Mid Term Exam Power System Protection

Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

Sarhad University, Peshawar
Department: Electrical Engineering Program: M.S Electrical Engineering

Course & Course Code: Solar Cell Technology EE 650 Examination: Mid Term Spring 2020
*Student Name:Nasir Hassan Khan
Total Marks: 30 (30% Weightage)
*Registration # SU-19-01-048-015
Instructor: Engr. Dr. Adnan Daud Khan

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Table: To be filled by the Instructor

Question Number 1 2 3 Grand Total
Obtained Marks 0 0 0 0
Total Marks 10 10 10 30

Instructions specific to questions:

1) Attempt All Questions. Each Question Carries 10 marks
2) Answer All Questions in the same Question Paper under each question/section subsequently.
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Question # 1
Evaluate the selection of circuit breakers based on sub transient calculations
and relay settings for transient calculations?
The selection of a circuit breaker for a power system depends not only upon the current the
breaker is to carry under normal operating conditions but also upon the maximum current it may
have to carry momentarily and the current it may have to interrupt at the voltage of the line in
which it is placed. In order to approach the problem of calculating the initial current we need to
study the behavior of a synchronous generator when it is short circuited. When an ac voltage is
applied suddenly across a series R-L circuit, the current which flows has two components 1. a
steady state sinusoidally varying component of constant amplitude and 2. a non-periodic and
exponentially decaying with a time constant of L/R. (which is also referred as the dc component
current). The initial value of the dc component of current depends on the magnitude of the ac
voltage when the circuit is closed.
Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

A similar but more complex phenomenon occurs when a short circuit occurs suddenly across the
terminals of a synchronous machine. A good way to analyze the effect of a three-phase short
circuit at the terminals of a previously unloaded generator is to take an oscillogram of the current
in one phase upon the occurrence of such fault. Since the voltages generated in the phases of a
three-phase machine are displaced 120 electrical degrees from each other, the short circuit occurs
at different points on the voltage wave of each phase. For this reason, the unidirectional or dc
transient component of current is different in each phase
In the synchronous generator, generally the reduction of the air gap flux is caused by the mmf of
the current in the armature which is known as the armature reaction effect. At the instant prior to
short circuit, the no load armature current is very small resulting negligible armature reaction
effect and maximum air gap flux. When there is a sudden increase of stator current on
short circuit, the air gap flux cannot change instantaneously due to eddy currents flowing in the
rotor and damper circuits, which oppose this change. Since, the stator mmf is unable to establish
any armature reaction, the reactance due to armature reaction is negligible and the initial
reactance is very small and almost equal to armature leakage reactance alone. This result
in very large initial current as seen from Fig. This period is referred as sub transient period.

The sub transient current I is much larger than the steady state current I
because the decrease in air gap flux caused by the armature current cannot take place
immediately. So large voltage is inducing in the armature winding just after the fault occurs than
exists after steady state is reached. However, we account for the difference in induced voltage by
using different reactance in series with the no load voltage E.g., to calculate currents for sub
transient, transient, and steady state conditions.

Relay Setting
Relay setting may be changed depending upon seasonal and current variations what type, in
which area generating units are on for example fault in a summer, current will be high fault in a
winter power plants are far away due to low hydro power plants usage depending upon other
power plants like oil, diesel, thermal or nuclear power plants.

If impedance between fault part and generating unit is high resulting in low fault current and if
impedance fault part and generating unit is low resulting in high current.
Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

Most methods of relay coordination are based on fixed values of fault current for setting
protective relays, regardless of the fact that fault currents are time-dependent. The results of
alternative transient calculation procedures are presented. These take into consideration the
decay of current with time and can therefore be used to identify the sensitivity of the
coordination setting and potential cases of difficulty. Comparison of the static and dynamic
short-circuit calculation procedures shows that the dynamic procedure, with enhanced machine
modeling, produces results that agree well with national standards and minimizes the engineering
design effort, with only a small increase in computational overhead. The results presented are
used to compare calculated time overcurrent relay settings and tripping times, based on the
dynamic short-circuit calculation, with fault clearing times obtained by modeling the relays using
a traditional step-by-step dynamic analysis procedure. These two methods of calculation yield
results that are in close agreement. It is also shown that inclusion of protection setting and
transient modeling facilities in power system CAD packages offers the opportunity to include
automatically and reliably the effect of the protection in any subsequent transient studies of the
system.
The current setting of relay is expressed in percentage ratio of relay pick up current to the rated
secondary current of CT. That means, For example, suppose, you want that, an over current relay
should operate when the system current just crosses 125% of rated current
Calculation of Over Current Relay Setting:
1. Over Load Current (In) = Feeder Load Current X Relay setting = 384 X 125% =480
Amp.
2. Required Over Load Relay Plug Setting= Over Load Current (In) / CT Primary Current.
3. Required Over Load Relay Plug Setting = 480 / 600 = 0.8

Question # 2

Provide an analysis for using a factor of 1.6 in designing of protection system by

the manufacturers.
If we have fault current, it is high initially and then it is decreasing and decreasing more. So
important is that we need to differentiate it among different times so that we can design
accordingly.
Short circuit current have to be calculated carefully during fault. After fault initiation one half of
the cycle current present is called momentary current. These are the currents that actually
passes through Circuit Breaker so we need Circuit Breakers that will be able to manage high
amount of current.
Peak Currents are the maximum currents during the first cycle after fault occurs and differ from
first rms currents.
Interrupting current or contact parting currents are the values that have to be cleared
interrupting equipment.
Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

If the circuit breaker is going to be interrupting, current Transformer provides information to

relay to take the decision and then relay provide signal to circuit breaker to open so that is the
point may be after 4 to 5 cycles. After 4 to 5 cycles how much will be the current, that current
have to be interrupted by circuit breaker in the fault.
During the first cycle no decrease in DC and AC. But during the interrupting current from 3 to 5
R
cycles it must have decrease and the decrease will depend upon and type of generating unit
L
(i.e. how much change in the internal flux/ Armature Reaction).
Time Delayed / Steady State Short Circuit currents correspond to the values obtain between 6
to 30 cycles. In this cycles DC components comes to zero and fault AC current is constant.
Asymmetrical values are calculated as the square root of the sum of DC component and RMS
value of the AC current.

I rms =√ I dc 2+ I ac 2

Typically AC and DC components decay to 90% to their initial values after the first half cycle. So
the first cycle I rms values will be having 90% to 100%, so there is decrease of 10%.

From this, value of the rms current then be

I rms. asym. closing =√ I 2DC + I 2 AC .rms . sym

¿ √¿ ¿

1.56V
= = 1.56 I rms. sym .
X ''d

AC or rms value of the current I rmsand multiply it with the factor 1.6 so the breaker stand to
that capacity. Actually 1.6 is about how much maximum DC is there.

Question # 3
Why and where ROCOF (rate of change of frequency) relay and reverse power
flow relay installed.
ROCOF Relays
Rate of Change of Frequency (ROCOF) protection detects how quickly the system frequency is
changing by continuously sampling the frequency of mains voltage. However, the loss of a large
power station or block of load may disturb the system such that it goes outside of statutory limits
for a short time period. RoCoF” relays may be installed on generators for several reasons:

 Loss of grid/loss of mains/islanding protection

Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

One potential use of having “RoCoF” relays on generators is to detect a “loss of grid” condition
(also known as “loss of mains” or “islanding”). The purpose of the “RoCoF” relays in this
situation is to protect the generator. When the “RoCoF” relay detects a “loss of grid” condition,
the generator is “tripped,” that is, disconnected from the main system.
 The detection of “under-frequency” and “over-frequency” conditions
RoCoF relays” may also be installed on generators to detect both “under-frequency” and “over-
frequency” conditions. The purpose of the RoCoF relay is to protect the generator by tripping it
before the frequency becomes too low or too high, thus avoiding potentially costly damage to the
generator.
Reverse Power Flow relays
It is basically directional protective relay which protect and prevent generator from motoring
effect, It means power flow in reverse direction.
It is used in installations where a generator runs in parallel with the utility or another generator
so as to prevent power from the bus bar or another generator from flowing back to the active
generator when its output fails.
The relay monitors the power from the generator and in case the generator output falls below a
preset value, it quickly disconnects the generator coil to avoid power from flowing into the stator
coil.
When two or more units are running in parallel and if reverse power occurs the same unit will
start drawing power from main bus bar it can cause overloading on other power supply and can
lead for a trip or may lead to power failure At the same point the faulty unit will draw power from
main bus bar and go for motoring effect and rpm will shoot up and it may lead to failure so for
this purpose to overcome this issue we use reverse power flow relay which overcomes it

Question # 4
Provide reason for the initiation of DC component during faults. Why this DC
component saturates the current transformer (CT) and how it can be
minimized?
Sol.

The initiation of DC component

Most of the transmission lines and transformers are inductive in nature so the system mainly
behaves like an inductor. As inductor resist the change. If fault comes the current increases at
that time inductance of that system resists and those resistance will result in DC component
and that DC component will decay with time and depending upon resistance and inductance
ratio of transmission system
Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

Why this DC component saturates the current transformer

Presence of DC offset in fault current is the causes of saturation in current transformer core. This
will be more pronounced if the L/R ratio of the system up to the fault location is considerably
high.
If the saturation level is reached, the magnetizing current will strongly increase. The CT needs
all current for magnetizing and no current is left for secondary. The Secondary current will
strongly distorted and the error will be considerable.
The current is reproduced correctly up to the level where the core starts to saturate but during the
periods the core is saturated, the secondary current practically disappears.
Saturation will cause both amplitude and phase errors.
The fundamental current component amplitude will be reduced and the phase will be advanced.

The effect of saturation can be reduced

The event of transient leads the current transformer core to partial or severe saturation. The
effect of saturation can be reduced, also in some cases we can overcome it; by taking
corresponding remedial actions

 Current transformer core saturation can be avoided on DC components by over sizing the
core. The core can be designed as the DC flux is oversized at corresponding flux density.
 During faults, if the remanence-flux direction is opposite to that of the DC current
component the CT will produce correct secondary waveform. On the contrary, if the
remanence flux and the DC transient occur in the same direction, a more distorted
waveform than usual occurs.
 Time to saturate CT core
 Increase in secondary winding circuit burden means an increase in volt ampere rating.
 This necessitates an increase in secondary winding induced voltage. Increase in
secondary winding induced voltage can be done by increased flux & flux density.
 Mainly speaks about the parameters on primary side of CT, X/R is responsible for the
decaying DC component. DC component produces constant magnetic flux contributes to
CT saturation.
Mid Term Exam Power System Protection
Fall 2020 EED, SUIT

Question # 5
How the short circuit current impacts the selection of protection system? Also,
explain the alteration in protection system design as we move towards the
generating system from the grid.
When the current will be increasing or higher than load current then actually, we will have fault. If
location of fault is near the generating unit so fault current will be high because impedance will be low.
If location of the fault is far from the generating unit so the fault current will be low because of the less
high impedance

Short circuit current may have large magnitude then normal operating current. If we allow short circuit
current for large time it may cause thermal damage to the equipment due to large heat. (I2R)

As current is sinusoidal if fault current is high then high magnetic force will cause damage to the
equipment. If I have to install circuit breakers at the power plants so there is chances that fault current
is high and we will need circuit breaker to interrupt that fault so in that case we will need SF6 or vacuum
circuit breaker so that the arc will be removed completely

Far away from power plant fault current will be less than we will be going for cheaper circuit breaker like
air blast circuit breakers.

Short circuit current impacts a power system both economically and it's performance wise. It damages
devices which are connected to grid and power generating station such as protective devices like Circuit
breaker, Fuses and transmission line. This also affect the performance of the power system and huge
amount energy loss occur, hence insufficient power is received at receiving station.

Alteration in protection system design as we move towards the generating system from the
grid
Short circuit current analysis is performed in order to design a protective system towards the generating
station from the grid.

PV Generation Protection: Relays are installed at a small space near the generating station which
monitors any disturbance in the power system. They are install at small gap, hence more number of
relays are required which is not cost effective. So in order to get rid of this, digital multi-function relays
are installed which reduce the number of relays and hence the cost.

Differential Relays : Differential relays are found best suitable to protect the damage of transformer

Phase Fault Protection of Feeder : Over current relays are installed in order to detect the high and to
protect feeders.

Protection of Transformer :  Short circuit current can damage the insulation of transformer, windings
and the core. 

Phase Fault Protection of Feeder : Over current relays are installed in order to detect the high and to
protect feeders.