P R OT E C T I O N

GCM05
DC Intertrip Relay

The GCM05 DC Intertripping Relay has been

designed to provide group intertripping of up to
four remotely connected sites. The 15kV isolation
level of the unit allows application for intertripping
requirements of electrical networks where large
induced voltages may be experienced on the pilot
circuits.

In comparison to conventional isolated intertripping

batteries and equipment, the GCM05 provides a
simple means of utilising multi-terminal, minimum
circuit breaker power system configurations. The
efficient compact design of the intertrip relay allows
the use of standard substation batteries and the
elimination of many HV breakers whilst
maintaining effective network protection and
discrimination without the need for complex voice
frequency, fibre optic or microwave communication
systems.

When used in a retrofit situation, the relay will

replace existing dc relays and the ancillary isolated
battery banks, therefore eliminating the on-going
Customer procurement and maintenance costs of such
Benefits systems.
• Two way group
intertripping of up to
4 remotely connected
sites
• Operates using
conventional metallic
pilot wires (pilot
resistance from
0 to 2kΩ)
• Inherent 15kV isolation
eliminates the need for
isolated intertripping
batteries.
• Powered directly from
substation battery
• Inherent self and pilot
wire supervision

AREVA T&D
 TYPICAL APPLICATIONS PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

Figure 2 illustrates four typical applications, where a
fault on the feeder or transformer will require the
hatched portion of the system to be isolated to clear
the fault.
A dc intertripping scheme will achieve this with the
utmost simplicity and reliability.
This requires a pilot pair to be run between all
locations. Up to four locations can be tripped as a
group provided the pilot pair has a total resistance of
less than 2kΩ.
A dc trip voltage impressed on this pilot pair will cause
the receive relays at each location to pick up
simultaneously.
Figure 3 illustrates the operational connections for a
single pilot application.
Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of the relay. The
GCM05 uses a dc/ dc converter, to feed constant
energy pulses through the pulse transformer into a
rectifier circuit connected to the pilot. The pilot is
connected between all sites within the Intertrip group.
The pulse transformer provides 15kV isolation allowing
use on pilots prone to high induced voltages that occur
during system faults.
When an input to any one of the GCM05 units is
energised, remote tripping of all other units is effected
by increasing the rate of energy transfer at any site.
This raises the voltage on the pilot above the tripping
threshold of 80V dc.
Initiation may be from a fleeting contact input and the
unit will not respond to its own intertrip send signal.

Figure 2 Typical applications : dc intertrip relay

Tripping zone

Tripping zone
33kV 11kV
11kV
Transformer ended feeders

3 feeder mesh network

Tripping zone

11kV
Tripping
11kV zone

415V 415V

110kV Teed feeder networks 3 feeder radial networks

Simple pilot wire intertripping,

2>3
avoiding costly isolated battery banks
 Pilot cable To additional
remote units

Master Slave
+ ñ + ñ

W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5 W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5
POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM
SUPPLY SEND SUPPLY SEND
20 50 20 50
0 / / 0 / /
20-150V 50 150 20-150V 50 150
+ ñ ñ + + + ñ ñ + +
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Relay Pilot/relay
ñ faulty ñ faulty/alarm
alarm
Intertrip send Intertrip send
initiate initiate
+ +
To intertrip To intertrip
receive auxiliary receive auxiliary
relay relay

Figure 3 Typical connection diagram : dc intertrip relay

PILOT SUPERVISION Redundancy has been employed in areas whereby a

likely failure, would prevent a signal, either send or
Supervision of the pilots is achieved by setting one unit receive from being processed. An intertrip receive
as the master and the remaining units as slave. The signal cannot be reset whilst the trip condition still
master unit injects a supervision voltage of exists. Likewise, the sending relay's send indication
approximately 24V dc onto the pilots. Short, crossed or cannot be reset whilst the trip condition exists.
open circuits of the pilot wires will cause each of the
remote slave units' supervision contacts to close. The
master unit may detect some pilot short circuits ENHANCED SECURITY
depending on position along the cable but will not
detect pilot wire open circuits due to the supervision In a standard configuration, the GCM05 utilises one
voltage it is injecting. pilot pair between the units. An enhanced method of
operation is where two separate pilot cable pairs are
used, physically separated and connected back
SECURITY AND RELIABILITY together at each end. Pilot faults in one cable will
OF OPERATION therefore not disrupt operation of the intertrip scheme.

Comprehensive self supervision circuitry in each relay A further method offering an extremely high degree of
generates an alarm if any relay is unable to send or security, needed in certain circumstances, is to operate
receive a trip signal due to internal failure. The system the protection over two separate pilot wires as before,
is very secure as at least a 16 fold increase in the rate but also to operate the relays as an independent A & B
of energy transfer is required to change from the system (4 relays).
supervision voltage to the tripping threshold. In this arrangement, both relays must receive the trip
signal for it to be processed. Figure 5 shows two relays
connected to operate in series and also over two
independent pilot routes.
 An internal fault in any relay will cause the intertrip
faulty relay to close its contacts. Therefore, when two
units are connected in series to offer this enhanced
security, should one unit develop an internal fault,
closing contacts 15 & 16 which will result in a trip from
the healthy relay only. Further, when contacts 15 & 16
of any given relay close, so will contacts 17 & 18 which
would be wired to cause an alarm output.
In this situation, operational control will not be passed
to the 'A' system at the master end in the event that the
short or open occurs on the 'B' pilot, or vice versa.
Therefore for one way intertripping applications, both
intertrip send relays should be set to master and both
intertrip receive relays should be set to slave as shown
in Figure 5.

The master/ slave arrangement has been designed to
provide a check on pilot continuity. The design of this
feature ensures that the slave unit will alarm in the
event that pilot continuity is lost. The master unit will
alarm in certain circumstances only, as stated
previously.
The consequence of this condition would be intolerable
when used in the enhanced mode of configuration.
If two way intertripping is required a further two relays
would be required as shown in Figure 6, (6 relays).
The two relays at each end operating over separate
pilots are set to slave and connected in series. The two
additional relays are set to master and are located
midway along the pilots to ensure that the relays set to
slave at each end can detect pilot failures.

The reason is that in the event that a short circuit was

to occur on one pilot pair only and close to the slave
end or an open was to occur on the same pilot, then
whilst that slave unit will bring up an alarm, the master
may not.

Figure 4 Block diagram : dc intertrip relay

1
+VE
Master/slave

2 DC/DC
Vx –VE converter
Send
VR1

VR4

3
–

–
+

6
50-150V
+
Pulse
Intertrip 5 generation/detection Send/ Terminals
20-50V receive Filter
send circuitry pilot
–
4 Supervision Receive Send
0V RL1-1

PCB
link 7

8
Inhibit
RL1 RL1-2 9
Trip receive
Intertrip receive
VR1 10
Level detector
+ –
RL1-3 11

12

RL1-4 13

14
RL2
Supervision RL2-1
15
VR3
Level detector
+ – 16
RL2-2 Intertrip faulty
17 supervision alarm

18

Supervision and tripping are based

on voltage thresholds - avoiding
the constraints of digital signalling,
4>5
which requires high pilot quality.
 To remote To remote
substation relay A substation relay B

Remote intertrip send relays set to Master

Pilot cable A

Pilot cable B
Relay A Relay B
Slave Slave
+ – + –

Local
substation
WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5 WARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN 5
POWER INTERTRIP INTERTRIP RECEIVE ALARM POWER INTERTRIP INTERTRIP RECEIVE ALARM
SUPPLY SEND SUPPLY SEND
20 50 20 50
0 / / 0 / /
20-150V 50 150 20-150V 50 150
+ – – + + + – – + +
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay Pilot/relay
faulty alar m faulty alarm
–

To intertrip
+ receive auxiliary
relay

Intertrip receive tripping logic

A REC A REC B REC To intertrip

+ receive auxiliary
relay

A REC B REC B REC

Figure 5 Typical connection diagram :

one way intertrip application with enhanced security operating as independent A and B (receive end)

Figure 6 Typical connection diagram :

two way intertrip application with enhanced security operating as independent A and B system with separate Master relays

To remote To remote
substation relay A substation relay B
Remote relays set to “Slave”
Pilot cable B
Pilot cable A

Master relay located midway along pilots

Relay A Relay B
Master Slave Slave Master
+ – + – + – + –

Local
substation
W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN W ARNING DO NOT EXCEED 50V ON PIN
POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM POWER INTER TRIP INTER TRIP RECEIVE ALARM
SUPPLY SEND SUPPLY SEND SUPPLY SEND SUPPLY SEND
20 50 20 50 20 50 20 50
0 / / 0 / / 0 / / 0 / /
20-150V 50 150 20-150V 50 150 20-150V 50 150 20-150V 50 150
+ ñ ñ + + + ñ ñ + + + ñ ñ + + + ñ ñ + +
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pilot/relay Pilot/relay
faulty alarm faulty alarm
– – –

Intertrip send
initiate
+ + +

To intertrip
receive auxiliary
relay

Intertrip receive tripping logic

A REC A REC B REC To intertrip
+ receive auxiliary
relay
A REC B REC B REC
 APPLICATION NOTES > Compatibility of Relay
with Other Products

> Maximum Scheme Configuration The GCM05 can provide up to rated output voltage into
a 7KΩ load, dependent on sub-station battery voltage
A maximum of 4 units can be used over a pilot level. Provided the loading does not exceed this, the
impedance of less than 2kΩ. GCM05 will operate with other types of existing dc
systems. Excessive load will not damage the relay
although it will not allow the full trip level voltage onto
> Group Delay Characteristics the pilots leading to possible failure to operate.

The further each sending unit is from the receiving end,
the longer will be the delay time for system operation.
This is proportional to pilot impedance; the higher the
pilot impedance, the longer the delay at the units more
distant.
In some situations it may be possible to use the
GCM05 as a send unit in conjunction with existing dc
intertrip receive relays, thereby overcoming the need
for isolated intertrip batteries. However, the pilot wire
supervision capability cannot be used nor can bi-
directional intertripping in this configuration.

> Intertrip Send Times

The intertrip time between sites, connected via a pilot

cable, within the group is determined by the
combination of:

1. Type of pilot cable used

2. Trip voltage level
3. Pilot cable impedance
4. Distribution of relays around the pilot cable
and with respect to one another
5. Number of connected relays

Figure 7 Mounting details dc intertrip relay

170 (Wall mount)

155.4 (Flush mount)

8
Terminal – Pilot 155 168 178
142
blocks cable 25
9
+ terminals

18

End view
Front view 4 Ø4mm holes
4 Ø4mm holes suitable for 19” rack mounting

206

20 max 6 max 30 max Dimensions in mm

103

52 50

Side view

Fast, secure, intertripping

6>7
TECHNICAL DATA > Indications
• Power - green LED
> Auxiliary supply voltage (Vx) 24/125V dc
• Intertrip send - red LED
Intertrip Send 20/50V 50/150V • Intertrip receive - red LED
voltage
Input Terminals 4/5 Terminals 4/6 > Pilot wire isolation
Pickup ≤ 20V dc ≤ 50V dc • 15kV rms. for 1 minute, between the pilot wire
Drop off ≥ 10V dc ≥ 25V dc and other circuits and earth
Max volts 50V dc 150V dc
> Ac noise immunity
Operating Master Slave Intertrip send
• Up to 400V rms. at 50Hz for 3s
mode
(300Ω source impedance)
Output volts 24V dc <15V dc 150V dc
to pilot * (adjustable)
> Impedance presented to pilots
Power <6W <5W <12W
consumption • 22KΩ dc

* Total ac ripple voltage typically 1V r.m.s. in all • 7000Ω ac 50Hz

operating modes. • 16000Ω ac > 300Hz

Pilot Intertrip Pilot/relay > Pilot Voltage Adjustment

receive receive faulty • Up to 200V dc
Pilot pickup volts <80V dc <20V dc • Factory setting = 150V
Pilot drop-off volts >60V dc >15V dc
> Intertrip Time
• Typical values based on send relay pilot
> Output contacts Voltage = 150V
• Intertrip receive (order option) Pilot cable details 2 ended 3 ended 4 ended
4 normally open or 3 normally open scheme scheme scheme
and one normally closed
0 ohms 60ms 66ms 70ms
• Pilot/relay faulty supervision 1,000 ohms 1µF 65ms 68ms 73ms
2 normally closed 2,000 ohms 2µF 67ms 72ms 79ms

> Contact Ratings > System Reset Time

Current Make and carry Break • 2 seconds from completion of trip send
continuously • Inherent reset time of the intertrip send relay
ac 1100VA with Resistive 1100VA is 2s
maxima of 10A inductive 825VA • Intertrip receive relay has no intentional
and 250V with maxima of reset time delay
10A and 250V

dc 240VA with Resistive 240VA

maxima of 10A inductive 120VA CASES
and 125V with maxima of
10A and 125V See Figure 7 for case outline details.

Make: 30A and carry for 3s

MOUNTING

Supplied as projection mounted, however the unit

can be flush mounted by simply relocating the
mounting brackets. The unit must be mounted so
that the terminal block is not at the top. The
mounting bracket is designed to fit a rack mounting
frame if required.

DIMENSIONS
Overall dimensions

• Length: 237mm
• Width: 178mm (including mounting brackets)
• Height: 103mm

AREVA T&D Worldwide Contact Centre:
http://www.areva-td.com/contactcentre/
Tel.: +44 (0) 1785 250 070
www.areva-td.com
www.areva-td.com/protectionrelays
AREVA TRACK RECORD -
INTERTRIPPNG DEVICES
>> Over 2100 GCM05 relays delivered since launching in 1997..
>> Complements MVAW and MVAJ relays,
which may be applied on short cable runs.
>> Digital intertripping DIP5000, HSDI and MJTW available.
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AUTOMATION-L3-GCM05-BR-03.05-0906-GB - ©2005 AREVA - AREVA, the AREVA logo and any alternative version thereof are trademarks and service marks of AREVA.
Our policy is one of continuous development. Accordingly the
design of our products may change at any time. Whilst every
effort is made to produce up to date literature, this brochure
should only be regarded as a guide and is intended for
information purposes only. Its contents do not constitute an offer
for sale or advise on the application of any product referred to in
it. We cannot be held responsible for any reliance on any
decisions taken on its contents without specific advice.