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DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHY USED FOR GENERATOR REVERSE & LOW

FORWARD POWER PROTECTION & IT’S SETTING CALCULATION

Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, Adani Power Maharashtra Limited, India

Hunny Garg, Adani Power Maharashtra Limited, India

Abstract- A generator supplies power to the grid in the normal operation. In case, steam input to the turbine stopped suddenly due to forced closing
or malfunctioning of the turbine valves, or non urgent trip, the tripping of generator circuit breaker at that instant should not be done as trapped
steam in the turbine can rapidly lead to over speeding of the generator rotor. Large HV generators generally designed with low-inertia, and hence
having high-speed tolerance becomes low. To reduce the risk of over speeding, it is required to trip the generator circuit breaker, when output
power is sufficiently low (known as Low Forward Power check) that will not over speed the generator. This protection is known as Low Forward
Power Protection (LFP). If LFP logic fails to operate due to any reason then it will not shutdown the generator. In this situation generator will start
taking reverse power from the grid resulting in motor mode leading to overheating of the turbine blades and ultimately causing damage to the
turbine. To protect the generator in this situation there is a protection called Reverse power Protection and the time delay to operate this protection
function needs to be set according to permissible running of the turbine during reverse power.

Index Terms— Low Forward Power, Reverse Power, Synchronous Generator Protection.
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Operation Criteria for relay –

INTRODUCTION1 Condition-1 when turbine is in running condition

In the event of acting of mechanical protection, turbine valve
closes and trapped steam needs to be dying down before cutting
Generator
of electrical load to protect generator over speeding. There are Voltage
some abnormal conditions like generator overload, over P < Se ng
Generator
excitation, loss of excitation, pole slipping of generator these are Current
non-urgent abnormalities in which tripping of sudden generator
circuit breaker can be avoid. For these abnormalities turbine
valve can be trip first and generator circuit breaker needs to be Turbine
trip with a low forward power protection or reverse power ON
AND Trip
protection. Power > Supervision Se ng

LOW FORWARD POWER PROTECTION

Fig-2 Philosophy 2 Condition-1 For LFP
Philosophy -1

Low forward power condition can be detect by measuring Condition-2 when turbine is in trip condition
generator current and voltage. Low forward power protection
mal operation can be avoided with position contact of turbine
Generator
valve and generator circuit breaker. Voltage
P < Se ng
Generator
Operation Criteria for relay –When measured forward power is Current
less than the setting value, and then protection operates.

Generator Turbine
Voltage Trip
P < Se ng
Generator GCB AND Trip
Current ON

Power > Supervision Se ng

GCB ON
Feedback AND Trip Fig-3 Philosophy 2 Condition-1 For LFP
Turbine
Trip

Setting Values-
Fig-1 Philosophy 1 For Low Forward Power Protection
For 300 MW steam turbine generator it is proposed to set by 1%
- 3% of rated active power. And supervision pickup is around 15
to 25% of rated active power.

Setting Values- Pforward < 2% of 300 MW

For 300 MW steam turbine generator it is proposed to set by 1%
Supervision Pickup < 20% of 300 MW
- 3% of rated active power.
Pforward < 6 MW
For example it can be set at 2%.
Then,
Supervision Pickup < 60 MW
Pforward < 2% of 300 MW
Suppose 300MW Generator synchronized, due to some reason
Pforward < 6 MW
turbine trip before reaching supervision pickup load setting (60
MW). For this particular condition low forward protection will
Suppose 300MW Generator just synchronized and pickup load is
not operate.
10MW. Due to some operation issue steam flow reduced and
pickup load will fall. If load fall below 6MW. Then chance to
REVERSE POWER PROTECTION
operate low forward power protection. To avoid such condition
turbine trip feedback must be assigned in low forward power
protection. Philosophy -1

Philosophy -2
Low forward power protection will be disabled during
synchronizing. It will be active after 15% to 25% of load. In this
philosophy two low forward power conditions are taken.
When turbine tripped and generator circuit breaker not opened,
at that instant active power flow from grid to generator. Reverse
power condition can be detected by measuring generator current
and voltage. Reverse power protection always given with some
time delay, which is under permissible running time of turbine
during reverse power.

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Operation Criteria for relay –
When measured active power is less than the setting value, the
protection operates.

Generator
Voltage
P > Se ng Trip
Generator Timer
Current

Fig-4 Philosophy 1 For Reverse Power Protection

Setting Values-
For 300 MW steam turbine generator unit it is proposed to set by
0.5% - 1% of rated active power.

For example it can be set @ 1%.

Then,

Preverse > 1% of 300 MW

Preverse > -3 MW

When generator is synchronized, the pickup load is depends on

automatic synchronizer frequency setting. Generally frequency CONCLUSION
setting is ± .15 Hz, which means generator, can be synch in
forward power or reverse power. If it is synch in reverse power
condition, and to avoid mal operation of reverse power REFERENCE
protection, time delay should be provided along with reverse
power protection. So that operator can increase steam flow. [1] Dr K Rajamani and Bina Mitra, (May 2013, IEEMA
Journal, Page 76 to 80) stator earth fault protection of large
Philosophy -2 generator (95%)- part I
[2] Dr K Rajamani and Bina Mitra, (Aug 2007, IEEMA
Reverse power condition occurred when turbine tripped and Journal, Page 89 to 97) generator neutral grounding
GCB is closed. This philosophy uses turbine trip feedback and practices
GCB ON feedback, to avoid mal function of reverse power [3] Dr K Rajamani and Bina Mitra, (May 2013, IEEMA
protection. Journal, Page 81 to 86) stator earth fault protection of large
generator (100%)- part II
[4] Dr K Rajamani, Application guide for power engineers part-
Operation Criteria for relay – 1
[5] IEEE Standard. (April 2006) .Guide for AC Generator
Protection, C37.102/D7-200X
Generator [6] User Manual & Trouble shooting guide for Multifunction
Voltage
Generator, Motor and Transformer Protection Siemens
Generator
P > Se ng 7UM62 Relay
Current [7] User Manual & Trouble shooting guide for PCS-985G
Generator Relay, NR Electric Co., Ltd

GCB ON
Feedback AND Trip
Turbine
Trip BIOGRAPHIES

Fig-5 Philosophy 2 For Reverse Power Protection
When generator is synchronized, the pickup load is reverse
power, for that relay will not give trip command as this
philosophy used turbine trip feedback as a interlock.
Philosophy -3
Akhilesh Kumar Yadav received B.E. (Honours) in Electrical
Engineering in 2008 from MP Christian College of Engineering
and technology, Chhattisgarh. He began his career in 2008 with
Lanco Power Limited for 2.5 years. Then he moved to Vidarbha
Industries Power Limited, Nagpur for 9 years. Currently he is
serving as an Associate Manager in Adani Power Maharashtra
limited, Tirora since 2019. His area of interest includes testing &
commissioning of electrical equipment.

Hunny Garg received B.E. (Honours) in Electrical &

Electronics Engineering in 2011 from Sagar Institute of
Research Technology & Science, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). He
began his career in 2011 with Adani Power and still associated
with the same group as a deputy manager. His area of interest
includes Testing & Protection of Generator & switchgear.
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