Transmission line
protection
A. T 1
A. T 2
A. T 3
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines
Higher voltages have more expensive equipment associated with
them.
The higher relay costs, therefore, are usually more easily justified.
In order of ascending cost and complexity, the protective devices
available for transmission lines usually include overcurrent and
distance protections.
A. T 4
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
Transmission lines are primarily exposed to short circuits between
phases or from phase to ground.
The range of the possible fault current, the effect of load, the
question of directionality and the impact of system configuration
are all part of the transmission line protection problem.
A. T 5
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
A radial system, i.e. one with a single generating source, can have
fault current flowing in only one direction: from the source to the
fault.
In a loop or network, however, fault current can flow in either
direction, and the relay system must be able to distinguish between
the two directions.
In general, definite time overcurrent is easier to understand by
operators and more often to be used in transmission lines.
Where, I1 is RMS current through CT,
Ipickup is a preset pickup
current setting
T is a preset time delay
A. T setting 6
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
When T is set to zero, the relay is also called instantaneous
overcurrent.
When T is a constant, the relay is called definite time overcurrent
or independent time overcurrent.
When T is inversely proportional to the fault current level, the
relay is called inverse time overcurrent.
A. T 7
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
IEC 60255 defines a number of standard inverse time
characteristics as follows:
A. T 8
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
The pickup current setting is usually calculated by
Iexpect is the expected boundary current, which could be maximum
load current, or maximum fault current at protected line end.
The purpose of the time-delay setting is to enable relays to coordinate
with each other. So two or more relays, seeing the same fault, can
operate at different times.
The time interval that must be allowed between the operation of two
adjacent relays in order to achieve correct discrimination between them
is called the grading margin.
If a grading margin is not provided, more than one relay will operate for
a fault, leading to difficulties in determining the location of the fault and
unnecessary loss of supply to some consumers.
A. T 9
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
Time Graded system
In this method an appropriate time interval is given by each of the
relays controlling the circuit breakers in a power system to ensure
that the breaker nearest to the fault opens first.
A. T 10
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
Discrimination by current relies on the fact that the fault current
varies with the position of the fault, because of the difference in
impedance values between the source and the fault.
The relays controlling the various circuit breakers are set to
operate at suitably tapered values such that only the relay nearest
to the fault trips its breaker.
A. T 11
Overcurrent Protection of
Transmission Lines cont…
The grading margin depends on a number of factors:
The fault current interrupting time of the circuit breaker
Relay timing errors
The overshoot time of the relay, defined as the difference
between the operating time of a relay at a specified value of
input current and the maximum duration of input current
CT errors
Final margin on completion of operation
A. T 12
A. T 13
