EE342 Electrical Power Lab Experiment PS3

Fault Analysis and Overcurrent Relays

I Objectives

To study the factors affecting the symmetrical faults
To be familiar with the analysis of the traces obtained by the disturbance (fault) recorders.
To study the concept of overcurrent relays and their logic operation.

II Background

2.1 Balanced Fault Currents

Balanced fault currents (i.e. same a.c. current in each phase), flow when a threephase short circuit
occurs on a system and may be calculated from a network diagram of the system drawn in per unit.
A simple system is shown in Figure 1. If it is assumed that there is no circulating current between
the generators, they must be of equal magnitude so Figure 1 can be reduced to Figure 2. Since it is
also assumed that X/R > 1 throughout, so that the resistances may be neglected, the fault current I
F

may be calculated as: I
F
= V
F
/ jX
sc
(pu); where, V
F
is the prefault voltage and X
sc
is the
equivalent reactance to the fault.


Figure 1 : A Simple System Subject to 3-Phase Fault

Figure 2 : The Equivalent Circuit of the System of Figure 1
If the voltage in the faulted section is 1.0 pu voltage, then the fault level (VA) at the fault point is
(1.0 pu voltage I
F
pu current) i.e. equal numerically to I
F
pu. Sometimes the faulted section of the
system is connected through a busbar to a larger power system. If the fault level at the busbar is
known, then the power system which produced that fault level may be made equivalent to a 1.0 pu
voltage generator and a series reactance X pu. The fault level for the equivalent system is 1/X pu.
27
Thus if the fault level or infeed from the power system is known and is equal to (VA) pu on the
system base values, then: X pu = 1/(VA) pu.
2.2 D.C. Components of Fault Current
So far it has been assumed that the only currents that flow on the occurrence of a threephase short
circuit are a.c. currents. This is not so, d.c. currents are also produced. In Figure 3, waveforms v
and i represent steady state short circuit conditions, the phase angle being dependent on the
X/R ratio. However, if the short circuit occurred at t
0
, the current could not instantaneously have the
value A so it must in fact be zero. So, a direct current A equal but opposite to A must be
superimposed at t
0
. Since this d.c. current is not supported by a voltage it will decay with a time
constant T = L/R.
The highest value of A is obtained when the fault occurs at or near a voltage zero so i is a
maximum at t
0
. For this condition, the maximum peak current I
max
occurs 10 ms after t
0
, and if =
45 ms is obtained from:

where I
F
is the rms value of the balanced short circuit current. This is the maximum current that
should flow between the contacts if the circuit breaker closed onto a threephase short circuit; it is
called the making peak.





Figure 3 : Voltage, and Current Waveforms after a Fault Condition
28


2.3 Constitution of a Protection System
A protection system consists of three main parts: 1) circuit breakers, 2) Instrument Transformers and
3) relays. Circuit breakers are those devices responsible for disconnecting the faulty parts of power
system during fault conditions. This means that its current capability is selected based on the
maximum short-circuit current that may pass through it. We may consider them as the muscles of the
protection system. Instrument Transformers, which are voltage transformers (VT's) and current
transformers (CT's), are responsible for producing a small voltage and current which are proportional
to the actual system voltage and current to be used as relay input signals. These may be considered as
the nerves of the protection system. Meanwhile, the relays are those devices responsible for reliably
interpreting the input signals from CTs and VTs whether it represent a fault condition or a normal
condition and send the appropriate signal to the circuit breaker accordingly. The words reliably
interpreting means producing a trip signal if the fault occurs in the zone and under the conditions for
which it is responsible, and do not produce a trip signal (Block) when the fault is beyond its zone of
protection and/or under conditions out of the scope of the relay. For example, an overcurrent relay
should discriminate between the high current of motor starting (Block) and the short circuit current of
the motor (Trip). The relays are considered as the brain of the protection system. There are many
types of protective relays. Some of these are overcurrent relays, directional overcurrent relays,
differential relays, reverse power relays, distance relays and many more.

2.4 Disturbance (Fault) Recorders
Each numerical relay of the simulator is incorporated with a disturbance recorder module.
Disturbance records store typically 20 records each of 10.5 seconds long. Data is sampled 12 times
a cycle. In most relays, up to 8 analogue channels, 32 digital channels and one time channel is
available. The pre and post fault time can be set by accessing the relay menus. Disturbance records
are routinely extracted by the SCADA system and stored on the PC.
Disturbance data is displayed and analysis assisted by the 'Win Analyse' software. To access the
'WinAnalyse' software on the SCADA, click on the 'Software' tab on the bottom bar of the Site or
other Screens. Win Analyse provides software tools for retrieving and analyzing the Disturbance
records stored on the PC Hard disk. Click on the Win Analyse button to access the software. A
blank Win Analyse screen appears with an access bar showing, File, Configuration, Analysis,
Calculation, Window (and Help). Click on File and again on Open in the drop down menu. An
'Open Event' box appears (see Figure 4).
29

Figure 4: The open event Function of Win Analysis
III Experimental Procedure

The connection diagram for the experiment is illustrated by Figure 5. Table 1 summarizes the case
studies that will be carried out on the Simulator. In all cases the procedure is the same, only the
conditions of the study should be adjusted first and then the obtained fault records should be
copied. The common procedure is as follows:

1) With the PSS switched off and all CBs open, connect the circuit as shown in Figure 5. Switch
on the PSS. Connect a three-phase fault application via the Fault CB at TP17 (TP19).
2) Start up the S10 on the PC and access the Unloaded System Experiment Screen as shown in
Figure 6.
3) On the Experiment Screen, close all CBs.
4) Go to the Control Panel. Check voltages at meters MB and MM.
5) Apply the fault at TP17 by clicking the 'Timed Fault' CB on the Control Panel. The Alarm will
go on the Screen (top left corner). Click on ACCEPT to cancel.
6) Go to the ALARM tab and check the new alarms and then clear them.
7) Go to the Disturbance Records for the RD1a relay and monitor fault voltage and current traces.
8) Record the RMS value of the fault current using the cursor.
9) Copy to the clipboard the requested graphs and then paste them in the word file.
10) At the end of the experiment open CB2 and switch off the PSS.
30


Figure 5: Connection Diagram for PS4

31

Figure 6: SCADA Screen for the Fault Analysis


A short description of the considered case studies is given below.

Case#1: Base Case (Unloaded System)
Adjust the conditions of the case as shown in Table 1. The traces requested include the
instantaneous curves (Tr#1) , the RMS curves (Tr#3) and the Logic tracres (Tr#4). To verify the
condition of the dc current with respect to the fault instant, as a point on the curve, a zoomed trace
(Tr#2) is requested (refer to section 2.2).

Case#2: Effect of connecting the fault point to Ground
This case is dedicated to study the effect of applying 3-phase short circuit to ground. Only RMS
trace (Tr#5) is required. Compare with Tr#2.

Case#3: Effect of Fault Location
Using a longer line (0.25 pu), the fault current will decrease. Record the RMS curves (Tr#6) and
compare with Tr#3. Also the logic plots (Tr#7) are recorded to compare with Tr#4. To analyze the
logic traces compare with the settings of the overcurrent relay D1-a: I> 7 A, inverse characteristic&
I>> 20 A, instantaneous.

Case#4: Including the Distribution Transformer
The fault is applied at TP19 and the instantaneous curves are recorded (Tr#8). Compare with Tr#1.

Case#5: Effect of Static Load
The fault is applied while the system is loaded with R 100% and L 50% static load. Copy the
instantaneous curves (Tr#9) and compare with Tr#1.
32
33


Case#6: Effect of Dynamic Load
The fault is applied while the system is loaded with the dynamic load (Induction Motor). Copy the
instantaneous curves (Tr#10) and compare with Tr#1. It is also interesting to copy the records from
D1-b to show the fault currents supplied from the induction motor (Tr#11).

Case#7: Effect of Fault Duration
Increasing the fault duration to 0.3 s will activate the trip of the delayed overcurrent relay I>. Copy
the logic plots and analyze them.

Case#8: Enable the Instantaneous Trip
In this case the second stage of the overcurrent protection I>> will be enabled (cancel the BLOCK
button) , hence a fast trip will take place. Copy the logic plots and analyze them.

Report

1. Explain why the protective relays on the simulator have their contacts connected in series with
the dc supply and the tripping coil of the circuit breaker?

2. An overcurrent relay is connected to the secondary of a CT having the turns ratio 400:5A.
It is found that the relay operating time is 1.5 seconds when its input current is 15A.
Determine the system fault current I
1
which will cause the relay to operating time to be 0.15
second. Assume the relay operating time to be inversely proportional to the square of relay
input current.













Figure 7
3. Is the force acting to open the circuit breaker produced by the dc supply or by the ac fault
current?
4. Estimate the value of the equivalent reactance of the grid system using the results obtained
from Cases#1&4.
5. For each case study, comment on the obtained results with respect to base case.
6. Write your conclusions.
I
1
I
1
400:5
15 A
I
2
=15 A
Overcurrent
Relay

Table 1 Symmetrical Fault Case Studies

Traces Copied from Fault Recorders Case
#
Fault
Location
Fault
Duration
Fault
Type
Transm.
Line
Load Block
D1-a IF D1-b IF
1 TP 17 0.2 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
- I>> D1-a
Tr#1: Inst. Global
Tr#2: Inst. Zoom
Tr#3: RMS
Tr#4: Logic


2 TP 17 0.2 s L-L-L-G
Line 2
(0.15)
- I>> D1-a Tr#5: RMS

3 TP 17 0.2 s L-L-L
Line 4
(0.25)
- I>> D1-a
Tr#6: RMS
Tr#7: Logic


4 TP 19 0.2 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
- I>> D1-a Tr#8: Inst. Global

5 TP 17 0.2 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
R=100%,
L=50%
I>> D1-a Tr#9: Inst. Global

6 TP 17 0.2 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
Induction
Motor
I>> D1-a
I> D1-b
Tr#10: Inst. Global Tr#11: Inst. Global

7 TP 17 0.3 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
- I>> D1-a Tr#12: Logic

8 TP 17 0.3 s L-L-L
Line 2
(0.15)
- - Tr#13: Logic


34