REYROLLE PROTECTION

POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION COURSE

MOTOR PROTECTION
 2

27th MAY 1999

MOTOR PROTECTION : LOW AND MEDIUM VOLTAGE

By D G Duncan - Ron Slatem and Associates/Test-A-Relay

SYNOPSIS

Motor protection is a form of insurance against loss. As such, the protection

applied is only required to reduce risk or minimise damage when a motor failure
occurs or prevent damage when poor operating practices are allowed. The amount
of protection necessary thus depends on the type and frequency of failures,
which may occur and the total consequential costs of any failure.

Users of motors must thus make the decision, based on compromises, on what
protection should be applied and which manufacturer's relay/s are suitable for
the various motors on their systems.

INDEX Pg

1.0 INTRODUCTION 3

2.0 FAILURE MODES OF INDUCTION MOTORS 3

3.0 MOTOR OVERLOAD 4

4.0 PROTECTION SUPPLIED FOR MOTOR OVERLOADS 5

5.0 SYSTEM VOLTAGE UNBALANCE 8

6.0 EARTH FAULT PROTECTION 10

7.0 PHASE TO PHASE FAULT PROTECTION 11

8.0 INTERTURNFAULTS 11

9.0 UNDERVOLTAGE PROTECTION 11

10.0 SLIP RING FLASH OVER 12

11.0 BEARING FAILURE 12

12.0 CHANGES IN MOTORS 12

13.0 SETTING INFORMATION 13

14.0 ACCURACY OF SETTINGS 13

15.0 OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN MODERN RELAYS 14

16.0 CONCLUSION 14
 3

MOTOR PROTECTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This paper is intended to help guide users in making a choice of the protection
to be applied to induction motors of fractional kW to typically 2000 kW which
are not used with variable speed drives (VSD). The voltage range is typically
380 V to 11 kV, which is wider than the range used by Industrial Users.

In order to assess what protection is necessary, the modes of failure of motors

and the likelihood of such failure must be known.

2.0 FAILURE MODES OF INDUCTION MOTORS

Failure modes can be split into internal and external causes. These are listed
below :

Internal Causes

i) Overloads leading to insulation failure and subsequent shunt faults

especially to earth.

ii) Bearing failure.

iii) Flash-over of slip rings of wound rotors due to carbon build-up.

iv) Failure of rotor cages due to excessive temperature such as during

starting.

External Causes

a) Unbalanced supply voltage (and harmonics).

b) Undervoltage.

c) Single phase (extreme unbalance).

d) Loss of cooling medium.

Most of the above failure modes are a result of excessive heat [(ii) and (iii)
are not].

Various studies have been done to assess the probability of the various failure
modes and figure No. 1 gives a typical breakdown. The probabilities will vary
according to the industry (e.g. moisture in mines) but figure No. 1 provides an
indication of the importance of various types of protection, which will be
described.

3.0 MOTOR OVERLOAD

A motor will draw current greater than full load when overloaded or during
starting. These two conditions give rise to excessive heat generation in
different parts, namely the stator and rotor respectively. This is shown in
figure No. 2, which shows the capability of the motor relative to current above
full load.
 4

Depending on the motor's insulation class, the motor is designed to have a

temperature rise, above ambient, within it’s class when run at full load. (See
table No. 1.)

Once the motor's current exceeds full load, the temperature rise will exceed the
allowed temperature rise after a time, which depends on the degree of overload
and the motor's thermal time constant.

The time constant is the time taken to reach 63% of the long term temperature
rise for a constant motor current, as shown in figure No. 3.

With an overload i.e. current in the range of 100 to 250% of full load, there
will be an excessive temperature rise in the stator, which will cause long term
and accumulative damage to insulation. The generally accepted rate of
degradation of insulation is the halving of insulation life for each 10 C rise
in temperature above the insulation class value.

Four areas of motors current occur relative to Ifl (full load); namely,

i) 20-100% Ifl - normal motor running, no damage occurs.

ii) 100-250% IFL - excessive temperature rise, either long term loss of
insulation life or relatively fast failure at upper end
(200% IFL = 4 x temp rise for the insulation class).

iii) 400-600% IFL - starting current range causes damage to the rotor if
the locked rotor/starting time is exceeded.

iv) >800% IFL - this occurs for faults between the supply breaker and
the motor terminal box.

For range (ii) above, as the current is increased, the current will rapidly
change from typically 200% to starting current of 400-600% as most motors have a
pull out torque of 200% obtained for 200% IFL current. Once pull out occurs,
the motor stalls and the current rises to the value of starting current. Note
that the actual pull out torque will depend on the system voltage at the time,
which also affects the final "starting current" value.

For motors cooled by the medium being pumped, another range of current, which
could cause damage to the motor is the range 15-25% IFL where lack of sufficient
cooling medium could cause overheating. However, not many instances of these
motors exist and undercurrent protection thus has limited application.

Undercurrent protection can be used to detect "shear pin" failure.

For range (iii), the condition can occur when the motor is being started or when
the motor stalls. The heating has a greater effect on the rotor than the stator
as the current in the rotor is high and the current has an initial frequency of
slip x system frequency.

Because of "skin" effect, especially in deep bar and multiple cage motors, the
AC resistance is substantially greater than the DC value and the I2R losses in
the rotor are thus high when the rotor current's frequency is high.

As the motor runs up to speed, the airgap energy input to the motor changes from
heating the rotor only at slip = 1, to the condition of normal running where
slip, and thus rotor frequency and losses, are low and the airgap energy is
converted to mechanical output.

During running conditions the rotor’s rise in temperature above ambient is

similar to that allowed for the stator i.e. 80 C for class B. However, during
 5

starting the rotor may reach a value of 250 C while locked rotor conditions
could allow for a design limit of 350 C. Should temperatures above 350 C be
reached, melting of the squirrel cage's welding is possible and open circuited
rotor bars will cause loss of power, vibration and unbalanced currents. For
wound rotors, which have insulation, the designed temperature rise is limited to
the insulation class for normal starting.

High rotor temperatures can be caused by :

a) too long a time for starting;

b) a locked rotor fault with locked rotor time being exceeded;

c) Too many starts with insufficient cooling time between starts.

Figure No. 4 shows the effect of multiple starts on the rotor temperature. As
the rotor has a short cooling time constant, it does reduce its temperature
fairly rapidly, but a typical motor is only allowed two starts per hour when
hot, i.e. a half hour to cool the rotor sufficiently to allow a further start
attempt. Most manufacturers do allow two hot starts in quick succession.

However, note must be taken of the difference of cooling of a motor's stator and
rotor when running or when stopped. The cooling constant for the stator is
typically equal to the heating constant when it is running, but is typically 5 x
the heating constant for a stationary motor. This difference is caused by the
lack of movement of air across the rotor and stator when stationary. Only if a
separately powered fan is used for cooling, would the running and stationary
cooling time constants be similar.

4.0 PROTECTION SUPPLIED FOR MOTOR OVERLOADS

4.1 FUSES FOR PROTECTION

For many systems, especially low voltage, fuses have formed a basic form of
protection. One of the main advantages of fuses is that they are "fail safe" in
that the fuse always blows when the current rating is exceeded.

However, there are several disadvantages, given below :

i) Fuses cannot be closely related to the full load capability of the

motor being protected.

ii) Fuses will not operate for an unbalanced voltage condition and may
even be the cause of single-phasing to the motor.

iii) The fuse rating used must be increased in value such that it does
not blow for the required number of starts for the time necessary at
the lowest allowable system voltage.

Miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) can provide a similar form of motor protection
to that supplied by fuses, but in general fuses (and MCBs) are only used on
fractional kW and small motors for low voltage (380-600 V)

Fuses are used at higher voltage, not as motor protection, but as fault current
limiting devices when the motor is controlled by a contactor whose fault
breaking capacity is lower than that of the busbar from which it is fed. (See
figure No. 4)
 6

As stated, fuses do not provide adequate motor protection against thermal

overloads and are thus back up protection to remove a faulty motor or circuit.
Motor damage will probably be extensive when fuses are the only protection.

Only when a small motor is vital to the system operation would more
comprehensive protection be provided, because of cost penalties.

4.2 THERMAL BI-METALLIC PROTECTION

When the motor current is passed through a bi-metallic strip or heater close to
a bi-metallic strip, the bi-metallic strip will simulate the heat rise in the
motor by the movement of the strip. By suitable sizing and arrangement of
contacts, which are attached to such a bi-metallic strip, a trip output can be
obtained after an appropriate time, when the current to the motor exceeds its
full rating.

A typical curve for a P&B Gold relay is shown in figure No. 5. As the bi-
metallic strip stores heat, it simulates the temperature rise effect in the
motor and thus moves towards its trip condition when the motor has been running
for some time. The remaining distance for the contacts to move is thus less for
a hot condition than a cold condition which means that the "hot" curve will have
a faster response than a "cold" relay when the motor current changes and exceeds
full rating.

This form of protection has been used for a long time and because of low cost is
still appropriate for small motors in new applications.

There are numerous installations where this type of protection is still in use
on motors up to 11 kV. When applied and set correctly, reasonable protection
will be available.

However, disadvantages of this type of protection are :

i) the bi-metallic strip has only one time constant which cannot be
altered in the field;

ii) the thermal replica cools down too fast compared to the actual motor
and thus under-protects a motor which is restarted after a short
shut down;

iii) the single shape curve has to be applied to cover overload and
starting/locked rotor which results in over protection and thus
early tripping for short term, small overload conditions.

Bi-metallic protection systems are still applied to many motors up to 30 kW, in

combination with contactors and fuses. A combined feature with the bi-metallic
element is tripping for single phasing which will be described later. The fuses
cover the high level cable and terminal box faults.

For larger motors, a bi-metallic operated relay would also have high-set
overcurrent relays to cover faults above starting current. These are used when
a breaker controls the motor.

Because of transient overreach of the older electromechanical hi-set relays, a

setting of typically 1,6 to 1,8 x I starting must be used to avoid maloperation
during a motor start.

The resulting setting should be checked against the busbar fault level to ensure
that operation will occur, i.e. I setting  1/3 I fault.
 7

As stated above, when HV contactors are used instead of breakers, HV fuses are
used to protect the contactor as well as the cable and terminal box. In this
case high set overcurrent protection is not used or should be adequately delayed
to allow the fuse to blow before the contactor opens. See figure No. 4.

4.3 MOTOR THERMAL OVERLOAD RELAYS

Over the past 30 years numerous analog and more recently microprocessor relays
have been developed which provide a thermal replica of an induction motor. As
analog type relays are now less freely available, the features provided by
microprocessor relays will be covered. The large plethora of such relays now
available, make the appropriate choice difficult.

Because of the non-homogeneous nature of a motor there are numerous possible

variations for a thermal replica. However, the basic requirements for
protecting a motor allow an adequate replica to be defined, which is relatively
independent of the motor type and load attached.

A basic thermal relay will provide similar protection according to an I2t curve
as that provided by a bi-metallic relay. However, the micro-processor relay
provides the facility to vary the time constant so that a better/closer
protection curve to that of the motor capability can be used.

The single curve of most relays still requires a compromise so that starting and
overload conditions are covered. This results in over-protection of the motor
during heating conditions as the setting of the relay's heating time constant
(Tau H) will be lower than that of the motor.

This use of a lower Tau H creates a different problem for a motor which is
frequently started or has a cycling load, as the thermal replica now cools
faster than the motor so that under protection may occur. A further
complication is that a motor has a cooling time constant, while running, (Tau C)
which is typically 2 x Tau H and a further cooling time constant when stopped,
Tau S, which is typically 5 x Tau H. These respectively result from the non-
homogeneous construction of the stator (copper/insulation/iron) and the lack of
fan cooling when stopped.

Many motor protection relays allow for adjustment of Tau S but not for Tau C.

A further complication is that the rotor has another different time constant,
Tau R, for which few relays provide a setting. Tau R should be used for the
motor capability in the range of 400% to 800% IFL when rotor protection would be
involved.

As most motors have a relatively constant or slowly changing load, a relay

allowing for Tau H and Tau S will provide adequate setting capability and
protection.

Motors with rapidly and widely varying loads or frequent starting will require
careful consideration of settings to obtain adequate protection when only Tau H
and Tau S can be set on the relay.

4.4 MOTOR STARTING PROTECTION

Since the motor starting/stall range of current from 400-800% IFL has different
requirements to that of motor overload (100-250% IFL), the provision of separate
detection of fault conditions will improve overall protection.
 8

With the starting condition protected separately, the relay setting for Tau H
can be closer to that of the motor capability which will allow longer short term
overloads without unnecessary tripping.

Motor starting protection is offered by relay manufacturers with various modes

of operation, namely :

i) Definite time lag for motor starting current;

ii) (i) plus cumulative starting time;

iii) (i) plus maximum hot or cold starts per hour;

iv) Dependent time lag for starting current (combined with motor stator
temperature).

Most relays have i) available as a function, but the additional features all
improve the ability to protect a motor especially where multiple starts are
possible.

Unfortunately, plant operators do not always realise that long term damage is
done to the motor when they attempt to overcome a plant problem by doing rapid
re-starts on the motor. In some cases plant operators have even "attempted" to
bypass motor starting protection in order to get the motor started. The damage
done will only cause motor failure months or years later.

The normal start condition can usually be covered adequately, however, locked
rotor or stalling are conditions for which rapid tripping would be preferred.
The ability to detect a locked rotor condition is complicated, so starting
protection is usually used for too long a start and locked rotor on condition
the allowable locked rotor time is greater than the required time to start.

When the above condition is not satisfied, i.e. starting time is longer than
allowable locked rotor time, a method is necessary to detect a locked rotor by
either :

a) a speed switch on the motor;

b) an impedance relay to detect variation in impedance during run up.

As these are not often required, details are not included but can be found in
protection handbooks.

The stall condition is easier to detect by determining a change of current from

between say 20-150% (LOAD) to 400-800% (STARTING). Rapid tripping for this
change is preferred, as the motor is unlikely to recover to full speed.
However, a short time delay (200 ms) is necessary to prevent maltripping when a
motor feeds current into a system fault. (See figure No. 6)

Where the above protection is not provided, stalling protection may be provided
by the start protection but will have long clearance times.

5.0 SYSTEM VOLTAGE UNBALANCE

When a system's voltages are unbalanced in phase or magnitude or both, a motor

will draw unbalanced currents. These unbalanced currents result in additional
heating and reverse torque values relative to the required direction of
rotation.
 9

According to the Standard IEC 34-1 (Table VII) for Rotating Machines, a motor
should be able to withstand an unbalance of 1,0% negative phase sequence voltage
(V2) of Rated Voltage (VN) continuously.

For unbalance above the rated capability of a motor, the motor's allowable full
load will need to be reduced. The amount of derating will depend on the
starting current of the motor as seen in figure No. 7.

The reason for the above is that a negative sequence voltage attempts to make
the motor run in the opposite direction to the normal (positive sequence)
voltage. This is illustrated in Figure No. 8 where the same effect is obtained
if positive and negative sequence systems were applied to two separate "motors".
With the motor turning in it’s correct direction, the negative sequence system
is rotating in the opposite direction to it’s rotor’s movement and the currents
induced in the rotor are at a frequency approximately 2 x f and proportional to
the starting current in magnitude for the percentage of V2. Thus for a 2%
negative sequence voltage on a 6 x starting current motor, 12% negative sequence
current will flow.

The negative sequence does not add to the motor's output power and only results
in excess heat generation. This occurs in the stator as extra I2R losses, but
the more significant effect is in the rotor where the 2f current frequency
causes high losses in the high AC resistance of the rotor because of skin
effect.

Single phasing is an extreme case of unbalance where

V positive = V negative = 0,5 V rated voltage (phase-to-neutral)

Motors should have protection fitted for unbalance detection. With the
bi-metallic thermal relays this is provided by having three thermal elements
arranged such that a preset difference in their deflection because of
differences in heating current will cause a trip output to occur. A typical
arrangement is shown in figure No. 9, where the "H" bar provides tripping
contacts which make when there are current/heating differences.

The newer microprocessor relays provide protection for negative phase sequence
current, I2, by means of :

i) a weighted combined heating effect in the thermal model (typically

I12 + 6I22)

ii) a dependent time characteristic for I2

iii) an independent time characteristic for I2

iv) an independent time for typically Imax - Iave or similar comparison of

phase peak values. (See figure No. 10)

As (iv) is not a true negative phase sequence measurement, a factor needs to be

used typically 1,4 to 1,6 x to obtain a suitable value for setting purposes, as
the effect on the motor is directly related to negative sequence currents. (See
figure No. 11.)

The protection applied, especially for large motors, which are more sensitive to
unbalanced voltages, should have a short clearance time at large values of
negative sequence voltages (single phasing and reversed phasing) and a long time
clearance for low levels of negative sequence voltage.

For low levels of negative phase sequence voltages, the recommended preference
of the type of protection is in the order (i) to (iv). However, as cost
 10

decreases in the same order in general, the decision of the method of detection
applied will depend on the motor's size and importance.

Whether a motor will continue running when single phasing occurs depends on the
load being driven. A motor will not start with a single phase condition where
Vpos = Vneg = 0,61 V rated voltage.

Figure No. 12 shows the torque produced for the single phasing condition.

Max torque (pos seq) = (V per unit)2 x torque (pull out)

= 0,612 x torque pull out
= 0,6 torque full load (approx)

Thus with half load the motor will probably carry on running, but the negative
sequence heating of the rotor will require the motor to be tripped. Running
with single phasing requires a current of 1,7 x the value for three phase load
current.

A feature of certain relays will cause incorrect negative phase sequence

tripping. When the trip function is in terms I unbalance/I load, the relay
becomes more sensitive as motor load current is reduced as in figure No. 13.
After a motor is started and before load is picked up, as for a pump,
maltripping could occur even for low levels of negative sequence voltage, V2,
below 1% of V1. The response of the relay to be used should be checked for this
problem even where the "setting" is stated to be in terms of IFL. Where load is
picked up immediately, as for a fan, this feature may not cause a problem.

Some "unbalance" protection (types (i) to (iii)) can detect phase reversal, but
only when this is caused by a change in the supply system, not for core crossing
in the cable between the relay and the motor.

6.0 EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

One of the most likely results of overloads is deterioration of insulation in

the stator. As the windings are enclosed within the iron, a fault to earth will
finally result when insulation fails. Because the insulation between windings
is greater than that to earth, phase-to-phase faults are less frequent as are
inter-turn faults.

Thus earth fault protection is very important and should always be applied.

The sensitivity required for detection will depend on system earthing, but the
protection should be capable of operating for faults covering 90% of the
winding. Figure No. 14 shows how the voltage to earth varies depending on where
the earth fault occurs. The earth fault current varies almost proportionally to
the fault position, depending on the system earthing.

As modern day practice is to limit earth fault current, it may not be possible
to detect all earth faults. Earth fault limitation tends to be as follows :

Voltage Earth Fault Limited Value

380 V for motors only 10 A or resonant

380 V for Sockets and Lighting included SOLID (5 - 10 kA)

525 V & 660 10 A or resonant

3,3 - 11 kV 300/600 A
 11

From the above it can be seen that the 10 A earthing of low voltage systems will
require a core balance CT with operation of the relay at typically 1,0 A being
necessary.

Solidly earthed systems can be covered by high-set overcurrent relays or fuses,

however, these systems would normally supply small motors only. Where systems
are solidly earthed, a fault is likely to cause stator core burning, which is
expensive to repair. Where possible, consideration should be given to changing
such systems to limited earth fault.

For HV systems with 300-600 A earthing, motor protection should be able to

detect a 30 A earth fault in order to cover 90% of the winding. This is
normally possible with residual CT connection for the earth fault relay e.g. 5%
on a 600/1 or 5 amp CT. However, with this sensitivity, stabilising resistors
must be used to prevent maloperation during motor starting, which causes
transient CT saturation. (See figure No. 15)

Although core balance CTs could be used, the practice is not recommended as a
fault in the cable crutch would then only be seen as a busbar fault which would
cause loss of supply to all other loads on the busbar.

7.0 PHASE-TO-PHASE FAULT PROTECTION

Since windings have significant phase-to-phase insulation, these faults do not

occur frequently. Should such a fault occur, the high-set overcurrent (or
fuses) will normally operate. However, as sensitivity of high-set overcurrent
would be poor, only faults near the beginning of the windings will be detected.

The use of differential protection per phase will provide far better sensitivity
down to typically 10 % IFL. However, because of the cost and extra CTs
required, this protection should only be applied to 2000 kW and larger motors or
those that are very important to the plant.

8.0 INTERTURN FAULTS

As detection of these seldom occurring faults is complex, protection is not

normally applied.

9.0 UNDERVOLTAGE PROTECTION

As the torque available from a motor is proportional to the square of the

voltage and the pull out torque is normally 200% of full load torque, the
reduction of supply voltage to 70% will reduce pull-out torque to 100%.

A motor running at full load will thus most likely stall. Under-voltage
protection set at 70% will thus trip the motor before stalling can occur. The
relay should preferably be a positive sequence relay or three single phase
relays where all three must operate to provide a trip signal after a short 0,5
second delay. This is to prevent system phase to phase faults tripping the
motor unnecessarily. The system fault should be cleared by other protection in
less than 0.5 seconds.

A relay/s on the busbar could be used to trip all the motors on the board.
However, where AC held in contactors are used to supply the motors, the
contactors will drop out with low voltage but at a less predictable value of
under-voltage.
 12

Where system voltage is interrupted, the under-voltage must trip out all motors
before an auto reclose occurs as all motors starting together will cause an
excessive voltage dip and the motors are unlikely to reach full speed.

Under-voltage is sometimes also applied on a weak supply system where starting a

motor will result in a large voltage dip. The relay must have a close drop-off
to pick-up ratio (3% difference) and would typically be set to 95% V nominal.
The relay would be used to block the start of large motors.

10.0 SLIP RING FLASHOVER

A wound rotor motor has slip rings, which are normally used to insert resistance
for increasing starting torque.

As the slip ring brushes wear, carbon can accumulate around the slip rings and
cause a flashover during starting, when high voltages exist between the slip
rings. As the starting current is usually limited to 2 x IFL when using
resistance starting, a high set relay on typically 3 x IFL and 0,2 sec delay
could supply slip ring flashover protection. Once the motor has started, this
protection should be switched out of service as the slip rings are short
circuited ie. no voltage exists between slip rings.

The protection must be out of service during normal running to prevent

maloperation during motor contribution to a system fault.

11.0 BEARING FAILURE

Two types of bearings are used in general, roller/ball for small motors up to
300 kW and sleeve bearings for larger motors.

Failure of roller/ball bearings does not initially increase the current of the
motor. However, failure happens rapidly and causes a seizure on the shaft as
the bearing breaks up. The resultant stalling of the motor causes the stall
protection to operate and trip the supply to the motor to prevent winding
damage.

Although a sleeve bearing does not fail as rapidly and as drastically, the motor
current will only increase by 10-20%. Thermal protection cannot adequately
protect the bearing, but will prevent motor winding damage. The bearing
temperature will rise before the sleeve material melts so that temperature
sensors on the bearings could be used as alarms and final tripping.

12.0 CHANGES IN MOTORS

Over the last 20 years, motors have in general been designed much closer to the
allowable limits given in the standards.

The resultant smaller sizes mean that there is less tolerance to excess heat
generation and protection must thus be set closer to the full load conditions in
order to stay within the design capability.

A typical change is the use of better insulation which allows for a higher
temperature rise. A negative result of the better temperature capability is
that any reduction in cooling e.g. a motor designed for 1000 m above sea level
and used at 2000 m, requires a greater derating factor for this change in
altitude.
 13

Where indirect cooling is used, any reduction in the flow of the cooling medium
will also require a larger derating factor. There are relays available which
use temperature sensors in the motors as feedback and can adjust the curve
according to ambient temperatures and cooling medium temperatures. As these
relays and the installation of temperature sensors are extremely expensive, this
adaptive type of protection is only applied to very large machines.

13.0 SETTING INFORMATION

The modern microprocessor relays have been able to provide protection with
various methods of fault detection and a wide range of associated settings.

This has led to the need for sufficient information being supplied by the motor
manufacturer in order to be able to calculate the settings. The relay can only
provide adequate protection with suitable settings.

Operators should not be allowed to bypass correctly set protection as long term
damage will then occur to the motor's insulation. (i.e. halving of insulation
life for a 10 C rise in temperature at a 10% overload.)

The availability of information on existing old motors is usually scarce and

values of Tau H and Tau S will probably have to be taken from empirical tables
such as those produced by ABB (See figure No. 16).

14.0 ACCURACY OF SETTINGS

As protection for thermal effects needs to be close to the motor's full load
capability, the use of inaccurate CTs will have a negative effect. A normal
protection CT say 10P10 15VA needs only to be within 3% of the primary current.
As the CT usually has a negative error, a possible low secondary current of -3%
error will result in an I2R heating error of 6%. With an 80 temperature rise,
the motor would be allowed to be 5 higher in temperature before a trip occurs,
thus loss of life will result.

Especially for larger motors, the CT should have a class of 5P10 to reduce the
initial current error to  1% and thus improve the protection applied.

In defining the operating value of the thermal overload, relay manufacturers are
allowed to apply the formula :

t = Tau H x ln I2
--------
I2 - (kIB)2

where t = operating time

Tau H = heating current
IB = basic current
k = constant
I = relay current

The value k defines the level of current at which the relay will operate. Some
manufacturers use a value of 1,0 while others vary this up to 1,05. This value
determines the increase in temperature before a trip will occur and k = 1,05
corresponds to a 10% extra temperature rise or 8 for class B insulation.
 14

The value used in the relay must be known so that an extra allowance is not
applied incorrectly to allow a motor to be used at full load, e.g.

CT error (-3%) plus k = 1,05 plus say 3% allowed in the calculation would
result in 1,11 overload or 23% extra temperature rise i.e. 18,4 C for
class B insulation.

The effect of such incorrect settings might only be found when the motor fails
prematurely.

Relays are available which provide a settable alarm at some value below full
load. Such an alarm can at least warn the operator that the motor insulation is
close to maximum or is being damaged.

15.0 OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN MODERN RELAYS

As microprocessor relays have become more powerful, additional non-protection

options have been made available by the manufacturers.

These include :

i) Storage of fault data

ii) Communication ports to allow

a) Interrogation of a relay for fault, settings, and load data;

b) Remote alteration of settings;
c) Remote control of the breaker/contactor;
d) Dual (or multiple) sets of settings to cater for different
system conditions.

iii) Multiple relay outputs, which can be selected via a matrix for the
initiating functions.

iv) Starter functions, which can be used for blocking buszone or breaker
failure protection.

v) Self adaptive features with external temperature sensors.

The need for any of the above options will depend on the philosophy of the user
as extra cost is involved over and above the cost of the relay itself, e.g. the
communication port needs to be coupled to a SCADA system to allow remote
interrogation and control. The correct protocols may have to be specially
written to interface the relay to the SCADA system.

16.0 CONCLUSION

Motor protection relays have been improved drastically in the last few years.
However, like computers, garbage in = garbage out or in other words, without
sufficient correct information on the motor and the correct application of the
data, the motor will be no better protected than if the old electromechanical
relays or only fuses had been used.