398 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO.
2, MARCH/APRIL 2001
The Effects of Very-High-Resistance Grounding
on the Selectivity of Ground-Fault Relaying in
High-Voltage Longwall Power Systems
Thomas Novak, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—With the advent of high-voltage (greater than 1 kV)
utilization circuits on longwall mining equipment in the late 1980s,
the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) initially
required maximum ground-fault current limits of 3.75 A for
4160-V systems and 6.5 A for 2400-V systems. (It should be noted
that the Code of Federal Regulations defines low voltage, medium
voltage, and high voltage for mine power systems as 0–660 V,
661–1000 V, and greater than 1000 V, respectively.) Ground-fault
relay pickup settings were not permitted to exceed 40% of the
maximum ground-fault current. Shortly thereafter, the MSHA
began, and presently continues, requiring a much lower maximum
ground-fault current limit of 1.0 A, or even 0.5 A, with ground-trip
settings of 100 mA. Shielded cables, which have significantly more
capacitance than their unshielded counterparts, are required for
high-voltage applications in the mining industry. In an earlier
paper, the author showed that with the long cable runs of a
high-voltage longwall system, capacitive charging currents could
easily exceed grounding-resistor currents under ground-fault
conditions. As a result, overvoltages from inductive–capacitive
resonance effects can occur. Because of the large system capac-
itance and low ground-trip setting, the relay selectivity of the
ground-fault protection system may also be compromised. There-
fore, an analysis of a typical 4160-V longwall power system that
utilizes very-high-resistance grounding (ground-resistor-current
limit of 0.5 A) is performed to determine if potential problems
exist with the selectivity of ground-fault relaying.
Index Terms—Ground-fault relaying, high-resistance ground-
ing, longwall mining.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE power requirements of high-capacity longwall sys-
tems have significantly increased in recent years, such that
the combined horsepower for the face equipment can exceed
5000 hp. The past practice of using 995 V as the utilization
voltage proved inadequate for these high-capacity applications.
Excessive three-phase and line-to-line fault currents, massive
cable sizes, reduced motor torque from excessive voltage drop,
and difficulty in maintaining the maximum instantaneous trip
settings allowed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA) [1]–[3] have necessitated the use of high voltage,
namely, 2400 and 4160 V.
Paper PID 00–24, presented at the 1999 Industry Applications Society Annual
Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, October 3–7, and approved for publication in the IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by the Mining Industry Committee
of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Manuscript submitted for review
October 15, 1999 and released for publication January 3, 2000.
The author is with the Department of Civil and Environmental En-
gineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA (e-mail:
tnovak@coe.eng.ua.edu).
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(01)02120-X.
0093–9994/01$10.00 ©2001 IEEE
Paragraph 18.47 (d) (3) of Title 30, Code of Federal Regu-
lations, permits alternating-current machines to have nameplate
ratings up to 4160 V if all high-voltage switchgear are remotely
located and operated by remote control. However, the use of
high voltage (greater than 1 kV) to power face equipment still
requires approval from the MSHA to modify the application of
Paragraph 75.1002 of Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations,
which states:
Trolley wires and trolley feeder wires, high-voltage ca-
bles and transformers shall not be located in mining termi-
nology by the last open crosscut and shall be kept at least
150 ft from pillar workings.
To obtain approval from the MSHA, the mine operator must
formally submit a 101-c Petition for Modification and show that
a proposed alternative method will at all times guarantee no less
than the same measure of protection afforded by the existing
standards. To ensure that the high-voltage systems maintain or
exceed the same level of safety as medium-voltage systems, the
MSHA developed criteria for high-voltage face equipment to
supplement existing regulations [4].
One MSHA criterion deals with maximum ground-fault
current. MSHA expressed a concern with limiting the amount
of energy dissipated in an explosion-proof enclosure during a
ground fault. Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, requires
that maximum ground-fault current be limited to 25 A for low-
and medium-voltage circuits. However, the industry adopted a
more conservative 15-A limit. As a result, the maximum power
that can be dissipated by the neutral grounding resistor, during
a ground fault, for a nominal 1040-V system is 9 kW. Using
this 9-kW value, the MSHA then established the maximum
ground-fault current limits of 6.5 A for 2400-V systems and
3.75 A for 4160-V systems [5]. However, these values have
since been lowered to 1.0 and 0.5 A, respectively. These lower
values were readily adopted by the mining industry and used
with ground-fault relay pickup settings of 100 mA.
The application of very sensitive ground-fault protection
in underground coal mines was demonstrated in the early
1980s [6]–[8], but its application was directed toward pre-
venting ventricular fibrillation and was limited to low- and
medium-voltage utilization circuits. The author is unaware of
any studies that document improved safety with the 1- or 0.5-A
limits of high-voltage utilization circuits. The rationale appears
to be: the lower the ground-fault current, the better. However,
a point of diminishing returns occurs, as the fault current is
limited. Reference [5] shows that a typical 4160-V longwall
NOVAK: GROUND-FAULT RELAYING IN HIGH-VOLTAGE LONGWALL POWER SYSTEMS
Fig. 1. Ungrounded system and equivalent circuit.
system begins to adopt the characteristics of an ungrounded
system, and significant overvoltages can occur under resonant
ground-fault conditions. Another problem that may occur is
the loss of selectivity with ground-fault relaying. Therefore,
the intent of this paper is to present an analysis of ground-fault
relaying selectivity for a typical 4160-V longwall power
system. Computer simulations are used for the analysis.
II. GROUNDING SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
The common grounding classifications found in industrial
power systems are ungrounded, solidly grounded, and resistance
grounded, although variations of these methods also occur [9].
Even though this paper deals with high-resistance grounding,
the features of all three systems will be briefly described since
high-resistance grounding can exhibit some of the characteris-
tics of the other two systems.
A. Ungrounded System
With the ungrounded system, there is no intentional connec-
tion between any part of the electrical system and ground. How-
ever, the term ungrounded is a misnomer because each line of
the system is actually coupled to ground through the inherent
per-phase capacitance of the cables, transformer windings, and
motor windings. Fig. 1 is a simplified representation of an un-
grounded system, which illustrates the capacitive coupling to
ground. The cited advantage of this type of system is that the
first fault between a line conductor and ground does not cause
circuit interruption, thus there is no loss of power that can dis-
rupt continuous type processes. However, the capacitive cou-
pling can subject the ungrounded system to dangerous overvolt-
ages from intermittent ground faults and resonant effects due to
ground faults through high inductive reactances [9], [10]. Thus,
ungrounded systems are generally considered to be susceptible
to insulation failures.
The connection of an inductive reactance between line and
ground can produce serious overvoltages with respect to ground.
The degree of overvoltage is dictated by the ratio of the inductive
399
Fig. 2. Resistance-grounded system and equivalent circuit.
reactance of the fault to the total capacitive reactance of the
system. It is obvious from Fig. 1 that the highest overvoltage
will occur at system resonance, where the magnitudes of the two
reactances are equal. At resonance, overvoltages of 20 normal
can be reached. Substantial overvoltages can also be developed
by intermittent or sputtering ground faults, which are discussed
in detail in [10].
B. Solidly Grounded System
The neutral point of a solidly grounded system is connected
to ground through no intentional impedance. A line-to-ground
fault results in a high current, which can easily be detected by
protective circuitry and isolated quickly. However, since there
is no intentional impedance in the neutral connection, a very
high ground-fault current, which may be capable of exploding
protective enclosures, starting fires, and causing flash hazards,
can occur. Overvoltage control is a major advantage of this
system, because the system neutral is solidly referenced to
ground. Placing a short circuit around the system capacitance
in the single-phase equivalent circuit of Fig. 1 can represent a
simplified, solidly-grounded equivalent circuit.
C. Resistance-Grounded System
The resistance-grounded system can be considered a compro-
mise between the ungrounded and solidly grounded systems.
Resistance grounding is established by inserting a resistor be-
tween the system neutral and ground [11], [12]. Thus, the max-
imum ground-fault current is controlled by the ohmic value of
the resistor, provided the resistor current is significantly greater
than the system capacitive charging current. Fig. 2 is a simplified
representation of a resistance-grounded system. The lower fault
current requires additional protective relaying, but practically
eliminates arcing and flashover dangers, while limiting the am-
plitude of overvoltages. High-resistance grounding can be ap-
plied where immediate service interruption, on the first ground
fault, is to be avoided. However, this is not an issue in the mining
400
Fig. 3. General arrangement diagram for a typical 4160-V longwall power system.
industry because ground-fault protection is required to react in-
stantaneously, or after a short time delay when relay coordina-
tion is necessary. Instead, high-resistance grounding is required
in underground coal mining because it limits the amount of en-
ergy dissipated and controls the elevation of frame potentials,
during a ground fault.
Standard practice requires high-resistance grounding to be
designed so that the capacitive charging current of the system
is less than or equal to the resistor current under a ground-fault
condition. The intent of this practice is to prevent the system
from developing some of the undesirable characteristics of an
ungrounded system mentioned above. Fig. 2 illustrates how a
high-resistance-grounded system approaches an ungrounded
system as the ohmic value of the grounding resistor increases.
Shielded cables, which have significantly more capacitance
than unshielded cables, are required for high-voltage applica-
tions in the mining industry. Thus, with the long cable runs
associated with 4160-V longwalls, the effects of system capaci-
tance become very pronounced. Reference [5] shows that, with
a typical 4160-V longwall power system, the magnitude of the
system charging current significantly exceeds the magnitude
of the grounding-resistor current (by an approximate factor of
seven) under a ground-fault condition. These same capacitive
currents may cause erroneous tripping of circuits other than
the faulted circuit, thus compromising ground-fault relaying
selectivity.
III. GROUND-FAULT RELAYING
Individual ground-fault relays protect each outgoing circuit of
the motor starting unit, as well as the two parallel feeder cables
connecting the power center with the motor starting unit (Fig. 3).
The ground-fault relay in the power center has a time delay
(up to 250 ms) to allow coordination with the downstream re-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2001
lays in the motor starting unit. Zero-sequence relays provide ex-
tremely sensitive ground-fault protection, with a typical pickup
of 100 mA [13], [14]. With zero-sequence relaying, a single
window-type current transformer (CT) is used as the current
sensor. The three phase conductors pass through the core of the
CT and make up its primary, while the grounding conductor re-
mains outside of the CT window. Therefore, the resultant CT
secondary current is proportional to the phasor sum of the three
phase currents. Under normal conditions, with no ground cur-
rent, the magnetic fields of the three phase currents sum to zero,
and no current flows in the secondary of the CT, but if a ground-
fault occurs, current has a return path external to the CT core,
thus resulting in an unbalanced situation. The imbalance in the
line currents creates a resultant magnetic field that induces a cur-
rent in the CT secondary, proportional to the ground-fault cur-
rent. In other words, currents that originate in a particular cir-
cuit must return through that circuit, otherwise, the circuit’s CT
will detect the current differential and initiate a trip signal if the
CT’s output exceeds the trip setting for the ground-fault relay.
Along these same lines, the inherent system capacitance for
a high-voltage longwall provides many paths for ground-fault
current to return to the source other than the neutral grounding
resistor. As a result, ground-fault current that originates in one
circuit can return to the source through the inherent capaci-
tance of the other circuits. Since these currents return in circuits
from which they did not originate, their ground-fault relays er-
roneously detect ground-faults in the associated circuits. If the
resultant currents exceed the trip settings, relay selectivity is de-
feated.
IV. ANALYSIS
An analysis was performed on a typical 4160-V longwall
power system that utilizes very-high-resistance grounding
NOVAK: GROUND-FAULT RELAYING IN HIGH-VOLTAGE LONGWALL POWER SYSTEMS
Fig. 4. Simplified simulation model for a 4160-V longwall power system.
(grounding-resistor-current limit of 0.5 A), as shown in Fig. 3.
This diagram shows a 5-MVA power center, which steps down
the 13.8-kV distribution voltage to the 4160-V utilization
voltage and to the 480-V auxiliary voltage. The power center
feeds the 4160-V motor-starting unit, which, in turn, controls
401
the starting and stopping of the longwall face equipment. The
power ratings of face equipment and the cable lengths and sizes
are also shown in Fig. 3. A monorail cable handling system
supports the cables connecting the motor-starting unit with the
face equipment. All high-voltage cables are 5-kV SHD type
402
Fig. 5. Actual ground-fault current and grounding-resistor current for a fault in the crusher circuit with the 0.5-A current limit.
G-GC. The master controller is located near the longwall face
equipment and controls the motor-starting unit by means of a
programmable logic controller (PLC) and data highway cable.
Zero-sequence ground-fault protection is located in both the
motor-starting unit and the power center. In an attempt to pro-
vide selective tripping, all outgoing circuits in the motor-starting
unit have instantaneous ground-fault protection. Ground-fault
protection is also provided in the power center and generally
has a time delay up to a maximum of 250 ms to provide coordi-
nation with the protection in the motor starting unit.
A. Model
The circuit model of Fig. 4 was constructed for performing
the simulations. Some liberties were taken to simplify the
model, but sufficient detail exists to determine whether or not
potential problems exist. The model consists of the longwall
equipment motors, power transformer, neutral grounding
resistor, and associated cables. All circuits are assumed to be
energized and operating at rated load. The hydraulic-pump
motor circuit and the two parallel-connected 250-kcmil feeder
cables, between the power center and the motor starting unit,
were not included to simplify the model. Also, ground paths
through equipment frames are not modeled.
The secondary of the power center transformer is modeled
as three voltage sources with series impedances connected in
a wye configuration. The voltage sources represent the three-
phase line-to-neutral voltages (2400 V) and are 120 out of
phase with each other. The series impedances are based upon
a 5% transformer impedance with an ratio of 4. The neu-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2001
tral grounding resistor (NGR) is shown connected between the
system neutral and ground.
The equipment cables are represented as lumped impedances
connected in a configuration. Cable resistances and induc-
tances are based on the cable’s size and length [15]. The system
capacitance of the model is only due to the cables; capacitances
from transformer and motor windings were ignored. Although
capacitance is distributed along the cable’s entire length, the
cable capacitance is lumped and connected from line to ground
at the beginning and end of each cable for simplicity. Cable ca-
pacitance per unit length was obtained from a cable manufac-
turer [16]. Each motor is modeled with three wye-connected
impedances. These impedances are sized to reflect rated con-
ditions with typical power factors and efficiencies.
B. Simulation Results
Simulations were performed with a bolted line-to-ground
fault at the terminals of the crusher motor, first with a
grounding-resistor-current limit of 0.5 A, and then with a
3.75-A limit. Figs. 5–7 show the simulation results for the
0.5-A limit, while Figs. 8–10 present the same information
for the 3.75-A limit. The circuit in Fig. 4 was simulated using
OrCad’s PSpice version 8.
To establish a 0.5-A current limit, the value of the neutral
grounding resistor was set at k . A simulation was then
performed for a ground fault at the terminals of the crusher
motor with all six motors online. Fig. 5 shows that the actual
(total) ground-fault current significantly exceeds the current
through the grounding resistor. The total fault current leads
NOVAK: GROUND-FAULT RELAYING IN HIGH-VOLTAGE LONGWALL POWER SYSTEMS 403

Fig. 6. Actual ground-fault current and the current detected by the GF relay in the crusher circuit for the 0.5-A limit.

Fig. 7. Currents detected by the GF relays in the shearer and stage loader circuits for a fault in the crusher circuit for the 0.5-A limit.

the grounding-resistor current by approximately 90 , since current. The detected current is slightly less than the actual
the total fault current primarily consists of capacitive charging current. The small difference between the two currents is due
current. Fig. 6 shows the current detected by the ground-fault to the current that returns to the section transformer through
relay in the crusher circuit, along with the actual (total) fault the inherent capacitance of the crusher’s trailing cable. The
404 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2001

Fig. 8. Actual ground-fault current and grounding-resistor current for a fault in the crusher circuit with the 3.75-A limit.

Fig. 9. Actual ground-fault current and the current detected by GF relay in the crusher circuit for the 3.75-A limit.

crusher’s ground-fault relay does not detect this current because while 0.5 A returns through the neutral grounding resistor.
it returns to the source back through the crusher’s CT window. Fig. 6 shows that the ground-fault relay in the crusher circuit
The remainder of the actual ground-fault current returns to the will detect approximately 3.2-A . With a pickup setting of
source through the system capacitance of the other five circuits, 100 mA, there is no question that the relay will be activated.
NOVAK: GROUND-FAULT RELAYING IN HIGH-VOLTAGE LONGWALL POWER SYSTEMS
Fig. 10. Currents detected by the GF relays in the shearer and stage loader circuits for a fault in the crusher circuit for the 3.75-A limit.
Fig. 7 shows the currents detected by the ground-fault relays in
the shearer (approximate 840 mA) and stage-loader (approx-
imately 440 mA) circuits. Since ground-fault protection for
each of the six motor circuits is set for instantaneous operation
at a 100-mA pickup, it is likely that the other circuits will also
trip. Therefore, the simulation shows that low pickup settings
with high system capacitance defeat the selectivity aspect of
the ground-fault protection system.
The same simulation was then performed with a 3.75-A
current limit. For this current limit, the value of the neutral
grounding resistor was adjusted to 640 . Also, the pickup
setting of the ground-fault relays was assumed to be 1.5 A
(40% of maximum grounding resistor current). As expected,
Fig. 8 shows that the difference between the actual (total)
ground-fault current and the grounding-resistor current has
been reduced markedly. The total fault current leads the
grounding-resistor current by approximately 45 , since the
total fault current consists of approximately equal magnitudes
of grounding-resistor current and capacitive charging current.
Fig. 9 shows the current detected by the ground-fault relay in
the crusher circuit, along with the actual (total) fault current.
Again, the detected current is slightly less than the actual cur-
rent because of the capacitance within the crusher circuit. Fig. 9
shows that the ground-fault relay in the crusher circuit will
detect approximately 4.8-A , which is significantly greater
than the 1.5-A pickup. Fig. 10 shows the currents detected
by the ground-fault relays in the shearer (approximately 0.85
A) and stage-loader (approximately 0.45 A) circuits. Both of
these values are well below the 1.5-A pickup setting. Thus the
simulation illustrates that selectivity can be maintained with
the MSHA’s original requirements.
405
V. CONCLUSIONS
With high-voltage (greater than 1 kV) longwall utilization cir-
cuits, the MSHA initially required a maximum ground-fault re-
sistor-current limit of 3.75 A and a maximum pickup setting of
1.5 A for 4160-V systems. However, these values have been sub-
sequently reduced to 0.5 A and 100 mA, respectively. Standard
practice in other industries requires high-resistance grounding
to be designed so that the capacitive-charging current of the
system is less than or equal to the grounding-resistor current
under a ground-fault condition. Simulations in [5] showed, with
a typical 4160-V system with all motors online, that the mag-
nitude of the system charging current could be over 7 that
of the grounding resistor. The simulations further revealed that
these lower values might cause detrimental effects, such as over-
voltage problems, since the system begins to acquire the char-
acteristics of an ungrounded system.
The analysis in this paper revealed that the MSHA’s more-
stringent requirements could also have a negative impact on
ground-fault relaying. Simulations showed that the high system
capacitance, because of shielded cables, in conjunction with
very-low ground-fault pickup settings could defeat relaying se-
lectivity. The simulations verified that a ground fault in one
motor circuit could produce erroneous tripping in other circuits
because of the large capacitive-charging currents that return to
the power-center transformer through the inherent system ca-
pacitance of all online circuits. The simulations also showed that
these selectivity problems could be avoided if the MSHA’s orig-
inal requirements were used.
In conclusion, the analysis reveals that, in addition to the po-
tential problems documented in [5], reducing the grounding-re-
406 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 37, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2001
sistor-current limit from 3.75 to 0.5 A and the maximum pickup
settings from 1.5 A to 100 mA has the detrimental effect of de-
feating ground-fault relaying selectivity.
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[4] C. M. Boring and K. J. Porter, “Criteria for approval of mining
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[7] L. A. Morley, F. C. Trutt, and T. Novak, “Sensitive Ground-Fault
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Thomas Novak (M’83–SM’93) received the B.S.
degree in electrical engineering from The Pennsyl-
vania State University, University Park, the M.S.
degree in mining engineering from the University
of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Ph.D. degree
in mining engineering from The Pennsylvania State
University in 1975, 1978, and 1984, respectively.
He has been an Instructor of Mining Engineering at
The Pennsylvania State University, an Electrical En-
gineer for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh Re-
search Center, and Assistant Division Maintenance
Engineer for Republic Steel Corporation, Northern Coal Mines Division. He
is presently Department Head and holder of the Drummond Endowed Chair
of Civil Engineering at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, where he has
also held the positions of Interim Department Head of Aerospace Engineering
and Mechanics, Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Associate Professor of
Mineral Engineering.
Dr. Novak is a member of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Ex-
ecutive Board and is the current Chairman of its Meetings Department. He has
also served as Chairman of the IAS Process Industries Department (1994–1998),
Chairman (1992–1994) and Vice-Chairman (1990–1992) of the IAS Mining
Industry Committee, and Co-chairman of the IAS Mining Industry Technical
Conference (1987). He is a member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and
Exploration, Inc. and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is a Licensed
Professional Engineer in the States of Alabama and Pennsylvania.