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Applicationsandformsofdifferentialrelays
Differentialrelays takeavarietyofforms,

dependingontheequipmentthey
protect.Thedefinitionofsucharelayis
onethatoperateswhenthevector
differenceoftwoormoresimilar
electricalquantitiesexceedsa
predeterminedamount.Itwillbeseen
laterthatalmostanytypeofrelay,when
connectedinacertainway,canbe
madetooperateasadifferentialrelay.
Inotherwords,itisnotsomuchthe
relayconstruction asthewaytherelayis
connectedinacircuitthatmakesita
differentialrelay.
ABBResidualCurrentBreakerwithOverloadProtectionRCBo

Mostdifferentialrelayapplicationsareof
thecurrentdifferentialtype.Thesimplestexampleofsuchanarrangementisshown
inFig.14.ThedashedportionofthecircuitofFig.14representsthesystemelement
thatisprotectedbythedifferentialrelay.Thissystemelementmightbealengthof
circuit,awindingofagenerator,aportionofabus,etc.
A currenttransformer (CT)isshownineachconnectiontothesystemelement.The
secondariesoftheCTsareinterconnected,andthecoilofanovercurrentrelayis
connectedacrosstheCTsecondarycircuit.
Thisrelaycouldbeanyoftheactypesthatwehaveconsidered.

Fig.14.Asimpledifferentialrelayapplication

Now,supposethatcurrentflowsthroughtheprimarycircuiteithertoaloadortoa
shortcircuitlocatedatX.TheconditionswillbeasinFig.15.Ifthetwo current
transformers havethesameratio,andareproperlyconnected,theirsecondary
currentswillmerelycirculatebetweenthetwoCTsasshownbythearrows,andno
currentwillflowthroughthedifferentialrelay.
Fig.15.Conditionsforanexternalloadorfault
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But,
shoulda
short
circuit
develop
anywhere
between
thetwo
CTs,the
conditionsofFig.16willthenexist.Ifcurrentflowstothe shortcircuit frombothsides
asshown,thesumoftheCTsecondarycurrentswillflowthroughthedifferentialrelay.
Itisnotnecessarythatshortcircuitcurrentflowtothefaultfrombothsidestocause
secondarycurrenttoflowthroughthedifferentialrelay.Aflowononesideonly,or
evensomecurrentflowingoutofonesidewhilealargercurrententerstheotherside,
willcauseadifferentialcurrent.
Inotherwords,thedifferentialrelaycurrentwillbeproportionaltothevectordifference
betweenthecurrentsenteringandleavingtheprotectedcircuitand,ifthedifferential
currentexceedstherelayspickupvalue,therelaywilloperate.

Fig.16.Conditionsforaninternalfault

Itisasimplesteptoextendtheprincipletoasystemelementhavingseveral
connections.ConsiderFig.17,forexample,inwhichthreeconnectionsareinvolved.
Fig.17Athreeterminalcurrentdifferentialapplication

Itisonlynecessary,asbefore,thatall
theCTshavethesameratio,andthat
theybeconnectedsothattherelay
receivesnocurrentwhenthetotal
currentleavingthecircuitelementis
equalvectoriallytothetotalcurrent
enteringthecircuitelement.
Theprinciplecanstillbeapplied
whereapowertransformerisinvolved,

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but,inthiscase,theratiosand
connectionsoftheCTsonopposite
sidesofthepowertransformermust
besuchastocompensateforthe
magnitudeandphaseanglechange
betweenthepowertransformer
currentsoneitherside.Thissubject
willbetreatedindetailwhenwe
considerthesubjectofpower
transformerprotection.
Amostextensivelyusedformof
differentialrelayisthepercentage
differentialtype.Thisisessentiallythesameastheovercurrenttypeofcurrent
balancerelaythatwasdescribedearlier,butitisconnectedinadifferentialcircuit,as
showninFig.18.

Fig.18.Apercentagedifferentialrelayinatwoterminalcircuit

Thedifferentialcurrentrequiredtooperatethisrelayisavariablequantity,owingto
theeffectoftherestrainingcoil.Thedifferentialcurrentintheoperatingcoilis
proportionaltoI1 I2,andtheequivalentcurrentintherestrainingcoilisproportional
to(I1 +I2)/2,sincetheoperatingcoilisconnectedtothemidpointoftherestraining
coilinotherwords,ifweletNbethenumberofturnsontherestrainingcoil,thetotal
ampereturnsareI1N/2+I2N/2,whichisthesameasif(I1 +I2)/2weretoflowthrough
thewholecoil.
TheoperatingcharacteristicofsucharelayisshowninFig.19.Thus,exceptforthe
slighteffectofthecontrolspringatlowcurrents,theratioofthedifferentialoperating
currenttotheaveragerestrainingcurrentisafixedpercentage,whichexplainsthe
nameofthisrelay.ThetermthroughcurrentisoftenusedtodesignateI2,whichis
theportionofthetotalcurrentthatflowsthroughthecircuitfromoneendtotheother,
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andtheoperatingcharacteristicsmaybeplottedusingI2insteadof(I1+I2)/2,to
conformwiththeASAdefinitionforapercentagedifferentialrelay.
Theadvantageofthisrelayisthatitislesslikelytooperateincorrectlythana
differentiallyconnectedovercurrentrelaywhenashortcircuitoccursexternaltothe
protectedzone.

Fig.19.Operatingcharacteristicofapercentagedifferentialrelay

Currenttransformersofthetypesnormallyuseddonottransformtheirprimary
currentssoaccuratelyundertransientconditionsasforashorttimeafterashort
circuitoccurs.
Thisisparticularlytruewhentheshortcircuitcurrentisoffset.Undersuchconditions,
supposedlyidenticalcurrenttransformersmaynothaveidenticalsecondarycurrents,
owingtoslightdifferencesinmagneticpropertiesortotheirhavingdifferentamounts
ofresidualmagnetism,andthedifferencecurrentmaybegreater,thelargerthe
magnitudeofshortcircuitcurrent.Eveniftheshortcircuitcurrenttoanexternalfault
isnotoffset,theCTsecondarycurrentsmaydifferowingtodifferencesintheCT
typesorloadings,particularlyinpowertransformerprotection.Sincethepercentage
differentialrelayhasarisingpickupcharacteristicasthemagnitudeofthroughcurrent
increases,therelayisrestrainedagainstoperatingimproperly.
Figure20showsthecomparisonofasimpleovercurrentrelaywithapercentage
differentialrelayundersuchconditions.Anovercurrentrelayhavingthesame
minimumpickupasapercentagedifferentialrelaywouldoperateundesirablywhenthe
differentialcurrentbarelyexceededthevalueX,whereastherewouldbenotendency
forthepercentagedifferentialrelaytooperate.
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Fig.20.Illustratingthevalueofthepercentagedifferentialcharacteristic

Percentagedifferentialrelayscanbeappliedtosystemelementshavingmorethan
twoterminals,asinthethreeterminalapplicationofFig.21.Eachofthethree
restrainingcoilsofFig.21hasthesamenumberofturns,andeachcoilproduces
restrainingtorqueindependentlyoftheothers,andtheirtorquesareadded
arithmetically.
Thepercentslopecharacteristicforsucharelaywillvarywiththedistributionof
currentsbetweenthethreerestrainingcoils.

Fig.21.Threeterminalapplicationofapercentagedifferentialrelay

Percentagedifferentialrelaysareusuallyinstantaneousorhighspeed.Timedelayis
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notrequiredforselectivitybecausethepercentagedifferentialcharacteristicandother
supplementaryfeaturestobedescribedlatermaketheserelaysvirtuallyimmuneto
theeffectsoftransientswhentherelaysareproperlyapplied.Theadjustments
providedwithsomepercentagedifferentialrelaywillbedescribedinconnectionwith
theirapplication.
Severalothertypesofdifferentialrelayarrangementscouldbementioned.Oneof
theseusesadirectionalrelay.Anotherhasadditionalrestraintobtainedfrom
harmonicsandthedccomponentofthedifferentialcurrent.Anothertypeusesan
overvoltagerelayinsteadofanovercurrentrelayinthedifferentialcircuit.Special
currenttransformersmaybeusedhavinglittleornoironintheirmagneticcircuitto
Get
avoiderrorsintransformationcausedbythedccomponentofoffsetcurrentwaves.
PDF
Allthesetypesareextensionsofthefundamentalprinciplesthathavebeendescribed,
andtheywillbetreatedlaterinconnectionwiththeirspecificapplications.
TOP
Therehasbeengreatactivityinthedevelopmentofthedifferentialrelaybecausethis
SHARE
formofrelayisinherentlythemostselectiveofalltheconventionaltypes.However,
eachkindofsystemelementpresentsspecialproblemsthathavethusfarmadeit

impossibletodeviseadifferentialrelayingequipmenthavinguniversalapplication.

SOURCE:TheArt&ScienceOfProtectiveRelayingC.RusselMason

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Edvard Csanyi
EdvardElectricalengineer,programmerandfounderofEEP.Highlyspecializedfor
designofLVhighpowerbusbartrunking(<6300A)inpowersubstations,buildingsand
industryfascilities.DesigningofLV/MVswitchgears.ProfessionalinAutoCAD
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