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Introduction to Distance Protection

by Edvard

Princ ip le s and Charac te ris tic s o f Dis tanc e Pro te c tio n (o n p ho to d is tanc e p ro te c tio n re lay typ e SIPRO TEC 4 7SA522 fo r trans mis s io n line s )

Distance relays are one of the most important protection elements in a transmission line. T hese relays may sometimes be set based in percentages of the line impedances, f or example a typical setting f or zone 1 is 80% of the impedance of the line in order to not reach the remote end, the zone 2 can be set at 120% of the impedance of the line in order to dependably overreach the line, Zone 3 sometimes are disabled or set to cover an adjacent line. Distance relays characteristics may be Mho , Quadrilateral, Offset Mho , etc. In the case of the quadrilateral characteristic or long reaching mho characteristics, additional care may be required to remain secure during heavy load. In the case of parallel lines, the mutual coupling of these lines can cause distance relays to under reach and over reach. For this reason the relay setting must consider this ef f ect, some relays have algorithms to compensate, but it is necessary to use the current of the parallel line which adds complexity to the installation. In some countries there criteria that a distance protection can not reach f ault in other voltage levels, because

f ault clearing times in sub transmission levels may be slower than f ault clearing times at the transmission level. T he problem of combining fast fault clearance with selective tripping of plant is a key aim f or the protection of power systems. To meet these requirements, high-speed protection systems f or transmission and primary distribution circuits that are suitable f or use with the automatic reclosure of circuit breakers are under continuous development and are very widely applied. Distance protection, in its basic f orm, is a non-unit system of protection of f ering considerable economic and technical advantages. Unlike phase and neutral overcurrent protection, the key advantage of distance protection is that its f ault coverage of the protected circuit is virtually independent of source impedance variations. Distance protection is comparatively simple to apply and it can be f ast in operation f or f aults located along most of a protected circuit. It can also provide both primary and remote back-up f unctions in a single scheme. It can easily be adapted to create a unit protection scheme when applied with a signalling channel. In this f orm it is eminently suitable f or application with highspeed autoreclosing, f or the protection of critical transmission lines.

Principles of Dist ance Relays

Since the impedance of a transmission line is proportional to its length, f or distance Fig ure 1 - Ad vantag e s o f d is tanc e o ve r o ve rc urre nt p ro te c tio n measurement it is appropriate to use a relay capable of measuring the impedance of a line up to a predetermined point (the reach point).

Such a relay is described as a distance relay and is designed to operate only f or f aults occurring between the relay location and the selected reach point, thus giving discrimination f or f aults that may occur in dif f erent line sections. T he basic principle of distance protection involves the division of the voltage at the relaying point by the measured current. T he apparent impedance so calculated is compared with the reach point impedance. If the measured impedance is less than the reach point impedance, it is assumed that a f ault exists on the line between the relay and the reach point. T he reach point of a relay is the point along the line impedance locus that is intersected by the boundary characteristic of the relay. Since this is dependent on the ratio of voltage and current and the phase angle between them, it may be plotted on an R/X diagram. T he loci of power system impedances as seen by the relay during f aults, power swings and load variations may be plotted on the same diagram and in this manner the perf ormance of the relay in the presence of system f aults and disturbances may be studied.

Relay perf ormance

Distance relay perf ormance is def ined in terms of reach accuracy and operating time. Reach accuracy is a comparison of the actual ohmic reach of the relay under practical conditions with the relay setting value in ohms. Reach accuracy particularly depends on the level of voltage presented to the relay under fault conditions. T he impedance measuring techniques employed in particular relay designs also have an impact. Operating times can vary with f ault current, with f ault position relative to the relay setting, and with the point on the voltage wave at which the f ault occurs. Depending on the measuring techniques employed in a particular relay design, measuring signal transient errors, such as those produced by Capacitor Voltage Transf ormers or saturating CT s, can also adversely delay relay operation f or f aults close to the reach point. It is usual f or electromechanical and static distance relays to claim both maximum and minimum operating times. However, f or modern digital or numerical distance relays, the variation between these is small over a wide range of system operating conditions and f ault positions.

Dist ance Relay Charact erist ics

Some numerical relays measure the absolute f ault impedance and then determine whether operation is required according to impedance boundaries def ined on the R/X diagram. Traditional distance relays and numerical relays that emulate the impedance elements of traditional relays do not measure absolute impedance. T hey compare the measured f ault voltage with a replica voltage derived f rom the f ault current and the zone impedance setting to determine whether the f ault is within zone or out-of -zone. Distance relay impedance comparators or algorithms which emulate traditional comparators are classif ied according to their polar characteristics, the number of signal inputs they have, and the method by which signal comparisons are made.

T he common types compare either the relative amplitude or phase of two input quantities to obtain operating characteristics that are either straight lines or circles when plotted on an R/X diagram. At each stage of distance relay design evolution, the development of impedance operating characteristic shapes and sophistication has been governed by the technology available and the acceptable cost. Since many traditional relays are still in service and since some numerical relays emulate the techniques of the traditional relays, a brief review of impedance comparators is justif ied.

Example of Modern Dist ance Prot ect ion Relay

This

SIPRO TEC 7SA522 p ro te c tio n re lay - Sing le line d iag ram (p ro vid e s full-s c he me d is tanc e p ro te c tio n and inc o rp o rate s all func tio ns us ually re q uire d fo r the p ro te c tio n o f a p o we r line )

particulary relay has following ANSI protection functions: ANSI 21/21N FL 50N/51N; 67N 50/51/67 50 ST UB 68/68T 85/21 Description Distance protection Fault locator Directional ground-f ault protection Backup overcurrent protection ST UB-bus overcurrent stage Power swing detection/tripping Teleprotection f or distance protection ANSI 50HS 50BF 59/27 Description Switch-onto-f ault protection Breaker f ailure protection Overvoltage/undervoltage protection

81O/U Over/underf requency protection 25 79 74T C Synchro-check Auto-reclosure Trip circuit supervision

27WI 85/67N

Weak-inf eed protection Teleprotection f or ground-f ault protection

86

Lockout (CLOSE command interlocking)

Dist ance Relays (VIDEO)

Cant see this video? Click here to watch it on Youtube. Resource: Network protection and automation guide Areva; SIPROTEC47SA522 Distance Protection Relay for Transmission Lines; An Example Distance Protection Application with Complicating Factors by Yofre Jacome and Charles F Henville