CONCEPT OF DISTANCE

PROTECTION
BY JAYANTA DUTTA
DEPUTY CHIEF ENGINEER
OS & U (SYSTEM) DVC KOLKATA
LIST OF TOPICS

Objective of Distance Protection

Distance Relay Characteristics

Zone Protection Philosophy.

Impedance Computation for different

types of Faults.

Effect of Fault Resistance.

Main 1 and Main II Concept.

OBJECTIVE OF RELAY PROTECTION

 Protect persons and equipment in the

surrounding of the power system.

 Protect apparatus in the power system.

Separate faulty parts from the rest of

the power system to facilitate the
operation of the healthy part of the
system
CLASSIFICATION

Classification of line length depends on:

 Source-to-line Impedance Ratio (SIR),

i.e Ratio of Source Impedance (Zs ) and

Line Impedance (ZL )
 Nominal voltage

Length considerations: ( under Normal and N-

1 contingent situations)
 Short Lines: SIR > 4

 Medium Lines: 0.5 < SIR < 4

 Long Lines: SIR < 0.5

TYPICAL PROTECTION SCHEMES

 Short Lines
 Current differential
 Phase comparison
 Permissive Overreach Transfer Trip (POTT)
 Directional Comparison Blocking (DCB)
TYPICAL PROTECTION SCHEMES

 Medium Lines
 Phase Comparison
 Directional comparison Blocking

 Permissive Under reach transfer scheme.

 Permissive overreach transfer scheme.

 Unblocking

 Step Distance

 Co-ordinated Over current.

 Inverse Time Overcurrent.

 Current Differential
TYPICAL PROTECTION SCHEMES

 Long Lines
 Phase Comparison
 Directional comparison Blocking

 Permissive Under reach transfer scheme.

 Permissive overreach transfer scheme.

 Unblocking

 Step Distance

 Step or Co-ordinated Over current.

 Current Differential.
FAULT TYPES
TRANSIENT FAULTS
 are common on transmission lines,
approximately 80-85%
 lightning's are the most common reason.
 can also be caused by birds, falling trees, Forest
growth, swinging lines, High velocity winds etc.
 will disappear after a short dead interval

PERSISTENT FAULTS
 can be caused by a broken conductor fallen
down
 can be a tree falling on a line.
 must be located and repaired before normal
service
TRANSMISSION LINE
FAULTS FAULT STATISTICS

 Single phase to earth :- 80%

 Two phases to earth:- 10%

 Phase to phase faults :- 5%

 Three phase faults :- 5%

MAIN REQUIREMENTS ON LINE
PROTECTION ARE:
 SPEED

 SENSITIVITY

 SELECTIVITY

 DEPENDABILITY

 SECURITY

 RELIABILITY
MEASURING PRINCIPLES OF DIFFERENT
RELAYS OF TRANSMISSION LINES

Over current protection

Over current & under voltage combination.

Differential protection.

Distance protection
 MEASURING PRINCIPLES OF
DISTANCE PROTECTION

Power lines have impedances
of size 0,3- 0,4 ohm/ km and
normal angles of 80 - 85
degrees in a 50Hz systems.

The Line Impedance has to be

converted to secondary
values with the formulae:-

Zsec=VTsec X CTprim x Zprim

VTprim CTsec
SIMPLE MHO FUNCTION
PHASOR ANALYSIS OF OPERATION OF
SIMPLE MHO FUNCTION
OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS
FIRST ZONE CHARACTERISTICS

Should cover as much as possible of the Protected circuit

and of additional resistance.

In case of Phase to Ground Fault, Followed by Reclosure to
tripping in the Un-faulted Phases.

Fast Operation.

Directional Discrimination.

Reach in Resistive Direction should be large enough to
cover large resistance and to get good dynamic
performance but limited to avoid unwanted tripping in case
of Power Swings, Over reach in additional resistance is
seen with large capacitive reactance, short time
overloading.
OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS

SECOND ZONE CHARACTERISTICS

Extension upwards is decided by impedance of protected

line and setting of zone - I of adjacent lines.

In most cases R-axis reach of zone - II same as zone –I is
satisfactory. If additional resistances are expected which
zone - I is not able to cover then different setting for zone
– II is advantageous.

THIRD ZONE CHARACTERISTICS

This is the widest of zones in which tripping can occur after

longest time delay.

Is required to give remote backup though in many cases it
is impossible to get comprehensive remote back up.
 MHO CHARACTERISTICS
Traditional

Directional angle
“slammed”

Directional
angle lowered
and “slammed”

Both MHO and

directional angles
“slammed” (lens)
LOAD ENCROACHMENT

Pij – jQij= VixI = VixVi/Z

So, Z = Vi2/( Pij – jQij)

= Vi2 (Pij + jQij)/( Pij2 + Qij2

The apparent impedance seen by the
Relay is proportional to square of the
magnitude of bus voltage. If the bus
voltage drops say to 0.9 pu from 1 pu,
then Z reduces to 81% of its value at 1
pu. Again, if the bus voltage drops to
say 0.8 pu, then the apparent
impedance seen by the Relay will drop
to 64% of its value at 1 pu.

The apparent impedance seen by the
Relay is inversely proportional to the
apparent power flowing on the line. If
the apparent power doubles up, the
impedance seen by relay will reduce by
50%.
Load Encroachment Characteristic

The load encroachment element responds to positive

sequence voltage and current and can be used to
block phase distance and phase overcurrent
elements.
BLINDERS

Blinders limit the operation of distance relays
(quad or mho) to a narrow region that
parallels and encompasses the protected line

Applied to long transmission lines, where
mho settings are large enough to pick up on
maximum load or minor system swings
LOAD SWINGS

+XL

+ = LOOKING INTO LINE

normally considered
forward

Load
Trajectory
Operate No Operate area
area
Typical load characteristic
impedance

+R
Load Swings

“Lenticular”
Characteristic

Load swing
QUADRILATERAL CHARACTERISTICS
 DISTANCE CHARACTERISTICS - SUMMARY

Circular Characteristics

Low measured reactance

Ratio between fault resistance jx
and reactance is high.
Quad. Char.

Distance protection with mho
characteristic can not see average
fault resistance.
Quadrilateral characteristic Cir.

Quadrilateral characteristic Char
improves sensitivity for higher Rf .
RF/XF ratio. Improves sensitivity
Xf R
for Higher Resistive Faults

Tele metering schemes improve
the total system behaviour.
Quadrilateral Characteristics

Ground Resistance
(Conductor falls on ground)

R Resultant impedance outside of

the mho operating region
Distance Characteristics -
Summary

Mho
Lenticular Quadrilateral

JX JX JX

R R R
Better coverage for
Used for phase elements ground faults due
Standard for phase with long heavily loaded
elements to resistance added
lines heavily loaded to return path
DISTANCE ELEMENT POLARIZATION
The following polarization quantities are
commonly used in distance relays for
determining directionality:

Self-polarized

Memory voltage

Positive sequence voltage

Quadrature voltage

Leading phase voltage

MEMORY POLARIZATION

Positive-sequence memorized voltage is used for
polarizing:

Mho comparator (dynamic, expanding Mho)

Negative-sequence directional comparator

(Ground Distance Mho and Quad)

Zero-sequence directional comparator (Ground

Distance MHO and QUAD)

Directional comparator (Phase Distance MHO

and QUAD)

Memory duration is a common distance settings
(all zones, phase and ground, MHO and QUAD)
STEP DISTANCE SCHEME

Local
Z1
Breaker
Tripped

Fault

Breaker
Closed Z1
Remote
STEP DISTANCE SCHEME
Local
Z2 (time delayed)

Z1

Z1

Z2 (time delayed)

Remote
STEP DISTANCE SCHEME …

Z3 (remote backup)

Z2 (time delayed)

Z1
PRINCIPLE OF DISTANCE PROTECTION
DISTANCE RELAY COORDINATION Over Lap
Local Relay – Z2

Remote Relay – Z4

Local Relay Remote Relay

Zone 2 PKP Zone 4 PKP
Need For Pilot Aided Schemes

Local Remote Relay

Relay

Communication
Channel
PILOT COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS

Distance-based pilot schemes traditionally
utilize simple on/off communications
between relays.

Typical communications media include:

Pilot-wire

Power line carrier

Microwave

Radio

Optic fiber (directly connected or

multiplexed channels)
Pilot-Aided Distance-Based Schemes

 DUTT – Direct Under-reaching

Transfer Trip
 PUTT – Permissive Under-reaching
Transfer Trip
 POTT – Permissive Over-reaching
Transfer Trip
DCB – Directional Comparison
Blocking Scheme
POWER LINE CARRIER
COMMUNICATION

Used for speech Tele metering
and Protection Tripping.

COMPONENTS

PLCC Terminal :- Translates voice
and data into High Frequency
Carrier. Fr. Range 50 – 500kHz.

Line Matching Unit :- For Impedance
matching of Line and Coaxial Cable.
It has impedance matching
Transformer with High Voltage
Protection.

Coupling Capacitor :- Couples High
Frequency Carrier with Power Line.
(4000 – 10000pF)

Line Trap :- Do not allow High
Frequency Carrier to enter into sub-
station.(L = 0.5 to 2mH)
DIRECT UNDERREACHING TRANSFER
TRIP (DUTT)

Requires only under reaching (RU) functions which
overlap in reach (Zone 1).

GUARD frequency transmitted during normal
conditions

TRIP frequency when one RU function operates

Scheme does not provide tripping for faults beyond

RU reach if remote breaker is open or channel is
inoperative.

Dual pilot channels improve security

Bus First Zone Bus

LINE

First Zone
PERMISSIVE UNDERREACHING
TRANSFER TRIP (PUTT)

Requires both under (RU) and overreaching (RO)
functions

Identical to DUTT, with pilot tripping signal
supervised by RO (Zone 2)
Second Zone
Bus First Zone Bus
LINE

First Zone

Second Zone

Rx
&
Zone 2
OR Local Trip
Zone 1
PERMISSIVE OVERREACHING TRANSFER
TRIP (POTT)

Requires overreaching (RO) functions (Zone 2).

GUARD frequency sent in stand-by

TRIP frequency when one RO function operates

No trip for external faults if pilot channel is inoperative

Time-delayed tripping can be provided

Bus First Zone Bus

LINE

First Zone
Second Zone

Z1 Tx
z1
Z1 Rx & OR Trip Line
Breakers
z2 t 0
POTT Scheme

POTT – Permissive Over-

Over-reaching Transfer
Trip
End
Zone

Communication
Channel
POTT Scheme
Local Relay
FWD IGND Remote
Relay FWD
Local Relay – Z2 IGND

Remote Relay – Z2

Communication
TRIP Channel

POTT RX POTT TX

Local Relay ZONE 2 PKP Remote Relay

ZONE 2 PKP
OR
OR
Ground Dir OC Fwd Ground Dir OC Fwd
DIRECTIONAL COMPARISON BLOCKING
(DCB)

Requires overreaching (RO) tripping and blocking
(B) functions

ON/OFF pilot channel typically used (i.e., PLC)

Transmitter is keyed to ON state when blocking
function(s) operate

Receipt of signal from remote end blocks
tripping relays

Tripping function set with Zone 2 reach or greater

Blocking functions include Zone 3 reverse and low-
set ground overcurrent elements
Second Zone
Bus First Zone Bus
LINE

First Zone

Second Zone
Directional Comparison Blocking (DCB)

End Zone

Communication Channel
Directional Comparison Blocking
(DCB)
Internal Faults Local Relay – Z2

FWD IGND

TRIP
TRIP Timer
Start
Expired
Zone 2 PKP
NO Dir Block RX
OR
Local Relay GND DIR OC Fwd Remote Relay
Directional Comparison Blocking
(DCB)
External Faults Local Relay – Z2

FWD IGND
Remote Relay – Z4

TRIP Timer
REV IGND
Start No TRIP
Dir Block RX DIR BLOCK TX
Local Relay Remote Relay
Zone 2 PKP Communication Zone 4 PKP
Channel
OR OR

GND DIR OC Fwd GND DIR OC Rev

DIFFERENT ZONES FOR TRANSMISSION LINE
Sl. Protected Line Time Settings (in
Zone Direction Remarks
No. Reach Settings Seconds)
1 Zone-1 Forward 80% Instantaneous As per CEA
For single ckt- 120 % 0.5 to 0.6 - if Z2 As per
of the protected line reach overreaches CEA
2a Zone-2 Forward the 50% of the
For double ckt- 150 % As per
shortest line ; 0.35-
of the protected line CEA
otherwise
Zone-2
(for 220 kV 120 % of the protected
and below line, or 100% of the As per CEA
2b voltage Forward protected line + 50% 0.35 with minor
Transmission of the adjacent changes
lines of shortest line
utilities)
120 % of the
As per
3 Zone-3 Forward (Protected line + 0.8 - 1.0
CEA
Next longest line)
10%- for long lines (for
line length of 100 km
and above) 20%- for 0.5 As per
4 Zone-4 Reverse
shot lines (for line CEA
length of less than 100
km)
DIRECT TRIP SCHEME AT 400KV

It is required to trip other end breakers
without any checking of the status at other
end during the following conditions.
Operation of Over Voltage Protection.



Operation of Bus Bar Protection with Tie Breaker
OFF.

Manual Tripping of both the breakers (Main and
Tie) for one and Half Breaker Scheme.

Operation of LBB.

On receipt of command through PLCC at other end,
the breaker will trip directly.
OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION FOR 400KV

It will have 2 stages

FIRST STAGE

Setting :- 110% voltage.
Time delay of 5 Secs

• SECOND STAGE

Setting:- 140% voltage
Time Delay:- Instantaneous
DIRECTIONAL E/F PROTECTION

It provides Back-Up protection to the

transmission Lines.

It provides reliable protection for High

Resistance Earth Faults.

It uses the calculated 3V0 voltage for

necessary calculations.
SWITCH ON TO FAULT PROTECTION.

This Feature provides protection against

energisation of Transmission Line with Fault
or Dead Short.

Distance protection will not be able to
provide reliable protection as voltage has
just been impressed in the relay.

It can be activated through TNC switch or CB
auxiliary contact as Binary Input and internal
detection of Current Rise.

It provides Instantaneous 3-Phase Trip and
Blocks Auto Reclosure.
POWER SWING BLOCKING

Power Swings are disturbances in
the system due to various reasons
like sudden load through, Bad
synchronization etc.

Power Swings are characterized by
slow power flow oscillations
resulting in swinging of voltage and
currents, resulting in operating
point movement in distance relay
characteristics, in turn causing
tripping through distance relay.

Tripping during power swings are
undesirable since no actual fault is
present and moreover line outage
during power swing may cause
further deterioration to system
stability.

Power Swing detection will block
Zone2,3,4 operation. Normally
zone 1 tripping is not blocked
during power swing.
FUSE FAILURE PROTECTION

This function is based on condition

3uo > 20 % of un / √3 and 3io < 20 % of in

It is be selected to block protection and give alarm

or just to give alarm. Non-Directional Protection
automatically comes to service

Fuse fail supervision is blocked for 200ms following

line energisation in order not to operate for unequal
pole closing and also during auto reclosing.

MCB can also be used.

AUTO RECLOSURE

GENERAL

The auto-reclosing of power lines has become a
generally accepted practice.

Reports from different parts of the world show
that in certain networks in region subject to a
high lightening intensity only about 5% of the
faults are permanent.

Auto reclosing therefore provides significant
advantages.

Outage times will be short compared to where
station personnel have to re-energize the lines
after a fault.

In interconnected networks auto-reclosing helps
in maintaining system stability.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SETTING CRITERION
FOR PROVISION OF AUTO RECLOSURE

RECOMMENDATIONS
Presently 1 phase high speed auto-reclosure (HSAR) at
400kV and 220kV level is widely practiced including on
lines emanating from Generating Stations and the same
is recommended for adoption.

If 3-phase auto-reclosure is adopted in 132KV system
excluding the lines emanating from Generating Stations.

Setting Criterion

DEAD TIME

Auto- reclosing requires a dead time which exceeds the de-
ionising time.

Time required for the de-ionising of the fault path depends
on:- arcing time, fault duration, wind conditions, circuit
voltage, capacitive coupling to adjacent conductors, etc.

Single phase dead time of 1.0 sec is recommended for both
400kV and 220kV system.
SETTING CRITERION FOR PROVISION OF AUTO
RECLOSURE

Setting Criterion

RECLAIM TIME

The time during which a new start of the auto-reclosing equipment
is blocked.

If reclosing shot has been carried out and the line is energized and
a new fault occurs before the reclaim time has elapsed, the auto-
reclosing equipment is blocked and a signal for definite tripping of
the breaker is obtained.

After the reclaim time has elapsed, the auto-reclosing equipment
returns to the starting position and a new reclosing sequence can
occur.

The reclaim time must not be set to such a low value that the
intended operating cycle of the breaker is exceeded, when two
faults incidents occur close together.

If the breaker is closed manually, the auto reclosing equipment is
blocked and cannot start again until the reclaim time has elapsed

For the breaker to be used for auto-reclosing, it is essential that it
has the operating mechanism and breaking capacity necessary for it
to be able to perform the auto-reclosing sequences required
CIRCUIT BREAKER REQUIREMENT

According to IEC Publication 56.2, a breaker

must be capable of withstanding the following
operating cycle with full rated breaking current:-

O + 0.3 s + CO + 3 min + CO

Reclaim time of 25 sec is recommended for both

400KV and 220KV system.
LOCAL BREAKER BACKUP PROTECTION

It is basically a secondary protection.

It provides backup isolation during Failure of Breaker.

It opens source to that breaker (i.e other end

breakers, Bus Bars etc.)

It will be triggered by operation of any primary

protection ( like distance, DEF, Bus – Bar etc.) and
completion of its operation time. Operation of Lockout
and presence of Current in the LBB relay initiates this
protection and generates a trip signal after 200mSecs.

It sends direct trip command to other end.

BUS BAR PROTECTION

Bus bar Differential
protection scheme operates
in simple Current differential
Manner in Bus Bar.

Here, bus section A or zone A
is bounded by CT1, CT2 and
CT3 where CT1 and CT2 are
feeder CTs and CT3 is Bus Tie
CT.

Similarly bus section B or
zone B is bounded by CT4,
CT5 and CT6 where CT4 is Bus
Tie CT, CT5 and CT6 are
feeder CT.

Therefore, zone A and B are
overlapped to ensure that,
there is no zone left behind
this bus bar protection
scheme.
REQUIRMENTS OF BUS BAR PROTECTION

Must have short

tripping time as
possible.

Must be able to detect
Internal Faults
(sensitivity).

Must be able to detect
and trip only faulty
part of the Bus Bar
System.( selectivity).

Must be secure
against mal operation
due to auxiliary
Contact Failure.