Sensitivity Comparison of

Differential, REF and

Over-Current Protections
Dr K Rajamani,
Power System Consultants, MUMBAI
(October 2002, IEEMA Journal, Page 28 to 33)
 Sensitivity Comparison of Differential, REF and Over-Current Protections
Dr K Rajamani, Power System Consultants, Mumbai
1.0 Introduction
For transformers rated 5 MVA and above, in addition to phase and ground over
current protections, differential protection and Restricted Earth Fault protection for
star winding are also generally provided. The sensitivity of these protection schemes
in detecting internal faults in delta – star transformer is examined. The analysis is
done for resistance grounded and solidly grounded systems. The article concludes
with critical remarks on effectiveness of differential scheme under certain conditions.
2.0 Resistance grounded system
Consider a delta-star transformer with neutral grounded through resistor R. Assume
the source is present only on delta side (Fig 1).

Number of turns on delta winding = ND

Number of turns on star winding = NS

Ns
Turns Ratio, T =
ND

I DELTA PHASE Ns
PHASE
=T =
I STAR ND
For an internal fault at fraction ‘h’ from neutral,
h x VP
Fault Current, I F =
R
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Rated Phase voltage on star side = VP
h x Ns
Effective Turns Ratio, TE =
ND
= h xT
PHASE
I DELTA
= TE
I STAR PHASE
= h xT
I DELTA PHASE = h x T x I STAR PHASE

VP
I STAR PHASE = I F = h x
R
VP
I DELTA PHASE = h 2 x T x
R
For terminal fault on star side (h = 1),
VP
I STAR MAX =
R
VP
I DELTA MAX = T x
R
Expressing the fault current in terms of maximum current,
I STAR PHASE = h x I STAR MAX Ÿ v h ……………………(1)

I DELTA PHASE = h 2 x I DEL MAX Ÿ v h2 ……………………(2)

The graphs of equations (1) and (2) are shown in Fig 2. It can be seen that for faults
close to neutral (h < 0.3), current on delta side is too small.

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2.1 Example
Transformer rating: 10 MVA, 11 kV (Delta) / 6.6 kV (Star), NGR = 4.354 :
6600
VP =
3
= 3810 V

 
10000
I STAR RATED =
3 x6.6
= 875 A

 
10000
I DELTA RATED =
3 x11
= 524 A
3810
Turns Ratio, T =
11000
= 0.3464
For terminal fault on star side (h = 1),
3810
I STAR MAX =
4.354
= 875 A
The ground fault current is limited to rated current.
,DELTAMAX = 0.3464 x 875

= 303 A
The current magnitudes on delta and star windings, as a function of fault location ‘h’,
are given in Table I.

,F = h x 3810 A ,DEL = h x T x ,F A
Table I
h ,F / ,FMAX ,DEL / ,DELMAX
4.354 T = 0.3464
0.05 43.8 0.05 0.76 0.003
0.06 52.5* 0.06 1.09 0.004
0.10 87.5 0.10 3.03 0.010
0.12 105.0* 0.12 4.37 0.014
0.20 175.0 0.20 12.12 0.040
0.45 393.8 0.45 61.3* 0.203
0.50 437.5 0.50 75.78 0.250
0.63 551.3 0.63 120.3* 0.397
0.90 787.6 0.90 245.54 0.810
1.00 875.0 1.00 303.10 1.000

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2.2 Sensitivity of differential protection (87)
A ground fault on star side gets reflected as line to line fault on delta side (Fig 1).
CT ratio on delta side = 600 / 1
CT ration on star side = 1000 / 1
If pick up is set at 10%,
Minimum Pick up current, ,P = 600 x 0.1
= 60 A.
For faults up to 45% from neutral, current on delta side is less than 60 A. Thus only
about 55% of winding is protected by differential.
If for any reason pick up is increased to 20%,
Minimum Pick up current, ,P = 600 x 0.2
= 120 A.
For faults up to 63% from neutral, current on delta side is less than 120 A. Thus only
about 27% of winding is protected by differential.
2.3 Sensitivity of REF protection (64)
The scheme is shown in Fig 3.

CT ratio on phase side = 1000 / 1

CT ration on neutral side = 1000 / 1
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Any instantaneous relay (e.g. CAG 14) can be used in the high impedance scheme.
For minimum setting of 10%,
Minimum Pick up current = 1000 x 0.1
= 100 A
For faults up to 12% from neutral, current on star side is less than 100 A (Table I).
Almost 88% of winding is protected (corresponding figure is 55% in case of
differential).
The sensitivity of REF can be increased still further with neutral CT ratio of 500/1
instead of 1000/1 (Fig 4).
For minimum setting of 10%,
Minimum Pick up current = 500 x 0.1
= 50 A

For faults up to 6% from neutral, current on star side is less than 50 A (Table I).
Almost 94% of winding is protected and only about 6% of winding remains
unprotected. For fault at 6% from neutral, current on delta side is too low (about 1 A)
and differential will not definitely pick up.
Thus it is concluded that REF offers much more sensitive protection than differential
for internal faults on star winding in case of resistance grounded system.
Only for faults very near to terminal, sensitivity of differential is comparable to REF.

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October 2002, IEEMA Journal, Page 28 to 33
3.0 Solidly grounded system
Consider the same transformer analyzed for resistance grounded system. In case of
solidly grounded neutral, ground fault current magnitude will be very high (kA). For
an internal fault at fraction ‘h’ from neutral, the fault current is a function of leakage
reactance which itself is a complex function of ‘h’. A detailed analysis leads to Fig 5,
which shows the star and delta currents. As the fault point is shifted from terminal to
neutral, the fault current on star side initially decreases but at about 35% from
neutral the fault current starts rising before abruptly falling to zero near the neutral.

Assume for terminal fault on star winding, the ground fault current is limited to 10 x
,RATED .
,STARMAX = 10 x 875 A
= 8.75 kA
,DELTAMAX = 8.75 x 0.3464
= 3.03 kA

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October 2002, IEEMA Journal, Page 28 to 33
 The current magnitudes on star and delta windings, as a function of fault location ‘h’,
are given in Table II.

,F - kA ,DEL = h x T x
Table II
h
STAR
,F / ,F MAX ,DEL / ,DEL MAX
IF A
0.05 3.33 0.38 58* 0.019
0.1 3.15 0.36 109 0.036
0.2 2.54 0.29 176 0.058
0.3 1.93 0.22 200 0.066
0.35 1.93 0.22 233 0.076
0.4 2.01 0.23 279 0.092
0.8 5.95 0.68 1649 0.544
1.0 8.75 1.00 3031 1.000

3.1 Sensitivity of differential protection

If pick up is set at 10%,
Minimum Pick up current, ,P = 600 x 0.1
= 60 A.
For faults up to 5% from neutral, current on delta side is less than 60 A (Table II).
Thus about 95% of winding is protected by differential.
3.2 Sensitivity of REF protection
The scheme is similar to shown in Fig 3.
CT ratio on phase side = 1000 / 1
CT ration on neutral side = 1000 / 1
For minimum setting of 10%,
Minimum Pick up current = 1000 x 0.1
= 100 A
Except for dead fault on neutral, current on star side is greater than 100 A. For
example, even at 5% from neutral, fault current on star side is 3.33 kA. (Table II).
Almost 100% of winding is protected (corresponding figure is 95% in case of
differential).
4.0 Internal fault on delta winding
The phase voltages (VR = VY = VB = 1.0 pu) and line voltages (VRY = VYB = VBR = —3
pu) are shown in Fig 6.

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No part of delta winding has voltage to neutral / ground less than 0.5 pu. In star
winding voltage varies from 1.0 pu at terminal to 0 at neutral. The corresponding
figure for delta winding is 1.0 pu at terminal to 0.5 pu at midway of winding. Hence
the range of variation of fault current magnitude is also less in delta compared to
star. For a fault at middle of delta winding, voltage is 0.5 pu and the impedance is
also 0.5 pu. For the transformer considered in previous examples,
0.5
Fault Current, I F =
0.5
= 1 pu
= 524 A

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October 2002, IEEMA Journal, Page 28 to 33
 Current through each phase (Fig 7), ,F = 262 A
P

4.1 Differential protection

Even if pick up for differential protection is set at 40%, the differential will operate as
the pick up current is 240 A (600/1 x 0.4) whilst the fault current through each phase
,FP is 262 A. If the pick up for differential is set at 10%, it offers positive protection
for faults on delta winding.
4.2 Over-current protection
Instantaneous phase & ground over-current (50,50N) and IDMT phase over-current
(51) relays are provided on delta side of transformer (Fig 7). Typically 50 is set at
1000% and 51 is set at 150%.
Pick up for instantaneous element (50) = 600 x 10
= 6000 A
Pick up for IDMT element (51) = 600 x 1.5
= 900 A
For fault on delta winding, current through each phase ,F is only 262 A and the
P

above two relays will not pick up.

Regarding 50N, the maximum setting possible is 44% (600 x 0.44 = 264 A). If the
setting is kept low (say 10%), it may pick up during transformer charging.
The superiority of differential protection now becomes clear as it is the only sensitive
protection to detect reliably faults on delta winding.
5.0 Conclusion
For faults on star winding in resistance grounded system, sensitivity of REF
protection is far superior to that offered by differential protection.
For faults on star winding in solidly grounded system, sensitivity of REF protection is
better than that offered by differential protection though the comparison is not as
dramatic as in the case of resistance grounded system.
For faults on delta winding, differential offers the most reliable protection compared
to over current protections.
6.0 References
[1] P M Anderson, Power System Protection, McGraw Hill, N.Y. 1999

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