P.RAMYA M.

E AP/EEE

UNIT I INTRODUCTION
1. What are the desirable qualities of protective relaying? Or Mention the essential
features of the power system protection. Or List the essential features of switchgear. (AU:
Nov/Dec 2007) (AU: Nov/Dec 2006)
 Selectivity
 Speed & time
 Sensitivity
 Reliability
 Simplicity
 Economy
2. What is meant by switchgear? (AU: Apr/May 2007)
The apparatus used for switching, controlling and protecting the electrical circuits and
equipment is known as switchgear.
3. Write any two functions of protective relaying? (AU: Apr/May 2007) (AU: Nov/Dec 2006)
(i) The function of a protective relay is to detect and locate a fault and issue a command
to the circuit breaker to disconnect the faulty element.
(ii)It is a device which senses abnormal conditions on a power system by constantly
monitoring electrical quantities of the system which differ under normal and abnormal
conditions.
4. What is surge absorber? How do they differ from surge diverter? (AU: Nov/Dec 2011)
(AU: Apr/May 2010)
Surge Absorber: it is a protective device used to reduce the steepness of the wave front
of a surge and absorbs energy contained in the travelling wave.
Surge Diverter
It will divert excess voltages from an electrical surge to earth. It measures the volts
coming in and once it gets above a set amount (normally 260 volts), will divert the excess volts
to earth.
An Electrical Surge Diverter is a great way to ensure adequate lightning protection for
your valuable electronic equipment. Unlike the more common Surge Protector Power boards
that simply switch off if there is spike in volts, a Surge Diverter will just divert the excess volts
away. It is also installed on your main switchboard, thereby protecting all power points.

5. Define the term “Insulation Coordination”. (AU: Nov/Dec 2011)

Insulation Coordination is the process of determining the proper insulation levels of

various components in a power system as well as their arrangements. It is the selection of an
insulation structure that will withstand voltage stresses to which the system or equipment will
be subjected to, together with the proper surge arrester.
The process is determined from the known characteristics of voltage surges and the
characteristics of surge arresters.

6.List the types of faults in power system (AU: Apr/May 2012) (AU: Apr/May 2014)
 Active Faults
 Passive Faults
 Transient & Permanent Faults
 Symmetrical & Asymmetrical Faults
A symmetrical fault is a balanced fault with the sinusoidal waves being equal about their
axes, and represents a steady state condition.
An asymmetrical fault displays a d.c. offset, transient in nature and decaying to the
steady state of the symmetrical fault after a period of time:
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

 Faults on a Three Phase System

Types of Faults on a Three Phase System.
(A) Phase-to-earth fault
(B) Phase-to-phase fault
(C) Phase-to-phase-to-earth fault
(D) Three phase fault
(E) Three phase-to-earth fault
(F) Phase-to-pilot fault *
(G) Pilot-to-earth fault *
7. How is arcing ground avoided? (AU: Apr/May 2012)
 By using suitable protective gears.
 By means of resistance earthing arcing grounds are minimized.
 The high voltage due to arcing grounds is eliminated by neutral grounding.
8. What are the effects of faults in power system? (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)
 Internal causes.
 Heavy short circuit current may cause damage to damage equipment or other element of
the system of the system due to overheating and high mechanical forces set up due to
heavy current.
 Arc associated with short circuits may cause fire hazards. Such fires resulting from
arcing may destroy the fault element of the system. There is also possibility of firing
spreading to the other devices if the fault is not isolated quickly.
9. What is back up protection? (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)
Is the second line of defence, which operates if the primary protection fails to activate
within a definite time delay.
10. Define pickup value and current setting as applied to protective relaying. ( AU:
Apr/May 2010)
Pickup value is the minimum value of operating quantity at which the relay operates and
closes its contacts.
Current setting is the actual value of the energizing current at which the relay operates
and closes its contacts.
11. Importance of Neutral Grounding (AU: Apr/May 2014)
There are many neutral grounding options available for both Low and Medium
voltage power systems. The neutral points of transformers, generators and rotating machinery to
the earth ground network provides a reference point of zero volts. This protective measure
offers many advantages over an ungrounded system, like,
1. Reduced magnitude of transient over voltages
2. Simplified ground fault location
3. Improved system and equipment fault protection
4. Reduced maintenance time and expense
5. Greater safety for personnel
6. Improved lightning protection
7. Reduction in frequency of faults.

12.Mention the inductance value of the peterson’s coil. (AU: Apr/May 2010)
L=1/3 ω c
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

UNIT II OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND RELAY CHARACTERISTICS

1.What are the advantages and disadvantages of static relays? (AU: Apr/May 2007) (AU:
Nov/Dec 2012) (AU: Apr/May 2014)
 Low burden on CTs & PTs.
 No moving contacts
 Fast operation and long life.;
 Sensitivity is more.
 Fast reset & no overshoot.
 Size of the relay is small since measuring circuit needs very low current.

2. For what purpose distance relays used? (AU: Nov/Dec 2006)

 It is used in the main transmission lines or sub transmission lines of 33KV,66KV,&
132KV.
 It measures in terms of impedance, reactance etc., from relay to the point of fault.

3. Compare static and electromagnetic relay. (AU: Nov/Dec 2006) (AU: Nov/Dec 2011)
Electromagnetic relays are1st generation relays they use principle of electromagnetic
principle. They depend upon gravitation also and the value changes to the surrounding magnetic
fields also.
Static relays are 2nd generation relays. In this relays transistors and IC's r been used.
There value may vary with respect to temperature also.

4. What is an under frequency relay? (AU: Apr/May 2012)

An under frequency relay is one which operates when the frequency of the system
(usually an alternator or transformer) falls below a certain value.

5. What are the features of directional relay? (AU: Apr/May 2012)

High speed operation; high sensitivity; ability to operate at low voltages; adequate short-
time thermal ratio; burden must not be excessive.

6.List out the different types of distance relay? (AU: Apr/May 2014)
 Impedance relay
 Reactance relay
 Mho relay
7. What type of relay is best suited for generator protection? (AU: Nov/Dec 2007)
Differential relay
8. What type of relay is best suited for long distance , very high voltage transmissions?
(AU: Nov/Dec 2007)
Impedance relay
9. Define operating time of a relay. (AU: Nov/Dec 2012) (AU: Apr/May 2014)
It is defined as the time period extending from the occurrence of the fault through the
relay detecting the fault to the operation of the relay.
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

UNIT III APPARATUS PROTECTION

1.What is REF relay? (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)

It is restricted earth fault relay. When the fault occurs very near to the neutral
point of the transformer, the voltage available to drive the earth circuit is very small,
which may not be sufficient to activate the relay, unless the relay is set for a very low
current. Hence the zone of protection in the winding of the transformer is restricted to
cover only around 85%. Hence the relay is called REF relay.

2.What are the various faults to which a turbo alternator is likely to be

subjected? (AU: Apr/May 2010)
Failure of steam supply; failure of speed; overcurrent; over voltage; unbalanced
loading; stator winding fault .

3.Why busbar protection is needed? (AU: Nov/Dec 2007)

(a) Fault level at busbar is high
b) The stability of the system is affected by the faults in the bus zone.
(c) A fault in the bus bar causes interruption of supply to a large portion of the system
network.
4.Write application CT and PT? (AU: Nov/Dec 2007) (AU: Apr/May 2014)
Current transformers can reduce or “step-down” current levels from thousands of
amperes down to a standard output of a known ratio to either 5 Amps or 1 Amp for normal
operation. Thus, small and accurate instruments and control devices can be used with CT’s
because they are insulated away from any high-voltage power lines. There are a variety of
metering applications and uses for current transformers such as with wattmeter’s, power factor
meters, watt-hour meters, protective relays, or as trip coils in magnetic circuit breakers, or
MCB’s
Potential Transformer can measure the highvoltage level.
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

UNIT IV THEORY OF CIRCUIT INTERRUPTION

1.Give the two theories of arc interruption? (AU: Nov/Dec 2008)

i) Slepian’s theory
-Recovery rate theory
ii) Classie’s theory
-Energy balance theory

2. What do you mean by current chopping? (AU: Nov/Dec 2008) (AU: Apr/May 2007)
(AUT: Apr/May 2012)
When interrupting low inductive currents such as magnetizing currents of the
transformer, shunt reactor, the rapid deionization of the contact space and blast effect
may cause the current to be interrupted before the natural current zero. This
phenomenon of interruption of the current before its natural zero is called current
chopping.

3. What is resistance switching? It is the method of connecting a resistance in parallel

with the contact space(arc). (Apr/May 2014)
The resistance reduces the restriking voltage frequency and it diverts part of the arc
current. It assists the circuit breaker in interrupting the magnetizing current and capacity
current.

4 .List the factors on which the arc resistance depends. (AU: Apr/May 2007)
(AU: Apr/May 2010) (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)
The arc resistance is increased by
 Arc runner
 Splitting of arc
 Cooling of arc

5. What is meant by recovery voltage? (AU: Nov/Dec 2006) (AU: Nov/Dec 2011) (AU:
Nov/Dec 2007) (AU: Apr/May 2010)
The power frequency rms voltage appearing across the breaker contacts after
the arc is extinguished and transient oscillations die out is called recovery voltage.

6. What is RRRV? (AU: Nov/Dec 2006) (AU: Nov/Dec 2011) (AUT: Apr/May 2012) (AU:
Nov/Dec 2007)
It is the rate of rise of restriking voltage, expressed in volts per microsecond. It is closely
associated with natural frequency of oscillation.

7. What is restriking voltage? (AU: Apr/May 2010)

It is the transient voltage appearing across the breaker contacts at the instant of arc being
extinguished.

8. What is principle involved in High Resistance Interruption? (AU: Apr/May 2012)

High resistance interruption:-the arc resistance is increased by elongating, and
splitting the arc so that the arc is fully extinguished

9. What is breaking capacity of circuit breaker? (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)

Breaking capacity or interrupting capacity is the current that a fuse, circuit breaker, or other
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

electrical apparatus is able to interrupt without being destroyed or causing an electric arc with
unacceptable duration. The prospective short circuit current which can occur under short circuit
conditions should not exceed the rated breaking capacity of the apparatus. Breaking current
may be stated in terms of the total current or just in terms of the alternating-current
(symmetrical) component. Since the time of opening of a fuse or switch is not coordinated with
the reversal of the alternating current.

10.Give the two methods of arc interruption? (AU: Apr/May 2014)

High resistance interruption:-the arc resistance is increased by elongating, and splitting the
arc so that the arc is fully extinguished
Current zero method:-The arc is interrupted at current zero position that occurs100 times a
second in case of 50Hz power system frequency in ac.
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE

UNIT V CIRCUIT BREAKERS

1.Write the classification of circuit breakers based on the medium used for arc
extinction? (AU: Nov/Dec 2011) (AU: Nov/Dec 2012)

Air break circuit breaker

Oil circuit breaker
Minimum oil circuit breaker
Air blast circuit breaker
SF6 circuit breaker
Vacuum circuit breaker

2. Write any two advantages of SF6 gas? (AU: Nov/Dec 2011)

SF6 has high affinity for electrons. When a free electron comes and collides with
a neutral gas molecule, the electron is absorbed by the neutral gas molecule and negative ion
is formed. This is called as electro negativity of SF6 gas.
It has good dielectric strength and excellent arc quenching property. It is inert,
non-toxic, noninflammable and heavy. At atmospheric pressure, its dielectric strength is
2.5 times that of air. At three times atmospheric pressure, its dielectric strength is equal to
that of the transformer oil.

3.Differentiate between a fuse and a circuit breaker. (AU: Apr/May 2010) (AU:
Nov/Dec 2012) (AU: Apr/May 2014)

Fuse is a low current interrupting device. It is a copper or an aluminium wire.Circuit

breaker is a high current interrupting device and it act as a switch under normal operating
conditions.
P.RAMYA M.E AP/EEE