Numerical Protection
Introduction
Protective relays, which started out as meters with contacts, have
undergone tremendous evolution over the years.
They were soon replaced by electromechanical relays which were sensitive
and accurate.
When vacuum tubes were in vogue, protection engineers implemented
relays using vacuum tubes.
Within a year of invention of the transistor, its use in protective relays was
reported.
Introduction
With the development of large-scale integrated circuits, these were
extensively used in the protective relays.
The microprocessor that was invented around 1971 revolutionized the
electronics scene in its entirety and the development of a microprocessor-
based relay followed soon thereafter.
However, a subtle shift in the paradigm takes place when we move on to
the microprocessor-based relay, which works on numbers representing
instantaneous values of the signals. Hence, the name numerical relay.
Introduction
In numerical relays, there is an additional entity, the software, which runs in
the background and which actually runs the relay.
With the advent of numerical relays, the emphasis has shifted from hardware
to software.
Hardware is more or less the same between any two numerical relays.
What distinguishes one numerical relay from the other is the software.
Introduction
In fact, the conventional relay cleverly bypasses the problem of
computation by performing comparison.
The numerical relay does not have any such limitation because of its ability
to perform real-time computation.
Thus, the relay engineer need not merely implement the old relaying
concepts but can devise entirely new computation-based concepts.
Development Cycle of Numerical Relays
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
The signals from the CTs and PTs cannot be sampled directly and converted
to the digital form.
This is to make sure that the signal does not contain frequency components
having a frequency greater than one half of the sampling frequency.
Therefore, the signals are first passed through a low-pass filter, which has to
be an analogue type of filter, because digital processing can only take place
after the frequency spectrum of the signal is properly shaped.
Next, the analogue signal is sampled and held constant during the time the
value is converted to digital form.
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
The sample and hold circuit is an absolute must.
The sampled and held value is passed on to the ADC through a multiplexer
so as to accommodate a large number of input signals.
The sample and hold circuit and the ADC work under the control of the
microprocessor and communicate with it with the help of control signals
such as the end-of converszon signal issued by the ADC.
The ADC passes on the digital representation of the instantaneous value of
the signal to the microprocessor via an input port.
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
The output of the ADC may be 4, 8, 12, 16, or 32 bits wide or even wider.
The wider the output of the ADC, the greater its resolution.
The incomlng digital values from the ADC are stored in the RAM of the
microprocessor and processed by the relay software in accordance with an
underlying relaying algorithm.
The microprocessor issues the trip signal on one of the bits of its output
port which is then suitably processed so as to make it compatible with the
trip coil of the CB.
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
The microprocessor can also be used to communicate with other relays or
another supervisory computer, if so desired.
The relaying program or the relay software, which resides in the EPROM,
can only be upgraded or modified by authorized personnel.
Thus, new features and functionalities can be added to an existing relay by
upgrading its software.
A numerical relay can be made to run a program which periodically
performs a self diagnostic test and issues an alarm signal if any discrepancy
is noticed.
Block Diagram of Numerical Relays
Other features like a watch-dog timer can also be implemented, which
issues an alarm if the microprocessor does not reset it, periodically, within a
stipulated time of a few milliseconds.
This gives an increased user confidence and improves the reliability of the
relay.
