9/2/2017 Power System Protection

Electrical installation & energy efficiency

Electrical engineering Community
Sharing technical & practical tips to build an optimum energy system

Power System Protection

March 22nd, 2013 | Posted in Electrical distribution
Tags: distribution network, power system, power system protection

Today, most of the Power Distribution network is either radial or interconnected in nature. The main reason for
the distribution network being radial is cost effectiveness & easiness in maintenance. Most of the devices used
in the radial distribution network include fuses, auto reclosers & over-under current relays.

The main purpose of these devices is to keep the power distribution network as simple as possible. Reclosers
are normally used for maintenance of lines or for clearance of faults. When a fault occurs, reclosers operate in
order to isolate the system under fault so that fault current has a path to clear itself without affecting the rest of
the system. On the other hand fuses are used for prevention of faults from transient currents. Fuses operate on
the events when auto reclosers fail to clear the faults. In case of any fault fuse, nearest to the fault will open to
clear the fault. However, if the first fuse fails the immediate fuse after the first one opens to clear the fault. All
of these devices work in unison to protect & isolate distribution network under faults.

Goals of Protection
The main reason for designing a protected power system is to isolate the faults & the components affected as a
result of the fault. The equation is to protect the remaining operating network besides clearing the fault. This
post will discuss the components as well as the techniques which are used for their protection.

Constituents

Current & Voltage Transformers are used for both the metering & protection at substations. The purpose
of these transformers is to limit the voltage & current so that it could be used by relays for operation

http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 1/6
9/2/2017 Power System Protection

Relays are intelligent devices that initiate a trip sequence when any specific parameter goes beyond
normal range
Circuit Breakers operate on the trip sequence initiated by the relays in order to open the circuit
Batteries are used as back up power supply in the event of mains supply failure

Protective Devices

The main function over here is to cater to the issue of tripping of circuit breakers. These devices also oversee
that the automated operation is maintained.

Another related task for the protective devices is for monitoring the system and this is about collecting the data.
The most important parameter in this regard is the operating quality. The cost of protection is directly
dependent on the kind of device in use.

Types of protection

1. In Generator Sets: The main purpose of using protective relays is for ensuring that no damage comes to
the alternators. Many transformers can be damaged due to internal failures, and these relays protect
against them too
2. In High Voltage Transmission Network: In this case, the protection levels include the entire plant and
also the public too. When there is an occurrence of any overload, the device is disconnected
3. In overload and back up for distance: These protective relays are used to cater to the instantaneous
overcurrent and time overcurrent
4. Earth Fault Protection: This detection allows catering any imbalance in a three phase circuit. If the
imbalance is more than the predetermined calculation, the circuit would break
5. Distance Protection: This form of protection is useful in the case of large length lines. The protection
offered in this case is that of current differential protection
6. Backup Protection: The intention of the protective control is to cater to the affected area and not the
entire system. Through local back up protection, it is possible to target only the affected area instead of
the complete plant as is the case with remote back up protection

http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 2/6
9/2/2017 Power System Protection

The task of coordination is conducted out to minimize the possibility of an outage. This method is now being
done on computers and involves analysis and also reporting.

Recently, IEC 61850 protocol has gained popularity for increasing the reliability & efficacy of communication
between substation telemetry & protection devices.

Disturbance monitoring equipment

The purpose of such equipment is three fold. On the first level it has to validate the model. Secondly it has to
investigate any possible occurrence of disturbance. Then lastly, there is the notion of assessment of system
protection performance.

This device has some major parts like event recorders, fault recorders and dynamic disturbance recorders. The
name is indicative of their functions.

Corrective Analysis
There is a specific analysis known as the fault tree analysis which can be used for the comparative analysis of
identities like dependability and security. In order to improve the protection of the system, it is important to
quantify the reliability aspect.

Future of Power System Protection

With the continuous increase in demand for power within the last few decades; power quality & stability have
become a great concern for design engineers. Protection System plays a key role in achieving these targets.
Modern protection systems are designed to cater the needs of utilities & industries. Some of the latest power
plant topologies include Smart Grids, IEC 61850 protocol for reliable, simple, fast & efficient communication
between protection systems at substations and Distributed Generation which has an overall benign influence on
the stability & efficacy of transmission & distribution network. Power System Protection is the epergne of any
power system network & its reliability is of critical importance. Fast, reliable & accurate protection techniques
will always be needed to ensure the integrity of the power system.

Any remarks about the power system protection?

Related posts

Usefulness and shortcomings of the power system contingencies (0)

Top 10 causes for power system failures (part2) (0)
http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 3/6
9/2/2017 Power System Protection

Top 10 causes for power system failures (part1) (2)

Residential Solar Power (1)
Power System Operation and Control (1)

You enjoy this post:

Subscribe free RSS 2.0.

Subscribe to the Newsletter: Subscribe

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet Share

Comment on this post:

You can leave a comment,

or copy this trackback: http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-
protection.html/trackback from your own site.

Leave a comment

Spam protection: Sum of 5 + 8 ?

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Submit Comment

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

AC Power (back to basics)

Electric Generator Terminologies (back to basics)

Subscribe to the Newsletter :

http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 4/6
9/2/2017 Power System Protection

Select Language
Powered by Translate

SEARCH

Pages
About us
Electrical Calculation Tools
Electrical Engineering Forum
How to help Electrical Engineering Community
LED lighting resources area
Make a Comment, write a Post
Medium Voltage Guide ABB
Medium Voltage Guide Siemens
New topic
Newsletters, archives
Special thanks
Your subscription is now complete

Categories
Electrical distribution
Electrical Safety
Electrical software
Energy Efficiency building
Energy Efficiency kvar
Energy Efficiency lighting
Energy Efficiency motors
Energy Efficiency news
Energy Efficiency solar
Engineering Web tips
iec standard
Last month main subjects
Others
Panel Building
Power quality
http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 5/6
9/2/2017 Power System Protection

your need? your contribution?

Recent Comments
marty johnson on Perpetual Motion Machines Generating Perpetual Electricity The Real Truth
bjrn ivar on How to wire a building and provide for future load growth
Ashish Jain on Service life of an MV Cable
adultfriendfinder search on Using LED: global alert!
Adam on Reverse current protection

Hotel The Hotel Silk

Polo Habitat Route
Shillong Shillong Shillong

5,999 3,629 3,000

Book now! Book now! Book now!

Electrical engineering Community is proudly powered by WordPress

Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) and license

http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/electrical-distribution/power-system-protection.html 6/6