INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATION, COMPUTER AND POWER (ICCCP'09)
Overcurrent Relays Setting, Coordination
and Performance in an Interconnected Power
System
Abdelkader Tami1, Mounir Bouzguenda, Azzeddine Ferrah, Jihad Al-Khalaf Bani Younis
Abstract—The procedure to fully coordinate the relays and
test their performance, in an interconnected power system, is
not an easy task for the electrical engineer, if not impossible at
all. This is further complicated if all contingencies are to be
considered. This publication describes a computer program
which has been developed to calculate overcurrent relay
settings, modify them automatically for the proper time
coordination of the relays, on an interconnected and large
system. This program eliminates the need for searching pre-
calculated system fault data; in fact it selects and calculates the
necessary fault current when and where it is needed.
Index Terms—Overcurrent protection, Protection systems,
Electrical Engineering, Fault, Relays.
I. INTRODUCTION
I N recent years, major transformations have been
introduced into the structure of electrical power utilities to
improve efficiency in the operation of the power system
networks by deregulating the industries and opening it to
their private competitors.
The net effect of such adjustments will mean that the
generation, transmission and distribution systems must now
adapt to a new set of rules dictated by open markets. In
particular for the transmission sector of power utilities, this
adaptation may require the construction or modification of
inter-connections between regions and countries.
Furthermore, the adaptation to new generation patterns will
also necessitate changes and require increased flexibility and
availability of the transmission system, as well as improved
reliability.
The size and the complexity of modern power
transmission and distribution systems, as well as the recent
advances in digital computing, and protection relays
technologies have made the manual calculation of relay
settings impractical [1, 2, 3, 4]. Although the setting of one
relay at a time can be made, the coordination required for
overcurrent protection relays dictates that a system approach
must be used. Despite the increase of the size and
complexity of power systems, the development of digital
computer technology has provided many advantages [5, 6]:
1
Faculty of Engineering, Sohar University, Oman, P.O. Box 44, PC 311,
Sohar, Sultanate of Oman, Tel: +968 9722805, Fax: +968 267280102,
E-mail: a.tami@soharuni.edu.om
© SQU-2009 ISSN: 1813-419X
MUSCAT, FEBRUARY 15-18, 2009
1. More efficient and economic means of performing
routine engineering calculations required in the
planning, design and operation of an electrical
power system.
2. A better utilisation of engineering talent, i.e. the
engineer has been released from tedious an
repetitive calculations, and therefore, allowing him
to concentrate on more creative work.
3. More effective engineering studies has been made
possible to be performed, i.e. different calculation
procedures have been made applied to obtain a
number of alternative solutions for a particular
problem and therefore, providing a wider base for
engineering decision.
4. Many tedious and time-consuming tasks has been
lifted from the relay engineer, such as:
a. Review the system under current
conditions for proper coordination of the
relays.
b. Determination of relay coordination
requirements for possible permanent
changes in the network.
c. Review of relay operation as part of post-
fault analysis.
To sum up, the development of computer technology
(i.e. the declining cost and development of efficient
computational techniques) relieved the power system
engineer from the tedious- and time consuming tasks that
have to be performed frequently [7].
The following sections will be devoted to the theoretical
review of overcurrent protection and relays, the description
of the overcurrent relay setting, coordination and logic of
assessment of the performance of the predicted settings.
Then, identification of the data required follows. Finally, the
results obtained from a test system are presented.
II. RELAYS COORDINATION APPROACH
When radial systems are involved, the procedure for
grading the relays is very simple and so it is for simple ring
systems using directional overcurrent relays. In the case of
interconnected power systems, the procedure to fully
coordinate the protection and to consider all contingencies is
not an easy task [8]. The analytical method is based on the
work of J. P. Whiting and D. Lidgate [9].
300
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATION, COMPUTER AND POWER (ICCCP'09) MUSCAT, FEBRUARY 15-18, 2009

The program developed integrates:

• A fault study which caters for any change in start
the feeding conditions.
• Performance assessment which enables the
investigation of the response of the relays
when a fault occurs at each circuit breaker Input data
and/or to check the performance of the overall
protection when a contingency occurs.
The procedure followed is based on a number of small Compute fault current
modules. Each module comprises 3 substations connected
radially and protected by directional relays looking in the
same direction and away from the source. This module is
shown in Figure 1. Compute FR settings
next

RB All local subs

RR considered? N
Y

AB Compute AR settings
AR
F2
next

LB
LR All adjacent subs
considered?
N

Y
FB
FR Compute RR settings
F1
next

Fig. 1 – Triple substation module

All remote subs
Where: considered? N
RB: remote breaker, RR: remote relay
AB: adjacent breaker, AR: adjacent relay
LB: local breaker, LR: local relay Y
FB: feeder breaker, FR: feeder relay

We start with a substation as our reference (local). The Any conflicting

relay settings computation starts at the local substation AR/RR? N
feeder where the settings for the FR relay are set. The
grading across the local substation transformers follows and Y
the relay settings LR are computed. Each connected adjacent
substation is considered in turn and its relay (AR) settings Identify them and select one output
are coordinated with those of the local substation. Once all
adjacent circuit breaker relays have been considered, the
associated remote substations relay settings are determined. Fig. 2 – Logic of Computation
Next, we consider another substation as the new
reference local substation and this process is repeated until As overcurrent protection is primarily provided for the
all substations in the system have been considered and all correct clearance of faults, it should not be confused with
relay settings were computed. The logic of the program is overload protection. Consequently, it is important that the
illustrated in the flowchart of Figure 2. plug setting adjustment be set to some value in excess of the
nominal rating of the power system plant.

© SQU-2009 ISSN: 1813-419X 301

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATION, COMPUTER AND POWER (ICCCP'09) MUSCAT, FEBRUARY 15-18, 2009

II. PROTECTION PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT V. RESULTS

It is meant by “Protection Performance”, the ability of Based on the algorithms detailed in the previous
protection to discriminate correctly during fault condition. sections, this section presents the results obtained from the
One can easily assess the protection performance for radial test system (Fig. 3).
or single ring systems by assessing the actual relay settings.
But for an interconnected system, the process is more Transformer T1 T2 T3 T4
complicated. %X 12% 12% 10% 8%
For a fault at a certain location, the relays which detect MVA 40 40 20 10
the fault current begin to rotate and the one with the smallest V (kV) 132/33 132/33 33/6.6 33/6.6
operating time operates first. Consequently, the fault current
will be redistributed. At this stage the moving contacts on Table 1: Transformers data
the relays which did not operate will have partly travelled
towards the fixed contacts. Owing to the rotation of the relay 0 Infeed source Infeed source 0
disc, the relay can be considered to have a lower time- 750 MVA 750 MVA
multiple setting than its actual setting at the instance of the
change in fault current.
It is therefore, necessary, in order to check the protection T1 T2
performance on interconnected systems, to consider various
fault locations, to determine the virtual time multiples for
each relay at each trip event and assess the relay operating
times and consequent discrimination. It is then necessary to
1 2
readjust certain relay settings and repeat the procedure until
the most satisfactorily performance of the protection is
attained.
To assess the performance protection, a three-phase fault
is considered at each circuit breaker in the system in turn.
Then for each fault location, the fault current distribution
throughout the system is calculated and the operating time
of each relay is computed. The relay with the shortest
operating time is assumed to trip its circuit breaker. After 5
this if the fault is not isolated, the fault current distribution is 3 4
calculated as well as the virtual time multiples for each relay
seeing the fault. Consequently, the operating times of the T3 T4
relevant relays are computed and again the relay having the T3
fastest operating time is considered to trip its circuit breaker.
This process is repeated until the fault is cleared. 6 7 8

IV. MERITS OF THE METHOD Fig. 3 – Test System

The method has its own merits in that it is:
The impedances are given in per unit on a 100 MVA
• Versatile: It can be used for any network
base in Table 2.
configuration be it radial or interconnected.
• Flexible: many feasibility studies may be Bus i Bus j Zij
performed rapidly. Hence, will aid in system 0 1 0.4333
planning, and/or the protection performance of 0 2 0.4333
existing settings may quickly assessed with 1 3 0.2400
planned or faulted circuit outages. 2 3 0.1800
• Comprehensive: It assists the engineer to have a 2 5 0.1200
better and deep understanding of the system under 3 4 0.2300
consideration. Therefore, the protection engineer
3 6 (1) 0.5000
can decide where sacrifices can be made to achieve
3 6 (2) 0.5000
the best over-all coordination.
4 5 0.2400
On the other hand, the programs produced lack a proper
and convenient data management. It would have been very 4 7 (1) 0.5000
much appreciated if a modern data base method were used 4 7 (2) 0.5000
for data management. 5 8 0.8000
Although the performance program is interactive, where Table 2 per unit impedances
the merits and limitations of the computed relay settings can
be assessed, an interface to the short-circuit program is Some of the results are illustrated in the following
another desired feature. graphs. Table 3 shows the settings of the relays obtained
from the program described in section 2.
The first column designates the busbar to which the relay
is connected, and the second column shows the feeder

© SQU-2009 ISSN: 1813-419X 302

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATION, COMPUTER AND POWER (ICCCP'09) MUSCAT, FEBRUARY 15-18, 2009

named by the busbar to which it is connected. For example,

in the first row we have busbar 1 and feeder 0, which means Fault at busbar 3 on feeder 2‐3
the relay at busbar 1 on feeder connected to bus 0 (i.e.
8
feeder 1-0).
7
Bus Feeder CT PS TSM 6
1 0 600 200 0.40 5

time [s]
1 3 600 125 0.92
4
2 0 600 200 0.40
2 3 600 125 0.88 3
2 5 600 75 0.99 2
3 1 600 50 0.85 1
3 2 600 50 0.66 0
3 4 600 50 0.63
3 6 400 125 0.33 13 25 23 32
4 3 600 50 0.14 Feeder
4 5 400 50 0.20
4 7 400 125 0.32
5 2 600 50 0.24 Fig. 5 – Fault at busbar 3 on feeder 2-3
5 4 600 50 0.54
5 8 400 75 0.40 Again, Figure 5 illustrates the operating times of the
6 3 400 125 0.33 relays when a fault is initiated at busbar 3 on feeder 2-3.
6 10 600 125 0.40 Clearly the fault is isolated by tripping the relay at bus 3
7 4 400 125 0.32 then the relay at bus 2.
7 10 600 125 0.40
VI. CONCLUSION
8 5 400 75 0.40
8 10 600 125 0.40 The idea behind this work was to transfer the tedious and
time-consuming relay setting protection and time
Table 3: Line protection data
coordination checks from the relay engineer to the
Once the settings have been determined, they can be computer. It is believed that this has been achieved through
used to check the performance of these relays when a fault the development of a program that predicts the overcurrent
occurs on the system. The following graphs show the relay settings along with another one that checks the
operating time of the relays with a fault at different performance of the predicted settings.
locations. The programs described provide a basic framework of an
automatic directional overcurrent relay setting logic.
Although these programs have been developed for a
Fault at busbar 1 on feeder 1‐3 particular system, which has resulted in specific features, it
is believed to be general. It is the addition of the assessment
10 program, however, which enables the relay performance of
9 the system to be checked thoroughly under all operating
8 conditions.
7 It is obvious, that the digital computer has proven its
6 value in the electric power industry. For some time it was
time [s]

5 the load-flow studies, short-circuit calculations and transient

4 stability analysis which have gained great benefits from the
3 use of computers. Now the coordination of protective
2 devices in an electrical power system can also be effectively
performed by computer.
1
0 REFERENCES
23 25 13 31 [1] A. R. Van C. Warrington, “Protection Relays: Their
Theory and Practice”, Chapman & Hall, 3rd edition, 1977.
Feeder
[2] GEC Althsom Measurements Limited, “Protective
Fig. 4 – Fault at busbar 1 on feeder 1-3 Relays Application Guide”, 3rd edition, June 1987.

Figure 4 shows the discrimination time of the relays
when a fault occurs at busbar 1 on feeder 1-3.
It is very clear from Figure 4 that when a fault occurs at
busbar 1 on feeder 1-3, the relay at bus 1 trips first, then
relay at bus 3 trips next, and consequently clearing the fault.
© SQU-2009 ISSN: 1813-419X
[3] IEEE Committee Report, “Application of Protective
Relays and Devices to Distribution Circuits”, IEEE Western
Appliance Technical Conference, Los Angeles, California,
May 1964.
[4] IEEE Committee Report, “Computer representation of
Overcurrent Relay Characteristics”, IEEE Trans. On Power
Delivery, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 1656 – 1667, July 1989.
303
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNICATION, COMPUTER AND POWER (ICCCP'09) MUSCAT, FEBRUARY 15-18, 2009

[5] Glenn W. Stagg and Ahmed H. El-Abiad, “Computer

Methods in Power System Analysis”, International Student
Edition, 1981.

[6] R. Ramaswami and P. F. Meguire, “Integrated

coordination and short-circuit analysis for system
protection”, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 7, July 1992,
pp. 1112 – 1119.

[7] A. R. Abdelaziz and A. E. Zawawi, “A new Computer-

based relaying technique for power system protection”, Int.
Conf. 2001 IEEE Power Engineering Society, Winter
Meeting Conference pp. 684 – 686.

[8] A. Abyaneh, et al, “A new optimal approach for

coordination of overcurrent relays in interconnected power
systems”, IEEE Trans Power Delivery, vol. 18, No. 2, April
2003.

[9] J. P. Whiting and D Lidgate, “Prediction of IDMT Relay

Settings and Performance for Interconnected Power
Systems”, IEE Proc., vol. 130, Pt. C, No.3, May 1983.

© SQU-2009 ISSN: 1813-419X 304