Line Protection: Mahendra S Hada Powergrid

LINE PROTECTION
Mahendra S Hada
POWERGRID
General Line Protection
Objective of relay protection
• Protect persons and equipment in the surrounding of

the power system
• Protect apparatus in the power system
• Separate faulty parts from the rest of the power

system to facilitate the operation of the healthy part of
the system
Electrical faults in the power system
• Transmission lines 85%

• Busbar 12%
• Transformer/ Generator 3%
Total 100 %
Fault statistics
• Single phase to earth 80%
• Two phases to earth 10%
• Phase to phase faults 5%
• Three phase faults 5%

Fault Types
• Transient faults
– are common on transmission lines, approximately 80-85%
– lightnings are the most common reason
– can also be caused by birds, falling tree, Forest growth,
swinging lines, High velocity winds etc.
– will disappear after a short dead interval
• Persistent faults
– can be caused by a broken conductor fallen down
– can be a tree falling on a line
– must be located and repaired before normal service
Fault Resistance
• Multi-phase faults
consist only of arc resistance
• Earth faults
consist of arc and tower
footing resistance
Warrington´s formula
L= length of arc in meters
I= the actual fault
current in A
Main Requirement of Line Protection are:
• SPEED
• SENSITIVITY
• SELECTIVITY
• SECURITY
• RELIABILITY
Principle of Distance Protection
Principle of Distance Protection
Power lines have impedances of size 0,3- 0,4 ohm/ km

and normal angles of 80 - 85 degrees in a 50Hz systems.
The line impedance must be converted to secondary values

with the formula:
Measuring loop for Earth Fault
• The distance protection relays are always set based on

the phase impedance to the fault
• The measured Impedance is a function of positive and

zero sequence impedance
Measuring loop for Two Phase Fault

• The measured Impedance is a function of positive

sequence impedance upto the fault location
Measuring loop for Three Phase Fault

• The measured Impedance is a function of positive

sequence impedance upto the fault location
The Earth Fault Measurement
Residual compensation allows us to measure the ground

fault impedance in terms of positive sequence only
Earth Fault Measurement
• The current used is thus the phase current plus the

residual current times a factor KN = (Z0-Z1) / 3Z1, the
zero sequence compensation factor.
• The factor KN is a transmission line constant and Z0/ Z1

is presumed to be identical throughout the whole line
length.
• (1+KN) Z1 gives the total loop impedance for the earth

fault loop for single end infeed.
Zone-1 Reach Setting
Zone-1: To be set to cover 80% of protected line length.
Set zero sequence compensation factor KN as (Z0 – Z1) /
3Z1.
Where:
Z1 = Positive sequence impedance of the protected line
Z0 = Zero sequence impedance of the protected line
Note: With this setting, the relay may overreach when

parallel circuit is open and grounded at both ends. This risk
is considered acceptable.
Zone-2: To be set To be set to cover minimum 120% of
length of principle line section. However, in case of
double circuit lines 150% coverage must be provided to
take care of under reaching due to mutual coupling effect.
Set KN as (Z0 – Z1) / 3Z1.
The degree of under reach can be calculated using

equation K0M / 1+K0 Where K0M = Z0M/ 3Z1 and
K0 = (Z0 – Z1) / 3Z1.
Zone-3: Should overreach the remote terminal of the

longest adjacent line by an acceptable margin (typically
20% of highest impedance seen) for all fault conditions.
Set KN as (Z0 – Z1) / 3Z1.

Zone-2 Time Setting

Zone-2: Zone-2 timing of 0.35 seconds (considering LBB
time of 200mSec, CB open time of 60ms, resetting time of
30ms and safety margin of 60ms) is recommended.
However, if a long line is followed by a short line, then a

higher setting (Typical 0.5sec) may be adopted on long line
to avoid indiscriminate tripping through Zone-2 operation on
both lines.
Zone-3 Time Setting
Zone-3: Zone-3 timer should be set so as to provide

discrimination with the operating time of relays provided in
subsequent sections with which Zone-3 reach of relay being
set overlaps.
Typical recommended Zone-3 time is 0.8 to 1Sec.

Load Encroachment
Load Encroachment
In the absence of credible data regarding minimum voltage
and maximum load expected for a line during emergency
system condition, following criteria may be considered for
deciding load point encroachment:
• Maximum load current (Imax) may be considered as

1.5 times the thermal rating of the line or 1.5 times the
associated bay equipment current rating (the
minimum of the bay equipment individual rating)
whichever is lower. (Caution: The rating considered is
approx. 15minutes rating of the transmission facility).
• Minimum voltage (Vmin) to be considered as 0.85pu
(85%).
Communication Scheme
• Power line carrier (PLC) equipment is based on a
capacitive connection of signals with frequency in the
range 50- 500 kHz on the power line.
• Radio link is a good and reliable communication
equipment, but is rarely used due to the high cost.
• Optical fibres have the advantage to be insensitive to
noise and can transmit a huge amount of information.
Permissive Communication Scheme
Permissive Communication Scheme
Communication signal carrier send (CS) is sent to remote end when the
fault is detected in forward direction. Tripping is achieved when the
communication signal carrier receive (CR) is received and the local relay
has detected a forward fault.
– In a permissive under-reaching scheme the communication signal is
sent from a zone that under-reaches the remote end.
– In a permissive overreaching scheme the communication signal is sent
from a zone that overreaches the remote end.
Permissive Under-Reach Scheme
Permissive Under-Reach Scheme
Permissive Over-Reach Scheme
Permissive Over-Reaching Schemes are adopted for

Short Lines
Permissive Over-Reach Scheme
Blocking Communication Scheme
Communication signal (CS) is sent to remote end when

the fault is detected in the reverse direction. Tripping is
achieved when this blocking signal is not received within a
time T0 (20-40 ms) and the local relay has detected a fault
in the forward direction.
Blocking Scheme are used when communication signals shall not be Transmitted
over line for reliability reasons
Current Reversal Logic
Permissive overreaching schemes can trip healthy line without

• Fault occurs on line 1,Fault detection by protection A:1 B:1 and A:2
• Relay B:1 trips CB and sends carrier to A:1
• Relay A:2 sees fault in forward direction and sends carrier to B:2
• Fault cleared at B:1, current direction changed on line 2
• Carrier from A:2 and forward looking measuring element in relay A:2
does not reset before relay B:2 detects the fault in forward direction
and trips, also relay A:1 will trip when receiving carrier from 2
• Current Reversal Logic allows slowly resetting communication

equipment without risk of tripping the healthy line.
Switch onto Fault (SOTF)
When energizing a power line onto a forgotten earthing, no
measuring voltage will be available and the directional
measuring can thus not operate correctly.
o A special SOTF function is thus provided. Different
principles can be used, from one phase current to un-
directional impedance
SOTF condition can either be

taken from the manual closing
signal activating the (BC) input
or it can be detected internally
by a logic.
Weak end infeed (WEI)
Weak end infeed is a condition which can occur on a
transmission line, either when the circuit breaker is open,
so there is no current infeed from that line end, or when
the current infeed is low due to weak generation behind the
protection.
CS = ZM2
TRIP = ZM1 + ZM2(CR + t2)
CS (echo)=CR x low voltage x no start forward or reverse
Fuse Failure
This Function is based on condition
3UO > (Presence of Zero Sequence Voltage) and
3IO < (Absence of Zero Sequence Current)
• It can be selected to block protection and give alarm or

just to give alarm.
• Fuse Fail Supervision is blocked for 200ms following
Line Energisation in order not to operate for unequal
pole closing and also during Auto Reclosing
Broken Conductor
This Function is based on condition
3IO > (Presence of Zero Sequence Current) and
3UO < (Absence of Zero Sequence Voltage)
• Unsymmetrical Load condition check gives alarm when

o Any Phase current is lower than --% of maximum
phase current
o Ratio of I2/I1 is more than threshold
Stub Protection
It is not possible for the distance
protection relay to measure impedance
when the line disconnector is open.
Not to risk incorrect operation the distance
protection must be blocked and a Stub
protection is released.
The Stub protection is a simple current
relay.
Over Voltage
It is not possible for the distance
protection relay to measure impedance
when the line disconnector is open.
Not to risk incorrect operation the distance
protection must be blocked and a Stub
protection is released.
The Stub protection is a simple current
relay.
Auto Reclosing
• The auto-reclosing of power lines has become a
generally accepted practice.
• Reports from different parts of the world show only
about 5% of the faults are permanent. Auto reclosing
therefore provides significant advantages.
• Outage times will be short compared to where station
personnel have to re-energize the lines after a fault.
• Presently 1 phase high speed auto-reclosure (HSAR)

at 400kV and 220kV level is widely practised including
on lines emanating from Generating Stations and the
same is recommended for adoption.
Setting Criteria: Dead Time
• Auto- reclosing requires a dead time which exceeds the
de-ionising time
• Time required for the de-ionising of the fault path
depends on:- arcing time, fault duration, wind
conditions, circuit voltage, capacitive coupling to
adjacent conductors, etc.
• Single phase dead time of 1.0 sec is recommended for

both 400kV and 220kV system.
Setting Criteria: Reclaim Time
The time during which a new start of the auto-reclosing
equipment is blocked.
• If reclosing shot has been carried out and the line is
energized and a new fault occurs before the reclaim time
has elapsed, the auto-reclosing equipment is blocked and
a signal for definite tripping of the breaker is obtained.
• After the reclaim time has elapsed, the auto-reclosing
equipment returns to the starting position and a new
reclosing sequence can occur.
• The reclaim time must not be set to such a low value that
the intended operating cycle of the breaker is exceeded,
when two faults incidents occur close together.
The time during which a new start of the auto-reclosing
equipment is blocked.
• If reclosing shot has been carried out and the line is
energized and a new fault occurs before the reclaim time
has elapsed, the auto-reclosing equipment is blocked and
a signal for definite tripping of the breaker is obtained.
• After the reclaim time has elapsed, the auto-reclosing
equipment returns to the starting position and a new
reclosing sequence can occur.
• The reclaim time must not be set to such a low value that
the intended operating cycle of the breaker is exceeded,
when two faults incidents occur close together.
• According to IEC Publication 56.2, a breaker must be
capable of withstanding the following operating cycle
with full rated breaking current:
O + 0.3 s + CO + 3 min + CO
• The recommended operating cycle at 400kV and 220kV
is as per the IEC standard.
• Reclaim time of 25 sec is recommended.

Power Swing Blocking
• A power swing can be started by sudden load change
due to a fault somewhere in the network.
• Close to the centre of the power swing, low voltage and
thus low impedance will occur.
• A distance protection relay must then be blocked during
the power swing.
• This can be done by measuring the transit time of the
impedance locus passing two dedicated impedance
zones.
• When Power Swing detection operates any Impedance
Zone can be selected to be blocked on not as required.
• While the power-swing protection philosophy is simple,
it is often difficult to implement it in a large power
system because of the complexity of the system and the
different operating conditions that must be studied.
There are a number of options one can select in
implementing power-swing protection in their system.
Below we list two possible options:
 Block all Zones except Zone-I
 Block All Zones and Trip with Out of Step (OOS)

Function

Line Protection: Mahendra S Hada Powergrid

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LINE PROTECTION

• Protect persons and equipment in the surrounding of

• Protect apparatus in the power system

• Separate faulty parts from the rest of the power

• Transmission lines 85%

• Single phase to earth 80%

• Two phases to earth 10%

• Phase to phase faults 5%

• Three phase faults 5%

Power lines have impedances of size 0,3- 0,4 ohm/ km

The line impedance must be converted to secondary values

• The distance protection relays are always set based on

• The measured Impedance is a function of positive and

• The distance protection relays are always set based on

• The measured Impedance is a function of positive

• The distance protection relays are always set based on

• The measured Impedance is a function of positive

Residual compensation allows us to measure the ground

• The current used is thus the phase current plus the

• The factor KN is a transmission line constant and Z0/ Z1

• (1+KN) Z1 gives the total loop impedance for the earth

Z0 = Zero sequence impedance of the protected line

Note: With this setting, the relay may overreach when

Set KN as (Z0 – Z1) / 3Z1.

The degree of under reach can be calculated using

Zone-3: Should overreach the remote terminal of the

Set KN as (Z0 – Z1) / 3Z1.

Zone-2 Time Setting

However, if a long line is followed by a short line, then a

Zone-3: Zone-3 timer should be set so as to provide

Typical recommended Zone-3 time is 0.8 to 1Sec.

• Maximum load current (Imax) may be considered as

Permissive Over-Reaching Schemes are adopted for

Communication signal (CS) is sent to remote end when

Permissive overreaching schemes can trip healthy line without

• Current Reversal Logic allows slowly resetting communication

SOTF condition can either be

• It can be selected to block protection and give alarm or

• Unsymmetrical Load condition check gives alarm when

• Presently 1 phase high speed auto-reclosure (HSAR)

• Single phase dead time of 1.0 sec is recommended for

• Reclaim time of 25 sec is recommended.

 Block all Zones except Zone-I

 Block All Zones and Trip with Out of Step (OOS)

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