Transformer Protection

Md. Abdur Razzak Bakhtiar

Executive Engineer
System Protection and Metering Division Khulna
PGCB, Khulna.
27/05/2021
Transformer voltage & Current relation:
For Delta winding
IS nP VP
= = line voltage = Phase voltage
Line currnt= 1.732X phase
IP nS VS current
For Y winding
line voltage = 1.732X Phase
voltage
Line currnt= phase current
 For132/33kV D-Y Transormer
132/33kV

VP Vs

IP IS
nP nS
IS VP 4
= =
IP VS
nP
nS = ?? nP
nS = 4x1.732

27/05/2021 3
 Power Transformer Fault
There are basically following types of fault related to Transformers:
1. Incipient faults
2. Internal Short-Circuit faults.

INCIPIENT FAULTS :
Incipient faults are one among the internal faults of power transformers. They are slowly occurring
uncommon faults in an electrical transformer. They are not serious at the beginning but they
gradually develop into severe faults and eventually longer outages. The incipient faults in
transformers are due to the following reasons.
 Contamination of the insulating oil in the transformer.
 Core bolt insulation failure.
 Rust or other materials on the core.
 Short circuits in the core lamination.
 Moisture content in the insulating oil.
Common faults in transformer are:
(1) Inter turn fault.
(2) Insulation failure between HV winding and LV winding.
(3) Insulation failure between HV winding and earth.
(4) Insulation failure between LV winding and earth.
(5) Insulation failure of other winding, if any, e.g. tertiary winding.
(6) Bushing failure.
Major causes of faults in the transformer are:
1. Insulation Breakdown
2. Over heating due to over excitation/over flux
3. Fault due to deterioration in oil quality or loss of oil
4. Fault due to excessive temperature rise due to reduced /loss of cooling.
5. Transformer Overload.
6. System over voltages or surges due to lightning /switching.
7. External Fault Persist.

Insulation Breakdown:
The major reasons for the insulation breakdown are, ageing of insulation, Partial
discharges in the insulation, Transient over voltages due to lightning or switching in the
network, Current forces on the windings due to external faults with high current.
Insulation Breakdown of the windings will cause short circuits and /or earth faults. These
faults cause severe damaging on the windings and the transformer core.
Overheating:
The overexcited transformer flux is forced through metal tank and other un-laminated parts of the
transformer and result in heating up.
Phase to phase faults:
Short circuits between the phases will give rise to substantial fault current only limited by the source
impedance and the leakage impedance of the transformer.
Phase to ground faults:
When the fault current flows through earth return path, the fault is called ground fault.
Turn-to-turn or Inter Turn Faults:
Turn to turn faults between a few turns is difficult to detect by current measuring relays. Fault current
is of the order of rated current when 2 to 4% of the turns are short circuited. The current in the short
circuited loop is high (50-100 times In) and causes local damage and release of gas. Therefore rate of
rise of pressure relay may detect this fault.
Type 1: Base on Electrical Measurement Like Current, Voltage and Frequency.

1. Differential Protection.

2. Overcurrent/Earth fault protection.

3. Over Flux Protection.

4. Neutral Earth Fault Protection.

5. Restricted Earth Fault Protection.

6. Thermal Overload Protection.

Type 2(Self protection): Base on non-electrical Measurement Like Temperature, Pressure, Gas,
Oil Force.

1. PRD

2. Buchholz

3. WTT

4. OTT
Type 1: Base on Electrical Measurement Like Current, Voltage and Frequency.

1. Differential Protection.
Type 1: Base on Electrical Measurement Like Current, Voltage and Frequency.

1. Differential Protection.
Vector Group
 Fault current distribution in D-Y Transformer

3Phase fault on LV side

T2 132/33kV

250A If=1000A

250A If=1000A

250A 144A
If=1000A

27/05/2021 23
 Fault current distribution in D-Y Transformer

Earth fault on LV side

T2 132/33kV
144A

V1 V2

144A 144A If=1000A

27/05/2021 24
 Fault current distribution in D-Y Transformer

Phase to phase fault on LV side

T2 132/33kV

144A V2
144A

144A 1000A

288A 144A 1000A

If=1000A

27/05/2021 25
 Balance Condition at External Fault:
Dyn1
A a
B b
C c
 Balance Condition at Internal Fault:
Dyn1
A a
B b
C c
 Differential Condition at Internal Fault:
Dyn1
A a
B b
C c
Balance Condition at External Fault:
Dyn11

A a
B b
C n c
Differential Condition at Internal Fault:
Dyn11

A a
B b
C n c
 Percentage or Bias Differential:
Dyn1
A a
B b
C c

O O O

R
R
R
Zero Sequence Filtering in Differential Protection:
Zero sequence filtering is a concept used to eliminate zero sequence current component from the
secondary current of Current Transformer used in Differential Protection of Transformer. This concept is
useful in Transformer having earthed Star winding.

What is the Need for Zero Sequence Filtering?

Let us have a detailed discussion on this topic. For better understanding, let us consider a Delta Star
Transformer of voltage ratio 1:1 as shown in figure below. Voltage ratio of 1:1 has been considered for the
sake of simplicity.
Suppose a single line to ground fault take place in PN phase of Transformer. This ground fault will
obviously result in flow of fault current through the R phase which comprises of Zero Sequence I0,
positive sequence I1 and negative sequence current I2. Though Zero Sequence current I0 will flow from
the earthed Y side of Transformer, this component of current will not flow in Delta side as Delta winding
rather it will circulate in the delta winding.
Therefore in line current of delta side of Transformer, there will not be any zero sequence current. This
will create an imbalance in the differential current and may lead to actuation of Differential Relay even in
through fault condition. Note that Differential Protection is a unit protection and shall only operate if the
fault is within the specified zone of protection. But due to introduction of zero sequence current under
fault condition, differential relay may operate even in through fault condition which is definitely not
desirable.
Let us understand the above expiation with some numeric data. Let the fault current be 100 A. This fault
current will flow through ground and winding PN for star side of Transformer.

As we know that during single line to ground fault, the fault current has equal positive, negative and
zero sequence current component. Therefore, the fault current will have Zero Sequence current
I0 = 1/3(100+0+0) = 100/3 = x (say).
Since 100 A of current is flowing in winding PN of star side, therefore, the current in corresponding
delta side of winding AB will also be 100 A as voltage ratio is assumed unity. This current in delta
side is already having zero sequence current component of x A. This current of magnitude x A will
circulate around the delta loop.
Therefore, line current in AS = (100-x) A.
But the current in the star side of phase PN = 100 A

Thus a differential current of x A will be sensed by the relay and will cause the relay to operate
though the fault is not in the zone protected.

Therefore in differential protection of Delta Star or Star Delta Transformer, zero sequence
filtering is required in star side to make differential relay stable under through fault
condition. In Star Star transformer we may or may not need this filtering but it is
recommended to enable this.
How Zero Sequence Filtering is achieved?

In earlier design, zero sequence filtering was achieved by proper selection of line CTs connection.
Let us discuss this aspect in detail. For better understanding, consider a DELTA STAR Transformer
as shown in figure below.
CTs in Delta side of Transformer are connected in STAR while that in STAR side, it is connected in
Delta. Why?

It’s quite easy. As zero sequence current cannot flow in Delta side, therefore line current IA – IB will not
have any zero sequence current components and hence line CTs secondary currents I1, I2 and I3 won’t
also have no zero sequence current component.
Next you might ask why we didn’t connect these CTs in delta? Actually in differential protection of
Transformer we need to correct the phase as there is a phase change of 30 °in currents from Delta to
Star, therefore to match the phase, we connected CTs in STAR fashion.
Similarly in star side of Transformer, CTs are connected in DELTA to have phase correction. This also
have one more advantage. In case of single line to ground fault in STAR side, fault current in line will
contain zero sequence current component but due to DELTA connection of CTs, this zero sequence
current will circulate around the DELTA loop. This will result in no zero sequence current component in I’1,
I’2 and I’3.
This is how zero sequence current is eliminated in differential protection of Transformer.
In modern Numerical Relays, this elimination of zero sequence current do not need such connection of
line CT secondary. We connect both Delta and Star side CTs in star and fed to relay. What the numerical
relay does is that it calculates the zero sequence current as I0 = (Ia + Ib +Ic)/3.
and subtracts this current I0 from the corrected phase current of CT input. If the CT input to relay is Ia,
then the input from differential calculation of relay will be (Ia – I0). The fault current in the example was
100 A. Zero sequence current was x A. Therefore if filtering is enabled, then relay input for differential
calculation will be (100 – x) A in Star side of Transformer and that in Delta side is (100 – x) A. This means
no differential current and hence relay is stable under through fault.
But mind that for relay to filter out zero sequence current, we need to enable this feature provided in
the numerical relay.
Hope you got what I meant to say throughout the post. But if you have anything to ask, please write in
comment.
Inrush current / Harmonics Blocking:
Withstand capability for External Faults
• System Shunt Faults

Transformer Fault current Permitted fault

reactances duration
% multiple of seconds
rated current
4 25 2
5 20 3
6 16.6 4
7 14.2 5
27/05/2021 49
Restricted Earth Fault(Star connected Winding):
The earth-fault current is a maximum
for a fault close to the neutral point,
the current flowing into the winding from
the phase terminal is a minimum value
at that point.
1. High Impedance REF

2. Low Impedance REF

REF
Metrosil Guide Line:
Stabilizing Resistor Specification:
Continuous Power Rating:
Pcon= ∗
=>Pcon=0.12 ∗ 420
=>Pcon=6.048
Over Flux = V/f
Normal=110/50=2.2
110% of Normal
=2.2*1.1=2.42
Thermal Overload :
The protection of a transformer against the overloads is performed by a dedicated protection usually
called thermal overload relay. This type of protection simulates the temperature of the transformer’s
windings. The simulation is based on the measure of the current and on the thermal time constant of the
transformer. Some relays are able to take into account the effect of harmonics of the current due to non-
linear loads such as rectifiers, computers, variable speed drives etc. This type of relay is also able to
evaluate the remaining time before the emission of the tripping order and the time delay before re-
energizing the transformer.
In addition, oil-filled transformers are equipped with thermostats controlling the temperature of the oil.
Dry-type transformers use heat sensors embedded in the hottest part of the windings insulation.
Each of these devices (thermal relay, thermostat, heat sensors) generally provides two levels of
detection:
A low level used to generate an alarm to advise the maintenance staff,
A high level to de-energize the transformer.
Why no Restricted Earth Fault protection is required at Delta connected Winding:
In the case of the delta-connected winding,
that the pre-fault phase-to-earth voltage has a
minimum value when the fault is at the Centre
of the affected winding, this minimum value
being one half of the phase-to-neutral voltage.