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Relays
FromOpenElectrical

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Overcurrentrelays
2.1 Overcurrentrelaysinstantaneous
2.2 Overcurrentrelaysinversetime
2.3 Overcurrentrelaysinductiondisk
2.4 Recommendedsettingsforovercurrentprotection
3 Smallairbreakersforlowvoltagedomesticcircuits
4 Differential(unit)protection
5 Distancerelays
5.1 Impedancerelays
5.2 Admittancerelays
5.3 Reactancerelays
6 Trivia

Introduction
Therelaysistheelementthatsensesanabnormalconditioninthecircuitandcommandstheoperationofthebreaker.Theycanbeclassifiedinanumberofways:

Accordingtothequantitysensed:current,voltage,activepower,reactivepower,impedancerelays
Accordingtothetripping:instantaneoustrip,delayedtrip,inversetimecurrentresponse
Accordingtotheoperatingprinciple:electromagneticrelays,inductionrelays,thermalrelays,staticordigitalrelays

Moregeneralclassificationdistinguishtwotypesofrelays:

1.Electromechanicalrelays
2.Digitalrelays

Currently,electromechanicalrelayinallitsformsisbeingreplacedbystatic,digitalandnumericalrelays,eachchangebringingwithitreductionsandsizeand
improvementsinfunctionality.

Inmosttypes(exceptdigitalrelays)therelayscontactsareclosedbyamovingpartwhichsensesaforceproportionaltothecurrent(orothersensedquantity)inthecircuit.
Arestrainingforceproducedbyaspringorothermeanssetsthethresholdabovewhichtherelayoperates.

Inaprotectionrelay,theterm"static"referstotheabsenceofmovingpartstocreatetherelaycharacteristic.Comparedtostaticrelays,digitalrelaysintroducedA/D
conversionofallmeasuredanaloguequantitiesanduseamicroprocessortoimplementprotectionalgorithm.Thedistinctionbetweendigitalandnumericalrelaysrestson
pointsoffinetechnicaldetail,andisrearlyfoundinareasotherthanprotection.Theycanbeviewedasnaturaldevelopmentsofdigitalrelaysasaresultofadvancesin
technology.

Overcurrentrelays
IECdefinitionstatesthatovercurrentrelayisameasuringrelaywhich
operateswhenthevalueofthecurrentexceedsthesetting(operatingvalue)
oftherelay.Therearegenerally3typesoftheserelays:instantaneous,
inverseandinduction.

Relaysareadaptabletotransmissionlines,buses,feedercircuits,
transformersandmotors.

Overcurrentrelaysinstantaneous Relaytimingmechanisms:a)Instantaneous,b)Inversetime,c)Timed

Overcurrentrelaysareelectromagneticrelays.Theyarebasedon
electrodynamicforceproducedonamovingpartbythecurrentflowingthroughacoil.Instantaneousrelaysoperatewithoutintentionaltimedelay.Theyareusedforfaults
closetothesourcewhenthefaultcurrentisveryhigh.Theoperatingtimeisapproximately10ms.Theconstructionofinstantaneousrelaysisusuallymovingarmature,
plunger,orinductiondisk.

Animportantcharacteristicofaninstantaneousrelayisadropoutratio.

dropoutratio=(dropoutcurrent)/(pickupcurrent)

Dropoutratioisusuallylessthan1.

Instantaneousovercurrentrelay

Instantaneousovercurrentprotection
MCTIinstantaneousovercurrentrelay

Overcurrentrelaysinversetime

Timeovercurrentrelaysoperatewithatimedelay,whichisadjustable.Forgivensetting,theactualtimedelaydependsonthecurrentthroughtherelaycoil.Highercurrent
willcauseafasteroperationoftherelay.Theminimumrelayoperationcurrent(pickupcurrent)isalsoadjustable.

Themostcommonlyusedovercurrentrelayhasboththeinstantaneousresponseforverylargecurrentsandtheinversetimeresponseforlowercurrents.

Timeovercurrentrelayscomeinfivedifferentversionsthataredefinedbythesteepnessofthetimeovercurrentcharacteristic:

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definitetime
moderatelyinverse
inverse
veryinverse
extremelyinverse

Inversetimeovercurrentrelaycharacteristics,
Timeovercurrentrelaycharacteristics,allversions
differentdelaysettings
Inversetimeovercurrentrelay

Overcurrentrelaysinductiondisk

Theinversetimeresponsecanbeprovidedbyaninductiondiskunit.

Intheinductiondiskunit,ametaldiskismountedonashaftthatcanfreelyrotate.Thecurrentcoilsarefixedandcreatemagneticfieldthatinduceseddycurrentsinthe
metaldisk.Themagneticfieldoftheeddycurrentsinteractswiththemagneticfieldofthestationarycoilsandproducetorqueonthedisk.Thediskanditsshaftrotateand
bringthemovingcontacttowardsthefixedcontactintoaclosedposition.

Themotionoftheshaftisopposedbyaspringthatreturnsthediskandthemovingcontactintotheopenpositionwhenthecurrentdropsbelowapresetvalue.Thetimeto
closethecontactdependsonthecontacttraveldistancewhichissetbyatimedial.Thepickupcurrentisadjustablebyselectingcurrenttapsonthecurrentcoil.Therelays
arenormallyavailablewiththreerangesofcurrenttaps:0.5to2.0A,1.5to6.0A,and4to16A.Thetimedialhasusuallypositionsmarkedfrom0to10,wherefor0
settingthecontactispermanentlyclosed.

Inductiondiskovercurrentrelay

Inductiondisktyperelay

Recommendedsettingsforovercurrentprotection

Moreonrecommendedsettingsforovercurrentdevices:OvercurrentProtection

Smallairbreakersforlowvoltagedomesticcircuits
CircuitbreakersthatareusedatthedistributionboardinhousesarecalledMCBs(minaturecircuitbreakers).Thedistributionboardisalsocalledtheconsumerunit.

Thermal

Theloadcurrentispassedthroughasmallheater,thetemperatureofwhichdependsuponthecurrentitcarries.Theheaterwillwarmupabimetalstrip.Whenexcessive
currentflowsthebimetalstripwillwarptotripthelatchmechanism.

Somedelayoccursowingtothetransferofheatproducedbytheloadcurrenttothebimetalstrip.Thermaltripsaresuitableonlyforsmalloverloadsoflongduration.
Excessiveheatcausedbyheavyoverloadcanbuckleanddistortthebimetalstrip.

Magnetic

Theprincipleusedinthistypeisthemagneticforceofattractionsetupbythemagneticfieldofacoilcarryingtheloadcurrent.Atnormalcurrentsthemagneticfieldisnot
strongenoughtoattractthelatch.Overloadcurrentswillincreasetheforceofattractionandoperatethelatchtotripthemaincontacts.

Insidea10ampthermalmagneticcircuitbreaker.Thesecircuitbreakersarestandardinmoderndomesticandcommercialelectricaldistributionboards.

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SimpleMCB
Crosssectionofthethermalmagneticcircuit
Thermalmagneticcircuitbreaker(1Ph+N)2A250VAC
breaker
Typicalmagneticcircuitbreaker

Numberdescription:

1.Actuatorleverusedtomanuallytripandresetthecircuitbreaker.Alsoindicatesthestatusofthecircuitbreaker(On/Off/tripped).
2.Actuatormechanismforcesthecontactstogetherorapart.
3.ContactsAllowcurrenttoflowwhentouchingandbreaktheflowofcurrentwhenmovedapart.
4.Terminals
5.Bimetallicstrip
6.Calibrationscrewallowstoadjustthetripcurrentofthedeviceafterassembly.

7.Solenoid
8.Arcdivider/extinguisher

Differential(unit)protection
Differentialprotectionisaveryreliablemethodofprotectinggenerators,transformers,buses,andtransmissionlinesfromtheeffectsofinternalfaults.Innormaloperating
conditions,thecurrentthroughtheCTsisthesamesotherelayseesnodifferentialcurrent.Thisisalsothecaseforexternalfaults.Differentialprotectioncanbeusedfor
protectinggeneratorsfromfaultstoground.DifferentialprotectionofbusbarsinsubstationsusesoneCTforeachincomingline.Allincomingcurrentsareaddedupand
comparedtothesumofalloutgoingcurrents.

MicroprocessorbasedSEL387Llinecurrentrelay
Generalschematicsofthedifferentialrelay

Differential(unit)protectionfortransformers

Inapplyingtheprinciplesofdifferentialprotectiontotransformers,avarietyofconsiderationshavetobetakenintoaccount.Theseinclude:

a)correctionforpossiblephaseshiftacrossthetransformerwindings(phasecorrection)
b)theeffectsofthevarietyofearthingandwindingarrangements(filteringofzerosequencecurrents)
c)correctionforpossibleunbalanceofsignalsfromcurrenttransformersoneithersideofthewindings(ratiocorrection)
d)theeffectofmagnetisinginrushduringinitialenergisation
e)thepossibleoccurrenceofoverfluxing

Theprimaryandsecondarycurrentshavedifferentmagnitudesandphases,sothemagnitudeandthephaseshiftmustbebalancedbyappropriateratiooftheCTs.Ifthe
transformerisY,thecurrentsalsohave30phaseshift.ThephaseshiftiscorrectedbyconnectingtheCTsonthesideinY,andontheYsidein.

CooperPowerSystemsiXP420differentialrelay,suitablefortransformers
Differentialprotectionintransformers

Whenusedontheoverheadlines,thedifferentialprotectionhasthepracticallengthlimitationof40kmforproblemswiththepilotwire(wireusedtotransferstatedataof
theprotectedline,i.e.tosendinformationifthefaulthasoccured).

Distancerelays
Theimpedanceofatransmissionlineisproportionaltoitslength,fordistancemeasurementitisappropriatetousearelaycapableofmeasuringtheimpedanceofalineup
toapredeterminedpoint(thereachpoint).Sucharelayisdescribedasadistancerelayandisdesignedtooperateonlyforfaultsoccurringbetweentherelaylocationandthe
selectedreachpoint,thusgivingdiscriminationforfaultsthatmayoccurindifferentlinesections.

Thebasicprincipleofdistanceprotectioninvolvesthedivisionofthevoltageattherelayingpointbythemeasuredcurrent.Theapparentimpedancesocalculatedis
comparedwiththereachpointimpedance.Ifthemeasuredimpedanceislessthanthereachpointimpedance,itisassumedthatafaultexistsonthelinebetweentherelay
andthereachpoint.Thereachpointofarelayisthepointalongthelineimpedancelocus(setofpoints)thatisintersectedbytheboundarycharacteristicoftherelay.Since
thisisdependentontheratioofvoltageandcurrentandthephaseanglebetweenthem,itmaybeplottedonanR/Xdiagram.Thelociofpowersystemimpedancesasseen
bytherelayduringfaults,powerswingsandloadvariationsmaybeplottedonthesamediagramandinthismannertheperformanceoftherelayinthepresenceofsystem
faultsanddisturbancesmaybestudied.

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Generalsettingofthedistanceprotection

Threezonestepdistancerelayingtoprotect100%ofalineand
backuptheneighbourline TecQuipmentPS250distancerelay

Asthepowersystemsbecomemorecomplexandthefaultcurrentvarieswithchangesingenerationandsystemconfiguration,directionalovercurrentrelaysbecome
difficulttoapplyandtosetforallcontingencies,whereasthedistancerelaysettingisconstantforawidevarietyofchangesexternaltotheprotectedline.

Followingtopicsgivethemainoverviewoverthedifferentdistancerelaytypes:

Impedancerelays

Impedancerelaysareusedwheneverovercurrentrelaysdonotprovideadequateprotection.Theyfunctioneveniftheshortcircuitcurrentisrelativelylow.Thespeedof
operationisindependentofcurrentmagnitude.

Therelayconsistsofabalancedbeam.Ateachendofthebalancedbeamisacoilthatexertsaforceonthebeamatthatend.Onecoilisconnectedtoacurrenttransformer,
theothercoiltoapotentialtransformer.Undernormalconditions,thecontactoftherelayiskeptopen.Duringafault,thevoltagedrops,andthecurrentrises.Thetorque
duetothecurrentcoiloverpowersthetorqueduetothevoltagecoil,andtherelayclosesitscontact.

TheimpedancerelayhasacircularcharacteristiccenteredattheoriginoftheRXdiagram.Itisnondirectionalandisusedprimarilyasafaultdetector.

Admittancerelays

Theadmittancerelayisthemostcommonlyuseddistancerelay.Itisthetrippingrelayinpilotschemesandasthebackuprelayinstepdistanceschemes.Itscharacteristic
passesthroughtheoriginoftheRXdiagramandisthereforedirectional.Intheelectromechanicaldesignitiscircular,andinthesolidstatedesign,itcanbeshapedto
correspondtothetransmissionlineimpedance.

Reactancerelays

Thereactancerelayisastraightlinecharacteristicthatrespondsonlytothereactance(XL)oftheprotectedline.Itisnondirectionalandisusedtosupplementthe
admittancerelayasatrippingrelaytomaketheoverallprotectionindependentofresistance.Itisparticularlyusefulonshortlineswherethefaultarcresistanceisthesame
orderofmagnitudeasthelinelength.

Trivia
MCBshortoverview:

Circuit Breaker Operating Mechanism What is a Circuit Breaker?

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Category: Protection

Thispagewaslastmodifiedon18February2017,at03:41.

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