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TYPES OF PROTECTION

FUSES
The simplest form of overcurrent protection is the fuse. The fuse is capable of operating
in less than 10ms for very large values of current, thus considerably limiting fault energy.
However, it does have a number of disadvantages, namely;
Can be difficult to co-ordinate
Its characteristic is fixed
Needs replacing following fault clearance
Has limited sensitivity to earthfaults since it is rated above the full load current of the
feeder
Operation of single fuse results in a condition refereed to as single phasing. Single
phasing can be disastrous for rotating plant such as motors.
The fuse characteristic is split into two sections, the `Pre-arcing Time and the Arcing
Time. The addition of these times is referred to as the Total Operating Time.

Arcing Time
Pre Arc
Time

Prospective Fault
Current

Total
Operating
Time

PRINCIPLE OF OVERCURRENT PROTECTION


The purpose of overcurrent protection, as with other forms of protection, is to detect
faults on a power system and as a result, initiate the opening of switchgear in order to
isolate the faulty part of the system. The protection must thus be discriminative, that is to
say it shall, as far as possible, select and isolate only the faulty part of the system
leaving all other parts in normal operation.
Discrimination can be achieved by overcurrent, or by time, or by a combination of
overcurrent and time.

DISCRIMINATION BY CURRENT
Discrimination by current relies upon the fact that the fault current varies with the position
of the fault. This variation is due to the impedance of various items of plant, such as
cables and transformers, between the source and the fault. Relays throughout the
system are set to operate at suitable values such that only the relay nearest to the fault
operates.
Relays which adopt this principle of operation are generally termed Instantaneous
overcurrent relays.
(Where the fault level does not vary greatly between two relay location then the use of
instantaneous overcurrent relays is not possible).
DISCRIMINATION BY TIME
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If the fault level over a system is reasonably constant then discrimination by current will
not be possible. An alternative is to use time discrimination in which each overcurrent
relay is given a fixed time delay with the relay farthest away from the source having the
shortest time delay. Operating time is thus substantially independent of fault level but
the main disadvantage is that the relay nearest the source will have the longest time
delay and this is the point with the highest fault level.
Relays which adopt this principle of operation are generally termed definite
(independent) time overcurrent relays.
NOTE : When applying definite time overcurrent relays care must be taken to ensure
that the thermal rating of the current measuring element is not exceeded.

TIME

TOP

Applied Current

IS
(Relay Current Setting)

DISCRIMINATION BY BOTH TIME AND CURRENT


Due to the limitations imposed by the independent use of either time or current, the
inverse time overcurrent characteristic has been developed. With this characteristic the
time of operation is inversely proportional to the current applied, i.e.; basically the higher
the current applied, the faster the relay operates. Thus, the actual characteristic is a
function of both time and current settings, thereby gaining the advantages of the
previous mentioned methods and eliminating some the disadvantages.

TIME

IS

Applied Current

(Relay Current Setting)

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PRINCIPLES OF CO-ORDINATION
The principle of co-ordination refers to the procedure of setting overcurrent relays to
ensure that the relay nearest the fault operates first and all other relays have adequate
additional time to prevent them from operating. If the relay nearest to the fault fails to
clear the fault, and the co-ordination is correct, then the next up-stream relay should
operate and so on towards the source, thus isolating the minimum amount of plant.
The principle of co-ordination is often referred to as grading.
When performing any co-ordination exercise the following need to be considered:
Relay Characteristics
Relay Current Setting
Grading Margin
Time Multiplier Setting
Relay Characteristics
There are numerous characteristics, however they all confirm to either BS142/IEC or
ANSI/IEEE standards. The BS142/IEC standard incorporates the following
characteristics:
Standard Inverse
Very Inverse
Extremely Inverse
Long Time Inverse
The ANSI/IEEE standard incorporates the following characteristics:
Moderately Inverse
Very Inverse
Extremely Inverse
Short Time Inverse
Inverse
The BS142/IEC standard curves are mainly adopted in the UK and the most commonly
used ones are explained in more detail below:
Standard Inverse - This characteristic is commonly known as the 3/10 characteristic, i.e.
at ten times setting current and TMS of 1 the relay will operate in 3 secs.
The characteristic curve can be defined by the mathematical expression :

t =

0.14

0.02

where I
Is
I/Is

- 1

=
=
=

applied current
setting current
multiple of setting current

The standard inverse time characteristic is widely applied at all system voltages as
back up protection on EHV systems and as the main protection on HV and MV
distribution systems.
In general, the standard inverse characteristics are used when :
There are no co-ordination requirements with other types of protective equipment further
out on the system, e.g. Fuses, thermal characteristics of transformers, motors etc.
The fault levels at the near and far ends of the system do not vary significantly.
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There is minimal inrush on cold load pick up. Cold load inrush is that current which
occurs when a feeder is energised after a prolonged outage. In general the relay cannot
be set above this value but the current should decrease below the relay setting before
the relay operates.

Very Inverse Time - This type of characteristic is normally used to obtain greater time
selectivity when the limiting overall time factor is very low, and the fault current at any
point does not vary too widely with system conditions. It is particularly suitable, if there is
a substantial reduction of fault current as the distance from the power source increases.
The steeper inverse curve gives longer time grading intervals. Its operating time is
approximately doubled for a reduction in setting from figures 7 to 4 times the relay
current setting. This permits the same time multiplier setting for several relays in series.
The characteristic curve can be defined by the mathematical expression :

t =

13.5

- 1
s

Extremely Inverse Time - With this characteristic the operating time is approximately
inversely proportional to the square of the current. The long operating time of the relay
at peak values of load current make the relay particularly suitable for grading with fuses
and also for protection of feeders which are subject to peak currents on switching in,
such as feeders supplying refrigerators, pumps, water heaters etc., which remain
connected even after a prolonged interruption of supply.
For cases where the generation is practically constant and discrimination with low
tripping times is difficult to obtain, because of the low impedance per line section, an
extremely inverse relay can be very useful since only a small difference of current is
necessary to obtain an adequate time difference.
Another application for this relay is with auto reclosers in low voltage distribution circuits.
As the majority of faults are of a transient nature, the relay is set to operate before the
normal operating time of the fuse, thus preventing perhaps unnecessary blowing of the
fuse.
Upon reclosure, if the fault persists, the recloser locks itself in the closed position and
allows the fuse to blow to clear the fault.
This characteristic is also widely used for protecting plant against overheating since
overheating is usually an I2t function.

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This characteristic curve can be defined by the mathematical expression :

t =

80
2

- 1
s

Long Time Inverse This type of characteristic has a long time characteristic and may
be used for protection of neutral earthing resistors (which normally have a 30 sec rating).
The relay operating time at 5 times current setting is 30 secs at TMS of 1.
This can be defined by :

t =

120
/ s - 1

Current Setting
The current setting of a relay is typically described as either a percentage or multiple of
the current transformer primary or secondary rating.
If the CT primary rating is equal to the normal full load current of the circuit then the
percentage setting will refer directly to the primary system. This is an important point as
if, for example, the normal primary full load current was, say, 400 amp but the CT ratio
was 500/5 then a relay with setting range 50-200% of 5 amp set at 100% would not
represent a "full load" setting; the actual setting would in fact be 125% of full load
current.
The choice of current setting thus depends on the load current and the CT ratio and is
normally close to but above the maximum load current (typically 10%) - assuming of
course the circuit is capable of carrying the maximum foreseeable load. It should be
stressed at this point, that the relay is neither designed nor intended to be used as an
overload relay but as a protective relay to protect the system under fault conditions.
It is also important to consider the resetting of the relay. The relay will reset when the
current is reduced to 90%-95% of the setting (Depending on relay design) and if the
normal load current is above this value the relay will not reset after starting to operate
under through fault conditions which are cleared by other switchgear.
The setting for a typical overcurrent relay with a reset ratio of 95% can be determined
using the following:
Is = 1.1 x IFL/0.95
Where:

Is = Setting
IFL = Full Load Current

Grading Margin
As previously mentioned, to obtain correct discrimination it is necessary to have a time
interval between the operation of two adjacent relays. This time interval or grading
margin depends upon a number of factors :
a)
The circuit breaker fault interrupting time
b)
The overshoot time of the relay
c)
Errors
d)
Final margin on completion of operation (safety margin)
The discriminating relay can only be de-energised when the circuit breaker has
completely interrupted the fault current. It is now normal practice to use a value of 50 Page 5

100 ms for circuit breaker overall interrupting time but obviously if it is known that the
switchgear is slower than this time, this must be taken into account.
Operating of the relay may continue for a short time after the relay is de-energised until
any stored energy is dissipated. For example, an induction disc element will have stored
kinetic energy (or inertia) and a numerical relay may have stored energy in capacitors.
Although these factors are minimised by design, some allowance is usually necessary. It
is common to use a figure of 50 ms.
NOTE :

The overshoot time is not the actual time during which some forward
operation takes plan but is the time that the relay would have taken to travel
the same distance had the relay remained energised.

Travel
100%
Overshoot
Travel

t1 = relay de-energised
t3 - t1 = actual overshoot time
t2 - t1 = overshoot time used in the
calculation of margin

t1

t2

t3

Time

All measuring devices such as relays and current transformers are subject to some
degree of error. The time characteristic of either or both of the relays involved may have
positive or negative errors. Current transformer errors are mainly due to the magnetising
characteristic. It should be noted the CT errors do not affect definite time overcurrent
relays.
A safety margin of 100 ms is normally added to the final calculated margin to ensure
correct discrimination. This additional time ensures a satisfactory contact gap (or
equivalent) is maintained.
In the past, a fixed margin of 04 secs was considered adequate for correct
discrimination. With faster modern switchgear and lower overshoot times a figure of 0.35
secs is quite reasonable and under the best possible conditions 03 secs may be
feasible.
However, rather than using a fixed margin it is better to adopt a fixed time for circuit
breaker operation and relay overshoot and add to this a variable time value which takes
into account relay and CT errors and the safety margin. This is particularly so when
grading at low values multiples of setting current where the relay operating time is
longer and a fixed total margin may be of the same order as the relay timing error.
A fixed value 025 secs is chosen which is made up of 01 secs for circuit breaker
operating time, 005 secs for relay overshoot time and 01 sec for safety margin.
In considering the variable time value, it is assumed that each IDMT relay complies with
basic assigned error class 75 according to British practice in BS 142. The error for a
class 75 relay is 75%, but allowance should be made for the effects of temperature,
frequency and departure from the reference conditions as laid down in the BS. A more
practical approximation is to assume a total effective error of 2 x 75 i.e. 15% and this
is to apply to the relay nearest the fault which is considered slow. To this total effective
relay error a further 10% is added to allow for overall CT error.
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Thus it is proposed to adopt the following equation to determine the grading margin
between IDMT relays :
t'

025 + 025 secs

where t = normal operating time of


relay nearest the fault

As far as definite time overcurrent relays are concerned, the fixed value will remain the
same but the relays are assumed to comply with error class 10 i.e. 10%. For the
reasons stated previously, a practical approximation is to assume a total effective error
of 20% with the relay nearest the fault considered slow. As previously stated, CT errors
will have little effect of the operating time, thus it is proposed to adopt the equation :
t'

025 + 025 secs

For the majority of systems an overcurrent grading exercise can be performed quite
adequately using a fixed margin of 04 secs. It is only when a number of stages are
involved and difficulties are being encountered that it may become necessary to
investigate margin times in more detail. To summarise, each system is different and
should be treated as so, it is not possible to lay down rigid rules regarding grading
margins and every grading exercise will ultimately be a compromise of some form.
Grading Overcurrent Relays With Downstream Fuse
For some applications it will be necessary to grade overcurrent relays with fuses. When
the fuse is downstream of the relay the following formula can be used to calculate the
grading margin:
Grading Margin = 0.4Tf + 0.15s over the whole characteristic.
The above formula assumes a minimum fuse operating time of 0.01 seconds
Generally for this type of application a Extremely Inverse characteristic should be chosen
to grade with the fuse and the current setting of the relay should be 3 4 x rating of fuse
to ensure co-ordination.

Time Multiplier Setting


The time multiplier setting is a means of adjusting the operating time of an inverse type
characteristic. It is not a time setting but a multiplier.
In order to calculate the required TMS (Treq), calculate the operating time of the nearest
downstream protection device at the maximum fault level seen by both devices, add to
this the grading margin, calculate the operating time of the upstream device at this fault
level with a TMS equal to one (T1) and then use the following for formula:
TMS = Treq / T1
Plotting Of Characteristic
It is convenient to show the standard inverse time characteristic on log/log graph paper
with the 'y' axis scaled in seconds and the 'x' axis in terms of "multiples of current
setting". By doing this the characteristic can be applied to any relay, irrespective of
setting range and nominal rating.

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HIGH SET OVERCURRENT


Where the source impedance is small in comparison with the protected circuit impedance,
the use of high set instantaneous overcurrent units can be advantageous (for example on
long transmission lines or transformer feeders).
The application of an instantaneous unit makes possible a reduction in the tripping time at
high fault levels and also allows the discriminating curves behind the high set unit to be
lowered thereby improving overall system grading.
It is important to note that when grading with the relay immediately behind the high set
units, the grading interval should be established at the current setting of the high set unit
and not at the maximum fault level that would normally be used for grading IDMT relays.
When using high set units it is important to ensure that the relay does not operate for faults
outside the protected section. The relays are normally set at 12 - 13 times the maximum
fault level at the remote end of the protected section.
This particularly applies when using instantaneous units on the HV side of a transformer
when the instantaneous unit should not operate for faults on the LV side.
The 12 - 13 factor allows for transient overreach, CT errors and slight errors in
transformer impedance and line length.
Transient overreach occurs when the current wave contains a dc component. Although a
relay may have a setting above the rms value of current, the initial peak value of current
due to the dc offset may be sufficient to operate the relay, if it has high transient
overreach.
Percentage transient overreach is defined as

I1 - I2
I2

100

Where :
I1
I2

=
=

relay pick-up current in steady state rms amps


rms value of current which when fully offset will just pick up the relay

Modern Relays have integral instantaneous elements which have low transient overreach.
The degree of transient overreach is normally affected by the time constant of the
measured fault current. For example, a typical transient overreach of a numerical
overcurrent relay is less than 5% for time constants up to 30 ms and less than 10% for
time constant up to 100 ms. This allows the instantaneous elements to be used as high
set units for application to transformers and long feeders. The low transient overreach
allows settings to be just above the maximum fault current at which discrimination is
required. The instantaneous elements are also suitable for use as low set elements in
conjunction with auto-reclose on distribution systems

EARTH FAULT PROTECTION


Earth faults, which are by far the most frequent type of fault, will be detected by phase
overcurrent units as previously described but it is possible to obtain more sensitive
protection by utilising a relay which responds only to the residual current in a system.
Residual (or zero sequence) current only exists when a current flows to earth.
The residual current can be detected either by connecting a CT in an available neutral to
earth connection or by connecting line CT's in parallel. By using this parallel connection
the earth fault relay is completely unaffected by load currents whether balanced or
unbalanced. The parallel connection can be extended to include either two or three
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overcurrent units without any effect on the earth fault relay. Two elements are often
considered sufficient as any interphase fault must affect at least one of the relays,
however, consideration must be given to the possibility of 2-1-1 current distribution in the
system (refer delta/star transformer protection).
It should be noted that on an LV 4 wire distribution system, 4 CT's will be required to
ensure stability under all load conditions, the 4th CT being placed in the neutral
connection. This fourth CT can be omitted if the earth fault relay setting is above the
maximum spill current caused by unbalanced loads, but as the degree of unbalance is not
normally known (accurately) the inclusion of the 4th CT is recommended.
Time Grading
The procedure for grading is similar to that for phase fault relays.
It is important to appreciate that fuses cannot discriminate between phase faults and earth
faults and therefore grading of earth fault relays (which have relatively sensitive settings)
with fuses is not possible.
When the system contains some neutral earthing impedance, the earth fault level is
practically constant over the whole system and grading is carried out at this fault level. As
the fault level is constant there is no particular advantage is using IDMT earth fault relays
over definite time earth fault relays.
Sensitive Earth Fault Relays
Where the earth path resistivity is high which may be the case on systems that do not
utilise earth conductors, the earth fault current may be limited to such an extent that
normal earth fault protection may not be sensitive enough. To overcome these problems
a very sensitive relay is required, but the relay must have a very low burden in order that
the effective setting is not increased. This very sensitive protection cannot be graded with
other conventional systems and it is normal to apply this protection with a definite time
delay of up to 10 or 15 secs. This time delay will prevent unwanted operation due to
transient unbalance under phase fault conditions. Care must be taken to ensure that the
relay setting is above any residual current that may be present under normal load
conditions. This may be due to slight differences in CT characteristics or unbalanced
leakage (capacitive) currents in the primary system. In order to ensure that the relay will
reset after the transient operation of the current measuring unit, the do/pu ratio should be
high, i.e.. approximately 99%.

INTERCONNECTED SYSTEMS
The foregoing has basically looked at grading procedure as applied to radial feeders. If
the system is interconnected and involves parallel paths and rings, the grading can
become increasingly more complex.
For example, the operation of a particular circuit breaker may not itself result in the
isolation of the faulty plant, but may affect the fault current distribution in the other circuits.
The affect of this may be to start other relays operating or to change the operating
parameters of relays that have already started. On such interconnected systems the fault
level does not tend to vary very much and it may be found impossible to obtain correct
discrimination for all faults. The system must be looked at in detail under maximum and
minimum fault conditions and the best compromise reached. Very often directional
overcurrent relaying can help to overcome the problems slightly.

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