An Appropriate Disconnecting Time of Distributed

Generation by Optimal Protection Setting and

Transformer Connection Type
Chawin Prapanukool and Surachai Chaitusaney
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University
254 Phayathai Rd. Pathumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Email: chawin.prapanukool@gmail.com, surachai.c@chula.ac.th

Abstract—This paper analyzes the impacts of Distributed
Generation (DG) disconnecting time on utility and DG, especially
the impact on utility reclosing time. The reclosing time is a
temporary interval that a utility protective device is opened after
a fault occurrence. Generally, DG must be disconnected before
the end of this reclosing time. Mostly, DG may be requested to be
disconnected after a fault occurrence instantaneously. However,
the latest IEEE 1547.2 Interconnecting Standard recommends
that DG shall remain connected in the system for a period of
time. This standard causes both advantages and disadvantages
for utility and DG. The remaining DG connecting time pay an
important role to the consequent impacts on the connected
network, especially protection system. Hence, an appropriate DG
disconnecting time is investigated in this paper. The solution is
achieved by setting Time Dial Setting (TDS), Pickup Current,
Terminal Voltage of DG as well as the types of Transformer
Connection with Genetic Algorithm (GA).
Keywords - Distributed generation; Disconnecting time;
Genetic algorithm; IEEE 1547.2 interconnecting standard;
Reclosing time
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, Distributed Generation (DG) is gradually
becoming an important part in electricity generation business.
According to the Power Development Plan (PDP) 2010 of
Thailand [1], the DG powered by renewable energy tends to
increase. However, the increasing number of DG may lead to
adverse impacts on power systems.
In general, when a fault occurs in distribution system, at
least one utility protective device will open its contact to
separate a fault area from the healthy area. The utility
protective device will open the contact for a period of time, and
after that it may reclose again at a so-called “auto-reclosing
time” [2] or “reclosing time” [3]. According to [2] the IEEE
Automatic Reclosing Standard, the definition of auto-reclosing
is “The elapsed time between the energizing of the breaker trip
coil and the closing of the breaker contacts to re-establish the
circuit on the auto-reclose operation”.
In typical, during a fault occurrence, DG must be
disconnected instantly. However, in the latest IEEE 1547.2
Interconnecting Standard, it is recommended that DG shall
remain connected in the system for a period of time [4]. The
standard provides both advantages and disadvantages for the
utility and DG. As for advantages, DG can support power
quality in the system, e.g. the reduction of voltage sags in
sensitivity equipment [5]. Nonetheless, it also has many
disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is the impacts of DG
on protection system, e.g. protection blinding, nuisance
tripping, fuse-recloser mis-coordination, islanding, out-of-
phase, etc. [6],[7]. The occurrence and severity of the
mentioned impacts will be much relevant to the utility
reclosing time as investigated later in Section III.
Most of the past researches classify the impacts of DG into
many aspects. However, they do not focus the impact of utility
reclosing time [6]. Some researches investigate on the impact
of reclosing time by focusing only the operation of utility
recloser, but the DG protection is not included [8]. Therefore,
this paper analyzes the impact of utility reclosing time in
conjunction with the DG protection. In addition, an appropriate
DG disconnecting time is presented by using optimal setting of
DG protection, i.e. TDS, Pickup Current, Terminal Voltage, as
well as the types of Transformer Connection by Genetic
Algorithm Technique.
II. PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION SYSTEM
A. Protection Coordination
Basically, there are three basic protective devices in
distribution systems, i.e. fuse, recloser and circuit breaker. As
an example, the coordination of protective devices when a
temporary fault occurs behind recloser is shown in Fig. 1 [7].
Recloser in fast-mode operates first. Next, it is a fuse in
Minimum Melting (MM) and Total Clearing (TC) conditions
respectively. After that, it is a slow-mode recloser. The last
operating device is Circuit Breaker (CB).
Figure 1. Recloser, fuse and circuit breaker coordination.
The operating times of CB and recloser can be calculated
by the inverse-time overcurrent tripping characteristic, as
shown in the following Equation [13].
A
t ( I ) = TDS ( + B) (1)
p
M -1

978-1-4673-2025-2/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE

where, TDS is Time Dial Setting, t is operating time (s), I is a
fault current seen by protective device (kA), M is If/Ipickup (Ipickup
is relay current set point) and A, B, p are constants for
particular curve characteristics.
B. Transformer Connection
The different types of DG transformer connection affect the
zero sequence impedances differently [10]. This makes the
types of transformer connection significantly affect the
unbalance fault calculation, e.g. single-line-to-ground fault. To
determine an appropriate DG disconnecting time, the types of
transformer connection are therefore necessary.
C. Reclosing Time
Auto-reclosing time or reclosing time is the time that utility
protective devices reclose when a fault occurs, as shown in Fig.
2. Normally, the reclosing device will be the recloser as
adopted in this paper. The IEEE 1547.2 Interconnecting
Standard requires that the first reclosing must occurs in 15 to
20 cycles after the fault occurrence [4]. During the reclosing
time, if DG remains connected in the system, the islanding is
possible to occur. The longer the period of reclosing time is,
the longer the period of islanding becomes. In addition, when a
contact of protective device closes again, it may also cause the
out-of-phase problem.
connecting time will affect the power system as analyzed in
Tables I and II.
According to Fig 3, in this research, DG disconnecting time
is divided into four intervals, i.e. t1, t2, t3 and t4. To begin with,
t1 is the time that DG is disconnected instantaneously. t2 is the
time that DG is disconnected before the recloser opens its
contact, but slower than t1. t3 is the time that DG is
disconnected during the reclosing time. t4 is the time that DG is
disconnected after recloser closes its contact again.
As shown in Tables I and II, if DG disconnecting time is in
t1, it may be unnecessarily condition, particularly in case of a
temporary fault occurrence. The instantaneously disconnecting
DG will increase impact of voltage sags severely. If DG
disconnecting time is in t2, DG will support bus voltages for a
period of time. In addition, it may be possible that the fault will
be cleared before DG is disconnected. This condition will
reduce damage from voltage sags on sensitivity equipment. It
will be a directly benefit for DG owner. If the DG
disconnecting time is in t3, the islanding, getting supplied by
DG, may occur. For the utility perspective, islanding is not
preferable as it is harmful to utility operators and electric
devices. However, DG owner and electricity end-users may
prefer the islanding as it can reduce the blackout area. Next, if
the DG disconnecting time is in t4, the out-of-phase between
utility and DG may occur. It is an undesirable condition for
both utility and DG, since it possibly causes severe damages to
both of them.

Figure 2. Reclosing time.

III. IMPACT OF DG DISCONNECTING TIME
According to the IEEE 1547.2 Interconnecting Standard,
when a fault occurs, the standard recommends that DG shall
remain connected in the system for a period of time, depending Figure 3. DG disconnecting time in 4 intervals.
also on the connecting bus voltage. The remaining DG
TABLE I. IMPACTS OF DG DISCONNECTING TIME (DG BEHIND RECLOSER)
Impact on Utility Impact on DG and electricity end-users
Time Fault occurs in front of recloser Fault occurs behind recloser Fault occurs in front of recloser Fault occurs behind recloser
t1 - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily
- Reduction of reliability - Reduction of reliability - Voltage sags in sensitivity - Voltage sags in sensitivity
equipment equipment
t2 - Fuse-recloser mis-coordination - Fuse-recloser mis-coordination - Fault may be cleared before DG is - Fault may be cleared before DG is
- Blinding of Protection - Blinding of Protection disconnected from the system disconnected from the system
- Reduction of voltage sags - Reduction of voltage sags
t3 - Islanding - Islanding - Islanding - Islanding
- Reduction of black out area - Reduction of black out area
t4 - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase
TABLE II. IMPACTS OF DG DISCONNECTING TIME (DG IN FRONT OF RECLOSER)
Impact on Utility Impact on DG and electricity end-users
Time Fault occurs in front of recloser Fault occurs behind recloser Fault occurs in front of recloser Fault occurs behind recloser
t1 - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily - DG is disconnected unnecessarily
- Reduction of reliability - Reduction of reliability - Voltage sags in sensitivity - Voltage sags in sensitivity
equipment equipment
t2 - Fuse-recloser mis-coordination - Fuse-recloser mis-coordination - Fault may be cleared before DG is - Fault may be cleared before DG is
- Blinding of Protection - Blinding of Protection disconnected from the system disconnected from the system
- Reduction voltage sags - Reduction voltage sags
t3 - Blinding of Protection - - -
t4 - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase - Out-of-phase
 IV. AN APPOPRIATE DG DISCONNECTING TIME load points accounting for 14.461 MVA [11]. The research
According to Sections I and III, if DG remains connected in assumes tb as 0.3 s and the reclosing time as 2 s.
the system during a fault, DG tends to provide more negative A. Simulation Procedure
effects for a utility. The most worrying impacts are the To show that DG can support bus voltages during a fault
islanding and the out-of-phase problems. On the contrary, the occurrence, while the islanding and the out-of-phase problems
installation of DG in the system seems to have more are prevented. This research divides the fault simulations into
two scenarios. Scenario I is a fault occurrence in the system
advantages for DG owner. Therefore, this research will
without the installation of DG. Scenario II is a fault occurrence
investigate the DG disconnecting time which is proper for both in the system with the installation of DG behind recloser. The
of utility and DG owner. For utility, when the recloser is about case when DG is connected in front of recloser is not
to open, DG will be disconnected as fast as possible. For DG, considered because the islanding will not occur. Moreover, this
when a fault occurs, the research will simulate the system with research compares voltages during the fault occurrence of both
the installation of DG for supporting voltage sags until the 3 and SLG faults.
recloser contact opens (junction of t2 and t3). These settings
Scenario I: System without DG
will decrease the islanding duration and prevent the out-of- Considering Fig. 4, if a fault occurs in front of recloser, the
phase problem, respectively. Noted that other impacts on utility recloser will not operate. Therefore, the simulation will
protection will be put out of the scope of this research for consider a fault occurrence at Bus 14 (behind recloser), as an
simplicity. example. Table III shows the simulation result where bus
To fulfill the mentioned purposes, the following objective voltages drop dramatically for both 3 and SLG faults, when
is formulated. the recloser does not reclose its contact yet. In addition, the
n black out occurs during the utility reclosing time.
Objective function = ∑ (ti − tb ) (2)
TABLE III. VOLTAGE SAGS IN 3 AND SLG (WITHOUT DG)
i =1 Single-line-to-ground fault Three-phase fault
where ti is disconnecting time when a fault occurs at bus i in Bus in front of Bus behind Bus in front of Bus behind
seconds, tb is time period starting from the fault occurs until the TIME recloser recloser recloser recloser
recloser opens (s) as shown in Fig. 3, n is total number of buses Bus Voltage Bus Voltage Bus Voltage Bus Voltage
where the fault can occur. (p.u.) (p.u.) (p.u.) (p.u.)
The optimization constraints comprise the system 2 0.536 4 0.210 2 0.320 4 0.119
Before a 3 0.384 5 0.220 3 0.223 5 0.122
conventional operating limits and DG protection setting litmis, recloser 6 0.543 14 0.000 6 0.322 14 0.000
i.e. Power flow equations, System voltage limits, Line flow opens its 8 0.545 16 0.222 8 0.323 16 0.123
limits, DG TDS limits, Total time limits, DG pickup current contact 10 0.396 18 0.233 10 0.227 18 0.126
limits, as shown hereafter. Noted that Disconnecting Time 12 0.394 12 0.226
limits are condition to force DG will be disconnected after tb. 2 0.991 4 2 0.991 4
Recloser
3 0.985 5 3 0.985 5
1) Power flow equations : has
6 0.990 14 6 0.990 14
opened Black Out Black Out
⎡ ΔP ⎤ ⎡ Δθ ⎤ its
8 0.919 16 8 0.990 16
⎢ ... ⎥ = ⎡ J1 J 2 ⎤ ⎢ ... ⎥ contact
10 0.984 18 10 0.984 18
⎢ ⎥ ⎢⎣ J 3 J 4 ⎥⎦ ⎢ ⎥ 12 0.984 12 0.984
⎣⎢ΔQ ⎦⎥ ⎣⎢ Δ | V |⎦⎥
2) System voltage limits :
Vmin ≤ Vi ≤Vmax
3) Line flow limits :
| Sij | ≤ Sij,max
4) DG TDS limits :
0.05 ≤ Vi ≤ 1.00
Figure 4. System without DG.
5) Disconnecting Time limits :
Scenario II: System with DG behind the recloser
tb ≤ ti for all fault bus According to the Section IV, the proposed method is aimed
6) DG pickup current limits : to prevent the islanding and the out-of-phase problems. Hence,
1.2I normal ≤ I normal ≤ 1.5I normal in this simulation, DG is connected at Bus 4 and a fault occurs
As for the transformer connection types, they will be at Bus 14 as an example. During the utility reclosing time, if
considered separately as the fault types are investigated one the fault is not cleared and DG remains connected in the
after another in this paper. system, the islanding will occur as shown in Fig 5.
Consequently, during the reclosing time, DG must be
V. SIMULATION CASES disconnected as fast as possible. In addition, in this scenario,
The proposed method is demonstrated in RBTS Bus 2, the bus voltages during the fault occurrence are higher than
Feeder 1. The test system comprises a 10 MVA substation, 22 those in Scenario I due to the voltage support of DG, as shown
in Table IV.
 Figure 6. The disconnecting time when a fault occurs at Bus 14.
Figure 5. System with DG behind recloser (during the Reclosing time). VI. CONCLUSIONS
TABLE IV. VOLTAGE SAGS IN 3 AND SLG (WITH DG AT BUS 4) This research summarizes the significant impacts of DG
Single-line-to-ground fault Three-phase fault and categorizes them. The impacts are classified by DG
Bus in front of Bus behind Bus in front of Bus behind disconnecting time, locations of DG and the impacts on utility
TIME recloser recloser recloser recloser
and DG. For utility, the installation of DG during a fault
Bus Voltage Bus Voltage Bus Voltage Bus Voltage
(p.u.) (p.u.) (p.u.) (p.u.) occurrence provides more negative outcomes, especially the
2 0.589 4 0.392 2 0.358 4 0.204 islanding and the out-of-phase. On the other hand, for DG, the
Before a 3 0.495 5 0.396 3 0.283 5 0.206 installation of DG can reduce voltage sags for their equipment.
recloser 6 0.592 14 0.000 6 0.361 14 0.000
opens its 8 0.593 16 0.396 8 0.361 16 0.206
Hence, an appropriate disconnecting time is also calculated in
contact 10 0.500 18 0.400 10 0.286 18 0.208 this research from the proper setting obtained by Genetic
12 0.499 12 0.285 Algorithm. The appropriate disconnecting time causes the DG
2 0.997 4 0.286 2 0.997 4 0.118 to remain connected in the system until the recloser contact
Recloser
3 0.997 5 0.294 3 0.997 5 0.121
has
6 0.996 14 0.000 6 0.996 14 0.000
opens. After that, DG will be disconnected as fast as possible.
opened This setting will mitigate the voltage sags, and prevent the out-
8 0.996 16 0.296 8 0.996 16 0.122
its
10 0.996 18 0.305 10 0.996 18 0.125 of-phase and the islanding.
contact
12 0.996 12 0.996
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
B. An appropriate DG disconnecting time The National Research University Project of CHE and the
According to Section IV, the appropriate DG Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endowment Fund (EN262A)
disconnecting time is determined by the proper DG protection REFERENCES
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