ETAP Knowledge Base

Difference between Relay Neutral and Ground protection elements

Description: What is the difference between Relay Neutral and Ground protection elements?

Category: Relay

Type: Information

Keywords: Relay, Neutral, Ground

The definition of Neutral and Ground protection elements can vary depending on manufacturer
used terminology.
As such, Schweitzer is using the Neutral for relay protection elements with a dedicated terminal
for ground CT (CT which directly measures the zero sequence current) while GE is defining
such protection element as Ground.
In ETAP, to be consistent from the user perspective, we are following the GE definition. This
means, any relay with overcurrent ground protection element or 50G/51G needs to have
dedicated ground CT terminal. Therefore if you use a GE relay model you would see one-to-one
match for such elements but for Schweitzer models you need to use Neutral for any Ground
Protection element and vice versa.
The dedicated ground terminal of a relay in ETAP can be verified in Relay Editor > Input >
Current tab. If the Current tab of selected relay model from library displays Ground section for
assignment of CTs to terminal then it has Ground protection element in either OCR or OLR
page.

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