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ByStevenMcFadyen(/users/steven)onNovember3rd,2014
Youhavenophoto/avatar.Pleaseaddonenowandearn5points.
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Carryingoutaprotectionsystemdiscriminationstudyiscriticaltoensurethecorrectfunctioningoftheelectricalsystemin
theeventoffaults.TheIECdefinesdiscriminationas:
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TipsforabetterLowVoltageProtectionDiscriminationStudy
(/questions/view/question/id/539)
overcurrentdiscrimination
8. PowerTransformerTemperatureMeasurement
coordinationoftheoperatingcharacteristicsoftwoormoreovercurrentprotectivedevicessuchthat,onthe
(/questions/view/question/id/538)
morequestions...(/questions)
incidenceofovercurrentswithinstatedlimits,thedeviceintendedtooperatewithintheselimitsdoesso,whilethe
other(s)does(do)not
NoteDistinctionismadebetweenseriesdiscrimination,involvingdifferentovercurrentprotectivedevices
morenotes...(/notes)
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
(http://myelectricalengineering.co.uk)
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
http://myelectrical.com/notes/entryid/255/tipsforabetterlowvoltageprotectiondiscriminationstudy
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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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