ByStevenMcFadyenonNovember3rd,2014

Carryingoutaprotectionsystemdiscriminationstudyiscriticaltoensurethecorrectfunctioningoftheelectrical
systemintheeventoffaults.TheIECdefinesdiscriminationas:

overcurrentdiscrimination
coordinationoftheoperatingcharacteristicsoftwoormoreovercurrentprotectivedevicessuchthat,onthe
incidenceofovercurrentswithinstatedlimits,thedeviceintendedtooperatewithintheselimitsdoesso,while
theother(s)does(do)not
NoteDistinctionismadebetweenseriesdiscrimination,involvingdifferentovercurrentprotectivedevices
passingsubstantiallythesameovercurrent,andnetworkdiscriminationinvolvingidenticalprotective
devicespassingdifferentproportionsoftheovercurrent.

Electricalengineersarecalledupontoproducea
discriminationstudyatvariousstageswithinaproject.Ifyou
arelookingtohaveaprotectiondiscriminationstudycarried
outorhavebeentaskedwithdoingone,hereareafewtipsto
helpensureyouhaveabetterthanaveragestudy:
1. DoITEarly
2. Theearlierintheprojectastudyiscarriedout,the
better.Ideallytheinitialstudyshouldbecarriedout
inthedesignphaseandthenrefinedduring
constructionandasequipmentselectionbecomes
finalized.Leavingthestudytilltheendofthe
installation,willmakeanynecessarychangesmore
costlytoimplement.Carryingoutastudyearlier,will
notonlyleadtoabetterdesignedsystem,butcan
influenceequipmentselectionanddrivethecostof
thesystemdown.
3. ShortCircuitandEarthFaults
Ensurethestudycoversbothshortcircuitandearth
faults.Inpractice,boththeshortcircuitandearth

DiscriminationCurves
ImageSource:AmtechPower

faultcurrentscanbedifferentandcouldaffecttheoverallfunctioningoftheprotectionsystems.Inaddition,
relayandprotectivedevicesoftenhavedifferentsettingsforshortcircuitandearthfaults.
4. MoreThanCurves[CurrentLimitingBreakers]
Oftendiscriminationstudiesfinishoncethecurveshavebeendrawn.IEC60947isclearthatforcurrent
limitingbreakersandhighlevelsofshortcircuit,discriminationcanonlybeverifiedbytests.All
manufacturershavecarriedoutthesetests,andreviewingtheirliteraturetoensurediscriminationinthisregion
inadditiontoproducingdiscriminationcurvesforlowerfaultlevelsmakesforacompletestudy.
5. NoSourceandLoadEndDiscrimination

Incomplexsystems,achievingfulldiscriminationbecomesalmostimpossible.Avoidtryingtodiscriminate
betweenthesourceandloadendofcables(ifbothhaveprotectivedevices).Bothdevicesisolatethesame
sectionoftheelectricalsystem,makingnodifferenceifeitheronetrips.Anypotentialbenefitsoftryingto
narrowthefaultlocationtowithinthecableisgoingtobelostinmoretimerequiredforupstreamdevicesto
tripandlongerfaultdurations.
6. NotEverythingNeedsToDiscriminate
Thereisnorulethateverythingneedstodiscriminateandoftenitisimpossibleorcostlytotryandachieve
this.Byunderstandingthesystem,it'soperationandtheeffectsonthebusinessofpowerloss,amore
engineereddiscriminationschemecanbeachieved.
7. UseSoftware
Inallbutthesimplestinstances,youshouldusesoftwaretocarryoutboththefaultcalculationsandsettingof
theprotectivedevices(discriminationcurves).Tryingtodothingsbyhand,willleadtomistakesand
compromiseinsimplifyingtheamountofwork.Softwarealsoallowsthetestingofwhatiftypescenariosto
improvesystemdesign,installation,andoverallcost.
8. ABetterReport
Theresultofanystudyisusuallytheprotectiondiscriminationreport.Spendtimeandeffortonthis.Consider
thereaderandfocusthereportonthem.Keepitsimpleandavoidthetemptationtoexpanditwithwaffle.
Identitywhythestudyisbeingcarriedout,anymajorissuesandtheoveralloutcome.Keepssettings,curves,
supportingdata,etc.inappendices.
9. FullyDocumentTheStudy
Fullydocumentthestudyinareport.Includeonlyappropriateinformationinthemainbodyandusethe
appendicesforfullydocumentingthestudy.Includeallnecessaryinformationsupplyauthoritytechnical
information,shortcircuitandearthfaultcalculations,discriminationcurvesandcurrentlimitingchecks,
recommendsettingsand/orsettingchanges,problemsandrequiredsystemmodifications/changesandany
othertechnicalinformationwhichisrequiredaspartofthestudyscope.
Hopefully,theabovetipsshouldhelpinachievingabetterprotectiondiscriminationstudy.Thetipsaregenericand
applytonearlyalldiscriminationstudies.However,bearinmindthateachstudyisdifferent,protectionsystemscanbe
complex,focusedaroundaparticulartechnologyorwithaspecificenduserrequirementinmind.Itisuptothe
electricalengineertobringeverythingtogetherandtodelivertotheclientaprotectiondiscriminationstudywhich
deliversresults.