Switchgear & Protection
EPE-3100
Part 2
Protective Relays
Lecture 4
Dr. Mohammed Shams
Electrical Power Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University
Classification of Protective Relays
Relays can be classified according to:
1- construction
2- Function
Classification of Protective Relays
• Protective relays are classified in accordance with their
constructions as follows:
1) Electromechanical Relays.
2) Solid State (Static) Relays.
3) Digital Relays.
4) Numerical Relays.
Electromechanical Relays
• Electromechanical Relays: operate by mechanical forces or
torques exerted on movable parts carrying contacts.
• Electromechanical Relays can be classified according to theory
of operation into:
1. Attraction Type Relays.
2. Induction Relays.
3. Thermal Relays.
Electromechanical Relays
Electromechanical Relays
Hinged armature-type relay
Electromechanical Relays
Plunger-type relay
Electromechanical Relays
Balanced beam relay
Electromechanical Relays
Rotating moving coil relays
Electromechanical Relays
Shaded pole type induction disc relay
Electromechanical Relays
Wattmetric type induction-disc relay
Buchholz Relay
• It is a gas-actuated relay used for protecting oil immersed
transformers against all types of internal faults and makes use
of the fact that during faults, oil decomposes and hence
generates gases.
Buchholz Relay
Buchholz Relay
Buchholz Relay
• It consists of a cast housing containing a hinged hollow
float inside of which there is a mercury switch.
• This float is located in the upper part of the housing.
ON OFF
„ Mercury Mercury
" Switch
hinge
Contacts
Buchholz Relay
Buchholz Relay
• When a fault occurs inside the transformer, bubbles of gas are
evolved by the heat generated and rise up to the top of the
housing causing the oil level to fall and the mercury float to
tilt.
• Therefore, the mercury contacts the relay switch. An alarm is
actuated, and the coil of the circuit breaker trips according to
the design.
Solid State (Static) Relays
• A static relay is a solid state electronic component that
provides a similar function to an electromechanical relay but
does not have any moving components.
• Its design is based on the use of transistors and diodes in
conjunction with resistors, capacitors, inductors, etc.
Solid State (Static) Relays
A static overcurrent relay.
Solid State (Static) Relays
As they have no moving parts, they have very quick response
time, and they are very reliable.
The elements used in a 1-phase time lag overcurrent relay is
shown below.
Digital Relays
Digital Relays
• A digital protective relay is a microprocessor-controlled relay.
Digital Relays
Analog to Digital (A/D) Conversion
Analog Signal Digital Signal
Digital Relays
The digital filters smooth the signal by eliminating DC and
frequencies components those are different than the
fundamental (when required).
Digital Relays
Digital Relays
Electrotechnical vs Digital
Electrotechnical vs Digital
Classification of Protective Relays
• Protective relays can be classified in accordance with their
functions, as follows:
1) Magnitude Relays.
2) Directional Relays.
3) Ratio Relays.
4) Differential Relays.
5) Pilot Relays.
Classification of Protective Relays
1) Magnitude Relays: respond to the magnitude of the current,
voltage, frequency, etc.
• They may trip on low or high values, such as over-current
relay, over-voltage, or under-frequency relay.
2) Directional Relays: in which operation occurs when the
applied current assumes a specific phase displacement with
respect to the applied voltage.
• The relay operates and responds to fault flow in particular
direction.
Classification of Protective Relays
3) Ratio Protection: in which operation depends on the ratio
between two values.
• As an example, distance protection for transmission lines is a
protective system which depends on the ratio of the voltage
to current (V/I) at relaying point.
4) Differential protection: responds to vector difference in
phase or magnitude between two similar electrical quantities.
• Differential relays respond to the difference between two
quantities.
Classification of Protective Relays
5) Pilot Relaying: are based upon information obtained by the
relay from a remote location.
• This information is, for example, in the form of contact status
(open or closed).
• The information is sent over a communication channel using
power line carrier, microwave, or telephone circuits.
Electromechanical Relays
Plug setting (PS%): refers to the magnitude of current
at which the relay starts to operate.
Plug setting = Pickup current (Primary) x CT ratio
Plug Setting Multiplier (PSM): the actual RMS
current in a relay, expressed as a multiple of the
setting current.
If a CT ratio is 400/5 A, and an over-current relay is
set at 200% = 10 A,
and if the relay current is 150 A, then the plug setting
multiplier = 150/10 = 15
and the fault current is 12 kA.
Electromechanical Relays
Time Setting (Time Multiplier (TM)): The time
setting of the relay marked 0 to 1 and called the
time multiplier (TM).
➢ TM adjusts the position of the movable back-
stop.
➢ With the time multiplier set at 1 the back-
stop is as far back as it can go.
➢ while with the time multiplier set at 0 the
back-stop is so positioned that the relay contacts
are almost closed.
Electromechanical Relays
