WOLLO University

College of Engineering
School of Electrical & Computer
Engineering

ECEG 4232 Power System Protection & Control

Shegaw M.

Lectures 6 & 7: Transmission Lines Protections

March- 2020
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 Transmission line protection
 INTRODUCTION

 PROTECTION WITH OVERCURRENT RELAYS

 DISTANCE PROTECTION OF LINES

 UNIT PROTECTION

 GROUND FAULT PROTECTION

 SUMMARY

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 INTRODUCTION
 Most high-voltage transmission systems are interconnected in a network

system of circuit elements. The interconnection of many lines presents a new

set of conditions on the coordination of protective devices, since the fault
currents may flow to the fault point from both ends of any meshed line
element.

 Overcurrent relays, which were quite adequate protective devices for radial

circuits.

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 Cont’d…

 The first relay type to be considered for transmission line

protection is the directional overcurrent relay.

 The second relay type to be considered for line protection is the

distance relay. This relay is immune to some of the

inadequacies of the overcurrent relay, and variations of distance
measuring devices are widely used for transmission protection.

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 Cont’d…
 Directional overcurrent relays are the simplest and least expensive, but are the
most difficult to apply. Overcurrent relays also have the disadvantage in changing
their coordination characteristics as the network and generation sources
change.
 Overcurrent relays are widely used for ground protection.

 Distance relays are often a first choice for replacing overcurrent relays when the
overcurrent relays are found to be inadequate for an application. Distance relays are
very common in applications for phase and ground protection of transmission
lines.
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 Cont’d…

 Pilot relays are considered as the most selective of all kinds of transmission

protection. This relay concept is superior because it combines observations on

the network from both ends of the protected line to provide greater selectivity
and greater assurance of correct tripping.

 Almost all EHV systems are protected by pilot relaying because of the large

power transfers commonly carried on these lines, the need for fast relay action
for system stability,

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  PROTECTION WITH OVERCURRENT RELAYS

 Overcurrent relays can be applied successfully on transmission networks under

certain conditions. Consider the simple network shown in Figure.1, where two
parallel transmission lines interconnect two systems, each of which contains
sources of fault.

Fig.1. Parallel transmission lines interconnecting two systems with generating sources. 7
 Cont’d…

• In order to coordinate the relays at the four breaker locations, it is necessary to

maintain a coordinating time interval between adjacent relays. Thus, for a fault
on line A-B, we reason, by inspection, that

𝑡𝐴 < 𝑡𝐶
𝑡𝐵 < 𝑡𝐷 …………………….(1)

 Where t is the relay time for a given fault current magnitude and the subscript

identifies the relay location.

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 Cont’d…
 Similarly, if the fault is on line CD,

𝑡𝐷 < 𝑡𝐵
𝑡𝐶 < 𝑡𝐴 …………………….(2)

 For proper coordination. Clearly, it is not possible to satisfy both (1) and (2)

simultaneously. The simple overcurrent relay does not have adequate

selectivity for this application.

 One way of improving the selectivity of the overcurrent relay is the addition

of a directional element.
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 Cont’d…
 The criteria for deciding whether directional relays should be required are
sometimes determined by the ratio of currents flowing in relays at the two ends
of a line.
 Consider a portion of a large system in Figure 2, where we have numbered three
fault locations and have defined currents in breaker A corresponding to each
fault.

Figure 2, Criteria for requiring a directional overcurrent relay 10

 Cont’d…
 The criteria that have been developed through practice require that a directional

relay be applied at A if any of the following load or fault current conditions

exist.
1 I 1 max ≥ 0.25I 2 min
2 I 1 max ≥ 0.25I 3 min …………………(3)
3 ILd out > ILd In
 where 𝐈𝐋𝐝 𝐈𝐧 and 𝐈𝐋𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 refer to the maximum load currents flowing in and out

of the protected line at A, respectively.

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 Cont’d…

 Both load and fault currents are sensed at the bus G side of breaker A. The need

for directional capability depends, then, on the ratio of currents seen at the
breaker, where the current might be caused to flow in different directions. Fault
current for fault (1) flows toward a fault "behind" the relay at A, while the
faults at (2) and (3) are "in front" of the relay.

 If the load current from H to G (𝐼𝐿𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ) is greater than that from G to H (𝐼𝐿𝑑 𝐼𝑛 )

the use of directional relays will permit more sensitive settings.

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 Loops with One Current Source
 First, consider the case of a looped transmission system where there is only one
source of fault current, such as the system shown in figure 3.
 The source of fault current is to the left of bus R. Therefore, it is permissible to use
nondirectional overcurrent relays at 1 and 10, since a fault on bus R will not cause
currents to flow in the transmission loop in either direction.

Figure .3 A Transmission loop circuit with only one source of fault current. 13
 Loops with Multiple Current Sources
 For looped transmission systems with multiple sources, the coordination process

is much more complex. Now, all overcurrent relays must be directional and each
pair of relays must be coordinated, moving around the loop in both directions.

Figure 4. A loop system with two sources. 14

 Cont’d…
 Consider the impedance from R to Q through bus G is jO.2 and that from R to Q through buses
T and H is jO .3.
 Consider the currents only on the branch R-G-Q . The sources at S and at U are
assumed to be equal, each having an impedance of jO.1 per unit. For this system, the fault
currents seen at breakers 1 and 4 are shown in figure 5.

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Figure 5 Relay currents at R and Q for faults between R and Q.
 Cont’d…
 Figure 5 shows the fault current seen at relay locations 1 and 4 as the fault is

moved from R to Q. The current magnitudes are perfectly symmetrical

since the sources are identical.

 There is no best starting point for coordinating multiple loop systems.

Usually, the process is cut and try, and it may require several attempts to
realize complete coordination.

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 DISTANCE PROTECTION OF LINES
 The distance relay operates on the principle of comparing the voltage and

current in some way to obtain a measure of the ratio between these quantities.

 Analyse the basic idea by considering the relay at station G in figure 6,

Figure 6: Distance protection of a line between G and H. 17

 Cont’d…
 The relay at A to trip for phase faults within a fractional distance ℎ𝑆 of the total distance

between stations G and H . We call this fraction the "reach setting" of the distance relay.
This means that the relay will trip only with programmed time delay for faults beyond this
reach, but will trip without time delay for faults closer to bus G.

 The reach thus becomes a "balance point" for the relay at A, or a tripping threshold that is

expressed in distance units.

 Now consider a solid three-phase fault at the balance point. For this condition we

compute

 𝑉𝑅 = ℎ𝑆 𝑍𝐿 𝐼𝑅𝑆 ……………………………………………………………………….(4)
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 Cont’d…
 Where VR = voltage at the relay, IRS = current at the relay, ZL = total line impedance
from G to H, and hS = fraction of line impedance to balance point.
 Since the relay measures the ratio of relay voltage to relay current, compute the relay
apparent impedance, ZRS , which is defined as
VR
 =ZRS = hS ZL …………………………………………………………………….….(5)
IRS

 For this condition, tripping would be marginal, that is, tripping mayor may not occur.
However, if the fault is closer to G, the voltage at the relay will be slightly lower or the
current slightly higher. Then the measured impedance is
 ZR ≤ hS ZL …………………………………………….……………………………..(6)

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 Zoned Distance Relays

 A distance relay will trip a faulted line in a very short time as long as the fault is

within the distance threshold.

 This is done by providing more than one distance relaying element within the

same relay package and setting the different elements to different thresholds and
with different relaying times.

 Figure 7 shows a typical application. In the system illustrated, the distance relays

have three zones.

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 Cont’d…

Figure 7: Step time and impedance zones for distance relays. 21

 Cont’d…
 Zone 1 is set to protect about 90% of the line length and to operate with no
intentional time delay.
 Zone 2 is set for 100% of the protected line plus about 50% of the shortest
adjacent line, and is set to operate with time delay 𝐓𝟐 .
 Zone 3 is set to reach through 100% of the impedance of two lines and 25% of the
third line, and to operate the zone 3 element with time delay 𝐓𝟑 .
 The application of the timer, such as T2 , provides a coordination time interval
(CTI) for the relay operation in the end zone of each line. Similarly, T3 is set to
provide a CTI with zone 2 relays.
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 Cont’d…
 Figure 8 shows a family of zoned impedance relay characteristics in the complex Z
plane. This figure also shows the impedance angle of the protected line (𝜃) . Such a
relay has a set of relay contacts for each zone and, in addition, a set of contacts for
the time delay for 𝑇2 and 𝑇3
 Note that the time 𝑇1 for zone 1 is set to zero.

Figure 8, Operating characteristics of zoned impedance relays. 23

 UNIT PROTECTION

 Distance protection for all types of faults makes this technique very difficult and the

protection calculations are tedious.

 The final method of transmission protection that will be addressed is the concept

of "unit protection" of the transmission line.

 With this concept, the protected line is defined by its protective zone, as shown in

figure 9. The zone of protection includes everything inside the current transformers
where current measurements are made for the protected component.

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 Cont’d…

 All faults that occur on the protected line are monitored at the current

transformers that surround the protected zone.

 In many cases, measurements of voltage at the terminals may also be used,

but it is the current transformers that define the protective zone boundaries.

 Each terminal of the protected line to have two circuit breakers. Indeed,

for high-voltage stations, this is probably the most common arrangement.

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 Cont’d…
 To clear a fault on the protected line in figure 9, six circuit breakers, A
through F, must all clear successfully. If even one breaker fails to open, the
fault is still attached to the system and must be cleared by backup relays.

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Figure 9: A protected line and its protective zone.
 GROUND FAULT PROTECTION
 An important aspect of transmission line protection is related to the fast
detection and clearing of ground faults on transmission systems that have
grounded neutrals. In the protection of transmission lines, ground faults are
given special treatment.
 Most high-voltage and extra-high voltage transmission lines are grounded
neutral transmission systems, either solidly grounded or grounded through a
resistance or a reactance. It has been estimated that, on these high-voltage
systems, Over 90% of all transmission line faults are ground faults.

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 Types of Ground Relays
 There are three basic types of relays that are used for ground relaying; overcurrent

relays, distance relays, and pilot relays.

 Ground relays are almost always completely independent of phase relays, even

though any fault current, including ground fault current, will flow through one or
more of the phase relays.

 The ground relays can be provided with much greater sensitivity to the zero-

sequence currents by using higher tap settings. This means that the ground relays
will pick up much faster than phase relays for a fault involving the ground.

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 Cont’d…

 Instantaneous overcurrent relays are usually applied to supplement the

ground fault protection when overcurrent relays are used.

 Instantaneous ground relays can reduce the fault clearing time to

about one cycle in many cases, for faults on a large fraction of the line
length.

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 Cont’d…
 Directional ground distance relays are responsive to impedance or reactance

between the relay and the fault.

 These relays, although more expensive than overcurrent relays, can provide almost

instantaneous protection for most of the line length.

 Pilot relaying is used for ground protection in special cases where the other

methods are inadequate for reasons of security or dependability. Pilot relays use
either directional comparison or phase comparison to determine if the fault is within
the protected zone.

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 SUMMARY

 Transmission protection is one of the most important tasks of the protection engineer.

Power systems have more transmission lines than any other type of component that
requires protection.

 It has been noted that transmission protection using nondirectional overcurrent relays

is usually inadequate. Even directional overcurrent relays present problems and

require considerable checking of different system conditions to make sure that the
settings are robust enough for all situations that arise.

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 Cont’d…
 The next step up in relay performance is the distance relay, which is

a very popular relay for transmission line protection at all voltage

levels. Many different distance relay characteristics are available,
making it possible to mould the relay characteristic to the protected
line. Distance relays are fast and will clear faults on 80% or so of
the line length very quickly.

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 Cont’d…
 Pilot protection has been shown to treat the transmission line as a unit, by

measuring the inputs to the line from all terminals. This makes pilot
protection valuable for certain multi terminal lines.

 It is more expensive than other types, but provides fast, secure protection,

even in the most difficult situations. Pilot protection is also important in

cases where system stability may require fast tripping of both ends of a
transmission line.

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 THANKS

FOR

YOUR

ATTENTION!

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