1780 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 23, NO.

4, OCTOBER 2008

Study of Solving the Coordination Curve

Intersection of Inverse-Time Overcurrent
Relays in Subtransmission Systems
Jarm-Long Chung, Ying Lu, Wen-Shiow Kao, and Chih-Ju Chou

Abstract—This paper presents a practical and effective novel ap-

proach to solve the coordination problem caused by the curve in-
tersection of overcurrent relays in subtransmission systems. Based
on the IEEE and IEC standard characteristic curve equations of
digital overcurrent relays, as well as the simulation curve equation
for electromagnetic overcurrent relays, lever setting adjustment
equations for a selected point on the characteristic curve is derived.
Then, centered on the derived equations, a dedicated software pro-
gram is developed to compute the corresponding relay lever setting
with different tap value in order that, passing through the selected
point, another curve with the new lever setting is chosen. Finally,
assisting with the graphical capability of the commercial ASPEN
OneLiner, the proposed fixed-point coordination curve adjustment
procedure can completely eliminate the coordination curve inter-
sections. In addition, an actual case of a subtransmission network
in Taiwan Power Company is simulated to validate the feasibility
of the technique proposed.
Index Terms—Overcurrent relay, protection coordination, sub-
transmission system, sympathy trip.

Fig. 1. Curve intersection of upstream and downstream relays.

I. INTRODUCTION

D IRECTIONAL overcurrent relays (DOCRs) have been

widely used as the major devices in protecting subtrans-
mission systems in Taiwan, R.O.C., for many years because of
their reliable performance and low cost. In the subtransmission
networks, overcurrent relays with various types and manu-
facturers have been adopted due to stations being constructed
in different period of time, or the protective relays are set
at different tap values in accordance with the fault current
predetermined, thus, in general, resulting in the intersection of
the time-current curves of upstream and downstream protective
relays. This would introduce the undesired sympathy trip in
which the backup relay operates earlier than the designated
primary relay for the associated fault [1], causing unexpected
augmentation of the blackout area, as shown in Fig. 1. There-
fore, coordination is lost.
The overcurrent relay coordination process is to decide the se-
quence of relay operations for each possible fault location and to
Manuscript received May 11, 2007; revised September 30, 2007. First pub-
lished April 3, 2008; current version published September 24, 2008. This work
was supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, R.O.C., under Project
NSC 96-2221-E-129-015. Paper no. TPWRD-00275-2007.
J.-L. Chung and C.-J. Chou are with the Department of Electrical Engi-
neering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
(e-mail: u673917@taipower.com.tw; cjchou@ntut.edu.tw).
Y. Lu is with the Department of Computer and Communication Engineering,
St. John’s University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: yinglu@mail.sju.edu.tw).
W.-S. Kao is with the Institute of Automation and Mechatronics, St. John’s
University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: kaosir@mail.sju.edu.tw).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2008.919391
0885-8977/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
provide sufficient coordination margins without excessive time
delay, taking into account the desired protection qualities of se-
lectivity, reliability, sensitivity, and speed [2]. In recent years,
many research efforts have been made to achieve optimum pro-
tection coordination using different techniques and methodolo-
gies, including linear and nonlinear programming techniques, as
well as the evolutionary programming technique [3]–[8]. How-
ever, the effective treatment of the coordination curves crossing
problem encountered in many practical applications for pro-
tecting complicated subtransmission systems has not been re-
ported as yet in the literature. In this regard, to solve the pre-
ceding problem, a new practical method, other than the tradi-
tional tedious and time-consuming trial-and-error process, is re-
quired for protection engineers to easily and effectively correct
the improper relay settings where the intersection of relay coor-
dination curves is provoked, so as to prevent the sympathy trips
from adversely affecting the reliability of the power system.
This study proposes a practical and effective novel method to
cope with the aforementioned coordination problem resulting
from the crossing of time-current curves of overcurent relays in
subtransmission systems, including radial-type, single-ring, and
multiring networks. In addition, none of the existing overcur-
rent relays needs to be removed or replaced with the advanced
one, or to be made any change in the firmware of the relay,
while applying the proposed method. Furthermore, the proposed
method is capable of adjusting the settings for both digital and
electromagnetic overcurrent relays, and unlike the conventional
CHUNG et al.: STUDY OF SOLVING THE COORDINATION CURVE INTERSECTION OF INVERSE-TIME OVERCURRENT RELAYS 1781

method, the adjustment will not alter the coordination time in-
terval (CTI) designed originally.
First, the lever setting adjustment equations corresponding to
digital and electromagnetic inverse-time overcurrent relays for
a selected point on the characteristic curve are derived from the
IEEE and IEC standard characteristic curve equations of dig-
ital overcurrent relays [9]–[12], and the simulation curve for-
mula of electromagnetic overcurrent relays [13], respectively.
Then, centered on these adjustment equations, a relay setting
software program is developed to compute the associated lever
settings for the upstream relay involved in the curve intersection
according to the specified tap values, such that another charac-
teristic curve with a new lever setting passing through the se-
lected point can be chosen for evading the curve intersection sit-
uation. Finally, using the developed relay setting program along
with the coordination curves drawing capability of the commer-
cial software package ASPEN OneLiner, the coordination curve
intersection problem can be completely exterminated. In addi-
tion, for demonstration purposes, an actual case of a single-ring
subtransmission network at the Taiwan Power Company is sim- Fig. 2. Time-current characteristics of CO-8 type overcurrent relay.
ulated to validate the feasibility and practical value of the pro-
posed method.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section II ex-
plains the derivation of lever setting adjustment equations for
digital and electromagnetic overcurrent relays. Section III in-
troduces the structure of the relay setting program developed
in this study. Section IV describes the fixed-point coordination
curve adjustment procedure (FPCCA). Then the real case simu-
lation is demonstrated and discussed in Section V and followed
by the conclusions given in Section VI.

II. DERIVATION OF LEVER SETTING ADJUSTMENT EQUATIONS

To deal with the crossed condition of characteristic curves
in protection coordination, this study utilizes the time-current
feature of the inverse time overcurrent relay. With the trip time
of the relay being fixed, the characteristic curve possessing a
smaller lever setting or a steeper slope is applied by the relay, as
the multiple of pickup current decreases due to the increase of
the tap value. This can be observed from Fig. 2, which illustrates
a family of CO-8 curves for time dial settings of one through
eleven.
In addition, since relays are coordinated in pairs and the up-
stream relay is adjusted to coordinate properly with the paired
downstream relay, the close-in fault current of the downstream
relay is generally selected as the critical reference current. The
operating time of the upstream relay corresponding to the pre-
ceding reference fault current is the operating time of its paired
downstream relay plus the CTI specified, and will be maintained
unchanged in coordination adjustment for curve intersection.
Accordingly, on the relay characteristic curve to be adjusted,
a point associated with the above fault current in the horizontal
axis and the above operating time in the vertical axis can thus
be located, and is referred to as the fixed point in this paper.
As shown in Fig. 3 (right), is the close-in fault current of the
downstream relay, is the operating time of the upstream relay,
and the corresponding fixed point is indicated by . Then, by in-
creasing the tap value of the upstream relay, another curve with
a steeper slope passing through that selected point, i.e., fixed
Fig. 3. Illustration of coordination curve adjustment technique.
point, is obtained, forcing the curve to depart from the orig-
inal position where the curve intersection appears, as will be
explained in detail below.
The proposed technique uses the above premise to derive the
lever setting adjustment equation. Equations (1)–(3) represent
the IEC standard inverse expression and IEEE standard inverse
equation of digital overcurrent relays [9]–[12], and the simula-
tion inverse curve formula of electromagnetic overcurrent relays
[13], respectively. They are employed to derive the adjustment
equations for different types of overcurrent relays
(1)
where
t time to trip, in seconds;
L time dial, or lever setting;
i the secondary fault current of the current
transformer, in amperes;
In tap value;
1782 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 23, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2008

M multiples of pickup current, where ; associated with and in the axis and axis, respectively,
leading to the resolution of the curve intersection, as depicted
A, p constants in the right figure. Hence, this technique is apparently able to
solve the curve intersection occurred in relay coordination pairs
(2) by adjusting the coordination curve of the associated upstream
relay on the fixed point determined by the selected fault current
and desired trip time.
where
Substituting , , , , and into (4)
acquires
TD time dial setting;
B constant (7)

where and are time dial or lever settings.

(3) Rearranging (7) yields the fixed-point lever setting adjust-
ment equation expressed as follows:
where
(8)
K constant.
Because (1)–(3) are similar, the processes of deriving the With (8), by changing the tap value, a new time dial setting
lever setting adjustment equations from them are also analo- can be calculated from , and the new multiple of
gous. Therefore, only the IEC standard equation is utilized for pickup current determined from the close-in fault current
explanation. Substituting and into (1) ac- and the new tap value. Similarly, the lever setting adjustment (9)
quires the standard normal inverse characteristic curve expres- for both the digital relays obeying (2) and the electromagnetic
sion (4) relays with (3) can be readily obtained. In addition, the proposed
approach can also be applied to digital overcurrent relays with
(4) the characteristic formulae modified from the ANSI/IEEE or the
IEC standard equations, such as [14]

As the operating time of the upstream relay coordinated re-

mains the same, that is, , (4) can be rearranged as (9)

(5)

Differentiating (5) with yields a slope equation at the se-

lected point of the characteristic curve as follows: III. STRUCTURE OF RELAY SETTING PROGRAM
Centered on the fixed-point lever setting adjustment equa-
(6) tions of characteristic curve derived in the previous section,
a dedicated software program for relay setting adjustment is
In the characteristic curve diagram of the left-hand side of developed. It facilitates a faster and effective way to assist in
Fig. 3, as the tap value (In) increases while maintaining solving the time-current curve intersection of coordinated over-
and , the multiple of pickup current decreases from current relays, compared to the conventionally employed trial-
to (where ), and, hence, another curve with and-error process which is tedious, time-consuming, and even
different lever setting is addressed. It is noticed that the hard to get a suitable solution particularly for loop networks and
slope of the fixed point (i.e., corresponding to complex systems.
and ) on curve is steeper than that of the fixed Fig. 4 illustrates the block diagram for the process of relay
point (i.e., associated with and ) of curve . setting program. The relay setting program is roughly structured
For better demonstration, the coordination curve diagram into four parts. In part 1, the system data table is established by
with the axis representing the fault current instead of the entering required data, including system title and voltage rank,
multiples of pickup current is illustrated on the right-hand bus title and voltage rank, positive-sequence and zero-sequence
side of Fig. 3. In the diagram, is the characteristic curve impedances of transmission lines, as well as the related data of
of downstream relay, is the original characteristic curve relays involved in the curve intersection, such as CT ratios, man-
of upstream relay, is the characteristic curve of upstream ufacturers and types and model numbers of protective relays, tap
relay after adjustment, and CTI is the coordination time interval and lever settings, and new tap values to be adjusted.
specified between the upstream relay and the downstream relay. In part 2, first, the positive-sequence and zero-sequence
Because the predetermined fault current is fixed, the multiple matrices are constructed based on the power subtransmission
of pickup current will reduce as the tap value increases. There- network structure and relevant system parameters obtained in
fore, the original curve is substituted with another smaller part 1. Then, the close-in fault currents (including three-phase
lever setting curve passing through the same fixed point short-circuit and single-phase ground fault currents) of the
CHUNG et al.: STUDY OF SOLVING THE COORDINATION CURVE INTERSECTION OF INVERSE-TIME OVERCURRENT RELAYS
Fig. 4. Block diagram for the process of relay setting program.
Fig. 5. Simplified hierarchical database of overcurrent relays.
downstream relays in the coordination pairs forming curve in-
tersection are computed and used as the reference fault current
in the time dial setting adjustment in the next part.
In part 3, based on the preceding fault current, the operating
time of the associated upstream relay involved in the intersec-
tion is determined such that the selected reference point, i.e.,
fixed point on the original curve for adjustment can be located.
Then, the new multiple of pickup current is calculated according
to the reference fault current as well as the tap value entered
for adjustment, and is checked to see if it is within the normal
range of 2 to 20, which is recommended by the standard BS 142
[10]. If not, the situation is reported and then the tap value is
discarded. Then, using (8), the new lever setting corresponding
to the tap value is obtained. This process will continue until all
the tap values entered for adjustment are taken care. Finally, the
calculated lever settings of the upstream overcurrent relay are
printed out in part 4.
In addition, a flexible database for overcurrent relays is es-
tablished to permit convenient retrieval of the lever setting ad-
justment equation of various relay types encountered in a sub-
transmission system [15]–[17]. The database stores the type of
relay (i.e., digital or electromagnetic), relay characteristic (i.e.,
inverse, very inverse, or extremely inverse), producer’s name,
model number, and the constant parameters of curve equations
(i.e., A, B, K, and p). Fig. 5 illustrates the simplified hierarchical
database.
1783
Fig. 6. Flowhcart of the fixed-point coordination curve adjustment procedure.
Fig. 7. Example of the process of FPCCA procedure.
IV. FIXED-POINT COORDINATION CURVE
ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE
The FPCCA consists of two programs; one is the relay setting
program developed in this paper, computing the corresponding
time dial settings associated with the tap values to be adjusted,
and the other is the commercial software package ASPEN One-
Liner [18], plotting the characteristic curves of overcurrent re-
lays coordinated in the system for checking curve intersection.
Fig. 6 is the flowchart of the fixed-point coordination curve ad-
justment procedure. The following steps describe the procedure
in detail.
Step 1) ASPEN OneLiner is executed to draw the time-cur-
rent curves of DOCRs participating in the protec-
tion coordination for the power subtransmission net-
work, based on the relevant system and relay param-
eters. Then, the coordination curve diagram is in-
spected to see if any intersection among those curves
1784
Fig. 8. Single-ring subtransmission network with six buses in Taiwan Power Company.
exists. If none, the procedure is done; otherwise,
proceed to the next step.
Step 2) The system data including related relay settings, and
specified tap values for adjusting one intersection
are inputted to the relay setting program as described
in the previous section. Via the fixed-point lever set-
ting adjustment equation, new time dial or lever set-
tings corresponding to the tap values are obtained
from the program. Then go back to step 1 to examine
whether any of the curves with the new relay settings
tackles the intersection situation.
Fig. 7 is an example illustrating the process of the fixed-point
coordination curve adjustment procedure. In the figure, the char-
acteristic curve of the upstream relay is intersected with the
characteristic curve of the paired downstream relay. To solve
the intersection, the proposed FPCCA procedure is applied. Cor-
responding to the tap values entered, new lever settings of , The isolation of the phase-to-phase or three-phase short-cir-
, and of the upstream relay are obtained in step 2, with
their associated curves being all passing through the fixed point
F . Note that the curve with lever setting is no longer
crossed with the curve of the downstream relay. It is also
noticed that, with this fixed-point technique, the original CTI is
not affected at all.
V. CASE SIMULATION AND DISCUSSION
A case simulation of a single-ring subtransmission system
in Taiwan Power Company is conducted to confirm the feasi-
bility of the method proposed in this study. Fig. 8 shows the
single-ring subtransmission system, in which the six buses,
named in the simulation as Bus A, Bus B, Bus C, Bus D, Bus E,
and Bus F, respectively, have the same voltage rank of 69 kV.
Source impedances of Bus A are p.u.
and p.u. Other circuit parameters and
relevant data concerning the DOCRs employed are depicted in
Table I. The impedances of three 200-MVA transformers
connected to Bus A are listed in Table II. DOCRs adopted in
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 23, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2008
the protection coordination comprise electromagnetic phase
inverse directional overcurrent relays CR-8, electromagnetic
ground inverse directional overcurrent relays CRP-8 [19], and
digital overcurrent relays SPAJ140C [10], all manufactured by
ABB Company, as well as electromagnetic phase inverse di-
rectional overcurrent relays IBC51 and electromagnetic ground
inverse directional overcurrent relays IBCG51 manufactured
by GE Co. [20], [21].
In this study, both the three-phase short-circuit and single-
phase ground faults are considered, and overcurrent relay set-
tings for protection coordination are adjusted in the clockwise
and counterclockwise directions for both fault cases. However,
due to the space reason, only the FPCCA adjustment in the coun-
terclockwise direction for phase overcurrent relays in the case
of three-phase short-circuit faults is demonstrated.
cuit faults of transmission lines is facilitated by phase overcur-
rent relays, which provide faster tripping for the heavy short cir-
cuit faults. In general, due to the three-phase short-circuit fault
generating maximum fault current, it is the major fault that re-
quires to be considered in setting the protective relays for coor-
dination.
Fig. 9 is the coordination curve diagram of DOCRs
counterclockwise along the Bus A#610->Bus F#610->Bus
E#610->Bus D#620->Bus C#620->Bus B#610, plotted by
ASPEN OneLiner. In the figure, curve no. 6 is the characteristic
curve of Bus A#610:67 relay, curve no. 5 is the characteristic
curve of Bus F#610:67 relay, curve no. 4 is the characteristic
curve of Bus E#610:67 relay, curve no. 3 is the characteristic
curve of Bus D#620:67 relay, and so forth. It is noticed that,
with all the tap values being set as 4A, curve no. 6 intersects
curves no. 3 and no. 4 at the points corresponding to fault
currents of 1850A and 2800A, respectively, and curve no. 5 is
crossed with curves no. 3 and no. 4 at the spots associated with
fault currents of 2300 and 3800A, respectively, due to the fact
CHUNG et al.: STUDY OF SOLVING THE COORDINATION CURVE INTERSECTION OF INVERSE-TIME OVERCURRENT RELAYS 1785

TABLE I
RELATED SYSTEM AND RELAY PARAMETERS OF THE MULTILOOP SUBTRANSMISSION SYSTEM

TABLE II
IMPEDANCES Z =Z OF THREE 200 MVA TRANSFORMERS

that inconsistent time-current characteristics exist among the

employed relays with various types, and these intersections in-
troducing the sympathy trips may cause the following potential
impacts.
1) If a three-phase short-circuit fault is occurred in the out-
going of Bus D#620, the upstream Bus A#610:67 relay
would operate before the Bus D#620:67 relay while the
fault current is smaller than 1850A, thus, causing the un-
desired blackout in all of Bus D, Bus E, and Bus F.
2) If a three-phase short-circuit fault happens in the outgoing
of Bus D#620, the upstream Bus F#610:67 relay would be
activated unexpectedly with the fault current below 2300A,
hence resulting in shutting off the power flowing to not
only Bus D but also Bus E.
3) If a three-phase short-circuit fault takes place in the out-
going of Bus E#610, the upstream Bus A#610:67 relay, Fig. 9. Coordination curve diagram before adjustment.
rather than Bus E#610:67 relay, would be initiated before
the fault current reaching 2800A, leading to a blackout over
Bus E and Bus F. The relay in Bus F is an ABB’s SPAJ140C digital DOCR.
4) If a three-phase short-circuit fault arises in the outgoing of For demonstration purposes, tap values of 5A, 6A, and 7A are
Bus E#610, the upstream Bus F#610:67 relay would take selected to adjust the relay. Table III lists the multiples of pickup
action before Bus E#610:67 relay while the fault current is current, lever settings and slopes at the fixed point associated
less than 3800 A, provoking an entire blackout in Bus E. with tap values of 4A, 5A, 6A, and 7A of Bus F#610:67 relay,
Therefore, the proposed FPCCA procedure is applied to solve acquired from FPCCA. Note that the slope at the fixed point
the preceding curve intersection problem. To adjust the above increases with the decrease of the lever setting.
improper coordination, the FPCCA will start from the relay far- As shown in Fig. 10, curves no. 3, no. 4, and no. 5 are charac-
ther from the power source, i.e., Bus F#610:67, and then the teristic curves of Bus F#610:67 relay with new lever settings of
relay in Bus A. 0.32, 0.30, and 0.28 associated with tap values of 5, 6, and 7A,
1786
TABLE III
ADJUSTMENT FOR BUS F#610:67 RELAY
Fig. 10. Characteristic curves of Bus F#610:67 relay with various tap values.
respectively. Among them, we see that curve no. 5 is no longer
intersected with the curve (no. 1) of its coordinated downstream
Bus E#610:67 relay, and its multiple of pickup current of 8.67
as depicted in Table III is within the normal range of 2 to 20
recommended by the standard BS 142 [10]. Hence, curve no.
5 is an acceptable solution for solving this intersection without
altering the original specified CTI.
The new obtained setting of 7A/#0.28 for Bus F#610:67 relay
is stored into the system data table via the relay setting pro-
gram. The revised relay coordination curve diagram reflecting
this change is demonstrated in Fig. 11. It is noticed that the inter-
section involving the Bus F#610:67 relay is eliminated, and only
the intersection of the curve (no. 6) of Bus A#610:67 relay with
those (no. 5, no. 4, and no. 3) of Bus F#610:67, Bus E#610:67,
and Bus D#620:67 relays remains. Because the coordination set-
ting is done in pairs, only the upstream Bus A#610:67 relay,
which is coordinated with the downstream Bus F#610:67 relay,
needs to be regulated for this intersection.
Bus A#610:67 is a GE’s IBC51 electromagnetic overcurrent
relay. Tap values of 5, 6, and 7A for Bus A#610:67 relay are
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 23, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2008
Fig. 11. Revised coordination curve diagram after adjusting Bus F#610:67
relay.
TABLE IV
ADJUSTMENT FOR BUS A#610:67 RELAY
entered to the relay setting program for computing the corre-
sponding time dial settings to solve the intersection involving
the coordination pair of Bus A#610:67 and Bus F#610:67 re-
lays. Table IV describes the multiples of pickup current, lever
settings and slopes at the fixed point associated with tap values
of 4, 5, 6, and 7A of Bus A#610:67 relay, obtained from FPCCA.
Fig. 12 shows the adjustment for Bus A#610:67 relay. In the
figure, curve no. 1 is the characteristic curve of Bus F#610:67
relay with tap value of 7A, and curves no. 2 to no. 5 are the
characteristic curves of Bus A#610:67 relay with lever settings
of 5.5, 5.0, 4.75, and 4.4 corresponding to tap values of 4, 5, 6,
and 7A, respectively. We see that curve no. 5 with a tap value
of 7A is no longer intersected with the curve (no. 1) of the co-
ordinated downstream Bus F#610:67 relay, and its multiple of
pickup current of 10.13, as depicted in Table IV, is acceptable
according to the standard BS 142 [10].
Fig. 13 displays the counterclockwise coordination curve dia-
gram after adjusting Bus F#610:67 relay and then Bus A#610:67
relay. It can be found from the figure that, by using the proposed
method, all the curve intersections have been removed.
CHUNG et al.: STUDY OF SOLVING THE COORDINATION CURVE INTERSECTION OF INVERSE-TIME OVERCURRENT RELAYS 1787

to be removed or replaced with the advanced one, or to be made

any change in the firmware of the relay, while applying the pro-
posed method. Furthermore, the proposed method is capable of
adjusting the settings for both digital and electromagnetic over-
current relays, and unlike the conventional method, the adjust-
ment will not alter the CTI specified originally.
Lever setting adjustment equations for a selected point
on the characteristic curve are derived for both digital and
electromagnetic overcurrent relays. Then, centered on these ad-
justment equations, a dedicated software program is developed
to compute the corresponding relay settings associated with
different tap values in order that, passing through the selected
point, another curve with a new acquired time dial setting of
that relay is chosen. Finally, with the aid of the commercial
ASPEN OneLiner in plotting coordination curve diagram, the
proposed FPCCA procedure can readily and effectively solve
the intersection problem.
In addition, an actual case of a six-bus single-ring subtrans-
mission network in Taiwan Power Company is simulated to val-
idate the feasibility of the method proposed, and to demonstrate
the practical value suitable for application in the power industry.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig. 12. Characteristic curves of Bus A#610:67 relay with various tap values.
The authors would like to thank Y.-J. Peng, Senior Protection
Engineer, Department of Power Supply, Taiwan Power Com-
pany, for his useful discussions that contributed to the original
version of this document.

Fig. 13. Coordination curve diagram in counterclockwise direction after ad-
justment.
VI. CONCLUSION
This study proposes a practical and effective novel method
to solve the sympathy trip problem resulting from the crossing
of time-current curves of overcurent relays in subtransmission
systems, including radial-type, single-ring, and multiring net-
works. In addition, none of the existing overcurrent relays needs
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Jarm-Long Chung was born in Taipei, Taiwan,
R.O.C., on June 18, 1956. He received the M.S.
degree in electrical engineering from the National
Taipei University of Technology in 2004. He is
currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree at the National
Taipei University of Technology.
Since 1981, he has been with the Taiwan Power
Company, where he is currently a Chief in the power
system protection section of the Department of Power
Supply, Taiwan Power Company. His main interest is
in relay planning and coodination.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 23, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2008
Ying Lu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1953.
He received the M.S. degree in computer engineering
from the University of Southern California, Los An-
geles, in 1983.
From 1982 to 1989, he was with Telcom Tech-
nologies, Inc., and Quotron Systems, Inc., Los
Angeles, as a Software Engineer. Currently, he
is an Associate Professor with the Department of
Computer and Communication Engineering, St.
John’s University, Taipei. His major interests are
in computer programming and relaying protection
coordination.
Wen-Shiow Kao was born in Taiwan, R.O.C., on Au-
gust 24, 1953. He received the M.S. degree in elec-
trical engineering from the National Taiwan Univer-
sity in 1989.
Currently, he is a Professor with the Institute of
Automation and Mechatronics, St. John’s University,
Taipei, Taiwan. His research interests are in analysis
of power system dynamics and stability, as well as
power system protection.
Chih-Ju Chou was born in Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1958.
He received the M.S. degree in electrical engineering
from the National Taiwan Institute of Technology in
1986 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
from National Taiwan University in 1994.
He joined the faculty of Chun Yuan Christian Uni-
versity, Taiwan, from 1992 to 2005. After that, he
joined the National Taipei University of Technology,
Taipei, Taiwan, where he is currently an Associate
Professor of electrical engineering. His research in-
terests include grounding system analysis and design,
power system fault analysis and protection, harmonic control and filter design,
and energy applications and planning.