BUS PROTECTION ( https://youtu.be/LKNRLnwQo04) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=LKNRLnwQo04&feature=youtu.be)

The main bus in transformer stations is one of the most critical pieces of equipment in our
power distribution and transmission systems. Faults on buses are very serious events because
they usually result in widespread outages. The fault level on the bus is usually very high
because it is close to the main source of supply, and may have multiple in-feeds. Faults on
buses are almost always permanent, and auto-reclosing is therefore not applicable.

Reliable bus protection is essential for all power systems, from the switchboards of industrial
plants, to high-voltage buses in utility substations. The consequences of an uncleared bus
fault are enormous. Also, the unnecessary tripping of a bus due to the maloperation of the bus
protection scheme can cause widespread outages.

The choice of the type of bus protection to apply for any particular location is very largely
dependent upon the voltage level, and whether the bus is supplied from a radial system, or is
part of an interconnected system.

For buses that are part of interconnected systems, where there is more than one possible in-
feed for fault current, differential protection is most appropriate.

For buses supplied from radial systems, where there is only one source of supply, overcurrent
protection is appropriate. This is typical in industrial plants where the bus voltage may be
supplied from a single transformer. Instantaneous overcurrent and inverse-timed overcurrent
devices are used, with settings selected to coordinate with the downstream devices, as
discussed earlier.
BASIC CONCEPT OF DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION

The ideal way to protect any power system element is to compare the current entering that
element, with the current leaving it. If there is no fault condition, then the two quantities are
equal. For a fault condition the two quantities are unequal, and the difference in currents
passes through a relay, and the fault condition is detected.

This principle is known as DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION.

The diagram above illustrates the principle of Differential Protection in it's simplest form: In
the above example there is THROUGH or OUT OF ZONE fault current of 6,000 Amps.
The currents in the C.T. secondary circuits circulate, and there is no SPILL into the relay.
Hence, the Bus Protection does not operate, and remains stable.

We now consider a fault on the bus, of the same 6,000 Amps. The current in both C.T.'s is
now in the same direction, and the current in the C.T. secondary circuit no longer circulates.
The two C.T. secondary currents are summed, and the total of 25 Amps passes through the
differential relay. For this IN ZONE fault, the relay will operate and initiate tripping.
From the two examples we can see the importance of the C.T. connections:

• THE C.T. POLARITIES MUST BE CORRECT RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER.

• THE C.T. RATIOS MUST BE THE SAME. The C.T. excitation characteristics must also
be the same.

As mentioned earlier, it is very important that none of the C.T.'s saturate during the
maximum fault condition. If one C.T. in a differential protection scheme saturates for a
THROUGH fault, then some unbalance will result.

This unbalance will cause some SPILL current to flow through the relay. If this SPILL
current is high enough, it can cause the Bus Protection to maloperate, and trip the bus
unnecessarily for a THROUGH or OUT OF ZONE fault.

APPLICATION TO VARIOUS BUS CONFIGURATIONS

We can now extend this theory to a bus with many lines connected to it. Take the following
example of a bus with 5 feeders connected to it. For a total bus fault current of 18,000 Amps,
the fault current in each feeder is: F1 = 6,000 Amps F2 = 2,000 Amps F3 = 5,000 Amps F4 =
3,000 Amps F5 = 2,000 Amps

RELAY CURRENT = 75 Amps.

NOTE:

Differential Bus Protection will NEVER operate as BACK-UP protection for uncleared faults
on other parts of the power system. For example, an uncleared fault on F5. Also note the
location of the C.T.'s in the bus protection schemes. As mentioned earlier, the bus protection
C.T.'s MUST be located on the feeder side of the breakers. If the bus protection C.T.'s are
located on the bus side of the breaker, then a protection blind spot exists.
Now let us consider the Bus arrangement for a typical sub-station with two supply
transformers: The Bus protections for Buses C and D are exactly the same as the previous
examples. i.e The C.T.'s are all connected in parallel, and all have the same ratio and polarity.
However, with this arrangement a BACK-UP protection feature can be readily incorporated.
If the feeders F2, F4, and F6 are RADIAL, then there can be no infeed from them for bus
faults. For a fault on BUS D, the fault current is supplied through the T2 and BT breakers
ONLY.

Consequently, we can provide BACK-UP protection for the feeders by using the T2 and BT
breaker C.T.'s. The Back-up protection relay is connected as shown, and will normally be an
Inverse Time Overcurrent Relay, and set to coordinate with the feeder protection relays.
Thus, if there is an uncleared fault on feeder F6 for example (i.e. the breaker fails to clear the
fault, or the protection fails to operate), then the F6 fault current continues to flow through
the T2 and BT C.T.'s. The sum of these two currents passes through the D BUS back-up
relay, which will operate after a time delay, and clear the fault by tripping the D BUS
breakers.
Types of Relays Used

Various types of fault detecting relays are used in Bus Differential protection schemes. These
include instantaneous over-current, inverse timed overcurrent, and high impedance relays.
The high impedance relays are becoming more popular because they give much greater
stability under through fault conditions.

Bus Protection Relay Settings

The settings applied to bus differential relays are determined mainly by the minimum fault
level on the bus. The relays are usually set to operate at roughly half of that minimum fault
current. If the differential relay is set too low, then there is the risk that it will maloperate for
through faults, and cause unnecessary tripping of the bus.

High Impedance Differential Protection

By using High Impedance relays in differential protection the system can be designed to be
more tolerant of a saturated C.T. The High Impedance relays typically have voltage settings
of 100 to 200 volts. A non-linear resistor is connected across the relay terminals to limit the
voltage across the differential relay to a safe value during fault conditions

High impedance relays are used extensively in modern differential protection for high voltage
buses. The advantage of using High Impedance relays in bus differential protections is that
they can be designed to remain stable (not operate) for external faults, when any one of the
C.T’s has saturated. For an external fault, the worst case is with one C.T. completely
saturated, and the other C.T.’s not saturated. The resulting differential current will cause the
maximum voltage to occur across the differential relay. A relay setting (in volts) is chosen,
with sufficient margin, to ensure that the differential protection does not operate for this
external fault condition. The resistance of the C.T. secondary windings and C.T. cabling must
be known, and is used in the relay setting calculations.

For internal faults the high impedance of the differential relay forces much of the resulting
differential current through the C.T. exciting impedances. The resulting voltage developed
across the relay is essentially the open-circuit voltage of the C.T.’s, and will be well above
the voltage setting of the relay. A non-linear resistor, or varistor is connected across the relay
terminals to limit the voltage to a safe value during fault conditions.