Ain Shams University

Masters – JAMILA
EPM 691 – Measurement & Instrumentation for RE systems

Summary Points of
Understand Electrical
Networks

Submitted By:
Mohamed Ahmed Zein
Mostafa Ahmed Zein
Table of Contents

1 Network and Relay ..........................................................................................................................1

2 Protection .......................................................................................................................................1
3 Criteria to follow to choose a network architecture ........................................................................1
4 Distribution Types: ..........................................................................................................................1
5 Production types .............................................................................................................................2
6 Applications ....................................................................................................................................2
7 Potential Network Disturbances......................................................................................................3
7.1 Effects of Network disturbance.................................................................................................3
7.2 The short-circuit .......................................................................................................................3
7.3 Other disturbances ...................................................................................................................3
8 Main Types of protection devices....................................................................................................4
8.1 Earthing systems and earthing ..................................................................................................4
8.1.1 Types of earthing system ...................................................................................................4
9 Discrimination.................................................................................................................................5
9.1 Discrimination Principles ..........................................................................................................5
10 Network Protection ........................................................................................................................5
10.1 Components to Protect .........................................................................................................5
10.2 Protection solutions ..............................................................................................................5
1 Network and Relay
❖ The Network Carries electricity from the point of production to the customer.
❖ The Relay acts at each sensitive point (i.e. Generators, overhead lines, transformers and
underground cables ...etc.)

2 Protection
❖ Protection device must detect the fault and isolate it as quickly as possible while at the same time
preserving continuity of supply in the healthy parts of the network.

3 Criteria to follow to choose a network architecture

Safety of
equipment
and people

Maintainabilit Open-
y endedness

Choosing a
network
architecture
criteria
Technical and
Ease of
economic
operation
aspects

Continuity of
operation

❖ According to the weight of each criterion, a different architecture may be chosen.

4 Distribution Types:
a. Loop Distribution, used for over large distances, and has two types of loop
i. Open loop (lower cost but bad continuity of operation)
ii. Closed loop (Higher cost but guarantee better continuity of operation)
b. Antenna Distribution, used for large to average distances, comes with two types:
i. Single antenna (simplicity of maintenance and low cost but continuity of supply is low)
ii. Double antenna (Higher cost and more difficult in maintenance)
c. Double tap-off designed with a second substitution power supply. Its strong points are that it
offers good continuity of supply with protection functions that are easy to maintain, drawbacks
of being costly.

1|Page
 d. Double busbar, Similar to Double tap-off but applies to cubicles, can be combined with double
tap-off to improve continuity of supply, drawbacks high cost and difficult in maintenance
operation)

5 Production types
a. Partial permanent production
b. Main / Standby production

6 Applications
Open
Rural Secondary Low Costs
loop
Public distribution
Urban Secondary
Closed Continuity of
loop Supply

Simple tertiary Low Costs

Tertiary
Large tertiary
Single antenna

Simple processes
Industry
Continuity of
Continuous supply / Ease of
processes maintenance

Double antenna
(Heavy) Double tap-off
Continuous Double busbars
processes

2|Page
7 Potential Network Disturbances

Network
Disturbances

Natural
Drilling Works Use Incidents
Phenomenon

Capacity
Branches Lighting Insulators Dust Harmonics
Problems

7.1 Effects of Network disturbance

i. Customer power supply suspended.

ii. Incorrect network operation.
iii. Material damage.
iv. Bodily damage.

7.2 The short-circuit

❖ The origins of the short-circuit are:

i. Mechanical (branch, animal …etc.)
ii. Electrical (e.g. Deterioration of the insulator caused by surges)
iii. Human (i.e. an operator’s error)
❖ Short-circuit can have variable durations
i. Self-extinguishing if the fault is too short to trip the protection.
ii. Transient when it is eliminated after tripping and reclosing of the protection or
permanent if it does not disappear after tripping of the protection device.
❖ There are two configurations for impedant short-circuit:
i. Phase-to-phase short-circuit, quite rare but very destructive.
ii. Phases and the earth, these faults are the most common (80% of cases in public
distribution).
7.3 Other disturbances
i. Overload, is an abnormal increase in consumption
ii. Surge, is an abnormal increase in voltage either phase-to-phase or phase-to-earth
iii. Undervoltage and voltage sag, voltage sag is due to short-circuits, overload and
surges, undervoltage is due to the breakage of a conductor or a fuse blowing

3|Page
8 Main Types of protection devices

i. Circuit Breakers
ii. Fuses
iii. Earthing or Grounding
Please note that protection devices do not prevent fault occurrence, they only limit its consequences on
Equipment.

8.1 Earthing systems and earthing

❖ Earthing will allow the control, to a greater or lesser extent,

of certain network disturbances and will limit their effects.
❖ Several types of earthing system are available and will act on
3 customer notions:

8.1.1 Types of earthing system

i. Unearthed neutral i.e. without physical link
between the neutral point and the earth.
ii. The neutral connected to the earth via a connection
iii. The neutral connected to the earth via a resistor
iv. The neutral connected to the earth via a small reactance
v. The neutral connected to the earth via a compensation reactance

8.1.1.1 Summary of Earthing systems

4|Page
9 Discrimination

❖ It means the art of discriminating properly the part of the network affected by a fault
9.1 Discrimination Principles

a. the first will act via the reaction time of the relays installed in cascade, this is Time discrimination,
b. the second will act via the reaction threshold current value, this is Current discrimination,
c. the third will act by logic deduction between the group relays, this is Logic discrimination,
d. the 4th will act from the fault current direction, this is Directional discrimination,
e. and the 5th will measure the current difference between input and output, this is discrimination
by Differential protection.
f. As for the 6th principle, combination of 2, at least, of the first 5 principles. Complementarity
satisfies the real complexity of networks and allows redundancy, i.e. possible standby operation

10 Network Protection

The objective of a protection scheme is to keep the power system stable by isolating only the
components that are under fault, whilst leaving as much of the network as possible still in operation.
Thus, protection schemes must apply a very pragmatic and pessimistic approach to clearing system
faults.

10.1 Components to Protect

❖ Connection protection:
o Overhead lines
o Underground cables
o Busbars
❖ Switchgear Protection:
o Transformer
o Motor
o Generator
o Capacitor
10.2 Protection solutions

Protection solutions for switchgear and the other network components depend on many factors:
i. The actual components
ii. The type of network associated with an operating mode
iii. The type of disturbance to guard against.
The type of discrimination required will also be a choice criterion but less directly.

5|Page