Chapter 10

Protection of industrial systems

With the increase in size of industrial plant electrical systems, and the high short-circuit levels encountered on electricity power systems, it is essential that the electrical protection arrangements in any industrial installation are correctly designed and have the appropriate settings applied to ensure the correct functioning of the plant and continuity of supply within the installation. The importance of maintaining continuity of supply to industrial installations cannot be over emphasised and, in this respect, the interconnectors to the public supply system play a vital role. It is crucial that correct co-ordination is maintained between the protection on the main industrial supply infeeds and the power system supply feeders.

10.1

Protection devices

In addition to the overcurrent relay, which has been covered in Chapter 5, mouldedcase circuit breakers (MCCBs) and thermal relay-contactor and fuse devices are frequently used to protect elements of the industrial electrical system and these will be covered in more detail in this chapter.

10.1.1

Overcurrent relays

This type of relay is usually equipped with an instantaneous and/or time-delay unit. This latter unit can be inverse, very inverse or extremely inverse, and when it is necessary to prevent the relay from operating in one direction it should be provided with a directional element. This is required for ring systems or networks with several infeed sources, the latter being very common in industrial systems.

10.1.2

Direct acting devices in power and moulded-case circuit breakers

As their name indicates, these are devices that act directly on power breakers and therefore do not require AC or DC coils for tripping. They are especially common

226 Protection of electricity distribution networks for operating breakers up to 600 V, but are sometimes used on breakers of a higher voltage and, in these cases, are generally fed by current transformers. These devices can be operated by: 1. 2. An armature attracted by the electromagnetic force that is produced by the fault current which flows through a trip coil. A bimetallic strip that is actuated by the heat produced by the fault current.

The characteristic curves of these mechanisms are generally the result of combining the curves of instantaneous relays with long or short time-delay relays. The starting current of the long delay units can normally be set to 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160 per cent of the nominal value. The calibrations of short time-delay relays are typically 5, 7.5 and 10 times the nominal value. It is common to use breakers to protect circuits of low current capacity with a combination of a single time-delay element plus an instantaneous unit normally having a bimetallic or magnetic element. In this case, the curves are normally set in the factory based on the nominal values.

10.1.3

Combined thermal relay contactor and fuse

The combined thermal relay contactor and fuse is used extensively for protection, mainly in low power systems. In this case the fuse provides protection against shortcircuits and the thermal relay gives protection against overloads. Given that the thermal relay acts directly on the contactor, special care should be taken to prevent a relay operation for values of fault current that exceed the capacity of the contactor. If this should be the case, a more rapidly acting fuse should be selected in order to guarantee that it will operate for any current greater than the breaking capacity of the contactor.

10.2

Criteria for setting overcurrent protection devices associated with motors

The criteria normally used for the selection of the nominal values and the range of settings of low voltage overcurrent devices such as thermal relays and moulded-case breakers that are used frequently in industrial plants are similar to those for overcurrent protection included in Chapter 5. An important consideration for these devices is that, as for overcurrent relays, the selected settings can vary depending upon the criteria adopted by the particular utility or plant operators, providing that the resultant settings guarantee appropriate protection to the machines and the elements of the system under analysis. Thus, the settings should be higher than the motor-locked rotor current and below the motor thermal limit.

10.2.1

Thermal relays

A thermal relay basically has three parameters that can be adjusted: the rating of the coil, the range of taps in the thermal element, and the range of the instantaneous element.

Protection of industrial systems 227

Coil rating
In order to determine the coil rating, manufacturers provide a range of maximum and minimum current values for which the thermal relay has been designed. The rating of the coil is somewhat above the maximum value of the motor secondary rated current. The range of a thermal relay for a motor should overlap the motor manufacturer's value of the motor nominal secondary current, in amperes. Using a thermal relay that has a maximum current rating very close to the motor nominal secondary current (in amperes) is not recommended; in this case it is better to use the next highest range available. Example 10.1 Consider a motor with the following characteristics: power: voltage: efficiency: 100 HP, p.f. = 0 . 8 440 V 100 per cent

The thermal protection consists of three single-phase relays, fed from a set of current transformers with 200/5 ratios. The setting range of the relays is given in Table 10. l, and the operating characteristics are shown in Figure 10.1. Inom = 122.36A, and Inom(sec) = 122.36 x 5 / 2 0 0 = 3.06A. In accordance with the data in Table 10.1, a thermal coil with a rating of 3.87A, which has a current range of 3.10 to 3.39 A, can be selected. A relay with a range of 2.82-3.09 A should not be used since the maximum value is very close to the Inom(sec) of the motor.

Range of taps in the thermal element

The tripping current of the thermal element of the relay is normally specified with a range of 90/95/100/105/110 per cent of the current rating of the coil.

Range of instantaneous elements

The instantaneous elements are specified at ten times the nominal current of the motor. Typically this range is 6-150 A. For this example:
Iinst = 10 X /nora = 10

122.36 x 5/200 = 30.59A (secondary)

This confirms that the 6-150 A range is appropriate.

10.2.2

Low voltage breakers

The low voltage breakers used to protect motors usually have two elements: a timedelay unit for long-time overloads and an instantaneous element for short-circuits. The short-time element is optional and recommended only for the more powerful motors, or when the possibility exists of losing co-ordination with other breakers located nearer to the source. The values that should be specified for a breaker are as follows: the nominal current, and the setting ranges for the time-delay unit, the instantaneous unit, and also the short-time unit if this is fitted.

228

Protection o f electricity distribution networks

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Protection of industrial systems 229

(a) 800 700 600 < 500 400 300 200 100 Time (s) ~ 6 0 Hz

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Figure 10.1

Range of settings and operating characteristics of GE thermal relays TMC. (a) Typical time/current characteristic curve for type TMC 23B
relays. (b) Average time/current curves based on 40 degrees ambient for relays type TMC21B, 24B and 24D. Source: Protection of electricity distribution systems. Reproduced by permission of General Electric Company

230

Protection of electricity distribution networks

Nominal current The nominal value of the breaker is selected using the next higher available setting to the value obtained from the following expression:
/breaker =

1.05 x SF x Inom.motor

where SF is the so-called service factor, which is an overload margin permitted by the manufacturer. In the case of breakers associated with motor control centres (MCCs), the nominal current is selected using the following expression: Inom = 1.2 x 1FL where IFL is the full-load current taking into account the nominal power of all the motors plus the other loads that are supplied by the feeder. To calculate this, the nominal current of the largest motor, and the current for the rest of the load multiplied by the demand factor, are added together. Setting of the time band When selecting the time band there should be a co-ordination margin of 0.2 s between one breaker and the breaker acting as back up. In those breakers associated with MCC feeders, the time setting should be checked to confirm that the largest motor can be started satisfactorily while the rest of the load is taking nominal power. The current of a locked-rotor motor should be estimated in accordance with a standard code of practice such as the National Electric Code of USA (NEC) Article 430-7 using the code letter in those cases where this information is available. Where this is not the case, then the current should be taken as being six times the full load current in accordance with Table 430-151 of NEC Article 430-7. Starting from the value of current with a locked rotor, the starting current for each motor should be calculated taking into account the particular method of starting, and the starting time should be based on manufacturer's data for the motor. In addition, the operating characteristic of the breaker should be checked to ensure that it provides complete cover over the thermal-capacity characteristic of the associated conductors. Table 10.2 compares some of the factors associated with motor starting. Range of short-time unit The short-time element is specified taking into account the fact that the operating current includes the motor locked-rotor current. This current is normally of the order of six or seven times the motor nominal current. The range of settings of this element is usually expressed as a multiple of the starting current selected for the long timedelay unit. Setting of instantaneous element The instantaneous element provides protection against short-circuits, cutting down the tripping time of a breaker when there are severe faults on the associated circuit. The setting of the instantaneous element is calculated using the expression linst ~--- 10 x IFL, where/EL is the full load current of the associated feeder.

Protection of industrial systems 231 Table 10.2 Comparison of motor starting methods (from Industrial Power Systems Handbook, by D. Beeman, 1985; reproduced by permission of McGraw-Hill Publishing Company)
Type of starter* Motor voltage Line voltage Starting torque Full voltage starting torque 1.0 0.64 0.42 0.25 0.64 Line current Full voltage starting current 1.0 0.68 0.46 0.30 0.80

Full-voltage starter Autotransformer 80% tap 65% tap 50% Resistor starter, single step (adjusted for motor voltage to be 80% of line voltage) Reactor 50% tap 45% tap 37.5% tap Part-winding starter (low speed motors only) 75% tap 50% tap

1.0 0.80 0.65 0.50 0.80

0.50 0.45 0.375

0.25 0.20 0.14

0.50 0.45 0.375

1.0 1.0

0.75 0.50

0.75 0.50

line voltage = motor rated voltage * The settings given are the more common for each type. E x a m p l e 10.2 Determine the settings for the thermal relay and the 200 and 600 A breakers, which protect the system indicated in Figure 10.2, using the information given.

Induction motor
500 HP, 2400 V, power factor = 0.8 Service factor: 1.0 Code letter: G; thermal limit with locked rotor: 5.5 s Direct start, duration: 1.0 s

Thermal relay
(See Figure 10.1.) Coil: 3.87 A Taps: 90-110 per cent o f coil rating CT ratio: 150/5

232

Protection of electricity distribution networks

1500kVA 13.8/2.4 kV

Thermo-magnetic N / 600 A interrupter J

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Thermo-magnetic interrupter

4kV

200 A

Contactor

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I I I I

150/5

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500 HP

Figure 10.2 Breakers

System for Example 10.2

The setting values and characteristic curve are shown in Table 10.3 and Figure 10.3 respectively.
Solution

Nominal motor current

1N=

500 x 0.746 k W v/3 x 0.8 x 2 . 4 k V

=112.16A

Locked rotor current

From NEC Table 430-7(b), a motor with code G is assessed at 6.29 kVA/HP, and so: ILR = 500 x 6.29 kVA ~/3 x 2.4 kV = 756.57 A

Protection of industrial systems 233

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Protection of electricity distribution networks

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0.01 10 20 30 50 70 lO0 1 2 3 5 7 lO 20 30

50 70 100

Earth fault current in percent of tripping XFMR rating

Current in multiples of pick-up

Figure 10.3

Characteristic operating curves for Siemens-Allis Interrupter

Setting of thermal relay

/start = 1.05 x 1.0 x 1 1 2 . 1 6 A =

117.8A

5 1 Setting---- 117.8 x - x -x 100%= 101.46% 150 3.87 With a setting o f 100 per cent, /start = 1.0 x 3 . 8 7 A ( 1 5 0 / 5 ) = l 1 6 . 1 0 A (3.5% overload)

Protection of industrial systems 235 Setting of 2OOA breaker

(i) Long-time element Range: 100/125/150/175/200/250 A

/start = 1.05 1.0 x 112.16A---- 117.8A

Set at 125 A (11.45 per cent, overload) Selection o f time band: The long-time element should permit the motor to start: Start point: I = 756.57 A locked rotor current, and t = 1.0 s Operation o f breaker at the start: I/lstart = 756.7 A/125 A = 6.05 times. Require 1.4 s tripping time. From Figure 10.3, the intersection of 1.4 s and 6.05 times lies above the lower curve o f Band 1. Therefore, Band 2 is chosen in this case to guarantee the required discrimination margin o f 0.4 s. (ii) Short-time element Range: 3/5/8/12 times long-time pick-up current lstartl = 6 x ( 1 1 2 . 1 6 A ) = 672.96A Given that this value is less than the motor starting current, it is necessary to increase the setting value. Try eight times, then
Istart2 = 8 ( 1 1 2 . 1 6 A) = 897.28 A and setting = 897.28 A / 1 2 5 A = 7.18

Setting selected: 8 x/pickup = 8 x 125 A = I000 A Time band: in this case the intermediate band was chosen to provide the necessary discrimination margin with the instantaneous unit (see Figure 10.3). (iii) Instantaneous element Range: 3/5/8/12 times long-time pick-up current /start = 12 x (112.16A) = 1345.92 A Setting = 1345.92 A/125 A = 10.77 Setting selected: 11 x / p i c k u p (1375 A)

Setting of 6OOA breaker

(i) Long-time element Range: 300/375/400/525/600/750 A Nominal current of transformer, In --- 360.84 A v/3 x 2.4 kV With a setting of 400 A, the overload = 400/360.84 = 1.108, i.e. 10.8 per cent, which is acceptable.
/start ~-- 1.10 X (360.84 A) = 396.92 A

1500 kVA

Selection o f time band: Operation of motor breaker within the limit of the long-time element: I/Istart = 1000A/125 A = 8.0 times. At eight times, and with Band 2, =~ t = 1.5 s

236

Protection of electricity distribution networks

Operation of transformer breaker: I/Istart = 1000 A / 4 0 0 A = 2.5 times. At 2.5 times, and with t = 1.7 s, Band 1 is chosen since this is the lowest available. Notice that a margin o f 0.2 s has been applied here since the co-ordination is between two low voltage breakers where the curves include the opening time. (ii) Short-time element /start = 6 (360.84 A) = 2165.04 A Setting = 2165.04 A / 4 0 0 A = 5.41 => 6 times
Current (A) (10) 2. 4kV busbar

1000 800 600 400 200 100 80 60 40 20 10 8 6 4 ~ 2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02

0.01

Figure 10.4

Co-ordination curves for Example 10.2

Protection of industrial systems 237

Since there is no overlap with the short-time element of the motor, the intermediate band is also selected. (iii) Instantaneous element The instantaneous element is cancelled in order to maintain co-ordination. The co-ordination curves are shown in Figure 10.4. It should be emphasised that, although the values selected for the protective devices in this example ensure proper co-ordination, they are not unique. Other settings could be chosen provided that the curves so obtained guarantee adequate reliability and good selectivity.