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Department of Electrical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, 430074,
China (e-mail: yanxiachen@263.net, xgyin@mail.hust.edu.cn, zz_mail2002@163.com,
dschen@21cn.com)
Abstract – This paper presents an adaptive overcurrent relay influenced by the type of short-circuit fault. So it’s unnec-
based on the principle of phase-to-phase differential currents, essary to calculate settings on the worst-case condition. It
denominated as I&AB , I&BC and I&CA , to detect phase fault of does not respond to normal load current so it can be set
transmission and distribution line. The characteristics of below load current levels. Moreover, when phase fault
phase-to-phase differential currents under phase fault condi- occurs in the secondary side of a delta-wye transformer,
tion are analyzed. The trip criterion and coordination princi- the PDC in the primary side are in direct ratio to those in
ple are described. This relay is adaptive to the type of phase the secondary side. Thus the coordination can be simpli-
fault, the operating conditions of power system and the dis- fied. The sensitivity can be improved, too.
connection of PT. It can also provide an adaptive backup
protection for the secondary-side overcurrent relay of a delta-
wye transformer. Comparing with conventional overcurrent II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PDC AND THE
relays, this relay has a larger zone of protection and higher OPERATION CRITERION OF OVERCURRENT RELAY
sensitivity. Transient simulation results are presented, too. BASED ON PDC
Keywords – overcurrent relay, adaptive protection, phase-to- The three phase currents flow through the protective de-
phase differential current, line protection
vice are I& A , I&B and I&C . Then the PDC can be defined as:
differential currents (PDC), denominated as I& AB , I& BC and tion are represented by Z L = Z L 1 = Z L 2 . The sequence
impedances of line segment from bus M to the fault loca-
I& . Analysis shows that the maximal magnitude of the
CA
tion is Z l = Z l1 = Z l 2 . Z l' = Z L − Z l . The balanced load
three PDC can indicate fault condition and it will not be
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International Conference on Power Systems Transients – IPST 2003 in New Orleans, USA
'
impedance is Z load = Z load
'
1 = Z load 2 .
' When phase fault occurs in single-source power systems,
the fault currents flowing through the protective relay have
When a phase-B-to-phase-C fault occurs on F, the se-
following characteristics:
quence network is shown in Fig. 2. It can be derived that:
1) The magnitude of the PDC between two faulted
& E& MA 3 3 3 Z load
I AB = [( + j) − ] phases is as 3 times as the magnitude of the phase
Z SM + Z l 2 2 2 Z Σ' current under three-phase short-circuit fault condition.
3 E& MA (3) 2) Among the three PDC, the magnitude of PDC be-
I&BC = − j
Z SM + Z l tween faulted phases has the maximum value.
E & 3 3 3 Z load 3) Above relations will not be influenced by the type of
I&CA = [( − + j) +
MA
]
Z SM + Z l 2 2 2 Z Σ' phase fault.
In a word, (5) always exists. So, an overcurrent relay
Where Z Σ' = Z SM + Z l + Z load , Z load = Z l' + Z load
'
. can be designed to detect phase fault by measuring the
maximum of PDC. When the maximum exceeds the set-
Suppose that Z SM = jX SM , Z l = Rl + jX l , and
ting, the relay will operate. The zone of protection will not
Zload = jXload . Equation (4) can be deduced as below: be affected by different type of phase fault. It is easy for
setting and coordination, too. The operation criterion of
I AB < 3 I K(3) this relay is descried in (7) and (8).
I BC = 3 I K (4)
( 3)
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International Conference on Power Systems Transients – IPST 2003 in New Orleans, USA
Where, K rel is the coefficient to assure reliability, E& φ U& AB ( t ) − U& AB ( 0 ) (13)
ZS = −
I& AB ( t ) − I& AB ( 0 )
is the phase potential of the equivalent source, E& l is the
phase-to-phase potential of the equivalent source. The 3) When phase-B-to-phase-C short-circuit fault occurs,
symbol Z s represents the equivalent source impedance U& BC (t ) − U& BC ( 0)
ZS = − (14)
and Z L the positive sequence impedance of the line to be I& (t ) − I& ( 0)
BC BC
protected. I op is the setting of relay. 4) When phase-C-to-phase-A short-circuit fault occurs,
In some cases there is only two CTs for phase A and C,
U& CA (t ) − U& CA ( 0 )
what is a common practice in ineffectively grounded sys- ZS = − (15)
tem. In this system, there is I& B = − ( I& A + I&C ) . So The I& (t ) − I& ( 0 )
CA CA
PDC can be described as below: Among the three PDC, the differential current between
faulted phases has the highest magnitude. So the faulted
I& AB = I& A − I& B = 2 I& A + I&C
& phases can be selected. Then the real-time setting can be
I BC = I& B − I&C = − I& A − 2 I&C (9) calculated and the operation criterion can be simplified
I& = I& − I&
CA C A from (7) and (8).
For example, when phase-A-to-phase-B short-circuit
The operation criterion is expressed as below:
fault occurs, max( I&AB , I&BC , I&CA ) = I AB . So phase-A
max( 2 I& A + I&C , I& A + 2 I&C , I&C − I& A ) ≥ I op (10)
and phase-B are selected as faulted phases.
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International Conference on Power Systems Transients – IPST 2003 in New Orleans, USA
switch automatically to achieve a two-level adaptation. backup protection spanning a transformer, the sensitivity
Without communication, a protection can’t know which of the relay based on PDC will not be decreased. So, the
criterion is really used in the upstream and downstream operation criterion can be described as below:
protections [7,8]. Therefore, when served as backup over-
current relay, it is better to coordinate only on the first max( I& AB , I& BC , I&CA ) ≥ K rel.T I op
III
level, that is, coordinate without calculating the equivalent 3 III (27)
source impedance (see 19-20). = K rel
III
.l K T I op
2
Applied on the primary side of a transformer, the over-
current relay described above can provide backup protec- Where, K rel .T - the reliable coefficient of the backup
tion for secondary-side faults of the transformer. To ana- protection of a transformer;
lyze the characteristics and sensitivity of the relay, a K T - the reciprocal of the transformer ratio;
Y / ∆ − 11 connected transformer will be considered [9]. III
K rel .l - the reliable coefficient of the backup protection of
When a phase-to-phase fault occurs, the magnitudes of
the currents of two faulted phases are equal to half of the the downstream line;
III
third one. This will decrease the sensibility of traditional I op - the setting value of the backup protection of the
overcurrent relays. But when relays based on the principle
downstream line.
of PDC are used, it will be different.
When phase-B-to-phase-C short-circuit fault occurs on
V. ANALYSIS OF THE ZONE OF PROTECTION AND
the wye-side of the transformer, the current distribution on
both sides of the transformer is illustrated in Fig. 5. Sup- SENSITIVITY COMPARING WITH THE TRADITIONAL
pose that the transformation ratio n = 1 : 1 . OVERCURRENT RELAYS
It’s obvious that
A. Zone of Protection of Traditional Overcurrent Relays
I&b = − I&c
I& = 0 The traditional instantaneous overcurrent relay is set as
a (28):
I& β = − (1 / 3 ) I&b
& &
(21) Eφ
I γ = − I β I op = K rel ⋅ (28)
I& = 0 Z s . min + Z L
&α & &
I A + I B + I C = 0 Where, I op is the set value of fault current; K rel is the
And it’s easy to derive that reliable coefficient.
I&A = I&α − I&β = (1 / 3 ) I&b When fault occurs on the position of ∂Z L , the fault cur-
rent is:
I&B = − I&γ + I&β = −(2 / 3 ) I&b (22)
I& = I& − I& = (1 / 3 ) I& IF =
K d Eφ
(29)
C γ α b
Z s + ∂Z L
3
max( I& ab , I&bc , I& ca ) = max( I& AB , I& BC , I&CA ) (26)
2
Fig. 5 Distribution of primary and secondary currents of trans-
From above it can be concluded that: when served as former
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International Conference on Power Systems Transients – IPST 2003 in New Orleans, USA
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Suppose that I op = I F' , the zone of protection can be VI. TRANSIENT SIMULATION OF THE PDC-BASED
calculated from: OVERCURRENT RELAY USING ATP AND MODELS
∂ ' = [ Z L + (1 − K rel ) Z S ] /( K rel Z L ) (33) To test the dynamic operational characteristics of relay-
ing algorithm based on PDC, the Alternative Transients
From (30) and (33), it can be derived that: Program (ATP) is used for simulation.
ATP is a widely used program for digital simulation and
∂' (1 − K rel ) Z S + Z L
= (34) analysis of power system transients. MODELS in ATP is a
∂ ( K d Z S . min − K rel Z S ) + K d Z L general-purpose description language supported by an ex-
For traditional overcurrent relays, K d have two possi- tensive set of simulation tools for the representation and
study of time-variant systems. MODELS allows the de-
ble values:
scription of arbitrary user-defined control and circuit com-
(1) When three-phase short-circuit fault occurs, K d = 1 . ponents, providing a simple interface for connecting other
program/models to ATP [10,11]. With MODELS facilities,
∂' (1 − K rel ) Z S + Z L
= >1 it is possible to simulate the process of real-time coordina-
∂ ( Z S . min − K rel Z S ) + Z L tion and tripping (see Fig. 6).
(2) When phase-phase short-circuit fault occurs, The simulation system is shown in Fig.7. The parame-
ters are listed in table I. By programming the line parame-
Kd = 3 / 2 . ters, fault location can be changed along the line.
∂' (1 − K rel ) Z S + Z L 2 Some of simulation results of primary currents are
= > shown in Fig.8. Here, fault occurs when t=0.1s. Respond-
∂ 3 3 3
( Z S . min − K rel Z S ) + ZL ing to different fault type, the real-time settings are differ-
2 2
ent (Table II). It’s shows that this overcurrent relay can
So, to all type of phase fault, there is ∂ ' ≥ ∂ . operate properly within about one cycle after fault occurs.
b) Without Real-time Calculation of the Equivalent Source
Impedance VII. CONCLUSIONS
When the equivalent source impedance is set as a con-
In this paper, a novel adaptive overcurrent relay based
3 Eφ on phase-to-phase differential current is proposed. The
stant, there are "
I op = K rel ⋅ and
Z s. min + Z L sensitivity of this relay will not be influenced by fault type.
Through the real-time calculation of the equivalent source
3Eφ
I F" =
"
. Suppose that I op = I F" , the zone of impedance, its sensitivity can be improved. The two levels
Zs + ∂ ZL ''
of adaptation can be switched automatically or manually.
protection can be calculated from (35): The operation principle is simple. And it is easy to coordi-
nate. Moreover, when applied as the backup protection of
Z S . min + Z L − K rel Z S transformers, the sensitivity of protection can be improved
∂ '' = (35)
K rel Z L remarkably. It is a promising protection scheme for the
middle-low voltage transmission and distribution lines.
Then ∂ =
"
Z S . min + Z L − K rel Z S (36)
∂ K d ( Z S . min + Z L ) − K rel Z S REFERENCES
Also there are two possible values of K d : [1] Schweitzer, E.O., III; Zocholl, S.E. “The Universal Overcurrent
Relay”. IEEE Industry Application Magazine, Volume: 2, Issue:
(1) When three-phase short-circuit fault occurs, K d = 1 . 3, pp. 28-34, May-June 1996
[2] “IEEE Recommended Practice for Protection and Coordination of
∂"
Then, = 1; Industrial and Commercial Power Systems”. Approved 14 June
∂ 2001, New York, USA: The Institute of Electrical and Electron-
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