UNIT – III

APPARATUS PROTECTION
Current transformers and Potential transformers and their applications
in protection schemes - Protection of transformer, generator, motor,
busbars and transmission line

3.1 Instrument transformers

In heavy currents and high voltage ac circuits, the measurement cannot be
done by using the method of extension of ranges of low range meters by providing
suitable shunts. In such conditions, specially constructed accurate ratio transformers
can be used, irrespective of the voltage and current ratings of ac circuits. These
transformers not only extend the range of the low range instruments but also isolate
them from high current and high voltage ac circuits. This makes their handling safe.
These are generally classified as (i) Current transformers and (ii) Potential
transformers.
3.2 Current Transformer
The large alternating currents which cannot be sensed through normal
ammeters and current coils of wattmeters, energy meters can easily be measured by
use of current transformers along with normal low range instruments.

Fig 3.1 Schematic diagram of current transformer

A current transformer basically has a primary coil of one or more turns of
heavy cross sectional area. The bar carrying high current may act as a primary. This
is connected in series with the line carrying high current.
The secondary of the transformer is made up of a large number of turns of
fine wire having small cross sectional area. This is usually rated for 5A. This is
connected to the coil of normal range of ammeter. Symbolic representation of the
current transformers is shown in fig 3.1.
3.2.1 Difference between Measuring and Protective CTs
CTs which are used to step down the primary currents to low values suitable
for the operation of measuring instruments are called measuring or metering CTs.
CTs are used in association with protective devices such as relays, trip coils,
pilot wires etc., are called protective CTs. It is designed to have small errors during
fault conditions.

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3.2.2 Core Materials of CTs
a. Nickel- iron core (77%Ni, 14%Fe)
It has the qualities of highest permeability, low exciting current, low errors and
saturation at a relatively low flux density. It gives good accuracy upto 5 times the
rated current. So it is suitable core material for CTs used for meters and instruments.
b. Hot rolled grain oriented silicon steel (3%)
It has the lowest permeability. So it is not suitable for CTs.
c. Cold rolled grain oriented silicon steel (3%)
It has the qualities of highest permeability, high saturation level, and
reasonably small exciting current and low errors. It gives good accuracy upto 10 to
15 times the rated current.
3.2.3 Construction
Bar primary CTs

Fig 3.2 Construction of bar primary CTs

This type of CTs does not contain a primary winding and instead a straight
conductor which is a part of the power system and carries the current acts as the
primary. The primary conductor that carries the current is encircled by a ring type
iron core on which the secondary winding is wound uniformly over the entire
periphery to form a toroid.
This type of construction has a negligible leakage flux of both primary ad
secondary and hence, possesses low reactance. As there is only one turn, the
primary current should be high enough (about 400 A) to produce sufficient exciting
ampere turns to give reasonable output.
Wound Primary CTs

Fig 3.3 Construction of wound primary CTs

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 Wound Primary CTs have the primary and secondary windings arranged
concentrically, the secondary winding invariably being the inner winding. The core is
composed either of hot rolled silicon steel stampings or cold rolled grain oriented
steel or nickel iron alloy. Cores are usually assembled form stampings of E, I, L or C
shape depending on whether the core is a simple rectangular or of the three limb
shell type.
The burden of a current transformer is the value of the load connected across
the secondary transformer. It is expressed as the output in volt-amperes (VA). The
rated burden is the value of the burden on the nameplate of the CT. The rated
burden is the product of the voltage and current on the secondary when the CT
supplies the instrument or relay with its maximum rated value of current.
3.2.4 Working
These transformers are basically step up transformers. Thus the current
reduced from primary to secondary. So from current point of view, these are step
down transformers, stepping down the current value considerably from primary to
secondary.
Let
N1 = Number of turns of primary
N2 = Number of turns of secondary
I1 = Primary current
I2 = Secondary current
For a transformer,
I1 N 2

I 2 N1
As N2 is very high to N1, the ratio I1 to I2 is also very high for current
transformers. Such a current ratio is indicated for representing the range of current
transformer. For example, consider a 500: 5 range then it indicates that CT steps
down the current from primary to secondary by a ratio 500 to 5.
Knowing the current ratio and the meter reading on the secondary, the actual
high line current flowing through the primary can be obtained
3.2.5 Effect of Open Secondary Windings of a CT
Under normal operating conditions the secondary winding of a CT is
connected to its burden, and it is always closed. When the current flows through the
primary windings, it always flows through secondary windings and amperes turns of
each winding are subsequently equal and opposite. The secondary turns will be 1%
and 2% less than the primary turns and the difference being used in the magnetizing
core. Thus, if the secondary winding is opened and the current flows through the
primary windings, then there will be no demagnetizing flux due to the secondary
current.
Due to the absence of the counter ampere turns of the secondary, the
unopposed primary MMF will set up an up normal high flux in the core. This flux will
produce core loss with subsequent heating and a high voltage will be induced across
the secondary terminal. This voltage caused the breakdown of the insulation and

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also the loss of accuracy in the future may occur because the excessive MMF leaves
the residual magnetism in the core. Thus, the secondary of eh CT may never be
open when the primary is carrying the current.
3.2.6 Errors in current transformers
 Ratio error
 Phase angle error
3.2.7 Causes of errors in CT
 Some exciting mmf is required by a primary winding to produce flux and
hence the C.T has to draw magnetizing current I m
 The input to the C.T has a component which supplies the core losses and I 2R
losses of the C.T windings due to flow of current I0
 The flux density in the core is not a linear function of the magnetizing force
 There is always a magnetic leakage flux and hence the primary flux leakages
are not equal to the secondary flux linkages
3.2.8 Applications
 To measure large currents in conjunction with medium /small range meter
 To measure power of a load in conjunction with wattmeter, the secondary of
the CT is connected to the current coil of the wattmeter
 To supply the stepped down current to the relay coil in the event of any over
loading or short circuiting of the equipment lines
3.3 Potential Transformer

Fig 3.4 Schematic diagram of potential transformer

It s also called as voltage transformer. They are used to reduce the power
system voltages to standard lower values and to physically isolate the relays and
other instruments from high voltages of the power system.
Primary windings consists of a large number of turns while secondary has
less number of turns and usually rated for 110 V irrespective of the primary voltage
rating. The primary is connected across the high voltage line while secondary
connected to the low range voltmeter coil. One end of the secondary is always
grounded for the safety purpose.
3.3.1 Construction
Electromagnetic VTs
 This type of VTs is conveniently used upto 132 kV. It is similar to conventional
wound type transformer with additional futures to minimize the error. For
voltages above 132 kV, several VTs are connected in cascade.
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Coupling Capacitor Voltage transformers

Fig 3.5 Circuit diagram of coupling capacitor voltage transformers

V  C2
Output voltage = Vout= in
C1  C 2
In this method, a capacitance potential divider connected between the phase
and ground of the power circuit. The reactor L is included to tune the capacitor VT to
reduce the ratio and phase angle errors with variation of VA, burden, frequency etc.,
The reactor is adjusted to such a value that a system frequency it resonates
with the capacitors. Capacitor VTs are more economical than electromagnetic type.
3.3.2 Applications
 It is used for a metering purpose
 For the protection of the feeders
 For protecting the impedance of the generators
 For synchronizing the generators and feeders

Table 3.1: Comparison of CT and PT

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3.4. Protection of Transformers
Transformers are static devices, totally enclosed and generally oil immersed.
Therefore, chances of faults occurring on them are very rare. However, the
consequences of even a rare fault may be very serious unless the transformer is
quickly disconnected from the system. This necessitates providing adequate
automatic protection for transformers against possible faults.
Small distribution transformers are usually connected to the supply system
through series fuses instead of circuit breakers. Consequently, no automatic
protective relay equipment is required. However, the probability of faults on power
transformers is undoubtedly more and hence automatic protection is absolutely
necessary.
3.4.1 Common transformer faults
As compared with generators, in which many abnormal conditions may arise, power
transformers may suffer only from:
(i) Open circuits
(ii) Overheating
(iii) Winding short-circuits e.g. earth-faults, phase-to-phase faults and inter-turn
faults.
An open circuit in one phase of a 3-phase transformer may cause undesirable
heating. In practice, relay protection is not provided against open circuits because
this condition is relatively harmless. On the occurrence of such a fault, the
transformer can be disconnected manually from the system.
Overheating of the transformer is usually caused by sustained overloads or
short-circuits and very occasionally by the failure of the cooling system. The relay
protection is also not provided against this contingency and thermal accessories are
generally used to sound an alarm or control the banks of fans.
Winding short-circuits (also called internal faults) on the transformer arise
from deterioration of winding insulation due to overheating or mechanical injury.
When an internal fault occurs, the transformer must be disconnected quickly from the
system because a prolonged arc in the transformer may cause oil fire. Therefore,
relay protection is absolutely necessary for internal faults.
3.4.1.1 Main safety devices
The following safety devices are available with transformer.
 Buchholz relay
 Differential protection scheme
 Oil level gauge
 Sudden pressure relay
 Oil temperature indicator
 Winding temperature indicator

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3.4.2 Protection system for transformer
For protection of generators, Merz-Price circulating-current system is
unquestionably the most satisfactory. Though this is largely true of transformer
protection, there are cases where circulating current system offers no particular
advantage over other systems or impracticable on account of the troublesome
conditions imposed by the wide variety of voltages, currents and earthing conditions
invariably associated with power transformers. Under such circumstances,
alternative protective systems are used which in many cases are as effective as the
circulating-current system. The principal relays and systems used for transformer
protection are:
(i) Buchholz devices providing protection against all kinds of incipient faults i.e.
slow-developing faults such as insulation failure of windings, core heating, fall of oil
level due to leaky joints etc.
(ii) Earth-fault relays providing protection against earth-faults only.
(iii) Overcurrent relays providing protection mainly against phase-to-phase faults
and overloading.
(iv) Differential system (or circulating-current system) providing protection against
both earth and phase faults.
The complete protection of transformer usually requires the combination of
these systems. Choice of a particular combination of systems may depend upon
several factors such as
(a) Size of the transformer
(b) Type of cooling
(c) Location of transformer in the network
(d) Nature of load supplied and
(e) Importance of service for which transformer is required.
Normally a power transformer is designed to withstand 1.1 times the ratio of
normal highest r.m.s voltage and standard frequency. If this ratio is more than 1.1,
there will be higher core loss and the capability of the transformer to withstand this is
limited to a few minutes only. This phenomenon is called over fluxing. In order to
avoid exceeding this capability, a relay called over fluxing relay is used.
3.4.3 Buchholz relay

Fig 3.6 Basic arrangement of Buchholz relay

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 The Buchholz relay is a gas actuated relay. It is used to detect incipient
faults which are initially minor faults but may cause major faults in due course
of time. The Buchholz relay is used to supplement biased differential protection of
the transformer because it cannot detect short circuits within the transformer or at
terminals.
It is used to give an alarm in case of incipient (i.e. slow-developing) faults in
the transformer and to disconnect the transformer from the supply in the event of
severe internal faults.

Fig 3.7 Construction of Buchholz relay

Construction
Buchholz relay in transformer is an oil container housed the connecting pipe
from main tank to conservator tank. It has mainly two elements. The upper element
consists of a float. The float is attached to a hinge in such a way that it can move up
and down depending upon the oil level in the Buchholz relay Container. One mercury
switch is fixed on the float. The alignment of mercury switch hence depends upon
the position of he float.
The lower element consists of a baffle plate and mercury switch. This plate is
fitted on a hinge just in front of the inlet (main tank side) of Buchholz relay in
transformer in such a way that when oil enters in the relay from that inlet in high
pressure the alignment of the baffle plate along with the mercury switch attached to
it, will change.
Operation
Whenever there will be a minor internal fault in the transformer such as an
insulation faults between turns, break down of core of transformer, core heating, the
transformer insulating oil will be decomposed in different hydrocarbon gases, CO 2

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and CO. The gases produced due to decomposition of transformer insulating oil will
accumulate in the upper part the Buchholz container which causes fall of oil level in
it. Fall of oil level means lowering the position of float and thereby tilting the mercury
switch.
The contacts of this mercury switch are closed and an alarm circuit energized.
Sometime due to oil leakage on the main tank air bubbles may be accumulated in
the upper part the Buchholz container which may also cause fall of oil level in it and
alarm circuit will be energized. By collecting the accumulated gases from the gas
release pockets on the top of the relay and by analyzing them one can predict the
type of fault in the transformer.
More severe types of faults, such as short circuit between phases or to earth
and faults in the tap changing equipment, are accompanied by a surge of oil which
strikes the baffle plate and causes the mercury switch of the lower element to close.
This switch energized the trip circuit of the circuit breakers associated with the
transformer and immediately isolate the faulty transformer from the rest of the
electrical power system by inter tripping the circuit breakers associated with both LV
and HV sides of the transformer. It is a slow operating device; the minimum
operating time is 0.1 s.
Advantages
 It is the simplest form of transformer protection
 It detects the incipient faults at a stage much earlier than is possible with other
forms of protection
Disadvantages
 It can only be used with oil immersed transformers equipped with conservator
tanks
 The device can detect only faults below oil level in the transformer. Therefore,
separate protection is needed for connecting cables
 It is slow to operate
 Setting of the memory switches cannot be kept too sensitive
Faults protected using Buchholz relay
 Local over heating
 Entrance of air bubbles in oil
 Core bolt insulation failure
 Short circuited laminations
 Reduction of oil level due to leakage
 Bad and loose electrical contacts
 Short circuit between phases and windings

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3.4.4 Earth fault or leakage protection
An earth-fault usually involves a partial breakdown of winding insulation
to earth. The resulting leakage current is considerably less than the short-circuit
current. The earth-fault may continue for a long time and cause considerable
damage before it ultimately develops into a short-circuit and removed from the
system.
Under these circumstances, it is profitable to employ earth-fault relays in order
to ensure the disconnection of earth-fault or leak in the early stage. An earth-fault
relay is essentially an overcurrent relay of low setting and operates as soon as an
earth-fault or leak develops. One method of protection against earth-faults in a
transformer is the core-balance leakage protection shown in Fig. 3.8.

Fig 3.8 Circuit diagram for earth fault protection

The three leads of the primary winding of power transformer are taken
through the core of a current transformer which carries a single secondary winding.
The operating coil of a relay is connected to this secondary. Under normal conditions
(i.e. no fault to earth), the vector sum of the three phase currents is zero and there is
no resultant flux in the core of current transformer no matter how much the load is
out of balance.
Consequently, no current flows through the relay and it remains inoperative.
However, on the occurrence of an earth-fault, the vector sum of three phase currents
is no longer zero. The resultant current set up flux in the core of the C.T. which
induces e.m.f. in the secondary winding. This energises the relay to trip the circuit
breaker and disconnect the faulty transformer from the system.

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3.4.5 Merz – price circulating current protection scheme
Percentage differential protection is used for the protection of large
power transformers having ratings of 5 MVA and above. This scheme is
employed for the protection of transformers against internal short circuit faults
(earth and phase faults). It is not capable of detecting incipient faults.

Fig 3.9 Merz – price circulating current protection scheme

 The direction of current and the polarity of the CT voltage shown for a
particular instant. The convention for making the polarity for upper and lower
CTs is the same. The current entering end has been marked as positive. The
end at which current is leaving has been marked negative.
 O and R the operating and restraining coils of the relay respectively. The
connections are made in such a way that under normal conditions or incase of
external faults the current flowing in the operating coil of the relay due to CTs
of the primary side is in opposition to the current flowing due to the CTs of the
secondary side.
 If a fault occurs on the winding, the polarity of induced voltage of the CT of the
secondary side is reversed. So the currents in the operating coil from CTs of
both primary and secondary side are in the same direction and cause the
operation of the relay.
 To supply the matching current in the operating winding of the relay, the CTs
which are on the star of the transformer are connected in delta. The CTs
which are on the delta side of the transformer are connected in star.
 The correction for phase difference is effected by appropriate connections of
CTs. The CTs on one side of the power transformer are connected in such a
way that the resultant currents fed into the pilot wires are displaced in phase
from the individual phase currents in the same direction as, and by an angle
equal to, the phase shift between the power-transformers primary and
secondary currents. The table below shows the type of connections to be

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 employed for CTs in order to compensate for the phase difference in the
primary and secondary currents of power transformer.
Table 3.2: Way of connecting CT secondary’s to power transformer

 In case of Y-∆ connected transformer, there is a phase shift of 30° in line

currents. CTs connections also correct this phase shift. Zero sequence
current flowing on the star side of the transformers does not produce current
outside the delta on the other side.
 Therefore zero sequence current is eliminated from the star side. This
condition is also fulfilled by CTs connection in delta on the star side of the
transformer.
 In case of Y-Y transformer CTs on both sides should be connected in delta. If
star point is not earthed, CTs may be connected in star of both sides. If star
point is earthed and CTs are connected in star, the relay will also operated for
external faults.
 The relay settings for transformer protection are kept higher than those for
alternators. The typical value of alternator is 10% for operating coil and 5% for
bias. The corresponding values for transformer may be 40% and 10 %
respectively
Reasons for higher setting in transformer protection
 When a transformer on no load, there is no load current in the relay. So its
setting should be greater than the no load current.
 A transformer is provided with on load tap changing gear. The CT ratio cannot
be changed with varying transformation ratio of the power transformer.
Therefore, taps other than nominal, an out of balance current flows through
the operating coil of the relay during load and external fault conditions.
Problems encountered in differential Protection
 Unmatched Characteristics of CTs
 Ratio change due to tap change
 Difference in length of pilot wires
 Magnetizing inrush current

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Example 3.1
A 3-phase transformer of 220/11,000 line volts is connected in star/delta.
The protective transformers on 220 V side have a current ratio of 600/5.
What should be the CT ratio on11, 000 V side ?
Solution
For star/delta power transformers, CTs will be connected in delta on 220 V
side (i.e.star side of power transformer) and in star on 11,000 V side (i.e. delta side
of power transformer) as shown in Fig.

Fig 3.10 Star – Delta transformer

Current in the primary side = 600 A
The CT ratio is 600/5 A hence secondary phase current of CTs on primary side is
6
IP   600  5 A
600
IL  5 3 A
The apparent power on both sides must be same
3 VL1 I L1  3 VL 2 I L 2
3  220  600  3  11000  I L 2
3  220  600
I L2   12 A
3  11000
CT ratio on High voltage side
Pr imary current 12
  1.3851
Secondary current 5 3

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3.4.6 Protection against magnetizing inrush current
When an unloaded transformer is switched on, it draws a large initial
magnetizing current which may be several times the rated current of the transformer.
This initial magnetizing current is called the magnetizing inrush current.
As the inrush current flows only in the primary winding, the differential
protection will see this inrush current as an internal fault. The harmonic contents in
the inrush current are different than those in usual fault current.
Table 3.3: Percentage of Harmonic component in magnetizing inrush current
Harmonic component in Amplitude as a %
magnetizing current of fundamental
nd
2 63.0
rd 26.8
3
th
4 5.1
th 4.1
5
th 3.7
6
th
7 2.4
The third harmonic and its multiples do not appear in C.T leads as these
harmonic circulate in the delta winding of the transformer and the delta connected
CTs on the Y side of the transformer. As the second harmonic is more in the inrush
current than in the fault current, this feature can be utilized to distinguish between a
fault and magnetizing inrush current.
The relay of this scheme is made insensitive to magnetizing inrush current.
The operating principle is to filter out the harmonics from the differential current,
rectify them and add them to the percentage restraint. The tuned circuit XCXL allows
only current of fundamental frequency to flow through the operating coil.

Fig 3.11 Circuit diagram for protection against magnetizing inrush current

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 The dc and harmonics mostly second harmonics in case of magnetic inrush
current are diverted into the restraining coil. The relay is adjusted so as not to
operate when the second harmonic (restraining) exceeds 15% of the fundamental
current (Operating).The minimum operating time is about 2 cycles.
The d.c offset and harmonics are also present in the fault current, particularly
if C.T saturates. The harmonic restraint relay will fail to operate on the occurrence of
an internal fault which contains considerable harmonics due to an arc or saturation of
the C.T. To overcome this difficulty, an instantaneous over current relay (the high set
unit) is also incorporated in the harmonic restraint scheme. This relay is set above
the maximum inrush current. It will operate on heavy internal faults in less than one
cycle.
In an alternative scheme known as harmonic blocking scheme a separate
blocking relay whose contacts are in series with those of a biased differential relay is
employed. The blocking relay is set to operate when the second harmonics is less
than 15% of the fundamental.
Factors affecting the magnitude and direction of the magnetizing inrush
in transformers
 Size of the transformer
 Size of the power system
 Type of the magnetic material used for the core
 Amount of residual flux existing in the core
 Method used to energize the transformer
3.5 Protection of alternators
The generating units, especially the larger ones, are relatively few in number
and higher in individual cost than most other equipments. Therefore, it is desirable
and necessary to provide protection to cover the wide range of faults which may
occur in the modern generating plant.
Some of the important faults which may occur on an alternator are:
(i) failure of prime-mover
(ii) failure of field
(iii) overcurrent
(iv) overspeed
(v) overvoltage
(vi) unbalanced loading
(vii) Stator winding faults
(i) Failure of prime-mover
When input to the prime-mover fails, the alternator runs as a synchronous
motor and draws some current from the supply system. This motoring conditions
is known as “inverted running”.
(a) In case of turbo-alternator sets, failure of steam supply may cause inverted
running. If the steam supply is gradually restored, the alternator will pick up load
without disturbing the system. If the steam failure is likely to be prolonged, the

15
machine can be safely isolated by the control room attendant since this condition is
relatively harmless. Therefore, automatic protection is not required.
(b) In case of hydro-generator sets, protection against inverted running is achieved
by providing mechanical devices on the water-wheel. When the water flow drops to
an insufficient rate to maintain the electrical output, the alternator is disconnected
from the system. Therefore, in this case also electrical protection is not necessary.
(c) Diesel engine driven alternators, when running inverted, draw a considerable
amount of power from the supply system and it is a usual practice to provide
protection against motoring in order to avoid damage due to possible mechanical
seizure. This is achieved by applying reverse power relays to the alternators which
isolate the latter during their motoring action. It is essential that the reverse power
relays have time-delay in operation in order to prevent inadvertent tripping during
system disturbances caused by faulty synchronizing and phase swinging.
(ii) Failure of field
The chances of field failure of alternators are undoubtedly very rare. Even if it
does occur, no immediate damage will be caused by permitting the alternator to run
without a field for a short-period. It is sufficient to rely on the control room attendant
to disconnect the faulty alternator manually from the system bus-bars. Therefore, it is
a universal practice not to provide †automatic protection against this contingency.
(iii) Overcurrent
It occurs mainly due to partial breakdown of winding insulation or due to
overload on the supply system. Overcurrent protection for alternators is considered
unnecessary because of the following reasons:
(a) The modern tendency is to design alternators with very high values of internal
impedance so that they will stand a complete short-circuit at their terminals for
sufficient time without serious overheating. On the occurrence of an overload, the
alternators can be disconnected manually.
(b) The disadvantage of using overload protection for alternators is that such a
protection might disconnect the alternators from the power plant bus on account of
some momentary troubles outside the plant and, therefore, interfere with the
continuity of electric service.
(iv) Overspeed
The chief cause of overspeed is the sudden loss of all or the major part of
load on the alternator. Modern alternators are usually provided with mechanical
centrifugal devices mounted on their driving shafts to trip the main valve of the
prime-mover when a dangerous overspeed occurs.
(v) Over-voltage
The field excitation system of modern alternators is so designed that
overvoltage conditions at normal running speeds cannot occur. However,
overvoltage in an alternator occurs when speed of the prime-mover increases due to
sudden loss of the alternator load.
(vi) Unbalanced loading
Unbalanced loading means that there are different phase currents in the
alternator. Unbalanced loading arises from faults to earth or faults between phases
16
on the circuit external to the alternator. The unbalanced currents, if allowed to
persist, may either severely burn the mechanical fixings of the rotor core or damage
the field winding.
(vii) Stator winding faults
These faults occur mainly due to the insulation failure of the stator windings.
The main types of stator winding faults, in order of importance are:
(a) Fault between phase and ground
(b) Fault between phases
(c) Inter-turn fault involving turns of the same phase winding
The stator winding faults are the most dangerous and are likely to cause
considerable damage to the expensive machinery. Therefore, automatic protection is
absolutely necessary to clear such faults in the quickest possible time in order to
minimise the extent of damage.
3.6 Stator protection
3.6.1 Differential protection of alternators
In this scheme of protection, currents at the two ends of the protected section
are compared. Under normal operating conditions, these currents are equal but may
become unequal on the occurrence of a fault in the protected section. The difference
of the currents under fault conditions is arranged to pass through the operating coil
of the relay. The relay then closes its contacts to isolate protected section from the
system. This form of protection is also known as Merz-Price circulating current
scheme.
It is used for protection of generators above 1 MW. It protects against
winding faults (phase to phase and phase to ground faults)

Fig 3.12 Merz-Price circulating current scheme

 In this method, the currents at the two ends of the protected section is sensed
using current transformers. The wires connecting relay coils to the current
transformer secondaries are called pilot wires.

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  Under normal conditions, when there is no fault in the windings, the currents
in the pilot wires fed from CT secondaries are equal. The differential current i 1-
i2 through the operating coils of the relay is zero. Hence the relay is
incorporative and system is said to be balanced.
 When fault occurs inside the protected section of the stator windings, the
differential current flows through the operating coils of the relay. Due to this
current, the relay operates. This trips the generator circuit breaker to isolate
the faulty section. The field is disconnected and is discharged through suitable
impedance.
 The percentage differential protection does not respond to external faults and
overloads. It provides complete protection against phase to phase faults. It
provides protection against ground faults to about 80 to 85 % of the generator
windings.
 High speed percentage differential relays having variable ratio or percentage
slope characteristics are preferred. The setting of the bias coils varies from
5% to 50% and that of the relay coil from 10% to 100% of the full load current.
Advantages
 Very high speed operation with operating time (15ms)
 It allows low fault setting which ensures maximum protection of machine
windings
 It ensures complete stability under the most severe through and external
faults
 It does not require current transformers with air gaps or special balancing
features
Limitation
Since neutral earthing resistances are often used to protect circuit from earth
fault currents, it becomes impossible to protect the whole of a star connected
alternator. If an earth fault occurs near the neutral point, the voltage may be
insufficient to operate the relay. Also it is extremely difficult to find two identical CTs.
In addition to this, there always an inherent phase difference between the primary
and secondary quantities and a possibility of current through the relay even when
there is no fault.
3.6.2 Restricted Earth fault protection
In small-size alternators, the neutral ends of the three-phase windings are
often connected internally to a single terminal. Therefore, it is not possible to use
Merz-Price circulating current principle described above because there are no
facilities for accommodating the necessary current transformers in the neutral
connection of each phase winding.
Under these circumstances, it is considered sufficient to provide protection
against earth-faults only by the use of balanced earth-fault protection scheme. This
scheme provides no protection against phase-to-phase faults, unless and until they
develop into earth-faults, as most of them will. In large generators, an additional
protection scheme called restricted earth fault protection is provided.

18
 Fig 3.13 Restricted Earth fault protection

Fig 3.13 shows the schematic arrangement of a balanced earth-fault

protection for a 3-phase alternator. It consists of three line current transformers, one
mounted in each phase, having their secondaries connected in parallel with that of a
single current transformer in the conductor joining the star point of the alternator to
earth. A relay is connected across the transformers secondaries. The protection
against earth faults is limited to the region between the neutral and the line current
transformers.
 When the neutral is solidly grounded, it is possible to provide protection to
complete winding of the generator against ground faults. With resistance
grounding it is not possible to protect the complete winding against ground
faults. The percentage of winding protected depends on the value of the
neutral grounding resistor and relay setting.
 In this scheme, the value of earth resistance, relay sitting, current setting of
earth resistance must be carefully selected. The usual practice is to protect 80
to 85% of the generator winding against ground fault. The remaining 15 – 20
% from neutral end is left unprotected. Hence it is called as restricted earth
fault protection.
Operation
 Consider the fault occurs on phase B due to breakdown of its insulation to
earth. The fault current If will flow through the core, frame of machine to earth
and complete path through the earthing resistance. The CT secondary current
Is flows through the operating coil and the restricted earth fault relay coil of the
differential protection.
 The setting of the restricted earth fault relay and setting of over current relay
are independent of each other. Under this secondary current Is, the relay
operates to trip the circuit breaker. The voltage V bx is sufficient to drive the
enough faults current If when the fault point x is away from the neutral point.

19
  If the fault point x is nearer to the neutral point, then the voltage V bx is small
and not sufficient to drive enough fault current I f and relay cannot operate.
Thus, part of the winding from the neutral point remains unprotected.
3.6.3 Stator protection against interturn faults
Percentage differential scheme does not detect the stator interturn
faults. This type of protection scheme is used for generators having parallel
windings separately brought out of the terminal. This scheme is also known as
Split Phase protection.
In single turn generator, there is no chance of interturn faults but in multiturn
generators, the interturn protection is provided from multiturn generators such as
hydro electric generators. These generators have double winding armatures. It
means each phase winding is splitted into two halves

Fig 3.14 Stator protection against interturn faults

This scheme uses cross differential principle. Each phase of the generator
is doubly wound and split into two parts S1 and S2. The current in the transformers
are connected in the two parallel paths of the each phase winding. The relay is
connected across the cross connected secondaries of the current transformers.
Under normal conditions, the currents in the two parallel paths are equal. So
the currents in the secondaries are also equal. Hence no current flows through the
relay and the relay is inoperative.
Under fault conditions, the currents in the two parallel paths are not equal. So
the currents in the secondaries are also unequal. The difference of current flows
through the relay and relay closes its contacts to trip the circuit breaker which
isolates the generator from the system.

20
Example 3.2
A generator is protected by restricted earth fault protection. The
generator ratings are 13.2 kV, 10 MVA. The percentage of winding
protected against phase to ground fault is 85%. The relay setting is such
that it trips for 20% out of balance. Calculate the resistance to be added
in the neutral to ground connection.
Solution:

Example 3.3
A star connected, 3 phase, 10 MVA, 6.6 kV alternator has a per phase
reactance of 10%. It is protected by Merz – price circulating current
principle which is set to operate for fault currents not less than 175 A.
Calculate the value of earthing resistance to be provided in order to
ensure that only 10 % of the alternator windings remains unprotected.
Solution:
Let r ohms be the earthing resistance required to leave 10% of the winding
unprotected (portion NA). The whole arrangement is shown in the simplified diagram
of Fig.

21
Example 3.4
A 13.8 KV, 150 MVA, star-connected alternator has a synchronous reactance of
1.68 per unit per phase and negligible resistance. It is protected by a Merz-
price balanced current system which operates when out of balances current
exceeds 10% of the full load current. If the neutral point is earthed through a

22
resistance of 2.5 Ω, determine which proportion of winding is protected
against earth fault.

23
3.7 Rotor protection
3.7.1 Rotor earth fault protection

Fig 3.15 Rotor earth fault protection

As the field circuit is operated ungrounded, a single ground fault does not
affect the operation of the generator or cause any damage. A single rotor fault to
earth increases the stress to the ground in the field when stator transients induce an
extra voltage in the field winding. Thus, the probability of the occurrence of second
fault is increased.
In case a second ground fault occurs, a part of the field winding is bypassed,
thereby increasing the current in the remaining portion of the field winding. It causes
an unbalance in the air gap fluxes, thereby creating an unbalance in the magnitude
forces on opposite sides of the rotor. It also causes vibrations.
Even though the second ground fault may not bypass enough portion of the
field winding to cause magnetic unbalance. The arcing at the fault causes local
heating which slowly distorts the rotor producing vibration.
Operation
A DC voltage is impressed between the field circuit and earth through a
polarized moving iron relay. It is not necessary to trip the machine when a single field
earth fault occurs. Usually an alarm is sounded. Then immediate steps are taken to
transfer the load from the faulty generator and to shut down as quickly as possible to
avoid further problems.
Incase of brushless machines, the main field circuit is not accessible. If there
is a partial field failure due to short circuiting of turns in the main field winding, it is
detected by the increase in level of the field current. A severe fault or short circuiting
of the diode is detected by a relay monitoring the current in the exciter control circuit.

24
3.7.2 Loss of Excitation

Fig 3.16 Loss of excitation characteristics

When the excitation of a generator is lost, it speeds up slightly and
operates as an induction motor. Round rotor generators do not have damper
windings and hence they are not suitable for such an operation. The rotor is
overheated quickly due to heavy induced current in the rotor iron. The rotors of both
salient and non salient pole generators are not overheated because they have
damper windings which carry induced currents.
The stators of both salient and non salient pole generators are overheated
due to wattles current drawn by the machines as magnetizing current from the
system. The stator overheating does not occur as quickly as rotor overheating. A
large machine may upset the system stability because it draws reactive power from
the system when it runs as an induction motor whereas it supplies reactive power
when it is runs as a generator.
A machine provided with a quick acting automatic voltage regulator and
connected to a very large system may run for several minutes as an induction
generator without harm. Field failure may be caused by the failure of excitation or
mal operation of a faulty field breaker.
When a generator loses its excitation, the locus of the equivalent generator
impedance moves from the first quadrant to fourth quadrant, irrespective of the initial
conditions. This type of locus is not traced in any other conditions. The relay trips the
field breaker and the generator is disconnected from the system.
3.7.3 Protection against unbalanced stator currents
The negative sequence component of unbalanced stator currents cause
double frequency current to be induced in the rotor iron. The unbalanced condition
may arise due to the following reasons.
 When a fault occurs in the stator winding
 An unbalanced external fault which is not cleared quickly
 Open circuiting of a phase

25
  Failure of one contact of the circuit breaker
The time for which rotor can be allowed to withstand such a condition is related
by the expression
I2 t  K
2

I2 = Negative sequence component of the current

K = 7 for turbo generator with direct cooling
K = 60 for a salient pole hydro generator

Fig 3.17 Protection against unbalanced stator currents

The over current relay used in negative phase sequence protection has a long
operating time with a facility of range setting to permit its characteristic to be
2
matched to I 2 t characteristics of the machine. A typical range of the relay is 0.2 to
2000 s.
It has shaded pole construction with a Mu-metal shunt. The negative
sequence filter gives an output proportional to I 2 . It actuates an alarm as the time
current relay which has a very inverse characteristic. The alarm unit starts a timer
which is adjustable from 8% to 40% of the negative sequence component.
The timer makes a delay in the alarm to prevent the alarm from sounding
unnecessarily on unbalanced loads of short duration.
3.8 Protection of busbar
Busbars in the generating stations and sub-stations form important link
between the incoming and outgoing circuits. If a fault occurs on a busbar,
considerable damage and disruption of supply will occur unless some form of quick-
acting automatic protection is provided to isolate the faulty busbar. The busbar zone,
for the purpose of protection, includes not only the busbars themselves but also the
isolating switches, circuit breakers and the associated connections. In the event of
fault on any section of the busbar, all the circuit equipments connected to that
section must be tripped out to give complete isolation.
The standard of construction for busbars has been very high, with the result
that bus faults are extremely rare. However, the possibility of damage and service
interruption from even a rare bus fault is so great that more attention is now given to

26
this form of protection. Improved relaying methods have been developed, reducing
the possibility of incorrect operation.
3.8.1 Need of bus bar protection
 Fault level at bus bar is high
 The stability of the system is affected by the faults in the bus zone
 A fault in the bus bar causes interruption of supply to a large portion of the
system network
 The equipments connected to the bus bar may get damaged
3.8.2 Problems associated with bus bar protection
 Current levels for different circuits are different
 Large number of circuits, different current levels for different circuits for
external faults
 Saturation of CT cores due to dc component and ac component in short circuit
currents. The saturation introduces error
 Sectionalizing of the bus makes circuit complicated
 Setting of relays need a change with large load changes
3.8.3 Possible Faults in the bus bar protection
 Failure of insulation due to material deterioration
 Failure of circuit breaker
 Earth fault due to failure of support insulator
 Flashover due to sustained excessive over voltages
 Errors in the operation and maintenance switchgear
 Earth quake and mechanical damage
 Accidents due to external bodies falling on the bus bars.
3.9 Schemes for busbar protection
 Differential protection
 Fault bus protection
 Frame leakage protection
 Circulating current protection
 High impedance differential protection
3.9.1 Differential protection

Fig 3.18 Differential protection of bus bar

27
 This system of protection is used in modern power station or substation. In
this system, the currents entering and leaving are totalized. Under normal operating
conditions, the sum of these currents is zero. At the time of fault, the fault current
upsets the balance and produces a differential current which operates a relay.
The secondaries of CTs in the alternator load in line 1 and line 2 are
connected in parallel. The protective relay is connected across this parallel
connection. All CTs must be in the same ratio. Under normal load condition, the
sum of the current‟s entering the bus is equal to those leaving it and no current flows
through the relay and it remains inoperative.
When fault occurs within the protected zone, the currents entering the bus will
no longer be equal to those leaving it. The differential current will flow through the
relay and cause opening of generator circuit breaker and each line circuit breakers.
3.9.2 Fault bus protection
Fault bus is nothing but earthed metal barrier. It is possible to design a station
so that the faults develop are mostly earth faults. This can be achieved by providing
earthed metal barrier surrounding each conductor throughout its entire length in the
bus structure.
The faults can be detected and located by directing the flow of earth fault
current. Such a scheme of protection is called fault bus protection.

Fig 3.19 Fault bus protection of bus bar

The metal supporting structure or fault bus is earthed through a current

transformer. A relay is connected across the secondary of the CT. Under normal
operating conditions, no current flows from fault bus to ground and the relay does not
operate.
When a fault involving a connection between a conductor and earthed
supporting structure, fault current flows to ground through the fault bus.
Consequently the relay operates and trips all circuit breakers connecting equipment
to the bus.

28
3.9.3 Frame leakage protection
In this method, each conductor is surrounded by the earthed metal barrier. All
the metal frame works are bonded together and insulated from earth. The switch
gear framework also insulated from lead cable sheaths.
Metal supporting framework is earthed through a CT. When fault is there, a
contact between conductor and earth faults, it drives the current through this CT. It
energizes the frame leakage relay. The CT energizing the check relay is mounted in
neutral earth transformer. The contacts of check relay and frame leakage relay are in
series.

Fig 3.20 Frame leakage protection of bus bar

Thus before tripping circuit gets energized both relays must operate. Once
both the relays operate due to earth fault, the entire breaker will trip connecting the
equipment to the busbar. Due to check relay, accidental operation of single relay to
trip circuit gets avoided.
3.9.4 Circulating current protection
This scheme is based on simple circulating current principle that during
normal load conditions or external fault conditions, the sum of currents entering the
bus equals to the sum of the current leaving the bus.
I1  I 2  I 3  I 4  I 5  I 6

Under normal operating condition, no current will flow through the relay and it
will not operate. If any fault, either a phase to phase or phase to ground fault occurs
in the systems, the sum of these current will not be zero and some current will flow
through the relay and causes the relay to operate and isolate the faulty section.
Along with isolation, the busbars can be sectionalized to identify the fault in that
particular section.

29
 Fig 3.21 Circulating current protection of bus bar
3.9.5 High impedance differential protection
This method provides differential protection to bus is based on sensing a
voltage drop across high impedance.

Fig 3.22 High impedance differential protection of bus bar

Under normal operating conditions, the current flowing through high

impedance is zero and the relay is inoperative. During fault conditions, unbalanced
current flows through high impedance covering high voltage drop. It is given to a
transformer. A CT is connected to the secondary of this transformer which measures
this drop and trips the relay.
The main advantage of high impedance relay is that voltage drop is sensed,
saturation of CT core has no effect on the protection scheme.

30
3.10 Protection of transmission line
The probability of faults occurring on the lines is much more due to their
greater length and exposure to atmospheric conditions. This has called for many
protective schemes which have no application to the comparatively simple cases of
alternators and transformers. The requirements of line protection are :
(i) In the event of a short-circuit, the circuit breaker closest to the fault should open,
all other circuit breakers remaining in a closed position.
(ii) In case the nearest breaker to the fault fails to open, back-up protection should be
provided by the adjacent circuit breakers.
(iii) The relay operating time should be just as short as possible in order to preserve
system stability, without unnecessary tripping of circuits.
The protection of lines presents a problem quite different from the protection
of station apparatus such as generators, transformers and busbars. While differential
protection is ideal method for lines, it is much more expensive to use. The two ends
of a line may be several kilometres apart and to compare the two currents, a costly
pilot-wire circuit is required. This expense may be justified but in
general less costly methods are used. The common methods of line protection are :
(i) Time-graded over current protection
(ii) Differential protection
(iii) Distance protection
3.11 Time graded over current protection
In this scheme of over current protection, time discrimination is incorporated.
In other words, the time setting of relays is so graded that in the event of fault, the
smallest possible part of the system is isolated. We shall discuss a few important
cases.
3.11.1 Radial Feeder
The main characteristic of radial system is that power can flow in only
one direction, from generator or supply end side to load. It has the disadvantage
that continuity of supply cannot be maintained at the receiving end in the event of
fault. Time graded protection of radial feeder can be achieved by using
 Definite time relays
 Inverse time relays
3.11.1.1 Definite time relays

Fig 3.23 Definite time relays

31
 The time operation of each relay is fixed and is independent of the operating
current. Thus relay D has an operating time of 0.5 s while for other relays, time delay
is successively increased by 0.5 second. If a fault occurs in the section DE, it will be
cleared in 0.5 second by the relay and circuit breaker D because all other relays
have higher operating time. In this way only section DE of the system will be
isolated. If the relay at D fails to trip, the relay at C will operate after a time delay of
0.5 second (after 1 second from the occurrence of fault).
Disadvantage
There are number of feeders in series, the tripping time for the faults
near the supply end becomes high (2 seconds). This disadvantage can be overcome
to a reasonable extent by using inverse-time relays.
3.11.1.2 Inverse time relays

Fig 3.24 Inverse time relays

In this inverse time relays, the operating time is inversely proportional to
operating current. With this arrangement, the farther the circuit breaker from the
generating station, the shorter is its relay operating time. The three relays A, B and C
are assumed to have inverse time characteristics. A fault in section BC will give relay
times which will allow breaker at B to trip out before the breaker at A.
3.11.2 Parallel Feeder
Where continuity of supply is particularly necessary, two parallel feeders may
be installed. If a fault occurs on one feeder, it can be disconnected from the system
and continuity of supply can be maintained from the other feeder. The feeders
cannot be protected by non directional over current relay only. It is necessary to use
directional relays also to grade the time setting of relays for selective trippings.

Fig 3.25 Parallel feeder

32
The protection of this system requires
 Each feeder has a non directional over current relay at the generator end.
These relays should have inverse time characteristic
 Each feeder has a reverse power or directional relay at the substation end.
These relays should be instantaneous type and operate only when power
flows in the reverse direction.
Suppose an earth fault occurs on feeder 1. It is desired that only circuit breakers
at A and P should open to clear the fault whereas feeder 2 should remain intact to
maintain the continuity of supply. The shown fault is fed through two routes
 Directly from feeder 1 via relay A
 From feeder 2 via Q, substation and B.
Therefore power flow in relay Q will be in normal direction but is reversed in
the relay P. This causes the opening of circuit breaker at P. Also the relay A will
operate while relay B remains in operative. It is because these relays have inverse
time characteristics and current flowing in relay B. In this way only the faulty feeder is
isolated.
3.11.3 Ring main system
In this system, various power stations and sub-station are
interconnected by alternate routes, thus forming a closed ring. In case of
damage to any section of the ring, that section may be disconnected for repairs and
power will be supplied from both ends of the ring, thereby maintaining continuity of
supply.
Unit system of protection
This is the system which is able to detect and respond to fault occurring only
within its own zone of protection having absolute discrimination.
Ex: Differential protection of alternators, bus bars, transformers, frame leakage
protection, pilot wire and carrier current protection.
Non - Unit system of protection
This system does not have any absolute discrimination or selectivity. In this
system all the relays may respond to fault.
Ex: Distance protection such as time graded or current graded or both.

Fig 3.26 Ring main system

33
 A typical ring main system consisting of one generator G supplying four sub
stations S1, S2, S3 and S4. In this arrangement, power can flow in both directions
under fault conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to grade in both directions round the
ring and also to use directional relays. In order that only faulty section of the ring is
isolated under fault conditions, the types of relays and their time settings should be
follows,
 The two lines leaving the generating station should be equipped with non
directional over current relays (Relays at A and J).
 At each sub-station, reverse power or directional relays should be placed in
both incoming and outgoing lines (Relays at B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I).
 There should be proper relative time settings of the relays. For an example,
going round loop GS1S2S3 S4G. The outgoing relays (A, C, E and I) are set
with decreasing time limits.
A = 2.5 s; C = 2s; E= 1.5 s; G = 1s and I = 0.5 s
Similarly, going round the loop in the opposite direction GS4S3S2 S1G, the
outgoing relays (J, H, F, D and B) are also set with a decreasing time limit.
J = 2.5 s; H = 2s; F= 1.5 s; D = 1s and B = 0.5 s
Suppose a short circuit occurs at the point shown in figure. In order to ensure the
selectivity, it is desired that only breakers at E and F should open to clear the fault
whereas other sections of the ring should be intact to maintain continuity of supply.
The power will fed through two routes,
 From G around S1 and S2 and from G around S4 and S3 . It is clear that relays
A, B, C and D as well as J, I, G and H will not trip. Therefore only relays at E
and F will operate before any other relay operates because of their lower time
setting.
3.12 Differential Pilot-Wire Protection
The differential pilot-wire protection is based on the principle that under
normal conditions, the current entering one end of a line is equal to that leaving the
other end. As soon as a fault occurs between the two ends, this condition no longer
holds and the difference of incoming and outgoing currents is arranged to flow
through a relay which operates the circuit breaker to isolate the faulty line. There are
several differential protection schemes in use for the lines. However, only the
following two schemes will be discussed:
(i) Merz-Price voltage balance system
(ii) Translay scheme
3.12.1 Merz - Prize voltage balance system
 In this method, identical transformers are placed in each phase at both ends
of the line. The pair of CTs in each line is connected in series with a relay in
such a way that under normal conditions, the secondary voltages are equal
and in opposite direction (they balance each other).

34
 Fig 3.27 Merz - Prize voltage balance system
 Under healthy conditions, current entering the line at one end is equal to that
leaving it at the other end. Therefore, equal and opposite voltages are
induced in the secondaries of the CTs at the two ends of the line.
Consequently, their secondary voltage becomes unequal and circulating
current flows through the pilot wires and relays. The circuit breakers at both
ends of the line will trip out and the faulty line will be isolated
Advantages
 It can be used for ring mains as well as parallel feeders
 It provides instantaneous protection for ground faults
 It provides instantaneous relaying which reduces the amount of damage to
over head conductors resulting from arcing faults
Disadvantages
 Accurate matching of current transformers is very essential
 If there is a break in the pilot wire circuit, the system will not operate
 This system is very expensive owing to the greater length of pilot wires
required
 This system cannot be used for line voltages beyond 33 kV because of
constructional difficulties in matching the current transformers
3.12.2 Translay Scheme
This system is similar to voltage balance system except that here
balance or opposition is between the voltages induced in the secondary
windings wound on the relay magnets and not between the secondary
voltages of the line current transformers. The system operating voltages not
exceeding 33 kV.

35
 Fig 3.28 Translay Scheme

Construction
 The relays used in the scheme are essentially over current induction type
relays. Each relay has two electromagnetic magnets. The upper element
carries a winding (11 or 11 a) which is energized as a summation transformer
from the secondary‟s of the line CTs connected in the phases of the line to be
protected.
 The upper element also carries a secondary winding (12 or 12 a) which is
connected in series with the operating winding (13 or 13 a) on the lower
magnet. The secondary windings 12, 12 a and operating windings 13, 13a are
connected in series in such a way that voltages induced in the opposite each
other.
Operation
When the feeder is sound, the currents at its two ends are equal so that the
secondary currents in both sets of CTs are equal. Consequently, the currents in the
relay primary winding 11 and 11 a will be equal and they will induce equal voltages in
the secondary windings 12 and 12 a. Since these windings are connected in
opposition, no current flows I them or in the operating windings 13 and 13 a.
In the event of a fault on the protected line, the line current at one end must
carry a greater current than that at the other end. The result is that voltages induced
in the secondary windings 12 and 12 a will be different and the current flow through
the operating cols 13, 13 a and the pilot circuit. Under these conditions, both upper
and lower elements of each relay are energized and a forward torque acts on the
each relay disc. The operation of the relays will open the circuit breakers at the both
ends of the line.

36
  Suppose a fault occurs between phases R and Y and is fed from both sides.
This will energize only section1 of primary windings 11 and 11 a and induce
voltages in the secondary windings 12 and 12a. These voltages are now
additive and current will circulate through operating coils 13, 13 a and pilot
circuit. This will cause the relay contacts to close and open the circuit
breakers at both ends. A fault between phases Y and B energizes section 2 of
primary windings 11 and 11 a whereas that between R and B will energize the
sections 1 and 2.
 Assume an earth fault occurs on phase R. This will energize sections 1,2 and
3 of the primary windings 11 and 11a. Again a fault is fed from both ends, the
voltages induced in the secondary windings 12 and 12 a are additive and
cause a current to flow through the operating coils 13, 13 a Therefore the
relays operate to open the circuit breakers at both ends of the line. In the
event of earth fault on phase Y, sections 2 and 3 of primary winding 11 and 11
a will be energized and cause relays to operate. At earth fault on phase B will
energise only the section 3 of relay primary windings 11 and 11 a.
Advantages
 The system is economical as only two pilot wires are required for the
protection of three phase line
 Current transformers of normal design can be used
 The pilot wire capacitances current do not affect the operation of relays
3.13 Distance protection
Both time-graded and pilot-wire systems are not suitable for the protection of
very long high voltage transmission lines. The former gives an unduly long time
delay in fault clearance at the generating station end when there are more than four
or five sections and the pilot-wire system becomes too expensive owing to the
greater length of pilot wires required. This has led to the development of distance
protection in which the action of relay depends upon the distance (or impedance)
between the point where the relay is installed and the point of fault. This system
provides discrimination protection without employing pilot wires.

Fig 3.29 Power system lines in series

Fig. 3.29 shows a simple system consisting of lines in series such that power
can flow only from left to right. The relays at A, B and C are set to operate for
impedance less than Z1, Z2 and Z3 respectively. Suppose a fault occurs between
sub-stations B and C, the fault impedance at power station and sub-station A and B
will be Z1 + Z and Z respectively. It is clear that for the portion shown; only relay at B

37
will operate. Similarly, if a fault occurs within section AB, then only relay at A will
operate. In this manner, instantaneous protection can be obtained for all conditions
of operation.
In actual practice, it is not possible to obtain instantaneous protection for
complete length of the line due to inaccuracies in the relay elements and instrument
transformers. Thus the relay at A [See Fig. 3.29] would not be very reliable in
distinguishing between a fault at 99% of the distance AB and the one at 101% of
distance AB. This difficulty is overcome by using „three-zone‟ distance protection
shown in Fig. 3.30.

Fig 3.30 Three zone distance protection

In this scheme of protection, three distance elements are used at each
terminal. The zone 1 element covers first 90% of the line and is arranged to trip
instantaneously for faults in this portion. The zone 2 element trips for faults in the
remaining 10% of the line and for faults in the next line section, but a time delay is
introduced to prevent the line from being tripped if the fault is in the next section. The
zone 3 element provides back-up protection in the event a fault in the next section is
not cleared by its breaker.
3.14 Carrier current protection
This is the most widely used scheme for protection of EHV and UHV
power lines. In this scheme a carrier channel at high frequency is employed.
The carrier signal is directly coupled to the same high voltage line that is to be
protected. Below this range, the size and cost of coupling equipment becomes high
whereas above this range, signal attenuation and transmission loss is considerable.
The frequency range of carrier signal is 50 kHz to 700 kHz. The power level is about
10 – 20 W. IN this scheme, the conductor of the power line to be protected are used
for the transmission of carrier signals. So the pilot is termed as a power line carrier.
In a carrier current scheme, the carrier signal can be used either to prevent or
initiate the tripping of a protective relay. When the carrier signal is used to prevent
the operation of the relay, the scheme is known as carrier blocking scheme. When
the carrier signal is employed to initiate tripping, the scheme is called a carrier inter
tripping or transfer tripping or permissive tripping scheme.
Carrier current schemes are cheaper and more reliable for long lines
compared to wire pilot schemes, even though the terminal equipment is more
expensive and more complicated. In some cases, the carrier signal may be jointly

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utilized for telephone communication, supervisory control, telemetering as well as
relaying.
Thus, the cost of carrier equipment chargeable to relaying work can be
reduced. The coupling capacitors required for carrier signal can be used also as
potential dividers to supply reduced voltage to instruments relays etc. This eliminates
the use of separate potential transformers.
3.14.1 Techniques employed for Carrier current protection
 Phase comparison technique
 Directional comparison technique
Phase comparison technique
The phase angle of the current entering one end is compared with
the phase angle of the current leaving the other end of the protected line
section. If the currents at both the ends of the line are in phase, there is no fault on
the protected line section.
This will be true during normal conditions or in case of external faults. In
case of faults on the protected line section, the two current will be 180° out of phase.
In this scheme, the carrier signal is employed as a blocking pilot.
Directional comparison technique
The direction of power flow at the two ends of the protected line section
is compared. During normal conditions and in case of external faults, the power must
flow into the protected line section at one end and out of it at the other end. In case of
an internal fault, the power flows inwards from both ends.
3.14.2 Phase comparison carrier current protection
In this scheme, the phase angle of the current entering one end of the
protected line section is compared with the current leaving the other end. The
line trap is a parallel resonant circuit tuned to the carrier frequency connected in
series with the line conductor at each end of the protected line section. This keeps
carrier signal confined to the protected line section and does not allow the carrier
signal to flow into the neighboring sections.

Fig 3.31 Schematic diagram of phase comparison carrier current protection

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 It offers very high impedance to the carrier signal but negligible impedance to
the power frequency current. There are carrier transmitter and receivers at both the
ends of the protected line. The transmitter and receiver are connected to the power
line through a coupling capacitor to withstand high voltage and grounded through an
inductance.
The coupling capacitors consists of porcelain-clad, oil filled stack of capacitors
connected in series. It offers very high impedance to power frequency current but
low impedance to carrier frequency current. On the other hand, the inductance offers
low impedance to power frequency current and high impedance to carrier frequency
current.
Thus the transmitter and receiver are insulated from the power line and
effectively grounded at power frequency current. But at carrier frequency they are
connected to the power line effectively insulated from the ground.
For the transmission of carrier signal either one phase conductor with earth
return or two phase conductors can be employed. The former is called phase to
earth coupling and the latter is called phase to phase coupling.
The phase to earth coupling is less expensive as the number of coupling
capacitors and line traps required is half of that needed for phase to phase coupling.
The performance of phase to phase coupling is better compared to phase to earth
coupling because of lower attenuation and lower interference levels.
The half cycle blocks of carrier signals are injected into the transmission line
through the coupling capacitors. Fault detectors control the carrier signal so that it is
started only during faults.
The voltage outputs of the summation network at stations A and B are 180°
out of phase during normal conditions. This is because the C.T connections at the
two ends are reversed. The carrier signal is transmitted only during positive half
cycle of the network output.
Waveform (a) shows the output of the summation network at A. Waveform (b)
shows the carrier signal transmitted by the transmitter at A. Waveform (c) shows the
output of the summation network at B for external fault at C. Waveform (d) shows the
carrier signal transmitted by the transmitter at B
For an external fault, carrier signals are always present in such a way that
during one half-cycle, signals are transmitted by the transmitter at A and during the
next half-cycle by the transmitter at B.As the carrier signal is blocking signal and it is
always present the relays does not trip .
For an internal fault, the polarity of the network output voltage at B is
reversed, as shown by the Waveform (e).the carrier signal sent by the transmitter at
B is shown by Waveform (f).In case of internal faults, carrier signals are transmitted
only during one half cycle and there is no signal during the other half cycles. As the
carrier signal is not present during the other half-cycles, the relay operates and
circuit breaker trips.

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 Fig 3.32 Transmission of carrier signals during internal and
external fault conditions
The comparator receives carrier signal from the receiver. So long as the
carrier is present, it does not give an output to the auxiliary tripping relay. When the
comparator does not receive the carrier signal, it gives an output to the auxiliary
tripping relay. The ideal phase difference between carrier blocks is 180° for internal
faults and zero degree for external faults. In practice, it is kept 180° ± 30° for internal
faults because of
 The phase displacement between emf‟s at the ends of the protected line
section
 Through current being added to the fault current at one end and subtracted at
the other
 Errors produced by C.T.s
The phase comparison scheme provides only primary protection. The back-up
protection is provided by supplementary three step distance relays for phase and
ground faults. In a phase comparison scheme, the relay does not trip during swings
or out of step conditions or because of zero sequence current induced from a parallel
line. If there is no fault on the protected line section, it is used as a primary protection
for all long distance overhead EHV and SHV transmission lines.

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 The length of transmission line which can be protected by phase comparison
scheme is limited by phase shifts produced by following factors.
 The propagation time, i.e the time taken by the carrier signal to travel from
one end to other end of the protected line section
 The time of response of the band pass filter(about 5°)
 The phase shift caused by the transmission line capacitance(up to 10°)

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