Power System 1 EPO520

Chapter 4 – Power System Protection (Directional)

Directional Relays
 Overcurrent relays can also be used with the use of directional element.
 Directional relays are designed to operate for fault currents in only one direction.
 Consider the directional relay D in Figure 10.20, which is required to operate only for faults to
the right of the CT.
o Since the line impedance is mostly reactive, a fault at P1 to the right of the CT will have a
fault current I from bus 1 to bus 2 that lags the bus voltage V by an angle of almost 90.
o This fault current is said to be in the forward direction.
o On the other hand, a fault at P2, to the left of the CT, will have a fault current I that leads V
by almost 90.
o This fault current is to said to be in the reverse direction.

Figure 10.20: Directional relay in series with overcurrent relay

 The directional relay has two inputs:

o the reference voltage V = V0
o and current I = I
 The relay trip and block regions, shown in Figure 10.21, can be described by:
-180 < ( - 1) < 0 (Trip)
Otherwise (Block)
Where
 = the angle of the current with respect to the voltage
1 = defines the boundary between the trip and block regions (typically 2 to 8)

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Figure 10.21: Directional relay block and trip regions in the complex plane

 The contacts of the overcurrent relay OC & the directional relay D are connected in series in
Figure 10.20, so that the breaker trip coil is energized only when the CT secondary current:
o Exceeds the OC relay pickup value
o In the forward tripping direction
 Although construction details differ, the operating principle of an electromechanical directional
relay is similar to that of a watt hour meter.
o There are two input coils (i.e. voltage coil & current coil), both located on a stator, and there
is a rotating disc element.
o Suppose that the reference voltage is passed through a phase-shifting element to obtain

V1  V1  90
o If V1 and I = IΦ are applied to a watt-hour meter, the torque on the rotating element is

T  kVI cos1    90  kVI sin 1     From P = T

Where k = 1/ = 1/2f

 Note that:
o For faults in the forward direction, since the current lags the voltage, the angle (Φ1 – Φ) is
close to 90º.
o This results in maximum positive torque on the rotating disc, which would cause the relay
contacts to close.
o On the other hand, for faults in the reverse direction, the current leads the voltage, and (Φ1
– Φ) is to close -90º.
o This results in maximum negative torque on the rotating disc, which would cause the relay
contacts to open.

*Given V and I values, use the formula to calculate T value to determine whether relay contact
close or open. For fault in forward direction, use (Φ1 – Φ) = 90º. While for fault in reverse direction,
use (Φ1 – Φ) = -90º

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 Power System 1 EPO520

Example 5 (Oct 2010)

Figure Q5 shows a circuit of directional relay (D) that is connected in series with the over-current
relay (OC). The voltage transformer (VT) and current transformer (CT) are used to connect the
relays to the phase A of transmission line. The system is operating at the frequency of 50 Hz.
Given that the OC pickup current is 800 A.
a) When fault occurs at P1. Verify that the relays are either trip or not when the secondary sides
of VT is 500 300 V and CT is 1000   600 A.

b) When fault occurs at P2. Verify that the relays are either trip or not when the secondary sides
of VT is 500 300 V and CT is 10001200 A.

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Protection of Two Source System with Directional Relays

 It becomes difficult and in some cases, impossible to coordinate overcurrent relays when there
are two or more sources at different locations.
 Consider the system with two sources shown in Figure 10.22.

Figure 10.22: System with two sources

o Suppose there is a fault at P1.

o We want B23 and B32 to clear the fault so that service to the three loads continues without
interruption.
o Using time-delay overcurrent relays, we could set B23 faster than B21.
o Now consider a fault at P2 instead.
o Breaker B23 will open faster than B21 and load L2 will be disconnected.
o When a fault can be fed from both the left and right, overcurrent relays cannot be
coordinated (How can you?)
o However, directional relays can be used to overcome this problem.

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 Power System 1 EPO520

Example 6 (Glover 10.6)

Explain how directional and time-delay overcurrent relays can be used to protect the system in
Figure 10.22.

Figure 10.22: System with two sources

Which relays should be coordinated for a fault

a) at P1
b) at P2
c) Is the system also protected against bus faults?

Solution for Example 6

Breakers B12, B21, B23 and B32 should respond only to faults on their “forward” or “line” sides.
Directional overcurrent relays connected as shown in Figure 10.20 can be used for these breakers.
Overcurrent relays alone can be used for breakers B1 and B3 which do not need to be directional.

a) For a fault at P1,

B21 relay would not operate; B12 should coordinate with B23 so that B23 trips before B12
(and B1). Also, B3 should coordinate with B32.

b) For a fault at P2,

B23 would not operate; B32 should coordinate with B21 so that B21 trips before B32 (and
B3). Also, B1 should coordinate with B12.

c) Yes, the directional overcurrent relays also protect the system against bus faults.
If the fault is at bus 2, relays at B21 and B23 will not operate, but B12 and B32 will operate
to clear the fault. B1 and B21 will operate to clear a fault at bus 1. B3 and B23 will clear a
fault at bus 3.

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Zones of Protection
 A fundamental concept in protection is the division of a system into protective zones.
 If a fault occurs anywhere within zone, action will be taken to isolate that zone from the rest of
the system.
 Zones are defined for:
o Generators
o Transformers
o Buses
o Transmission and distribution lines
o Motors
 Figure 10.23 illustrates the protective zone concept.
o Each zone is defined by a closed, dashed line. For e.g.
- Zone 1 contains a generator & connecting leads to a transformer
o It may contain more than one component. For e.g.
- Zone 3 contains a generator transformer unit & connecting leads to a bus
- Zone 10 contains a transformer & a line

Figure 10.23: Power system protective zones

 Protective zones have the following characteristic:

o Zones are overlapped.
o Circuit breakers are located in the overlap regions.
o For a fault anywhere in a zone, all circuit breakers in that zone open to isolate the fault.
 Neighbouring zones are overlapped in order:
o To avoid the possibility of unprotected areas
o Without overlap, the small area between two neighbouring zones would not be located in
any zone and thus would not be protected.

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 Since isolation during faults is done by circuit breakers, they should be inserted between
equipment in a zone and each connection to the system.
o That is breakers should be inserted in each overlap region.
o As such, they identify the boundaries of protective zones.

o For e.g. zone 5 in Figure 10.23 is connected to zones 4 and 7

Therefore, circuit breaker is located in the overlap region between zones 5 and 4, as well
as between zones 5 and 7.
 If a fault occurs anywhere within a zone, action is taken to open all breakers in that zone. For
e.g.
o If a fault occurs at P1 on the line in zone 5, then the two breakers in zone 5 should open.
o If a fault occurs at P2 within the overlap region of zone 4 and 5 then all five breakers in
zones 4 and 5 should open.
 Clearly, if a fault occurs within an overlap region,
o Two zones will be isolated and a larger part of the system will be lost from service
o To minimize this possibility, overlap regions are kept as small as possible.

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Example 7 (Glover 10.7)

Draw the protective zones for the power system shown in Figure 10.25. Which circuit breakers
should open for a fault at P1 and P2?

Figure 10.25: Power system for Example 6

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Solution for Example 7

Noting that circuit breakers identify zone boundaries, protective zones are drawn with dashed lines
as shown in Figure 10.26.
For a fault at P1, located in zone 5, breakers B24 and B42 should open.
For a fault at P2, located in the overlap region of zone 4 and 5, breakers B24, B42, B21 and B23
should open.

Figure 10.26: Protective Zones for Example 6

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