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Generator Earth Protection

The document outlines generator earth fault protection, categorizing faults based on location and detection methods across three zones: stator winding, near the neutral point, and rotor circuit. It emphasizes the importance of sensitive protection schemes while noting that other protective measures remain active even if certain protections are disabled. An example of a 210 MW thermal unit illustrates the implementation of various protective schemes to ensure safety without nuisance tripping.

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Nimesh
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35 views2 pages

Generator Earth Protection

The document outlines generator earth fault protection, categorizing faults based on location and detection methods across three zones: stator winding, near the neutral point, and rotor circuit. It emphasizes the importance of sensitive protection schemes while noting that other protective measures remain active even if certain protections are disabled. An example of a 210 MW thermal unit illustrates the implementation of various protective schemes to ensure safety without nuisance tripping.

Uploaded by

Nimesh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

5 Generator Earth Fault Protection

Generator protection, earth faults are categorized based on their


location and detection method

1. The first zone covers approximately 0–95% of the stator winding, extending from the
neutral point towards the phase end. Faults in this zone are typically detected using
stator earth fault protection (64G or 64S), which monitors voltage or current across
the Neutral Grounding Resistor (NGR).

2. The second zone involves the last 5% of the winding near the neutral point, where
fault currents are extremely low and difficult to detect using conventional methods.
For this zone, a third harmonic differential protection scheme (64R) is employed,
which relies on the presence and behaviour of third harmonic voltages near the
neutral.

3. The third zone pertains to the rotor circuit, specifically the DC excitation system.
Faults in the rotor field winding are detected using rotor earth fault protection (64F).
Since the rotor circuit is isolated and operates on DC, specialized techniques are
required to identify insulation failures or ground faults.

If the sensitive protection isn’t implemented, some operators disable or bypass


simple earth fault protection to prevent nuisance trips

Other Protections That Remain Active (and Essential)

Even when earth fault protection is disabled or limited, other generator protections
remain active to ensure safety:

Protection ANSI
Function Purpose
Code

87G Differential protection Detects internal phase faults

51/50 Overcurrent Backup fault detection

Er. Arul Prakash Sr. Engineer-Power System


6 Generator Earth Fault Protection

Protection ANSI
Function Purpose
Code

Sensitive earth fault (if


59N / 64S Detects low current earth faults
equipped)

32R Reverse power Prevents motoring

40 Loss of excitation Detects field failure

Protects magnetic core from


24 Overexcitation (V/Hz)
saturation

Detects unbalance or phase


46 / 47 Negative / Phase sequence
reversal

81O / 81U Over/Under frequency System stability and protection

59 / 27 Over/Under voltage Grid and machine safety

49 Thermal overload Monitors winding heating

50/51V Voltage-restrained overcurrent Helps detect system-side faults

So even if 64G is disabled, the generator is not unprotected — it’s simply relying on
more reliable and selective schemes.

Example – 210 MW Thermal Unit

• Neutral grounded via NGR (10 A limit).

• Basic earth fault relay disabled (51G).

• Equipped with Third Harmonic Neutral Voltage Protection (64R) → covers 95–
100% of winding.

• Differential protection (87G) covers phase-to-phase and internal faults.

• Reverse power, loss of excitation, and overexcitation are all active.

This combination ensures full protection without nuisance tripping.

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿, a 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

T𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 on large generators, earth fault protection 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱, it’s
replaced by 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 that understand the system’s
grounding limits.

Er. Arul Prakash Sr. Engineer-Power System

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