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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1997 1111

Operation of Ground Sensor Relays Under

Conditions of Partial CT Saturation
Baldwin Bridger, Jr., Life Fellow, IEEE, and Ted A. Burse, Member, IEEE

Abstract Since the publication of the paper by Barnett, et

al. [1], concerning low-ratio CT saturation at high fault current
and resulting misoperation or nonoperation of overcurrent relays,
there has been a great deal of well-directed concern about
the problem reported in that paper. However, some of that
concern has also been directed at the application of ground sensor
relays to low-ratio CTs in resistance grounded industrial power
systems, where no operational difficulties have been reported. The
authors conducted a series of tests to determine if there is any
cause for concern. These tests documented both the CT secondary
current wave shapes and the relay contact closure times for
several CTrelayfault current combinations. This paper reports
the results of these tests and presents conclusions concerning the
adequacy of present practice in this field.
Index Terms Current transformers, grounding, nonlinear
magnetics, protective relaying.

I. INTRODUCTION

I N 1992, a working group of the Power Systems Relay-

ing Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society
presented a paper [1] at the Power Engineering Society Sum-
mer General Meeting. This paper discussed the problems
encountered with relay operation when high fault currents
saturate low-ratio CTs and documented the possibility of
misoperation or nonoperation of protective relays, particularly
overcurrent relays, in cases of severe CT saturation. This
paper was subsequently presented at the 1993 IEEE Industrial
and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference and
published again in this TRANSACTIONS [2]. One of the major
Fig. 1. Typical feeder circuit with residually connected ground relay
conclusions of this paper was that short-circuit protection (50/51N).
should be designed so that the CTs used did not saturate
under the maximum fault current available from the power
area and reports on a series of tests run by the authors to
system, thus insuring proper operation of these relays, or at
determine the adequacy of these practices.
least avoiding improper operation due to CT saturation.
The presentation and publication of this paper has created a
lot of concern in the industry for the adequacy of past practices II. GROUND OVERCURRENT RELAYING
in sizing CTs and overcurrent relays for fault protective duty.
One particular area of concern has been the application of A. Residual Ground Overcurrent Relaying
CTs and overcurrent relays for ground fault protection of low- Most early medium-voltage power distribution systems were
resistance grounded industrial medium-voltage power systems. ungrounded, but electric utilities quickly discovered the ad-
This paper reviews the background of current practice in this vantages of grounded systems for power distribution. Solidly
grounding the power system allows serving single-phase loads
Paper ICPSD 9645, approved by the Power Systems Protection Committee with feeder taps consisting of one phase conductor and the
of the IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1996 grounded neutral and with distribution transformers connected
Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 610.
Manuscript released for publication March 14, 1997. phase-to-neutral. This construction can save quite a bit of
B. Bridger, Jr. is with Bridger Engineering Company, Houston, TX 77062- the cost of a distribution system, especially since some of
3420 USA. the single-phase feeder taps may be miles long in sparsely
T. A. Burse is with Powell Electrical Manufacturing Company, Houston,
TX 77075 USA. populated areas. Solidly grounded systems also allow the
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(97)04823-8. installation of ground overcurrent relays, which can be set
00939994/97$10.00 1997 IEEE
1112
Fig. 2. Typical feeder circuit with ground sensor relay (50G).
to operate more sensitively than phase overcurrent relays.
Most solidly grounded medium-voltage systems use residually
connected ground relays (50/51N), as shown in Fig. 1.
B. Ground Sensor Relaying
In contrast to utility distribution systems, with their
overhead lines and numerous phase-to-ground loads, indus-
trial medium-voltage systems generally serve three-phase,
ungrounded loads, such as motors or delta-connected power
transformers, which are cable-connected to the power
source. Around 40 years ago, the practice of low-resistance
grounding became common for medium-voltage industrial
power systems. This type of grounding limits ground fault
current to a relatively low value, usually a few hundred
amperes and, consequently, limits the damage experienced
when ground faults do occur, yet still provides the system
voltage stability of a grounded system.
This limited ground fault current requires more sensitive
ground fault relaying than a solidly grounded system. Residu-
ally connected ground fault relays are limited in sensitivity by
the ratio of the phase CTs and by the sensitivity of available
overcurrent relays. Very sensitive residually connected ground
fault relays may experience false operation due to the inherent
differences in any set of three identical CTs, including the
problem of dc offset due to unbalanced residual magnetism
in the three CTs. These requirements led to the common use
of a different configuration of ground fault relaying, as shown
in Fig. 2.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1997
Fig. 3. Published and tested time current curves for 51G relay.
This form of relaying is known variously as ground sen-
sor, zero sequence, or core balance relaying. It consists
of a single toroidal CT with a window large enough to
accommodate all three phase conductors. An overcurrent re-
lay, either instantaneous or time delay, is connected in the
secondary of this CT. While any combination of CT ratio
and relay pickup will work, provided sufficient ground fault
current is available, for low-resistance grounded medium-
voltage systems, the usual CT rating is 50/5 A or 100/5 A,
and the usual relay setting is in the range of 0.150.5 A.
C. Saturation of Ground Sensor CTs
While it has seldom been stated explicitly in the literature,
it has been known for many years that ground sensor CTs
operate in a partially saturated mode under normal conditions.
A 1958 article [3] by Brust and Smith of General Electric
speaks of ground sensor relays, both instantaneous and time
delay, picking up with a primary ground fault current of 15
A with a 50/5-A CT and the relay set on the 0.5-A tap. A
quick calculation shows that a relay set on the 0.5-A tap and
connected to a CT with a 10:1 ratio should pick up at 5-
A primary current. The higher pickup indicates that much
of the secondary current is going into excitation of the CT,
rather than into the operation of the relay. The CT may not
have reached saturation at the relay pickup current, but it
is approaching saturation. In Table 11-I of [4], some upper
limits for primary ground fault current for accurate timing
and coordination are given. The accompanying text states
that higher values of current cause the output waveform to
be nonsinusoidal, an indication of CT saturation. This text
also states that relay timing will become variable and longer
with these higher currents, an observation confirmed by tests
conducted by one of the authors some years ago. The relay
tested was an electromechanical very inverse time overcurrent
relay, set on the #2 time dial and the 0.5-A tap (see Fig. 3).
This plot clearly shows that the pickup time for any current
on the tested timecurrent curve is longer than on the published
curve. It also shows that, at current levels above 100 A, or 20
BRIDGER AND BURSE: OPERATION OF GROUND SENSOR RELAYS
Fig. 4. Saturation curves of CTs used in tests.
the relay pickup setting, operating time is not significantly
affected by primary current.
III. TESTING OF GROUND SENSOR RELAYS
Even though ground sensor relaying has had a 40-year
history of satisfactory performance, the publication of the
PSRC report [1], [2], with its emphasis on calculations to
show that CTs are not saturated at the maximum available
fault current, has led some users to question whether the
CTs commonly used for ground sensor relay applications are
adequate for the job. A burden calculation of the typical ground
sensor relay scheme will show that CT saturation is reached at
the upper end of the range of available ground fault currents.
As indicated earlier in this paper, this will come as no surprise
to those who are familiar with the details of this form of
relaying. Given that CT saturation will occur, the question
now becomes whether or not the CTrelay combination will
perform satisfactorily over the full range of available ground
fault currents. This is a question best resolved by testing, so the
authors have conducted a series of tests, which are described
below.
A. Devices Tested
Three different relays were tested. All of these relays are
instantaneous overcurrent relays of the electromechanical type
and are what is commonly referred to as utility grade
relays. They are mounted in drawout cases equipped with test
facilities and have target resets on their covers.
Relay 1 is a hinged armature-type relay, with a mechanical
target operated by the movement of the armature. The relay has
two electrically separate normally open contacts. This relay is
rated 0.54.0 A and was tested on the 0.5-A setting.
Relay 2 is a plunger-type relay of different manufacture than
Relay 1. The contact structure consists of three stationary point
contacts, which are connected by a moving disk when the
relay operates. This contact structure furnishes two normally
open contacts which have a common point on one side
and two separate connection points on the other side of the
contacts. The operating coil of an indicating contactor switch
is connected between the common point of the relay contacts
1113
Fig. 5. Test circuit.
and the external terminal on the relay case, and a normally
open contact of the ICS is connected in parallel with each of
the two main contacts of the relay. This relay is rated 0.250.5
A and was tested on both the 0.25-A and 0.5-A settings. This
relay is a high dropout device, with a dropout of 90% or more
of pickup.
Relay 3 is a relay of the same manufacture as Relay 2, but
not of the high dropout type. Other construction details were
the same as for Relay 2. This relay is rated 0.150.30 A, and
was tested on the 0.15-A setting.
Two current transformers were used in the tests. Both are
of the same manufacture, and both are rated 50/5 A, with a
10:1 ratio. They are both of toroidal design, with a rectangular
molded case and a round window in the center. Both are 6 in
thick.
CT 1 has an 8.13-in diameter window and a relay accuracy
of C10.
CT 2 has a 7.31-in diameter window and a relay accuracy
of C20.
The saturation curves of these two CTs are shown in Fig. 4.
Each of the three relays was tested in combination with each
of the two CTs.
B. Test Circuit and Instrumentation
Fig. 5 shows the test circuit used for the tests. The test
power supply used is a high-current low-voltage power supply
normally used for continuous current tests and capable of an
output of 4000 A at a voltage of less than 10 V. This output
is variable over its full range by adjusting the voltage input
of the test power supply, using variable autotransformers. The
output waveform of this power supply is sinusoidal over the
normal range of operation of the power supply.
The CT secondary circuit includes a resistor rated 0.083
which serves two purposes. First, it creates a measurable
voltage drop for an input to the oscilloscope. Second, it
adds resistance equivalent to approximately 32 ft of #14AWG
copper wire, making the total secondary resistance, not in-
cluding the CT secondary winding and the relay coil, about
the equivalent of 40 ft of #14 wire, which is a reasonable
approximation of the two-way lead length found in typical
metal-clad switchgear wiring between the CT and the relay.
1114 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1997

The oscilloscope used is a Tektronix 2430-A dual-channel TABLE I

digital oscilloscope. Channel 1 was connected to the CT RELAY 1
secondary circuit, as shown in Fig. 5, to display the CT CT1 CT2
secondary waveform. Channel 2 was connected to a contact of Minimum Pickup
Current, A 15.8 13.6
the relay under test and to a low-voltage dc power supply to Pickup Time, ms
indicate contact operation. The output waveforms were stored @ Minimum
in digital form for later evaluation. Pickup Current 39.3 36.35
Because the ammeters included in the output of the test @ 600 A 34.85 33.75
@ 1200 A 24.05 27.05
power supply are ordinary taut-band switchboard meters, they @ 1800 A 36.9 31.95
were too insensitive to obtain reasonable readings of the low
currents at pickup. Therefore, all CT primary current readings
in the pickup tests were made with a hook-on digital ammeter TABLE II
RELAY 2
connected around the 500-kcmil cable. Higher current readings
were made using the switchboard ammeters. CT1 CT2
Minimum Pickup
6.4 5.8
Current, A
Pickup Time, ms
C. Test Procedure @ Minimum
Pickup Current 79.2 56.6
Each of the three relays was tested with both current @ 5055 A 89.5 -
transformers. Except as described in the test results that follow, @ 100 23.9 -
each relayCT combination was tested for pickup current and @ 150 A* 28.5 -
time delay at minimum pickup and for time delay to pickup *-150 A appeared to be about the 5050 operating point. At this current,
the relay picked up about half the time when several trials were made.
at 600-, 1200-, and 1800-A primary current. The primary
current levels were chosen to cover the span of usual ground
fault current levels found in low-resistance grounded industrial TABLE III
power systems. RELAY 3
For all tests, pickup was defined by the visible operation CT1 CT2
of the contacts for Relay 1 and the operation of the ICS for Minimum Pickup
6.5 5.4
Current, A
Relays 2 and 3. These visible indications of pickup were
Pickup time, ms
backed up by the change of signal on Channel 2 of the @ Minimum
oscilloscope, and pickup timing was measured by using the Pickup Current 95.2 132.4
two cursors with which the oscilloscope is equipped. One @ 600 A 61.3 56.3
@ 1200 A 67.3 60.0
cursor was placed at the point in time at which the circuit
@ 1800 A 72.6 68.9
was energized, and the other cursor was placed at the change
of signal point. Unfortunately, in some tests, this point was not
as clearly defined as one would like it to be. Contact closure under test. Once the current level was set, another short pulse
was accompanied by a certain amount of chatter, so the authors of current allowed the necessary readings and oscillographic
decided the point on the trace at which the contacts seemed to records to be obtained.
change position in a definitive manner.
To determine the minimum pickup of a relay, the primary
circuit of the CT was energized with no current flowing. The D. Test Results
current was raised slowly until the relay picked up. This test Relay 1 was set at 0.5-A pickup, using a standard relay
was repeated three times, and the pickup current level reported test set. Results of tests with both CT1 and CT2 are shown
in the test results that follow is the average of these three in Table I.
measurements, rounded off to the accuracy of the ammeter Relay 2 was set at 0.5-A pickup and connected to CT2.
readings. After the third pickup reading, the current was turned Pickup current was measured as 8.2 A, with a time to pickup
off without changing the setting of the power supply, then at this current of 74.6 ms. However, when the current was
the relay was reenergized at this setting to determine time to raised to 600 A, no pickup was obtained. The current element
pickup. was operating, but the contact disk was fluttering rapidly. The
For the higher current circuits, an attempt was made to set edge of the disk appeared to be moving up and down over a
the current level with the CT secondary circuit shorted. When distance of in.
the short was removed to make the actual measurements, it Relay 2 was reset to 0.25-A pickup and tried again with
was found that the current was much lower than it had been CT2. Pickup current with this setting was measured as 5.8 A,
set to be, because the burden of the CT secondary circuit was with a time to pickup at this current of 56.6 ms. Again, no
a significant portion of the entire circuit burden. Therefore, pickup was obtained at 600 A.
current was set by a series of short periods of energization The relay was then connected to CT1, with the results shown
of the entire circuit, with ammeter readings taken until the in Table II.
correct value was achieved. These current pulses had to be Relay 3 was set at 0.15-A pickup. Results of tests with both
kept to about 1 s in duration to avoid overheating the devices CT1 and CT2 are shown in Table III.
BRIDGER AND BURSE: OPERATION OF GROUND SENSOR RELAYS 1115

TABLE IV
ACTUAL RELAY MINIMUM PICKUP CURRENT AS A MULTIPLE
OF THEORETICAL MINIMUM PICKUP CURRENT

CT1 CT2
Relay 1 2
3.2 2.72
Relay 2 2
2.6 2.32
Relay 3 2
4.3 3.62

IV. ANALYSIS OF TEST RESULTS (a) (b)

A. Relay Pickup Current

All three of the relays that were tested picked up when
connected to both CTs. In all cases, the minimum pickup
current measured for a given relay and setting was lower when
connected to the higher accuracy (C20) CT. However, in all
cases, the actual minimum pickup current was significantly
higher than the theoretical minimum, calculated by multiplying
the relay setting by the CT ratio. The ratios of actual-to-
theoretical minimum pickup currents for the three relays and
the two CTs are tabulated in Table IV.

B. Relay Pickup Time

Recorded pickup times varied from a minimum of 24 ms (a (c) (d)
little less than 1.5 cycles) for Relay 1 at 1200 A to 132 ms Fig. 6. CT secondary waveforms. (a) At minimum pickup current. (b) At
(nearly 8 cycles) for Relay 3 at minimum pickup current. For 600 A. (c) At 1200 A. (d) At 1800 A.
both Relays 1 and 3, times to pickup were shorter at higher
currents, but then increased again at the highest measured TABLE V
RELAY 3 AND CT2CT SECONDARY CURRENT
currents.
Published data for Relay 1 shows pickup times in the 1218- Peak Magnitude Pulsewidth
Primary Current
ms range for currents of 1.5 pickup setting and in the 23-ms Minimum Pickup 1 PU 180
range for 10 pickup. All of our tests were at currents outside 600 A 14 PU 58.7
this range. The first test was at minimum pickup, where timing 1200 A 19.4 PU 41.5
is somewhat erratic, and all subsequent tests were at currents 1800 A 24.4 PU 36
above 10 pickup. As noted above, in Secton III-C, the exact
time to pickup was not easily determined in some of the tests.
In spite of these measurement difficulties, it is obvious that somewhat idealized versions of the actual plots and should be
the time to pickup measured in the tests is much longer than used only for comparison.
is normally expected for this relay. This appears to be a result
of the saturation of the CT, which will be further discussed D. Suitability of Relays for Use as 50G
in the next section. Both Relays 1 and 3 worked quite well with both CT1 and
CT2, and all four of these combinations are suitable for use
C. CT Saturation for zero-sequence ground overcurrent relaying.
However, Relay 2, the high-dropout relay, is not really
In addition to the long pickup times, the high pickup currents suitable for use as a ground sensor relay. Although the relay
indicate that the CTs may be saturating during operation of has a suitable pickup capability, at high currents the relay
the 50G relays. To explore this possibility, the CT secondary contact structure flutters and does not make contact reliably.
waveforms were recorded. Fig. 6 shows the CT secondary Discussions with an application engineer at the original man-
waveforms for Relay 3 set to pick up at 0.15 A and connected ufacturer of the relay confirmed this. The relay was originally
to CT2. This figure clearly shows the increasing saturation offered for this function, but field experience revealed the same
of the CT as the magnitude of the primary current increases. weakness that these tests showed. The manufacturer no longer
Table V shows the relative magnitude and the angular width recommends this relay for use as a 50G relay.
of the CT secondary current pulses for the various primary
test currents.
Since actual values of CT secondary current were not V. CONCLUSIONS
measured, the relative values of the peaks are listed in the Several conclusions can be drawn from these tests.
table. The pulsewidth was determined by measurement of the First, ground sensor relaying packages of the core balance
plotted oscilloscope traces. The waveforms shown in Fig. 6 are type normally operate with the CTs saturated. This can
1116 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1997
be demonstrated by calculations, as described in [1], or by
examining the CT secondary waveforms, as shown in Fig. 6.
Second, in spite of this saturation, properly selected
CTrelay combinations do operate as planned to detect ground
faults on low-resistance grounded systems.
Third, there is an upper limit of available ground fault cur-
rent for proper operation of ground sensor relaying. Although
the tests we performed did not specifically explore this upper
limit, it appears that the conventional system, using a 50/5-A
CT, probably should not be applied at ground fault current
levels greater than 2000 A. For higher levels of available
ground fault current, either higher ratio CTs should be used
in the ground sensor system, or residually connected ground
overcurrent relays should be used.
Fourth, satisfactory operation of a relayCT combination at
very low levels of ground fault current does not guarantee
satisfactory operation at higher fault current levels. Operation
at both the lower and the upper limits of expected ground
fault current should be verified.
REFERENCES
[1] C. W. Barnett, et al., Relay performance considerations with low ratio
CTs and high fault currents, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 8, pp.
884897, July 1993.
[2] J. R. Linders, et al., Relay performance considerations with low-ratio
CTs and high-fault currents, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 31, pp.
392404, Mar./Apr. 1995.
[3] H. A. Brust and E. M. Smith, Application of metal-clad switchgear
ground-sensor relaying equipment, Ind. Power Syst., pp. 89, Sept.
1958.
[4] J. L. Blackburn, et al., Applied Protective Relaying. Newark, NJ:
Westinghouse Electric Corp., 1976, p. 1111.
Baldwin Bridger, Jr. (M50SM59F88LF94), for a photograph and bi-
ography, see p. 225 of the January/February 1997 issue of this TRANSACTIONS.
Ted A. Burse (M90) was born in Canton, OH, in
1955.
He began his professional career in 1974 with
Ohio Transformer, working in the circuit breaker
repair and calibration area. He joined Arbuckle
Electric, Houston, TX, in 1976 as the Switchgear
Shop Foreman. He joined Powell Electrical Man-
ufacturing Company, Houston, TX, in 1979 as an
Engineer in the research and development area and
became Manager of Research and Development in
1993.
Mr. Burse is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society Switchgear
Committee and currently serves as the Chairman of the Switchgear Assemblies
Subcommittee.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 34, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 1998
Comments on Operation of Ground Sensor Relays
Under Conditions of Partial CT Saturation
Phil B. Zavadivker
I. RELAY COORDINATION
It would have added value to the above paper1 if the conclusions
summarized at the end of it had included a statement that the fact
that core balance-type ground sensors normally operate with the CTs
being saturated should be factored into the GFP relay coordination
curves.
This conclusion, although implicit in the text, may not be im-
mediately apparent to the reader. Without proper coordination, the
actual, higher than being set at, pickup of 50 GS may compromise
the system relay coordination, causing an upstream, usually inverse
time-current ground-fault relay to operate and clear the fault, resulting
. Using this example, the author demonstrates
in an unnecessary power outage of the entire system.
Coincidentally, the same issue of this TRANSACTIONS contains
a paper by Sutherland [1]. Section VII of [1], entitled Ground
Overcurrent Coordination, briefly covers the subject of coordination
with a 50-GS core balance-type feeder protection ground-fault relay.
Characteristically, this paper also omits a reference to the need to
factor in the CT saturation effects in the relay pickup used for
coordination with upstream protective relays.
Manuscript received December 1, 1997; revised December 22, 1997.
The author is with Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco, CA 94105-1895
USA.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(98)02559-6.
1 B. Bridger, Jr. and T. A. Burse, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 33, pp.
11111116, July/Aug. 1997.
00939994/98$10.00 1998 IEEE
417
II. LIMITATION OF VOLTAGE APPLIED TO THE RELAY
An observation made in an excellent paper by Dunki-Jacobs [2]
(published in 1970, but still remaining very much contemporary)
is, perhaps, of a more academic concern. Although this observation
has more to do with the relatively high burden of electromechanical
relays than with modern solid-state relays, many of the former relays
remain in active service, and this observation still retains its original
value.
Reviewing a desensitizing effect of a CT saturation phenomenon
on a ground-fault relay, the author observed the current transformer
saturation effect tends to protect the relay, in that the voltage applied
to the relay will not exceed the relays limit.
Let us consider an assumed configuration of a 1AC53A relay set
at 0.5 A and connected via a 50/5 CT, in the presence of an 800-A
ground fault. Under these conditions, the relay exhibits impedance
(burden) of about 2
that, due to saturation effects of the transformer core, most of the
secondary current is absorbed in the form of excitation current. As
a result, only 9 A, out of an available 80 A, will be seen by the
relay, resulting in no more than 20 V being applied to the relay, thus
limiting the current through the relay to about 10 A, regardless of
the amplitude of the primary current.
REFERENCES
[1] P. Sutherland, Protective device coordination in an industrial power
system with multiple sources, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 33, pp.
10961103, July/Aug. 1997.
[2] J. R. Dunki-Jacobs, The Impact of Arcing Ground Faults on Low-Voltage
Power System Design, General Electric, Philadelphia, PA, 1970.
418 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 34, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 1998
Closure to Comments on Operation of Ground Sensor
Relays Under Conditions of Partial CT Saturation
Baldwin Bridger, Jr. and Ted A. Burse
The authors appreciate Mr. Zavadivkers comments. Both points
he makes are valid.
With respect to the first item, the effective pickup of a ground
sensor relay depends somewhat on the particular relay and CT used,
but for many years a minimum pickup on the order of 15 A of
primary ground fault current has been used as a rule of thumb for
instantaneous electromechanical relays used with 50/5-A CTs. When
time-delay relays are used as ground sensor relays, there are a couple
of ways to handle the coordination problem. One way, recommended
Manuscript received December 4, 1997; revised December 23, 1997.
B. Bridger, Jr. is with Bridger Engineering Company, Houston, TX 77062-
3420 USA.
T. A. Burse is with Powell Electrical Manufacturing Company, Houston,
TX 77075 USA.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(98)02560-2.
00939994/98$10.00 1998 IEEE
by Brust and Smith in their 1958 article ([3] of our paper1), is to
use the same CT and the same relay with the same pickup setting
at each successive step of ground sensor protection, and coordinate
these relays strictly by time dial setting. The first step is usually
instantaneous, and each successive step is set two numbers higher on
the time dial. A more exact way is to plot your own timecurrent
curve for the CT-relay combination, similar to Fig. 3 of our paper.
This curve can then be used for coordination in the usual manner.
Mr. Dunki-Jacobs treatise is certainly still very valid. The only
thing that has changed in the nearly 30 years since its publication is
the more widespread use of solid-state overcurrent relays, and this
changes only the numbers, not the principles. However, the point
of the section of this paper quoted by Mr. Zavadivker is that the
saturation of the CT tends to protect the relay from damage. Some
users were concerned that CT saturation would protect the relay so
well that it would not function at all. The intent of our paper was
to show that the relays will still function properly, within reasonable
limits, even if the ground sensor CT does saturate.
1 B. Bridger, Jr. and T. A. Burse, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 33, pp.
11111116, July/Aug. 1997.