Fault calculation and analysis

Unit I

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 1.1 Need for Protective Systems.

▪ Electrical Power system consists of generators,

transformers, transmission and distribution lines, etc.

▪ The heavy current associated with short circuits can

cause damage to the power system equipment.

▪ An automatic protective device is needed to isolate the

faulty elements as quickly as possible to keep the
healthy section of the system in normal operation.

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 1.1 Need for Protective System

▪ The fault must be cleared within a fraction of a second.

If short circuit persists on a system for a longer period,
it may cause damage to some important sections of
the system.

▪ The system voltage may reduce to a low level and

generators may lose synchronism and cause the total
failure of the system.

▪ Protective scheme includes circuit breakers and

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 1.1 Need for Protective Systems.

▪ protective relays to isolate the faulty section of the

system from the healthy sections. The function of the
protective relay is to detect and locate a fault and issue
a command to the circuit breaker to disconnect the
faulty element.

▪ Protection is needed against any other abnormal

conditions which may arise on a power system such as
overspeed of generators and motors, over-voltage,
under-frequency, loss of excitation, overheating of
stator and rotor of an alternator, etc.
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 1.1 Need for Protective Systems.

▪ Protective relays are also provided to detect such

abnormal conditions and issue alarm signals to alert
operators or trip circuit breakers.

▪ Protective relays does not anticipate or prevent the

occurrence of a fault, rather it takes action only after a
fault has occurred. However, one exception to this is
the Buchholz relay, a gas actuated relay, which is used
for the protection of power transformers.

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 1.1 Need for Protective Systems.

▪ Sometimes, a slow breakdown of insulation due to a

minor arc may take place in a transformer’s oil and
solid insulation. Such condition produces a gas which
is collected in a gas chamber of the Buchholz relay.

▪ When a specified amount of gas is accumulated, the

Buchholz relay operates an alarm. This gives an early
warning of incipient faults. The transformer is taken
out of service for repair before the incipient fault grows
into a serious one.

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 1.1 Need for Protective Systems.

▪ Thus the occurrence of a major fault is prevented. If

the gas evolves rapidly, the Buchholz relay trips the
circuit breaker instantly.

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 1.2 Faults.

▪ Faults are caused either by insulation failures or by

conducting path failures. The failure of insulation
results in short circuits which can damage the power
system equipment (Internal faults)

▪ Most of the faults on transmission and distribution

lines are caused by over voltages due to lightning or
switching surges, or by external conducting objects
falling on overhead lines (external faults)

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 1.2 Faults.

▪ Overvoltages due to lightning or switching surges

cause flashover on the surface of insulators resulting
in short circuits.

▪ Sometimes insulators gets punctured or break due to

the dust particles accumulated on the surface of
insulators which reduces the insulation strength and
causes flashovers.

▪ Birds also may cause faults when their bodies touches

one of the phases and the earth wire.
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 1.2 Faults.

▪ If the conductors are broken, there is a failure of the

conducting path and the conductor becomes open
circuited.
▪ If the broken conductor falls to the ground, it results in
a short circuit.
▪ The opening of one or two of the three phases makes
the system unbalanced. Unbalanced currents flowing
in rotating machines set up harmonics, thereby
heating the machines in short periods of time.

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 1.2 Faults.

▪ Sometimes, circuit breakers may trip due to errors in

the switching operation, testing or maintenance work,
wrong connections, defects in protective devices, etc.

▪ Certain faults occur due to the poor quality of system

components or because of a faulty system design, by
using components and materials of good quality and
by better operation and maintenance.

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 1.2.2 Types of Faults.

▪ Two broad classifications of faults are:

1) Symmetrical faults
2) Unsymmetrical faults
I. Symmetrical faults
▪ A three phase fault is called symmetrical fault.
▪ In symmetrical fault all three phases are short
circuited.
▪ All the three phases may be short circuited to ground
or short-circuited without involving the ground
▪ Symmetrical faults are treated as standard fault to
determine the system fault level.
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 1.2.2 Types of Faults.

II.Symmetrical faults
▪ Unsymmetrical faults are single phase to ground, two
phase to ground(double line to ground), phase to
phase short circuits(line to line fault), single phase
open circuit and two phase open circuit.

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 1.2.2 Effects of Faults.

The most dangerous type of fault is a short circuit as it

may have the following effects on a power system if it
remains uncleared.

i. Heavy short circuit current may cause damage to

equipment or any other element of the system due to
overheating and high mechanical forces.
ii. Arcs associated with short circuit may cause fire
hazards.
iii. Reduction in supply voltage of the healthy feeders
resulting in the loss of industrial loads.
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 1.2.2 Effects of Faults.

iv. Short circuits may cause the unbalancing of supply

voltages and currents, thereby heating rotating
machines.
v. There may be loss of system stability. Individual
generators in a power station may lose synchronism,
resulting in a complete shutdown of the system. Loss
of stability of interconnected systems may also result.
vi. The above faults may cause an interruption of supply
to consumers, thereby causing a loss of revenue.

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 Fault statistics

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 Frequency of occurrence of faults.

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 1.3 Simple calculation of short circuit
currents

1.Introduction
2.Revision of basic formulae
3.Calculation of short-circuit
4.Useful formulae

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 1.3 Simple calculation of short circuit
currents

Introduction
The short-circuit current must be calculated at each level
in the installation in view of determining the characteristics
of the equipment required to withstand or break the fault
current
The maximum short-circuit current, used to determine
•The breaking capacity of the circuit breakers
•The making capacity of the circuit breakers
•The electrodynamic withstand capacity of the wiring
system and switchgear

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 1.3 Simple calculation of short circuit
currents

The minimum short-circuit current, essential

when selecting the time-current curve for circuit breakers
and fuses, in particular when:
•Cables are long and/or the source impedance is relatively
high (generators, UPSs)
•Protection of life depends on circuit breaker or fuse
operation, essentially the case for TN and IT electrical
systems

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 Percentage Reactance

⚫ It is the percentage of the total phase voltage

dropped in the circuit when full load current is
flowing i.e,

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 ⚫ Alternatively percentage reactance (%X) can
also be expressed in terms of kVA and kV as

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 Short circuit kVA

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 Some example

⚫ Refer examples
⚫ 17.1 (page 402, Principles of power system,
VK Mehta)

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 1.4 Zones of Protections.

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 1.4 Zones of Protection.

▪ A power system is divided into a number of zones for

protection.

▪ There is a separate protective scheme for each piece of

equipment or element of the power system, such as
generator protection, transformer protection,
transmission line protection, bus bar protection, etc.

▪ A protective zone covers one or at the most two

elements of the power system.

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 1.4 Zones of Protections.

▪ The protective zones are planned in such a way that

the entire power system is collectively covered by
them, and thus, no part of the system is left
unprotected.

▪ Adjacent protective zones must overlap each other.

▪ If a fault occurs in the overlapping zone in a properly

protected scheme, more circuit breakers than the
minimum necessary to isolate the faulty element of the
system would trip.
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 1.4 Zones of Protections.

▪ A relatively low extent of overlap reduces the

probability of faults in this region and consequently,
tripping of too many breakers does not occur
frequently.

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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

▪ If a fault occurs in a particular zone, it is the duty of the

primary relays of that zone to isolate the faulty
element.

▪ If due to any reason, the primary relay fails to operate,

there is a back-up protective scheme to clear the fault.

▪ The reliability of the protective scheme should be at

least 95%.

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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

▪ With proper design, installation and maintenance of

the relays, circuit breakers, trip mechanisms, ac and
dc wiring, etc. a very high degree of reliability can be
achieved.

▪ The back-up relays are made independent of those

factors which might cause primary relays to fail.

▪ The back-up relays operates after a time delay to give

the primary relay sufficient time to operate.

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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

▪ As far as possible, a back-up relay should be placed at

a different station.

▪ Sometimes, a local back-up relay is also used. It

should be located in such a way that It does not
employ components (P.T, C.T, measuring unit, etc.)
common with the primary relays which are to be
backed up.

▪ There are three types of back-up relays

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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

1) Remote back-up
2) Relay back-up
3) Breaker back-up

Remote back-up
➢ When back-up relays are located at a neighboring
station, they back-up the entire primary protective
scheme which includes the relay, circuit breaker, P.T.,
C.T. and other elements, in case of a failure of the
primary protective scheme.
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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

➢ It is the cheapest and the simplest form of back-up

protection and is a widely used back-up protection for
transmission lines.
➢ It will not fail due to the factors causing the failure of
the primary protection.
➢ When back-up relays are located at a neighboring
station, they back-up the entire primary protective
scheme which includes the relay, circuit breaker, P.T.,
C.T. and other elements, in case of a failure of the
primary protective scheme.

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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

Relay Back-up
➢ Additional relay is provided for back-up protection.
➢ It trips the same circuit breaker if the primary relay
fails an this operation takes place without delay.
➢ It is costly
➢ Recommended where remote back-up is not
possible.
➢ For back-up relays, principles of operation that are
different from those of the primary protection are
desirable.
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 1.4.1 Primary and Back-up
Protection.

Breaker Back-up
➢ Necessary for a bus bar system where a number of
circuit breakers are connected to it.
➢ When a protective relay operates in response to a fault
but the circuit breaker fails to trip, the fault is treated
as a bus bar fault.
➢ In such a situation it becomes necessary that all other
circuit breakers on that bus bar should trip.
➢ After a time delay, the main relay closes the contact of
a back-up relay which trips all other circuit breakers on
the bus.
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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

✓ Robustness and simplicity also contribute to reliability.

✓ The contact pressure, the contact material and the
prevention of contact contamination of the relay is also
very important.
✓ The relay should be atleast 95% reliable
✓ Protection of the equipment from burning due to heavy
fault currents
✓ Interruption of supply to consumers and the fall in
system voltage which may result in the loss of
industrial loads.
✓ The operating time of protective relay is usually one
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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

The basic requirements of a protective system are as

follows:

i. Selectivity or discrimination
ii. Reliability
iii. Sensitivity
iv. Stability
v. Fast operation
vi. Economy
vii. Simplicity

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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

I. Selectivity or Discrimination
✓ The quality of protective relay by which it is able to discriminate
between a fault in the protected section and the normal condition.
✓ It should be able to distinguish whether a fault lies within its zone
of protection or outside the zone.
✓ Only the faulty part of the system should be isolated
✓ Relay should be able to discriminate between a fault and
transient conditions like power surge.
✓ It should be able to discriminate between those conditions which
require instantaneous tripping is required and when no operation
or time delay is required.

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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

II. Reliability
✓ A protective system must operate reliably when a fault
occurs in its zone of protection.
✓ The failure of a protective system may be due to the
failure of elements of the systems such as relay, CB,
P.T, C.T, wiring, etc.
✓ To achieve a high degree of reliability, greater attention
should be given to the design, installation,
maintenance and testing of the various elements of
the protective system.
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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

III. Sensitivity
✓ a protective relay should operate when the magnitude
of the current exceeds the preset value called the pick-
up current.

✓ The relay should not operate when the current is

below its pick-up value.

✓ The relay should be sufficiently sensitive to operate

when the operating current just exceeds its pick-up
value.
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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

IV. Stability

✓ A protective system should remain stable even when a

large current flows through its protective zone due to
an external faults in the other zones.

✓ The relay should operate and trip the circuit breaker, if

the protective scheme in which the fault has occurred
fails to operate.

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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

V. Fast Operation
✓ A protective relay should be fast enough to isolate the
faulty element of the system as quickly as possible to
minimize damage to the equipment and to maintain
the system stability.

✓ The operating time of the protective system should not

exceed the critical clearing time to avoid the loss of
synchronism.

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 1.5 Essential Qualities of
Protection.

VI. Economy
- Devices must provide maximum protection at
minimum cost.
VII. Simplicity
- Devices must minimize protection circuitry and
equipment

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

Protective relays can be classified in various ways

depending on their construction, functions, etc.

A. Classification Based on Technology.

1) Electromagnetic Relays
2) Static Relays
3) Numerical relay (Microprocessor-Based Relays)

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

Electromagnetic Relays
❖ Includes attracted armature, moving coil, induction
disc and induction cup type relays.
❖ Consists of electromagnet(or a permanent magnet)
and a moving part.
❖ When the actuating quantity exceed the
predetermined value, an operating torque is developed
which is applied on the moving part.
❖ This causes the moving part to travel and to finally
close contact to energize the trip coil of the CB.
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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

Static Relay
❖ Contains electronic circuitry which may include
transistors, ICs, diodes and other electronic
components.
❖ There is a comparator circuit in the relay, which
compares two or more currents or voltages and gives
output which is applied to either a slave relay or a
thyristor circuit.
❖ The slave relay is an electromagnetic relay which
finally closes the contact.
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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

Static Relay

❖ Static relay poses the advantages of having low

burden on the C.T. and P.T., fast operation, absence of
mechanical inertia and contact trouble, long life and
less maintenance.

❖ Static relays are used for the protection of important

lines, power stations and sub-stations.

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

Microprocessor-Based Protective Relay

❖ Microprocessor-based protective relays are the latest

development in protective relays.

❖ They are flexible due to their programmable approach.

❖ It can provide protection at low cost.

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

B. Based on Speed of operation

❖ Instantaneous relays
❖ Time delay relays
❖ High speed relay (upto 60 milliseconds- 3 cycles)
❖ Ultra high speed relay (upto 5 milliseconds- 1/4 cycles)

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

C. Based on their generation of development

❖ First generation- Electromagnetic Relays

❖ Second generation - Static Relays
❖ Third generation – Numerical Relays (Microprocessor
based relay)

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Relays.

D. Based on their function

❖ Over current relays

❖ Under-voltage relays
❖ Impedance relays
❖ Under-frequency relays
❖ Directional relays

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 1.8 Classification of Protective
Relays.

E. Based as comparators

❖ Single input comparator – one electrical quantities and

compare with certain constant quantities
❖ Dual input comparator – 2 inputs, measure one
quantity and compare with other quantity. Differential
relay measure current entering and current leaving the
circuit
❖ Multi input comparator – more than 2 inputs signals.
- (i) multi input phase comparator and (ii) multi input
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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

A. Over current Protection

B. Distance Protection
C. Carrier-Current Protection
D. Differential Protection

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

A. Overcurrent Protection

❑ This scheme of protection is used for the protection of

distribution lines, large motors, equipment, etc.

❑ It includes one or more overcurrent relays.

❑ It operates when the current exceeds its pick-up value.

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

B. Distance Protection
❑ used for protection of transmission or sub-
transmission lines (33 kV, 66 kV and 132 kV lines).
❑ A distance relay measures the distance between the
relay location and the point of fault in terms of
impedance, reactance, etc.
❑ The relay operates if the point of fault lies within the
protected section of the line.
❑ Important types of distance relays are impedance
relay, reactance relay and mho relay.
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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

C. Carrier-Current Protection.
❑ This scheme of protection is used for the protection of
EHV and UHV lines (generally 132 kV and above).
❑ A carrier signal in the range of 50-500 kc/s is
generated for the purpose
❑ The transmitter and receiver are installed at each end
of a transmission line to be protected.
❑ Information regarding the direction of the fault current
is transmitted from one end of the line section to the
other.
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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

Carrier-Current Protection.

❑ Depending on the information, relays placed at each

end trip if the fault lies within their protected section.
❑ Relays do not trip in case of external faults.
❑ The relays are of distance type and their tripping are
controlled by the carrier signal.

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

D. Differential Protection
❑ This scheme of protection is used for the protection of
generators, transformers, motors of very large size,
bus zones, etc.
❑ C.T.s are placed on both sides of each winding of a
machine.
❑ The outputs of their secondary are applied to the relay
coils which compares the current entering a machine
winding and leaving.

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 1.6 Classification of Protective
Schemes.

Differential Protection
❑ Under normal condition or during external faults, the
current entering the winding is equal to the current
leaving the winding.
❑ In case of internal fault on the winding, these are not
equal.
❑ This difference in current actuates the relay. Thus
relay operates for internal faults and remains
inoperative under normal conditions or during external
faults.
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 Automatic Reclosing

❖ about 90% of the faults on overhead lines are of

transient nature.
❖ Transient faults are caused by lightning or external
bodies falling on the lines.
❖ Such faults are always associated with arcs. If the line
is disconnected from the system for a short time, the
arc is extinguished and the fault disappears.
❖ Immediately after this, the circuit breaker can be
reclosed automatically to restore the supply.
❖ A fast reclosure is desired from stability point of view.

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 ❖ In EHV, only one instantaneous reclosure is used as
most faults are caused by lightning and it exists only
for a short time.
❖ On lines upto 33kV, most faults are caused by external
objects such as tree branches,etc falling on the
overhead lines. Thus, it requires three reclosures to
clear the fault.
❖ If the fault is not cleared in the third reclosure, then it is
of permanent nature.
❖ Automatic reclosure is not used on cables as the
breakdown of insulation in cables causes a permanent
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 Thanks

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