Generator Circuit Breaker Example

Description
This is an example of the simulation of generator circuit breakers in ETAP. The example is similar to the
sample system provided in Annex A of IEEE C37.13 -1997 “IEEE Standard for AC High-Voltage
Generator Circuit Breakers Rated on a Symmetrical Current Basis.”

Purpose
The purpose of this example is to learn how to setup a generator circuit breaker in ETAP and to
understand the results. Also, a comparison should be made against IEC 61363 calculations to compare the
short-circuit waveform which is used by the program to check the duty of the generator breaker.

Setup
Load the project file named “ANSI_SCExample3”. The standard ETAP library should be used for this
project. No other setup files are required.

Example Information
The following diagram illustrates the one-line diagram of the system described in this example:

Figure 1: Generator Circuit Breaker Example

The following image shows the ETAP one-line diagram which can be used to represent the system above:

Figure 2: Generator Circuit Breaker Example in ETAP

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

The following table shows an example of the properties which need to be defined into the different
elements to simulate the generator circuit breaker evaluation. Most of the parameters have been added
into the model except for the Gen CB and the X/R of the Utility.

Table in A.1
Element Parameter ID ETAP Parameter Comments
(Annex A)
Rated MVA 588 588
Rated Voltage 21 21
Xd 2.0 p.u. 200 %
Xd’ 0.31 p.u. 31 %
Xd” 0.24 p.u. 24 %
Xq 2.04 p.u. 204 %
Generator*
Xq’ 0.5 p.u. 50 %
Xq” 0.25 p.u. 25 %
X2 0.24 p.u. 24 %
X0 0.1 p.u. 10 %
Tdo’ 5.63 sec 5.63 sec
Tdo” 0.034 sec 0.034 sec
kV 550/21 550/21
MVA 3*200 600
Step up
Connection Wye grounded / Wye grounded /
Transformer
delta delta
(UNIT
Xd” 0.14 pu 14 %
XFMR)
Time Constant 160 ms X/R = 60 find R to determine
X/ωR X/R value
kAsc 40 kA 40 kA
Xd” 7.9248 ohm 0.26198 %
Utility 1
Time Constant 45 ms X/R = ? find R to determine
X/ωR X/R value

*Note that generator reactance are all based on saturated values at rated generator voltage
1
The time constant needs to be used to determine the R of the different elements. The following equation
can be used to determine the resistance. The frequency of the system is 60 Hz.
X

R
The X/R of the power grid is determined as follows:

7.9248
R  0.467137
2    60  0.045
0.467137
R%   100  0.01541
(550 kV ) 2
100 MVA
X
 17
R

To simplify the analysis in ETAP some additional buses like “Bus A1” were added. There is also a cable
with negligible impedance between the generator and “Bus B1”.

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

Procedure

Step1
Add the generator circuit as shown in Figure 2. Enter the information as shown in the image below. There
is no need to select it from the ETAP HVCB library:

Figure 3: Generator Circuit Breaker ratings

Step2
Setup the necessary Application/Association information to tell ETAP that the circuit breaker “Gen CB”
is to be analyzed as a Generator Circuit Breaker based on IEEE C37.13 -1997. Once the generator
association has been enabled, the program should automatically default it to Generator CB and all there is
left is to specify the Generator ID.

Figure 4: Generator Circuit Breaker Association

The association is the first step to setup the Gen CB calculation in ETAP. Even if the circuit breaker is
flagged as a generator circuit breaker in the editor, the program may evaluate the generator circuit breaker
device duty as regular HVCB if the circuit breaker is placed in location as shown in the image below:

Figure 5: Generator Circuit Breaker Configuration not handled per IEEE C37.13 -1997 in ETAP

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

For the configuration shown above the program will yield conservative results in most cases, but the
evaluation will not be per IEEE Std. C37.013 1997. Note that, for an HVCB assigned as a generator CB
even if it is handled as a regular HVCB, the time constant will change to 133ms and it is the value used in
the calculation.

2.1 How would you know if ETAP did not use the method of IEEE Std. C37.013 1997 to evaluate the
generator circuit breaker because of its configuration (i.e. single path to generator)?

Look at the ** flag in the “Interrupting Duty Summary Report” which indicates the condition

Step3
Select Study Case “DUTY” (which places a fault at “Bus B1”). Run ANSI Duty SC calculation and
name the report “DUTY”. ETAP automatically evaluate the generator circuit breaker since the generator
circuit breaker is directly connected to this bus. Placing the fault at Bus B1 is equivalent to placing faults
on either side of the generator circuit breaker.

Answer the following questions:

3.1 By looking at the Alert View Window, what is the value of maximum through interrupting fault
current at a Contact Parting Time of 3.5 cycles?

The maximum value of the interrupting fault current at the CPT of 3.5 cycles is 116.515 kA

3.2 What is the value of the time constant used to establish the Gen CB’s % dc current rating?

133.0 (ms). What is the main effect of a higher time constant on the fault current?

The higher time constants have the effect of keeping the fault current values with a higher degree of
asymmetry for a longer time. This means that it takes a longer time for the dc component to decay
because of higher X/R values.

3.3 What is the DC fault current passing through the Gen CB for a fault on the system side, when the
generator is operating under no load conditions? 49.870 (kA). (Clue: open the Summary and
look at the “Short-Circuit Duty Summary Report for Generator Circuit Breaker” and look at the third
line).

3.3 What is the DC fault current passing through the Gen CB for a fault on the generator side when the
system is operating under no load conditions? 97.349 (kA).

Step4
Select study case “TSSC_Bus B1”. Select revision “System-Side”. Run the IEC 61363 short-circuit
calculation and name the report “System-Side Fault”. Next Select study case “TSSC_Bus A1” and
revision “Gen-Side”. Run the IEC 61363 calculation and name the report “Generator-Side Fault”

4.1 What is the DC Component of the fault @ the contact parting time predicted by IEC 61363 for a “Bus
B1” fault? 50.052 (kA)? How close is this value to the one predicted by the Gen CB calculation in
ETAP for IEEE C37.13?

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

The value from Step 3.3 is 49.870 kA. The percent difference is -0.36%. The 50.052 kA value can be
taken from the DC Component of Fault Current plot for the System-Side Fault output report at t = 0.058
sec.
(Clue: compare against the value from step 3.3).

Step 5
The following plot shows the actual fault current coming from the system side under no load conditions.

5.1 What would be the minimum C&L Peak rating of the circuit breaker based on the above?

~300.00 by looking at the peak of the plot above kA.

Step 6
The following plot shows the % DC Component of the fault current contribution from the system side.

6.1 If the generator circuit breaker % DC rating is determined to be 64.49 % based on a time constant of
133 ms, can we consider that the actual DC component of the fault too high for this breaker rating?

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

No (yes/no). Why? At the contact parting time and at 133 ms, the dc component of the fault is less
than the breaker dc component. The breaker dc rating should be adequate if the curve above was the worst
case fault current value.

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 Generator Circuit Breaker Example

Step 7
The following report section comes from the “Short-Circuit Duty Summary Report” for the generator
circuit breaker based on the results of Step 3.3. By looking at this report answer the following questions:

7.1 What is the effect of the generator running at lagging power factor for a fault on the system-side?

The effect is that the fault current contribution may be higher to reflect a higher internal voltage and
contribution. This can be thought of as the output FLA being added as a complex value to the fault current
value determined from only the impedance of the generator.

7.2 What is the effect of the generator running at leading power factor for a fault on the generator-side?

For the generator to be running at a leading power factor, the internal source voltage must be less than the
output terminal bus voltage. Under this conditions the output fault current value will be less. This means
that the contribution of the system towards the fault location may be higher since the system was actually
providing reactive power to the generator.

7.3 What is the importance of considering the power factor when evaluating the generator circuit breaker
duty?

As it can be seen from the previous questions and report, the power factor and output current will help
determine the worst-case fault current contribution to a fault on either side of the generator circuit
breaker.

7.4 What is the leading power factor used for the calculation and how can it be configured in the
program?

The default leading power factor used by ETAP is 0.95 pu or 95 percent. The entry
“SynGeneratorLeadingPF=95” can be added to the ETAPS.ini file under the PowerStation header to
specify a different leading power factor. The rated power factor from the rating page of the generator is
always used for the lagging power factor case.

ETAP Workshop Notes ©2010-2012 ETAP/Operation Technology, Inc. Page 7 of 7