Lecture 7th

Differential Relay

Course Teacher:
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Course Code:
EE-523
Venue:
Computer Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering ,
NED University Karachi.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

7th Lecture’s Outline

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

7th Lecture’s Outline
 Differential Protection
 Dot marking of CT
 Behavior of Differential Protection Scheme
 Zone of Protection for Differential Relay
 Application: Earth Leakage Protection
 Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme And
Through Fault Stability
 CT equivalent circuit and Differential Protection
 Percentage Differential Relay
 Torque Equation of Percentage Differential Relay
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Differential Protection

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Differential Protection
•Differential protection is based on the fact that any fault within an electrical
equipment would cause the current entering it, to be different, from that leaving it.

•Thus, we can compare the two currents either in magnitude or in phase or

both and issue a trip output if the difference exceeds a predetermined set value.
This method of detecting faults is very attractive when both ends of the apparatus
are physically located near each other.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Differential Protection
•A typical situation, where this is true, is in the case of a transformer, a
generator or a busbar.
•In the case of transmission lines, the ends are too far apart for conventional
differential relaying to be directly applied.
•Differential Protection is quite useful when two ends of the protected
equipment are near to each other.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Dot Marking of CT

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Dot Markings or Polarity Marking
•Differential protection utilizes CTs at each
terminal of the equipment under protection. Careful
attention needs to be paid to the 'dot markings' (also
known as 'polarity marks') on these CTS.
•Consider a set of three mutually coupled coils A,
B, and C with terminals. The question is: how shall we
put dot marks on the terminals of these coils?

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Dot Markings
• From the above discussion, we can generalize the following properties of dot
markings:
 The direction of current and flux could be determined using right hand rule.
 When current enters the dot mark on the primary side of a CT, the current must
leave the similarly marked dot mark on the secondary side.
 If currents are made to enter dot marked terminals on two or more coupled coils
then the fluxes produced by these currents are such that they add up.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Behavior of Differential Protection Scheme

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During Normal Load
• Figure 3.4 shows a simple differential relaying scheme (also known as Merz-
Price scheme). The currents entering and leaving the equipment to be protected
are stepped down with the help of CTs on either side. Careful attention must be
paid to the dot marks placed on the CTs.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During Normal Load
•For the operating condition of normal load flow shown in Figure 3.4, the
currents transformed by the two CTs, being equal in magnitude as well as in phase,
just circulate on the secondary side. There is no tendency for the current to spill
into the over-current relay.
•The over-current relay connected in the spill path is wired to trip the two
circuit breakers on either side of the equipment being protected.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During Normal Load
•Assuming that the protected equipment is either a 1 : 1 ratio transformer or say
a generator winding or a busbar, the two currents on the primary side will be equal.
Hence the ratios of the two protective CTs will also be identical. The CT
secondary circuits are so connected that in case the conditions are normal, the
secondary currents simply circulate through the 'pilot' leads connecting the two
secondary windings.
•For the operating condition of normal load flow, there is no current through
the 'spill path' where an over-current relay is located. Hence, the OC relay will not
trip the two CBs. Thus, the simple differential relay meets the first and foremost
requirement that it remains stable during normal operating conditions.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During External Fault
• Next, the differential relaying scheme should also remain stable for any fault
which is outside its protective zone. Such faults are called external faults or
through faults.
• Figure 3.5 shows that during external faults too, the current leaving the protected
zone is the same as that entering it. Assuming that the CTs transform the two
currents with the same fidelity, there will be no current in the spill path and the
scheme remains stable.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During Internal Fault
• Figure 3.6 shows an internal fault of magnitude If,,,, . The current leaving the
protected zone is now I2 whereas that entering it is 11, such that, I, = I2 + Ic ,,,.
As can be seen from the figure, current in the spill path is now (If,i,,ln), where n
is the CT ratio.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

During Internal Fault
• Assuming that the spill current is more than the pick-up value of the over-
current relay, both the circuit breakers will be tripped out. Thus, the scheme
meets the basic requirement of clearing internal faults.
• The minimum internal fault current that will cause the tripping is given by:
I f,min  (CT ratio)  (Plug setting of the OC relay)  n  I ps

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Double-end-fed: Behavior During Internal Fault

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Double-end-fed: Behavior During Internal Fault
• In the preceding analysis, we have assumed a single-end-fed system. How does
the differential scheme behave in case of a double-end-fed system?
• A double-end-fed system is shown in Figure 3.7, the internal fault is now fed
from both sides.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Double-end-fed: Behavior During Internal Fault
• The internal fault current, I(f)int, is now equal to (I1 + I2). However the spill
current is equal to (I(f)int/n).
• Assuming that the spill current is greater than Ips , the plug setting of the OC
relay, the relay will operate and trip out the circuit breakers on either side of the
protected equipment.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Zone of Protection for Differential Relay

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

 Zone of Protection for Differential Relay
• The differential scheme generates a well-defined and closed zone of protection.
This zone encompasses everything between the two CTs as shown in Figure 3.8.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

 Zone of Protection for Differential Relay
• Thus, we talk of any fault between the two CTs as an 'internal fault'. To the
differential scheme, all other faults are 'external faults' or 'through faults'.
Ideally, therefore, a differential scheme is supposed to respond only to internal
faults, and restrain from tripping on external or through faults.
• Thus, an ideal differentla1 scheme should be able to respond to the smallest
internal fault but restrain from tripping on the largest external fault This idea is
difficult to achieve, especially for very heavy ‘through faults' because of the
non-ideal nature of the various components of the protective system.
• This will be discussed in the next sections.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection
• Many times because of insulation failure the chassis of the equipment becomes
live. This causes a leakage of current to earth from the chassis as the chassis is
always connected to earth. However, the leakage current may be too small for an
over-current relay to operate. This poses danger to the personnel who come in
contact with the chassis.
• A special type of differential relay known as the earth leakage relay or current
balance relay can easily detect such faults.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection
• In case the chassis of the equipment is not earthed, the relay will not trip because
of leakage. However, as soon a person whose body is in contact with earth,
touches the chassis, a path to earth becomes available, and assuming that the
leakage current is of sufficient magnitude, the OC relay trips. The person will, of
course, receive an electric shock before the circuit is tripped out.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection for Single-phase Load
• Figure 3.16 shows the earth leakage relay for a single-phase load.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection for Single-phase Load
• The relay consists of a toroidal core which two identical windings A and B, each
having N number of turns are wound in close proximity. A third coil C, known as
the pickup coil, is also wound and connected across an OC relay as shown in
Figure 3.16.
• The phase and neutral leads are connected to these windings as shown in the figure
so that windings A and B carry the currents in the phase wire and the neutral wire,
respectively. Under normal operating conditions, the current through the phase
wire (and coil A) is exactly the same as that through the neutral wire (and coil B).
Thus, there is no net magneto-motive-force (mmf) acting on the toroidal core. The
flux linked with the pick-up coil is therefore zero, and thus no voltage is induced
in the pick-up coil and the OC relay remains unenergized.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection for Single-phase Load
• Now consider the situation of earth leakage as shown in Figure 3.16.
• The current in the phase wire is now greater than that in the neutral wire, as part of
the current returns to the supply via the earth. The mmf acting on the toroid is now
equal to [N(Ip- In)] or equal to [N(Ileak)]. This mmf sets up flux in the core causing a
voltage to be Induced by the pick-up coil. The OC relay connected to the pick-up
coil, therefore, gets energized, and trips the circuit.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection for Three-phase Load
• Figure 3.17 shows earth leakage protection for a three-phase load.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Earth Leakage Protection for Three-phase Load
• The three-phase leads are threaded through a CT core on which a pick-up winding
is provided as in the case of single-phase earth leakage protection.
• During the normal balanced operating condition, the phasor sum of the three-phase
currents is zero. Therefore, there is no net mmf acting on the core and the OC relay
remains unenergized.
• However, during the earth leakage situation shown in Figure 3.17, the net mmf
acting on the core is (Ileak) ampere-turns. This causes a flux to be produced. A
voltage is induced in the pick-up winding causing the OC relay connected across it
to operate.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme
And
Through Fault Stability

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme
•In our discussion so far we have assumed that the CTs are ideal. However, in
practice, CTs are subject to ratio and phase angle errors. Both these errors depend
upon the burden on the CTs, which in turn depends on the lead lengths and the
impedance of the relay coil.
•The errors, in general, increase as the primary current increases, as in the
case of external faults.
•Ideally, for 'through faults', secondary currents of both the CTs would be
equal in magnitude and in phase with each other, and thus the spill current would
be zero.
•However, as shown in Figure, CT1 has an actual ratio of n1, and phase-angle
error of θ1while CT2 has an actual ratio of n2 and phase angle error of θ2.
•The difference between these two currents, therefore, ends up as spill
current, as shown in Figure. Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme
•Figure 3.9 shows the primary and the secondary current phasors during an
external fault.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme
•Since both the ratio and phase angle errors aggravate as primary current
increases, the spill current builds up as the 'through fault' current goes on
increasing.
•As the 'through fault' current goes on increasing, various imperfections of
the CTs get magnified. This causes the spill current to build up. Therefore, as the
'through fault‘ current goes on increasing, as shown in Figure 3.10, there comes a
stage when the spill current, due to the difference between the secondary currents
of the two CTs, exceeds the pick-up value of the over-current relay in the spill
path.
•This causes the relay to operate, disconnecting the equipment under
protection from rest of the system.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Actual Behavior of Simple Differential Scheme
•Fig. shows the actual behavior of differential scheme in case of ‘through
fault‘ current.

•This is clearly a case of mal-operation, since the relay has tripped on

external fault. In such instances, the Mohsin
Dr. Muhammad differential
Aman scheme is said to have lost
Through fault stability Limit
• To signify the ability of the differential scheme to restrain from tripping on
external faults, we define 'through fault stability limit' as the maximum
'through fault' current beyond which the scheme loses stability.
• Compare this with the situation of an internal fault. The minimum internal fault
current required for the scheme to operate, correctly in this case, is decided by
pick-up value of the over-current relay in the spill path.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

 Through fault stability Limit
• To signify the spread between the minimum internal fault current at which the
scheme operates and the maximum 'through fat' current beyond which the scheme
(mal)operates, we define a term called stability ratio as:
maximum ' through fault' current beyond which scheme mal - operate
Stability ratio 
minimum internal fault current required for tripping

• The higher the stability ratio, the better is the ability of the system to discriminate
between external and internal faults. The stability ratio can be improved by
improving the match between the two CTs.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

CT equivalent circuit and Differential Protection

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

CT equivalent circuit
•We have seen in previous lectures, a real CT has ratio and phase error.
•Figure shows the installation of a CT and a sketch of the magnetization
characteristic of the CT (also known as open-circuit characteristic).

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

CT equivalent circuit
•The equivalent circuit of CT
referred to the secondary side can be
shown like in Fig.
•Here Rpri’ and Lpri’ are the
resistance and the leakage inductance
of the primary winding as referred to
the secondary side.
•Rmag and Lmag are the shunt
magnetizing branch. The magnetizing
inductancc is highly nonlinear.
•Rsec and Lsec are the resistance
and leakage inductance of the
secondary winding.
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
CT equivalent circuit
•The impedance Zburden includes the resistance and the inductance of the
relay coils and resistance of the pilot wire (leads).
•Out of the current Ip/n transformed by the ideal CT, the magnetizing
branch draws the magnetization current I,. It is to be noted that the magnetizing
current is a nonlinear function of the excitation voltage Vsec.
•During normal operating conditions, when Vsec is small, the current Io can
be safely neglected. However, at higher values of primary current, (and therefore
secondary current), as in case of 'through faults', the secondary voltage, V sec
which is equal to Is(Zsec + Zburden) increases and causes Io to become an
appreciable fraction of the current transformed by the ideal CT. Thus, we can no
longer ignore Io.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Differential Scheme considering CT’s equivalent circuit
•Figure 3.12 shows the simple differential scheme during an external fault
condition.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Differential Scheme considering CT’s equivalent circuit
•Assuming that both CTs have the same nominal ratio of transformation n,
we see that a spill current equal to the difference of the two magnetizing currents
results. Since the magnetizing currents of the two CTs will generally vary
widely, there is a substantial spill current during 'through fault‘ conditions.
•This results into loss of stability and mal-operation of the simple
differential scheme. Thus, the simple differential scheme, which looks
attractively simple, cannot be used in practice without further modifications.
•This is especially true in case of transformer protection. The CTs on the
two sides of the transformer have to work at different primary system voltage.
Because the currents on the two sides of the transformer are, in general, different,
the ratios of transformation of the CTs are also different. Their designs are
therefore different, making it impossible to get a close match between their
characteristics. This explains why the spill current goes on increasing as the
'through fault' current increases.
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Differential Scheme considering CT’s equivalent circuit
•In case of busbar protection, the primary voltages of the two CTs are the
same, and the CT ratios are also the same. However, busbars are subjected to
very heavy 'through fault' currents, which tend to magnify the differences
between the characteristics of the two CTs. Thus, for busbar protection too, the
simple differential scheme needs to be further modified.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•The simple differential relay can be made more stable, if somehow, a
restraining torque proportional to the 'through fault' current could be developed.
The operating torque still being proportional to the spill current. This idea has been
implemented in the percentage differential relay shown in Figure.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•This relay has a restraining coil which is tapped at the center, thus forming
two sections with equal number of turns, Nr/2.
•The restraining coil is connected in the circulating current path, thus
receiving the 'through fault' current.
•The operating coil, having No number of turns, is connected in the spill path.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Biased Differential Protection

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Biased Differential Protection
•Another variation of the Merz-Price principle is a scheme which counteracts
the effect of spill current in the relay during through-faults by using the current
circulating around the CT loop to restrain the relay. Figure 6.21(a) shows the
circuit.

•Under load or through-fault conditions current flows in the biasing coils to

restrain the relay from operation and although a fairly large spill current may flow
in the operating coil of the relay it will be well below the value required to
overcome the restraining force.
•The strength of the scheme lies Mohsin
Dr. Muhammad in theAman
fact that when the spill current is
Biased Differential Protection
•The most onerous condition
under which the relay would be
required to operate is an internal fault
fed from one end only (Fig. 6.21(b)).
Under this circumstance the
operating current is the same as the
restraining current but the operating
force greatly exceeds the restraining
force.
•When the system is fed from
both ends (Fig. 6.21(c)) the net effect
Biased Differential Protection
of the restraining force is reduced
and the operating current is
increased. Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Biased Differential Protection
•The ratio of operate/restraining
current is usually expressed as a
percentage. Figure 6.22 shows a relay
with 20% bias or alternatively a bias
slope of 20%.
•The line represents the boundary
line of relay operation. Above the line
the relay operates, below the line the
relay restrains from operation.
•There is a deviation from the true
bias line particularly at the low end of Biased differential relay:
setting 40%. Bias slope 20%
the scale because the relay needs some
current to overcome the control spring
force. In Fig. the setting is 40%Dr. and bias Mohsin Aman
Muhammad
Biased Differential Protection
•The vertical scale is the
amount of current required in the
operating coil (IR) whilst the
horizontal scale is the amount of
current in the restraining coil (IB).
•Or, referring to Fig. (a), IR =
I1-I2 and IB= (I1+I2)/2.

Biased differential relay:

setting 40%. Bias slope 20%

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Biased Differential Protection
•Spill current: IR =
11-I2
•And Through fault
current: IB= (11+I2)/2.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

 Torque Equation of
Percentage Differential Relay

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•Let us work out the torque equation for this relay. The controlling torque is
provided by the spring.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•This relay has a restraining coil which is tapped at the center, thus forming
two sections.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•The relay trips if the operating torque is greater than the restraining torque.
The relay will be on the verge of operation when the operating torque just balances
out the restraining torque, i.e. when:
I1  I 2 2
M [N o (I1  I 2 )]2  M [N r ( )] (neglecting the restraining torque to spring)
2

•Which can be written as

I1  I 2 Nr
I1  I 2  K ( ) where K 
2 No

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•Thus, the operating characteristics of this relay will be a straight line with a
slope of (Nr/No) and an intercept KO on the y-axis.
•The characteristic of the percentage differential relay, superimposed on the
'through fault' characteristic, and the internal fault characteristic are shown in
Figure 3.14.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•All points above the straight line will represent the condition where the
operating torque is greater than the restraining torque and hence will fall in the trip
region of the relay. All points below the straight line belong to the restraining
region.
•Thus, the spill current must be greater than a definite percentage of the
'through fault' current for the relay to operate. Hence, the name percentage
differential relay.
•The slope of the relay is customarily expressed as a percentage. Thus, a
slope of 0.4 is expressed as 40% slope.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
•The percentage differential relay does not have a fixed pick-up value. The
relay automatically adapts its pick-up value to the 'through fault' current. As the
'through fault‘ current goes on increasing, we are in effect asking the relay to take
it easy, by introducing a restraining torque proportional to the circulating current.
•It can be seen from Figure 3.14, that the 'through fault' stability and the
stability ratio of the percentage differential relay is substantially better than that of
the simple differential relay.
•The restraining winding is also known as the biasing winding because we
bias the relay towards restraint.
•The slope of the characteristic is also known as percentage bias.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Percentage Differential Relay
The slope of the internal fault characteristic can be found as follows:
•Consider an internal fault in the case of a single-end-fed system. Since CT 2
will not contribute any current, i.e., I2 = 0, the spill current, ( I2 – I1), will be equal
to I1. The circulating current which is (I1 + I2)/2 will be equal to (I1/2). Thus the
following currents will exist during an internal fault:
Spill Current  I1  I 2  I1
I1  I 2 I1
Circulating current  
2 2

•Thus, during internal faults the spill current will be two times the circulating
current, giving a slope of 2, which is expressed as 200%.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Stability Ratio
•The minimum internal fault current below which the scheme will not
respond is seen to be If,min,int and the maximum ‘through fault’ current above which
the scheme will mal-operate is seen to be If,min,ext as shown in Fig. Thus the stability
ratio is given by:
I f,max,ext
Stability ratio 
I f,max,int

•The percentage differential relay can be made more immune to mal-

operation on ‘through fault’ by increasing the slope of the characteristic.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman

Block Diagram of Percentage Differential Relay
•Figure 3.15 shows the block diagram of the percentage differential relay.
The relay has two settings. the slope setting and the minimum pick-up setting. The
slope is adjusted by changing the tapping on the restraining coil. It may be noted
that both halves of the restraining coil need to be symmetrically tapped. The
minimum pick-up is adjusted by changing the tension of the restraining spring.

Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman