1

Power System Protection

Ground faults in isolated neutral
systems

Briefly about the speaker

Professor at Norwegian Univ. Science and
Technology Dept. Electrical Engineering
Power system transients and protection
High
Hi h voltage
lt
engineering,
i
i
stress
t
calculations
l l ti
Recent focus on Power Transformers

Developer of ATPDraw
Sabbatical at MTU
Room 628
628, phone 487
487-2910
2910
hhoidale@mtu.edu

Solid vs. isolated neutral

+ No over-voltages in fault
situations
- High
Hi h ffault
lt currentt
+ Easy fault detection
+ G
Ground
ou d faults
au s pe
persist
ss
Fast trip and reclosing
- Poor power quality
- Extra stress

- Undefined voltages to
ground. Sqrt(3) rise
during ground faults
faults.
MOV dimensioning.
+ Low fault current
- Difficult fault
detection/location
+ Can continue to operate
during ground fault.
Increased power quality
Safety issues:
down/broken conductors

Why is the fault current low in

i l d neutrall systems?
isolated
?
Fault current must return through line
capacitances. High return impedance.
Ground faults:
The most common fault
Often temporary
T
Trees/branches,
/b
h
snow/ice/wind,
Birds
Lightning

If

3 V f
Z1 Z 2 Z 0 3R f

Simultaneous faults.

Usage of isolated neutral

In Norway

Dy

Dy

LV system 230 V IT
MV system 12-24 kV
Distribution level 66
66-132
132 kV

The 230 V IT system is gradually replaced by

400 V TN ((solidly
yg
grounded)) due to risk of
undetected ground faults, double ground faults,
and lower loss in a 400 V TN system.
In
I MV;
MV requirements
i
t to
t detect
d t t a 3k ground
d ffault
lt
Power quality is very important to the industry
Fast trip & reclosing not acceptable

Zero sequence measurements

Current I0: Sum Ia, Ib, Ic

Summing the current numerically

Residual connection
3I0

3I0

I0

Lower
accuracy
due to CT
differences

Summation transformer
(Toroidal/Rogowski coil)

Voltage U0: Sum Ua, Ub, Uc

Open delta

3U0

Neutral point (isolated or resonance earth)

U0

Isolated neutral network

Normal to only consider ground capacitance

symmetrical
y
system,
y
ignore conductive line charging
no voltage drop along line
imbalance in loads canceled by
y D-coupled
p
transformers

Fault current mainly returns in the two healthy phases

Fault resistance important
VN

h = e j120

hVpa
h2Vpa
Vpa

Rf

If

Cg

Consequences
Fault current is independent on where the fault
occurs
For calculation of feeder current and voltages
g
capacitances can be concentrated
g to g
ground will rise for the healthy
y
The voltage
phases
Easy to detect that there is a ground fault (by
looking at V0), difficult to detect where (by
looking at I0 in various feeders)

Phasors and equivalent

Equivalent circuit during fault (phase A):
N

If

Vpa

3Cg

If

Rf

VN V0

V pa
1 3 j C g R f

V pa 3 jC g
1 3 j C g R f

I f

3 j C g

Before

If

Rf=

Line-voltages
unchanged

A
Rf=0
UN
After

10

Zero sequence in single radial

Same zero-sequence voltage in the entire
system; selectivity is challenging
The fault is traditionally
y located byy
sectionalizing (often manual)
Zero sequence current varies along the line:
I0
If
U0 constant

3I0

pos.
Rf

11

From fault to zero sequence current

x

l-x

Vpa
VN

h2Vpa
hVpa
Cgx

Cg(l-x)

Currents:
I a ( x) (VN V pa ) jC 'g (l x)
I b ( x) (VN h 2 V pa ) jC 'g (l x)

d
Fault location x=d

x
l

I c ( x) (VN h V pa ) jC 'g (l x) I f H (d x)
VN j3C 'g x, x d
3I 0 ( x) ( I a I b I c ) VN j3C 'g (l x) I f H (d x)
VN j3C 'g (l x), x d
ignore voltage drop, no load-effect

12

Multiple radials
Three radials fed by the same transformer
Fault current in the faulty feeder is the negative sum
of the current in the two healthy feeders
I 01 VN jC g1
I 02 VN jC g 2

I 03 ( I 01 I 02 )

With two radials the currents are equal in size so

directional protection is required
With an increasing number of feeders simple over
overcurrent protection becomes possible

13

Directional over
over-current
current relay
Often the preferred solution
Measure zero sequence voltage and zero
sequence
q
current in each radial
Then for each radial:
I01
I02
V0

I03

Forward
direction

Healthy
feeder
V0

I0n

Tripping
T
i i zone
Faulty feeder

14

Relaying logic
Is zero sequence voltage above threshold?
V0>Vlim (type 59G over-voltage relay)

Is zero sequence current above threshold

and in correct quadrant (3rd)?
I0>Ilim
I0 Ili (type
(t
67N di
directional
ti
l over-currentt relay)
l )
+
59G (V0>Vlim)

67N (I0>Ilim)
52 trip

15

Example- earth fault protection

Example
22 kV
28 mi

50 miles line in total

Total capacitance is
50 miCg [F/mi]

14 mi
8 mi

5 nF/mi assumed in
this case.
NB! Much higher in
cable systems.

Fault current ((independent

p
on location))
Depends on fault resistance
I f ,min
min 2.4454.7 A @ 3 k
22 kV / 3
If

'
R f 1/ ( j3 50mi C g ) R f j 4244
I f ,max 3.090 A @ 0
U pa

16

Earth fault line 1 (28 mi)

P
Partition
titi off the
th earth
th fault
f lt currentt measured
d for
f
each radial
Healthy lines 2&3 feed 14 + 8 parts into line 1

22/50
14/50

28 mi

50/50
14 mi

8/50
8 mi

17

Earth fault line 2 (14 mi)

Partition of the earth fault current measured for
each radial
parts into line 2
Healthyy lines 1&3 feed 28 + 8 p
28/50
28 mi

14 mi
36/50
8/50

50/50
8 mi

18

Earth fault line 3 (8 mi)

Partition of the earth fault current measured for
each radial
p
into line 3
Healthyy lines 1&2 feed 28 + 14 parts
28/50
28 mi
14/50
14 mi

8 mi
42/50

50/50