International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463

Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

Simulation of a three phase differential relay

for transformer protection
Noha Abed-AL-Bary AL-Jawady
Assistant Lecturer, Technical College, Mosul, Iraq

Abstract: One of the most important equipment in power system is the power transformer, which is used in
different sizes, types, and connections. A power transformer functions as a node to connect 2 different voltage levels.
Therefore, the continuity of its operation is of vital importance in maintaining the reliability of power supply.
According to many years of experience, the differential protection provides the best overall protection for a power
transformer. The variable percentage differential characteristic of differential relay provides fast, sensitive and
reliable tripping for internal faults and security against operation on large external faults. This paper includes
modeling and simulation of the differential relay by using MATLAB/SIMULINK and using this model to study all
the environments affecting the operation of the protective relay for power transformer protection. Graphs show
transformers fault currents and trip signal for different fault cases.

Keywords: Power transformer, Protective relays, Differential protection relay.

Introduction

Power transformer is one of the important constitution of the power system, therefore its protection against all types of
faults becomes the point of interest of many researches . Since protection is accomplished by relays, and relays nowadays
goes through many important changes from purely electromechanical type to a fully numerical relays based on
microprocessor, therefore it is necessary to study the relay characteristic and environment which affect its operation.
There are various types of relays, the main types being over current relay, distance relay, and differential relay. The
differential relay plays an important role in the protection of generator windings, bus bars, and transformers. This paper will
concentrate specifically on the Differential Protection Relay.

Principle of differential relay operation

A differential relay can be defined as a device that operates when the phasor difference between two currents exceeds a
predetermined value as shown in fig.(1).

Current Current
in out
Protected
equipment
I1 I2

Operation
current

I1 I2

Fig. (1) General Differential Principle

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 International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

The relay is design with two windings, called operating and restraining windings. The restraining winding is designed to
prevent undesired relay operation, and a current flow should be in the operating winding due to a transformer error during
an external fault. The differential current in the operating winding is proportional to (I1-I2), and the current in the restraining
winding is proportional to (1/2(I1+I2)). The ratio of differential current of the operating winding to the average restraining
current is fixed as percentage, hence the relay is called (Percentage differential relay). The relay is also called (Biased
differential relay) because the restraining coil is also called biased coil. Differential protection principle is used in
protection of large transformers, generators, motors, feeders and busbars [1].

Vector Group compensation in differential protection of transformers

iDfferential protection for a power transformer has been used for decades. In order to correctly apply transformer
differential protection proper compensation for:

 Power transformer phase shift (i.e. vector group compensation)

 CT secondary currents magnitude difference on different sides of the protected transformer (i.e. ratio
compensation).
 Zero sequence current elimination (i.e. zero sequence current reduction).

Shall be done. Previously this was performed with the help of interposing CTs or special connection of main CTs [2].
It is more efficient if the compensation is done by the relay itself. In order to perform the required compensations by the
relay itself, the vector compensation matrix is required.

Cos(k*300) Cos((k+4)*300) Cos((k-4)*300)

A= (2/3) Cos((k-4)*300) Cos(k*300) Cos((k+4)*300)
Cos((k+4)*300) Cos((k-4)*300) Cos(k*300)
.....(1)
Where k denotes the secondary winding vector group. This number is represented by the clock convention just like the
windings on the transformer windings. For instance, Yd11 connection of the transformer represents that the secondary
winding is delta connected with leading vector group by 30o. Therefore if plug 11 in the above matrix and multiply the
matrix that is produced with the readings of current transformers on the transformers secondary winding, the product will
be in phase with the readings obtained from the current transformer on the primary side. This gives what is meant by
vector compensation.

Using the vector compensation method, the relay must exclude the zero sequence components that exist in grounded
windings, since the presence of zero sequence components with cause mal operation of the relay. The elimination of zero
sequence components can be done by introducing another matrix dellac the (Io) elimination matrix as given below:

2 -1 -1
(B)= (1/3) -1 2 -1 .....( 2)
-1 -1 2

The matrix will remove any zero sequence component that is presented in the current transformer reading if it is connected
to ground. If the power transformer is ungrounded there is no zero sequence components, then the matrix (B) becomes as
follow [3]:

1 0 0
(B)= 0 1 0 .....( 3)
0 0 1

Simulation and Testing of Differential Protection Relay

In this paper a complete simulation model of the differential relay is presented, and testing of this model is done for 132kV
system using Matlab/Simulink media as shown in Fig.(5). The block representing the relay is divided in to two blocks as
shown in Fig (6), first block is the (compensating block) shown in fig.(7) which includes vector compensation matrix for
phase shift angle and zero sequence current and calculation of the differential current (Idiff.) and bias current (Ibias) for the
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 International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

relay inputs, the current (Idiff ) represents the difference between the input and output currents of the power transformer, and
(Ibias) is the average of the input and output currents of the power transformer. While the second block shown in fig.(8) is
the (Decision block), which includes the principle components parts for the relay function which are the logic circuits, The
sequence of operation of the decision block can be illustrated by the chart shown in fig.(3)

Input
Is1,Is2,K1,K2

Yes I biase  I S 2 No

I diff  K 2 I bias  I S 2 K1  K 2   I S1 I diff  K1 I biase  I s1

No Yes Yes No

Output =1 Output =0 Output =1

Fig. )3) Relays flow chart

Where Is1 is the differential current at zero bias current and Is2 is the bias current when the relay characteristic starts to
change and k1 , k2 are the percentage bias. These constants can be obtained from the relay characteristic shown in fig. (4)
which is used in this work. The differential protection operating region is located above the slop characteristic and the
restraining region is below the slop characteristic. A dual slope bias technique is used to enhance stability for through faults
and provides further security for external faults with CT saturation. Atypical trip criterion is used as follows:

for I bias  I S 2
I differential  K 1 ( I bias )  I S 1

For I bias  I S 2
I differential  K 2 ( I bias )  ( K 2  K 1 ) I S 2  I S1

To arrive the correct settings, the characteristics of the relays to be applied must be considered. The recommended settings
for three of the adjustable values ( taken from the relay manual) are:

Differential current setting IS1 (0.2-2.0 In)

Bias current threshold setting Is2 (1-30 In)
Lower percentage bias setting K1 (0.3-1.5)
Higher percentage bias setting K2 (0.3-1.5)

Relay Setting Ranges

Where In is the rated secondary current of the current transformer. In this work In is taken to be 1A. According to this
value of In the following constants are calculated:

Is1=0.3, Is2=2, K1=0.35, K2=1.2

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 International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

The correction ratio must also be applied in order to ensure that the relays see currents from the primary and secondary
sides of the transformer that are well balanced under full load condition. In this paper selection current transformers ratio at
primary and secondary sides are (1/300) & (1/1000) respectively.

6
Operate
5
Idiff

4
Percentage bias
3 K2

2
Restrain
Percentage bias
1 K1
IS1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
IS2 Ibiase

Fig.(4): Relay Characteristic

The output of the relay block (trip signal) will be an input to the breakers, if the relay trip signal equal to one will tell the
breaker to keep closed (this in case when normal operation or external fault) while if the relay trip signal equal to zero will
tell the breaker to open (this is the case of internal fault).

A simulation model of differential protection for 132/33kV transformer was studied for the following cases:

1-Interanal faults
2-Normal operating mode under rated values
3-External faults

The relay operated for the first case as shown in appendix (A1) and did not operate in the cases of the normal operation &
external fault as showing in appendix (A2).

Conclusion

In this paper, an attempt has been made through the use of MATLAB/SIMULINK to test differential protection relay for a
large power transformer. Tests have been carried out on a varity conditions (normal operating mode under rated values,
Internal faults and external faults).It can be noted from simulation results that high sensitivity for internal faults and high
stability for external faults & normal operation.

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International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

Fig.(5): Matlab/Simulink

F:ig.(6): Relay block diagram

-K-
Transpose-Yn

1 -K- T
u
[Iabc-Yg] Matrix
Multiply In RMS

-K- (1/3)*[2 -1 -1;-1 2 -1;-1 -1 2;]

uT
1
Zero-Order Zero-Sequence Compensation1 |u| 1
Hold-1 Matrix Concatenate-Yn
I_diff

Transpose-D11
-K- In RMS
2 1 T
u
Matrix
[Iabc-D11] uT
Multiply
1 -C- |u| 2
1 I_bias
Zero-Order Vector Group Compensation1
Hold-3 Matrix Concatenate-D11

Fig. (7): Compensating block

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International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

Fig.(8): Decision block

Appendix (A1) Internal faults:

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault
1000
Current [A]

500

-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]

Single Line to ground fault

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault

1000
Current [A]

500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]

Line to Line to ground fault

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International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault

1000

Current [A]
500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]
Three phase fault

Appendix (A2) Normal operation & external faults:

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault
1000
Current [A]

500

-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]

Normal operation

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault

1000
Current [A]

500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]
Single line to ground fault
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International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault

1000

Current [A]
500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A] 1

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]
Line To Line Fault
Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault
1000
Current [A]

500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]
Line To Line to Ground Fault
Three Phase Current Pre&Post Fault
1000
Current [A]

500

0
-500

-1000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Time [sec]
Trip Signal of Circuit Breaker Pre& Post Fault
Trip Signal [A]

-1

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

Time [sec]
Three phase Fault

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 International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science Technology & Engineering, ISSN: 2319-7463
Vol. 3 Issue 2, February-2014, pp: (174-182), Impact Factor: 1.252, Available online at: www.erpublications.com

References

[1]. Michael Thompson, James R. Closson ; Basler Electric “Using IOP characteristics to characteristics totroubleshoot transformer
differential relay misoperation” Presented to International Electrical Testing Association Technical Conference, Kansas City,
March 13 - 16, 2001 (Revised July 2005).
[2]. Zoran Gajić “Differential Protection for Arbitrary Three-Phase Power Transformers) thesis of Doctoral Dissertation, Department
of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation, University of Lund, 2008.
[3]. Daniel Andrew Sen. & Aidil Azwin Zainul Abidin, (Modeling of the Siemens 7UT6 Differential protection Relay) Dept. of
Electrical Engineering; university Tenag Nasional.
[4]. ALSTOM, “Protection and Automation Net Work”, Guide, Alstom T&D Energy Automation and Information, Peter Rush,
Levauios – Perret France 2002.

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