HIGH IMPEDANCE BUS DIFFERENTIAL VS BIASED TRANSFORMER DIFFERENTIAL

Operating times for diff protection, excluding breaker tripping time are generally of the following order: Transformer diff - 10 cycles Busbar diff - 4 cycles Feeder diff - 5 cycles Modern relays act even faster These operating times are practically independent of magnitude of fault current. Trip time for transformer diff is a little longer to ensure that the relays do not operate incorrectly due to initial transients.

LOW IMPEDANCE DIFF SCHEMES Low impedance system (bias or unbias) current operated CTs are much cheaper (Compare prices of a 10P10 CT and a Class X CT).

HIGH IMPEDANCE DIFF SCHEMES High impedance system - voltage operated

low impedance refers to biased / percentage high impedance utilizes a series resistor differential relay. with the overcurrent differential element Main disadvantage of circulating current protection using low impedance relays is through fault instability due to CT saturation. and the low cost, if used on a simple bus system. However with the introduction of numerical relays and their low CT burden as well as their ability of measuring several feeder currents, a low impedance bus differential principal could be applied on simple busses also High impedance bus differential relays are used on most of the busses in North America. The popularity can be explained by the good performance of this scheme in relation to CT saturation and the low cost, if used on a simple bus system

Common advantages of all

low impedance bus protection

schemes are the ability to be able to use CT's of different ratios on respective branch inputs and the fact that the same CT used for the bus protection can be shared with the feeder protection relay

The metrosil is there to prevent very high voltages occuring under heavy fault conditions. These voltages would otherwise damage the CT, the relay, and the wiring. The stabilising resistor in principle converts the current operated relay into a voltage operated relay. Highly recommended. http://www.areva-td.com/servlet/ContentServer?page... For older type of schemes:

Transformators: Low impedance diff (bias or unbias) over the windings and high impedance diff (REF-protection) over the windings and the neutral CT. REF stands for restricted earth fault protection. Busbars: High impedance diff in all the zones which include different incomers and feeders. A typical zone can consist out of an incomer and 4 feeders (15 CTs), which make a low impedance diff circuit difficult.

Q:

Where to use High & Low impedance differential protection? I want to know, where should we use high impedance differential protection and where low impedance should be used? What are the advantages & disadvantages of both schemes? Please see thread 238-216247: High Impedance Differential protection

Ans:

High Impedance: Since it is having greater stability (during CT sat)for out of zone faults than low impedance version. Mainly used in Bus protection and Transformer (resistance grounded) REF protection schemes. Low cost, simple design, easy testing, needs accurate CT and wiring data to set the voltage setting. , there everything should be identical starting from turns ratio. knee point voltage, winding resistance and exciting current. Hi Z is traditionally used where there are numerous CT inputs to deal with, such as bus differential. Ct's designed for HI protection will have higher knee point voltage when compared to LI protection which will increase the cost of CT production. In my opinion for new substation where CTs are identical High Impedance 87B, is the best solution. However, in case of expansion or having different CTs low impedance should be use. Configuration, setup, and testing is much simpler with the Hi Z bus diff relaying. High impedance relay use for 87B, 87REF, 87 shunt reactor, etc. High impedance relays are much cheaper, simple design, and have been in service 10's of years. All other relays are Low impedance type. Diff low impedance is used for 87T. Low impedance: Low stability for out of zone faults. Mainly used in Bus Protection, Transformer, Generator and Motor Differential protection schemes. Also with present day microprocessor based relays, Transformer REF schemes can have low impedance version too. In LI we can use different ratio Ct's but not in HI Low Z was normally used for differential zones with two or three sets of CRTs, such as transformers, generators and motors. I don't think any problem in using LI protection scheme for bus bar, For multiple bus configuration we must go for LI protection, if we use HI protection, we have to switch the CT circuit, which may lead to mal operation of protection if there is any failure in switching, IF we use LI, only we have to give isolator input for bus selection, central unit

of BB protection will do the rest. I don't agree with the others who are saying that HI will be stable during external faults but not LI to counter this one we are using biased differential protection, how transformer biased differential protection works, it has to be stable for external faults, same way LI for bus bars also. A good reference on the principles of busbar protection can also be found at http://pm.geindustrial.com/FAQ/Documents/B30/GER-3984.pdf

Creepage Distance-Is it a Reliable Design Parameter?

Thomas Johansson, Robert Axelsson, Sven Nord Ceram Group Introduction
Creepage Distance(CD) has many advantages. It is easy to understand, visualise, calculate and measure. A disadvantage is that it does not accurately predicting the electrical performance of Insulators of various diameters. Even following IEC standards, the accuracy of the calculations are limited. The poorer performance, under polluted conditions, of lager diameter versus smaller diameter Insulators, both designed in accordance with IEC standards, similar profiles and located in the same position, indicates the need for more accurate design parameters than those offered by CD.

3.11. Creepage Distance The shortest distance, or the sum of the shortest distances, along the contours of the external surfaces of the insulating parts of the insulator between those parts which normally have the operating voltage between them. 3.12. Specific Creepage Distance The overall creepage distance of an insulator divided by the highest operating voltage across the insulator. It is generally expressed in mm/kV. CE to check 3.13. Dry Arcing Distance The shortest distance in air external to the insulator between those parts which normally have the operating voltage between them.