Computer-Aided Recloser

Applications for Distribution Systems

J.E Witte],S.R. Mendis],M. T Bishop], and J.A. Kischefskyz

ustomers served by modern

rents, to time and interrupt these
electric utilities have come to
overcurrents,
and to reclose autoAn expert system
expect highly reliable service due
matically t o re-energize t h e line
built into a coordination
after a n i n t e r r u p t i o n . T h e s e
to an increased customer awareness and to the sensitive electric
program helps distribution devices are classified according to
the number of phases interrupted
devices utilized in todays technoengineers establish
logically advanced society. When
(single o r three phase), control
the electric service is disrupted,
t y p e (hydraulic, electronic, o r
a functional
even for a short period of time,
microprocessor), and interrupting
protection system
the result can be anything
media (oil or vacuum).
- from a
minor inconvenience t o a major
Dual timing characteristics are
used to provide selective protececonomic loss.
The protection engineer needs to evaluate devices
tion between temporary and permanent faults. A reclosthat will provide enhanced protection or coordinate beter is selected to have one or more operations on the fast
ter with other devices on the system. Devices with autocurve, followed by one or more operations on the time
matic reclosing capability, such as automatic circuit
delay curve, up to a total of four operations. A typical
reclosers, will provide momentary interruptions with
recloser sequence is shown in Figure 1, illustrating a
fast restoration of service in response t o temporary
sequence of two fast and two time delay operations to
faults. This article focuses on the computer-aided applilockout.
cation of reclosers in distribution systems.
The fast curve is selected to provide very fast clearing
Automatic circuit reclosers were developed to reduce
of a temporary fault. The intention is to clear the fault
circuit outages and increase the reliability of distribution
before any equipment damage occurs o r before any
systems. The high percentage of temporary faults allows
downline fuse operates. If the fault is not cleared after
the application of a device with a dual timing characterthe fast trip operations, then the fault is probably permaistic to coordinate with fuses, sectionalizers, and other
nent, and the recloser control then transfers to its time
automatic circuit reclosers placed on the system. The
delay characteristic t o allow operation of a downline
number of reclosing events, t h e reclosing interval
fuse or sectionalizer, thus limiting the permanent outage
delays, fast and time delay (also referred t o a s slow)
to a small area. If a permanent fault occurs on the feeder
curve selection, and minimum trip selection must be
section protected by the recloser but upstream of a fuse,
chosen to satisfy a number of objectives. The variability
then the recloser will operate to lockout, isolating the
in settings, combined with the multiple reclosing events,
faulted feeder section from the rest of the distribution
must be considered when coordinating the recloser with
system.
source-side and/or load-side fuses and reclosers.
When reclosers are used with electronic or microproAn expert system (with coordination macros) built
cessor controls, the controls can be equipped with variinto a coordination program can help distribution engio u s f e a t u r e s t o modify t h e b a s i c t i m e c u r r e n t
neers establish a functional protection system. The
characteristic (TCC) curves or the operating sequence
coordination program featured in this article is the Vof the recloser. These features are utilized to implement
PRO@package.
specific protection strategies.

Recloser Characteristics

Modeling Recloser Characteristics

An automatic circuit recloser is a self-contained device

The following recloser parameters can b e modeled during overcurrent protection studies using the package
featured in this article. A combination of these features
can be used to model hydraulic, electronic, or microprocessor controlled reclosers.
TCC curves and trip ratings. For all hydraulic

with the necessary circuit intelligence to sense overcur-

Cooper Power Systems, Systems Engineering

Cooper Power Systems, Distribution Switchgear

FAST OPERATIONS
(CONTACTSCLOSED)
FAULT
CURRENT

(CONTACTS/

TIME-DELAY OPERATIONS
(CONTACTSCLOSED)

/
RECLOSER
LOCKOUT

(CONTACTSOPEN)

CLOSED)

FA ULT
I NIT I AT ED
HECLOSING INTERVALS (CONTACTS OPEN)

Figure 1. Typical recloser operating sequence, with two fast and two time delayed operations

both the phase and ground trip elements. For the electronic and microprocessor controlled reclosers, the control curves are stored in the database (as a percent of
the minimum trip versus time points) and are manipulated according to the appropriate minimum trip values for

t h e time between successive

reclosures.

temporary fault before t h e source-side device

interrupts t h e circuit (fuse link) o r operates t o
lockout (recloser).
Outages c a u s e d by permanent faults m u s t b e
restricted to the smallest segment of the system.

customized expert

Minimum trip doubler/altemate minimum trip. By

selecting this option, a different minimum trip (current)
value is selected.

the recloser completing its operating sequence before the fuse

Coordinating Reclosers and Fuse-Links

multiplying factor (K-factor) applied to t h e reclosers

delay curve, which takes into account any preloading, tolerances, and predamage effects on the fuse link. K-factors
for source-side and load-side Tin fuse links are available
for various reclosing intervals and operating sequences.

Reclosers must b e coordinated with both source-side

and load-side fuse links. For the proper application of
reclosers on a distribution system, the following basic
coordination principles must be observed:

Source-Side Recloser and Load-Side Fuse

The objective of load-side fuse coordination is quite different than source-side fuse coordination and is encoun-

28 IEEE Computer Applications in Power.

Recloser

- Source

Iftl

sou-

Recloser

Side F u s e

Source

Load

- Load

Side Fuse

~ 1
U

Fuse

Load
Fuse

1000
.Iooo
~

100

100

10

10

w
-

0.10

0.10

0.010

0.010

10

1000

100

10

10000

100

10000

1000
CURRENT ( A )

CURRENT ( A )

Figure 2. Source-side Fuse and load-side recloser

coordination

Figure 3. Source-side recloser and load-side fuse

coordination

tered more frequently. For temporary fault coordination,

The rule-based expert system module can automatithe reclosers fast curve operations should not cause
cally check overcurrent device coordination on radial
fuse link damage (this includes the cumulative heating
distribution feeders. All device TCC curves are displayed
effects of multiple fast curve operations with
graphically along with the desired and actual
very short reclosing intervals). For permaranges of coordination in terms of current.
nent faults, the reclosers delayed operA wide variety of devices, ratings, coorations should b e slower than (lie
The
dination margins, and philosophies
above and to the right 00 the fuses
can b e investigated quickly. The
maximum clear curve, as shown
package
expert system uses knowledgein Figure 3 (ground trip curves
based techniques to check the
allows protection
removed for clarity). This will
coordination of two devices in
ensure that the fuse link melts
series, and it can extend its
engineers to concentrate
and clears any permanent
capabilities t o coordinate an
On the application and not
faults before the recloser operentire feeder. Any combinaates on its delay curve. With
tion of a coordination pair
on tedious curve
load-side fuse coordination, the
(e.g., fuse-recloser, recloser-

Coordination Package
The coordination package is a PC-based program that
contains an extensive database of protective device TCC
curves, has t h e flexibility for developing customized
macros, and includes an expert system module. These
features make it a valuable tool that distribution protection engineers can use for efficient evaluation of protective schemes.

and philosophies.
As is the case with the expert system, independent
macros (rule files) can be written to customize specific
applications. Recloser and fuse-link coordination is one
of the applications where the program is capable of producing a variety of efficient solutions to a specific problem. A macro written exclusively for this purpose can be
used t o generate the TCC curves needed for a specific
coordination application. For example, a macro can be
July 1992 29

FUSE1
S&C Fuse
Type SMD-IA (80E)
80 Ampere

I t 3o

. . 12,47kV

11SKVA

ai(
4

2 = 10%

FUSE3
Cooper Powersystems
Type T-TIN (50T)
50 Ampere

RECL
Cooper Power Systems
Kely Recloser-TypeWE
400A, Phase Trip
2A-2C
200A, GroundTrip
2#1-2#3

FUSE2
Cooper Power Systems
Type T-TIN (50T)
50 Ampere

FUSE4
Cooper Power Systems
Type T-TIN (50T)
50 Ampere

KT EXAMPLE4.DEV

1 FUSE1

FUSE1
2 RECL
RECL
RECL
RECL
3 RECL
RECL
RECL
RECL
4 RECL
RECL
RECL
RECL

RECL
RECL
FUSE2
FUSE2
FUSE2
FUSE2
FUSE3
FUSE3
FUSE3
FUSE3
FUSE4
FUSE4
FUSE4
FUSE4

NO
YES

NO
NO
YES
YES

NO
YES
YES
YES

NO
YES
YES
YES

PHASE
GROUND
PHASETEMP
GROUND TEMP
PHASE PERM
GROUND PERM
PHASE TEMP
GROUND TEMP
PHASE PERM
GROUND PERM
PHASE TEMP
GROUND TEMP
PHASE PERM
GROUND PERM

lyzed, the TCC curves generated, and the coordination

report generated with the expert system are shown.

applied to the recloser curve), with the load-side

fuse minimum melt curve.
Ground Trip: Coordination check is based on the
source-side recloser phase-ground composite fast
curve (K-factor applied t o the recloser curve), with
the load-side fuse minimum melt curve.

Source-side Recloser and Load-Side Fuse

Coordination for Permanent Faults
Phase Trip: Coordination check is based on the
source-side recloser phase time delay curve (-10
percent tolerance applied to recloser curve), with
the load-side fuse maximum clear curve.
;r Ground Trip: Coordination check is based on the
source-side recloser phase-ground composite time
delay c u r v e (-10 percent tolerance applied t o
recloser curve), with the load-side fuse maximum
clear curve.

Application Examples
The following examples illustrate how the package is
used for recloser and fuse-link coordination. A simple
one-line diagram of the portion of the feeder being ana-

Coordinating Two Devices

This example describes the coordination between two
devices, a source-side recloser (Kyle@recloser, Type
WE, 400A Phase trip 2A-2C, and 200A Ground trip 2#12#3) and a load-side fuse (Type T-TinSOT, 50A fuse). For
temporary faults, the reclosers fast curve operations
should not cause fuse link damage (this includes the
cumulative heating effects of multiple fast curve operations with very short reclosing intervals). For permanent
faults, the reclosers delayed operations should be slower than the fuses maximum clear curve. This will ensure
that the fuse link melts and clears any permanent faults
before the recloser operates on its delay curve and thus
isolates the minimum number of customers on the system. The K-factor is now applied to the reclosers fast
curve to account for the cumulative heating effects produced by the successive fast operations of the sourceside recloser. This is to ensure that the fuse link is not
damaged during the fast trip operations of the recloser,
up to the maximum available fault current. The short circuit information at each bus and the device information
is used as input to the program in two separate data
files. The EREC-FUS (electronic recloser a n d fuse)
macro, which has all the rules defined for a source-side
recloser and load-side fuse coordination, is used t o
check for the coordination and to generate TCC curves
which are shown in Figure 4.
In this example, the selected devices along with their
settings are not sufficient for the application considered.
As shown in the TCC curve plot and the coordination
report, temporary fault protection is not achieved
between the reclosers phase or phase-ground composite fast curve and the fuses minimum melt curve over
the entire fault current range. The main concern here is
that the protection is achieved only u p t o 1,600A comJuly 1.992 31

pared to the required 2,000A. One solution to this problem will be to select a different fuse type and/or size.

Coordinating Multiple Devices

This example illustrates the use of the expert system
module in t h e coordination of multiple overcurrent
devices. In this case, a total of five devices are in the system. The system is shown in Figure 5. As described earlier, the entire system is modeled with the expert system.
This example illustrates a quick coordination check on
t h e entire feeder using t h e program. The output file
informs the user where coordination is achieved and

Computer Aided Coordination of Line Protection Schemes, IEEE

Report, Power System Relaying Committee of t h e IEEE Power
Engineering Society, 90 TH 02857, 1989.

Biographies
J.F. Witte is a power systems engineer in the Systems
Engineering Group of Cooper Power Systems, Franksville,
Wisconsin. He performs a variety of power system analysis studies primarily for industrial power systems, which
include harmonic, transient, and power factor correction.
He is a l s o involved in t h e Cooper Power Systems
Overcurrent Protection workshop. He received a BSEE and

p r e v e n t i o n of d a m a g e t o
Overcurrent Protection, Power
the flexibility to develop
equipment from any fault conQuality, and Harmonic workdition occurring on the system,
shops. He received a BSEE from
custom macros, and
a n d protection of t h e system
Gannon University, Erie,
from the effects of equipment failPennsylvania, and an MSEE from
an expert system
ures and misoperations. There are
Michigan Technological Univermodule
many protective devices available to
sity, Houghton, Michigan. He is a
t h e distribution protection engineer
member of the IEEE and is also involved
and many philosophies used to apply these
in t h e activities of t h e IEEE I n d u s t r y
devices. The package discussed in this article
Applications Society. He is the current chairman
allows the distribution protection engineer to concenof the Power Quality Subcommittee.
trate on the application itself and not on the tedious
M.T. Bishop is the supervisor of Industrial Studies in
curve drawing that must be done to evaluate alternat h e Systems Engineering Group of Cooper Power
tives. The expert system and the ability to build cusSystems. The industrial studies section is responsible
tomized macros enhance t h e process of examining
for engineering studies related to industrial power sysalternatives and minimizes the likelihood of errors. This
tems, harmonic and transient measurements, applicapackage is not intended to replace the engineers judgetion of the V-PRO package, and administration of the
ment; it is a tool that can be used to examine protective
Workshops offered by Cooper Power Systems. He is also
device alternatives efficiently. The recloser and fuse-link
an instructor in the Cooper Power Systems Ouercuwent
coordination is only one area of a wide spectrum of variProtection a n d Distribution Analysis workshops. He
ous coordinations that can be performed efficiently with
received a BSEPE a n d a n MSEPE from Rensselaer
the help of a good computer-aided engineering tool.
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. He is a senior
member of the IEEE.
Acknowledgments
J.A. Kischefsky is a distribution protection engineer at
V-PRO and KYLE are registered trademarks of Cooper
Distribution Switchgear, Kyle Products Plant, Cooper
Power Systems, Inc.
Power Systems, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His responsibilities include providing application guidance on distriFor Further Reading
bution switchgear, new product development, and the
Electrical Distribution-System Protection Manual, Third Edition,
application of distribution switchgear to automated disCooper Power Systems, 1990.
tribution systems. He is also an instructor in the Cooper
S.R. Mendis, M.T. Bishop, D.A. Gonzalez, Rule-Based Coordination
Power Systems Overcurrent Protection Workshop. He
Program Evaluates Distribution Transformer Overcurrent Protection
received a BSEE from Marquette University, Milwaukee,
Alternatives,IEEE ComputerApplication.5 in Power, April 1991.
Wisconsin. He is a member of the IEEE.
32 IEEE CornputerApplications in Power