UPGRADING RELAY

PROTECTION
Be prepared for the next replacement
or upgrade project

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Image licensed by Ingram Publishing

B y D A N I E L L . R A NSO M

T
HERE ARE MANY ADVANTAGES TO analog/digital inputs, and thermal measurement capabilities
upgrading old electromechanical (EM), solid- have expanded protection, control, and monitoring. New pro-
state, and first-generation numeric relays tection and monitoring features improve power system
with modern numeric relays. Reliability equipment life and increase personnel safety. Maintenance
increases because there is less direct wiring and interconnec- costs are reduced, while internal watchdogs alert the user if
tion wiring, and the reliability and security of multifunction the relay has a problem. Settings groups can be changed
logic and settings are improved with the next-generation user instantaneously to adapt to varying power-system require-
interface software. Remote input–output modules, remote ments. Modern second-generation numeric relays offer a vari-
ety of secure communications capabilities for interfacing with
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2013.2288404
smart-grid controls, supervisory control and data-acquisition 71
Date of publication: 2 July 2014

1077-2618/14©2014IEEE
 systems, and business networks. Event memory is larger poor solder joints. The heating and cooling of circuit
for more onboard, standardized oscillographs and event boards also leads to problems, such as bad vias (electrical
reporting. Relay security is in accord with the latest connections from one layer of the circuit board to another)
North American Electric Reliability Corporation and electrolytic capacitor failure, particularly in the power
(NERC) standards. supplies. Because the first-generation numeric relays have
Initially, every relay upgrade seems simple and straight- built-in test routines (a “watchdog”) that signal an alarm
forward, but then come the details. Operating personnel output, operators know when the numeric relay fails. EM
have expectations for reading targets, resetting trips, ease of designs and most solid-state designs did not have a watch-
interface for settings and events, motor restarting, sync dog alarm output.
closing, and so on. Regulator requirements [NERC critical The new-technology second-generation numeric relays
infrastructure protection (CIP), for example] must be are equipped with more powerful microprocessors, have a
implemented while maintaining smooth operations. Relay more reliable surface-mount construction, and have
engineers must ensure that operational ease is retained with improved algorithms and elements. These developments
the new upgrade relay. Accurate one-line and connection have provided relay protection engineers with new protec-
drawings as well as good wiring documentation are essen- tion schemes and advanced the quest for more reliable,
tial. Escutcheon plates might be necessary, or perhaps more secure, and more dependable operation. However,
switchgear will need modification (panel cutting, new some manufacturers have provided so much programming
doors, relocation, etc.). In addition, this is an opportunity capability in these second-generation products that exten-
to re-evaluate arc-flash hazards and possibly reduce the sive training is required to set and operate these relays. In
risks. These and other considerations are taken from actual some cases, the customer contracts with the manufacturer
relay-replacement projects. to develop setting files. In other cases, the manufacturer
This article provides guidance for your next replacement has simplified the setting process by using computing
or upgrade project, including ways to reduce costs, save power to make setting a relay more straightforward and by
time, and minimize unexpected or unplanned complications. providing setting intelligence in relay-setting software.
Operations personnel now have input into the second-
History of Relays generation numeric relay settings because the newer relay
Protective relaying in industrial and utility power sys- front panels have operating indicators and push buttons
tems has changed greatly since the beginning of system directly related to system operation.
protection over a hundred years ago. At first, finely made The total costs of upgrading relays must be consid-
“Swiss watch” precision EM relays were developed and ered, including engineering, labor, testing, and com-
installed by the hundreds of thousands. missioning costs. Also, you must consider the future
In the 1970s, solid-state (or static) relays became avail- values of longer-lasting relays and newer setting-check-
IEEE In dustry A p plication s M ag az in e • SEP t|OCT 2014 • www.ieee.or g/ia s

able and replaced the EM relays with a slight change in ing features that help relay engineers to improve set-
scheme protection or relay function. These relays had the tings, avoid expensive outages, reduce paperwork, and
advantage of being cheaper and smaller, being less of a bur- avoid possible fines.
den, being easier to maintain, and having less calibration
drift and some programming. Typically, solid-state relays Replacing/Upgrading Relays
have no communication or event-recording functions. Some Knowing when to upgrade your relay protection should
plug-and-play solid-state relays remain very popular because be a proactive function, and you should not operate pro-
there is minimal installation labor, low outage time for tective relays to failure. Operating to failure might seem
replacements, and the scheme design remains simple. Some to be a cost-saving method, but this philosophy reduces
prefer to keep their systems in this configuration because no the reliability, security, and dependability of the power
extensive computer software training is required to operate system. Relevant standards for determining relay life are
an effective power-system protective scheme. found in American National Standards Institute C37.90
Widespread growth of computer technology in the [1] for the United States and in International Electro-
1970s resulted in the introduction of microprocessor-based technical Commission (IEC) 60255 [2].
numeric (or digital) relays. This first generation of
numeric relays brought innovations in developing new Replacement/Upgrade Timing
algorithms and the beginning of combining several pro- You must monitor the rise in relay failures so you can
tection functions in one multifunction relay package. track and schedule the replacement/upgrade before an
Desktop and laptop computers configured the first-gener- existing relay fails [3]. Monitoring is necessary, especially
ation numeric relays via DE-9 and DB-25 serial ports for older EM relays, solid-state relays, and first-generation
(with all the complications of configuring these connec- numeric relays. Figure 1 shows the study results on relay
tions). Initially, first-generation numeric relays operated longevity [3].
on ASCII protocol or proprietary serial commands; relay The longer a relay is in service, the more likely it is to
manufacturers later developed graphical user interface fail, which is why primary/backup relaying is recommended.
(GUI) software to generate the background serial com- In general, the lifetime of a numeric relay is 15–20 years.
mands to program the relay elements. This is based on the life of capacitors (loss of capacitance
Now, these first-generation numeric relays are reaching because of electrolyte drying and leakage) and by semicon-
an end-of-service-life state. A major reason for this situa- ductors (mainly integrated circuits) that degrade because of
72
tion is through-hole component-mounting design and thermal vibration and humidity. Most of the first-generation
numeric relays have already reached or passed
normal lifetime. It is recommended that you 500
schedule a replacement or upgrade to the sec- 450 Electromechanical
ond-generation relays (or replace the existing

Number of Abolished Relays

400
solid-state relays if you want to keep the
solid-state relay scheme). 350
300
Static
Protective Relay Stressors 250
Relays operated in severe conditions will 200
need more maintenance and more record
keeping to document the performance. 150
First
Severe conditions include extremely hot 100 Generation
and cold environments, outdoor locations, 50
humid areas, and environments that con- 0
tain corrosive gases, like hydrogen sulfide. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Elapsed Time (Years)
Costs of Upgrading Relays First Generation Analog Static Mechanical
The costs associated with relay upgrades 1
and replacements have many variables. A study of relay longevity.
Depending upon the importance you and
your organization place on reliability, secu-
rity, and dependability, optimizing relay upgrades and This equation shows the effects of outages, mainte-
replacements might seem like a puzzle because of the nance, and initial relay installation. The cost of down-
many variables of relay operation. However, there are some time (the third term with C t ) can be greater than the
interesting methods of quantifying upgrades and replace- cost of maintenance (the second term with C x ) if the
ments with statistics and probability mathematics. These MTTR is large and the MTTF is relatively small. C t is
mathematical models use terms, such as mean time the loss when the power system is out of service because
between failure (MTBF), mean time to failure (MTTF), of a protective relay failure. C t /MTBF represents the
mean time to repair (MTTR), reliability, security, and probability that another device is also out of service.
dependability. Note that the initial cost of the relay and installation
Reliability is in the MTBF or MTTF parameters. (the first term with C d ) is not significant for a single
Assuming that the modern second-generation numeric relay when that relay is in service for a long period (large

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relays have surface-mounted components that cannot be t ). However, replacement/upgrade projects seldom have
repaired to the component level, the model for MTTF only one relay. By batching many relay replacements at
is used. MTBF does not make sense in this case; relay one time, this term becomes significant. Shopping for a
users generally do not repair modern relays because the low relay price with a quick setup time (to reduce labor
relay price is low, and replacing a failed unit brings cost) is advised.
more peace of mind. The lognormal proability distribution t (t) indicates
One study on relay replacement is by Wang et al. [4], that once the relay has one failure, subsequent failures
based on the least unit life-cycle cost with minimum will occur with fewer and fewer time intervals. It is a
maintenance model. Minimum maintenance is repairing good idea to replace/upgrade a relay after the first failure.
a relay board subsystem only or replacing the relay, with High-reliability situations require that you make the
no hardware refurbishment. These researchers found that decision to replace and/or upgrade before relay failure.
relay longevity follows a lognormal distribution, with Wang et al. found the optimal replacement period was
the following parameters for cost over the life cycle of the every 18.4 years. In fact, power industry standards [5]
relay [ C (t) ]: specify that relay protection device life is generally not
fewer than 12 years, and for devices operating in harsh
C L (t) conditions, the useful life should be shortened.
C (t) = , (1)
t Another analysis of relay life by Montignies et al. [6]
shows similar results. They describe reliability as the
where C L (t) is the unit life cycle cost, and summation of the probability of relay failure over time t
(the failure rate). They use the familiar “bathtub curve”
to confirm the large infant mortality of brand-new relays,
C L (t) = C d + C x # t (t) dt + C t MTTR # t (t) dt, (2) the useful life of in-service relays, and finally, the end-of-
t t

0 MTTF 0
life obsolescence period, where relay failures accumulate
rapidly (Figure 2). The IEC describes the useful life as
where C d is the price of a protection device (including “the time interval beginning at a given moment in time,
installation), C x is the average cost of maintenance, C t is and ending when the failure intensity becomes unaccept-
the cost effect when the power system is out of service able or when the time is considered to be unrepairable as
because of a protective relay failure, and the function a result of a fault” (International Electrotechnical Vocabu-
73
t (t) is the probability distribution. lary 191-19-06) [7].
 cost of training on another relay and added spares is offset
by the savings realized in avoiding a fault.
Wear-Out,
Infant
Replacement
Upgrading to the Second-Generation
Mortality
Numeric Relays
Upgrading to the latest or “second generation” of numeric
Failures

protective relays gives a distinct advantage. There have

been advances in hardware, software, element mix, and
Useful
Life
communication.

Hardware Advances
The second-generation protective relays have the follow-
ing advantages over previous offerings.
Time
2 Faster and Better Processors
Relay failures over time. Faster analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion benefits protection
because more samples of the power system voltages and cur-
rents are available to the relay internal microprocessor. Thus,
the relay has a more accurate representation of the actual
During the middle constant-aging period, the failure conditions in the power system. The newer A/D converters
rate, l (t), remains steady during this useful-life period. The also offer a wider range so small signals and large fault sig-
average operating time is nals can be more accurately measured (if current transform-
ers and voltage transformers are of good quality).
MTTF = #0 3 R (t) dt = #0 3 e - (t) = 1m , (3)
m The processing power of the new microprocessors in
protective relays mirrors the computing power improve-
ments in ordinary office computing platforms. While the
where R (t) is the reliability at time t. The natural expo- first generations could be compared with an old Intel 286
nential function of the probability of failure m (t) also or 386, the latest protective relays have PowerPC (perfor-
describes reliability R (t) . mance optimization with enhanced reduced instruction
Thus, the relationship of MTTF and the failure rate m (t) set computing—performance computing) or multicore-
is inverse. When the failure rate goes up, the MTTF goes type processing chips. These new microprocessors are
down, and vice versa. An MTTF of 300 years means that faster, smaller, and less expensive and have had an effect
IEEE In dustry A p plication s M ag az in e • SEP t|OCT 2014 • www.ieee.or g/ia s

one relay out of 300 relays will fail during an operational on the relay-design trend toward improved algorithms
year (0.33%/year). and simplicity.
Availability is the probability that a system operates
properly at a given time. During the useful life and over a Surface-Mount Reliability
long period of use, availability ( A) is Older relays employed “wire-lead” components that experi-
enced vibration and heating issues, making the protective-
A= MTTF (MTTF & MTTR) .(4) relay circuit board unreliable over time. Power supplies
MTTF + MTTR were of the brute-force design, requiring large electrolytic
capacitors, which are known to dry or leak, and fail. This
To increase the availability, the MTTR must be as brief drying effect is significant, especially with shelf spares that
as possible. Having on-the-shelf spares speeds repair and are not powered on a yearly basis.
increases availability. In addition, be sure to apply power to Surface-mount technology has made protective-relay
spare relays for 30 min every year. Doing so keeps the circuit boards more robust because the surface-mount
internal electrolytic capacitors fresh, improving the usable components lay on the circuit board. The components
life of shelf spares. have better thermal conduction to the circuit board so
the components are less subject to heating and to vibra-
Primary/Backup Relay Systems tion problems.
Protective relays should have a primary/backup arrange- Power-supply design reliability has improved using
ment with different manufacturers, especially when switching designs, where dc and low-frequency ac are
applied to critical protection areas, and in the severe con- converted to a higher frequency and then smoothed to
ditions mentioned above. In this manner, mutual failure internal working power using smaller electrolytic capaci-
modes from hardware and from software algorithms used tors with a longer lifetime. In addition, manufacturers
by one manufacturer are avoided. Relay manufacturers have learned to optimize component selection for a more
often use different algorithms, which have different accu- reliable working life.
racy and precision and different hardware. Using different
manufacturers makes the primary/backup different-ven- Plug-Out Design More Reliable Than Drawout
dor solution more robust. Using two different relays can There is a move to eliminate drawout protective relays in
save valuable equipment if one relay does not detect a second-generation products. Many drawout designs damage
74
fault but the other relay does detect a fault. The added the internal relay plug/jack interfaces with repeated use.
 One popular solution to this problem time-aligned data across multiple
is to use a “plug-out” design where, if There are many relays. Ethernet connections allow
the protective relay needs to be replaced, faster downloading speeds from these
technicians detach the already-wired ter- advantages large-data-volume relays.
minal blocks from the back of the relay. Second-generation relays provide
After the entire relay is removed from to upgrading more elements that can be used for the
the panel, the technician replaces the early warning of impending failure and
already-wired terminal blocks (plugs) old electro- for through-fault and remaining-life esti-
onto the back of the relay. This method mates. Thus, you can realize long-term
has a lower force distributed over a mechanical, savings because of the ability to extend
number of connections, providing a
more gentle connection scenario. Cur-
solid-state, equipment maintenance intervals.

rent-input circuits have shorting-type and first- Improved Relay Internal Diagnoses
mechanisms for protecting personnel EM relays had no diagnostic features.
from open-current-transformer arcing. generation You could test the EM relay, then put it
The reliability is increased with compa- back into service only for it to fail imme-
rable downtimes to a drawout-case relay. numeric diately. You would not discover this fail-
ure until the next testing interval, when
Ethernet-Based Connections relays. it was time to test again. Some solid-state
The second-generation hardware sup- relays have power-supply alarms but no
ports Ethernet-based communication. diagnostic testing. The first-generation of
Usually, copper 100BASE-T and fiber-optic 100BASE-FX numeric relays have a microprocessor watchdog with a “dead-
are provided. Properly managed for cybersecurity using man” alarm that would close alarm contacts upon suspension
the NERC CIP requirements [8], these interfaces achieve of algorithm execution and of power loss.
connections to a substation LAN and remote locations. The second-generation protective relays employ more
New control and reporting protocols like IEC 61850 are intricate self-tests that analyze not only when the
available on the Ethernet interface. microprocessor(s) is operating, but these relays also check
memory status, measure accuracy of the A/D converter,
Firmware and Software Advances and monitor power supply tolerances. If the relay exceeds
The second-generation numeric relay firmware offers any of these parameters, it sends an alarm via contacts or
improvements in the available number and type of protective communications protocols to operators to check the relay.
elements, which allows new protection schemes, increases Again, long-term costs are lower and power-system pro-

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relay recording and reporting, provides improved relay inter- tection is improved because of the relays alarm for failure.
nal diagnoses, and complies with the latest NERC security
requirements. External setting software is GUI based and Enhanced Relay Security
includes settings analysis and checking, along with template Worldwide, data security has become an important part of
import and export, to improve and simplify the setting and the protective relay arena. As shown in the Aurora effect [9],
testing processes. Some new relay software has innovations utilities and commercial/industrial power users must ensure
such as offline logic simulation, seen previously only in pro- that their processes are secure from ill-intentioned hackers.
grammable logic controller software. For example, in North America, the NERC security require-
ments, CIP-002 [8], require that protection relays connected
Number and Type of Elements to the bulk power system must log all entry attempts. The
More processing power has allowed protective relay manu- first-generation protective relays were designed before these
facturers to increase the number of traditional elements in requirements and do not provide adequate data security pro-
a relay (for example, providing six or more 50 and six or tection (without layering external security). The second-gen-
more 51 overcurrent elements with any phase, sequence, eration relays have extensive security provisions, including
or specialty input(s) for a feeder relay). In addition, newer logging who accesses the relay and for what purpose.
elements are packaged in the relay for use in newer protec-
tion schemes; an example is 21 distance element(s) and 78 Smart Software Increases Programming
vector-jump element(s) in a generator relay. Hybrid- Simplicity and Provides Checking
grounding generator schemes, fast-synchronization, and Recent studies [10] have shown that a large amount of
main-tie-main schemes are examples of newer protection relay misoperations are caused by poor relay programming.
schemes supported by the many elements in the second- Although it is good to have nearly endless computer-like
generation protective relays. programming in protective relays, it can be a pitfall to
unknowing or inadequately trained protection engineers.
Increased Relay Recording and Reporting The latest setting and monitoring software checks pro-
The second-generation numeric relays have more nonvola- grammed logic and has templates for many protection
tile memory, allowing them to record longer and more schemes. These templates can be used “as is” or modified as
event records and oscillography. Especially when synchro- a special settings or monitoring template for protection
nized by satellite Inter-Range Instrumentation Group or department use. The new smart software for the second-
75
Ethernet time, a fault is much easier to analyze using generation relays features step-by-step guided settings and
 summary pages when complete to check that all elements “before” picture for a transformer differential scheme when
are programmed and set. Simplicity is improved, and EM relays were installed in the switchgear [11]. Not shown
misoperations are minimized. are the single-function overcurrent relays that backed up
In addition, the latest relay software provides monitor- this differential scheme. The old installation had minimal
ing capabilities for the power system, such as basic current protection without a modern dual-slope algorithm. There
and voltage measurements, sequence components, phasors, was no transformer life monitoring and no circuit-breaker
power quality, and harmonics. For motors and generators, and station-battery monitoring. In addition, the old scheme
there are start reports and calculated and actual tempera- offered no communication, and therefore, operators and
ture measurements. Trends are reported for crucial operat- engineers could not monitor the transformer working in the
ing parameters, such as starting, transformer through-fault power system. In addition, many EM differential relays con-
monitoring, and predicted end of life. sumed valuable front-panel space.
Automated testing is essential, and the newer relays Upgrading the EM relays to numeric relays resulted in
coordinate with several available products to make testing better protection, better relay communication, and a less-
and commissioning far easier than the first-generation cluttered use of panel space (along with built-in metering,
numeric and previous relays. the company enjoyed increased ease of operation and less
downtime). Figure 5 shows that this installation features
Installation Data and Example new panels with a multifunction numeric relay replacement
Experience from numerous relay installations over the as well as test switches not available in the original installa-
years lends evidence to the need for relay upgrades and tion. Backup protection could be added in the remaining
replacements. Historic data and an installation examples panel blank at a later date.
make the benefits of upgrading apparent.
Cost of Upgrading
Historic Installation Data Performing the actual relay upgrade and replacement
Modern relays with active components (not EM con- begins with estimating the cost. A value must be placed
struction) do not have the service life of EM relays. Fig- on the operation of the power system with no changes
ure 3 shows the expected (blue bar) and maximum and and compared with the value of power system operation
minimum (red bar) service life of the four main relay with protection upgrades.
types. The average of each type is the also shown (yellow
bar). The first-generation numeric relays, second-genera- Making No Change
tion numeric relays, and solid-state relays offer more reli- Continuing operation with older relays can make economic
ability, better calibration retention, and more repeatable sense if the costs are acceptable for downtime and equipment
protection than the older EM relays. repairs caused by nonworking protection. As was observed in
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Note that advances in component technology and cir- the section “History of Relays,” all of the EM, solid-state,
cuit board reliability have made a useful contribution to and first-generation numeric relays are coming to the end of
relay life. Components such as electrolytic capacitors con- usable life. The loss of one power transformer for which the
tinue to be a limiting factor. Improvements in component utility or commercial customer has no backup, or must re-
technology and proper manufacturer selection have made duce service/production to provide remediation, can be pro-
the second-generation numeric relays last longer (estimate hibitive. Management and the protection division must
based upon data to date in Figure 3). work together to identify the high-risk protection areas and
get these relays upgraded as a high priority.
EM Transformer Differential Scheme
Some practical examples of relay replacement show effi- Upgrading Costs to Consider
ciency gains in having multiple functions in one relay, com- Upgrading relay protection can save money in the long
munications ease, and space savings. Figure 4 shows the run. The future values of a relay upgrade far outweigh

50
Lifetime (Years)

40
30
20
10
0
EM Solid State First- Second-
Generation Generation
Numeric Numeric
(Estimate)
Relay Type
3 4
The relay longevity by type (years). The old EM transformer differential relays. (Photo courtesy of
76
Basler Electric Company.)
the initial cost of implementation (see transformer replacements/connections,
the “History of Relays” section). Costs Relays etc.) tools, and labor that will be
to consider include required for a successful transition.
▪▪▪▪
drawing changes
physical mounting considerations
operated in Consult the relay manufacturers’
Web sites and contact the manufactur-
(including building subpanels severe ers’ application engineers in your area
and rewiring to reach the new for a final overview of your plans. This
relays, if needed) conditions action helps to reveal any assumptions
▪▪ upgrading communication infra-
structure will need more about the relay operation that might
have been missed. In addition, you can
▪▪▪▪ resizing battery requirements
labor, including engineering,
maintenance find tools for settings, application
notes, and white papers that pertain to
installation, settings, and com- and more your upgrade work. Developing a rela-
missioning tionship with the manufacturer and
▪▪ system downtime and damaged
equipment
record manufacturers’ field organizations now
can save you money in the future by
▪▪ end-of-life maintenance. keeping to reducing rework.
Prepare a detailed list of step-by-
Implementing a document the step procedures for the work. This
Relay Upgrade
When you have made the decision to
performance. planning reduces cost, increases effi-
ciency, reduces upgrade overall time,
upgrade protective relaying, these are and makes the probability of excessive
the steps to follow. commissioning troubleshooting time
▪▪ Obtain management approval and
team acceptance.
much less.

▪▪▪▪ Update drawings for the new relays or panels.

Order all required materials, tools, and labor.
Develop an Outage Plan
An important safety measure is performing the work when
▪▪▪▪ Develop an outage plan.
Install, test, and commission.
the associated areas of the power system are de-energized to
avoid possible hazards to both your technical crew and
▪▪▪▪ Complete drawings with as-is data.
Responsibly dispose of old equipment.
power-system equipment. It is best to upgrade an out-of-
service portion of the system. Doing “hot” upgrades and
▪▪ Report outcome to management. replacements is not recommended. Effective outage plan-

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Performing these steps helps to keep your project on time ning achieves the following goals:

▪▪▪▪
and within budget. avoids outage cost increases and project delays
avoids unforeseen circumstances during the outage
Obtain Management Approval because you have “walked through” the upcoming work
and Team Acceptance
Organization management should be aware of your plans
▪▪ simplifies coordinating your technical staff during
inspections and commissioning
and grant approval for the upgrade project. Use this arti-
cle to help justify replacement so that you can obtain
▪▪ increases personnel productivity.

permission and develop a reasonable budget. Communi-

cate the plans to the upgrade team of workers. Do not
forget to account for the unexpected (incorrect relay or
panel fit, door-swing problems with long-depth relays).
A good value for unexpected costs is 10% (thorough
planning) to 25%.

Update Drawings for

the New Relays or Panels
Planning begins with examining the existing drawings
for the switchgear, substation, or line section. Be aware
that the condition of existing system prints might not be
up to date. Send a crew to examine the site, comparing
the latest drawings to the present installed configuration;
make any changes required.
Next, make demolition drawings. These drawings pro-
vide detail on the relays or panels to be removed.
Follow installation drawings, with detailed notes on 5
relay or panel placement. These documents help to focus Smaller size and better protection are benefits of numeric
on the materials (metal stock, escutcheon plates, terminal relay upgrade/replacement. (Photo courtesy of Basler Electric
77
blocks, panels, and relays, current transformer and voltage Company.)
 Review work order historical data for the EM types. If installing these type of re-
area of the power system getting the Manufacturers lays, make sure that the staff knows
upgrade to determine whether there where to get the test-fixture extenders,
were existing problems and emerging have learned to where to attach the serial port, whether
trends. If you are using database software the port is “straight-through” or
to schedule work orders, investigate optimize “crossed,” the data rate, and all perti-
whether it has an outage-planning mod- nent passwords. Many newer techni-
ule (many of these programs and options component cians are comfortable with USB ports,
exist). Consult with electricians, the IP addresses, and Ethernet ports in the
machine shop, and other trades on the selection for a modern second-generation numeric re-
nuances of the existing system. Docu-
ment, order, and store these data so that
more reliable lays but not so comfortable with older
serial connections.
all concerned parties have access (perhaps working life. Put a dedicated landline telephone
through a Web/Internet interface). Pro- connection at the site. Not only is this
duce a draft of the work flow, estimate telephone line a safety improvement, it
required hours, and identify resources. is easier to use for contacting manufac-
Add or subtract items in the plan addressed during the out- turers’ application engineers because there is no signal fad-
age (time of year, provision for continuing customer or plant ing from nearby power-system noise as can be found with
loads, backup protection during the outage, etc.). wireless or cellular telephones. Also, consider using a
headset because noise levels at the site can make it difficult
Order All Required Materials, to hear someone on the telephone line.
Tools, and Labor Computer-aided testing is becoming standard
Early ordering of all the required materials, tools, and throughout the industry to help existing technicians save
arranging predicted labor needs make the upgrade go time, providing more work at less cost (obviating the
more smoothly. In general, protective relays have a three- need to hire more personnel who are not available in the
to four-week lead time because of the many ordering present workforce). Make sure that staff are trained for
options; manufacturers do not stock relays but build these the relays in the upgrade [13].
to an exact option (or style) number. Although manufac- Commissioning testing is essential to verify that all
turers can produce the relays faster, it might cost more. wiring is connected properly to all relay inputs and out-
Some upgrade solutions match the old terminal num- puts (hardwired and virtual) and that the upgraded relays
bers to the new relay. In this manner, there are signifi- communicate as expected. Computer-aided testing can
cantly fewer drawing changes and technicians simply wire help save time at this point. Make sure to analyze the
IEEE In dustry A p plication s M ag az in e • SEP t|OCT 2014 • www.ieee.or g/ia s

from the old relay to the upgrade relay using the same ter- expected results against the scheme design to ensure trou-
minal number. This method has been known not only to ble-free operation. When changes come (and changes are a
reduce cost, but it also reduces mistakes during the certainty), be ready with a revision-tracking method.
upgrade. Laser-cut plastic overlays on the back of the new These days, there are many software library management
relay or prewired terminal blocks marked with the old programs that can assist in enforcing one copy of the
relay terminal numbers are a few examples. End-to-end changes as the working set.
wire testing would be reduced. If replacing an entire relay
panel, be sure that some method of support is available for Complete Drawings with As-Left Data
these heavy panels. Documentation is essential for saving time and money.
Getting key labor supervisors involved is important at From good planning to smooth installation and final
this point. These men and women can make the job go testing, complete, accurate documentation furthers effi-
well because of their special insights about the system ciency. Updating project drawings should be an ongoing
hardware on which they and their subordinates work. effort. Make final notes on protection design. File logic
Listen and learn. Not only is it important for a protec- and software reports in a place where you can find these
tion engineer to determine the protection settings, but in the future. Capturing the as-left data now keeps those
also it is important to apply the right amount of effort who follow you from guessing and wasting time on
on the user interface, screens, labels, and so on [12]. If understanding the work.
you do not get labor buy-in, consulting labor later could Besides updating drawings, now is a good time to write
cause additional work and an unsuitable working rela- a project summary and update project design documents.
tionship that makes for late, over-budget upgrades. Those who come after you will thank you.

Install, Test, and Commission Dispose of Old Equipment Responsibly

Refer to the installation drawings and procedures prepared Be responsible about disposing of older electronic equip-
earlier. Make sure that everyone on the installation team ment. Consult and follow the restriction of hazardous sub-
knows the order and scope of the work. stances giudelines [14]. Currently, there is a large amount
Labor can be your best help or a painful experience. As of lead, cadmium, mercury, and other dangerous chemicals
noted previously, the earlier that the labor pool is on board, in refuse landfills. The European Union spearheaded
the better the project implementation will be. These days, efforts in these areas, reducing contamination and making
78
technicians are not as familiar with older relays, especially ground water safe.
 Think about donating older equip- Software for modern relays actually
ment to a local vocational school or col- It is good to assists the protection engineer to make
lege. It is important that the new crop more consistent and better settings. In
of protection engineers and technicians write a “lesson addition, second-generation numeric
are familiar with older products so these relay software provides summaries and
students can learn valuable lessons about learned” internal logic checking to make certain
algorithms and test procedures. Mark that the protection elements are on,
the replaced old relays with painted or document to connected, and working.
labeled warnings about reuse in the Plan the upgrade project well. Keep
power system. Besides the enhanced pass along to management and labor informed on
goodwill that donations provide, per-
haps your organization can earn a gov-
the next progress. Consult relay manufacturers
for assistance. Make a final project
ernment tax deduction as well. project leader summary, and report to management
and all stake holders (especially to all
Report Outcome to Management on the next who worked on the project). This will
At the end of the relay upgrade, take promote future upgrade projects,
the project summary report and ask to upgrade. which will improve power-system per-
make a formal presentation to com- formance as well as the reputation of
pany management. Not only does this the relay protection engineer.
let management know what was
accomplished, this effort pays back in increased favorable References
management buy-in when proposing the next project. [1] Standard for Relays and Relay Systems Associated with Electric Power Appa-
ratus, ANSI/IEEE Standard C37.90, 2005.
Reporting the project outcome also helps to complete [2] Measuring Relays and Protection Equipment—Part 1: Common Requirements,
upgrade documentation, provides an opportunity to IEC Standard 60255–1, 2009.
point out helpful colleagues and staff, and gives you one [3] H. Kameda, S. Yoshiyama, G. Ushio, M. Usui, K. Sekiguchi, and C.
last look at what was done. It is good to write a “lesson Komatsu, “Estimation of replacement of numerical relay systems from
learned” document to pass along to the next project reliability analysis,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Advanced Power System Automation
Protection, Oct. 16–20, 2011, vol. 1, pp. 114–119.
leader on the next upgrade. [4] W. RuiChen, X. AnCheng, B. TianShu, and H. ShaoFeng, “Relay
replacement strategy based on the least unit life cycle cost with mini-
Conclusions mum maintenance model,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Advanced Power System
Upgrading power-system protection relays allows you to Automation Protection, Oct. 16–20, 2011, vol. 1, pp. 609–614.
[5] Protection Devices Operation and Management Procedures, People’s Republic of
see long-term cost reduction and increased operational

I E E E I ndu str y Appl ic ations Magazin e • S EPt |OCT 201 4 • www.ieee.org/ias

Electric Power Industry Standard [S], Standard DL/T587–2007.
efficiency. In these days of cost cutting and striving for [6] P. Montignies, P. P. Basu, and F. Gruffaz, “Digital protective relays are
doing more with less, relay upgrades, although initially designed for long life,” in Proc. 4th European Conf. Electrical Instrumenta-
requiring some cost and effort, make better use of funds. tion Applications Petroleum Chemical Industry, June 13–15, 2007, pp. 1–8.
Whether it is a public utility district, an industry appli- [7] International Electrotechnical Vocabulary Chapter 191: Dependability and
Quality of Service, International Electrotechnical Committee Standard
cation, or a large utility, upgrading can alleviate many 60050–191, 2012.
system problems and expensive relay failures. [8] National Electric Reliability Council. (2009). Critical Infrastructure
Second-generation numeric relays (new multifunction Protection Standard CIP-002-3. [Online]. Available: http://www.nerc.
microprocessor relays with multicore processing) are com/page.php?cid=2|20
[9] M. Zeller, “Myth or reality—Does the Aurora vulnerability pose a risk
often less expensive per function than earlier relays. The to my generator?” in Proc. 2011 64th Annu. Conf. Protective Relay Engi-
new relays are rugged, with surface-mount technology neers, Apr. 11–14, 2011, pp. 130–136.
that endures harsh operating environments better than [10] National Electric Reliability Council. (2011). Protection system
older construction. The unreliable connections from misoperation identification and correction. [Online]. Available: www.
older drawout designs are not a factor in newer relays, nerc.com/files/misoperations_webinar_master_deck_final.pdf
[11] Basler Electric, “Multifunction relays fit in cutouts for transformer
enhancing the already increased reliability. differential and overcurrent relays,” Technical Resource Library, 2012.
More functions in one relay means lower cost and [12] J. Sperl, B. Carper, and W. Coe, “Upgrading your protective relays—
fewer replacements to improve protection schemes; the When theory meets reality,” in Proc. 63rd Annu. Conf. Relay Engineers,
relay elements are already in the newer second-generation Protective Relay Engineers, Mar. 29–Apr. 1 2010, pp. 1–8.
[13] A. Jezak and R. Garcia, “Aggressive electromechanical relay panel replace-
numeric relays. Even if these elements are not in use now, ment project at TXU electric delivery,” in Proc. 58th Annu. Conf. Protective
they will be available for later use if required by manage- Relay Engineers, Protective Relay Engineers, Apr. 5–7, 2005, pp. 189–193.
ment, government, and protection mandates. Less panel [14] European Union, Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous
wiring, longer maintenance intervals (from stable calibra- substances in electrical and electronic equipment 2002/95/EC (RoHS), 2003.
tion and active watchdog reporting), and automated test-
ing interfaces reduce overall costs. An unplanned outage Daniel L. Ransom (danielransom@basler.com) is with Basler
can be more expensive than the cost of a relay-replace- Electric Company in Highland, Illinois. Ransom is a Senior
ment project, not to mention the possible monetary fines Member of the IEEE. This article first appeared as “Upgrading
(especially when connected to the bulk power system), Relay Protection?—Be Prepared” at the 2013 IAS Industrial
loss of capital, loss of production, and loss of reputation. and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference.
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