IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution

Research Article

Adaptive distance protection for grounded ISSN 1751-8687

Received on 25th July 2016
Revised 9th December 2016
fault of lines connected with doubly-fed Accepted on 20th December 2016
E-First on 27th February 2017
induction generators doi: 10.1049/iet-gtd.2016.1145
www.ietdl.org

Shi Chen1 , Nengling Tai1, Chunju Fan1, Jian Liu1, Shubin Hong1
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
E-mail: chenshi9004@126.com

Abstract: Crowbar circuit is a preferred solution to maintaining wind generators connected to the grid during a disturbance.
However, the activation of crowbar protection will lead to an obvious difference between the positive sequence impedance of
wind generators and the negative sequence one. This study analyses the influence of this unique fault characteristic of doubly-
fed induction generators (DFIGs) on the three zones of distance relays. When the transmission line emanates from a DFIG-
based wind farm, there exists a high probability that the conventional protective zones of distance relays fail to operate. Hence,
an adaptive branch coefficient is proposed to calculate the zone 2 setting according to the fault type and equivalent sequence
impedances of wind generators. The proposed adaptive setting principle realises a better coverage of zone 2 and enhances the
reliability and sensitivity of the relays. Simulation results verify the improvement of the protective zone of distance relays.

 Nomenclature Subscripts
k zero sequence compensation coefficient i 1, 2, 0 correspond to positive, negative, zero sequence
α e j120
∘
(symmetrical components)
DR distance relay
Z set . DR setting of distance relays 1 Introduction
Rs , Rr resistances of the stator and the rotor referred to the With a high energy demand and the growing environmental issue,
stator the integration of wind power provides a promising solution. Large
X sσ, X rσ leakage reactances of the stator and the rotor referred to wind farms are gradually integrated into a high-voltage
the stator transmission network and make a significant contribution to the
Xm magnetising reactance power generation [1]. Doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs)
Rcr crowbar resistance allow variable rotor speed along with a partially rated ac–ac
s slip of the generator converter connected between the rotor winding and the grid.
Z si impedance of the grid Owing to these advantages, the DFIG plays a key role among the
Z wi impedance of wind generators currently equipped wind turbines [2].
In early wind farms, wind generators were allowed to be
Z Ti impedance of the main transformer of the wind farm disconnected from the grid to protect themselves immediately after
Z PQi impedance of line PQ a voltage dip occurred. However, this behaviour further depressed
Z Pfi impedance from the fault location to bus P the voltage at the point of interconnection and resulted in severe
Z Qfi impedance from the fault location to bus Q power fluctuation [3]. In order to enforce the connection of wind
generators during a voltage dip, some countries, such as Germany,
zi impedance per unit of the transmission line
China, have issued some relevant grid requirements for the
Z L . min minimum load impedance of normal conditions integration of wind generators [4, 5]. Nowadays, the capacity of
Ės equivalent voltage of the system low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) has become an essential
I˙PQi short-circuit current flowing through line PQ requirement for the newly built wind farms. Crowbar circuits, as a
widely used technique for LVRT in practice, provide a bypass to
I˙QKi short-circuit current flowing through line QK divert the large currents from the rotor side converter shortly after
I˙fi short-circuit current flowing through the fault point the detection of a voltage dip [6].
K rel reliability coefficient Some research works have been focusing on the fault analysis
K bi branch coefficient of DFIGs. The fault characteristic of wind turbines differs greatly
from the traditional synchronous generators. An approximate
K φw adaptive branch coefficient for single-phase-to-ground method is proposed to calculate the short-circuit currents of DFIGs
fault with the activation of crowbar circuits under symmetrical and
K φφ
w
adaptive branch coefficient for double-phase-to-ground unsymmetrical faults [7, 8]. An improved sequence network model
fault is derived to increase the accuracy of the stator short-circuit
K ss self-start coefficient currents in an induction-generator-based wind farm for unbalanced
K re return coefficient faults [9]. The findings are also applicable to the DFIG-based wind
|| notation for parallel impedances farm with crowbar circuits being triggered. In [10], the influence of
the integration of DFIGs on the phase elements of the grids is
Superscripts analysed based on the featured sequence impedance of DFIGs.
In the high-voltage transmission network, distance protection
I, II, III zones 1, 2, 3 usually functions either as the primary or the backup protection
with a fixed protective zone [11]. The performance of distance
relays for lines emanating from the wind farms is discussed in [12–
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© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017

Fig. 1  Single-line diagram of a network with a DFIG-based wind farm
15]. Due to the exclusive fault behaviour of DFIGs, there exist
some coordination problems between different zones of the
traditional distance relay, resulting in the malfunction or failure of
tripping of relays [12]. In [16, 17], the performance of distance
relays on the system connected with offshore wind farms is
investigated. Owing to the power control strategy, the measured
impedance deviates from the actual distance between the fault
point and the relay location. With the rapid development of
microprocessors and communication techniques, the adaptive
protection becomes available to calculate the trip boundary online
according to the prevailing condition of the wind farms, such as
varying power [18–20]. However, the proposed scheme in [18, 19]
neglects the detailed fault characteristic of specific wind farms.
In this paper, the possible influence of the connection of DFIG-
based wind farms on three zones of distance relays is unveiled. For
the conventional setting method with fixed settings, some of the
faults within the protective range of zone 2 appear to be outside the
protective reach, leading to the failure of operation of relays. To
overcome this problem, an adaptive distance protection is
proposed, in which the fault types and sequence impedance of wind
farms are taken into account. The setting characteristic of distance
relays is allowed to be adjusted automatically according to the
prevailing system condition. Consequently, a better coverage of
zone 2 protection is achieved. The proposed scheme effectively
improves relays' reliability and sensitivity. Due to the similar fault
characteristic, the proposed protection is also applicable to the lines
connected to the induction-generator-based wind farms.
The rest of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2
analyses the sequence impedance of DFIGs and its impact on the
setting principle for three zones of distance relays. Section 3
proposes an adaptive setting principle for calculating the zone 2
setting and illustrates the proposed scheme of the adaptive distance
protection. The performance of the proposed setting principle for
zone 2 is investigated in Section 4. Finally, the conclusion is given
in Section 5.
2 Sequence impedance of DFIGs
2.1 AC grid with a DFIG-based wind farm
Fig. 1 shows a single-line diagram of a network with a DFIG-
based wind farm. The wind farm is interconnected to bus Q. DR1
is the distance relay installed at bus P, meanwhile, DR2 acts as the
primary protection of line QK. The detailed system parameters are
listed in the Appendix.
2.2 Sequence impedance of DFIGs
In the grid requirements for the integration of wind generators [4,
5], it is necessary for DFIGs to have the ability of LVRT. As soon
Fig. 2  Sequence equivalent circuits of a DFIG
(a) Positive sequence, (b) Negative sequence
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as a voltage dip occurs at the terminal of wind generators, the rotor
of wind generators will suffer from an overcurrent because of the
magnetic coupling. Recently, the most preferred choice of
manufactures for protection of DFIGs is the activation of crowbars
regardless of some drawbacks. With the triggering of crowbar
circuits, the DFIG will operate as a squirrel cage induction
generator (SCIG) with a high rotor resistance. For relay settings,
the equivalent steady-state sequence models for the DFIG with the
rotor short-circuited by crowbars are acceptable, as depicted in
Fig. 2 [9, 10]. In this figure, Rs, Rr are the stator resistance and
rotor resistance referred to the stator; X sσ, X rσ are the stator leakage
reactance and rotor leakage reactance referred to the stator; X m is
the magnetising reactance; Rcr is the crowbar resistance; s is the
slip of the generator. The difference between the two equivalent
sequence impedances is the slip term of the rotor circuit, resulting
from the opposite rotation of the synchronous frequency.
Since the wind speed is not likely to change appreciably during
the fault interval, the slip s is assumed to remain constant as its pre-
fault value. The positive and negative sequence equivalent
impedances of a DFIG are given by
((Rr + Rcr)/s + jX rσ)jX m
Z w1 = + Rs + jX sσ, (1)
((Rr + Rcr)/s + jX rσ) + jX m
((Rr + Rcr)/(2 − s) + jX rσ)jX m
Z w2 = + Rs + jX sσ . (2)
((Rr + Rcr)/(2 − s) + jX rσ) + jX m
Unlike fixed speed wind turbines, the speed of DFIGs usually
varies ±30% of the nominal speed, leading to the slip s ranging
from −0.3 to 0.3. Hence, the magnitude of Zw1 is greater than that
of Zw2 according to (1) and (2). Based on the detailed parameters in
the Appendix, Fig. 3 illustrates the magnitudes of Zw1 and Zw2 with
respect to the slip and crowbar resistance.
It can be seen that the crowbar resistance has a significant
impact on the magnitude of both sequence impedances. The larger
the crowbar resistance is, the greater the magnitude of the
impedance becomes. For the positive sequence impedance, its
magnitude changes appreciably with the variation of the slip.
However, the magnitude of Zw1 is not sensitive to the sign of the
slip, meaning that the same magnitude of the slip derives the same
positive sequence impedance. As to the negative sequence
impedance, its magnitude is immune to the slip, unless the crowbar
resistance becomes large enough. Moreover, the magnitude of Zw1
differs greatly from that of Zw2 under the same parameters, which
is unfamiliar to the traditional relaying protection system.
If the settings of distance relays are still predefined according to
the fault characteristic of traditional synchronous generators, the
protection system will face a high risk of miscoordination and is
possible to lose its selectivity and sensitivity.
2.3 Impact of sequence impedance
2.3.1 Zones 1 and 3: Zone 1 of a distance relay is set to protect
80–85% of the line length based on the measured impedance
viewed by relays and trip the faulted line instantaneously after the
detection of faults [11]. With different relay polarisation quantities,
distance relays behave as different characteristics, such as mho,
quadrilateral. This paper focuses mainly on the setting principle for
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2017, Vol. 11 Iss. 6, pp. 1513-1520
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
Fig. 3  Magnitude of sequence impedances with respect to slip and crowbar resistance
(a) Positive sequence, (b) Negative sequence
the distance relays with a mho characteristic. The setting scheme
for other characteristics can be derived likewise.
Consider a grounded fault on line QK in Fig. 1. The voltage and
current measured by the element for grounded fault of DR2 is
denoted as
U̇ DR2 . φ = I˙QK 1 . φZ Qf 1 + I˙QK 2 . φZ Qf 2 + I˙QK 0Z Qf 0
, (3)
I˙DR2 . φ = I˙QK 1 . φ + I˙QK 2 . φ + I˙QK 0
where I˙QK 1 . φ, I˙QK 2 . φ, I˙QK 0 are the positive, negative, zero sequence
currents measured by DR2, respectively; ZQf1, ZQf2, ZQf0 are the
positive, negative, zero sequence impedances from the fault point
to the relay location.
In general, the positive sequence impedance of the transmission
line is the same as the negative sequence one. U̇ DR2 . φ in (3) can
then be represented as
U̇ DR2 . φ = (I˙DR2 . φ + k ⋅ 3I˙QK 0)Z Qf 1,
where k = (z0 − z1)/(3z1) is the zero sequence compensation
coefficient; z1, z0 are the positive and zero sequence impedances
per unit of the transmission line.
The impedance ZQf1 in (4) can be obtained through the
measured voltage divided by the measured current with the zero
sequence compensation term. This impedance directly reflects the
fault distance. Thus, the integration of wind farms does not affect
the measured impedance of the relay. The zone 1 setting of DR2
can still be calculated as usual, given by
I introduction of K b1 works well with maintaining the coverage of
Z set . DR2
= K IrelZ QK ,
where K Irel is the reliability coefficient of zone 1; Z set
I
. DR2
is the
zone 1 setting of DR2; Z QK is the impedance of line QK.
Zone 3 is designed to provide a remote backup to zones 1 and 2
protection with a longer time delay in case that the relay fails to
clear the fault [11]. On the one hand, the zone is extended to 120–
180% of the next line. On the other hand, the zone 3 setting
characteristic should not operate for the unusual conditions, such as
heavy loads [21]. In some practical setting methods [22], zone 3 is
considered to prevent the minimum load impedance of normal
conditions from entering its protective zone. Meanwhile, zone 3
protection is designed to offset the self-start effect of motors after
the fault being cleared because of the large currents of motors.
Hence, the setting of zone 3 protection can be given by
Z III
set = K III
relZ L . min / K ssK re ,
where K III
rel is the reliability coefficient for zone 3 protection of the
distance relay; ZL.min is the minimum load impedance of normal
conditions; Kss is the self-start coefficient, usually 1.5–2.5; Kre is
the return coefficient of the relay itself, usually 1.15–1.25.
It can be seen that the fault characteristic of sources is not taken
into account when calculating the zone 3 settings. In other words,
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2017, Vol. 11 Iss. 6, pp. 1513-1520
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
the integration of wind farms has a little impact on the setting
characteristic of zone 3.
2.3.2 Zone 2: Zone 2 of a distance relay is used to protect the
entire line and act as a backup protection to reach nearly 50% of
the shortest adjacent line with an intentional time delay [11]. It
should also be noted that the reach of zone 2 must not exceed zone
1 of the relay of the adjacent line.
Taking Fig. 1 for example, in conventional method for
calculating the boundary of zone 2 of DR1 [20], the zone 2 setting
of DR1 is set as Z PQ + 0.5 ⋅ Z QK . However, the fault currents
supplied by the branches, known as infeed or outfeed currents,
change considerably according to different fault types and fault
locations. If the boundary of zone 2 of DR1 still adopts the
conventional way in [20], some overreach or underreach problems
will occur in the protection system. The coverage of the zone 2 of
the distance relay may deviate from the designed protective zone.
In China, a branch coefficient K b1 under symmetrical faults is
(4) introduced to reduce the impact of the branches. Hence, the
conventional setting method considering the branch coefficient for
zone 2 of DR1 is given by
II
Z set . DR1
= K IIrel(Z PQ + K b1Z set
I
. DR2
), (7)
where K IIrel is the reliability coefficient of zone 2; Z set
II
. DR1
is the
I
zone 2 setting of DR1, whereas Z set . DR2
is the zone 1 setting of
DR2; K b1 is the branch coefficient calculated under symmetrical
faults.
For synchronous generators or traditional loads as a branch, the
(5)
the zone 2 of the distance relay. However, for the integration of
DFIGs, it is necessary to make some corrections due to the featured
impedance characteristic of the wind generators.
3 Adaptive setting principle for zone 2 and
proposed protection scheme
With the help of the ability of online real-time calculation of the
adaptive protection, the sequence impedance of DFIGs can be
obtained in accordance with the condition of DFIGs at the fault
inception. The fault type can also be taken into account for
calculating the setting of zone 2.
3.1 Adaptive setting principle for zone 2
3.1.1 Single-phase-to-ground fault: Assuming that a bolted
phase-A-to-ground fault occurs on the reach of zone 1 of DR2 in
(6)
Fig. 1, its composite sequence network is deduced in Fig. 4a
according to symmetrical component theory, where Ės is the
equivalent voltage of the system; Z si, Z wi, Z PQi are the impedances
of the grid, the wind generator and line PQ, respectively; Z Qfi
corresponds to the impedance between bus Q and the fault
location; Z Ti is the impedance of the main transformer of the wind
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Fig. 4  Composite sequence networks for faults occurring on the reach of zone 1 of DR2 in Fig. 1
(a) Phase-A-to-ground fault, (b) Phase-B-to-phase-C-to-ground fault

farm; I˙PQi, I˙QKi, I˙fi are the fault currents flowing through line PQ, to be close to the other two sequence branch coefficients. The
QK and the fault point, respectively. adaptive coefficient K φw in (13) can then be further simplified as K b1
The voltage viewed by the phase-A-to-ground element of DR1 for traditional power system. However, as discussed in Section 2,
in Fig. 1 is given by the magnitude of Z w2 is smaller than that of Z w1 for DFIGs,
resulting in K b2 greater than K b1. Hence, the magnitude of K φw
U̇ DR1 . a = ∑ I˙PQiZ PQi + ∑ I˙QKiZ Qfi . (8) increases in comparison with that of K b1, and the measured distance
i = 1, 2, 0 i = 1, 2, 0
of the relay appears to exceed the planned protective zone when a
The branch coefficients for each sequence circuit are introduced to single-phase-to-ground fault takes place within the range of zone 2.
calculate the zone 2 setting of DR1, as follows: If the setting still remains unchanged as shown in (7), the zone 2
protection of the distance relay will fail to operate. In order to
I˙QKi Z si + Z PQi extend the protective zone and increase the reliability of the relay,
K bi = =1+ , i = 1, 2 (9) zone 2 setting of the ground element of DR1 should be designed as
I˙PQi Z wi + Z Ti
follows:

I˙QK 0 Z s0 + Z PQ0 II
Z set = K IIrel(Z PQ + K φwZ set
I
). (14)
K b0 = =1+ . (10) . DR1 . DR2
I˙PQ0 Z T0
3.1.2 Double-phase-to-ground fault: Consider a bolted phase-B-
Moreover, according to the relationship shown in Fig. 4a, there to-phase-C-to-ground fault on the reach of zone 1 of DR2. Fig. 4b
exists illustrates the corresponding composite sequence network.
Similarly, the voltage of phase B obtained by DR1 is given by
I˙PQiK bi = I˙fi, i = 1, 2, 0
I˙f 1 = I˙f 2 = I˙f 0 . (11)
U̇ DR1 . b = ∑ I˙PQi . bZ PQi + ∑ I˙QKi . bZ Qfi . (15)
i = 1, 2, 0 i = 1, 2, 0
I˙DR1 . a = I˙PQ1 + I˙PQ2 + I˙PQ0
Likewise, (15) can then be simplified as
Substituting (9)–(11) into (8), then yields
U̇ DR1 . b = (I˙DR1 . b + k ⋅ 3I˙PQ0)(Z PQ1 + K w
φφ
Z ),
. b Qf 1 (16)
˙ ˙
U̇ DR1 . a = (I DR1 . a + k ⋅ 3I PQ0)(Z PQ1 + K φwZ Qf 1), (12)
φφ
where the adaptive branch coefficient K w .b
of phase B for a
where K φw
is the adaptive branch coefficient of phase A considering double-phase-to-ground fault is given by
the difference of the sequence impedances of DFIGs, as follows:

2 + z0 /z1
φφ
Kw .b
= ∑ a2iZ bi / ∑ a2iZ bi /K bi , (17)
K φw = . (13) i = 1, 2, 0 i = 1, 2, 0
1/K b1 + 1/K b2 + z0 / z1K b0
where Z b1 = − 1 − Z Σ0 /Z Σ2; Z b2 = Z Σ0 /Z Σ2; Z b0 = z0 /z1;
The impedance measured by the phase-A-to-ground-fault element Z ∑ i = ((Z si + Z PQi) | | (Z wi + Z Ti)) + Z Qfi, i = 1, 2;
of DR1 finally becomes Z PQ1 + K φwZ Qf 1. Z ∑ 0 = ((Z s0 + Z PQ0) | | (Z T0)) + Z Qf 0. As to the element of phase C
The positive sequence impedances of components in traditional for a double-phase-to-ground fault, the adaptive branch coefficient
power system are usually the same as the negative sequence can be deduced as
impedances, yielding the same branch coefficients K b1 and K b2. It is
reasonable that the zero sequence branch coefficient K b0 is assumed

1516 IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2017, Vol. 11 Iss. 6, pp. 1513-1520
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
Fig. 5  Flowchart of the operation of an adaptive distance relay for a grounded fault
φφ
Kw .c
= ∑ aiZ bi / ∑ aiZ bi /K bi .
i = 1, 2, 0 i = 1, 2, 0
The difference between the equivalent sequence impedances of
DFIGs has the same influence on the measured impedance of the
distance relay, as discussed in the case of a single-phase-to-ground
fault. The measured distance of the relay is potentially
overestimated if a fault occurs in the next line under the reach of
zone 2 of the relay. Thus, some corrections are necessary to supply
a better coverage of zone 2 than the conventional setting method in
(7), given by
II
Z set . DR1
= K IIrel(Z PQ1 + K φφ I
w Z set . DR2) .
It is noted above that the reach of zone 2 of the distance relay has
been adjusted according to the prevailing system condition.
For the settings of protection relays, the sensitivity is always
another index to evaluate the performance of relays. Taking DR1
for example, DR1's sensitivity shows its capability of zone 2 to
II
detect the fault on line PQ, and can be calculated as Z set . DR1
/Z PQ. It
is well known that the zone 2 coverage of distance relays exceeds
the coverage of zone 1, which implies that zone 2 provides a
backup protection in the case of zone 1's failure of operation.
Consequently, the sensitivity of a distance relay is >1. The better
the coverage can be supplied, the greater the sensitivity becomes. It
is also worth noting that the coordination between different relays
should be guaranteed with the sensitivity improved. An example of
DR1's sensitivity of zone 2 protection will be discussed later.
3.2 Proposed protection scheme
When a grounded fault is detected to occur on the line emanating
from the DFIG-based wind farm, the flowchart of the operation of
an adaptive distance relay is illustrated in Fig. 5.
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2017, Vol. 11 Iss. 6, pp. 1513-1520
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
First, the fault-type classifier judges which type of the grounded
(18) fault takes place on the protected line. The relevant element for
grounded faults of the distance relay calculates the apparent
impedance through the voltage and current signals. Since the
integration of DFIGs poses little impact on the setting of zone 1, its
setting can be predefined in accordance with the line parameters. If
the fault is within zone 1 of the relay, the faulted line will be
tripped instantaneously. Otherwise, zone 2 of the distance relay
will react to determine whether the grounded fault is in its
protective range. As to a single-phase-to-ground fault, the zone 2
setting can be obtained as (14), whereas for a double-phase-to-
ground fault, the setting should be calculated according to (19).
When the measured impedance is under the reach of zone 2, the
(19) distance relay will provide a backup protection after a proper time
delay. If the fault is beyond the reach of zone 2 or zone 2 refuses to
clear the fault, zone 3 will supply a further backup protection to
isolate the fault. Similar to the setting of zone 1, zone 3's setting
can also be calculated offline.
4 Case study
The power system connected with a DFIG-based wind farm in
Fig. 1 is modelled using DIgSILENT Powerfactory. Additionally,
the wind farm consists of 30 DFIGs with the crowbar resistance 0.1
p.u. The lengths of lines PQ and QK are set to be 100 and 50 km,
respectively. Since the integration of wind farms mainly affects the
zone 2 settings of distance relays, this section only discusses how
to determine the settings of zone 2 protection for grounded faults.
The simulation cases carried out in this section are summarised in
Table 1.
4.1 Single-phase-to-ground fault
The DFIG's slip usually varies in the range of ±30%, of which six
typical slips are chosen to illustrate the difference between the
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adaptive branch coefficient and the positive sequence branch It is found that the magnitude of K φw is almost three times larger
coefficient. Slip 0 indicates that the wind generator rotates at the than that of K b1. As these branch coefficients determine the zone 2
synchronous speed and transmits the power only through the stator
windings. Since slip 0 is an uncommon operation mode, this settings of the distance protection, considerable errors of these
condition is not discussed in this paper. Assuming that a phase-A- coefficients will introduce a big deviation of the reach of protective
to-ground fault occurs on the reach of zone 1 of DR2 shown in zone. Calculated as (14), the settings of zone 2 for the phase-A-to-
ground element of DR1 are listed in Table 3 using the adaptive and
Fig. 1, the adaptive branch coefficient K φw and the positive conventional method, respectively. Meanwhile, the sensitivities of
sequence branch coefficient Kb1 are listed in Table 2. II
DR1 are also displayed, calculated as Z set /Z PQ.
. DR1
Compared with the conventional method, the adaptive method
Table 1 Summary of the study cases increases the settings of zone 2 for the phase-A-to-ground element
Study Description Goal of DR1 after it considers the difference between the positive and
case negative sequence impedances of DFIGs. Most of the sensitivities
case 1 single-phase-to-ground compare the performance of of relays under conventional method are smaller than 1.25, which
faults with different DFIG's the proposed method with is a requirement of sensitivity for zone 2 of distance protection in
slip values the conventional one China. However, adaptive method yields a high sensitivity. In some
case 2 double-phase-to-ground compare the performance of
way, it is easier for them to clear faults at the end of line PQ. Since
faults with different DFIG's the proposed method with
the adaptive setting principle calculates the settings online
slip values the conventional one
according to the prevailing system condition, different slips of
machines correspond to different zone 2 settings. As discussed in
case 3 single-phase-to-ground compare zone 2 coverage
Section 2, the slip with a smaller magnitude results in a higher
faults and double-phase-to- immunity to the number of
ground faults with different DFIGs for the two methods
positive sequence impedance of machines. Hence, K φw in (13) for
number of DFIGs (proposed and conventional) slips with small magnitudes are less than those under high slips.
case 4 single-phase-to-ground compare the adaptability of For example, K φw is 3.62 under slip 0.1, whereas K φw increases to
faults and double-phase-to- the two methods to 4.02 under slip −0.2. Similarly, the settings of zone 2 have the
ground faults with different variations in system same tendency with respect to different slips.
lengths of transmission line parameters Higher settings always cause higher coverage of the protective
PQ zone. In order to further illustrate the merit of the adaptive method,
the percentage of the adjacent line covered by zone 2 of DR1 is
depicted in Fig. 6a under the adaptive and conventional setting
Table 2 Branch coefficients for a phase-A-to-ground fault methods. A series of bolted phase-A-to-ground faults are
on the reach of zone 1 of DR2 implemented to obtain the percentage of line QK covered by zone 2
Slip K φw K b1 of DR1. If the impedance measured by the phase-A-to-ground
element of DR1 just exceeds the setting impedance, the fault
−0.3 4.55 1.49 location is defined as the reach of zone 2 protection. It can be seen
−0.2 4.02 1.24 from Fig. 6a that the percentage of line QK protected by DR1 with
−0.1 3.55 1.08 the adaptive method varies around 55% under different slips,
0.1 3.62 1.20 whereas the conventional method reaches about 15% of the
0.2 3.88 1.37
adjacent line. With the utilisation of adaptive setting principle, a
more zone-2 coverage can be provided by the element of DR1. For
0.3 4.12 1.54
single-phase-to-ground faults occurring in the range of 20–50% of
line QK, DR1 with a conventional setting cannot offer a backup
protection and the relay definitely fails to operate. Consequently,
Table 3 Settings and sensitivities of zone 2 for the phase- the reliability of the adaptive relay is improved significantly in
A-to-ground-fault element of DR1 comparison with the conventional one.
Slip Setting impedance, Ω Sensitivity
Adaptive Conventional Adaptive Conventional 4.2 Double-phase-to-ground fault
−0.3 99.03 54.18 2.25 1.23
Assuming that a bolted phase-B-to-phase-C-to-ground fault occurs
−0.2 91.58 51.43 2.08 1.17
on the reach of zone 1 of DR2, the adaptive and positive sequence
−0.1 85.14 50.01 1.94 1.14 branch coefficients for different slips are listed in Table 4.
0.1 85.39 51.97 1.94 1.18 Similar to the case of phase-A-to-ground fault, the magnitude of
φφ
0.2 88.80 54.15 2.02 1.23 the adaptive branch coefficient K w .b
is also greater than that of the
0.3 91.93 56.33 2.09 1.28 positive sequence branch coefficient K b1. Consequently, the

Fig. 6  Percentage of the adjacent line covered by zone 2 of DR1 with adaptive and conventional methods under different slips
(a) Single-phase-to-ground fault, (b) Double-phase-to-ground fault

1518 IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2017, Vol. 11 Iss. 6, pp. 1513-1520
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
adaptive settings and the sensitivities of zone 2 protection are coverage of the conventional zone 2 protection is decreased to
greater than those calculated with conventional methods, which are about 20% of the next line. Adaptive setting principle makes the
listed in Table 5. distance relay more immune to the change of the system condition.
For the adaptive setting method, all the sensitivities of zone 2 Under the two fault conditions, the adaptive zone 2 element of
elements under different slips satisfy the grid requirement for the DR1 performs excellently with the coverage of about 50% of the
sensitivity of relays. Moreover, the adaptive zone 2 protection has a adjacent line. It leads to a considerable improvement of the
higher setting, thus, a better coverage can be supplied in contrast to reliability of relays. It should also be noted that zone 2 of DR1
the conventional method. Similar simulations are carried out to coordinates well with zone 1 of DR2, without reaching beyond
determine the zone 2 coverage of the ground element of DR1. The zone 1 of DR2.
results are illustrated in Fig. 6b.
It can be seen that zone 2 of DR1 with an adaptive setting 4.3 Some discussions
principle reaches nearly 55% of the adjacent line; however, the
4.3.1 Number of wind generators: The proposed adaptive
Table 4 Branch coefficients of phase B for a double-phase- setting principle is valid for the power system consisting of 30
to-ground fault on the reach of zone 1 protection of DR2 DFIGs. For the integration of more or less DFIGs, the performance
of the adaptive method is illustrated in Fig. 7. The slip of the
Slip Kwφφ K b1
.b machine is assumed as 0.2 at the fault inception. The lengths of
−0.3 2.48 1.49 lines PQ and QK are still set as 100 and 50 km, respectively.
−0.2 2.15 1.24 Under the two fault conditions, the adaptive distance relay
−0.1 1.94 1.08 extends its protective zone to 50% of the next line and is immune
to the number of DFIGs. However, the percentage of the adjacent
0.1 2.22 1.20
line covered by the conventional distance relay is smaller, which is
0.2 2.51 1.37 about 10–20%. Hence, the adaptive method provides a better zone
0.3 2.77 1.54 2 coverage.

4.3.2 Length of transmission line: In this case study, the

Table 5 Settings and sensitivities of zone 2 of DR1 for a influence of the length of the transmission line on the protective
phase-B-to-phase-C-to-ground fault zone covered by zone 2 of the distance relay is analysed. The
Slip Setting impedance, Ω Sensitivity results are shown in Fig. 8. Assume there are 30 DFIGs in the
Adaptive Conventional Adaptive Conventional power system. Moreover, the length of line QK is fixed as 50 km.
−0.3 63.51 54.18 1.44 1.23 The DFIG rotates with the slip of 0.2 during the fault interval.
−0.2 60.35 51.43 1.37 1.17 It is obviously seen that the zone 2 coverage of DR1 varies with
respect to the length of line PQ. The shorter line PQ becomes, the
−0.1 59.44 50.01 1.35 1.14
better coverage of zone 2 protection of distance relays can be
0.1 65.71 51.97 1.49 1.18 provided. When the length of line PQ is increased to 200 km, the
0.2 70.08 54.15 1.59 1.23 protective zone can still be kept up to 40% of the adjacent line,
0.3 73.73 56.33 1.68 1.28 depicted in Fig. 8b. This situation is the worst case confronted by
the distance relay. However, the distance relay with the

Fig. 7  Percentage of the adjacent line covered by zone 2 of DR1 with adaptive and conventional methods under different numbers of DFIGs
(a) Single-phase-to-ground fault, (b) Double-phase-to-ground fault

Fig. 8  Percentage of the adjacent line covered by zone 2 of DR1 with adaptive and conventional methods under different lengths of line PQ
(a) Single-phase-to-ground fault, (b) Double-phase-to-ground fault

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6 Acknowledgment 8 Appendix
This research was supported by the Science and Technology
 
Project of Education Ministry, China, no. 113023A.
The parameters of the 110 kV network and the wind generator are
7 References listed in Tables 6 and 7, respectively. The reliability coefficients for
zones 1 and 2 of the distance relay are set to be K Irel = K IIrel = 0.8
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