EE6702 PROTECTION & SWITCHGEAR

Syllabus

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Power system
basics

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 Electric Power System

Electricity is generated at a power plant (1),

voltage is “stepped-up” for transmission(2)
Energy travels along a transmission line to the area where the power is needed (3)
voltage is decreased or “stepped-down,” at another substation (4),
& a distribution power line (5)
carries that electricity until it reaches a home or business (6).
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SINGLE LINE DIAGRAM

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 UNIT

1
INTRODUCTION
Presented by
V.VIGNESH BABU,AP/EEE
FATIMA MICHAEL College of Engg & Tech

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 UNIT 1 Syllabus
• Importance of protective schemes for electrical
apparatus and power system
• Qualitative review of faults and fault currents
• Relay terminology – definitions
• Essential qualities of protection
• Protection against over voltages due to lightning and
switching - arcing grounds
• Peterson Coil
• Ground wires
• surge absorber and diverters
• Power System Earthing – neutral Earthing
• Basic ideas of insulation coordination.
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 Importance of protective
schemes for electrical
apparatus and power system

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 PROTECTION SYMBOL
two-winding
current transformer
transformer

two-winding
voltage transformer
transformer

generator capacitor

bus circuit breaker

transmission line circuit breaker

delta connection fuse

wye connection surge arrestor

static load disconnect

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 Primary Equipment & Components
• Transformers - to step up or step down voltage level

• Breakers - to energize equipment and interrupt fault current to

isolate faulted equipment

• Insulators - to insulate equipment from ground and other phases

• Isolators (switches) - to create a visible and permanent isolation

of primary equipment for maintenance purposes and route power
flow over certain buses.

• Bus - to allow multiple connections (feeders) to the same source

of power (transformer).

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 Primary Equipment & Components
• Grounding - to operate and maintain equipment safely

• Arrester - to protect primary equipment of sudden overvoltage

(lightning strike).

• Switchgear – integrated components to switch, protect, meter

and control power flow

• Reactors - to limit fault current (series) or compensate for charge

current (shunt)

• VT and CT - to measure primary current and voltage and supply

scaled down values to P&C, metering, SCADA, etc.

• Regulators - voltage, current, VAR, phase angle, etc.

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Why A System Needs Protection?
• There is no ‘fault free’ system.
• Ensure safety of personnel.
• Usually faults are caused by breakdown
of insulation due to various reasons:
system over current, over voltage,
lighting, etc.

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POWER SYSTEM WITHOUT PROTECTION

• Short circuits and other abnormal conditions

often occur on the power system. The heavy
current associated with short circuits is likely to
cause damage to the equipment

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 Element of protection system
(1)Current and Voltage Transformers
(2)Relays
(3)Circuit breakers
(4)Batteries
(5)Fuses
(6)Lighting Arresters

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Current transformer
• Current transformer consists at least of two secondary windings.
• The first winding is usually designed for measuring, the second is
used for protection.
• The secondary of current transformers are almost connected in star

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 Voltage transformer
• Voltage transformer is often consists of two windings.
• The first winding is connected in star, and the stare
point must be earthed.
• The second winding is connected as open delta.

VS
Relay
VP

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 Relay Purpose
 Isolate controlling circuit from controlled circuit.
 Control high voltage system with low voltage.
 Control high current system with low current.
 Logic Functions

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 Advantages for Using
Protective Relays
• Detect system failures when they occur
and isolate the faulted section from the
remaining of the system.
• Mitigating the effects of failures after
they occur.
• Minimize risk of fire, danger to personal
and other high voltage systems.

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 CIRCUIT BREAKER
• Low voltage circuit breaker
• Magnetic circuit breaker
• Medium voltage circuit breaker
• High voltage circuit breaker

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 Battery bank
• Battery bank are called as
backbone of protection system
• Emergency use for power
system

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 Fuse
• Fuses are selected to allow passage of normal
current and of excessive current only for short
periods.
• It is used to protect the low voltage or current
rating devices

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 Lighting arrester
• A lightning arrester is a device used on
electrical power system to protect the
insulation damaging effect of lightning.
• All lighting arrester are earthed

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 What is Switchgear ?
• Switchgear is the combination of switches,
fuses or circuit breakers(CB) used to
control , protect & isolate electrical
equipment.
• It is used de-energize equipment & clear
faults.

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Different elements of switchgear
• Circuit breaker • Load Breaking Switch LBS
Air ckt breaker ACB • By pass and changeover
Vacuumed ckt breaker VCB
switches
Oil filled ckt breaker OCB
SF6 Ckt Breaker • Isolators(switches)
• Fuses
• MCCB (Moulded Case Ckt
Breakers)

• MCB
(Miniature Circuit Breaker)
• RCCB
Residual current circuit breaker

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Function wise categories
• Automatic & Manual operation
{ example: Circuit breaker ,MCB , MCCB }

• Only automatic operation

Fuse

• Only manually activated / operated

Isolator, LBS

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Voltage wise switchgear categories
• Low voltage Switchgear
up to 11KV
• Medium voltage switchgear
up to 66KV
• High Voltage switchgear
up to 400KV
• Extra High Voltage switchgear
up to 765KV
• HVDC Switchgear

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Qualitative review of
faults & fault currents

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NATURE & CAUSES OF FAULTS

•Insulation failure.
•Conducting path failure.
•Over voltages due to lightening or switching surges.
•Puncturing or breaking of insulators.
•Failure of conducting path due to broken conductors.
•Failure of solid insulation due to aging, heat, moisture,
overvoltage , accidental contact with earth or earth screens,
flash over voltages and etc.,

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FAULT IN POWER SYSTEM
 A power system fault may be defined as any
condition or abnormality of the system which
involves the electrical failure of primary
equipment such as generators, transformers,
busbars, overhead lines and cables and all other
items of plant which operate at power system
voltage.

 Electrical failure generally implies one or the

other (or both) of two types of failure, namely
insulation failure resulting in a short-circuit
condition or conducting path failure resulting in
an open-circuit condition, the former being by far
the more common type of failure. www.padeepz.net
 FAULT IN POWER SYSTEM
 Symmetrical fault
Faults giving rise to equal currents in lines
displaced by
equal phase angles i.e 120o in three phase
systems.
Example: short circuit of all three phase
conductors of a cable at a single location

 Unsymmetrical fault
Faults in which not all the line currents are equal
and not all have the same phase.
Example (any one): single phase line to ground
fault (L-G), two phase to ground (LL-G) fault and
phase to phase (L-L) fault.
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 Abnormalities in Power
Systems

Overcurrent (overload, short circuit, open

circuit)
Ground Potential (ungrounded equipment,
touch potentials, step potentials)
Surge Voltages (lightning strokes, switching
surges, harmonics)

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Fault Types (Shunt)

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Frequency of Types of
Faults
Type of %
Fault Occurrence

SLG 85
LL 8
DLG 5
3L 2 or less

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Frequency of Fault Occurrence

Equipment % of Total

Overhead lines 50
Cables 10
Switchgear 15
Transformers 12
CTs and PTs 2
Control Equipment 3
Miscellaneous 8

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SYMMETRICAL FAULT

THREE- PHASE FAULT

THREE PHASE - EARTH

FAULT

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UNSYMMETRICAL FAULT
PHASE – PHASE FAULT

TWO PHASE – EARTH

FAULT

SINGLE PHASE - EARTH

FAULT

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OPEN CIRCUIT FAULT
SINGLE- PHASE OPEN
CIRCUIT

TWO- PHASE OPEN

CIRCUIT

THREE- PHASE OPEN

CIRCUIT

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 Equipments Causes of Faults
&
% of total fault
Over head lines •Lighting Stroke
•Earthquake

(50%) •Icing
•Birds
•Tree branches
•Kite Strings
•Internal Overvoltage
Under ground Cable •Damage due to digging
(9%) • Insulation failure due to temperature rise
•Failure of Joints

Alternator •Stator & Rotor faults

(7%)

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 Equipments & Causes of Faults
% of total fault
Transformer •Insulation Failure
•Faults in tap changer

(10%) •Overloading

Current Transformer •Overvoltage

•Insulation Failure
& •Break of Conductors
Potential Transformer •Wrong Connections
(12%)

Switch Gear •Insulation failure

•Leakage of air/oil/gas

(12%) •Mechanical defect

•Lack of Maintenance

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 Fault Minimization
 Improving the quality of machines, equipments,
installation etc., by improving the design techniques.

 Adequate & reliable protection system control

 Regular maintenance by trained professionals

 Effective management of electrical plant

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Merits of Fast fault clearing
 Helps to avoid permanent damage to equipment &
components of the apparatus

 Reduces the chances of risks like fire hazards

 Maintains the continuity of the power supply

 Brings back the power system to the normal state

sooner

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Relay terminology –
definitions

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 Relays are electrical
switches that open or close
another circuit under certain
conditions.

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 Protective relays are devices which
monitor power system conditions and
operate to quickly and accurately isolate
faults or dangerous conditions. A well
designed protective system can limit
damage to equipment, as well as minimize
the extent of associated service
interruption.

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 Isolate controlling circuit from controlled circuit.
 Control high voltage system with low voltage.
 Control high current system with low current.
 Logic Functions

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 Electromagnetic Relays (EMRs)

 Solid-state Relays (SSRs)

◦ There is no mechanical contacts to switch the circuit.

 Microprocessor Based Relays

Commonly used in power system monitoring and protection.

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 Electromagnetic Relays (EMRs)
◦ Simplicity
◦ Not expensive

 Solid-state Relays (SSRs)

◦ No Mechanical movements
◦ Faster than EMR

 Microprocessor-based Relay
◦ Much higher precision and more reliable and durable.
◦ Capable of both digital and analog I/O.
◦ Higher cost

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 Detect system failures when they occur and
isolate the faulted section from the remaining of
the system.

 Mitigating the effects of failures after they occur.

Minimize risk of fire, danger to personal and
other high voltage systems.

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Components of Power System Protection

Decides whether system

quantities are normal or
abnormal (Brain of the
System Protection)

Transducers
Power Circuit
(PT & CT) Relay
System Breaker

These devices change * If quantities are normal,

electrical quantities to no signal is sent to breaker
level relays can use, i.e., * If quantities are abnormal,
5 amperes, 115 volts signal is sent to breaker to
trip

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 Primary Relay: relay connected directly in the circuit
 Secondary Relay: relay connected to the protected circuit
through CT & VT.
 Auxiliary Relay: relay operate in response to opening or
closing of another relay.
 Measuring Relay: It performs the measurement of
normal & abnormal conditions in the power system.
 Electro Magnetic Relay: It operates on the principle of
Electromagnetic induction.
 Static Relay(Solid-state relay): They use diodes ,
transistors , SCRs , Logic gates etc.
(Static circuit is the measuring circuit & no moving parts)
 Microprocessor Based Relay: All functions of a relay can
done by using microprocessor . Relays are programmable.
µP can compare , compute and send trip signals.

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 Thermal Relay: It operates on the principle of Electro-
thermal effect.
 Distance Relay: relay measures the impedance or
reactance or admittance.
 Impedance Relay: relay measures the impedance of the
transmission line.
 Reactance Relay: relay measures the reactance of the
transmission line.
 Over-current Relay: relay operates when the current
exceeds a pre-set value.
 Under-voltage Relay: relay operates when the voltage
falls a pre-set value.
 Directional Relay: relay able to sense whether fault lies in
forward or reverse direction.
 Polarized Relay: relay depends on the direction of the
current.
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 Differential Relay: it measures the difference b/w 2 actual
quantities.
 Earth fault Relay: It is used for protection of element of a
power system against Earth faults.
 Phase fault Relay: It is used for protection of element of a
power system against phase faults.
 Negative Sequence Relay: relay uses negative sequence
current as its actuating quantity.
 Zero Sequence Relay: relay uses zero sequence current as
its actuating quantity.

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Essential Qualities of
protection
or
Requirement of Protective
System

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Reliability • assurance that the protection will
perform correctly.

Selectivity • maximum continuity of service with

minimum system disconnection.

• To detect even the smallest fault,

Sensitivity current or system abnormalities and
operate correctly at its setting

• minimum fault duration and

Speed consequent equipment damage and
system instability.

• minimum protective equipment and

Simplicity associated circuitry to achieve the
protection objectives.

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 Reliability
 The level of assurance that the relay will function
as intended.
 Reliability denotes:

 Dependability - certainty of correct operation

 Security - assurance against incorrect operation

Sensitivity
 Relaying equipment must be sufficiently sensitive
so that it will operate when required
 Must discriminate normal from abnormal
conditions.

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 Selectivity
 Performance of protective devices to select between
those conditions for which prompt operation and
those for which no operation, or time delay
operation is required.
 Isolate faulted circuit resulting in minimum
interruptions.
 Implemented through “Zone of Protection”

Speed
 Remove a fault from the power system as quickly
as possible
 Classification:

 Instantaneous - no intentional delay

 High Speed - less than 3 cycles
 Time-Delay - intentional time delay
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Power System
Earthing
•Neutral Earthing/Grounding
•Peterson coil
•Arcing Grounds

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 The process of connecting the metallic frame (i.e.
non-current carrying part) of electrical
equipment or some electrical part of the system
to earth (i.e. soil) is called grounding or
earthing.

 Grounding or earthing may be classified as :

(i) Equipment grounding
(ii) System grounding

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Equipment Grounding
 The process of connecting non-current-carrying
metal parts of the electrical equipment to earth.

System Grounding
•The process of connecting some electrical part of the
power system to earth (i.e. soil) is called system
grounding.

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Neutral
Earthing
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Neutral Grounding
 Connecting neutral point to earth (i.e. soil) either
directly or some circuit element
(e.g. resistance, reactance , Peterson coil etc.)
is called neutral grounding.

 Neutral grounding provides protection to equipment.

(during earth fault, the current path is completed
neutral)

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Advantages of Neutral Grounding
(i) Voltages of the healthy phases do not exceed line to
ground voltages i.e. they remain nearly constant.
(ii) The high voltages due to arcing grounds are
eliminated.
(iii) Life of insulation is long.
(iv) The over voltages is reduced.
(v) It provides greater safety to personnel and equipment.
(vi) It provides improved service reliability.
(vii)Operating and maintenance expenditures are
reduced.

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Methods of Neutral Grounding
(i) Solid or effective grounding
(ii) Resistance grounding
(iii) Reactance grounding
(iv) Peterson-coil grounding
(v) Voltage transformer earthing

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(i) Solid or effective grounding

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 When the neutral point of a 3-phase system is
directly connected to earth (i.e. soil) is called
solid grounding or effective grounding.
 When an earth fault occurs between earth and
any one phase , the voltage to earth of the faulty
phase becomes zero, but the healthy phases
remains at normal phase values.
 Fault current(IF) completely nullified by
capacitive current(IC)

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 (ii) Resistance grounding

When the neutral point of a 3-phase system (e.g. 3-phase generator,

3-phase transformer etc.) is connected to earth (i.e. soil) through a resistor,
it is called resistance grounding.

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Advantages:
 By adjusting the value of R, the arcing grounds can be minimized.
 It improves the stability
 Less interference
 Minimize hazards

Disadvantages:
 By adjusting the value of R, the arcing grounds can be minimized.
 It improves the stability
 Less interference
 Minimize hazards

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 (iii) Reactance grounding

•In this system, a reactance is inserted between the neutral and ground
•The purpose of reactance is to limit the earth fault current.
Disadvantages :
(i) In this system, the fault current required to operate the protective device
is higher than that of resistance grounding for the same fault conditions.
(ii) High transient voltages appear under fault conditions.

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 If inductance L of appropriate value is connected in
parallel with the capacitance of the system, the fault
current IF flowing through L will be in phase
opposition to the capacitive current IC of the system.
If L is so adjusted that
I L = IC
then resultant current in the fault will be zero. This
condition is known as Resonant Grounding.
When the value of L of arc suppression coil is
such that the fault current IF exactly balances the
capacitive current IC , it is called resonant grounding.

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•An arc suppression coil (also called Peterson coil) is an iron-cored coil
connected between the neutral and earth.
•The reactor is provided with tappings to change the inductance of the
coil.
•By adjusting the tappings on the coil, the coil can be tuned with the
capacitance of the system i.e. resonant grounding can be achieved.

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• Suppose line to ground fault occurs in the line B at point
F. The fault current IF and capacitive currents IR and IY will
flow as shown in Fig
• Note that IF flows through the Peterson coil (or Arc
suppression coil) to neutral and back through the fault. The
total capacitive current IC is the phasor sum of IR & IY
as shown in phasor diagram in Fig.
• The voltage of the faulty phase is applied across the arc
suppression coil. Therefore, fault current IF lags the faulty
phase voltage by 90°.
• The current IF is in phase opposition to capacitive
current IC [See Fig].
By adjusting the tappings on the Peterson coil, the
resultant current in the fault can be reduced. If inductance
of the coil is so adjusted that IL= IC , then resultant current
in the fault will be zero.

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v. Voltage Transformer Earthing
 In this method of neutral earthing , the primary of a
single-phase voltage transformer is connected
between the neutral and the earth as shown in Fig
 A low resistor in series with a relay is connected
across the secondary of the voltage transformer. The
voltage transformer provides a high reactance in the
neutral earthing circuit and operates virtually as an
ungrounded neutral system.

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 Protection against
over voltages due to
lightning and
switching

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Protection Against Over Voltage Due
to Lightning & Switching
 During Operation , PS equipments such as Generator,
transformer, Tx.lines may subject to Over Voltage.
 OV occurs due to Lightning, opening of CB & so on.

Causes Of OV
 Internal Cause
 External Cause

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 • Lightning
External • Tree falls on
Tx.lines causes SC

• Insulation Failure

Internal •
•
Resonance
Arching Ground
• Switching Surges

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Types of Over Voltages

*Power Frequency OV
* Switching OV
* Lightning OV

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 Power Frequency OV
 Does not have damaging effects like switching or
lightning surges

 It will be harmful, if sustained for longer duration

 Mainly due to

 Ground faults

 Sudden load rejection

 Loose connection

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 Switching OV
 Also known as Switching surge or over voltage transient
 Sudden rise of voltage for a very short duration in PS
network is known as transient voltage or voltage surge
 An electrical transient appears, if there is sudden change
in the state of energy in PS network. This sudden change
is due to
i. Closing a Switch
ii. Opening a Switch
iii. Occurrence of fault in system

 To control the switching OV , Resistor is inserted

between the contacts while switching off the circuit

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 Lightning OV
 Lightning is an electric discharge between cloud & Earth or between
clouds.

 It is basically a huge spark

 A large number of discharge occurs between or with in clouds than

to earth & enough of them terminate on the earth causing serious
hazards.

 Following actions of the lightning stroke generate transients:

* Direct Stroke to Phase Conductor

* Stroke to earth very close to line

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 SURGE
DIVERTER

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What is surge ?
 Surges disturbances on a power waveform
that can damage, or destroy equipment
within any home, commercial building, or
manufacturing facility.
 Surges are measured in microseconds.

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Surge diverters
 A surge diverter is a piece of equipment that
diverts excess voltages to earth, thus protecting
sensitive electrical and electronic equipment.

 The surge diverter is normally installed in the

main switchboard.

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Requirement of surge diverter :
 It should not pass any current at normal and abnormal
power frequency voltage.

 It should breakdown as quickly as possible after the

abnormal high frequency voltage arrives.

 It should not only protect the equipment for which it is

used but should discharge current without damaging itself.

 It should interrupt power frequency follow current after the

surge is discharge to ground.

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Types of surge diverters
 Rod gap

 Protector tube or expulsion type surge diverter

 Valve type surge diverter

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1. Rod gap :
 It is a very simple type of diverter and consists of two
1.5 cm rods.
 One rod is connected to the line circuit and the other
rod is connected to earth.
 The distance between gap and insulator must not be
less than one third of the gap length so that the arc
may not reach the insulator and damage it.
 The rod gap should be so set that it breaks down to a
voltage not less than 30% below the voltage withstand
level of the equipment to be protected.

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Rod gap type surge diverter :

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 The string of insulators for an overhead line on
the bushing of transformer has frequently a rod
gap across it.
 Under normal operating conditions, the gap
remains non-conducting.
 On the occurrence of a high voltage surge on the
line, the gap sparks over and the surge current is
conducted to earth.
 In this way excess charge on the line due to the
surge is harmlessly conducted to earth

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Limitations :
 After the surge is over, the arc in the gap is maintained
by the normal supply voltage, leading to short-circuit
on the system.
 The rods may melt or get damaged due to excessive
heat produced by the arc.
 The climatic conditions (e.g. rain, humidity,
temperature etc.) affect the performance of rod gap
arrester.
 The polarity of the surge also affects the performance
of this arrester.

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2.Expulsion type surge diverter
 This type of arrester is also called ‘protector tube’ and
is commonly used on system operating at voltages up
to 33kV.
 It essentially consists of a rod gap in series with a
second gap enclosed within the fiber tube.
 The gap in the fiber tube is formed by two electrodes.
 The upper electrode is connected to rod gap and the
lower electrode to the earth.

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Expulsion type lightning arrester

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 The series gap is set to arc over at a specified voltage
lower than the withstand voltage of the equipment to
be protected.
 The follow-on current is confined to the space inside
the relatively small fibre tube.
 Part of the tube material vaporizes, and the high
pressure gases so formed are expelled through the vent
at the lower end of the tube, causing the power follow-
in arc to be extinguished.
 The device, therefore, has the desired self-clearing
property.

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Advantages
 They are not very expensive.

 They can be easily installed.

 They are improved form of rod gap arresters as they

block the flow of power frequency follow currents.

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Limitations
 An expulsion type arrester can perform only limited
number of operations as during each operation some
of the fiber material is used up.
 This type of arrester cannot be mounted on enclosed
equipment due to discharge of gases during operation.
 Due to the poor volt/amp characteristic of the arrester,
it is not suitable for protection of expensive equipment

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3. Valve type
 Valve type arresters incorporate non linear
resistors and are extensively used on systems,
operating at high voltages.
 It consists of two assemblies (i) series spark gaps
and (ii) non-linear resistor discs
 The non-linear elements are connected in series
with the spark gaps. Both the assemblies are
accommodated in tight porcelain container.
 The spark gap is a multiple assembly consisting
of a number of identical spark gaps in series.
 Each gap consists of two electrodes with fixed
gap spacing.

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 The spacing of the series gaps is such that it will
withstand the normal circuit voltage.
 An over voltage will cause the gap to break down
causing the surge current to ground via the non-
linear resistors.
 The non-linear resistor discs are made of
inorganic compound such as thyrite or metrosil.
 These discs are connected in series.
 The non-linear resistors have the property of
offering a high resistance to current flow when
normal system voltage is applied, but a low
resistance to the flow of high surge currents.

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 When the surge is over the non linear resistor
assume high resistance to stop the flow of
current.
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 Under normal conditions, the normal system
voltage is insufficient to cause the breakdown of
air gap assembly.
 On the occurrence of an over voltage, the
breakdown of the series spark gap takes place
and the surge current is conducted to earth via
the nonlinear resistances.
 Since the magnitude of surge current is very
large, the nonlinear elements will offer a very low
resistance to the passage of surge.
 The surge will rapidly go to earth instead of being
sent back over the line.

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ADVANTAGES :
 They provide very effective protection against
surges.
 They operate very rapidly taking less than a
second
 The impulse ratio is practically unity.

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Limitations :
 They may fail to check the surge of very steep
wave front reaching the terminal apparatus. This
calls for additional steps to check steep fronted
waves.
 Their performance is adversely affected by the
entry of moisture into the enclosure. This
necessitates effective sealing of the enclosure at
all times.

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 Surge
Absorber
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 Surge Absorber
 The Device which reduces the steepness of the wave
front of a particular surge & thus minimizes the danger
due to over voltage is known as surge absorber.

Note:
Surge Diverter : Diverts the Surge to earth
Surge Absorber : Absorbs the Surge energy

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Types of Surge Absorber

Ferranti Surge absorber

ERA Surge absorber

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 Ferranti Surge absorber
 It consists of an air core inductor
connected Series in line &
surrounded by an earth metallic sheet
Dissipater (ie) dissipater.
 Whenever a travelling wave is incident
on the surge absorber, energy is
transformed by mutual inductance
between coil & dissipater. ie., the
energy contained in the wave is
dissipated in the form of heat.
 Because of the series inductance the
Air cored inductor
steepness of the wave is also
reduced.

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ERA Surge Absorber
 Improved form of Surge absorber is
the Electrical Research
Association type surge filter.

 G – Gap ; E – Expulsion gap

 When a wave reaches the L, a high

voltage is induced across it causing
the gap G to breakdown putting
the R and E into circuit.

 Thus incoming wave get flattened

by L & R and its amplitude is
reduced by E.

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basic ideas of
insulation
coordination
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 Insulation Coordination
 Correlating (link) apparatus insulation with insulation
of the protective device to achieve overall protection is
known as insulation coordination.

 The insulation strength of various equipments should

be higher than that of lightning arresters and other
surge protective devices.

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 In its simplest form,
Insulation Coordination
is the selection of
insulation strength.

 Characteristics of
lightning arrestor should
be correlated with
equipment isolation

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 The insulation of the line
lightning arrestor &
equipment should be
coordinated.
 Curve A relates to Protective
device
 Curve B – equipment to be
protected
 Protective device must have
insulation characteristics
which must be lie below the
insulation characteristics of
instrument to be protected.

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A perfect insulation coordination must
satisfy the following conditions:
 The insulation should withstand both operating
voltage & voltage surges

 The discharge of OV due to internal or external causes

must flow to ground efficiently.

 Only external flashover should cause breakdown

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Basic Impulse Insulation Level (BIL)
 It is defined as “a reference level expressed in
impulse crest voltage with a standard wave not
longer than 1.5*40 micro seconds wave”.

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 UNIT

2
RELAY

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www.padeepz.net
 UNIT 2 Syllabus
• Electromagnetic relays
• over current relay
• directional relay
• non-directional relay
• distance relay
• negative sequence relay
• differential relay
• under frequency relay
• Introduction to static relays
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Relay Overview

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 What are Relays?

 Relays are electrical

switches that open or close
another circuit under
certain conditions.

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Relay Purpose
 Isolate controlling circuit from controlled circuit.
 Control high voltage system with low voltage.
 Control high current system with low current.
 Logic Functions

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How a Relay Works

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Electromagnetic
Relay
They work on the following two main operating principles :
(i) Electromagnetic attraction
(ii) Electromagnetic induction

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 Electromagnetic Attraction Relays
(i) Attracted armature type relay
(ii) Solenoid type relay
(iii) Balanced beam type relay
Induction Relays / Electromagnetic
induction
(i) Induction type overcurrent Relay (Non Directional
Relay)
(ii) Induction Cup Relay (Directional Relay)
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 1. Attracted Armature Type Relays

These have a coil or

electromagnet energized by a
coil .The coil is energized by
operating quantity like V or I.
Under normal conditions
the coil cannot attract the
plunger due to spring force.
Under fault condition the fault
current increases so armature
or plunger gets attracted to
close the contacts .

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 Attracted Armature Type Relays
These have a coil or
electromagnet energized by a
coil .The coil is energized by
operating quantity like V or I.
Under normal conditions the coil
cannot attract the plunger due
to spring force. Under fault
condition the fault current
increases so armature or
plunger gets attracted to close
the contacts .

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 Attracted Armature Type Relays
Applications

1.For over current protection

2.Differential Protection
3.Auxiliary Relays
4.Definite time lag over current
and earth fault protection

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 (ii) Solenoid type relay
• It consists of a solenoid and movable iron plunger
arranged as shown.
• Under normal operating conditions, the current
through the relay coil C is such that it holds the
plunger by gravity or spring in the position shown.
• However, on the occurrence of a fault, the current
through the relay coil becomes more than the
pickup value, causing the plunger to be attracted to
the solenoid. The upward movement of the plunger
closes the trip circuit, thus opening the circuit
breaker and disconnecting the faulty circuit.

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www.padeepz.net
 (iii) Balanced beam type relay
• It consists of an iron armature fastened to a
balance beam. Under normal operating
conditions , the current through the relay coil is
such that the beam is held in the horizontal
position by the spring.
• When a fault occurs, the current through the
relay coil becomes greater than the pickup value
and the beam is attracted to close the trip circuit.
This causes the opening of the circuit breaker to
isolate the faulty circuit.

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Balanced beam type relay
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Induction cup structure

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• It most closely resembles an induction motor, except that
the rotor iron is stationary, only the rotor conductor
portion being free to rotate.
• The moving element is a hollow cylindrical rotor which
turns on its axis. The rotating field is produced by two
pairs of coils wound on four poles as shown.
• The rotating field induces currents in the cup to provide
the necessary driving torque.

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• If φ1 and φ2 represent the fluxes produced by the
respective pairs of poles, then torque produced is
proportional to φ1 Φ2 sin α .
• where α is the phase difference between the two fluxes.
A control spring and the back stop for closing of the
contacts carried on an arm are attached to the spindle of
the cup to prevent the continuous rotation.
• Induction cup structures are more efficient torque
producers than either the shaded-pole or the watthour
meter structures. Therefore, this type of relay has very
high speed and may have an operating time less then 0.1
second.

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 Induction type
overcurrent Relay
(Non Directional Relay)

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• This type of relay works on the induction
principle and initiates corrective measures
when current in the circuit exceeds the
predetermined value.
• The actuating source is a current in the
circuit supplied to the relay from a current
transformer. These relays are used on a.c.
circuits only and can operate for fault
current flow in either direction.

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www.padeepz.net
 Constructional details
It consists of a metallic (aluminium) disc which is free to rotate
in between the poles of two electromagnets. The upper
electromagnet has a primary and a secondary winding. The primary
is connected to the secondary of a C.T. in the line to be protected
and is tapped at intervals. The tappings are connected to a plug-
setting bridge by which the number of active turns on the relay
operating coil can be varied, thereby giving the desired current
setting.
The secondary winding is energized by induction from
primary and is connected in series with the winding on the lower
magnet. The controlling torque is provided by a spiral spring.
The spindle of the disc carries a moving contact which bridges
two fixed contacts (connected to trip circuit) when the disc rotates
through a pre-set angle. This angle can be adjusted to any value
between 0° and 360° . By adjusting this angle, the travel of the
moving contact can be adjusted and hence the relay can be given
any desired time setting.

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Operation
The driving torque on the aluminium disc is set up due to
the induction principle. This torque is opposed by the
restraining torque provided by the spring.
Under normal operating conditions, restraining torque is
greater than the driving torque produced by the relay coil
current. Therefore, the aluminium disc remains stationary.
If the current in the protected circuit exceeds the pre-set
value, the driving torque becomes greater than the restraining
torque. Consequently, the disc rotates and the moving contact
bridges the fixed contacts when the disc has rotated through a
pre-set angle. The trip circuit operates the circuit breaker
which isolates the faulty section.

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DIRECTIONAL
RELAY
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 induction relays are two types

non directional directional relays

relays

Difference between the two:…………?

• non directional relays are activated by only current flowing in the

circuit to be protected.

• directional relays are activated by power flowing in the specific

direction. Hence it requires both current and voltage of the circuit to be
protected.
* it requires specific direction of current flow*

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DIRECTIONAL POWER RELAY

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Constructional details:

It consits of two electro magnets

1) upper magnet which is E- shaped

2) lower magnet which is U- shaped.

 The upper maget consits of primary winding on the

central limb which is energised by voltage from secondary of P.T

 lower magnet houses secondary winding which is

energised by current of the circuit from secondary of C.T.
Further lower magnet is connected to PSM as previous
case (not shown)
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 In between this two electro magnets we have aluminium disc pivoted as shown

 This alumunium disc carries a moving contact which can bridge fixed contact by
rotating though a pre set angle.

 The time of operation depends upon the pre set angle

 Restraining torque is provide by spring which twists in reverse direction.

Operation:

from the diagram we can conclude that we have two flux quantaties: φ1 & φ2 .

always φ1 laggs V by 90 0
φ2 inphase with current I

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Due to phase difference between two flux quantaties i.e., α = 90-θ

Φ1 α V & φ2 α I

Hence T = φ1 φ2 sin α
= φ1 φ2 sin(90-θ)
= VI COS θ
= POWER

 Hence the relay activated only when there is a specific direction of

power flow

 when power flows in normal direction both driving torque and

restraining torque twists in same direction and relay does not operates.

 when the power flow is in reverse direction, driving torque and

restraining torque acts in opposite direction and relay operates.therefore CB
operates and disconnects faulty section.

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DIRECTIONAL OVER CURRENT RELAY:

From the previous discussion

T = V I COS θ
Under abnormal condition

under abnormal conditions voltage in the circuit is too low.

Therefore the driving torque becomes abnormally too small .Hence
the relay does not operate.

ie., the directional power relay is not suitable for short

circuit conditions.

This problem can be overcome by directional over current

relay.

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Directional overcurrent relay:

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Directional overcurrent relay makes use of two relays

i) directional power relay ( directional element)

ii) Non directional current relay (non-directional element)

Construction:

1) Directional element :

It is similar in construction to directional power relay.

 it consists of upper magnet which is E-shaped and carries primary

winding which is excited by voltage of the circuit to be protected through
secondary of PT.

 The lower magnet is U-shaped carries secondary winding which is

excited by current of the circuit to be protected through secondary of CT.
 The secondary winding is extended to lower magnet primary winding as shown.
 The trip contacts 1 & 2 are connected in series with secondary winding of lower
magnet.

therefore for the relay to operate, at first directional element should be

activated first.
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2) Non directional element:

* It is activated only by current flowing in the circuit*

 it is similar in construction to non-directional over current relay.

For this element to operate ,at first directional element should be activated first.
 the secondary winding is further connected to PSM( not shown), for
current setting.

Operation :

 When short circuit occurs current tend to be reversed .Hence directional

element starts operating and closes the trip contact.

 with closing of trip contact, the secondary winding of non directional

element is complete and disc starts rotating. When moving contact bridges fixed
contact the circuit breaker operates and separates the faulty section.

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www.padeepz.net
Distance Relay
(mho relay)
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Distance relay :-
1.IMPEDANCE RELAY
o +ve (operative)Torque by
current element
o -ve(restraining)Torque by voltage element
At normal condition
operative torque = restraining torque
At fault
operative torque > restraining torque
Also called voltage restrained over current relay.
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www.padeepz.net
www.padeepz.net
2.Reactance relay :-
o Operative Torque by current
o Restraining Torque by Current-Voltage Directional relay
 +ve torque by over current element
 -ve torque by directional unit
Directional element designed for maxi. Torque angle = 90
degree

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www.padeepz.net
www.padeepz.net
3.Mho relay :-

Induction cup type structure.

oOperative Torque produced by V & I element.

o Restraining Torque by Voltage element.

Also called Admittance relay.

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www.padeepz.net
NEGATIVE SEQUENCE RELAY
 The negative relays are also called phase unbalance
relays because these relays provide protection
against negative sequence component of unbalanced
currents existing due to unbalanced loads or phase-
phase faults.
 The unbalanced currents are dangerous from
generators and motors point of view as these currents
can cause overheating. Negative sequence relays are
generally used to give protection to generators and
motors against unbalanced currents.

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DIAGRAM:

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CONSTRUCTION:
 It consists of a resistance bridge network.
 The magnitudes of the impedances of all the branches
of the network are equal.
 The impedances Z1 and Z3 are purely resistive while the
impedances Z2 and Z4 are the combinations of
resistance and reactance.
 The currents in the branches Z2 and Z4 lag by 60o from
the currents in the branches Z1 and Z3.
 The vertical branch B-D consists of inverse time
characteristics relay. The relay has negligible
impedance.
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PHASOR DIAGRAM:

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The current IR gets divided into two equal parts I1 and I2. And
I2 lags I1 by 60o.
Ī1 + Ī2= Īrs
Let I1 = I2 = I
The perpendicular is drawn from point A on the diagonal
meeting it at point B. This bisects the diagonal.
... OB = IR /2
Now in triangle OAB,
cos 30 = OB/OA
... √3/2 = (IR/2)/I
... I = IR/√3 = I1 = I2 ............(1)

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 Now I1 leads IR by 30o while I2 lags IR by 30o.
Similarly the current IB gets divided into two equal parts
I3 and I4. The current I3 lags I4 by 60o. From equation (1) we
can write,
IB /√3 = I3 = I4 ...............(2)
The current I4 leads by IB while current I3 lags IB by 30o.
The current entering the relay at the junction point B in
the Fig. 1 is the vector sum of , and .
Irelay = Ī1 + Ī3 + ĪY
= IY + (IR/√3) (leads IR by 30o) + IB/√3(lags IB by30o)
 when the load is balanced and no
negative sequence currents exist.

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 Ī1 + Ī3 = -ĪY
... Ī 1 + Ī3 + ĪY = 0
Thus the current entering the relay at point B is zero.
Similarly the resultant current at junction D is also
zero. Thus the relay is inoperative for a balanced
system.

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UNDER FAULTY CONDITION:
Now consider that there is unbalanced load on
generator or motor due to which negative sequence
currents exist.
The component I1 and I3 are equal and opposite to
each other at the junction point B. Hence I1 and
I3 cancel each other. Now the relay coil carries the
current IY and when this current is more than a
predetermined value, the relay trips closing the
contacts of trip circuit which opens the circuit breaker.

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ZERO SEQUENCE CURRENT:
 Under zero sequence currents the total current of
twice the zero sequence current flows through the
relay. Hence the relay operates to open the circuit
breaker.
 To make the relay sensitive to only negative
sequence currents by making it inoperative under the
influence of zero sequence currents is possible by
connecting the current transformers in delta .Under
delta connection of current transformers, no zero
sequence current can flow in the network.

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www.padeepz.net
Definition

A two-winding relay that operates when the difference

between the currents in the two windings reaches a
predetermined value is called differential relays.

A two-winding relay that operates when the difference

between the currents in the two windings reaches a
predetermined value.

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• In case of electrical quantities exceed a predetermined value, a
current differential relay is one that compares the current
entering a section of the system with current leaving the section.
• Under normal operating conditions, the two currents are equal
but as soon as fault occurs, this condition no longer applies. The
difference between the incoming and outgoing currents is
arranged to flow through relay operating coil. If this difference is
equal to or greater than the pick up value the relay will operate
and open the circuit breaker and isolate the faulty section.
• Any type of relay when connected in a particular way can be
made to operate as a differential relay. It is not the relay
construction but the way in which relay is connected in a circuit
makes it a differential relay.

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There are three fundamental systems of differential or balanced protection:
I. current differential relay
II. voltage differential relay
III. Biased beam relay or percentage differential relay

(i) Current balance protection

Fig 16 a shows an arrangement of an over current relay connected to operate as a differential
relay. A pair of identical current transfonners is fitted on either end of the section to be
protected (alternator winding in this case). The secondaries of CT’s are connected in series in
such a way that they carry the induced currents in the same direction. The operating coil of
over current relay is connected across the CT secondary circuit. This differential relay
compares the current at the two ends of the alternator winding.

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Under normal operating conditions, suppose the alternator winding carries a normal current
of 1000 A. Then the current in the two secondaries of CT’s are equal as in figure. These
currents will merely circulate between the two CT’s and no current will flow through the
differential relay as shown in the diagram fig 16 a. Therefore, the relay remains inoperative.

If a ground fault occurs on the alternator winding as shown in fig 16 b. the two secondary
currents will not be equal and the current flows through the operating coil of the relay,
causing the relay to operate. The amount of current flow through the relay will depend upon
the way the fault is being fed.

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Disadvantages
 The impedance of the pilot cables generally causes a
slight difference between the currents at the two ends of
the section to be protected, then the small differential
current flowing through the relay may cause it to operate
even under no fault conditions.

 Pilot cable capacitance causes incorrect operation of

the relay when a large current flows

 Accurate matching of current transformers cannot be

achieved due to pilot circuit impedance

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(ii) voltage differential relay
Fig. 18 shows the arrangement of voltage balance
protection.
In this scheme of protection, two similar current
transformers are connected at either end of the element
to be protected (e.g. an alternator winding) by means of
pilot of wires.
The secondaries of current transformers are connected
in series with a relay in such a way that under normal
conditions, their induced e.m.f’s are in opposition

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Under healthy conditions, equal currents will flow in
both primary windings. Therefore, the secondary voltages
of the two transformers are balanced against each other
and no current will flow through the relay-operating coil.

When a fault occurs in the protected zone, the currents

in the two primaries will differ from one another and
their secondary voltages will no longer be in balance.

This voltage difference will cause a current to flow

through the operating coil of the relay, which closes the
trip circuit.

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Disadvantages
The voltage balance system suffers from the following
drawbacks

 A multi-gap transformer construction is required to

achieve the accurate balance between current
transformer pairs.

 The system is suitable for protection of cables of

relatively short, lengths due to the capacitance of pilot
wires.

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III. Biased beam relay or percentage differential relay
The biased beam relay also called percentage differential relay is designed to respond to
the differential current in terms of its fractional relation to the current flowing through the
protected section.

It’s called percentage differential relay because the ratio of differential operating current
to average restraining current is a fixed percentage.

It’s called bias relay because restraining known as biased coil produces the bias force. Fig
17 a, shows the schematic arrangements of biased beam relay. It is essentially an over
current balanced beam type relay with an additional restraining coil. The restraining coil
produces a bias force in the opposite direction to the operating force.

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Under normal and through load conditions, the bias force
due to restraining coil is greater than operating force.
Therefore, the relay remains inoperative.

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When an internal fault occurs, the operating force
exceeds the bias force. Consequently the trip contacts
are closed to open the circuit breaker.

The bias force can be adjusted by varying the

number of turns on the restraining coil.

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 Introduction
to Static Relay
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• The static relay is the next generation relay after
electromechanical type.
• The Solid Static relays was first introduced in
1960’s. The term ‘static’ implies that the
relay has no moving mechanical parts in it.
• Compared to the Electromechanical Relay, the
Solid Static relay has longer life-span, decreased
noise when operates and faster respond speed.
• The static relays have been designed to replace
almost all the functions which were being
achieved earlier by electromechanical relays.

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 Principle of operation
• The essential components of static relays are shown in figure below.
The output of CT and PT are not suitable for static components so
they are brought down to suitable level by auxiliary CT and PT.
Then auxiliary CT output is given to rectifier.
• Rectifier rectifies the relaying quantity i.e., the output from a CT or
PT or a Transducer.

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• The rectified output is supplied to a measuring
unit comprising of comparators, level detectors,
filters, logic circuits.
• The output is actuated when the dynamic input
(i.e., the relaying quantity) attains the threshold
value. This output of the measuring unit is
amplified by amplifier and fed to the output unit
device, which is usually an electromagnetic one.
• The output unit energizes the trip coil only when
relay operates.

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 Advantages of Solid State Relay
• Low Weight
• Arc less switching
• Static Relay burden is less than electromagnetic type
of relays. Hence error is less.
• Fast response.
• Long life
• Less power consumption
• More Accurate compared to electromechanical Relay

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 UNIT

3
Apparatus Protection

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UNIT 3 Syllabus

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 Introduction
The two major items of equipment in a
power system are the generators and transformers.
They have very high chance of fault occurrence
and usually takes much time and money to repair
the damage.

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 Fault and Abnormal
Conditions
 Generator : Over Current, Over Voltage, Under Voltage, Under
Frequency, Unbalanced Current, Loss of Excitation, Reverse Power,
Winding Inter turn Fault, Winding Earth Fault etc.

 Transformer : Over Current, Winding Inter turn fault, Excessive

Temperature Rise, Unbalance Current, Over fluxing etc.

 Motors : Over Current, Under Voltage, Unbalance Current, Winding

Short Circuit, Stator Earth Fault, etc.

 Transmission Line : Single Phase to ground fault, Phase to Phase

Fault, three phase to ground fault, Over Current etc.

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www.padeepz.net
Zones of Protection
Regions (zones) of power system that can be protected
adequately with fault recognition and removal resulting in
isolation of a minimum amount of equipment.
Requirements: All power system elements must be
encompassed by at least one zone
• Zones of protection must overlap to prevent any system
element from being unprotected (no “blind spots”).

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Zones of Protection

3 6
52

5 87B
1 50/51
52
87B
50/51
2 4 CT REQUIREMENTS FOR
OVERLAPPING ZONES
G

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Zones of Protection

Overlapping zones of protection

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Zones of Protection

3
5 1 - Bus Protection
2 - Generator Protection
3 - Subtrans Line Protection
1
4 - Feeder Protection
5 - Transformer Protection
2
G 4

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Feeder Protection

Fault

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Bus Protection

Fault

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Transformer Protection

Fault

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Sub transmission Line Protection

Fault

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Generator Protection

Fault

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www.padeepz.net
Faults occurring in Transformers
 Open-Circuit faults
 Earth faults
 Phase-to-Phase faults
 Inter-Turn faults
 Overheating

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Factors in choosing Protective Gear
for a Transformer
 Type of Transformer
 Size of the Transformer
 Type of Cooling
 System where used
 Importance of service for which it is required

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Transformer Relaying Scheme

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Buchholz Protection
Also known as gas accumulator relay, commonly used on
all oil-immersed transformer provided with conservator.

Working Principle:
Whenever a fault occur inside the transformer, the
oil of the tank gets overheated and gases are generated.
The heat generated by the high local current causes the
transformer oil to decompose and produce gas which can
be used to detect the winding faults

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Buchholz Protection

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Core-Balance Leakage Protection
This system is used to provide protection against earth
faults on high voltage winding. When earth fault occurs,
the sum of the three currents is no longer zero and a
current is induced in the secondary of the CT causing
the trip relay to operate and isolate the transformer from
the bus-bars.

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www.padeepz.net
Combined Leakage and Overload
Protection
The core-balance protection cannot provide protection
against overload. It is usual practice to provide combined
leakage and overload protection for transformer. The
earth relay has low current setting and operates under
earth faults only. The overload relays have high current
setting and are arrange to operate against faults
between the phases

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 In this system, two overload relay and one earth relay
are connected. The two overload relays are sufficient to
protect against phase to phase faults. The trip contacts
of overload relays and earth fault relay are connected
in parallel. Therefore the energizing of either one of
them, the circuit breaker will tripped.

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 Transformer Protection

Overheating
Normal maximum working temp. = 95 °C
8-10 °C rise will halve the life of the transformer.
Overcurrent
Fuses for distribution transformer
Overcurrent relaying for 5MVA and above
Characteristics:
– Must be below the damage curve
– Must be above magnetizing inrush
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Conclusion
 Open-circuit faults, earth faults, phase-to-phase faults,
inter-turn faults and overheating are the fault that are
likely occur in a transformer
 Relays control output circuits of a much higher
power.
 Safety is increased
 Protective relays are essential for keeping faults in the
system isolated and keep equipment from being
damaged.

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www.padeepz.net
 Introduction
 Generator is the electrical end of a turbo-generator set.
Without Generator, turbine/boiler/any Power Plant Equipment
is meaningless. Generator is the most precious/valuable
equipment in PP which actually converts the mechanical
energy of turbine into electricity. So, Generator should be
protected from faults occurring within generator and also from
external faults/abnormal operating condition in the GRID
which affected the generator.
 Various relays/devices are used to detect the abnormalities in
operations and whenever fault conditions appear, they can give
warning alarms to the operators or trip the unit automatically.
 Generally automatic tripping are provided if the time for
operator to take corrective action is less or the fault is likely to
cause serious damage to the unit.

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 FAULT IN THE GENERATOR
 Stator
 Phase to Phase fault.

 Inter – turn fault

 Earth fault (80% & 100%)

 Rotor
 Rotor E/F – Two stage relay: a) Alarm b) Trip

 Over voltage in the rotor.

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 ABNORMAL OPERATING
CONDITIONS:
Which affects the generator
 Negative Phase sequence

 Loss of Excitation

 Over fluxing protection

 Reverse power

 Over-speeding

 Pole slipping/ Out of Step

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 PROTECTION CATEGORY
 Complete Generator protection is divided into two category i.e.
 Class – A Protection
 Class – B Protection
 CLASS – A: Protection where electrical isolation is an emergency.(
Insulation failure, ,S.C. etc.). Trip the GCB/Turbine/Boiler without
time delay or Generator automatic trips.
 .Class – A follows;
 Gen. Differential Prot.
 Gen. 100% E/F
 Gen. SB E/F
 Gen. NVD
 Gen. O/C
 Rotor 2nd stage E/F
 Gen. Brg. Temp. high

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 CLASS - B
 CLASS – B: Protection where external
abnormalities come into picture, such as temp.
rise. Generator trips through LFP relay.
 Class – B follows;
 Reverse power
 Voltage restrained O/C
 Thermal O/C
 Negative Phase sequence
 U/V and O/V 2nd stage
 Over fluxing/ Field failure
 Gen. over/under frequency.

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 EARTH FAULT:
 When fault current flows through earth return path,
the fault is called Earth Fault.
 Possible causes are ;(a) Insulation failure, (b) due to
over heating (Failure of water/air circulation through
stator conductor).
 Earth fault may occur between any phase conductor
and core.
 It is usually practice to limit the earth fault current to
avoid extensive damage to the stator core.

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 STAND BY EARTH FAULT:
 This protection is practically protects 95% of
generator winding. Therefore a current setting of
5% of in to be set.
 E/F current is generally limited to about 15/20Amps.
 Earth fault current of even 100A for few seconds can
cause external damage. So the earth fault is restricted
to 100Amps. By providing NGR of 63.5 ohms at
11KV Voltage Level.
 This is a Back-Up protection.

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www.padeepz.net
 100% STATOR EARTH FAULT:
 In this protection, where neutral voltage measurement is made
at generator terminals, (By Broken Delta), the third harmonic
voltage element is used.
 First earth fault very near to neutral produces negligible
current as driving voltage is nearly zero. But if a 2nd earth
fault occurs at machine terminal, line to ground fault is not
limited by NGR. The resulting fault current can be high.
Hence, the 1st E/F very near to neutral has to be detected early
and isolated.
 All generators produce continuous current of 3rd harmonic
voltage. Under normal condition, 3rd harmonic voltage is
present. If there is a fault near neutral, the amount of 3rd
harmonic voltage comes down and this is used for detection.

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STATOR EARTH FAULT PROTECTION
Generator

Red

Yellow

Blue

CT Relay

Neutral Earth
Resistance

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 ROTOR EARTH FAULT:
 Since rotor circuits operate ungrounded, a single earth fault is
caused by insulation failure due to moisture, ageing of
insulation or vibration of rotor etc. But existence of single
ground fault increases the chance of a second ground fault.
The occurrence of second earth fault can cause fault current
flows. This results unsymmetrical flux distribution. The air
gap flux is badly distorted. The rotor is displaced enough to
rub stator leading to severe vibrations and can damage the
bearing.
 Although a machine can continuously run on a single earth
fault but second rotor earth fault, if allowed to occur,
should be detected immediately and generator should be
tripped.

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www.padeepz.net
 DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
 Differential protection is very reliable method for stator
winding phase to phase fault. In this, currents on both
sides of the generator are compared.
 Under normal condition or for a fault outside of the
protected zone, current i1s is equal to current i2s.
Therefore, the currents in the CTs secondaries are also
equal, i1s=i2s and no current flows through the current
relays.
 If a fault develops inside of the protected zone, current i1s
and i2s are no longer equal, therefore i1s and i2s are not
equal and therefore a current flowing in the current relay.

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www.padeepz.net
 Negative Phase Sequence Protection:
 When the generator is connected to a balanced load, the phase currents are
equal in magnitude and displaced electrically by 120°. The ATs wave
produced by the stator currents rotate synchronously with the rotor and no
eddy currents are induced in the rotor parts.
 If there is an unbalanced loading of the generator, and then the stator
currents have a –ve sequence component. The stator field due to these –ve
sequence currents rotates at synchronous speed but in a direction opposite
to the direction of the field structure on the rotor. Thus, the –ve sequence
stator armature mmf rotates at a speed –Ns, while the rotor field speed is
+Ns. There is a relative velocity of 2Ns between the two.
 These causes double frequency currents, of large amplitude to be induced
in the rotor conductors and iron part. So both the eddy currents as well as
the hystersis losses increase due to these double frequencies induced
currents in the rotor.
 Unbalanced loading affects ;(a) Rotor heating (b) Severe vibration &
heating of stator.

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 FIELD FAILURE PROTECTION:
 Acts as an Induction Generator.
 Possible Causes;
 AVR Fault
 Tripping of Field C.B.
 Open circuit or Short circuit occurring in the D.C. circuit.
 PMG failure
 In normal condition, generator when running shares the reactive demand of the
system. If excitation fails, synchronous generator runs at a super-synchronous
speed, draws reactive power from the power system instead of supplying the Qe.
In case, the other generators can’t meet the requirement of reactive power, this
shall result in large voltage drop which may ultimately result in instability.
 In this case, slip becomes –Ve result in slip frequency currents. Rotor gets
heated up due to induced currents in the rotor winding, core or damage the
winding if this condition is sustained. Stator heats up due to high stator currents
due to increase in reactive current from the system.
 By monitor (i) Field current, If
 (ii) Phase current & voltage.

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 REVERSE POWER
PROTECTION:
 This protection is provided to protect against motoring.
 A generator is expected to supply active power to the connected system in
normal operation. If the generator primover fails, a generator that is connected
in parallel with another source of electrical supply will to begin to motor. This
reversal of power flow due to loss of prime mover can be detected by reverse
power element.
 Possible Causes:
 When immediately after Synchronising control valves are not operated which
may happen due to some fault in the system or some delay by the operating
personnel.
 In case of sudden closure of stop valves or control valves when the generator
unit is still connected to the grid.
 Reverse power operation is harmful to the turbine since without steam flow in
the turbine. If the turbine continues to rotate, it will result in heating of turbine
blades due to churning action. However, the period for the turbine to overheat
may vary from a few seconds to minutes depending upon the turbine &
operating conditions.

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www.padeepz.net
 OVER FLUXING PROTECTION:
 Fundamental Voltage- Flux relation:
 V = 4.44 * N * f * ø
 V/f = 4.44 * N * ø
 = K * ø = K * B/A
 V/f is a measure of flux in machine. That means, over fluxing can occur if the ratio
of voltage to frequency exceeds certain limits. High voltage or low frequency,
causing a rise in the V/f ratio, will produce high flux densities in the magnetic core
of the generator.This could cause the core of the machine to saturate & stray flux to
be induced in the unlamilated components that have not designed to carry flux. The
resulting eddy currents in the solid components e.g. core bolts & clamps and end of
core laminations can cause rapid overheating and damage.
 POSSIBLE CAUSES:
 AVR failure
 Load rejection under manual AVR control
 Excessive excitation with Generator Offline.
 Decreasing Speed with operator tries to maintain rated stator voltage.
 AUTO to Manual transfer of AVR.

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www.padeepz.net
 Various Industry Motor Applications

 Fan, Blower
 Pump, Compressor
 Conveyor
 Mixer
 Cranes

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Types of Fault in Motors
External Fault Internal Fault
Mechanical Load Bearing Failure
Unbalance Supply Winding phase and
Voltage earth fault
Single Phasing
Phase Reversal

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Motor Protection Summary

 THERMAL OVERLOAD
 SHORT CIRCUIT
 EARTH FAULT
 UNBALANCE
 BLOCKED ROTOR/STALLING PROTECTION

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Thermal Stress Causes Motor Failure
 Most of the motor failure contributors and failed motor components are related to motor overheating.

 Thermal stress potentially can cause the failure of all the major motor parts: Stator, Rotor, Bearings,
Shaft and Frame.

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 Thermal Overload
•Consider a motor is as homogenous body
•Developing heat at constant rate.
•Dissipating heat at constant rate.
Heat disspation is proportional to temperature
rise
T = KIR (1-e
2 –t/τ)

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Overload Protection - Thermal Model
• Main Factors and Elements Comprising
the Thermal Model are:
• Overload Pickup Level
• Overload Curve
• Cooling Time Constants
• Hot/Cold Stall Time Ratio

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 THERMAL OVERLOAD cont……

SETTING CRITERIA : Thermal Element

Motor running
Time in sec

Starting
time :10s

Sh or t- cir cuit
elem ent

Current
293 A 1370 A 1720 A (Amperes)

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 SHORT CIRCUIT PROTECTION

 What is:-Motor short-circuit protection -

provided to cater for major stator winding faults
and terminal flashovers.
 Settings - Definite time over current relay
element, set to about 130% of motor starting
current and time delay set at 100ms.

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Differential Protection
• Differential protection may be considered the first
line of protection for internal phase-to-phase or
phase-to-ground faults.
Summation method with six CTs:
• If six CTs are used in a summing
configuration, during motor starting, the
values from the two CTs on each phase
may not be equal as the CTs are not
perfectly identical and asymmetrical
currents may cause the CTs on each phase
to have different outputs.
• The running differential delay can then be
fine tuned to an application such that it
responds very fast and is sensitive to low
differential current levels.

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Ground Fault Protection
• What is:-A ground fault is a fault that
creates a path for current to flow from one
of the phases directly to the neutral through
the earth bypassing the load

• Ground faults in a motor occur:

• When its phase conductor’s insulation
is damaged for example due to voltage
stress, moisture or internal fault occurs
between the conductor and ground
• To limit :-the level of the ground fault
current connect an resistance known as
stablising resistance

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Phase Unbalance
 What is:-In a balanced system the three line-neutral voltages are equal in
magnitude and are 120 degrees out of phase with each other. Otherwise, the
system is unbalanced.

Positive Sequence Negative Sequence

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Main causes of current unbalance
• Blown fuses
• Loose connections
• Stator turn-to-turn faults
• System voltage distortion and
unbalance
• Faults
Effects
• Motor winding overheating
• Excessive vibrations
• Cause motor insulation/winding/bearing
damage

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Motor Protection Stalling

What is:-It happens when motor circuits are energized, but motor rotor is not
rotating. It is also called locked rotor.
 Effects:
This will result in excessive currents flow given the same load. This will cause
thermal damage to the motor winding and insulation.

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 Motor Protection Stalling

Required for

Stalling during starting Stalling during running

Cases
Starting time < Stall withstand time
Stall withstand time< Starting time

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 CURRENT RELAYS

IDMT RELAYS :
These relays have inverse characteristic and the operating time decreases as the
magnitude of current increases.

GENERAL RELAY EQUATION :

t = TMS X K/((I/In)^n – 1)
t = RELAY OPERATING TIME
I = FAULT CURRENT
n = CONSTANT
K = CONSTANT
In = RELAY PLUG SETTING ( PICK UP )
TMS = TIME MULTIPLIER SETTING

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 Pilot Relays
Why needed:-Overcome diffculties of overcurrent
Relay ie
•Coordination
•Excessive fault clearance times
Principle:-
•Measurement of current at each end feeders
•Transmission of information
•No time and current gradation required
•Supervision facility.
•Merz price Circulating scheme

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www.padeepz.net
 Bus Bar Protection

Bus Differential: Current into bus must equal

current out of bus

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 Bus Protection
Bus Fault

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Busbar Protection

Typical Bus Arrangements:

 Single bus
 Double bus, double breaker
 Breaker-and-a-half
 Main and transfer buses with single breaker
 Ring bus

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Busbar Protection

Bus differential connection (single-bus)

87B

86B

TRIPS AND LOCKS-

OUT ALL BREAKERS
CONNECTED TO BUS

NOTE: All CTs connected to the bus differential

BUS must have same ratios.

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Busbar Protection

Bus differential connection (double-bus, double-breaker)

TRIPS AND LOCKS-
OUT ALL BREAKERS
CONNECTED TO
BUS 1 87B 87B

86B
86B

TRIPS AND LOCKS-

OUT ALL BREAKERS
CONNECTED TO
BUS 2

BUS 2
BUS 1

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Busbar Protection

Bus differential connection (breaker-and-a-half)

86B

TRIPS AND
LOCKS-OUT ALL 87B 87B
BREAKERS
CONNECTED TO
BUS 1 86B

TRIPS AND
LOCKS-OUT ALL
BREAKERS
CONNECTED TO
BUS 2

BUS 2
BUS 1

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Busbar Protection

Bus differential connection (main and transfer bus)

BUS 1

BUS 2

TRIPS AND LOCKS-OUT ALL

BREAKERS CONNECTED TO
BUS 1

86B1

87B1

87B2

BUS IMAGING 86B2

RELAY
TRIPS AND LOCKS-OUT ALL
BREAKERS CONNECTED TO BUS
2

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 Busbar Protection
Bus differential connection (ring bus)

NOTE: No bus differential protection is needed. The

busses are covered by line or transformer protection.

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Busbar Protection

Two Busbar Protection Schemes:

Low Impedance - using time overcurrent relays
 inexpensive but affected by CT saturation.
 low voltage application; 34.5kV and below

• High Impedance - using overvoltage relays (this

scheme loads the CTs with a high impedance to force the
differential current through the CTs instead of the relay
operating coil.)
 expensive but provides higher protection security.
 115kV and above voltage application or some 34.5kV
bus voltages which require high protection security.
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www.padeepz.net
 Transmission Line Protection

• Distance Protection
• Over Current Protection
• Differential Protection.
• Main and Back up Protection

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 Distance Relay Protection

• The basic principle is that the apparent impedance

seen by the relay reduces drastically in case of line
fault.
• If the ratio of apparent impedance to the positive
sequence impedance is less than unity, it indicates a
fault.
• This protection scheme is inherently directional.
• Impedance relay and Mho relay use this principle.

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Distance Relay Protection

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 Over Current Relay Protection
Principle of Over current Protection
• When the current in a system exceeds a
predetermined value, it indicates the presence of a
fault.
• Relaying decision is based solely on the magnitude of
current.
• Over current relaying and fuse protection uses this
principle
• Used in radial distribution systems.

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Over Current Relay Protection

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 Directional Over Relay
Protection

• Directional Over current Protection Uses both

magnitude of current and phase angle
information for decision making.
• Used in radial distribution systems with source
at both ends

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Directional Over Relay
Protection

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 Differential Relay Protection for
Transmission Line
• By comparing the two currents either in
magnitude or in phase or in both, fault can be
determined.
• Its implementation requires a communication
channel.
• It is extremely accurate.
• Its zone is demarkated by CTs

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Differential Relay Protection
for Transmission Line

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www.padeepz.net
 Current and Voltage Transformers
in Protective Relaying System
 Protective Relays in A.C. Power Systems are connected
from the secondary circuits of C.T. & P.T.
 Current Transformers : C.T. are used for measurement
and Protection. Its step down the current from high value
to low current value. Their ratio is constant for given
range of Primary & Secondary Current.
 Potential Transformer : P.T. are used for measurement
and Protection. Its step down the high voltage to low
voltage value. The ratio is constant for given range of
Primary and Secondary voltage.

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 Current Transformers
Current Transformer (CT) :
A device which transforms the current on the power system
from large primary values to safe secondary values. The
secondary current will be proportional (as per the ratio) to the
primary current.

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Potential Transformers
Potential Transformer (PT):
A device which transforms the
voltage on the power system from
primary values to safe secondary
values, in a ratio proportional to the
primary value.

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 UNIT

4
Theory of circuit
interruption

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UNIT 4 Syllabus

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www.padeepz.net
 The ARC
The electric arc constitute a basic ,indispensable and active
element in the process of current interruption.

1.Basic theory of electric discharge

The conduction of electricity is through the gases or vapors

which contain positive and negative charge carriers and all types of
discharge involve the very fundamental process of production
,movement & absorption of these carriers which is the mode of
carrying the current between the electrodes. The gas discharge
phenomena can broadly classified as:

a. The non-self sustained discharge

b. The self sustaining discharges

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Initiation of an Arc
 By high voltage gradient
at the cathode resulting
into field emission.

 By increase of
temperature resulting
into thermo ionic
emission

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Maintenance of Arc
 High temperature of the medium around the contacts
caused by high current densities, with high temp the
kinetic energy gained by moving electrons increased.
 The field strength or volt. gradient which increases
the kinetic energy of the moving electrons and
increases the chances of detaching electrons from
neutral molecule.
 An increase in mean free path-the distance through
which the electron moves freely.

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www.padeepz.net
www.padeepz.net
www.padeepz.net
Methods of Arc Extinction
 High resistance method
a. cooling of arc
b. increasing the arc length
c. reducing the cross section of arc
d. splitting of arc
 Low resistance or current zero interruption
a. Lengthening of the gap
b.increasing the pressure in the vicinity of the arc
c. Cooling
d. Blast Effect

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Phenomenon of arc extinction
 Energy Balance or Cassie Theory
This theory states that if the rate of heat
dissipation between the contacts is greater
then the rate at which heat is generated ,the
arc will be extinguished ,otherwise it will
restrike.
 Recovery rate or Slepian’s Theory
This theory states that if the rate at which
the ions and electrons combine to form or
replaced by neutral molecules.

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Restriking Voltage & Recovery Voltage
 The transient voltage which appears across the breaker contacts
at the instant of arc being extinguished is known as restriking
voltage.
 The power frequency rms voltage ,which appears across the
breaker contacts after the arc is finally extinguished and
transient oscillation die out is called recovery voltage.

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Arc Extinction

Arc Voltage:
The Voltage drop
across the arc is
called Arc Voltage.

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Arc Quenching: ( C.B )
• The Arc Produced not only delays the
current interruption process but it also generates
enormous heat which may cause damage to the
system or to the circuit breaker itself.
• Therefore main problem in a C.B is to
extinguish the arc within the shortest possible
time so the heat generated by it may not reach a
dangerous value.

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 ARC PHENOMENON
During arcing period, the current flowing between the
contacts depends upon the resistance. The greater
resistance smaller the current that flows between the
contacts.
The arc resistance depends upon
i) Degree of ionisation ( Arc resistance increases with the
decrease in number of ionised particles b/w the contact )
ii) Length of Arc ( Arc resistance increases with the
length of arc )
iii) Cross section of Arc ( Arc resistance increases with
the decrease in X- section of the arc )

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The factors that are responsible for
maintenance of arc between the
contacts are:
i) Potential Difference between the
contacts.
ii) ionised particles between the
contacts.

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 Methods of Arc Interruption
• There are two methods of Arc Interruption
or Extinction are
i) High resistance interruption
ii) Current zero interruption
High resistance interruption
The arc resistance can be increased by
cooling, lengthening, reducing x- section
and splitting the arc.

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 It is employed for low power AC and DC
circuit breakers.
Current zero interruption
There are two theories to explain the zero
current interruption of the arc.
i) Recovery rate theory(Slepain’s Theory)
ii) Energy balance theory(Cassie’s Theory)

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Recovery rate theory

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Energy balance theory

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Arc Extinction in oil Circuit Breaker

In case of oil circuit breaker the

opening of contact which heats the oil
surrounds the contact due to arc which
causes hydrogen gas bubble to evolve
and its removes the heat from the surface.
If the rate of heat removal is faster than its
generation then the arc is extinguished.

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Arc interruption
(or) Extinction
methods

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www.padeepz.net
a) Lengthening the arc : by arc runners

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b) Splitting the Arc:

In this method the arc is elongated and splitted by arc splitters. These are
made with plates of resin bonded fiber gas. These are placed perpendicular
to arc and arc is pulled into them by electromagnetic forces.

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c) Cooling of Arc :
It causes recombination of ionized particles. Cooling remove the heat from
the Arc. Efficient cooling may be obtained by gas blast directed along Arc .

2) Low resistance (or) current zero interruption:

This method is used for Arc Extinction in A.C circuit breakers. In this method
the resistance kept low until current is zero.

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The rapid increase of dielectric strength of the medium near current zero
can be achieved by
1)Lengthening of Arc
2)Cooling
3)Blast effect

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Refer Book

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How is dc breaking done?

The contacts of the DC breaker separate and the

arc is transferred from contacts to the runners
where it rises upwards and extinguishes on its
own.

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Drawbacks of HVDC circuit breaking

 The amount of energy to be dissipated during the

short interval of breaking is very high as
compared to the conventional a.c circuit breakers

 The natural zero current does not occur as in the

case of a.c cb, resistance switching and the
efficient cooling by forcing the liquid or air blast
are used to dissipate the high amount of energy.

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SIMPLE D.C CIRCUIT

•B circuit breaker.
•Assuming CB “B” breaks the current I
(=E/R)

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ARC CHARACTERISTICS

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 The diff equn of the ckt is,
L(di/dt)+Ri+eb=E

L(di/dt)=(E – Ri)-eb(i)=∆e

 ∆e negative:
Current will decrease
 ∆e positive:

Increase the current

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Basic requirement
 Progressive lengthening of arc is a basic
requirement of dc circuit breakers.

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In designing an HVDC circuit breaker there are
there main problems to be solved

 How to produce a current zero?

 How to prevent restriking?

 How to dissipate the stored energy?

Producing current zero

 This approach involves changing the form of arc
current by commutation principle
 Quenching gear of well proven HVAC ckt breaker

 Principle of oscillatory circuit

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Prevention of restrikes
 To produce a good ionizing arc the space between two
walls of arc chute can be narrowed to restrict the arc
 At the same time it can be broken into number of arcs
by inserting a grating of vertical metal plane
Dissipation of stored energy
 A protective spark gap can be used across the CB to
reduce the size of the commuting capacitor.
 It will keep the abnormal voltage produced at the
switching time below the undesired level
 By means of high frequency currents the spark gap
acts as an energy dissipating device

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 Interruption of
capacitive current

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INTERRUPTION OF CAPACITIVE CURRENT
Effect:
 The interruption of capacitive current produces
high voltage transients across the gap of the
circuit breaker.

When?
 This occurs when an unloaded long transmission
line or a capacitor bank is switched off.

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www.padeepz.net
•Considering a electrical circuit of a simple power system

•C stray capacitance of the circuit breaker

•C L line capacitance

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TRANSIENT VOLTAGE ACROSS THE GAP
OF THE CIRCUIT BREAKER WHEN THE
CAPACITIVE CURRENT IS INTERRUPTED

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At the instant M
 The capacitive current is 0.
 System voltage is maximum

 If interruption occurs
 Capacitor CL remains charged at the maximum value of
system voltage.

After the instant M

 Voltage across the breaker gap is
the difference of Vc and VcL.

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At the instant N
 The voltage across the gap is twice the maximum

 Value of Vc.

If the breaker restrikes

 The voltage across the gap become partially zero.
 Voltage falls from 2Vcmax to zero.

 A severe high frequency oscillation occurs

(about the point S)
 Interrupted again.( if restriking current=0)

 The capacitor CL at the voltage -3emax.

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At the instant P
 The system voltage reaches its positive
maximum.(point T)
 Voltage across the gap becomes 4emax.

 The capacitive current reaches zero again and there

may be an interruption.
 The transient voltage oscillates between -3emax and
+5emax. (point P—Q)

 Thus voltage across the gap goes on increasing

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www.padeepz.net
 UNIT

5
U B K

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 UNIT 5 Syllabus
Types of circuit breakers
1. Air Blast circuit breaker
2. Vacuum circuit breaker
3. Oil circuit breaker
4. SF6 circuit breaker
Comparison of Airblast,Vacuum,Oil,SF6
Testing of circuit breakers.

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Types Of Circuit Breakers
 Oil Circuit Breakers

 Vacuum Circuit Breakers

 Air Blast Circuit Breakers

 SF6 Circuit Breakers

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1. OIL CIRCUIT BREAKER
It is designed for 11kv-765kv.
These are of two types
• BOCB (Bulk oil Circuit Breaker)
• MOCB (Minimum oil Circuit Breaker)

The contacts are immersed in

oil bath.
Oil provides cooling by
hydrogen created by arc.
It acts as a good dielectric
medium and quenches the arc.
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Advantages:
 Oil has good dielectric strength.
 Low cost.
 Oil is easily available.
 It has wide range of breaking capability.

Disadvantages:
 Slower operation , takes about 20 cycles for arc
quenching.
 It is highly inflammable , so high risk of fire.
 High maintenance cost.

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 2. VACCUM CIRCUIT BREAKER
 It is designed for medium voltage
range (3.3-33kv).
 This consists of vacuum of pressure
(1*10-6) inside arc extinction chamber.
 The arc burns in metal vapour when
the contacts are disconnected.
 At high voltage , it’s rate of dielectric
strength recovery is very high.
 Due to vacuum arc extinction is very
fast.
 The contacts loose metals gradually
due to formation of metal vapours.
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Advantages:
Free from arc and fire hazards.
Low cost for maintenance & simpler mechanism.
Low arcing time & high contact life.
Silent and less vibrational operation.
Due to vacuum contacts remain free from corrosion.
No byproducts formed.

Disadvantages:
High initial cost due to creation of vacuum.
Surface of contacts are depleted due to metal vapours.
High cost & size required for high voltage breakers.
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3. AIR BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKERS
This operates using high velocity blast of air which
quenches the arc.
It consists of blast valve , blast tube & contacts.
Blast valve contains air at high pressure.
Blast tube carries the air at high pressure & opens the
moving contact attached to spring.
There is no carbonization of surface as in VCB.
Air should be kept clean & dry to operate it properly.

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Advantages:
 High speed operation as compared to OCB.
 Ability to withstand frequent switching.
 Facility for high speed reclosure.
 Less maintenance as compared to OCB.

Disadvantages:
 Little moisture content prolongs arcing time.
 Pressure should be checked frequently for frequent
operation.
 Risk of fire hazards due to over voltages.
 It can’t be used for high voltage operation due to
prolonged arc quenching.
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 4. SF6 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
 It contains an arc interruption chamber containing SF6 gas.
 In closed position the contacts remain surrounded
by SF6 gas at a pressure of 2.8 kg/cm2 .
 During opening high pressure SF6 gas at 14 kg/cm2 from its
reservoir flows towards the chamber by valve mechanism.
 SF6 rapidly absorbs the free electrons in the arc path to
form immobile negative ions to build up high dielectric
strength.
 It also cools the arc and extinguishes it.
 After operation the valve is closed by the action of a set of
springs.
 Absorbent materials are used to absorb the byproducts and
moisture.
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Advantages:
 Very short arcing period due to superior arc quenching
property of SF6 .
 Can interrupt much larger currents as compared to other
breakers.
 No risk of fire.
 Low maintenance, light foundation.
 No over voltage problem.
 There are no carbon deposits.
Disadvantages:
 SF6 breakers are costly due to high cost of SF6.
 SF6 gas has to be reconditioned after every operation of the
breaker, additional equipment is required for this purpose.

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Comparison of Circuit Breakers

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CONCLUSION:
Therefore, we conclude that circuit breaker is
the most essential part of the electrical
networks as it protects every device from
damage. It helps us to detect the fault and area
affected by it. Nowadays vacuum and SF6
circuit breakers are widely used due to their
reliable and fast operations.

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Testing of circuit
breaker

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Why "Testing of Circuit Breaker" is Necessary?
 A Circuit Breaker should be capable of carrying, making, and
breaking under normal and abnormal conditions. In any power
system circuit breaker has to withstand power frequency over
voltages and transient over voltages due to switching and
lightning.
 The performance of a circuit breaker under normal and abnormal
conditions can be verified by performing different type of tests
on circuit breakers. The main purpose of testing of circuit
breakers is to confirm if circuit breaker is able to work on
particular voltage and current ratings or not.

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There are mainly two tests classified:
1) Type test
2) Routine Test
1) Type Tests:
 The purpose of type tests is to prove design features and
the quality of circuit breaker. Type tests are not conducted
on each circuit breaker. This is done to prove the
capabilities and to confirm the rated characteristics of the
circuit breakers.

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2)Routine Tests:

Routine test is performed before circuit

breaker dispatch to ensure the product. This
gives result about defects in materials and
construction of circuit breaker. We can
check quality of material of circuit breaker
by performing Routine Test.

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 Mechanical endurance tests
 Thermal tests
 Dielectric tests
 Measurement of resistance of the main circuits
 Short Circuit tests

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In this test, the C.B.. is open and closed 500 times or
other value as agreed to between the purchaser and the
supplier.the test are carried out without current through
the main circuit of the C.B.Out of the total number of
tests, 10% should be closed-open operation,that is with
the tripping,mechanism energized by the closing of
main contacts.During the tests,occasional lubrication,but
no mechanical adjustments are permissible.after the
tests,all parts including contacts should be in good
condition and there should be no permanent distortion
and undue wear of the parts.

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This test determines the maximum normal current that the
circuit breaker can carry without exceeding the maximum
allowable temperature rise.In this test the rated normal
current of normal frequency is passed through the current
carrying parts of circuit breaker.
Method are recognized by Indian standards for measuring
temperature rise of parts:-
1) Thermometer method
2) Thermocouple method
3) Self resistance method

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  1) Breaking capacity Test:-
• Sequence of performing this tests is as follows:-
 First of all,the master circuit breaker (MB)and the breaker under test
(TB)are closed.
 The s.c.current is passed by closing the make switch.
 The circuit breaker under test(TB) is opened to interrupt the s.c.current at
desired moment.
• The following measurements related to the breaking capacity
performance are taken from the oscillogram during the test:-
 Symmetrical breaking current
 Asymmetrical breaking current
 Amplitude factor
 Natural frequency of oscillations and RRRV(RATE OF RISE OF
RISTRIKING VOLTAGE)
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Sequence of Performing this test :-
First of all,the master circuit breaker (MB)and the
make switch(MS) are closed.
Then,the short circuit current is initiated by closing
the test breaker (TB).
The rated short circuit making current i.e.the peak
value of the first major loop of the short circuit
current envelope is measured from the oscillorgram.

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3) Short Time Withstand Current Capacity

•In this test, the rated short-time withstand current is

applied to the circuit breaker
under test for the specified duration of the time.
•The rated short time withstand current is equal to be
rated short circuit breaking current and standard value
of rated duration of short circuit current is 1 second or 3
seconds.
•The current is measured by taking an oscillograph of the
short circuit current wave.
After the test, there should be no mechanical or insulation
damage and any contact welding.

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REFERENCES

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Book References:
 Principles of power systems by V.K.Metha
 Switchgear & Protection by Badri Ram
 M.L. Soni, P.V. Gupta, V.S. Bhatnagar, A. Chakrabarti,
‘A Text Book on Power System Engineering’
 R.K.Rajput, A Tex book of Power System Engineering.
Laxmi Publications
 Protection & Switchgear by U.A.Bakshi
 Sunil S. Rao, ‘Switchgear and Protection’, Khanna
publishers.
 C.L. Wadhwa, ‘Electrical Power Systems’, Newage
International (P) Ltd.
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NPTEL References:
 Power System Protection by S.A.Soman
Department of Electrical Engineering IIT Bombay

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