698 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 17, NO.

3, JULY 2002

Unbalance Protection of Fuseless, Split-Wye,

Grounded, Shunt Capacitor Banks
Randy Horton, Member, IEEE, Ted Warren, Karl Fender, Member, IEEE, Steven Harry, Member, IEEE, and
Charles A. Gross, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—In recent years, a large number of electric utilities

have been implementing fuseless split-wye grounded capacitor
banks in lieu of the traditional externally fused bank. This
change in philosophy has forced many protection engineers to
research new methods of calculating the quantities needed to
apply unbalance protection. This paper presents a novel method of
calculating the unbalance current produced by fuseless capacitor
unit failures as well as some general background information
regarding fuseless split-wye grounded capacitor bank technology
and unbalanced protection.
Index Terms—Power capacitors, power system protection.

I. INTRODUCTION

P OWER system components consume reactive power

. For example, transmission lines, rotating electric
machinery, and transformers all absorb reactive power because
of their inductive nature. Since the system is reactive power
conservative, an equal amount of must be generated, either
by the system generators, or by compensating capacitors
located throughout the system. flow through a system
transmission path requires increased current. High current flow
causes two important problems: 1) increased real power losses
and 2) increased voltage drop. Hence, optimum location of
capacitor banks so as to minimize losses and voltage problems
is an important engineering consideration. Fig. 1. One phase of a split-wye grounded 115 kV–15 Mvar fuseless capacitor
Due to advances in capacitor manufacturing, many electric bank.
utility companies have found fuseless shunt capacitor banks
to be an economical and reliable means of providing reactive
ment is constructed of aluminum foil electrodes with a dielectric
power, and deploy them extensively, throughout their systems.
of electrical grade polypropylene. The element has three ratings:
Hence, there is an increased need for a reliable, practical, and
economical protection scheme for fuseless capacitor banks. 1) voltage , which is determined by the dielectric
Such a protection scheme will be presented in this paper. strength;
2) frequency, usually 60 Hz in the U.S.;
II. FUSELESS CAPACITOR BANK DESIGN 3) (or kvar), which specifies the reactive power flowing
out of the element when operated at rated voltage and
The all-film, high-voltage power capacitors used in fuseless frequency.
capacitor banks are constructed internally of smaller capacitors
called “elements” or “packs.” The basic power capacitor ele- Elements are connected in series and parallel combinations to
achieve the required voltage and kvar rating of the capacitor [1].
Fuseless split-wye grounded capacitor banks are comprised
of combinations of capacitor units called strings. Capacitor
Manuscript received July 9, 2001. bank strings are formed by connecting several capacitor units
R. Horton, T. Warren, and S. Harry are with Alabama Power Company, Birm-
ingham, AL 35203 USA. or cans, as they are commonly referred to, in series. Strings
K. Fender is with Cooper Power Systems, McGraw-Edison Power Capacitors, are then placed in parallel to form a phase of the bank and its
Greenwood, SC 29646 USA. required Mvar rating. One phase of a typical 115-kV, 15-Mvar
C. A. Gross is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Auburn Uni-
versity, Auburn, AL 36849 USA. split-wye, grounded capacitor bank used by the Southern
Publisher Item Identifier S 0885-8977(02)05935-6. Company is shown in Fig. 1.
0885-8977/02$17.00 © 2002 IEEE
HORTON et al.: UNBALANCE PROTECTION OF FUSELESS, SPLIT-WYE, GROUNDED, SHUNT CAPACITOR BANKS
Fig. 2. Voltage distribution within a string due to a shorted series section.
III. FUSELESS CAPACITOR BANK UNBALANCE PROTECTION
A. Introduction
In general, the purpose of capacitor bank protection is to in-
crease the availability of the capacitor bank. This is accom-
plished by alarming maintenance personnel of possible prob-
lems with the bank and removing it from service before severe
damage occurs.
Phase overcurrent protection for a fuseless bank is similar to
that of externally fused banks. Phase overcurrent protection, as
well as ground overcurrent protection, is recommended for all
split-wye grounded fuseless capacitor banks. See [2] for further
details regarding the application of overcurrent protection.
The most common cause of failure of a capacitor unit is the di-
electric failure of one of its elements, which fails in the short-cir-
cuit mode. When an internal series element fails, it shorts the
other parallel elements within that group, which in turn causes
the system voltage to be applied across the healthy capacitor el-
ements in the string. Such failures produce little change in phase
current magnitude and are therefore undetectable by normal
phase overcurrent relaying. For this reason, unbalance protec-
tion is required to protect the bank from cascading failures.
B. Protection Scheme
The objectives of an unbalance protection scheme are
1) to detect a single internal element failure, and activate an
alarm;
2) to detect and trip for multiple element failures that result
in excessive overvoltage across healthy elements;
3) to detect and trip for bushing flashovers and major insu-
lation failures.
In Fig. 2, a shorted series element causes the phase-to-ground
system voltage to be redistributed across the remaining 31 ele-
ments. Assuming the bank is operating at 1.0 p.u. voltage, this
failure results in an overvoltage of 32/31 103%; two shorted
elements will cause an overvoltage of 32/30 107%, etc.
It is desirable to notify maintenance personnel in the event
of the first series section failure and automatically remove the
bank from service when the voltage applied to the remaining
series sections exceeds 110% of their rated voltage. Removal
from service typically occurs after the second series section has
shorted; however, this is not always the case. The number of se-
ries sections contained within a string is a function of the rated
699
Fig. 3. A 115-kV, 15-Mvar, split-wye grounded fuseless capacitor bank.
voltage of the bank; the higher the rated voltage of the bank, the
more series sections there are per string. Banks must be able to
operate with one series section failure without excessive over-
voltage. For this reason, fuseless banks are typically not prac-
tical below a system voltage of 34.5 kV.
The required rated voltage of a series section can be calcu-
lated by dividing the rated voltage of the capacitor unit by the
number of series sections of parallel connected elements in-
ternal to the unit. Fig. 1, shows the internal connections of a
typical 16.6-kV, 625-kvar capacitor unit used by the Southern
Company. For this unit, each series section is rated at 16.6 kV/8
2.075 kV.
To cover the condition created by bushing flashovers and
major insulation failures, the protection scheme must trip the
bank when one can is shorted. In most cases, there will be more
than adequate protection for this situation since only partial in-
ternal shorting of a capacitor unit will normally result in an
unacceptable overvoltage condition. This should be confirmed
when calculating the relay settings.
Unbalance protection of a split-wye grounded, fuseless ca-
pacitor bank is implemented by placing an overvoltage relay in
parallel with a resistor located in the differentially summed sec-
ondary of the neutral current transformer circuit, as shown in
Fig. 3. When an unbalance condition occurs ,a
difference current flows through , producing a voltage across
the relay coil (device 59). When this voltage reaches the desired
set point, the relay will either alarm maintenance personnel or
trip the bank off-line.
Unbalance protection must deal with other causes of unbal-
ance. Unbalanced system voltages and inherent unbalance of the
capacitor unit impedances will also cause nonzero neutral cur-
rent. Because of these nuisance unbalances, precautions must
be taken when applying unbalance protection schemes. System
unbalance can be nullified by differentially summing the cur-
rent transformer’s secondary circuits, as shown in Fig. 3. With
this configuration, any system unbalance affects both wye con-
nected sections equally resulting in the primary current of each
700
neutral current transformer being equal. When the current trans-
former secondary circuits are differentially summed as shown,
the resulting current flowing through the resistor, and therefore
the voltage “seen” by the neutral overvoltage relay will be zero.
C. Calculations
To determine the appropriate settings for the overvoltage
relay, calculate
1) the voltage present across the remaining capacitor ele-
ments in a faulted string;
2) the resulting voltage developed across the neutral resistor.
The practical approach in determining adequate overvoltage
relay settings is to develop a table for various numbers of
failed series sections. From this table, it will be obvious as to
how many failed elements will cause an excessive overvoltage
condition.
Equations (1)–(5) can be used to solve for the quantities
needed to set the overvoltage relay
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
where
neutral current, A;
neutral resistance, ;
neutral current transformer ratio;
voltage developed across , ;
system maximum operating voltage, kV;
rated voltage of each capacitor unit (can), kV;
reactive power rating of capacitor can, Mvars;
impedance of capacitor can, ;
number of series sections per capacitor can;
impedance of capacitor element, k ;
number of series—connected capacitor cans per
string;
number of shorted series sections in one string.
D. Application Example
The example capacitor bank is a 115-kV, 15-Mvar, split-wye,
grounded fuseless bank consisting of two parallel strings of four
series-connected capacitor units per phase (see Fig. 3). Each ca-
pacitor consists of eight series sections of three parallel-con-
nected elements each. Each capacitor is rated at 16.6 kV and
625 kvar. Each capacitor is also rated to withstand a continuous
overvoltage of up to 110%. The neutral current transformer ratio
is 25:5 and the neutral resistor is 10 . The maximum contin-
uous power system voltage is determined to be 118 kV (The
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 17, NO. 3, JULY 2002
maximum continuous system voltage is important since oper-
ating voltages in excess of nominal will result in capacitor over-
voltage without a failure within the bank).
For this bank, we wish to determine the appropriate over-
voltage relay settings for both the ALARM and TRIP condi-
tions. The unbalance calculations for two shorted series sections
are as follows.
The current flowing through the neutral of the capacitor bank
due to two shorted series sections is found using (1)
kV
kV
k
A
with the neutral current known, the voltage developed across the
neutral resistor can be found using (2)
V
The percent overvoltage experienced by each remaining se-
ries sections within the faulted string is found using (3)
To aid in setting the relay, the calculations should be per-
formed for multiple element failures. The results of these cal-
culations are shown in Table I.
1) ALARM Setting
The results of the calculations indicate that two se-
ries sections can be shorted without subjecting the re-
maining series sections in the faulted string to excessive
overvoltage. If the voltage relay has a separate alarm set
point, then it should be set such that the relay will alarm
for one shorted series section. The exact setting is a matter
of preference. Allowing for some margin of error is ap-
propriate. An alarm setting of 70–80% of the calculated
relay voltage for one shorted element will most likely pre-
vent false alarms due to inherent unbalance while assuring
that one shorted series section is detected.
2) TRIP Setting
Two situations must be considered when deriving the
trip setting. First, the bank must be removed from ser-
vice before the remaining series sections in the faulted
HORTON et al.: UNBALANCE PROTECTION OF FUSELESS, SPLIT-WYE, GROUNDED, SHUNT CAPACITOR BANKS
TABLE I
CALCULATION RESULTS FOR MULTIPLE SERIES SECTION FAILURES
string are subjected to an excessive overvoltage condition.
Second, the bank must be promptly removed from ser-
vice if an entire capacitor unit is shorted, e.g., a bushing
flashover or major insulation failure.
From the data in Table I, it is apparent that the remaining
series sections in the faulted string will be subjected to an ex-
cessive overvoltage condition once three series sections become
shorted. However, it should be noted that the failure of two se-
ries sections will result in nearly 10% overvoltage. Using sound
engineering judgement, it seems appropriate in this case to trip
the bank off-line for two shorted elements. Note also that pro-
tection will be provided for a shorted capacitor unit since eight
series sections are effectively shorted for this scenario.
Selecting a trip setting that is greater than the resulting relay
voltage for one shorted series section, yet less than that for two
shorted elements will suffice. Again, an exact setting is a matter
of preference. Some margin should be considered since a set-
ting that is too low, combined with inherent unbalance due to
manufacturer’s tolerances, may result in a false trip. A setting
that is too high, combined with an unexpectedly high operating
voltage, could subject the bank to sustained overvoltage beyond
the continuous rating. A setting of 80% of the calculated voltage
has been used successfully.
The unbalance protective relaying scheme will compensate
for system unbalance, and thus is not required to coordinate with
the clearing of a “close in” line-to-ground fault. Also, since the
bank has no fuses, the unbalance protective relaying scheme is
not required to coordinate with the operation time of an external
fuse. Therefore, a trip time delay of 0.5 s or less is recommended
[2]; however, longer delays have been used successfully.
For the preceding example, the following relay settings were
chosen:
Alarm Setpoint V Mr. Harry is a registered Professional Engineer in Alabama.
Alarm Time Delay s
Trip Setpoint V
Trip Time Delay s Charles A. Gross (S’68–M’69–SM’75) received the B.S. degree in physics,
IV. CONCLUSION
Due to its simple design and the invention of the all-film ca-
pacitor unit, the fuseless capacitor bank has become a reliable
701
and economical means of providing reactive power to a system.
Because of the increased usage of fuseless power capacitors, an
unbalance protection scheme that can be easily understood and
implemented by protection engineers is needed. The unbalance
protection scheme presented in this paper can be easily applied
using the information provided herein.
REFERENCES
[1] F. Karl and M. Jack, “The use of high-reliability capacitor units
with fuses in high-voltage substation banks,” in Cooper Power Sys-
tems. Greenwood, SC: McGraw Edison Power Capacitors.
[2] IEEE Guide for the Protection of Shunt Capacitor Banks, IEEE Std.
C37.99-2000, 2000.
Randy Horton (S’95–M’96) was born in Birmingham, AL, in 1973. He re-
ceived the B.S.E.E. degree with specialization in power systems from the Uni-
versity of Alabama at Birmingham in 1996, and is currently pursuing the M.E.E.
degree at Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
He is currently a Protection Engineer at Alabama Power Company, Birm-
ingham. His current technical interests include protection of large capacitor
banks, transformers, and HV and EHV transmission lines.
Mr. Horton is a registered Professional Engineer in Alabama.
Ted Warren received the B.E.E. degree from Auburn University, Auburn, AL,
in 1993.
Currently, he is a Protection Engineer at Alabama Power Company, Birm-
ingham. He has also worked as a Protection Engineer with Alabama Electric
Cooperative, and has worked in the industrial automation field.
Mr. Warren is a registered Professional Engineer in Alabama.
Karl Fender (M’93) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the
University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Currently, he is Manager of Application Engineering at Cooper Power Sys-
tems, McGraw-Edison Power Capacitors, Greewood, SC. He joined Cooper
Power Systems in 1993 after five years in the U.S. Navy. He has held several
positions within Cooper Power Systems in both design engineering and mar-
keting. and is a Member of several capacitor-related IEEE working groups.
Steven Harry (S’96–M’01) received the B.E.E. degree and the M.S. degree
with a specialization in power systems from Auburn University at Birmingham
in 1995 and 2000, respectively.
He is currently a Protection Engineer at Alabama Power Company,
Birmingham. His current technical interests include power system protection,
switching transients, and substation automation.
and the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from The University of Alabama,
Tuscaloosa, and the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri
at Rolla.
He has extensive academic, industrial, and consulting experience in electric
power engineering, and is the author of the textbook Power System Analysis
(New York: Wiley, 1986). He is currently Square D Power Professor at Auburn
University.