Instrument Transformers

• Instrument transformers are primarily used for

• metering (for energy billing and transaction purposes),
• protection (for system protection and protective relaying purposes);
• load survey (for economic management of industrial loads).
Depending on the require
• Generally, instrument transformers for metering require high
accuracy in the range of normal operating voltage and current
• Instrument transformers for protection require linearity in a wide
range of voltages and currents.

1
 Current Transformers .

• All current transformers used in protection are basically similar in

construction to standard transformers r metering (for energy billing
and transaction purposes),
• They consist of magnetically coupled primary and secondary
windings, wound on a common iron core
• The primary winding being connected in series with the transmission
line.
• They must therefore withstand the networks short-circuit current.

2
 Current Transformers contd.

• There are two types of current transformers:

• Wound primary type
• Bar primary type

• They consist of magnetically coupled primary and secondary windings, wound

on a common iron core

• The wound primary is used for smaller currents, but it can only be applied on
low fault level installations due to thermal limitation

• For currents greater than 100 A, the bar primary type ( is used.
3
 CT Terminologies
CT Errors
The primary current contains two components:
• An exciting current, which magnetizes the core and supplies the eddy current
and hysteresis losses, etc.

• A remaining primary current component, which is available for transformation

to secondary current in the inverse ratio of turns.

The exciting current is not being transformed and is therefore the cause of
transformer errors

4
 CT Terminologies contd.

CT Burden
• The burden of a CT is the maximum load (in VA) that can be applied to the CT
secondary.

• The CT secondary load = Sum of the VA’s of all the loads (ammeter,
wattmeter, transducer etc.) connected in series to the CT secondary circuit +
the CT secondary circuit cable burden

• The CT secondary circuit load should not be more than the CT VA rating. If the
load is less than the CT burden, all meters connected to the measuring CT
should provide correct reading.

5
 CT Protection
Since CTs normally have much more turns in secondary compared to
the primary, hence a high voltage on the secondary side

Hence as a safety precaution, a current transformer on load should

never be open-circuited. In the light of this the secondary resistance
of a CT should always be kept as low as possible.

To prevent the secondary circuits from attaining dangerously high

potential to earth, the secondary circuits are earthed.

6
 Voltage Transformers

A voltage transformer is an open-circuited transformer whose primary winding is

connected across the main electrical system voltage being monitored.

The most common voltage produced by voltage transformers is 100–120 V (as

per local country standards) for primary voltages from 380 V to 800 kV or more

There are basically, two types of voltage transformers used for protection
equipment
Electromagnetic type (commonly referred to as a VT)
Capacitor type (referred to as a CVT).

7
 Voltage Transformers
The electromagnetic type is a step down transformer whose primary (HV) and
secondary (LV) windings are connected as below

This type of electromagnetic transformer is used in systems up to 110/132 kV. For

higher voltages, it is common to adopt the second type namely the capacitor
voltage transformer (CVT

8
 Voltage Transformers Protection
Protection and earthing of PTs Voltage Transformers can be protected by HRC fuses on
the primary side for voltages up to 66kV.

Fuses do not usually have a sufficient interrupting capacity for use with higher voltages.
Practice varies, and in some cases protection on the primary is omitted
.
The secondary of a VT should always be protected by fuses or a miniature circuit
breaker (MCB). The device should be located as near to the transformer as possible.

A short circuit on the secondary circuit wiring will produce a current of many times the
rated output and cause excessive heating.

Even where primary fuses can be fitted, these will usually not clear a secondary side
short circuit because of the low value of primary current and the minimum practicable
fuse rating.
9
 Relays
Relays are devices which monitor the conditions (such as voltage levels, current
levels and frequency) of a circuit and give instructions to open a circuit under
unhealthy conditions

They detect conditions such as short circuit or overloading ,then supplies signal to
circuit breakers for circuit interruption.

Relay are classified to according to their function, construction and Time

Characteristics.

According to function they are classified as overcurrent, overvoltage, under

voltage, direction, distance relay ,differential relay, over frequency and under
frequency

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 Classification According to Construction
According to construction they are classified as Electromechanical, Static and
Digital relays

Electromechanical relay contacts of relay is closed by the force produced.

Static or Solid State relay uses electronic circuit to open and close relay contact

Digital or Microprocessor based relay uses digital signals to open and close
contact

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 Classification according to Time Characteristics
According to time characteristics they are classified as instantaneous , inverse
time, Definite time lag,

Instantaneous; relay operated as soon as the pickup current is reached

Definite Minimum time lag/Time delay; It operates after certain time regardless of
the value of the current

Inverse Time: Operation time of relay is inversely proportional with current

Inverse definite minimum time or IDMT: Starts as an inverse then change to

definite at certain value of current.
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 Relays
Electromechanical relay
These relays were the earliest forms of relay used for the protection of power
systems, and they date back nearly 100 years

They work on the principle of a mechanical force causing operation of a relay

contact in response to a stimulus

The mechanical force is generated through current flow in one or more windings
on a magnetic core or cores, hence the term electromechanical relay

Electromechanical relays can be classified into several different types as follows:

i. attracted armature vi. thermal ii. moving coil v. motor operated iii. induction vi.
Mechanical

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 Electromechanical Relays
However, only attracted armature types have significant application at this time, all other types
having been superseded by more modern equivalents.

These generally consist of an iron-cored electromagnet that attracts a hinged armature when
energised.

A restoring force is provided by means of a spring or gravity so that the armature will return to its
original position when the electromagnet is de-energised

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 Relays
Static Relays
In a protection relay, the term ‘static’ refers to the absence of moving parts to create the relay
characteristic.

Their design is based on the use of analogue electronic devices instead of coils and magnets to
create the relay characteristic.

Digital /Numerical Relays

Digital protection relays introduced a step change in technology. Microprocessors and

microcontrollers replaced analogue circuits used in static relays to implement relay functions

Compared to static relays, digital relays introduce A/D conversion of all measured analogue
quantities and use a microprocessor to implement the protection algorithm

15
Numerical relays
The distinction between digital and numerical relay rests on points of fine technical detail,
and is rarely found in areas other than Protection.

They can be viewed as natural developments of digital relays as a result of advances in

technology
Numerical relays have the following advantages over static relays:

• Several setting groups

• Wider range of parameter adjustment
• In-built remote communications
• Internal Fault diagnosis 57
• Power system measurements
• Distance to fault locator
• Disturbance recorder

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 Overcurrent protection Scheme
Overcurrent protection is based on a very simple premise that in most instances of a fault, the
level of fault current dramatically increases from the pre-fault value

Overcurrent protection is that protection in which the relay picks up when the magnitude of the
current exceeds the pickup value

If on establishes a threshold well above the nominal load current, as soon as the current exceeds
the threshold, it may be assumed that a fault has occurred and a trip signal may be issued.

The relay based on this principle is called an overcurrent relay,

it is in wide use for protection of radial low-voltage distribution lines, ground protection of high-
voltage transmission lines, and protection of machines (motors and generators)

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 Overcurrent/Overload protection
Overcurrent protection , include short circuit protection and overload protection

Short circuits could be due to phase faults, earth faults, or winding faults

Short-circuit currents are generally several times (5-20) full load current

Hence quick faults clearance is required for short circuit protection.

However overloading a machine or equipment generally means the machine is

taking more

Hence overloading is associated to temperature rise and its protection is

provided by thermal relays
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 Overcurrent protection
Correct overcurrent relay application requires knowledge of the fault current
that can flow in each part of the network.
Some data required for a overcurrent relay setting includes
i. a one-line diagram of the power system involved, showing the type and
rating of the protection devices and their associated current transformers
ii. the impedances in ohms, per cent or per unit, of all power transformers,
rotating machines and feeder circuits
iii. the maximum and minimum values of short circuit currents that are expected
to flow through each protection device
iv. the maximum load current through protection devices
v. the starting current requirements of motors and the starting and locked
rotor/stalling times of induction motors vi. the transformer inrush, thermal
withstand and damage characteristics

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 Relay coordination
. The basic rules for correct relay co-ordination can generally be stated as
follows:
• whenever possible, use relays with the same operating characteristic in series
with each other

• make sure that the relay farthest from the source has current settings equal to
or less than the relays behind it, that is, that the primary current required to
operate the relay in front is always equal to or less than the primary current
required to operate the relay behind it.

The Principles of Time characteristics of relays(instantenous, definite time, inverse

time etc) is used to achieve correct relay co-ordination.

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 Directional Relay
Directional relay or protection are relay that will only trip in the direction of power
flow.

Application of directional relays include parallel feeders, transmission lines,

network systems

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 Distance Relay
Distance relay or protection are those in which the operation is governed by the
ratio of applied voltage to the current

Distance relays has the ability to detect fault within a pre-set distance along the
transmission line from its location

Distance relay therefore looks at the current and voltage and compares these
two on the basis of ohms law

Hence distance relay is designed to operate only for faults occurring between
the relay location and the selected reach point, thus giving discrimination for
faults that may occur in different line sections

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 Distance Relay
Operating principle

The basic principle of distance protection involves the division of the voltage at
the relaying point by the measured current.

A deflecting torque is produced by the secondary current of CT, while restoring

torque is produced by the voltage of the potential transformer

In normal operating condition the restoring torque is greater than the deflecting
torque.

However under fault condition the deflecting torque becomes greater than the
restoring torque due to high current during fault condition
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 Distance Relay
The apparent impedance so calculated is compared with the reach point
impedance.

If the measured impedance is less than the reach point impedance, it is assumed
that a fault exists on the line between the relay and the reach point

Distant relays are widely used for the protection of transmission line by measuring
the impedance between the fault location and the relays

They provide primary and backup protection for transmission and distribution
lines against 3phase, phase to phase faults

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 Differential Relay
Differential relays is one that operates when a phasor
difference(magnitude, angle) of two or more similar electrical
quantities(current ,voltage )exceeds a pre-determined value

This type of protection can be divided into two types, namely: balanced current
and balanced voltage differential relays

Current Differential protection, as its name implies, compares the currents

entering and leaving the protected zone and operates when the differential
between these currents exceeds a pre-determined magnitude.

Under normal operating conditions the two currents are equal hence no current
flow through the relays

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 Differential Relay
Under fault conditions the excess current flows through the relay hence causes
the relay to trip the circuit breaker

The balanced or circulating current systems are invariably used for generator,
transformer and switchgear main protection where it is convenient to readily
access the midpoint of the pilots

The balanced voltage systems are used mainly on feeder protection where the
CTs are mounted in different substations, which are some distance apart

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 Signalling
Protection schemes formed by a number of relays located remotely from each
other, and some distance protection schemes ; require some form of
communication between each location in order to achieve a unit protection
function.

This form of communication is known as protection signalling

Additionally communications facilities are also required when remote operation

of a circuit breaker is required as a result of a local event.

This form of communications is known as intertripping.

27
 Signalling
• Various types of communication links are available for protection
signalling, for example.
• private pilot wires installed by the power authority
• pilot wires or channels rented from a communications company
• carrier channels at high frequencies over the power lines
• radio channels at very high or ultra high frequencies
• optical fibres

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 Signalling
• Pilot wires are continuous copper connections between signalling stations,
while pilot channels are discontinuous pilot wires with isolation transformers or
repeaters along the route between signalling stations

• Private pilot wires or channels can be attractive to a utility running a very

dense power system with short distances between stations

• Power Line Carrier Communications (PLCC) is a technique that involves high

frequency signal transmission along the overhead power line. It is robust and
therefore reliable, constituting a low loss transmission path that is fully
controlled by the Utility

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 Signalling
Whether or not a particular link is used depends on factors such as:

• the availability of an appropriate communication network

• the distance between protection relaying points
• the terrain over which the power network is constructed
• (iv) the cost involved

Protection signalling is used to

• implement unit protection schemes,

• provide teleprotection commands, or
• implement intertripping between circuit breakers

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 Autoreclosers
Faults on overhead lines can be categorized into transient (or temporary) faults and permanent
faults

80-90% of faults on any overhead line network are transient in nature. The remaining 10%-20% of
faults are either semi-permanent or permanent.

Use of an auto-reclose scheme to re-energise the line after a fault trip permits successful re-
energisation of the line.
Sufficient time must be allowed after tripping for the fault arc to de-energise prior to reclosing
otherwise the arc will re-strike

As 80% of overhead line faults are transient, elimination of loss of supply from this cause by the
introduction of auto-reclosing gives obvious benefits through:
• improved supply continuity
• reduction of substation visits
 Sample Question
1. Mention five advantages that numerical relays have over electromechanical ones
2. Mention five links available for communication in power systems.
3. What factors influence the choice of a communication link?
4. Apart from one-line diagram of system and impedances of system components, what other
data is required for the proper setting of overcurrent relays.
5. Mention three ways of achieving discrimination in overcurrent relays.
 Equipment Protection
The primary function of power system protection is to limit damage to power system apparatus
Whether the fault or abnormal condition exposes the equipment to excessive voltages or
excessive currents, shorter fault times will limit the amount of stress or damage that occurs

Protection of a transmission line

Transmission lines are mostly protected using distance relays. However, differential and
overcurrent protection schemes are also employed.

Protection against lightning strikes

Because of the nature of transmission lines, they are prone to lightning strikes.

Lightning impose higher voltages on transmission lines which can lead to flashover or puncture of
insulators

Earth (sky) wires are provided on transmission lines to intercept direct strokes of lightning and thus
keep them off the phase conductors thereby reducing the surge current and hence the
overvoltage on the phase conductors
 Transmission line protection
Protection of transmission line insulators from damage due to flashovers
Overvoltages on transmission lines, due to lightning strikes, or electrical faults, can cause arcs
across insulators (flashovers) that can damage them.

Arcing horns (arc-horns) which are projecting conductors are used to protect insulators on high
voltage electric power transmission systems from damage during flashover.

Horns are normally paired on either side of the insulator, one connected to the high voltage part
and the other to ground.

They encourage the flashover to occur between themselves rather than across the surface of the
insulator they protect
 Busbar protection
Busbars are the nerve-centres of power systems; various circuits are connected together at the
busbars.

There is thus a large concentration of short-circuit capacity at the busbars.

A fault on a busbar though rare (because of their location), causes enormous damage
When protective relays operate to isolate a busbar from a system, there is a large disruption in
supply.

The causes of faults experienced on busbars are;

• weakening of insulation because of ageing,
• corrosion because of salty water,
• breakdown of insulation because of overvoltages,
• foreign objects, etc. For example, rodents, lizards and snakes
 Busbar protection
For many years, busbar protection was not considered necessary by protection engineers for the
following reasons:
• The busbars and switchgear have a high degree of reliability, to the point of being regarded as
intrinsically safe.
• It was feared that accidental operation of busbar protection might cause widespread
dislocation of the power system, which, if not quickly cleared, would cause more loss than would
the very infrequent actual bus faults.
• It was hoped that system protection or back-up protection would provide sufficient bus
protection if needed.

However, with increasing system voltage and short-circuit capacities, it is no longer advisable to
leave busbars without primary protection.
A number of busbar protection systems have been devised
• system protection used to cover busbars
• frame-earth protection
• differential protection
 Generator protection
Several faults occur in generators. These include:
• Stator insulation failure
• Overload
• Overvoltage
• Unbalanced load
• Rotor faults
• Loss of excitation
• Loss of synchronism
 Generator protection
Stator protection

Stator faults result from insulation breakdown that causes an arc to develop, either from phase to
phase or from the phase conductor to the grounded magnetic steel laminations of the stator.

The cause of the insulation breakdown may be due to overvoltage, overheating, or mechanical
damage of the winding insulation due to faults.

The overvoltage that may cause an insulation failure might be due to lightning or switching
surges, which are usually protected against by surge protective devices.

There are many different types of stator protection. Phase fault and ground fault protections
schemes have been explained below.

The standard method of protection against phase faults is the differential method, and usually the
percentage differential type of relay is used
 Generator protection
Rotor Protection

The rotor has a DC supply fed onto its winding which sets up a standing flux.
When this flux is rotated by the prime mover, it cuts the stator winding to induce current and
voltage therein.

This DC supply from the exciter need not be earthed. If an earth fault occurs, no fault current will
flow and the machine can continue to run indefinitely, however, one would be unaware of this
condition

There are several methods of detecting a rotor circuit ground. The three most common ones are:
(i) Potentiometer method,
(ii) AC injection method and
(ii) DC injection method.
 Generator protection
Other protection
Overload protection
Overcurrent protection
Overvoltage protection
 Transformer protection
Types of transformer faults The following are the types of faults that can occur in a power
transformer:

• HV and LV bushing flashovers (external to the tank)

• HV winding earth fault
• LV winding earth fault
• Inter-turn fault
• Core fault
• Tank fault
 Transformer protection
Protection against internal faults

Differential protection schemes are used to protect transformers against internal fault.

Differential protection, as its name implies, compares currents entering and leaving the protected
zone and operates when the differential current between these currents exceeds a pre-
determined level

Buchholz protection
The Buchholz relay can detect both gas and oil surges as it is mounted in the pipe to the
conservator.
 Transformer protection
Restricted earth fault protection
A simple overcurrent and earth fault relay will not provide adequate protection for winding earth
faults. In these circumstances, it is often necessary to add some form of separate earth fault
protection.
The degree of earth fault protection is very much improved by the application of unit differential
or restricted earth fault systems

Bushing flashover protection

The bushings of transformers are protected against flashover by mounting arcing horns on them.

Protection against lightning surges

To protect transformers against surges due to lightning, Surge diverters (lightning arrestors) are
connected between the line terminal of the transformer and earth
 Motor protection
All motors need protection; fortunately, the more fundamental problems affecting the choice of
protection are independent of the type of motor and the type of load to which it is connected

Motor characteristics must be carefully considered when applying protection

For example, the starting and stalling currents/times must be known when applying overload
protection, and furthermore the thermal withstand of the machine under balanced and
unbalanced loading must be clearly defined.

The conditions for which motor protection is required can be divided into two broad categories:
imposed external conditions and internal faults

External faults-unbalance supplies,undervoltage,single phasing,reverse phase sequence,

Internal faults-bearing failure,winding faults,overloads

 Motor protection
Protection schemes for motors
Overcurrent protection interrupts the electrical circuit to the motor upon excessive current
demand on the supply system as a result of either short circuits or ground faults in the motor.

Overcurrent protection is required to protect personnel, the motor branch circuit conductors,
control equipment, and motor from these high currents

One of the most important relays for the detection of abnormal conditions is the overload relay
which is applied to the protection of motors. Overload is a condition caused by an increase in
the mechanical load to the motor
 Motor protection
Protection schemes for motors
The overload relay differs from the overcurrent relay in the following ways. Whereas overcurrent
relay must operate quickly in times of around or less than 1s, the overload relay is associated with
times of tens of seconds to several minutes.

However, the overload relay must be capable of measuring accurately current which is only
slightly greater than the nominal full-load current, compared to the overcurrent relay, which
under fault conditions is required to detect a current which is many times the normal current.

The function of the overload relay is to prevent the overheating of motor

Other protection
Differential protection
 Building protection
Two protection systems are used to eliminate or limit overvoltages due to lightning:

They are known as the building protection system (for the outside of buildings) and the electrical
installation protection system (for the inside of buildings).

Building protection system The role of the building protection system is to protect it against direct
lightning strokes. The system consists of:
• the capture device(arrester);
• down-conductors designed to convey the lightning current to earth;
• earth leads (earth electrodes);
• links between all metallic frames (equipotential bonding) and earth leads
 Building protection
There are three types of building protection systems:
The simple lightning rod
The lightning rod is a metallic capture tip placed at the top of the building. It is earthed by one or
more conductors (often copper strips)

The lightning rod with taut wires

The wires are stretched above the structure to be protected. They are used to protect special
structures: rocket launching areas and military applications.

The lightning conductor with meshed cage (Faraday cage)

This protection involves placing numerous down conductors/tapes symmetrically all around the
building.
 Building protection
Overcurrent Protection

Each circuit is protected by an overcurrent protection device which is either a fuse or a circuit
breaker

Earth leakage protection

A special type of circuit breaker known as earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) which has an
inbuilt relay is employed to detect current leaking to earth from an installation and cut of power.
An ELCB may be voltage operated or current operated.