Unit – I :

Introduction
To
Protective Relaying
Basic Ideas:
An electric power system should ensure the
availability of electrical energy without interruption
to every load connected to the system.

Since H.V. T’lines carries a bulk power over the

several hundred kms & all these lines are generally
O.H. & exposed to the atmosphere, therefore many
chances of their breakdown due to storms, falling of
objects, S.C. due to birds, wind, damage to the
insulator etc.
These breakdown results into mechanical damage
as well as Electrical fault. One major trouble to the
continuous supply is the shunt fault or short circuit,
which produces a sudden & sometimes violent
change in the system operation.

Protective relays & relaying systems detect

abnormal conditions like faults in the electrical
circuit & operate automatic switchgear to isolate
faulty equipment from the system as quickly as
possible. This prevents the damage at the fault
location & reduces the possibilities of spreading
the fault into the system.
It is the function of protective relays in association with the
switchgear to avert the consequences of the faults.
The switchgear must be capable to interrupt the normal
current as well as fault current. Whereas, protective relay
must be able to recognize an abnormal condition in the
power system & take suitable steps to ensure its removal
with the least possible disturbance to the normal
operation.
i.e. relays distinguishes normal & abnormal conditions
Note: Prot. Relays does not prevent the appearance of the
fault.
Beside the relays & CB, there are several
other components in the protective
relaying scheme which includes CT’s, PT’s,
time delay relays, auxiliary relays, trip
circuit, secondary circuit, auxiliaries &
accessories etc. Each component is equally
important.

Protective Relaying is a team work of these

components.
 To activate alarm circuit or to close the trip circuit of
the CB.

 To disconnect the abnormally operating part to prevent

the subsequent faults.
e.g. O/L protection of the machine to prevent
insulation failure.

 To localize the effect of fault by disconnecting the faulty

part from the healthy part.
e.g. If a machine is disconnected immediately after a
winding fault, only a few coils may need to replace.

 To disconnect the faulty part quickly so as to improve

the stability, service continuity & system performance.
Faults & Causes:

 A fault in its electrical equipment is

defined as a “defect in its electric circuit
due to which the flow of current is
diverted from the intended path”

 Normally, faults are caused by breaking of

conductors OR due to failure of
insulations.

 In general, fault impedance is LOW & fault

current is HIGH.
General Faults are…….

 symmetrical fault  R-Y-B-g or R-Y-B

 Double line faults  R-Y , Y-B, B-R

 Double line to ground faults  R-Y-g, Y-B-g, B-R-g

 Line to ground fault  R-g, Y-g, B-g

 % of Total fault
O.H. line 50 %
Cables 10%
Switchgear 15%
Transformer 12%
CT’s , PT’s 2%
Control Equipment 3%
Miscellaneous 8%
 % occurrence

L-g Fault 85%

L-L Fault 8%
L-L-g Fault 5%
L-L-L Fault 2 % or less
 The certain conditions called
abnormalities for which power system
behaves normally.
e.g.
In case of generator:
 Unbalance loading
 Field failure
 Over loading / over voltage
 Prime mover failure
In Transformer:
 Abnormalities due to over heating
 Over fluxing
In Induction Motor:
 Run abnormally due to under voltage
 Over loading
 Unbalance loading
 Stalling

The sustained abnormal operation

of the P.S. is equally harmful as faults.
1. Generator

2. Transformer (step up & step down)

3. Bus-bar

4. Transmission Line

5. Feeders

6. Instrument Transformer (CT’s & PT’s)

7. Protective Devices (CB, arrester, relays etc)

8. Miscellaneous (battery room, wiring, relay, panel etc)

In power system, there is an economic limit to the
amount that can be spent on protective system.

The protective system to be employed depends

on the many factors such as…..
 probability of occurrence of fault
 Probability of failure of equipments
 Importance of equipment
 Cost of the system or plant
 Location of the plant

However in general, protective gear should not

cost more than 5% of the total cost of the plant or
system to be protected.
Basic connection for a protective relaying
systems are shown in above figure.

Whenever the fault occurs on a feeder,

C.T. transmits the fault current to the
current coil of protective relay (if relay is a
two quantity relay, P.T. transmits the
voltage under fault condition to the
protective coil of the relay).

The relay operates as per its char.,

settings & closes the contact.
 CB, CT, PT & protective relays are said to be
switchgear component.
 The Conceptual diagram of relay shown below.
 Since the power system consists of the equipments of
varied nature (generator, X’mer, X’line, b/b etc. ), it is
divided into a number of protective zones each
covering one type of equipment.

 There will be CB’s & relays associated with each zone.

 Normally, the zones of protection are overlapped so

that there is no BLIND spot which is unprotected.

 The portion which remains unprotected so that a fault

occurring in this portion, would not be cleared at all, is
known as “blind spot”.

 These zones are decided by the location of CT’s.

SENSITIVITY, SELECTIVITY, AND SPEED :

 “Sensitivity”, “selectivity” and “speed” are terms commonly

used to describe the functional characteristics of any
protective-relaying equipment.

 All of them are implied in the foregoing considerations of

primary and back-up relaying.

 Any relaying equipment must be sufficiently sensitive so that

it will operate reliably, when required, under the actual
condition that produces the least operating tendency.
 It must be able to select between those conditions for
which prompt operation is required and those for which
no operation, or time-delay operation, is required. And
it must operate at the required speed.

Reliability :
 Reliability means trustworthiness & it s qualitative
terms.

 The protective relaying should not fail to operate in the

event of faults in the protective zone.

 Also there should not be any fault in the protective

system. Protective system should not operate
unnecessarily.
Reliability of protective systems is assessed from
statistical data & it can not be easily specified in
terms of mathematical expression with certainty.
i.e. it can be expressed as a probability of failure.

Failure is not confined to protective gear but may

also be due to breaker defects. Therefore every
component & circuit involved in fault clearance must
be regarded as a potential source of failure.
Discrimination:

Protective system should be able to discriminate

between fault & load conditions even when the
minimum fault current is less than the maximum
over load current.
i.e. relay should be able to distinguish
between a fault & an overload.

e.g. In interconnected systems, there will

be power swings, which should also be ignored
by the distance relays protecting transmission
line.
Each relay in a protective scheme performs a
certain function & it responds in a given
manner to a certain type of change in the
circuit quantities.

e.g. one type of relay may operate when the current

increases above a certain magnitude, while another
may compare current & voltage to operate when the
ratio V/I is less than a given value (V/I < Z specified).

i.e. 1st relay is known as O/C relay

& 2nd relay known as under impedance relay.
 Main or Primary protective schemes are used as
the first line of defense.

 There must be a second line of defense provided

by back-up schemes, which will clear the fault if
the main protection fails due to some reasons.

 The main protection can be fail due to failure of

one of the components in the protective system
such as relays, CT, PT, trip circuit etc.

 In case of main protection fails, back up protection

act as a main protection.

 Back up protection is given against S.C. faults and

generally not for other abnormalities.
Most of the relay in P.S. operate by virtue of
the current/voltage supplied by CT & PT
connected in various combinations to the
system element that is to be protected.

The relay used in PS are of electromechanical

type or microprocessor based.

The electromechanical relays are mainly

based on two operating principle.
(a) Electromagnetic Attraction
(b) Electromagnetic Induction
Electromagnetic induction relays operate
on the principle of I.M. & widely used for
protective relaying purposes involving AC
quantities (not with DC).

An induction relay essentially consist of …

 pivoted aluminum disc
 Two alternating mag. Fields of the same frequency,
but displaced in time & space.
 Torque in the disc produced by the interaction of
mag. fields of quantity with the currents induced in
the disc by other.
Shaded Pole Structure:
Watt Hour Meter Type Structure:
Induction Cup Type Structure:
Attraction Armature Type:
Solenoid type Balanced beam type
 The relay operating time is an important
characteristics of the relay.

 The relay operating time is “the time

span from instant when the actuating
element is energized to the instant when
the relay contacts are closed ”.

 Sometimes it is desirable & necessary to

control the operating time of a relay. For
this purpose, mechanical accessories are
used with relay.
Instantaneous Relay:
It is one in which no intentional time delay
is provided.

In this case relay contacts are closed

immediately after current in the relay coil
exceeds the minimum calibrated value.

Although, there will be a short time

interval between the instant of pick-up &
the closing of relay contacts, no intentional
time delay has been added.
 The instantaneous relays have operating
time less than 0.1 sec.

 Solenoid or induction type of relay are the

example of this relay.

Inverse-time Relay:
 It is one in which the operating time is
approx. inversely proportional to the
magnitude of the actuating quantity.
 At higher values, the time of operation of
the relay decreases steadily with the
increase of current.
Definite Time Lag Relay:

 In these type of relay, there is a definite time elapse

between the instant of pick-up & the closing of relay
contacts.

 This particular time setting is independent of the

amount of current through the relay coil, being the
same for all values of current in excess of pick-up
value.

 Practically, all inverse-time relays are also provided

with definite minimum time feature in order that the
relay may never become instantaneous in its action
for very long over-loads.
1. Pick-up Current: It is the minimum current in the relay
coil at which relay starts to operate.

2. Current setting: It is often desirable to adjust the pick-

up current to any required value. This is known as
“current setting” & usually achieved by the use of
tappings on the relay operating coil.

Normally, the values assigned to each tap are expressed in

terms of % full load rating of C.T with which the relay is
associated & represents the value above which the disc
commences to rotate & finally close the trip circuit.

Pickup Current = Rated Secondary current of CT x Current setting

For example,
Suppose that in O/C relay, the current setting = 125
%
& is connected to a C.T. of 400/5 A
i.e. The rated secondary current of CT = 5 A
Hence, Pickup Value = 5 x 1.25 = 6.25 A

i.e. Relay will actually operate if

the relay coil current ≥ 6.25 A

 The current plug setting usually range from 50 to

200 % in steps of 25% for O/C relay AND 10% to
70% in steps of 10% for the earth leakage relay.
3. Plug Setting Multiplier:

It is the ratio of fault current in the

relay coil to the pick-up current.

PSM = Fault Current in relay coil / pick up current

i.e.

PSM =Fault current in the relay coil/ Rated secondary current

of CT x
current setting
Example,
Suppose relay is connected to a 400/5 A C.T &
set at 150% with primary fault current of
2400 A, the PSM can be calculated as,

Pickup value = Rated sec. current of CT x current

setting
= 5 x 1.5 = 7.5 Amp
Fault current in relay coil,
= 2400 x 5/400 = 30 amp
Therefore,
PSM = 30 / 7.5 = 4
4. Time-setting Multiplier:
A relay is generally provided with control to
adjust the time of operation, this adjustment is
known as “time setting multiplier”

The time setting dial is calibrated from 0 to 1 in

steps of 0.05 sec. (fig.)
These figures are multipliers to be used to
convert the time derived from time/PSM curve
into the actual operating time.
Exa. If the time setting = 0.1
& time obtained from time/PSM curve = 3 sec
Then,
Actual relay operating time = 3 x 0.1
= 0.3 sec
i.e. actual operating time is calculated by
multiplying the time-setting multiplier with the
time obtained from time/psm curve of the relay
(for TMS = 1).
 In general, PSM represents the no. of times the relay
current is in excess of the current setting.
 If PSM is 10, then the time of operation is 3 sec for TMS =
1. The actual time of operation is obtained by multiplying
this time by the time setting multiplier.
Quantity must be known….
 Time/PSM curve
 Current setting
 Time setting
 Fault current
 Current transformer ratio

1. Convert the fault current into the relay coil current

by using CT ratio.
2. Express the relay current as a multiple of current
setting. i.e. calculate PSM
3. From Time/PSM curve of the relay, read off the
time of operation for the calculated PSM.
4. Determine the actual time of operation by
multiplying the above time of the relay by TMS in
use.
 Determine the time of operation of 5 A, 3
sec O/C relay having a current setting of 125% &
a time multiplier of 0.6 connected to supply
circuit through a 400/5 amp CT when the circuit
carries a fault current of 4000 A. Use the curve
shown above.

Rated Secondary current of CT = 5 A

Pickup current = 5 x 1.25 = 6.25 A
Fault current in Relay coil = 4000 x 5/400 = 50 A
Hence, PSM = 50 / 6.25 = 8
Corresponding to the PSM of 8, from the
given curve the time of operation is 3.5
sec.

Therefore,
Actual relay operating time,
= 3.5 x time setting
= 3.5 x 0.6
= 2.1 sec
Thank You