CALCULATIONS OF SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENTS

1. Introduction

In view of sizing electrical installation and the required equipment, as well as

determining the means required for the protection of life and property, short-circuit
currents must be calculated for every point in the network.
Electrical installations almost always require protection against short-circuits wherever
there is an electrical discontinuity. This most often corresponds to points where there is
a change in conductor cross-section. The short-circuit current must be calculated at
each level in the installation in view of determining the characteristics of the equipment
required to withstand or break the fault current.
The maximum short-circuit current corresponds to a short-circuit in the immediate
vicinity of the downstream terminals of the protection device. It must be calculated
accurately and used with a safety margin.

Characteristics of short-circuits

The primary characteristics are:

a-duration (self-extinguishing, transient and steady-state);
b-origin:
1 - mechanical (break in a conductor, accidental electrical contact between two
conductors via a foreign conducting body such as a tool or an animal);
2 - internal or atmospheric overvoltages;
3 - insulation breakdown due to heat, humidity or a corrosive environment;
c-location (inside or outside a machine or an electrical switchboard).

Short-circuits can be:

I. phase-to-earth (80% of faults);
II. phase-to-phase (15% of faults). This type of fault often degenerates into a three-
phase fault;
III. three-phase (only 5% of initial faults).
These different short-circuit currents are presented in figure 1.

Consequences of short-circuits
The consequences are variable depending on the type and the duration of the fault, the
point in the installation where the fault occurs and the short-circuit power.
Consequences include:
a-at the fault location, the presence of electrical arcs, resulting in:
I. damage to insulation;
II. welding of conductors;
III. fire and danger to life;
b-on the faulty circuit:
I. electro dynamic forces, resulting in:
 - Deformation of the busbars; - disconnection of cables;
II. excessive temperature rise due to an increase in Joule losses, with the risk of
damage to insulation;
c-on other circuits in the network or in near-by networks:
I. voltage dips during the time required to clear the fault, ranging from a few
milliseconds to a few hundred milliseconds;
II. shutdown of a part of the network, the extent of that part depending on the design of
the network and the discrimination levels offered by the protection devices;
III. dynamic instability and / or the loss of machine synchronization;
IV. disturbances in control / monitoring circuits,

Figure 1: different types of short-circuits and their currents. The direction of current is
chosen arbitrarily.

2. Fault-Current Sources
The waveform of fault current results from the superposition of several different
sources, all of which involve rotating machinery, local or remote. Besides, there are two
other phases involved, and this determines the RMS value of current and voltage
through the first cycle and beyond. There are also asymmetries to deal with; fault
currents are composed of symmetrical (steady state) and transient components.
While the RMS value of the symmetrical component may be determined from Ohm's
law, the transient component can only be determined from information about the
Thevenin impedance at the point of fault. It is customary to express the Thevenin
impedance in terms of a ratio of reactance to resistance or X / R ratio (from Zth = Rth +
jXth). When you superpose the symmetrical and transient components of all the
sources that contribute current to a short circuit, the picture of a fault-current waveform
resembles the waveforms shown in Figure 1. Once again, for clarity, only one phase is
shown.
2.1 Utility Contribution
The prospective MVA short-circuit contribution of the utility at your service drop is one
measure of the "stiffness" of the utility system. The higher the MVA, the greater is the
available fault current. There is always some impedance in any electrical power source,
and the effect of it is to reduce the amount of fault current that will flow into your switch
gear. Your utility will advise the maximum available short-circuit kVA or amperes that its
system can produce at your service connection. Available fault current can be stated in
three ways:
-KVA (or MVA) with X / R Ratio
-Symmetrical amperes with X / R Ratio
-Maximum short-circuit in MVA plus an R + jX
The basic formula that applies is the following:
X pu or R pu = Actual Ohms x Base MVA / (base kV) 2
If your utility gives you service drop impedance information in ohms, then you simply
divide the line-to-line voltage of your service drop by the ohmic data that the utility gave
you to get short-circuit MVA. For a feeder whose voltage you know and whose
reactance you know, you need only divide the square of the line-to-line voltage by the
given impedance to get short-circuit MVA.
 For three-phase faults
MVAsc = √ 3 x I3Φ x kV/1000
where 13Φ is the total three-phase fault current in amperes and kV is the system line-
to-line voltage in kilovolts. From this
I3Φ = 1000 MVAsc / √ 3 x kV
Zohm = Vln/I3Φ = 1000 kV / √ 3 x I3Φ = kV2 / MVAsc
Substituting, Zpu = MVAb x Zohm / kV2. Therefore, the positive sequence impedance
to the fault location is
Z1 = MVAb / MVAsc pu
Z1 = Z2 in many situations where active sources do not dominate circuit behavior. Z1
can be assumed to be X1 unless X / R data are provided to determine an angle.

Figure 2 Sequence networks for most common types of faults: (a) single-line-to-ground
fault, Eq. (A); (b) line-to-line fault, Eq. (B); (c) three-phase fault, Eq. (C); (d) double-
line-to-ground fault, Eq. (D). In the sequence networks shown, all connections have
been made at the point on the circuit where the fault occurs. The boxes represent
sequence impedances that have already been reduced. Voltage source E appears in
the positive sequence network. Phase A is the reference phase.
For single-phase-to-ground faults

MVAslg = single-line-to-ground short-circuit MVA = √ 3 x Is1g x kV / 1000

where Is1g is the total single-line-to-ground fault current in amperes, and kV is the
system line-to-line voltage in kilovolts.
Is1g = 1000 MVAslg / √ 3 x kV
However,
Is1g = I1 + I2 + I0 = 3Vln / (Zl + Z2 + Z0) = 3Vln/Zg
where Zg = Zl + Z2 + Z0 (from classical symmetrical component equivalent circuit for
single-line-to-ground fault). Zg = 3 kV2 / MVAs1g in ohms

Then Zo = Zg-Zl-Z2 or in most practical cases, Xo = Xg-X1-X2, (since the resistance is

usually very small in relation to the reactance.
Computing X and R of a Transformer When Only Z Is Known
From time to time you may need to enter X and R into a computer program to do a
short circuit analysis. Let's say you only know that the 1000-kVA transformer
impedance is 5.75 percent. To determine X and R to the input screen you must make
an assumption about X / R ratio. Given that for a 1-MVA transformer the typical X / R
ratio is about 4.5. Use this as the X / R quantity in the following equations.

X = R (X / R)
R = 1.247 ohms
X = 5.625 ohms
Be careful of the per unit ohmic values. The Z is usually given in percent of the
transformer base. In the absence of specific information, most circuit analysis software
use a default X / R ratio such as X / R = 30 for medium voltage circuits.
 Example 1 Working with Utility Short-Circuit Information
Situation. You buy power at 34.5 kV. You are planning an expansion to your
distribution network and need to determine the impedance of the utility source in order
to estimate short-circuit current. The local utility gives you the following information:
MVA3Φ = 679 MVA and MVAslg = 711 MVA on a 100-MVA base. X / R ratio is 22.
You buy power at 34.5 kV.
Requirements. Determine source reactance at the utility service point.
Solution: With MVAb = 100 MVA, the total reactance to a three-phase fault occurring at
the service drop would be
Xpu = MVAb / Utility Fault Capability = l00/679 = 0.1473 pu
R pu = 0.1473/22 = 0.0067 pu
Z pu = 0.1473 + j0.0067 = 0.1474 <26.04 ° pu
The sequence impedances for a single-line-to-ground fault occurring at the service
drop would be
X1 = X2 = 100/679 = 0.1473 pu
Xg = 3 x 100/711 = 0.4219 pu
Since Xo = Xg-X1-X2
Xo = 0.4219-0.1473-0.1473 = 0.1273 pu
Impedances of Single-Phase Transformers in Three-Phase Transformer Banks
For three-phase type transformer units, the nameplate specifies the impedance in
percent on the three-phase kVA rating and the kV line-to-line voltages. Where several
kVA ratings are specified, the impedance of the ambient rating (without fans or pumps)
should be used.
For individual single-phase transformers, that are in common use in electrical customer
services, the transformer impedance is normally specified on the single phase kVA and
the rated winding voltages of the transformer. When three such units are used in three-
phase systems, then the three-phase kVA and the line-to-line kV bases are required.
Thus, when three individual single-phase transformers are connected in the power
system the individual nameplate percent or per unit impedance will be the leakage
impedance, but on the three-phase kVA, base and the system line-to-line kV.
It is important to remember that all fault current-even the fault current that appears at
your service drop-is generated by rotating machinery. The utility contribution to a fault
as shown in Figure 3 is ultimately the fault current generated by remote generators or
motors. Now, let us consider fault current from local rotating machines. Our strategy
will be to continue to determine the sub-transient impedance of the device in order to
apply Ohm's law on a per unit basis.
2.2 Generator contribution
Under fault conditions, generator reactance change. These changing reactance are
responsible for the changing current waveform that we see for generators and motors in
Figure 7. Field excitation voltage and speed remain substantially constant within the
first few cycles after the fault. The expression of the variable reactance at any instant
after a fault involves a multi term formula with time as the independent variable. For our
purpose, it will be sufficient to divide steady-state kVA by subtransient reactance to
estimate generator fault current contribution.
Reactance of Rotating Machines
-The direct-axis subtransient reactance Xd "is the apparent reactance of the stator
winding the instant the short-circuit occurs. Xd" usually determines the current
magnitude during the first cycle after the fault occurs.
-The direct-axis transient reactance Xd 'is the apparent initial reactance of the stator
winding when only the field winding is considered (damping ignored). The direct-axis
transient reactance determines short-circuit current magnitude in the range up to 30 to
130 cycles depending upon the design of the machine.
-The synchronous reactance Xs "is the apparent reactance that determines the current
flow when a steady state condition is reached. It is not effective until several seconds
after short-circuit occurs. Most fault protection devices, such as circuit breaker or fuses,
operate before steady state conditions are reached. Therefore, generator synchronous
reactance is seldom used in calculating fault currents for the application of these
devices.
For any rotating machines the amount of short-circuit current may be estimated from
the following equation:
Isc = (Motor or Generator FLA x 100) /% Xd "
The restrictions on its application are similar to the restrictions we placed upon the
application of the "infinite bus" short-circuit calculation.
2.3 Motor contribution
The fault-current contribution of induction motors results from generator action
produced by mechanical inertia driving the motor after the fault occurs. Because
protective devices require at least a quarter cycle (and up to 30 cycles and beyond), the
motor is a generator until the device opens the circuit.
Synchronous motors. Synchronous motors supply current to a fault in much the same
manner as synchronous generators. This fault current diminishes as the motor slows
down and the motor field excitation decays. The variable reactance of a synchronous
motor is discussed in much the same terms as the reactance of generators. Numerical
values of the reactance, also given in per unit on the machines' base, will usually be
different for the motor mode of operation than in the generator mode of operation. The
reactance in the motor mode of operation is 1.5 times greater than the reactance in the
generator mode of operation.
Induction motors. In contrast to the synchronous motor, the field flux of the induction
motor is produced by induction from the stator rather than from a direct-current field
winding. This flux decays on removal of source voltage resulting from a fault, so that
the contribution of an induction motor drops off at a rapid exponential rate. As a
consequence, induction motors are assigned only a reactance that is equivalent to the
synchronous machine subtransient reactance Xd ". This reactance will be about equal
to
Xd "= FLA / LRA = Motor FLA / Motor LRA
(FLA is the motor full load current and LRA is the motor locked rotor current)
and hence the initial fault-current contribution will be about equal to the full voltage
starting current of the particular kind of machine. However, the resistance in small
motors may be large enough to cause significant decay in their fault-current contribution
before the first peak of fault current is experienced.
Wound-rotor induction motors normally operate with their rotor rings short circuited and
will contribute fault current in the same manner as a squirrel cage induction motor.
Occasionally, large wound-rotor motors are operated with external resistance
maintained in their rotor circuits. This gives them short-circuit time constants that are so
low that their fault contribution is insignificant. However, a specific investigation should
be made before neglecting the contribution from wound-rotor motor.
In general, then,
Isc = Motor FLA x 100 /% Xd "
A running induction motor will, when a fault is applied at its terminals, dissipate the
electrical energy stored in its magnetic field into the fault in accordance with the short-
circuit time constant of the motor and the external system impedance between the
motor and the fault . Induction-motor short-circuit time constants by themselves are
short (1 to 3 cycles). Typically, external system impedance results in overall time
constants of less than eight cycles. Consequently, induction motors are not considered
in the calculation of short-circuit fault currents for time-overcurrent relays that operate in
three cycles or more. It should be noted that these current values of short-circuit
current are expressed in symmetrical amperes and that, after three cycles, any dc
transient current has decayed to zero.
Induction motors 250 hp and above is considered to be large motors, motors 50 to 250
hp are considered to be medium, and motors 50 hp and below are considered to be
small.
If it is not practical to calculate fault current for each small motor below 50 hp
separately, it is usual practice to combine them all at each location. In the case of low-
voltage motors, consider all motors at each location that may be running even though at
partial load. ANSI standards permit neglecting motors less than 50 hp when
considering medium-voltage circuit breaker applications.
To estimate the short-circuit contribution of induction machines 50 hp and below,
assume that the motor contribution to the fault current will be four times the full-load
running current of each motor. This simplification is possible because of the relatively
rapid decay small induction motor short-circuits current we see in Figure 7. This
simplification is the only situation in which load current is used as the basis for
estimating short-circuits current.
A typical design situation arises in which you might need to estimate the interrupting
duty required of a unit substation breaker without knowing the particulars about the
nature of the loads connected to it. A worst case estimate might proceed as follows:
-For a 480/277- V substation, assume the connected motor load equals 100 percent of
system kVA, that is, 1 hp = 1 kVA. This is reasonable because 480 - V substations are
commonly designed to feed heavy motor loads exclusively. Then four times normal
load current for which the substation main breaker and bus structure are sized would be
added to the short-circuit current available on the secondary side of the transformer
(typically 12 to 25 times normal load current). A contribution of four times rated current
corresponds to first cycle impedance of 1 / 4 = 0.25 per unit based on motor rated kVA
and voltage.
-For a 208/120- V substation, assume that motor load is 50 percent of the system kVA.
Again, with 1 hp = 1 kVA, two times normal load current for which the substation main
breaker and bus structure are sized would be added to the short-circuit current available
on the secondary side of the transformer (typically 12 to 25 times normal load current).
This is reasonable because 208/120- V substations commonly carry a mixture of lighting
and motor loads.
 Example 2 will put all this information together for the case of a three-phase bolted
fault.

Figure 3: Schematic representation of fault current waveforms-one phase only.

The lower the X / R ratio, the sooner fault current will decay. The higher the X / R ratio,
the longer it will take fault current to decay to a level that is within the interrupting rating
of the protective device. The waveforms shown indicate that short-circuit current from
sources located remote from the point of fault have slower ac current decay compared
to local sources. This must be taken into account where the calculated short-circuit
current is adjusted to reflect the system X / R ratio at the point of fault. The dc
component of fault current will paralyze any (ac) transformer; thus, when system X / R
ratios change radically over the life of a power circuit, attention must be given into the
input / output characteristics of the instrument transformers.
3. The Fault Power Method of Short-Circuit Calculation
The so-called MVA methods, applied by many experienced protection specialists who
have mastered per unit and ohmic methods, employs fault powers to compute short-
circuit currents. We have already used the method to some extent in the earlier
examples involving utility short-circuit contributions, and we develop it at length here.
The beauty of it lies in the fact that you use circuit element information in almost the
same form that it appears on nameplates with almost no ohmic or per unit conversions.
It is applied by calculating the admittance of each component of a circuit with its own
infinite bus in terms of MVA. We can then combine pairs of circuit element MVAs in
series and parallel according to the product-over-sum rule from basic network theory for
combining the admittance and / or impedance of two circuit elements. Series MVA
combinations are computed like impedances in parallel. Parallel MVA combinations are
computed like impedances in series. In the following development, super ****** s will
indicate a specific circuit element and / or iterative fault power, and sub ****** s will
indicate a positive, negative, or sequence fault power.
Series: MVAl and MVA2 = (MVAl xMVA2) (MVAl + MVA2)
Parallel: MVAl and MVA2 = MVAl + MVA2
The MVA method is best illustrated by example. Given the circuit of Figure 4a, we
want to determine the three-phase fault current at F:
Step 1: Convert all circuit elements to short-circuit MVAs. The short-circuit MVA of
each circuit element is equal to its MVA rating divided by its own per unit impedance or
reactance.
For the utility: 1000 / 1 = 1000 MVA
For the utility feeder: (34.5) 2 / 5 = 238 MVA
For the utility transformer: 15/.07 = 214
For the customer motor: 5/0.2 = 25
Step 2: Combine MVAs. Since we have more than two circuit elements, we perform
the calculations iteratively.
MVAl and MVA2
Let 192 MVA be the new MVAl. Then
MVAl and MVA2
Going this far with the calculation will allow you to determine the three-phase fault
current at the 13.8 bus without motor contribution.
 Figure 4: MVA method example, MVAs with sub ****** s indicate sequence fault
powers, MVAs with super ****** s indicate iteration number.
Step 3: Convert MVA to symmetrical fault current
(LLL without motor contribution)
We assume that fault current on the load side of the feeder breaker is the same as the
fault current on the bus. But we want the fault on a feeder with a motor back-feeding
fault current into it so we must combine the MVAs in parallel by adding them thus
MVAl + MVA4 = 101 + 25 = 126
(LLL with motor contribution)
At this point, it should be obvious how quickly the method may be applied, and,
because of its iterative nature, how it lends itself to a computer solution. The method
does not require a common MVA base as required in per unit methods. It is not
necessary to convert impedances from one voltage to another as required by the ohmic
method. Best of all, you do not need to deal with anything but large whole numbers.
You may apply the method to compute single-line-to-ground, double-line-to-ground, and
other shunt faults as well. Referring again to the circuit of Figure 4a, we know that the
fault at the 13.2-kV bus is 126 MVA. Assuming that the positive and negative
impedances are equal, we can say that the positive sequence fault power is equal to the
negative sequence fault power, so that
MVAl = MVA2 = 126
Now a single-line-to-ground fault on the 13.2-kV bus would have only the transformer
and the motor contributing to zero sequence MVAs. The delta connection on the
secondary of the transformer blocks any zero sequence power contribution from the
utility. Therefore, our MVA block diagram may be redrawn to indicate flow of zero
sequence fault power only. See Figure 4b.
MVAotrans = MVAl = MVA 2 = 214
Assuming that the transformer zero sequence reactance is equal to its positive and
negative sequence reactance is another common assumption in industrial practice. The
zero sequence reactance of a motor is about one half its positive zero sequence
reactance. Therefore

Figure 4b Zero sequence fault power flow.

MVAomot = 5/0.1 = 50 MVA

The total zero sequence fault power then is equal to the sum of the motor and
transformer fault powers because of the parallel connection.
MVAotrans + MVAomot = 214 + 50 = 264
The single-line-to-ground fault power is obtained by the upper connection diagram
shown in Figure 4c. This connection diagram follows from symmetrical component
theory. Since these are three branches in parallel, the simplest approach is to take one
branch out of the circuit and solve for its MVA value and then multiply the value by 3.
MVA1 and MVA2 = = 63 MVA
MVA1, 2 newand MVAo = = 51 MVA
MVA = 3 x 51 = 153 MVA
 (SLG with motor contribution and no neutral impedance)
you wanted to limit the flow of ground-fault current with impedance of, for instance, 1.0
ohm, you could reformulate the network of Figure 4c with a reactor MVA of

Then

Figure 4c MVA method-limiting fault-current example

Figure 4.d MVA method-double line to ground fault

(SLG with motor contribution and neutral impedance)

You can work this problem in reverse, specifying a value of single line-to-ground
current (to the same value as three-phase fault current, for instance) in order to specify
the fault-current-limiting reactor in ohms.
In Figure 4d you can compute double-line-to-ground fault current from the following
formulas: -

and

So that the MVA sequence connection diagram can reduce to Figure 8d and that
MVA2 + MVAo = 126 + 264 = 390

MVAf dlg = 3 x MVAxo = 3 x 66 = 195 MVA

If dlg = 8550 A (LLG fault with motor contribution and no neutral impedance)
You can come up with numbers for the determination of interrupting duty for the very
common main-tie-main switch gear arrangement with all fault-current sources going full
tilt by proceeding in the same manner we have shown and applying the delta-wye/wye
-delta conversion formula. It may be applied to far more complex circuits with
reasonable accuracy and lends itself to an iterative algorithm that can be programmed
into a handheld computer if you do not have access to a workstation-based short-circuit
analysis program. Although you need to be careful about the reasonableness of your
assumptions about sequence impedances and do not need to have detailed information
about fault-current decrements, the example given should make clear the MVA
method's effectiveness in terms of speed, accuracy, and economy.