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OverCurrentRelayWorkingPrincipleTypes

OverCurrentRelayWorkingPrincipleTypes
Inanovercurrentrelayoro/crelaytheactuatingquantityisonlycurrent.Thereisonlyonecurrentoperated
elementintherelay,novoltagecoiletc.arerequiredtoconstructthisprotectiverelay.

WorkingPrincipleofOverCurrentRelay
Inanovercurrentrelay,therewouldbeessentiallyacurrentcoil.Whennormalcurrentflowsthroughthiscoil,
themagneticeffectgeneratedbythecoilisnotsufficienttomovethemovingelementoftherelay,asinthis
conditiontherestrainingforceisgreaterthandeflectingforce.Butwhenthecurrentthroughthecoilincreased,
themagneticeffectincreases,andaftercertainlevelofcurrent,thedeflectingforcegeneratedbythemagnetic
effectofthecoil,crossestherestrainingforce,asaresult,themovingelementstartsmovingtochangethe
contactpositionintherelay.
Althoughtherearedifferenttypesofovercurrentrelaysbutbasicworkingprincipleofovercurrentrelayis
moreorlesssameforall.

TypesofOverCurrentRelay
Dependingupontimeofoperation,therearevarioustypesofOCrelays,suchas,
1.Instantaneousovercurrentrelay.
2.Definitetimeovercurrentrelay.
3.Inversetimeovercurrentrelay.
InversetimeovercurrentrelayorsimplyinverseOCrelayisagainsubdividedasinversedefiniteminimum
time(IDMT),veryinversetime,extremelyinversetimeovercurrentrelayorOCrelay.

InstantaneousOverCurrentRelay
Constructionandworkingprincipleofinstantaneousovercurrentrelayquitesimple.

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OverCurrentRelayWorkingPrincipleTypes

Heregenerallyamagneticcoreiswoundbycurrentcoil.Apieceofironissofittedbyhingesupportand
restrainingspringintherelay,thatwhenthereisnotsufficientcurrentinthecoil,theNOcontactsremainopen.
Whencurrentinthecoilcrossesapresentvalue,theattractiveforcebecomessufficienttopulltheironpiece
towardsthemagneticcoreandconsequentlytheNocontactsareclosed.
Thepresetvalueofcurrentintherelaycoilisreferredaspickupsettingcurrent.Thisrelayisreferredas
instantaneousovercurrentrelay,asideally,therelayoperatesassoonasthecurrentinthecoilgetshigher
thanpickupsettingcurrent.Thereisnointentionaltimedelayapplied.Butthereisalwaysaninherenttime
delaywhichcannotbeavoidedpractically.Inpracticetheoperatingtimeofaninstantaneousrelayisofthe
orderofafewmilliseconds.Fig.

DefiniteTimeOverCurrentRelay
Thisrelayiscreatedbyapplyingintentionaltimedelayaftercrossingpickupvalueofthecurrent.Adefinite
timeovercurrentrelaycanbeadjustedtoissueatripoutputatdefiniteamountoftimeafteritpicksup.Thus,
ithasatimesettingadjustmentandpickupadjustment.

InverseTimeOCRelay
Inversetimeisanaturalcharacterofanyinductiontyperotatingdevice.Thismeansthespeedofrotationof
rotatingartofthedeviceisfasterifinputcurrentisincreased.Inotherwords,timeofoperationinverselyvaries
withinputcurrent.Thisnaturalcharacteristicofelectromechanicalinductiondiscrelayinverysuitableforover
currentprotection.Thisisbecause,inthisrelay,iffaultismoresevere,itwouldbeclearedmorefaster.
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OverCurrentRelayWorkingPrincipleTypes

Althoughtimeinversecharacteristicisinherenttoelectromechanicalinductiondiscrelay,butthesame
characteristiccanbeachievedinmicroprocessorbasedrelayalsobyproperprogramming.

InverseDefiniteMinimumTimeOverCurrentRelayorIDMTO/CRelay
Idealinversetimecharacteristicscannotbeachieved,inanovercurrentrelay.Asthecurrentinthesystem
increases,thesecondarycurrentofthecurrenttransformerisincreasedproportionally.Thesecondarycurrent
isfedtotherelaycurrentcoil.ButwhentheCTbecomessaturated,therewouldnotbefurtherproportional
increaseofCTsecondarycurrentwithincreasedsystemcurrent.
Fromthisphenomenonitisclearthatfromtrickvaluetocertainrangeoffaultylevel,aninversetimerelay
showsexactinversecharacteristic.Butafterthisleveloffault,theCTbecomessaturatedandrelaycurrent
doesnotincreasefurtherwithincreasingfaultylevelofthesystem.Astherelaycurrentisnotincreasedfurther,
therewouldnotbeanyfurtherreductionintimeofoperationintherelay.Thistimeisreferredasminimumtime
ofoperation.Hence,thecharacteristicisinverseintheinitialpart,whichtendstoadefiniteminimumoperating
timeasthecurrentbecomesveryhigh.Thatiswhytherelayisreferredasinversedefiniteminimumtime
overcurrentrelayorsimplyIDMTrelay.

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