then the required torque is far less; the
excess torque and therefore the acceleration is greater and the machine runs
up to speeds quicker and delivers the amount of torque required by the fan at
B. If vertical lines are dropped from points A and B the load current will be
indicated on the current-speed curve. The actual current is greater than that
indicated which does not include the magnetising current.
From the torque-speed curve it can be seen that the risk of stalling is greatest
up to 30% speed where the difference between the motor and load torque is
least. If there was a reduction in motor torque which could happen if the
voltage was depressed to a level where it equalled the fan torque at that
speed then the motor would not accelerate and would draw starting current.
The speed at which pull-out torque occurs depends on the ratio of rotor
resistance to rotor reactance. Rotor reactance is proportional to the rotor
frequency which in turn depends on the difference between the speed of the
rotor and the speed of the rotating field which has been produced in the
stator. This difference is the slip. Therefore rotor reactance is proportional to
slip frequency.
Pull-out torque occurs when Rotor Resistance = Rotor Reactance when R2 =

SX2 where S is the slip.
In the case shown in the curve the X/R ratio is 10/1 and therefore the pull-out
torque will occur at
S=1 = 0.1
10
With slip-ring motors it is possible to introduce resistance into the rotor by
connecting in a resistance bank. This will change the position of the pull-out
torque. For example, if resistance is added so that the total resistance is
equal to the reactance at 50 Hz then the pull-out torque will occur at S = R/X =
1, i.e. at motor standstill. This will produce a relatively high torque to
accelerate the rotor quickly but with the load shown would run at only 82%
speed.
If, when the motor achieved 30% speed, the value of external resistance was
reduced to just below half then the pull-out torque would occur at N = 0.5, i.e.
half speed. Finally the external resistor would be reduced to zero and the
condition would be as shown in Figure 10.1. The torque-speed curves for the
three resistance steps are shown in Figure 10.2.
The above is an accepted method of starting slip-ring motors but the change
in external resistance values would be carried out smoothly to give the best
acceleration.

R
2.5 = 0.5
X R
= 0.1
X
Times FL Torque
2.0 R
=1
X
1.5
1.0 Motor
Fan
Fan (dampers closed)
0.5
20 40 60 80 100
Speed (%)
FIGURE 10.2 - INDUCTION MOTOR TORQUE-SPEED CHARACTERISTICS WITH

VARIOUS R/X RATIOS
OVERLOAD PROTECTION
One of the most widely used relay for a.c. motor protection is the thermal
relay which consists of three heaters supplied by three current transformers
measuring stator current. The heaters are in the proximity of bimetallic strips
which when heated produce a torque to move the relay contacts towards a
fixed contact. The deflection is proportional to current squared and therefore
a motor operating at full load would move the contact three-quarters of the
way towards a final contact set at 115%. Hence the operating time would only
be a quarter of the time required to operate the relay if the motor was running
light. Whilst this is obviously a desirable feature it should be remembered that
the thermal time constants of the bimetal and motor differ widely and if the
motor load is varying the bimetal will respond in seconds whereas the motor
temperature change will take minutes or even hours.
Because the bimetallic strips are heated indirectly, i.e. by heat radiated from
the heaters as opposed to heating by passing current through the bimetal,
there is a time delay in its response. This means that the moving contact will
continue to move towards tripping even after the motor-starting current has
disappeared. To avoid operation the relay operating time must be at least
twice the motor starting time.
These relays often have a special contact arrangement which operates if the
current in any phase differs from the current in the other phases by more than
12%.
The reason that unbalanced phase currents require disconnection of the

machine is that any unbalance in the current results in a negative phase
sequence component which produces a rotating field in the opposite direction
to the rotating field produced by the applied system voltage. This counter-
rotating field will cause induced currents in the rotor of almost twice normal
system frequency resulting in overheating and possible damage.

Apart from the condition where one phase of the supply is missing completely,
for example, owing to a blown fuse it may be thought that any unbalance in
the system is small. This may be true in terms of voltage but as the negative
phase sequence voltage will be applied to the standstill impedance of the
motor the current will be substantial. If the negative phase sequence voltage
was 5% then, if the starting current is 6 times full-load current, the negative
phase sequence current will be 3%. In the case where one phase is missing
completely the positive and negative sequence currents will be the same.
Other conditions which can cause unbalanced voltages are heavy single-
phase loading or a blown fuse in a power factor correction capacitor circuit.
Overload and unbalanced load are conditions associated with the situation
external to the motor. Overload is caused by an increase in the mechanical
load whereas unbalanced currents are caused by the supply.
If tripping has been initiated by either of these conditions, indicated by

operation of the flag relay marked "Thermal", it is usually in order to restart the
motor. Only one restart should be attempted and during the starting period
the relay should be used to diagnose the type of fault, overload or unbalanced
current if it is still present.
As shown in Figure 10.1 the starting current of a direct-on-line motor is

practically constant at short-circuit level during most of the run-up period and
there is, therefore, no means of detecting a stalled condition by current level
alone. The thermal relay will trip the motor eventually, but because the time is
long it may be too slow to prevent damage. In this case a single element
stalling relay is used. This relay has a directly heated bimetal which gives a
low overrun and therefore the operating time can be set close to the maximum
run-up time. In some cases the run-up time is greater than the allowable stall
time this means that the condition can only be resolved by the addition of a
speed-measuring relay.

INSULATION FAILURE
Protection against short-circuits is accomplished by instantaneous overcurrent
relays but as these must have a setting greater than the starting current of the
motor only a limited amount of the stator winding is protected. For example, if
a short-circuit occurs at the motor terminals the current is the full system fault
current whereas if the short-circuit was at the star point no fault current would
flow as the star point itself is a short-circuit. Therefore along the length of the
winding there is a reduction of fault current from maximum to zero. The
decrease is not linear but roughly proportional to the square of the distance
from the star point. Figure 10.3 shows this and also that an instantaneous
relay which is set to avoid operation under starting conditions will only operate
for faults just beyond the motor terminals. In fact these overcurrent relays can
only be regarded as protection for the cable and the motor terminal box.
In a delta-connected motor there is, of course, no point in the winding where a

short-circuit would produce zero current. Nevertheless there is a large
reduction in fault current for short-circuits away from the motor terminals.
Fault Current
Inst OC
Terminal Star Point
Motor
FIGURE. 10.3 REDUCTION OF FAULT LEVEL IN A STAR WINDING
The detection of short-circuits between windings is accomplished by the

earth-fault relay. This is residually connected and has a setting of 10% which
means that practically all of a star-connected winding will be protected. It is
assumed that any insulation failure will result in an earth fault which is a
reasonable assumption in that all the stator windings are in the close proximity
to the stator iron.

The relay itself should have a voltage setting with a stabilising resistor but in
some cases this is not required as stability is required only to the level of the
motor starting current.
Operation of either the instantaneous overcurrent or the earth- fault relays

operates a flag indicator marked 'Instantaneous". When the motor has been
tripped by these relays no attempt must be made to restart until an insulation
test has been carried out.
SETTINGS
A typical motor protection relay is available with different time ranges, namely
14 20 and 30 minutes. These do not describe the relay in a very precise
manner as they refer to points on the curves which are asymptotic. The times
would have more meaning if they were quoted at a higher multiple of setting
current. The 15- and 20-minute relays are the standard. A 30-minute relay
would be used where the starting period is long or the machine is started
frequently.
In setting the thermal section of the relay there are two adjustments which
allow the correct setting to be made. A rough adjustment by changing the
turns ratio on the auxiliary current transformer and a fine adjustment by
alteration of the fixed contact position.
The possible settings on the auxiliary CT are 80% 90% or 1000/0 and a
setting corresponding to the ratio of full load current to line CT primary current
should be chosen.
Examples
45kW motor FL current = 84 A, CT ratio 100/1,
84 = 0.84A set to 80%.
100
55 kW motor FL current = 98 A, CT ratio 100/1,
98 = 0.98A set to 100%.
100
75 kW motor FL current t36 A, CT ratio 150/1,
136 = 0.91 set to 90%.
150
75 kW motor FL current = 136 A, CT ratio 200/1,
136 = 0.68 set to 80%.
200
The auxiliary CT, which incidentally utilises the magnetic circuit of the
instantaneous overcurrent relay as a core, changes the overall ratio of the
current transformer circuit. The l50/1 CT with the auxiliary CT on a 90% tap
gives an overall ratio of
0.9 x 150/1 = 135/1.

The adjustment of the fixed contact depends on the duty of the motor. If the
motor load is fairly constant, say a fan or a pump, then the contact can be set
fairly close to the full-load current value, say at 110%. If the load fluctuates,
for example a conveyor then a wider setting may be needed, a setting of
115% or even more.
This does not mean the fixed contact will be set at 110% or 115% although in
most cases it will be fairly close to these values.
The contact should be set, for a 110% setting to:

FL current
110% x CT primary current x aux CT tap
in the case of the 37 kW motors

84
110% x 100 x 80 = 1.16 set, to 116%
or the other motors

98
110% x 100 x 100 = 1.08 set, to 108%
136
110% x 150 x 90 = 1.11 set, to 111%
136
110% x 200 x 80 = 0.94 set, to 94%
or for a 115% setting

136
115% x 200 x 80 = 0.98 set, to 98%
The setting of the instantaneous overcurrent relay must be about l½ times the
motor starting current in order to avoid operation during initial peak of the
starting current which can be more than twice the steady short-circuit current
but has a duration of less than one cycle.
It would be more correct to say that the relay setting should be about 1l3
times the motor short-circuit current. This is the same as starting current in
the case of direct-on-line motors but not when the motor is started by a
method which limits the starting current. The fact is that an induction motor
will contribute current to a system fault at a level equal to the short-circuit
current. This is the initial current at the moment of fault but quickly dies away.

Therefore even though the current has been limited during starting to, say
twice full-load current an external fault will cause a current of 6 to 8 times full-
load current to flow from the motor. The instantaneous overcurrent relay must
be set so that it does not operate under these circumstances. The actual
setting is the times full-load figure on the scale multiplied by the tap setting on
the auxiliary CT.
The success of this type of relay is undoubtedly due to its simplicity in setting
and the ability to check its performance whilst in service. The moving contact
arrangement carries a pointer which indicates the percentage load. From
observation of the panel ammeter and a knowledge of the overall CT ratio the
correct operation of the protection can be verified. The overall CT ratio is the
line CT ratio, which can usually be deduced from the ammeter range
multiplied b~ the auxiliary CT tap which is indicated on the relay nameplate.
For example, the 45 kW motor, CT ratio 100/1 auxiliary CT tap 80%. If

the panel ammeter was indicating 68 A, on the percentage load scale
68 x 100% = 85%
100 x 0.8
should be indicated.
There are a number of electronic relays which protect the motor in the same
way as the thermal relay which are capable of matching the motor
characteristic more accurately. In addition to adjustments for current level the
operating time can be adjusted as well as the settings for unbalanced current
and earth fault.
Motor FL Current 120A

Earth Fault Relay set to 10% Thermal Relay set to 110%
1000 200A Fuse
100
Time (seconds)
10
Starting
1 Current
600A
Contactor
0.1 Max. Current
0.01
0.005
0 100 1000 10,000
Current (amperes)
FIGURE 10.4 - COMPOSITE CHARACTERISTIC THERMAL RELAY AND 200A FUSE

The type of protection described would only be applied where the motor is
supplied via a circuit-breaker. In many cases the switching of the motor is by
a contactor which, although capable of making fault current, cannot interrupt
fault current. Therefore fuses are used to clear the fault instead of the
instantaneous overcurrent relays. The earth-fault relay is used as it will detect
low-level faults and trip the contactor hut for high-fault levels the fuse 'would
operate faster than the earth-fault relay. It may be that a time delay is to be
introduced into the earth-fault relay circuit to ensure that the fuse operates
faster. Figure 10.4 shows a typical composite characteristic where 160 A fuse
is used in conjunction with a relay thermal element and earth-fault relay to
protect a 550kW motor with a full-load current of 120 A. From 132A, 110%
full load current to 700A the motor is protected by the thermal relay which
would trip the contactor. Above 700A the 200A fuse would clear the fault.
Similarly earth fault from 12A to 3000A would be cleared via the contactor and
above 3000A by the fuse. The contactor will never be called upon to break a
fault current beyond its capability.

Differential protection on a phase by phase basis is shown in Figure 10.5.
This type of protection is eminently suitable and will detect faults on practically
the whole of the winding but is generally only used on large motors. The
leads between the current transformers in the motor neutral terminal box and
the relay which is associated with the switchgear, may be long and therefore
could have a high resistance.
R
Y
Motor
Stator
Windings
B
R Y B
FIGURE 10.5 - DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
However as the most onerous condition under which stability is required is the
motor starting current a fairly low relay setting and reasonably small current
transformers can he used

LOSS OF SUPPLY
When the supply is removed from an induction motor its back e.m.f. will
decay exponentially and virtually disappear in a seconds. During that time
there will also be a slight decrease in speed so that the phase of the back
e.m.f. moves away from the position which it occupied before the removal of
the supply. The result is that the locus of the back e.m.f. traces a spiral as
shown in Figure 10.6. The figures are arbitrary and are not meant to
represent any particular motor.
If the voltage was restored before 0.4 s then the voltage applied to the motor
would be less than system voltage because of the back e.m.f. and the current
would be less than short-circuit current. After 0.4 s the voltage between the
applied voltage and the hack e.m.f. is greater than the applied voltage and
the short-circuit current would be correspondingly greater. If the voltage was
restored after 0.8s the short-circuit current would be 1½-, times normal. This
means that the mechanical forces exerted on the rotor would be over twice
the normal starting forces and could cause damage to the rotor structure.
1.2
1.0 1.4
2.8
0.9 V
0.3 1.7 E
Short Circuit
2.0
0.8
0.2 0.1s
0.1s
0.7
0.2
Open Circuit
0.6
0.3
0.5
0.4
FIGURE 10.6 - LOCI OF BACK EMF OF MOTOR DURING LOSS OF SUPPLY
For this reason undervoltage relays are used on large machines to ensure
that the machines are disconnected if the loss of voltage exceeds say 0.3 s.
The relay used is either an attracted armature relay with a time-delay relay or
an induction relay
During a system fault there is a loss of supply to all motors connected to the
system until the fault is cleared by unit protection. The loss of supply will be
of the of the order of 120 to 250ms, the protection-operating time plus the
circuit-breaker opening time. Even if the fault persisted for a longer time there
is not much danger of the high short-circuit current. This is because the motor
will be contributing current to the fault and consequently- the decay of the

back e.m.f. is far more rapid. It will in all probability have disappeared in less
than 0.5 s.

SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS
The protection for synchronous motors is the same as that for induction
motors but with the addition of a relay to detect loss of synchronism and loss
of supply.
For loss of synchronism an out-of-step relay is applied to motors which could

he subjected to sudden overloads. The motor could pull out of step because
of an increase in mechanical load or if there is a reduction in supply voltage.
When pole slipping occurs the stator current increases and the power factor
changes to a very low value and it is this condition that the out-of-step relay
detects and trips out the motor during the first slip cycle.
The relay coil is connected to a bridge circuit which compares the current from
one phase with the voltage from the other two phases. The relay is energised
by the voltage and is in the operated position at all times when the current is
zero or under normal load condition. When the motor pulls out of step the
current is such that it subtracts from the current produced by the voltage to
such an extent that the net current falls below relay drop-off level. A non-
linear resistor increases the overall tripping area of the characteristic to
ensure correct operation. This type of relay will also detect the loss of field.
R
Y Motor
B
I Full Load
V Unity pf
I Full Load
0.8 lag
Tripping
R Zone
FIGURE 10.7 - OUT OF STEP PROTECTION

If the supply to a synchronous motor is interrupted for more than say, 0.3s,
then there is a danger that if the supply is restored the motor may be out of
step and therefore an undervoltage relay is required to trip the machine. This
relay will also prevent starting and running under abnormally low voltage
conditions. Other protection devices are underpower or reverse power relays
which are usually induction relays and are identical except that the former
closes its contacts when the forward power is less than say, 3% and the latter
closes its contacts when the reverse power exceeds 3%. The reverse power
relay should always be preferred as it is more stable to momentary swings of
power but it depends for operation on the protected motor generating to other
loads connected to the same busbar. If there are no other loads then an
underpower relay must be used.

SECTION 11
TESTING
CONTENTS
TESTING ............................................................................................... 171
WORKS TESTS ................................................................................. 171
TESTS ON SITE ................................................................................ 171
COMMISSIONING TESTS ................................................................ 173
CT POLARITY CHECK 173
Primary Injection 174
CT MAGNETISING CHARACTERISTIC CURVES ............................... 177
RELAY CHARACTERISTIC CHECK 179
Thermal Relays 181
Directional Relays 183
Biased Differential Relays 184
General 185
INSULATION TESTS ......................................................................... 185
TRIPPING CIRCUIT CHECK ............................................................. 185
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE TESTS ................................................... 186
TEST EQUIPMENT ........................................................................... 186
CARE OF PROTECTION RELAYS .................................................... 187

TESTING
The importance of maintenance and testing of protective gear will be
appreciated if its role in the power system is considered. It is different from all
other equipment in that it is operative for a very small proportion of the time. It
is therefore most important that when operation is required it will function
correctly.
To ensure this, regular maintenance and testing of the relay and its
associated equipment is required. It is not possible to specify the frequency
of testing this depends on the location and the importance of the equipment.
An important piece of equipment with protection mounted in a location where
conditions are poor would require some attention every 12 months, or maybe
more often in the light of experience, whereas a less important unit with
protection in a good location would require testing every 4 years. There is no
hard-and-fast rule - a case for judgement and common sense and experience.
WORKS TESTS
To appreciate the aims of site testing it is necessary to consider the tests to
which a relay is subjected in the manufacturer’s works.
During the development stage of a relay, or protection scheme, many tests

are performed to achieve the desired characteristics and performance. When
development is completed the equipment is subjected to a type test. This is in
two parts. The tests which are common to every relay, impact, vibration,
insulation tests, etc. and the tests which are particular to the relay to prove its
characteristics, speed of operation, stability level, CT requirements, etc.
It is information derived from these tests which will ultimately be used in

leaflets describing the relay and specifying its performance. These type tests
would be performed on only a few of the relays and none of these would be
supplied to customers. Relays which are supplied against customers orders
are subjected to a series of tests to prove that their characteristics conform,
within limits, to the specification and that it will perform in the manner
described in the technical literature describing the relay. The tests required
are enumerated in a test specification which usually culminates in a pressure
test to check the insulation.
TESTS ON SITE
The relays are delivered to the site either mounted on a switchgear panel or
as "loose" relays for mounting on the panel on site. In the latter case a check
should be made before mounting to confirm that the relay has not been
damaged in transit.
Tests conducted on the relays when they are installed in their final location
are to prove that the connections to the relay are correct and that there is no
damage or foreign matter introduced into the relay during installation and, in
the case of relays delivered already mounted on the switchgear panel, in
transit.

It is desirable to have a wiring diagram of the equipment which is to be tested
as this will reduce considerably the time to perform the tests. All the wiring
should have ferrule numbers and it is a simple matter to relate these to the
wiring diagram.
Another aid is the use of standard wiring numbers which are used by many
switchgear manufacturers. These follow the recommendations of BS
158:1961 even though this particular British Standard Specification is now
withdrawn. From knowledge of the nomenclature the function of much of the
panel wiring can be deduced without reference to a wiring diagram.
The ferruling consists of a letter which refers to a function and a number

which in the case of CT and VT circuits refers to a phase. A, B, C and D are
CT circuits, A, B and Care for differential, busbar and overcurrent circuits
respectively whilst D is for metering circuits. E is associated with VT circuits.
The numbers 10 to 29, 30 to 49 and 50 to 69 refer to R-, Y- and B-phases
respectively whilst 70 to 89 are for neutral and residual circuits whilst 90 is for
connections made directly to earth. Figures 11.8 and 11.9 are examples of
the use of these numbers. In addition the letter K is used for tripping circuits
and L for indication and alarm circuits. The usual practice is to use odd
numbers for connections on the positive side of the supply and even numbers
for connections on the negative side.
When tests are conducted it is most important to record the results in a clear
and legible manner. This not only allows the results to be examined later, but
provides a permanent record of the state of the equipment at that time and
provides a basis for comparison for future tests.

COMMISSIONING TESTS
During commissioning a comprehensive series of tests are required to check
the whole installation from the current transformers to the tripping circuit.
The tests can be divided into five parts:
* CT Polarity Check
* CT Magnetising Curves
* Relay Characteristic Check
* Insulation Tests
* Tripping Circuit Check.
CT POLARITY CHECK
In many protection schemes the relative polarity between current transformers
is important and therefore tests must be carried out to ensure that they are
correctly connected. Figure 11.1 shows the diagram of a current transformer
with the current flow convention which is when primary current flows from P1
to P2, secondary current flows from S1 to S2 in the external circuit connected
to the current transformers. A simple way of checking the relative polarities is
by the flick test which uses a battery to send a pulse of current through the
current transformer as shown in Figure 11.2. If a d.c. is passed through the
CT from P1 to P2 then there will be a momentary deflection of a voltmeter
connected across the secondary winding terminal S1 being momentarily
positive. When the current is removed, terminal S2 will become momentarily
positive. The usual method is, however, by primary injection.
P1 P2
I1 S1 S2
I2
FIGURE 11.1 CURRENT TRANSFORMER SHOWING CONVENTIONAL CURRENT FLOW

P1 S1 S2 P2
V
+
FIGURE 11.2 CHECKING CT POLARITY BY FLICK TEST
Primary Injection
Primary-injection testing involves the passing of heavy currents through the
current transformers to establish firstly the ratio and then the relative polarity.
A short-circuit is placed as near as possible to the current transformers and
current injected. The usual method of injection is into the switchgear feeder
orifices by means of expandable rods and placing the short-circuit in the cable
connecting box. If the latter is compound filled or if the connections are
sleeved then the short-circuit would have to be placed in the CT chamber
itself. The arrangement is shown diagrammatically in Figure 11.3.
Injection
Supply
FIGURE 11.3 RATIO CHECK ON RED PHASE CURRENT TRANSFORMER

C11 C10
Injection
Supply
Y
C31 C30
B
C51 C50
C11
C10
C30
C51
C31
C50
A
FIGURE 11.4 RATIO CHECK WITH INJECTION AT FEEDER ORIFlCES
After making the heavy current connections to inject current in, say, the red
phase an ammeter is connected across the CT secondary and a short-circuit
to any other CT which will be subjected to primary circuit during the test. The
secondary connections are usually made at the main connecting block.
As an alternative the current could be injected via two feeder orifices, say the
red and the yellow phases. In this case ammeters could be connected to both
red and yellow current transformers or one CT short-circuited whilst the other
CT ratio was checked. This arrangement using wiring numbers is shown in
Figure 11.4.
Current is injected via the two feeder orifices to check that the polarity of the
current transformer is correct. The current which will pass through two current
transformers in opposite directions and will produce a secondary current in
each secondary winding. If the polarity of the current transformers is correct
this current will circulate around the two secondary windings and very little
current will flow in the ammeter which is connected as shown in Figure 11.5.
If the polarity is incorrect then the sum of the currents in the secondary
windings will pass through the ammeter.

R
Injection
Supply
Y
FIGURE 11.5 - POLARITY CHECK, RED AND YELLOW CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
Should an incorrect polarity be indicated then the injection through a different

phase will reveal the incorrect current transformer, e.g. if an incorrect polarity
is shown when the injection is via R and Y and also when the injection is via Y
and B then the Y current transformer is incorrect. If the R-Y injection shows
an incorrect polarity and a Y-B injection does not the R current transformer is
faulty.
In all cases, whether a correct or incorrect polarity is shown in the two tests,
the third test should be performed as a double check.
Having checked the current transformer ratios and that the relative polarity is
correct the main function of primary-injection testing has been fulfilled and
further testing can be performed by simulating the current transformer
secondary current by injecting a current at the CT secondary terminals. This
current will, of course, be much lower than the primary-injection current and
the equipment smaller. It is not possible to test the relays completely by the
primary-injection method owing to the difficulty in producing high multiples of
setting current. Therefore further primary-injection testing is confined to
injecting sufficient current to produce movement of the relay.
Primary-injection tests are performed only when the equipment is being

commissioned or if for any reason one or more current transformers are
changed.

CT MAGNETISING CHARACTERISTIC CURVES
This test is conducted on all current transformers and is intended to prove that
they are suitable for the protection with which they are associated by
determining the knee-point voltage, i.e. the voltage at which saturation starts.
It is also intended to show that all current transformers in a group are similar
and to test for open-circuited secondary windings or short-circuited turns. A
variable voltage supply is connected across the secondary terminals of the
current transformer and the current measured at different voltages. The
circuit is as shown in Fig. 11.6. Note that the voltmeter is connected so that
the ammeter does not read voltmeter current which in some cases could be of
the same order in the CT magnetising current.
It is useful to establish roughly the voltage at which saturation starts by

increasing the voltage until there is a large increase in current for a small
change in voltage. It can then be decided at what values to take readings to
give sufficient points to plot a clear graph - too many points would be tedious.
A
ac supply
CT
V
Variable
Voltage
Transformer
FIGURE - 11.6 CIRCUIT TO DETERMINE CT MAGNETISING CHARACTERISTIC
As an example take the following tests on a set of three current transformers.

The test equipment is connected to the R-phase current transformer. The
voltage is increased steadily until there is a rapid increase in current. In this
case the increase was from about 0.05 A to 0.1 A when the voltage increased
from about 100 to 120 V. Ten readings would seem to be a reasonable
number between 0 and 120 V~ say 20 V, steps initially and smaller steps
when saturation starts. The Y and B-phases are checked in turn.

Voltage Current
R Y B
0 0 0 0
20 0.01 0.01 0.011
40 0.016 0.016 0.017
60 0.023 0.024 0.025
80 0.031 0.031 0.032
90 0.037 0.037 0.039
100 0.046 0.047 0.049
110 0.065 0.066 0.069
120 0.105 0.107 0.111
The knee-point voltage, i.e. the voltage at which an increase of 10% will result
in a 50% increase in magnetising current, is about 100 V, the point in our
preliminary test where the current started to increase rapidly.
As a rough check on this
@ 100V Ie = 0.046
@ 100V +10% = 110V Ie = 0.065

0.065 - 0.046
increase 0.046 = 0.41
a 41% increase.
@ 110V Ie = 0.065
@ 110V +10% = 121V Ie = 0.105

0.105 - 0.065
increase 0.065 = 0.62
a 62% increase.
Hence the knee-point voltage is between 100 and 110 V. If a more accurate
result is required curves may be plotted as shown in Figure 11.7. The knee
point is 104 V for the R current transformer. Following these tests the
resistance of the CT secondary winding is checked.
This is best done by a bridge or by d.c. voltage and current measurement but
a multimeter reading is better than nothing. All results must, of course, be
recorded.

140
120
100
80
Voltage
60
40
20
0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
Magnetising Current (Amperes)
FIGURE 11.7 CT MAGNETISING CHARACTERISTIC
RELAY CHARACTERISTIC CHECK

The method employed to test the relay and the CT secondary wiring is
secondary injection which, as previously mentioned, is a current injected at
the current transformer secondary terminals to simulate the CT output. This is
the usual method used during routine maintenance tests or tests following a
suspected malfunction of the equipment.
The actual tests would be designed to show any defect in the equipment and
to record the performance for comparison to its performance during the
subsequent tests. This means that the same tests must be performed each
time and it is therefore necessary to have a test sheet to ensure this.

It is not possible, and indeed not desirable, to provide a single test sheet
which could be used on every type of equipment and therefore a test sheet
should be prepared for each type of relay. The objection to a "universal" test
sheet is that many of the spaces left for results would not be relevant and
spaces that required a result would be overlooked. It is more satisfactory to
have a test sheet in which every space requires a result. In this case the tests
required are quite clear and the omission of a test unlikely.
As an alternative to the above if the protection on the particular system is

fairly standardised the test sheets could be prepared for each type of
equipment. For example, a transformer protection panel could have a test
sheet which covered overcurrent, balanced earth- fault and Buchholz.
Typical test sheets for the more common types of protection could be as
shown in Table 11.1.
The test at 1.3x setting produces a very low disc torque and is to check that
the disc runs freely showing that the bearings, disc and disc shaft are in good
order and that there are no foreign bodies in the magnet gaps. The operating
time is not very significant unless it varies widely from 30 to 40 s. This is
because a small error in current measurement at this level affects the time
considerably.
The tests at 2 and 10 times setting are to check the characteristic curve. Note
that the relay is only short-time rated at 10 times setting as its consumption is
about 150 W and so the current should be removed as the relay operates.
Sec at 100% Relay Setting Sec HS No

Phase Function 1.3x 2x 10x reset Plug TM HS at 2x Amps Plug
TABLE 11.1. IDMT OVERCURRENT AND EARTH-FAULT RELAYS
The resetting time is checked by releasing the disc from the fully operated
position. The disc should be watched for erratic movement which would
indicate bearing problems, etc. The time to reset, which should be about 12s,
confirms that the permanent magnet has not lost any of its magnetism. The
test with the plug removed is to check that the shorting switch, which prevents
the open-circuiting of the current transformers when the plug is removed, is in
working order.
After checking the resetting time the settings which have been calculated for
the particular relay are applied and the operating time at 2x setting is
measured. If an instantaneous overcurrent relay (HS) -is fitted then its
operating current is checked.

Thermal Relays
To check the overload characteristic requires that the current in each phase is
balanced and therefore it is usual to connect the three-phase elements in
series. Figure 11.8 shows a typical wiring diagram for a thermal relay with the
current transformers connected to the 100% tap. Figure 11.9 shows the
modifications which need to be made in this case to prepare the relay for a
secondary injection test. The earth-fault element and the yellow phase CT
are short- circuited and the C71 connection between the red-phase and the
earth-fault elements is opened. Current is injected at the C11 and C51
connections at the CT terminal block. Current flow is from C11 1 through the
relay red-phase via connection C71 through the yellow phase to C31 and to
C70 via the short-circuit at the CT terminal block; down C70, through the
short-circuit across the earth-fault element to C71 on the blue-phase element
and through this element to C51. Note in practice the C71 connections may
differ physically from that shown and this may change slightly the connections
which need to be opened to c6nnect the phase elements in series.
C10 C11
C30 C31
C50 C51
80%
C51
80%
C70 80% 80%
C11 C31
80% 80%
Earth Red C71 Yellow

Fault Phase Phase
FIGURE 11.8 - MOTOR PROTECTION RELAY. TYPICAL CIRCUIT

C10 C11
C30 C31
C50 C51
80%
C51
80%
C70 80% 80%
C11 C31
80% 80%
Earth Red C71 Yellow

Fault Phase Phase
FIGURE 11.9 MOTOR PROTECTION RELAY - MODIFICATIONS TO CIRCUIT FOR

TESTING
Procedure
The relay characteristic is shown on the nameplate for a particular overload
setting, e.g. 115%. The test setting of the adjustable contact is this value.
The overload elements should be on the 100% tap during the tests.
There is a square adjuster at the centre of each element and this is used to
set the yellow-phase element so that zero is indicated on the % load scale
and the contacts on the red- and blue-phase elements so that they lie
symmetrically between the yellow element contacts.
With the relay cover replaced, twice relay normal current is applied and the
time to operate is noted. The current is reduced to 100% and the position of
the indicator on the % load scale and the relative positions of the contacts is
examined. Adjustments are made to correct errors by moving the position of
the heaters with respect to the bimetals. Starting with the yellow-phase
element to adjust the indicator position to 100% and then the red- and blue-
phase element to centralise the contact position.

Alternatively the adjustment of the yellow-phase element could be made so
that 100% corresponds to motor full-load current rather than relay 100%
current. The indicator would then indicate the actual percentage load of the
motor.
When adjustments are complete the current is increased to twice normal

again and the time recorded in the "2X Run" space.
Following this the relay is allowed to cool and then the 6x setting current time
is recorded. During this test the contacts should be watched carefully to
establish that the out-of-balance contacts do not touch.
The operating current of the instantaneous overcurrent elements and the

earth-fault element are checked.
The relay settings are then applied and a check made to ascertain that the
intended tap has been selected and then the nameplate disc is adjusted so
that the correct tap is displayed.
Directional Relays
There is always difficulty in checking that directional relays are connected
correctly and therefore the wiring should be comprehensively examined and
circuits traced out. Following this, if possible, tests should be made using a
phase-shifter or other device to provide a phase shift and finally a check
should be made under load conditions.
Variable Voltage
Phase
Transformer
Shifter
r
Three-phase y
Supply b
Relay
W
Variable Voltage Auxiliary

Transformer Transformer
FIGURE 11.10 TEST CIRCUIT USING A PHASE SHIFTER
The use of a phase-shifter requires some explanation. Figure 11.10 shows

the test circuit. The relay voltage coil is to be supplied through the phase-
shifter and the current coil through transformers connected to the incoming
supply. The variable voltage transformers and the transformer in the current
circuit will introduce phase changes and therefore it is necessary to establish
phase relationships at the relay. A wattmeter is used for this. The voltage coil
is connected across the relay voltage coil and the current coil in series with
the relay current coil. The voltage and current are adjusted to the nominal
value and the phase angle changed in the lag direction until the wattmeter
reads zero.

The phase-shifter scale should be adjusted to 90° lagging. A check can be
made that the wattmeter reads maximum at 0°, this is not easily determined,
and that there is a zero reading at the 90° lead point.
Observing that the polarity is correct under load conditions requires the
knowledge that the load is, without any doubt whatsoever, flowing in a certain
direction. Even then confirmation may be difficult if the power flow is in the
wrong direction for relay operation or if the phase angle of the load differs
greatly from the optimum phase angle of the relay.
It should be borne in mind that the connections of a directional relay depend

on the phase rotation of the system being correct. This has been known to be
wrong.
Biased Differential Relays

To plot the bias slope characteristic of a biased differential relay requires a
circuit as shown in Figure 11.11.
I Bias Coil I - Ia
A
Ia Operate
Coil
Test Supply
R2 R1
FIGURE 11.11 BIASED DIFFERENTIAL RELAY TEST CIRCUIT
The relative values of the resistors R1 and R2 are roughly the same ratio as
the bias slope, e.g. for a bias slope of 20%
R1
= 0.2.
R2

To determine the 1A position on the characteristic. A current of, say, 1.1A is
injected and R2 adjusted until the relay operates. Let the operating current be
I0 Then the average bias current is
I + (I - I0)
IB =
2
and the bias slope at IB is I0/IB. The test is repeated for other values of I until
the characteristic curve I0 against IB can be drawn.
General
On each test sheet there should also be space to enter the substation name,
the circuit, the relay serial number and other relevant details. Spaces for
results of insulation tests, CT magnetising characteristic tests and tripping
tests should also be provided.
INSULATION TESTS
Insulation testing is performed by applying a d.c. voltage of, say, 1000 V
between all circuits and earth and between each circuit and measuring the
insulation resistance. This tests the insulation of the current transformers and
wiring as well as the relay.
The general procedure is as follows: -

Remove links and fuses in tripping and alarm circuits and to open the CT
earthing links. Test and record the insulation resistance between all circuits
and earth and between all circuits. It should be borne in mind that the tripping
circuit and any alarm circuit which includes a current-breaker auxiliary switch
will be in three parts. The positive, the negative and the circuit between the
relay contact and the circuit-breaker auxiliary contact usually numbered K3.
Damage may be caused to static relays if they are subjected to insulation

testing. Some relays can withstand the test voltage; some can if the test set
does not generate spikes, i.e. the commutation spikes of a hand- or motor-
driven generator, other relays require some modifications to the connections
from the opening of a link in some cases to almost complete disconnection in
others.
This means that reference to manufacturers' published data is essential to be

certain of the steps to be taken to prevent damage.
TRIPPING CIRCUIT CHECK
All testing should culminate in trip circuits testing by tripping the circuit-
breaker by operating the relay. Ideally the relay should not be operated by
hand but sometimes this is unavoidable. When this is the case great care
should be taken to ensure that the relay is not damaged.

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE TESTS
These tests can be as extensive or as limited as common sense dictates
depending on the importance of the circuit. In general, however, they would
be mainly confined to insulation testing of all the wiring, relay characteristic
tests and tripping checks.
TEST EQUIPMENT
A test set to inject current into a protection system consists of a means of
producing a variable current, an ammeter and a timer. The power
requirements are about 3kVA for primary injection and 1kVA for secondary
injection testing. In the latter case the power requirement can be reduced if
only a limited range of relays are to be tested.
If a full range of 1A and 5A relays are to be tested the 1A earth-fault relay set
at 20% would require at 10x setting a current of 2A and a voltage of
½x 3 = 75V
0.2
based on the relay having a 3 VA burden at setting and saturating to half the
impedance at 10x setting.
At the other end of the scale a 5A overcurrent relay on 200% tap would
require a current of 100A at a voltage of
½x 3 = 1.5V
10
The VA is 150 in each case but to cater for the entire range would mean 50 -
1.5V, 2A windings which could be connected in series or parallel. In practice
eight 10V, 11.5A windings would be used but this means a total rating of
1kVA.
If only 1A relays are to be tested then the requirement is a range of 75V, 2A to

7.5V, 20A. In this case four windings each of 20V, 5A could be used a rating
of 400VA which means a test set of only half the size and weight. Similarly if
only 5A relays are to be tested four 4V, 25A windings could be used.
Figure 11.12 shows a basic test circuit. The current is varied by the variable
voltage transformer and the resistor. The test transformer has a dual function,
it provides the injection supply and also isolates the output from the mains so
that there is no danger of the mains supply being short-circuited via the CT
earthing circuit. Links are provided to allow series, parallel or series-parallel
connections of the four windings to be made depending on the test current
required.
Variable voltage transformers have a very poor wave-form when used at the
low end of the range and as this may affect the performance of some relays,
induction types in particular, a resistors placed in the circuit so that an
increased voltage, with a consequent improved wave-form, should be used.

A
ac Supply
To Relay
Variable Isolating
Voltage Transformer
Transformer
FIGURE 11.12 TEST EQUIPMENT BASIC DIAGRAM
It is useful to be able to connect directly to the output of the variable voltage

transformer so that the test set can be used to provide the supply for CT
magnetising characteristic checks. As this supply is not isolated from the
mains it is important to know the polarity of the supply so that the line
connection is not inadvertently connected to earth. An indicator lamp
connected between line and earth can be used to show correct polarity and
that the test set is earthed.
A timing device is used which is arranged to start when the current is switched
on and stop when the relay contacts close.
CARE OF PROTECTION RELAYS
Relays are generally of robust construction and not easily damaged after they
have been installed. There is, however, some danger of damage before and
during installation and during this time they should be treated like the
measuring instruments that they are and should not be subjected to
mechanical shock nor stored in unsuitable conditions. They should be
handled with care and the cover should not be removed unless absolutely
necessary. The removal of the cover during installation not only allows the
ingress of dust, which is usually abundant during installation, but if drilling or
filing is taking place nearby there is a danger that steel particles will enter the
relay which sooner or later will be pulled into the air-gaps of electromagnet or
permanent magnet and impair relay operation.
After installation there is not the same danger of damage but nevertheless
relay covers should not be removed unnecessarily and any broken glasses
should be replaced immediately. Before removing a cover the relay case
should be thoroughly cleaned to remove all dust. Most damage to relays is
caused by inexperience and therefore any work should be carried out by a
skilled person.
Before any work on the relay is started the trip circuit should be isolated and a
visual inspection made. Moving parts should be carefully cleaned with a
feather and a piece of stiff card is useful in removing swarf from the magnet
gaps. Relay bearings should not be lubricated as they are designed to be dry
to eliminate the possibility of sticking after along period without movement.

Relay contacts should be inspected and only cleaned if there is discoloration
to such an extent that may impair good contact. Cleaning should be by a soft
paint brush dipped in clean trichlorethylene followed by wiping with a lint-free
fabric or chamois leather and then burnished. If the contacts are slightly
pitted they should be burnished smooth if possible. If not they should be
replaced. Under no circumstances should abrasives be used as grit may
become embedded in the contact face which will ultimately cause a failure.

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SECTION 1

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 1

Electrical Equipment which is correctly installed and maintained is normally

This manual is designed to enhance the basic knowledge including the

Abnormal conditions may be grouped into two types:

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 2

An electrical network normally operates within its designed rating.

However, if a fault should develop somewhere in the system, that is to say a

Such currents will quickly cause intense overheating of conductors and

It is the function of protective equipment, in association with the automatic

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 3

Where continuity of supply is considered essential alternative feeds are

For this it must possess the quality known as ‘discrimination’ whereby it is

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 4

MEASUREMENTS - GENERAL ........................................................... 6

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 5

Single Phase Three Phase

Single Phase Three Phase

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 6

Direct measurement of current in a single-phase circuit is obtained by placing

The currents in the separate phases can, however, be measured

Direct measurement has serious disadvantages. In high-voltage systems the

Instrument transformers are of two types - 'voltage transformers' (VT) and

The secondary voltages and currents may be chosen as desired, but in

To select the phases between which voltages are measured, a 3-position

To select the phases in which currents are measured, a special selector

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 7

(a) Single Phase CTs

(b) Three Phase

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 8

Class Voltage Phase Class Current Ratio Phase

Most indicating instruments on onshore and offshore switchboards are fed

If it is ever necessary to check or recalibrate a switchboard instrument or

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 9

FIGURE 2.3 - TYPICAL CURRENT TRANSFORMERS

An alternative form of CT is known as the 'bar' or 'ring' type. It has no primary

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 10

Another important difference between a CT and other types of transformer lies

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 11

(a) Single Secondary (b) Single Secondary

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 12

FIGURE 2.6 - VOLTAGE AND BURDEN OF A CURRENT TRANSFORMER

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 13

Before ever an instrument or relay is removed from the secondary loop of a

To prevent this danger many CT secondaries are permanently short-circuited

There is also a range of CTs designed to saturate if their burden becomes

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 14

Calculation of an instrument transformer burden

The burden imposed by long secondary pilot leads, however, cannot be

In Figure 2.5 a 20VA CT with full-load secondary current of 5A supplies two

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 15

20VA 2VA 2VA 3VA 2VA 4VA

Total instrument burden = 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 4 = 13VA.

As the CT is rated 20VA, it has sufficient margin.

Location of CTs and VTs

Since wattmeter, varmeter, power factor meter and frequency meter

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 16

FIGURE 2.8 - TRANSDUCER OPERATED INSTRUMENTS

HV/LV Power System Protection July 2009 Revision 17