t\

Measurenents

ANALYSIS AND PROTMTION OF POWER SYSTEMS

NON-DIRECTIONAL OVERCURRENT

A}ID EAR]H FAULT PROTBTION

BY

HASSALL

-1-

NON-DIRECTIONAL OVERCURRENT AND EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

I.

INTRODUCTION

This lecture is intended as a baslc Lntroduction to the fundamental

principles of non-dlrectional overcurrent and earth fault protection.

This lecture will cover the different types of overcurrent relays

that are available, the terminology used, deflnitions of particular

terxns and

certain specific appllcations of overcurrent relaylng to

particular items of plant.

2.

PRINCIPLE OF

The purpose

OVERCTTRRENT PROTECTION

of overcurrent protectlon, as wlth other forms of

protectlon Ls to detect faults on a polrer system and as a result

initiate the

openlng

of switchgear in order to isolate the faulty

part of the system. The protectlon must thus be dlscrfuninative, that

is to say lt shall, as far as posslble, select

and

isolate only

faulty part of the systen leaving alL other parts in

the

normal

operatlon.

Discrinination can be achieved by overcurrent, or by time, or by

combinatlon

2.I

of overcurrent and tlne.

DISCRIMINATION BY

CURRENT

Dlscrlnination by current relles upon the fact that the fault current
varies wlth the position of the fault.
irnpedance

of various ltems of plant,

This variatlon is due to the

such as cables and transformers,

-2between

the source and the fault and the relays throughout the

system are

set to operate at sultable values such that only the

relay nearest to the fault operates.

There are a number of important polnts
aEtemptLng co provide

z.L.L

The

fault

l-eveL

to bear in

rnind when

discrlninatlon by thts nethod.

either slde of a clrcuit breaker wlll

substantially the sane i.

be

e.

$ouRcE

The

at

settlng of relay at

F2 but as the

B must be such

fault level at

F2 and

that lt wll-l detect a fault

Fl will be sinilar, correct

discrininatlon with the relay at A for a fault at Fl wiLl be nearly

inpossible.

2.t.2

In practice there would be varlatl.ons in the source fault level,

typicall-y a nax/nln ratLo of as nuch as 2/1. Thus relays set to
give reasonable discrinination under rnax. fault l-evel conditions
not. even operate under min.

3.

nay

fault level conditions.

DISCRIMINATION BY TIME

If the fault level over a system is

reasonabl-y constant then

discrlnlnation by current \ril1 not be possible. An alternative ls

to use tine discriml.nation ln whlch

a flxed

t,lrne delay

each overcurrent

wlth the relay farthest

away from

relay is

gl.ven

the source

havlng the shortest tlme del-ay. Operating tlne is thus

-3subsrantlally lndependent of fault level but the

nain disadvantage is
that the relay nearest the source will have the longest
tlme
delay

and

thls is the polnt wlth the highesr fault level.

NOTE: When appl_ylng

definlte tiue overcurrent relays care must

taken to ensure that the thermal ratlng of the
current

measuring element

4.

is not

be

exceeded.

DISCRIMINATION BY BOTH TIME AND CURRENT

Due

to the llnttatlons

irnposed by

the lndependant use of either tlne

or current' the inverse tlme overcurrent characterlstic
has been
developed. I{tth this characteristlc the tftne of
operation

is

lnversely proportional to the current appried t.e. basicarly

the
higher the current applted, the faster the reray operates.

Thus, the

actual eharacteristlc ls a functl.n of both trne and

current
settlngs, thereby gaining the advantages of the prevlous mentioned
methods and

4.L

elinlnating

some

of the

disadvantages.

PLUG SETTING MULTIPLER AI.ID TIME MULTIPLIER

SETTING

There are only two settlngs

or

adjustments

to

be made on an inverse

time overcurrent relay. One is the current setting and

the other the

"tlne nultiplier settLng,,.

The current

settlng rs adJustable by means of a plug board which

gives normarly seven equally spaced steps. when
the prug ls removed
the highest tap is autonatlcar.ry selected, thus enabling
on load

adJustnent without "open

circuiting.' the C.T.rs.

Various setting ranges are available and it is convenient

to refer to
these ranges in terns of a percentage of c.T. secondary

ratrng.

example 5o'2oo%

or

10-402

etc. rf the c.T. has a nominal

For

secondary

t
-4rating of 5 anp, say, then a
settlng range of 2.5-10
current range of 0.5-2

setrlng range would be a current

Likewise a L0-407" range would be

5O-2OO"A

anp.

If the C.T.

anp.

ratlng, then a 50-2OO% range

had

a 1 amp secondary

would also be 0.5-2 anp.

rf the c.T. prinary rating is eq'al to the nornal ful1 load

currenr
of the circuit then the percentage setting will refer directly
to the
prinary system. Thls is an important point as if, for exampre,
the
nonnal prlnary full load current nas say 400 anp
but the c.T. ratlo
was 500/5 then a relay wlth settlng range 50-2007.
of 5 anp set at
100% would not represent a "full 10ad'.
settlng; the actual settlng
would

in fact be 125"1 of fulL load current.

rt ls convenlent to

the standard lnverse time characteristlc on

Log/Log graph paper with the ryr axis scaled in seconds
and the 'x,
axis in terms of 'nultlples of prug settrng". By doing this
show

the

characteristic can be applied to any relay, irrespective of setting

range and nominal rating.
Thus simpry'

to obtain the relay operatlng tine (neglecting errors

etc) at this stage)

e.g. C.T. ratio

one wouLd proceed as follows.

500/5.

Relay serrlng range

SO-ZOO%

I.e. 2.5_10 anp

Prlnary fault current 5000 anp.

Assume

relay is set at

Now, secondary

1O0Z

i.e. 5 amp

fault current = 5000 x 5 = 50 anp

56d-

This value of 50 aups represents r0 tines the actual relay setting

1.e. plug setting rnultiplier = A = 10
5

-5As can be seen fron the curve, with a secondary current equal-

to lO tlmes

the relay settlng, the relay will operate in 3 secs (assurning a tlne

rnultipller settlng of unity).

If the primary fault current
set at

7.e. 2.5

was 2500 anp (25 amp secondary) and the relay

thls still represents a plug setting

nultiplier of 10 (25/2.5) and the relay wlll again operate in 3 secs
was

(TMS

anp then

= 1).

The choice

ratio

507"

of current settLng thus depends on the load current

and l-s nornally close

to but

and the C.T.

above the naximum load current

assuming

of course the clrcuit is capable of carrying the maximum foreseeable load.

It should be stressed at this point that the relay ls neither

deslgned nor

intended to be used as an overload relay but as a protective relay to

protect the system under fault conditlons.

rt is also inportant to consider the resetting of the relay.

wlll reset when the current is
normal load current

is

above

reduced Eo 907" of the

thls value the relay

The relay

setting and if the

w111

not reset after

starting to operate under through fault condltlons whlch are cleared by

other swLtchgear. The "tine nultlpLier settlng" 1s a mechanical adJustnent
of the movlng contact backstop and ls calibrated fron 0.1 - 1.0. The scale
ls non-llnear

and adjustment

travel to nake the contacts.

nulttplytng factor to

sinply alters the dlstance the dlsc has to

The

Ehe reJ-ay

tine nultiplier setting gives a dlrect

operatlng time when quoted at 10 tlnes plug

setting. That is to say that if the relay operates in 3 secs with 10 times
Ehe

plug settlng current applied and a

the

same

TMS

= 1, then wlth a TMS = 0.5 with

current and setting, the relay operating time would be 1.5 secs.

Sirnilarly with a TMS = 0.1 the relay operatlng tlme would be 0.3 secs.

Note

that thls direct relationship only applies at l0 tlmes the plug settlng
current. For other values of plug setting nul-tlplier t,he relationship is

-6not dlrect (although not very far out) and reference should be uade
to the publlshed characteristlcs to obtain actual operating tines.

Note: rn the prevlous sinple

examples,

all- error conslderations

have

been lgnored.

4.2

GRADING INTERVAIS OR MARGIN

As prevlousLy mentloned, to obtaln correct discrimination lt is

necessary

adJacent
number

1.

4'2'L

to

have

tLme

interval

between

the operation of

relays. Thrs tine rnterval or grading nargin

two

depends upon

of factors.

2.

circult breaker fault interruptlng tine.

The overshoot tlme of the relay.

3.

Errors.

4.

Flnal rnargln on completlon of operation (safety nargin).

The

The

dlscrlninatlng relay can only be de-energlsed

breaker has conpletely interrupted the

normal practice

to

use a value

of

when the circuLt

fault current. rt is

100 ms

interruptlng tine but obviously if lt ls

now

for clrcult breaker overall

known

that the swltchgear is

slower than this tiue, thls nust be taken into account.

4'2'2 operatlng of the

reLay nay contlnue

for a short

tfune

after the relay

I's de-energised until any stored energy ls dissipated. For example

an inductlon disc element wlll have stored kinetLc energy (or

inertia)

a statlc relay nay have stored energy in capacLtors.

Although these factors are mLnLmised by design, some allowance is
and

usualLy necessary.

rt is

common

to use a flgure of

50 ms.

-7 Note:

The overshoot

tine ls not the actual tine during which some forward

operation takes

to travel- the

p1-ace

same

but ls the tine that the relay

wouLd have taken

dlstance had the relay remained energised.

Texver

7-

zf;l-----.'ll----

dvurs\d
l.ave)

tt

l..r

rolo-g d.-one1giseA
f3.n - aeiu.al otergnool f rn'tL

- Ooersh*f *rrne Us.d

lnlt:.e ea,lcnla,hon o{
tt-t a-r3 in
.

-Ttrw

t-e

4.2.3

A11 rneasuring devices such as

subject to

some degree

relays and current transformers are

of error.

The time

characteristic of either

or both of the relays lnvolved nay have positive or negatlv

Current transformer errors are nainly due to the nagnetlslng
characterlstic. It

shouLd be noted

rrof,so

that C.T. errors do not affect

definlte time overcurrent relays'

4.2.4 A safety nargln of

100 ms Ls

nornally added to the final cal-cul'ated

to ensure correct discrlntnation. Thts additlonal tlne

ensures a satisfactory contact gap (or equlvalent) is malntained.

margln

5.

RECOMMENDED MARGIN

In the past a fixed margln of 0.5 secs Itas consLdered adequate for
correct discrlnination. With faster modern switchgear and lower
overshoot times a flgure of 0.4 secs is qulte reasonable and under

the best possible conditions 0.35 secs

may be

feaslble.

8However,

rather than uslng a flxed nargin lt is

better to adopt a
fixed time for circuit breaker operation
and reray overshoot and add
to this a varlable tine value which takes
into account reray and c.T.
errors and the safety nargln. This is
partlcularly so when grading
at 10w values of plug settlng nultlplier
where the relay operating
time is 10nger and a flxed total nargrn
may be of the same order as
the relay tlmLng error.
A fixed value 0.25 secs is chosen whlch
is rnade up of 0.1 secs for
clrcuit breaker operatlng tlme, 0.05 secs
for relay overshoot tine
and 0.1 sec for safety nargln.

rn considerlng the variable tine value it

is assuned that each rDMT
relay complles with error class E7.5 which
ts deflned as normal
Brrtish practlce in BS142zrg66. The errors
for an E7.5 relay are
!7 '5i( but all0wance should be nade for the effects of
tenperature,
frequency and departure from the reference
condrtlons as laid down ln
the B's' A more practlcal approxinatron
to assume a total

effective error of 2 x 7.5 i-e. L57r and 's

this is to apply to the reray
nearest the fault which is consldered
slov. To thls total effectlve
relay error a further 10% ls added to a110w
for overall c.T. error.
Thus

lt is

proposed to adopt the foll0wrng

equatl0n

gradlng nargin between IDMT relays

t = 0.25t + 0.25 secs

to deternlne the

where

t = normal operatlng tlne of

relay nearest the fault

far as deflnite tlne overcurrent relays are

concerned the fixed
value will renain the same but the relays
are assumed to conply with
error class E10 1'e' * 102. For the reasons
stated prevlously, a
practlcal approxlmatron is to assume a
total effectlve error of 2oZ
wlth the relay nearest the fault consldered
s1ow. As previously
As

-9stated, C.T. errors will have little

effect on the operatlng time,

Ehus lt ls proposed to adopt the
equatlon :

tt = 0.2t * 0.25

secs

For the rnaJority of systems an overcurrent

grading exercise can be
perforrned quite adequately using
a fixed nargin of 0.4 secs. It is
only when a number of stages are involved
and difficulties are belng
encountered

that it rnay become necessary to investlgate

nargin tines
Ln more detail. To sumuarlse, each
system is dlfferent
and shourd

treated as so, it is not possible to lay

down rigid rules regarding
grading nargins and every gradlng
exerc'se w111 ultinately be a
compromr'se

of

form. rt should also be noted that

relays have errors less than 7.52.
some

6.

TYPES OF RELAYS

6.1

INVERSE TII.{E OVERCURRENT RELAYS

GECM rDMT

relays are of the inductlon disc type and

several
characterlstlcs are avail_able as fol_lolrs:_
These

.1

.1

NORMAL

IWERSE TIME

- CDGll
The cDGll characterlstic conforns
to BS142 and is commonry known as
che 3/10 characterrstrc i.e. At ten
tines plug setting current and
TMS of I the relay will 0perate
rn 3 secs. The relay rs fltted wrth
a slngle dr.sc contact lrhich wrll
'ake and carry for 0.5 secs, 250ovA
with rnaxina of 10A and 660v. An auxlllary
unlt can be fltted ln the
same case which has two electrLcally
separate contacts rated to make
and carry for 0.5 secs, 7500vA wlth
naxlma of 30A and
660v.

If requlred the relay can be fitted with two

disc contacts (which are
electrlcally separate). The relay is then deslgnated
CDG16. The top
contact ls used for tripplng and the bottom
contact for alarn.

be

-10The cDGll

is wrdely

used

to all

system voltages

- as back

up

protection on EIIV systems and as the main protection on lrv and MV

distributlon systerns. An alternative characterlstlc is avallable in
the cDGll range and is referred to as the I .3/Lo characterlstic. The

characteristic has a sinil.ar

to the 3/10 characteristlc but

operatlng rime ar 10 tines plug setting is 1.3 secs (TMS _ 1).
shape

the

In general, the nornal inverse characterlstics are used when :

(a)
There are no co-ordinatr.on requlrements with other types of
protective equipment farther out on the systen e.g. fuses,
thermal characterrstrcs of transformers, motors etc.

(b)

The

fault level at the near

and

far

ends

of the

system does not

vary significantly.

(c)

is nininal inrush on cold load piek up. cold load inrush

ls that current which occurs when a feeder is energlsed after
There

a prol0nged outage. rn general the relay cannot be set above

thls value but the current should decrease below the relay
settlng before the relay contacts close.

6.I.2

VERY IWERSE TIME

CDG13

rf there Ls a substantial reductlon ln fault Level as the dlstance

fron the source Lncreases, there rnay be an advantage ln uslng the
very Lnverse characteristlc rather than the normal Lnverse

characteristic.

The cDG13 operatlng

tlne ls approximately

doubled

for a reductLon in current froo 7 to 4 times the relay settlng and

this enables the use of a common time nultlpller setting for a number
of relays in

seri.es.

6.1.3

EXTREMELY INVERSE TIME

11

CDG14

I,lith thls characteristic the operating ttne is approximately

inversery proportional to the square of the current. The
rong
operating time of the relay at peak values of load current nake
the
relay particularly suitable for grading with fuses and also for

protection of feeders whlch are subject to peak currents on switchlng

in, such as feeders suppryrng refrrgerators, pumps, water heaters

etc.' which remain connected

even

after a prolonged interruptlon of

supply.

Another appllcation

for this relay is with auto reclosers in low

voltage dlstribution circuits. As the najority of faults are of
transLent nature, the relay is set to operate before the normal

operatlng tine of the fuse thus preventlng perhaps unnecessary

blowlng of the fuse.
upon reclosure,

if the fault persists the recloser locks itself ln

the closed posltion and allows the fuse to blow to crear the fault.

6.L.4

LONG TIME IDMT

The CDG12

CDG12

is a heavily

dauped lnductlon

disc unlt with a long tine

characteristlc and 1s used for protectlon of neutral earthing

resistors (which nornally have a 30 sec. rating). The relay has two
fixed settlngs of L5t ar.d 207". A tapped version Ls avaLlable with a
setting range of 80-2402 of. 5 anp and this can be applied to give a
measure of overload protectlon to motors and generators.
The relay
operating tlue at 5 tlnes current settlng ls 30 secs. for a

TMS

of l.

-12_
6.2

DEFINITE TI}M

The

GECM

OVERCURRENT RELAYS

electromechanical

definlte tlme overcurrent

phase or earth
fault relay type cAu comprises one,
two or three attracted amature

lnstantaneous overcurrent reray elements

(type cAGlg) conbined
same case wlth a single mechanicat
deflnite tlme delay elemenr.

in

the

Various tine settlng ranges are available

up to 60 seconds, but it is
important to take lnto account the
thermal ratlng of the CAG19
element

when choosing

a tine setting.

Relay thermal

rating Ls twice settlng current contlnuously.

Short tine
ratlng ls 20 times maximum settlng current
for 3 seconds. The rating
varles rnverser-y to the square of
the current, l.e. 10

times current for

12 seconds.

Statle deflnite tine overcurrent relays

type CTU are avallable. These
have a low VA burden and a hlgh
drop offlpick up ratl.o and cover
the
usual overcurrent and earthfault ranges.

6.3

OVERCURRENT RELAY TYPE

MCGG

IN THE NEI^I MIDOS RANGE

relay ls a static overcurrent relay in

the new MrDos (Modular
rntegrated Drawout systen) range of
relays. The MrDos system is the latest
GECM relay housing system
wlth a prrne obJective to better space
utilizatlon on racks and panels. Each
relay unlt is self sufflcient,
contains all lnput/output' polter supply
and other circuitry to fulfil
its
duty' The drawout phllosophy ls naintar.ned
for ease of maintenance and
fault findlng.
The

MCGG

relay uses sol1d static technlques,

the base element being a
microcomputer' current measurement
ls performed by an
The

MCGG

analogue-to-digltal

converter and the tlne/current characterLstic

of the relay is detennined by
a program selected by swltches on the
relay
nameplate.

-13The followrng

\g

tine/current characteristics can be selected:

l.

Standard Inverse

2.

Very Inverse

3.

Extremely Inverse

4.

Long Tine Inverse

5.
6.

Definite Tine D2 (0.1 _ 2.0 sec)

Definire Tine D4 (O.Z - 4.0 sec)

7.

Definire Tine Dg (0.4 - g.O sec)

(or

Norrnal Inverse)

with all the characterlstics available on one relay, a standard

relay can be
ordered before detailed co-ordlnation studles are carrled
out - a distinct
advantage for conplex systems where a detalled study could
take some tLme
and could delay the ordering

of relays. Also, changes ln

system eonfiguration

can be easily accommodated.

An Lnstantaneous overcurrent element can be lncorporated

element and has a settlng range

with the

tine-de1_ayed

of 1 to 31 tines the current settlng of the tine

deLayed element' A single poLe tlne delayed overcurrent
relay is known as
McGGl1' wlth an addltlonal lnstantaneous element it becomes
MCGG21.

-146.4

SENSITIVE EARTH FAULT RELAYS

I'Ihere the earth path

resistrvrty is high whtch ray be the

case on
systems that do not utrlise earth
conductors, the earth fauLt current
may be limlted Eo such an extent
that nornal earth fault protectl0n
not be sensitrve enough. To overcome
these problens a very
sensitr.ve relay is required but also
the relay uust have a very 10w
burden ln order that the effective
setting is not increased due to
reasons described earlier.
may

has developed a

statrc relay type crulsB which has a settlng

range of L-r67" of rated eurrent and
a burden of the order 0.005 _
0'012 vA at settlng. This very sensltlve
protectron
GECM

cannot be graded

wrth other conventronal systems and it

ls normal to apply thrs
protectr.on wlth a definite tlme
delay of up to 10 0r
15

secs.

This

tlne delay will prevent unwanted operatlon

due to transient unbalance
under phase fault condltions. care
must be taken to ensure that the
relay setting is above any resrduar current
that
nay be present under

nornal load conditlons due to sltght dlfferences

ln C.T.
characteristics or unbalanced leakage or
capacitive currents in the
prlnary system, and also to ensure that
the relay wirr reset

the translent operation of the current measurlng

unit.
(Note: p.u. /d.o. ratLo approx. ggTt) .

after

The sensltive

earthfault relay type MCSU in the MrDos

range has a
setting range of 0.5 - 5.2i1 of rated current
and a burden of 0.001
at any settlng for 1A rer-ays and 0.006 vA
at any settrng for 5A
relays' The reray
tuned to reJect thtrd har-rnonlc currents.
's

vA

-157.

EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

Earth faur-ts, which are by far the nost frequent

type of fault, will
be detected by phase overcurrent unlts as previously
described but 1t
is posslble to obtaln more sensitlve protection by
utillsing a relay
which responds only

to the residuar current in a system. Residual

(or zero sequence) current only exists when
a current f10ws to earth.

The residual current can be detected erther

by connectlng a c.T. in
an available neutral to earth connection or
by connecting llne c.T.rs

ln paral1er.

By using

this pararler connection the earth faurt relay

ls completely unaffected by load currents whether

baLanced or
unbalanced. The pararlel connection can be
extended to include
either two or three overcurrent unlts wlthout any
effect on the earth
fault reray. Two elements are often consldered
sufflcrent
as any

interphase fault must affect at least one

of the relays, however
eonsideratr.on must be glven to the posslbility
of 2-1-1 current
distributlon Ln the systen (refer delta/star transformer

protectlon).

rt should be noted that on an L.v. 4 wrre dlstrlbution

system, 4
c'T'fs wir-l be requrred to ensure stabillty under
all 10ad
conditlons, the 4th c.T. being placed ln the neutral
connection.
Thls fourth c.T. can be omrtted lf the earth
fault relay settlng is
above the naxinun spll1 current caused by
unbalanced loads, but as
the degree of unbalance ls not norrnally known (accurately)
the

incluslon of the 4th C.T. Ls

recommended.

7.I

16

EFFECTIVE SETTING

The prinary

settlng of an overcurrent relay can usually be taken

as
the relay setting nurtlprled by the c.T. ratio. The
c.T. can be
assurned to maintain a sufficiently accurate
ratio for this to be so.
An earth fault relay wlll nornally have a much
lower settlng

than an

overcurrent relay but will have a slnllar VA consumption

at settlng
current' However' at nominal or rated current the vA burden
will be
much

hlgher due to the lower setting.

For example :
Assume 3VA

relay,

At setting, relay

2OZ

(1 anp basis).

lmpedance, Z =

\IA =

?ffi

= 75

ohms

similar, relay wtth 1002 setting,

At setting, reJ_ay impedance =
= 3 ohns
Assume

T?

Thus

a relay wlth a

settrng will have an lmpedance 25 tlnes that

of a slnilar relay wiEh a l00Z settlng.
20%

the burden inposed by a reray wlth a

current w111 be
Now,

t2z = t2 ls =

207t

settlng at rated

75 vA (assumlng no saturation)

(Thls figure would normally be much rower than

thls due to nagnetic
saturatlon whlch reduces the effectlve inpedance. Actual
burdens at
various uultiples of settrng current are avalrable on
request).

-L7(As the settlng ls l0wered, so the

number turns must increase Eo
naintain the ampere_turns at the operate
level. As the number of
turns ls r.ncreased so the wlre dlaneter decreases
thus increaslng

the

resistanee).
Thus, as can be seen, an earth

fault relay with a very sensltrve

setting will present a very r.arge burden to

a c.T. whlch ls
attemptlng to pass many tines setting current
through the relay.
rt nay be thought therefore that correspondlngl_y
larger c.T.rs would
be required ln order to provide thls extra
output but this is not in
fact the case.

rt can be assuned that

tines setting current the relay

n'gnetic circult goes into comprete saturation
and the burden remainS
effectively constant r.e. the lnpedance falls
more rapidly with
lncreaslng current (T27 = constant).
Typical flgures
Relay L0

4OZ

Current 0.1

above 20

of 1 aop

anp

( Impedance

VA burden

at t x setting current

3x
10x

I'

20x

Thus

to

pass 20 tr.nes

rr

2.3 vA

(23OJL )

= 14 VA (155 Jt- )
= 90 vA (90JL )
= 250 vA (62.atL)

settlng current through the relay a voltage of

20 x 0 'L x 62'5 = L25 volts is required
and l5vA 10p10 c.T. which ls
nornally recommended for overcurrent and earth
fault protectron would

-18be qulte adequate.

thrs voltage drop across the relay will also be inpressed on

all the c.T.rs that are in the paralle1 group whether or not they are
Ilowever,

carrylng prlnary current. Due to this voltage the c.T.rs wilr draw
a
nagnetlslng current the value of which wtll be dependant on
the
magnetlsing characteristic.

total magnetrsing current courd be appreciable in comparison wlth

the relay setting current and in extreme cases where the settr.ng
The

current ls very
exceed the

10w and

the c.T.rs are of 10w performance, may

even

settlng current.

Thus, for exanple, under slngle phase to earth fault conditlons

the
energising c.T. does not only have to supply the relay operatlng

current but also the nagnet.isatlon loss for all of the connected
c.T.fs. The "effective settlng current,, in terms of secondary amps

is therefore the relay setting current plus the total magnetlslng

current 10ss. (Due to the slnllarlty of power factors for
electromagnetlc rel-ays at least, it is consl.dered sufficient to
take
the algebralc sum of the currents).
under heavy earth

wll1

be applied

fault condltions

many tlmes

to the relay and thls

the setting current

can have

a considerable heatlng

effect. rn thls respect it should be noted that the heating effect

on a relay wlth a 20-80% range set at say 2o"l will be less
than that
on a relay wlth a L0-40"1 range wlth the same setting. This

is

due to

the fact that the lower range relay has twLce the number of turns
than the higher range. Consequently the wLre dlameter ls smaller and

-19thus the reslstance is hlgher. Thus, unless the

system has some
neutral earthlng inpedance or very sensltlve settlngs
are requlred,
relay wirh a 2O-BO% setrlng range is nornally recommended.
7.2

TIME

GRADING

The proeedure

for gradlng is slnilar to that for

phase

faurt relays

but as already descrrbed the prirnary tine current characterlstlc

cannot be kept proportlonate to the secondary (relay)
characterlstic

with anything lLke the accuracy.

At the relay setting current, the C.T. mag. current nay

be
apprecrable in comparison wlth the reray current (resulting
ln htgh
effective settings) but at hlgher values of current, the
c.T. mg.

current

relatlvely snaller thus reducing the effective

setting to a varue nearer to the ideal. At sttlr higher
values the
c.T. output ceases to increase substantlally and due to
saturatr.on
becomes

the output waveform

distorted which further conpl_rcates the

situation. Thus when gradrng earth faurt relays, either
the errors
becomes

must be accurately ealculated

for the actual current levels or larger

narglns must be allowed.

It is luportant to appreciate that fuses cannot dlscrlmlnate

between
phase faults and earth faul_ts and therefore grading
of earth fault
relays (which have relatively sensLtive settlngs) with
fuses is not
posslble.
when

fault

the system contalns sooe neutrar- earthing inpedance, the

earth

rs practically constant over the whole system and grading

is carried out at thls fault r.ever. As the faurt rever rs constant
1eve1

there ls no partlcular advantage in uslng rDl"fr earth faurt

relays
over deflnLte tfune earth fault relays.

-208.

INTERCONNECTED SYSTEMS

The foregoing has basicarry rooked

radlal feeders. rf the

system

ls

at gradlng

procedure as appried to

Lnterconnected and involves

paral-lel paths and rings, the gradlng can become increasingly

rnore

complex.

For example, the operation of a particurar cr.rcult breaker rnay

not
itself result in the isoration of the faulty plant, but nay affect

the fault current dlstrlbution in the other circuits.

thls

The

affect of

to start other relays operatlng or to change the

operating parameters of relays that have already started. on such
rnay be

interconnected systems the fault lever does not tend to vary very
much and it nay be found inpossible to obtain correct
dlscriminatlon

for all faults.

The systern nust be looked

at ln detall under max.

faurt condltlons and the best compromise reached. very

often directlonal overcurrent relaylng can help to overcome the
and nLn.

problens sllghtly.

-2L9.

PROTECTION OF DELTA/STAR
TRANSFORMERS

There are t\ro

particular polnts that must be appreciated

when
consLdering overcurrent protectlon of
delta/star transforners.
under phase-phase

fault conditions on the star slde of the

transformer, the current distributlon on
the delta side will

appear

as 2-1-1 ' As previously stated overcurrent

protectlon can be applied
in either two or three phases to cover alL
types of fault but in thls
case the relay operatl'ng time would be
reduced if the relay elements
happened to be in the phases carrying
the slngLe unit of current.
As a general

rule, if the ratlo of ninimun faul.t current

and load
current is greater than 4, then trro overcurrent
elements can be used.
This ensures that at least twice full load
current appears on the
delta side in the relays.
The other

point to note is that for a three

phase

fault on the star

slde the prrnary and secondary rine currents

are equar (assunrng
unity voltage ratro) but for a phase-phase
fault, the secondary
current ts 0.956 tlnes the value of the prlnary
current. Thus

lf

grading is done at the three phase fault

level, the nargin nay
insufficrent under phase-phase fault condltl0ns.
see

be

Appendtx 1.

rt is worth notlng that lt is not always necessary

to grade
relaying across a transformer and this can
sometlmes help lf

the

there

are a 10t of stages to grade on the system.

rf the 10ss of the
prlnary circur.t breaker results ln unwanted
interruptlon of other
supplies or lf the prinary circuit breaker
is under the control

0f

supply authorlty then obviously grading across

the transformer is
necessary and lmportant.

-2210.

HIGH SET OVERCURRENT

where the source inpedance

is srnall in couparison with the protected

circuit impedance, the use of high set lnstantaneous overcurrent
unlts can be advantageous (for exanple on long transmission
lines or
transformer feeders).

appllcation of an instantaneous unlt makes possible

a reduction
in the tripping tine at hlgh faur-t levels and also a110ws
The

the

dlscrinlnating curves behlnd the high set unlt to be lowered

thereby
lmprovlng overall system grading. (See Fig. 2).

rt is important to note that

when gradlng

with the relay lmnedlately

behind the hlgh set units, the gradr.ng intervar shourd
be establlshed
at the current settlng of the high set unlt and not at the maximum
fault level that would normarr-y be used for grading rDMT rerays.
when uslng hlgh

set unlts lt ls important to ensure that the relay

does not operate for faults outside the protected
sectlon. The
relays are nornally set at 1.2 - L.3 tines the naxrmun faurt
revel at
the remote end of the protected sectlon.
This partlcularly applles

when

using instantaneous units on the HV

slde of a transformer when the instantaneous unit should not

operate
for faults on the LV side.
The 1.2

- 1.3 factor allows for transr.ent overreach, c.T. errors

sllght errors ln transformer lmpedance and line length.

and

Translent overreach occurs when the curreot wave contalns a d.c.

component. Although a relay nay have a setting above the
r.m.s.
value of current, the lnitial

offset

may be

peak value

of current due to the d.c.

sufficient to operate the relay.

-23Percentage transient overreach is defined at

rt-T2x1oo
t2

when

I1

relay pick up current in steady state r.m.s.

l2

r.m.s. value of current, that when fully offset will just

amps

pick up the relay

The CAG17 instantaneous overcurrent

relay, whlch has a partly

circuit has a transient overreach of less than

57"

f.ot

tuned

sysEem angles

up to 80o. The relay which has hlgh setting ranges is used for the

protection of transformers and long feeders. See Appendix 2.

The cAG19 overcurrent

relay has lower setting ranges and is used in

conjunetlon with rDMT relays (same setting) in auto reclose schemes.

This relay also has a high drop off/pick up ratio and low translent
ove

rreach.

The cAGl3 overcurrent

ratio
11.

relay is applied

where hlgh drop

and low translent overreach are not

off/pick

up

partieularly important.

INTERLOCKED OVERCURRENT

rf it is only possible to

mount

c.T.ts on one side of a circult

breaker (e.g' air blast swLtchgear) then lnevltably there will be

"blind spot"

between the

c.T.fs and the breaker. Faults occurrLng in

this bllnd spot although detected by some forn of protection

result ln

complete

fault clearance

and

w111 not

thls this reason lnterlocked

overcurrent protectlon is often applled. For example

;-->'
'

CtRCwr
AFFEFENrUL

P&oGffitoif.
I

EusgAp

<_

Pnjrcrotu
I

NTPLOCKEO

PnoTECltOil.

_> lrlrFPlatP

-24-

rn thls case, a fault at F w111 be detected by the busbar protectlon

will operate. Ilowever, the feeder protection wlll not detect
the fault and fault current wlLl continue t,o flow fron the remote

which

end.

The lnterlocked overcurrent

relay

(GECM

type PDl) is an induction

disc relay that has its lower coll brought, out to the case terminals.
The

relay cannot develop torque untll this coll

l_s shorted and

contact from the busbar protection is arranged to do thls. I,lhen the

relay operates an intertrip signal is sent to the remote

end.

If the C.T.fs are mounted on the busbar slde of the switchgear then
the feeder protectlon is used to initlate the lnterlocked overcurrent
relay which then operates Lnto the busbar protectLon to clear the
busbar.

-25APPENDIX

tf axo g-fi rmlrs sEEN

COMPARISON OF
TIIROUGH

a)

:/

A D-A

TRANSFORMER

rmlrs

i-fl rm:.rs

b)

vpntu =

vsnc

= rsuc
IDELTA = tt JT
rpntu

Isrc

rn---F+-.,

.c

Ea-t
/\-n'
..'_----_T_

--- /

*r',
---) r

----+ r

rsrc

Ed-tt

rsnc

?
I

X1

IPRIM

Eg-r't

rsrc

-Tr

=f

IDELTA =

Eg-g

2xr

-->

,/r

E6-N = 0.966I

LI J3 ISE6=

$ Efi-N=
$ Zxr

Ipntu = 2 IDELTO = 2 Eli-N = I

2xt

This shows that for

39 fauLt. on a transformer of unlty voltage ratio, the

prinary and secondary currents are equal. For a A-Q fault, the
current is 0.866 the vaLue of the prinary currenL.

0.86 T

secondary

Eg-n

2xt

-26APPENDTX

(coNTINrrED)

Pr,rrra."y r.lq-j tirne a.l

Mn*-'34 F*'IL
level

do.rg rd%l i- me ol, Ma,z. Q$faullta*

e'*o'*lar3 r"lY +irre .,t'fuA..-'4 {a,,lL b,x

See e

3+ Acirdrr.rc i;rlrgR.VAL
trmS, lareRvAL FoR
f-*

Tau"rS

Therefore if the grading is done at max.

3d fault level the tlme lnterval
nay be insufficient for a f:_F fault.

-27APPENDIX 2

TRANSIENT OVERREACH

TYPICAL FAULT

I4IAVEFORM

D.C. T

Offser

To

flnd

how

the relay

w111 0perate under

this fault condltion it

subjected to trro tests :-

1.

The

's

relay pick up current under steady state R.M.s.

conditions is

deternlned.
2)

F
B

2.

The

relay pick up current with

the R.M.S.

current fully offset is

detemined.
The pereentage transient overreach

ls defined

as

100 (A-B)
B

-28\-

APPENDIX

2 (continued)

r.m.s. value of the pick up current

of the reray under fully offset
conditlons (B) w111 be less than
the ptck up level under steady
srate conditrons
because of the snaLl effect
of the d.c. offset.
The

The GEC Measurements

relay cAG17 has a percentage transient

overreach value

typical_ly 3 to 5 per cent.

- zq-

Fr e,

l.

EART l{F AULT

&ELAV

__+,rllcTror.rS

5 Frfls 6.trf,<,uRe.Grs?

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lrrr5 tetrxg;r1La

tt{Aoa ovtilcvllf}rf
r..D Slr"ttFr$?

t
C

t-l|lTt( rinJcr r.l .t lllrt tYf"lli

- 3o'

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ul

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FAut,J- aueeENT

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I

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tooltt

ooltA
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ltooA

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IJAY 5TTIN6S

l sEf AT {'ooA ,, c,'tz-sTlt^'3

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/V\BIi{ED IDMT AND

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STANTANEOU

S OYERcI/R.RENT

RE LAY

OVERCUNEE|T GB-U}IXG EX.IXPIE

era.ople, tJre 11 kV A buebare are fed via tvo grid traosfoncrs rrhlcb
are connected to an EEY aysteo. [he eupply rubetetiou A le .boua feedin3
subgtatiou l, C, D ead t throngh a rgdlrl ifutrlbntLon ryrtcr. Ioeds r.n
tuppllcd fron each subctetlon, tbe sur8ted lord cnrrcntr flovbg fr tha
feeder circuits behg shova. lhe narinun fault level at ceoh rubrtrtlon 1r
eho shovn. lto date arc analysed ia TabLc 1.

Iu this

hor tbe date of furlt lcvrlr and lord orncate, suJ'tlbh onrrrnt trrnrfclrr
retloa and overcunrnt relay scttingr ere celcct d. It rbotld br notcl tbrt tL
ld crrrrrnt
prinary currest aettln6 sbouLd bc safrly lbovo tbc lerhr crtlltd
ln ordcr to allov eoEc aargln for load grovth, uncrlrotcd h{Gb lc.alr trrnrhat
ultb tL
pcak loade aad thr conplete rrsettlng of tb .rrlay eftcr tbrorr6h fultll
clrcult oarrTing the oarbnr prospcctlvr load, currrnt.
Overcu-rraut relaya are lntended to provlde e dlacrirstlvc prottotloa rerlt|tt
tyatcr faulto, aad do not gl.vt preclse ovcrload protectloa. trrvrrthrbrrt
tbr rcartrn of overload protectlon vblch 1r obtrlned ls oftcn tlougbt to ba
of valuc ln protectrng eablee agalnst rbaorrel loadLng. It 1s for thlr
ree^aon the,t tbe pr{ner.17 relay acttln6a arc not rraurtly redc r h{Ch r. rould
bc posalble lf only feult cunsnta viaDt cor,sldcred.
Sterting vlth the rclay la gubetatlon D fartbcat fro tba Porls rouroor tbr
rcleif plugl sctttng oultlpllar la cslcnlatcd frol a loovlcdtr of t[ Hrlrrr
farlt currcat flovlog t.broub thls polat aDd the rclay sranrat rettin3f
Subetetioa

C! ratlo 1@/5L
8,elay

CDC11

(atandard I.D.U.T.) currcot

t{rrtrur feult levcl et eubatatloa

cott{'6 - 1M

b,sban - 1;t:

llhcrcforc rela,y PS'[ = !92 - 1r.95

100

charaotcrletlcs, thc o1:retr"8 ttD of tha

Xov, froo tJre relay tlne/cu:rcut
-at
gtaudard I.I).!1.!. ralay
1).95 tl,noa thc rclay plug rcttlng.Dd l.O !!lS b
2.6 secouds. No relan folloue D, but n oa,ll tLn detey 1g rtlll nqlrtlad to
pennlt dlscri.El63tlon vltJr the lovgr voltago eyetol lrottatlog.

lqltlpllcr eettlog of 0.05 ls Eolact d. Ernorl .D .ctnd H.DDlrS

tLrc for rolsy D 1g obtalnsdr
O.OJ-2.6 E O.1)e
A 6grad{ng lrgia of 0.4g le adopted i-n thls e-aaple, so t'bat t'hr lclqt rt
gubetatloa C ebould have an operating tLne, for e fautt rt aubatetlo Dl lr

A tt-le

follove:

il
o

a
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6
q\)

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.{

1<

.(,

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&

'j

t-

lr*

!u

ru

q.

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(.

)
{

0(

Irl

UJ

o
a

o
o

t)

SZ

\t

gF

Io

th
In(

J-

t/.

s=

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0't

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Y6
3r
v)o

3[{)

oU

6Y
: r\t

{.a

tn

tv)

(s
90
|4

v)

Fl-

{-Jd. t-,i

i 'i5
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o
F
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;J

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r<

Subetatlon
CT

ratio

Reley

ZAO/jL

CDG11

(etandard

I.I).U.!.) current eettlng -

tfsrlru! faul.t level for gradlng reJ.ay

ltcnfore ratqy rcr - lU#, E 6.g7i

10016

-2OOA
C

vltb D -

1rg5

f,ov' fron the r1lay tln/current aheracterleti,or,

tbo operetln8 tb
nlay
tinee

i$H"i;l;I.r.

"tZ.its

-irc;il

prrry

acttrry

rd

of tbr
t.o !t8

lequircd rolaya dlgcrlolnagrng tLno .

0.1] + 0.4 - O.j)t
trrsfono rqulred :relaJr !{S e (
I 0'147

lbs

ca'toul'a't1ons uov pnoceed for rclay

vlth e olorc-ap f.,..lt rt mDrtrtlo
c glvlna 8 plua eettlig r"rtrpii."t
"# tnit cri-&"or.t"a
. follorrr
Ha'rlrrn feurt cunsat for e fsrtt
Jrret outaldc rubrtrtloa c borb.Er - d5go L
ltrrcforc nley pS!{ r 26aO _ 1r.4j
xov, fron tu
tb. olnntrrrt trr of th.
rtrnde'd rctey-ly-a:rz1Tr*.*
$aoterletlor,
*
ir.lj
il_.-t;
rclay
prug
;.ti.F
Lt- 2.i-fu.,
ra coaJunotlon yltrh tb, o{s prcvrourriaitiilc
6toL,
f91
nlrr c . o.t4?r
re\ c opcretlas ir-". rot ; ;i;..-"p i..rir-it;.;r;
arrrr

f-lt r.'.r,

llr**

0.14722.6 r

#ffJ:

O.JB2t

t* lsnrrn{46 ncravr proccodr bv rtager 1rr'r8 to

tho.o

OfERAnX6r

Ttl,tE

IN
SET.aAD5

+5oOA

C.u..EtlT