Presentation on 300 MW Synchronous Generator

Protection

Asia Institute of Power Management

28.07.2022.

1
 Protection Redundancy
• Generator protection should have redundancy i.e. there
should be two separate protection relays with input from
separate current transformers & voltage transformers.
• Each relay on its own should be capable of providing all the
different protection functions.
• The dual redundancy ensures that in case of failure of one
relay, the other relay shall continue to meet the monitoring
and protection requirements.
 Redundancy for Class-A Trip
Class-A (RL 302A) trip contact

86XA
OR
GRP-A MASTER
Class-A trip (RL
Relay 302B) contact TRIP

86YA
Class-A trip (RL 302A) contact
GRP-B MASTER
Relay OR TRIP
Class-A trip (RL 302B)
contact
 Redundancy for Class-B Trip
Class-B trip (RL 303A) contact
86XB
OR
GRP-A MASTER
Class-B trip (RL
Relay 303B) contact TRIP

86YB
Class-B trip (RL 303A) contact
GRP-B MASTER
Relay OR TRIP
Class-B trip (RL 303B) contact
 Generator protection: Class- A
 Differential protection (87G)
 Stator inter turn fault protection (95G)
 95% stator earth fault protection (64G1)
 95%-100% stator earth fault protection (64G2)
 100% Stand-by earth fault protection (64G3)
 Loss of excitation protection (40G)
 Pole slip protection (78G)
 Negative phase sequence protection (46G)
 Reverse power protection (32G)
 Back up impedance protection (21G)
 Excitation transformer over current protection

 Actuation of any one of the above protection elements results in the generation of class-A trip signal.

 Class-A trip comprises severe faults which need to be cleared in the shortest possible time.

 Class-A trip results in simultaneous trip of generator transformer circuit breaker, field circuit breaker and
closing of emergency stop valves, governor valves and intercept valves of turbine.
5
 Class-A trip O/P-1 from NR-1 Class-A Master Trip Relay -1

220V DC +VE Class-A trip O/P-1 from NR-2 220V DC -VE

To 400 KV CB Trip Coil-1

Class-A trip O/P-2 from NR-1 for Master Trip Relay-2

To 400 KV CB Trip Coil-2

Class-A trip O/P-2 from NR-2 for Master Trip Relay-2

To FCB Trip Coil-1

To FCB Trip Coil-2

NR-1: Generator numerical protection relay 1
NR-2: Generator numerical protection relay 2 To Turbine Trip
Two numerical protection relays are used for redundancy.
The master trip relays are used for providing contact multiplication.
To Unit Board-A Bus Transfer
Master trip relay-2 is exactly identical to master trip relay-1.
Two electro-magnetic master trip relays are provided for redundancy.
To Unit Board-B Bus Transfer
To DCS for Annunciation

ACTION LIST FOR CLASS-A PROTECTION TRIP

6
 Generator protection: Class- B
 Over fluxing protection (99G)
 Voltage controlled over current protection (51G)
 Stator Overload protection (49G)
 Over voltage protection (59G)
 Over & Under frequency protection (810/81U)

 Actuation of any one of the above protection elements results in the generation of class-B trip signal.

 Class-B trip comprises faults having lesser degree of severity.

 Class-B trip results in turbine trip first (closing of emergency stop valves, governor valves and intercept
valves) thereby allowing trapped steam inside turbine to exhaust its energy. This protects the turbine
from over speed operation.

 The generator then draws reverse active power from grid. Once a threshold value of reverse power is
exceeded, the generator transformer circuit breaker and field circuit breaker trip.

7
 Class-B trip O/P-1 from NR-1 Class-B Master Trip Relay -1

220V DC +VE
220V DC -VE
Class-B trip O/P-1 from NR-2

To Turbine Trip
Class-B trip O/P-2 from NR-1 for Master Trip Relay-2

To DCS for Annunciation

Class-B trip O/P-2 from NR-2 for Master Trip Relay-2

To Unit Board-A Bus Transfer

To Unit Board-B Bus Transfer

ACTION LIST FOR CLASS-B PROTECTION TRIP

8
To Generator Transformer
Generator System Single Line Diagram
TA13-FOR DCS FEEDBACK
Surge Protection TA12-FOR O/C PROTECTION

Generator Potential TA11-FOR O/C PROTECTION

Transformer Cubicle
Excitation Transformer
TA8 (For 87G, 46, 32R, 32L, 78, 51G of GRP-A)
TV1 TV2 TV3
TA7 (For 87G, 46, 32R, 32L, 78, 51G of GRP-B) Core-1 Core-1 Core-1
Core-3 Core-3 Core-3
TA6 (For AVR, DCS feedback)
Core-2 Core-2 Core-2
TA5 (For AVR feedback)

Exciter
Generator
GENERATOR PT CORES:
Automatic Voltage Regulator
TA4 (For ABT Metering) TV1 CORE-1: AVR CHANNEL-1, DCS FEEDBACK

TA3 (For 87G, 49, 40, 51V/21, 50/27) TV1 CORE-2: GRP-A PROTECTION EXCEPT 64G2
TA2 (For 87G, 49, 40, 51V/21, 50/27) TV1 CORE-3: DCS FEEDBACK, FAULT RECORDER
TA1 (For 87OA)
TV2 CORE-1: AVR CHANNEL-2, ABT METERING

TV2 CORE-2: GRP-B PROTECTION EXCEPT 64G1 AND 64G2

Neutral
Grounding R TV2 CORE-3: GRP-B PROTECTION FOR 64G1 AND 64G2
Transformer
TV3 CORE-1 SPARE CORE
TA02 (For TA03 (For 64G2
64G2 in in GRP-B) TV3 CORE-2: INTER-TURN PROTECTION IN GRP-A
GRP-A)
TV3 CORE-3: INTER-TURN PROTECTION IN GRP-B

9
 Differential protection: 87G
 Circulating current differential protection operates on the principle that current entering and leaving a zone of
protection will be equal.
 Any difference between these currents above threshold value is indicative of a fault being present in the zone.
 If CTs are connected as shown in the following figure, it can be seen that current flowing through the zone of
protection will cause current to circulate around the secondary wiring. If the CTs are of the same ratio and have
identical magnetizing characteristics, they will produce identical secondary currents and so zero current will flow
through the relay.
 If a fault exists within the zone of protection there will be a difference between the output from each CT and this
differential current flowing through the relay will cause it to operate.
 Differential protection is instantaneous to avoid any severe damage to the generator.

10
 Relay connections for biased differential current protection

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

11
 Stability of differential current protection
 Heavy through fault current, arising from an external fault condition, can cause one CT to saturate more than the
other, resulting in a difference between the secondary current produced by each CT.
 This will result in mal-operation even when the fault is outside the protected zone.
 It is therefore essential to stabilize the protection for these conditions.
 This is achieved by a percentage bias scheme with a dual slope characteristic.
 The through fault current is used to increase the setting of the differential element.
 For heavy through faults, the biasing will increase the relay setting, such that the differential spill current is
insufficient to operate the relay.
 The lower slope, which is generally set to zero, provides sensitivity for internal faults
 The higher slope provides stability under through fault conditions, during which there may be transient differential
currents due to saturation effect of the generator CTs.
 The bias current is calculated as the average of the scalar sum of the current entering and leaving the zone of
protection. This calculated through current is then used to apply a percentage bias to increase the differential setting.
 The differential current is calculated as vector sum of the current entering and leaving the zone of protection.
 The Biased differential protection function uses the two sets of three-phase current measurement inputs IA, IB, IC
and IA2, IB2, IC2, connected to measure the phase currents at the neutral end and terminals of the generator, as
shown in the following figure.

Refer: Operating characteristic

12
Operating characteristic of biased differential protection

13
 Settings of biased differential protection

 Gen Diff Is1: It is the differential current setting and should be set to a low setting to protect as much of the machine winding as possible.

 A setting of 15-20% of rated current of the generator is generally considered to be adequate.

 Gen Diff Is2 : It is the threshold above which the second bias setting is applied.

 Is2 should be set to 120% of the generator rated current.

 Gen Diff Slope k1: The initial bias slope setting which is applied for through currents up to Is2.

 Should be set to 0% to provide optimum sensitivity for internal faults.

 Gen Diff Slope k2: The second bias slope setting which is applied for through currents above the Is2 setting.

 Relay settings:

14
Scheme for Inter turn fault protection by residual over voltage measurement

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

15
 Inter turn fault protection by residual over voltage measurement: 95G
 The inter turn fault protection detects faults between turns within a generator phase winding. This fault may involve relatively high
circulating currents that flow in the short-circuited turns and damage the winding and the stator.

 Inter turn faults in a generator winding can be detected by measuring the residual voltage across the generator phase and neutral terminals.

 Normally, no residual voltage of fundamental frequency should exist but a short circuit of one or more turns on one phase will result in the
appearance of some residual voltage.

 This residual voltage is measured by using a voltage transformer connected to the line side of the generator, with the neutral point of the
primary winding connected to the generator neutral, above the neutral grounding transformer.

 This connection allows the measurement of the voltage drop across the winding and bypassing the voltage drop across the neutral
grounding transformer.

 The residual voltage is measured directly from the voltage transformer broken delta secondary winding connected to the neutral voltage
input of the relay (VN2). The arrangement is shown in the following figure.

 In order to obtain reliable measurements, only the fundamental component of the voltage is evaluated. The relay filters out the higher
harmonic components.

Relay pick up 3.0 volts

Time delay 0.5 second

16
 Scheme for 95% Stator Earth Fault protection: 64G1

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

17
 95% Stator Earth Fault protection by residual overvoltage/neutral voltage displacement method:
64G1
 The stator earth fault protection detects earth faults in the stator windings of three-phase alternators.

 On a healthy three-phase power system, the addition of each of the three-phase to earth voltages is nominally zero, as it is the vector addition of three balanced vectors at 120°
to one another.

 However, when an earth fault occurs on the primary system, this balance is upset and a ‘residual’ voltage is produced.

 Case-1: Derived method

 The residual voltage is derived internally by the relay from the three phase to neutral voltage measurements.

 The relay derives the residual voltage from the following equation:

 Vneutral = Va + Vb + Vc , where Va, Vb and Vc are the generator phase to neutral voltages.

 When derived measurement is used, the three-phase to neutral voltage must be supplied from three single-phase VTs.

 This type of VT design provides very low reluctance return path for the passage of residual flux and consequently permit the relay to derive the required residual voltage.

 In addition, the primary star point of the VT must be earthed.

 Case-2: Measurement method

 A dedicated voltage input terminal VN1 is also available in the relay for measurement of the neutral displacement voltage.
Refer: Scheme Diagram

18
 95% Stator Earth Fault protection by residual overvoltage/neutral voltage
 Case-2A: displacement method:
64G1
 The input is used to measure the residual voltage from the secondary side of the neutral grounding transformer.

 Case-2B:

 The input is used to measure the residual voltage from the broken delta secondary connection of three single phase voltage transformer units connected between
phase-earth.

 These three cases have been illustrated in the following figure.

 If the derived value (case-1) or the measured value (case-2, case-3) of neutral displacement voltage exceeds a set value for a preset time, a trip signal is generated.

 There is a limit on the percentage of winding that can be protected by a stator earth fault element by this method.

 For earth faults close to the generator neutral, the driving voltage will be low, and hence the value of fault current will be severely reduced. In practice,
approximately 95% of the stator winding can be protected by this method.

 Relay settings:

Vn pick up 4.95 volts

Time delay 0.5 second

19
 95%-100% Stator Earth Fault protection by 3rd Harmonic method: 64G2
 Standard residual overvoltage protection elements can provide earth fault protection for 95% of the generator stator
winding.

 Earth faults in the final 5% of the winding will result in such a small imbalance in voltage that conventional protection cannot be relied on to detect the fault.

 Most generators will produce third harmonic voltage to some degree due to nonlinearities in the magnetic circuits of the generator design.

 For a stator earth fault at the star point, the amplitude of the third harmonic in the voltage at the terminals is approximately doubled with a consequent collapse of
third harmonic in the neutral point.

 The third harmonic neutral under voltage element is used (VN 3H< setting) when the neutral voltage measurement is available from the neutral grounding
transformer. It is critical that third harmonic neutral voltage measurements be taken while the generator is producing its minimum third harmonic voltage. This
typically occurs at minimum load, minimum excitation, with the GT breaker closed.

 The third harmonic neutral over voltage element is used (VN 3H> setting) when the neutral voltage measurement is available at the generator terminals, from a
broken delta VT. A generator typically produces maximum third harmonic voltage at maximum load and maximum excitation.

 Thus third harmonic over voltage/under voltage elements, used in combination with neutral, fundamental-frequency overvoltage elements, can detect ground faults
in any part of the generator stator, including a ground fault at the generator neutral point.

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

20
 100% Stator Earth Fault protection by Low Frequency Injection method: 64G3

 The 100% stator earth fault protection using a low frequency injection technique detects earth faults in the entire winding,
including the generator neutral point.
 100% stator earth fault protection can be provided by injecting an external low frequency (20Hz) alternating voltage into the
star point or the terminals of the machine.
 Under normal healthy conditions only a very small current flows via the stator earth capacitance due to the high impedance
(Xc = 1/2 ∏ f c) of this path at low frequencies.
 In the event of an earth fault the measured current increases due to the lower impedance of the earth fault path. From the
injected voltage and the fault current the relay can determine the fault resistance.
 The protection can also detect earth faults at the generator terminals including connected components such as voltage
transformers.
 The output of the low frequency signal generator (approx 25 V) is connected via a bandpass filter in parallel with a loading
resistor to the neutral grounding transformer.
 From the measured current and voltage vectors, the complex impedance is calculated and from this the ohmic resistance is
determined.
 This eliminates disturbances caused by the stator to earth capacitance and ensures high sensitivity.

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

21
 Loss of excitation: 40G
 Loss of excitation may arise as a result of the following reasons:

a) accidental tripping of the excitation system.

b) an open circuit or short circuit occurring in the excitation DC circuit.
c) flashover in any slip rings.
d) failure of the excitation power source.

 When the excitation of a synchronous generator fails, its internal e.m.f. will decay.

 This results in the active power output of the machine falling and in an increasing level of reactive power being drawn from
the power system.

 The machine would then be excited from the power system and hence be operating as an induction generator.

 As the active power output falls, the mechanical drive can accelerate the machine so that it will gently pole slip and run at a
super synchronous speed.

 This results in slip frequency currents being induced in the rotor and stator core causing over heating.

22
 Loss of excitation: 40G
 To assess under excitation, the relay processes all three terminal phase currents and all three terminal voltages.

 The admittance is calculated from the positive sequence currents and voltages of all 3 phases.

 The admittance measurement produces the physically appropriate stability limit, independent of voltage deviations from
rated voltage.

 The following figure shows the loading diagram of a synchronous machine in the admittance plane.

P/U2 = G

Loading Diagram
En/(Xs x Un)

IN/UN

ᶲN
δN
1/Xd -Q/U2 = - B
Under excited Over excited

23
 Loss of excitation: 40G
 Two characteristics are available in the relay for under excitation protection.

 These two characteristics are distinguished by their corresponding distances from the zero point as well as the corresponding inclination angles α1 and α2 as shown
in the following figure.

 The straight segments formed by characteristic-1 and

 G [ p.u.]
characteristic-2 constitute the setting of the relay.

Characteristic 2 Characteristic 1

Loading Diagram

E/U
I/U
α1
α2 ᶲ
δ

B[p.u.]
x2
G [pu] =(P/SN )/(U/UN )2

x1
B[pu] =(-Q/SN )/(U/UN )2

24
 Loss of excitation: 40G

 If the resultant characteristic is exceeded to the left of the previous figure, an alarm with a 5 second time delay is generated.

 If the resultant characteristic is exceeded to the left of the previous figure, a trip signal with a time delay of 10 second is
generated.

 The delay is necessary to give the AVR enough time to increase the excitation voltage.

 x1 corresponds to the reciprocal value of the synchronous direct axis reactance.

 x2 is set to about 0.9.x1.

Characteristic-1 x1= 0.59 α= 80 degree

Characteristic-2 x2= 0.53 α= 90 degree

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

25
 Pole slip protection: 78G

 Dynamic occurrences such as load jumps, short-circuits which are not disconnected quickly enough, auto-reclosure, switching actions, low excitation, faulty regulator
or abrupt changes of load within the mains may cause system power swings.

 Stability problems often result from active power swings which can lead to pole-slipping and generator overloading.

 Pole slip causes severe mechanical stress on the machine, putting windings at risk, shaft damage or affecting normal operation of control systems.

 Moreover, the very high currents induced by the oscillating rotor can cause severe thermal damage and lead to complete generator destruction and massive
instability to the grid.

 Conventional protections, such as Over Current , df/dt( Rate of change of frequency) and/or Vector Shift are not sufficient because they not fast and reliable enough
especially if oscillations caused by large load jumps develop.

 Under normal conditions, the impedance locus is expected to be at the right hand side. During a pole slip, the impedance locus is expected to traverse from right to
left. Once the locus has traversed all the regions, a pole slipping cycle is registered.

 The impedance plane is split into two zones. Zone-1 is for faults within the vital zone of the generator. Zone-2 is for faults in the power system network.

 For zone-1 faults, a minimum of one to two power swings are allowed with minimum time delay for operating .

 Holding time of the protection device should be kept greater than the longest expected power swing cycle.

26
 E

Leading IZS

δ
EV Sin δ
P =
ZS
Lagging ᶲ V

P
I

δ =90o δ
 POLE SLIPPING CHARECTERSTICS WITH TYPICAL POWER SWINGS

ZONE-2
1. Zone-2 power swing which
occurs in the network,
outside the vital zone of
Generator. ZONE-1
2
2. Zone-1 power swing
supposedly occurs in the vital R
zone of Generator.

3, 4. Stable Power swing.

3

Refer: Pole slip first slide

 Negative phase sequence protection: 46G

 The negative phase sequence protection is a protection against unbalanced loads and asymmetrical faults of three-phase alternators.

 Negative phase sequence currents create a counter-rotating field which acts on the rotor at double frequency. Eddy currents are induced on the rotor surface,
leading to local overheating of the rotor core and winding.

 The relay derives the negative phase sequence current I2 from the following equation:

 I2 = (Ia + a².Ib + a.Ic)/3 where Ia, Ib and Ic are the generator phase currents and a= 1<120.

 Stage-1 protection (alarm stage) : If the ratio of the negative sequence current to the generator nominal current exceeds a set value , then after the expiry of a set
time, an alarm output is generated.

 Alarm setting:

 I2/In> 9.4% where In is the generator nominal current.

 Time delay: 5.0 seconds.

 Stage-2 protection (trip stage): The relay follows an IDMT characteristic. Operating time depends on the IDMT curve set by the pick up current and time multiplier
setting.

 Trip setting:

 Pick up threshold: I2/In> 9.4% where In is the generator nominal current.

 Time Multiplier: 8

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

29
 Reverse power protection: 32R
 The standard power protection elements of the relay calculate the three-phase active power based on the following formula, using the
current measured at the Ia, Ib, Ic inputs on the relay.

 P = Va.la.cosφa + Vb.lb.cosφb + Vc.lc.cosφc

 The general convention is that the forward current is the current flowing from the generator to the busbar. This corresponds to positive
values of the active power flowing in the forward direction.

 When a generator is operating in the motoring mode, the machine is consuming active power from the power system. The motoring active
power therefore flows in the reverse direction.

 Typical range of motoring power allowable for steam turbines is 0.5% - 3%. Damage due to thermal stress may be inflicted on low pressure
turbine blades when steam flow is not available to dissipate windage losses.

 The reverse power protection is interlocked with the following signals:

a) Turbine tripped
b) FCB closed

 Relay settings:

 Reverse power> 1.39%

 Time delay = 0.02 sec. Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

30
 Backup Impedance protection: 21G

 It is an under impedance protection.

 Impedance for each phase is calculated as:

 Za= Vab/Ia, Zb= Vbc/Ib, Zc= Vca/Ic

 If the impedance measured in any phase falls below a threshold value, then the protection
operates.

 Backup impedance protection is used as a selective time graded protection to provide the shortest
possible tripping times for short-circuits in the synchronous machine, on the terminal leads as well
as in the unit transformer.

 It also provides backup protection in cases where an external fault is not cleared.

31
Under Impedance element tripping characteristic
 Excitation transformer over current protection

Stage-1 Pickup current = 86 Amp IEC Standard Inverse

IDMT
Stage-2 Pickup current = 130 Amp Time delay = 2 second

Stage-3 Pickup current = 218 Amp Instantaneous

t(I) = time to trip for a fault current I

𝑲
I = fault current 𝒕(𝑰) = ×𝑻
𝑰
Is = set current ( )𝜶 − 𝟏
𝑰𝒔
T = time multiplier setting
K = 0.14
α = 0.02

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

33
 Over fluxing (volt/hertz) protection: 24G
 This protection detects over fluxing in generators.

 Over excitation can take place if :

a. There is a sudden load throw off and the AVR is not able to control the associated voltage rise.
b. There is a decrease in frequency e.g. in island systems.

 An increase in flux above the rated value quickly saturates the iron core and causes large eddy current losses.

 The element measures the ratio of the generator voltage to the frequency.

 B/Bn = (U/Un)/(f/fn) where Bn, Un, and fn are the rated values of generator flux density, voltage and frequency.

 The calculation is based on the maximum of the three phase-to-phase voltages.

 Stage-1 protection (alarm stage): when the U/f value exceeds a pickup threshold (U/f> 1.06), an alarm output is generated after a time delay of 2 seconds.

 Stage-2 protection (trip stage): 8 pairs of values of over excitation (U/f) and trip time are used to specify a thermal characteristic curve. The setting values are given
in the next slide.

 When the pickup threshold value of stage-1 is exceeded, a trip is generated whose time delay is determined by the thermal characteristic.

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

34
Definite time characteristic of over fluxing protection

U/f Time (second)

1.05 20000
1.1 50
1.15 9
1.2 4
1.25 1
1.3 1
1.35 1
1.4 1

35
 Pickup threshold V/f> 1.06 TRIPPING CURVE OF
1st setting of thermal characteristics OVERFLUXING
PROTECTION
1.05

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

Over excitation Trip Stage

V/f>>

T V/f>>

1.25 1.30 1.40

1.0 1.05 1.10 1.20 U/f
V/f>>
(setting of definite time characteristics)

36
 Voltage controlled over current: 51V
 This is a back-up protection which is applied so that faults are cleared in the event of downstream protection/circuit breakers failing to operate.

 The generator terminal voltage will drop during external fault conditions, thereby restricting the fault current.

 A voltage measuring element is used to control the current setting of the over current element.

 An under voltage detector is used to produce a step change in the relay current setting Is by a factor K, when the voltage falls below the voltage setting Vs.

 Line voltages are used to control each phase over current element as shown in the following table.

Phase current Control voltage

Ia Vab
Ib Vbc

Ic Vca

 The operating characteristic of the current setting when voltage controlled mode is selected is shown in the following figure.

 Stage 1 has definite time delayed characteristic and is used for alarm (I>5.35 A, DT=0.3 Sec)

 Stage 2 has Inverse Definite Minimum Time characteristic and is used for trip (I>5.35 A, IEC S Inverse, TMS=0.25)

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

37
 Current Pick Up Level For Voltage Controlled Overcurrent Protection
Current Setting

I> Set

KXI> Set

V< 83V Measured Voltage

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram
38
 Stator Overload Protection: 49G

 This is an Inverse Definite Minimum Time (IDMT) backup protection.

 It operates by measuring the generator phase currents.

 Relay settings:

Stage-1 (alarm) I1>4.65 A Time delay: 9

[(1.1X10189)/(12000/5)] seconds
Stage-2 (trip) I2> 4.55 A IEC V Inverse
TMS: 0.025

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

39
 Over voltage protection: 59G

 The overvoltage protection consists of two independent stages.

 These are configurable as either phase to phase or phase to neutral voltage measurement.

 Relay settings:

Stage-1 (alarm) V1>121 volts (10% over Time delay: 5 seconds

voltage)
Stage-2 (trip) V2> 140 volts (30% over Time delay: 0.5 second
voltage)

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

40
 Under frequency/Over frequency protection: 81U/81O

Under frequency stage-1: F< 48.5Hz Time delay: 5.0 second

alarm

Under frequency stage-2: F< 47.5Hz Time delay: 1.0 second

trip

Over frequency stage-1: F> 51.5Hz Time delay: 5.0 second

alarm

Over frequency stage-2: F> 52.5Hz Time delay: 1.0 second

trip

41
 Surge protection of generator
 Surge in electrical systems originate mainly due to lightning impulses and switching impulses. Electrical surge produces a large transient over voltage in the electrical
network and system. The shape of the transient over voltage has a steeply rising front with slowly decaying tail as shown in the figure below. This steep voltage wave
travels through the electrical network and causes over voltage stresses on all the electrical insulators and equipment which come under its travelling path.

 Gap less ZnO or zinc oxide surge arrester in parallel with a capacitor bank is used for generator surge protection.

 The zinc oxide has highly non-uniform current voltage (I–V) characteristics.

 The non linear resistance characteristics of zinc oxide block can be expressed as below:

 (I/Ir) = (V/Vr)ˣ

 where Ir and Vr are the reference current and voltage respectively of the lightning arrester or surge arrester block. The value of x is 30 to 40 in case of metal oxide
block.

Refer: Generator System Single Line Diagram

42
 Surge protection of generator
 For normal system voltage, the voltage and current increases linearly and the current at this region of characteristics is in the range of micro ampere.

 But beyond a certain voltage level, leakage current starts increasing very rapidly and goes to KA range.

 The voltage beyond which the current through the LA becomes high, is referred to as reference voltage and the current at reference voltage is known as reference
current.

 Sudden draining of huge current through lightning arrester just beyond reference voltage level, prevents the system from transient over voltage stress.

 Metal oxide surge arrestors have negative temperature co-efficient of resistance which means with increase in temperature, resistance of the surge arrester
decreases.

 There is a continuous leakage current through the LA. This leakage current generates heat. This generated heat should be dissipated properly, otherwise the
temperature of the LA may rise which further increases the leakage current. Because of this, proper thermal design of surge arrester housing plays an important role.

 There is a critical temperature depending upon the voltage rating of the metal oxide block beyond which heat generated in the block can not be dissipated at
required rate and which finally leads to thermal runaway of lightning arrester.

 The transient over voltage wave form has many high frequency components. These high frequency components are provided a grounding path by the capacitor bank
which offers a low impedance path to high frequency components (1/2πfC).

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Thank you
partha.de@rpsg.in

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