CHAPTER-4
Power System apparatus
Protection
1. Generator protection
INTRODUCTION
Protection of Generator
The generators used in the power system are used to
produce very high [Link]
The protection of generators is very much complex due to
the following reasons
[Link] generators are very large machines producing very
high voltages and are connected to busbars.
2. Various other equipments are always associated with the
generators such equipments are
Prime movers
Excitation system
Voltage regulation
Cooling systems etc
con
Thus protection of generator must consider the presence of
these other equipment also.
3. generators is important factor in a power system. the failure
of the generator causes entire outage of the system so the
protection scheme needs great consideration .
All these factors make the design of protection scheme for
the generator, very much complex.
Generator faults
1. Stator faults
2. Rotor faults
3. Abnormal running conditions
1. Stator faults
A. Phase to ground faults
B. Phase to phase faults
C. Stator inter-turn faults
3. Abnormal running conditions
a. Overloading
b. over speeding
c. unbalanced loading
d. Overvoltage
e. failure of prime mover
f. loss of excitation (field
g. cooling system failure
a. Overloading
Due to continuous overloading the overheating of stator
Results .this may increase the winding temperature if the
temperature rise exceeds certain limit the insulation of the
winding may get damage
• Over current protection is used to protect the overloading
problem
b. Over speeding
In case of hydraulic generator a sudden loss of load
results in over speeding of the generator .
C. Unbalanced loading
The unbalance loading of the generator results in the circulation of negative
sequence current these current produce the rotating magnetic field
Negative sequence protection is important to protect this situation.
e. Failure of prime mover
The failure of prime mover results in motoring operation of the
synchronous generator the generator draws active power from the network
and continues to run as synchronous motor
Reverse power protection is used to protect such problem.
f. loss of excitation
The loss of excitation or reduced excitation is possible due to the field failure
(opening of Field winding or due to short circuit in field )
g. Cooling system failure
The failure of cooling system also causes sever overheating to rise the
temperature above safe limit it may lead insulation failure.
Protective schemes employed for generator protection
1. Differential protection
2. Inter-turn fault protection
3. Stator earth fault protection
4. Over current & earth fault protection
5. Rotor earth fault protection
6. Reverse power protection
7. Field failure protection
8. Negative phase-sequence protection
9. Over load protection
10. Over voltage protection
11. Pole slipping protection
12. Back up impedance protection
13. Under frequency protection
[Link] Protection of Generator
Cases & Consequences of Stator Insulation Failure
The breakdown of insulation (failure) may result in fault
between conductors or between conductor & iron core.
The breakdown may be caused by
over voltage
over heating
over-loads
unbalanced currents
ventilation troubles
failure of cooling of system etc.
[Link] Protection of Generator (Circulating current principle)
In ideal condition IA1=IA2
ia1=ia2
But in real condition IA1=IA2
ia1 ≠ ia2 due to
Unequal CT saturation and un equal
Pilot wire length
[Link] Protection of Generator (Circulating current principle)
If the CTs are identical nature ,in practice it is
impossible to achieve CTs With identical saturation
characteristics
Hence the secondary currents of CTs are unequal even
though the primary currents are the same.
This current is known as spill current. The spill current
pass through the relay And may mal-operate the relay
if its value exceeds the setting of the relay.
Moreover if the length of the connecting wires (pilot
wire) is unequal the value of the spill current increase
[Link] Protection of Generator (Circulating current principle)
In order to avoid mal-operation of the differential relay by the
spill current two solutions are used
i. a Stabilizer resistance is connected in series with the relay
ii. Biased percentage differential protection scheme
However incorporation of stabilizing resistance reduces the
sensitivity of the relay during an internal fault,
[Link] Protection of Generator (Circulating current principle)
[Link] Protection of Generator (Circulating current principle)
Where RR= relay resistance
[Link] differential Protection of Generator
2. Inter-turn fault protection of generator
The inter-turn fault is a short circuit between the turns of
the same phase winding.
The produced fault current does not affect the entering and
leaving current to the CTs .
If the short circuit is developed between the adjacent turns
then current through S1 and S2 no longer remain same.
Thus unequal current will be induced in the secondaries of
the CT the difference current flows through the rely R and
the breaking of the CB isolate the generator.
2. Inter-turn fault protection of generator
[Link] earth fault protection of generator
The fault happen b/n the stator conductor and core of
stator occurs due to failure of insulation between
conductor and core.
Stator earth fault will happen due to failure of insulation
b/n the stator conductor and core
Hence the stator earth fault are very destructive faults if
ground fault current is large.
A. Restricted earth fault protection of generator
The differential protection based on circulating current
principle provides the protection against internal faults.
When the neutral is solidly grounded then the generator gets
completely (100%) protected against phase-to-ground fault.
But the neutral is grounded through earth resistance ,then
the stator windings get partly (85%) protect against earth
faults.
However neutral is earthed through resistance to limit e/f
current.
A. Restricted earth fault protection of generator
A restricted earth fault is a normal earth fault that is restricted to a
particular zone. Hence, the restricted earth fault protection takes
care of the faults that occurred only within that particular zone
neglecting the faults outside the restricted zone.
Earth faults are not likely occur near the neutral point due to
less voltage with respect to earth
It is usual practice to protect about 80 to 85% of winding against
earth fault. The remaining 15-20% winding from neutral side left
unprotected .
A separate e/f protection is provided to take care of complete
winding against e/f (100% winding protection).
A. Restricted earth fault protection of generator
A restricted e/f relay in the differential protection is shown in
figure below.
In figure below, during earth fault the current if in the
alternator winding flows through a part of winding and
neutral to ground circuit.
The corresponding secondary current Is flows through the
operating coil & restricted e/f relay the relay would operate
instantaneously if current is more than the pick-up setting of
the relay .
Hence the earth fault current if will reduced.
Restricted earth fault protection of generator
Restricted earth fault protection of generator
For an internal line to ground faults i.e., fault at F1 which is in the
protected zone, the neutral side CT is more energized and hence the
relay operates if the residual current is greater than the relay pickup
value.
For an internal line to line faults, no CT is energized and hence the relay
does not operate. However, in most cases, the internal line-to-line faults
develop into earth faults. Under these circumstances, the relay will
operate as the neutral side CT will be more energized.
B. Unrestricted earth fault protection of generator
4. Overcurrent & Earth Fault Protection:
Figure: Overcurrent & Earth fault protection of generator.
Continued……
In such a case, the relay have to be actuated by the short
circuit current supplied by the system.
Such protection (by o/c and e/f relay) is ineffective when the
main breaker is open or if the system has no other generating
source.
The normal practice is to monitor the over current relays by
an instantaneous under-voltage relay.
The latter is connected to control the overcurrent relay
making it faster and more sensitive if the voltage drops
indicating a fault in the machine.
5. Rotor Earth Fault Protection:
The rotor carries the field winding which is kept isolated from
the ground. Neither the positive nor the negative terminal of
the dc supply is grounded. Thus any ground fault on the
rotor field winding does not affect the working of the
alternator.
However subsequent fault would cause a section of the rotor
winding to be short circuited ground fault due to insulation
failure will happen.
Continued....
A rotor earth fault increase the current in part of the winding may also
cause local heating which may distort rotor causing dangerous
irregularity, this also can cause vibration & serious damage.
To protect generator from the rotor e/f, a high resistance is connected
across the rotor circuit.
The center point of this is connected to earth through a sensitive relay.
The relay detects the earth faults for most of the rotor circuit.
6. Reverse Power Protection:
Reverse power protection is provide against the failure of
prime mover of an alternator.
When the prime mover of one of the alternator fails in a
power plant, the alternator will not stop but will run as a
synchronous motor taking power from the bus.
There is no harm for the alternator when it is run as a
synchronous motor but the reversal of power is harmful to
the prime mover. The prime mover act as a load on the
motor. i.e. flow of power is reversed.
The reversal of power is sensed by a reverse power relay.
7. Field Failure Protection:
Field failure can be caused by failure of the exciter when the
generator losses its field result
loss of synchronism
Slightly increase the generator speed.
If the generator is a single unit supplying a local load, the
loss of field causes loss of terminal voltage, sub-sequently
loss of synchronism depending upon the load condition.
If the generator is connected in parallel with other units, it
can draw the magnetizing currents (reactive power) from the
bus bars & continuous to run as an induction generator.
Continued….
This magnetizing current is large of the order of 2 to 4 times
the rated current .
The stator currents may increase above normal current rating
of generator during the run as induction generator.
High currents may cause voltage drop & over heating of
generator bus-bars, stator winding etc.
Figure illustrating the loss of field protection by means of an
Under Current Relay connected across a shunt in series with the
field winding.
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