A MODEL FOR SIMULATING INTERNAL EARTH FAULTS IN TRANSFORMERS

A.I. Megahed
Electrical Engineering Department, Alexandna University, Alexandna, Egypt.
Abstract: The modeling of power transformer faults
and its application to performance evaluation of digital
protection algorithms are the objective of this study.
This paper presents an algorithm that can be used to
simulate an internal turn-to-earth fault occurring on
either the primary side or the secondary side of the
transformer. The method of simulating external faults
occurring at the transformer terminals is also
explained. Simulation results showing the validity of
the model are presented.
1

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INTRODUCTION

The development and the validation of algorithmsfor

transformer protection require the preliminary
deternunation of a power transformer model [ 11. This
model must simulate all the situations that will be
chosen to study the behavior of the protection
algorithm. In particular it must allow for the simulation
of intemal and external faults. Most of the
Electromagnetic transient programs (EMTP) available
are able to accurately simulate other phenomena
occumng in the transformer like inrush magnetizing
current, exciting current and transformer saturation [2].
Developing a model to simulate internal and external
faults of a power transformer, and applying it to test a
transformer protection algorithm, is a true validation
for it [3.4].
This paper describes a model that can be used to
simulate internal and external faults of a transformer.
The model is based on the physical concept of
representing windings as mutually coupled coils. The
impedance matrix can easily be derived from
commonly available test data. In this paper the analysis
presented in [5,6] is used to build the model. The
algorithm presented in [7] has also been of guidance to
the work presented in this paper.
2

MODEL OUTLINE

L, =

Mbpap

Mbpas

Lbp

Mbpbs

Mbpcp

Mbpcs

Mbsap

Mbsas

Mb*bp

Lbs

Mbscp

Mbses

Mepap

Mcpns

Mcpbp

Mcpbs

Lcp

cpcs

Part B: In this part the winding of a transformer

suffering from a tum-to-earth fault is dvided into two
coils, and the transformer is then described with two
7x7 matrices [R2] and P2]. In [6] a method is
described for the determination of the 7x7 matrices,
this method can be applied for a faulty coil on either
the primaq side or the secondary side of the
transformer.

Part C: It is the objective of t h ~paper

s
to describe Part
C of the algorithm. Part C utilizes the analysis
presented in Parts A and B and develops complete
equations that can be'used to simulate an internal tumto-earth fault occurring on either the primary side or
the secondary side of the transformer. The algorithm is
also used to simulate external faults occurring at the
transfomier terminals.
'

The algorithm presented in this paper can be divided

into three parts as indicated below:

3
3.1

Part A: In this part the excitation and short circuit tests

in positive and zero sequences are used to compute two
matrices [RI] and PI]modeling a healthy transformer
[ 5 ] . In the case of a three-phase transformer, with two
windings for each phase, these matrices are of order 6
as shown in (1 -2).

TURN-TO-EARTH FAULTS
Matrices Calculations

When a tum-to-earth fault occurs in phase bp, its coil

will be divided into two sub-coils bpl and bp2. Each
sub-coil will have its own resistance, self-inductance
and mutual inductance with the other sub-coil and all
remaining coils of the transformer. This leadsto the
formation of a new 7x7-p2] and L z ] matrices 161.

Developments in Power System Protection, Conference Publication N0.4790 IEE 2001.

359

11

These relations lead to the well-known expression of

considered as two inductances in series, as
follows:
(7)
Lbp = Lbpl + 2Mbplbp2 +Lbp2
L b p l , Lbp2 and M b p l b p 2 are elements of the 7x7 matrix.
L b p is an element of the 6x6 matrix.
Lbp,

Leakage: Taking into account a leakage factor

between coils bpl and bp2 is essential since the fault
current will largely depend on the leakage [6,7]. The
leakage factor is given by:

I I

71

Fig. 1Transformer primary and secondary windmgs.

A complete analysis for calculating the leakage factors
for faulty coils is presented in [6] and is used inthe
model described in this paper. Hence, the leakage
factor will be considered as a known parameter.

The 7x7-matrix m2] will be determined with the help

of the following relations:
nbpl

Rbpl

=-

Rbp
"bp

(3)

nbp2
Rbp2 =-Rbp
bp

La

MOW

L,

Mbplop

Mbploa

bplop

M&

M,

M-

Mbplbpl

Mbplbr

Mbplcp

Mbplcr

Lbpl

Mbplbs

Mbplcp

Mbp2cr

Mbzcp

Mbsm

M&Pl

Mbplo.

LbpL
bplbpl

Mt-P

M b

Mbzbp~

Mbdpl

Lbz

Mcpq

M c p

Mpbpl

Mepbpl

MCPbs

M,

Mubp,

Mubp*

Mubs

,M,

Proportionality: To determine the three unknowns

L b p 2 and k f b p l b p 2 a thud eClUatiOn must be added:

!.b,pi,

L,

MW.3

M,

La

Lbpl

Lbp

-+1

k2

(1 0 )
G +I

Lbp
/

(1 1)

The first step is to determine the self and mutual

inductances of the faulty sub-coils: L b p l , L b p f and
h i b P l b p 2 . Thls purpose will be achieved accordmgto
three rules: consistency, leakage and proportionality.
Consistency: If, when using the 7x7-matrix, coils bpl
and bp2 are supplied in series without any fault, the
same results must be found when the 6x6 matrix is
used. If it is assumed that coils bpl and bp2 are
supplied in series and that a currentiflowsthrough
them. All other coils are on no-load. Hence

;::

Lbpl + M b p l b p 2 )

b , 2

The second step is to determine the mutual inductances

between the coil bpl and any other coilj except for
coil bp2 (as well as those between the coil bp2 and any
other coil j except for bpl). The consistency principle
leads to [6,7]:
Mbpj

(5)

=Mbplj

+MbpZj

(13)

The proportionality rel'ation leads to:

+Mbplbp2)

In this way

Mbpli ----

nbpl

Mbp2j

*bp1

-k

Equations (13) and (14) lead to:

360

(14)

matrix

and

w21

current

vector

i = [ i a ~ i a , i b p i , i b p 2 , i b s i c p , l c s l t by:

BfS.>B]
e = p y + R 2i
(17)
The flux linkage vector \v is also related to the current
vector i by:

Load

R.

CP

Iv

- -

The algorithm
w = L , 1 utdizes
(16-18) to simulate(18)a
transformer suffering from a single phase-to-ground
fault. The technique provided above can simulate an
internal fault occurring on either the p r i m side or
the secondary side of the transformer.

cs

Fig. 2 System model for a turn-to-earth fault in

winding bp.
k
MbPIJ

I+kMh

(15)

where Mbp, is considered as known data [ 5 ] .

Internal Faults Algorithm

3.2

EXATERNAL FAULTS

M b ~ 2=
~ I+kMbm

Figure 2 shows the model used to simulate turn-toearth faults. The model consists of a 3-phase supply
that is connected to the primary side of the transformer
via a short transmission line represented by its
resistance Rn. and inductance LE. The secondary side
of the transformer is connected to a variable load ( R L ~ ,
LLo). The faulty winding bp is divided into two subwindings bpl and bp2, and their resistances and
inductances are calculated as indicated in the previous
section. In practice, ground resistances are used to limit
the ground faults to acceptable values, hence three
ground resistances R,1, R, and Rg3 are added to the
model.
With the aid of Fig. 2 the machine terminal voltages,
during an intemal single phase to ground fault, can be
expressed as follows:
eap = V m sin(wt)-R,iap -L,pi,
- e g , -egz

As the model is intended to be used to validate

protection algorithms, simulation of external faults is
as important as the simulation of internal faults.
Extemal faults can occur either on the primary side of
the transformer or the secondary side. The simulation
model 'should be able to simulate faults on either side
of the transformer. The section presented below
describe the simulation of an external two phaseto
ground fault on the secondary side of the transformer.
4.1

Two Phase to Ground Fault

The transformer during an external two phase to

groyd fault (us-bs-g) is represented in a manner
similar to Fig. 2, except that the location of the fault
will be placed after the secondary windings(us-bsi.
The following equations describe the transformer
tenninal voltages during the fault.
- L,pi, -eg, -eaz
ew = V, sin(w t ) - R,i,
em =-e,,
ebp =V,sin(wt-120)-Rr,ibp-LrLpibp-eg1-egz
ebr =-e g3

eo* = -%,ins - LL, Pins- eg3

e,,, = V m sin(wt-120)-RTLibpl -L,pibpl -eg1

ecp=Vmsin(wt+120)-RrLicp-LrLpicp -egl -egz

ecs = -RLoics - L,, Pics-eg3

=-egl

-LLoPibs -eg3
eep=Vmsin(wt+120)-R,i,

(19)

ebs =-RLoibs

-L,pi,

where

-egl -eg2

egl

ecs = -RLoicr- L,, Pi,, - eg.7

(16)
where,
V, = Maximum value of supply voltage
o = Supply frequency in radsec
d
p=dt

egl

= ('ap

+ibpl

= <iq+ibp

ci,

+ j ~ p ) ~ g l

+i~p)Rg2
eg3 = (ia +ibr +ics)Rg3
As in the case of intemal faults the remaining
equations that constitute the external fault model are:
e=py+Rli
(2Q)
y=Lli
(21)
where
egz

+i~p)Rgl

e = feq9

"bp

ebp

>

ecp> ecs

y = [vq.vas > Vbp, vbs, v c p . vcs 1

i = [i,, i, ,ibp,ibS.icp,ic,1

The flux linkage vector ip is obtained by applyinga

numerical integration technique to solve (20), and
finally the current vector i is obtained be usingthe
obtained vector q~ and inverting the matrix PI].

,361

SIMULATION RESULTS

Prior to the occurrence of a fault the transformer is

assumed to be operating normally at its full load. The
model presented in [5] is used to simulate normal
operating conditions. The transformer parameters used
for internal and extemal fault simulations are the same
parameters used in [5]. The model described above can
work equally well using physical quantities or per-unit
values. However in this paper the physical quantities
are used, Equations (16-18) have been used to simulate
an internal single phase to ground fault at 60% of coil
bp (i.e. nbpl=0.6nbp). The value of R,1 is 42Q, Rg2is 0
and R, is 10R. These values were chosen to limit the
fault currents to acceptable values. The simulation
results are shown in Figs. 3,4. Figures 5,6 show an
external two phase to ground fault occurringin as and
bs windings. It should be noted that the ground
resistances are not effective in limiting the fault
currents in the second case.

o
- i cp

I: 10'

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

CONCLUSIONS

It has been shown that intemal single phase to ground

faults and extemal tenninal faults can be modeled in a
power transformer. In the case of internal faults a new
inductance matrix has to be computed. The procedure
of calculatingthe required matrix is e x p h e d .

Inclusion of the ground resistance to limit the fault

currents to acceptable values is necessary when

-5000

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0
-5000

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

01

0.12

REFERENCES
Phadke, A.G. and Thorp, J.S.: 'Computer
Relaying for Power Systems' (Research Studies
Press, England, 1988).
EMTP Development Coordination Group; Electric
Power Research Institute: 'EMTP Revised
RuleBook' (Version 2.0; Volume 2, 1988).
Megahed, A.I. and Malik, O.P.: 'Synchronous
generator
internal fault computation and
experimental venfication', IEE Proc. -Gener.
Transm. Distrib., 1998, 145, (3,
pp. 604-610.
Megahe4 A.1. and Malik, O.P.: 'An ANN based
differential protection scheme for generators' IEEE
Trans., 1999, PWRD-14, (l), pp. 86-93.
Brabdwajn, V., Dommel, H.W. and Dommel, 1.1.:
'Matrix representation of three-phase N-winding
transformers', IEEE Trans., 1982, PAS-101, (6),
pp. 1369-1378.
Bastard, P., Bertrand, P., and Meunier, M.: 'A
transformer model for winding fault stuhes', IEEE
Trans.,1994, PWRD-9, (2), pp. 690-699.
Chen, X. : 'A three-phase multi-legged transfomier
model in ATP using the directly-formed inverse
inductance matrix', IEEE Trans., 1996, PWRD-11,
(3), pp. 1554-1562.

0 icp

Time, s

Fig. 3 Primary side currents for an intemal single

phase to ground fault1

5000,

<

i as

- 5 OOOI
0
5000

I
0 02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

bs

v -5OOOI

0
5000,

-5000 I

1
0.02

'

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12
I

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

I
0.02

0.04

ICs

0.12

0.02

validating Werent protection schemes. Ground

resistance has been included in the model, and its
effect in limiting single phase to ground fault currents
is shown in the simulation results.

1iap
I

5ooo0

0.02

Time, s

Fig. 4 Secondary side currents for an internal single

phase to ground fault.

362