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BROKEN DELTA
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BROKEN DELTA
 July 22, 2018  admin  Power Engineering

Broken delta refers to the connection of Voltage Transformers (VT) or Potential Transformers
(PT) in a series fashion to calculate the zero-sequence voltage of the system. Three VTs are
required for this connection. This connection is primarily used in ground fault detection of
ungrounded systems.

When a ground fault occurs in an ungrounded system, the fault current will be close to zero
making it di cult to locate and isolate ground fault using traditional ground overcurrent
relay. A parameter that can be used to our advantage in the detection and isolation of
ground fault on ungrounded system is the zero-sequence voltage during ground fault.

When a single line to ground fault occurs on ungrounded system, the faulted phase voltage
will collapse to zero while the other two phases remain healthy. From sequence
components theory, we know that when we add the three phase voltages, we get three
times the zero-sequence voltage (V0) as shown below. This is sometimes also referred to as
3V0  protection though the term is not very common.

  
When there is a ground fault on A phase, the Vag voltage will be zero. However, Vbg and Vcg
voltage rise from normal line to ground voltage to line to line voltage. This can be seen in
the vector diagram below.

Also note that the Vbg and Vcg phase angles change from normal 1200 to 1500 , a 300
degree change when ‘a’ phase is faulted to ground.

Ground fault on ungrounded system

The voltage available at the secondary of the broken delta VT will be hence 3 times the
rated line-neutral voltage when a single line to ground fault occurs in an ungrounded
system.

A method to get 3V0 is to add the three phase voltages vectorially by connecting three VTs
in series. The ends of the VT are not ‘joined’ and hence the term broken delta. Note that this
is di erent from open delta which uses only two transformers and is used for di erent
purposes but not ground fault detection.
Broken delta ground fault detection

The three VT connected are connected in series as shown above. The voltage at both the
ends of the connection is 3V0 (see equation for zero sequence voltage above). Under
normally operating condition (unfaulted condition), the voltage across the three VT will sum
to zero. When a single line to ground fault occurs, the voltage across the VT will be 3V0 and
this can be used for ground fault detection. The ground fault relay element (59N) is
connected across the open end of the series connected VT and need to be set below 3pu
for e ective detection of ground fault.

A resistor (called ballast resistor) is used to load the VT secondary as shown in the gure
above. This is done for two purposes:

Stabilize the VT secondary voltage.

Prevent ferroresonance between VT and system capacitance.

Broken Delta Transformer Design Considerations

Use Line-Line rated VT: Under a fault condition, each VT is exposed to 1.73 times the
nominal phase-ground voltage even though they are connected line to ground. This is
due to shifting of the ‘neutral’ position of delta voltage triangle during a single line to
ground fault. The individual VT should be rated for line-line voltage.

Use Loading resistor: Since broken delta connection is used typically in ungrounded
systems, the con guration has a tendency to drift in to ferroresonance. If you notice the
circuit diagram for broken delta connection, the primary VT circuit is wye grounded. This
 con guration makes it vulnerable to damaging ferroresonant oscillations between VT
magnetizing reactance and system stray capacitance. The easy way to prevent this is to
load the VT secondary with a loading resistor (ballast resistor). The resistor is sized
anywhere from 30-50% of the VA rating of the voltage transformer.

Broken Delta ground fault detection on grounded systems

Commonly, broken delta is used for ground fault detection on ungrounded system. Use of
this scheme for ground fault detection on grounded wye systems are not common since
other sensitive methods of ground detection using current transformers (CT) and ground
overcurrent relays are readily available.

Broken delta scheme can however be used on grounded wye systems. See the vector
position below for normal condition and when a ground fault occurs on ‘A’ phase.

Ground fault on grounded system

This indicates that when broken delta is applied in grounded systems we get normal line
to neutral voltage across the windings unlike when applied on ungrounded systems
which provide 3 times the line to neutral voltage.

Here is the summary of the broken delta output voltage for various grounding
conditions:

If there is a system that can become alternatively grounded and ungrounded depending on
the source connection, then the ground fault 59N relay can be set to lower than VLN for
ground detection in both cases when broken delta is used. Broken delta can also detect
double line to ground fault if the relay is set sensitively. An engineering review will be
needed to arrive at suitable relay settings.

Broken Delta vs Open Delta

Broken Delta

Primarily used for ground detection on ungrounded systems

Uses three Voltage Transformers connected in series

Used to gather zero sequence voltage for ground fault detection and other relaying
applications

Needs line-line rated VT for ground fault detection

Secondary circuit of broken delta needs to be loaded to prevent ferroresonance

Broken delta connection

Open Delta

Open delta connection is primarily an economical way to provide three-phase power

using only two single phase transformers.

Providing power using open delta connection is not very e cient

Open delta power transformer connection is prone to voltage unbalance issues

Requires larger kVA size transformers for a given load compared to regular three phase
transformers

Open delta connection can be used for economical voltage metering application
especially at medium voltage (>1kV).

For voltage metering using open delta connection, two VT provide all three line-line
voltages.
 Open delta connection

More details about open delta connection can be found here.

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