HIGH SPEED NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSMISSION LINE PROTECTION D A Keeling, S D A Pickering GEC ALSTHOM T & D Protection and

Control Ltd., UK INTRODUCTION X The application of numerical processing techniques to the field of protection relays is well established. Numerical relays can be more flexible, cost effective and offer increased functionality compared with electromagnetic or static relays. However, due to restrictions in processing power and limitations of the algorithms used, previous numerical relays have not always met the protection performance that had been previously achieved by static relays. The design and selection of algorithms to produce a high speed distance relay will be discussed; together with a summary of the implementation. The applications benefits and the additional features provided by such an implementation are also covered.
Z V/I Z-V/I

Z = Zone setting V = Fault voltage I = Fault current

R Figure 1: Self polarised mho characteristic By comparing the relative phase of the signals (V/I) and (Z - V/I) a simple MHO impedance characteristic, as shown in figure 1, can be generated. Operate criteria:

V V Ang Z Ang = 90 +90 I I

(1)

PROTECTION ALGORITHMS Design Objectives The need for high speed fault clearance is a high priority for EHV and UHV systems, particularily on widely distributed systems where stability is of paramount importance. The performance of the system protective relay is therefore critical. Distance relays are commonly applied to such systems as the main form of protection. With the advent of numerical techniques recent protection, whilst providing many advantages, have compromised rapid fault clearance. It has therefore been a primary design objective to design high speed numerical algorithms. To produce a distance relay several types of measuring elements must be produced: Impedance measuring elements - to establish fault position. Amplitude measuring elements - to provide voltage and current level detectors ensuring stability. Faulted phase detection - to prevent unwanted operation of healthy phase elements.

To evaluate the above expression it is first necessary to calculate the complex vector (V/I) from the sampled analogue signals. This can be, and often is, performed using an Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT). This technique provides good harmonic immunity but requires a full cycle of faulted signals before an accurate measurement can be made. An alternative method for deriving V in terms of I, using a smaller proportion of the cycle, and hence producing a much faster result, is described below. The following equation defines the faulted phase voltage as a function of current and rate of change of current.

V (t) = A I(t) + B

dI( t ) dt

(2)

Impedance Measuring Element Many numerical distance relays measure absolute values of impedance to establish fault position. This can be a relatively slow technique and unnecessary in the implementation of a distance characteristic. A more efficient method is to utilise a numerical phase comparison.

Because of the numerical design the analogue input quantities are sampled at a set rate, 72 samples per cycle for example. The instantantaneous value at any sample, n, is therefore known. The rate of change can be found by calculating the difference between the previous (n-1) and following (n+1) samples. Inserting these instantaneous values into equation (2) gives an equation in terms of A and B. This process is repeated over the next set of three samples which produces another equation. Solving the two simultaneous equations allows A and B to be determined. These values are the complex term for V/I, ie. V/I = A + jB (3)

Once the V/I vector has been determined the two inputs to the numerical phase comparator can now be evaluated. Since this only requires 6 samples, with 72 samples per cycle, this is very much faster than the IDFT which would require the full 72 samples. The above description demonstrates how a simple self polarised mho can be created. Selection of the two comparator inputs can be used to produce the following characteristics: Residual compensation for ground faults Memory or healthy phase polarised mho Offset mho Directional line Reactance line

Assume a current with a peak value Ipk. At any instant I = Ipk sin(), also dI/d = Ipk cos() For any sample i(n), di(n)/d can be derived using the difference between previous and subsequent samples (Figure 3). (4)

d (i( n ) ) d

i ( n + 1) i ( n 1) 2sin

(5)

= angular displacement between samples

Q( )

Combining more than one comparator allows quadrilateral and other complex characteristics to be created. Count Strategy Based on the above numerical phase compartor an operate or restrain decision can be made. An operate condition is used to increment a counter, which upon reaching a certain value sets the relay output. This count strategy is used to ensure stable operation and prevent overreach of the element due to transients. The rate of counting is controlled by the angle between the operate and polarising signals and the relative amplitude of these two signals. This allows the following characteristic to be produced.
X
q(n-1) q(n) q(n+1)

Figure 3:Rate of change calculation Using the standard equation:

I pk 2 = ( Ipk sin( ))2 + ( Ipk cos( ))2

(6)

and substituting for the values determined at sample n the peak squared value of the current can be calculated. This can be performed using only three samples at any point on wave of the sinusoid. The advantage of the above method over the Fourier method is that only three samples are required to calculate the amplitude, hence improving the speed of the algorithm.The above method also has an advantage compared to peak detection techniques in that the amplitude can be determined at any point on wave. Again, by ensuring fast determination of the voltage and current amplitudes the operating time for the relay is not compromised. Superimposed Phase Selector For all distance protection it has been necessary to reduce the chances of operation of healthy phase elements during a fault, for example where single pole tripping and reclosing is used to ensure system stability. Overcurrent level detectors are often used, but are subject to operation due to load current. An alternative is to use superimposed signals which measure changes in the level of current flowing. Comparing the superimposed current flowing within each phase allows the faulted phase to be determined. Three phase to phase superimposed signals are created by subtracting from the present sample the sample value exactly two cycles earlier, producing a 2 cycle

Area of Fast Operation Slow Operation for Stability R

Figure 3: Characteristic with variable count strategy The above characteristic provides fast operation for solid faults together with accurate and stable operation for faults close to the boundary. Amplitude Measurement In the implementation of a protection relay it is important to be able to quickly measure the absolute amplitude of both current and voltage signals. These are used to provide level detectors to control the distance elements. An attempt by the impedance elements to make a decision based on current and voltage signals of low magnitude could lead to errors.

window of superimposed quantities. The amplitude of the largest superimposed phase to phase signal is determined using three samples as described above. Any of the other signals which are greater than a certain proportion of this are considered to be significant. The faulted phases can now be selected based on the following result: Single Phase to Ground - Two significant phase to phase signals, select common phase. Phase to Phase - One significant phase to phase, select this. Two Phase to Ground - One significant phase to phase, select this. The presence of neutral current is used to indicate the involvement of ground. Three Phase - All phase to phase similar, select all phase to phase elements.

frequency. This is achieved by controlling the sample rate such that the super-imposed voltages and currents are reduced to zero under steady state conditions. The measured system frequency is also used to adapt the inductive reach of the relay. Thus the reach of the distance element will remain at a constant proportion of the line if the system frequency shifts from its nominal value. Processing Due to the high sample rate and the large amount of processing required to implement a complete distance scheme it is necessary to perform the calculations rapidly. A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) is ideal to perform the floating point operations within the short time space available between samples. The use of more than one processor also allows the relay to operate at these high sample rates. Within the implementation the scheme logic and the communications/ancillary features are executed by separate processors. This allows the ancillary features such as fault location, communications and oscillography to be added with no degradation of the protection function of the relay. APPLICATION BENEFITS The techniques described above allow the protective relay to be more flexible and offer benefits to the application of the relay. Many of the benefits are due to the fast operating time and subsequent rapid fault clearance. The use of the phase selector to control the impedance elements also provides several advantages. Phase Selector and its Associated Benefit As mentioned earlier, poor phase selection has often presented problems to distance protection. A superimposed phase selector as described can be used to control which distance elements are able to operate. Unlike a switched scheme relay, the phase selector operates in parallel with the distance elements and thus has no degrading effect on the operating time of the relay. The independent phase selection also has implications for other functions within the relay. These include choice of polarising, directional earth fault protection (DEF) and power swing blocking. These issues are also discussed. Control of Elements Within the implementation two phase selector elements are used, both operating on phase to phase quantities. One of these always creates the superimposed signal by comparing the present value with that two cycles previous. This element is used for power swing blocking and is discussed later.

Based on the above decision the appropriate distance elements to measure the fault can be selected; the other elements are ignored. A simple phase selector as described above will reset when the superimposed window has elapsed. However by memorizing the pre-fault current and calculating the superimposed levels with respect to this it is possible to retain the phase selection and adapt to developing faults. IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES The above algorithms describe how the elements that are required to produce a complete distance relay can be produced. All the algorithms described are capable of making measurements based on a small part of a power system cycle, allowing rapid fault detection. To aid this rapid fault detection it is also necessary to consider design concepts. Several of the more significant aspects are described. Sample Rate All the techniques defined above perform measurements based on a small number of samples. To improve the reaction of these elements to a fault a high sample rate is selected, for example 72 samples/cycle. Filtering Since the algorithms described use a smaller proportion of the waveform than an IDFT they will be more susceptible to errors caused by distortion. Digital bandpass filtering is therefore performed on the samples before they are used by the protection elements. Frequency Tracking The relay makes extensive use of super-imposed quantities and also prefault voltage memory for polarising. For this reason it is important that the sample frequency of the relay is accurately synchronized to a multiple of the power system

The other operates in the same way until a fault occurs. It then compares the current value with a recycled prefault. This prevents the element from resetting after 2 cycles and also allows the relay to adapt to developing faults. This second element is used to enable the appropriate distance elements following fault application. If no selected protective elements have operated within two cycles then all protective elements (with the exception of the quadrilateral) are enabled for a 5 cycle period. This additional period provides dependability for complex fault types. Control of DEF Protection The phase selector provides two main benefits for the integral Directional Earth Fault (DEF) protection: 1. By determining the faulted phase it is possible to polarise the DEF element with the healthy phase voltages. In the case of an A to N fault the zero sequence voltage is determined by summing the B and C phase voltages only. This ensures the presence of a polarising signal, even for high resistance faults with strong sources, and negates the requirement for current polarising. 2. The phase selector can be used to control single pole instantaneous DEF tripping. Power Swing Blocking. The first of the two phase selector elements (with no recycling) is used to prevent the distance elements from operating during a power swing. A power swing will be characterised by a continuous superimposed current which will keep this phase selector operated for more than 2 cycles. For a fault this phase selector will reset. If the phase selector operates for more than 2 cycles a power swing is considered to be present. This offers the following benefits: 1. Detection of faster powerswings than can be detected by traditional methods. 2. Detection of power swings during a single pole auto-reclosure. 3. Tripping for all fault types developing during a power swing. Polarising Quantities To stabilize the relay for closeup faults, a prefault voltage memory is used to polarise its elements. In previous relays the proportion of memory voltage mixed with measured voltage was restricted to prevent mal-operation of the healthy phase elements. Since these elements are prevented from operating by the phase selector this restriction no longer applies, thus 100% memory polarising can be used. Frequency tracking ensures the phase accuracy of the voltage memory. This offers optimum relay performance for high resistance faults.

Current

Superimposed current

2.5 cycles
Figure 4: Superimposed current during powerswing Increased Flexibility For electromagnetic and static relays the functionality is determined by the hardware configuration. This presents practical limitations in the flexibility of the relays settings and options. The functionality of a numeric relay is determined by the software, which provides greater convenience and flexibility. An example of this flexibility is the ability to independently set the phase and ground fault reach separately, or to be able to set independent characteristic angles and residual compensation factors for each zone. This gives greater control to the Application Engineer, particularly when applying the relay to a non-standard applications such as a hybrid system. Independent phase and ground reach settings can be an advantage where zero sequence mutual coupling may be a problem with parallel transmission circuits. CONCLUSION The aim of all protective systems is to provide rapid detection and clearance of internal faults while remaining stable for external faults. To design a numerical distance relay with fast operation the following techniques have been utilised: Protection algorithms which can extract values based on a small proportion of the faulted waveforms. High rate of sampling of the analogue waveforms. The use of multiple high performance processors.

The use of numerical processing techniques allows protective relays to be more flexible. Additional features to aid fault diagnosis and to aid maintenance can also be added. The benefit of these is to reduce both the purchase and maintenance costs of the protective system.