IEEE Std 3002.

3-2018
IEEE Recommended Practice for Conducting Short-Circuit Studies and Analysis
of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems

After a first SLG fault, which practically earths the system, a second SLG fault, involving a different phase
conductor, may occur. The IT system becomes a TT or TN, depending on how the ECPs are grounded (i.e.,
individually, in groups, or collectively). Accordingly, the safety requirements for either TT or TN systems
must be met.

11. Comparison of ANSI and IEC short-circuit calculation methods

11.1 Introduction

By comparing the ANSI and IEC standards for short-circuit calculations, one can clearly see that the two
differ from each other, from modeling of equipment to calculation methods. One common question from
electrical engineers is, Which one tends to provide more conservative results? There is no general answer to
this question, since it depends on the electrical system under consideration. It should be pointed out that as
both calculation methods are based on approximate models, choosing the method that provides the largest
short-circuit current in the system is not very relevant. This is because one of the main purposes of short-
circuit calculations is, in fact, to size, or verify, ratings of equipment. The selected short-circuit current
calculation method must be in compliance with the standard upon which the equipment has been
manufactured.

Although significant effort has been made to harmonize rating structure for higher voltage circuit breakers
in the new standard, the rating structure and testing requirements for bus, circuit breakers, fuse, switch, etc.,
are not quite in agreement between ANSI and IEC standards. These standards are created to go hand in
hand with the corresponding standards for equipment ratings. Therefore, if a system contains equipment in
compliance with ANSI standards, then the ANSI standard short-circuit calculation method must be selected
to evaluate this equipment. This is also true for the equipment in compliance with IEC standards.

11.2 Difference in equipment modeling

In ANSI short-circuit calculations, equipment impedance values are mainly based on parameters provided
by manufacturers, with certain tolerance applied to achieve conservative fault current values. In IEC short-
circuit calculations, a correction factor is applied to synchronous machines and transformers to account for
normal operating conditions.

Machine modeling—According to ANSI and IEC standards, all machines are modeled by a constant
voltage source behind an impedance. The two methods differ in how the machine impedance is utilized. In
ANSI short-circuit calculation, induction machine impedance is calculated based on motor locked-rotor
impedance multiplied by a factor, defined as the ANSI multiplication factor. The ANSI multiplication
factor is applied to take into account machine operating conditions and effects of motor feeder cable and
overload heater, and its value varies depending on machine size and speed. The synchronous machine
impedance is based on parameters provided by manufacturers. It should be noted that when performing
device duty calculation for generator circuit breakers per IEEE Std C37.013™-1997, a detailed
synchronous generator model must be used, which includes machine sub-transient and transient impedance
and time constant to accurately account for machine ac and dc decays.

In IEC short-circuit calculations, the impedance of synchronous generator and compensator is adjusted by a
factor (KG) to account for prefault operating condition and excitation of the machine. If a generator is a part
of a power station unit, a different adjustment factor is used. For induction motors, the locked-rotor
impedance is used in the calculation without any adjustment.

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 IEEE Std 3002.3-2018
IEEE Recommended Practice for Conducting Short-Circuit Studies and Analysis
of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems

Transformer modeling—In ANSI, the transformer impedance values by the manufacturer are used in the
calculation. To take into account the possible inaccuracy of these parameters, when they are not obtained
from field testing of actual equipment, additional impedance tolerance may apply. In IEC, an impedance
correction factor (KT) is applied to transformer impedance to take into account prefault operating
conditions, including transformer taps. The correction factor KT is calculated differently based on the
transformer being a network transformer or a power station unit transformer.

11.3 Difference in calculation method

Prefault voltage—Calculated short-circuit currents are proportional to prefault voltages. Even though both
ANSI and IEC methods apply flat internal voltage for all contribution sources and recommend to ignore
prefault operating currents, the prefault voltage used in short-circuit calculations is different between the
two methods. The ANSI short-circuit calculation applies maximum operating voltage, ranging from 100%
to 105% of individual system, whereas IEC short-circuit calculation uses a c factor multiplied by the bus
nominal voltage. The IEC 60909 standard specifies the range of the c factor for different voltage levels, 1.1
being the maximum value for all voltage levels.

AC short-circuit component decay—AC decrement modeling is conceptually and computationally

different in the two standards. ANSI favors a universal machine reactance adjustment for calculating the
symmetrical interrupting currents. For induction machines and synchronous motors, the decay of ac short-
circuit contributions is modeled by different machine reactance values for the first and 1.5- to 4-cycle
system networks. For synchronous generators, depending on the electrical distance from the machine to the
fault location (measured by the ratio of the machine contribution to the fault over the short-circuit current
when the machine terminals are faulted), different multipliers specified in the standard are applied on short-
circuit current when performing device duty evaluation. Additionally, the ac decay in ANSI short-circuit is
calculated independently of actual protective device parting time.

IEC 60909 recommends, instead, to take into account the machine proximity to the short-circuit, the system
configuration, and explicitly includes the parting time. With respect to a given fault location, the system
configuration and source contributions can be classified as single-fed short-circuit, short-circuit on non-
meshed network, and short-circuit on meshed network. IEC 60909 basically requires that the short-circuit
contributions from different sources be calculated separately for a fault location, based on the classification
of the source with respect to the fault location. For a far-from-generator short-circuit, ac decay is neglected.
For a near-to-generator short-circuit, the ac decay is calculated based on the breaking time, machine size,
and its short-circuit contribution to the fault.

In summary, the ANSI method provides a more systematic approach, whereas the IEC method offers more
detailed modeling.

DC short-circuit component decay—DC decrement modeling is conceptually and computationally

different in the two standards as well. ANSI favors a single approach, based on the X/R ratio at the fault
point, featuring separate reactance and resistance reductions of the faulted network. IEC 60909 considers
system configurations with respect to a fault location in calculating dc short-current decay as well, and
suggests three different methods for E/X calculations.

Steady-state current—Steady-state fault current calculations are different in the two guidelines due to the
fact that IEC requires explicit consideration of synchronous machinery excitation systems and saturation
influences. The steady-state current is equal to the generator rated current multiplied by a factor, which is a
function of excitation type and ratio short-circuit current over rated current. ANSI standard does not
expressly specify how to calculate steady-steady short-circuit current. A general practice is to ignore all
motors and use X d to represent synchronous generator reactance.

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 IEEE Std 3002.3-2018
IEEE Recommended Practice for Conducting Short-Circuit Studies and Analysis
of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems

Generator circuit breaker evaluation—IEEE Std C37.013-1997 is designated to the calculation method
for generator circuit breakers, due to larger dc rating of the circuit breaker and the larger X/R ratio of short-
circuit current from generator when its terminal is faulted. The method requires detailed generator
modeling to account for dc and ac decay of the short-circuit current.

IEC 60909 has special sections to handle modeling of power station unit generators and transformers to
account for special operating conditions of such units. The adjustment factor is also calculated differently
depending on the fault location, whether at the source side of the transformer, or between the generator and
the transformer.

The ANSI method offers much more accurate calculation results.

Effect of network configuration on short-circuit calculation—ANSI short-circuit calculations provide a

systematic approach for all types of system configurations, either radial or looped systems. This does
simplify the calculation procedure.

IEC standards offer different approaches for ac and dc decay for single-fed, radial, and meshed systems.
Note that this classification is with respect to a given fault location. While providing more accurate
modeling methods, it may sometimes cause confusion, as there is no clear reason why a radial system
should be treated so differently from meshed systems. In a radial system, there can be some branches that
carry short-circuit current from several sources and, therefore, in such a case the decay of ac and dc short-
circuit contributions from these sources cannot be calculated independently.

These generic differences in system modeling and computational requirements render the IEC 60909
standard more computationally intensive than its ANSI counterpart. Differences in the results between the
two standards are to be expected, with the IEC 60909 providing more conservative results.

If computer simulations are to be performed, the different computational techniques and database
requirements of the two standards warrant the use of dedicated software.

12. Equipment data required for short-circuit calculation

12.1 Introduction

One of the most time consuming and critical items required in a short-circuit analysis is obtaining available
data. The less data that is assumed, the better and more accurate the results. There are conditions when
most of the data may initially have to be estimated, such as when designing a new system. As the system
becomes finalized, specific equipment data may be available and the results are more pertinent. On existing
systems, the amount of estimated data are greatly reduced.

An up-to-date one-line diagram is needed. If one is not available, site inspection is required to determine
switchgear and load center connection points. There may be cases where no information exists regarding
the interconnection of plant loads back to the utility supply. The lack of information is usually the result of
a temporary “quick fix” that never properly became documented and over time became permanent. A time-
consuming tracing of conductors is required to identify its connection to a known point. Therefore, one
great value of the short-circuit study is an up-to-date one-line diagram.

In the discussion below, the available data, used for short-circuit calculations that can be obtained from
equipment nameplates, is noted by *. Other data required will have to be itemized and requested or
gathered separately. The data are then converted to ohms or per-unit ohms before it can be used in the
analysis.

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