1

Restoration of protection coordination in DNS

with embedded DG by application of FCLS
By

Asmatullah

Report Submitted to the Faculty of Engineering in Partial

Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of MS Electrical

Engineering.

Department of Electrical Engineering

Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences,

Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan

June, 2018.
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 i

Declaration of Originality

I hereby declare that the work contained in this report and the intellectual content of this
report are the product of my own research. This thesis has not been previously published
in any form nor does it contain any verbatim of the published resources which could be
treated as infringement of the international copyright law. I also declare that I do
understand the terms copyright and plagiarism, and that In case of any copyright violation
or plagiarism found in this work, I will be held fully responsible of the consequences of
any such violation.

Signature:
Name: Date:
Place: PIEAS
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Certificate of Approval
This is to certify that the work contained in this thesis entitled

“Restoration of protection coordination in DNS with embedded DG by application of

FCLS”

Was carried out by

Asmatullah

Under my supervision and that in my opinion, it is fully adequate,

In scope and quality, for the degree of MS Electrical Engineering from

Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS).

Approved By:

Signature: Signature:
Supervisor: Dr. Babar Hussain Co-Supervisor: Mr.M.Abubakar

Verified By:
Signature:
Head, Department of Electrical Engineering
Stamp:
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To my Parents and Teachers

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Acknowledgement

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Babar Husain and
co-advisor Mr.M.Abubakar for the continuous support of my master’s study and research,
for their patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Their guidance
helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined
having better advisors and mentor for my master’s study. I thank my fellow- mates in
PIEAS for the stimulating discussions. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my
parents, without their prayers and hard work, achieving this goal was impossible.
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Contents
Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Scope ........................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Approach and methodology ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.4 Overview of Report ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Ideal properties of FCL ............................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Conventional Methods of Handling fault current ........................................................................................ 6
2.3 Classification of FCL .................................................................................................................................. 6
2.3.1 Fault Current Limiting Reactor ........................................................................................................... 7
2.3.2 Pyrotechnic fault current limiters ........................................................................................................ 7
2.3.3 Superconducting FCL.......................................................................................................................... 8
2.3.4 Resistive type SFCL ............................................................................................................................ 9
2.3.5 Inductive SFCL ................................................................................................................................... 9
2.3.6 Shielded Superconducting FCL........................................................................................................... 9
2.3.7 Saturated iron core SFCL .................................................................................................................. 10
2.3.8 Solid State FCL ................................................................................................................................. 11
2.3.9 Series Switch type ............................................................................................................................. 11
2.3.10 Resonant type FCL ............................................................................................................................ 11
2.3.11 Hybrid FCL ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Modelling of Resistive SFCL .................................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 Model Requirements ................................................................................................................................. 14
3.2 Model Implementation .............................................................................................................................. 15
Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Simulation Results......................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1 Three Phase Fault .......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2 Double Line to Ground Fault .....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.3 Single Line to Ground Fault .......................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4 Response of SFCL with Respect to Fault Impedance ................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4.1 Fault Impedance (Zf) = 5 ohm ...........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4.2 Fault Impedance (Zf) = 15 ohm .........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conclusion..................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
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Figure 1.1: ................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Figure 1.2: ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Figure 2.1: ................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2.2: ................................................................................................................................................................... 7
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Figure 2.6: ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
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List of tables
Table 4.1 .....................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4.2 .....................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
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Abstract

This report is about the modelling of a superconducting fault current limiter and its
application in an interconnected distribution network in order to meet the stability
requirements and protection coordination of the system. In networks connected to
distributed generation the amount of fault currents are large as compared to conventional
systems which are harmful for system’s equipment and can lead towards the failure of
protection coordination schemes of the system, Hence putting the power system
reliability at stack. Fault current limiters are the devices which can add extra impedance
in the system during fault and limit the current at a lower value where the system stability
and validity of the original protection coordination scheme is assured. The focus of this
thesis is on the modelling of a resistive type superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL)
in the Matlab Simulink environment and its verification by connecting it in a power
system. The further application of this model in a representative distribution network
connected with distribution generation (DG) for stability analysis and protection
coordination are part of future work for this project.
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Abbreviation

Abbreviation Meaning
FCL Fault Current Limiter
DG Distributed Generation
DN Distribution Network
TWh Terra Watt hour
SSFCL Solid State Fault Current Limiter
SFCL Superconducting Fault Current Limiter
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Chapter 1
Introduction

The demand of electrical energy is increasing at a very fast rate due to industrial growth
and technological development [1] as shown in figure 1-1.

Figure 1.1:

There are different types of electrical energy sources like coal, hydro, natural gas, nuclear
and renewable resources. But the conventional resources of electrical generation are
depleting at a faster rate shifting the emphasis in the development of technology to use
the renewable resources for electrical generation. So a large share of renewable energy is
expected in future [1] as shown in figure 1-2.

Figure 1.2:

The addition of these new resources will make the power system more complex. As these
resources are connected in the power system at different locations, hence they are called
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as distribution generation resources (DG). These distribution generation resources are

small in capacity and are generally connected with the distribution network. Mostly they
are renewable in nature. These DGs are now the part of almost every power system and
their demand is increasing day by day.
Now these distributed generation resources (DGs) connected in a distribution network
will increase the amount of fault currents in the system. As the over current relays are
used mostly for the protection of power distribution network. The trip time of these
overcurrent relays depend upon the magnitude of fault current, it means in the power
systems connected with DGs these relays will operate quickly as their pick up current
settings are according to the original system and may disturb the protection coordination.
Now one solution to this problem is that we review and redesign our protection scheme
every time we add a new DG in the system. This will increase the cost greatly. The other
option is to install a fault current limiter in the system to limit the fault current to a level
where our protection scheme works properly and our system remains stable as well. An
FCL is a device which adds impedance in the system and reduces the magnitude of fault
current as required.

1.1 Goals and Objectives

The goal of this thesis is to model a superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL). Which
includes the following objectives.
1) Literature review of research on FCL until now.
2) Modelling an SFCL.
3) Testing and verifying the SFCL model in the simulation environment.
4) Application of this model in a standard power system at suitable locations and
evaluation of its performance.
5) Evaluation of the system stability analysis and protection coordination restoration by the
proposed SFCL size and location.
1.2 Scope
Now a days a lot of research is being done on FCLs. In this project a superconducting
fault current limiter is selected for modelling. SFCL limits the current in the power
system during faults . The model will be tested in simulations and analyzed for different
types of fault.
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Analysis of these results would help us in determining the suitable location of FCL in power
system to ensure protection coordination.

1.3 Approach and methodology

In literature review it is clarified that which level of research has been done in this field in
the past and what is the direction of research in future. What are the different types of
FCLs used in past and their advantages. As making of such system in hardware is very
difficult in an academic environment because it involves high voltages for testing. But we
can use the simulation software available to model and simulate the performance of the
superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL). This device has been modelled in Matlab
Simulink. Availability of logic blocks and power system blocks in Matlab make it easy to
model a system in it. While PSCAD is more specific software for power system
applications as modelling in it is easy because in its environment we can create our own
module and we can also change the existing blocks and module to fulfil our requirement.

First of all the SFCL will be modeled in Matlab using the E-J power law, then this model
will be verified by connecting it in a power system circuit. This same model will be
created in PSCAD environment and its performance will be evaluated in this
environment. Finally this model will be used in a power system distribution networks for
stability analysis and protection coordination.

1.4 Overview of Report

Report contains the following chapters.
Chapter 1: This chapter consists of the introduction of the thesis. Then it discusses the
goals and objectives of the project. The scope of the project and the the approach and
methodology used for this project are also discussed.
Chapter 2: In this chapter, the literature reviewed for the project is presented. The
different types of fault current limiters and their functioning is discussed.
Chapter 3: Here the modelling of the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) is
done in Matlab Simulink.

Chapter 4: In this chapter the simulation results are presented and analyzed.
Chapter 5: This chapter provides the summary and conclusion of the report. The future
work of this project is also described here.
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performed. FCL size and location obtained by both GA and PSO are tested on this network
to achieve protection coordination restoration.
Chapter 4: This chapter provides a summary to all the work done. Some directions for
future work are also given
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Chapter 2
Literature Review

Fault current limiter is a device which can limit the fault currents to a suitable level. As
large currents damage the power equipment that is why interest is developing in the
development of FCLs. Consider a power system with FCL shown in Fig 2-1, Vs is the
generation voltage, Zs is the internal impedance, 𝑍𝑆 is the load impedance, ZFCL is the
impedance of FCL while Zf is the impedance of fault as shown in figure 2-1.

Figure 2.1:

Current flowing in the line while the system is in steady state will be.
VS
I=
ZL + Z S
The line current will change during the fault due to fault impedance.
VS
I=
ZF + Z S
As the fault impedance is usually very small and the fault currents are large due to DGs.
ZFCL will limit the fault current.
VS
I=
ZL + ZS +ZFCL
2.1 Ideal properties of FCL
An ideal FCL should have the following properties [5]
1. The impedance of the FCL should be zero during normal conditions.
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2. When the fault occurs in the system it should insert large impedance.
3. It should operate within first cycle of fault current.
4. Its recovery to normal state should be automatic.
5. It should have longer life with satisfactory performance.
6. Its setting should not disturb the relay coordination.
7. It should not be bulky.
8. It should be economical and easy to install.
2.2 Conventional Methods of Handling fault current
Following are the conventional methods of limiting the fault currents.[6]
1. Fuse
2. Circuit breakers (CB)
3. Air core reactors
Air core reactors can limit the fault currents to a great extent but they constantly cause
voltage drop in the system. Fuses can limit the currents to several hundred of kA but
during large fault currents it will burn out and replacing them again and again is a
difficult task.

One solution to this problem is to upgrade the equipment at the distribution substation
capable of handling the large amount of currents. The other option is to use FCL to limit
the current and use the existing system.

2.3 Classification of FCL

Following are the different types of FCL. [8].
1. Fault current limiting reactor
2. Pyrotechnic FCL
3. Superconducting FCL
4. Solid State FCL
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5. Hybrid FCL
The detailed discussion is given below.
2.3.1 Fault Current Limiting Reactor

Fault current limiting reactors are the high inductance reactors usually used in the low
and medium voltage distribution system to limit the fault currents. As impedance is
increased by jωL, fault current level will decrease accordingly. Reactor type FCL is
shown in figure 2-2.
The inductive reactance cannot be reduced by magnetic saturation. They are two types of
limiting reactors, iron core type and air core type. As the inductance of air cored reactors
is not changed by saturation that is why it is mostly used effected

Figure 2.2:

2.3.1.1 Advantages
1. Simple
2. Economical
2.3.1.2 Disadvantage
3. Due to constant presence of reactor in the system, there is a constant voltage drop.
4. Lagging power factor due to inductive nature.
2.3.2 Pyrotechnic fault current limiters

Pyrotechnic fault current limiters consists of a high rated switch in main line with a fuse
parallel to it. As the fault occurs the switch will be opened by an external trigger and fault
current will flow through the fuse which limits it very quickly. An electronic device is
used to monitor the current across the switch, as the current increases this device will
decide the tripping of switch. [8].
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2.3.2.1 Advantage
1. Generator can be connected independent of the short circuit ability of the system.
2.3.2.2 Disadvantages
2. For tripping an external signal is needed.
3. Fuse repairing is cumbersome.
2.3.3 Superconducting FCL

SFCL is almost realization of an ideal FCL. It can limit the fault current during first cycle
[8]. During normal conditions its impedance is negligible while during faults it will add a
large impedance in the system. The resistivity of a superconductor is almost zero below a
certain temperature, flux and current density. When these parameters have values greater
than a critical value, resistance of superconductor materials starts increasing [8].
In normal conditions temperature is below a certain value so the resistance of
superconductor is negligible, this is called superconducting mode. During fault the
resistance of superconductor increases which is known as high resistance mode.
Superconductors are of two types, low temperature superconductors (LTS) and high
temperature Superconductors (HTS).LTS has a low transition temperature normally near
25K. This superconductor is not commercialized because cooling arrangements are very
expensive in this case.
On the other hand, HTS has a high transition temperature i.e. 110K. FCL using HTS are
usually cooled down by liquid nitrogen. HTS is economic and becoming commercial.
Examples of HTS are YBCO (Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide) and MgB2 (Magnesium Di
boride) [9]. Both mentioned HTS are suitable candidates for FCL.SFCLs are still in
research phase and have been tested on some projects already.
SFCL are off two types
1. Resistive Type SFCL
2. Inductive Type SFCL
i) Shielded iron Core
ii) Saturated iron Core
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2.3.4 Resistive type SFCL

A simple resistive SFCL is shown in figure 2-3. Superconductor is in series with line. It is
in superconducting mode but when fault occurs it switches to high resistance mode. Parallel
resistance is to avoid hot spots and over voltages. Resistive SFCL has been commercialized
since 2009 [9].

Figure 2.3:

2.3.5 Inductive SFCL

In this type, a transformer primary coil is connected in series with the line. SFCL is
connected to the secondary of this transformer which is installed in series with the network.
In normal conditions, inductive reactance offered to system is primary and leakage
reactance of transformer. When a fault occurs and SFCL on secondary side of transformer
goes into high resistance state, inductance value increases and fault current is controlled to
certain level [8].

2.3.6 Shielded Superconducting FCL

This works on perfect diamagnetism of SFCL. Secondary of transformer is made up of

single turn cylindrical SFCL. In steady state condition, SFCL shields iron core against
primary flux hence very little inductance is introduced in the line. In case of fault current,
magnetic flux increases and SFCL cannot shield iron core any more, due to which high
impedance is inserted in line due to magnetization losses [8]. Shielded SFCL is shown in
figure.2-4.
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Figure 2.4:

2.3.7 Saturated iron core SFCL

It consists of two iron cores on secondary of transformer as shown in figure 2-5. They are
saturated by the DC magnetic flux produced by a superconducting coil wrapped around
both iron cores. In steady state condition, secondary coils are in deep saturation, offering
very less impedance to line. But when fault occurs, DC excitation is turned off by power
electronics switches i.e. IGBTs. In result there is no dc excitation flux available, so
secondary coils come out of saturation and produce an inductive EMF which limits fault
current [8].

Figure 2.5:

2.3.7.1 Advantages
4. Negligible loss during steady state
5. No control needed
2.3.7.2 Disadvantages
6. Require cooling to avoid hotspots
7. Comparatively expensive
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2.3.8 Solid State FCL

Solid State FCL consists of semiconductor switches and are capable of interrupting fault
current before its peak value is reached. Recent development in semiconductors have made
it possible to use them at high voltage and current environment.
A solid state FCL consists of a current limiting impedance, semiconductor switch, voltage
limiting element, over current detector and a control device [8]. As soon as fault occurs
semiconductor switch place a larger impedance in line.
SSFCL are off three types
1. Series Switch type
2. Resonant type
2.3.9 Series Switch type

This type of SSFCL consists of solid state bi directional switches and bypass circuits.
Bypass circuits include steady state bypass, fault current bypass, over voltage protection
bypass and snubber as shown in figure 2-6. Steady state bypass is usually an
electromechanical switch to reduce the losses. Over voltage bypass is a MOV (Metal Oxide
Varistor) preventing over voltages in case of fault current. Fault current bypass is either
resistance or inductance [8].

Figure 2.6:

2.3.10 Resonant type FCL

These types of FCL use switches to change its operating type from steady state to fault
operating condition. In steady state a series resonant circuit tuned to line frequency is in
series with line having negligible impedance. After fault occurs, capacitive reactance is
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switched out of line using semiconductor switches. Only inductive reactance is in present
in line increasing line impedance [8].RFCL is shown in figure 2-7.

Figure 2.7:

2.3.11 Hybrid FCL

As it is evident from its name, such FCLs are union of two or more types of FCL. Hybrid
FCL uses a combination of mechanical switches, solid state FCL, superconducting and
others technologies. Triggered vacuum switch based (TVS) FCL [8] is an example of
Hybrid FCL shown in the figure.2-8.
At normal conditions, a series resonant circuit present very small impedance at nominal
frequency. TVS and SW2 are in off state SW2 is a permanent magnetism vacuum
contactor. When fault occurs a signal is sent to TVS as well as SW2, resulting in turning
on bypass C1. Reactance L will limit current in such way [8].

Figure 2.8:

Similar hybrid FCL has been tested in EAST China 500KV power grid [7] is shown in
figure 2-9.
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Figure 2.9:
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Chapter 3
Modelling of Resistive SFCL

3.1 Model Requirements

It is important to realistically model an SFCL’s resistance characteristics as follows

 In a three-phase power system, each phase of the SFCL must be modeled

independently because they will operate independently, particularly during
unbalanced primary system faults, which represent the predominant mode of
faults in power distribution systems (particularly in overhead systems) [5]. Each
phase will have a dedicated superconducting wire (or several wires), which forms
a superconducting element. This means that, within the first cycle of fault current
during a three-phase-to-earth fault, each phase of the SFCL will develop resistance
at a slightly different time, hence creating a momentary phase unbalance.
Unbalanced faults may only cause a quench in only one or two phases of the
SFCL. Independent operation of each phase must be represented such that the
effects on the overall power system can be evaluated for all fault types at various
locations.

 The SFCL model should be a reasonable approximation of transient SFCL

behavior during faults and, therefore, should consider thermal properties [6]. The
model should be adaptable, with little or no modification, for different types of
faults or other scenarios. It should be able to model the effects of different fault
durations, different times of fault occurrences, and different fault current
magnitude values and to cater for any point of fault occurrence with respect to the
voltage waveform. The model should execute without excessively long simulation
times.

 The dimensions of the superconducting wires must be known. A given

superconducting wire will have a full load-current rating. To achieve a higher full
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load-current rating, several wires may be connected in parallel.

3.2 Model Implementation

The SFCL has been modelled using the equation in [*], which is based on a BSCCO (Bi2212)
superconductor, and fits well with the experimental results. An independent single phase
superconducting model has been replicated to create three-phase SFCL.
The model is based on three possible states for a superconductor, flux creep conducting, flux
flow conducting and normal conducting. The typical relation between electric field E and current
density J for these three states is shown in figure. For a high temperature superconductor, the
mathematical relation between electric field E and current density J of the superconducting
material can be expressed in [5]. It can be seen that with the increase in current density the
voltage is increasing exponentially.

𝐽 𝑛
E =Ε𝑜 (𝐽𝑐)