88 SM 527-4

April 1989

Inadvertent Energizing Protection of

Synchronous Generators
IEEE Power System Relaying Committee

Working Group Report

Introduction

Inadvertent energizing of synchronous generators has been

a particular problem within the industry in recent years. A
significant number of large machines have been damaged or,
in some cases, completely destroyed when they were accidentally energized from the power system while they were
off-line. The frequency of these occurrences has warranted
the investigation of the problem by the "Inadvertent Generator Energizing Working Group" under the sponsorship of the
IEEE Power System Relaying Committee.
The widespread use of breaker-and-a-half and ring bus
configurations at high voltage generating substation switchyards has added significant operating flexibility to these
stations. These configurations have also increased the complexity and the risk of the generator being inadvertently
energized while off-line. Operating errors, breaker head
flashovers, control circuit malfunctions or a combination of
these problems have been the principle causes of inadvertent
energizing accidents within the industry. Because the damage to the machine can occur within a few seconds for these
events, they must be detected and isolated by automatic
relay action.

Generator Response
Three-Phase-Energizing-When a generator is accidentally
energized with three-phase system voltage while at standstill
or on turning gear, it behaves as an induction motor. During
energization, a rotating flux at synchronous frequency is
induced in the generator rotor. The resulting rotor current is
forced into subtransient paths in the rotor body and damper
windings (if they exist) similar to those rotor current paths for
negative sequence stator currents during generator single
phasing. The machine impedance during this high slip interval
can be represented by its negative sequence impedance. The
machine terminal voltage and current will be a function of the
generator, unit step-up transformer, and system impedances.
When a generator is inadvertently energized, the generator
stator current induces high magnitudes of current in the
machine rotor, causing rapid thermal heating.
If the unit is connected to a strong system, the machine
stator currents will be in the range of 3 to 4 times rating and
the terminal voltage will be in th range of 50-70% of rated,
for typical values of generator and step-up transformer
impedances. If the unit is connected to a weak system,
machine stator current may only be one to two times rating
and the terminal voltage only 20-40% of rated. An equivalent
circuit presented in the paper can be used to determine the
initial machine currents and voltages.
Single-Phase Energizing-Single-phase energizing of a generator from the high voltage system while at a standstill
subjects the generator to a significant unbalanced current.
The unbalanced current causes negative sequence current
flow and thermal rotor heating similar to that caused by threephase energizing. There will be no significant accelerating
torque if the voltage applied to the generator is single-phase
and the unit is essentially at standstill. If single-phase voltage
is applied when the unit is not at standstill but, for instance,
at half rated speed, the accelerating torque may be greater
than the retarding torque and the unit will accelerate.
Methods of calculating current and voltages associated with
single-phase inadvertent energizing are presented in this
paper.
Generator Damage
The major damaging effect to a generator due to inadvertent energizing is rapid heating in iron paths near the rotor
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surface due to stator induced current. These paths primarily

consist of the wedges, rotor iron, and retaining rings. The
contacts between these components are points where a
localized, rapid temperature rise occurs, due mainly to arcing.
Wedges, for example, have little "clamping" load at standstill, resulting in arcing between them and the rotor iron. The
heating begins to melt the metals, and may cause wedges to
be weakened to the point of immediate or eventual failure,
depending upon the tripping time to clear the inadvertent
energizing incident. Generalized heating of the rotor surface
to an excessive temperature takes longer than the localized
areas described, but if tripping is delayed, the rotor will be
damaged beyond repair. The current magnitudes in the stator
during this incident are generally within its short time thermal
capability; however, if continued rotor heating occurs,
wedges or other portions of the rotor may break off and
damage the stator. This may result in total loss of the entire
generator.
Protection Considerations
This paper discusses the response of the normal complement of generator protective relays to an inadvertent energizing condition. Although some of these relays may detect
inadvertent generator energizing they are generally:
* Marginal in their ability to detect the condition.
* Disabled when the machine is inadvertently energized.
* Operate too slowly to prevent damage.
For these reasons, major U.S. generator manufacturers
have recommended, and many utilities are installing, dedicated inadvertent energizing protection schemes. Unlike
conventional relay schemes, which provide protection when
equipment is in-service, these schemes provide protection
when equipment is out of service. The major schemes used in
the U.S. are described in the paper.
Conclusion
This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of the
problem of inadvertent generator energizing. The dedicated
protection schemes described in the paper vary because the
operating practices and protection philosophies of utilities
using them are different. Protection engineers must assess
the risks and determine the impact on protection of their own
company's operating practices prior to deciding which
scheme best suits their particular needs. It is the hope of the
authors that this paper will assist in that task.
Discussers: A. H. Ayoub, U. C. Roumillat, and J. E.
Stephens

88 SM 525-8
April 1989

A Hybrid Expert System for Faulted Section

Identification, Fault Type Classification and
Selection of Fault Location Algorithms
Adly A. Girgis, Senior Member, IEEE
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 19634-0915
Melisa B. Johns, Member, IEEE
Duke Power Company
Charlotte, NC 28242

Keywords: expert system, protection, fault diagnosis

Summary
This paper presents an expert system developed in turbo
prolog to identify faulted sections and interpret protective
apparatus operation in large interconnected power systems.
IEEE Power Engineering Review, April 1989

The expert system presented here is capable of identifying

bus faults, line fault sections, and fault sections in the
common area of a specific bus and line. Also, the expert
system identifies relays or breakers malfunctions.
The expert system is then expanded to include real-time
measurements of current and voltage phasors to classify the
type of fault that the faulted section has experienced.
Furthermore, when the faulted section is a transmission line,
the expert system selects an appropriate fault location
algorithm to compute the fault location in miles. This paper
shows that the combination of numeric and data base
algorithm is essential to many developments in expert system
application in power systems.
Evaluating the expert systems reported so far for fault
diagnosis reveals that all of these schemes utilize only the
data received from breaker and relay status. Consider the
recent trend in digital protection, real-time phasor measurements would be available. To combine real-time phasor
measurements with relay and breaker status, a hybrid expert
system is required. A hybrid expert system combines numeric
algorithms with data base algorithms in one scheme. This
paper recognizes this feature in the expert system developed
here. The expert system reported in this paper includes four
stages. The first stage determines the faulted section of the
power system and reports correct and incorrect breaker and
relay operation. The second stage interfaces the expert
system with a data base to combine the real-time phasor
measurement of the selected current and voltage waveforms
with the relays and breaker status. In the third stage, the
expert system utilizes these phasor quantities to classify the
fault. The fourth stage interfaces the expert system with fault
location algorithms to select the most suitable algorithm for
the specific situation detected. These four stages, along with
testing cases, are shown in the paper. An overview is
described below.
Overview of Functional Description
Figure 1 shows a functional description of the hybrid expert
system developed in this paper. Numerous cases were tested
for the three stages, namely, identification of faulted section,
fault type classification, selection of fault location algorithm
and the computation of fault location. There is no doubt that
the combination of numeric algorithms with expert systems
offers a means for advanced technology in power systems.
Conclusions
The advancement in expert system technology offers a
great deal of promise for a number of application areas in the
electric utility in general. Interfacing expert systems with realtime measurements offers potential for new developments in
the power system protection field. Although the application
of expert system in the power system protection field has not
matured enough to bring conclusions, the detection of relays
or breakers malfunction at an early stage would lead to
preventive decision to avoid a major blackout. Also, having
the fault location computed to a system operator would
minimize the time needed to aleviate a major problem.
Advancement in digital protection of power systems, the
availability of communication links between different digital
protection schemes and main supervisory computers would
lead to new useful applications of expert systems in power
system protection.
Discussers: S. S. Venkata and B. Jeyasurya

IEEE Power

Engineering Review, April

1989

Fig. 1. Functional description of the expert system.

88 SM 523-3
April 1989

Performance Assessment and Control of Power

System Relaying
F. C. Chan, Senior Member, IEEE
China Light and Power Co. Ltd., Hong Kong

Introduction
The role of protection relaying in a power system is to
detect any fault or system abnormality and to initiate action
so that the faulty part can be speedily isolated by fault
clearing equipment. Because of the unique operation when
needed nature of power system protection relays, defects in
relays may develop unchecked due to infrequent operation.
Proper measures in monitoring and controlling relay performance are therefore essential. The purpose of this paper is to
review the approach adopted for protection performance
assessment and control. In this paper, the basic protection
system design, the method of measuring protection performance and control measures are examined.

Protection System Design

The protection system can be functionally separated into
four major components: the relay input/sensing devices, the
relay (decision portion), the auxiliary power sources and the
switching devices. The protection relay, being the most
important item, is therefore the key element for performance
control in order to achieve a highly reliable power system
protection. A probabilistic approach for reliability assessment
is adopted with particular emphasis on dependability and
security. Since in most cases, the impact of fail-to-operate
will be much greater than the impact of mal-operation, it is
more important to achieve a higher system dependability
even at the expense of lower security as long as the system
security attains an acceptable level. With this reasoning, a
one-out-of-two arrangement is therefore adopted. This oneout-of -two arrangement refers to a system consisting of two
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IEEE Power Engineering Review, April 1989