2019 International Conference on Intelligent Green Building and Smart Grid (IGBSG2019), 6-9 Sept.

, Yichang
China

Improved Adaptive Current I Segment Protection of

Smart Converter Substation
Yongjun Xia Hengxuan Li Zuowei Wang
State Grid Hubei Electric Power State Grid Hubei Electric Power State Grid Hubei Electric Power
Research Institute Research Institute Research Institute
Wuhan,430077, China Wuhan,430077, China Wuhan,430077, China
epriaxia@163.com 48191744@qq.com epriwang@126.com
Kanjun Zhang Peng Li Yuting Fu
State Grid Hubei Electric Power State Grid Hubei Electric Power College of Electrical Engineering &
Research Institute Research Institute New Energy
Wuhan,430077, China Wuhan, 430077,China China Three Gorges University
157789779@qq.com lipengyyy@outlook.com
Yichang, 443000, China
fyt0001@qq.com

Abstract—In the distributed power access distribution
network, the short circuit current dynamically changes with
the difference of accessed capacity and position, resulting in
insufficient sensitivity or even refusal of the traditional three-
stage current protection based on the maximum operation
mode setting. Adaptive current protection in the distribution
network needs to be studied. Based on the analysis of the
influence of distributed power supply distribution network on
current protection, the composite fault network is constructed
when the system occurs in the upstream, downstream or
adjacent feeders of the distributed power supply. Further, the
positive sequence voltage and the positive sequence current at
the time of the fault are used to calculate the current at the end
of the line in real time, and based on this, the current value of
the over-current protection I segment is set. Finally, it is
verified that the protection method can set the current value
and improve the protection performance based on the PSCAD
simulation.
Keywords—Distributed Power; distribution network; adaptive
current protection; composite sequence network diagram;
PSCAD
I. INTRODUCTION
With the increasing energy and environmental issues,
distributed generation (DG)[1] characterized by high energy
efficiency, compatible environment, and adaptability to
renewable energy, has become a research central issue.At
present, most methods based on DG access to distribution
network focus on: (1) DG is removed after failure, but most
of the faults in the distribution network are transient faults,
which will seriously affect the system if it is immediately
removed[2]; (2) Limit DG exit current and access capacity,
which will make DG not maximize output, reduce the
maximum utilization of DG[3-5]; (3) Fast protection based
on wide area information under communication, but requires
communication to achieve synchronous transmission[6]; (4)
some methods of adjusting the protection value in real time
through current changes do not consider the impact of active
control methods on protection in active distribution
networks, and still cause misoperation or refusal[7-9].
The single-supply radiating structure of the distribution
network is changed with access of DG[10-11],at the time,the
operating state and fault level of the power system also are
changed, which poses a severe challenge to relay
This research was funded by Science and Technology Project of State Grid
Corporation of China(No. 52153218002L).
protection[12-15]. In this paper, based on the analysis of the
influence of DG access distribution network on over-current
protection, a new adaptive over-current protection method is
proposed. The method considers the faulty point in the
upstream, downstream or adjacent feeders of the DG access,
and the system composite network diagram when the phase-
to-phase short circuit occurs. On this basis, the over-current
protection setting value is calculated. This method has
strong applicability and expands the scope of protection.
II. IMPACT OF DG ACCESS TO DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ON
CURRENT Protection
The adaptive current protection can perform online
tuning calculation according to the parameter changes caused
by the current operating mode, so that the grid maintains
optimal performance. Let the short-circuit fault occur at
the  Z l , and the existing adaptive protection 1 segment
setting current is:
K rel K d Es
Id = （1）
Z s +  Zl
Where,  is the position of the fault point, and the
value range is [0,1]. K rel is 1.2~1.3. The fault type
coefficient K d is taken as 1 in the case of three-phase short
circuit, and the two-phase short circuit is taken as 2
3
. Es is
the equivalent phase potential of the system, Z s is the
impedance of system side and Z l is the impedance of line
side. If I  I d , the protection action is performed, the fault is
removed.
When the DG access to the distribution network, the
above-mentioned traditional over-current protection will
have the following effects:
(1) When the protection back side is connected with DG,
Z S will change.
(2) When the DG upstream fault occurs, the current at
the fault point away from the DG is small, so ES becomes
small and the setting value of the current becomes small. At
this point, the upstream protection of DG may lose
selectivity.

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China

(3) The relationship between the two-phase and three- B

phase short-circuit current is no longer a simple 23 multiple, +
Zs Z AB I 21  Z BC
which is related to factors such as the size and position of the S U 21
DG access. _
III. IMPROVED ADAPTIVE CURRENT I SEGMENT PROTECTION
(b)
UNDER DG ACCESS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
Fig. 2. Composite network diagram of phase-to-phase short circuit(f2)
The traditional I segment protection has different
(a) Two-phase short circuit
setting values between the maximum and the minimum
operating mode, so the protection range is also different. In (b) Three-phase short circuit

view of this, the improved current protection proposed in

According to the above composite sequence network
this paper does not need to consider the change of the
diagram, the calculation results about measuring current and
system operation mode, and it can calculate the protection
setting current of the protection 2 are shown in Table 1.
setting value according to the current operation mode to
TABLE I. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION 2
determine the protection range. At this time, there is no
F2 failure
maximum and minimum protection range, and the Short circuit type
Measuring current I21 Setting current Id21
protection can be accurately operated for line faults that U 21 I d 21 =
K relU 21
Two-phase short I 21 =
circuit 2 Z BC + Z s + Z AB 2Z BC + Z s + Z AB
occur in the range. In the next section, the composite
sequence network diagram of phase-to-phase short-circuit U 21 K relU 21
Three-phase short I 21 = I d 21 =
fault is given to calculate the Setting value of over-current I circuit  Z BC Z BC
segment protection based on the distribution network system
Where, Z S is the system impedance seen from the bus
shown in Figure 1.
A 4 E
A to the backside, as equation (2):
S f3
B C D U A
Zs = − （2）
6 1 5 2 3 I A
f1 f2

Where, U A , I A is the voltage difference and current

DG
Fig. 1. System diagram of DG access distribution network
A. downstream fault of DG access point
DG is equivalent to a voltage-controlled current source
in a positive sequence network. In the system shown in
Figure 1, when the phase-to-phase short circuit occurs
downstream (f2) of the DG access point, the equivalent
difference.
According to the principle of adaptive current
protection, the positive sequence voltage and current at fault
are used to calculate the current setting value I d 21 of the line
end, while  = 1, Krel = 1.2 . The setting current value of
protection 2 can be adjusted online in real time according to
the change of the short-circuit point. Once the measured
current is greater than the setting current, the protection acts
immediately and the protection range can reach 80% of the
line.

composite network diagram is shown in Figure 2. Among B. Upstream fault of DG access point
them, U 21 , I 21 is measuring voltage and current for the As shown in Figure 1, when the phase-to-phase short
circuit occurs at the upstream (f1) of the DG access point, the
positive sequence of the protection 2. equivalent composite network diagram is shown in Figure 3.
B Among them, U 51 , I 51 is the measuring voltage and current
+
Zs Z AB I 21  Z BC for the positive sequence of the protection 5, and U11 , I11 is
S U 21
the voltage and current for the positive sequence of the
_ protection 1.
B
Zs Z AB  Z BC

(a)

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China

A B  Z AE A
Zs +  Z AB (1 −  ) Z AB + +
I11 I 51 Z AB
I 41 Zs
S U11 U 51 U 41
_ _ S
_
A B
 Z AE A
Zs  Z AB (1 −  ) Z AB
Z AB
Zs

(a)
(a)
A B
+  Z AB  Z AE A Z AB
Zs (1 −  ) Z AB + I
I11 51
+
S U11 U 51 I 41 Zs
_ _ U 41
S
(b) _
Fig. 3. Composite network diagram of phase-to-phase short circuit(f1) (b)

(a)Two-phase short circuit Fig. 4. Composite network diagram of phase-to-phase short circuit(f3)

(b)Three-phase short circuit (a)Two-phase short circuit

For the protection 1, the positive sequence voltage and (b)Three-phase short circuit
current are used to calculate the current setting value of the
line end in real time, but for the protection 5,  should be According to the above composite sequence network
taken as 0 at this time, which is the end of the line protection. diagram, the calculation results about measuring current and
According to the above composite sequence network setting current of the protection 4 are shown in table 3.
diagram, the calculation results about measuring current and
TABLE III. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION 4
setting current of the protection 1 and protection 5 are
F3 failure
Short circuit type
shown in Table 2. Measuring current I41 Setting current Id41

Two-phase short U 41 K relU 41

TABLE II. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION 1 I 41 = I d 41 =
AND 5
circuit 2 Z AE + Z s 2Z AE + Z s

F1 failure Three-phase short U 41 K relU 41

Short circuit type Measuring current I11 Setting current Id11 I 41 = I d 41 =
I51, Id51
circuit  Z AE Z AE
U11 K relU11 As shown in table 3, protection 4 can adaptive current
I11 = I d 11 =
Two-phase short
2 Z AB + Z s 2Z AB + Z s setting and protect accurate operation.
circuit U 51 K U
I 51 = I d 51 = rel 51 IV. SIMULATION VERIFICATION
2(1 −  ) Z AB 2Z AB
The DG access distribution system diagram is used in
U11 K relU11 this paper shown in Figure 1, and the Simulation model is
I11 = I d 11 = built by PSCAD. The system capacity is 100MVA and the
Two-phase short  Z AB Z AB
circuit
voltage is 10.5kV. The line impedance of lines AB, BC and
U 51 K relU 51 AE are Z AB = 0.8 + j1, Z BC = 0.3 + j 0.4, Z AE = 0.8 + j1 . K rel is
I 51 = I d 51 =
(1 −  ) Z AB Z AB taken as 1.2 and DG capacity is 4MW and 8MW. 5% error
As shown in table 2, protection 1 and protection 5 can range is considered, and the fault position are 0.5, 0.76, and
0.84 (accounting for 50%, 76%, and 84% of the line).
adaptive current setting and protect accurate operation.
A. Downstream fault of DG access point
C. Adjacent feeder fault
When phase-to-phase short circuit occurs at different
As shown in Figure 1, when phase-to-phase short
position of the BC line, the setting values and measured
circuit occurs at the adjacent feeder (f3), DG still exists in
values of protection 2 at 50%, 76%, and 84% of the BC line
each positive sequence network, which can be equivalent to
are verified respectively. The results are shown in the
a voltage-controlled current source. The equivalent
following table:
sequence network diagram is shown in Figure 4.

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TABLE IV. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION

2(KA) decrease as the distance of the fault from the line exit
Two-phase short Two-phase short decreases while the protection range increases according to
DG Fault circuit circuit the adaptive current protection method.
capacity position Setting Measurin Setting Measurin
current g current current g current C. Adjacent feeder fault
 =0.5 0.0548 0.0586 0.0543 0.0905
8MW  =0.76 0.0423 0.0437 0.0597 0.0655 When phase-to-phase short circuit occurs at different
 =0.84 0.0401 0.0389 0.0534 0.0530 position of the AE line, the setting values and measured
 =0.5 0.0540 0.0585 0.0542 0.0904
4MW  =0.76 0.0422 0.0436 0.0596 0.0654
values of protection 4 at 50%, 76%, and 84% of the AE line
 =0.84 0.0400 0.0388 0.0532 0.0528 are verified respectively. The results are shown in the
As can be seen from Table 4, the range of protection is following table:
related to the position of the fault. The closer to the end of TABLE VII. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION
the line, the smaller the setting and the greater the protection 4(KA)

range. If the traditional short-circuit current at the end of the Two-phase short Two-phase short
DG Fault circuit circuit
line is set to the maximum short-circuit current, the setting capacity position Setting Measurin Setting Measurin
current g current current g current
value is the largest in the whole line, and the corresponding  =0.5 0.0161 0.0223 0.0155 0.0257
sensitivity is not as high as the adaptive setting. In addition, 8MW  =0.76 0.0181 0.0184 0.0178 0.0196
it can be seen from the above data that after the DG is  =0.84 0.0154 0.0172 0.0181 0.0179
 =0.5 0.161 0.0223 0.0154 0.0256
connected, the protection range will decrease as the DG  =0.76
4MW 0.0180 0.0183 0.0177 0.0195
capacity increases for the DG downstream line  =0.84 0.0153 0.0171 0.0180 0.0178

B. Upstream fault of DG access point It can be seen from Table 7 that when the adjacent
When phase-to-phase short circuit occurs at different feeder fails, the closer the fault point is to the system power
position of the AB line, the setting values and measured supply, the smaller the current setting value is, and the
values of protection 1 and protection 5 at 50%, 76%, and larger the protection range becomes. The reverse current
84% of the AB line are verified respectively. The results are provided by the DG also has less influence on other
as follows: protections. .
In summary, when the fault occurs within 20% of the
TABLE V. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION
1(KA) outlet of the line, the protection has higher sensitivity and is
Two-phase short Two-phase short not affected by the operation mode. When the fault occurs
DG Fault circuit circuit within 84% of the line, the closer to the end of the line, the
capacity position Setting Measurin Setting Measurin
current g current current g current sensitivity is reduced. Considering that the line has 5%
 =0.5 0.0071 0.0118 0.0115 0.0192
range error, the protection must be accurately operated for
8MW  =0.76 0.0081 0.0089 0.0139 0.0152
 =0.84 0.0077 0.0076 0.0136 0.0135 the fault to occur within 76% of the line. That is, the
 =0.5 0.0070 0.0118 0.0115 0.0192 improvement of the current I segment protection can
4MW  =0.76 0.0080 0.0088 0.0139 0.0152
improve the sensitivity within the protection range. When
 =0.84 0.0076 0.0075 0.0136 0.0135
the fault occurs outside the protection range of 84%, the
TABLE VI. CURRENT MEASUREMENT AND SETTING OF PROTECTION protection can be reliably inoperative, that is, the I segment
5(KA)
protection does not malfunction and ensures reliability.
Two-phase short Two-phase short
DG Fault circuit circuit
capacity position Setting Measurin Setting Measurin
V. CONCLUSION
current g current current g current
 =0.5 0.0147 0.0245 0.0188 0.0375
A new adaptive current protection method based on the
8MW  =0.76 0.0141 0.0489 0.0209 0.0727 centralized structure of distribution network is proposed in
 =0.84 0.0110 0.0575 0.0161 0.0838 this paper. Firstly, the current amplitude is compared in
 =0.5 0.0148 0.0246 0.0189 0.0376
 =0.76 three cases: DG upstream fault, DG downstream fault, and
4MW 0.0141 0.0490 0.0210 0.0728
 =0.84 0.0110 0.0575 0.0161 0.0839 adjacent feeder fault. The current is set near the fault point.
It can be seen from Table 5 and Table 6 that when the From the simulation results, this adaptive online tuning
line fails, the setting value is the largest according to the method can improve the overall sensitivity of the protection.
traditional setting method, but the setting value will When the position of the fault point is different, the setting
values are also different. This method has the following

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characteristics:
1) It can be seen from the simulation data that the
protection range is expanded when the new adaptive online
tuning method is adopted. Even in the case of two-phase
short circuit, the range of main protection can reach about
80% of the line, and the effect is very obvious.
2) After adopting this new method of adaptive
protection, the influence of the DG access position and fault
types on the smart converter substation is greatly reduced,
and the performance of relay protection is improved.
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