IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS VOL. 1G.A,-3, NO.

I JAN/FEB 1967

The Problem of Arcing Faults in Low-Voltage

Power Distribution Systems
FRANCIS J. SHIELDS, MEMBER, IEEE

Abstract-Many cases of electrical equipment burndown arising

from low-level arcing-fault currents have occurred in recent years
in low-voltage power distribution systems. Burndown, which is the
severe damage or complete destruction of conductors, insulation
systems and metallic enclosures, is caused by the concentrated
release of energy in the fault arc. Both grounded and ungrounded
electrical distribution systems have experienced burndowns, and
the reported incidents have involved both industrial and commercial
building distribution equipment, without regard to manufacturer,
geographical location, or operating environment.
Various measures are effective in reducing the probability of
equipment burndown. This paper discusses the use of supplementary
ground-fault relaying for protection against bumdown in solidly
grounded low-voltage systems. Emphasis is placed on use of a
window-type current transformer and overcurrent relay combination
of the ground sensor variety to monitor the flow of current in the
ground or zero-sequence circuit. Examples of application are given,
and the possible necessity to achieve compromise between maxi-
mum circuit and equipment protection and overall power system
service continuity is discussed.

INTRODUCTION
IN RECENT YEARS, power distribution engineers have
reported many cases of low-voltage electrical equip- Fig. 1. Burndown damage caused by arcing fault. View shows low-
voltage cable compartments of secondary unit substation.
ment burndowns, often without explanation of the causes
underlying such disasters. More recently, many of these
"unexplained" burndowns have been analyzed, their nature burndowns have caused most concern in recent years,
determined, and effective measures developed to provide that the area of greatest exposure to this type of trouble
protection against these occurrences. exists in the average installation, and that the least recogni-
At the outset, it is necessary to understand that the tion has been given by system designers and operators to
term "burndown" used in this paper does not mean the the necessity for deliberate action to minimize the prob-
loss of equipment primarily through combustion of flamma- ability of equipment burndowns.
ble materials--that is, by fire. It may be noted, however, The 1965 National Electrical Code draws particular
that contingent loss by fire also occurs in many cases of attention to the need for adequate circuit protection
equipment burndown. against this as well as other types of faults in a new article
Burndown, as the term is used here, means severe dam- (NEC 110-10):
age to electrical equipment caused by the energy of arcing- Circuit Impedance and Other Characteristics. The over-
fault currents. The energy released in the fault arc during current protective devices, the total impedance, and
a burndown is so intense that it vaporizes copper or alu- other characteristics of the circuit to be protected shall
minum conductors and surrounding steel enclosures, and be so selected and coordinated as to permit the circuit
distills toxic and flammable gases from organic insulation protective devices used to clear a fault without the occur-
rence of extensive damage to the electrical components of
systems. Figure 1 is an example of such a burndown which the circuit. This fault may be assumed to be between two or
occurred in a secondary unit substation. Although burn- more of the circuit conductors; or between any circuit con-
downs have been experienced at all voltage levels used ductor and the grounding conductor or enclosing metal
for enclosed equipment in industrial and commercial raceway.
power systems, this paper is concerned chiefly with this It is important to observe that equipment burndowns
problem as it occurs in low-voltage systems-those op- are much more serious than the usual short circuits en-
erating at 600 volts or less. It is at these voltage levels that countered in power system operation. The ordinary variety
of short circuit results in a shutdown of the circuit in-
Paper approved by the Industrial and Commercial Power Systems volved, but the damage attributable to the short circuit is
Committee for presentation at the 1966 IEEE Industry and General usually localized to the point of fault, the fault itself is
Applications (roup Annual Meeting, Chicago, Ill., October 3-6.
The author is with General Electric Company, Schenectady, N.Y. promptly removed by the operation of circuit protective
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 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS JAN /FEB

devices, and electrical service, in general, can be quickly

restored after repairs or replacements.
In the burndown type of fault, on the other hand, the
damage attributable to the fault is widespread, the fault
is not quickly removed by the operation of protective de-
vices, and service may not be restored until extensive re-
pairs or replacements have been made.
The burndown itself is traceable to continued arcing at
the point of fault. This arcing releases tremendous amounts
of energy in the fault area, and, like a cancer, tends to
spread and communicate itself to areas not originally in-
cluded in the fault zone. In many documented cases, the
circuit protective devices themselves have become involved
in the burndown process, and the normal safeguards of
system operation have thus been destroyed.
Fig. 2. Service entrance switch and current-limiting fuses completely
BURNDOWN CASE HISTORIES destroyed by arcing fault in main low-voltage switchboard.
The reported incidents of equipment burndown are
many. One of the most publicized episodes involved a huge
apartment building complex in New York City [1], in
which two main 480Y/277-volt switchboards were com-
pletely destroyed, and two 5000-ampere service entrance
buses were burned-off right back to the utility vault. This
arcing fault blazed and sputtered for over an hour, and in-
convenienced some 10 000 residents of the development
through loss of service to building water pumps, hall and
stair lighting, elevators, appliances, and apartment lights.
Several days elapsed before service resembling normal
was restored through temporary hookups. Illustrations of
equipment damage in this burndown are shown in Figs. 2
and 3.
Another example of burndown occurred in the Midwest,
and resulted in completely gutting a service entrance Fig. 3. Fused feeder switch consumed by arcing fault in high-rise
switchboard and burning up two 1000-kVA supply trans- apartment main switchboard. No intermediate segregating barriers
had been used in construction.
formers. This burndown arc current flowed for about 15
minutes.
In still other reported incidents, a Maryland manufac-
turer experienced four separate burndowns of secondary
unit substations in a little over a year; on the West Coast
a unit substation at an industrial process plant burned for
more than eight minutes, resulting in destruction of the
low-voltage switchgear equipment; and this year several
burndown's have occurred in government office buildings
at scattered locations throughout the country.
An example of the involvement of the latter type of
equipment in arcing-fault burndowns is shown in Fig. 4.
The arcing associated with this fault continued for over 20
minutes, and the fault was finally extinguished only when
the relays on the primary system shut down the whole
plant.
The electrical equipment destruction shown in the
sample photographs is quite startling, but it is only one as-
pect of this type of fault. Other less graphic but no less seri-
ous effects of electrical equipment burndown may include
personnel fatalities or serious injury, contingent fire dam-
age, loss of vital services (lighting, elevators, ventilation, Fig. 4. Remains of main secondary circuit breaker burned down
fire pumps, etc.), shutdown of critical loads, and loss of during arcing fault in low-voltage switchgear section of unit sub-
product revenue. It should be pointed out that the cases station.
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1967 SHIELDS: POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 17

reported have involved both industrial and commercial ring during an arcing-fault burndown is quite similar to the
building distribution equipment, without regard to manu- process which takes place in an electric arc furnace. The
facturer, geographical location, operating environment, energy released in the fault arc vaporizes the metallic con-
or the presence or absence of electrical system neutral ductors or enclosures on which the arc impinges, and if the
grounding. Also, the reported burndowns have included a fault arc is not quickly extinguished, the final result, as
variety of distribution equipment-load center unit sub- shown in Figs. 1-4, is extensive damage and sometimes
stations, switchboards, busway, panelboards, service- complete destruction of equipment.
entrance equipment, motor control centers, and cable in When an arcing fault is established, it may or may not be
conduit, for example. quickly self-extinguishing, particularly on 208-volt sys-
It is obvious, therefore, when all the possible effects of tems [2], [3]. On the other hand, at 480 and 600 volts, the
arcing-fault burndowns are taken into consideration, that arc is usually self-sustaining, even under single-phase
engineers responsible for electrical power system layout conditions. If initiated single phase among metal-enclosed
and operation should be anxious both to minimize the bare buses, the arc will promptly develop into a 3-phase
probability of arcing faults in electrical systems and to fault, within a fraction of a cycle. In grounded systems,
alleviate or mitigate the destructive effects of such faults ground will usually be involved in the fault. When the bus
if they should inadvertently occur despite careful design system is insulated and the fault is initiated single phase,
and the use of quality equipment. The first objective may it may be expected to remain that way, provided the cur-
be secured in a variety of ways which will be briefly dis- rent is interrupted promptly. If the current is not inter-
cussed later; the second objective requires the application rupted promptly then the continued arcing at the point of
of arcing-fault protection in low-voltage power distribution fault will develop heat and ionized gases, resulting in the
systems and this will be discussed in some detail. breakdown of the insulation on the unfaulted phases, after
a moderate delay, and the escalation of the fault into a 3-
THE NATURE OF BURNDOWNS phase condition.
The exact nature of arcing faults has been adequately As long as the arc is self-sustaining, it is capable of
covered in the available technical literature [2], [3]. Two releasing tremendous energy at the point of fault. Even at
concepts presented in these references are of particular low current levels, as noted previously, this energy release
value in understanding and accepting the protective meas- is sufficient to burn down equipment, and it is this charac-
ures proposed in this paper. The first is that the fault-arc teristic, energy release at the point of fault, which makes
voltage drop may substantially reduce the magnitude of the arcing fault so destructive. The bolted fault, in con-
fault current below the bolted 3-phase value. The second is trast, dissipates energy throughout the distribution system
that when the arcing fault becomes single phase, a further resistance elements and does not produce the concentrated
reduction in the rms value of fault current may occur, since devastating energy release of the arcing fault.
a recovery voltage considerably greater than the normal
arc voltage drop is required to reignite the arc after each MINIMIZING THE PROBABILITY OF ARCING FAULTS
current zero. Kaufmann [3 ] indicates that under favorable The initiation of arcing faults can occur in a variety of
conditions the probable minimum value of single-phase ways: through the presence of vermin or rodents in equip-
rms line-to-ground arcing-fault current, expressed in per- ment; the intrusion of metallic or conducting objects, such
cent of bolted 3-phase short-circuit values, is only 19 per- as fish tapes or tools, into bare bus systems; loose connec-
cent for 480-volt systems and 40 percent for 600-volt sys- tions arising from poor installation, heat cycling, or the
tems. Unfortunately, these minimum values are not mechanical effect of high current surges; and the deteriora-
"sacred," since under adverse conditions, such as the single- tion of insulation as a result of mechanical or chemical dam-
phase operation of fuses in the arcing fault circuit [4], or age, voltage surges, heat, aging, or the accumulation of
possibly the presence of a highly inductive ground-return moisture, dust, and contaminants. Whatever the causative
(zero sequence) circuit [3], a further reduction of arcing- agent of arcing faults may be, such occurrences may be
fault current may occur. The lower limit of arcing-fault minimized by the selection of adequately rated quality
current is, therefore, unpredictable, but theoretical con- equipment, proper supervision of installation, operation
siderations and field experience both show that it can have within equipment ratings and limitations, protection of
values whichwill not operate the instantaneous tripson low- equipment from unusual operating or environmental condi-
voltage protective devices and may even be below the full- tions, execution of regular and thorough maintenance pro-
load current ratings of these devices. As Kaufmann [41 and cedures, and the carrying out of daily good housekeeping
Fisher [5 ] point out, however, prolonged duration of even a practices. In addition, improved equipment design can
modest fault current can produce catastrophic effects; make important contributions to minimizing arcing faults
a single-phase arcing fault of 600 amperes and an arc volt- by isolating and compartmentalizing live parts within
age of 200 volts represents heat liberated at the rate of 120 grounded metallic enclosures, by providing insulation
kW. This high rate of energy release can melt a lot of systems, and by incorporating equipment and distribution
copper, aluminum, or steel if the current flow continues for system features, such as draw-out, rack-out, or "stab-in"
five or ten minutes. construction, which make it unnecessary to work on
From the foregoing, it is apparent that the action occur- energized equipment.

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18 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS J A\N /FEB

SOURCE LOAD
No matter what preventive measures may be taken [
against arcing faults, their complete elimination is A B _ 'OLOAD)j
not possible in practical distribution systems. Arcing LCN4 .,>FUSE
faults in equipment, therefore, can be expected to occur,
(M-TO LOAD))
AC-ARCINGGROUND
FAULT VOLTAGES AT
and the engineering of distribution systems protection - _ _ AT81TO
__- FAULT POINT
should take this into account. ARROWS SHOW FAULT CURRENT PATH
;(C-PHASE FUSE
OPEN)

ARCING-FAULT PROTECTION Fig. 5. Illustration showing how reduced single-phase fault current
may flow to arcing fault after a fuse has blown.
The peculiarities of arcing faults, i.e., high rates of energy
release, and possible low fault current levels, make it very
desirable that arcing-fault protection be characterized by fault is an arcing one, severe equipment burndown may
two important features; a high degree of sensitivity to de- occur.
tect low-level arcing-fault current, and fast speed of opera- For the reasons cited, fuses alone are not considered self-
tion-in the order' of cycles rather than seconds-to limit sufficient agents for arcing-fault protection. It should be
the destructive effects of the arc. The requirements of noted, however, that certain fast-Qnirating shunt-tripped
selective operation of circuit protective devices-in which fusible switches, which provlde 3-pole circuit disconnection
only the device nearest the fault on its supply side operates promptly on the occurrence of a single blown fuse, may be
to remove the fault, and thus secures maximum power coupled with supplementary relaying to furnish protection
service reliability for important system loads-may force against arcing faults. The 3-pole disconnection, or anti-
a reduction in both the maximum speed of operation and single-phase feature of suitable fused switches, prevents the
maximum sensitivity available in arcing-fault protection. fault point from remaining energized via the back-feed
Conversely, to limit the destructive effects of the arc a circuit and furnishes prompt quenching of the arcing
compromise in the extent of selective operation achieved fault.
may be required. In any case, the adequate arcing-fault The antisingle-phase feature alone, however, does not
protection system'must be relatively sensitive and fast, mean that shunt-tripped fusible switches nmay be safely
and the various proposals advanced as arcing-fault pro- applied for protection against arcing faults. Good engineer-
tection should be measured against these criteria. ing also requires that the switch contacts must be able to
Since phase-overcurrent protective devices of either the interrupt, without distress, any moderate arcing-fault cur-
circuit breaker or fuse type are almost universally used on rent on which the switch is called to operate by the supple-
low-voltage distribution systems, it is sometimes suggested mentary relaying before the fuses blow. Since the majority
that these alone may provide adequate protection against of fusible switches have a limited contact interrupting
arcing faults. The fact that equipment burndowns have ability, this last requirement is a very significant one, from
occurred is, however, evidence that complete reliance for the viewpoint of personnel safety. MIany fusible switches
arcing-fault protection cannot be placed on these phase- cannot meet the necessary performance requirements for
overcurrent devices. The reason for this is simple. Fuses protection against arcing faults. The exceptions to this
and circuit breakers will operate only after a relatively statement generally include the shunt-tripped fusible
long period of time on moderate short-circuit currents and switches, available from a few manufacturers, which are
will not operate at all on currents less than their contin- fundamentally nonautomatic circuit breaker mechanisms
uous current ratings, yet currents of such low orders of and contacts coupled with appropriate fuses.
magnitude may occur in arcing faults. The direct-acting trips on molded-case and low-voltage
Fuses are single-phase devices, and when used alone in power circuit breakers will provide time-delay or in-
polyphase systems, without supplemental aids to provide stantaneous tripping of the circuit breaker on overcurrents
polyphase circuit disconnection, they retain their charac- which exceed their settings. In practice, circuit breaker
teristic of furnishing only single-pole interruption of fault time-delay trips must be set above the maximum expected
current. Case histories and theoretical analyses have shown continuous current in the circuit. On the larger industrial
that such single-pole operations mav not extinguish the unit substations and the high-capacity commercial build-
fault, but often permit it to be backfed with reduced cur- ing electrical services frequently encountered today, the
rent from the other energized phases [4]. Therefore the circuit continuous-current rating may exceed the minimum
opening of the first single-pole device will modify the cir- values of arcing-fault current which can occur in the circuit.
cuit geometry in such a way that the fault continues to be In addition, as a practical necessity, the circuit breaker
supplied with fault current, generally of considerably instantaneous trips must be set above the offset value of
diminished magnitude. transformer or motor inrush currents to avoid false trip-
This current flows via a circuit consisting of the other ping. Consequently, it has become a widespread but unwise
phase conductors, the line-to-line connected load, and the practice to set breaker instantaneous trips as high as their
conductor on the load side of the fault point (Fig. 5). Be- range permits, and many instances have been observed
cause of the reduced' fault current value the remaining where such settings exceeded even the maximum short-
phase-overcurrent devices are either inoperative or will circuit current (3-phase bolted value) available in the
operate only after a long time delay. In either case, if the circuit.

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 967 SHIELDS: POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS19 19

In view of the probable low levels of arcing-fault cur- system, through the use of a neutral resistor, controls the
rents, these high instantaneous trip settings cannot provide, ground-fault current to a relatively low value-commonly,
with an acceptable degree of certainty, detection and inter- 15 amperes or less and normally provides only an alarm
ruption of destructive arcing faults. Nevertheless, the singleor indication, without tripping, on the occurrence of a
most important measure which might be taken, in any fault to ground. The low-resistance grounded system con-
power system and without product expense, to improve trols the ground-fault current to a value in the range of
system protection against arcing faults would be to lower several hundred to a thousand amperes or so, and with the
circuit breaker instantaneous trip settings to a level no use of sensitive ground-fault detectors can provide auto-
higher than that required to avoid nuisance tripping under matic circuit interruption on the occurrence of a ground
normal conditions [5]. Setting of instantaneous trips on fault. Though little used in low-voltage systems today, this
this basis should become a general practice in distribution type of system grounding limits the damage which can
systems. In addition, the use of short-time trips to supple- occur during an arcing fault to ground and may see more
ment or replace instantaneous tripping wherever possible extensive use in the future as more economic and sensitive
and where switchgear ratings permit it, should be a fault detectors become available.
recommended practice. The third type of grounded system is the solidly
Despite the precautions stated in the preceding para- grounded system, in which the system neutral is connected
graph, however, arcing-fault currents sometimes may have solidly to ground, without the intentional use of any neutral
values less than the minimum permissible settings of in- impedance. Ground fault currents in this system may have
stantaneous or short-time trips; in fact, as observed earlier,values approaching or exceeding the bolted 3-phase short-
such currents may be less than the normal load current in circuit values, and automatic, prompt interruption of cir-
the circuit. Even where the fault current value is sufficient cuits faulted to ground is the intended (though not always
to operate the long-time delay element of the circuit actual) mode of operation. The solidly grounded system is
breaker trip, the operating time of these elements is the most widely used low-voltage distribution system, in
generally so long, that it is impossible for circuit interrup-either the industrial or commercial building domain.
tion to be accomplished before extensive arc damage has To provide a limit to the scope of this presentation,
occurred. the following discussion on specific relaying methods is
intended to apply expressly to solidly grounded low-volt-
SUPPLEMENTARY ARCING-FAULT RELAYING age systems. In these systems the relaying methods con-
Because of the inadequacies of fuses and conventional sist generally of ground-overcurrent and some form of
circuit breaker trips in handling arcing-fault currents, re- ground-differential relaying.
course to supplementary relaying is necessary to secure
adequate protection. The type of supplementary relaying GRO UND-OVERCURRENT RELAYING
which would be used and its degree of effectiveness under The shortcomings of phase-overcurrent devices in detect-
various conditions are dependent on the nature of the low- ing low-level arcing faults have already been cited. This
voltage system grounding. It should be immediately ob- suggests that the ideal solution to the problem would be
served, as a matter of caution on this topic, that both sensitive to arcing-fault current alone. Since arcing faults
grounded and ungrounded systems have proved vulnerable in grounded systems almost invariably involve ground,
to arcing-fault burndowns. While the "ungrounded" (in this fact permits a near-perfect approach to the ideal solu-
reality, grounded through distributed system capacitance) tion.
power system tends to present higher probable minimum In a normal, healthy power distributiOn system there
values of arcing-fault current under certain conditions, is essentially no significant flow of current in the ground
when compared to the grounded system, it, too, is subject path or no zero-seqvience current. The presence of cur-
to a drastic reduction of fault current magnitude in the rent in the ground circuit is directly indicative of an elec-
event of single-pole interrupter operation. At the same tric circuit fault. Arcing faults involving ground will pro-
time, as the technical literature displays, the ungrounded duce a distinct ground-fault current. Therefore, monitoring
system has a unique problem in the matter of transient the ground or zero-sequence circuit provides an effectual
overvoltages. means of detecting the existence of arcing faults.
These observations are made simply to make it clear An excellent method of monitoring the presence of
that the ungrounded power system does not possess any ground fault currents (zero-sequence currents) is provided
distinct advantage with regard to arcing faults and is de- by the use of a window or ring-type (sometimes called
ficient in its ability to control transient overvoltages. The doughnut) current transformer in combination with an
purpose of this comment is to forestall any presumption overcurrent relay (Fig. 6). All of the phase conductors of
that the author advocates the use of ungrounded power the circuit to be monitored (plus the neutral conductor, if
systems. used) are passed through the window of the current trans-
With regard to grounded power distribution systems, former (ct). With this arrangement, which in the author's
three varieties are in use which may be identified by the company is called a low-voltage ground-sensor relay (GSR)
degree to which the ground-fault current level is controlled combination, only circuit faults involving ground will
during a line-to-ground fault. The high-resistance grounded produce a current in the ct secondary to pick up the relay.

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20 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS JAN /FEB

CIRCUIT ground-fault current will be forced by inductive reactance A 6 C

11 NEUTRAL CONDUCTOR
PHASE-
CONDUCTORS j~ to return to the system neutral along a path closely parallel- IF USED)
ing the outgoing power conductor. Thus, in Fig. 7, the
WINDOW II14 NII OVERCURRENT
RE LAY conduit will provide the ground return path, and- the use of
L@;t *s-- -fNGSR COMBINATION an insulated conduit or busway housing joint will permit
RELAY TRPS CIRCUIT
PROTECTIVE DEVICE
the insertion of a GSR combination and jumper connection
AT SOURCE in this path to detect the presence of ground-fault current.
Fig. 6. Window current transformer and overcurrent relay (GSR) Where a choice between the alternative applications of
combination-monitoring ground-fault current. Figs. 6 and 7 is possible, the method of Fig. 6 is to be pre-
ferred, since it monitors the total flow of ground-fault
PHASE CONDUCTORS INSULATED COUPLING current. That is, all of the current into the ground fault
i must flow out on the circuit phase conductor(s), and thus
CO NDUIT LOAD-*
,*-S0C
O UMPER
1 --= FAULT TO
,1 GROUND *'GROUND
will be completely detected by the ground fault relay com-
JUPE-8z|
e
RETURN
CURRENT bination. With detection applied to the ground return cir-
GSR
COMBINATION cuit, however, as in Fig. 7, some of the ground-fault cur-
L _ _D rent may return by various ground paths external to the
NOTE: CONDUIT IS INSULATED FROM GROUND conduit, in effect partly bypassing the GSR combination
FOR FIVE FEET EACH SIDE OF
INSULATED COUPLING. and rendering it less sensitive. There will be occasions when
Fig. 7. Detection of ground-fault current in return circuit of con- the arrangement of Fig. 7 is the most expedient to use, as
ductor enclosure. revealed by the GSR application on the busway feeder
circuit of Fig. 8. A window ct, large enough to enclose
BUS WAY FEEDER the outgoing busway phase conductors, is not practical,
INSULATED
HOUSING and, therefore, the GSR combination is inserted in the
CONNECTION ground return circuit.
r--- -r-- --- X' I
I ~~SWITCHGEAR CTr
il
_ _
APPLICATION OF GROUND-SENSOR RELAYING
By careful selection of the two basic GSR schemes shown
in Figs. 6 and 7 a variety of sensitive, fast ground-fault
relaying designs becomes available for protection of all or
part of a low-voltage power distribution system against
arcing faults to ground. In each of these designs, selectivity
in operation between GSR combinations in series can be
STATION GROUND. FEEDER GSR RELAYS
secured by selection of pickup values and by the use of
X7 , FEEDER
CONDUIT
MAYBE INSTANTANEOU instantaneous (function 50 GS) and/or time-delay (func-
tion 51 GS) overcurrent relays in the GSR combinations.
OR TIME-DELAY. MAIN
STATIO GROUNEGSR RELAY IS TIME-
DELAY
Selectivity of the GSR combination with downstream
Fig. 8. Ground-sensor relaying of unit substation and outgoing phase-overcurrent devices under ground-fault conditions,
feeders.
however, introduces special considerations and is discussed
in some detail in a following section.
Under other circuit conditions-balanced, unbalanced, or The time-delay GSR presently used by the General
single-phase load currents, or single- or 3-phase short Electric Company is an induction-disk type, with inverse,
circuits not involving ground-the net flux produced in the short time characteristic. If the GSR time-delay relay is ap-
ct core will be zero, and no current will flow in the relay. plied in series with another downstream protective device
By proper matching of ct and relay, the GSR may be made (GSR, circuit-breaker direct-acting trip, or fuse), a special
quite sensitive, so as to operate on ground currents of 15 arrangement prevents false operation arising from disk
amperes or less. By selection of ct ratio and relay tap overtravel when both protective devices sense the same
setting, higher pickup values may be secured. Although the fault current. This is accomplished by equipping the relay
GSR, as discussed here, is for application as arcing-fault with an instantaneous element whose contacts are connected
protection it is, properly speaking, a ground-fault relay, in series with those of the time-delay unit. When the fault
and will operate on all circuit faults involving ground, is cleared by the downstream device, the contacts of the
whether arcing or not. instantaneous element promptly open and prevent any
An alternative means of applying the GSR combination overtravel of the disk unit from tripping the breaker.
is shown in Fig. 7. For ground faults on the load end of With this arrangement, time-delay settings as close as five
the circuit most of the ground current will return along the or six cycles between relays in series is possible. Field cali-
metallic conduit (or busway housing) which comprises the bration of the relay settings is desirable in these instances,
ground return or equipment grounding circuit. As ex- but the advantage derived is in securing fast protection
plained in Kaufmann [6], in the absence of an internal under fault conditions, even for two or three steps of
equipment grounding conductor in the conduit most of the ground-fault relaying in series.

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1967 SHIELDS: POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 21

Feeder Protection BUSWAY BUSWAY OR CONDUIT

FEEDER FROM SOURCE TO LOAD
INSUL ATED
Where feeder ground-fault protection is desired, the HOUSING CONNECTIONo i-_
arrangements in Fig. 8 are applicable. When the applica- S2W
TRIP SWITCHGEAR S7 GSR -I PROTECTS FCR
tion will require use of a GSR in the ground return circuit, ~ GROUND BUS CIRCUITS
LOAD
ro
a switchgear ground bus, connected as shown, is necessary MAIN ) i ) 'I GSR -22 PROTECTS LOAD-
SIDE MAIN BUS
for the equipment. The GSRs on the feeder circuits operate ,~~~~~~~TI OF SWITCHBOARD
ANDMCC, AND IS
to trip their individual breakers on external ground faults. + SWITCHBOARD OR MOTOR CONTROL SELECTIVE WITH
CENTER (MCC) GSR-I
If selectivity with downstream protective devices on
ground faults is not necessary, such as in a branch circuit,
the feeder breaker GSR may be the instantaneous type, BUSWAY OR NSLATED
function 50 GS, and have a sensitivity in the order of 15-
amperes ground-fault current. If a degree of selectivity is A CONNIGROUND
SR Bus
GSR PROTECTS EQUIP-
MENT'B"AND
necessary with other GSRs or with smaller phase-over- TRIP
LOAD - SIDE
CIRCUITS ONLY
current devices downstream, it may be obtained with a
time-delay GSR, function 51 GS, through the proper com- SUBSTATION A' SWITCHBOARD OR
bination of relay pickup and time-delay settings. MCC B

Main Bus Protection

To protect the main bus in Fig. 8 against arcing faults
to ground (internal equipment protection) a main breaker
and time-delay GSR device in the trainsformer-neutral con-
nection are required. During an arcing fault from the main
bus to ground (equipment enclosure) all of the ground-fault
current flows from the switchgear enclosure through the
main breaker GSR device to the transformer neutral. Fig. 9. Application of ground-sensor relaying with various arrange-
ments of equipment.
After a timing-out interval, the main breaker is tripped to
extinguish the fault. In the absence of a secondary main
breaker the GSR can transfer-trip the primary metal-clad AO~~~~IO
breaker. cj~~
)~-,
1000
The main breaker GSR is set one step slower than the
slowest feeder-breaker GSR device. Thus, for external
faults the main GSR waits for the feeder breaker GSR to 400 15 400
--
I
PANELBOARD(L)AMP ~ ~ ~ ~ ~PICKUP
clear the fault before tripping its breaker, and will provide
backup protection if for any reason the feeder breaker
fails to operate.
I)AMPAMQ)IJ 01
APPLICATION- FLEXIBILITY 001
-~40 50 30
CURRENT, AMPERES
To illustrate the flexibility in application which is avail-
able with low-voltage ground-sensor relaying, Fig. 9 has (a) (b)
been included. This shows the use of one or two steps of Fig. 10. Protective characteristics with low-set GSR showing selec-
tive coordination with 20-ampere panelboard breakers.
GSR relaying to secure protection for individual or multi-
ple sections of power distribution equipment. In each case, cycles, respectively, inherent selectivity with the smaller
of course, a means of electrically tripping the associated branch circuit fuses and circuit breakers (such as those used
circuit-proteetive device-as with a shunt-trip or under- in lighting panelboards) may be obtained. Figure 10 illus-
voltage device will be necessary. Also, from earlier com- trates this.
ments regarding the desirability of prompt extinction of A 350-ampere low-voltage power circuit breaker supply-
arcing faults, it should be apparent in all cases that effec- ing a panelboard with 20- and 100-ampere molded-case
tive application of the GSR requires the protective device circuit breakers is shown in Fig. 10(a). The time-current
to be fast-operating, such as a circuit breaker or shunt- characteristics of the three circuit breakers are presented
tripped fusible switch, so as to provide fault-current inter- as curves A, B, and C in Fig. 10(b). Several observations of
ruption within a few cycles after receiving a trip signal interest may be made.
from the relay. First, at high short-circuit currents, above approxi-
mately 3800 amperes, the instantaneous trip characteristic
SELECTIVITY of breaker A overlaps that of breakers B and C. For short
Through the use of "standard" GSR combinations with circuits beyond breakers B and C, supply breaker A may
minimum pickup values and operating times in the order be tripped unnecessarily. It is recognized that the use of a
of 400 to 500 amperes and approximately six and nine short-time delay rather than an instantaneous tripping

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22 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS .JAN /FEB

element on breaker A would avoid this nuisance tripping

problem, and in many cases would also significantly im-
prove, even without supplemental ground-fault relaying,
the protection provided by breaker A on the occurrence of
ground faults. Nevertheless, the characteristic curves in
Fig. 10(b) are representative of those frequently en-
countered in circuits of this type and serve to illustrate the
combined effect of GSR relaying and circuit breaker in-
stantaneous trip elements.
Secondly, in the absence of any ground-fault protection CURRENT, AMPERES
at location A, arcing faults 3800 amperes or less, in the
panelboard or closer to breaker A, will be removed only af- Fig. 11. Obtaining selectivity of GSR with breaker B of Fig. 10 by
raising the relay-pickup value.
ter a considerable time delay by breaker A. Extensive arc-
ing-fault damage to equipment, of course, can occur in
the interval before breaker A operates. instantaneous ground-sensor relaying at breaker B, of
Finally, the addition of a low-set GSR combination at course, and adjusting the tripping time of the GSR at
location A to furnish ground-fault protection very mark- breaker A as necessary, will avoid this nuisance tripping
edly reduces the risk of arcing-fault burndown in this cir- but may not be economically acceptable. Then the possible
cuit. The operating band of the GSR, including the courses of action are to accept the nonselective operation,
breaker's tripping and clearing time, is labeled in Fig. 10(b). presently done for phase-overcurrent devices in many
The combined characteristic of the GSR and the breaker systems today, or to raise the GSR relay-pickup values.
instantaneous trip is shown by the shaded area. With a This latter procedure has been put into effect in Fig. 11.
relay-pickup setting of 400 amperes, selectivity with the In this figure the decreased sensitivity of the GSR makes
20-ampere circuit breakers is secured for arcing line-to- it completely selective with the phase-overcurrent trip
ground faults beyond C from 400 to 3800 amperes, and devices on breakers B and C for ground faults beyond their
with the 100-ampere circuit breakers, for similar faults terminals. The overlap of the instantaneous trip of breaker
beyond B, for the range from 1500 to 3800 amperes. (A A with those on breakers B and C, however, still remains.
is not selective with B for ground faults in the 400 to 1500- But now, in contrast to the situation in Fig. 10(b), the
ampere range.) Above 3800-ampere true rms current, the ground-fault currents between 400 and 1500 amperes oc-
breaker A instantaneous trip takes over and tripping co- curring beyond breaker B will not be quickly removed, but
ordination is as described earlier for high short-circuit must wait for the operation of the long-time-delay (ther-
currents. mal) element of breaker B. If the fault is an arcing one,
The significant point of this example is that for arcing severe damage may occur. Thus, raising the relay-pickup
ground faults in the range from 400 to 3800 amperes the value of the GSR to avoid nonselective operation on low-
fault-clearing time of breaker A is reduced from minutes level ground faults results in lowering the degree of fault
to cycles, tremendously diminishing the arcing damage protection obtainable in a power distribution system.
that would be incurred for such faults. One observation of interest regarding Fig. 11 is that the
Although complete selectivity of breaker A with the instantaneous trip of circuit breaker A might be replaced
other protective devices for all levels and types of faults with a short-time trip. With proper selection of the short-
has not been demonstrated, it is technically feasible to ac- time tripping band and careful adjustment of the trip
complish but involves considerations of such factors as re- pickup value, the operating characteristic of the short time
lay sensitivity, cost, and choice of circuit breaker direct- trip would very closely follow the operating band of the
acting trip characteristics. The scope of this paper does not GSR shown in the figure. It can be seen that for the case
permit a rigorous treatment of these and other relevant illustrated, the short-time trip could thus provide es-
factors, but the following material on sensitivity will serve sentially the same ground-fault protection as the high-set
to bring the problem into focus. GSR. The short-time trip would also operate for phase-to-
phase faults above its pickup value, and be completely se-
SENSITIVITY lective with the breakers B and C for all types of circuit
The application of GSR ground-fault protection will re- faults. Thus, the GSR offers little improvement in protec-
quire a decision as to how sensitive the relay-pickup setting tion when it is set the same as a short-time trip on its as-
shall be, since maximum sensitivity may make it non- sociated breaker, and may therefore be omitted in such
selective with downstream phase-overcurrent devices on cases. It is important to remember, however, that on faults
low-level ground faults, resulting in nuisance tripping. In involving ground, a selective short-time trip on breaker A
Fig. 10, for example, the low-set GSR will not be selective in Fig. 10 would not provide the high degree of sensitive
with 100-ampere circuit breaker B for ground-fault cur- protection which the low-set GSR provides. The lesson
rents between 400 and 1500 amperes. Ground-fault cur- here is that the GSR makes its greatest contribution to sys-
rent of this magnitude beyond breaker B will cause breaker tem protection when it is set sensitively to detect low
A to trip via a signal from the GSR. Adding time-delav or levels of ground-fault current.

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1967 SHIELDS: POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 23

A CHOICE OF ALTERNATIVES
Figures 10 and 11 illustrate that raising the relay-pickup GSR-O INSTANTANEOUS
GROUND -FAULT
GSR-1
settings to avoid nuisance tripping on low-current ground GSR-I
RELAY
TIME-DELAY
faults sacrifices the maximum protection these relays can GROUND-FAULT
RELAY
provide against low-level arcing ground faults in their area
of action. Thus, a choice of alternatives must be made when
ground-sensor arcing-fault protection is only partially GSR-0
U N ITSm
TO N ON-ESSENTIAL
applied throughout the distribution system. Choosing GSR LOADS
maximum sensitivity and minimum operating time pro- TO EQUIPMENT REQUIRING
BURNDOWN PROTECTIO
vides maximum protection but may result in nuisance
tripping for low-level ground faults; selecting less-sensitive Fig. 12. Means of obtaining selectivity for ground faults on circuits
requiring burndown protection.
relay settings and increased operating time improves sys-
tem service continuity but may lead to aggravated burn-
ing damage and possibly a more prolonged downtime
should an arcing ground fault occur. GSR-

Ideally, of course, ground-fault relaying should be ap-

plied at each circuit interrupter throughout the distribu- ODr GSR-0
tion system. This would assure that false tripping of circuit-
protection devices could be avoided. Also, circuit and
equipment protection and service continuity would be OPTIONAL J-1-
GROUND- FAULT-' x )
optimized since relay-pickup values and operating time RELAYI NG RELAYING v
TO NON-ESSENTIAL
would be set no higher than required for selective operation TO CRITICAL LOADS LOADS

on ground faults. It will be a rare case, however, in which Fig. 13. An arrangement for securing ground-fault protection
justification of complete system ground-fault protection and freedom from nuisance tripping on circuits supplying critical
or essential loads.
can be shown. In particular, out at the outer fringes of the
distribution system, where circuit ratings and protective
devices are usually small and where continuity of service of a burndown but which does not demand uninterrupted
generally is much less vital than at the main switchboards service. Breakers C, at the same time, might supply various
and substations, the risk of an occasional burndown due to small circuits of nonessential character. For fast protection
an arcing ground fault may be accepted because the of the costly equipment the B breakers could be supplied
alternative of protecting every branch circuit is unaccept- with instantaneous GSRs, as shown, while a time-delay
ably costly. In the future, of course, new product develop- GSR, selective with the B breaker relays, could be applied
ments and cost reduction will make the desired protection to breaker A. Because of cost considerations, breakers C
economically more feasible. For the present, it can be would not be equipped with GSRs. In this case, the costly
expected that only the more vital and important of branch equipment on the B circuits would have excellent protec-
circuits will be equipped with instantaneous ground-fault tion against burndown, but would be subject to occasional
protection. The remaining branch circuits may rely on unnecessary shutdown whenever the GSR at breaker A
only their phase-overcurrent devices, such as circuit operated for ground faults beyond breakers C. Service to
breaker direct-acting trips or fuses. all unfaulted circuits could be restored quickly by reclosing
Closer to the source, at the bulk power centers where breaker A after the appropriate C breaker had been opened
continuity of service is essential and the risk of burndowns to disconnect the faulty circuit.
must be minimized, time-delay ground-sensor relaying on As a contrast to the foregoing arrangement, consider
the feeder circuits will be imperative. Fig. 13. Now the B breakers supply loads which are essen-
Short of providing ground-sensor-type or residual ground tial to the process or service being powered and which must
overcurrent relaying on all circuit protective devices (as is not be interrupted except for faults in these critical circuits.
done in medium-voltage systems) there is no single guide The C breakers, as before, supply noncritical load and may
which cain be proposed for low-voltage systems to cope with not warrant individual protection against arcing-fault
the dilemma of wanting, at the same time, sensitive pro- burndown. Now, however, to protect the vital B circuits
tection and selectivity between protective devices. What is from shutdown (due to operation of the GSR at breaker A)
done in any given case will depend on such factors as the for ground faults on the C circuits, breaker D has been
cost of protective devices, the age and cost of the circuit or added ahead of the C breaker grouping. An instantaneous
equipment to be protected, the critical nature of the ser- GSR on breaker D will operate for ground faults on the C
vice, operation, or process being supplied with power, the circuits, and will be selective with the GSR unit at breaker
existence of nonessential loads, and the resourcefulness of A avoiding unnecessary shutdown of the vital B circuits.
the distribution engineer. The B breakers may or may not be equipped with an in-
As an example, referring to Fig. 12, breakers B might stantaneous GSR, depending on whether these circuits can
supply equipment, such as a distribution switchboard or be shutdown independently for ground faults. If loss of one
large motor, which would be costly to replace in the event B circuit requires shutting down the other(s), then the

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 24 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS JAN /FEB

GSR unit at breaker A may provide ground-fault protection

for all the B circuits. T
I,

EQUIPMENT INTERNAL FAULT PROTECTION 87BG

On occasion, perhaps as a result of a requirement for the

minimum interruption of service to essential loads, there WINDOW

will be a need to furnish protection primarily or solely CT'S q

against equipment internal faults to ground. In these in-
stances, the main objective is to open the supply conduc- Fig. 14. Bus ground-differential relaying.
tors when an arcing fault to ground occurs within the
equipment, but not to interrupt service at this point if the
arcing fault location is external to the equipment. In this
event, either phase overcurrent devices or some form of
feeder ground-fault relaying will be relied upon to control
removal of the external fault.
Good internal fault protection is provided by the main
breaker GSR, as explained earlier in connection with Fig.
8. The speed of protection is one step longer than in-
stantaneous, since the main breaker GSR may not be set
for instantaneous operation, but must have some time
delay to allow for operation of the feeder ground-sensor
devices on feeder ground faults. There will be at least one
step of time delay in the operation of the main GSR device GSR-I TRIPS MAIN C8 FOR INTERNAL
EQUIPMENT GROUND FAULTS
and perhaps even more than one step if there are other GSR-E BLOCKS TR IP AC TION OF GSR-I
ground fault devices beyond the feeder breaker GSR units. WHEN GROUND FAULTS ARE
EXTERNAL
Bus ground-differential relaying (Fig. 14) is an im- Fig. 15. Protection of switchboard or unit substation for internal
provement over the arrangement of Fig. 8, since it may be ground faults.
set for instantaneous operation for internal faults. Inherent
selectivity, speed of operation, and relatively good sensi- used to block the operation of GSR-I, so that the main cir-
tivity are its advantages. It requires, as shown in Fig. cuit breaker is not tripped. For internal faults in the switch-
14, that the supply transformer neutral connection to gear, however, virtually all of the fault current is monitored
ground be available to permit the addition of the necessary by the internal-fault relay GSR-I, which then operates to
neutral current transformer. If this connection is unavail- trip the main circuit breaker. In the laboratory tests both
able, as at a remote switchboard or panelboard, the ct may relays were of the instantaneous type, with GSR-E set
be connected in the ground circuit-return conductor but much more sensitively than GSR-I. The combination per-
with the risk that false operation may then occur on formed consistently, discriminating between internal and
through (external) faults. This can occur if some of the external faults and providing tripping action of the main
total fault current returns to the transformer neutral by a breaker when necessary. In field installations it is expected
path other than the ground circuit-return conductor. A that the GSR-I would be set just above the maximum
preferred alternative, which avoids false operation in this expected station ground current during external faults
situation, employs a single window ct enclosing the incom- to provide additional margin against false operation.
ing phase conductors to the switchboard. Obviously, the
use of this alternative may be restricted by the size and CONCLUSION
geometry of the incoming phase conductors. A disturbingly large number of destructive burndowns
Another possible arrangement for internal fault pro- have occurred in recent years in low-voltage power system
tection is shown in Fig. 15. This arrangement uses fewer equipments. As explained in the reference articles, the
cts than the methods described above but requires in- prime agent of destruction in these burndowns has been a
sulating the conduit from the switchgear enclosure at the low-level arcing-fault current. Often the operation of single-
point of entrance. It has been tested on a laboratory basis pole interrupters, such as fuses in the fault current path
and proved workable. Operation is based on a principle has depressed the arcing-fault current values to levels
discussed in connection with Fig. 7-that most of the which cannot be detected by the conventional circuit
ground-fault current returns to the transformer neutral phase-overcurrent protective devices. Although various
along a path closely paralleling the outgoing phase con- measures such as system design, reduction of direct-acting
ductors. Therefore, in the diagram for Fig. 15 it can be ex- trip settings [5], and regular maintenance will do much to
pected that on external ground faults most of the current reduce the probability of low-voltage equipment burn-
will return along the conduit, with only a small portion re- downs, supplementary ground-fault relaying is the most
turning through the station ground paths. GSR-E is, thus, effective means of guarding against such occurrences in
actuated on external faults to ground, and its operation is solidly grounded low-voltage systems. The combination of

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1967 SHIELDS: POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 25

window ct and overcurrent relay, low-voltage GSR, pro- ACKNOWLEDGMENT

vides both a sensitive and fast means of detecting low- The author wishes to acknowledge the very helpful con-
level arcing-fault currents in these systems. But the tributions, in the preparation of this paper, of J. J. Con-
problem of securing selectivity and sensitivity in ground- nolly, J. C. Cranos, D. C. Hoffmann, D. L. Johnson, R. H.
sensor relay operation today does not always have a satis- Kaufmann, L. G. Levoy, N. L. Weckstein, and others.
factory solution.
As a practical matter, then, electrical distribution sys-
tems will have only partially complete ground-fault relay- REFERENCES
ing, and the power distribution engineer will generally [1] N. Peach, "Protect low-voltage systems from arcing-fault
have to make a choice between alternatives. Only the [2] damage," Power, vol. 108, pp. 61-65, April 1964.
R. H. Kaufmann and J. C. Page, "Arcing-fault protection for
power distribution engineer thoroughly familiar with the low-voltage power distribution systems-Nature of the problem,"
electrical system in question and the loads it supplies can AIEE Trans. (Power Apparatus and Systems), vol. 79, pp. 160-
167, June 1960; also Industrial Power Systems Mag., December
make the correct decision between the alternatives avail- 1960.
R. H. Kaufmann, "Let's be more specific about equipment
able, weighing service continuity against protection and [3] grounding," 1962 Proc. American Power Conf.
the risks of false tripping against the hazards and costs of [4] -, "Application limitations of single-pole interrupters in poly-
equipment burndowns. Naturally, no single suggestion phase industrial and commercial building power systems,"
IEEE Trans. on Applications and Industry, vol. 82, pp. 363-
can be made to cover all situations, but the recommenda- 368, November 1963.
L. E. Fisher, "Arcing-fault relays for low-voltage systems,"
tion can be offered that in choosing alternatives it is better [5] IEEE Trans. on Applications and Industry, vol. 82, pp. 317-
to favor sensitive relay settings and the occasional problem 321, November 1963.
of nuisance tripping, rather than high-set relay pickups [6] R. H. Kaufmann, "Some fundamentals of equipment grounding
circuit design," AIEE Trans. (Applications and Industry),
and the risk of total equipment burnout. vol. 73, pp. 227-232, November 1954.

Francis J. Shields (M'52) was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., on February 3, 1924. He received the
B.E.E. degree from the City College of New York, N. Y., in 1949.
Since graduation he has been with General Electric Company. After several assignments
on the company's test program, he joined the engineering staff at the Lynn, Mass., plant, in
1950, where, until 1956, he worked on plant power generation and distribution problems, and
in that interval was Project Engineer for a major modernization and expansion program of
the plant's medium-voltage power distribution facilities. In 1956, he transferred to Sche-
nectady, N. Y., where he is now a Power Systems Engineer in the Industrial Power Systems
unit. His work involves industrial plant electrical power distribution problems, with particular
emphasis on distribution system design and low-voltage circuit protection and coordination.
He has written several articles on load-center distribution and on the application and coordina-
tion of circuit protective devices.
Mr. Shields is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi, and is a Registered Professional
Engineer in the State of New York.
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