Gener

atorPr
otect
ion
Agener atori
ssubject
edtoel
ect r
icalstr
essesimposedont heinsulati
onofthemachi ne,
mechani calfor
cesacti
ngonthev ari
ouspartsofthemachine,andt emperatureri
se.Thesear
e
themai nfactor
swhichmakepr otecti
onnecessaryforthegeneratororal
ternator
.Evenwhen
properlyused,amachinei
nit
sper fectrunni
ngconditi
ondoesnotonl ymaintai
nit
sspecifi
ed
ratedperformanceformanyyears,butitdoesalsorepeat
edlywithstandcertai
nexcessof
overload.

Prevent
ivemeasuresmustbet akenagainstoverl
oadsandabnor mal conditi
onsoft hemachine
sothatitcanser
vesafel
y.Evenensuringanef f
ici
entdesign,const
ruction,operati
on,and
pr
eventivemeansofprot
ecti
on–t heri
skofaf aultcannotbecompl etelyel
iminatedfrom any
machine.Thedevi
cesusedingener at
orprotecti
on,ensurethatwhenaf aul
tarises,i
tis
el
iminatedasqui
cklyaspossible.

Anelectrical
generatorcanbesubj ectedtoei t
herani nternalfaul
torexter
nalfaultorboth.The
generatorsarenormallyconnectedt oanelectri
cal powersy stem,henceanyf aul
toccurredin
thepowersy stem shouldalsobecl earedfrom thegener atorassoonaspossi bleotherwisei
t
maycr eatepermanentdamagei nthegener ator.Thenumberandv ari
etyoff
aul t
soccurina
generatorarehuge.Thati swhygener atororalter
natorispr otect
edwi t
hseveralprotect
ive
schemes.Gener atorprotect
ioni
sofbot hdiscri
mi nati
veandnon- discr
iminat
ivetype.Greatcare
i
st obet akenincoordinati
ngthesy stemsusedandt heset t
ingsadoptedtoensurethata
sensi
tive,sel
ecti
veanddi scri
minativegener at
orpr ot
ectionschemei sachieved.

Ty
pesofGener
atorPr
otect
ion
Thev
ari
ousf
ormsofpr
otect
ionappl
i
edt
othegener
atorcanbecat
egor
izedi
ntot
womanner
s,

Pr
otect
iver
elay
stodet
ectf
aul
tsoccur
ri
ngi
nsi
det
hegener
ator
.

Ot herthanprot
ecti
verelay
s,associat
eddi r
ect
lywiththegeneratoranditsassociat
ed
transformer,t
hereareli
ghtni
ngarrestors,
overspeedsafeguar ds,oi
lfl
owdev i
sesand
temper atur
emeasur i
ngdev i
sesforshaftbear
ing,st
atorwinding,t
ransfor
merwi ndi
ngand
transformeroilet
c.Someoft heseprotecti
vearr
angementar eofnon-tri
ptypei.
e.theyonl
y
gener ateal
arm duri
ngabnormalit
ies.

Buttheotherpr
otecti
veschemesul t i
mat elyoperatemastertri
ppi
ngr el
ayoft hegenerator.Thi
s
shouldbenotedthatnopr otectiv
er elaycanpr eventf
ault,
itonlyi
ndicat
esandmi nimizesthe
durati
onofthefaul
ttopr eventhight emper atureri
seinthegenerat
orot herwisetheremaybe
permanentdamagei nit.I
tisdesi r
ablet oav oi
danyunduet ressesinthegener at
or,andforthat
i
tisusualpract
icetoinstal
l surgecapaci tororsurgediv
erterorbothtor educetheeffectsof
l
ightni
ngandothervoltagesur gesont hemachi ne.

Thepr
otect
ionschemesusual
l
yappl
i
edt
othegener
atorar
edi
scussedher
ebel
owi
nbr
ief
.

Joshi
Lai
l
a(UETLHR)
Pr
otect
ionagai
nstI
nsul
ati
onFai
lur
e

Themai nprotectionpr ovi

dedi nthest at orwi ndingagai nstphaset ophaseorphaset oearth
faul
t,islongit
udi nal differ
entialprotect ionofgener ator.Secondmosti mportantprotecti
on
schemef orstatorwi ndingisinterturnf aultpr otecti
on.Thi stypeofpr otecti
onwasconsi dered
unnecessar yinpr ev i
ousday sbecausebr eakdownofi nsulat i
onbet weenpoi ntsinthesame
phasewi nding,cont ainedinthesamesl ot,andbet weenwhi chapot enti
aldiff
erenceexists,
v er
y
rapi
dlychangesi ntoanear thf aul
t,andt heni tisdetectedbyei therthestat
ordi f
ferent
ial
protecti
onort hest atorearthf aul
tpr ot ect i
on.Agener atorisdesi gnedtopr oducer el
ati
velyhigh
volt
agei ncompar isont oit
sout putandwhi cht hereforecont ainsal ar
genumberofconduct or s
perslot.Wi t
hincr easi ngsizeandv oltageoft hegener ator,thisform ofprotecti
onisbecomi ng
essentialforalll
ar gegener at
inguni ts.

St
atorEar
thFaul
tPr
otect
ion

Whent hest atorneutrali

sear t
hedt hroughar esist
or,acurrenttransformerismountedi nt he
neutraltoear t
hconnect i
on.Inv erseTi meRelayi susedacrosst heCTsecondar ywhent he
gener atorisconnect eddirect
lyt ot hebusbar.Incaseofgener atorfeedspowerv iaadel tastar
transformer ,anI nst
antaneousRel ayisusedf orthesamepur pose.Inthef or
mercase, t
heear t
h
fault
sr elayisr equir
edtobegr adedwi thot
herf aul
trelaysinthesy st
em.Thi sisthereasonwhy
I
nv erseTi meRel ayi
susedi nt hiscase.Butint helattercase,theearthfaultl
oopi sr
estrictedto
thest atorwi ndingandpr i
mar ywi ndingofthet ransformer,hence,thereisnoneedofgr adi ngor
discri
mi nationwi thothereart
hf aultrel
aysinthesy stem.Thati swhyI nstant
aneousRelayi s
preferableint hecase.

Rot
orEar
thFaul
tPr
otect
ion

Asingleeart
hfaultdoesnotcr eat
eanymaj orproblem inthegener
atorbutifthesecondearth
faul
tisoccurr
ed,howev er
,partofthef iel
dwi ndi
ngwi l
lbecomeshort-ci
rcui
tedandresulti
ngand
unbalancedmagneticfiel
dinthesy stem andconsequent l
ytheremaybemaj ormechanical
damaget othebearingsofthegener ator.Therearethreemethodsavail
abletodetectthetypes
offaulti
ntherot
or.Themet hodsar e

1.Pot
ent
iomet
ermet
hod

2.ACi
nject
ionmet
hod

3.DCi
nject
ionmet
hod

Unbal
ancedSt
atorLoadi
ngPr
otect
ion

Unbalancingi
nloadi
ngpr oducesnegat
ivesequencecurrentsi
nthestatorci
rcui
t.Thi
snegati
ve
sequencecurrentpr
oducesar eact
ionfi
eldrot
ati
ngatt wiceofsynchr
onousspeedwi t
hrespect
totherotorandhenceinducedoublefr
equencycurrentintherot
or.Thi
scurrenti
squitel
arge

Joshi
Lai
l
a(UETLHR)
andcausesov erheat i
ngi nther otorcircui
t,especial
lyinthealt
ernator
.Ifanyunbal ancing
occurredduet of aultinthest atorwi ndingit
self,t
hatwoul dbeclearedinstantaneouslybythe
dif
ferent i
alprotectionpr ovi
dedi nthegener ator.I
ftheunbalancingisoccur r
edduet oany
external f
aultorunbal ancedl oadi ngi nthesy st
em, i
tmayr emainundetectedormayper si
stf
or
asignificantperiodoft i
medependi ngont hepr ot
ectioncoordi
nationofthesy stem.These
fault
st henbecl ear edbyi nstall
inganegat i
v ephasesequencer elaywit
ht hechar act
eristi
cst
o
mat cht hewithstandcur veoft hemachi ne.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstSt
atorOv
erheat
ing

Ov erloadingcancausesov erheati
ngi nthest at
orwi ndingoft hegener at or.Notonl yov erl
oading,
fail
ur eofcool i
ngsy stemsandi nsulati
onf ai
lureofst atorlaminationsal socauseov er
heat i
ngof
thest at
orwi nding.Theov erheati
ngi sdetectedbyembeddedt emper atur edet ect orsatv ar
ious
point sint hest at orwindi ng.Thet emper atur
edet ectorcoilsar enor mal lyresist anceel ement s
whi chf orm onear m oft heWheat stonebr i
dgeci r
cuit.Inthecaseofsmal l
ergener atornor mally
below30MW, thegener atorsarenotequi ppedwi thembeddedt emper aturecoi lbutar eusual ly
fi
ttedwi thther mal r
elayandt heyar earrangedt omeasur ethecur rentf lowi ngi nt hest ator
windi ng.Thi sar rangementonl ydetectsov erheatingcausedbyov erloadi nganddoesnot
prov ideanypr ot ecti
onagai nstov er
heatingduet of ailureofcoolingsy stemsorshor tcircui
ted
statorl ami nations.Al thoughov ercurrentrelays,negat i
vephasesequencer elay s, anddev i
ses
formoni t
oringconst antf lowar ealsousedt opr ov i
deacer t
aindegr eeoft her
mal ov erload
prot ection.

LowVacuum Pr
otect
ion

Thisprotecti
on,usuall
yisintheform ofaregulatorwhichcompar esthevacuum agai
nst
atmospher i
cpressure,i
tisnormal l
yfit
tedtothegeneratorsetabove30MW.Themoder n
pract
iceisfortheregulat
ortounl oadthesetv i
athesecondarygov er
noruntilnor
malvacuum
condit
ionsarerestored.I
fthev acuum condit
ionsdonoti mprovebelow21i nchthest
opv al
ves
arecl
osedandt hemai ncir
cuitbreakerist
ri
pped.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstLubr
icat
ionOi
lFai
lur
e

Thispr
otecti
onisnotconsi
der
edessent
ial
sincet
helubr
icat
ionoi
lisnor
mall
yobtai
nedf
rom
thesamepumpasgov er
noroi
landafai
lur
eofthegover
noroilwi
l
lautomat
ical
l
ymakestop
val
vetoclose.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstLossofBoi
lerf
ir
ing

Twomet hodsareav ail

ablef
ordetect
ingthel
ossofboil
erfi
ri
ng.I
nthef i
rstmethod,normall
y
opened(NO)cont actsarepr
ovidedwitht
hefanmotorswhichmayt r
ipthegeneratorifmore
thantwomot or
sf ail
.Thesecondmethodsuseaboilerpr
essurecontact
swhichunl oadthe
generat
orifboi
lerpressuref
all
sbelowapproxi
matel
y90%.

Joshi
Lai
l
a(UETLHR)
Pr
otect
ionagai
nstPr
imeMov
erFai
lur
e

Ifthepr i
memov erfailstosuppl ymechanicalenergytot hegener ator
,thegenerat orwil
l
cont i
nuet or otateinmot oringmodet hatmeansi ttakesel ectr
icalenergyfr
om t hesy st
em
i
nst eadofsuppl y i
ngi ttothesy stem.I
nst eam tur
binesett hest eam actsasacool ant
mai ntai
ningt het urbinebl adesataconst anttemperature.Fai l
ureofthesuppl ywi l
lther
efore
resultinov erheat i
ngduet of ri
cti
on,withsubsequentdistortionoft ur
bineblades.The, f
ail
ureof
steam suppl ycancausesev er
emechani caldamagei naddi ti
onofi mposingaheav ymot ori
ng
l
oadont hegener at
or .Rev ersepowerr el
ayisusedfort hispurpose.Assoonast hegener at
or
startsrotatingi nmot or i
ngmode, thereversepowerrelaywi llt
ripthegeneratorset .

Ov
erSpeedPr
otect
ion

Whileitisthegeneral
practi
cetoprovidemechani caloverspeeddev i
cesonbot hsteam and
hydroturbi
ne,whichoperatedi
rectl
yont hesteam thrott
leval
veormai nstepv alv
e,itisnot
usualtobackupt hi
sdevisesbyanov erspeedr el
ayonst eam dr
ivensets.I
tis,howev er,
consideredgoodpracti
ceonhy droel
ectri
cunits,astheresponseoft hegovernoris
compar ati
vel
yslowandt hesetismor epronetoov er-
speed.Therelaywhenf it
tedisusuall
y
suppli
edf r
om thepermanentmagnetgener atorusedf orthecont
rolofgovernor.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstRot
orDi
stor
ti
on

Thecoolingratesfoll
owingshutdown, atthetopandbott
om oftheturbi
necasi
ng,aredif
ferent
andthisunev entemperatur
edistri
buti
ont endstocausedest
ructi
onoftherot
or.Tomi ni
mize
thedisr
uption,i
tiscommonpr acti
cetot urntherot
oratl
owspeeddur i
ngthecooli
ngdown
peri
od.Inthev i
ewoft heforcesinvol
vedwi thlar
gemodernrotor
,iti
snowstandardpracti
ceto
fi
tshafteccentri
cit
ydetectors.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstDi
ff
erencei
nExpansi
onbet
weenRot
ati
ngandSt
ati
onar
ypar
ts

Duringther unningupper i
od, t
her ateofheat i
ngofther otordiff
ersfrom thatofthecasing, due
tothedifferencei nmass.Asar esul t
,therotorexpandsatadi ffer
entratetothecasingandi tis
necessar ytoov ercomethisunequal expansion.Tot hisend, pr
opositi
onismadeont hel arger
machi neforindependentsuppl iesofst eam t obesett ocertainjoi
ntsont hecasing.Iti
s
desirabl
et hereforetoprovi
deameansofmeasur ingt heaxialexpansiontoassisttheoper ator
tofeedt hest eam tothecorrectpoi ntsandal sotopr ovi
deindicati
onofanydanger ous
expansion.Theshaf taxi
alexpansi ondet ectorisbasicall
ysimilartotheequipmentdescr ibed
forrotordistorti
onequipment ,exceptt hatthedetectormagnet sarefixedtotheturbinecasi ng.

Pr
otect
ionagai
nstVi
brat
ion

Vibr
ati
ondet ect
orsareusuall
ymount edonthebeari
ngpedest
als.Thedet ectorconsi
stsofa
coil
mount edonspringsbetweenUshapedper manentmagnets.Thev ol
tageout putf
rom the
coil
,whichispropor
tionalt
othedegreeofvibr
ati
on,i
spassedfrom thecoilintoint
egrat
ing
ci
rcuit
sandt henint
oi nt
erv
ali
ndicat
inginst
rument.

Joshi
Lai
l
a(UETLHR)
BackupPr
otect
ionofGener
ator
Backuppr otecti
onshoul dalway sbegi veni nhi ghlyratedmachinel i
kesy nchronousgener at or
oral ternator.Iff
aultsoccur r
edhadnotbeencl earedbyt heappropr iateprotectionschemet hen
backuppr otecti
onr elaysshoul dbeoper atedt ocl earthefaul
t.Ov ercurrentrelaysar egener all
y
usedf orthispurpose.Becauset hesy nchronousr eactanceofmoder nmachi nei softengreat er
thanhundr edper cent, t
hesustai nedf aul
tcur rentf edfrom themachi neintoanext ernal f
aul tis
i
nv ariablybel owthenor malfulll
oadcur rent.Thenor mal I
DMTr elay swoul dnotpr ove
satisfactorybecauset heircurr
entset ti
ngsmustbecl osetothef ulll
oadandt heirti
mesi t
ting
shor tifoperat i
onist obeobt ained, resulti
ngi npr obablelackofdi scriminati
onwi thot herov er
currentr el
ay sinthesy st
em.Fur ther, t
heov ercur rentr el
aywouldmostpr obablyoper atefor
l
ossoff i
eldont hemachi ne,disconnect i
ngi tpr emat urel
y.Toov ercomet hi
spr oblem isithas
becomecust omaryt oapplyanov ercur r
entr elayi ncombi nat
ionwi thunderv oltager elay,
the
l
atterr elaycont r
oll
ingt hefaultset t
ingsoft hef ormerasshowni nt hef i
gurebel ow.

Joshi
Lai
l
a(UETLHR)