PROTECTI

ONOFMI
CROGRI
D

Anypr otectionsy stem mustbesi mpl e, fast ,rel i

abl eandconsi stentapar tf rom bei ng
select iveandsensi t
ivet othef aul ts.Anypr ot ectionsy stem shoul dnotoper ateunder
normalcondi tionsandmustoper ateunderabnor malcondi ti
onsensur ingsecur ity
anddependabi li
tyoft hepr otect ivesy stem.Thesear ethet woi mpor tantr eli
ability
i
ndi ceswhi chneedt obeopt imi zedal way s.Gener alpr otect i
onmet hodsappl iedt o
thedi stri
but i
onnet wor karedesi gnedf orr adi alsy stemshav inguni dir
ect ionalpower
fl
ow.Wi thDGspowerf lowi snol ongeruni di rect i
onalandi tcausesaser ioust hreat
whenconv ent ional protectionmet hodsar eusedf ort hemi cr ogr idwi thDGs.Anot her
concer ni st hatt hemi crogr idi sexpect edt ooper atesaf elyi ngr idconnect edor
i
slandedmode.Thei ntermi ttentnat ur eoft heout putpowerf rom aDGmakest he
select ionoft heoper atingchar act er
isticsoft her elaystobecompl i
cat ed.Fur t
her ,
mostoft he DGs ar e connect ed t ot he gr idt hrough conv erters whi ch hav e
i
ndependentcont rolst rat
egi es.Li mitedf aul tcur rentoft hei nverterbasedDGsand
mai nt enanceofFaul tr idet hr oughcapabi lityshoul dbegi vendueconsi der at
ioni n
protect i
on.Locat ingt hef aul tandpr operi sol ationoft hef aultar eal soi mpor t
ant .
Adapt abi l
it
yi st he need ofany pr otect ion met hod used f ormi cro gr i
d.The
cont inuouschangei nt henet wor kconf igur at ionduet ot headdi tionofDGsand/ or
futureexpansi onsnecessi tatest hatt hepr ot ect ionequi pmentmustbeadapt ableas
pert her equirement .Communi cat ionisanot heraspectoft hepr ot ect i
onoft hemi cro
gri
d.I EDs( i
nt ell
igentel ectroni cdev i
ces)ar ebei ngusedf ort hispur posei nt hegr id.
Suitabl ecommuni cationpr ot ocol sar edev el opedandI EC61850i sbei ngf oll
owed.
Prot ect i
onpl ay sakeyr ol
ei nt hedev elopmentofmi crogr idsduet ot hei ncr easei n
the numberofDGs,I EDs,st orage sy st ems and t he requi rementofa sui tabl e
communi cationmedi um.

Ef
fectofmi
crogr
idi
ntegr
ati
onwi
thmai
ngr
id

Mi crogr i
di sintegratedwi tht hemai ngr i
dwi thani nterfaci ngswi tch.Aspert heI EEE
standar d1547- 2003,aDGshoul dbei mmedi atelygetdi sconnect edf oranyt ypeof
faultoccur rencei nthegr id.I faf aultoccursany wher eint hemai ngr idormi crogr id,
thest aticswi tchconnect i
ngt het woget sopenedandt hust hemi crogr idgoesi nt o
thei sl
andedmodeofoper at i
on.Al ongwi t
hopeni ngt hest at i
cswi tch,locationoft he
faultal soshoul dbedet ect edsi mul taneously.Ifi ncase,t hef aul tshappenst obe
withint hemi crogrid,asui tablepr otecti
vesy stem shoul dbebr oughti ntooper at ion
i
mmedi ately.Itshoul dbedoneonl ine,i.
e.,detectionoft hef aultl ocationandt he
i
nitiati
onofpr otecti
veact ionwi t
hint hemi crogr i
d.Forf aul tsint hemai ngr i
dt he
staticswi tchopensandi slandst hemi crogr i
dsot hatt heDGsdonotcont ributet o
thef aultcur r
ent.Thent hecont rolsystem forislandedoper ati
oncomesi ntopl ay.For
faultsi nt he mi cr
o gr i
dt he st atic swit
ch opens t or emov et he f aultcur r ent
cont ri
butionf rom mai ngr idandt hepr ot
ectionsy stem oft hemi crogr idcomesi nt o
playand cl earst he f ault.Ther efore,one shoul dr ecogni ze t he i mpor tance of
i
slandi ngdet ectionpr ecedingt hepr otect
iveaction.I nti
meandaccur atedet ect i
onof
i
slandi ngi sessent ialf orf ulfi
lli
ngadequat epr otectionr equi r
ement si nmi cr ogr i
d
oper ati
on.

Fewpoi
ntswor
thment
ioni
ngar
easf
oll
ows:

1.I
ninv
ert
erbasedDER,f
aul
tcur
rentget
saf
fect
edbyt
hel
i
mit
ati
onof2pu
 rat
edcur rentoftheint erfacinginverter.
2.Ift
heDERi sconnect edt oasi nglephasel oad,itmi ghtresultinconsiderabl
e
unbalancebet weent hephasesi nat hr eephasesy stem.
3.Int
ermittentnatureoft hepowerout putofaDERt hr owsseriouschallengesin
assessingt hepossiblef aultcurrentsandr elaysett i
ngs.
4.Shortcircuitl
eveloft hemai ngridisconsi derablyincreasedwhenmi cr
ogr i
d
i
sconnect edift
hesi zeoft heDERi sl argeenough.
5.Impactofappr eci
abl e amountofl oad being metby v ol
tage sourced
convertersmakest hef aultcurr
ent stobesi gnifi
cant lydi
ffer
ent .

Adapt
ivepr
otect
ion

Int hi
st ypeofpr otecti
on,t hepr otecti
onst rat
egymustbemodi fi
edi nli
newi tht he
existingoper atingcondi ti
onsi nt hemi crogrid.I
tistobedoneonl i
ne.Toaccompl ish
this,numer icaldi recti
onalO/ Cr elaysareagoodchoi ce.Existingconventi
onalf uses,
electromechani calandst aticrelaysset ti
ngsandchar acteri
st i
cscannotbechanged
online.Itnecessi tatesthatt heexi sti
ngpr otect
ionequipmentbeupgr adedt omeet
the r equir
ement .Compl ying toI EC 61850 and i nstallat
ion ofI EDs (Intel
ligent
ElectronicDev ices)atappr opri
at eplacescanmaket her el
ay stobeadapt ivewitht he
abilit
ytoadj ustt heirsetti
ngsandchar acteri
sti
csaccordinglyonr ecei
v i
ngthesignal s
onlineorf oll
owi ngat i
mesequence.Thor oughstudyofal lpossibletopological
conf i
gurationsi st obecar ri
edoutof fl
inepr i
ortotheoper ation.Ital
sonecessi tates
conduct ing powerf low studiesand car r
ying outshor tcircuitanalysi
sf oreach
conf i
gurationt hatmi ghtoccur .Foradj usti
ngtheset t
ingsandchar acteri
sti
cs,f ast
andef f
ecti
v ecommuni cationinfrastructureshouldbeinpl ace.

Theadapti
vepr ot
ect
ionschemeisthatpart
icul
arpr otect
ionschemewher et he
prot
ect
ionschemewilloper
atewit
hthechangeinsy stem condit
ion.Theexisti
ng
prot
ect
ionschemeneedstobeimpr
oved,
other
wisetherewi l
lbefai
lur
eoftherelays.
Asthef aultcurr
entlevelchangesi tneedst otakecareasfarastherel
ayalgori
thms
ar
econcer ned.Dist
ributi
onnet work;general
lyusetheov ercurr
entrel
aypr i
ncipl
e.
Aft
ert hatthedirect
ionalrelayingshouldbeaddedal ongwiththeovercurrentunit
.
Becauset hedi r
ecti
onalrelayaddst heselecti
vit
ypropert
ytotheov ercur
rentrelay
pri
nciplebecausei nt hei ntegrati
onofr enewablesourcesthenet workwi l
lsee
bi
directi
onal powerfl
owbi directi
onalcurrentf
low.

Modeofoper ationdeterminesthel ev
elanddirectionoffaul
tcurrentsot hestat
usof
theswitchi.
einformationregardingmodeofoper ati
onmustbepr esentatmicrogrid
controlcentr
eal ongwi thther elayi nf
ormationandot herconcer nedinfor
mation.
Dif
ferenttypesofmodeofoper ati
onaregr i
dconnect ed mode,i sl
anded mode
operati
onandsomet i
mest r
ansi t
iont oislandandr econnecti
onmodesi .eafter
i
slandinthemi crogr
id,ithastoalsor econnecttot hemaingrid.
Di
rect
ionalOv
erCur
rentRel
ay:
Thepr incipl eofoper ationoft heov ercur r
entr el
ayisi fI pi ssetv al
ueIsetandI Fi s
thef aul tcur rentwhi chi sbasi callymeasur edbyt heov ercur rentr elayt heni fIFi s
great ert hanI pther elaywi lloper ate.
IDMTov ercur rentr elaypr inciplei sgener all
yused.Thi sI DMTst andsf orI nv erse
Def inite Mi nimum Ti me.I ft he f aultcur rentmagni tude i ncreases t he t ime of
oper at iondecr eases; thatiswhyt hisi sknownasi nver se.I nthisI DMTchar acter istic
alongyaxi st hetimeofoper ati
onoft her elayi stakenandal ongt hexaxi s, thef aul t
cur rentorsomet imesPSM ( Plugset tingMul tipl
ier)
.Becauset hischar act eri
st i
cwi l
l
nott ouch t he x axi s;i twi l
lmai nt ain cer taint i
me.As t hatmi nimum t i
me i s
mai nt ainedsonamei si nversedef i
ni temi nimum t i
met y peofov ercur r
entr elay .And
aftert hist imeofoper ationi scal cul atedt heTMS( timemul ti
pli
erset ti
ngswhi chi s
thet imef oroper ati
onoft her elay )ismai ntained.
PSM i st her at i
ooft hef aultcur rentwhi chi sseenbyt her elaytot heIseti .esetv alue.
Inami cr ogr i
dsy stem, bidir
ect i
onal faultcur rentisseenbyt heov ercur rentr elay .So,
thedi rect i
onalel ementmaybeaddedal ongwi t
htheov ercur rentr elayingpr inci ple.
Thi sdi rect ionalr elaywi lldeci det hedi rect i
on oft hef aul
tso t hatanyheal thy
sect ionsoft hemi crogr i
dshoul dnotgetdi sconnect edandi tdisconnect sonl yt he
faul t
ysect ions.
Fort hedi rect i
onalr elayt woquant i
ties, onei st hepol arizingquant ityotheronei st he
act uat ingquant it
yoroper ati
ngquant i
ty,areneeded.Thepr ef aultv olt
ageVPi st he
polar izingquant i
tyandt hefaul tcur rent sinf rontoft her elayandbehi ndt her elayar e
theoper at ingquant it
ies.Theangl ebet weent he2quant i
tiesPQ( pol ari
zingquant it
y )
andOQ( oper atingquant it
y)ar emeasur ed.Ift heangl ebet weent hiscur rentandt he
voltagei sl yingwi thin0t o180degr ee,t hent hef aulti si nbackwar ddirect ionoft he
relay .Buti ft hisangl ei sbet ween180degr eet o360degr ee,thent hef aul tisi nt he
forwar ddi r ect i
on.
Coor
dinat
ion
Her eR1i sprimaryrel
ayandR2i sbackuprelay
.ifanyf aultisgoingt
obei ncept
edin
l
ine23;t hisrelayR1shouldr eactasqui ckaspossi bleandt heti
meofoper ati
on
maybewi thi
n0.2,0.1dependingoni tsTMSandpl ugset ti
ngsThisspaceandTMS
aref ixed;nowdependi ngont heirplugsett
ingandTMSt hisrel
aywilljustfi
ndsome
faultcur rentIFandbasedont hecal cul
ati
onoft heIDMTchar acter
isticequati
on,it
willcal culatethetimeofoper ati
onwhi chisrequiredt ot ri
pf ort
her el
ay.Ifthi
s
particularrelayR1fail
sthenonlyt hi
sR2whi chisthebackupr el
aywilloperate.
Thepr ocessofcl earingthef aultusi ngt hepr imaryandbackupr elaywithincert
ain
ti
megap;t hati
saCTIcoor di
nat iont i
mei nterv
alwhi chi s 0.3to0. 5second i s
knownascoor dinationappr oachoft heov ercurrentrelay. Coor di
nati
oni svery
i
mpor tantinpr otecti
onoft hedi stri
but i
onnet workusingt heov ercurrentrel
aying
pri
nciple.Ifsomer enewablesour cesar eaddedt heni nthatcaset hisrelayR1wi l
l
notseei fanyf aultwilloccur;i nt hatcaset hi
sr elayR1wi llseesomedi ffer
ent
curr
ent;thatmeans,t hesettingoft her elay
sbasi call
ygoingt obechangedmaybe
forR1andR2bot h.
Ini
tiall
ymaxi mum posi ti
ve sequence pr ef aultcur r
enti s calculat
ed insi
de t he
process oft he digi
talrelay .And nextby seei ng this maxi mum f aultcurrent
correspondi ngTDSorTMSi ssetandt hecoor dinati
ont i
mei nterv
alCTIi sset.And
thencor r
espondi ngbackupf aul
tcurr
entoft hebackupr el
ayi salsosetandt hent he
TDS oft hebackupr elayi sset.Dependi ng ont hedi r
ectionofpowerf l
ow t he
oper ationmaybeupst ream ordownst ream.TMSset ti
ngisbasedont helotofmany
numer oussi mulati
onst udiesoft henetwork.Wehav etot estithow thisparti
cular
algor i
thm ori deaort echni queisgoingt oper formi fitissoandbef or
egoi ngt o
i
mpl ementinact ual r
ealfi
eldappl i
cat
ion.

Adapt
ivePr
otect
ionSchemeusi
ngsequencecur
rent
 I
Nt heequat i
onf orthetimeofoper ationoft her elayt,pst andsfort hepr i
mar yrelay,
istandsf orr elayandjst andsforfaultlocat iont hef aulthasbeeni ncepted,cst ands
forthemodeofoper at
ionoft hemi crogr idsy stem,bst andsf orbackupr elay:the
functionfofMpjorfofMbj ;meansf unct i
oni sdependentont hisplugset ti
ng
mul t
ipli
erplugwhi ch isnothingbutt hef aultcur rentdi vi
dedbyt hepl ugsetting.For
pri
mar yrel
ayI 1fi.epositi
vesequencecur renti stakenwher easf orbackupr elayI 2f
i
.enegat iv
esequencecur rentist aken.Sot het i
meofoper ationi sgoingt obe
modul atedorgoi ngtobechangedi ft hef aultcur rentoft hesy stem ort hepl ug
setti
ngsoft henet workandt heTMSi sgoi ngt obechanged.

Faultdirecti
onest i
mationusingsuper i
mposedcur rent
s
Thedeci sionoft heov ercurrentrelayonl ycannotdecidewhet herthisisaf aul
ty
sectionornot ,butwehav etoal soaddt hedecisi
onoft hedir
ectionalrel
aythatis
DERdi r
ecti
onalunitandi fbotht herelaysoutputwi l
lbe11t henthef i
naloutputis
goingt obe1.
Schemef ort hi
sdi r
ect
ionaluni tisf aul
tdirect
ionest i
mati
onusi ngsuper i
mposed
currents.
Super i
mposedcur r
ent,
ΔI=I F-I
pre
wher eIFisfaultcurr
entandIpr eisfaultcurr
ent.
Thi
sisthefl
owchar
tshowingt
headapt
ivepr
otect
ionschemeusi
ngDi
rect
ionalOv
er
Cur
rentRel
ayi
ngPri
nci
ple.

Samplet hecurrentsignalsatasampl ingf r

equencyof1ki l
oher tz,seconddet ect
whethertherei
saf aul
tornotifthereisnof aultnoneedt ot ri
ggerthedi r
ect i
onalunit
al
gorit
hm andi fthereissomef aultandt hatpar t
icul
arfaultwillbedet ectedusing1
cycl
etocy cl
ebasedf aultdet
ecti
ontechniquet henonlythi
spr ocessorwillcalculat
et he
phasorsofthecurrentusingt
hisDFTt hatDiscr
eteFourierTechnique.
Aftert hatcalcul
at et he posi
ti
ve sequence component s and negative sequence
componentneededf orthebackuprelayfaul
tcalculation.Onesect ionisf ort heov er
currentrel
ayandot hersecti
onisresponsibl
efordi recti
onalr el
ay.Calculatet hef aul
t
currentandal so thepl ugsetti
ngTMS andcor respondi ng ti
meofoper at
ion.Now,
Dir
ect i
onaluni
twillber esponsi
blef
orf i
ndi
ngtheangl ebet weentheΔI fandIpre..Ifthe
ti
meofoper at
ionisokandt heangl
ei sokifiti
swi thint helimitwi
thinthedesi r
edset
val
uet henthedecisionisgoingtobetaken.