ROTOR EARTH FAULT

VISHAL YADAV &

SANDEEP
KHUDANIA

ROTOR EARTH FAULT

PROTECTION
The

rotor is one of the important part of Generator and it

should be well protected against Earth faults or Inter turn
faults these are caused by thermal and mechanical stresses.
The field system is normally ungrounded so when a single
fault between field winding and rotor body exist does not
give rise to any fault current.
But when second earth fault exist it short circuit the rotor
winding and therefore produce an unsymmetrical field
system and unbalance force on the rotor. This causes
vibration of the rotor and damage to the bearings. So rotor
earth fault protection is provided to restrict the fault
spreading.

 Insulation failure at a single

point :
No fault current, therefore no
danger
Increase chance of second fault
occurring
Insulation failure at a second
point :
Shorts out part of field winding
Heating (burning of conductor)
Flux distortion causing violent
vibration of rotor
F=Attracting force at the rotor
surface.
A= Area
B=Flux density.

NEGATIVE SEQUENCE CURRENT

Because of faults , unbalance in three phase stator currents exists. As

unbalance three phase currents have a Negative Sequence Component, it
rotates in a opposite direction at synchronous speed giving rise to double
frequency currents. This results in overheating of the rotor and other
damage to the rotor. So rotor temperature indicators are used for
detecting the rotor overheating.

NEGATIVE SEQUENCE CURRENT

ROTOR WINDING COOLING

METHODS FOR CALCULATING ROTOR

RESISTANCE.

A.C. injection method

D.C. injection method

Potentiometer method

AC/DC Injection Method

It works with a
low
frequency
alternating
test
voltage
(1 Hz, +/- 24V)
which
is
connected via slip
rings to the main
exciter
winding
and to rotor earth

MEASURING PRINCIPLE

MFR1L RELAY BLOCK DIAGRAM

Different measured values

may be displayed by
pressing the "Menu" button

The "U1=" display

indicates the amplitude of
the measuring voltage
generated in the unit. If the
ampli-tude falls below 10.0
V, the unit is not ready for
operation anymore.

The "Rx>" display indicates

the currently measured
ground resistance. The
measured value should be
above 100 k if the
generator is stopped.

POTENTIOMETER METHOD
Potentiometer
method:
In this method a high
resistance is connected
across the rotor circuit
& its mid point is
grounded through a
sensitive relay. This
relay detects the earth
fault for whole circuit
except the rotor center
point.

Current Trends for Rotor EF detection

(EFREM) Earth Fault
Resistance

Quantitative values of fault severity

(continuous resistance

measurements) trend your high

accuracy data readings!

Continuous monitoring for faults

(always operational, while

rotating and when off line)

Fault location indicator for ease of

diagnosis and repair

Field excitation voltage level

monitoring

Alarm relay contact outputs for

multiple resistance limits (for

instance, an early warning alarm and

a machine trip).

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