U

ECE525
Lecture 8

The Impact of Grounding

on System Protection

Grounding

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Fall 2004

ECE525
Lecture 8

Grounding

System grounding big impact on ability

to detect ground faults
Common ground options:
Isolated ground (ungrounded)
High impedance ground
Low impedance ground
Solid or effective ground

Grounding

Fall 2004

Purposes of Grounding:
National Electrical Code

U
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ECE525
Lecture 8

Personal Safety (injury, fire)

Ensure Operation of Protective Devices
Noise Control (esp. at high frequency)

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

ECE525
Lecture 8

Ground Fault Protection

Roughly 80% of faults on T&D systems

are SLG (single line to ground)
Ground faults can cause:
Large, damaging or dangerous currents
EMI problems
Voltage sags and interruptions (tripping)
Voltage stresses

Grounding

Fall 2004

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Issues with Ungrounded

Systems

ECE525
Lecture 8

No intentional ground on neutral/phases

Ground fault causes neutral shift
Van=Vag

Vbn= Vbg

Van= -Vng

Vcn=Vcg

Vca=Vcg

Vab=Vbg

Need L-L voltage rating on insulation

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

Ungrounded Systems

ECE525
Lecture 8

Parasitic capacitance in all components

Resonates with line inductance, often
doubles transients over voltage
Equipment damage may result from
voltage, but not likely from fault currents
unless a second ground fault occurs

Grounding

Fall 2004

Ungrounded Protection
Characteristics

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Low fault currents, some self- extinction

Poor relay relay response and direction
Often protect based on voltage
Zero sequence or three phase voltage
Or loss of injected signal
Or capacitive currents in cables

Detect first ground fault and alarm, since

second ground fault has big current
Grounding

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Fall 2004

High Impedance Ground:

Resistive Type

ECE525
Lecture 8

Large resistance connected to neutral

Common in large generator protection
(sometimes transformer in neutral)
Size resistance to limit fault current to
25A or less
Neutral voltage shifts, over voltage relay
connected across resistor
Poor directional capability
Grounding

Fall 2004

High Impedance Ground:

Peterson Coil

U
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ECE525
Lecture 8

Normal unbalanced operation on

distribution line poses problems
Still need line to line rating on insulation

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

Impedance Ground

ECE525
Lecture 8

Resistance Ground
High R: (If < 10 A)
Low R: (10A < If < 1000A)

Inductive Ground

Zig-zag transformer
Poor performance in general

Resonant Ground (ground fault

neutralizer)
Grounding

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Low Impedance Ground:

Limit fault current to 50-600 A

Current sensing used for relaying and
can do direction sensing
Limit over voltages nearly as well as
effective ground
Sometimes use zig-zag transformer with
resistor on neutral (if no R, then
magnetizing branch is ground path)
Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

Solid Effective Grounding

ECE525
Lecture 8

Most popular in North America

X0/X1 3 and R0/X1 1 and are positive
Uni-grounded (Europe) versus multigrounded (U.S.)
Best for detecting faults, sensing
direction, and fault locating

Grounding

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Solid Ground

No intentional added impedance

Ground neutral on WYE
Ground one corner of
Overvoltages < 1.73 * Vln in general
Good for fault locating

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

ECE525
Lecture 8

Earth Electrode

Impedance:
Electrode itself
Electrode to earth resistance
Earth Resistance
Keep very small or
Match characteristic impedance of
conductors (minimize reflections of fast
transients)
Keep relatively constant to 50th harmonic
Grounding

Fall 2004

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References

ECE525
Lecture 8

National Electrical Code

IEEE Green Book

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

Protective Relay

ECE525
Lecture 8

Piece of equipment whose function is to:

Detect defective or abnormal system
conditions or detect defective apparatus
Initiate proper control response

Common responses
Trip circuit breaker
In some cases close breaker
In some cases only issues alarm

Generally a reactionary device

Grounding

Fall 2004

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Protection System

ECE525
Lecture 8

Current and voltage transformers

Microprocessor relay
Circuit breaker
Communication system
Coordinate with: Other relays, fuses,
active controls

Grounding

U
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Fall 2004

Constraints

ECE525
Lecture 8

Must be able to detect faulted or

abnormal conditions--sensitivity
Accurately identify it a problem, and only
react if there is a problem--selectivity
Must also be operate for a long time
without acting, and then act properly-reliability
React quickly to minimize damage--speed
Grounding

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Typical Response

Time to detect problem, identify, make

decision, and act typically 2-3 cycles
(varies with application, can be sub-cycle)
Breaker response often 1-3 cycles (solid
state breakers faster)

Grounding

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Modern Relays

Microprocessor based relays

CT o r VT

Signal
Conditioning

Sampling and
Conversion
M agnitude
Phase Calc

Circuit
Breaker

Grounding

Trip Logic

Relay
Algorithm

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Modern Relays

Microprocessor based relays

Sample measured data and compute:
RMS voltage or current
Sequence components (especially 0 or 2)
Phase Angle
Impedance or Admittance
Frequency

Grounding

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Fall 2004

Evaluate Calculated Data

Based on Algorithm

ECE525
Lecture 8

Overcurrent
Time-overcurrent/Inverse time-overcurrent
Over/under voltage
Real or reactive power
Impedance (distance protection)
Frequency
Reverse power
Grounding

Fall 2004

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Evaluate Calculated Data

Based on Algorithm

ECE525
Lecture 8

Harmonic content (often used for blocking)

Magnitude of negative sequence term
In some cases transient responses used
Direction to fault
Fault location
Breaker failure
Series faults (line open)
Combined series/ground faults
Grounding

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Fall 2004

Components that are

Protected

ECE525
Lecture 8

Lines (transmission and distribution)

Buses
Transformers
Motors
Generators
Capacitors/reactors
System stability
Grounding

Fall 2004

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Redundancy

ECE525
Lecture 8

Overlapping zones of protection are

common

Grounding

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Fall 2004

Overlapping Zones

ECE525
Lecture 8

Backup in case relay or breaker fails

Time delay if out of primary zone
Often more sensitive in secondary zone
Coordination is a key issue

Grounding

Fall 2004

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ECE525
Lecture 8

Differential Protection

Differential protection
Compare current into and out of device
Can be very sensitive
Multiple legs in and out
Phase shifts in transformers
Inrush currents
Problem with longer distances
Grounding

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Fall 2004

Role of Communication

ECE525
Lecture 8

Line protection far faster when can

compare notes with other end of line
Can locate zone fault is in
Need to have adequate back-up in case
communication is lost (often distance or
impedance)
Redundancy--does communication go
as a result of the fault?
Grounding

Fall 2004