Lab No.

BAHRIA UNIVERSITY KARACHI CAMPUS

Department of Electrical Engineering

Power System Protection

LAB EXPERIMENT # 1

Introduction to Power System Protection Lab

OBJECTIVES:

 To understand the power protection devices and their application in power system.

THEORY:

Importance of Power System Protection

Any system which is developed face some problems to carry out tasks in a routine. In order to help
system to carry out routine tasks, there is a need to provide protection to the system.
The main objective of using power system protection is:
 To isolate the faulty section from the system to make the rest of the portion work without any
disturbance.
 Apart from this, it is used for the protection of power system and to block the flow of fault
current.
 It can help in preventing the continuation of flow by quickly disconnecting the short circuit.

Power System Elements

The main Elements of Power Systems are as following
 Generating units (Water, solar, Thermal, Wind, nuclear etc.)
 Bus Bars
 Transformers
 Transmission Lines
 Protection devices
 Measuring Devices
 FACT Devices
 Loads

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Isolator switches, in particular, are used in power grids and substations to efficiently isolate very
high voltage apparatuses such as transformers and circuit-breakers when they are due for
maintenance. Commonly used isolators are not intended to stop current during a fault or eliminate
high voltage arcs, which occur due to disturbance in electric conductors. In high-voltage power
systems, isolators are use in conjunction with circuit breakers to provide an extra layer of safety.
First circuit breaker is opened which disconnects the circuit then isolator is also opened. And for
the reverse process, first isolator is closed then circuit breaker is closed and circuit is reconnected.

Types of Isolators
Depending upon the position in power system, the Isolators are categorized into following three
types according to their placement in the power system.
 Bus side isolator: It directly connects to the main bus
 Transfer bus side isolator: It directly connects to the transfer bus.
 Line side isolator: It is generally located at line side of the feeder

Instrument Transformer
The instrument transformer can be classified into:
 Current transformer (CT)
 Potential transformer (PT)

Current Transformer (CT)

A current transformer (C.T.) is an instrument transformer which is used for the protection and
measurement purposes in a power system. The C.T. is primarily used to measure high alternating
currents in a power system.

Working
The potential transformer is connected in parallel with the circuit. The primary windings of the
potential transformer are directly connected to the power circuit whose voltage is to be measured.
The secondary terminals of the potential transformer are connected to the measuring instrument
like the voltmeter, wattmeter, etc. The secondary windings of the potential transformer are
magnetically coupled through the magnetic circuit of the primary windings.

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Figure 1.6 Three phase current transformer connection

The secondary winding of a current transformer should never be left open. When the current is
flowing in the primary winding of a current transformer, its secondary winding should never be
open circuited. When the current flows through the primary winding, a current also flows through
the secondary winding and the MMF produced by each winding is equal and opposite.
Then, opening of the secondary winding under normal operation removes the opposing MMF
produced by the secondary and allows the magnetic flux in the core of CT to reach a value that is
determined only by the primary MMR. As a result of it, the flux in the core is greatly increased
which leads the following harmful effects:
 The increased flux may saturate the magnetic core of CT which can leave the CT with a
large value of residual flux and will seriously impair the accuracy in future.
 The flux in the core increases at a very high rate inducing a large voltage in the open
circuited secondary winding of the current transformer. This high voltage may be
sufficient to cause a danger to life and breakdown of the insulation.

Application
Some of the important applications of current transformers are as follows:
 The current transformers are used in measurement of high alternating currents in the
power system.
 The current transformers are used in the power system protection applications such as to
activate the protection relays.

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Potential Transformer (PT)

The potential transformer may be defined as an instrument transformer used for the
transformation of voltage from a higher value to the lower value. This transformer step down the
voltage to a safe limit value which can be easily measured by the ordinary low voltage instrument
like a voltmeter, wattmeter and watt-hour meters, etc.

Working
The potential transformer is connected in parallel with the circuit. The primary windings of the
potential transformer are directly connected to the power circuit whose voltage is to be measured.
The secondary terminals of the potential transformer are connected to the measuring instrument like
the voltmeter, wattmeter, etc. The secondary windings of the potential transformer are magnetically
coupled through the magnetic circuit of the primary windings.

Figure 1.7 Connection of Potential Transformer

Applications of Potential Transformer

 It is used for a metering purpose.
 For the protection of the feeders.
 For protecting the impedance of the generators.
 For synchronising the generators and feeders.
The potential transformers are used in the protecting relaying scheme because the potential coils
of the protective device are not directly connected to the system in case of the high voltage.

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Therefore, it is necessary to step down the voltage and also to insulate the protective equipment
from the primary circuit.
Power transformer can never be short circuited as PT is a "step-down transformer" that steps
down voltage from a very high voltage level (220kV,) to a lower level (220V). Since, the power
(P=VI) in a transformer (input and output) is same, the current rises to a very high level. Thus, a
very high resistance is maintained at the secondary terminal to limit the current (which appears as
open circuit). Short circuiting the secondary would burn out the windings.

Power System Distribution Network Topologies

An electric power distribution system can be classified according to its feeder connection schemes or
topologies as follows

 Radial
 Parallel feeders
 Ring main
 Meshed systems

1. Radial
Many distribution systems operate using a radial feeder system. A typical radial feeder system is
shown schematically in Figure 1.3. Radial feeders are the simplest and least expensive, both to
construct and for their protection system.
This advantage however is offset by the difficulty of maintaining supply in the event of a fault
occurring in the feeder. A fault would result in the loss of supply to a number of customers until the
fault is located and cleared. The next level of reliability is given by a ‘parallel feeder’ system.

Figure 1.8 Radial feeder system

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2. Parallel feeders
A greater level of reliability at a higher cost is achieved with a parallel feeder. A typical parallel
feeder system is shown schematically in Figure 1.8. In the event of a line fault only one of the
feeder sets of cables will be affected, thus allowing the remaining parallel feeder to continue to
supply the load.
To improve the reliability factor it may be possible to have the separate sets of cables follow
different routes. In this case the capital cost is double that of a radial feeder but there is a greater
reliability factor for the line. This may be justified if the load is higher, more customers are being
supplied, or there are loads such as hospitals which require high levels of reliability.
Parallel feeders are more common in urban areas or for feeders to large single customers, where
load shedding in an emergency may be possible.

Figure 1.9 Parallel feeder system

3. Ring Main
A similar level of system reliability to that of the parallel arrangement can be achieved by using ring
main feeders. This usually results from the growth of load supplied by a parallel feeder where the
cabling has been installed along different routes. These are most common in urban and industrial
environments.
Whilst the start and finish ends of the ring are at the same location, power is delivered by both
pathways of the ring into substations located around the ring. Should a fault occur on a feeder cable
at any point around the ring the faulty section may be isolated by the operation of the protecting
circuit breakers, at the same time maintaining supply to all substations on the ring.
In typical urban / suburban ring main arrangements, the open ring is operated manually, and loss of
supply restored by manual switching.
Current practice is to use distribution automation, where operation and supply restoration in the
feeder rings is done automatically by centrally controlled supervisory systems.

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This gives the advantages of ring main systems as line voltage drops are reduced at the various load
substations there is a ‘firm’ supply (i.e. an alternative path is available if the primary one fails) to
each load substation.

Figure 1.10 Ring main feeder system

4. Meshed Systems
In transmission and sub-transmission systems, usually parallel, ring or interconnected (mesh)
systems are used. This ensures that alternative supply can be made to customers in the event of
failure of a transmission line or element. The extra expense can be justified because of the much
greater load and number of customers that are affected by failure of lines at transmission or sub-
transmission levels.
The general rule is that where large loads or numbers of customers are involved, then some form of
standby, in the form of deliberate redundancy, is built into the network design, through the use of
parallel, meshed or ring type feeders.

Figure 1.11 Meshed systems

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Only in outer rural areas would one consider using only radial supply at a sub-transmission level.
On the other hand, simple radial supply is almost universally used for low voltage (400V)
feeders, even in urban areas, because they supply relatively few customers.
Task:
A. Simulate the single bus sub-station with sectionalizer network shown in Figure 1.9 either
on MATLAB simulink, PowerFactory or ETAP.
B. Perform the Load flow analysis of above system and behavior of
sectionalizer:

i. When the loads are equally distributed on T1 and T2 Transformers.

ii. When fault occurred on T1.

iii. When fault occurred on T2.

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Conclusion:

What is Difference between fuse and relay?

Difference Between fuses and Circuit Breaker?

What is function of DC Batteries on a substation?

What is Isolator and why it is used?

What is difference between Potential and Voltage Transformer?

What is difference between Potential and Power Transformer?

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What is difference between Power and Auto Transformer?

What is difference between Potential and Voltage Transformer?

What is difference between Potential and Power Transformer?

What is difference between Power and Auto Transformer?

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Lab Assessment Rubric # 1

Needs Total
Category Excellent 8 Good 6 Satisfactory 4
improvement 2 (40)
Clearly describes the Adequately Describes the Cannot describe
objectives of lab. describes the objectives but the objectives of
Understands possible objectives, but misses some the lab, or what
Objectives and sources of errors and cannot discuss details. Cannot was learnt,
Results their effects. possible sources discuss possible sources of errors
Suggests ways to of errors and sources of error or and their effects
minimize them. their effects their effects

Circuit works Circuit performs Circuit performs Circuit does not

perfectly. All wires most the but output not give any output.
Circuit are attached. / Code functions, gives exactly as Most wires are
implementation works perfectly output. / Code expected. Some not connected/
/ software gives some errors connections not code not
coding done/ code gives compiled/ many
some correct errors
output
Can clearly identify Adequately Describe the Cannot describe
the problems and identify the problem but cannot the problem and
take steps to fix problems and suggest steps on has no effective
Trouble them. Uses an steps taken to fix how to solve them. strategy on how
Shooting effective strategy to them. Uses an Trouble shooting is to solve them.
solve problems effective strategy not consistent.
but misses some
details
Detailed results are Adequate results Some missing Most results are
Measurements shown for each step. are shown. 80% observations. 70% missing. Only
and 100% measurements measurements results are correct 30%
Observations are correct are correct measurements are
correct
Thorough Good Limited Shows incorrect
understanding of the understanding of understanding of understanding of
concepts underlying the concepts, the concepts. the concept.
the lab. Can apply it however, cannot Cannot apply to Cannot find any
Conclusions
in real life situations apply them in real life situations usage of the
real life and suggest any knowledge.
situations use of the Cannot describe
knowledge what was learnt.

Lab No: 1 Total Marks: 40 Marks Obtained:

Signature:

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