Govt. Women Engg.

College
Makupura ,Ajmer-305002
Model Question Paper
Sub: Protection of Power Systems (8EX3A) Sem: VIII
1. Explain the nature and causes of faults. Discuss the consequences of faults on
power system.
A. Faults caused by either insulation failures or by conducting path failures. The failure
of insulation results in short circuits which are very harmful as they may damage
some equipment of the power system. Most of the faults on transmission and
distribution lines are caused by overvoltages due to lightning or switching surges, or
by external conducting objects falling on overhead lines. Over voltages due to
lightning or switching surges cause flash over on the surface of insulators resulting in
short circuits. Some insulators get punctured or break. Birds also may cause faults on
overhead lines if their bodies touch one of the phases and the earth wire. If the
conductors are broken there is a failure of the conducting path and the conductor
becomes open circuited. if the broken conductor falls to the ground, it results in a
short circuit. Unbalanced currents flowing in rotating machines setup harmonics, there
by heating missions in short periods of time. Therefore unbalancing of the lines is not
allowed in the normal operation of power system.

Consequences of faults:

Heavy short circuit current may cause damage to equipment or any other element of
the system due to overheating and high mechanical forces setup due to heavy current
Arcs associated with short circuits may cause fire hazards. Search files resulting from
arcing may destroy the faulty element of the system.
There may be a reduction in the supply voltage of the healthy feeders, resulting in the
loss of industrial loads.
Short circuits may cause the unbalancing supply voltages and currents there by
heating rotating machines.
2. Explain the differences between protection CT and measurement CT.
A. The CT using for protection will have to carry the fault currents which are 10 times
the normal full load current thats why it is designed at much bellow the saturation
point (knee) inorder to aviod saturation. These CTs have to protect against fault
hence these CTs are not supposed to saturate during fault current and they should
transform secondary current exectly replica of fault current. For example class 5P20
means 5=% error, P = protection class, 20 means 20 times of rated current means
when 20 times of rated current is flowing through CT the error in sec. current may be
+/- 5%.

The CT used for metering will have to carry only full load current thats why it is
designed near to knee point. as per accuracy concern the metering Ct should be more
accurate under normal operating condition i.e under normal operating condition the
pretection CT accuracy not important. It will function up to full load current only
 then it will be saturated. It will not follow the CTR Above the full load curent. Take
the example of a train, if boggies are connected to engine it will follow the speed
of engine but if coupling is broken boggies will not follow the engine.
3. A 1200/5 , 400V CT is connected on the 1000/5 tap. What is the maximum
secondary burden that can be used and we can maintain rated accuracy at 20
times rated symmetrical secondary current?
A. The secondary voltage VS corresponding to the tap 1000/5,

VS =(1000/1200)*400=333V

Secondary current IS=20*5=100A

VS=IS*(RS+RB)

from calibration curve.

333 = 100(0.51+RB)

Secondary burden = 3.33 - 0.51 = 2.72Ω

4. Discuss the classification of protective relays based on their speed of operation.

A. Protective relays can be generally classified by their speed of operation follows.
(i) Instantaneous relays
(ii) Time delay relay
(iii) High speed relay
(iv) Ultra high speed relays

Instantaneous relays:

In this relays, no intentional time delay is introduced to slow down their response.
These relays of operate as soon as a secure decision is made

Time delay relays:

In this relays and intentional time delay is introduced between the relay decision time
and the initiation of the trip action.

High speed relays:

These relays offer rate in less than a specified time the specified time in present
practice is 60 milliseconds.

Ultra high speed relays:

To disturb is not included in the relay standard but these relays a commonly operate
within 5 milliseconds

5. What you understand by a zone of protection? Discuss various zones of

protection for a modern power system.
A. A Power system contains generators, Transformers, bus bars, transmission and
distribution lines etc. There is a separate protective scheme for each piece of
equipment or element of the power system such as generator protection, Transformer
protection, transmission line protection and busbar protection etc. The system is
divided into a number of zones for protection. A productive zone covers one or at the
most two elements of a power system. A protective zones are planned in such a way
that the entire power system is collectively covered by them and thus no part of the
system is left unprotected. Adjacent protective zones must overlap each other, haircut
failing which your fault on the boundary of the zones may not lie in any of the zones,
and hence no circuit breaker would trip. Thus the overlapping between the adjacent
zones is unavoidable. If a fault occurs in the overlapping zone in a properly protected
scheme, more circuit breaker then the minimum necessary to isolate the faulty
element of the system would trip.

If a fault occurs in a particular zone it is the duty of the primary release of the zone
to isolate the faulty element the primary really is the first line of defence if due to any
reason the primary relay fails to operate there is a backup protective scheme to clear
the fault as a second line of defence.

The causes of of failures of protective scheme may be due to the failure of various
elements. The reliability of protective scheme should at least be 95%. With proper
design installation and maintenance of the relays, circuit breakers, trip mechanisms
AC and DC wiring etc. a very high degree reliability can be achieved. The backup
relays are made independent of those factors which might cause primary release to
fail. A backup relay operates after a time delay to give primary relay sufficient time to
operate. When a backup relay operates larger part of the power system is disconnected
from the power source but this is unavoidable. As far as possible a back up relay
should be placed at a different station. Sometimes a local backup is also used. It
should be located in such a way that it does not employ components common with the
primary relays which are to be backed up. There are three types of backup relays:

(i) Remote backup

(ii) Relay backup

(iii) Breaker backup

6. Explain the overcurrent protective schemes for feeders.

A. An over current protective scheme for parallel feeders:

At the sending end of the feeders non directional relays are required. At the other
end of the feeders directional overcurrent relays are required. The arrow mark for the
directional release place it it is C and D indicate that the relay will operate if current
flows in the direction flow by the arrow. If your fault occurs at F, the directional relay
at D trips, as the direction of the current is reversed. The relay at C does not trip, as
 the current flows in the normal direction. The relay at B trips for your fault at F. Does
the faulty feeder is isolated and the supply of the healthy feeder is maintained.

If non directional relays are used at C and D, both Reliance placed at C and D will
trip for your fault at F. This is not desired as healthy feeder is also tripped. Due to this
very reason relays at C and D are directional overcurrent relays. For fault at feeders
the direction of current at A and B does not change and hence relay is used at A and B
are non directional.

7. Discuss the protection employed against loss of excitation of an alternator

A. When the excitation of a generator is lost it speeds up slightly and operates as an
induction generator. Round rotor generator do not have damper windings and hence
they are not suitable for Such an operation. The router is overheated quickly due to
heavy induced current in the rotor iron. The rotors of salient pole generator so not
over heated because they have damper windings which carry induced currents. The
starters of both salient and the non salient pole generators overheated due to wattless
current drawn by the Machines as magnetizing current from the system. The stator
overheating does not occur as quickly as rotor overheating. A large machine May
upset the system stability because it draws reactive power from the system when it
runs as induction generator where it supplies reactive power when it runs as a
generator. A machine provide with a quick acting automatic voltage regulator and
connected to very large system may run for several minutes as an induction generator
without harm.

Field failure may be caused by the failure of excitation normal operation faulty
field breaker. A protective scheme employing offset more or directional impedance
relay having characteristics is recommended for large modern generators. When a
generator loses it's exaltation, the locus of the equivalent generator impedance moves
from the first quadrant to the fourth quadrant, irrespective of initial conditions. They
relay trips the field breaker and the generator disconnected from the system.

8. State the different types of protection schemes employed in generators

A. A generator is the most important and costly equipment in a power system. As it is
accompanied by Prime mover, excitation system, voltage regulator, cooling system,
etc., its protection becomes very complex and elaborate. It is subjected to more types
of troubles then any other equipment. Modern generating set is generally provided
with the following protective schemes.

(i) Stator protection

(a) percentage differential protection

(b) protection against stator inter-turn faults

(c) stator overheating protection

(ii) Rotor protection

(a) field ground fault protection

(b) loss of excitation protection

(c) protection against rotor overheating because of unbalanced three phase stator
currents

(iii) Miscellaneous

(a) over voltage protection

(b) overspeed protection

(c) protection against motoring

(d) protection against vibration

(e) bearing overheating protection

(f) protection against auxiliary failure

(g) protection against voltage regulator failure

9. Enumerate the Relaying schemes which are employed for the protection of a
modern alternator

A. Percentage differential protection

The schematic diagram of percentage differential protection is shown in figure.

External fault

It is used for the protection of generators above 1MW. It protects against winding
faults, i.e. Phace to phace and phase to ground faults. This is also called biased the
differential protection or longitudinal differential protection. The polarity of the
secondary voltage of CT is at a particular moment for an external fault has been
shown in the figure. In the operating coil the current sent by the upper CT is called
by the current sent by the lower CT and the relay does not operate. For an internal
fault the polarity of the secondary voltage of the upper CT is reversed. Now the
operating coil carries the sum of the current sent by upper CT and the lower CT and
it operates under trips the circuit breaker.
Internal fault

The percentage differential protection does not respond to the external faults and
overlords. It provides complete protection against phace to phace faults it provides
protection against ground fault to about 80 to 85% the generator windings. It does
not provide protection to 100 percent of the winding because it is influenced by the
magnitude of the earth fault current which depends upon the method of neutral
grounding. When the neutral is grounded through an impedance, the differential
protection supplemented by sensitive earth fault relays.

Due to the difference in the magnetizing currents of the upper and the Lower CT is
the current through the operating coil will not be zero even under normal loading
conditions or during external fault conditions. Therefore to provide stability on
external faults bias coils are provided the relay is set to operate, not at a different
current but at a certain percentage of the through current. To obtain the required
amount of biasing a suitable ratio of the restraining coil turns to operating coil turns
is provided. High speed percentage differential relay is having visible ratio or
percentage slope characteristics or preferred the setting of the bias coils varies from
5% to 50% and that of the relay coil from 10% to 100% of the full load current.
10. Describe the construction and operation of the HRC cartridge fuse. What are
its dvantages and disadvantages
A. The HRC fuses cope with increasing rupturing capacity on the distribution
system and overcome the serious disadvantages supported by the semi enclosed
rewirable fuses.

In an HRC fuse, element surrounded by an inter Arc quenching medium is

completely enclosed in an outer body of ceramic material having good mechanical
strength. The unit in which the fuse element is enclosed is called fuse link. The fuse
link is replaced when it blows off. An HRC fuse consists of cylindrical body of
ceramic material usually steatite, pure silver element, pure quartz powder, brass end-
caps and copper contact blades. The fuse element is fitted inside the ceramic body
and the space within the body surrounding the element is completely filled with pure
powered quartz. The ends of the fuse element arc connected to the metal end-caps
which are screwed to the ceramic body by means of special forged screws. End
contacts are welded to the metal end-caps. The contact blades ate bolted on the
stationary contacts on the panel.

The fuse element is either pure silver of bimetalic in nature. Normally, the fuse
element has two or more sections joined together by means of a tin joint.

When the fuse carries normal rated current, the heat energy generated is not
sufficient to melt the fuse element. But when a fault occurs, the fuse element melts
before the fault current reaches its first peak.

Advantages of HRC fuses:

(i) Capability of clearing high values of fault currents

(ii) Fast operation

(iii) Non-deterioration for long periods

(iv) No maintenance needed

(v) Reliable discrimination

(vi) Consistent in performance

(vii) Cheaper than other circuit interrupting devices

(viii) Current limitation by cut-off action

(ix) Inverse time current characteristics

Disadvantages of HRC fuses

(i) It requires replacement after each operation.

(ii) Inter locking is not possible.

 (iii) It produces overheating of the adjacent contacts.

Q 11. Explain Percentage Differential protection for transformers.

Sol. Generally Differential protection is provided in the electrical power transformer rated
more than 5MVA.The Differential Protection of Transformer has many advantages over other
schemes of protection. The faults occur in the transformer inside the insulating oil can be
detected by Buchholz relay. But if any fault occurs in the transformer but not in oil then it can
not be detected by Buchholz relay. Any flash over at the bushings are not adequately covered
by Buchholz relay. Differential relays can detect such type of faults. Moreover Buchholz
relay is provided in transformer for detecting any internal fault in the transformer but
Differential Protection scheme detects the same in more faster way. The differential relays
normally response to those faults which occur in side the differential protection zone of
transformer.
Differential Protection Scheme in a Power Transformer
Principle of Differential Protection scheme is one simple conceptual technique. The
differential relay actually compares between primary current and secondary current of power
transformer, if any unbalance found in between primary and secondary currents the relay will
actuate and inter trip both the primary and secondary circuit breaker of the transformer.
Suppose you have one transformer which has primary rated current Ip and secondary current
Is. If you install CT of ratio Ip/1A at the primary side and similarly, CT of ratio Is/1A at the
secondary side of the transformer. The secondaries of these both CTs are connected together
in such a manner that secondary currents of both CTs will oppose each other. In other words,
the secondaries of both CTs should be connected to the same current coil of a differential
relay in such an opposite manner that there will be no resultant current in that coil in a normal
working condition of the transformer. But if any major fault occurs inside the transformer due
to which the normal ratio of the transformer disturbed then the secondary current of both
transformers will not remain the same and one resultant current will flow through the current
coil of the differential relay, which will actuate the relay and inter trip both the primary and
secondary circuit breakers. To correct phase shift of current because of star-delta connection
of transformer winding in the case of three-phase transformer, the current transformer
secondaries should be connected in delta and star as shown here.

At maximum through fault current, the spill output produced by the small percentage
unbalance may be substantial. Therefore, differential protection of transformer should be
provided with a proportional bias of an amount which exceeds in effect the maximum ratio
deviation.

Q 12. Explain working principle of Buchholz relay.

Sol. Construction of Buchholz Relay

Buchholz relay in transformer is an oil container housed the connecting pipe from main tank
to conservator tank. It has mainly two elements. The upper element consists of a float. The
float is attached to a hinge in such a way that it can move up and down depending upon the
oil level in the Buchholz relay Container. One mercury switch is fixed on the float. The
alignment of mercury switch hence depends upon the position of the float. The lower element
consists of a baffle plate and mercury switch. This plate is fitted on a hinge just in front of the
inlet (main tank side) of Buchholz relay in transformer in such a way that when oil enters in
the relay from that inlet in high pressure the alignment of the baffle plate along with the
mercury switch attached to it, will change.

In addition to these main elements a Buchholz relay has gas release pockets on top. The
electrical leads from both mercury switches are taken out through a molded terminal block.
The Buchholz relay working principle of is very simple. Buchholz relay function is based on
very simple mechanical phenomenon. It is mechanically actuated. Whenever there will be a
minor internal fault in the transformer such as an insulation faults between turns, break down
of core of transformer, core heating, the transformer insulating oil will be decomposed in
different hydrocarbon gases, CO2 and CO. The gases produced due to decomposition of
transformer insulating oil will accumulate in the upper part the Buchholz container which
causes fall of oil level in it. Fall of oil level means lowering the position of float and thereby
tilting the mercury switch. The contacts of this mercury switch are closed and an alarm circuit
energized. Sometime due to oil leakage on the main tank air bubbles may be accumulated in
the upper part the Buchholz container which may also cause fall of oil level in it and alarm
circuit will be energized. By collecting the accumulated gases from the gas release pockets on
the top of the relay and by analyzing them one can predict the type of fault in the transformer.
More severe types of faults, such as short circuit between phases or to earth and faults in the
tap changing equipment, are accompanied by a surge of oil which strikes the baffle plate and
causes the mercury switch of the lower element to close. This switch energized the trip circuit
of the circuit breakers associated with the transformer and immediately isolate the faulty
transformer from the rest of the electrical power system by inter tripping the circuit breakers
associated with both LV and HV sides of the transformer. This is how Buchholz relay
functions.
The Buchholz relay operation may be actuated without any fault in the transformer. For
instance, when oil is added to a transformer, air may get in together with oil, accumulated
under the relay cover and thus cause a false Buchholz relay operation.

That is why mechanical lock is provided in that relay so that one can lock the movement of
mercury switches when oil is topping up in the transformer. This mechanical locking also
helps to prevent unnecessary movement of breakable glass bulb of mercury switches during
transportation of the Buchholz relays. The lower float may also falsely operate if the oil
velocity in the connection pipe through, not due to internal fault, is sufficient to trip over the
float. This can occurs in the event of external short circuit when over currents flowing
through the winding cause overheated the copper and the oil and cause the oil to expand.

Q 13. A generator winding is protected by using a percentage differential relay whose

characteristics is having a slope of 10%. A ground fault occurred near the terminal end of the
generator winding while generator is carrying load. As a consequence, the currents flowing at
each end of the winding are shown in the fig. Assuming CT ratios of 500/5 A, the relay
operate to trip the circuit breakers.
Q 14. Explain in detail about Bus-bar Protection system.

Sol. In early days only conventional over current relays were used for busbar protection.
But it is desired that fault in any feeder or transformer connected to the busbar should not
disturb busbar system. In viewing of this time setting of busbar protection relays are made
lengthy. So when faults occurs on busbar itself, it takes much time to isolate the bus from
source which may came much damage in the bus system. In recent days, the second zone
distance protection relays on incoming feeder, with operating time of 0.3 to 0.5 seconds have
been applied for busbar protection. But this scheme has also a main disadvantage. This
scheme of protection can not discriminate the faulty section of the busbar. Now days,
electrical power system deals with huge amount of power. Hence any interruption in total bus
system causes big loss to the company. So it becomes essential to isolate only faulty section
of busbar during bus fault. Another drawback of second zone distance protection scheme is
that, sometime the clearing time is not short enough to ensure the system stability. To
overcome the above mentioned difficulties, differential busbar protection scheme with an
operating time less than 0.1 sec., is commonly applied to many SHT bus systems.
Current Differential Protection
The scheme of busbar protection, involves, Kirchoff’s current law, which states that, total
current entering an electrical node is exactly equal to total current leaving the node. Hence,
total current entering into a bus section is equal to total current leaving the bus section. The
principle of differential busbar protection is very simple. Here, secondaries of CTs are
connected parallel. That means, S1 terminals of all CTs connected together and forms a bus
wire. Similarly S2 terminals of all CTs connected together to form another bus wire. A
tripping relay is connected across these two bus wires.

Here, in the figure above we assume that at normal condition feed, A, B, C, D, E and F
carries current IA, IB, IC, ID, IE and IF. Now, according to Kirchoff’s current law,
Essentially all the CTs used for differential
busbar protection are of same current ratio. Hence, the summation of all secondary currents
must also be equal to zero. Now, say current through the relay connected in parallel with all
CT secondaries, is iR, and iA, iB, iC, iD, iE and iF are secondary currents. Now, let us apply
KCL at node X. As per KCL at node X,
So, it is clear that under normal condition there is no current flows through the busbar
protection tripping relay. This relay is generally referred as Relay 87. Now, say fault is
occurred at any of the feeders, outside the protected zone. In that case, the faulty current will
pass through primary of the CT of that feeder. This fault current is contributed by all other
feeders connected to the bus. So, contributed part of fault current flows through the
corresponding CT of respective feeder. Hence at that faulty condition, if we apply KCL at
node K, we will still get, iR = 0.

That means, at external faulty condition, there is no current flows through relay 87. Now
consider a situation when fault is occurred on the bus itself. At this condition, also the faulty
current is contributed by all feeders connected to the bus. Hence, at this condition, sum of all
contributed fault current is equal to total faulty current. Now, at faulty path there is no CT. (in
external fault, both fault current and contributed current to the fault by different feeder get CT
in their path of flowing).
The sum of all secondary currents is no longer zero. It is equal to secondary equivalent of
faulty current. Now, if we apply KCL at the nodes, we will get a non zero value of iR. So at
this condition current starts flowing through 87 relay and it makes trip the circuit breaker
corresponding to all the feeders connected to this section of the busbar. As all the incoming
and outgoing feeders, connected to this section of bus are tripped, the bus becomes dead. This
differential busbar protection scheme is also referred as current differential protection of
busbar.
Differential Protection of Sectionalized Bus
During explaining working principle of current differential protection of busbar, we have
shown a simple non sectionalized busbar. But in moderate high voltage system electrical bus
sectionalized in than one sections to increase stability of the system. It is done because, fault
in one section of bus should not disturb other section of the system. Hence during bus fault,
total bus would be interrupted. Let us draw and discuss about protection of busbar with two
sections.
Here, bus section A or zone A is bounded by CT1, CT2 and CT3 where CT1 and CT2 are
feeder CTs and CT3 is bus CT. Similarly bus section B or zone B is bounded by CT4, CT5 and
CT6 where CT4 is bus CT, CT5 and CT6 are feeder CT. Therefore, zone A and B are
overlapped to ensure that, there is no zone left behind this busbar protection scheme. A SI
terminals of CT1, 2 and 3 are connected together to form secondary bus ASI; BSI terminals of
CT4, 5 and 6 are connected together to form secondary bus BSI. S2 terminals of all CTs are
connected together to form a common bus S2. Now, busbar protection relay 87A for zone A is
connected across bus ASI and S2. Relay 87B for zone B is connected across bus BSI and S2.
This section busbar differential protection scheme operates in some manner simple current
differential protection of busbar. That is, any fault in zone A, with trip only CB1, CB2 and bus
CB. Any fault in zone B, will trip only CB5, CB6 and bus CB. Hence, fault in any section of
bus will isolate only that portion from live system. In current differential protection of busbar,
if CT secondary circuits, or bus wires is open the relay may be operated to isolate the bus
from live system. But this is not desirable.

Q. 15 Fig below shows percentage differential relay applied to the protection of a

generator winding. The relay has a 0.1 A minimum pick-up and 10% slope of its
operating characteristic on (I1s + I2s)/2 verses (I1s - I2s) diagram. A high resistance
ground fault occurred near the grounded neutral end of the generator winding while
generator is carrying load. As a consequence, the currents flowing at each end of the
winding is shown in the fig. Assuming CT ratio of 400/5 A, will the relay operate to trip
the breaker.
Q 16. Explain Construction, operating principle and characteristics of an
electromagnetic impedance relay.

There is one type of relay which functions depending upon the distance of fault in the line.
More specifically, the relay operates depending upon the impedance between the point of
fault and the point where relay is installed. These relays are known as distance relay or
impedance relay.
Working Principle of Distance or Impedance Relay
The working principle of distance relay or impedance relay is very simple. There is one
voltage element from potential transformer and a current element fed from current
transformer of the system. The deflecting torque is produced by secondary current of CT and
restoring torque is produced by voltage of potential transformer. In normal operating
condition, restoring torque is more than deflecting torque. Hence relay will not operate. But
in faulty condition, the current becomes quite large whereas voltage becomes less.
Consequently, deflecting torque becomes more than restoring torque and dynamic parts of the
relay starts moving which ultimately close the No contact of relay. Hence clearly operation
or working principle of distance relay depends upon the ratio of system voltage and
current. As the ratio of voltage to current is nothing but impedance so a distance relay is also
known as impedance relay. The operation of such relay depends upon the predetermined
value of voltage to current ratio. This ratio is nothing but impedance. The relay will only
operate when this voltage to current ratio becomes less than its predetermined value. Hence,
it can be said that the relay will only operate when the impedance of the line becomes less
than predetermined impedance (voltage / current). As the impedance of a transmission line is
directly proportional to its length, it can easily be concluded that a distance relay can only
operate if fault is occurred within a predetermined distance or length of line. There are mainly
two types of distance relay-

1. Definite distance relay.

This is simply a variety of balance beam relay. Here one beam is placed horizontally and
supported by hinge on the middle. One end of the beam is pulled downward by the magnetic
force of voltage coil, fed from potential transformer attached to the line. Other end of the
beam is pulled downward by the magnetic force of current coil fed from current transformer
connected in series with line. Due to torque produced by these two downward forces, the
beam stays at an equilibrium position. The torque due to voltage coil, serves as restraining
torque and torque due to current coil, serves as deflecting torque. Under normal operating
condition restraining torque is greater than deflecting torque. Hence contacts of this distance
relay remain open. When any fault occurs in the feeder, under protected zone, voltage of
feeder decreases and at the same time current increases. The ratio of voltage to current i.e.
impedance falls below the pre-determined value. In this situation, current coil pulls the beam
more strongly than voltage coil, hence beam tilts to close the relay contacts and consequently
the circuit breaker associated with this impedance relay will trip. This delay automatically
adjusts its operating time according to the distance of the relay from the fault point. The time
distance impedance relay will not only be operated depending upon voltage to current ratio,
its operating time also depends upon the value of this ratio. That means
The relay mainly consists of a current driven element like double winding type induction over
current relay. The spindle carrying the disc of this element is connected by means of a spiral
spring coupling to a second spindle which carries the bridging piece of the relay contacts. The
bridge is normally held in the open position by an armature held against the pole face of an
electromagnet excited by the voltage of the circuit to be protected.

Operating Principle of Time Distance Impedance Relay

During normal operating condition the attraction force of armature fed from PT is more than
force generated by induction element, hence relay contacts remain in open position when a
short circuit fault occurs in the transmission line, the current in the induction element
increases. Then the induction in the induction element increases. Then the induction element
starts rotating. The speed of rotation of induction elements depends upon the level of fault i.e.
quantity of current in the induction element. As the rotation of the disc proceeds, the spiral
spring coupling is wound up till the tension of the spring is sufficient to pull the armature
away from the pole face of the voltage excited magnet. The angle through which the disc
travels the disc travel before relay operate depends upon the pull of the voltage excited
magnet. The greater the pull, the greater will be the travel of the disc. The pull of this magnet
depends upon the line voltage. The greater the line voltage the greater the pull hence longer
will be the travel of the disc i.e. operating time is proportional to V. Again, speed of rotation
of induction element approximately proportional to current in this element. Hence, time of

operation is inversely proportional to current. Therefore

time of operation of relay,

Q 17. Explain in detail about induction cup type reactance relay.

Sol. This relay in nothing but one version of induction disc relay. Induction cup relay work
in same principle of induction disc relay. The basis construction of this relay is just like four
poles or eight pole induction motor. The number of poles in the protective relay depends
upon the number of winding to be accommodated. The figure shows a four pole induction
cup relay.
Actually when any one replaces disc of induction relay by a aluminum cup, the inertia of
rotating system of relay is significantly reduced. Due to low mechanical inertia, the operating
speed of induction cup relay is much higher than that of induction disc relay. Moreover,
projected pole system is designed to give maximum torque per VA input. In four pole unit,
shown in our example, the eddy current produced in the cup due to one pair of poles, directly
appears under other pair of poles. This makes, torque per VA of this relay is about three times
more than that of induction disc type relay with a C-shaped electromagnet. If magnetic
saturation of the poles can be avoided by designing, the operating characteristics of the relay
can be made linear and accurate for a wide range of operation.

Working Principle of Induction Cup Relay

As we said earlier, the working principle of induction cup relay, is same as the induction
motor. A rotating magnetic field is produced by different pairs of field poles. In four poles
design both pair of poles are supplied from same current transformer’s secondary, but phase
difference between the currents of two pole pairs is 90 deg; This is done by inserting an
inductor in series with coil of one pole pair, and by inserting a resistor in series with coil of
another pole pair. The rotating magnetic field induces current in the aluminum brum or cup.
As per working principle of induction motor, the cup starts rotating in the direction of
rotating magnetic field, with a speed slightly less than the speed of rotating magnetic field.
The aluminum cup is attached with a hair spring : In normal condition the restoring torque of
the spring is higher than deflecting torque of the cup. So there is no movement of the cup. But
during faulty condition of system, the current through the coil is quite high, hence, deflecting
torque produced in the cup is much higher than restoring torque of spring, hence the cup start
rotating as rotor of induction motor. The contacts attached to the moving of the cup to
specific angle of rotation.

Construction of Induction Cup Relay

The magnetic system of the relay is constructed by attaching numbers of circular cut steel
sheets. The magnetic pole are projected in the inner periphery of these laminated sheets. The
field coils are wound on these laminated poles. The field coil of two opposite facing poles are
connected in series. The aluminum cup or drum, fitted on a laminated iron core is carried by a
spindle whose ends fit in jeweled cups or bearings. The laminated magnetic field is provided
on inside the cup or drum to strengthen the magnetic field cutting the cup.
Induction Cup Directional or Power Relay
Induction cup relay is very suitable for directional or phase comparison units. This is because,
besides the sensitivity, induction cup relay have steady non vibrating torque and parasitic
torques due to current or voltage alone are small. In induction cup directional or power relay,
coils of one pair of poles are connected across voltage source, and coils of another pair of
poles are connected with current source of the system. Hence, flux produced by one pair of
poles is proportional to voltage and flux produced by another pair of poles is proportional to
electric current. The vector diagram of this relay can be represented as follows,

Here, in the vector diagram, the

angle between system voltage V and current I is θ The flux produced due to current I is φ1
which is in phase with I. The flux produced due to voltage V, is φ2 which is in quadrature
with V. Hence, angle between φ1 and φ2 is (90o - θ). Therefore, if torque produced by these
two fluxes is Td.
Where, K is constant of proportionality. Here in this equation we have assumed that, flux
produced by voltage coil lags 90o behind its voltage. By designing this angle can be made to
approach any value and a torque equation T = KVIcos (θ – φ) obtained where θ is angle
between V and I. Accordingly, induction cup relays can be designed to produce maximum
torque when the angle θ = 0 or 30o, 45o or 60o. The relays which are such designed, that, they
produce maximum torque at θ = 0, is P induction cup power relay. The relays produce
maximum torque when θ = 45o or 60o, are used as directional protection relay.

Q 19. Explain the working principle of earth fault relay.

Sol. Earth-fault relay is used to protect feeder against faults involving ground. Typically,
earth faults are single line to ground and double line to ground faults. For the purpose of
setting and coordination, only single line to ground faults are considered. Consider a radial
system as shown in fig 17.1. For a fault near the source, the maximum fault current for a-g
fault is given by . If we model the utility system with identical values for all the sequence
impedances then, . This value is identical to the bolted three phase fault current. If however,
ZS0 < ZS1 then the bolted single line to ground fault current can be higher than the three
phase fault current. As we move away from the source, for a bolted fault, fault current
reduces due to larger feeder impedance contribution to the denominator. Since, for a feeder,
zero sequence impedance can be much higher than the positive or negative sequence
impedance, it is apparent that fault current for bolted fault reduces significantly as we go
away from source. Thus, as we go away from the source, the bolted three phase fault current
will be higher than corresponding ground fault current as it does not depend upon zero
sequence impedance of the feeder. In addition, if the single line to ground fault has an
impedance ZF, then the fault current can fall even below the bolted a-g fault value, . In
contrast, for a balanced system, three phase fault current is independent of the value of ZF..
Thus, we conclude that there can be significant variation in the earth fault current values.
They can be even below the load current due to large impedance to ground. Hence, to provide
sensitive protection, earth fault relays use zero sequence current rather than phase current for
fault detection. Note that the zero sequence component is absent in normal load current or
phase faults. Hence, pickup with zero sequence current can be much below the load current
value, thereby providing sensitive earth fault protection. In what follows, we will discuss the
setting and coordination of earth fault relays. In practice, distribution systems are inherently
unbalanced. Thus, load current would also have a small percentage of zero sequence due to
unbalance. Hence, it is mandatory to keep the pick up current above the maximum unbalance
expected under normal conditions. A rule of thumb is to assume maximum unbalance factor
to be between 5 to 10%. It should be also observed that earth fault relays will not respond to
the three phase or line to line faults. One earth fault relay is adequate to provide protection for
all types of earth fault (a-g, b-g, c-g, a-b-g etc). Three phase relays are required to provide
protection against phase faults (three phase, a-b, b-c, c-a). Thus with four relays as shown in
fig 17.2 complete overcurrent protection can be provided.
Q 20. Explain in short negative sequence relay.

A relay which protects the electrical system from negative sequence component is called
a negative sequence relay or unbalance phase relay. The negative sequence relay protects
the generator and motor from the unbalanced load which mainly occurs because of the phase-
to-phase faults. The negative sequence relay has a filter circuit which operates only for the
negative sequence components. The relay always has a low current setting because the small
magnitude overcurrent can cause dangerous situations. The negative sequence relay has
earthing which protects them from phase to earth fault but not from phase to phase fault. The
phase to phase fault mainly occurs because of the negative sequence components. The
construction of the negative sequence relay is shown in the figure below. The Z1, Z2, Z3, and
Z4 are the four impedance of the circuit which is connected in the form of the bridge. The
impedance is energized by the current transformers. The relay operating coil is connected to
the midpoint of the circuit as shown in the figure below.

The Z1 and Z3 are purely resistive and the Z2 and Z4 are both resistive and inductive in nature.
The impedance Z2 and Z4 are adjusted in such a manner that the current flowing through them
is always lagging by an angle of 60º than those current which is flowing through Z1 and Z3.
The current flowing through the junction A is split into two parts i.e. I1 and I4. The I4 lagging
by an angle of 60º regards I1.
 Similarly, current from phase B split at
junction C into two equal components I3 and I2, I2 lagging behind I3 by 60º.

The current I4 lags by an angle of 30º to the I1. Similarly, I2 lags by an

angle of 30º concerning IB and I3 leads IB by 30º. The current passing through the junction B
is equal to the sum of I1, I2, and IY.

The flow of Positive Sequence Current – The phasor diagram of positive sequence
components is shown in the figure below. When the load is in balanced conditions, then there
is no negative sequence current. The current flows through the relay is given by the equation

So the relay remains operative for a balanced system.

The flow of Negative Sequence Current – The figure above shows that the current I1 and
I2 are equal. Thus, they cancel each other. The current IY flows through the operating coils of
the relay. The current setting value of the relay is kept less than the normal full load rating
current because the small overload current can cause the serious conditions.