Fundamentals of Distance

Protection

Table of Contents
 [hide]
 Introduction
 Distance protection
 Zones of distance protection
 Distance Protection Operational Characteristics
 Factors Influencing Distance Protection
 Conclusion
 References

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 Introduction
Impedance relays and automatics are devices whose function is based on the
magnitude and angle of impedance. The main group of impedance relays is distance
protection devices. Other types of impedance relays are e.g. loss of synchronism
protection, loss of excitation protection, or impedance automatics like fault locator.

Impedance relays measure and evaluate the magnitude and angle of impedance and
therefore these relays are adjusted to the power line parameters. Also because of
their versatility and wide range of applications, these relays have a very complex
algorithm that can deal with the most difficult transient phenomena.

The distance protection theme is very extensive. This article aims to give the reader a
simple overview and introduction to distance protection.

Distance protection
The principle of distance protection is based on the determination of the fault
impedance from the measured short-circuit voltage and current at the relay location
as illustrated in figure 1.

Figure 1. Principle of Distance Protection

The measured fault impedance is compared with the known value of power line
impedance (which is approximately constant). If the measured fault impedance is
smaller than the power line impedance, an internal fault is detected and a trip
command is sent to the appropriate circuit breaker. For this basic protection
decision, no further information is required. The measurement in distance protection
is principally realized that for each fault type the line impedance of the fault loop is
determined. It means the protection is measuring three fault loops for phase-to-
phase faults (L1-L2, L2-L3, L3-L1) and three phase-to-ground fault loops (L1-N, L-2N,
L3-N). The combination of all six loops covers all 11 types of short-circuit faults that

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 can occur in a solidly grounded network. Modern distance protection first determines
the type of fault based on voltage difference in the pre-fault and the fault voltage
and then calculates the fault loops only for the identified short-circuit. This
contributes to shorter operation times of distance protection. Such algorithm is
shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Example of a
Distance Protection Algorithm [2]

The basic formulas for impedance loop can be derived from the following diagram
(see Figure 3) where:

 E is the equivalent emf,

 ZS is the source impedance,
 ZSC is the short-circuit impedance,
 USC is the short-circuit voltage at the relay location,
 ISC is the short-circuit current at the relay location,
 RF is the fault resistance.
*Zfwd  is the forward path;  Zret  is the return path

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 Figure 3. Impedance Fault Loop Equivalent Circuit [1]

Let us consider the following 20 kV power system in figure 4 (taken from [1] and
modified). In normal operation, the distance protection device ‘D’ at point A sees an
impedance equal to the sum of the impedance of power lines Z V1, ZV2, and the load
impedance, ZLoad. Since ZLoad >> ZV1 and ZV2, the impedance measured by the distance
protection will be very high.

For a two-phase short-circuit, L2 – L3, occurrence on power line V1, an equivalent

impedance diagram such as shown in figure 3 can be constructed. In this case,
referring to figure 3, the forward path is L2 while the return path is line L3.

Figure 4. Phase-phase Short-circuit on Power Line V1

Next, let us assume that distance protection in point A measured following values:

 IL1 = 155∠0.9° A
 IL2 = 1219∠-151° A
 IL3 = 1089∠33.7° A
 UL1 = 11547∠3.4° V
 UL2 = 9860∠-134.2° V
 UL3 = 7860∠-52.9° V

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 From the measured values, the impedance can be calculated using the fault loop for
two-phase short-circuit L2-L3.

Since the impedance of the fault loop is smaller than the impedance of power line
V1, an internal fault is detected and a trip command is sent to the appropriate circuit
breaker.

The distance to the fault can be estimated as follows,

You may want to check-out discussions and step-by-step examples of

setting Transformer Differential Protection.

Zones of distance protection

Distance protection uses grading type of tripping characteristic. In figure 5, a typical
3-zone set-up of distance protection is shown. The zone and time grading set-up
provide protection of the power line through zone 1 and the adjacent line through
zones 2 and 3.

The impedance reach of each zone is set with a certain overreach and underreach
with respect to the protected line. This is done because of the measurement errors of
distance protection which can be caused by one of the following factors:

 calculation algorithm,

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  accuracy of power line parameters,
 accuracy of voltage and current transformers,
 accuracy of protection (A/D converter),
 impact of parallel lines,
 type of fault,
 actual topology of the power system.

Figure 5. Zone and Time Grading of Distance Protection

From figure 5, the ideal impedance reach of distance protection is marked with a
dashed line. Distance protection “D” isolates all faults in this area with no intentional
time delay. However, because of measurement errors, the impedance reach of the
first zone is set in the range of 80% to 90% of the ideal impedance reach in order to
avoid misoperation for faults close to or behind the opposite substation “B”.

For faults closer to substation “B”, protection is accomplished by adding a zone 2

distance protection (shown inside the green line). Zone 2 serves as protection
beyond the zone 1 reach and provides backup protection for the part of the
outgoing lines from substation “B”.  A time delay of 400 ms to 500 ms is usually
applied in order to coordinate with the zone 1 distance protection “D2”.

To provide back-up protection for complete outgoing power line from substation
“B”, a third zone of distance protection “D” (blue line) is configured. Impedance reach
of zone 3 is set to cover the entire length of the power line. A time delay of 1 s to 1.1
s is usually applied in order to coordinate with the distance protection “D2” in
substation “B”.

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 Again, for faults along the segment A-B and closer to substation “B”, the zone 2
distance protection of “D” will isolate the fault in 400 ms to 500 ms. However, from
the perspective of the distance protection “D1”, the fault falls on its zone 1 distance
protection and isolation is done with no intentional time delay.

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Distance Protection Operational Characteristics

Generally, the following impedance characteristics are available but not all are used
in practice:

 Circular Impedance Characteristic,

 Offset Mho,
 Polarized Mho,
 Reactance Characteristic,

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  Resistance Characteristic,
 Directional Straight Line,
 Polygonal (quadrilateral).

These characteristics are shown in the following figure.

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 Figure 6. Distance Protection Characteristics [3]

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 The tripping characteristic in figures 6a and 6c are typical for older electromechanical
distance protection relays. As a basic type of impedance characteristic in the early
years, a circle characteristic is shown in figure 6a (so-called the fast impedance) was
used. The main disadvantage of this characteristic is no directionality and no
compensation of arc occurrence.

The Offset Mho characteristic in figures 6b and 6c represent improved circle

characteristics, where the center of circle is offset to the 1st quadrant. This solution
removes the problem with directionality and misoperation on arcing faults. The
disadvantage is the low voltage measurement element of distance protection for
close faults (from point of distance protection). This results in inaccuracy in the
measurements. This disadvantage, however, is eliminated using the so-called
Polarized Mho characteristic, where polarized voltage is used for measurement
purposes. Distance protection with polarized mho characteristic has 100%
directionality, low sensitivity to arc resistance, or power swing in the network.

The tripping characteristic in figure 6d belongs to older static electronic protection

relays.

Finally, the tripping characteristic in figures 6e and 6f are used in modern digital
distance protection. It is a polygonal (quadrilateral) type that was created using a
directional straight line, reactance, and resistance type of characteristic. The straight
lines in most cases pass through the center of the coordinate system with the axis +R
forming an angle, α = 115° to 125°, and α 2 = -15° to -25°. The Quadrilateral
characteristic is bounded with straight lines parallel to the real and imaginary axis.
For selectivity and security, the tripping characteristic is ordered to 5 zones each with
an appropriate time delay. Zones 1 to 4 are set to protect towards the direction of
the power line while zone 5 is set to protect towards the direction of the busbar (see
Figure 7).

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 Figure 7. Quadrilateral Characteristic of Modern Distance Protection

Factors Influencing Distance Protection

The principle of distance protection is fairly simple, however, its application can be
quite complex. Protection engineers are dealing with a lot of factors that can affect
the operation of distance protection. Some of them are briefly discussed below.

Fault Resistance
The proper function of distance protection during single-phase to ground faults is
very important because 70-90% of all faults on power lines are these single-phase to
ground short-circuits. Fault resistance is composed of three components: arc
resistance, tower construction resistance, and tower footing resistance. In single in-
feed faults, the fault resistance will increase the measured value of impedance. In
case of in-feed faults from both sides, the situation is more complicated because of a
higher voltage drop on the power line, which can cause measurement error also in

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 the reactance part of the impedance and results in incorrect fault location by both
opposite distance protections.

Arc Short-Circuit Faults

Because the arc is highly resistive, the voltage and current are in phase. The arc,
therefore, appears as an additional resistance in the measured fault loop. Arc also
contains higher-order harmonics and therefore the voltage deformation is also
present. Arc affects the measuring accuracy only on extremely short lines. The
influence of arc can be neglected due to the applied digital filtering techniques.

Parallel Lines
The measured impedance (fault loop) for parallel lines is lower. In the case of long
lines, it is important to consider also the mutual coupling of zero-sequence between
parallel lines.

Intermediate Infeed
The intermediate infeed will affect the measurement of the impedance (fault loop).
Increased measured impedance means the protection is evaluating the fault virtually
at a longer distance which will operate the time-delayed zone of protection. This
effect arises because of an additional voltage drop on short-circuit impedance
generated by current from intermediate infeed which causes an increase in voltage at
the location of the distance protection relay. The greater is intermediate infeed
current the greater is the error.

Non-symmetry of Power Lines

The power line impedance is determined by the geometry of towers, material, and
cross-section of the conductors. The arrangement of the conductors at the towers
causes a natural non-symmetry. To avoid large negative-sequence and earth-
currents, long lines (> approx. 30- 40 km) are usually transposed. Also from the point
of view of the zero-sequence impedance, the ground and soil characteristic has an
additional influence.

Long Transmission Lines

The power transfer through long transmission lines will cause a phase shift of the
system voltage. In the case of a short-circuit, the feeding EMFs, therefore, have
different angles. The distance protection measures a reactance that is too small at
the power sending end, and tends to overreach, while at the receiving end, the

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 measured impedance is too large, i.e. a tendency to underreach exists. Therefore, the
phase-shift between both ends of long transmission lines must be reflected in the
configuration of distance protection to ensure correct operation.

Series Compensation
The power transfer capacity of long transmission lines can be increased using series
compensation (capacitor banks). The negative reactance of the capacitors
compensates for the longitudinal reactance of the line and reduces the transmission
angle. The capacitor bank can be placed e.g. at the mid-point of the power line. The
short-circuit current and voltage at the relay depends on the location of the series
capacitor in relation to the relay location. The following fundamental phenomena can
arise; reduced fault reactance, voltage, and current inversion. Each of them can
significantly affect distance protection operation and must be considered in the set-
up process of distance protection.

Conclusion
Distance protection is a very extensive aspect of power system protection. This article
aims to give the reader a simple overview of distance protection fundamentals. This
is essential as an introduction to the topic. A lot of interesting aspects were not
involved and will be discussed in detail in the subsequent articles.

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