TRANSFORMER PROTECTION

Prof. M.L.Kothari Deptt of Electrical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Delhi New Delhi INDIA Visiting Professor, Helsinki University of Technology

OUTLINE OF THE LESSON

1. Introduction
2. Types of faults affecting Power Transformers 3. Buchholz Relay 4. Nature and effect of transformer faults 5. Magnetising inrush current of a transformer

6. Transformer Differential protection

7. Harmonic Restraint Differential Relay 8. Restricted Earth Fault Protection
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INTRODUCTION
The power transformer is one of the

most

important

links

in

power

transmission and distribution system.

 It is a highly reliable piece of This reliability depends on adequate design careful erection proper maintenance application of protection

equipment.

system.
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PROTECTION EQUIPMENT INCLUDES

1. Surge diverters 2. Gas relay: It gives early warning of a slowly developing fault, permitting shutdown and repair before severe damage can occur. 3. Electrical relays.
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 The choice of suitable protection is also

governed by economic considerations.

Although this factor is not unique to power transformers, it is brought in prominence by the wide range of transformer ratings used( few KVA to several hundreds MVA)

 Only the simplest protection such as

fuses can be justified for transformers of

lower ratings. for large transformers best protection should be provided.

TYPES OF FAULTS AFFECTING POWER TRANSFORMER

THROUGH FAULTS
a) Overload conditions.
b) External short-circuit conditions.

 The transformer must be disconnected

when such faults occur only after allowing

a predetermined time during which other protective gears should have operated.

INTERNAL FAULTS
The primary protection of a power

transformer is intended for conditions which arises as a result of faults inside the protection zone.

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 Internal faults are very serious and there

is always a risk of fire; these

1. GROUP-A 2. GROUP-B

internal

faults are classifieds into two groups.

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GROUP A
Electrical faults which cause immediate serious damage but are generally detectable by unbalance of current or voltage such as:

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1. Phase-to-earth fault or phase- tophase fault on HV and LV external terminals 2. Phase-to-earth fault or phase-to- phase fault on HV and LV windings. 3. Interturn faults of HV and LV windings.

4. Earth fault on tertiary winding, or short circuit between turns of a tertiary windings.

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For Group(A) faults, it is important that the faulted equipment should be isolated as quickly as possible

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GROUP B So called incipient faults which are

initially

minor

faults,

causing

slowly

developing damage. These are NOT DETECTABLE at the winding terminals by

unbalance current or voltage.

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 A poor electrical connection of conductors

or core faults (due to breakdown of the

insulation of laminations, bolts or

clamping rings which cause limited arcing under the oil.)

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 Coolant failure, which will cause a rise of temperature even below full load operation Related to above is the possibility of low oil content or clogged oil flow, which can readily cause local hot spot on the windings.

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 Regulator faults and bad load sharing between transformers in parallel, which can cause overheating due to circulating currents The Group(B) faults, though not serious in their incipient stage, may cause major faults in due course of time and should thus be

cleared as soon as possible.

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It should be emphasized that the means adopted for protection against faults in Groups (A) are not capable of detecting the faults of Groups of (B), where as the means

applicable to detect the Group (B) faults can

not necessarily detect the terminal faults and are not quick enough to clear other faults in Group (A)
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 These ideas are basic to transformer

protection, & the means of protection

against the Group (A) & (B) should not be

treated as alternatives but as supplements

to each other.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
All faults below the oil in transformer result in the localized heating & breakdown of the oil, some degree of arcing will always take place in a winding fault & the resulting decomposition of it will release gases such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide & hydrocarbons.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
When the fault is of a very minor type, such as hot joints gas is released slowly, but a major fault involving severe arcing causes rapid release of large volumes of gas as well as oil vapour. Recognition of the above action by BUCHHOLZ led to the development of the protective device known as BUCHHOLZ RELAY .

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
A buchholz is contained in a cast housing which is connected as shown below

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
A typical buchholz relay comprises two pivoted aluminum brackets, each counter balance so that when empty or completely full of oil, the bucket is in high position.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
Each pivoted bucket assembly carries a mercury switch. In the normal condition the casing is filled with oil, so that mercury switches are open. If gas bubbles pass up the piping, they will be trapped in the relay casing, so displacing the oil .

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
As the oil level falls the upper bucket will follow, since the weight of the bucket filled with oil exceeds that of the counterbalance when the buoyancy from the surrounding oil is lost. As the bucket falls, the mercury switch tilts & closes the alarm circuit.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
A similar operation will occurs if tank leaks causes the oil level to fall. A major winding faults causes a surge of oil which displaces the lower bucket & thus isolates the transformer.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
Relay is usually provided with an inspection window on each side of the gas collection space, through which the oil level can be observed. This may also helps in diagnosing the fault.

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
Because of its universal response to faults within the transformer, some of which are difficult to detect by other means, the BUCHHOLZ RELAY is invaluable, whether regarded as a main protection or as supplement to other protection schemes

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BUCHHOLZ RELAY
The minimum operating time of the BUCHHOLZ RELAY is about 0.1 sec & the average operating time is 0.2 sec Transformer without conservator can not be provided with BUCHHOLZ RELAY

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NATURE & EFFECT OF TRANSFRMER FAULTS

A faults on transformer winding is controlled in magnitude by a) Source & neutral earthing impedance b) Leakage reactance of the transformer c) Position of the fault on the winding.

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NATURE & EFFECT OF TRANSFORMER FAULTS

Following distinct cases are examined below (1) Star connected winding with neutral point earthed through an impedance

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If

Rn If

Earth fault on resistance earthed star winding

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 An earth fault on resistance earthed star winding will give rise to a fault current (IF) depends on the value of the earthing impedance. is proportional to the distance of the fault from the neutral point since the fault voltage will be directly proportional to the distance from the neutral
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 The ratio of transformation between the primary winding and short circuited turns also varies with the position of the fault, so that the current which flows into the transformer primary terminals will be in proportion to the square of the fraction of the winding which is short circuited.

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 The variation of magnitude of the fault current (% of respective maximum single phase earth fault current) with the distance of the fault measured from the neutral ( % of the winding) is shown

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Star connected winding with Neutral point solidly earthed

The fault current in this case is controlled mainly by the leakage reactance of the transformer which varies in a complex manner ( approximately, proportional to the square of the number of turns involved)

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 Further, the voltage is not proportional to the turns involved by the fault near the neutral because of the increased magnetic leakage. The variation of the fault current with fault position is shown in the fig

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 The fault current reflected to the input side is modified as before by the variable transformation ratio. The fault current magnitude remains high throughout the winding. Further, the general current scale is high in the absence of current limiting resistance.

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Delta Connected Winding

No part of the delta-connected winding operates with a voltage to earth less than 50% of the phase voltage. The range of fault current magnitude for such a winding is therefore less than for a star winding The actual value of the fault current will still depend on the way the system is earthed

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 The impedance of the delta winding is particularly high to the fault currents flowing to a centrally placed fault on one leg

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Phase to Phase faults

Faults between phases within a transformer are relatively rare; if such a fault occurs it will give rise to substantial current comparable to the earth fault currents.

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Interturn Faults
A high voltage transformer connected to an overhead transmission system is very likely to be subjected to steep fronted impulse voltage A line surge, which may be of several times the rated system voltage, will concentrate on the end turns of the winding because of the high equivalent frequency of the surge front
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 The interturn insulation of the end turns is reinforced,but can not be increased in proportion to the insulation to earth,which is relatively great.

The risk of the partial winding flashover compared to that of the breakdown to earth is comparatively high. It is claimed that 7080% of all transformer failures arise from faults between turns.
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 A short circuit of few turns of the winding will give rise to heavy fault currents in the short circuited loop, but the terminal currents will be very small, because of the high ratio of the transformation between the whole winding and short circuited turns

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Externally Applied Conditions

Sources of abnormal stress in a transformer are : a) Overload b) System faults c) Over voltage d) Reduced System Frequency

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 Overload causes increased copper loss and a consequent temperature rise. Overloads can be carried for a limited periods, depending on the initial temperature and cooling conditions System short-circuits produce a relatively intense rate of heating of the feeding transformer, the copper loss increasing proportional to the square of the per unit fault current.
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 The duration of the external short circuit that a transformer can withstand without damage if the current is limited only by self reactance is shown in Table on the next slide

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Transformer reactance(%)

Fault current (multiple of rating) 25 20 16.6 14.2

4 5 6 7

Permitted fault duration (seconds) 2 3 4 5

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 Large fault currents produce severe mechanical stresses in the transformers; the maximum stress occurs during the first cycle of the asymmetric fault current and so cannot be averted by automatic tripping of the circuit

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Overvolatges
Transient surge voltages Power frequency voltages

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Transient Surge Overvoltages

Transient over voltages arise from switching and lightning disturbances and are liable to cause inter-turn faults

These voltages are usually limited by providing lightening arrester (Metal Zinc Oxide).

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Power Frequency Overvoltages

Causes increase in stress on insulation Increase in working flux Increase in iron loss Disproportionality increase in magnetizing current Flux is diverted from the laminated core to the steel structure Increase in heating and temperature rise
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Reduction in Frequency
It has an effect with regard to flux density similar to that of power frequency overvolatges. Operation must not be continued with a high voltage input at a low frequency V/f > 1.1 is not permissible where V and f are expressed in p.u. of their rated value

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MAGNETISING INRUSH CURRENT OF A TRANSFORMER

When a transformer is first energized,a transient exciting current flows to bridge the gap between the conditions existing before the transformer is energized and the conditions dictated by the steady state requirements

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 For any given transformer this transient current depends upon: The point on the voltage wave at which the switch is closed.

The value and direction of the residual core flux. The shape of the saturation curve ,and the normal flux density used.
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 Often the magnitude of this transient

current exceeds full load current and may

reach 8-10 times full load current.

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 In studying the phenomena that occur when

a transformer is energized, it is more

satisfactory to determine the flux in the magnetic circuit first and then derive the current from the flux.

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 This procedure is preferred because the

flux does not depart much from the sine

wave even though the current wave is distorted.

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 If the secondary of the transformer is open , the transformer can be treated as an ironcore reactor, the differential equation for the circuit consisting of the supply and transformer can be written as

d e Ri n1 dt

(1)
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 Normally the resistance R is small and can be ignored for simplicity. Under this condition the equation (1) can be written as

d e n1 dt

(2)

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 If the supply voltage is sine wave voltage,

e
where,

2 E sin(t )

.(3)

E = rms value of the supply voltage 2 f

e= instantaneous voltage applied to transformer
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Substituting in equation (2)

d n1 dt

2 E sin(t )

Solving the above equation

2E cos(t ) t n1 ..(4)

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 Equation (4) can be used to determine the

transient flux in the core immediately after

the transformer is energized.

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Amplitude of Harmonics in a typical Magnetizing Inrush current wave

Component DC 2nd Harmonic 3rd Harmonic 4th Harmonic 5th Harmonic 6th Harmonic 7th Harmonic Typical Value(%)of fundamental 55 63 26.8 5.1 4.1 3.7 2.4
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TRANSFORMER DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

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a. Transformation ratio
The nominal currents in the primary and secondary sides of the transformer vary in inverse ratio to the corresponding voltages. This should be compensated for by using different transformation ratios for the CTs on the primary and secondary sides of the transformer.

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b. Current Transformer Connections

When a transformer is connected in star/delta, the secondary current has a phase shift of 300 relative to the primary
This phase shift can be offset by suitable secondary CT connections

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 The zero-sequence currents flowing on

the star-side of the transformer will not

produce current outside the delta on the other side. The zero sequence current must therefore be eliminated from the starside by connecting the CTs in delta.

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 The

CTs

on

delta

side

should

be

connected in star in order to give 300

phase shift.

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 When CTs are connected in delta, their secondary ratings must be reduced to 1/3 times the secondary ratings of the star-connected transformer, in order that the currents outside the delta may balance with the secondary currents of the star-connected CTs.

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 If

transformers

were

connected

in

star/star, the CTs on both sides would

need be connected in delta-delta.

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c. Bias to cover tap-changing facility and CT mismatch

If the transformer has the benefit of a tap

changer, it is possible to vary its

transformation ratio for voltage control.

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 The differential protection system should

be able to cope with this variation.

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 This is because if the CTs are chosen to balance for the mean ratio of the power transformer, a variation in ratio from the mean will create an unbalance proportional to the ratio change. At maximum through fault current, the spill output produced by the small percentage unbalance may be substantial.
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 Differential protection should be provided

with a proportional bias of an amount

which exceeds in effect the maximum ratio deviation. This stabilizes the protection

under through fault conditions while still

permitting the system to have good basic sensitivity.
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d. Magnetization Inrush
The magnetizing inrush produces a current flow into the primary winding that does not have any equivalent in the secondary winding. The net effect is thus similar to the situation when there is an internal fault on the transformer.

Contd
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 Since the differential relay sees the

magnetizing current as an internal fault, it

is necessary to have some method of distinguishing between the magnetizing current and the fault current, These methods include:

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 Using a differential relay with a suitable

sensitivity to cope with the magnetizing

current, usually obtained by a unit that introduces a time delay to cover the period of the initial inrush peak.

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 Using a harmonic-restraint unit, or a

supervisory unit, in conjunction with a differential unit.

Inhibiting the differential relay during the energizing the transformer.

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Example:

A 3-phase, 33000/6600V transformer is

connected star/delta an the protecting CTs on the low voltage side have a ratio of 300/5. What will be ratio of the CTS on the H.V. side?

[20:8:1]
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RESTRICTED EARTH FAULT PROTECTION

Fig : Restricted earth fault protection for star connected winding

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Primary operating current Percentage of winding protected

Fig Amount of winding protected when transformer is resistance earthed and ratings of transformer and resistor are equal

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 Degree of protection is very much improved

with the application of a restricted earth fault

(REF) protection

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OVERFLUXING PROTECTION

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The system voltage, as measured by a voltage transformer, is applied to a resistance to produce a proportionate current; this current , on being passed through a capacitor, produces a voltage drop which is proportional to the function in question, E/f, and hence to the flux in the power transformer.
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HARMONIC RESTRAINT DIFFERENTIAL RELAY

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