Electric Power Systems Research, 17 (1989) 109 - 117
Digital Differential Relaying for Generator Protection: Development of
Algorithm and Off-line Evaluation
H. K. VERMA and K. SOUNDARARAJAN
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Roorkee, Roorkee-24 7667 (India)
(Received February 21, 1989)
ABSTRACT
The paper proposes the use o f real parts,
instead o f the R M S values, o f the funda-
mental frequency c o m p o n e n t s o f the dif-
ferential and sum currents for the purpose o f
digital differential relaying for generator
protection. For the extraction o f the real
parts o f the fundamental frequency com-
ponents o f current signals, a simple filter
based on cross-correlation o f the distorted
signal with an even heptagonal wave is sug-
gested. The frequency response o f this filter is
almost identical to that o f the filter based on
the discrete Fourier transform, while its com-
putational requirement is far less. The paper
also examines filters based on cross-correla-
tion with square and trapezoidal waves
and discards them on the grounds o f p o o r
rejection o f odd harmonics. The suggested use
o f real parts in place o f R M S values and a
heptagonal wave correlation filter instead o f
a Fourier transform based filter for extracting
them reduce the computational needs o f the
differential relaying algorithm so drastically
that a complete three-phase differential relay
can be implemented on a 16-bit micro-
processor w i t h o u t supplementing it with a
coprocessor or multiplier. The efficacy o f
these measures has been evaluated off-line on
a mainframe computer and the test results
are presented in the paper.
I. INTRODUCTION
Biased differential relaying has been
universally applied for the protection of large
generators on stator winding short-circuits.
It uses the ratio of the differential current to
the sum current in a stator coil as the fault
discriminant. A trip signal is generated by the
relay when this fault discriminant exceeds a
0378-7796/89/$3.50
109
preset threshold, called the sensitivity factor
or the bias setting of the relay, and the
differential current exceeds a minimum
operating current setting. Analog (passive}
filters have been used in the conventional
generator differential relays to extract the
fundamental frequency components of the
distorted current inputs and thereby ensure a
good relay accuracy in the presence of DC
and harmonics.
Only a few works on digital differential
relaying for generators have been reported in
the literature [1, 2]. The digital filter for ex-
traction of the fundamental frequency com-
ponents of the distorted relaying signals,
which has been used extensively in digital
relaying, is based generally on the discrete
Fourier transform, where the cosine and sine
waves of the fundamental frequency are
cross-correlated with a distorted signal to get
expressions for the real and imaginary parts
of the fundamental frequency component
of the signal [1, 3, 4]. As the filter involves
several multiplications and the calculation of
RMS values requires square and square-root
operations, differential relaying needs a fairly
fast minicomputer [1].
The authors of this paper propose the use
of only one (real) component (instead of both
the real and imaginary components) of the
fundamental frequency in defining the fault
discriminant and the trip criterion. This
reduces the amount of computation dras-
tically. For a further saving in the data
processing time, cross-correlation of the dis-
torted signal wave with other than sinusoidal
waves is investigated. Finally, a differential
relaying algorithm involving a fundamental
frequency filter based on cross-correlation
with heptagonal waves and a fault discrim-
inant defined in terms of the running averages
of the real parts of the fundamental fre-
quency components of the differential and
© Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands
110
sum currents is developed. The efficacy of
this algorithm has been evaluated off-line on
a mainframe c o m p u t e r and the test results are
reported in the paper.
2. REVISED D E F I N I T I O N OF THE F A U L T
DISCRIMINANT
Adhering to the trip criterion used in
biased generator differential relays of electro-
mechanical and static (hardwired electronic)
types, and granting that only fundamental
frequency c o m p o n e n t s of currents are to be
used in checking the trip condition in the
digital (computer based) relay, the following
will be the algorithm for the digital differen-
tial relaying.
S t e p 1. C o m p u t e the fundamental fre-
quency components of the differential and
sum currents, Idl and Is1, from the incoming
and outgoing winding currents of one phase.
S t e p 2. Check if the following trip criterion
is satisfied:
Idi ~>I0 and D>~S (1)
where D is the fault discriminant defined
conventionally as
D = Id,/Isl (2)
I0 is the minimum operating current of the
relay, and S the sensitivity factor of the relay.
If the criterion is satisfied, issue a trip signal.
S t e p 3. Repeat steps (1) and (2) for the
other two phases.
S t e p 4. Repeat steps 1 - 3.
Reference 1 uses cross-correlation of an
input current signal with cosine and sine
waves to filter (extract) the real and imagi-
nary parts of the fundamental frequency
c o m p o n e n t of the signal. From the real and
imaginary parts of the fundamental frequency
of the incoming and outgoing winding cur-
rents so obtained, the magnitudes of the
fundamental frequency c o m p o n e n t s of the
differential and sum currents are c o m p u t e d .
The definition of the fault discriminant
given by relation (2) is then used to check
the trip condition. This processing involves
multiplication, square and square-root opera-
tions, which are all time-consuming, and
hence an HP2100 minicomputer was used
for real time implementation of the algorithm.
The first and major step in the direction
of simplifying and reducing the computations
is to redefine the fault discriminant in terms
of real components alone. Denoting this
fault discriminant by D', it may be computed
from
average value of real part of
fundamental frequency c o m p o n e n t of Id
D,=
average value of real part of
fundamental frequency c o m p o n e n t of I~
(3)
The computation involved is now less than
half of that needed for definition (2) of the
fault discriminant because imaginary com-
ponents are n o t to be extracted and no
square and square-root operations are needed.
3. F I L T E R ALGORITHM
The second measure for reducing the
computation is to use such reference waves
as would lead to a computationally simpler
filter algorithm for the extraction of the
fundamental frequency component.
3.1. cross-correlation w i t h sinusoidal waves
(Fourier t r a n s f o r m )
With a sampling rate of N samples per
fundamental time period and an observation
window of one full cycle, the cross-correla-
tion of a digitized signal {x(n)} with cosine
and sine waves is expressed as [3]
2N-1
Yri(k) = -:-:~ x ( k - - n) cos(k -- n) (4)
N n-0
2 N-1
Yil(k) - - ~ x ( k -- n) sin(k -- n) (5)
N ,~=o
where c o s ( k - - n ) and s i n ( k - - n ) are the
digital values of the cosine and sine functions
of the fundamental frequency at the (k -- n)th
sampling instant, and the filter outputs Yrl(k)
and yil(k) are the real and imaginary com-
ponents of the fundamental frequency at the
kth sampling instant. For N = 16, these
expressions become
 111

y r l ( k ) = ( 1 / 8 ) [ x k -- x k - 8 signal { x ( n ) ) can also be o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h its

cross-section w i t h t h e even and o d d square
+ 0.9239(xk _ 1 -- xk - 7 -- xk - 9
waves o f a m p l i t u d e s +1 and f u n d a m e n t a l
+ Xk - 15) f r e q u e n c y , illustrated in Fig. 1. Restricting
o u r i n t e r e s t t o t h e real c o m p o n e n t alone, the
+ 0 . 7 0 7 1 ( x k _ : - - xk - 6 - - Xk-- 10 cross-correlation is w r i t t e n as
"1- X k _ 14)
2N--1
+ 0 . 3 8 2 7 ( x k - 3 - - x k - s - - xk-11 y,x(k) = ~ ~ x ( k - - n ) E V E N ( k - - n) (8)
n=0
+ x k - 13)] (6)
w h e r e E V E N is the even r e f e r e n c e f u n c t i o n .
F o r an even square wave it is given b y
Yil(k) = ( 1 / 8 ) [ x k -4 - - x k - l ~
+1 forn =0toNI4-1
+ 0.9239(xk-3 + xk-s--xk-ll and n = 3N/4 to N -- 1
E V E N ( k - - n) =
X k -- 13) -- for n = N / 4
+ 0.7071(xk-2 + x~-6--xk-lo to 3N]4 -- 1

-- Xk - 14) Solving f o r N = 16, we get

+ 0.3827(xk_ 1 + xk-7- xk-9 Y~l(k) = ( l / 8 ) [ ( x k - is + Xk-14 q" X k - 1 3 + Xk--12

- x~ _ is)] (7) + X h - 3 + X k - ~ + X k - l + Xk)

w h e r e x ~ _ , = x ( k - - n ) a n d xk = x ( k ). - (xk-11 + xk-lo + x~-9 + x~-8

T h e filter a l g o r i t h m r e p r e s e n t e d b y eqns.
(6) and (7) will, h e r e a f t e r , be r e f e r r e d t o as
the F o u r i e r t r a n s f o r m filter algorithm.
3.2. C r o s s - c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h s q u a r e w a v e s
T h e real and imaginary parts o f t h e f u n d a -
m e n t a l f r e q u e n c y c o m p o n e n t o f the digitized
+ x~,-~ + x k - 6 + x k - s + x k - 4 ) ] (9)
The frequency response, obtained by
using the z - t r a n s f o r m , f o r t h e real c o m p o n e n t
filter a l g o r i t h m given b y eqn. (9) is p l o t t e d in
Fig. 2 ( f r e q u e n c i e s have b e e n n o r m a l i z e d b y
taking t h e f u n d a m e n t a l f r e q u e n c y as u n i t y ) .

OBSERVATION WINDOW

+1

~o (EVEN)
b-

O
,<
Z-1

÷1

T (ODD)

X- 1 .

k-16 k-12 k-8 k-3 k-lk k+4 k+$ k+12 k+16

SAMPLING INSTANTS ~'

Fig. 1. Even and o d d square waves of the f u n d a m e n t a l frequency (N = 16).

112

0.80- 3.3. Cross-correlation w i t h t r a p e z o i d a l w a v e s

The even and odd trapezoidal waves, shown
I 0.60. / ~ ~ in Fig. 4, may be used as the reference waves
for cross-correlation. Noting the values of the
- - 0.40- even reference function from the Figure and
expanding expression (8) for N = 16, we
~ 0.20- obtain
0.00~" Yr](k) = (1/8)[(xk- Is -- xk-9 -- x k - s
o ~ ~ ~ ~. ,~ ' ~ ~
NORMALISED FREQUENCY,fn
Fig. 2. F r e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e o f a filter based o n cross- --xk-7+Xk-l+ xk)

_
c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h a s q u a r e wave (eqn. (9)).
+ (2/3)(x*- 14-- X k - l o - - Xk--6 + X k - 2 )
1.00-
+ (l/3)(xk- 13 - - x ~ _ 11 - - x k - s

1o. L + xk-3)] (10)

~ 0.50- The frequency response of this filter is

0
plotted in Fig. 5. It gives a better rejection of
0.25 the odd harmonics than does the filter based
on cross-correlation with a square wave.
0-00 .

1 2 3 /. 5 6 7 8
NORMALISEDFREQUENCY,fn 1.00-
Fig. 3. F r e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e o f a filter based o n cross-
c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h a sine wave (eqn. (6)).

i"
0.75-
The response of the filter algorithm based on
the Fourier transform (eqn. (6)) is plotted in 050-
Fig. 3. A comparison clearly indicates that the
filter derived from cross-correlation with the o.25-
square wave fails to eliminate odd harmonics.
0.00.
Consequently, if this filter is used then the 0.00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
relay may have a poor accuracy in the event NORMALISED FREQUENCY,fn "
of odd harmonics being present in the current Fig. 5. F r e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e o f a filter based o n cross-
signals. c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h a t r a p e z o i d a l wave (eqn. (10)).

4-1

I 0 (EVEN)

,<
I -I,
I

I
I
I
,I-1

1
uJ i \!
(ODD)
0
,,X / ', J,
I--
;Z
0
I
\:/ \ /
k-lq k-12 k--8 k-4 k k+4 k-~-8 k+12 k+16

Fig. 4. E v e n a n d o d d t r a p e z o i d a l waves o f t h e f u n d a m e n t a l f r e q u e n c y ( N = 16).

 113

3.4. Cross-correlation with heptagonal waves
For a better frequency response of the
filter, the even and odd heptagonal waves
shown in Fig. 6 can be used for cross-correla-
tion. The number of samples per cycle is
taken as 12 so that the sampling instants
coincide with the corners of the heptagon.
Taking N = 12 and proceeding as before,
the following expression is obtained for the
real component:
yrl(k) = ( l / 6 ) [ ( x k -- xk -6)
+ 0 . 8 7 5 ( x k - l i -- xk-7 -- x k - s + xh-1)
+ 0.5(xk_ 10 -
The frequency response of this filter is
plotted in Fig. 7. The rejection of odd har-
monics here is almost as good as that of the
filter based on cross-correlation with a sin-
usoidal wave. But the a m o u n t of computation
is much less and, most significantly, no
multiplication is involved (the factor 1/6 is
ignored since this disappears in the calculation
-,
I I
of the fault discriminant, and multiplication
by 0.875 can be obtained simply through
three binary shifts and one subtraction).
3.5, Choice o f the filter algorithm
The computational requirements (for ex-
tracting the real c o m p o n e n t of the funda-
mental frequency from one signal) and the
frequency response of the four filter algo-
rithms are summarized in Table 1. In working
o u t the computational requirements, the
factor 2 / N (1/8 or 1/6) has been ignored since
this disappears in the calculation of the fault
discriminant. For computation with eqn.
xk- s - xk-4 + xk- 2)] (10), the c o m m o n factor 1/8 is changed to
(11) 1/24 so that the multipliers 1, 2/3 and 1/3
become 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Multiplication
by 2 is achieved with a single binary shift
and that by 3 with one binary shift and one
addition (so that time-consuming direct
multiplications are avoided). Similarly, multi-
plications in eqn. (11) by 0.5 and 0.875 are
intended to be achieved by using one binary
shift and three binary shifts plus one sub-
traction, respectively. The Table shows that
the filter based on cross-correlation with a
heptagonal wave involves minimum compu-
tation and has a frequency response that
is almost as good as that of the Fourier
I '
(EVEN) transform based filter. Therefore, the filter
algorithm given by eqn. (11) was finally
i ~--S 1 selected for differential relaying and will
1 I I
henceforth be referred to as the heptagonal
wave correlation algorithm.

\/i\/<o0o,
l/ I ~ [ I l/ i,
i /V / \ \! I ], Il / / ''1, \ 1\ \ l r

oI I I I

-1-1 , i ~ i I I ~ I
4. DIFFERENTIAL RELAYING ALGORITHM
k-12 k-9 k-6 k~3 k k-3 k-6 Iz-9 k-lZ

F i g . 6 . E v e n a n d o d d heptagonal w a v e s o f t h e f u n d a -
mental frequency (N = 12).
The complete algorithm for digital dif-
ferential relaying for generator protection
based on the foregoing proposals is outlined
1.00-
in Fig. 8. The heptagonal wave correlation
filter (eqn. (11)) is e m p l o y e d for extracting
l 0.75- the real part of the fundamental frequency
components of the differential and sum
currents. The trip criterion uses the modified
Z "
fault discriminant D' (eqn. (3)) in place of the
< 0.25-
~9 original fault discriminant D and the average
value of idrl, that is Idrl, in place of Idl. The
0.00,
0 average value of the real c o m p o n e n t of a
NORMALISED FREQUENCY, in " fundamental frequency is its running mean
F i g . 7. F r e q u e n c y response o f a f i l t e r based o n c r o s s - over the immediate past six samples (that is,
correlation with a heptagonal wave (eqn. (11)). a half cycle).
114

TABLE 1
Comparison of filter algorithms: values of gain at different frequencies

Filter based on cross-correlation with

Sinusoidal w a v e , Squarew a v e , Trapezoidal w a v e , Heptagonal wave,
eqn.(6) eqn.(9) eqn.(10) eqn.(ll)

Fundamental frequency 1.0000 0.6409 1.0086 1.0054

DC 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
2nd harmonic 0.0000 0.0009 0.0011 0.0011
3rd harmonic 0.0000 0.2245 0.0564 0.0010
4th harmonic 0.0000 0.0000 0.0010 0.0010
5th harmonic 0.0000 0.1508 0.0215 0.0050
6th harmonic 0.0000 0.0011 0.0011 0.0013
7th harmonic 0.0000 0.1269 0.0414 a
8th harmonic 0.0000 0.0000 0.0013 a
Computational 3 multiplications 15 additions/ 16 additions/ 14 additions/
requirement for extract- + 13 additions/ subtractions subtractions/ subtractions/
ing real component subtractions binary shifts binary shifts

aHigher than the Nyquist frequency.

5. OFF-LINE EVALUATION components of the fundamental frequency of

The efficacy of the proposed differential
relaying algorithm has been investigated
off-line on a mainframe computer, DEC-2050,
with a set of relaying signals obtained from
the transient analysis using an EMTP (elec-
tromagnetic transient package) developed by
the University of British Columbia.
5.1. Relaying signals
The system taken up for transient analysis
is comprised of a generator connected to a
load through a step-up transformer and a
transmission line. The generator is assumed
to have a transient reactance of 0.33 p.u.
and to be supplying a 1.0 p.u. load at a power
factor of 0.8 (lag). The analysis is made for
a three-phase fault taking place at the genera-
tor terminals at the instant when the voltage
is zero. The currents entering and leaving
one winding, obtained from this analysis, are
shown in Fig. 9 and act as the relaying signals
for the evaluation of the differential protec-
tion algorithm.
5.2. Test results
5.2.1. Filter efficacy
The differential and sum currents, id and
is, c o m p u t e d from the relay inputs it and i 2
given in Fig. 9 are shown in Fig. 10. The real
the differential and sum currents, idrl and i~1,
extracted with the help of filter eqn. (11), are
plotted in Fig. 11.
5.2.2. Fault discriminant
The value of the modified fault discriminant
D' defined by eqn. {3) and c o m p u t e d during
every sampling interval from the running
averages of idrl and i~1 is plotted in Fig. 12.
The value of the original fault discriminant
D c o m p u t e d from Idl and Is1 {which are
extracted with the help of the Fourier trans-
form based filter) is also plotted in the same
Figure to facilitate comparison. It may be
observed that, like the original fault discrimi-
nant D, the modified fault discriminant D'
changes gradually from a prefault value of
zero to a post-fault value of unity. However,
the change is slower and smoother in the case
of D', which is explained by the fact that D'
is calculated from the average values {of idr 1
and isrl) whereas D is computed from the
Ial and Is1 of that instant. Averaging, being
a low-pass filtering process, introduces delay
and has a smoothing action.
5.2.3. Relay operating time
The operating time of the relay is mea-
sured as the time difference between the
instant of fault inception and the instant at
 115

Cs TA R T ) 8.0-

o:
4.0
INITIALIZATION

l
PROCESS
I z

-'- 0.0-
vj/ ..
I READ CURRENTS il AND i 2 OF
NEXT PHASE WINDING I cc -4.0-

CALCULATE DIFFERENTIAL AND SUM -8.0,

CURRENTS id=i 1 -i 2 , i s = i 1 +i 2
I (a)
-20 '-ib 6 ' ~5
TIME
' 2b
IN ms
3b
-
' ~b ' sb

EXTRACT FUNDAMENTAL-FREQUENCY l 11.0-

REAL COMPONENTS, i d r l & i s r l ,
USING EQ. ( f l ) ' I a: 4.0-

COMPUTE AVERAGE VALUES,Idrl & Isrl

1 ._~ 0.0- ~ ~ " ~

1
COMPUTE FAULT DISCRIMINANT "D"
w

FROM EQ,(3)
1 ~ -4.0
u
-8.G '
-zo '-~b ' 6 ' ~6 zb 3b 20 sb '
NO (b) TIME IN ms -

Fig. Relaying signals obtained from analysis with

9.
EMTP: (a) current entering the winding, il; ( b )
current leaving the winding, i2.
~_ NO

~,YES
8.O-
SET FAULT FLAG
T
°40-
o.
_z
.-~ 0.0
L.___J RESET I . ~ 9 _ ~ , , , . . . . .
I- ITR'P 'ONAL ~- 4.0-
l ,~YES u
[ ISSUE TRIP SIGNAL J
-8.0
-20 -lb ~b 2b 3b 4b sb
(a) TIME IN ms
Fig, 8. Algorithm for digital differential relaying.

- 0. O
which its trip criterion is met. Its value has
been determined using both the revised and e¢ 4 o - I \ / \ / \
the original fault discriminants, D' and D,
in the trip criterion. Since the trip criterion -~. 0 ' I ' I ' ' 1 ' ' I '
involves the sensitivity factor or bias setting -2o -io o 1o 2o 3o 4o so
S of the relay, its operating time varies with (b) TIME IN ms .
this factor. The operating time has been Fig. 1 0 . Computed signals: (a) differential current id;
evaluated for a 0 - 12.5% range and plotted in (b) sum current i s.
Fig. 13. With the original definition of the
fault discriminant, D, and the Fourier trans-
form based filter, the operating time varies changed from 0 to 12.5%. When the modified
from 1.25 to 3.75 ms ( 1 - 3 samples at the definition of the fault discriminant, D', and
sampling rate of 800 Hz) as the bias is the heptagonal wave correlation filter are
116

7.5~

l.°t t FOR D

z 5.0
llJ
:E
FOR D

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ ~I~
Z
n,
Iu
Q.
- 20 - 1~ lb 2b 3b 4b ~0 0
o 1 1 I l I
(a? TIME IN ms
Z.5 5.0 7. 5 10-0 12.5

BIAS IN PERCENT ,"

Fig. 13. Relay operating time for D' and D.

6. CONCLUSIONS
.~ - , 0 ~
The results of the evaluation of the pro-
u -0.0 t , i ' i , i , , ' , ' i ," r
posed differential relaying algorithm are
z0 10 0 10 2o 30 40 5o entirely satisfactory. The fault discriminant
(b) TIME ,N ms.
and relay operating time curves of Figs. 12
Fig. 11. Real components of the fundamental fre- and 13 prove the validity of defining the
quency extracted using a heptagonal wave correlation
filter: (a) differential current idrl; (b) sum current
fault discriminant and trip criterion in terms
isr 1. of the real parts of the fundamental fre-
quency components of the differential and
sum currents instead of the conventional
approach of defining them in terms of RMS
1.0 values. This approach reduces the a m o u n t
of calculation to less than half.
0.8 The frequency response of the fundamental
frequency filter based on cross-correlation
1
j-
Z
0.6
of the distorted wave with a heptagonal wave
is f o u n d to be almost as good as t h a t of the
<
z filter based on the Fourier transform. The
IE
i
u 0.4 former zs used in the proposed relaying
m
algorithm as it involves only additions, sub-
O-Z ~[dd tractions and binary shifts and needs no
multiplication or division.
0 , I V 1 , I , I i , I
Benchmark programs were written in the
-20 - 10 0 10 20 30 40 SO assembly language of the 16-bit microproces-
TIME IN ms
sor, Intel 8086, to assess the processing time.
Fig. 12. Computed values of fault discriminants D', The execution time of the relaying algorithm
computed from expressions (11) and (3), and D, of Fig. 8 by the Intel 8086, working on a
c o m p u t e d from expressions (6), (7) and (2). 5 MHz clock, was less than 0.40 ms. Thus
the time needed to process the relaying
signals and make trip decisions for all the
three phases is less than 1.20 ms, compared
used, the operating time becomes 1.67 -6.67 with the available sampling interval of 1.67
ms (1 - 4 samples at a 600 Hz sampling rate). ms. It is, therefore, conveniently possible to
The relay is still very fast. The increase in implement three-phase generator differential
operating time is attributed to the delay relaying on a 16-bit microprocessor like the
introduced by the averaging process involved Intel 8086, w i t h o u t the support of a co-
in the calculation of D'. processor or multiplier.

REFERENCES
1 G: S. Hope, P. K. Dash and O. P. Malik, Digital
differential protection of generating units, IEEE
Trans., PAS-96 (1977) 502 - 512.
2 H. K. Verma and S. S. Chhajta, Microprocessor-
based variable-bias differential relay for generator
117
protection, J. Microcomput. Appl., 10 (1987)
63 - 69.
3 M. Ramamoorthy, Application of digital com-
puters to power system protection, J. Inst. Eng.
(India), 52 (1977) 235 - 238.
4 G. S. Hope and V. S. Umamaheswaran, Sampling
for computer protection of transmission lines,
IEEE Trans., PAS-93 (1974) 1522 - 1534.