SHORT CIRCUIT STUDY

What is Short Circuit?

Accidental or intentional conductive path between two or more
conductive parts forcing the electric potential differences between
these conductive parts to be equal or close to zero.

Condition 1: Electric potential difference and fault impedance is equal to Zero – Bolted
fault current.
Condition 2: Electrical potential difference is equal to Zero and fault impedance has some
value.

Why short circuit is needed?

It is not commercially viable to construct a power system which is 100% free from faults
(If technically possible).

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Effects of short circuit:
 Short circuit occurs even in well designed power systems, can cause large decaying
transient current generally much above the load current.

 Short circuit results in Electrodynamic and Thermal stress.

(Electrodynamic stress – For example; when an load is suddenly added, so thus the
generator must force it to run at the higher speed instead of the normal running speed
that causes the overcurrent).

 Short circuit may leads to:

Undesirable current flow.

Excessive magnitude of current may leads equipment damage.

Excessive overvoltage that not occurs at all the conditions that means when the
short circuit happens thus the voltage and the fault impedance must have the
some values hence the excessive voltage might take place.

Hazardous to working persons.

Causes of fault in cable:

 Digging

 Overloading

 Improper laying

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  Poor Maintainance

 Wrong selection of application ( For a 30A cable; If we put a 20A cable however
the 30A current will flow in the 20A cable so thus causes damage(fault) to the
cable)

 Moisture in the Insulation

 Fire and lightning surges

 Ageing of the cable (cable is used for a past long years that causes fault occurs in
the cable).

Causes of fault in Overhead line:

 Ageing

 Overloading

 Poor Maintainance

 Bird sitting on the live conductors

 Tree branches falls on the live conductors.

Causes of fault in Rotating Machines:

 Ageing

 Overloading

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  Poor Maintainance

 Over speed ( caused by sudden increase of the load)

 Bearing failure

 Moisture

 Deterioation of Insulation.

Causes of fault in Transformer:

 Ageing

 Overload

 Poor Maintainance

 Moisture

 Deterioation of Insulation

 Lightning surges ( when lightning strikes hits the transformer causes fault
current)

 Switching surges ( When the transformer tap change is occurs; so thus the
current rises takes place as fault current).

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In short circuit study: when Impedance increases thus the short circuit current will
decreases and when impedance decreases thus the short circuit current will
increases.

Fault current will higher at near to the source because of the low impedance.

Fault current will lower at near to the load because of the higher impedance.

Objectives of short circuit study:

 To find the short time rating (STR) of all equipment’s,(Transformers, cables,

Transmission lines, generator, motor, circuit breaker, switchgear as part of our short
circuit study, we aim to identify the maximum fault current possible.

 To find out the Breaking, Making and DC breaking requirements of interrupting

equipment’s.

 To find voltage raise during the fault.

 Fault cannot prevented, we can attempt to mitigate to certain extend and contain their
potential damaging effects.

Why short circuit studies are requires?

 To avoid unnecessary over design

 To avoid the insufficient rating of equipment’s For a 30A cable; If we put a 20A
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 cable however the 30A current will flow in the 20A cable so thus causes
damage(fault) to the cable)

 To optimise the cost with various possibilities

 Selection of optimal transformer impedance

 To provide input to relay coordination, Motor starting, Harmonic analysis,

Transient stability and Arc flash.

STANDARDS FOR SHORT CIRCUIT STUDY:

 IEC 60909 (2016) – Short circuit in Three phase AC system (Grid connected)

 IEC 61363 (1998) - Short circuit calculation procedure for Three phase AC

isolated system

 IEEE 3002.3 (2018) – Recommended practice for Calculation of short circuit

current for Industrial and commercial power system.

Limitations of (IEC 60909): 2016

 Applicable for low voltage and high voltage three phase AC system

 Applicable for 50HZ and 60HZ system

 Applicable upto 550KV

 Not applicable for short circuit testing station (Deliberately created short circuit)

 Not applicable for ships and Aeroplanes (Islanded system).

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Assumptions of (IEC 60909): 2016

 For the duration of the short circuit there is no change in the type of short circuit
involved. E.g. - 3phase remains 3phase during the time of short circuit.

 For the duration of short circuit, there is no change in the network involved.

 The impedance of the transformers is referred to the tap-changer in main position.

This is admissible, because the impedance correction factor KT for network
transformers is introduced.

 Arc resistances are not taken into the account.

 All the line capacitances and shunt admittances and non rotating loads, except those
of the zero sequence system are neglected.

C Factor:
C factor or voltage factor is defined as the ratio between the equivalent voltage source
and the nominal system voltage.
C factor has two types:
Cmax – Maximum shirt circuit current
Cmin – Minimum short circuit current.

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VOLTAGE FACTOR (C) FOR THE CALCULATION OF

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The above picture shows that when you click the ETAP software to open the short
circuit project file and to click the short circuit study case; click the standard option in
the study case to view the Cmax values for the respective voltage ratio.

Choose to Min. (Exclude Duty Calc) to view the Cmin of the respective voltage ratio.

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Formula for Impedance correction factor:

KT =( 0.95*Cmax/1+(0.6*XT) )

Cmax – C factor for Maximum short circuit current

XT – Transformer Reactance

ZTK = KT *ZT

Short circuit study in ETAP: ( Step – 1)

In the above picture shows that to perform the short circuit study in ETAP; firstly to give
the rating of the voltage in the rating option of the power grid editor.

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STEP 2:

In the above picture shows that, to click the short circuit option of the power grid editor
to give the X/R ratio and KASC for three phase and single phase should be equal; hence
the MVASC and (Pos, Neg, Zero sequence impedance of 100 MVA base) for the Short
circuit will automatically calculate by the software itself.

In the short circuit study only, we have to give values for the short circuit option in the
power grid editor but not for the load flow study.

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STEP 3:

After the system has to be modelled, you should fault the bus by right click the mouse to
strike on the bus. or else click the short circuit study case and go to info option; to choose
the which bus make to fault as shows in the below figure.

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After made the bus to be faulted, the faulted bus shows in the red colour.

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In the above picture shows that the transformer with the impedance tolerance of + or – 10%.
For short circuit study only the tolerance of the impedance should be taken as -10% because
of the worst case of the Short circuit study is that when the impedance is low then only the
short circuit current will be higher.

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The foremost thing before you run the simulation for the short circuit is that you can
ensure that whether your power grid editor is in the swing mode option, hereafter only
run the condition.

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Fault occurs at BUS 70:
In the below picture shows that the fault current has to be run by the three phase duty
cycle of three phase of symmetrical fault current with -10% impedance tolerance.

The above figure shows that to click the display option in the right corner to change the
three phase fault current of initial sys. rms to peak current to display the peak fault
current at the Bus 70.

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 The above figure shows that the peak fault current value at the Bus 70. The system has
the transformer with the impedance tolerance of -10%. (Run at three phase device
duty)

The below figure shows thus the fault occures at Bus 69 and Bus 70, hence the fault current
occures at the two buses as symmetrical fault current with the transformer impedance
tolerance of -10%. (Run at Three phase device duty).

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The below figure shows that the fault current occurs at the Bus 69 and 70, hence the fault
current occures at the two buses as symmetrical fault current of peak values with the
transformer impedance tolerance of -10%. (Run at Three phase device duty).

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What you are done in the project has to be analyse through the report. Click the report
manager in the right corner of the software home page, click the complete option and to
choose the report as the pdf file type then the software will generate the report for the project
for the better covinience.

The above picture shows that the general information about the project such as which study
have u taken and which fault you have to be run, which standard yo have run the short
cicrcuit and also the how many swing and load buses
are present in your project.

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The above picture shows that adjustments made in the transformer impedance and
recatance and also the transmissionn line length, cable length.

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 The above figure visualize that Bus input data means how many buses are there in the
project in which type of bus and KV of the bus and also the sub – sys details.

The above picture shows that the two winding transformer input data as MVA, primary
and secondary voltages in KV and also the % of Z, X/R, % of Tolerance and finally with
the %Z adjusted.

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The above picture shows that the branch connection details, In the branch connection option
itself only the value of impedance include the impedance correction factor and also the
impedance with 100 MVA. The resistance and reactance with 100 MVA base value.

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Impedance at branch connections at report

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 The above figure shows that the power grid input data consists of MVAsc, KV, (R, X’’,
R/X of 100 MVA Base value).

BUS 69: BRAKING AND DC FAULT CUURENT (TOTAL BUS FAULT CURRENT)

In the above figure, at the time duration of 0.30 seconds thus the I b asym current will
changes to Ib sym of 25KA with Dc decay of 0.042 KA decreases gradually.

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BUS 70: BRAKING AND DC FAULT CUURENT (TOTAL BUS FAULT CURRENT)

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Thus the above figure show the Short circuit summary report itself only the two buses
peak fault current and also the symmetrical fault current has to be shown.

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In the above ETAP result with conditions; thus the 1 st condition receiving end bus voltage
is higher than the 2nd condition, thus the 1st condition receiving end bus fault current is
decreases as compared to 2nd condition receiving end bus fault current.

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Types of Fault:
1) Series Fault
2) Shunt Fault

Series Fault:
The open circuit fault mainly occurs because of the failure of one or two conductors. The
open circuit fault takes place in series with the line, and because of this, it is also called
the series fault. Such types of faults affect the reliability of the system. The open circuit
fault is category as:
1) One Conductor open
2) Two Conductor open

One conductor open:

When one conductor is opened, thus the voltage flows in the R phase will diverged into
the other conductors. Hence the negative sequence has to be created so thus the motor
rotates in the reverse direction to create the fault current.

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 Two Conductor open:

When the two conductors are opened, hence the voltage at the two conductors will
diverged into the remaining one conductor However, this situation is more critical as it can
lead to significant unbalance and further exacerbate negative sequence effects. The system
might still operate, but with increased risk and potential damage.

Shunt Fault:
In this type of fault, the conductors of the different phases come into contact with each
other with a power line, power transformer or any other circuit element due to which the
large current flow in one or two phases of the system. The short-circuit fault is divided into
two fault.

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  Symmetrical Fault
 Unsymmetrical Fault

Symmetrical Fault:
Three Phase fault
Three phase to ground fault

Three Phase Fault:

The L – L – L fault occurs rarely, but it is the most severe type of fault which involves
the largest current. This large current is used for determining the rating of the circuit
breaker.

Three Phase to ground Fault:

The three-phase line to ground fault includes all the three phase of the system. The L –
L – L – G fault occurs between the three phases and the ground of the system. The
probability of occurrence of such type of fault is nearly 2 to 3 percent.

Unsymmetrical Fault
Single line to ground fault
Line to line fault
Double line to ground fault

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Single Line to ground fault:

The single line of ground fault occurs when one conductor falls to the ground or
contact the neutral conductor. The 70 – 80 percent of the fault in the power
system is the single line-to-ground fault.

Line to line Fault:

A line-to-line fault occurs when two conductors are short circuited. The major cause of this
type of fault is the heavy wind. The heavy wind swinging the line conductors which may
touch together and hence cause short-circuit. The percentage of such type of faults is
approximately 15 – 20%.

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Double Line to ground Fault:
In double line-to-ground fault, the two lines come in contact with each other along with
the ground. The probability of such types of faults is nearly 10 %.

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Fault percentage at each components:

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Severity of Faults:

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 CONDITION 1:
LG Fault current is greater than the three phase fault current at receiving end bus
when transformer at no load conditions and also the transformer at delta – star
solidly grounded without load condition :

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 Three phase Device duty – IEC 60909

Line to Ground fault (Run as 60909 SLG Fault)

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 CONDITION 2:

There is no LG fault current at receiving end bus is greater than the Three phase
fault current at the receiving end bus due to delta – star resistive grounded without
load condition :

Run as IEC 60909 Three phase device duty:

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Line to Ground Fault – Run IEC 60909:

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 CONDITION – 3:
LG fault current at the receiving end is not greater than the three phase fault current
at the receiving end of delta to star solidly configuration of transformer due to with
load condition:

Run IEC 60909 Three phase device duty:

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Run IEC 60909 SLG:

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 CONDITION -4:
SLG fault current at receiving end is higher than the three phase fault current at the
receiving end due to generator in voltage control mode in no load condition:

Three phase fault current : (Generaator with no load condition in voltage control
mode)

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Single line to ground fault ( Generator at no load condition with voltage control mode)

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Nature of the Fault current:

ETAP SIMULATION TOTAL FAULT CURRENT

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When a fault initially occurs in a power system, asymmetrical waveform components are
present due to the presence of DC offset or DC decay components.

These components can arise from various sources such as transformer magnetization,
saturation effects, or DC offset in the faulted circuit. Initially, the fault current waveform
may exhibit asymmetry, but as the DC offset or decay components dissipate, the
waveform transitions to a symmetrical RMS waveform. This symmetrical RMS current
represents the balanced three-phase fault current flowing through the system.

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Initial Symmetrical Short Circuit Current: (Ik”)

RMS value of AC symmetrical component of short circuit current applicable at the instant
of short circuit if the impedance remains zero-time value.

Peak short circuit current: (Ip)

Maximum possible instantaneous value of short circuit current.

Symmetrical short circuit breaking current: (Ib)

RMS value of an integral cycle of the symmetrical AC component of the short circuit
current at the instant of contact separation of the first pole to open of a switching device.

Steady state short circuit current: (Ik)

RMS value of short circuit current which remains after the decay of transient phenomena.

Symmetrical Fault current:

Symmetrical fault current refers to the balanced flow of fault current in all three phases of
a power system during a fault condition. In a symmetrical fault, the fault impedance is the
same in all three phases, and the fault current waveform is symmetrical about the zero
line. This means that the magnitudes of fault currents in the phases are equal, and their
phase angles are 120 degrees apart in a three-phase system.

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Asymmetrical Fault current:
Asymmetrical fault current refers to the unbalanced flow of fault current in one or more
phases of a power system during a fault condition. Unlike symmetrical faults where the
fault current is balanced across all phases, in an asymmetrical fault, the fault impedance
or fault location causes the fault current to be unequal in magnitude or phase angle across
the phases

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During a fault condition in an inductive load system, the fault current waveform initially
exhibits asymmetrical characteristics due to the presence of both the symmetrical
waveform components and the DC decay components. These DC decay components
arise from the transient effects caused by the sudden change in the system's operating
conditions. As the fault persists, the DC components gradually decay, typically within
one cycle, transitioning the fault current waveform to a symmetrical form.

Direct current offset occurs in two categories:

Current cannot change instantaneously in an inductance

Current must lag the applied voltage by the natural power factor.

Ldi/dt +Ri = Em (Sin omegat + Teeta)

Significance of X/R Ratio:

When X/R Ratio will lower in which Resistance has higher value that indicates the
predominantly resistive system which is less prone to voltage instability and allows for
efficient power transmission. Conversely, a high X/R ratio signifies a system with
significant reactance relative to resistance, which can lead to voltage instability,
increased losses, and reduced power transfer capability.
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 Power grid : CON 1- X/R =14, C0N 2- X/R = 30, CON 3- X/R = 99999
TRANSFORMER: CON 1- X/R = 99999, CON 2- X/R = 99999, CON 3- X/R = 99999
Symmetrical fault current does not affect by change in X/R Ratio

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PEAK CURRENT WILL AFFECT BY CHANGE IN X/R RATIO:

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 There are three methods available in ETAP for the X/R Ratio

Method 1:

IEC 60909 – X/R =10

Method 2:

IEC 62271 – X/R =14 – 50 HZ

X/R = 17 - 60 HZ

Method 3:

Upstream Transformer X/R Ratio

Upstream Transmission Line X/R Ratio; In ETAP Method 3 is used

Transmission Line ( Three phase fault current) Fault at two buses: symmetrical
value (No load conditiion) length – 1Km

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Transmission Line ( Three phase fault current) Fault at two buses: peak value ( No
load condition) length – 1Km

Transmission Line ( Single line to ground fault current) Fault at two buses: (No load
condition) length – 1Km

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 Transmission Line ( Three phase fault current) Fault at two buses: symmetrical
value (No load conditiion) length – 10 Km

Transmission Line ( Three phase fault current) Fault at two buses: peak value ( No
load condition) length – 10 Km

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 Transmission Line ( Single line to ground fault current) Fault at two buses: (No
load condition) length – 10 Km

Transformer with transmission line as length of 10Km with 0% tolerance of Three

phase fault condition: 3 Bus fault conditions

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Transformer with transmission line as length of 10Km with 0% tolerance of Single line
to ground fault condition: 2 bus fault condition

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Transformer with transmission line as length of 10Km with 0% tolerance of Single
line to ground fault condition: 3 bus fault condition
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Transformer with transmission line as length of 10Km with 0% tolerance of Single
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line to ground fault condition: 2 Bus fault condition

It is importantly to note that when the transmission line lengh increases; due to this
factor line reactance, inductance and capacitance factor has increases hence the
short circuit current will limited.
Fault far from source and nera to source:

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In ETAP, we used only the sub transient mode:

Sequence of the network:

In power systems, the sequence network is a mathematical model used to analyse and
understand the behaviour of three-phase electrical systems. In a three-phase system, there
are three conductors carrying alternating currents, typically labelled as phases A, B, and
C.

The sequence network represents the system in terms of three sets of phasors: positive
sequence, negative sequence, and zero sequence. Each set of phasors represents the
balanced components of the voltages and currents in the system under different
conditions:

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1. Positive Sequence: Represents the balanced components of voltages and currents in the
system when all three phases have the same magnitude and are equally spaced apart. This
is the normal operating condition of the system.

2. Negative Sequence: Represents the balanced components of voltages and currents in

the system when there is a symmetrical imbalance between the phases, meaning the
magnitudes are equal but the phase angles are shifted by 120 degrees.

3. Zero Sequence: Represents the unbalanced components of voltages and currents in the
system when all three phases have the same magnitude and are in phase with each other.
This typically occurs in situations like ground faults.

The sequence network allows engineers to analyse the effects of various faults,
disturbances, and unbalanced conditions on the system.

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ETAP RESULTS FOR SEQUENCE NETWORK AND SEQUENCE IMPEDANCE
FOR TRANSFORMER:
Positive, negative and zero sequence transformer switching ( Fault current flows) –
Line to Ground fault

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 NAME : SARANYA PRAKASAM

DOMAIN : INTERNSHIP TRAINEEE

ETAP COURSE

Positive, negative and zero sequence transformer switching ( Fault current flows) –
Three phase fault

From thus, when we run three phase for the above condition there is no changes of KA
injcetd to the buses occursdue to the transformer vector configuration, because three
phase does not mine the configurtaion and it takes normally as delta to star solidly
grounded for all possible conditions but not for Line to ground fault condition.

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Fault current contribution to the different types of load
1) Motor load ( Constant Power load)
2) Lumped load ( static load and motor load)
3) Static load ( Constant Impedance laod)
4) VFD

Motor load:
( THREE PHASE FAULT – FAULT AT TYWO BUS) ( INDUCTION MACHINE)

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Lumped load: ( 60% Motor load and 40% static load)
( THREE PHASE FAULT – FAULT AT TWO BUS)

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STATIC LOAD ( THREE PHASE FAULT – FAULT AT TWO
BUS) ( STATIC LOAD – 100% IMPEDANCE LOAD) NO SHORT CIRCUIT
CURRENT PRODUCE AT STATIC LOAD

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VFD Enabled: ( THREE PHASE FAULT ) – FAULT AT TWO BUS

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VFD BYPASSED

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VFD BYPASSED

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 EARTHING
What is Earthing and why we need it?

Earthing defines that to makes a physical and electrical connection of the

conducting body to the general mass of the earth for the protection of system
against the various disturbance, limiting damage to system, ensure the healthy
power supply and also to protect the humans against the electric shock. So, thus
the earthing can be classified accordingly based on the needs to be required.

What is the difference between the Earthing and Grounding?

The difference between the earthing and grounding is that Atlantic Ocean which
means in Atlantic (US they used the term Grounding and Europe they used the
term Earthing) from this implies that the term Earthing and Grounding are used
synonymously and there is no difference between the Earthing and Grounding.

The IEEE definition of grounding is:

“Grounding (ground system). A conducting connection, whether intentional or
accidental, by which an electric circuit or equipment is connected to the earth
or some conducting body of relatively large extent that serves in earth.

The IEC definition of grounding is:

International Electrotechnical Commission - Earthing & protection against

Electric Shock, the terms ‘earth/ground’ & ‘earthing/grounding’ have been
used synonymously.
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 Types of Earthing:

 System Earthing
 Equipment Earthing
 Lightning protection Earthing
 Static Earthing

System Earthing:

Earthing associated with the current carrying conductor (transformer and generator)
in which neutral of the phase is connected to the general mass of the earth.
 Essential for the security of the system

 Protect the equipment

 Limiting damage to the system

Types of System Earthing:

1. Solid Earthing

2. Resistance Earthing

3. 3. Reactance Earthing

Solid Earthing:

Neutral point of the generator or transformer is connected to the ground mass directly
without any impedance or resistance are been intentionally inserted.

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Advantages of Solid Earthing:

• Fault detection and location is easier

• Transient overvoltage is minimum
• Equipment may be sized for phase to neutral voltage
• Short circuit protection device will clear fault, no need
of ELCB/ELR Lesser rated voltage of Lightning
Arrestor & Surge Arrestor.

Disadvantages of Solid Earthing:

 Problems of High fault current

 Maximum damages & disturbances
 System design for high fault current
 No secure continuity
 Problems of core damage in motors due to high fault
current and damage occurs before tripping of the relay
 High touch potential hazard.

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Resistance Earthing:

The neutral of the transformer or generator are grounded through an impedance,

the principal element is that Resistance. This method is used when the earth
fault current would be large if not restricted; example: MV Generators.

Types of Resistance Earthing:

1. High Resistance Earthing

2. Low Resistance Earthing

High Resistance Earthing:

 Single line to ground fault is limited to about 15A or less

 Core damage current is limiting criterion

 Recommended for systems having rotating electrical

machines up to 22KV.

Low Resistance Earthing:

 Where the single line to ground fault current is limited to about

200A to 1000A
 Recommended for transformers to reduce the thermal &
electrodynamic stress on the transformer windings and core
during a fault

 If rotating machines are present in 3.3KV, 6.6KV, 11KV, 22KV

levels, the system should be grounded with a resistor to limits the fault
current.
 If rotating machines are not present in the voltage levels from KV
onwards then the system will be solidly grounded.

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Reactance Earthing:

Neutral points of the transformer or generator grounded through an impedance, the

principal element is inductance. To reduce the heating, reactance grounding is
used, hence the earthing will restrict the current with the impedance values is same
as the resistance earthing instead of the reactance earthing does not produce the
heat. When there is a current will flow through the resistance a heat is developed
but not in the reactance earthing. There are two types of reactance earthing plays a
vital role.

Types of Reactance Earthing:

Low Reactance

High Reactance

Low Reactance Earthing:

 Where the single line to earth fault current is limited to

about 300A to 1000A
 Current must be higher than the total capacitive
current of the power system
 As the coil has a low resistance, it does not dissipate a
large amount ofthermal energy.

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 High Reactance Earthing:

It is also known as Peterson coil grounding or Arc suppression coil

grounding or Resonance grounding.

As the fault current occurs due to the capacitive leakage

current in the reactance earthing of the system and hence the
inductor is connected between the neutral of a power system
and the ground, having a specially selected relatively high
value of the reactance which has to be equals to the total
system capacitive reactance thus the fault current regulated.

Equipment Earthing:

Earthing associated with non - current carrying metal work (switch

board and panel board) but inside the metal carrying the current but
outside the metal not carry the current but ability to carry the current.

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SOLIDLY EARTHING (SLG)

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RESISTANCE EARTHING: (SLG)

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RESISTANCE EARTHING: (SLG)

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NEUTAL TRANSFORMER EARTHING/ Xfmr RESISTOR: (SLG)

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NEUTAL TRANSFORMER EARTHING/ Xfmr RESISTOR: (SLG)

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REACTANCE EARTHING

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REACTANCE EARTHING

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ETAP RESULT: CB WITHSTAND (THREE PHASE FAULT CURRENT)

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METHODS TO LIMITING FAULT CURRENT

Transmission line length increases

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CURRENT LIMITING REACTOR

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