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12/10/2014

TipsforabetterLowVoltageProtectionDiscriminationStudy

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Tips for a better Low Voltage Protection Discrimination


Study

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ByStevenMcFadyen(/users/steven)onNovember3rd,2014

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Carryingoutaprotectionsystemdiscriminationstudyiscriticaltoensurethecorrectfunctioningoftheelectricalsystemin
theeventoffaults.TheIECdefinesdiscriminationas:

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12/10/2014

TipsforabetterLowVoltageProtectionDiscriminationStudy

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overcurrentdiscrimination

8. PowerTransformerTemperatureMeasurement

coordinationoftheoperatingcharacteristicsoftwoormoreovercurrentprotectivedevicessuchthat,onthe

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incidenceofovercurrentswithinstatedlimits,thedeviceintendedtooperatewithintheselimitsdoesso,whilethe
other(s)does(do)not
NoteDistinctionismadebetweenseriesdiscrimination,involvingdifferentovercurrentprotectivedevices

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passingsubstantiallythesameovercurrent,andnetworkdiscriminationinvolvingidenticalprotectivedevices
Viewarandomnote!(/randomnote.aspx)

passingdifferentproportionsoftheovercurrent.

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DiscriminationCurves
ImageSource:AmtechPower(http://www.amtech.co.uk/)
Electricalengineersarecalledupontoproduceadiscriminationstudyatvariousstageswithinaproject.Ifyouarelooking
tohaveaprotectiondiscriminationstudycarriedoutorhavebeentaskedwithdoingone,hereareafewtipstohelpensure
youhaveabetterthanaveragestudy:

emailaddress

1. DoITEarly

Subscribe

2. Theearlierintheprojectastudyiscarriedout,thebetter.Ideallytheinitialstudyshouldbecarriedoutinthe
designphaseandthenrefinedduringconstructionandasequipmentselectionbecomesfinalized.Leavingthe
studytilltheendoftheinstallation,willmakeanynecessarychangesmorecostlytoimplement.Carryingouta
studyearlier,willnotonlyleadtoabetterdesignedsystem,butcaninfluenceequipmentselectionanddrivethe
costofthesystemdown.
3. ShortCircuitandEarthFaults
Ensurethestudycoversbothshortcircuitandearthfaults.Inpractice,boththeshortcircuitandearthfault
currentscanbedifferentandcouldaffecttheoverallfunctioningoftheprotectionsystems.Inaddition,relayand
protectivedevicesoftenhavedifferentsettingsforshortcircuitandearthfaults.
4. MoreThanCurves[CurrentLimitingBreakers]
Oftendiscriminationstudiesfinishoncethecurveshavebeendrawn.IEC60947isclearthatforcurrentlimiting
breakersandhighlevelsofshortcircuit,discriminationcanonlybeverifiedbytests.Allmanufacturershave
carriedoutthesetests,andreviewingtheirliteraturetoensurediscriminationinthisregioninadditiontoproducing
discriminationcurvesforlowerfaultlevelsmakesforacompletestudy.
5. NoSourceandLoadEndDiscrimination
Incomplexsystems,achievingfulldiscriminationbecomesalmostimpossible.Avoidtryingtodiscriminate

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betweenthesourceandloadendofcables(ifbothhaveprotectivedevices).Bothdevicesisolatethesame
sectionoftheelectricalsystem,makingnodifferenceifeitheronetrips.Anypotentialbenefitsoftryingtonarrow
thefaultlocationtowithinthecableisgoingtobelostinmoretimerequiredforupstreamdevicestotripand
longerfaultdurations.
6. NotEverythingNeedsToDiscriminate
Thereisnorulethateverythingneedstodiscriminateandoftenitisimpossibleorcostlytotryandachievethis.
Byunderstandingthesystem,it'soperationandtheeffectsonthebusinessofpowerloss,amoreengineered
discriminationschemecanbeachieved.
7. UseSoftware
Inallbutthesimplestinstances,youshouldusesoftwaretocarryoutboththefaultcalculationsandsettingofthe
protectivedevices(discriminationcurves).Tryingtodothingsbyhand,willleadtomistakesandcompromisein
simplifyingtheamountofwork.Softwarealsoallowsthetestingofwhatiftypescenariostoimprovesystem
design,installation,andoverallcost.
8. ABetterReport

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12/10/2014

TipsforabetterLowVoltageProtectionDiscriminationStudy

Theresultofanystudyisusuallytheprotectiondiscriminationreport.Spendtimeandeffortonthis.Considerthe
readerandfocusthereportonthem.Keepitsimpleandavoidthetemptationtoexpanditwithwaffle.Identity
whythestudyisbeingcarriedout,anymajorissuesandtheoveralloutcome.Keepssettings,curves,supporting
data,etc.inappendices.
9. FullyDocumentTheStudy
Fullydocumentthestudyinareport.Includeonlyappropriateinformationinthemainbodyandusethe
appendicesforfullydocumentingthestudy.Includeallnecessaryinformationsupplyauthoritytechnical
information,shortcircuitandearthfaultcalculations,discriminationcurvesandcurrentlimitingchecks,
recommendsettingsand/orsettingchanges,problemsandrequiredsystemmodifications/changesandanyother
technicalinformationwhichisrequiredaspartofthestudyscope.
Hopefully,theabovetipsshouldhelpinachievingabetterprotectiondiscriminationstudy.Thetipsaregenericandapply
tonearlyalldiscriminationstudies.However,bearinmindthateachstudyisdifferent,protectionsystemscanbecomplex,
focusedaroundaparticulartechnologyorwithaspecificenduserrequirementinmind.Itisuptotheelectricalengineerto
bringeverythingtogetherandtodelivertotheclientaprotectiondiscriminationstudywhichdeliversresults.

Protection(http://myelectrical.com/notes/tag/protection),Discrimination
(http://myelectrical.com/notes/tag/discrimination),DiscriminationStudy(http://myelectrical.com/notes?
tag=discrimination+study),Relays(http://myelectrical.com/notes/tag/relays),Installation
(http://myelectrical.com/notes/tag/installation)

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StevenMcFadyen(/users/steven)
Stevenhasovertwentyfiveyearsexperienceworkingonsomeofthelargestconstructionprojects.He
hasadeeptechnicalunderstandingofelectricalengineeringandiskeentosharethisknowledge.
Abouttheauthor

(/users/steven)

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