5/1/2017 ZonesofprotectionOpenElectrical

Zonesofprotection
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Tolimittheextentofthepowersystemthatisdisconnectedwhenafaultoccurs,protectionisarrangedinzones.Ideally,thezonesofprotectionshouldoverlap,sothatno
partofthepowersystemisleftunprotected.

Forpracticalphysicalandeconomicreasons,thisidealisnotalwaysachieved,accommodationforcurrenttransformersbeinginsomecasesavailableonlyononesideof
thecircuitbreakers.ThisleavesasectionbetweenthecurrenttransformersandthecircuitbreakerAthatisnotcompletelyprotectedagainstfaults.InFigure2b)afaultatF
wouldcausethebusbarprotectiontooperateandopenthecircuitbreakerbutthefaultmaycontinuetobefedthroughthefeeder.Thefeederprotection,ifoftheunittype,
wouldnotoperate,sincethefaultisoutsideitszone.Thisproblemisdealtwithbyintertrippingorsomeformofzoneextension,toensurethattheremoteendofthefeeder
istrippedalso.Thepointofconnectionoftheprotectionwiththepowersystemusuallydefinesthezoneandcorrespondstothelocationofthecurrenttransformers.Unit
typeprotectionwillresultintheboundarybeingaclearlydefinedclosedloop.Figure3illustratesatypicalarrangementofoverlappingzones.

Alternatively,thezonemaybeunrestrictedthestartwillbedefinedbuttheextent(orreach)willdependonmeasurementofthesystemquantitiesandwillthereforebe
subjecttovariation,owingtochangesinsystemconditionsandmeasurementerrors.

Figure3Overlappingzonesofprotectionsystems

Figure2CTlocations
Figure1Divisionofpowersystemintoprotectionzones

Selectivity
Whenafaultoccurs,theprotectionschemeisrequiredtotriponlythosecircuitbreakerswhoseoperationisrequiredtoisolatethefault.Thispropertyofselectivetrippingis
alsocalled'discrimination'andisachievedbytwogeneralmethods:

1.TimeGrading

Protectionsystemsinsuccessivezonesarearrangedtooperateintimesthataregradedthroughthesequenceofequipmentssothatupontheoccurrenceofafault,althougha
numberofprotectionequipmentsrespond,onlythoserelevanttothefaultyzonecompletethetrippingfunction.Theothersmakeincompleteoperationsandthenreset.The
speedofresponsewilloftendependontheseverityofthefault,andwillgenerallybeslowerthanforaunitsystem.

2.UnitSystems

Itispossibletodesignprotectionsystemsthatrespondonlytofaultconditionsoccurringwithinaclearlydefinedzone.Thistypeofprotectionsystemisknownas'unit
protection'.Certaintypesofunitprotectionareknownbyspecificnames,e.g.restrictedearthfaultanddifferentialprotection.Unitprotectioncanbeappliedthroughouta
powersystemand,sinceitdoesnotinvolvetimegrading,isrelativelyfastinoperation.Thespeedofresponseissubstantiallyindependentoffaultseverity.Unitprotection
usuallyinvolvescomparisonofquantitiesattheboundariesoftheprotectedzoneasdefinedbythelocationsofthecurrenttransformers.Thiscomparisonmaybeachieved
bydirecthardwiredconnectionsormaybeachievedviaacommunicationslink.Howevercertainprotectionsystemsderivetheir'restricted'propertyfromtheconfiguration
ofthepowersystemandmaybeclassedasunitprotection,e.g.earthfaultprotectionappliedtothehighvoltagedeltawindingofapowertransformer.Whichevermethodis
used,itmustbekeptinmindthatselectivityisnotmerelyamatterofrelaydesign.Italsodependsonthecorrectcoordinationofcurrenttransformersandrelayswitha
suitablechoiceofrelaysettings,takingintoaccountthepossiblerangeofsuchvariablesasfaultcurrents,maximumloadcurrent,systemimpedancesandotherrelated
factors,whereappropriate.

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Category: Protection

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