See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/323971284

Impact of Transformer Inrush Currents on Sensitive Protection Functions How

to Configure Adjacent Relays to Avoid Nuisance Tripping?

Presentation · March 2018

CITATIONS READS
0 171

1 author:

Bogdan Kasztenny
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
261 PUBLICATIONS   2,311 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Synchrophasors View project

IEC 61850 and Process Bus View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Bogdan Kasztenny on 23 March 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Impact of Transformer
Inrush Currents on Sensitive
Protection Functions
How to Configure Adjacent
Relays to Avoid Nuisance Tripping?

Bogdan Kasztenny

Presented at 59th Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers

College Station, TX, April 4-6, 2006
Transformer Inrush

1500

1000
Winding Currents [A]

500

-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
time [sec]
Factors Impacting Inrush Currents

 Point on wave
 Residual flux
 X/R ratio of the energizing system
 Energizing voltage and frequency
 Transformer characteristics
 Winding connections
 Interactions with other transformers
(sympathetic inrush)
 Interactions with cables (ferrorezonance)
 Energization versus fault recovery inrush
Transformer Inrush & CT Saturation
4
x 10
1.5

1
Winding Currents [A]

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

time [sec]
CT Saturation
Current

Flux
Transformer Inrush & CT Saturation
4
x 10
1.5

1
Flat periods departing
Winding Currents [A]

0.5
from zero are signs of CT
saturation
0

-0.5
4
x 10
1

-1
0.8

0.6
-1.5
0 Winding Currents [A]
time [sec] 0.4

0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1

0.15
time [sec]
Impact on Protection

 Sensitive protection functions that can be affected:

• Low-impedance Restricted Ground/Earth Fault (RGF)
• Stator differential
• Ground overcurrent (negative-sequence and neutral)
• Distance
Restricted Ground Fault

 Sensitive protection to cover faults close to the

neutral point of the winding
 Near-neutral faults damage quickly both the winding
and the core
 Near-neutral faults do not produce much current at
the terminals of the winding
 RGF often backed by mechanical relays (gas & oil) but
expected to operate faster
 High-impedance principle works well; low-impedance
approach faces security problems or is not sensitive
enough
Applications
Transformer Generator

(a) Transformer Winding IA (c) Stator Winding IA

IB IB

IC IC

IG IG
IA1 IB1 IC1

(b) Transformer Winding (d) Stator Winding IA

IA

IB
IB
IC
IC

IG
IG

IA2 IB2 IC2

Problem – Consider an External LL Fault
No through current that could be
used by a “directional” or “phase-
comparison” auxiliary principle
IF

IF

I=0

IG = 0 I0 = 0
No zero-
No current in sequence current
the neutral CT in the phase CTs
I D = IG + I N = IG + I A + I B + IC
The functions is balanced as zero vs. zero
– any CT saturation would yield a
spurious differential signal
Inrush Currents - a Similar Effect
Currents in two phases
are greatly offset

Ground current being

Spurious differential zero prevents directional
current check
Solution

 Stabilize the RGF by with the restraining signal

 Restraining signal depends on fault type
 Restraining signal depends an fault level (non-linear
function)
 Dedicated switch-off transient blocking algorithm
 Results:
• Instantaneous operation (sub-cycle)
• Capable of detecting faults that cause only few % of
unbalance in terminal currents
• Secure under heavy CT saturation and inrush currents
Differential and Restraining Signals
Differential current

I D = IG + I N = IG + I A + I B + IC

Restraining current

I R _ aux = max ( I R 0 , I R1 , I R 2 )

Zero-seq portion Positive-seq portion Negative-seq portion

• Stability on external • Sensitivity during near- • Stability on unbalanced

ground faults
• Doubles the external fault
current (IN)
• Lower than differential
during internal faults
balanced conditions external faults, LL and
• Lowered under load inrush in particular
conditions
• Increased under fault
conditions
Zero-Sequence Restraining Signal
I R 0 = I G − I N = I G − (I A + I B + I C )

External ground fault

Vectorial
difference of the (no CT saturation)
ground and
neutral currents Double the
through current IR0
IG
Internal ground fault IN

ID External ground fault

(CT saturation)
IN
IG Significant despite IG
IR0
IR0 saturation

Smaller than
differential IN
Positive-Sequence Restraining Signal
Use positive-sequence
less zero-sequence (to
decrease restraint on
ground faults)
If I 1 > 1.5 pu of phase CTs then

If I1 > I 0 then I R1 = 3 ⋅ ( I 1 − I 0 )
else I R1 = 0
1
else I R1 = ⋅ I1
8 If significant ground current,
rely on zero-sequence restraint

Small restraint under load

current (below 150% of
nominal) for better sensitivity
Negative-Sequence Restraining Signal

I R2 = 3 ⋅ I 2 OR I R 2 = I 2

On external LL faults
yields 1.73 times Multiplier lowered when energizing
fault current the winding (for better sensitivity
to pre-existing internal faults):
External LL fault
IB IA < 0.05 pu TIMER
5cy Use multiplier 1

AND
IB < 0.05 pu 2cy Use multiplier 3

IC < 0.05 pu

I2
IR2
IA
Almost twice the
fault current
Switch-off Transients
Switch-off trajectories

Uncontrolled
trajectory
External fault with
differential heavy CT saturation

Well-controlled
trajectory

Post-fault
restraining
operating point

Solution – post filtering of the restraining signal

(
I R ( k ) = max I R _ aux( k ) , A ⋅ I R ( k −1) )
Relay Response Example
Generator Differential Protection

 CT saturation quite possible in stator differential

applications due to long-lasting dc components in
load, fault and inrush currents
 Residual flux can make matters worse
 Rules of CT selection and matching (C37.110) are not
always followed:
• Different engineering bodies may select neutral and
terminal CTs
• Matching CTs by C class only is inadequate
• Matching lead resistances can be difficult
 Existing methods for checking mismatch do not
include the relay response
Saturation at Low Currents - Examples

Sudden load change Transformer Inrush

0.8
0.5
0.6
0
0.4
current, pu

current, pu
-0.5
0.2
0.0 -1
-0.2
-1.5
-0.4
-2
0.24 0.28 0.32 0.36 0.4 0.44 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
time, sec time, sec

Current around nominal; 10-20% of error due to CT saturation

Transformer Inrush Example

Relay based on the differential

characteristic alone would
misoperate at this time.
New Algorithm
Phasor Estimation
1.4
1.2
1  Optimized mimic filter for dc
0.8 removal
gain

0.6
 Full-cycle Fourier
0.4
0.2  Transient overshoot < 2%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
frequency, pu

Differential Characteristic

SH  Differential signal:
differential

I D = IT − I N

SL  Restraining signal:
I R1 = max( I T , I N )
BH
P
BL restraining
Adaptive Tripping Logic
SAT = 0
differential

SAT = 1
SL

BL restraining

IN
SAT

OR
IT

AND
DIR = 0
DIR OP
IT IN
DIR = 1 DIF
differential

DIF = 1

DIF = 0

restraining
Directional (phase comparison) Principle
 Foundation:
• Compare direction if currents are significant, give permission otherwise
• Overcurrent supervision adaptive (no user setting)
• Fixed, 90-deg limit angle
• Extended blocking upon detecting persistent though fault condition

 Implementation:
If ( IT > BL OR ( I T > D2 ⋅ I R1 AND I T > P )) AND...
( IN > BL OR ( I N > D2 ⋅ I R1 AND I N > P ))

then DIR1 := abs(angle(I T ) − angle(I N )) > 90o

DIR1 DIR

AND
TIMER
else DIR1 := true
1.5cy
AND
DIF 1.5cy

SAT
CT Saturation (through condition) Detector
 Foundation:
• Separate ac and dc saturation detection algorithms
• AC (high current) saturation detection using DIF-RES trajectory
• DC (low current) saturation using dc components
• Memory (state machine) for security

 Implementation: NORMAL
SAT = 0

RESET-1
SC
EXT FAULT
SAT = 1

RESET-2
RESET −1 = { (I D < S L ⋅ I R ) OR (I D < P ) } AND NOT (SC ) DIF
CT SAT
RESET − 2 = NOT (DIF )
SAT = 1
CT Saturation Detection (Saturation Condition)
SC = SCac OR SCdc

N −1
SCac = (I D < S L ⋅ I R ) AND (I R > B L )
1
I dc( n ) =
N
 i( n − k )
k =0

SCac = 0 DCT = (I dcT > D1 ⋅ I T ) AND ( I T > P)

differential

DC N = (I dcN > D1 ⋅ I N ) AND ( I N > P)

SCac = 1
SL
DCT TIMER

OR
BL restraining

AND
1.5cy
DCN 5cy SCdc
DIF
Relay Playback Examples

Transformer Inrush
0.5

0
current, pu

-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2
0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
time, sec
Relay Playback Example

(1) Spurious pickup, but …

(2) CT saturation detected …

(4) No directional permission …

(5) Correct relay response (no trip)

Ground Overcurrent Protection

 Negative-sequence and neutral overcurrent

directional elements can be affected:
• Spurious symmetrical components due to CT saturation on
inrush and faults
• Typically set sensitively – small unbalance may cause a
problem
• Problems with directionality when spurious components
override the actual (ratio) symmetrical currents
• Applications with offset impedance problematic –
directional elements could operate with zero polarizing
voltage
Ground Overcurrent Protection
4
x 10
1

0.5
iABC, Amperes

-0.5

-1
Energizing delta winding
-1.5
0.15 0.2 0.25
(no
0.3
zero-sequence
0.35
current, right?)
4000

zero-sequence (waveform)
3000
i0, I0, Amperes

2000

1000
zero-sequence (60Hz component)
0

-1000
0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
time, sec

Solution – positive-sequence restraint:

I OPERATE = 3 ⋅ I 0 − K ⋅ I1
Summary

 Magnetizing inrush currents are likely to cause CT

saturation
 Sensitive protection functions may respond to
spurious signals caused by saturated CTs
 Harmonic inhibit is a crude way of solving the
problem, harmonic functions not always available
 Microprocessor-based relays use their smarts to cope
with the problem
Questions?
C37.110 recommendations – Section 7.2.2.1

 The following requirements apply to CTs used for

generator differential applications:
a) Select CT current rating to 120%-150% of generator rating
b) Utilize full-winding ratio
c) Use CTs with the highest practical secondary voltage capability
d) Use CTs that have fully distributed secondary windings
 The differential CTs on both sides of a generator
should be of the same ratio, rating, connected
burden, and preferably have the same manufacturer,
so that the excitation characteristics are well
matched
 C37.110 recommendations – Section 7.2.2.4
View publication stats

 If the generator differential zone must include a

generator breaker it is not always possible to use CTs
with the same excitation characteristics, especially
knee point voltage. The mismatch of the CTs should
be checked
 In order of preference, the goal is to:
a) Avoid CT saturation for asymmetrical currents, if possible
b) Prevent saturation on symmetrical currents
c) Go into saturation at the same current if avoiding dc saturation is
not possible
d) Minimize the difference in time to saturation for asymmetrical
currents (dc saturation)