International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)

Calculation of Apparent Impedance and Distance Relay

Tripping Characteristics in Ehv/Uhv Transmission Line with
and Without Capacitance
Jayachandra S1, Sivakumar G2
1,2
J.N.T.U.A
Abstract—EHV/UHV long transmission lines have large From Fig.1., this impedance is equal to dZ1L, where d is
distributed capacitance which has significant effect on the per unit length of the line section between the fault and the
operation of a distance relay. To set the distance relay without relaying points and Z1L is the line positive sequence
considering the distributed capacitance will cause serious over impedance in ohms. For a non-zero fault resistance, the
reaching or under reaching. This paper analyzes the effect of
measured impedance at the relaying point is not equal to
distributed capacitance on the relay tripping characteristics
and the setting principal of distance relay for EHV/UHV long the mentioned magnitude. In this case, the structural and
transmission line is discussed. operational conditions of the power system affect the
measured impedance. The operational conditions prior to
Keywords— EHV/UHV long transmission line, distance the fault instances can be represented by the load angle of
relay, distributed capacitance, relay tripping characteristics. the line „δ‟ and the voltage magnitude ratio at the line ends
„h‟ or in general EN / EM= he-jδ. The structural conditions
I. INTRODUCTION are evaluated by the short circuit levels at the line ends.
Distance relays are widely used as primary or backup
protection for UHV/EHV lines, as they are independent of
communication channels, and their reaches are insensitive
to system condition[1]. A distance relay operates by
measuring the electrical circuit distance between the relay
location and the point of fault (apparent impedance) to
determine if a fault is in its protection zone. It is apparent
Fig.1. phase -to-ground fault without consideration of line
that the protection zones need to be set accurately to avoid capacitance
overreaching or under reaching, and ensure the reliability
and selectivity. Normally the protection zones can be set The measured impedance at the relaying point can be
without considering the distributed capacitance, as the expressed by the following equations[3],[4].
impedance of the distributed capacitance is too big Z1M =Z1SM +dZ1L (1)
compared with the line impedance. With the transmission
distance increasing, however, the distributed capacitance of Z1N =Z1SN +(1-d)Z1L (2)
the whole line increases correspondingly. Meanwhile, to
improve the economical and transmission efficiency over
long distance, higher voltage levels are adopted, which I PRE =I M -I N (3)
brings higher distributed capacitance per unit of
transmission lines[8]. The impedance of the distributed VPRE =E M -I PRE Z1M (4)
capacitance is comparable with the line impedance, thus its
effects on the distance relay need to be considered, to
(5)
ensure the distance relay‟s reliable operation [2]. I1F =I 2F =I 0F =
VPRE
ZΣ +3R F

II. APPARENT IMPEDANCE WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF

LINE CAPACITANCE  Z1M Z1N   Z0M Z0N  (6)
ZΣ =2   + 
 Z1M +Z1N   Z0M +Z0N 
In the case of zero fault resistance, the measured
impedance by distance relay is the exact impedance of the
VPRE (7)
line section between the fault and the relaying points. I1MF =I 2MF =C1I1F =C1
ZΣ +3R F
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VPRE (8) EM
I 0MF =C0 I 0F =C0 I1SM =
ZΣ +3R F  (((Z1SN //Z1CN )+Z1L ))//Z1CM )))+Z1SM )  (13)
Z1CM (Z1SN +Z1CN )
I AM =I PRE +(I1MF +I 2MF +I 0MF ) (9) I1LM =I1SM
((Z1L +Z1CM )(Z1SN +Z1CN )+Z1SN Z1CN )) (14)
VAM (10) EN
Z APP = I1SN =
I AM +K 0L I 0F
(((Z1SM //Z1CM )+Z1L ))//Z1CN )))+Z1SN ) (15)
3R F (11) Z1CM
Z APP =dZ1L +
Z +3R F  K  +2C1 +C 0 (1+K 0L )
I1NM =I1LN (16)

(Z1CM +Z1SM )
1-he-jδ (12)
Kδ = IPRE= I1SM-I1NM (17)
Z1N +Z1M he-jδ

I1L= I1LM-I1LN (18)

For zero fault resistance, the apparent impedance at the
relaying point is equal to the impedance of the line section
located between the relaying point and the fault point.
From equation (12) it is observed that, in the presence of
fault resistance the apparent impedance is affected by
power system conditions only.

III. APPARENT IMPEDANCE WITH CONSIDERATION OF

LINE CAPACITANCE Fig..3. Line diagram for phase-to-ground fault with consideration of
line capacitance
Long EHV/UHV transmission lines are highly affected
by the line capacitance. If the effect of line capacitance for 2Z1Meq Z1Neq Z0Meq Z0Neq
a fault with considerable value of fault resistance is Z = +
Z1Meq +Z1Neq Z0Meq +Z0Neq
ignored, then there is a substantial error in the impedance (19)
seen by a relay. Transmission line model including the line VPRE
capacitance is shown in fig.2. In this proposed method I1F =I 2F =I 0F = (20)
double π model is utilized for considering the transmission Z  +3R F
line capacitance with fault resistance as shown in fig.3. The
system of fig.3 includes four additional shunt branches. VPRE (21)
I1QF =I 2QF =C11 I1F =
compared to fig .3 the fault point divides the line into two π ZΣ +3R F
sections. Each line section is modeled by a π model[8],[5].
VPRE (22)
I 0QF =C01 I 0F =
ZΣ +3R F

I1PQ =I 2 PQ =C12 I1F =C12

VPRE (23)
ZΣ +3R F

VPRE (24)
I 0 PQ =C02 I 0F =C02
ZΣ +3R F

I1MP =I 2MP =C13 I1F =C13

VPRE (25)
Fig.2. Transmission line model including shunt capacitance ZΣ +3R F

VPRE (26)
I0MP =C03 I 0F =C03
ZΣ +3R F

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
VAM
Z APP = (27)
I AM +K 0L I 0F

I AM =I PRE +(I1MF +I 2MF +I 0MF ) (28)

VPRE VPRE VPRE (29)

VAM =3R F +I1LdZ1L +2C11C12 dZ1L +C01C02 dZ0L
Z +3R F Z +3R F Z +3R F

 Z +3R F 
I1LdZ1L    +3R F +2C11C12dZ1L +C01C02dZ0L (30)
ZAPP =  VPRE 
 Z +3R F 
I PRE    +2C11C12C13 +C01C02C03 (1+K 0L )
 VPRE 
It can be seen from equation (30) that the fault resistance
is not only the factor causing the measured impedance
deviation, but also the line capacitance. The ZAPP is also
dependent on power system conditions and line length

IV. THE IDEAL TRIPPING CHARACTERISTICS

Knowing the structural and operational conditions, i.e.
the short circuit levels, the load angle, and the voltage
magnitude ratio, the distance relay ideal tripping
characteristic can be defined. This characteristic has four
boundaries. First boundary is the measured impedance for
zero fault resistance; fault location varies from near end up
to the far end of the line. In the second boundary, the fault
point is at the far end; fault resistance varies between 0 and Fig .4 .Flowchart for R-X plot with considering capacitance
200 ohms. Third boundary is the result of the fault point
variation along the line for the fault resistance of 200 ohms. Simulations are performed for a 400 kV transmission
Forth is achieved by variation of the fault resistance line length of 300km.The line parameters[4],[8] are given
between 0 and 200 ohms for the faults on the near end of in table A and table B.
the line[6],[7]. Table .A
Source impedances
V. FLOW CHART TO OBTAIN THE IDEAL TRIPPING Source Bus M Bus N
CHARACTERISTICS. Impedance
Fig.4 shows the flow chart for ideal tripping Positive and 1.7431+j 0.0871+j0.99
characteristics for with considering line capacitance and negative,sequenc 19.9238 61
explains the procedure for R-X plot with considering line e impedance
capacitance Zero sequence 2.6146+j 0.1307+j1.49
impedance 29.8858 42

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
Table .B Table C:
Line parameters Percentage error in R, X and ZAPP in transmission line at 95 %
distance with h=0.96, δ=160
Line R L C
RF Without With % error in % error in % error in
parameters (Ω/Km) (mH/ (µF/ Reactance
Km) Km (Ω ) Capacitance Capacitance Resistance Impedance
)
0 8.71 +j90.55 9.62 9.45 4.92 4.9
Positive and 0.0301 1.0 0
negativesequenc .011 +j95.24
e impedance 2
200 361.35 +j60.84 374.54+ 3.52 3018.8 16.11
Zero 0.2269 2.2 0
sequence .009 j1.951
impedance 4
The distance relay tripping characteristic at h=0.96 and Fig.6 shows the amount of increase in the measured
load angle is 160 shown in Fig.5,(I) first boundary line is impedance for the various fault points, in the case of zero
for zero fault resistance and fault location varies from relay fault resistance. Here, the increase in the measured
point to reach point (II) in the second boundary-line, the resistance, reactance, and impedance magnitude are shown
fault is at reach point with fault resistance varying from 0 by dotted, dashed, and full curves, respectively. It can be
to 200 Ohm (III) third one refers to fault resistance of 200 seen that the impedance deviation is a function of fault
Ohm with fault position varying from relay to reach point location. Because of different deviation of the measured
and (IV) fourth line is for relay location with fault resistance and reactance, the angle of the measured
resistance varying from zero to 200 Ohm. impedance varies as well as its magnitude.
The characteristic without considering the line
capacitance is also in the dotted form for comparison. In
the Fig.5 the other important thing observed in this plot is
that there is significant difference in trip characteristic
while considering line capacitance.

Fig .6 .Increase in measured resistance, reactance, and impedance

magnitude

VI. APPARENT IMPEDANCE VARIATION

Fig .5. Distance relay tripping characteristic at h=0.96, δ=16 0

The percentage Relative error with and without consideration
of line capacitance is defined as

Z APPC  Z APP
Error %  100
Z APPC
(31) Fig.7. Tripping characteristic variations with changes in power
system conditions

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
In Fig.7, curve (1) is the tripping characteristic of Fig.5.
When the load angle increases from160 to 220 and the
voltage ratio decreases from 0.96 to 0.94, curve (2) would
be resulted. On the other hand, when load decreases, curve
(3) is resulted for δ = 100 and h = 0.98.

Fig.10 .Tripping characteristic variations with changes in load angle.

It can be seen that as the load angles varies, the tripping

Fig..8 .Tripping characteristic variations with changes in power
system operational conditions for h=0.96 and delta= -100 & h=0.9 and
delta=-300
characteristic changes considerably. In the case of negative
load angles, the tripping characteristic is in crescent shape.
Fig.11 shows the amount of increase in the measured
resistance, reactance, and impedance magnitude with
change in load angle.

Fig.9. Variation in amount of increase in measured resistance,

reactance and impedance magnitude, with changes in power system
conditions

A. Load Angle Variation
Once the load level of a transmission line increases, the
load angle also increases, and vice versa. If power flow
direction in a transmission line reversed, the sign of load
angle is inversed. Fig.10 shows the effect of the load angle
variation on the tripping characteristic. Here, load angle
takes the values 250, 150, 50, -50, -150 and -250.
Fig.11. Increase in measured resistance, reactance, and impedance
magnitude as load angle changes.
B. Voltage Ratio Variation
Variation of the voltage ratio of transmission line affects
the reactive power flow through the line. The amount of
reactive power flowing through the line increases as this
factor decreases (for ratios lower than 1).

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
If the ratio is higher than 1, it means that the reactive
power flow direction is inversed. Fig.12 shows the impact
of voltage ratio, the magnitudes of 0.95, 1.00 and 1.05 are
considered for this factor, while the other parameters are
the same as Fig. 5.

Fig. 14.Tripping characteristic variation as line length changes

Fig .12 .Tripping characteristic variation, with change in voltage ratio

Fig. 15. Increase in measured resistance, reactance, and impedance

magnitude, line length changes

Fig 13 .Increase in measured resistance, reactance, and impedance VII. ADAPTIVE DISTANCE RELAY SETTING
magnitude.
A. Effect Of Z1SN & Z0SN Trip Boundary
Fig.13 shows the amount of increase in the measured From the equation. (31), it is clear that the change in trip
resistance, reactance, and impedance magnitude for voltage boundary is due to VPRE, IPRE. Further the VPRE, IPRE,
ratios of 0.95, 1.00, and 1.05. are function of factors δ, h, Z1L etc. The variation of
apparent impedance with change in Z1SN with zero fault
C. Line Length Variation
resistance is given in table D .
Fig.14 shows the tripping characteristic for the line
lengths of 100,200,300, and 400 km. It can be that as the Z1SN Apparent Impedance
line length increases, the covered region by tripping
characteristic also increases in both resistance and 5850 95.7984.2200
reactance axis. Fig.15 shows the amount of increase in the
measured resistance, reactance, and impedance magnitude
for the mentioned line lengths. 2.5850 95.7884.2240

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
From table D, it is observed that the effect of remote
source impedance on apparent impedance is quite
negligible.
…. Case 1. Z1SN = 5e85j Ω, Z0SN = 7.5e85j Ω
Case 2. Z1SN = 2.5e85j Ω, Z0SN =3.754e85j Ω
Fig 16. Trip boundaries for change in remote source impedance
Fig.16 shows trip boundaries with change in Z1SN &
Z0SN. From Fig.16 it is seen that even if we decrease the
Z1SN and Z0SN to half of its case-1 values, there is no
effect on boundaries of the trip characteristics. Hence, the
remote end side impedance values are kept fixed to
estimate the h and δ from the local information only. From
the voltage and current equations the following relation can
be obtained
S = h e  j  1  Z  I relay 
1L   the relay will operate with this ideal trip characteristic. This
 
 Vrelay 
The h and δ values are estimated using equation (32).
The voltage and current phasors are estimated using Matlab
simulink model.
B. Proposed Adaptive Technique
The proposed scheme and see the validity of the
approach for Relay setting, a simulation study is carried out
for line-to-ground fault. With the same system data as time-
domain simulations were carried out by creating line to
ground faults at different locations and conditions. Phasors
are estimated using three phase voltage and current samples
from equation.(32).
VIII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Simulations are performed for a 400 kV sub
transmission system that contains an overhead line of 300
km length. The line parameters of the source and
transmission line are given in table A and table B.
Fig.17 Simulink model for transmition line with considering line
capacitance
Fig.17 shows the MATLAB Simulation network. Here
transmission line contains capacitance is molded as
nominal double Pie model.
IX. CONCLUSIONS
An adaptive relay setting scheme for stand-alone digital
distance protection has been proposed[4]. Network
conditions are monitored and setting patterns are renewed
automatically according to network configuration changes
through a pre-fault calculation routine. When a fault occurs
(32)
scheme involves relatively little real-time digital
processing. Sensitivity, selectivity and speed have all been
improved by using this scheme in a digital distance relay.
REFERENCES
[1] Anderson P M., “Power system protection” McGraw-Hill IEEE
Press, 1999, New York.
[2] IEEE guide for protective relay applications to transmission
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[3] Y. Q. Xia, K. K. Li, A. K. David, "Adaptive Relay Setting for
Stand-alone Digital Distance Protection", IEEE Trans. Power
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[4] A. K. Pradhan, Geza Joos “Adaptive Distance Relay Setting for
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[5] Bin Su, Jianping Wang, Ying Yang, Weixing Gong, and
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[7] K.K Li and L.L. Lai, "ideal operating region of digital distance relay
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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 12, December 2014)
[8] S. Jamali ,H. Shateri, “Measured Impedance by Distance Relay [10] Dash, P. K. Pradhan, A. K. Panda, G. and Liew, A. C.“Adaptive
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