Relay Operating Principles

Relay Operating Principles
© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 1

Contents
• Introduction
• Detection of Faults
– Level Detection
– Magnitude Comparison
– Differential Comparison
– Phase Angle Comparison
– Distance Measurement
– Harmonic Content
– Frequency Sensing
2
Contents of Transformer Protection
• Relay Designs
• Electromechanical Relays
• Solid State Relays
• Computer Relays
• Other Relay Design Considerations
• Control Circuits, A Beginning
• Summary © Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 3
• Our interest is to achieve a general understanding of relay design and
construction to assist us in realizing their capabilities, and limitations.
• This will cover a very small sample of the possible designs and is
intended only to indicate how parameters required for fault detection
and protection can be utilized by a relay.
• Before examining the operating principles of relays, one should

introduce the fuse, which is the oldest and simplest of all protective
devices.

• The fuse is a level detector, and is both the sensor and the interrupting
device. It is installed in series with the equipment being protected and
operates by melting a fusible element in response to the current flow.
The melting time is inversely proportional to the magnitude of the
current flowing in the fuse. It is inherently a one-shot device since the
fusible link is destroyed in the process of interrupting the current flow.
• Fuses may only be able to interrupt currents up to their maximum short-

circuit rating, or they may have the ability to limit the magnitude of the
short-circuit current.
Rewireable / Semi Enclosed Fuse
Fuse Wire Rating (A) CU Wire Diameter (mm)
3 0.15
5 0.20
10 0.35
15 0.50
20 0.60
25 0.75
30 0.85
45 1.25
60 1.53
80 1.8
100 2.0

• For example, 15A current circuit is well protected by 0.5mm copper
wire fuse which will carry 15A without over heating and melt before
29A.
• The single-shot feature referred to above requires that a blown fuse be

replaced before service can be restored. This means a delay and the need
to have the correct spare fuses and qualified maintenance personnel who
must go and replace the fuses in the field. It is possible to provide a
multiple-shot feature by installing a number of fuses in parallel.

• This will provide a mechanical triggering mechanism so that the
blowing of one fuse automatically transfers another in its place.
• In a three-phase circuit, a single-phase-to-ground fault will cause one

fuse to blow, de-energizing only one phase, permitting the connected
equipment to stay connected to remaining phases, with subsequent
excessive heating and vibration because of unbalanced voltage supply.
• To overcome these disadvantages, protective relays were developed as

logic elements that are divorced from the circuit interruption function.

• In electromechanical relays, the actuating forces were created by a
combination of the input signals, stored energy in springs and dashpots.
The plunger-type relays are usually driven by a single actuating quantity,
while the induction-type relays may be activated by single or multiple
inputs.
• Most modern relays are still electromechanical devices, with an

induction disc or cup, or a plunger-type construction, although solid
state and digital relays are rapidly being introduced, particularly at the
higher system voltage.
• Consider a round moving plunger placed inside a stationary
electromagnet, as shown in Figure. With no current in the coil, the
plunger is held partially outside the coil by the force produced by a
spring. When the coil is energized by a current, and saturation
phenomena are neglected, the energy and the co-energy stored in the
magnetic field. The value of the current at which the plunger just begins
to move known as the pickup setting of the relay. The operating
time of the relay depends upon the mass of the plunger, and can be made
to suit a particular need.
Plunger Type Relay

• The general shape of the relay characteristic, i.e. its operating time
plotted as a function of the current through the coil, is as shown in
Figure.

Operating Time versus Current of a Plunger Type Relay

• These relays are based upon the principle of operation of a single-phase
AC motor. As such, they cannot be used for DC currents. Two variants
of these relays are fairly standard: one with an induction disc and the
other with an induction cup. In both cases, the moving element (disc or
cup) is equivalent to the rotor of the induction motor. However, in
contrast to the induction motor, the iron associated with the rotor in the
relay is stationary. The moving element acts as a carrier of rotor
currents, while the magnetic circuit is completed through stationary
magnetic elements.
• The general constructions of the two types of relay are shown in Figures
on next slides.

Induction Disc Relay

Induction Disc Relay
Moving Cup Induction Relay

• A spring keeps the disc from turning. When the torque produced by the
current (the pickup current of the relay) just exceeds the spring torque,
the disc begins to turn. After turning an angle (another constant of the
relay design), the relay closes its contacts. As the torque does not depend
upon the angular position of the rotor, the current at which the spring
overcomes the magnetic torque and returns the relay to open position
(the dropout current of the relay) is practically the same as the pickup
current. Induction disc or cup-type relays may be energized from voltage
sources to produce under or overvoltage relays.
• Also, by providing one of the coils with a current source and the other
coil with a voltage source, the relay may be made to respond to a
product of current and voltage inputs. It should be remembered that the
phase angle between the currents in the current coil and the voltage coil
appears in the torque equation. The current in the voltage coil generally
lags the voltage by an angle equal to the impedance angle of the voltage
coil, while the current coil carries the actual input current.

Inverse Time Characteristics of an Induction Disc Overcurrent Relay
• The expansion and growing complexity of modern power systems have
brought a need for protective relays with a higher level of performance
and more sophisticated characteristics. This has been made possible by
the development of semiconductors and other associated components
which can be utilized in relay designs, generally referred to as solid-state
or static relays.
• All of the functions and characteristics available with electromechanical

relays can be performed by solid-state devices, either as discrete
components or as integrated circuits.
• Solid-state relay circuits may be divided into two categories: analog
circuits that are either fault sensing or measuring circuits, and digital
logic circuits for operation on logical variables. There is a great variety
of circuit arrangements which would produce a desired relaying
characteristic.

• Consider the circuit shown in Figure. The input current I is passed
through the resistive shunt R, full-wave rectified by the bridge rectifier
B, filtered to remove the ripple by the R–C filter and applied to a high-
gain summing amplifier A. The other input of the summing amplifier is
supplied with an adjustable reference voltage eR. When the input on the
positive input of the summing amplifier exceeds the reference setting,
the amplifier output goes high, and this step change is delayed by a
time-delay circuit, in order to provide immunity against spurious
transient signals in the input circuit.
• Waveforms at various points in this circuit are shown in Figure for an
assumed input fault current of a magnitude above the pickup setting eR
of the relay. By making the time-delay circuit adjustable, and by making
the amount of delay depend upon the magnitude of the input current, a
time-delay overcurrent relay characteristic can be obtained.

• The current and voltage signals from the power system are processed by
signal conditioners consisting of analog circuits, such as transducers,
surge suppression circuits and anti-aliasing filters, before being sampled
and converted to digital form by the analog-to-digital converter. The
sampling clock provides pulses at sampling frequency. Typical sampling
frequencies in use in modern digital relays vary between 8 and 32 times
the fundamental power system frequency. The analog input signals are
generally frozen by a sample-and-hold circuit, in order to achieve
simultaneous sampling of all signals.
• The relaying algorithm processes the sampled data to produce a digital
output. The algorithm is, of course, the core of the digital relay, and a
great many algorithms have been developed and published in the
literature. It is not our purpose to examine or evaluate any algorithms.

• In an electromechanical relay, the operating mechanism is directed to
physically move a contact structure to close or open its contact. A relay
may operate and either open or close the contacts depending on the
circumstances. Most relays have a spring or use gravity to make the
contact assume a given state when the relay is completely de-energized.
• A contact that is closed under this condition, often referred to as its

condition ‘on-the-shelf’, is said to be a ‘normally closed’ or a ‘b’
contact. If the contact is open ‘on-the-shelf’, it is referred to as a
‘normally open’ or an ‘a’ contact.
Conventions for Contact Status

• Protective relays are invariably provided with some indication that
shows whether or not the relay operated. In electromechanical relays this
indication is a target, i.e. a brightly colored flag that becomes visible
upon operation of the relay. These targets can be electrical or
mechanical.
• Solid-state and digital relays use more complex targeting schemes. For
example, the logic elements associated with phase or ground fault
detection, timing elements and the tripping sequence are all capable of
being brought to indicating lights, which are used as targets.
• In order to protect the relay contacts against damage, some
electromechanical relays are provided with a holding mechanism. This is
a small electromagnet whose coil is in series with the relay contacts and
whose contact is in parallel with them.
• The electromagnet is energized, closing its contacts in parallel with the

relay contact as soon as the trip coil is energized, and drops out when the
circuit breaker opens.

Principle of a Seal-in Relay Circuit

• Time delay can be an integral part of a protective device, or may be
produced by a timer. For example, the operating time of a fuse or an
overcurrent relay is an inverse function of the operating current, i.e. the
greater the current, the shorter is the operating time.
• The time delay is an integral part of the fuse or overcurrent relay and
varies with the magnitude of the operating quantity. A clock or a
pneumatic timer may be used as an auxiliary relay, and will operate in its
set time regardless of the operating quantities which actuate the main
relay.
• A characteristic that affects some relay applications is the relatively
large difference between the pickup and dropout value.
• When the reset value is a low percentage of the pickup value, there is the
possibility that an abnormal condition might cause the relay to pick up
but a return to normal conditions might not reset the relay.

References
• Stanley H. Horowiz, Arun G. Phadke, “Power System Relaying”, 3rd Edition, Chapter
No. 2
✓ Articles Covered: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9
✓ Examples:
✓ End Problems: All relevant without derivations

Relay Operating Principles - Power System Relaying by Stanley, CH 2

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© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 1

• Before examining the operating principles of relays, one should

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 5

• Fuses may only be able to interrupt currents up to their maximum short-

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 9

• The single-shot feature referred to above requires that a blown fuse be

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 10

• In a three-phase circuit, a single-phase-to-ground fault will cause one

• To overcome these disadvantages, protective relays were developed as

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 11

• Most modern relays are still electromechanical devices, with an

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 16

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 17

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 18

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 21

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 22

Moving Cup Induction Relay

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 25

• All of the functions and characteristics available with electromechanical

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 29

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 33

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 41

• A contact that is closed under this condition, often referred to as its

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 46

• The electromagnet is energized, closing its contacts in parallel with the

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 48

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 49

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 51

✓ End Problems: All relevant without derivations

© Mr. Rizwan Khan (Faculty - UET LHE) 39

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