Grounding of Distrubution Grids

UPTEC E 17 013
Examensarbete 30 hp
Oktober 2017
Grounding of distrubution grids
High impedancegrounding compared to solid

grounding with Fault Current Limiter
Maria Kättström
Abstract
High impedancegrounding compared to solid
grounding with Fault Current Limiter
Maria Kättström
Teknisk- naturvetenskaplig fakultet

UTH-enheten Today cables replace overhead lines in distribution systems and
cause higher system capacitance and higher capacative fault
Besöksadress: currents. This fault current, in the fault location, is limited by a
Ångströmlaboratoriet
Lägerhyddsvägen 1 Petersén coil and a resistance in parallel when a fault occurs in so
Hus 4, Plan 0 called “high impedance grounded systems” which are commonly used in
Europe. The high impedance however has the disadvantage that it
Postadress: needs to be adjusted to the capacitance in the system in order to
Box 536
751 21 Uppsala optimize the limitation of the fault current.
Telefon: Another option is to use a solidly grounded system with a so called
018 – 471 30 03 “Fault Current Limiter” (FCL) instead, on the outgoing terminals of
Telefax: the transformer feeding the system. The FCL interrupts the outgoing
018 – 471 30 00 current on the load side of the transformer that feeds the system,
in case of a fault, by forcing the current to a zero with a counter
Hemsida: voltage. The FCL in this master thesis triggers on 1.5 times higher
http://www.teknat.uu.se/student
current than nominal current. After fault clearing the FCL is
reclosed. The FCL has the advantage that it does not have to be
adapted to the capacitance in the system. It should be noted that
the current in all of the phases (even the healthy phases) are
interrupted downstream the FCL. It also has the ability to interrupt
the single line-to-ground fault before it develops into a three
phase fault.
This thesis presents a comparison between the high impedance
grounding and the FCL. The characteristics of the two grounding
principles are investigated in a distribution system from
Vattenfall. The assessment is done via simulations in the program
PSCAD with three types of grounding of the transformer; high
impedance grounding, solid grounding (without FCL) and solid
grounding with FCL. The system is simulated with the faults “single
line-to-ground” and “three phase short circuit” respectively, even
if a line-to-line can occur. The results from the simulations show
that the FCL gives a short fault duration time and a possibility to
limit both single line-to-ground faults and three phase faults. The
high impedance grounding on the other hand is able to limit single
line-to-ground faults whereas it is generally known that not able to
limit three phase short circuits.
Handledare: Elisabeth Lindell

Ämnesgranskare: Juan de Santiago
Examinator: Mikael Bergkvist
ISSN: 1654-7616, UPTEC E 17 013
Sammanfattning
Kablar ersätter i dagsläget luftledningar i distributionssystem och orsakar en högre kapacitans och
en högre kapacitiv felström. Den felström som uppstår när ett fel har inträffat begränsas av en
Petersénspole parallellt med en resistans. Detta kallas "hög impedansjordning" och används van-
ligen ute i Europa. Dock har den höga impedansjordningen nackdelen att den behöver stämmas
av till kapacitansen i systemet för optimerad felströmsbegränsning.
Ett annat alternativ är istället att använda ett direktjordat system, med en så kallad "Felströms-
Begränsare" (engelska "Fault Current Limiter" FCL) på de utgående terminalerna på systemets
matande transformator. FCL:en begränsar, i händelse av ett fel, den utgående strömmen på trans-
formatorns lastsida, genom att forcera ner strömmen till noll med hjälp av en motspänning. FCL:en
som användes i examensarbetet utlöses vid 1,5 gånger högre ström än den nominella strömmen.
Efter felavhjälpning återställs FCL:en till ursprungsläget. FCL:en har den fördelen att den inte
behöver anpassas till kapacitansen i systemet men strömmen i alla faser (även de friska faserna)
begränsas nedströms om FCL:en. Den har också förmågan att förhindra en övergång från enfas-
till-jord-fel till ett trefasfel.
I examensarbetet presenteras en jämförelse mellan höga impedansjordningen och FCL:en. De två

begränsningsprincipernas egenskaper undersöks i ett distributionssystem från Vattenfall. Studien
är gjord via simuleringar i programmet PSCAD med tre typer av jordning på transformatorn; Peter-
sénspolejordning, direktjordning (utan FCL) och direktjordning med FCL. Systemet är simulerat
med felen "enfas-till-jord-fel" respektive "trefas kortslutning", även om "tvåfas-fel" kan uppstå.
Resultaten från simuleringarna visar att FCL:en ger en kort varaktighet av felet och har möjlighet
att begränsa både enfas-till-jord-fel och trefasfel. Petersénspolen däremot kan begränsa enfas-till-
jord-fel till jord medan det är allmänt känt att den inte kan begränsa trefaskortslutningar.
3
Acknowledgements
Jag vill börja med ett stort tack till min handledare Elisabeth på ABB. Du är duktig, smart, nog-
grann och har humor, tack för ditt stöd och handledning. Jag kommer sakna de tidiga morgnarna
med benhård träning tillsammans med dig och Jonas på Friskis och Svettis med en frukost som
avslutning efter passen. Jag kommer framför allt sakna ditt skratt när jag köpte vitkål till ex-
trapris.
Jag vill också tacka Lars Jonsson, som hjälpte till med sin kunskap om felströmsbegränsare och
ditt tålmodiga sätt bolla idéer om simuleringar tillsammans med Elisabeth. Jag vill även tacka
Lars Liljestrand som i början av examensarbete hjälpte mig förstå hur PSCAD fungerar och hur
felhantering av ett system fungerar.
Tack Daniel och Fredrik som tog hand om mig på Vattenfall och gav alla mina frågor om distribu-
tionsnät ett svar. Och framför allt gav mig inputs av vad ett energibolag vill få ut av detta. Och
tack till Juan, du förtjänar också ett tack som var min ämnesgranskare under min tid på ABB.
Sist men inte minst Magnus, du är så hjälpsam och duktig. Tack allihopa!!!
4
Contents
1 Introduction 7
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Theory 8
2.1 Earthing standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Earthing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 High impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.2 Solidly grounded system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3 Fault Current Limiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4 Faults in the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4.1 Three phase short circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4.2 Single line-to-ground fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4.3 Back-fed earth fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Simulations 13
3.1 PSCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2 The "Ideal system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 The "Real system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.4 The "Radial system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5 "Ideal back-fed earth fault" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 Results 19
4.1 The "Ideal system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Ideal system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.2 The "Real system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.2.1.1 Secondary substation "A" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.2.1.2 Secondary substation "AI1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2.1.3 Secondary substation "O1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.2.2.1 Secondary substation "A" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2.2.3 Secondary substation "O1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Real system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.3 The "Radial system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3.1 Single line-to-ground fault at "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3.1.1 Secondary substation "A" in the "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . 31
4.3.1.2 Secondary substation "AI1" in the "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . 34
4.3.2 Three phase short circuit at "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.3.2.1 Secondary substation "A"in the "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1" in "Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.3 Single line-to-ground fault which develops into a three phase short circuit in
"Radial system 1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3.3.1 Fault in secondary substation "A" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3.3.2 Fault in secondary substation "AI1" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.4 Back-fed earth fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.4.1 Simulated with an FCL on transformer T1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.4.2 Simulated with high impedance grounded transformer T1 . . . . . . . . . . 52
5
5 Summary of the simulation 53
5.1 Summary of the "Ideal system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.2 Summary of the "Real system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.3 Summary of the "Radial system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
6 Conclusions 56
7 Further work 57
8 Appendix 1: The "Real system" with faults in secondary substation "O1" 60
6
1 Introduction
This master thesis is performed in cooperation with Vattenfall and investigates the possibilities of
a solidly grounded distribution system with a FCL. Currently, distribution system transformers are
grounded using Petersén coils parallel with resistances, which are tuned to the grid, and resistance
in parallel. A well tuned Petersén coil parallel with resistance is able to limit the fault current
for a single line-to-ground fault and is adjusted to the capacitance in the system, to compensate
for the capacitive earth fault current. Since cables today are replacing overhead lines, the system
capacitance increases and thus the size of the Petersén coil also increases. But by using a solidly
grounded system with Fault Current Limiter (FCL) instead of a Petersén coil, the potential to
limit the fault current independent of the type of faults increases.
The most common type of fault in distribution systems, which is single line-to-ground faults for
overhead line systems, can develops to three phase faults in cables system. How large the limiting
effect of the FCL is has been studied by simulations in PSCAD together with grid data of Vattenfall.
1.1 Background
Traditionally the impedance grounding has been used in overhead lines system to limit single
line-to-ground faults. It dominates the market in Scandinavia and Europe since around eighty
years. The impedance grounding using Petersén coils in parallel with resistance in the transformer
neutral will minimize fault currents at the fault location due to single line-to-ground faults, which
is required due to safety regulations. The fault is cleared by an upstream circuit breaker. Two or
three phase faults and short circuits are causing high currents which are also interrupted by the
upstream circuit breaker, but are not limited by the Petersen coil. [1] [2][12] [13]
Cables are replacing overhead lines for distribution systems. The cables will improve the availability
of the distribution system since the number of faults will be reduced. One drawback of cable systems
is that the few faults that occur could cause large capacative earth current and longer reparation
times than faults on over head lines. Another drawback of cable systems is the large capacitance
requiring a high power of the neutral reactor.[3] [14]
An improved fault handling in cable systems could be achieved by replacing the high impedance
grounding by solid grounding in combination with fault current limiters for fast short circuit current
interruption. A fast fault clearing will have the benefit of minimizing the damages at the location of
a fault and all parts the fault current flow through. The FCL also enables the circuit breakers used
on outgoing feeders to be replaced by load break switches together with smaller surge protector
which will reduce the cost further. [15]
1.2 Aim
The aim of this study is to analyse what benefits and conditions there are of using a fault current
limiter and solidly grounded systems instead of impedance grounded systems. The benefits and
possibilities with solidly grounded systems with fault current limiter shall be examined. This study
also shows the fault handling in a distribution grid from Vattenfall in simulations in PSCAD, with
and without FCL. Single line-to-ground fault and three phase short circuit in a distribution system
are studied to get a more trustworthy result for the grounding systems. Last but not least the
standards and safety regulations available for fault handling are also going to be studied.
1.3 Limitations
In this master thesis the limitions are:
• The faults which are taken into account in this study are: single line-to-ground faults and
three phase faults
• The grid in these simulations is a typical Swedish MV rural network
7
2 Theory
Grounding of a transformer in a distribution system can be done in a number of ways. In this
investigation the solid grounding with and without FCL and the high impedance grounding are
studied. The main purpose of the grounding is safety and protection for plants, humans and
animals. The grounding concepts need to follow different standard independently of the grounding
of the transformer. [9] [16] [17]
2.1 Earthing standards

Grounding of a plant, or in this case grounding of a transformer, has the meaning to protect
the system, plant, transformer and components. A well working grounding lets the earth current
and leakage currents flow to earth without risk for damages [16]. For a high voltage plant with
voltage over 1000 V AC or 1500 V DC, it applies to non-solid grounded systems that one or
two phase ground faults disconnect automatically. But plants without overheads lines and with
a nominal voltage below 25 kV, has exceptions and only need to signal the single line-to-ground
fault automatically. But for a solid ground system the regulation tells that the system needs to
disconnect the fault within 0.5 s. [17]
2.2 Earthing
The purpose of a grounded system is including increased safety and a common reference point
for the voltage level at each side of the transformers in the system [4]. The idea is also that the
grounding system will not be used except in faults state and if the load in the three phases is
not balanced. When the faults happen, the grounding systems gives higher personal safety, and
protection for equipment. This also applies at lightning strikes. So earthing the system will reduce
the magnitudes of over voltage transients and make it easier to locate the fault. But the damage
in the system depends on how long the fault time is and the size of the fault current [5].
2.2.1 High impedance

The impedance grounding of a transformer can be done by a Petersén coil. The Petersén coil is
effective in case of single line-to-ground faults, often encountered i overhead line systems, where it
limits the fault current so no arc can be shaped. This applies to short-term disconnection of the
resistance that is parallel to the coil. The mechanism behind the ability to limit the fault current
comes from the capability of the Petersén coil to compensate the capacitive fault current in the
system. This makes the faults manageable until the fault is cleared. The active fault current can
be limited by disconnect the resistance in parallel with the Petersén coil 1 s after the fault occurred,
which is within the standard about disconnection. To maintain the ability to reduce the capacitive
fault current, the Petersén coil must be adjusted to the grid, i.e. it must be adjusted to the grid
capacitance to ground. This can be determined by the number of overhead lines and cables in the
grid and the length of overhead lines and cables.
The Petersén coil will neutralize the capacitive earth fault current IC by generating the same
magnitude of the inductive current IL but 180 degrees out of phase. From a single line-to-ground
fault as shown in Figure 2.2.1a, the size of the coil can be derived from IC where IC is the result
of the phase currents ICR and ICY for the phases R and Y in Figure 2.2.1a, √ phase voltage, Uphase ,
between one phase and ground and the system voltage, Usyst (Usyst = 3Uphase ), between the
phases. [8] [6]
IC = ICY + ICR (2.2.1)

√
Usyst 3Uphase
ICY = 1 = 1 (2.2.2)
ωC ωC
√
Usyst 3Uphase
ICR = 1 = 1 (2.2.3)
ωC ωC
ICY = ICR (2.2.4)
8
The current Ic can by the phase diagram also be written :
√ √
IC = 3ICR = 3ICY (2.2.5)
√ √
3 · 3Uphase
IC = 1 = 3ωCUphase (2.2.6)
ωC
Since the current into the coil has the same amplitude as the capacitive earth current the balance
between IC and IL can be written as:
IL = IC (2.2.7)
The size of the coil, L, can be derived by the current trough the Petersén coil
Uphase
IL = (2.2.8)
ωL
Uphase
= 3ωCUphase (2.2.9)
ωL
1
L= (2.2.10)
3ω 2 C
(a) Single Line-to-Ground fault on phase B [6] (b) Phase diagram [7]
Figure 2.2.1: Petersén coil, fault handling and phase diagram
The resistance which can be found in parallel with the coil in Figure 2.2.2, has the task to handle
the active current to the Petersén coil and together with the Petersén coil, they are called high
impedance grounding. The size of the resistance can be calculated by using the formula:
Uphase
R= (2.2.11)
IR
Were IR is the current through the resistance and is typically 5, 10 or 15 A. [20]
Figure 2.2.2: The high impedance grounding at the secondary side of the transformer, with
the resistance R in parallel with the coil L. This reasoning applies to systems consisting mainly
of overhead lines and malfunctioning for systems consisting mainly of cables. When the large
capacitive earth current becomes too high for this reasoning.
9
2.2.2 Solidly grounded system
A solidly grounded transformer means that the transformer has the neutral point directly connected
to earth, see Figure 2.2.3. This can decrease the fault voltage transient (compered to a ungrounded
system), if the transformer reactance is small enough, [5]. But the disadvantage of a solidly
grounded system is that the fault current becomes higher for the solidly grounded system than for
the non-solidly ground system, e.g. a high impedance grounded system. Therefore it is important
that the breakers in a solidly grounded system switch fast enough to reduce the damage in the
system, for personal and protection for equipment. For the single line-to-ground fault, the voltage
of the faulty phase will go down to zero and the source will feed this type of fault. The two healthy
phases will be unaffected. [5]
Figure 2.2.3: The transformer secondary side is solidly grounded.
2.3 Fault Current Limiter

The fault current becomes limited before it rises to the peak value with a Fault Current Limiter
(FCL), which can limit several types of faults e.g. single line-to-ground fault, three phase fault
and more. In this thesis, the type of FCL which is used is the FCL which forces the current to a
zero crossing with counter voltage and creates a fast current interruption. The FCL can perform
multiple operations and has the ability to perform an open-close operation in a few ms. The trip
value for limiting can be chosen as e.g. 1.5 times nominal current. It is possible to install the
FCL at an incoming feeder of a substation. The FCL also has the advantage to work as a medium
voltage DC circuit breaker, since the FCL will not wait for the natural zero crossing to break the
current as a traditional AC breaker would do. So the FCL will also fulfill the requirements for a
medium voltage DC circuit breaker [15]. But independent of the fault all of the phase currents and
phase voltages are limited to zero unlike in the other grounding system, where the healthy phases
still work.
One example of fault handling with an FCL is shown in Figure 2.3.1, where the incoming side of
the feeder has a protection from an FCL, which limits the fault current before it has risen to the
maximum peak value. This also gives the option to exchange the circuit breakers to load breaker
switches at the outgoings feeders in Figure 2.3.1.
The sequence shown in Figure 2.3.1 can be described as follows:
a) A fault occurs and the FCL at the incoming feeder and the load break switch on the faulty
outgoing feeder are tripped
b) The FCL has opened and interrupted the short circuit current
c) The outgoing feeder load break switch is opened and the faulty feeder is disconnected
d) The FCL is reclosed and the bus is re-energized
10
Figure 2.3.1: Fault handling using an FCL on the incoming feeder in combination with load break
switches on the outgoing feeders [15]
2.4 Faults in the system

The most common faults are single line-to-ground fault and single line-to-ground that turns into
short circuit faults. One example of a fault, is the lightning strike in overhead lines. This fault
starts as a one phase fault and ends as a short circuit commonly. A similar type of fault could
happen for cables, if an excavator hits the isolation layer and damages it and one of phases. This
will commonly end as three phase fault [21]. So two types of faults that will be discussed in this
thesis are hence single line-to-ground faults and three-phase short circuits and they are presented
below.
2.4.1 Three phase short circuit

An ideal three phase fault
√ is shown in Figure 2.4.1 with phase voltage, Uphase , system voltage Usyst
(with a magnitude of 3 · Uphase ), short circuit current, ISC , short circuit power SSC and short
circuit impedance, ZSC . For the three-phase short circuit the following formulas can be used for
calculations of a balanced system without FCL. With an FCL the fault current is limited.
√ 2
Usyst
SSC = 3 · ISC · Usyst = (2.4.1)
ZSC
2
Usyst
ISC = √ (2.4.2)
3 · Usyst · ZSC
Usyst Uphase
ISC = √ = (2.4.3)
3 · ZSC ZSC
ISCa + ISCb + ISCc = 0 (2.4.4)
Where the short circuit current, ISC , is determined from the phase voltage and the short circuit
impedance upstream from the fault [12].
Figure 2.4.1: An ideal three phase short circuit in a solidly grounded system.
11
2.4.2 Single line-to-ground fault
An ideal single line-to-ground fault is illustrated in Figure 2.4.2. The capacitive earth fault current
in a medium voltage high impedance grounded system (10-20 kV) caused by the single line-to-
ground fault is calculated from equation 2.2.6. This formula is used instead of the formula derived
from the zero-, positive- and negative sequence and calculates the capcative earth current in the
system [13]. This facilitates comparison later, when the capacitive earth current is measured.
Figure 2.4.2: An ideal single line-to-ground fault in an ungrounded system
2.4.3 Back-fed earth fault

One unusual fault, which can occur in overhead line systems is the back-fed ground fault illustrated
in Figure 2.4.3. There one of the three phases in the overhead lines between the two transformers
breaks into two parts. The part nearest transformer T2, falls to the ground. Transformer T2
feeds the line that has fallen to ground through the ground connection. Since the transformer
T2 is delta-Y connected the fault will be fed by the transformer. The two healthy phases cause
unbalance in transformer T2. The fault current goes through the ground and feeds the fault phase
at T2. [11]
The fault current IF can be calculated from the zero-, positive- and negative-sequence which is
derived by Charles Legeyt Fortescue [13] according to the formula:
UF
IF = (2.4.5)
9ZL + 6Rj + 2Z0
where Z0 is the zero-sequence impedance, UF is the voltage over Rj which corresponds to the phase
voltage and Rj is the fault resistance. The equivalent impedance of the Y-connected transformer
T1 is described by ZL (in equation 2.4.5) determined from the equation below: [18]
UR2
ZL = (2.4.6)
Sactual
where UR is the rated voltage at transformer T1 and Sactual is the power consumption from
transformer T1.
Figure 2.4.3: Schematic drawing of back-fed ground fault where transformer T2 back-feeds the
fault.
12
3 Simulations
The simulations performed in this thesis are based on a system from Vattenfall. Initially, simula-
tions will be performed in an "Ideal system" which is a stripped version of the distribution system
from Vattenfall with one generator, transformer and three capacitors to ground (one per phase).
The next step is a "Real system", which is built as the system in Figure 3.0.1 from Vattenfall with
one generator, transformer, cables, overhead lines and loads. Finally the "Radial system" is built
with a bus with generator and transformer at the incoming feeder and five outgoing feeders with
a "Real system" at respective outgoing feeder. Two of the three systems in this investigation, the
"Ideal system" and the "Real system", are simulated with high impedance , solid grounding with
and without FCL, while the third system, "Radial system", is simulated with Petersén coil and
FCL. They are all simulated and built in the simulation and calculation program PSCAD.
The real distribution system from Vattenfall in Figure 3.0.1, can be described as a main branch
with several branches. The main branch consists of secondary substations named by just one letter
or one letter followed by the number 1 e.g. "A" or "B1". This is marked with orange colour in
Figure 3.0.1. The branches consist of secondary substations named by letters with a higher number
than 1 e.g. "B2" and "B3".
In the secondary substations "A", "O1" and "AI1" marked in Figure 3.0.1, faults will be simulated
independently of each other. These three places are of interest since the fault current is high in
substation “A” and lower in substation O1 and low in substation AI1. The faults in the secondary
substation are simulated one at a time e.g. a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation
O1.
The size of the transformer is the sum of all loads in the systems, see Figure 3.3.3, multiplied
with a factor of two for margin against overload. The transformer is Y-Y connected since it is the
general connection in a general system in Vattenfall [20]. The loads consist of households and the
"Real system" and the "Radial system" are simulated with maximum load, Pmax and Qmax . The
type of cables and overhead lines in the system is taken form the reality. The voltage levels at the
transformer, 75/11 kV, also come from an arbitrary transformer 75/10.45 and have been rounded
up to an even number to make it easier to calculate the size of the transformer.
One ideal system with back-fed earth fault is also simulated in order to see if it is easier to detect
the fault with solidly grounded Y-Y connected transformer and if the FCL will detect the fault.
This system is a stripped version of the system from Vattenfall as the "Ideal system" and the
results shows a fault which is difficult to detect so the ideal3 system was never extended to a full
scale system for this type of fault. All simulations are done with a time step of 25 µs.
Figure 3.0.1: An overview of the "Real system", simulated in this master thesis, with marked
main branch and secondary substations "A", "O1" and "AI1".
13
3.1 PSCAD
PSCAD has been used for the simulations of the "Ideal system", the "Real system" and the "Radial
system". PSCAD is an EMTDC based calculation and simulation program, where PSCAD stands
for Power System Computer Aided Design. EMTDC stands for "Electro Magnetic Transient &
Direct Current". This program is a graphic simulation program and makes it possible to simulate
schematic circuits instead of entering data through text list. It is also used for calculation of
transients, faults and transmission lines etc. The user can alter parameters during the simulations
and it is also compatible to simulate earth faults, [10].
3.2 The "Ideal system"

The ”Ideal system" in Figure 3.2.1 consists of one generator feeding a transformer. The transformer
secondary side is grounded via a high impedance or solidly grounded. The solidly grounded system
is investigated with and without an FCL installed. The three capacitances to ground on the load
side of the transformer are representing cables and overhead lines in the "Real system". The size
of the transformer is determined from the total sum of the loads in the system multiplied with a
factor of two and rounded to 7 MVA. The multiplication with a factor of two is due to the margin
for overload, in Vattenfall’s systems. The voltage rating of the transformer is chosen according to
the arbitrary transformer namely 75/11 kV. To keep it simpler in this "Ideal system", the loads
along the system and the secondary substations are removed. This simple system makes it simpler
to investigate the grounding systems on a theoretical level and also gives a picture of how the
systems are able to manage a fault.
With the same size of capacitors between each phases and ground, independently of the grounding
system, the nominal load current becomes same for the three systems, around 8 A, which makes
it possible to compare the three grounding systems each other shown in Figure 3.2.1. The voltage
and current on the load side of the transformer are measured during the simulation, for single
line-to-ground fault and three phase short circuit.
The capacitive earth current (Icap) and the incoming current through the high impedance ground-
ing (Iind ) are simulated for the single line-to-ground fault and the system with Petersén coil
grounding. These measurements are shown in Figure 3.2.2. The value of the Petersén coil, in
Figure 3.2.2, is adjusted to the capacitance in the system, done by a single line-to-ground fault.
The single line-to-ground fault shown in Figure 3.2.2 is simulated with a breaker between one of
the phases on the load side of the transformer and ground, which closes at a given time. The size
of the coil in Figure 3.2.2 is adjusted to 0.6 H parallel with a resistance and the resistance to 1
Ω, in series with the coil, which represents the resistance in the Petersén coil. The value of the
resistance is set to any number. The "Ideal system" is simulated when a single line-to-ground fault
occurs and when a three phase short circuit occurs. The last alternative is shown in Figure 3.2.1
with high impedance grounding and solid grounding with and without FCL. The fault is simulated
with one breaker between each phases and one breaker between the phase and ground in the single
line-to-ground fault
The solidly grounded transformer shown in Figure 3.2.1b, has the neutral point directly connected
to ground. The FCL is combined with the solidly grounded transformer and this case is shown
in Figure 3.2.1c, with the breakers SWA/SWB/SWC and surge arresters for each phase modelling
the FCL. The FCL triggers on a 1.5 times higher current than nominal out of the transformer.
When it detects a fault, the breaker for each phase opens and the current limits through the surges
arresters. In this manner, the current will flow from the transformer through the surge arresters
and become limited to zero when the circuit breakers opens. All of the simulations for the ideal
system are presented in section 4.
14
(a) The "Ideal system" with Petersén coil
grounding (b) The "Ideal system" with solidly grounding
(c) The "Ideal system" with a FCL
Figure 3.2.1: "Ideal system" with three different groundings and with three phase short circuit
Figure 3.2.2: The measurements for the "Ideal system" when a single line-to-ground fault occurs,
with measured current and voltage on the load side of transformer together with measured earth
current and incoming coil current.
3.3 The "Real system"

The "Real system" is built in a single line view with resistances, inductors, capacitors to ground and
capacitors between phases and loads that create the realistic network according to the data from
Vattenfall, representing cables, overhead lines and loads. Cables and overhead lines are simulated
by a resistance in series with an inductance and capacitances between phases and to ground. The
size of the components are chosen to represent a cable or an overhead line depending on the type of
overhead line or cable and the length of it, i.e. the length between two secondary substations. This
is illustrated in Figure 3.3.1 and Figure 3.3.2 shows what one of the branches looks like in more
detail. The households, or loads, have been built-up by a resistance in parallel with an inductance.
Sub-branches with loads are represented by white boxes along the main branch in Figure 3.3.1. The
loads which are connected directly to the main branch are not packaged into any white boxes, but
placed visibly along the main branch. All grounding of capacitances and the transformer ground in
the system are connected to one common point. The distribution of loads is shown in Figure 3.3.3,
where the total load for each branch and the main branch are presented. Voltage and current on
the load side of the transformer is measured similar as for the "Ideal system" together with the
incoming current for the Petersén coil and earth current.
This system is also simulated with high impedance grounding, solidly grounding with and without
an FCL. The faults in the system is simulated as; single line-to-ground fault and three phase short
15
circuit and the location of the fault is in the secondary substations "A","O1" and "AI1". These
secondary substations are marked with red in Figure 3.3.1. When, where and which types of fault
that is simulated depends on the sequence control, which selects type, timing and location of the
fault. This sequence control is represented by the grey boxes in Figure 3.3.1.
The Petersén coil is adjusted to a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "A" and has
subsequently been simulated for both the three phase short circuit and the single-line-to ground
fault for each of the three investigated fault locations. A solid grounded system both with and
without with FCL is also simulated with the same type of faults and in the same secondary
substations as for the previous types of groundings.
Figure 3.3.1: The main branch of the real system with sub-branches in the white boxes
Figure 3.3.2: Details of the sub-branch "AC" represented by a white box in Figure 3.3.1 in the
end of the main branch, with overhead lines between the substations "AC1" to "AC2", "AC2" to
"AC3" and "AC3" to "AC4" .
16
Figure 3.3.3: The loads in the system divided in groups of main branch and sub-branches.
3.4 The "Radial system"

Finally a radial structure has been implemented through parallel coupling of several similar systems;
"Radial system 1", ... ,"Radial system 5", all of which have been linked to a common bus that is
fed by a transformer of 11 kV. The size of the transformer has been increased to 11.7 MVA and the
feeding generator is set to the same voltage level as the “Real system” at 75 kV, on the incoming
side of the bus. So the "Radial system" is built with a generator, a transformer, a bus and five
subsystems, see Figure 3.4.1. In this "Radial system" the four larger systems; 1, 2, 3, and 5, are
similar to the system in the "Real system". The fifth system is smaller compared to the other
radial systems in terms of load and complexity, in order to see what happens if the "Radial system"
has one smaller system, "Radial system 4". The results for the healthy systems are similar to each
other, independently of the size of the systems, so one of the four healthy systems are represented
in the Results.
In conjunction with the structure of the radial system, each system is illustrated as a white box
with a breaker between the box and the bus. The voltage, current and power is measured at the
incoming side of each box. The power consumption for each system is presented in Figure 3.4.1,
together with an overview of the radial system and the total power consumption is 5.7 MW resp.
1.2 MVAR.
The "Radial system" is only simulated with high impedance grounding and solid grounding in
combination with an FCL, since these two groundings are of interest because the solidly grounded
system without FCL is not able to limit the faults in previous simulation. The healthy systems
have also been reconnected 30 s after the fault according to Vattenfall’s fault handling when the
FCL is reclosed [21]. It should be noted that with an FCL it is expected re-connection could be
performed substantially faster though.
The faults in the simulations are single line-to-ground fault, three phase fault and a combination
of the two faults, which starts as a single line-to-ground fault and thereafter develops into a three
phase fault. The faults are simulated in the secondary substations "A" and "AI1" in the top
system. The simulation in "A" is performed to show the fault handling in a radial system and the
simulation in "AI1" is performed to investigate if the fault would be found and limited when it
occurs further out in the system.
The faults "single line-to-ground fault", "three phase short circuit" and "single line-to-ground fault
which develops into a three phase short circuit" are simulated as faults in the "Radial system 1".
After the disconnection caused by the fault, four healthy systems are connected again. While the
"Radial system 1", with fault, will stay disconnected for the rest of the time in the simulation.
17
Figure 3.4.1: The "Radial system" with an FCL and with one "Radial system" in each box.
"Radial system 1", "Radial system 2", "Radial system 3" and "Radial system 5" are the system in
Figure 3.3.1. The measured voltages and currents on the incoming side of each system are marked
3.5 "Ideal back-fed earth fault"

The "Ideal back-fed earth fault" is simulated with FCL and High impedance grounding on the
fed Y-Y connected transformer together with ideal overhead lines, see Figure 3.5.1 and Figure
3.5.2. The Delta-Y connected transformer is solidly grounded which is a common grounding for
a transformer connected between system and load. The load on the secondary side of the Delta-
Y connected transformer is simulated with the capacitance based on the system from Vattenfall.
With a solidly grounded Y-Y connected transformer is the expectations to detect this type of fault
easier than with Petersén coil.
Figure 3.5.1: The "Ideal back-fed earth fault" with high impedance grounded transformer
Figure 3.5.2: The "Ideal back-fed earth fault" simulated with solid grounding with FCL
18
4 Results
For all simulated cases voltage and current on the secondary side of the transformers are measured.
The results are presented below and also as number in paragraph Summary. Some of the figures
are located in Appendix 1 instead to give a clearer view of the result. (The affected figures are the
plots over secondary substation "O1" in the "Real system".)
The time at which the fault occurs is by default 0.1225 seconds but for some of the figures the
single line-to-ground fault develops into three phase short circuit. These faults which not develops
into larger fault are plotted between 0.1 seconds and 0.3 seconds if nothing else is specified. For the
single line-to-ground fault which develops into a three phase fault the simulation time is longer to
keep the 30 seconds wait time before re-connection, which is the recommendation from Vattenfall,
in order to limit the damages on rotating machines at re-connection. For the y-axis most of the
figures have the span of ± 20 kV and ± 20 kA to facilitate comparison. When peak values of
voltage or current are higher, larger ranges are used though.
4.1 The "Ideal system"

In the "Ideal system", simulations of a single line-to-ground fault and a three phase short circuit
have been made both for the high impedance grounded and the solidly grounded case, with and
without FCL. All voltages and currents are measured at the transformer terminals on the load side
of the transformer and the fault occurs at 0.1225 seconds.

Figure 4.1.1 presents voltages and currents from the simulations of a single line-to-ground fault
in a high impedance ground system (Figure 4.1.1a and 4.1.1b), a solidly grounded system (Figure
4.1.1c and 4.1.1d) and a solidly grounded system with FCL (Figure 4.1.1e and 4.1.1f). The currents
in Figure 4.1.1 are magnified in Figure 4.1.2. The nominal current before the fault occurs is 14
Arms , 20 Apeak and the nominal voltage is 6.35 kVrms and 9 kVpeak . Looking at the top figures,
Figure 4.1.1a and 4.1.1b, the characteristic limitation of a fault with a high impedance grounded
transformer can be seen. The voltage in the two healthy
√ phases gets a higher amplitude, 15.5
kVpeak instead of 9 k Vpeak , which equals a factor of 3 while the voltage in phase c is zero due to
the fault. The fault current in phase c becomes limited by the coil from the peak current on 120
A to ± 15 A at 0.38 s. Where as in the two healthy phases the current in the two healthy phases
increased from nominal 20 Apeak to 30 Apeak as can be seen in the enlarged in Figure 4.1.2a.
Below the high impedance grounded the solidly grounded system is presented in figures Figure
4.1.1c and Figure 4.1.1d with the voltage and current out of the transformer. Also here the voltage
in phase c, becomes zero due to the fault as with the high impedance grounding. But the fault
current in phase c (shown in Figure 4.1.2b) is not limited. This causes a higher fault current. For
the healthy phases the amplitude of the current stays at the nominal values as shown in Figure
4.1.2b.
The last grounding system is presented in Figure 4.1.1e and Figure 4.1.1f. There the influence of
FCL is shown, which limits the transformer current on the load side to zero for all three phases, see
Figure 4.1.2c. Unlike the other two grounding systems the transformer current has one transient
at each phase, which is short. The duration of the fault current is approximately 1 ms and
much shorter than for the high impedance grounding. The voltage on the secondary side of the
transformer stays on the nominal value, with only a small transient at the instant when the fault
occurs.
19
20 20
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Voltage on the load side of the transformer (b) Current on the load side of the transformer
with a high impedance grounding. with a high impedance grounding.
20 20
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Voltage on the load side of the transformer (d) Current on the load side of the transformer
with solidly grounding with solidly grounding
20 20
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) Voltage on the load side of the transformer (f) Current on the load side of the transformer
with an FCL with an FCL
Figure 4.1.1: The transformer current and voltage, simulated in the “Ideal system" for three
different groundings when a single line-to-ground fault occurs
20
0.1 5
T1a T1a
T1b T1b
4
T1c T1c
0.05 3
0 1
Current [kA]
Current [kA]
-0.05 -1
-2
-0.1 -3
-4
-0.15 -5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Expansion of the current on the load side of (b) Expansion of the current on the load side of
the transformer with high impedance grounding. the transformer with solid grounding
0.18
T1a
T1b
0.16
T1c
0.14
0.12
0.1
Current [kA]
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
-0.02
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s]
(c) Expansion of the current on the load side

of the transformer with an FCL in combination
with solid grounding
Figure 4.1.2: Zoom of transformer current, simulated in the “Ideal system" for three different
groundings and single line-to-ground fault.

For a three phase short circuit, the measured currents and voltages can be seen in Figure 4.1.3.
Figure 4.1.3b shows that the high impedance is not capable of limiting the three phase short circuit.
The fault current becomes 20 Apeak for all phases. The same thing also happens for the solidly
grounded transformer. With the FCL the fault current becomes limited to zero due to the FCL,
see Figure 4.1.3f and some current transients are detectable for the FCL in the same way as for
the single line-to-ground fault. The voltage on the load side of the transformer is unchanged for
the FCL compared to high impedance grounding and solid grounding system where it goes down
to zero due to the fault.
21
20 20
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with a high impedance grounding. with a high impedance grounding.
20 20
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with solid grounding with solid grounding
20 1.5
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc T1c
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
Figure 4.1.3: The transformer current and voltage, simulated in the "Ideal system" for three
different groundings and three phase short circuit fault.
4.1.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Ideal system"

In order to understand how the FCL works in the system, both voltages across (Ealim , Eblim , Eclim )
and currents through (ISW A , ISW B , ISW C ) the breakers (SWA, SWB and SWC) are illustrated
together with the transformer voltages (VT a , VT b , VT c ) and currents (T1a , T1b , T1c ) on the load
side, see Figure 4.1.4. The voltage across the FCL when a fault has occurred is smaller than the
phase voltage on the load side of the transformer initially, but it becomes equal with each other.
However, the voltage downstream the FCL is zero. This is shown in Figure 4.1.4a e.g. where the
EAlim is the voltage across the FCL in phase a and VT a is the phase voltage on the load side of
22
the transformer for same phase. That occurs when the FCL limits the fault current.
The transformer current and breaker current in Figure 4.1.4b and Figure 4.1.4d are equal and
overlap. But when the FCL opens after 0.7 ms which approximately is 0.1235 s, in Figure 4.1.4d,
after the fault had occurred at 0.1225 s, the transformer current for phase c, Ic , will discharge to
zero instead for the breaker current ISW C which forces down to zero.
20 1.5
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc T1c
EAlim ISWA
1
EBlim ISWB
ECLim ISWC
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage across the FCL and on the load (b) The current in the FCL and on the load side
and the load side of the transformer of the transformer
20 1.5
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
15 VTc T1c
EAlim ISWA
1
EBlim ISWB
ECLim ISWC
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.12 0.121 0.122 0.123 0.124 0.125 0.126 0.127 0.128 0.129 0.13 0.12 0.121 0.122 0.123 0.124 0.125 0.126 0.127 0.128 0.129 0.13
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Enlargement of FCL and transformer volt- (d) Enlargement of FCL and transformer cur-
ages which become limited after 0.7 ms after the rent which become limited after 0.7 ms after the
three phase short circuit has occurred three phase short circuit has occurred
Figure 4.1.4: The FCL current and voltage, simulated in the "Ideal system".
4.2 The "Real system"

In the "Real system", the three grounding systems are simulated to see how they react in case
of a fault (single line-to-ground fault and three phase short circuit) in a real system with loads.
With this larger system the high impedance was increased to 0.9 H (instead of 0.6 H as for the
"Ideal system"). The trip value for the FCL also has increased with the bigger system current.
The nominal current is 78 Arms , corresponding to 111 Apeak and the FCL trips on 1.5 times this
value, i.e. 166.5 A. Faults are simulated in substations "A", "AI1" and "O1" (which is found in
Appendix 1).

4.2.1.1 Secondary substation "A"
Results from simulation of a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "A" are shown in
Figure 4.2.1. The nominal current is 111 Apeak and the nominal voltage is 9 kVpeak , but when
the fault occurs the high impedance will limit the current in the faulted phase. The current in the
23
two healthy phases are marginal increased over the nominal value and the voltage in the healthy
phases will increase. The fault current in the solid grounded system is not limited and increases
to 12 kA and thereafter decreases. Both the voltage and the current of the two healthy phases
remain of the nominal value when the fault occurs. So with a solidly grounded transformer the
two healthy phases are unaffected when the fault occurs which means the amplitude of the healthy
phases are the same as before the fault, see Figure 4.2.1c and Figure 4.2.1d. In Figure 4.2.1f the
three phase currents are limited on the load side of the transformer when the fault occurs. This
limitation 0.7 ms is much faster than with high impedance grounded or solid grounded, but this is
hard to compare FCL with high impedance grounded or solid grounded, since they are depending
on relays and breakers.
The voltage in the fault phases will drop to zero when the fault is limited√by the high impedance.
But the two healthy phases are increased from 9 kV with a factor of 3 to 15.5 kV. Similar
phenomenon occurs with the solid grounded system, with the fault phase decreased to zero and
the two healthy phases at the nominal value instead for the higher amplitude at 15.5 kV. The voltage
with the solid grounded. transformer combined with an FCL is still on the nominal value when
the fault occurs, see Figure 4.2.1e. This shows that the voltage across the FCL and downstream
the FCL becomes zero, see paragraph 4.2.3. This will cause that the consumers downstream the
FCL are not fed by the two healthy phases, which can be able with the high impedance and the
solid grounded system without an FCL.
24
20 1.5
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with high impedance. with high impedance.
20
VATa T1a
VATb 10 T1b
15 VATc T1c
10
5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-5
-10
-15
-10
-20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Voltage on the load of the transformer with (d) Current on the load side of the transformer
solidly grounding without FCL. with solidly grounding without FCL.
20 1.5
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with solidly grounding combined with an FCL. with solidly grounding combined with an FCL.
Figure 4.2.1: Voltage and current on the load side of the transformer in the "Real system" with
three grounding systems and a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "A". The mea-
surement points are marked in Figure 3.2.2
4.2.1.2 Secondary substation "AI1"
All of the three grounding systems react similar for a single line-to-ground fault in substation "AI1"
as a single line-to-ground fault in substation "A", but the fault current is smaller and therefore
fault current transients are smaller for each grounding. This is most clearly visible for the solid
grounded transformer, see Figure 4.2.2. The smaller fault current is visible by comparing the solid
grounding system for the two substations, Figure 4.2.1d with Figure 4.2.2d. This shows how a fault
25
near the end of the main branch in secondary substation "AI1" is smaller than 0.3 kA and therefore
more difficult to detect, compared to the fault in substation "A" with higher fault current, 12 A.
20
0.15
VATa
T1a
VATb
T1b
15 VATc
T1c
0.1
10
0.05
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.05
-10
-0.1
-15
-20 -0.15
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with high impedance. with high impedance.
20
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc T1c
0.2
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20
0.2
VATa
T1a
VATb
T1b
15 VATc
0.15 T1c
10 0.1
5 0.05
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.05
-10 -0.1
-15 -0.15
-20 -0.2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
Figure 4.2.2: Voltage and current on the load side of the transformer in the "Real system" with
three grounding systems and a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "AI1". The
measurement points are marked in Figure 3.2.2
4.2.1.3 Secondary substation "O1"

The simulated fault current transient when the fault occurs in secondary substation "O1" is between
the results for "A" and "AI1", 1.5 kApeak in the solidly grounding case, see Appendix 1, where the
results of the simulations in secondary substation "O1" are presented.
26
4.2.2.1 Secondary substation "A"
Neither the high impedance grounding nor the solid grounding is capable of limiting the fault
current in a three phase short circuit, see Figure 4.2.3b and Figure 4.2.3d. The phase currents are
balanced, which means that the sum of the three phases will be zero (Ia + Ib + Ic = 0). Since
the sum is zero, the capacitive earth current is also zero which means that no current goes up
through the neutral point of the transformer and the current upstream the fault location becomes
not limited. This result in a higher fault current, 12 kApeak , for both of the grounding systems.
In neither of the grounding systems the capacative fault current decreases to zero, as compared
to case of the single line-to-ground fault, where the fault current decreases to zero. The FCL is
capable of limiting this type of fault, which is shown in Figure 4.2.3f. The voltage on the load
side of the transformer nearly becomes zero for the high impedance grounding and solid grounding
when the fault occurs near the transformer, see Figure 4.2.3a and Figure 4.2.3c. The amplitude
of the voltage will increase when the fault is further out in the system, see next case with three
phase short circuit in substation "AI1".
27
20 20
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with high impedance grounding. with high impedance grounding.
20 20
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 15 T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with solid grounding with solid grounding
20 2
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
Figure 4.2.3: Voltage and current on the load side of the transformer, simulated in the "Real
system" with high impedance grounding, solid grounding, FCL respectively with a three phase
short circuit fault in secondary substation "A".
4.2.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1"
With the three phase short circuit further out in the "Real system", see Figure 4.2.4, the voltage out
of the transformer is not as significantly affected as for the three phase short circuit in secondary
substation "A". The fault current is not as much affected as for the three phase short circuit
in substation "A". The peak value of the current is 0.28 kApeak instead of 12 kApeak , for the
high impedance grounding and the solid grounding system in Figure 4.2.4a and Figure 4.2.4c
28
respectively. The transformer voltage on the outgoing side of the transformer is not zero, which
happened for the same fault in substation "A" in Figure 4.2.3 where it drops with more than 90
%. The FCL shown in Figure 4.2.4e and Figure 4.2.4f limits the fault current to zero on the other
hand.
20 0.3
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc T1c
0.2
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage on the secondary side of the (b) The current on the secondary side of the
transformer in the "Real system" with high transformer in the "Real system" with high
impedance grounding. impedance grounding.
20 0.3
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc T1c
0.2
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The voltage on the secondary side of the (d) The current on the secondary side of the
transformer in the "Real system" with solidly transformer in the "Real system" with solidly
grounding. grounding.
20
0.2
VATa
T1a
VATb
T1b
15 VATc
0.15 T1c
10 0.1
5 0.05
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.05
-10 -0.1
-15 -0.15
-20 -0.2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The voltage on the secondary side of the (f) The current on the secondary side of the
transformer in the "Real system" with an FCL. transformer in the "Real system" with an FCL.
Figure 4.2.4: The "Real systems" simulated with the three grounding systems and three phase
short circuit in secondary substation "AI1".
29
4.2.2.3 Secondary substation "O1"
As for the single line-to-ground fault the amplitude of the fault current in substation "O1" with
three phase short circuit is lower than in substation "A" but higher than in substation "AI1", 1.65
kApeak for solid grounding and high impedance grounding. The voltage drop when the fault occurs
is also lower when the fault occurs in "O1" then it occurs in "A" but higher then when it occurs
in "AI1", from 9 kV to 7.56 kV. The results and simulation are presented in Appendix 1.
4.2.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Real system"
The current and the voltage downstream the FCL are limited to zero, which is shown in Figure
4.2.5. It shows how the "Real system" current and voltage are forced to zero, when the FCL trips
on the fault current. The FCL is modelled as breakers with surge arrestors in parallel. This means
that the fault current flows through the surge arrestor and becomes limited. Limitation with FCL
implies that all of the three phases are limited instead of the limited fault phase in the system with
high impedance grounding. Since the two healthy phases are also limited, can they not feed the
system as the system with high impedance grounding.
,30Figure 4.2.6 classes the transfer quality and the measure for the owner, [19]. The voltage across
the FCL is near the 8.9 kV after the fault has occurred, meaning that the voltage downstream
the FCL is close to zero. And the power quality is in the area for 5>u in Figure 4.2.6 from
Energimarknadsinspektionen. However, a possible re-connection is faster than the 10 ms which is
the limit for the table in Figure 4.2.6.
10
0.2
Vafter a
Iafter a
8 Vafter b
Iafter b
Vafter c
0.15 Iafter c
6
4 0.1
2
Current [kA]
Current [kA]
0.05
0
-2
-4
-0.05
-6
-0.1
-8
-10 -0.15
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage downstream the FCL. (b) The current downstream the FCL
Figure 4.2.5: The current through the FCL and the voltage phase to ground downstream the FCL
measured before, simultaneously as the faults happens and after the FCL has trapped. The fault
occurs at 0.1225 seconds and is a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "AI1"
Figure 4.2.6: There shall be no short-term voltage drop with such residual voltage and duration
as shown in area C. Grid owners are required to fix short voltage reductions within area B in the
table above to extent the measures are reasonable in relation to the inconvenience for the users
associated with the short voltage reductions. [19]
30
4.3 The "Radial system"
In the "Radial system", the measured incoming voltages and currents at "Radial system 1" and
"Radial system 5" are presented together with the outgoing voltages and currents from the feeding
transformer. The time axis is broken into two parts, to give a better view of the fault handling with
disconnection and re-connection. The interruption time starts at 0.7 ms for the FCL (see paragraph
4.1.3) and 1 s for high impedance grounding, according to Vattenfall’s standard respectively, after
the fault occurred. The breakers re-close at 30 s after the disconnection.
4.3.1 Single line-to-ground fault at "Radial system 1"

The "Radial system" is simulated with FCL and high impedance grounding respectively with a
single line-to-ground fault in the "Radial system 1" at secondary substation "A" and respectively
"AI1". The simulation time is 0.3 s and the re-connection of the healthy systems takes place 100
ms after that fault has occurred.
The simulation is done with breaker on the "Radial system 1", which is set to break at any current
to disconnect the fault. This does not happen in reality, it instead breaks on the zero crossing. The
y-axes are not limited to ± 20 kV or ± 20 kA. They are instead chosen to give a good overview of
the measured data.
4.3.1.1 Secondary substation "A" in the "Radial system 1"

The single line-to-ground fault in the secondary substation "A" in the "Radial system 1" is limited
by both the FCL and the high impedance grounding.
In Figure 4.3.1 the transformer is grounded through a high impedance. The simulated voltage on
the load side of the transformer, incoming voltage at "Radial system 1" and "Radial system 5"
show same behaviour as for the "Real system", with zero voltage on the fault phase and with high
voltage amplitude on the healthy phases. When the "Radial system 1" is disconnected around 0.22
s, the voltage on the load side of the transformer and the incoming voltage at "Radial system 5"
will go back to the normal state and the voltage in the "Radial system 1" go down to zero. The
simulated transformer current in Figure 4.3.1b, on the load side, show a maximum current around
700 A and a different behaviour compared to the "Real system". For the "Radial system 1" the
fault phase (0.5 A) is not limited before the breaker opens around 0.22 s and the fault current is
interrupted. But the current at the incoming side of the "Radial system 5" is somewhat below the
nominal value. All of these figures show a longer fault time and higher amplitude compared to the
FCL. This can cause more damage occurred by the fault current.
In Figure 4.3.2 the transformer in the "Radial system" is solidly grounded in combination with an
FCL. As is seen in the figure, the FCL limits the current after the fault has occurred. None of
the outgoing feeders are fed with any current or voltage, before the re-connection of the healthy
systems is done. One important part compared to the high impedance grounding, is the short fault
time which is much shorter than high impedance grounding and the voltage on the load side of the
transformer only has a transient compared to the increased amplitude on the healthy phases for the
high impedance grounding. After the FCL all phases are limited which limits the damage caused
by the fault current. Under this time when the FCL works (≈ 0.12s to ≈ 0.22s) the voltage and
current are nearly zero and after the "Radial system 1" is disconnected, the transformer current
and "Radial system"s voltage and current are back to nominal values after the system components
are charged.
31
20 1
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
0.8
15 VT1c T1c
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage on the load side of the trans- (b) The current on the load side of the trans-
former which is grounded through a high former which is grounded through a high
impedance. impedance.
20 0.5
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
0.4
15 Vc56 Ic56
0.3
10
0.2
5
0.1
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.1
-5
-0.2
-10
-0.3
-15
-0.4
-20 -0.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The incoming voltage at "Radial system 5" (d) The incoming current at "Radial system 5"
(healthy subsystem). (healthy subsystem).
20 1
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
0.8
15 VBRKc IcBRK
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The voltage at "Radial system 1" which has (f) The current at "Radial system 1" which has
a single line-to-ground fault in secondary sub- a single line-to-ground fault in secondary sub-
station "A". station "A".
Figure 4.3.1: The "Radial system" grounded through a high impedance when a single line-to-
ground fault occurs in the "Radial system 1" at secondary substation "A"
32
15 3
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
VT1c T1c
10 2
5 1
Current [kA]
Voltage [kV]
0 0
-5 -1
-10 -2
-15 -3
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage on the load side of the solidly (b) The current on the load side of the solidly
grounded transformer with an FCL. grounded transformer with an FCL.
15 1
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
0.8
Vc56 Ic56
10
0.6
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-0.6
-10
-0.8
-15 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(healthy system). (healthy system).
15
VBRKa IaBRK
3 IbBRK
VBRKb
VBRKc IcBRK
10
2
5
1
Current [kA]
Voltage [kV]
0 0
-1
-5
-2
-10
-3
-15
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The incoming voltage at "Radial system 1" (f) The incoming current at "Radial system 1"
which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec- which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec-
ondary substation "A". ondary substation "A".
Figure 4.3.2: Measured voltages and currents in the "Radial system" with a solidly grounded
transformer in combination with FCL and a single line-to-ground fault in the "Radial system 1"
at substation "A"
33
4.3.1.2 Secondary substation "AI1" in the "Radial system 1"
The single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "AI1" is simulated with both FCL and high
impedance grounding, see Figure 4.3.3 and Figure 4.3.4. Neither of the two grounding systems
limit the fault and "Radial system 1" is never disconnected because of the low fault current, but
in the reality the fault would be disconnected.
In the simulations below in Figure 4.3.3, the "Radial system" has the transformer grounded through
a high impedance. The high impedance (Figure 4.3.3) does not limit this week fault clearly visible
in secondary substation “AI1”. The current at the radial system where the fault occurs is visible
in Figure 4.3.3f and the voltage visible in figure 4.3.3e, shows an increase in the fault phase and a
decrease in the other phases.
In Figure 4.3.4 the transformer in the "Radial system" is solidly grounded with an FCL. The fault
is visible in Figure 4.3.4f, with a higher amplitude on the current in the faulty phase, 270 A. This
symptom with much higher amplitude of the faulty phase is not clearly visible for the transformer
and "Radial system 5", which only show a small alteration. So the amplitude of the phases for the
load side of the transformer and "Radial system 5" are not noticeably changed. The FCL is not
able to detect the fault and therefore not able to disconnect the fault.
34
20 1.5
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
former, grounded with high impedance. former, grounded with high impedance.
20 1.5
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
15 Vc56 Ic56
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The incoming voltage at the "Radial system (d) The incoming current at the "Radial system
5" (healthy subsystem). 5" (healthy subsystem).
20 1.5
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
15 VBRKc IcBRK
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The incoming voltage at the "Radial system (f) The incoming current at the "Radial system
1" which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec- 1" which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec-
ondary substation "AI1". ondary substation "AI1".
Figure 4.3.3: The "Radial system" simulated with a high impedance grounded transformer and a
single line-to-ground fault of substation "AI1".
35
20 1.5
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) The voltage on the load side of the solidly (b) The current on load side of the solidly
grounded transformer with a FCL. grounded transformer with a FCL.
20 1.5
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
15 Vc56 Ic56
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20 1.5
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
15 VBRKc IcBRK
1
10
0.5
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.5
-10
-1
-15
-20 -1.5
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
1" which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec- 1" which has a single line-to-ground fault in sec-
Figure 4.3.4: The "Radial system" with solid ground system combination with an FCL when a
single line-to-ground fault occurs in the "Radial system 1" at substation "AI1"
4.3.2 Three phase short circuit at "Radial system 1"

The "Radial system" is simulated with high impedance grounding and solid grounding with an
FCL when a three phase short circuit occurs in the "Radial system 1" in substation "A" and "AI1"
respectively. The fault occurs at 0.1225 s and the bus becomes disconnected with the main circuit
breaker downstream the transformer at 1.12 s with the high impedance grounding and respectively
around 0.13 s with the FCL combined with solid grounding. But the time for disconnection in
the reality for high impedance grounded transformer with short circuit is 100 ms after the fault
36
occurred and 100 ms more for a low fault current. The re-connection of the healthy systems and
the bus become at 31.12 seconds with high impedance grounding and respectively 30.13 s with the
FCL. But in reality the sick system in the high impedance grounded system become disconnected
and the healthy systems never become disconnected. This is due to a misunderstanding of fault
handling in distribution systems, visible in the Figures. With the FCL the re-connection can be
done faster but it is simulated with the 30 s to prevent damage to rotating machines, as the re-
commendation from Vattenfall.
In the simulation the beakers between the "Radial system 1" and the bus are set to break at any
current. This does not happen in the reality, where it breaks at the zero crossing. The y-axis in
the plots are adjusted to get a good overview of the measured data.
4.3.2.1 Secondary substation "A"in the "Radial system 1"
The results of the simulations of three phase faults are present in this paragraph. Only the FCL
can limit the three phase short circuit because the high impedance grounding is only able to limit
the single line-to-ground fault with an earth current.
The "Radial system" with a high impedance grounded transformer is presented in Figure 4.3.5.
The voltage and current on the load side of the transformer and the incoming voltage and current
at "Radial system 1" and "Radial system 5" are plotted. When the three phase short circuit occurs
the high impedance grounding is not able to limit the short circuit current. This is most clearly
visible in Figure 4.3.5f where the current amplitude increases under the fault (around 1.12 s) to 18
kA transients and declining to 12 kA and become zero after the "Radial system 1" is disconnected.
Even here the healthy systems becomes disconnected for the high impedance grounded transformer
in contrast to Vattenfall. When the main circuit breaker open, the transformer will not have any
load. The current on the load side of the transformer will decrease to zero and the voltage on the
load side of the transformer returns to the nominal value. After the re-connection, the transformer
current of the load side will take a value at 340 Apeak and feed the radial systems 2, 3, 4 and
5. When the fault occurs with high impedance grounding, the transformer fed the fault and the
"Radial system 5" decrease to 0 A and after the re-connection the current increases back to the
nominal value at 111 Apeak .
For the simulation with same type of fault in the "Radial system 1" with a solidly grounded
transformer in combination with an FCL, in Figure 4.3.6. The voltage and current downstream the
FCL are limited to zero at the outgoing feeders before the re-connection as in previous simulations.
At the re-connection, the healthy system, resume the nominal value of the voltage and a lower value
of the current.
37
20 20
VT1a VT1a T1a T1a
VT1b VT1b T1b T1b
15 15
VT1c VT1c T1c T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
former grounded with a high impedance. former grounded with a high impedance.
20
Va56 Va56 Ia56 Ia56
15 Vb56 Vb56 Ib56 Ib56
Vc56 Vc56 0.2 Ic56 Ic56
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(healthy subsystem). (healthy subsystem).
20 20
VBRKa VBRKa IaBRK IaBRK
15 VBRKb VBRKb 15 IbBRK IbBRK
VBRKc VBRKc IcBRK IcBRK
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
where a three phase short circuit occurs in sec- where a three phase short circuit occurs in sec-
ondary substation "A". ondary substation "A".
Figure 4.3.5: The "Radial system" with the transformer grounded through a high impedance and
simulated with a three phase fault in the "Radial system 1" at substation "A"
38
20 6
VT1a T1a
15 VT1b T1b
VT1c 4 T1c
10
2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-2
-10
-4
-15
-20 -6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
former with solid grounding system with FCL former with solid grounding system with FCL.
20 2
Va56 Ia56
15 Vb56 1.5 Ib56
Vc56 Ic56
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
20 6
VBRKa IaBRK
15 VBRKb IbBRK
VBRKc 4 IcBRK
10
2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-2
-10
-4
-15
-20 -6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
1" where a three phase short circuit occurs at 1" where a three phase short circuit occurs at
substation "A". substation "A".
Figure 4.3.6: The "Radial system" with a solidly grounded transformer in combination with an
FCL when a three phase fault occurs in the "Radial system 1" at substation "A"
4.3.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1" in "Radial system 1"
A three phase short circuit in substation "AI1" in the end of the "Radial system 1" is hard to
detect because of the low fault current and limit for the FCL. The high impedance grounding is
not able to limit this type of fault. Since it is only able to limit the earth current occurring for a
single line-to-ground fault.
A three phase fault in secondary substation "AI1" at the "Radial system 1" simulated with a
transformer grounded through a high impedance is shown in Figure 4.3.7. Since the high impedance
grounding does not limit the three phase short circuit, only the initially 0.3 s of the simulation
39
is shown. This type of fault becomes disconnected in the reality. Since the fault occurs further
out in the "Radial system 1" the peak value of the fault current is significantly lower than when
the fault occurred in substation "A1". On the load side of the transformer the peak value of the
current becomes 500 A and in the "Radial system 1" the peak value of the current becomes 300 A
and declines to 200 A. For the healthy system, the current stays close to the nominal value.
The same type of fault is now simulated with solid grounding in combination with FCL. Because
the FCL does not detect the fault, the voltage and current are not limited, see Figure 4.3.8. This
depends on that the current out of the transformer does not rise to the trip value at 1.5 times the
nominal current, 450 Apeak . The characteristic of voltages and the currents are the same as for
the high impedance grounding.
40
20 1
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
0.8
15 VT1c T1c
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
former with high impedance grounding. former with high impedance grounding
20 1
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
0.8
15 Vc56 Ic56
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20 1
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
0.8
15 VBRKc IcBRK
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
1" where a three phase short circuit occurs in 1" where a three phase short circuit occurs in
secondary substation "AI1". secondary substation "AI1".
Figure 4.3.7: The "Radial system" grounded through a high impedance and a three phase short
circuit fault in the "Radial system 1" in substation "AI1"
41
20 1
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
0.8
15 VT1c T1c
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
former with solid grounding with FCL. former with a solid grounding with FCL
20 1
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
0.8
15 Vc56 Ic56
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20 1
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
0.8
15 VBRKc IcBRK
0.6
10
0.4
5
0.2
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-0.2
-5
-0.4
-10
-0.6
-15
-0.8
-20 -1
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
where a three phase short circuit occurs in sec- where three phase short circuit occurs in sec-
Figure 4.3.8: The "Radial system" with solid grounding where a in combination with an FCL when
a three phase fault occurs in the "Radial system 1" at substation "AI1".
4.3.3 Single line-to-ground fault which develops into a three phase short circuit in
"Radial system 1"
4.3.3.1 Fault in secondary substation "A"
The nominal current and voltage on the load side of the transformer in the "Radial system" is
260 Arms and 6.36 kVrms . In this simulation a the single line-to-ground fault occurs at 0.1225s
and a three phase short circuit occurs at 0.1425 s. The disconnection occurs 1 s after the single
line-to-ground fault with high impedance grounding. In the reality the faulty part in the "Radial
42
system 1" would be disconnected 100 ms after the fault develops into a short circuit. Re-connection
of the healthy systems occurs at 30.1425 s. For the solid grounding with FCL the disconnection
happens 0.7 ms after the single line-to-ground fault occurred. The re-connection of the healthy
systems happens at 30.1225 s with FCL which depends on the standard from Vattenfall, when
Vattenfall try to re-connect the faulty part to see if the fault is cleared.
The high impedance grounding in the "Radial system" limits only the single line-to-ground fault
and not the fault current when it changes in to a three phase short circuit at 0.1425. This is shown
in Figure 4.3.9 and in the enlargement in 4.3.10. When the system is re-connected the voltage
and current of the "Radial system 5" and the transformer current and voltage are asymmetric.
The asymmetry slowly becomes symmetric again, as the components such as capacitances and
inductances are recharged. The values of the voltages and currents are the same as shown previously
for the single line-to-ground fault and the three phase short circuit respectively. In Figure 4.3.11
with solidly grounding combined with a FCL, the fault current is already limited to zero before the
fault changes to a three phase short circuit which is visible at 0.1425 s. This is also shown more
clearly in the enlargement in Figure 4.3.12. The time when the fault develops into short circuit is
an arbitrary time and does not necessarily occurs in reality. So with the FCL the fault will not
have time to become a three phase short circuit, which might happen for the "Radial system"
grounded with a high impedance.
As in previous simulations with an FCL, both voltages and currents are nearly zero downstream
the FCL, see Figure 4.3.11c.
43
20 20
VT1a VT1a T1a T1a
15 VT1b VT1b 15 T1b T1b
VT1c VT1c T1c T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Voltage on the secondary side of the high (b) Current on the secondary side of the
impedance grounded transformer. Pteresén coil grounded transformer.
20 0.2
Va56 Va56 Ia56 Ia56
15 Vb56 Vb56 0.15 Ib56 Ib56
Vc56 Vc56 Ic56 Ic56
10 0.1
5 0.05
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.05
-10 -0.1
-15 -0.15
-20 -0.2
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Incoming voltage at "Radial system 5" (d) Incoming current at "Radial system 5"
20 20
VBRKa VBRKa IaBRK IaBRK
15 VBRKb VBRKb 15 IbBRK IbBRK
VBRKc VBRKc IcBRK IcBRK
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 30.1 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) Incoming voltage at "Radial system 1" which (f) Incoming current at "Radial system 1" which
has a fault in substation "A". has a fault in substation "A".
Figure 4.3.9: Voltages and currents simulated in the "Radial system" with a high impedance
grounded transformer and a single line-to-ground fault which develops in to a three phase fault, in
secondary substation "A" in "Radial system 1 ".
44
20 20
VT1a T1a
15 VT1b 15 T1b
VT1c T1c
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Voltage on the secondary side of the high (b) Current on the secondary side of the
impedance grounded transformer. Pteresén coil grounded transformer.
20 0.15
Va56 Ia56
15 Vb56 Ib56
Vc56 0.1 Ic56
10
0.05
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.05
-10
-0.1
-15
-20 -0.15
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Incoming voltage at "Radial system 5" (d) Incoming current at "Radial system 5"
20 20
VBRKa IaBRK
15 VBRKb 15 IbBRK
VBRKc IcBRK
10 10
5 5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -5
-10 -10
-15 -15
-20 -20
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) Incoming voltage at "Radial system 1" which (f) Incoming current at "Radial system 1" which
has a fault in substation "A". has a fault in substation "A".
Figure 4.3.10: Voltages and currents simulated in the "Radial system" with a high impedance
grounded transformer and a single line-to-ground fault which develops in to a three phase fault, in
secondary substation "A" in "Radial system 1 ".
45
20 6
VT1a T1a
15 VT1b T1b
VT1c 4 T1c
10
2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-2
-10
-4
-15
-20 -6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
20 2
Va56 Ia56
15 Vb56 1.5 Ib56
Vc56 Ic56
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The incoming voltage to the "Radial system (d) The incoming current to the "Radial system
5" (healthy system). 5" (healthy system).
20 6
VBRKa IaBRK
15 VBRKb IbBRK
VBRKc 4 IcBRK
10
2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-2
-10
-4
-15
-20 -6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The incoming voltage to the "Radial system (f) The incoming current to the "Radial system
1". 1".
Figure 4.3.11: Voltages and currents in the "Radial system" with an FCL and a fault which starts
as a single line-to-ground fault and develops into a three phase fault in substation "A" in the
"Radial system 1".
46
20 6
VT1a T1a
15 VT1b T1b
5
VT1c T1c
10
4
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
3
0
2
-5
1
-10
-15 0
-20 -1
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
20 0.15
Va56 Ia56
15 Vb56 Ib56
Vc56 0.1 Ic56
10
0.05
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.05
-10
-0.1
-15
-20 -0.15
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The incoming voltage to the "Radial system (d) The incoming current to the "Radial system
5" (healthy system). 5" (healthy system).
20 6
VBRKa IaBRK
15 VBRKb IbBRK
5
VBRKc IcBRK
10
4
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
3
0
2
-5
1
-10
-15 0
-20 -1
0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The incoming voltage to the "Radial system (f) The incoming current to the "Radial system
1". 1".
Figure 4.3.12: Voltages and currents in the "Radial system" with an FCL and a fault which starts
as a single line-to-ground fault and become limited before the fault develops into a three phase
fault in substation "A" in the "Radial system 1".
47
4.3.3.2 Fault in secondary substation "AI1"
For the high impedance grounding the fault current for the single line-to-ground fault is low and
the effect of the high impedance is therefore, see Figure 4.3.13, not clearly visible. Although the
high impedance would be capable of limiting the fault even further into the system, it can only
limit a single line-to-ground fault and not the three phase short circuit that the fault develops into.
With a low fault current the FCL can not detect the fault. The transformer current on the
secondary side, just increases from 450 A to 500 A which is not detected by the FCL. This is
shown in figures below at 0.1225 s. Since the FCL never detects the fault, the fault will remain and
develops into a three phase short circuit. For the healthy "Radial system 5", the current remains
to the nominal value. For the "Radial system 1" the fault current is slightly above the nominal
value. The values of voltages and currents are the same as for the single line-to-ground fault and
three phase short circuit "AI1", when simulated separately in the previous paragraphs.
48
20 0.6
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
0.4
10
0.2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.2
-10
-0.4
-15
-20 -0.6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
transformer in the "Radial system" with a high transformer in the "Radial system" with a high
impedance grounded transformer. impedance grounded transformer.
20 0.15
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
15 Vc56 Ic56
0.1
10
0.05
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.05
-10
-0.1
-15
-20 -0.15
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) Incoming voltage at the "Radial system 5" (d) The incoming current at the "Radial system
(healthy system). 5" (healthy system).
20 0.3
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
15 VBRKc IcBRK
0.2
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The incoming voltage at "Radial system (f) The incoming current at "Radial system 1"
1" when a fault occurs in secondary substation when a fault occurs in secondary substation
"AI1". "AI1".
Figure 4.3.13: Voltages and currents in the "Radial system" with high impedance grounded trans-
former when a single line-to-ground fault that turns into a three phase short circuit occurs. The
fault is simulated in secondary substation "AI1" in "Radial system 1".
49
20 0.6
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c T1c
0.4
10
0.2
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.2
-10
-0.4
-15
-20 -0.6
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
solidly grounded transformer in combination solidly grounded transformer in combination
with an FCL. with an FCL.
20 0.15
Va56 Ia56
Vb56 Ib56
15 Vc56 Ic56
0.1
10
0.05
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.05
-10
-0.1
-15
-20 -0.15
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(c) The measured voltage into the "Radial sys- (d) The measured current into the "Radial sys-
tem 5" (healthy system). tem 5" (healthy system).
20 0.3
VBRKa IaBRK
VBRKb IbBRK
15 VBRKc IcBRK
0.2
10
0.1
5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5
-0.1
-10
-0.2
-15
-20 -0.3
0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2 0.1 0.15 30.05 30.1 30.15 30.2
Time [s] Time [s]
(e) The measured voltage into "Radial system (f) The measured current into "Radial system
1" when a fault occurs in substation "AI1". 1" when a fault occurs in substation "AI1".
Figure 4.3.14: Voltages and currents in the “Radial system” with an FCL and a single line-to-
ground fault which develops into a three phase short circuit. The fault is simulated in secondary
substation "AI1" "Radial system 1".
50
4.4 Back-fed earth fault
4.4.1 Simulated with an FCL on transformer T1
For the back-fed earth fault, see Figure 2.4.3, the faultly phase current at the incoming side of the
second transformer is presented in Figure 4.4.1. In the figure, the faultly phase changes from the
nominal current to a fault current lower than the nominal current, see Figure 4.4.1. In same figure,
the instant when the line breaks into two parts corresponds to that the current is zero. When the
part of the line nearest transformer T2 (Delta-Y connected) falls to the ground and becomes fed
by the neutral current from transformer T1. The fault current rises from 0 A to 2.47 Arms with an
offset at 0.75 A. Transformer T1 (Y-Y connected) is only able to feed transformer T2 by the two
healthy phases when the line for phase c goes into two parts. This causes a fault current down to
ground and up in phase c in transformer T2. The voltages and currents on the secondary side of
transformer T1 are shown in shown in Figure 4.4.2. The current in the phase c (with the fault) is
zero and the amplitude of the two healthy phases drops. Since the two healthy phases do not rise
to a value over 1.5 times the nominal current, the FCL can not find this type of fault.
6
Iafter
2
Current [A]
-2
-4
-6
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s]
Figure 4.4.1: The fault current measured before the fault, as the fault happens at 0.12s and after
the back-fed earth fault, with an FCL on the outgoing side of transformer T1.
10 6
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
8 T1c
VTc
4
6
4
2
2
Voltage [kV]
Current [A]
0 0
-2
-2
-4
-6
-4
-8
-10 -6
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Outgoing transformer voltage from trans- (b) Outgoing transformer current from trans-
former T1 (Y-Y connected), which feeds transformer T1 (Y-Y connected), which feeds trans-
former T2 (Delta-Y connected]. former T2 (Delta-Y connected) when a back-fed
earth fault occurs in phase C.
Figure 4.4.2: The simulated voltage and current on the load side of transformer T1 with an FCL.
51
4.4.2 Simulated with high impedance grounded transformer T1
With a high impedance grounding of the transformer T1, the fault current in Figure 4.4.3 is similar
to the system with FCL in Figure 4.4.1. As in the FCL system, transformer T1 feeds transformer
T2 through the two healthy phases a and b, see Figure 4.4.4. Since the current on the load side
of the transformer T1 drops for the healthy phases and the voltage is barely noticeably affected.
The fault current into phase c in transformer T2 comes from the ground fed by transformer T2.
6
Iafter
2
Current [A]
-2
-4
-6
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s]
Figure 4.4.3: The fault current measured before the fault, as the faults happens and after the
back-fed earth fault with a high impedance grounded transformer T1.
10 6
VTa T1a
VTb T1b
8 T1c
VTc
4
6
4
2
2
Voltage [kV]
Current [A]
0 0
-2
-2
-4
-6
-4
-8
-10 -6
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) Outgoing transformer voltage from high (b) Out going transformer voltage from high
impedance grounded transformer T1 (Y-Y con- impedance grounded transformer T1 (Y-Y con-
nected), which fed transformer T2 (Delta-Y connected), which fed transformer T1 (Delta-Y con-
nected). nected) when the fault occurs in phase c.
Figure 4.4.4: The simulated voltages and currents on the load side of transformer T1 grounded via
a high impedance.
52
5 Summary of the simulation
5.1 Summary of the "Ideal system"
Current when the fault had occurred with three types of grounding:
Table 1: nominal current: 14 Arms ⇐⇒ 20 Apeak

high impedance Solid ground Solid ground com-
bined with FCL
• 120 Apeak ,
• 4 kApeak
decrease to 0 A
on fault phase
on fault phase
Single line- 0 A all phases
to-ground • 20 Apeak
• 30 Apeak
fault healthy phases
healthy phases
4 kApeak all phases
4kApeak all phases
(Unlike just
(the fault current is
Three phase one phase at a 0 A all phases
much higher for the
short circuit single line-to-
three phase short circuit)
ground fault )
5.2 Summary of the "Real system"

Current when the fault had occurred with three types of grounding:
Table 2: nominal current: 78.5 Arms ⇐⇒ 111 Apeak

high impedance Solid ground Solid ground com-
bined with FCL
• 12 kApeak
on fault phase
Single line- The amplitude of all 0 A all phases
to-ground phases are marginally • 0.1 Apeak
fault "A" increased healthy phases
• 280 Apeak
fault phase
• nominal current
to-ground phases are marginally
on the
fault "AI1" increased
healthy phases
• 1.5 kApeak
fault phase
• nominal current
to-ground phases are marginally
on the
fault "O1" increased
healthy phases
Three phase 12 kA all phases 12 kA all phases 0 A all phases
short circuit
"A"
Three phase 280 A all phases 280 A all phases 0 A all phases
short circuit
"AI1"
Three phase 1.7 kA all phases 1.7 kA all phases 0 A all phases
short circuit
"O1"
53
5.3 Summary of the "Radial system"
Current when the fault had occurred with two types of grounding:
Table 3: nominal current: 260 Arms ⇐⇒ 450 Apeak on the load side of the transformer
78.5 Arms ⇐⇒ 111 Apeak on the incoming side of the "Radial system 5"
78.5 Arms ⇐⇒ 111 Apeak on the incoming side of the "Radial system 1"
high impedance Solid ground com-
bined with FCL
• 600 Apeak
transformer
• 90 Apeak
at the fault
phase and
nominal current
Single line-to-ground fault "A" at the 0 A all phases and
healthy phases systems
(healthy system)
• 320 Apeak at
the fault phase
at the
"Radial system 1"
• 500 Apeak
transformer • 500 Apeak
transformer
• nominal current
at the • nominal current
healthy system at the
healthy system
Single line-to-ground fault "AI1"
• 270 Apeak
at the • 270 Apeak at
fault phase the fault phase
nominal current and nominal
at the current on the
healthy phases healthy phases
"Radial system 1"
54
Petersén coil Solid ground com-
bined with FCL
• 18 kApeak
transformer
declines to
12 kApeak
• Decreases to
Three phase short circuit "A" 0A 0 A all phases and
healthy system system
• 18 kApeak
"Radial system 1"
declines to
18 Apeak
• 550 Apeak for • 550 Apeak for
the transformer the transformer
• nominal value • nominal value

Three phase short circuit "AI1"
at 111 A peak at 111 A peak
• 300 Apeak • 300 Apeak

"Radial system 1" "Radial system 1"
• 18 kApeak
transformer
• Decreases to
Single line-to-ground fault which 0A 0 A for all phases
develops into three phase short healthy system and systems
circuit in "A"
• 18 kApeak
"Radial system 1"
• 550 Apeak for • 550 Apeak for
the transformer the transformer
• nominal value • nominal value

Single line-to-ground fault which
at 111 A peak at 111 A peak
develops into three phase short
circuit in "AI1"
• 300 Apeak • 300 Apeak
"Radial system 1" "Radial system 1"
55
6 Conclusions
The FCL has the advantage that it can limit faults, whether it is a single line-to-ground fault or a
three phase fault. It shows a peak at the current that is bigger than the fault current for the high
impedance grounding, but this depends on the design of the FCL. The FCL has a big advantage
to confine the fault which starts as a single line-to-ground fault and could develops into a three
phase fault in the "Radial system". Since the fault current is already limited the fault can not
develop into a three phase fault. While the high impedance in the same situation, with a single
line-to-ground fault which becomes a three phase fault, limits only the fault current in the single
line-to-ground fault and lacks the capability to limit the symmetric three phase fault.
For the single line-to-ground faults with high impedance

√ grounding, the two healthy phases of the
voltage are affected with a higher amplitude of up to 3 and the faulty phase for high impedance.
But for the solidly grounded system, the healthy phases are unaffected with the disadvantage of
a high fault current. Independently of if it is a single line-to-ground fault or a three phase fault
the current and voltage are zero downstream the FCL when it has triggered. The FCL has the
advantage that shortly after the fault has occurred the fault can be disconnected. With a fast
disconnection a fast re-connection can be done. The re-connection can be done when the fault is
cleared and the operation time of the circuit breaker. This means that the voltage reduction will
be of short duration for the customers downstream the FCL. This is something a system with high
impedance grounding is not able to do. This longer fault time for high impedance grounding and
solid grounding, compared to the FCL system, entails a higher risk of damages. Apart from the
fault time, high impedance is a good grounding system to handle a single line-to-ground faults and
fed the costumers at the phases and healthy systems.
Since the current and the voltage after the FCL, is conveniently low, a load breaker switch can
replace the breaker after the FCL. In addition, the FCL has the ability to limit the fault current in
a system regardless of the capacitance in the system. This means that the FCL confines the fault
current independent of whether the capacitance is high or low in a distribution system or increase
with the replacement of overhead lines with cables. The only thing to do is change the threshold
value for the current on the FCL to fit the size of the distribution system.
The high impedance grounding system is not able to limit the three phase faults, only the single
line-to-ground faults. The same type of fault with low fault current, is not detected by the FCL.
Therefore, the results with an FCL become as for a solidly grounded system. When a fault occurs
further out, "AI1" in the "Radial system", the fault current is low. Thus, the effect of the high
impedance grounding is not clearly visible. The voltage on the load side of the transformer become
less affected with a fault further out in the system.
In the “Radial system”, the fault in substation “AI1” is difficult to find with the low fault current.
However, by placing an FCL on the respective outgoing feeder on the bus, a fault further out in
the "Radial system 1" can be found. This has the advantage that the fault current individually
limitation will occur on each system instead of as in the “Radial system” where all systems were
affected by one FCL.
Unfortunately, the FCL and the high impedance grounding are not able to limit the back-fed earth
fault and limit the current, which can cause problem in form of damage on person, property and
animal.
With the characteristics of short duration time of the fault current and the lack of need for adjusting
to capacitance, the FCL is recommend in distribution systems which have high capacitance or faults
that are or develop into a three phase faults.
56
7 Further work
The possibilities to continue these investigations can be described in form of:
• Simulations with rotating machines or rotating generators in the distribution system

– All loads in the systems are fixed and can therefore handle fast open and close operation
with FCL. It is therefore of interest to see how fast the FCL can be without causing
damage on the rotating machines and rotating generators. If the circuit breakers close
too fast after they had opened, machines and generators loos the synchronisation
• The rise time of the transients caused by the FCL
– When the circuit breakers open and close, transients occur, which require more detailed
modelling. With a smaller circuit, simulations can be made and a more reliable data
about rise time and amplitude is obtained
57
References
Internet
[1] Swedish Neutral AB. Swedish Neutral Seminarie 2013, dag 1 http://www.swedishneutral.
se/download/Flyer%20SN%20Seminar%202013%20Neutral%20Treatment%20&%20Earth%20Fault%
20Protection%20-%20Svenska.pdf, Accessed March 2017
[2] Swedish Neutral AB. Nollpunktsreaktor http://www.swedishneutral.se/download/Swedish%
20Neutral%20ASC%20Technical%20Specification%20Svenska.pdf, Accessed March 2017
[3] ABB SafeGrid. Ett säkrare och pålitligare distributionsnät, http://www02.abb.com/global/

seitp/seitp161.nsf/0/3929955564747806c125739f004c03b6/\protect\T1\textdollarfile/
ABBSafeGrid.pdf, Accsessed May 2017
[4] John C. Pfeiffer. Principles of Electrical Grounding, http://www.pfeiffereng.com/Principals%
20of%20Electrical%20Grounding.pdf, 2001, Accessed March 2017
[5] Jignesh. Parmar. Types of Neutral Earthing in Power Distribution, Institution of Engineers
(MIE), India,
https://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/types-of-neutral-earthing-in-power-distribution/,
2012, Accessed March 2017
[6] Circuit Globe. Peterson coil Grounding,
http://circuitglobe.com/peterson-coil-grounding.html, Accessed April 2017
[7] ELECTROTECHNIK. Petersen coil - Princip and Application,
http://www.electrotechnik.net/2009/02/petersen-coils-principle-and.htm, Accessed
April 2017
[8] HV Power Measurements & Protection Ltd. Petersen Coils Basic Principle and Applica-
tion, 2012, http://www.hvpower.co.nz/TechnicalLibrary/RE+DS/Petersen%20Coils%20%
20Basic%20Principle%20and%20Application.pdf, Accessed April 2017
[9] Sverker Johansson, Johan Pålsson. Personfara genom elektrisk ström, Tillämpad fysik och elek-
tronik, Umeå Universitet, Umeå. 1999 http://www8.tfe.umu.se/courses/elektro/analog1/
distans/litteratur/Komp3-personfara.pdf, Acessed May 2017
[10] Maintoba Hydro international Ltd, PSCAD. https://hvdc.ca/get-to-know-us, Accessed

March 2017
[11] ABB Oy. Distribution Automation Handbook, Section 8.6 MV Feeder Earth-fault Protection.
2010 https://library.e.abb.com/public/948f3fb78a335cb6c125795f0042ef8b/DAHandbook_
Section_08p06_Feeder_EF_Protection_757287_ENa.pdf, Acessed May 2017
Books
[12] Gunnar Elfving. ABB Handbok Elkraft, Tredje upplagan. ABB.1993, Asea Brown Boveri
(ABB),
[13] J.Ducan Glover, Mulukutla S.Sarma, Thomas J.Overbye. Power System Analysis & Design.
fifth edition. 2012, Cengage LearningTM , ISBN-13: 978-1-111-42579-1
[14] S. Satyanarayana, S. Sivanagaraju.Electric power Transmission and Distribution. 2008, Pear-

son Education India, ISBN: 8131753174, 9788131753170 , Pearson Education India
58
Publications
[15] Lars Liljestrand, Lars Jonsson, Magnus Backman & Marco Riva. A new hybrid medium voltage
breaker for DC interruption or AC fault current limitation, ABB Corporate Research & ABB
s.p.a – Italy, 2016 18th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE’16
ECCE Europe), 2016
[16] Elsäkerhetsverket, Starkströmsföreskrifterna.1999, ELSÄK-FS 1999:5
[17] Kim Reenaas. Elsäkerhetsverkets föreskrifter och allmänna råd om hur elektriska starkström-
sanläggningar ska vara utförda, ELSÄK-FS 2008:1. Elsäkerthetsverket. 2016
[18] Johan Peterson. Jordfelsproblematik i icke direktjordade system. Master thesis. Dept. of
Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation Lund University. 2005
[19] Göran Morén. Energimarknadesinspektionens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om krav som ska
vara uppfyllda för att överföring av el ska vara av god kvalitet, EIFS 2013:1. Energimarknadsin-
spektionen. 2013
Interview
[20] Daniel Wall, recurring contact at Vattenfall. 20 February-22 June 2017

[21] Stefan Larsson, contact at Vattenfall. 18 April 2017
59
Appendix 1: The "Real system" with faults in secondary
substation "O1"
The fault in secondary substation "O1" is simulated with three types of grounding, where two of
the grounding systems are similar to each other; solidly grounding with and without FCL and the
third system with a Petersén coil between the transformers neutral and ground.
1 Single line-to-ground fault in secondary substation "O1"

Two of the three grounding systems in Figure 1, Petersén coil and FCL, limit the fault on their
characteristic way and the solidly grounded transformer is not cable to limit the fault. The Petersén
coil in Figure 1b limits the fault current and the amplitude of the voltage in the two healthy phases
is increased. For the solidly grounded transformer the healthy phases are unaffected in Figure 1d,
but the fault current is 1.5 kA high. This is because the solidly grounded transformer in Figure
1d lets the earth current flow into the natural point on the transformer instead of limiting the
current as the FCL or the Petersén coil. For the last grounding system with FCL the fault current
is shown in Figure 1f and some peaks which are lower than for the solidly grounded system occur
and thereafter the current is zero.
60
20 2
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with Petersén coil. with Petersén coil.
20 2
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20 2
VT1a T1a
VT1b T1b
15 VT1c 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
Figure 1: Simulations of the "Real system" with a single line-to-ground fault in secondary substa-
tion "O1" simulated with three types of grounding system: Petersén coil 1b, solidly grounded 1d
and FCL 1f.
2 Three phase short circuit in secondary substation "O1"

Even here the grounding systems will show different results when the fault occurs. The FCL in
Figure 2f is the only system that limits this type of fault. The other grounding systems can not
limit the symmetric three phase short circuit. The figures for the solidly grounded and Petersén
coil also show how the transformer reacts when the fault is in the middle of the "Real system".
The voltage on the load side of the transformer is not affected as much as when a three phase
61
short circuit occurs near the outgoing terminals of the transformer. In that case a three phase
fault causes the voltage to drop almost to zero. Here it only drops from 9 kVpeak to 7.5 kVpeak
20 2
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
with Petersén coil. with Petersén coil.
20 2
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
20 2
VATa T1a
VATb T1b
15 VATc 1.5 T1c
10 1
5 0.5
Voltage [kV]
Current [kA]
0 0
-5 -0.5
-10 -1
-15 -1.5
-20 -2
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Time [s] Time [s]
Figure 2: The "Radial system" transformer current and voltage for the three types of grounding
types with three phase short circuit in secondary substation "O1"
62

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UPTEC E 17 013

Grounding of distrubution grids

High impedancegrounding compared to solid

Teknisk- naturvetenskaplig fakultet

Handledare: Elisabeth Lindell

I examensarbetet presenteras en jämförelse mellan höga impedansjordningen och FCL:en. De två

8 Appendix 1: The "Real system" with faults in secondary substation "O1" 60

2.1 Earthing standards

2.2.1 High impedance

IC = ICY + ICR (2.2.1)

Figure 2.2.1: Petersén coil, fault handling and phase diagram

Figure 2.2.3: The transformer secondary side is solidly grounded.

2.3 Fault Current Limiter

The sequence shown in Figure 2.3.1 can be described as follows:

d) The FCL is reclosed and the bus is re-energized

2.4 Faults in the system

2.4.1 Three phase short circuit

Figure 2.4.2: An ideal single line-to-ground fault in an ungrounded system

2.4.3 Back-fed earth fault

3.2 The "Ideal system"

(c) The "Ideal system" with a FCL

3.3 The "Real system"

3.4 The "Radial system"

3.5 "Ideal back-fed earth fault"

4.1 The "Ideal system"

4.1.1 Single line-to-ground fault

(c) Expansion of the current on the load side

4.1.2 Three phase short circuit

4.1.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Ideal system"

4.2 The "Real system"

4.2.1 Single line-to-ground fault

4.2.1.2 Secondary substation "AI1"

4.2.1.3 Secondary substation "O1"

4.2.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1"

4.2.3 Comments on the FCL in the "Real system"

4.3.1 Single line-to-ground fault at "Radial system 1"

4.3.1.1 Secondary substation "A" in the "Radial system 1"

4.3.2 Three phase short circuit at "Radial system 1"

4.3.2.1 Secondary substation "A"in the "Radial system 1"

4.3.2.2 Secondary substation "AI1" in "Radial system 1"

Time [s] Time [s]

Time [s] Time [s]

Time [s] Time [s]

Time [s] Time [s]

Time [s] Time [s]

Time [s] Time [s]

Table 1: nominal current: 14 Arms ⇐⇒ 20 Apeak

5.2 Summary of the "Real system"

Table 2: nominal current: 78.5 Arms ⇐⇒ 111 Apeak

• nominal value • nominal value

• 300 Apeak • 300 Apeak

• nominal value • nominal value

For the single line-to-ground faults with high impedance

• Simulations with rotating machines or rotating generators in the distribution system

[3] ABB SafeGrid. Ett säkrare och pålitligare distributionsnät, http://www02.abb.com/global/

[10] Maintoba Hydro international Ltd, PSCAD. https://hvdc.ca/get-to-know-us, Accessed

[14] S. Satyanarayana, S. Sivanagaraju.Electric power Transmission and Distribution. 2008, Pear-