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5th International Conference on Power System Protection and Automation, 8-9 December 2010, New Delhi.

Protection Requirement for Power

Distribution: NDPL Case Studies
Consequently, it provides the following to improve the
reliability of the Power system network
• Faster operation of Protection relays with correct
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indication along with real time stamping
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• Improvement in system restoration time with faster
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Corrective and Preventive Actions and defect
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ne, • Efficient and Correct Fault Discrimination in
S respective protection zones
Na • Online Diagnosis and relay setting
ved • IED with Protection/Control and Metering Function
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Abstract— System reliability and availability is the main focus

of a Power distribution utility, thus Protection and control
system and its timely and correct operation during faults is an
important and crucial aspect in efficient and successful operation
of Power distribution Utilities.
Fig. 2. After GSAS: View of a 11KV Control and Relay
I. INTRODUCTION Panel

N DPL has a pool of 59 Grid stations operating at 66/33 KV

level, 8500 RMU’s and a population of about 9000
Distribution transformers. Coordination of protection
functions is the most desirable aspect for the reliability of
network.
Journey of NDPL comprises three main phases:
• Transformation from Erstwhile Power System to
Automated Network.
• Implementation of Relaying (IED) features for
Improvement in System Reliability.
• A Way ahead with utilization of special features of
Numerical Relay’s for intelligent System Analysis and
improvement in performance of the network.
I. TRANSFORMATION
NDPL has completed its GSAS (Grid Substation
Automation Scheme) project in 2005 with all Grids were
commissioned/retrofitted with IED’s that were compatible to
SCADA
This transformation from Electromechanical/Static to
Numerical relays lead to better system reliability.
I. IMPLEMENTATION
NDPL continually strived for excellence and in this process;
we explored numerous abilities of the existing IED’s that took
our protection coordination to newer heights thus increasing
reliability of our network.
NDPL has standardized Protection philosophy for all Grid
equipments and developed its Testing fleet with Latest testing
devices.
NDPL has regularly reviewed its philosophy and amended
suitably based on field experience. Like recently we switched
to line differential instead of Distance protection for better
reliability of our short lines.
A. Protection Philosophy and Standardization
Standardization has always helped in increasing the reliability
of the network. NDPL has developed a protection philosophy
for allocating protections/schemes to specific
equipments/circuits. Following is the summary of the schemes
used:
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5th International Conference on Power System Protection and Automation, 8-9 December 2010, New Delhi.

S Secondary consumers. Relay coordination was very difficult with the

No Equipment Primary Protection Protection provided margins of around 300ms, esp. for high-set faults
1 Power Transformer Differential +REF O/C + E/F above 5 KA.
Short Lines Line Differential O/C + E/F Fig. 3. Logic for Reverse Blocking scheme
2 Lines Medium+
Long Distance O/C + E/F To mitigate the problem, Reverse Blocking scheme was
O/C + U/V +
3 Capacitor Banks Neutral Unbalance O/V
introduced that provided us with enough time margins for
better coordination. In case of any fault in Outgoing feeders,
4 11 KV Incomer O/C + E/F Reverse Blocking command is given by the associated relay to
Series Trip
11 KV O/G feeders O/C + E/F Protection incomers/Bus-couplers to Block tripping of Incomers.

Table 1. General Protection schemes used at NDPL

Table 3. Reduction in tripping of 11KV incomer feeders
NDPL has also developed its state of the art testing facility
with latest equipments for Preventive and Predictive Reduction in 70% tripping of 11 KV Incomers along with
maintenance along with testing facility for analysis during Outgoing feeders due to racing and attributed to High intensity
breakdown checks. fault or Summation of faults developed on feeders in vicinity.
NDPL also continuously strives for excellence in its
maintenance activities; we have developed several algorithms
that correlate results of various tests like HV tan C. Directional Protection for parallel feeders
delta/LCM/DGA analysis with Residual life analysis for
reliable analysis/protection of system equipments. Parallel feeders are protected with the help of a combination
Various equipments used by NDPL are as given in table 2: of directional as well as non-directional relays; these are also
helpful in cases where we have stiff margins in long feeders
through a series of grid stations.
S Equipment Application
No
1 HV/LV tan delta Assessment of Insulation of Power It is worthwhile to mention that Tri-mode settings in
Transformer
3 CT Analyzer Magnetic char. Of CT + ratio etc Directional relays are effectively used for protection of Line as
well as Bus-Bar with proper coordination in grids where Bus
4 CRM/DCRM Breaker maintenance
bar differential scheme is not present.
5 Omicron Relay testing NDPL has implemented Bus bar differential Scheme in
6 Wdg Resistance Meter Transformer some of the new 66 KV SCADA Compatible stations.
7 Transformer turns Transformer
Ratio Meter D. Effective Distribution Protection
8 DGA Analyzer Transformer oil

Various characteristics like NI/VI/EI have been effectively

Table 2. Testing used from grid to RMU to accommodate stiffer relay setting
Equipments and their application coordination of even 250ms and to address issues like
B. Reverse Blocking – For Better Coordination Unbalance loading and recurring faults.
Specifications of RMU Relays improvised with addition of
In the vast network of our 59 Grid stations we have around
additional elements and features like Inrush restraint
eight hundred outgoing feeders operating at 11KV that feed
experienced during on load charging.
various Distribution transformers through a series of switching
stations. It has been observed in 2002-03 that 11KV incomers
tripped on a fault in outgoing feeders thus affecting bulk

5th International Conference on Power System Protection and Automation, 8-9 December 2010, New Delhi.
Table 4. Reduction in escalation of tripping to Grid stations.
E. New Soft Logics for enhanced Protection
Soft logics are developed for saving on wiring/probability
of wiring defects lead to evaluation of various fool proof
schemes.
A CBFP scheme was also designed with two stage fault
current detection for increased reliability.
Fig. 4. CBFP logic with current discrimination.
Some other schemes that are implemented for increasing
system reliability are:
• Integration of Back-up series trip relays in Numerical
relay for SCADA Communication for understanding
defects in unmanned grids.
• Effective use of Latched/Unlatched contacts of Relay
element- UV Element made self latched for effective
Reactive compensation with minimal manual intervention
for capacitor switching.
I. EXPLOITATION OF AVAILABLE RESOURCES
NDPL tried it’s very best to exploit more and more of its
available inventory and assets to deliver the most cost
effective and reliable power to its consumers.
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We did a number of projects that ensure maximum
utilization of the available inventory. Some of the projects are
listed below:
A. Transformer Monitoring Units
Reliability of supply is followed by Quality. TMU’s were
introduced to ensure voltage regulation at consumer’s end by
operation of on load tap changers. Use of TMUs as IED in
system has made the Transformer functionality more accurate
and redundant one.
Some of the important features of TMU are:
• Voltage control/Regulation through various logics
• High speed Forward Backward Switching of OLTC for
Voltage control
• Fan control through temperature settings.
• Event log of the selected functions.
• Recorder mode monitoring of OTI /WTI/ VOLTAGE/
CURRENT in Dual Parameters at a Time.
• Correct calculation based on Algorithm for WTI with
input of OTI/LOAD OF Transformer/Winding
exponent/Time constant of winding
Fig. 5. Improvement in voltage profile with TMU control.
Introduction of OLTC concept lead us to increase in Tap
change operations drastically that caused involvement of high
maintenance costs along with equipment breakdowns.
A. Conditioning Monitoring of Lightning Arrestors
At NDPL we used to monitor the LA’s through regular
maintenance checks. During these checks following activities
are done annually:
• Visual Check
• Cleaning
• IR value of HV contact to earth (> 200 M Ohm)
• LA leakage Current
In addition to these activities Protection and Testing
Department has done a thorough monitoring of the following
attributes to check the efficiency of the metal oxide arrestors
in service and to assist the Residual life analysis of the
Lightning Arrestors operating at 66 and 33 KV levels.
• True RMS of the total leakage current.
• Peak value of the total leakage current.
• True RMS of the third harmonic.
These online tests were performed by using a Metal Oxide
Surge Arrester Test Set (SCAR-10, make-ISA) which
performs the tests according to IEC standards.
Based on the test results, algorithms were developed that
helped us to categorize the whole fleet of LA’s into different
categories with different levels of attention for regular
maintenance.
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5th International Conference on Power System Protection and Automation, 8-9 December 2010, New Delhi.

A. Remote Relay Parameterization

Before commissioning of SCADA Central control in

NDPL, We were using Software’s available from different
vendors to connect to their respective IED’s from remote
locations. At that time we were able to have simple
operational controls over the relays using that infrastructure.
In 2007, we shift to SCADA Control to achieve uniformity
and reliability. The control Station shifted to CENNET and
now we are controlling our Grid stations using the new
SCADA facility. The existing infrastructure of the older
control system is now being used by us for Remote Relay
Parameterization.

In this project we are connecting to the relays using the

infrastructure of the erstwhile Micro-SCADA Control for the
following purpose:
• Downloading of Fault Data Records
• Changing the Relay settings according to Power flow
• Configuration changes in the relays
• Mitigating issues pertains to n/w changes
ADVANTAGES OF RRP
On successful full implementation of the above said project,
NDPL would be one of the very few distinguished Utilities to
implement such a high end technique. Several advantages are
listed below:
• Downloading of Fault data from a central location save
considerable amount of manpower and time that is
currently used for this job. (There will be saving of about
20-25 Km run daily along with daily saving of 8-10 man-
hours)
• Relay settings can be changed quickly after any update in
Fig. 6. A view of Fault Studies on E-Tap software.
B. Performance Measurement
NDPL has developed and maintained a Performance Index
of Protection since 2004 on a monthly basis. Protection
System Reliability has improved from 98.4% to 99.66% and
reduction of uncoordinated tripping by 3-4 no’s every month.
NDPL also measures two other indices namely Reliability
index and dependability index which give information about
equipment health
Fig. 7. Protection Performance Index: Benchmarking the
Performance
I. WAY AHEAD

NOC to save on MU’s lost in case of uncoordinated

tripping due to inappropriate settings.
A. Power System Analysis on E-Tap
With the increasing complexity of the network, fault levels
need to be accessed and analyzed for coordinated relaying.
NDPL is one of the very few Electrical distribution utility in
India that analyzed its total network for fault levels using
latest software’s like E-Tap and using the results for effective
relay coordination.
Relay coordination is been done using E-Tap software for
perfect relaying on any type of fault.
After stabilization of the Sub-transmission/Distribution
network, we are in a process to explore further into higher
level studies of our network. We have done some very useful
studies that played in important role in further strengthening
our protection coordination and help us a lot in increasing
system reliability. Some important studies are:
• ∑KA2 Study of the data collected from various breakers
for analysis of their residual life. Algorithms were
developed based on the tripping data that helped us a lot
to reschedule our breaker maintenance activities.
• Harmonic analysis of the NDPL network helped us to
categorize different sections of our network with
penetration of specific order of harmonics. In the second
phase of the project we are trying to develop suitable
filters to mitigate the effects of harmonics at places where
they exceed IEEE limits.

• We have improved the reliability of the Protection System

By providing Dedicated Power Pack to extend
uninterrupted Auxiliary Power to 11 KV Incomers.

5th International Conference on Power System Protection and Automation, 8-9 December 2010, New Delhi.
• We have also developed intelligent use of Auto Re-
closures to be used on certain 11 KV outgoing feeders for
better reliability and availability of the network.
I. CASE STUDIES
There are many interesting case studies in which there was
an intelligent usage of Relay features for faster restoration and
reliability. Some of them are given below:
• Tripping of 11KV incomer along with outgoing
feeders- Summation of Faults
Even on successful operation of reverse blocking, it was
observed that 11KV incomers are getting tripped along with
outgoing feeders.
On analysis, it was found that two of the feeders were
having simultaneous fault that was being fed by incomer even
after the specified reverse block time.
Numerical relay DFR Analysis helped in timely analysis
and field correction by pinpointing problems like Clearances
on Poles
• Mixing of AC and DC in relay
Waveform of one of the particular event was showing that
tripping was purely due to DC Component of the current in
CT Circuit.
It also shows that after decay of the DC Current Output
relay got reset. It was confirmed that Tripping was due to
intermittent DC Ingress in Secondary of CT Circuit especially.
In modular type Duo-bias relay, two separate modules are
there for power supply as Well as CT Circuit. It was found
that DC is getting mixed up in CT Circuit within the relay.
CAPA Relay was got repaired for failure of the Isolation
between two modules.
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Fig. 8. A screenshot from a FDR analysis tool showing DC
ingress in Relay AC circuitry.
• CT saturation leading to tripping on differential
protection
A New feature of the Numerical relay indicated that
Transformer has tripped on Saturation Discrimination.
Saturation of CT Cores causes flow of differential current
through operating coil of the transformer.
It indicated that knee point voltage of PS Class CT Core has
got reduced due to Saturation. Difference of Saturation curve
is indicated in Diagram.
Fig. 9. FDR Analysis showing event of CT saturation
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Author thanks the management of NDPL for providing state
of the art technology to help Protection and Testing
Department in tackling with the ever-increasing complexity of
the network. Author appreciate the valuable support and
guidance of Mr. Ajai Nirula (COO, NDPL), Mr. R Pillai
(Head Operational services), Mr. Sanjay Banga (HOD,
Automation and Network Engineering) and Mr. R.N. Kumar
(GM, HOD Protection and Testing Department) and the hard
work of all the executives and technicians, without their hard
work this quality experience would have never been a reality.
REFERENCES
[1] Distribution Arrester Research; M.V.Lat, J.Kortshinski;
IEEE Transaction on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
PAS-100-No.7, July 1981.
[2] Tamil Nadu Electricity Board; Engineers Handbook.
[3] IEC standard 60099-5 A1 ED. 1.0 Section 6: “Diagnostic
indicators of metal-oxide surge arresters in service – Method
B1 and B2”
[4] International Conference IEC 61850; The Future of Substation
Protection and Automation; “The introduction of IEC 61850 & its
impact on Protection and Automation within Substations”
AUTHORS
Nilesh N. Kane S Manager at Protection and Testing Department, NDPL
S Naved Masood Executive at Protection and Testing Department, NDPL