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Chapter 7

Directional OC

Necessity

In the overcurrent protection scheme considered in

previous lectures, we had implicitly assumed that,
1. System is radial.
2. There is a single source.
This is quite true for traditional distribution systems but
it does not hold true for sub-transmission or transmission
system with multiple sources.

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If the fault is at F1 then it is responsibility of red relays to

open. If fault is at F2 , then it is the green relays which should
trip the line. However, it is quite likely that for fault F2 , the
circled red relay may trip before circled green relay opens to
disconnect feed from the source B, the reason being that both
relays are subjected to same fault current.
In other words, circled red relay competes with circled green
relay to clear fault. Opening of circled red relay unnecessarily
causes loss of service to load at bus P and it should be classified
as wrong operation.

A single-end-fed system of
parallel feeders, shown in Figure,
where a fault on any of the
parallel lines is fed not only from
the faulted line but from the
healthy line as well.
If directional relays are not
provided, in conjunction with OC
relays, then the desired zones will
not be generated. This will result
in both lines being tripped out for
any fault on any one of the lines.
It may be noted that directional
relays with tripping direction
away from the bus will be
required at locations '2' and '3' in
Figure . However, at locations '1'
and '4', non-directional over-
current relays will suffice. Since
directional relay units cost more
and aiso need the provision of
PTs, they should be used only
when absolutely necessary.

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Consider the ring main

feeder system shown in
Figure . This is another
situation where directional
supervision of OC relays is
called for. It is well known
that the ring main feeder
allows supply to be
maintained to all the loads
in spite of fault on any
section of the feeder. A fault
in any section causes only
the CBs associated with that
section to trip out, and
because of the ring
topology, power flows from
the alternate path.

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Characteristics of directional relay

A directional relay can be compared to a contact
making wattmeter. A wattmeter develops maximum
positive torque when the current and voltage supplied to
the current coil and the pressure coil are in phase. If we
define the maximum torque angle (MTA) as the angle
between the voltage and current at which the relay
develops maximum torque, then a wattmeter can be
called a directional relay with MTA of zero degree . The
phasor diagram for a directional relay is depicted in
Figure below.
Vpc is the voltage applied to the pressure coil. The
current drawn by the pressure coil IPC lags the voltage by
a large angle θ .

As the fault moves from the forward to the reverse

direction, the current undergoes a large change in its
phase whereas the phase of the voltage does not change
substantially. ,Thus, voltage signal is the reference against
which the phase angle of the current is measured.
Now, in a relay based on induction principle, the
two fluxes responsible for torque production, ϕ and
ϕ should be shifted in phase by 90°, for them to
produce maximum torque. The torque becomes zero
when the current phasor is “±90" away from the MTA
position. This gives the direction of the current phasor for
maximum torque, the maximum torque angle T, and the
boundary between tripping and restraining regions on
the phasor diagram.
The operating torque of the directional relay can be
expressed as:

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Application of Directional Relay to a Three-

phase feeder
In case of application of directional relays to
a three-phase feeder, phase faults need to be
considered separately from ground faults. There are
various possibilities of energizing these relays;
hence the various alternatives need to be carefully
considered. The directional relay must meet the
following requirements:
1. The relay must operate for forward faults.
2. The relay must restrain during reverse faults.
3. The relay must not operate during faults other
than for which it has been provided,i.e. the relay
must not maloperate.

Directional phase fault protection

Consider a directional relay for protection against all
phase faults involving phase a, i.e. a-b, a-b-g, a-c, a-c-g, a-
b-c, and a-b-c-g faults. Let us consider an a-b fault. It is
logical to choose current , to energize the current coil.
However, the choice of voltage to be applied to the
pressure coil is not immediately apparent. Figures 2.24
and 2.25 explore the possibility of using voltage and
for the pressure coil of the directional relay catering
to phase faults involving phase a. From Figure 2.24, it can
be seen that the voltage Vab tends to collapse during a-b
fault. Further, the angle between Vab and Ia, during fault
is substantially large. For the MTA angle shown, the relay
does not develop positive torque during forward fault.
From these figures, it can be easily seen that both these
voltages are not suitable.

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The 30" and the 60" connections

As already pointed out there are other
possibilities for energizing the voltage coils of directional
relays. However, all the possible voltages may not meet
the requirement of no , maloperations. Hence, the choice
has been narrowed down to three. The other two
possible voltages, for phase a directional relay, are Vac
and (Vac + Vbc). These are known as the 30" and the 60'
connections because of the angular relationship between
the unity power factor (UPn position of & and these
voltages during the pre-fault condition.
Table 2.4 summarizes various combinations of voltages
and currents to be fed to directional phase fault relays
catering to phase faults involving the three phases, for
the 90°, 30˚ and 60˚ connections.

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Directional OC Protection of a Three-phase Feeder

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