2016 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition - Latin America (PES T&D-LA).

Morelia, Mexico

Unblocking Function of Distance Relay during Power

Swing Based on Modal Analysis

S. Torres, H. Esponda, M. Andrade, and E. Vzquez M.R.A. Paternina, A. Zamora, and Juan M. Ramirez
UANL CINVESTAV
Monterrey, Mexico Guadalajara, Mexico
sion.t@live.com, espondahdz@gmail.com, mrarrieta[azamora][jramirez]@gdl.cinvestav.mx
manuel.andrade@uanl.mx, evazquezmtz@gmail.com

AbstractIn this paper a novel algorithm for unblocking
distance relays during power swing is described. The algorithm
is based on the participation factors drawn from a variance-
covariance matrix, which is built by incremental currents after a
fault takes place. By modal analysis techniques, the eigenvalues
and participation factors are calculated and they are used for
identifying a three-phase fault condition under power swing
conditions. The algorithms performance is verified through
simulation by electromagnetic transient software under different
conditions. The analyzed scenarios demonstrate that the
proposal algorithm correctly identifies a fault when the distance
relay is blocked during a power swing.
Index Terms Distance relay, Modal analysis, Power
oscillation, Unblocking
supporting by blinders and timers and the use of negative and
zero sequence impedance in order to unblock distance relay
under swing conditions. However, if a symmetrical fault
occurs during power swing, the method can fail to unblock
the relay because both are balanced phenomena [1]-[2], [5]-
[6].
Impedance trajectory seen by relay
Z2
Z1
Power swing
X()

I. INTRODUCTION
Any sudden change in a power system as a short-circuit,
connection/disconnection of large loads, generator unit
disconnection, line switching, or automatic breaker closing
could cause the power swing phenomenon [1]. A power Three-phase
swing may be misinterpreted by distance relays as a fault fault Disturbance
condition, because the impedance trajectory move into the inception
relay operating zone, yielding a false operation of the
protecting scheme. In order to avoid such event, modern
distance relays elements usually have the power swing R()
blocking (PSB) function [2]. This function is used to block Fig. 1. Mho characteristic for symmetrical fault under power swing (adapted
distance relay operation during a power swing and prevent an from [3]).
undesirable trip. However, if a fault occurs inside the relay
In [2] the method of swing center voltage (SCV) is
protective zone during the power swing, this function must be
proposed for identifying symmetrical faults under swings,
removed allowing the relay operation.
and unblocking the distance element. The method takes
The main challenge to unblock a distance relay is to
roughly two-cycle for the fault identification. An unblocking
detect a symmetrical fault into the relay operating zone
method based on the derivate of the three-phase active and
during a power swing, Fig. 1 [3]. Under this scenario the
reactive power is described in [7]. A method based in the
impedance calculated by the distance relay during a power
decaying dc component is proposed in [8], but there are not
swing is almost the same to the value that would be
tests with currents waveform without dc-offset. Resistance
calculated under a three-phase fault at the same point [4].
decrement method to unblock distance element is proposed in
Several methods have been proposed to allow the
[5], which is based in the fact that the resistance component is
operation of the relay when a symmetrical fault takes place
constant when a symmetrical fault occurs. However, the
during a power swing. The most conventional method are
resistance component is not constant during a fault condition
based by measuring the impedances rate of change,

E. Vzquez and J.M. Ramrez acknowledge support from CONACyT

978-1-5090-2875-7/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

 2016 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition - Latin America (PES T&D-LA). Morelia, Mexico

with dc-offset. A morphology mathematical method to

differentiate symmetrical faults under power swing, and where, and are the left and right eigenvectors,
unblock the element protection is proposed in [9], exhibiting respectively, and is a diagonal matrix made up by
a complex design process and structure. A wavelet transform eigenvalues. These are represented by (3) and (4),
is proposed in [10] to identify symmetrical faults during
power swings and unblock the distance element. However, =
requires a high computational burden. Other methods (3)
=
proposed to unblock distance relays are based in neural
networks [11] and fuzzy logic [12], although these methods
require training data and retrained depending of the system
configuration.
= (4)
The main motivation of this research lies on developing
novel solutions for unblocking distance relays, when faults
arise under oscillating conditions. The proposal is based on
modal analysis enabling to differentiate between power The participation factors are calculated using the
swings and symmetrical faults. eigenvalues and eigenvectors in (5). The sum of the values of
Thus, in this paper a novel unblocking algorithm is all entries of a single row or column of P is always equal to 1
proposed. The algorithm is based on the eigenvalues and [16],
participation factors of a variance-covariance matrix, which is
built by incremental currents when a fault takes place during
a power swing. The eigenvalues and participation factors are
= (5)
calculated and employed for identifying a fault under power
swing condition. The algorithm uses the largest eigenvalue to
characterize the transient response, by analyzing the behavior
of its magnitude and assessing a threshold condition, the The largest eigenvalue is used to characterize the transient
algorithm may identify a three-phase fault. response, analyzing the behavior of its magnitude and
To validate the proposed algorithm, different faults are assessing a threshold condition for identifying faults under
simulated in DIgSILENT Power Factory software [13]. The swing conditions.
test system assessment can be easily addressed by this tool
because the tool simplifies the mathematical modelling and
the database generation for different fault types and faults
inception times. Likewise, its models allow representing
different transient phenomena in an accurate way. The test
system is a 230 kV power system, where several faults are
simulated, according to the IEC 60909 standard [14]. The
attained results exhibit a correct identification of three-phase
faults inside the relays operating zone during a power swing.
The proposal may be used as a new function for unblocking
distance relays under oscillating conditions.

II. MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS

Modal analysis foundations are described in this section.
The proposed strategy is depicted in Fig. 2. The instantaneous
secondary currents , , are filtered through a Delta
filter [15], enabling to determine the incremental
currents , , .
Then, the variance-covariance matrix is built by a set of
samples of the incremental currents, where the diagonal
elements consist of the computed variance for each current
channel, and the off-diagonal elements are made up by the
covariance between phases. Thus, matrix is defined by

, ,
= , , (1)
, ,
Fig. 2. Flowchart for the unblocking function.
It is updated by a sliding window, regarding N=32 samples
per cycle. The modal decomposition is expressed by The computational complexity for the proposal is given by
the variance, covariance, and the modal analysis complexity
applied to (1), that is, + + + ,
= (2)
 2016 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition - Latin America (PES T&D-LA). Morelia, Mexico

where N stands for the number of samples, d is the number of
variables in , d = 2, and n=3 is the dimension of n x n. The
computational performance is compared with the maximum
wavelet singular value (MWSV) based on wavelet transform
and proposed in [17]. The computational burden associated to
the wavelet matrix is given by NL , where N is a
signals length, L is the filters length, and m is a
decomposition level. Thus, the DWT computational burden is
defined by NL , that becomes lower than the fast Fourier
transform (FFT), which is Nlog N. In [17], L = and m =
and the SVD complexity of a r x n matrix W is given by
+ + . This makes feasible the variance-
covariance matrix modal decomposition implementation.
III. TEST SYSTEM
The test system in Fig. 3 is implemented in DIgSILENT
Power Factory with the characteristics exhibited in [18]-[19].
The simulation is executed with 1920 Hz of sampling
frequency (Fj). This frequency has been established assuming
32 samples per cycle, with a fixed step of 520.8333x10-6 s. A
measurement stage is installed at the relays location, which
includes current transformers (CT) and potential transformers
(PT), regarding the accuracy parameters according to IEC
[20]-[22], respectively. The main characteristics of each
inception in a transmission line; and (ii) power swing caused
by tripping generation.
A. Power swing after a fault inception
In this section, a three-phase short-circuit is applied at the
middle of the transmission line between buses 7-8, Fig. 3.
Currents and voltage channels stemming from relay are
exhibited in Fig. 4, where there is a reclosing of breakers at
0.3 s lasting 6-cycle, which yields the power swing of low-
frequency equal to 6.5 Hz in the currents (bottom plot in Fig.
4). Likewise, a frequency component at 70 Hz arises in the
voltage channels after this disturbance. As expected, the low
frequency component does not come out in the signal voltage.
Afterward, a three-phase fault takes place at 0.5093 s. This is
the instant when the impedance estimated by the relay
intersects the lines impedance on its Mho characteristic. This
event leads the distance relay for operating under swing
condition and within the Mho-characteristic. This fact
illustrates that the distance relay must be blocked and the
ocurrence of the fault requires its unblocking. Mho-
characteristic is accomplished using the phasor estimation of
the voltage and currents positive sequence through the fast
Fourier transform (FFT), with one-cycle of sliding window
[23].
Current channels
200
phasea
Current (A)

component are summarized in Table I. phaseb

RELAY 0 phasec
PT F Fault inception
200
2 7 8 9 3 at 0.5093s
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Samples, Fs=1.92 kHz

CT Voltage channels
G2 T2 T3 G3 100
phasea
Voltage (V)

phaseb
Load A phasec
0

100
5 6
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Samples, Fs=1.92 kHz
Load B Load C Waveforms spectra
4 2
ia
Amplitude

T1 6.5 Hz ib
1 ic
1
0
G1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
1
Va
Fig. 3. Single-line diagram of the modified WSCC 9-bus system.
Amplitude

Vb
0.5 Vc
TABLE I. CT AND PT PARAMETERS 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Frequency (Hz)
Current transformer (CT) Potential transformer (PT)
Fig. 4. Current and voltage signals under three-phase fault and power swing.
Ratio: Ratio:
Top plot: Transient behavior. Bottom plot: Frequency spectra.
100 A / 5 A 230 kV / 0.115 kV
Secondary impedance: Secondary impedance: The time evolution of the variance-covariance matrix
0.5839 0.2526 eigenvalues are computed through (2), providing their
Secondary resistance: Primary impedance:
calculation at each sliding window, Fig. 5. The tripping signal
0.1 0.1841
Secondary connection: Primary and secondary connection:
for the unblocking function is executed when the current
Y Y/Y largest eigenvalue reaches three times its value half-cycle
before, Fig. 6.
IV. UNBLOCKING FUNCTION PERFORMANCE
The performance of the proposal is assessed for multiple
events according to the strategy in Fig. 2. The following
sections describe such events as: (i) power swing after a fault
 2016 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition - Latin America (PES T&D-LA). Morelia, Mexico

Incremental currents Mho characteristic

200 200
ia Prefault RXDFT
ib condition
ic 150
100
Current (A)

100
Block at 0.445s

X ( )
0 First sample inside Event
50 Unblock at 0.518s evolution

100
First sample
out at 0.458s
0 Swing condition
Fault inception
200
Fault condition
50
at 0.509s

20
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
R ()
Eigenvalues of the variancecovariance matrix 1.5
Unblock at 0.458s Block at 0.509s
15000 3
Block at 0.445s Unblock at 0.518s
1
2

Trip
1
Magnitude

10000
0.5
Pre-fault condition
5000
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s)
Fig. 7. Top plot: Mho characteristic for symmetrical fault under power
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 swing. Bottom plot: Time evolution of the block and unblock function.
Time (s)
Fig. 5. Top plot: Incremental currents after Delta filter. Bottom plot: B. Power swing caused by tripping generation
Eigenvalues computation per window under three-phase fault and swing
condition. This scenario presents the performance of unblocking
function in distance relay due to a tripping of machine G2 in
Flag 3 Fault
1.5
WSCC power grid, Fig. 3, given rise to a low-frequency
Tripping at 0.5183s component of 18 Hz. Incremental currents are stemming from
the Delta filter after a measurement stage in the top plot of
1 Fig. 8. The bottom plot in Fig. 8 displays the computation of
eigenvalues per window under swing condition caused by the
Trip

tripping generator. The time evolution of the aparent

0.5
Fault inception at 0.5093s
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Time (s)
Fig. 6. Signal for the unblocking function under three-phase fault and power
swing.
Fig. 7 displays the behavior when the relay is unblocked
once three-phase fault takes place during the power swing
condition. Within the elapsed time between 0.445 s and 0.458
s, the relay remains blocked during the first swing condition.
For the second oscillation, the relay is blocked at 0.509 s.
However, just at this time a three-phase fault is applied and
the relay is unblocked at 0.518 s. The time elapsed to detect
the fault becomes 9x10-3 s, this is faster than the result
presented in [2]; it is a zero-setting power-swing blocking
protection actually used in commercial distance relays.
impedance is presented onto Mho characteristic in the top
plot of Fig. 9, which is built from the voltage and current
estimated phasors by means of the FFT. Mho characteristic
illustrates the relays reaching through the transmision line
0.7 0.8 0.9 1
between buses 7 and 8, enabling to notice that the oscillating
behavior crosses it two times. Such fact indicates the relays
blocking and unblocking, as is depicted in the bottom plot of
Fig. 9.
Finally, it is noteworthy to highlight that the proposed
algorithm generates a flat signal, as noticed in Fig. 10. Under
this condition, the tripping signal has not a flag for activating
the unblocking function, since such flag must be generated
only under fault condition.
This remarks how the algorithm can differentiate the
occurrence among disturbances, and send an unblocking
signal to the distance relay unit, independently of the power
swing locus in the R-X complex plane.
 2016 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition - Latin America (PES T&D-LA). Morelia, Mexico

40
Incremental currents critical condition in distance relays under power swing
condition has been evaluated using electromagnetic transient
Current (A)

20
0 ia simulations in order to test the performance of the proposal,
20
ib reaching a reduction in the identification time according to
40
ic reference [2]. All of the evaluated scenarios when a
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 symmetric fault takes place into the relay operation zone
Eigenvalues of the variancecovariance matrix
1000 during a power swing condition, the relay is unblocked
allowing its normal operation. This fact provides more
Magnitude

1
500 effectiveness and reliability to the distance relays for
2
3
identifying faults during oscillations, avoiding its false
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
operation.
Samples An advantage of the algorithm is the time for fault
Fig. 8. Top plot: Incremental currents after Delta filter. Bottom plot:
Eigenvalues computation per window under swing condition caused by
detection that is less than a one-cycle. These results exhibit
generator trip. that the proposed algorithm is able to be incorporated into
600
Mho characteristic distance protection schemes to increase the relays reliability.
RXDFT

400 REFERENCES
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1
0 0.2
Fig. 10. Signal for the unblocking function under power swing.
V.
In this paper, a novel algorithm for unblocking distance
relay during power swing using modal analysis is proposed.
The secondary current samples were filtered and arranged
in a matrix that represents one cycle from the incremental
currents, and a variance-covariance matrix is built from these
data. Modal analysis was applied to this matrix to obtain the
largest eigenvalue to characterize the transient response, and
a threshold was established to differentiate between a fault
and a swing condition based on the eigenvalues behavior. The
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