NEPTUNE Power System Protection

Kevin Schneider, Chen-Ching Liu Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington Harold Kirkham Jet Propulsion Laboratories

Protection Areas

1) Medium voltage backbone protection 2) Internal node protection 3) Low voltage protection

Backbone Protection Layers

1st- Differential measurements and pilot tones, combined. 2nd- Primary zone distance relays. 3rd- Secondary zone distance relays

Backbone 1st Protection Layer

Uses two protection techniques

1) Differential current protection 2) Pilot tone relaying

Normal Operating Conditions

Differential current measurements. Double pilot tone.

Fiber Tranf er Path Current Sensors Pilot Tones

DO NOT TRIP Primary relay in place. Back up relay in place.

Node 1

Node 2

Loss of Both Signals

Fiber Tranf er Path Current Sensors Pilot Tones

Differential comms. are lost. Pilot tones are lost.

PRIMARY TRIPS BREAKER Back up relay in place.

Node 2

Node 1

Loss of Differential Comms.

Differential comms. Are lost. Pilot tones are not lost.

Fiber Tranf er Path

DO NOT TRIP Primary relay in place. Back up relay in place.

Current Sensors Pilot Tones

Node 1

Node 2

Loss of Pilot Tones

Pilot tones are lost.

Fiber Tranf er Path Current Sensors Pilot Tones

Node 1

Node 2

TRIP IF DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION DETECTS FAULT Back up relay in place.

Backbone 2nd Protection Layer

Current and Voltage Sensors Backbone Primary Zone

Backbone

Node 1

Node 2

Backbone 3rd Protection Layer

Current and Voltage Sensors

Backbone

Secondary Zone

Backbone

Node 1

Node 2

Backbone Relay Coordination

Protective Layer 1st 2nd 3rd

Protective Method Current Differential & Pilot Tones Zone 1 Distance Zone 2 Distance

Time to Operate ASAP ( 6ms) 8 ms 10 ms

Node Protection Layers

1st- Node differential protection step 1 2nd- Converter differential protection 3rd- Node differential protection step 2

Note: the 1st and 3rd layers work on the same principle but their resulting protective actions are different.

NCB

C Converter 2

Converter 1 D E

Essential Loads
(Protection, Communications)

External Loads

Fast -OFF switch

Energy Storage
(Communications)

Energy Storage
(Protection)

Protection

Node 1st Protection Layer

Backbone Backbone

Current 1

Current 2

Node 1 Current 3

Current 1 + Current 2 + Current 3 0 If a fault is detected then the running converter is secured and the second unit is started

Node 2nd Layer Protection

Current 1

Main Power Converter

Current 2

Same techniques as transformer differential protection Must account for losses in the main power converter If a fault is detected the converter is secured and the other unit started

Node 3rd Layer Protection

Backbone Backbone

Current 1

Current 2

Node 1 Current 3

Current 1 + Current 2 + Current 3 0 Similar to the first layer except that in the event of a fault the entire node is secured through the opening of adjacent node backbone breakers

Node Relay Coordination

Protective Layer Protective Method Time to Operate

1st

Node Differential

ASAP ( 4msec)

2nd

Converter Differential

6 ms

3rd

Node Differential

8 ms

Note: all three layers will actuate before the 3rd layer of the backbone protection. This will prevent unnecessary loss of loads.

Node Low Voltage Protection

Low voltage protection is similar to distribution system protection Can use any of the following methods 1) Over current 2) Distance relaying 3) Ground fault indication 4) A combination of methods

Questions?