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Final
Dec 7, 2009
REVISION NOTES
April 12, 2006 44 kV single phasing protection was adopted by Barrie Hydro.
November 24, 2009 Adapted for PowerStream Municipal Substation (MS) protections.
1.0
Preface
2.0
Introduction
Page 1 of 11
3.0
The basic principles are used in designing a distribution protection system, are as
follows:
1. The first is to treat all faults initially as temporary.
2. Second, lockout should only occur when it has been determined that a fault is
permanent.
3. Third, the smallest possible portion of line should be removed from service in
the case of a fault.
4. Fourth clear the fault as quickly as possible to minimize hazard to the public,
damage to equipment and to minimize the impact on power quality.
At the time of writing, PowerStream has implemented two feeder protection
philosophies, as follows:
Fuse saving, typically applied on rural feeders in PowerStream North A fuse saving
protection scheme allows the feeder breaker to clear non-permanent faults on the entire
feeder with out blowing sectionalizing fuses. In the event of a permanent fault beyond a
fuse, the fuse will blow to isolate the faulty section. This philosophy is currently used on
both the overhead and underground system.
A fuse saving feeder protection will operate, as follows:
Transient fault:
On the feeder, before the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50a and
lockout.
On the feeder, beyond the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50b and
reclose.
On the load side of a lateral fuse - The feeder will trip on 50b and reclose.
Permanent fault:
On the feeder, before the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50a and
lockout.
On the feeder beyond the first fuse - The feeder protection will:
trip on 50b and reclose, then
trip on 51 and lockout.
On the load side of a lateral fuse - The feeder protection will:
trip on 50b and reclose, then
The fuse will clear the fault.
Trip Saving, typically applied on Urban feeders in PowerStream South A trip saving
protection scheme allows the feeder breaker to clear transient and permanent faults on
the feeder. Faults on the load side of lateral fuses are cleared by the associated lateral
fuse.
A trip saving feeder protection will operate, as follows:
Transient fault:
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On the feeder, before the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50a and
lockout.
On the feeder, after the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50b and
reclose.
On the load side of a lateral fuse - The fuse will blow and clear the
fault.
Permanent fault:
On the feeder, before the first fuse - The feeder will trip on 50a and
lockout.
on the feeder, after the first fuse - The feeder protection will:
trip on 50b and reclose, then
trip on 51 and lockout.
on the load side of a lateral fuse - The fuse will blow and clear the
fault.
The basic coordination strategy first established coordination pairs starting at the load
and moving towards the source. The maximum load current is then determined. The
pickup of all overcurrent devices can then be set, based on short circuit values,
maximum load current and equipment ratings.
Typically protections of underground feeders do not incorporate a reclosing scheme, in
that underground faults are nearly always permanent. It is recommended that feeders
which are 80% or more underground not be permitted to reclose. For the most part
PowerStream underground feeders have significant sections of overhead line and
therefore the aforementioned would only apply to a select few feeders on the system.
3.1.1
Feeder phase protections are intended to operate for phase-to-phase and three phase
faults.
The pickup of a phase overcurrent relay, used to protect a primary distribution feeder,
must be greater than the maximum load that will be served. A fault to load ratio (FTLR)
of 4:1 (3:1 minimum) is generally used. The fault current magnitude, which a phase relay
measures, decreases as the distance to the fault increases. For very long feeders
where the FTLR is less than 3:1 a phase distance relay can be used.
A Time Current Curve (TCC) chart for a typical feeder phase protection, employing the
trip saving philosophy is shown below.
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Time (s)
10.00
1.00
0.10
Low Set
Definite Tim e
High Set
Instantaneous
0.01
100
1000
10000
100000
Current (A @ 27.6kV)
A discussion of the settings for each of the timed and instantaneous elements follows.
Phase Timed Overcurrent Protection (51)
The phase timed overcurrent protection (51) is designed to provide coordinated
protection with other downstream devices.
Pick-up Setting
The pickup of the phase timed overcurrent protection must be greater than the
maximum load that will be served. The feeder load current should not exceed
50% of the pickup value.
The pickup and time dial must also be set low enough to detect and clear end-ofline faults (E.O.L) in a reasonable time. The feeder phase timed overcurrent
protection is designed to protect the entire length of the feeder. This includes
laterals and sub-laterals. Multiplying the E.O.L. 3-phase fault current by 2
Page 4 of 11
provides a margin for fault resistance. For three phase faults this equates to
approximately twice the total impedance and 1.73 times the total impedance for
phase-to-phase faults (Source: SEL Prot-403).
The pick-up setting also needs to be less than 0.8 of bus backup pick-up setting.
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clearance.
The extremely inverse characteristic is also the preferable
overcurrent characteristic for feeder cold load pickup. The longer operating
time at low values of overload current, inherent with the extremely inverse
characteristic, can prevent unnecessary operations.
Once the desired curve has been selected; the time dial setting is calculated using the
formulas shown above.
A feature called electromechanical reset timing is implemented on all feeder relays at
stations with primary fusing. This feature emulates the reset characteristics of an
induction disc on an electromechanical relay. Basically the feature causes the feeder
breaker to trip faster should it re-close into a fault. In the event that a feeders low set
protections are blocked, it is possible that two timed trips could occur. The preheating
effect of the power fuse reduces its time-curve, which could result in a coordination
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The high set instantaneous protection shall cause the feeder breaker to lockout in the
event the element is asserted. This protection is never to be block in any protection
scheme.
Phase Low Set Instantaneous Protection (50b)
The phase low set protection (50b) is Intended for transient faults, this protection should
be blocked after a reclose, to allow coordinated time tripping. It should be set to provide
coverage of the entire feeder.
The 50b Pick up setting is:
Equal or greater than 2 times maximum load
Less than 0.5 feeder end - fault level
A Delay Setting, to implement the trip saving philosophy, is added to the 50b element to
permit tapped fuses to clear first for - faults.
Low Set Block (Field Switching)
As a result of PowerStreams sensitive ground protection, and most recently the
introduction of the phase low set instantaneous protection, there is a need to block these
elements during switching operations. Any circuit unbalance above the ground elements
minimum pick-up is seen as a fault. Typically an unbalance can be caused from single
phase switching of large load or energizing a large number of single-phase transformers
at once.
The low set instantaneous protections must be blocked remotely in order to avoid
tripping the breaker. Operating Policy and Procedure C0713 addresses this issue.
3.1.2
Ground overcurrent relays can be set to be more sensitive than phase overcurrent relays
because their pickup can be set without regard to maximum loading. The maximum
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imbalance in the load is the only consideration to determine the pickup. The increase
sensitivity does however come at cost. The protection is so sensitive that trips can occur
during single phase switching and other temporary unbalances. PowerStream has
attempted to address this with a unique blocking scheme, discussed later.
The majority of system faults, as high as 80 to 90 percent, involve ground in one form or
another. The exception to this is three-phase and phase-to-phase faults, which are rare
occurrences. Clearly it makes good sense to employ ground protections on the
distribution system since ground fault currents almost always pose additional risk to
public safety and equipment damage.
Guidelines for feeder ground overcurrent protection settings are shown below:
Feeder Ground Low Set Definite Time Overcurrent (50Nb) Prior to Reclose
The ground low set definite time overcurrent element is used to clear temporary ground
faults
Guideline for Ground Low Set Instantaneous Overcurrent (50Nb)
Pick up setting:
Equal or greater than 2 times maximum load unbalance current
Less than 0.5 feeder end -G fault level
Delay Setting permit tapped fuses to clear first for -G fault-Trip Saving
Page 8 of 11
Under ground faults are generally permanent in nature and as such a reclose attempt is
not warranted (the feeder will trip on timed over current protection).
In some stations the reclose maybe blocked locally or remotely. These two operations
are independent of each other, meaning that if the reclose is blocked remotely it can not
be unblocked locally and vise-versa.
Cold Load Pickup
The cold load pickup feature is designed to elevate the phase overcurrent pickup of the
feeder relay upon loss of load diversity.
Cold load mode is automatically enabled after the feeder breaker has been open for a
predetermined period of time, on some stations it may also be invoked remotely through
Operator control via the SCADA system. The cold load mode will remain in effect for a
predetermined period of time after the feeder breaker has been closed.
If cold load is being picked up other than from closing the feeder breaker (i.e. field
switching), the low set instantaneous elements must be blocked. Currently this blocking
feature can only be set remotely from the control room SCADA system.
Feeder Protection Logic
The feeder protection logic is shown in Appendix A
3.2
Transformer Protection
The majority of power transformers are protected with high side fuses. The larger 20
MVA power transformers on the 44/13.8 kV system are protected with high side circuit
breakers or circuit switchers.
The transformer protection is designed primarily to protect the transformer from
damaging fault currents. A certain degree of overload protection is also provided with
high side fusing. However, this is the primary job of the transformer backup protection.
The transformer protection must coordinate with both upstream and downstream
protections. Refer to discussion paper DP021 Municipal Station Transformer Fusing
for the proper selection of the power fuse.
Combined Primary Transformer/Bus Protection
Stations with either a high side circuit breaker or circuit switcher are equipped with
differential protection. Designed to detect internal transformer faults or secondary bus
faults, the energy into the transformer is compared to the energy flowing out of the
secondary bus. If this energy is greater than a predetermined set point, the differential
relay is operated, which trips off the entire station. Currently this protection is
implemented on Barries 20 MVA, 13.8 kV stations and MS415/419.
Page 9 of 11
Breaker Failure
In the rare event that a breaker should fail to clear a detected fault, the breaker failure
relay will issue a command to a lockout relay, tripping off the entire station. However
some stations are not equipped with an upstream device to trip and rely on the primary
fuse. In this case the breaker failure feature is used strictly for annunciation purposes.
Page 10 of 11
3.4
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