Session1-2

Power System ProtectionOverview

N. Theivarajan .
Head, Power Plant Control Division .
Reactor Design Group
IGCAR

This Material Is Adopted

From Many Sources
For
MAPS/NPCIL Course In March 2015

Typical Power Plant SLD For Coordination Study

Protection
Transformers
Motors
Generators
Switchgear
Cable Systems/Feeders
Transmission Lines/Associated
Systems
Power Electronic
Converters/Inverters

Power System Components

Capabilities.

Voltage:
Rated , Power Fre., Switching, Impulse
Withstand
Current:
Rated, Short time, Short Circuit
withstand,
Negative Phase sequence,
Power: Real, Reactive, Apparent
Thermal Capabilities:
Speed : Over speed, Critical Speed,..

ome of The Major Issues With

Power System Components

Insulation
Design defects or errors
Improper manufacturing
Improper installation
Aging insulation
Contamination

Electrical
Lightning surges
Switching surges
Dynamic overvoltages

Thermal
Coolant failure
Overcurrent
Overvoltage
Ambient temperature

Mechanical
Overcurrent forces
Earthquake
Foreign object impact
Snow or ice

Deviation on Performance
Characteristics /Capabilities due to:
Three-phase fault (a-b-c, a-b-c-g)
Phase-to-phase fault (a-b, b-c, c-a)
Two-phase-to-ground fault (a-b-g, b-c-g, c-a-g)
Phase-to-ground fault (a-g, b-g, c-g)
Voltage Surges
Exceeding Thermal Limits

GENERAL
PROTECTION PERSPECTIVES

PROTECTION DEVICES &

CHARACTERISTICES

Input Parameters Available For Protection

Devices.

Current
Voltage
Frequency
Pressure
Temperature
Flow
Vibration

Type of Protection Devices :

Thermal
Electromechanical
Static
Microprocessor/Numerical

Performance Characteristics

Over current- Phase or Ground

Directional Over current
Inverse time/Definite time / IDMT

Under voltage
Overvoltage

DifferentialLow , High Impedance, REF, Current

Distance- Many Characteristics

Phase comparison
Directional comparison

MCB and MCCBs

With Built in Protection Function

Thermal-magnetic MCCB operating characteristic

Typical electronic low-voltage circuit breaker trip

characteristic

Magnetic-trip MCCB operating characteristic

HRC Fuses

Thermal Over Load Relays

Protective Relays

Over current Relays

Directional Over current Relays

Earth Fault Relay Connection

Power Relays

Differential Relays

High Impedance Differential Protection

This type of protection is normally used for
protection of motors, generators, bus bars as
well as for restricted earth fault protection of
transformers.
This type of protection is used to protect an
area with the same voltage level.

Percentage Biased Differential Protection

For Transformers
The term percentage differential stems from the fact that the
operating threshold increases with the through current.
Simple comparison of the currents in each upstream phase with
the currents in the same downstream phases is not suitable for
transformer differential protection.
The upstream and downstream currents of a power transformer
do not have the same amplitude or the same phase angle,
When the transformer is energized, its magnetizing current is
only seen upstream.

Low Impedance Differential Protection.

This protection is used for bus bar differential protection. It is very
costly and space-consuming, as it requires a large number of
modules and matching CTs which need one or
more cubicles according to switchboard size
In the case of a double bus bar switchboard, the protection must
be continually informed on the position of the transfer switches
in order to direct the currents of each feeder and incomer to the
relay associated with monitoring of the bus bar on which this
feeder or incomer is connected.
The CTs associated with this sophisticated protection may have
different ratios. Their secondaries are also defined as class X in
most cases. However, as saturation can be tolerated , knee point
voltage requirements are less severe than for high impedance
differential protection.

Pilot protection schemes -Three categories.

Directional comparison scheme
Distance or Directional relays determine whether
each terminal sees the fault as forward or reverse.
By exchanging this information, the fault can be
classified as either internal or external to the
protected line segment.

Phase comparison- Current only Pilot

protection.
Phase comparison protection systems compare the
phase angles of currents entering at one terminal of
the line and the currents leaving at the other terminal of
the line.
If the fault is external, the currents entering and exiting
the line should be in phase with each other.

Current differential schemes

Send information about the magnitude and
angle of the currents entering and exiting the
line.
This type of pilot protection requires higher
bandwidth tele protection channels, and it is
becoming more common with the availability
of fiber-optic networks.