Computer Aided Protection (Overcurrent)

Coordination Studies
M. Hendra Hairi, Hidayat Zainuddin, Md Hairul Nizam Talib, Alias Khamis, Jesse Yong Lichun
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
Malaysia
hendra@utem.edu.my, hidayat@utem.edu.my, hairulnizam@utem.edu.my, alias@utem.edu.my,
jesse.lichun.yong@intel.com
AbstractA well designed and reliable power system requires
an efficient and reliable protection scheme with protection
coordination at its core. This paper discusses computer aided
protection coordination in brief comprising of its significance,
procedures and vital components. Basically, this paper focuses
on the usage of computer based programs to conduct the
analyses and simulations required in coordination studies. The
steps in a computer aided protection coordination analysis are
detailed in this paper. Furthermore, the components related in
the coordination studies are also discussed for a better
understanding of the studies and its relationship to manual
calculations and analyses.

KeywordCoordination, Overcurrent Protection,
Protective Relaying, Short-circuit, TCC Curve
I. INTRODUCTION
ROTECTION coordination is one the vital components
of power system analysis. A protection scheme is
required in order to minimize hazards to both the
personnel and equipments while allowing the least
disruption of power service.
The conventional method of coordination calculations
were performed using graphical sheets; the log-log graph
using the time current characteristics (TCC). However, with
the advancement of technology, cheaper and faster
microcomputers are now available and can easily be used to
present the graphical form of time current characteristics of
various protective devices. The necessary settings can be
calculated and presented along with the protective device
characteristics in order to verify the coordination.
Furthermore, engineers nowadays are equipped with
digital computers; a powerful tool to perform efficient
power system analysis. The introduction of personal
computers with graphical capabilities has significantly
reduced both the computing costs and engineering time
required to use the programs. Studies or analyses which
were formerly done by outsourced consultants can now be
performed in-house with the right programs as these user
friendly programs utilizes interactive menus, online
facilities and a graphical user interface (GUI) to guide the
engineer through out the program utilization [1].
II. SIGNIFICANCE OF PROTECTION COORDINATION STUDIES
Protection coordination studies are executed to select or
verify the clearing characteristics of protective devices such
as fuses, circuit breakers and relays. These studies are also
needed to determine the selective fault isolation provided by
the protective device settings. Hence, electrical protections
are designed for the optimum compromise between
equipment damage and service continuity. This is to
minimize the numbers of equipments being shutdown
during fault occurrence.
Cost is among the most influential factors in designing a
protection scheme. It determines the degree of protection as
protection schemes with improved system performance and
higher reliability and flexibility are extremely costly.
However, if the protection scheme does not comply with the
minimum safety and reliability requirements, the resultant
downtime may be extremely expansive. Further in-depth
coverage of reliability versus economic considerations can
be found in IEEE Std 493-1997 [2].
A properly coordinated protection system is also vital to
ensure that an electrical distribution system network can
operate within preset requirements for individual safety,
equipment items and the overall network. Automatic
operation is essential in order to isolate fault within the
shortest period of time to minimize the damage. Hence, the
preliminary design of a power system must be evaluated and
prepared carefully from the view of system coordination
prior to the preparation of a one line diagram.



Fig 1. Sequence of steps in system protection and coordination

The focus on protection coordination is the ability of the
protective devices to detect and isolate the fault immediately
upon the occurrence of any fault or abnormal conditions and
to minimize the number of affected equipments for the least
fault affected scenario. In addition, the protection
coordination serves in determining the availability of any
back-up protection to cover the possible failure of the main
protection and thus improves the reliability of the protection
system.
Overcurrent coordination can be defined as the
comparison and selection of protective devices operating
time in interrupting short circuits and minimizing the
P
2009 Second International Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering
978-0-7695-3925-6/09 $26.00 2009 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ICCEE.2009.265
160
2009 Second International Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering
978-0-7695-3925-6/09 $26.00 2009 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ICCEE.2009.265
158
interruption and damage to the power system. It provides
data useful for the selection of instrument transformer ratios,
protective relay settings, fuse characteristics and ratings and
also the low voltage circuit breaker ratings, characteristics
and settings.
III. COMPUTER AIDED PROTECTION COORDINATION
ANALYSIS
Nowadays, there are many computer programs available
in the market which can be used for protection coordination
analysis of power system applications. These programs
which are equipped with graphical user interfaces such as
ETAP are specially designed to conduct power system
analysis such as short circuit analysis, load flow analysis
and protection coordination analysis.
The main purpose of the protection coordination feature
in power system analysis software is to provide an intuitive
and logical approach to time-overcurrent analysis with
features and capabilities such as fully integrated user-
interface, true-to-the-form protective devices modeling,
extensive validated and verified device library, embedded
analysis modules, and rule-based designed. Hence, one line
diagrams, relay setting calculations and time current
coordination drawings would be produced. Certain software
features such as ETAP Star's sequence-of-operation
evaluates, verifies, and confirms the operation and
selectivity of the protective devices for various types of fault
for any location right from the system one-line diagram [3].
The basic features of most computer aided protection
coordination analysis include [4];
1. Display of TCC and edited one line diagram
2. Automatic display of labels in the one line diagram
3. Simultaneous display of devices at various voltage
levels on the same graph
4. Display of common errors such as inaccurate voltage
or current ratings
5. Printing of plots in log-log graph or in plain sheets.
IV. COORDINATION ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
One of the main objectives of a coordination analysis is to
construct the time current coordination plots and thus sets
the time Overcurrent protective devices in the system.
Hence, the following procedures are observed;
A. One Line Diagram
The circuit that will be coordinated must be determined
prior to the analysis and then subsequently reconstructed or
built as a one line diagram using a power system analysis
program. All the labeling and ratings of the known devices
must be clearly identified and shown. These required data
includes;
1. Utility or incoming feeder data; voltage level, short
circuit MVA capability and X/R ratio impedances
2. Transformer ratings: voltages, MVA, connection
(delta/wye or wye/delta), grounding and ground
protection
3. Busbar ratings
4. Protective devices (circuit breakers, relays or fuses)
5. Connected loads (motors and etc.)



Fig 2. One line diagram for coordination analysis
B. Short Circuit Analysis
The short circuit analysis is a prerequisite for a
coordination study. After all, the short analysis would serve
in determining the minimum and maximum current levels at
which the coordination must be achieved. The maximum
short circuit currents must be determined as it shows the
upper current limit for the protective device characteristic
curves to be plotted. The protective devices should never
have to operate above this current level. Hence, the
selections and settings of the protective devices are
determined based on the short circuit analysis results.
Although short circuit analysis can be performed
manually, it is much more convenient and faster using a
power system analysis programs. These programs would
serve in calculating the fault levels and hence produces the
required short circuit current results. Fig 3. shows the results
of short circuit analysis simulated using ETAP based on the
one line diagram in Fig. 2.



Fig 3. Short Circuit Analysis simulated using ETAP program



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TABLE I
THREE PHASE SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT LEVELS IN THE ONE LINE
DIAGRAM SHOWN IN FIG 3.


System
Voltage
Level (V)
Fault
Location
Short
Circuit
Current
(kA)
Comment
11 000 Bus3 15.8 Contribution from Utility
11 000 Bus1 15.6
Fault current contribution
from Cable 1
415 Bus2 44.5
Fault into 240hp motor
feeder from 415V bus

C. Protection Points and Protection Curves
The transformer inrush point and protection curves must
also be determined and plotted as shown below:
1) Transformer Inrush Point
The transformer inrush point is determined to ensure
that when the transformer is energized, the protective relay
settings would not pose any problems. The inrush current
can be defined as:
al no Inrush
I K I
min
(1)
Where I
Inrush
is the magnetization inrush current, I
nominal
is
the nominal transformer current and K is the constant
which depends on the transformer capacity; from 500 to
2500 kVA, K = 8 and K = 10 when above 2500kVA. The
inrush point then remains defines by the appropriate inrush
current during 0.1s [5].
The power system analysis programs such as ETAP
will definitely plot the transformer inrush point in its TCC
curve when performing the coordination analysis
simulation. The value can de verified through calculation
using equation (1). Based on the transformer in Fig. 2, the
inrush point of transformer T1can be calculated as below:
kV at A I
T Inrush
11 78 . 839 97 . 104 8
1


2) ANSI Transformer through-fault protection curve
Most computer-based coordination programs are
equipped with the curves in its program library for various
transformer types and conditions in a typical power system.
The transformer protection curves are normally predefined
and auto calculated by the program and will be plotted in the
TCC curve.



Fig 4. Tranformer Protection Curve as auto defined and calculated in ETAP

A line to ground fault which produces a 100% fault
current in a secondary delta-wye winding transformer, only
58% fault current ( 3 / 1 ) in each of two phases of the
incoming line to the primary side of the transformer. Hence,
the indicated current of the ANSI curve must be decreased
to 58% of the three phase fault value.
D.
E.
Cable Damage Curves
Most programs are equipped with certain cable damage
curves in its database for different cable sizes and cable
types. Cable manufacturers publish these curves on log-log
paper for direct input onto the coordination plots.
Coordination Analysis
After determining all the required device data in the one
line diagram and inserting them into the program, the
coordination analysis can now be conducted as long as the
short circuit analysis has been simulated prior to it.
The programs would automatically generate the TCC
curve for all the selected devices and equipments in the one
line diagram when the protection coordination simulation is
conducted provided that all the necessary data were keyed
into the program and all the program requirements were
met. Although that most programs are preloaded with all the
devices curves, it is vital that the user recheck and ensure
that all the various settings are accurate and correct for their
application. The various time-current curves must also be
checked for accuracy with the actual time current curves
from the manufacturer. This verification ensures that proper
coordination and protection are achieved.
It must be noted that the characteristic curves does not
extend past the maximum short circuit currents as the
devices should never have to operate above these values. In
Fig 5., all the relay settings and circuit breaker settings have
adequate coordination margins



Fig 5. TCC Curves of the various devices and equipments in Fig 2.
V. COMPONENTS OF OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
COORDINATION ANALYSIS
Overcurrent coordination is serves in protecting the
system from excessive high currents and isolates the faults
at the fastest time possible with the least number of
equipments affected. Hence, relay operating characteristics
and their setting must be carefully coordinated in order to
achieve selectivity. The aim is basically to switch off only
the faulted component and to leave the rest of the power
system in service in order to minimize supply interruptions
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and to assure stability. In addition, the protection should be
as sensitive as possible to detect faults at the lowest possible
current level. At the same time, however, it should remain
stable under all permissible load, overload and through-fault
conditions.
A.
B.
Overcurrent Relays
An overcurrent relay can be defined as a type of
protective relay which operates when the load current
exceeds a preset value [6]. The ANSI Designation Number
is 50 for an Instantenenous Overcurrent (IOC) and 51 for a
TimeOvercurrent (TOC). It basically responds only to
current magnitudes, instead of the current flow direction or
voltage. Most relays are designed to operate based on the
secondary output of a current transformer (CT) of either 1A
or 5A. Hence, in a typical application, the overcurrent relay
is connected to a current transformer and calibrated to
operate at or above a specific current value. When the relay
operates, one or more contacts will operate and energize a
trip coil in a circuit breaker and trips it.
The Pick-Up Setting
The pick-up setting or plug setting is used in determining
the relays pick up current and the fault currents are
expressed as a multiple of this. This value is usually referred
as the plug setting multiplier (PSM). The PSM is defined as
the ratio of the fault current in secondary amps to the relay
pick-up of plug settings. The PSM values must be calculated
and inserted into the program to define the current value
where the relay starts to operate.



Fig 6. The pick-up settings of Fig 2.s overcurrent relay

C.
D.
E.
Time Dial Setting
The time delay before the relay operates whenever the
fault current reaches or is greater than the relay operating
current setting can be adjusted using the time dial setting. It
is also referred as the time multiplier setting. The pickup
points and time-dial settings are selected so that the relay
can perform its desired protective function.
For an overcurrent relay, the goal is that when a fault
occurs on the system, the relay nearest the fault should
operate. The time settings on upstream relays should delay
their operation until the proper overcurrent device has
cleared the fault. A selectivity study, plotting the time-
current characteristics of every device in that part of the
system being examined, is required. With the wide selection
of relays available and the flexibility of settings for each
relay, selective coordination is possible for most systems.
Nowadays, the relays can be set from as low as 0.ls in steps
of 0.1s.
Time Discrimination Margin
A typical value of 0.25 to 0.4s should be used when
determining the time discrimination margins between two
successive relays. However, lower margins can be set with
the availability of numerical and microprocessor based
relays
Relay Characteristics
The IEC and ANSI/IEEE Standards defines the relay
operating time as follow:
L
I I
k
t
s

1 ) / (

(2)
Where t = relay operating time in seconds, k = time dial or
TMS, I = fault current level in secondary amps, I
s
= pick-up
current and L = constant.
The constants and determines the relay characteristics
slope. The values of , and L for various standards of
overcurrent relay are as shown in Table II.

TABLE II
ANSI/IEEE AND IEC CONSTANTS FOR STANDARD OVERCURRENT RELAYS

Curve Description Standard L
Moderately inverse IEEE 0.02 0.0515 0.114
Very inverse IEEE 2.0 19.61 0.491
Extremely inverse IEEE 2.0 28.2 0.1217
Inverse CO8 2.0 5.95 0.18
Short-time inverse CO2 0.02 0.0239 0.0169
Standard inverse IEC 0.02 0.14 0
Very inverse IEC 1.0 13.5 0
Extremely inverse IEC 2.0 80.0 0
Long-time inverse UK 1.0 120 0



Fig 7. IEC overcurrent relay curves

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Fig 8. ANSI/IEEE overcurrent relay curves

F. TCC Curve Plot and Interpretation
The computer based programs such as ETAP are utilized
in conducting coordination studies as it is generates a
graphical representation of the TCC curves. It is much faster
and convenient compared to the manual plotting of the TCC
curve on a log-log graph.
Hence, it is important a basic understanding of the TCC
curve is understood. After all, the TCC plot is the
foundation for performing any coordination study as it
defines the operating time of a protective device for various
magnitude of operating current.
Time zero is considered as the time at which the fault
occurs on a typical coordination plot, and all times shown
on the plot are the elapsed time from that point. The relative
position of the device characteristic curves on the plot
reflects the response time of each device for a given fault-
current magnitude. The region below and to the left of the
characteristic curve is the non-operate area. For current
magnitudes and durations in this region, the overcurrent
device does not operate. The region above and to the right is
the operate (or tripping) area. For simple radial systems, all
devices between the fault and the power source experience
roughly the same fault current.
Starting at time 0.01 s and a given value of fault current
and proceeding upwards along the plot at the value of fault
current, the first device whose curve is intersected should be
the first device to operate. The intersection at this point also
indicates the device operating time. Continuing along the
abscissa, the next curve should be the closest upstream
protective device, which provides backup protection. In
general, to minimize the loss of service, this upstream
device should not operate until the first device is given
adequate time (or margin) to detect and clear the fault.
VI. CONCLUSION
A systems protection scheme is designed with the ideals
of maximum protection, minimum equipment cost, reliable
protection, high speed operation, simple design, high fault
sensitivity and selectivity in isolating the minimum portion
of the system. Hence, a lot of considerations need to be
accounted by the engineer and if all these works were
performed manually, it would be extremely tedious and time
consuming.
Hence, computer aided power system analysis programs
are extremely popular among engineers as it can be used to
conduct necessary analyses such as coordination analysis.
Furthermore, with the advancement of technologies, even
more user friendly programs were created for the benefit of
engineers. Engineers no longer have to be totally dependent
on consulting firms to conduct any power system analysis as
they can now conduct it themselves using the right programs
which can be installed into personal computers. However, it
must be noted that regardless the coordination analysis is
conducted manually or by computer, the engineer must be
confident with its results although the computer plots may
be difficult to be proven or checked without a copy of the
manufacturers curve. However, this problem can be
overcome by requesting the manufacturer plot details from
the program vendor.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] IEEE Recommended Practice for Industrial and Commercial Power
System Analysis (IEEE Brown Book), IEEE Standard 399-1997.
[2] IEEE Recommended Practice for Protection and Coordination of
Industrial and Commercial Power Systems (IEEE Buff Book), IEEE
Standard 242-2001.
[3] ETAP Star-Device Coordination & Selectivity [Online]. Available:
http://www.etap.com/star.htm
[4] R. Natarajan, Computer-Aided Power System Analysis [Online].
Available: http://books.google.com.my/books?id=M1v-jshXy3QC&
printsec=frontcover&dq=computer+aided+protection+coordination+st
udies#PPP1,M1
[5] J. M. Gers and E. J. Holmes, Protection of Elecricity Distribution
Network, IEE Power and Energy Series 47. (2
nd
Ed.). UK: IEE, 2004,
p. 63-98.
[6] P.M. Anderson, Power System Protection, IEEE Press Series on
Power Engineering. New York: McGrawhill, 1999, p. 56-71.

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