TRANSIENT OVERVOLTAGES AND DISTANCE

PROTECTIONS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Leonardo Torelli*, Selva Moorthy

*HTC, Level 25 Collins St, Melbourne VIC, Australia - leonardo.torelli@hydro.com.au

Keywords: transient overvoltage, distance protection,
polarisation, CVT, protection settings.
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between post fault
transient overvoltages and the functionality of the numerical
distance protection. The study is conducted on a 66kV
network with a neutral earth resistor as method to earth the
power system.
This paper begins by performing an extensive power system
analysis on ground fault transient overvoltages. The study is
conducted by using the PSCAD-EMTC software package.
The results of this analysis are discussed to determine the
impact of a disturbed voltage signal fed to the distance relay,
with particular attention to the polarisation and CVT transient
mitigation techniques as implemented by modem relays.
Capacitor Voltage Transformer and transient
response
The results of this analysis are discussed to determine the
impact of a disturbed voltage signal fed to the distance relay,
with particular attention to the polarisation and CVT transient
mitigation techniques.
Finally, this paper provides recommendation for the design of
the protection settings of the distance relay implemented on
short lines, high SIR and weak source.
2 Phase to Ground Fault: Overvoltage Study
The system model is represented by a basic radial
subtransmission system and analysed using PSCAD-EMTC
software.
II
66W Subtransrrission Line �

Finally, this paper provides recommendation for the design of

the protection settings of the distance relay.
The results of this study show that fault current limitation and
Figure I: PS CAD-E M T C Model
consequent reduction of the thermal stress and aging of the
equipment are successfully supported by modem distance
relays. The model contains a 220kV source, one 220166kV delta/star
power transformer grounded via a resistor and one 66 kV
overhead line. Phase to ground faults were simulated to
1 Introduction
investigate the transient overvoltage which is the
Phase to ground faults represent the majority of faults in the superposition of the peak of the temporary overvoltage at
power system. Recent statistics found out that these types of power frequency and the transient overvoltage with higher
faults represent between 80 and 90% of the faults in a given and lower frequency components[4].
power system[I-3]. A large majority of these faults involving
overhead lines are of transitory nature and therefore self Power freq. V + Natural freq. V = Measured V (I)
extinguish in a short period of time when deenergised.
A fault in the system can be represented and analysed as the The maximum overvoltage value out of the three phases was
closing of a switch. This change in the power system selected for the analysis. Steady state overvoltage for a given
develops a new redistribution of stored energy in the system value of the neutral earth resistor was calculated by applying
and a consequent transient overvoltage[3]. symmetrical components theory and using Ko and K2 factors.
The method of earthing system does not have any effect on K2=Z2/Z0 (2)
the system during normal operation. However, during the post KO=ZO/ZI (3)
fault transient period, the method of earthing has an impact on The factor KO gives us a prompt understanding of the
the system response and magnitude of the transient overvoltage on the healthy phases during a ground fault.
overvoltage. Faults were simulated at the end of line. The length of the line
This paper begins by performing an extensive power system was set to 100km, lOkm and O.2km.
analysis on ground fault transient overvoltages. The study is 3.0 -,------,
conducted by using the PSCAD-EMTC software package. � 2.5
i t:::=:=��.' �===��
+---,====
/
��- �---------- 7'1
�
t
The research was conducted by using the experimental 2.0
�'
-F--
. . - . -
1.5
method that involves the scientific manipulation of the � +-----------------l-i
• 1.0
- L-10okm
1
variables involved in the process and the systematic study of 8 0.5 ----:-: � 0 . ���
t==============�==:=�
=

the behaviour of the system. The following disturbances are 0.0

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0
investigated: I fault with NER/I fault solidly earthed (pu)

Line faults and overvoltages Figure 2: Measured Overvoltage- Fault at the end o f the line
 implementing the PSCAD-EMTC Fast Fourier Transform
3.0
2.5 1------------;==;::;:;::;:::
i-��== --_I
��___=c=__
- --
�
L 100km :=:;-
1 (FFT) function.
g: 2.0 I � �=O���� � Base frequency was set to 125 Hz to detect noise elements
'i 1.5 - - .. ....
_ • • "•
-- .........
' ----'\
� 1.0 i------'-.;,-
<tI
\.--------
-- .......... -.:------j
-"' .....
with a frequency component lower than power frequency
�
voltage. Referring to the snapshot on Figure 5, the frequency
� O.5 1------ ---'-�.-._- _\.-.-----....��
. -\ . ...L/

O.O +--�-��-�� .\
-_'=�_ -�_,_� """"4 on the left hand side refers to 125Hz component. On the right
5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0
.0.51 0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0. hand side, the spectrum refers to the 3225 HZ noise band.
Ifault with NER/lfault solidly earthed (pu)

-� I II
Figure 3: Transient Overvoltage Co mponent- Fault at the end o f the line
60.0

The maximum overvoltage, which reaches 25 times the value

of the normal phase to earth voltage, was recorded with the
longest subtransmission line of 100km. The characteristic is
due to the larger line capacitance and inductance which are
proportional to the length of the line. As the capacitance
increases, the energy stored in the electric field increases
producing larger transient phenomena if a sudden change
takes place in the power system. The increase of the resistor
size slightly increases the measured overvoltage due to the
highest contribution of the power frequency overvoltage. This
characteristic is common with previous studies [3-5]and tests
with a miniature circuit test [5]. These results suggest that
power system analysis and related transient studies should be
considered for long subtransmission line as is usually done
for transmission lines. There is also a consistent similarity of
results for line length of 10km and O.2km. We can explain
this characteristic by referring to plots of overvoltages as
functions of system parameters[4]. The different line length
does not have a particular impact on the Xco/Xl. For both
line lengths, the ratio is larger than 100. Beyond this value the
expected overvoltage is considered constant. This
characteristic should be taken into consideration to optimize
planning and design work activities for short and medium
length subtransmission line. Similar results have been
recorded with fault at the end of the line.
A further investigation was conducted to identify any relevant
relation between overvoltage responses on healthy and faulty
phase. On PSCAD-EMTC software phase to ground fault
takes place on phase a.
Line=10Qkm
�
--------=�;;�;;-----------
Figure 5: Frequency Co mponents - NER 20 Oh m- 10 ms after fault
From the graphs we note that the major frequency
components of the noise are in the band close to 50 Hz.
Therefore, noise filtering could be problematic and slow
down the operation of the digital relay.
3 CVT Study
Capacitive voltage transformer represents the most common
form of voltage source for distance protection relays.
In order to provide precise impedance measurement, the relay
needs to be fed with correct voltage signals. During a fault,
ideally, the low voltage source provided by the CVT should
be an exact copy of the primary voltage. Unfortunately this is
not the reality. CVT contains a large number of stored energy
components which must be charged and discharged during
voltage changes. As the stored energy element requires some
time to change their stored energy during fault, the CVT
introduces some transients that affect the magnitude and
shape of the voltage signal.
The main component of the CVT are the capacitive voltage
divider , a tuning reactor , a voltage transformer, a
ferroresonance suppression circuit and the burden made by
the relay. The CVT transient performance was investigated
using PSCAD-EMTC software. The CVT model was
simplified and represented as in [6, 7]:

I AJ.1 1.--- � 9 v
v, --t �reJ�
C L R
Phase a

�=r--
1,
Phase b
I - Phase c L1.
__--.-R.
------:;;

.... .... - -
�
... � Figure 6 - CVT si mplified model

Fault simulation from SOlidly earthed to isolated system

50 wo 200
Figure 4: Transient Overvoltage - Phase co mparison
This investigation shows that maximum overvoltage can be
recorded in the healthy phase following fault clearing. The
figure also shows a common overvoltage pattern throughout
Simulations were conducted at zero crossing of the primary
250 300 350
voltage. At this time the energy store in the capacitor is at the
maximum. The line model was set to 2 km. NER was
increased to generate the required Source Impedance Ratio
(SIR). Simulations results are shown in Figure 7.
Transient Overvoltage- 2krn IIno- Initial SIR 1

the resistor spectrum and among the three phases. There are 50.00
-
45.00
,
regular overvoltage "bumps" according to the highest voltage a
40.00
35.00
SIR 1

-SIRS

J
30.00
magnitude at the fault inception or clearing time. 25.00
SIR 10

�
-SIR20

==
20.00

To determine the harmonic components of the overvoltage a 15.00

-SIR30

SIR 60
-=
10.00

further analysis was conducted on the frequency spectrum by 5.00

0.00
10 30 so 70

ThTle (lTls)
 Figure 7: Peak overvoltage after fault- Initial SIR 1- Line length 2 km
According to the SIR, transient overvoltage decays between 2
and 4 cycles. The transient time to decay is related to the
magnitude difference between the pre fault and post fault
steady state voltage.
Acceptable results in terms of transient decay are provided
with SIR of 30 or below. These results are in line with the
relay manufacturer's technical data which specify zone reach
accuracy, usually ± 3 of reach setting, and operating time in
respect of SIR. It is also noted that some relay manufacturers
are expanding the SIR limit to 60 [8, 9] with only an error
increase to ± 5 %.
Referring to the snapshot in Figure 8, Er is the voltage at the
CVT output. Ea is the voltage at the CVT input.
'� �
��--==J
'.0
2.0
_4.0
-6.0
Figure 8: Peak overvoltage - Line length 2 krn -SIR 30
As in the previous section, an extensive analysis was done to
determine the frequency components of the disturbance. Base
frequency has been set to 12.5 Hz with 3 1 harmonics setting.
A snapshot of the result is shown on Figure 10.
Figure 9: SIR 30 - Frequency response 45 ms after the fault
This study confIrms that relevant transient overvoltages have
a frequency component near the power frequency. The noise
is more relevant with high SIR.
3 Numerical Distance Relays: Solutions
Distance protection scheme is extensively implemented in
subtransmission and transmission lines. The popularity of this
protection scheme is due to its inherent simplicity of
implementation, the relative cost and the speed of operation.
The protection function requires voltage and current
measurements only from one end of the line to calculate the
short circuit fault impedance, based on the ratio between the
voltage and the current. In theory, if correct current and
voltage are fed to the relay, and the relay is set with the
correct impedance data, the distance protection scheme is
immune from malfunction or incorrect measurement.
It is illustrated in the previous section that, after fault
inception, the power frequency voltage fed to distance
protection relay is superimposed by transients generated by
the power system and the CVT. As the impedance settings are
defIned at the power frequency, it is required that the
protection relay shall be able to keep the fundamental
frequency and reject the other frequency components before
data processing is initiated. If a distorted signal is fed to the
relay, the relay will perform an incorrect computation of the
impedance leading to overreach or underreach measurements.
Reference [ 10] provides a complete background of the
purpose and characteristics of the fIlters. Modem digital
fIltering techniques have dramatically improved the
performance of the distance protection relays by improving
the following:
• Quality of the voltage input to the relay
• Operating time
• Cost
Although the latest fIltering techniques improve the
performance, relay manufactures do not guarantee that the
voltage used for the impedance computation will be noise free
[8, 9, 1 1- 13]. Therefore, further engineering techniques are
required to enhance the performance of the protection relay.
4.1 Polarisation Technique
In the Mho characteristic relay, the basic of the distance
protection is achieved by comparing two voltage signals,
commonly known as operating signal, S 1, and polarising
signal, S2.
SI= Operating V = I fault* Z settings - V meas. (4)
S2= Polarising signal = V measured (5)
As the fault gets closer to the relay location, the voltage signal
fed to the protection relay becomes so small that it will not
allow a reliable computation of the phase comparison
algorithm. In particular, the voltage measured could not be
suffIcient to determine if the fault is on the line side or on the
bus side of the voltage transformer placing at risk the inherent
directionality of the Mho characteristics [ 1, 2, 7, 14, 15]. For
the old electromagnetic relays the minimum requirement to
operate correctly was about 1 V [2]. For the modem digital
relays the lower limit is approximately 0. 1 V[2].
To overcome this issue, protection engineers have developed
several techniques to manipulate the polarizing signal to
ensure correct determination of the direction of the fault.
These techniques have been known as" polarisation signal
techniques". The end result of all these engineering methods
is to expand the Mho circle to protect the impedance area
around the X-R origin without affecting the inherent
directionality of the Mho characteristic. There are many
papers on the available polarising techniques which also take
into consideration critical factors such as fault resistance, load
flow and single pole auto-reclose function [2, 7, 15, 16].
x
R
I
Figure 10: Mho Characteristics expansion with the polarising techniques
 This study would like to pay attention to the polarising
technique implemented in five modem digital relays [8, 9, 11-
13].
Siemens 7SA522 offers to the User the ability to determine
the percentage of self and memorized voltage for the
polarising signal. The memory polarisation is only used if the
available voltage is above 40% of the nominal phase to
ground voltage. Below this threshold the algorithm uses the
cross polarisation voltage.
Even Areva P543 uses a combination of memorizing and self
polarized voltage. The User shall determine the right
composition during relay configuration. The memorizing
voltage can vary between 16 % to 83 % of the overall
polarising signal. The memorizing voltage is taken from two
cycles before fault and is used for 16 cycles after the loss of
the voltage supply. After this period, cross polarised voltage
is used.
Schweitzer SEL 3 1 1 relay fully implements the memorizing
voltage to perform the distance relay computation.
ABB-REL 670 employs a memorizing voltage. The
memorized voltage is maintained for 2 cycles.
General Electric- Multilin D30 uses the memory voltage if the
actual voltage is below 80% of the nominal voltage. After the
memory timer elapsed the voltage is checked. If the voltage is
above 10%, the actual voltage is used. Otherwise, the
memorised voltage is still used.
There is a clear choice to use the entire or a percentage of the
voltage memory as polarising signal. The use of this voltage
will also prevent the relay being fed by a voltage signal which
contains the transient disturbance on the healthy and faulty
phases. The voltage sample used refers to 2 cycles before the
fault inceptions. This time gap is considered satisfactory as a
compromise between two different requirements:
• Using a sample as close as possible to the fault
inception. This will prevent that a frequency change in
the network could cause a phase error in the calculation
• Use a sample recorded well before fault inception to
fully prevent a post fault noise being memorised in the
relay
It has been noted that some relays allow the users to
determine the composition of the polarising signal [8, 13].
The authors suggest that this capability be implemented by all
the relay manufacturers in their next series of distance digital
relays.
4.2 CVT Techniques
Modem distance digital relays employ a wide variety of
techniques to reduce the negative impact created by the CVT
transients. Precise details of the algorithms are not published
by the Manufacturers possibly to protect their intellectual
properties.
Areva P543 allows the User to enable or disable the CVT
filters and select the type of ferroresonance suppression used
in the CVT.
SEL 3 1 1 detects CVT transient detection to delay the
operating time of Zone 1 reach to 30 ms if SIR detected is
above 5.
Modem relays use parallel and different computation to
crosscheck the measured impedance during high SIR
condition[2]. Latest technology also provide CVT transient
compensation function using customised CVT transient
filtering and impedance estimation techniques. These filtering
methods include Finite Impulse Response filter with a longer
window length in the pre-filtering area of the relay and full
cycle Fourier algorithms and least square methods for the
phasor estimation [ 16].
Another technique includes applying a time delay to CB trip
in the zone before the Z l setting reach. This zone is the most
critical area for relay accuracy. An error on the computation
of the fault impedance could lead to maloperation as the relay
could "overreach" or underreach".
4.3 Setting Advice
Modem filtering techniques, CVT adaptive algorithms and
the use of memorised voltage as a polarising signal have
dramatically improved the performance of the distance
protection relays. In relation to the protection settings, the
following items should also be considered:
• Liaise with the planning engineer to determine the size
of the neutral earth resistor and consequent SIR. For
instance, a SIR below 25 will usually ensure adequate
relay performance
• Estimate the expected post fault transient overvoltages (
magnitude and time to decay), based on system
earthing, power system characteristics, SIR, CVT, and
relay performance. Although a precise figure can't be
determined unless a power system study is performed,
the above data and the existing literature as listed in the
Reference should be sufficient to complete the exercise.
• Select the polarising technique according to the
estimation above and the SIR at the end of zone 1 reach.
The design shall consider the SIR excursion under
minimum and maximum fault levels. For the minimum
fault level, the worst case scenario of a single ( N- 1) or
double contingencies (N-2) should be adopted according
to the project/client requirements
• Implement multiple group protection settings in the
relay to adapt the protection scheme to different system
configuration and different SIR
• To Zone 1, apply a constant time delay longer than the
CVT transient. This solution is not dynamic and
penalizes fast fault clearing time for close in faults or
low SIR condition
• Reduce the distance reach of Zone l(instantaneous trip)
to less than the traditional 80-85 %
• Limit the use of distance protection, where practicable,
to transmission line with a SIR of less than 25 [2] or
higher if specific type of relays are implemented
• Modem relays offer the capability to implement 4 or 5
zones. According to the application a zone could be used
to divide zone 1 into two zones, a fast zone and a slow
zone. The first zone covers the safe reach area of the
line, for instance 60% of the line. The second zone, ZI
"slow", will cover the reach between 60% and 85% with
 a time delay longer than the CVT transient. The time implementation of modem distance protection relays on short
delay could vary between 20 and 80 ms lines, ineffective grounding system and weak impedance
• CVT transient performance is improved if the source as a valuable alternative solution to the differential
transformer is adequately loaded. Considering that protection scheme.
modem digital relays have a small burden, it is good
engineering practise to increase the load connected to Acknowledgements
the CVT by using a resistor. The load shall be above 50
% the nominal rating of the CVT[2] The Presenter Hydro Tasmania Consulting for funding the
• Protection settings shall consider the system stability participation at the conference.
requirement. In Australia, the Australian National
Electricity Rules, NER, Chapter 5,[2] Clause S5. 1a.8 References
[28], requires that the primary protection system during
a faults should operate within the relevant time as [ 1] Alstom, Network Protection & Automation. Vol. 1.
detailed in Column 2 of Table 1: 2002.
[2] Ziegler, G., Numerical Distance Protection, ed.
TABLE I -NER- Fault Clearing Time Siemens. 2008: Public Corporate Publishing.
[3] Greenwood, A., Electrical transients in power systems
No minal voltage Ti me( milliseconds) 2nd ed. ed. 199 1, New York: New York : Wiley
kV Interscience.
Pri mary End o f line Back up Prot [4] IEEE, IEEE guide for the application of neutral
Prot Prot
grounding in electrical utility systems, part V -
400 kV and above 80 100 175
At least 250kV but 100 120 250 transmission systems and subtransmission systems
less than 400 IEEE Std C62.92.5- 1992, 1993.
kV [5] Peterson, H.A., Transients in Power Systems. 195 1, New
More than 100 kV 120 220 430
York: John Wiley & Sons,lnc. New York -Chapman &
but less than
250kV
Hall,LTD.London.
Less than or equal As necessary to prevent plant da mage and meet [6] Hou, D. and J. Roberts. Capacitive voltage transformer:
100kV stability require ments transient overreach concerns and solutions for distance
relaying. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, 1996.
On the 66 kV network the application of a time delay Canadian Conference on. 1996.
between 60 and 85 % of ZI reach will not affect system [7] Kasztenny, B. and D. Finney. Fundamentals of Distance
stability and the overall performance of the overall Protection. in Protective Relay Engineers, 2008 61st
protection scheme. For instance, in Melbourne Annual Conference for. 2008.
metropolitan area, system stability could be affected [8] Areva, P543 Relay Manual, Areva, Editor. 2008.
only if a fault is not cleared within 600 ms. The critical [9] Schweitzer, SEL 311 Manual. 2008.
fault clearing time exceeds 1000 ms in the Victorian [ 10] Schweitzer, E.O. and D. Hou. Filtering for Protective
regional area. Relays. in 46th Annual Conference For Protective Relay
In a 220 kV network, a small time delay could also be Engineers. 1993. Texas A&M University.
applied. For instance, applying a 20 ms time delay with [ 1 1] ABB, REL 670 Manual, ABB, Editor. 2007.
a modem CB and protection relay, the total CB [ 12] Multilin, G., D30 Protection Relay Manual, G. Multilin,
operating time would be still within the 120 ms limit. Editor. 2008.
• Test the protection settings using different SIR to verify [ 13] Siemens, 7SA522 Relay Manual. 2007.
and ensure that the performance of the relay are not [ 14] Alexander, G. and G. Andrichak. Ground Distance
affected by the reduced input voltage Relaying: Problems and Principles. in 19th Annual
Western Protective Relay Conference. 199 1. Spokane,
5 Conclusion Washington.
[ 15] Cigre, Modern Distance Protection Functions and
Phase to ground fault generates transient overvoltage in the Applications, Cigre, Editor. 2007.
power system and the capacitor voltage transformers. The [ 16] Schweitzer, E.O. and J. Roberts. Distance Relay
results are in line with the existing body of knowledge. Element Design. in 46th Annual Conference For
Modem digital distance relays are provided with digital Protective Relay Engineers. 1993. Texas A&M
filters, adaptive algorithm and voltage memory to overcome University.
the issues created by these disturbances. The source
impedance ratio, SIR, provides a correct indication of how the
relay performs under transient overvoltage conditions.
Modem digital relays provide accurate and fast operation with
SIR below 25. Sizing of the NER which produces a SIR
above 25 should be evaluated in the early stage of a project.
This study also offers some design advice to support the