Assignment for grade 1

Energy Technolgy ICT

Student Name: Doru-Stefan Irimescu
Student Number: e1301488

Student Phone number:

Chapter 1: Introduction to power system automation.

Summary of Chapter 1
The main constituents of the power system automation are the following: electrical
protection, control, measurement, monitoring and data communications.
Electrical protection is one of the crucial components of the electrical switchgear
panel, because it provides the necessary safety for the equipment and personnel,
limiting the possible damage created by a fault. It has to be able to run independently
from the power system automation system.
The measurement consists of electrical ( voltages, currents, power factor, etc ) and
other ( temperature ) measurements and also disturbance recordings for fault
analysis. This component eases the work of the personnel, who would normally have
to go gather and analyse the fault data.
The monitoring records the sequence of events, and also various information such
as maintenance, settings, statuses, etc. A very important component when it comes
to fault analysis.
At the core of the power system automation lies the data communication, which
holds the system together so to say.
The power system automation architecture is discussed broadly, from top to
bottom consisting of the SCADA system ( fetches the data and intel from the field,
takes specific decisions and logs it, and sends requests and or commands to the
remote devices ), Communications Network ( ensures quick, error-free communication
between the field instruments and the SCADA system. Most likely implemented on
fiber optic cables nowadays ) and Object division ( intelligent electronic devices,
microprocessor-based relays and/or remote terminal units, but also PLCs. Their main
duty is to process the analog inputs from various parts of the power system and
provide an output for the SCADA master or to other field instruments ).

Summary of Chapter 2
This chapter aims at describing briefly the history of power systems automation, a
field that has developed from separate industries.
The electrical protection industry has been developing relays for a while, but not
until recently have those been fully integrated into the automated system. The
microprocessor was the key component in the evolution of the protective relays,
eliminating most of the issues which were present before it, offering the relays
unforeseen capabilities.
The electronic industry has also played a great role in the development of power
system automation, because of all the great electronic inventions like the transistor
and such.
The switchgear industry, although closely related to the relay industry, has
brought a lot of improvements over the last decades, such as the gas insulated
switchgear and internal arc proofing. It has helped to increase ratings, reliability,
speed and operation and safety, while decreasing costs and physical size of
components.
The automation industry started existing once the digital technology has
developed. Soon after, RTU and SCADA systems have been released, which made
possible the development of distributed control systems later on, as well as PLCs.
The computer industry, of course, had a great impact on the whole mankind,
implicitly in developing the power systems automation industry.
The measurement and telecommunications industry have also helped develop the
power system automation, given their numerous breakthroughs.

Summary of Chapter 3
This chapter aims at introducing the student to the power networks. A typical
power network consists of generators, transmission substation, transmission lines,
high voltage substation, main distribution substation, secondary distribution
substation and low voltage substation.
For power generation, coal generators are still in use nowadays, but the trend is to
use more and more renewable energy sources. Nuclear power plants have also a
huge potential, but the hazards which come along with them are making some
countries reluctant.
After generation, the power is transferred onto a bus for further distribution on a
small-scale, or to a power grid for larger scale transmission. It can be done either
directly, or through power transformers, depending on the voltages. The power is
then transmitted via transmission lines, over long distances, to high-voltage
substations which tap directly into the power grid.
The power grid is being usually supplied more than from one generator.
Complicated protection and control is needed, in order to synchronize the generators
to the power network, therefore, the issue of stability is a problem of maintaining
synchronous operation of generators.
When it comes to power transmission, the bigger the transmission voltage, the
smaller the current will be for the same power, thus the losses associated with power
dissipations over the transmission wire will be minimal. On the other hand, for higher
voltages the costs also increase. Also, a low power factor will make the power
transmission more inefficient, due to high reactance losses, therefore capacitor banks
will be used to balance the power factor.
Power distribution happens over shorter distances with underground cables,

therefore lower voltages can be stepped down for this purpose. The high-voltage
substation, consisting of high-voltage switchgear and power transformers is being fed
from several supplies, and feeds in turn to several distribution substations, each
belonging to specific clients, and each being supplied from more than one highvoltage substation. The distribution substations feed, in turn, other secondary
substations.

Summary of Chapter 4
In chapter 4 the fundamentals of electrical protection are being discussed. In a
power system, the role of protection is to detect abnormal conditions, localize faults
and remove faulty equipment from service. Electrical faults can be caused because of
the breakdown of insulating media between live wire or between live wire and earth.
Faults are classified into symmetrical faults, which involve all the three phases and
cause very severe fault currents and disturbances, and unsymmetrical which include
phase-to-phase, phase-to-ground and phase-to-phase-to-ground faults. Not as bad as
symmetrical faults.
Fuses are the oldest and simplest way of protection. Typically, a fuse starts picking
up the overcurrent at approximately twice the rated value, and the higher the current,
the faster the fuse will blow.
The relay/circuit-breaker combination is the most versatile and sophisticated
means of protection. The relay receives information regarding the network, detects
faults and gives tripping commands to the circuit-breaker. The relay could also be

operated by SCADA or humans.

Voltage and current transformers, collectively called instrument transformers
collect information regarding the network, in order to provide the relays with it.
The protective relays main functions are the overcurrent, which covers two
situations : overload, when equipment is overloaded in normal system conditions, and
needs to be disconnected from the network to protect both of those, and fault current,
when the overcurrent relay will find a phase-to-phase, three-phase or phase-toground fault, the latter if not already picked by earth fault protection.
The phase-to-earth faults are covered by a specific type of relays, called earth fault
relays. These are more sensitive than the overcurrent, and will need to clear the fault
faster.
Other types of protection are differential protection, voltage regulation, frequency
regulation, distance protection ( line impedance faults ) and negative sequence
protection.
The generator protection relay can be configured for lots of different functions. It
monitors important factors for reliable generator operation. The transformer
protection relay has less functions than the one above, and the configuration is more
standard.
The feeder protection is applied either as feeder differential protection, or as
traditional overcurrent and earth fault protection.

Summary of Chapter 5
This chapter aims at explaining the remote substation access and local
intelligence. The remote control and monitoring of substations from a central control
room has, of course, developed as a field from different industries with different
philosophies each.

The remote terminal unit is an interface and communication unit between field
instruments and SCADA master. The RTU converts information from instruments into
SCADA language, collects information like digital and analog data, alarms, events and
measurements and sends them to the SCADA master, where they can be viewed by
an operator. Over the years, local control functions have been implemented, to get rid
of the dependence on the master station, moving towards the PLC philosophy.
Nowadays, the RTU has complete substation control functions, and only needs an
interface to the SCADA station. It is very reliable, along with a redundancy duplicate,
but this increases the tremendous costs for such device.
The programmable logic controller, or the PLC is a device constructed specifically
for process automation. It has lower cost and versatility than the RTU, thus replacing
it in many North American industries. The major drawback of using PLCs is their
weakness of communication with relays.
The intelligent electronic device resulted from protective relays. It describes, as a
term, any device that has versatile electrical protection functions, advanced local
control intelligence, monitoring abilities and capabilities of communicating directly to
a SCADA system. The functions of such a device are protection, control, monitoring,
metering and communications. The protection includes directional and non-directional
three-phase overcurrent, directional and non-directional earth fault protection, phase
discontinuity protection, residual over-voltage protection, etc. The control functions
include local and remote control of up to 12 switching objects, sequencing, HMI panel,
etc. The monitoring includes circuit-breaker condition monitoring, trip circuit
supervision, internal supervision, event recording, etc. The metering includes threephase currents, neutral current, three-phase voltages, residual voltage, frequency,
active and reactive power, power factor, energy, harmonics, transients and up to 12
analog channels. The communication capability of the IED is one of the most
important features, as they have to communicate directly to the SCADA system.

Summary of Chapter 6
This chapter introduces the reader to the data communication process. In order for
the communication to take place, there is needed a physical link, an agreed medium,
a language, a common context, and the identification of the receiver. There are three
available topologies, such as star, ring and bus. Each has its own advantages and
disadvantages. The two main techniques of communication are master-slave and
peer-to-peer.
The simplest data communication form is the conventional polling. The master
asks for data from every slave in a specific sequence. If no response is received in a
predefined time, there will be a retry. Slaves can also be assigned different priorities.
Another form of data communication is time-division multiplexing, where each
station has its timeslot, during which data can be sent and received. This fully avoids
collisions.
In token passing media access, a token is passed around the ring and seen by
each station. The protocols using this type of communication are usually either token
ring or bus.
The carrier sense multiple access with collision detection allows each station to
have access to the communication bus, and use it if it is free. In terms of collision,
transmission is stopped, and retrial happens after a random period of time has
passed.
Next, the OSI model is presented. This is defined by a stack of seven layers, from
top to bottom : application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link,
physical. Each layer will have its exclusive tasks to perform, it will provide services to
the layer above and uses the layer below. It will not know anything about other layers
than the ones above and below it. The physical layer will provide the mechanical
characteristics of the physical interface, the data link layer will offer synchronization
and error control for the transmitted information, the network layer will establish,
maintain and terminate the interstation connections, such as routing and address
functions. The transport layer will offer end-to-end control and information
interchange possibilities for the application, the session layer will support the dialog
requirements of the bus ( who is allowed to talk ? talking commands, relationships ),
the presentation layer will provide the interpretation and signification of the
information, otherwise being the encoding part of the information, and the application
layer will directly serve the end-user, supporting the application processes and taking
care of the wellbeing of the communication.
Some performance criteria are the transmission speed, bandwidth, signal-to-noiseration ,data throughput, error rate and response time.

Summary of Chapter 7
The seventh chapter delves deeper into communication, namely communication
protocols. Some of the most popular protocols are MODBUS, SPABUS, DNP3.0, IEC
60870-5, MODBUS+, PROFIBUS, MVB, FIP, Ethernet TCP/IP, LON, UCA2.0.
The DNP3.0, or distributed network protocol is used in data acquisition in the
electrical and utility industries for SCADA systems. It uses master/slave polling and
also sub-masters. The physical layer is designed on RS-232, but can also be
implemented over RS-485 or fiber optic. It is a de-facto for data acquisition and
control. It is used as a device protocol inside SCADA. It uses 8 data bits, 1 start, 1 stop
and no parity. Can be synchronous or asynchronous. It can be point-to-point or multidrop( serial bus ). It can be used in half- or full- duplex. DNP3.0 also specifies
requirements at data link layer, such as frame size, shape, length and contents. There
are 6 function codes, namely reset, reset of user process, test, user data, unconfirmed
user data and request link status. This protocol does not support a true transport
layer, but rather a pseudo transport known as super-data link transport protocol. At
application layer, it defines an extensive data object library, function codes and
message formats. Overall, it supports the physical layer, data link layer and
application layers as a protocol.
The Modbus protocol was originally developed by Gould-Modicon, for PLC
communication. Now it is considered an open protocol, used in local serial
connections and not suited as a telemetry protocol. A simple master-slave protocol,
using cyclic polling method, applying to the 1,2,7 layers of the OSI model. No
interface is defined for this protocol. It is slow, but widely used, a de-facto industrial
standard. In Modbus, the functions are identified by an index number, and are
designating control commands for field instruments and actuators, and are : coil
control commands, for reading and setting individual or multiple coils; input control
commands for reading input status of groups of inputs, register control commands for
reading and setting one or more holding registers, diagnostics testing and reporting

functions, program functions, polling control functions and reset.

The Modbus plus is a LAN system, made only for industrial control, and its key
features are that it supports up to 64 addressable node devices, hosts level peer-topeer communication, offers distributed I/O communications, etc.
The Ethernet network concept is then described, which we have also studied in
several courses before.
The Profibus is an open-field bus standard, made for process automation and
manufacturing environments. DP and FMS are the two communication profiles,
namely the methods in which data is being transmitted serially by users. DP stands
for speed, efficiency and low connection costs. FMS, or the fieldbus message
specification is designed for sophisticated applications and demanding
communication tasks between IEDs. IT uses a multi-master type of system, over
token bus access principle.
The IEC 60870-5-101 is offering specifications for the 1,2 and 7 of the ISO 7 layer
stack, and has also been called the enhanced performance architecture model ( EPA ).
Several functions are offered at application level, including station initialization, data
acquisition by polling, cyclic data transmission, event acquisition, clock
synchronization, file transfer, command transmission, etc. Overall, it is a standard
that mainly takes care of different specifications in order to bring different suppliers of
stations to a common ground, in order to ensure interoperability. The standard does
not define peer-to-peer communications.
The IEC 60870-5-103 has been often called a companion standard for the
informative interface of protective equipment. This standard stood at the very
foundation of DNP 3.0. IT supports, at physical level RS-485 and fiber optics. It is a
master-slave protocol using cyclic polling, and defines the 1,2 and 7 OSI levels.
Several standardized information numbers are defined, having in mind the
information, monitoring and control purposes.

Write the list of new terms that you learnt from this chapter and their brief description
New
Term
switch
gear

Description

references

Switchgear is the
combination of electrical
disconnects switches,

https://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Switchgear

Subst
ation
autom
atioin
Subst
ation
Meteri
ng

SCAD
A

Relay
reliabi
lity
Relay
stabili
ty
ERTU
Telem
etry

Modb
us coil

fuses or circuit breakers

used to control, protect
and isolate electrical
equipment.
Same as power system
automation. Managing,
controlling and protecting
an electrical power
system.
The building or enclosure
which is housing electrical
switchgear.
A term referring to power,
reactive power and
energy ( different than
measurement )
Supervisory control and
data acquisition, the
brain of the power
system automation
Trip when supposed to

textbook

textbook

textbook

textbook

textbook

Does not trip when not

supposed to

textbook

Enhanced remote
terminal unit
Automated
communications process
by which measurements
and other data are
collected at remote or
inaccessible points
A single-bit physical
output is called a coil

textbook
https://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Telemetry

https://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Modbus