E.P.A.S.S.

A 003: The shortcomings of this

very prominent electrical theory: 4 types of
short circuit faults (LG, LL, LLG, LLL).
 Published on September 28, 2021

Status is online

Thierry Julio Epassa- PE in

TX,CA,NM,MA,NV,KS,IA,CO,NC,CT,SD,ID

Director of Electrical Engineering || Algorithm Creator to Detect BOP Collector Inefficiencies ||

Founder of EEEngineering, LLC (Arc Flash, Short circuit, Electrical Studies, Wind/Solar Farm
Analysis, etc..)
5 articles Following

Power systems books teach us that there are 4 types of electrical short circuit faults:

- Single-phase to ground, also called line to ground (LG). 

- Phase to phase to ground, also called line to line to ground (LLG). 

- Phase to phase, also called line to line (LL). 

- Three phases, also called line to line to line (LLL). Some theories also mention LLLG;
however, many agree that there is no significant difference between LLL and LLLG.

In this article, we will review faults in the primary zone of the feeder relays ( 50/51
relay); therefore, there is no need for the relay to coordinate for that fault, and the
relay shall remove the fault as fast as possible. IEEE generally recommends no longer
than 3 cycles detection time for faults in the primary zone.
I will discuss 3 examples.

Relays Events - Significant Issues

Event #1: 3 phase fault trip (ABC T) – Issues with digital elements

The event above shows a 3-phase fault trip with a definite time or time overcurrent trip:

-    Prefault (orange cursor) – IA.mag = IB.mag = IC.mag = 175 A. VA peak = VB peak =

VC peak = 30 kV. Voltages and currents are balanced.

-    Fault initiation (red dotted line) – IC.mag (white curve) is ramping up, getting close
to 12,000 A. 67P1, 51P, and 51C assert. The fault at this point is a LG.

-    Magenta time cursor – All the currents are still high at 12,000 A; however, something
strange is happening: 51A, 51B, 51P, and 67P1 have disappeared. Coincidentally, the
current and voltages magnitudes indicate that the fault has evolved from an LG to a
LLL. The digital elements disappeared at the moment when the fault transitioned to a
LLL, and when the fault established itself to LLL, the digital elements reappeared.

The relay did not work as intended. The design intended to time when 51 and 67P1
were asserted; however, the digital elements dropped, and the time counter for 67P1
had to restart. Time counter reset for 51 works differently and did not necessarily reset.
Worst case scenario in this event- 67P1T was supposed to initiate a trip 3 cycles after
67P1; however, after 2.5 cycles, 67P1 was lost, and the time had to restart. Instead of
the relay tripping in 3 cycles, it trips in 6 cycles. 

Potential consequences: 

-    Coordination was lost, and the entire unit tripped. The relay upstream tripped
before the downstream relay.

-    Arc flash assessment. The calories rating has increased because the time to trip has
increased; hence the PPE is no longer appropriate.

-    An electrical fire can occur because the time to trip has increased from 3 to 6 cycles.

The relay was not adequately programmed to protect against a LG fault that evolved to
LLL, even though the relay was protected against both the LG fault and LLL fault.

Event #2: Single-phase fault trip (CG T) – Issues with digital elements

The event above shows a single-phase fault with definite time or time overcurrent trip:

-    Prefault (orange cursor) – IA.mag = IB.mag = IC.mag = 11 A. VA peak = VB peak = VC

peak = 30 kV. Voltages and currents are balanced.
-    Fault initiation (red dotted line) – All the 3 phase currents are ramping up, getting
close to 5,000 A. 51A, 51B, 51C, and 51P assert. The fault at this point is a LLL.

-   Magenta time cursor – All the currents are still high at 5,000 A, although 2 currents
are dropping down, IB and IA; however, something strange is happening: 51A, 51B,
and 51P have disappeared. Coincidentally, the fault has evolved from a LLL to an LG,
as indicated by the current magnitudes. The digital elements disappeared at the
moment when the fault transitioned to a LG, and when the fault established itself to
LG, the digital elements reappeared.

The relay did not work as intended. The design intended to time when 51P asserts;
however, the digital element was lost, and the time counter had to restart. If we are
lucky enough, 51P may not have reset depending on how 51CRS was set.

The relay was not adequately programmed to protect against a LLL fault that devolved
to LG, even though the relay was protected against both the LG fault and LLL fault. The
relay dropped 51P during the transition; therefore, the trip signal asserted much
slower than the intended design.

Event #3: 3 phase fault trip – Debacle with digital elements

A 3 phase fault occurred, and all the digital elements have dropped in the middle of the
fault. Notice how at the orange and magenta time cursors, all the key elements have
disappeared. 51A, 51B, 51C, 51P and 67P1 are gone.
The relay was adequately programmed for a LLL, yet not all LLL are equal. An arc flash
fault behavior is different from a bolted 3 phase fault, yet all are LLL.

This event is discussed in detail in my August 2021 article E.P.A.S.S.A 002. See attached
link.

Conclusion:

The events show the flaws in the relay protection scheme due to some faults that were
not part of the 4 faults theories: LG, LL, LLG, and LLL.

 I have formulated the following: Electrical faults 10 commandments.

1- LG

2- LG evolve to LLG (vice versa)

3- LG evolved to LL (vice versa)

4- LG evolved to LLL (vice versa)

5- LL

6- LL evolved to LLG (vice versa)

7- LL evolved to LLL (vice versa)

8- LLG evolved to LLL (vice versa)

9- LLL non-arc-flash 

10- LLL arc flash

Feel free to contact, connect, or follow me to get notified about more posts and articles
showing more examples.

Remember- Knowledge is Power, and Power is Our ExpErtisE.