Protection 4

1.0 Introduction
Recall there are five basic classes of relays:
Magnitude relays
Directional relays
Ratio (impedance) relays
Differential relays
Pilot relays
We study the impedance relay in these notes.
Other names for impedance relays are ratio
relay! and distance relay.! "his material
addresses section #$.$ in your te%t.
2.0 Impedance relays
"ransmission systems such as the &.'. eastern(
)estern( or "e%as interconnections(
are highly net)or*ed (meshed)( and
are constantly changing in terms of the source
of fault currents( generators (due to units
coming on+line and off+line)( and to a lesser
e%tent( in terms of circuit topology (due to
maintenance and forced outages).
#
"his feature ma*es protective relaying for
transmission systems much more challenging
than protective relaying for radial or single+
loop! systems that )e have studied so far. "he
reasons for the additional difficulties are
)e cannot assume that the sources are in fi%ed
locations as in a radial or single+loop system,
)e cannot be sure of the topology bet)een
sources and faults that )e are trying to protect
against.
Recall that it )as e%actly these t)o features of
radial or single+loop systems )hich allo)ed us
to identify bounds on minimum and ma%imum
current levels and thus to utili-e over+current
relays. 'o )e do not use overcurrent relays here.
.mpedance relays have much better
discriminatory abilities relative to over+current
relays (magnitude or directional). /y this( )e
mean that impedance relays are better able to
discriminate (to distinguish) bet)een conditions
for )hich they should operate and conditions for
)hich they should not.
0
"o understand the fundamental advantage
gained from an impedance relay( consider a $+
phase fault( and recall the effects:
voltage drops and
current drops.
'uppose 1234.5(2
normal
) and 1.30(.
normal
).
/efore fault:
normal
normal
normal
Z
I
V
I
V
= =
.
6fter fault:
fault
normal
normal
normal
normal
Z
I
V
I
V
I
V
= = =
7
#
) ( 0
) ( 5 . 4
8rom this( )e can see that:
normal fault
Z Z
7
#
=
but
normal fault
I I 0 =
.
"herefore( proportionally( a larger change is
seen in impedance than current( and so faults are
easier to correctly detect )hen measuring
impedance relative to measuring current.
9%ample:
$
:onsider the net)or* of 8ig. #. Plot the
impedance as seen by the impedance relay
loo*ing into the circuit for (a) normal load
conditions( (b) $+phase fault 8
#
( (c) $+phase fault
8
0
. "he values given are impedance in per+unit.

80 8# 4.40;<4.# 4.40;<4.# #.4;<4.#
Relay
8ig. #
'olution:
"he per+phase circuit is sho)n in 8ig. 0.

80 8#
4.40;<4.# 4.40;<4.#
#.4;<4.#
.
2
8ig. 0
"he desired impedance is
I
V
Z =
(#)
7
(a) &nder normal load(
$ . 4 47 . # j
I
V
Z
n
+ = =
(b) 8or a fault at 8
#
(
0 . 4 47 . 4
#
j
I
V
Z
F
+ = =
(c) 8or a fault at 8
0
(
# . 4 40 . 4
0
j
I
V
Z
F
+ = =
=et>s plot these on the ?+plane:

4.# 4.0 4. $ 4.7 4.5 4.@ 4.A 4.B 4.C #.4 #.#

4.0

4.#

4.7

4.$
D
D
D
?
n

?
80

?
8#

R
E
8ig. $
'ome observations:
#. "he faulted conditions are located relatively
near the origin in the ?+plane( )hereas the
normal load conditions are located far to the
right on the ?+plane. We can use this to our
advantage in designing relays to discriminate
5
bet)een faulted conditions and normal load
conditions.
0. "he points corresponding to the faulted
conditions( ?
8#
and ?
80
( are positioned on a line
e%tending from the origin. "his )ill be the case
as long as the impedance per unit length is
uniform over the length of the line.
$. ?
8#
is farther from the relay than ?
80
, it is also
farther from the origin than ?
80
. "his
consistency reflects the relation bet)een
distance! and impedance.! "hat is( the farther
in distance from the relay( the larger )ill be the
impedance.
"he third observation is Fuite significant. .t
implies that the relay can accurately <udge the
fault location based on the impedance it sees.
3.0 Tripping characteristic
@
"he simplest impedance relay is one that
operates )ith the follo)ing logic:
t
Z
I
V

"rip
t
Z
I
V
>
/loc*
"his logic can be illustrated in the impedance
plane as in 8ig. 7.

TRIP
BLO!
"#
t
"
8ig. 7
We may also plot the locus of impedance values
corresponding to the particular circuit )e are
protecting (the line impedance locus)( as )e
move from one end of the circuit to the other.
"his can be helpful in identifying the
relationship bet)een the tripping logic and the
possible impedance values seen by the relay.
A
6s an e%ample of this( consider the portion of a
transmission system in 8ig. 5.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0 /us $ /us 7
9 8
8ig. 5
:onsider the relay :. 6ssuming the same
tripping logic as in 8ig. 7( and assuming
uniform impedance per unit length of the t)o
circuits to the right and to the left of it( the line
impedance locus seen by relay : are sho)n in
8ig. @.

TRIP
BLO!
"#
t
"
=ocus of impedance values
possibly seen by relay :
:ct 0+$
:ct 0+#
8ig. @
"here are t)o observations in relation to 8ig. @:
B
Directionality: "he portion of the relay+
impedance+locus in the upper half of the plane
corresponds to )hat the relay sees )hen a fault
is on cct. 0+$, the portion of the relay+
impedance+locus in the lo)er half of the plane
corresponds to )hat the relay sees )hen a fault
is on cct. 0+#.
"herefore( relay : trips loo*ing right or left.
"his is generally not acceptable because if it
trips for faults on cct. 0+#( it )ill unnecessarily
deenergi-e bus 0.
"he conceptually simplest approach to
providing directionality is to use both an
impedance relay and a directional relay( )here
the directional relay is described in the previous
notes called Protection $.! "he tripping logic
)ould then be:
+#B4GHG4( and I?IG?
t
"rip
4GHG#B4( or I?IJ?
t
/loc*
)here H is the angle of the current phasor
relative to the angle of the voltage phasor.
C
"he tripping characteristic )ould then be as
illustrated in 8ig. A.

BLO!
"#
t
"
=ocus of impedance values
possibly seen by relay :
TRIP BLO!
BLO!
8ig. A
6nother approach to providing directionality in
impedance relays results in the Mho relay. We
)ill study this last.
?ones of protection
"he other thing to observe in 8ig. @ (and in 8ig.
A) is that the line impedance locus e%tends
beyond the trip -one indicated by the circle of
radius I?
t
I. What is the significance of thisK
#4
"his means that the relay : is set to protect only
a portion of the cct. 0+$( as sho)n in 8ig. B.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0 /us $
Protected
Lot
Protected
/us 7
9 8
8ig. B
.t is common to set the relay to protect( )ithin
its primary -one( only about B4M of the circuit.
Why )ould )e )ant to design this relay to only
protect a portion of the circuitK
"he rationale (see 8ig. C) lies in the fact that a
point on cct. 0+$( <ust to the left of bus $ as
denoted by the red circle( is electrically the
same as a point on cct. $+7( <ust to the right of
bus $( as denoted by the yello) circle.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0 /us $
Protected
Lot
Protected
/us 7
9 8
8ig. C
.f )e set Relay : to protect #44M of cct. 0+$( so
that it will trip for the red circle( then it )ill not
##
be possible to ensure that Relay : will not trip
for the yello) circle. .f Relay : trips for the
yello) circle( then bus $ )ill be deenergi-ed
unnecessarily (Relay 9 should trip for the
yello) circle).
"his still leaves us )ith a problem( ho)ever. .f
Relay : does not trip for the red circle( )hat
doesK
"his leads to the notions of -ones( reach( and
bac*up protection for impedance relays. "hese
are very important and interesting notions. =et>s
investigate.
8irst( let>s recall the term -one.! .mpedance
relays typically have 0 or $ -ones( called
(appropriately) the relay>s -one #( -one 0( and
-one $.
#0
"he different -ones are separated by the reach(
or the impedance (distance) of the relay. 8ig. #4
illustrates the three -ones for Relay :.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0
/us $
#one 1
#one 2
/us 7
9 8
?one $
8ig. #4
"he threshold settings for the three -ones are
denoted ?
t#
( ?
t0
( and ?
t$
( )here ?
t#
G?
t0
G?
t$
( as
illustrated in the impedance characteristic of
8ig. ##.

"#
t2
"
"#
t1
"
"#
t3
"
#$
8ig. ##
With respect to these various -ones( the
impedance relay is set to operate as follo)s:
6s fast as possible for any fault )ithin its -one
#( assume the operating time is "
#
.
With time "
0
for faults )ithin its -one 0
With time "
$
for faults )ithin its -one $
)here "
#
G"
0
G"
$
.
8igure #0 illustrates the relation bet)een
operating time for relay : and fault location.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0
/us $
#one 1
#one 2
/us 7
9 8
?one $
"ime
8ault location (distance from :)
"
$

"
0

"
#

:+ -one #
:+ -one 0
:+ -one $
8ig. #0
#7
Of course( Relays 6( /( D( 9( N 8 )ill also have
similar characteristics. 8or e%ample( . have
superimposed a portion of relay 9 characteristic
onto the time+location plot in 8ig. #$.

6 / : D
/us # /us 0
/us $
#one 1
#one 2
/us 7
9 8
?one $
"ime
8ault location (distance from :)
"
$

"
0

"
#

:+ -one #
:+ -one 0
:+ -one $
9+ -one #
9+ -one 0
8ig. #7
8rom 8ig. #7( )e ma*e the follo)ing
observations:
:+-one 0 overlaps )ith 9+-one #.
:+-one $ overlaps )ith 9+-one 0.
What does this meanK "his means that
:+-one 0 serves as a bac*up for 9+-one # and
#5
:+-one $ serves as a bac*up for 9+-one 0 (9+
-one 0 )ill serve as a bac*up for some other
relay>s -one #).
/ut note )hat is LO" happening:
:+-one # and 9+-one # do LO" overlap.
:+-one 0 and 9+-one 0 do LO" overlap.
What does this meanK "his means that
Relay : )ill LO" trip for faults in Relay 9>s
primary -one if Relay 9 operates properly.
Relay : )ill LO" trip for faults in Relay 9>s
secondary -one if Relay 9 operates properly.
'o )e reFuire that ?one * of Relay : not
overlap )ith ?one * of Relay 9( other)ise you
may get ?one * operation of : for a desired
?one * operation of 9.
#@
"he principle is a faster -one of protection must
reach in distance beyond the reach of its
bac*up.
8inal comment: 9%cerpted from Power
System Outage Task Force Final Report on
the August 14, 200 !lackout in the "nite#
States an# $ana#a% $auses an#
Recommen#ations&' See
http%((www&pserc&org(Resources&htm
Based on the investigation to date, the investigation
team concludes that the cascade spread
beyond Ohio and caused such a widespread blackout
for three principal reasons. First, the loss of the
Sammis-Star 3!-k" line in Ohio, following the
loss of other transmission lines and weak voltages
within Ohio, triggered many subse#uent line trips.
Second, many of the key lines which tripped
between $%&'!&!( and $%&$'&3) *+, operated on
-one 3 impedance relays .or -one / relays set to
operate like -one 3s0 which responded to overloads
rather than true faults on the grid.1
)Phase *& 2fter $%&$'&3% *+,, the power surges
resulting from the F* system failures caused
lines in neighboring areas to see overloads that
caused impedance relays to operate. ,he result
was a wave of line trips through western Ohio
that separated 2*3 from F*. ,hen the line trips
progressed northward into 4ichigan separating
western and eastern 4ichigan, causing a power
flow reversal within 4ichigan toward 5leveland.
4any of these line trips were from 6one 3
impedance relay actions that accelerated the
#A
speed of the line trips and reduced the potential
time in which grid operators might have identified
the growing problem and acted constructively
to contain it.1
Oome)or* P@: Due Monday 8ebruary 0A
:onsider the #$B *2 transmission system.

R
#0

/us # /us 0 /us $
/us 7
R
0#
R
$0

R
70
R
07

R
0$

$.0;<$0.4Q $.0;<$0.4Q
7.B;<7B.4Q
Relays are impedance )ith directionality.
(a) 'elect the :" ratio so that ma%imum load
current provides 5 amperes on the relay
side. :hoices are .:5 )here . may be 54(
#B
#44( #54( 044( 054( $44( 744( 754( 544(
@44( B44( C44( #444( or #044.
(b) 'elect the 2" ratio 2:# so that the rated
line+to+neutral voltage provides @A volts on
the on the relay side.
(c) .f the primary (line) side of the relay sees
an impedance of 2
p
R.
p
3?
line
( determine an
e%pression for the impedance seen on the
relay side( ?
relay
( as a function of ?
line
and
the :" and 2" ratios.
(d) .dentify -one #( 0( and $ settings for R#0(
i.e.( the threshold impedance values( on the
relay side corresponding to B4M of line #+0
(-one #)( #04M of line #+0 (-one 0)( #04M
of the longest line beyond bus 0 (-one $)
)hich )ould be line 0+7 in this case.
(e) Dra) -one #( 0( $ circles on R+E diagram,
plot the point corresponding to ma%imum
cct.#+0 load of 54 M26( 4.B pf lag.
#C