Physica C 469 (2009) 1873–1877

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Physica C
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/physc

A study on the improvement of protective relay system for the utility

application of HTS power cable
J.H. Kim a,*, M. Park a, I.K. Park b, S.R. Lee c, J.D. Park d, Y.K. Kwon d, I.K. Yu a
a
Changwon National University, 55305, 9 Sarim-Dong, Changwon, Gyeongnam 641-773, Republic of Korea
b
RTDS Technologies Inc., Innovation Drive Wannipeg, Manitoba, 300-137, Canada R3T 6B6
c
Uiduk University, Gangdong, Gyeongju 780-713, Republic of Korea
d
Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Changwon, Gyeongnam 641-120, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, the analysis and improvement of protective relay systems are performed with respect to
Available online 29 May 2009 HTS (High Temperature Superconducting) power cable applied in a model power system. The over cur-
rent relay and differential relay with proposed new decision making algorithm are implemented under
PACS: a couple of fault conditions, a single line-to-ground fault and three phase short circuit. According to
28.41.Te the analysis results, there is not a particular aspect for the protection system of HTS power cable, but
85.25. j the impedance variation of HTS power cable should be taken into account under the fault conditions.
85.25.Am
In the case of the differential relay system, the induced current ratio based fault detection scheme is pro-
84.71.Fk
posed and applied for the bus to bus connection of HTS power cable protection. The circuit breaker oper-
Keywords: ates according to the proposed algorithm well. The results obtained through the analysis of the
HTS power cable simulation would provide more useful data for the protection system design of HTS power cables and
Fault detection scheme their installation in power systems.
Induced current ratio Ó 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Protective relay
Real time simulation

1. Introduction
Because of its large capacity and compactness compared with
conventional power cables, the HTS (High Temperature Supercon-
ducting) power cables are being developed by LIPA (Long Island
Power Authority), AEP Ohio (American Electric Power) and Albany
projects [1–3]. Several HTS power devices have already been con-
nected to the real utility grid. Power system analysis regarding
the HTS power devices is getting more required from the end-
users. Before the installation of HTS power cable to a utility grid,
the analysis of power system using a certain simulation tool should
be carried out in order to evaluate the reliability and stability dur-
ing both normal state and transient state like fault.
The peak power demand in Korea is increasing about 4–5%
annually, and it will be over 68,000 MW by 2017 [4]. A research
group in Korea has completed the development of HTS power cable
system of 22.9 kV/50 MVA, 3 phase 100 m as a part of the 21st Cen-
tury Frontier R&D Project supported by the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology [5–7]. However, before the installation of
the HTS power cable into a utility grid, it is necessary to confirm
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 55 281 3170; fax: +82 55 281 3150.
E-mail address: potopia@changwon.ac.kr (J.H. Kim).
reliable performances and stability during both normal and tran-
sient states.
A conventional power cable having copper or aluminum con-
ductor does not experience any serious problems caused by the
short circuit current or over current because of its large thermal
capacity. In case of conventional power cable, the conductor
impedance does not change even under fault conditions except
the fault point impedance. HTS power cable, on the contrary, will
have problems as stated in [8,9]. If the fault current flows through
the HTS power cable, quench occurs in both conducting and shield
layers of the HTS power cable. After the quench, the resistance ap-
pears and each self inductance value does not change largely, but
the mutual inductance value is directly affected. The line imped-
ance between source and fault spot will be transiently changed,
and the level of fault current will consequently be decreased to a
certain value. The decreased current value depends not only on
the condition of power system but also on the characteristics of
HTS power cable core.
Perfect protection can be basically achieved by the clear analy-
sis of the quench mechanism of HTS power cable [10,11]. There are
various kinds of relay for protection system, and protective relays
are also classified in different ways according to operation system,
operation time delay, usages, etc. Important performance
indicators include security (no false tripping), dependability

0921-4534/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.physc.2009.05.131
1874 J.H. Kim et al. / Physica C 469 (2009) 1873–1877
(no missing operations) and availability (percentage operational
time of the equipment in the considered time period).
This paper proposes a novel protective relay scheme for HTS
power cable and analyzes the operational characteristics of the
protective relay system for the HTS power cable under utility fault
conditions using the OCR (Over Current Relay), OCGR (Over Current
Ground Relay) and the proposed new differential relay algorithm.
The protective relay system is also coupled with Real Time Digital
Simulator (RTDS) in which a utility grid is modeled and simulated.
The simulation is performed under a couple of fault conditions
using 22.9 kV/50 MVA class HTS power cable system. The simula-
tion results are discussed in detail and the outcomes of the simu-
lation for both inside and outside of the protection zones
demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed differential relay
algorithm.
The results obtained through the analysis of the simulation
would provide useful data for the protection system design of
HTS power cables and their installation in power systems.
2. Protective relay configurations of the model system
The distribution line is connected to many protection devices
and machines including instrument devices and switches. Conven-
tionally, the protective relay system has been designed by experi-
enced protection engineers based on their wealth of domain
knowledge, considering various factors such as system configura-
tion, fault current and voltage class, etc.
The authors assume that the HTS power cable is used for a bus
to bus connection and a radial distribution feeder. Over current
protection system is mainly used for the radial distribution feeder,
and the differential protection method is used for the bus connec-
tion in general.
Fig. 1 shows the circuit diagram of fundamental concept of the
protection system for the large transmission capacity of HTS power
cable in utility power network. Section A (bus to bus connection) is
protected against the inside fault of protection zone introducing
the HTS power cable using differential protective relay system.
High speed bus protection is often required to limit the damaging
effects on equipment and system stability or to maintain service to
as much load as possible.
Section B (feeder) composed of circuit breaker, HTS power
cable, OCR, OCGR, load, and so on. Most of the faults on the radial
power lines can be detected by applying over current relay, since
the fault current is normally higher than the load current, and each
section requires only one circuit breaker at the source end.
Grounding methods for power transmission line in this simulation,
the direct grounding method is used.
Fig. 1. Conceptual circuit diagram of the protection system for HTS power cable.
3. Novel fault detection scheme for HTS power cable
Fig. 2a shows the characteristics of the over current relay with
the functions of inverse and instantaneous time limits. Instanta-
neous time limit relay operates without intentional time delay.
They are used for the high current faults occurred close to the
source. The operating time is about 10 ms. Inverse time limit relay
operates with a time delay which is adjustable. In general, higher
current will cause a faster operation of the relay. The minimum
current at which the relay operates is also adjustable. Fig. 2b shows
the operating characteristics of differential relay. A current differ-
ential relay system uses Kirchhoff’s current law, currents on both
sides of the equipment are compared. Under normal conditions,
or for a fault outside of the protected zone, as shown in Fig. 2, cur-
rent I1 (sending end) is equal to current I2 (receiving end). There-
fore the induced currents of the current transformers are also
equal, and no current flows through the relay. If a fault occurs in-
side of the protected zone, currents I1 and I2 are no longer equal,
and the difference between the I1 and I2 current flows through
the relay.
The communication device and other devices are required for
the comparison between both sides of current due to the develop-
ment of long distance HTS power cable. For that reason, the
authors propose a novel fault detection scheme of differential pro-
tective relay using electrical characteristics of HTS power cable as
shown in Fig. 3. The HTS power cable consists of a conducting and a
shield layers for carrying the required current. The direction of
shield layer current reverses against the conducting layer current
Fig. 2. The operational characteristics of protective relay. (a) Over current relay. (b)
Differential relay.
Fig. 3. Proposed algorithm of the differential relay for HTS power cable.
 J.H. Kim et al. / Physica C 469 (2009) 1873–1877 1875

and its value is over 95% of conducting layer current at the steady
state. However, if the fault current flows through the HTS power
cable, quench occurs in both conducting and shield layers of the
HTS power cable. The current distribution of conducting and shield
layers changes due to the above mentioned phenomenon caused
by the fault current [12]. In the Fig. 3, IC: current of conducting
layer, IS: current of shield layer, DI: induced current ratio of con-
ducting and shield layers, respectively. DI will be used as a refer-
ence value of the protective relay for the HTS power cable
section, DIconstant: induced current ratio in steady state, DIfault: in-
duced current ratio in fault state. In the proposed fault detection
algorithm, the decision making of fault is done through the follow-
ing concept. The induced current ratio of HTS power cable in stea-
dy state (DIconstant) is greater than or equal to 0.95 (95%). However,
if the fault current flows through the HTS power cable, the induced
current ratio of HTS power cable (DIfault) is suddenly decreased due
to the increased resistance of shield layer caused by quench. Con-
sequently, if the DIfault is less than the DIconstant, then the protective
relay detects the fault and outputs the circuit breaker operating
signal.
Table 1
Parameters of the 22.9 kV/50 MVA class, 1 km HTS power cable.
Conducting layer RC_HTS IO/IC = 5, 80 K, 232 mX/km
RC_stablilizer (copper) 11.7 mX/km
LC 0.237 mH/km
Shield layer RS_HTS IO/IC = 5, 80 K, 295 mX/km
RS_stabilizer (copper) 50 mX/km
LS 0.145 mH/km
Mutual inductance LM 0.137 mH/km
4. Simulation and the results
The authors have developed a real time simulation algorithm
for the analysis of the utility power network which includes HTS
power devices [13,14], and the same process and devices are used
in this work.
Table 1 represents the parameters of the 22.9 kV/50 MVA, 1 km
long HTS power cable used for the analysis in RTDS. In Table 1,
RC_HTS: resistance of HTS wires at conducting layer, RC_stabilizer:
resistance of copper stabilizer at conducting layer, LC: self induc-
tance at conducting layer, RS_HTS: resistance of HTS wires at shield
layer, RS_stabilizer: resistance of copper stabilizer at shield layer, LS:
self inductance at shield layer and LM: mutual inductance,
respectively.
Fig. 4 shows the hardware composition of the protection system
simulation. The real protective relay is used for the fault detection
of the model distribution system. There are OCR, OCGR and the
reclosing function included. The users can input all parameters of
circuit except the circuit breaker on/off signals of the protective re-
lay by typing in GUI (Graphic User Interface). Therefore, the circuit
breaker control signals are directly delivered from the real protec-
tive relay during the fault conditions. The setting parameters of
OCR, OCGR and reclosing sequence shown in Table 2 are used in
the simulation.
Fig. 1 shows the simplified practical distribution system includ-
ing the HTS power cable, and the secondary rated voltage of the
system is 22.9 kV which is the main distribution system voltage
in Korea. Table 3 shows the parameters for the 22.9 kV class power
system used in RSCAD (Real time Simulator Computer Aided De-
sign)/RTDS (Section B).
In this paper, two protective relay cases, the real over current
relay and new algorithm-based differential relay are applied for a

Fig. 4. Hardware composition for the protective relay system of HTS power cable.

Table 2
Setting parameters of protective relay.

Relay Product Inverse time limit Instantaneous time limit CT ratio

Curve Pickup (A) Time dial (step) Ext. blk Curve DT time (s) Pickup (A) Ext. blk
OCR GD311–ABK01 KVI 5.0 3.2 No DT 0.04 40 Yes 400/5
OCGR KVI 1.0 3.3 No DT 0.04 10 Yes
Auto reclose Shots num Close puls Fail puls Pre time Disc time Recl time First time Second time
Reclose GD311–ABK01 2 2.0 60 60 2 180 0.5 15
1876 J.H. Kim et al. / Physica C 469 (2009) 1873–1877

single line-to-ground fault and three phase short circuit fault. The

Second time: failed fault

fault durations are 0.2 s and 1.5 s, respectively.

First time: time limit.

Fig. 5 shows the waveforms of the single line-to-ground fault
condition. Fig. 5a depicts the result of the conventional power

operation (OCR)
Table 3

Three phase short circuit fault

The 22.9 kV class model power system in RSCAD/RTDS (Section B).

detection
Generator 3 154 kV, Z1 = 0.27 + j2.315, Z0 = 0.6 + j4.453, 100 MVA

1.5 s
Transformer 3 60 MVA (D Y), 154/22.9 kV, %Z1–2 = 31.156, %Z2–3 = 13.133,
%Z1–3 = 56.667, 100 MVA
HTS power Parameters of Table 1
cable 1 km

Failed fault
ALOC 160 mm2, 5 km, Z1 = 19.3 + j37.1, Z0 = 49.35 + j113.4

detection
Line 1
Line 2 ALOC 58 mm2, 15.5 km, Z1 = 205.6 + j152, Z0 = 325.9 + j426.7

0.2 s
Load 10 MVA

First time: inst. operation

Second time: time limit.

operation (OCGR)
1.5 s
Single line-to-ground

Inst. operation of
HTS power cable

OCGR
0.2 s
First time: inst. operation.

Second time: time limit.

Comparison of the operational characteristics of protective relay between the conventional and HTS power cable.

operation (OCGR)
Three phase short circuit fault

(OCR)
1.5 s
Inst. operation
of OCR
0.2 s
First time: inst. operation

limit.operation (OCGR)
Second time: time
Conventional power cable

1.5 s
Single line-to-ground

Inst. operation of
Fault duration

OCGR
0.2 s
Between line1
and line2
Fault point
Table 4

Fig. 5. Simulation results of the protective relay under single line-to-ground fault
condition. (a) In the case of the only conventional power cable used (line 1 and line
2). (b) In the case of the HTS power cable used instead of line 1.
 J.H. Kim et al. / Physica C 469 (2009) 1873–1877 1877

resistive heat is generated at the quenched HTS wires. The temper-

ature rise of the HTS wires, the temperature dependent resistance
and the heat capacity. Fig. 6a shows the simulation result of the
differential protective relay under three phase short circuit fault
condition using the proposed algorithm. The induced current ratio
of shield layer is 95% in steady state. However, if the fault occurs
inside of protection zone, the induced current ratio at shield layer
decreased from 95% to 39%. Consequently, the circuit breaker oper-
ates according to the proposed algorithm. Fig. 6b shows the oper-
ational characteristics of protective relay under outside of
protection zone fault condition. The induced current ratio at shield
layer decreased from 95% to 80%. From this result, the inside and
outside protection zones of HTS power cable could readily be
determined by the induced current ratio. Table 5.

5. Conclusions

The authors have analyzed the operational characteristics of the

protective relay system with respect to HTS power cable under
utility fault conditions using a real digital protective relay and
RTDS. A novel protective relay scheme for HTS power cable is pro-
posed and applied for the 22.9 kV/50 MVA class HTS power cable
system protection.
In the case of the HTS power cable is used instead of a conven-
tional power cable, the operational characteristics of circuit break-
er are similar under a single line-to-ground fault condition.
However, the HTS power cable is not interrupted under three
Fig. 6. Simulation results of the differential protective relay under three phase
short circuit fault condition. (a) The inside of protection zone under fault condition. phase short circuit fault condition, because the fault current is over
(b) The outside of protection zone under fault condition. the critical current, the HTS power cable is quenched and the resis-
tance of HTS power cable is increased, and it makes the fault detec-
tion impossible. Consequently, the correction of protective relay is
required for the quench properties of HTS power cable for secure
Table 5
The 22.9 kV class model power system in RSCAD/RTDS (Section A). operation of protective relay.
In the case of the differential relay system, the induced current
Generator 1, 2 154 kV, Z1 = 0.27 + j2.315, Z0 = 0.6 + j4.453, 100 MVA
ratio based fault detection scheme is proposed and applied for the
Transformer 1, 2 60 MVA (D Y), 154/22.9 kV, Z1–2 = 31.156, %Z2–3 = 13.133,
%Z1–3 = 56.667, 100 MVA bus to bus connection of HTS power cable protection. The circuit
HTS power Parameters of Table 1 breaker operates according to the proposed algorithm well.
cable 1 km The results obtained through the analysis of the simulation
Line ALOC 160 mm2, 5 km, Z1 = 19.3 + j37.1, Z0 = 49.35 + j113.4 would provide useful data for the protection system design of
Load 30 MVA
HTS power cables and their installation in power systems.

Acknowledgment
cable used with the real protective relay and the real parameters.
When a fault occurs, the utility current suddenly increases, the This research was supported by a grant from Center for Applied
protective relay detects the fault current, and consequently the cir- Superconductivity Technology of the 21st Century Frontier R&D
cuit breaker instantaneously operates at 0.49 s. In the case of Program funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technol-
Fig. 5b represent the simulation results when the HTS power cable ogy, Republic of Korea.
is used instead of line 1. The operational characteristics of circuit
breaker are similar to the case of conventional power cable used. References
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