GENERATOR PROTECTION

Introduction
Generator protection and control are interdependent problems. A generator has to be
protected not only from electrical faults (stator and rotor faults) and mechanical problems
(e.g. Related to turbine, boilers etc), but it also has to be protected from adverse system
interaction arising if generator going of out of step with the rest of system, loss of field
winding etc. Under certain situations lie internal faults, the generator has to be !uicly
isolated (shut down), while problems lie loss of field problem re!uires an "alarm# to alert
the operator. $ollowing is a descriptive list of internal faults and abnormal operating
conditions.
%. Internal $aults
a. &hase and 'or ground faults in the stator and associated protection (one
b. Ground faults in the rotor (field winding)
). Abnormal *perating +onditions.
a. ,oss of field.
b. *verload.
c. *vervoltage.
d. Under and over fre!uency
e. Unbalanced *peration e.g. single phasing.
f. ,oss motoring i.e. loss of prime mover.
g. ,oss of synchroni(ation (out of step).
h. -ubsynchronous oscillation.
.ulti / +0 1ifferential &rotection for Generators
0ypical interconnections for differential protection of
Y
connected generators is
shown in Fig1.2ith a numerical relay, the circulatory as shown in $ig is not be hard
wired. Instead, e!uivalent computations can be done in microprocessor. $or differential
protection, it is important to choose +0s from same manufacturer with identical turns
ratio to minimi(e +0 mismatch. 0o improve security, percentage differential protection is
preferred. 0he accuracy of the differential protection for generators is e3pected to be
better than that of differential protection for transformers, as issues lie overflu3ing,
magneti(ing inrush, no load current and different voltage rating of primary and secondary
are non / e3istent.
-tator Ground $ault &rotection
.ost faults in a generator are a conse!uence of insulation failure. 0hey may lead to turn /
to / turn faults and ground faults. 4ence ground fault protection is very essential for
generators. 0hree types of grounding schemes are used in practice
%) $ault &rotection with high impedance grounding
)) $ault protection with low impedance grounding
5) 4ybrid grounding
4igh Impedance Grounding
It is used to limit the ma3imum fault current due to fault in winding near generator
terminals to % / %6 A primary. 0his reduces iron burning in the generator and it helps in
avoiding costly repairs. Fig 2 below shows a typical circuit connection.
0here is an inverse time overvoltage unit connected across the resistor to trip the breaer
on overvoltage, which is a conse!uence of large (ero se!uence currents flowing in R due
to the fault. 4igh impedance grounding reduces sensitivity for both feeder ground
protection and differential protection in the stators of the generators. Alternative to high
impedance grounding is low impedance grounding.
,ow Impedance Grounding
0he advantage of low impedance grounding is improved sensitivity of the protection.
4owever, if the fault is not cleared !uicly, the damage to e!uipment can be much higher.
It is possible to engineer ground ((ero se!uence) differential protection using a
directional ground overcurrent relaying as shown in Fig 3. 0he basic idea is to compare
the sum of terminal c b a
I I I + +
current with neutral current. If the two are identical, there
is no internal ground fault. +onversely, a differential in the two !uantities indicates an
internal ground fault on the generator.
4ybrid Grounding
,oss of 73citation &rotection
2hen there is a reduced or lost of e3citation of the synchronous generator, conceptionaly
it will start functioning lie an induction generator. *therwise, if the system cannot
provide ade!uate reactive power support for induction generator mode of operation, then
synchronism is lost. 0he change is a gradual one and if the field is tripped by accident, an
alarm can be used to alert the operator. 4owever, if the field is not !uicly restored, then
the unit should be shut down.
Reduced or Loss of Excitation Protection
!at is it"
Reduction or loss of e3citation to the field winding is an abnormality rather than a fault.
If the field winding is completely lost, then in principle, synchronous generator will try to
mimic an induction generator. 0his mode of operation is possible provided that power
system to which generator is connected is strong enough to provide necessary reactive
power support. Recall that an induction generator has no field winding and hence it
cannot generate reactive power. If ade!uate reactive power support is not available (a
strong possibility8), then the generator will have to be shut down. It is liely that field
winding will be accidentally shut off and usually loss of synchronism will re!uire
appreciable time to tae effect. 4ence, it is preferable to first raise an alarm for operator
to restore field, failing which, generator has to be shut down.
Conse#uences
&rima9facie, conse!uence of reduced e3citation may not appear to be dramatic, but it can
lead to end9region over9heating in turbo9alternators. 4ence, this abnormality has to be
detected and an alarm has to be raised for the operator. 0he ultimate measure would be to
shut down the generator. $ig 3y shows the reactive power capability curve of a generator.
It can be seen that in the lagging power factor9operating region, limits are determined
either by rotor field heating limit or by stator armature heating limit. 1uring the leading
power factor9operating region, it is the iron end region9heating limit due to eddy currents
that is detrimental to the machine. 0urbo9alternators may not have ade!uate reactive
power absorption capability. 4ence, they are seldom operated with leading power factor.
0ypically leading power factor operation of generators results when the field e3citation is
reduced. 4ence, limitations on the reactive power absorption capability set a lower limit
on the reduction on field e3citation system (see dotted line in figure 33).
$o%"
&rotection system for synchronous9generators should detect reduced or loss of e3citation
condition, raise an alarm and if the abnormality persists, trip the generator. 0his can be
achieved by use of distance relays that are installed at generator terminals. 1irectionally,
they loo into the generator. $or this purpose, we need to interpret capability curve on the
R9: plane. If the comple3 power generated is given by
P jQ +
then the apparent
impedance seen by the distance relay installed on the generator terminals is given by
) )
) )
; ; ; ;
( )
V V
Zapp P jQ
P jQ P Q
= = +
+
99999999999 (%)
$or simplicity, we have referred impedance has been referred to the primary side. $ig yy
shows the capability curve transferred to R9: plane using e!n. (%).
0o protect the generator two distance relays and directional units are used. 0o protect
generator against complete loss of field, inner circle is used. 0he relay operates when the
impedance vector moves into this circle. *perating time of about 6.) to 6.5 seconds are
used with a complete shut down of the generator. 0he diameter of this circle is of the
order of
d
X
, with the upper part of the circle <69=<> of
?
d
X below the origin.
0he larger circle is used to detect reduced or partial loss of e3citation system. 1irectional
blinder may be used to limit picup on normal operating condition.
Protection against un&a'anced o(eration
@uite often, a generator is connected to grid using a Y transformer. 0he 9 winding
on the generator side, traps the (ero se!uence current from flowing through the phase
winding. 4owever, positive and negative se!uence currents will find their way into stator
winding. &ositive se!uence currents cannot discriminate between balanced and
unbalanced operating conditions. *n, the other hand, negative se!uence currents clearly
indicate the abnormality. 4ence, it can be used as an effective discriminant for
unbalanced system operation. Aegative se!uence currents create an mmf wave in
opposite direction to the direction of rotation of rotor. 4ence, it sweep across the rotor
induces second harmonic currents in rotor, which can cause severe over heating and
ultimately, the melting of the wedges in the air gap. AA-I standards have established that
the limits can be e3pressed as
)
)
i dt k =

where
)
i
is the negative se!uence current
flowing. 0he machine designer establishes constant . It can be in the range of < / <6. An
inverse9time overcurrent relay e3cited by negative se!uence current can be used for this
protection.
Generator )otoring* %!+ and !o%"
If the mechanical input to the prime mover is removed while the generator is in service,
then rotors mmf wave will tend to drive the rotor, Bust lie an induction motor. 0his is
dangerous to both steam and hydro turbine. In steam turbines, it may lead to overheating
while in hydro turbine it would cause cavitation of the turbine blades. 0he motoring of
generator can be detected by reverse power flow relays having sensitivity of 6.<> of
rated power output with time delay of appro3imate ) seconds.
O,er -o'tage Protection
4owC
*n its face value, over voltage protection should be more or less straightforward. $irst,
one should raise an alarm if the over voltage is above %%6> of rated value. 0here would
a subse!uent trip if it persists for % min or more. Dery large over voltages of the order of
%)6> of rated value or above, will lead to trip within appro3imately E seconds.
2hyC
0erminal voltage of a generator is controlled by an automatic voltage regulator (ADR). If
the load current (I) on the generator reduces, the ADR would automatically reduce the
field current so as to reduce open circuit emf 7 to maintain constant terminal voltage D.
4owever, loss of a D0 fuse, incorrect operation or setting of ADR etc can lead to over
voltage which is detrimental to the generator. -teady state over voltage will lead to
saturation of iron, both for generator and the unit transformer connected to it. 0his will
lead to large magneti(ing currents, unacceptable flu3 patterns, over9heating, which can
damage the power apparatus. 4ence, generators have to be protected against overvoltage.
-.f Protection
1uring start9up or shut down, the speed of the generator will deviate significantly from
the nominal speed. As per the emf e!uation (7 F G.GGf

mA), overflu3ing of the core is

not simply a conse!uence of over voltages with respect to nominal voltage. Rather
overflu3ing occurs when D'f ratio e3ceeds its nominal value. 4ence, over voltage
protection is implemented after normali(ing the terminal voltage by the fre!uency of the
generator.
Out/of/0te( Protection
2ith modern generators having large :d and 74D transmission having low reactance, it
is liely that the electrical center, a conse!uence of out9of step condition would be within
the generator step9up transformer unit. 0o detect this condition, distance relay looing
into the generator (or into the transformer9generator unit) should be installed. 7ven a
distance relay used for loss9of9field protection will pic9up on such power swing. If the
swing moves out of the relay characteristic, before the timer runs down, then, no trip
action will be initiated. 4owever, if the swing persists for sufficient time, the loss9of9
e3citation distance relay will operate on power swing.
A Note on Nu1erica' Protection
At this point of time, there are no new principles to be introduced from the numerical
relaying perspective. 0he differential protection scheme can be implemented by either
using sample comparison (time domain approach) or by using phasor comparison
(fre!uency domain approach). 0ime domain approach can be faster, than phasor
comparison approach. 0he 1$0 approach with %9cycle window will re!uire one cycle to
latch on to the phasor. Usually, the time constant associated with 1+ offset currents for
generator faults will be large. 4ence, decaying dc offset can be appro3imated by dc
signal, which implies the full cycle 1$0 will be able to reBect it. 4owever, with half9cycle
estimation, mimic impedance should be used. -ample comparison approach is immune to
dc9offset problem but building reliability with such an approach re!uires a polling
scheme. In other words, reliability is obtained at the cost of time by ascertaining that
successive samples return the trip decision. *ne can even implement a hybrid approach
where in one switches from time domain to fre!uency domain approach. 0he decision to
switch will depend upon the speed of rotation.