PROTECTION OF SUBSTATION

Introduction
A Substation covers various equipment such as Circuit
Breakers, Isolators, Earth Switches, Lightning Arresters,
Grounding System and etc.
Protection scheme is designed to limit the effects of
disturbances in the power system which is allowed to persist,
may damage plant and interrupt the supply of electric energy.
The greatest threat to the security of a power supply
station is short circuit which imposes sudden and violent
change in he power system. Rapid isolation of the fault by
nearest switchgear will minimize the damage. It covers
various types of protection used in switchyard such as relays,
circuit breakers and etc.
ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION

An electrical substation is a subsidiary station of electricity generation,

transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high
to low or low to high using transformers.
Substations generally contains transformers and have switching,
protection and control equipment. In large substations, circuit breakers are
used to interrupt any short-circuits or overloaded currents that may occur on
the network. Smaller distribution stations may use recloser circuit breakers or
fuses for protection of branch circuits.
DESIGN
The selection of the location a substation must have following
factors:
1. Sufficient land area is required for installation of equipment
with necessary clearances for electrical safety and access to
maintain large apparatus such as transformers.
2. The site must have room for expansion due to load growth or
planned transmission additions. Environmental effects must be
considered, such as drainage, noise and road traffic effects.
3. Grounding and ground potential rise must be calculated to
protect passers by during a short circuit in transmission
system.
4. The substation site must be reasonably central to the
distribution area to be served.
NEED FOR PROTECTION
A protective scheme isolates the faulty section of the system from the healthy
sections. An electric power system consists of generators, transformers,
transmission lines and distribution lines etc. Short circuits and other abnormal
conditions often occur on the power system. The heavy current associated
with short circuits is likely to cause damage to the equipment if suitable
protection at each section of the power system is not provided.

A protective scheme includes major circuit breakers and protective relays to

isolate the faulty section of a healthy system from healthy sections. A circuit
breaker can disconnect the faulty element of the section when it is called upon
to do so by the protective relay. The function of a protective relay is to detect
and locate a fault and issue a command to the circuit breaker to disconnect the
faulty element.

Thus if a fault occurs in an element of a power system, an automatic protective

device is needed to isolate the faulty element as quickly as possible to keep the
system in healthy operation.
NATURE AND CAUSES OF FAULTS
Faults are mainly caused by:

Insulation failure.
Conducting path failure.
Overvoltages due to lightening or switching surges.
Puncturing or breaking of insulators.
Accumulation of foreign particles on the surface of string and pin
insulators.
Failure of conducting path due to broken conductors.
Faults on overhead lines due to lightening strokes, ice and snow loading,
storms and etc.
Tripping of circuit breakers due to errors in switching operation, testing or
maintenance work, defects in protective devices.
Faults due to poor quality of system components or because of faulty
system design.
Failure of solid insulation due to aging, heat, moisture, overvoltage,
accidental contact with earth or earth screens, flash-over voltages and etc.,
COMPONENTS OF PROTECTION
The main components used in the protection scheme in a substation
to isolate the faulty section of the system from the healthy
section are

FUSES
EARTHING
INSULATION
ISOLATORS
RELAYS
CIRCUIT BREAKERS
LIGHTNING ARRESTERS
FUSE
A fuse is a protective device used for protecting cables and
electrical equipment against overloads and short circuits. A fuse
was patented by Thomas Edison in 1890.
It is a short piece of metal, inserted in the circuit, which melts
when excessive current flows through it and thus breaks the
circuit. In electrical and electronics engineering, a fuse (short for
fusible link) is a type of over-current protection device.
Its typical component is a metal wire or strip (element) that melts
when too much current flows, which interrupts (disconnects) the
circuit in which it is connected.
Circuit or device failure is often a reason for excessive current. A
fuse blows (interrupts excessive current) so that further damage
is prevented. A fuse typically is not intended to protect from the
initial cause of over-current.
TYPES OF FUSES
In general fuses are classified into two types:

A. HIGH VOLTAGE FUSE

B. LOW VOLTAGE FUSE
The low voltage fuses are subdivided into two types:
Semi-Enclosed Rewireable Fuse
High-Rupturing Capacity Cartridge Fuse
The high voltage fuses are categorised into three types:
Cartidge Type
Liquid type
Metal Type
EARTHING
In electrical engineering, ground or earth may be the reference point in an
electrical circuit from which other voltages are measured, or a common return
path for electric current, or a direct physical connection to the Earth. The term
ground and grounding are used in electrical engineering to represent electrical
equipment that is securely bonded to the ground for safety reasons.

In electricity supply systems, an earthing (grounding) system defines the electrical

potential of the conductors relative to that of the Earth's conductive surface.
The choice of earthing system has implications for the safety and
electromagnetic compatibility of the power supply. A functional earth
connection serves a purpose other than providing protection against electrical
shock. In contrast to a protective earth connection, a functional earth
connection may carry a current during the normal operation of a device.
Functional earth connections may be required by devices such as surge
suppression and electromagnetic-compatibility filters, some types of antennas
and various measurement instruments. Generally the protective earth is also
used as a functional earth, though this requires care in some situations.
INSULATOR
An insulator, also called a dielectric, is a material that resists the flow of electric
current.
An insulating material has atoms with tightly bonded valence electrons. These
materials are used in parts of electrical equipment, also called insulators or
insulation, intended to support or separate electrical conductors without
passing current through themselves.
Insulators used for high-voltage power transmission are made from glass,
porcelain, or composite polymer materials.
Porcelain insulators are made from clay, quartz or alumina and feldspar, and are
covered with a smooth glaze to shed dirt. Insulators made from porcelain rich
in alumina are used where high mechanical strength is a criterion. Porcelain
has a dielectric strength of about 410 kV/mm.
Glass has a higher dielectric strength, but it attracts condensation and the thick
irregular shapes needed for insulators are difficult to cast without internal
strains. Some insulator manufacturers stopped making glass insulators in the
late 1960s, switching to ceramic materials.
TYPES OF INSULATORS

PINTYPE INSULATORS
SUSPENSION TYPE INSULATORS
STRAIN INSULATORS
SHACKLE INSULATORS
ISOLATOR
The isolators are used to connect and disconnect the high voltage
power systems under no load conditions. Circuit-
Isolator disconnect provides three-pole, group-operated, visible-
air-gap isolation in distribution substations. The Circuit-
Isolator can be used to interrupt low-level charging currents
associated with substation bus work and circuit-breaker bushings,
as well as other low-voltage currents commonly present in
substations.
Circuit-Isolator is available in ratings from 69 kV through 138 kV,
in 1200 A, 1600 A, and 2000 A versions. Side-break, vertical-
break, center-break, and double-break styles can be furnished, to
suit almost any substation layout.
RELAYS
A Relay is an electrical switch that opens and closes under the
control of another electrical circuit. In the original form, the
switch is operated by an electromagnet to open or close one or
many sets of contacts. It was invented by Joseph Henry in 1835.
Because a relay is able to control an output circuit of higher
power than the input circuit, it can be considered to be, in a broad
sense, a form of an electrical amplifier.
A relay is a automatic device which detects an abnormal condition
in an abnormal condition in an electrical circuit and causes a
circuit breaker to isolate the faulty element of the system. In
some cases it may give an alarm or visible indication to alert
operator.
CLASSIFICATION OF RELAYS BASED ON CONSTRUCTION
Relays are broadly classified into following categories depending on the
technology of their construction and operation:
Electromagnetic Relay
Static Relay
Microprocessor Relay

CLASSIFICATION OF RELAYS BASED ON THEIR FUNCTION

Protective relays can be classified into following categories, depending on the

duty they are required to perform.

OverCurrent Relays
Undervoltage Relays
Impedance Relays
Under Frequency Relays
Directional Relays
CIRCUIT BREAKER
A circuit breaker is an automatically-operated electrical switch
designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by
overload or short circuit. An early form of circuit breaker was
described by Edison in an 1879 patent application, although his
commercial power distribution system used fuses. Its purpose
was to protect lighting circuit wiring from accidental short-
circuits and overloads.
A protective relay detects abnormal conditions and sends a tripping
signal to the circuit breaker. After receiving the trip command
from the relay, the circuit breaker isolates the faulty part of the
power system.
A circuit breaker has two contacts- a fixed contact and a moving
contact. Under normal conditions these contacts remain in closed
position. When the circuit breaker is required to isolate the faulty
part, the moving contact moves to interrupt the circuit.
TYPES OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS

The circuit breakers are classified as:

OIL CIRCUIT BREAKER

AIR-BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKER
SULPHUR HEXA FLUROIDE CIRCUIT
BREAKER
VACUUM CIRCUIT BREAKER
LIGHTNING ARRESTER
A lightning arrester is a protective device which conducts the high
voltage surges on the power system to the ground. Lightning
Arresters are protective devices for limiting surge voltages due to
lightning strikes or equipment faults or other events, to prevent
damage to equipment and disruption of service. Also called surge
arresters.
A lightning arrester is a protective device which conducts the high
voltage surges on the power system to the ground. It consists of a
spark gap in series with a linear resistor. One end of the diverter
is connected to the terminal of the equipment to be protected and
the other end is effectively grounded.
The length of the gap is so set that the normal line voltage is not
enough to cause an arc across the gap but a dangerously high
voltage will break down the air insulation from an arc. The
property of the non-linear resistance is that its resistance
decreases as the voltage or current increases or vice-versa.
CONCLUSION
A protective scheme includes majorly circuit breakers and
protective relays to isolate the faulty section of a healthy system
from healthy sections. A circuit breaker can disconnect the faulty
element of the section when it is called upon to do so by the
protective relay. The function of a protective relay is to detect
and locate a fault and issue a command to the circuit breaker to
disconnect the faulty element. Protective scheme isolates the
faulty section of the system from the healthy sections.
Thus a healthy and protective substation holds circuit breakers,
protective relays, lightning arresters, isolators and insulation for
the protection of every component of its family.
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