2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

Development of 765kV Transformer Protection Relay

Xiaojiao Tang1, Kentaro Kobayashi1, Yasutaka Sonobe1, Masato Okazaki1
1
Toshiba Corporation, Fuchu Complex, Power Systems Protection & Control Department, Tokyo 183-8511, Japan;
2
Toshiba System Technology Corporation, System Solution Department, Tokyo 183-8511, Japan;
3
Toshiba International (Europe), United Kingdom;

Abstract˖Currently, ultra-high-voltage (UHV) systems are under development in many countries around the world in order
to accommodate the increasing levels in demand for electric power. In Korea, the commercialization of a 765kV ul-
tra-high-voltage system has been ongoing since 2002. We have developed a number of protection relays suitable for the UHV
system to enable us to make a contribution to the 765kV UHV projects in Korea. During the development of the protection
relays for the 765kV UHV system we encountered several technical issues of particular interest in relation to the transformer
protection relay.In this paper, we introduce a number of technical issues, such as a development undertaken in response to the
need for an increase in transformer capacity to overcome consequent transmission restrictions, the implementation of a CT
saturation countermeasure and the requirement for high-speed operation of the current differential elements. In order to pro-
vide solutions to these issues, we have undertaken several developments, which we explain in this paper. Furthermore, with
the development of this UHV transformer protection technology, we have been able to complete the commercialization of the
transformer protection relay for the 765kV UHV system.

Keywords˖UHV transformer protection, current balance relay, CT saturation, differential relay

1 Introduction

Currently, ultra-high-voltage(UHV) systems are under devel-

opment in many countries around the world in order to accom-
modate the increasing levels in demand for electric power.
UHV power transmission has the advantages of being able to
improve the stability of high-power transmission systems and
increasing the efficiency of long-distance transmission systems.
These advantages can also be utilized for power transmission
between a metropolis and a remote area. In Korea, the UHV sys-
tem operates at 765kV, and studies for the application of this
technology began in the 1990s. Development of the 765kV
transmission system was completed and has been in service since
2002.[1]
Figure 1 Plan of 765kV UHV power transmission system.
Toshiba has developed a number of protection relays suitable
for the UHV system to enable us to make a contribution to the
765kV UHV projects in Korea. In this paper, amongst a number 2 UHV Transformer and Protection Scheme
of the protection relays that we have developed for the UHV sys-
tem, we have selected to describe our transformer protection relay
in which we have implemented a number of functions specific to Transformer capacity must be increased for application within
the UHV system. a UHV system and hence the size of the transformer unit has to
___________________________________
be enlarged. In this case transportation becomes an issue.[2] In
978-1-4244-9621-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
order to solve this problem, instead of using one huge UHV
transformer, it is usual to construct the transformer using 2 tanks
in parallel. The single-line diagram for a 2-tank transformer is
shown in Figure 2.
As illustrated, the configuration of a 2-tank transformer differs
from that of the conventional single tank arrangement and hence
we were unable to apply the general transformer protection
*Corresponding author (email: kentaro4.kobayashi@toshiba.co.jp) APAP2011 www.apap2011.org


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

scheme used for extra high voltage applications. For the UHV power transformer are connected to a one-and-a-half CB busbar.
transformer protection scheme a differential relay is used to detect According to the one-and-a-half CB busbar system and the pro-
each type of fault separately, and a current balance relay is used to tection scheme for the UHV system introduced earlier, the num-
observe the balance of the current between the two parallel trans- ber of current inputs from the CT to the transformer protection
formers. These protection functions are implemented as main relay are 36 (12 CTs˜3 phases) and the voltage inputs from the
functions within the UHV transformer protection scheme. In Ta- VT used for the transformer back up protection are 9 (3 VTs˜3
ble 1, the main protection functions of the 765kV transformer are phases). In total, the number of analog inputs is increased to 45.
indicated. In order to accommodate this large increase in the number of
analog inputs, 6 Bay Units (BU) are used for the current inputs
 Primary side Secondary side and a single Central Unit (CU) is provided to serve as an arith-
CT-H1 CT-H2 CT-M1 CT-M2
metic unit in which the voltage inputs are introduced for the
whole system. Figure 3 shows the configuration of the system.

VT-H VT-M
CU

CT-HA CT-HB

BU BU

Series
winding
Tertiary side
CT-LA CT-L1
BU BU BU BU
CT-LB CT-L2
Common
winding VT-L
Tertiary
winding


CT-NA CT-NB
To next phase
Figure 3 Unit configuration.

Table 1 Main functions of the 765kV transformer protection.

CT Inputs
Figure 2 Single-line diagram of 2-tank transformer protection
Main function Dev Purpose (Figure 2: CT-
ƶ)
Detect all earth faults within the H1, H2, M1,
3 UHV Transformer Protection Scheme 87U
Primary and Secondary windings M2, NA, NB
Detect phase-to-phase faults in the NA, NB, LA,
To develop the transformer protection relay for the UHV system, 87T
Differential Tertiary winding LB, L1, L2
several development issues had to be considered when compared
Relay Detect phase-to-phase, earth and
with a standard transformer protection relay: 87MA HA, NA, LA
short-circuit faults in Tank-1
(1) Corresponding increase in the number of analog inputs
Detect phase-to-phase, earth and
(2) Configuration of the current balance relay 87MB HB, NB, LB
short-circuit faults in Tank-2
(3) Implementation of a CT- saturation countermeasure
Detect unbalance current between
(4) High-speed operation of the differential relay 61S HA, HB
Series windings
The four issues above are explained in detail in the following Current
Detect unbalance current between
sections of this paper. Balance 61C NA, NB
Common windings
Relay
Detect unbalance current between
3.1 Increase in analog inputs 61T LA, LB
Tertiary windings
In Korea, in general above 345kV the substation busbar configu-
ration is usually a one-and-a-half CB arrangement. Therefore,
both the 765kV primary side and the 345kV secondary side of the 3.2 Current Balance Relay
As introduced above, the current balance relay is an element for


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

detecting the unbalance current between the tanks of two trans-

formers in parallel. Under normal operating conditions, the cur-
rents from each tank are almost equal. However, for any internal
short-circuit faults that occur, the current from each of the tanks
becomes unbalanced. In this case, in accordance with the basic
principle of the current balance relay, relay operation is achieved
by detecting the difference between the currents from the two
tanks, which becomes the operating value (Id). Eq. (1) is the basic
equation based upon the principle of 61S (refer to Table 1) ap-
plied to the series winding.
61S: Id=|IHA - IHB| Eq. (1).
The principle is also applicable when inrush current occurs. If
the inrush current between the two tanks is the same, neither the
operating value Id will exist, nor will any incorrect operation Figure 5 Fault current flowing during external bus fault.
occur. According to the operating principle of the current balance
relay, it is possible to detect an internal fault within a winding
with high speed and sensitivity. When an external fault occurs on the one-and-a-half CB bus-
For the case when both transformers and all of the CTs have the bar (external to Primary-1), the current through the busbar and the
same characteristic, the current balance relay principle can be transformer will combine. This combined current can cause the
applied directly without any problems. However, any differences CT of Primary-1 to become saturated. The differential current
in the characteristics of the two transformers must be considered, error can also cause unwanted operation of the differential relay.
especially when the current cannot be diverted equally. In this As a countermeasure, a waveform discriminating element (WDE),
case, an unwanted operation may occur. For the 765kV system, it adopted from our busbar protection, is utilized as shown in Figure
is usual that initially only one of the two tanks is necessary from 6.
an operational perspective since the load is relatively low when
the transformer is first placed in service. When the load increases,
the second tank can be added to the system later. When the
second tank and its associated CTs are added to the arrangement,
the power system conditions may have changed so that the tank
and CT will probably be different from the first tank and CTs that
were originally installed. Hence, percentage errors caused by
unbalance current may occur. To avoid this problem, a percentage
differential characteristic with restraint current (Ires) is applied to
the current balance relay. The characteristic of the current balance
relay is shown in Figure 4.

Id

D IF Figure 6 Configuration of CT saturation countermeasure.

M inim um Figure 7 shows an example of a saturated CT waveform dur-

oper ating
val ue
Ir es

Figure 4 Characteristic of current balance relay.
3.3 Implementation of a CT- saturation countermeasure
As mentioned earlier, the 765kV busbar arrangement incorporat-
ing the primary side and the secondary side of the transformer
utilizes a one-and-a-half CB busbar. In Figure 5, the fault current
flowing in a general one-and-a-half CB busbar system is shown.
ing an external fault. During one cycle of the saturated CT wave-
form, there are periods of saturation and non-saturation. The dif-
ferential current shown is the error current resulting from CT
saturation. The WDE detects the non-saturated, no change period
(flat period) where there is no differential current or change in the
differential current and determines that the fault is external. It then
blocks the output of the differential relay to prevent false opera-
tion. By utilizing the CT saturation countermeasure, whenever
CT saturation occurs, unwanted operations of the differential
relay can be avoided. Figure 8 shows the verification test results
when CT saturation occurred.


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

illustrate the operation of the 2f block function.

The 2f block detection shown in Figure 9 is used to detect the
2nd harmonic current superimposed on the differential current.
The waveform of the inrush current contains a certain level of 2nd
harmonic. By using this characteristic, in this case the level of
superimposed 2nd harmonic current (2f/1f) over the setting value,
the output of the differential relay will be blocked. However, as
shown in Figure 10, during the initial period of the internal fault,
the waveform of the fault current is equivalent to the waveform of
the inrush current so that the 2f block signal will be output, upon
the occurrence of an internal fault. Therefore, the operating time
Figure 7 Waveform of CT saturation. of the percentage differential relay for transformer protection
depends on the 2f detection reset time.
'ZVGTPCN(CWNV
YKVJ%65CVWTCVKQP
2f block detection

2TKOCT[
%WTTGPV Differential Relay

2TKOCT[
%WTTGPV Figure 9 Configuration of 2f block.

5GEQPFCT[
%WTTGPV

5GEQPFCT[
%WTTGPV DIF Current (Id)

6GTVKCT[
%WTTGPV
Equivalent to
inrush current
&KTTGTPVKCN (2f element is
%WTTGPV=+F? included)

&KH Output of 2f
&KH*1%

H$NQEM Output percentage

&KH$.-
%65%' differential (DIF)
&KH6TKR
Output of 87
        
Operation time of 87
6KOG=OU?
Figure 10 Operation of 2f block with an internal fault.

Figure 8 Verification test results for the response of transformer protection relay
to an external fault with CT saturation.
3.4 High-speed operation
In order to minimize the electrical and mechanical stress to
equipment on the 765kV system when faults occur, high-speed
operation of the protection is desirable. In this 765kV project, the
operating time of the transformer protection differential relay
must be less than 30ms. In order to respond to this requirement,
the internal arithmetic algorithm has been optimized. In addition,
within the transformer percentage differential relay, a 2nd har-
monic detection function (2f block) has been implemented in
order to avoid unwanted operation when inrush current occurs.
An outline of the 2f block configuration is shown in Figure 9. In
Figure 10 a current waveform during an internal fault is used to
In other words, it is necessary to make the 2f detection reset
time faster in order to meet the requirement that the transformer
protection operating time is less than 30ms. In order to solve this
problem, an arithmetic algorithm, based upon the characteristics
of a 765kV transformer, contained within the 2f element is uti-
lized so that resetting of the 2f detection function is faster. As a
result, a typical operating time of less than 26ms has been
achieved.
4 Conclusion
The commercialization of a transformer protection relay for the
765kV UHV system in Korea was completed in 2010. All of the
UHV protection relays have been designed taking into account


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

the specific characteristic of the transformer, and are applicable

not only in Korea but to all UHV systems that will be constructed
in the future.

References

[1] Seung-do Baik, Hong-Hwa Kim, Young-Sung Choi,

Seong-Min Han, “A Summary of KEPCO’s 765kV Substa-
tion Design”. International Conference on Electrical Engi-
neering (ICEE), Jul. 11th, 2006, Da1-01.
[2] Toshiyuki Yanari, “History of Power Transformers in Japan
and Description of Historical materials”, National Museum
of Nature and Science-Investigation Report of technology
systematization, Vol. 4, 2004, March.