REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev.

D ABB Power Automation Ltd

3.5.4. Directional definite time overcurrent protection

(DirCurrentDT)

A. Application
Directional overcurrent function for
• detecting phase faults on ring lines
• detecting phase faults on double-circuit lines with an infeed at
one end
• backup protection for a distance protection scheme.

B. Features
• directionally sensitive three-phase phase fault protection
• insensitive to DC component
• insensitive to harmonics
• voltage memory feature for close faults.

C. Inputs and outputs

I. Analogue inputs
• current
• voltage

II. Binary inputs

• Blocking
• PLC receive

III. Binary outputs

• start
• start R
• start S
• start T
• forwards measurement
• backwards measurement
• tripping

IV. Measurements
• current amplitude
of the three phase currents (IR, IS, IT)
• active power
A positive measurement indicates the forwards direction
(IR * UST, IS * UTR, IT * URS)
• voltage amplitude
Amplitudes of the phase-to-phase voltages
(UST, UTR, URS).

3.5.4-1
ABB Power Automation Ltd REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D

D. Directional overcurrent settings - DirCurrentDT

Summary of parameters:

Text Unit Default Min. Max. Step

ParSet4..1 P1 (Select)
Trip B00000000
CurrentInp AnalogAddr 0
VoltageInp AnalogAddr 0
I-Setting IN 2.0 0.1 20.0 0.01
Angle Deg 45 -180 +180 15
Delay s 1.00 0.02 60.00 0.01
tWait s 0.20 0.02 20.00 0.01
MemDirMode Select Trip
MemDuration s 2.00 0.20 60.00 0.01
Receive BinaryAddr T
Ext Block BinaryAddr F
Trip SignalAddr ER
Start SignalAddr
Start R SignalAddr ER
Start S SignalAddr ER
Start T SignalAddr ER
MeasFwd SignalAddr
MeasBwd SignalAddr

Explanation of parameters:
ParSet 4..1
Parameter for determining in which set of parameters a par-
ticular function is active (see Section 5.11.).
Trip
defines the tripping channel activated by the function’s trip-
ping output (matrix tripping logic).
CurrentInp
defines the analogue current input channel. Only three-phase
c.t’s can be set and the first channel (R phase) of the group
of three selected must be specified.
VoltageInp
defines the analogue voltage input channel. Only three-phase
v.t’s can be set and the first channel (R phase) of the group
of three selected must be specified.

3.5.4-2
REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D ABB Power Automation Ltd

I-Setting
Pick-up setting for tripping.
Angle
Characteristic angle.
Delay
Delay between pick-up and tripping.
tWait
Time allowed for the directional decision to be received from
the opposite end in a blocking scheme.
MemDirMode
determines the response of the protection after the time set
for memorising power direction:
• trip
• block.
MemDuration
Time during which the power direction last determined re-
mains valid.
Receive
Input for the signal from the opposite end of the line:
T: not used
xx: all binary inputs (or outputs of protection functions).
Ext Block
F: not blocked
xx: all binary inputs (or outputs of protection functions).
Trip
Tripping signal.
Start
Pick-up signal.
Start R
R phase pick-up signal.
Start S
S phase pick-up signal.
Start T
T phase pick-up signal.
MeasFwd
signals measurement in the forwards direction.
MeasBwd
signals measurement in the backwards direction.

3.5.4-3
ABB Power Automation Ltd REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D

E. Setting instructions

Settings:
Pick-up current I-Setting
Characteristic angle Angle
Delay Delay
Time allowed for receipt of signal tWait
Response at the end of the
memorised power direction time MemDirMode
Time during which the memorised
direction is valid MemDuration

Pick-up value I-Setting

“I-Setting” must be chosen high enough to prevent false tripping
or alarms from taking place and low enough to reliably detect the
minimum fault current. The setting must be sufficiently above the
maximum transient load current and allow for:
• c.t. and relay inaccuracies
• the reset ratio.
The maximum transient load current has to be determined ac-
cording to the power system operating conditions and take ac-
count of switching operations and load surges.

I-Setting

IN

Delay

0 t HEST 905 010 FL

Fig. 3.5.4.1 Operating characteristic of the definite time over-

current detector

3.5.4-4
REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D ABB Power Automation Ltd

Where the rated c.t. current IN1 differs from the rated current IGN
of the protected unit, compensating the measurement to achieve
a match is recommended. This is done by correcting either the
reference value of the A/D input or the setting.
For example, assuming IGN = 800 A and IN1 = 1000 A, the setting
to pick up at 1.5 IGN = 1200 A would be
IGN 800 A
1,5 = 1,5 = 1,2
IN1 1000 A

Characteristic angle
Determining the phase-angle of the current provides an addi-
tional criterion for preserving discrimination compared with non-
directional overcurrent protection. The directional sensitivity is
±180° in relation to the reference voltage. This is illustrated in the
following diagrams.

ty
IR vi
siti
ω ϕ L en
x.s
UR IR a
M
UTR URS

UT US
Restraint: α = 45°
cos (ϕ’==- α) = neg. ϕ’

U ST U ST

Operation:
cos (ϕ’==
- α) = pos.

a) b)
L
HEST 005 001 C

ϕ’ = phase-angle between current and voltage

(positive angle)
α = Characteristic angle
L = Border line between operating and restraint areas

a) Definition of current b) Operating characteristic

and voltage

Fig. 3.5.4.2 Vector diagram for a fault in the forwards direction

on R phase

3.5.4-5
ABB Power Automation Ltd REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D

The function determines the power direction by measuring the

phase-angle of the current in relation to the opposite phase-to-
phase voltage. Which current is compared with which voltage
can be seen from the following table.
Current input Phase-to-neutral voltage Calculated voltage

IR U S , UT UST = US - UT
IS U T , UR UTR = UT - UR

IT U R , US URS = UR - US

The voltage measurement automatically compensates the group

of connection of the v.t’s. For example, the phase-to-phase val-
ues are calculated for Y-connected v.t’s (v.t. type UTS), while the
input voltages are used directly for delta-connected v.t’s (v.t.
type UTD).

Delay
The delay enables the protection to be graded with other time-
overcurrent relays to achieve discrimination. Its setting is thus
chosen in relation to the timer settings of upstream and down-
stream protective devices. The zone of protection covered by
this overcurrent protection extends to the next overcurrent pro-
tection device.
Should in the event of a fault in the next downstream zone, the
protection for that zone fail, this protection functions takes over
after the time set for “Delay” and clears the fault as backup.

Time allowed for receipt of signal

Where directional functions are configured in both line terminals,
each can send a signal from its “MeasBwd” output to the “Re-
ceive” input of the function at the opposite end of the line (e.g.
via a PLC channel) when it is measuring a fault in the reverse di-
rection. This signal prevents the respective directional overcur-
rent function from tripping, because the fault cannot be in the
zone between them. The functions therefore have to allow time,
i.e. the “wait time”, for the signal from the opposite line terminal
to be received. If none is received within “tWait”, the circuit-
breakers are tripped at both ends.
The time set for “Delay” acts in this kind of scheme as a backup
which does not rely on the communication channel. Thus when
the “Receive” input is being used, the setting for “Delay” must be
longer than the setting for “tWait”:
“Delay” > “tWait”.

3.5.4-6
REC 316*4 1MRB520044-Uen / Rev. D ABB Power Automation Ltd

Response after decay of the memorised voltage

The voltage measured by the protection can quickly decay to
almost zero for a close fault and make determining direction un-
reliable. For this reason, the function includes a voltage memory
feature and for the first 200 milliseconds after the incidence of an
overcurrent, the voltage measured immediately before the fault is
used as reference to determine fault direction.
After this time, the last valid direction is used for an adjustable
period (see next paragraph).
“MemDirMode” provides facility for setting how the protection
must respond after this time or in the event that the circuit-
breaker is closed onto a fault and no voltage could be memo-
rised beforehand. The two possible settings are the protection
can trip or it can block.

Time during which the memorised direction is valid

The “MemDuration” setting determines how long the last valid di-
rection measurement shall be used. The setting should be as
short as possible (200 ms) when the function is being used as
backup for a distance function in an HV power system, because
an actually measured voltage is only available during this time
and therefore it is only possible to detect a reversal of direction
during this time. For longer settings, the last valid power direc-
tion is used instead of the actually memorised voltage.

3.5.4-7