Generator Stator Protection

Johnny Simms (Basler Electric Company), Suparat Pavavicharn (Basler Electric Company) I. Introduction

When considering protection for the generator stator, the engineer must balance the expense of applying a particular relay or relay system against the consequences of losing a generator. The total loss of a generator may not be catastrophic if it represents a small percentage of the investment in an installation. However, the impact on service reliability and the upset to loads supplied also must be considered. Damage to and loss of production in continuous processes can represent the dominating concern rather than the generator unit. Accordingly, there is no standard solution based on the MW rating. However, it is expected that a 500 kW, 480V standby reciprocating engine will have less protection than a 400 MW base load steam turbine unit. One possible common dividing point is that the extra CTs needed for current differential protection are less commonly seen on generators less than 2 MVA, less than 600V or those never paralleled to other generation sources. Modern multi-function digital relays have many relay functions built into a single low cost relay. Today, small to mid-size generators can now cost effectively and reliably be protected with more functions that previously were not utilized because they were considered cost prohibitive. II. Synchronous Generator Principles

The term synchronous refers to the fact that this type of machine rotates at a speed that is proportional to the system frequency. Thus the simplified two pole single phase synchronous generator shown in Figure 1 must run at 3600 revolutions per minute (RPM) to produce 60 Hz. That is: 60 cycles/second * 60 seconds/minute = 3600 RPM.

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Armature Magnetic flux Winding slot

Field Windings Rotor Shaft Winding insulation Winding slot

Armature Winding N Turn Coil

Magnetic flux

Fig. 1 Simplified Sketch of a Synchronous Generator

The operation of a synchronous generator is based on Faradays law of electromagnetic induction. The generator converts mechanical energy, called the prime mover, such as steam (coal, natural gas, nuclear, etc.), falling water (hydroelectric plant) or fuel (gas, propane or diesel) for a reciprocating engine into electrical energy. In rotating machinery, the term armature refers to the part of the machine an alternating voltage is generated. This voltage is generated as the result of motion between the armature winding and a magnetic flux which cuts through the armature windings. In a synchronous generator, the armature winding is on the stator (nonrotating part of machine) and the field winding is on the rotor (rotating part of machine). See Figure 1 which illustrates a cross section of a single phase generator. The speed of the rotor is held constant by a speed regulator called a governor which controls how much steam, water or fuel is utilized to turn the rotor. The governor acts like an automobile gas pedal for the generator by regulating the speed of rotation until the unit is tied to the electric grid. When the generator is tied to the electric grid, the generator speed (frequency) is held constant by the interaction of the field flux with the stator flux. This is similar to driving your car on the interstate highway system. The gas pedal (governor) is utilized to accelerate the car up to speed but then once the car is merged (synchronized with the system) the speed of the car is regulated by the speed of the surrounding cars (system frequency). After merging with the traffic, further pressing of the gas pedal (increase governor setting) is utilized to add additional power (picking up load) to climb hills. When the generator is connected to the power grid (automobile is merged into traffic), the rotor magnetic field (flow of traffic) holds the generator in synchronism with the power system (traffic on highway) and the governor (gas pedal) is used to pick up load or drop off load carried by the generator.

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The field is excited by direct current that is conducted through carbon brushes which slide on slip (or collector) rings. Figure 2 shows a three phase generator commutator. The DC source is called the exciter. The exciter may be mounted on the same shaft as the synchronous machines rotor. Various excitation systems with AC exciters and solid state rectifiers are used with large turbine generators. Some advantages of these static exciter systems include the elimination of the cooling and maintenance problems associated with slip rings, commutators, and brushes. The pole faces on the rotor are shaped so that the distribution of the flux in the air gap between the rotor and the stator produces an approximately sinusoidal induced voltage.

Fig. 2 Three-Phase Generator Commutator [1]

The armature winding includes many coils. Four coils are shown in the cross section of a single phase simplified generator shown in Figure 1 with current shown going in the left side of the drawing and out the right side of the drawing. There are winding slots machined into the edge of the stator face running parallel to the shaft of the generator in which the winding conductors are placed. A. Generator thermal protection Many generators also have Resistance Thermal Detectors (RTDs) placed in some of the slots to measure the temperature of the stator. These RTDs temperature measurements are utilized for thermal protection as part of the overall generator protection system. B. Potential generator faults in relation to generator design Some other potential protection issues can be visualized using Figure 1. The space between a winding and the stator iron only has one layer of insulation separation. The space between one winding and another winding has two layers of insulation separating them. Therefore, the thickness of two layers of insulation must break down to create a turn-to-turn or phase-to-phase fault. Only one layer of insulation needs to break down to
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create a phase-to-ground fault. This makes it much more likely that generator faults due to insulation breakdown will be phase-to-ground rather than the phase-to-phase or turnto-turn. Phase-to-phase or turn-to-turn faults almost always involve some kind of mechanical failure such as a screw or other piece of material becoming loose inside of the generator and tearing the insulation. C. Generator design produces third-harmonic voltages To generate power, the rotor is connected to a mechanical power source such as a steam turbine or a hydroelectric water turbine. The rotor is turned by this mechanical power source at a constant speed. As a result, the flux running through the rotor sweeps by the stator coils inducing a voltage in them. This induced voltage is sinusoidal and special design considerations are utilized to try to make the resultant voltage as clean and free of harmonic content as possible. However, it is impossible to place all the conductors in exactly the same place so, by necessity, the coil conductors are placed side-by-side. This spreading of the location of the coils causes some third harmonic and a small amount of other odd harmonic content in the voltage waveform. See Figure 3. Notice how the third harmonic content causes the sine wave to be flat at the top and bottom. This third harmonic content can be utilized for a more complete protection scheme for faults that occur near the neutral grounded end of the winding. This will be discussed more thoroughly in the protection section of this paper.

1.2 0.8 0.4 0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2

1.2 0.8 0.4 0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2

Fig. 3 Sinusoidal Waveform with and without Harmonic Distortion

D. Frequency The frequency of the induced voltage in cycles per second is the same as the rotor speed in revolutions per second. The rotor speed is controlled by the governor until the machine is synchronized to the system. After synchronization the speed is controlled by the rotor flux locking in to follow the connected system. Many synchronous generators have more than two poles. The frequency and speed of a machine with P (number of poles) can be calculated using the following formula.

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f = (P * N) / 120

or

N =( f * 120) / P

(1)

f = frequency in cycles per second (Hz) P = number of poles N = speed of the machine in RPM So a six pole rotor would rotate at N = (60Hz * 120) / 6 = 1200 RPM Generators, like the one shown in Figure 1, have salient (stick out) poles. There is another type of rotor shown in Figure 2 called a cylindrical rotor. The decision to utilize a salient pole or a cylindrical rotor is made because of the attributes of the prime mover. For a hydroelectric water wheel, a salient pole rotor is usually chosen. Hydro turbines run most efficiently at a relatively slow speed so a larger number of poles are required to achieve 60 Hz as indicated by Equation 1. Steam and gas turbines operate most efficiently at high speed so two or four pole cylindrical rotors are utilized to achieve the desired frequency. See Figure 4. Most of these cylindrical rotors are made of solid steel forgings making them very strong and able to withstand the large forces created from being rotated rapidly. The protruding parts of a salient pole rotor can produce dangerous mechanical stresses when operated at high speeds.
Armature

Magnetic flux Winding slots Armature Winding N Turn Coil

Rotor

Fig. 4 Simplified Sketch of a Synchronous Generator with a Cylindrical Rotor

The two simplified generators shown in Figures 1 and 4 are single phase generators. Modern synchronous generators are three phase machines. It can be shown mathematically that the distribution of three phase power is the most efficient manner of power delivery. There are three stator coils in a three phase generator. The stator coils are placed 120 degrees apart as shown in the simplified cross section drawing of a three phase generator with a two pole rotor shown in Figure 5.

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- B phase

A phase

C phase

-C phase

-A phase

B phase

Fig. 5 Simplified Sketch of a Synchronous Three Phase Generator with a Two Pole Rotor

E. Generator winding configurations Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9 represent the generator stator windings commonly used today. Most generators are Y connected with the neutral tied to ground. Small generators may have the neutral tied solidly to ground, but most modern generators are connected to ground through some kind of neutral current limiting resistor. Figure 6 represents a three phase generator with one stator winding and two bushings per phase. The end of each winding is brought out of the generator through a bushing. Thus, the generator has six bushings. Each bushing can have up to three CTs in the bushing. The CTs are utilized for protection and metering. Generators from 25 kVA or less up to mid-size generators of a few hundred megawatts may be configured like this.

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C c

A a

B b

Fig.6 Three Phase Generator One Circuit Six Bushings Direct Resistance Grounding

Figure 7 represents a three phase generator with two stator windings and two bushings per phase. This drawing shows only two windings per phase, but some generators might have up to six windings per phase. The leads of each winding are then tied together in parallel and brought out through a bushing for each side of the generator winding. Generators from midsize up to fairly large generators may be configured this way.
C c

A a

B b
Fig.7 Three Phase Generator Two Generator Circuits Per Phase Six Bushings Resistance Grounding Through a Distribution Transformer

Figure 8 represents a three phase generator with two stator windings and four bushings per phase. Very large generators may be configured in this manner with multiple bushings because tying the leads together and carrying the current out through one bushing may be over the current carrying capacity of one bushing.
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C2 C1 c1 c2

a1 A1 A2 a2

b1 b2 B1 B2
Fig.8 Three Phase Generator Two Generator Circuits Per Phase Twelve Bushings Reactance Grounding

Figure 9 represents a three phase delta connected generators. Typically, delta connected generators are not utilized in a modern power system.
A

C
Fig. 9 Three Phase Generator Delta Connection Three Bushings

III.

Generator Grounding

Most Y connected synchronous generators are grounded through some type of grounding configuration. The most common types of grounding are:

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1) Low-impedance, direct grounding or solid grounding 2) Medium- impedance grounding 3) High-impedance grounding A low-impedance grounded generator is a generator that has zero or minimal impedance applied at the wye neutral point so that during a ground fault at the generator high voltage terminals, ground current from the generator is approximately equal to the three-phase fault current. A medium-impedance grounded generator is a generator that has a substantial impedance applied at the wye neutral point so that, during a ground fault at the generator high voltage terminals, a reduced but readily detectable level of ground current, typically 100-500 amps, flows. A high-impedance grounded generator is a generator with a large grounding impedance so that during a ground fault, a nearly undetectable level of fault current flows, making ground fault monitoring with voltage-based (e.g., third harmonic voltage monitoring and fundamental frequency neutral-voltage-shift monitoring) protection necessary. Providing a grounding system for a generator accomplishes several things. 1) Provides a means for detecting a ground fault inside of the generator windings. 2) Can limit damage to the generator from an internal ground fault while at the same time providing a mean to detect the fault 3) Can limit mechanical stresses on the machine from ground faults external to the generator. 4) Limits transient voltages from faults external to the generator. The location of a ground fault in the generator winding as well as the grounding impedance will determine the amount of phase-to-ground fault current. Figure 10 shows a generator winding with distributed inductive reactance and distributed induced voltage. The pre-fault line-to-ground voltage at a particular spot on the generator winding is proportional to the percent of the winding between the generator fault and the generator neutral. So a ground fault that is 10% from the neutral produces 10% of the current of a fault at the generator terminal. A ground fault near the neutral of the generator produces no current. The insulation stress also drops near the neutral reducing the probability of a damaging fault near the neutral. The insulation stress increases to maximum near the generator terminals. This linear relationship assumes that the Z0 source and Zn are much greater than Zwinding. If the generator grounding impedance is low relative to the generator winding impedance and/or the system ground impedance is low, then the fault current decay will be non-linear.

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Generator winding Grounded External Source

Generator terminal Vfault I1 I2

67N Zn Internal Generator fault to ground

87G

51N

87GN

Fig. 10 Generator Winding Showing Distributed Inductive Reactance and Induced Voltage

IV.

Generator Stator Protection

A basic requirement for any AC generator is protection against stator phase and ground faults. Generator stator phase faults, stator ground faults, turn-to-turn or interturn faults, and rotor ground faults are considered faults associated with some types of generator electrical failures. Ground fault protection in the generator field circuit, also known as rotor ground faults, is normally provided with the generators excitation system. However, a separate device can be used to detect this condition and remove the rotor ground fault before it results in serious damage. The discussion of rotor ground faults is omitted in this paper as the focus is on generator stator protection. Although a stator phase fault seldom occurs, it is a serious fault because of the high current encountered and potential damage to the windings, shaft, and couplings. Highspeed phase differential (87) relaying is normally used for fault protection of generator stator windings. It detects three-phase, phase-to-phase, and double phase-to-ground faults and quickly separates the generator from the utility system and removes the machine field and prime mover in a timely manner, thus minimizes damage. Normally, a single phase-to-ground fault is not detected by differential relaying unless a generator neutral is either solidly or low- to medium-impedance (resistance) grounded.

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A. Generator Stator Phase Fault Protection A serious fault, such as a phase fault in a generator stator winding, can be detected and quickly removed by the use of phase differential (87) relaying. The 87 relay responds to both the generator and external contributions of a generator fault. Because of the differential connection, the relay is immune to operation because of generator load flow or external faults, except for transient CT saturation effects, and can provide sensitive, high-speed protection. While the CTs must be of the same ratio, they do not need to be matched in performance. However, the minimum pickup of the relay must be raised as the degree of performance mismatch increases. Typically, the methods used in differential relaying for stator phase fault detection are percentage differential, high-impedance differential, and flux balance differential. 1. Percentage differential relay The percentage differential method is mostly used in medium and large generators. This method provides fast and highly sensitive primary protection for stator phase faults within the zone of protection. The 87 relay is connected to two sets of CTs, one on the neutral side and the other on the line side. See Figure 11. The differential CTs should have the same ratio and should be of the same type and manufacturer to minimize mismatch errors for external faults. The 87 relays consist of restraint windings (connected to the CTs) and operating windings. The restraint currents bias the operating currents while the operating currents operate the relay. The percentage characteristic is the ratio of operating current to restraint current (slope) required to operate the relay. The slope may be variable, fixed or dual.

Fig. 11 Percentage Differential Method [2]

2. High-impedance differential relay This relay is actually a voltage relay and responds to high voltage impressed across its coil caused by the CTs trying to force current through the operating winding during an internal fault [2]. The setting is based on the perfect performance of one input CT and the complete saturation of the others [2]. These relay should be supplied from
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identical CTs with fully distributed secondary windings and have negligible leakage reactance [2]. This protection method is widely used in bus differential protection. See Figure 12.

Fig. 12 High-Impedance Differential Method [3]

3. Flux-balance differential relay This method is usually used to detect phase and ground faults on small generators due to the limitation of passing two leads through the opening of the CT. It uses a single, low ratio CT per phase and an instantaneous overcurrent (50) relay connected to the CT secondary as shown in Figure 13. The current entering and leaving the winding should be equal. CT saturation during internal faults is possible with this method. For this reason, the relay should have as low a burden as possible to maintain high sensitivity and to minimize the possibility of CT saturation.

Fig. 13 Percentage Differential Method [2]

B. Turn-to-turn fault protection Phase differential relaying (87) does not detect turn-to-turn faults. Therefore, the splitphase relaying method can be used to detect this condition. This method requires the
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stator windings be split into two equal groups and the currents of each group are compared. See Figure 14. This method usually utilizes a time overcurrent (51) or instantaneous overcurrent (50) relays for each phase to detect the unbalanced current. The relays should generally be set above any normal unbalanced current but below the unbalance caused by a single-turn fault. The minimum pickup of the time overcurrent (51) element should be set to 1.5 times the maximum split-phase current. The time delay should be set to prevent operation on CT transient error currents during external faults. The instantaneous overcurrent (50) pickup should be set approximately at seven times the minimum pickup of the time overcurrent (51).

Fig. 14 Split-Phase Relaying [3]

In instances where stator winding configurations do not allow the application of splitphase protection, a neutral overvoltage (59N) can be used to detect a turn-to-turn fault by using three VTs connected in wye on the primary side and the primary ground lead tied to the generator neutral. The secondary is connected in broken delta with an overvoltage relay connected across the open end to measure 3V0 as shown in Figure 15.

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Fig. 15 Turn-To-Turn Fault Protection [3]

With the primary ground lead tied to the generator neutral, the 59N is insensitive to stator ground faults but will operate for turn-to-turn faults which increase the 3V0 voltage above low normal levels. The 59N is tuned to fundamental frequency (60Hz) voltage. The cable from the neutral of the VT to the generator neutral must be insulated for the system line-to-ground voltage. C. Generator stator ground fault protection The generator grounding systems, as mentioned in Section III Generator Grounding, determine the protection method for generators. The protection methods that are designed to detect three-phase or phase-to-phase fault cannot be used to provide ground faults protection for generators. As mentioned in Section III, the generator grounding systems and their protection methods are discussed here. 1. High-impedance stator grounding Figure 16 shows a generator with high impedance grounding. The grounding resistor and voltage relays are connected to the secondary of a distribution transformer. The resistance is selected so that the reflected primary impedance is equal to one-third of the single phase line-to-ground capacitive reactance of the generator + bus + step-up transformer + feeder cables. The size of impedance will limit line-ground fault current for a generator terminal fault to 5-10A primary current. This high-impedance grounding accomplishes several things.
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I. II.

III.

It prevents the voltages on the non-faulted phases from increasing dramatically. The low current level keeps the line-to--ground fault damage to a minimum. The iron will likely not need to be restacked while repairing the generator from this kind of fault. Because of the low current level, the 87G relay will not operate for phase-toground faults.
Generator winding Grounded External Source Vfault I1 I2 Generator terminal

Internal Generator fault to ground Corner ground

51GN

87G

59P

59N

273N

Fig. 16 Generator Winding Showing Distributed Inductive Reactance and Induced Voltage with High-Impedance Grounding

With high impedance grounding, a phase-to-ground fault on one phase will cause a neutral-to-ground shift. This shift will raise the phase-to-ground voltages on the nonfaulted phases to about 173% of normal. Also, the neutral-to-ground voltage will rise to normal line-to-ground voltage levels. This voltage change will be seen across the distribution transformer and picked up by the 59N relay. But, as with current, the closer the fault location is to the generator neutral, the less voltage will be seen across the 59N relay. The 59N can be set to see about 95% of the generator winding without false trips occurring. The 59N should only respond to fundamental frequency.
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The last 5% to 10% of a generator winding can be protected by taking advantage of the 1% to 5% of fundamental third-harmonic voltage induced in the stator winding. This third-harmonic voltage is due to the winding coils not being placed in exactly the same location, thus slightly distorting the voltage sine wave. This was discussed earlier in Section II Synchronous Generator Principles. See Figure 3. The third-harmonic induced voltages produce a continuous third-harmonic current in the generator. Because it is a triplen harmonic, the entire third-harmonic current flows through the generator neutral. A phase-to-ground fault at the generator neutral effectively shorts out this normally flowing third-harmonic current so that it is no longer seen as a voltage impressed across the grounding distribution transformer. A 27-3N relay is used on the low side of the distribution transformer to sense this third-harmonic voltage. When there is a line-toground fault near the neutral point, the 27-3N relay drops out. It is important that the 273N relay have a high rejection of fundamental frequency voltage. The level of thirdharmonic is dependent on generator design and can be very low in some generators. A 2/3 pitch generator will have a noticeably reduced third-harmonic voltage level. The 273N relay is also utilized to ensure the integrity of the grounding system. If the grounding system becomes shorted or open, then the 27-3N relay will drop out. The 59P phase overvoltage relay in Figure 16 supervises the 27-3N relay. This allows the 86 lockout relay to be reset when the generator is out of service; otherwise, the field could not be applied. Once the field is applied and the 59P operates, the 27-3N protection is enabled. The 59P relay should be set for about 90% of rated voltage. Use of the 59P relay allows the 27-3N to provide protection prior to synchronization, after the field is applied. In summary, to provide 100% stator ground fault protection in high-impedance grounded generators, a neutral unbalance overvoltage element (59N) used in conjunction with a third-harmonic neutral undervoltage element (27-3rd or 27-3N) is the proven method for providing this protection. The 59N element is designed to operate on voltages of fundamental frequency (60Hz) while the 27-3N element is designed for operation on the third-harmonic voltage (180Hz) component present at the terminals of nearly every generator to varying degrees and occurs due to the nonsinusoidal nature of rotor flux. The magnitude varies based on differences in design and manufacture. As a result, stator ground faults from the machine terminals to about 90% of the stator winding are reliably detected by the 59N element. In the last 10% of the stator winding, ground faults are reliably detected upon loss of the third-harmonic voltage by the 273N undervoltage element. The 27-3N must be blocked to avoid false tripping during the generators startup or shutdown. Phase over and undervoltage elements (27/59P) or frequency (81) elements can be used to supervise the operation of the 27-3N.

1) Suggested settings for the 59N and 27-3N relays In order to provide 100% stator winding coverage, the undervoltage (27-3N) and overvoltage (59N) settings should overlap. For example, if a phase ground fault at the
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generator terminal produces 240V at 60Hz across the neutral voltage relay (59N), then a 10V pickup setting would allow all but the last ((10/240)*100 = 4.16%) of the winding to be covered by the overvoltage function. If a 20V third-harmonic voltage is developed across the 27-3N relay during normal operation of the generator, a 1V third-harmonic dropout setting would provide dropout for a fault up to ((1/20)*100 = 5%) from the neutral. Setting the 59N pickup or the 27N dropout too low may result in misoperation of the ground detection protection system. The third-harmonic dropout level may be the most difficult to properly set. The amount of third-harmonic generated by a particular generator is dependent on machine design and generator excitation and load levels. It may be advisable to measure thirdharmonic voltage levels across the generator neutral resistor during unloaded and loaded generator operation prior to selecting the 27-3N dropout setting. In some generators, the third-harmonic levels may be almost immeasurably low during low excitation and/or low load levels. This situation may require blocking the 27-3N output with a 32 underpower element when the generator is running unloaded. If the 59N relay is only utilized for alarming, care must be taken in selecting the distribution transformer ratio. The ratio should be selected so the maximum secondary voltage will never exceed the continuous voltage rating of the 59N or 27-3N relays. If the 59N relay is being used for tripping, the distribution transformer ratio could be selected to produce a voltage up to the 10 second rating of the relays. It is recommended that the 59N function produce a generator trip so iron damage is limited during a phase-to-ground generator fault. This also limits the possibility of a phase-toground low current fault which causes very little damage from escalating into a very high current phase-to-phase fault which completely destroys the generator. 2) Using Y-Y VTs on the generator terminal bus As shown in Figure 13, when Y-Y VTs are utilized on the terminals of a generator, then the secondary of the VTs should be corner grounded and not neutral grounded. If the secondary of the Y-Y VTs is neutral grounded, then a ground fault in the secondary of the VT circuit will look like a generator ground fault to the 59P generator neutral protective relay. Instead of grounding the secondary neutral point of the terminal VTs, one of the phase leads should be grounded (i.e. a corner ground) allowing the neutral of the VTs to float. This corner ground eliminates any voltage from a VT secondary fault across the generator high-impedance grounding system. Thus, the 59N relay will not miss-operate for a fault on the secondary of the VTs that should be cleared by the VT fuse. If the VT secondary is neutral grounded, a phase-to-ground VT secondary fault pulls little current and will not blow its protection fuse. This secondary VT fault appears to the generator 59P relay as a high-impedance phase-to-ground fault and, if not cleared quickly, it could lead to a generator trip. If the VT secondary is corner grounded (assume phase A is grounded) and there is a phase-to-ground VT secondary fault on phase B or phase C, the fault will appear as a phase-to-phase fault which will pull high secondary current and blow the VT protective
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fuse rapidly preventing the generator 59N from operating. A neutral-to-ground fault would tend to activate the 59N, but this is unlikely because of the low voltage stress levels between the neutral and ground. 3) Coordination of 59N with downstream line-to-ground faults The 59N relay in Figure 16 is subject to operation caused by a line-to-ground fault on the Y-grounded side of any deltaY power transformer connected to the generator bus. The voltage is coupled to the generator bus by the transformer interwinding capacitance. This coupling effect is normally so small that its effect is ignored. However, this is not the case with the 59N application. Because of the very high grounding impedance, the 59N will see line-to-ground faults on the Y-grounded side of delta-Y ground transformers connected to the generator bus. With the high-impedance ground, fault currents are limited so time delay can be utilized with the 59N function with little damage caused to the generator. The 59N relay needs enough time delay so that downstream line-to-ground protection has time to operate; even across a delta-Y grounded transformer. 4) Use of a 51GN relay for backup Figure 16 shows a 51GN relay as a second means of detecting a stator ground fault. The use of a 51GN as backup to the 59N and the 27-3N relays is readily justified for medium and large sized generators. The most probable generator fault is a phase-toground fault. If this fault is detected and cleared in a reasonable time, it can be kept from causing severe damage to the generator. An undetected stator ground fault can be a catastrophic event resulting in an extremely high current multi-phase fault that will persist until the field flux decays. This multi-phase fault can last for one to four seconds and destroy the generator. The CT shown with a solid line in Figure 16 could be replaced with a CT on the low side of the distribution transformer as shown by the dotted line. The placement of the CT on the low side of the distribution transformer will allow use of a CT with a lower voltage rating. However, with the CT on the low side of the distribution transformer, it will be inoperative if the distribution transformer becomes shorted. The CT, when placed on the secondary of the distribution transformer, should provide for a relay current nearly equal to the generator neutral current (i.e., 5/5 CT). In either position, the relay pickup should be above the harmonic current flow during normal operation. Typical harmonic current flow is less than 1A. The relay can be set lower if the relay filters harmonic currents and responds only to the fundamental frequency. Assuming a maximum fault current of 8A primary in the neutral and a relay set to pick up at 1A primary, 88% of the stator winding is covered. As is the case with the 59N relay, the 51GN must be time delayed to coordinate clearing of a high side ground fault. An instantaneous 50GN relay can also be utilized. It should be set at approximately three times the time overcurrent element pickup. This instantaneous relay may not coordinate with primary VT fuses connected on the generator terminal bus.

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5) Multiple generators with high-impedance grounding Multiple generators, per Figure 17, can be high-impedance grounded, but the 59N relays will not be selective. A ground fault anywhere on the generator bus or individual generators will be seen by all 59N relays and all generators will trip. The 51N relay, when connected to a flux summation CT, will provide selective tripping if at least three generators are in service. The faulted generators 51N relay will see more current than the other 51N relays. Also, the faulted generators 51N will operate ahead of the other 51N relays because of the inverse time characteristic of the 51 function. The use of flux summation CTs is limited to cases where the generator leads are small enough for all three to fit into the CT window. Fault currents with this configuration are relatively low so care must be exercised in selecting an appropriate nominal relay current level (i.e. 1A vs. 5A) and CT ratio. For example, with a 30A fault level and a 50 to 5A CT, a 1A nominal 51N with a pickup of 0.1A might be used. With two generators, each contributing 10A to a terminal fault in a third generator, the faulted-generator 51N relay sees (2*10/(50/5))=2A. Then the relay protects down to ((0.1/2)*100)=5% from the neutral.

51N 59N

51N 59N

51N 59N

Fig. 17 Multiple Generators with High Impedance Grounding

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2. Solid or low- to medium-impedance stator grounding The 87G or 87N relays might be sufficiently sensitive to detect winding ground faults with low impedance or solid grounding as shown in Figure 18. They can be set to see a phase-to-ground fault from a distance of about 10% of the generator winding to the generator terminals. A fault closer to the generator neutral than 10% does not produce a fault current large enough to operate the 87G or 87N relay. The 87G or 87N relay does not need to be coordinated with other relays. The 51N relay can be used to back up the 87G/87N relays and is typically set to 10% of available ground fault current. However, the 51N must be delayed to coordinate with external protection. The 87N relay detects the difference current between the calculated neutral current (3I0) and the measured ground current (IG). The engineer must be aware of the effects of transient DC offset induced saturation on CTs during transformer or load energization. This saturation can cause a current difference in the high speed 87G and produce false tripping. This may be addressed by adding a very small time delay to the 87G trip circuit or setting the relay insensitively. Also, providing substantially overrated CTs such as C800 or greater reduces the potential of saturated CTs. About 90% of the generator winding from terminals toward neutral is the maximum protection provided by differential relaying.

Fig. 18 Ground-Fault Relaying Generator Low-Impedance Grounding

The neutral CT should be selected to produce a secondary current of at least 5A for a solid generator terminal fault. For example, if a terminal fault produces 1000A in the generator neutral, the neutral CT ratio should not exceed 1000/5. For a fault a distance of 10% from the neutral, the 51N current will be 0.5A. For faults from the neutral connection into about 10% of the winding, there are no current based protections that will reliably and, with sensitivity, detect and safely operate for these faults. There are other grounding methods that help detect faults in this region of the generator winding. Because of the low voltage stress in this last 10% of the winding, some engineers choose to ignore a potential fault in this region. Faults in this portion of the winding are usually caused by some kind of mechanical breakdown rather than insulation failure.

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The other way to detect stator ground faults in solidly or low-impedance grounded generators is to use neutral directional (67N) relaying along with neutral overcurrent (50N/51N) relaying. See Figure 10. The 50N/51N is typically set to 10% of available ground fault current and must be coordinated with the system ground fault protections. The 67N compliments the operation of the 51N and is set to trip for ground fault currents flowing toward a generator with a shorter time delay. It requires the use of zerosequence voltage (3V0) polarization. There are two approaches for medium-impedance grounded generator differential protection. Figure 19 shows the first approach and Figure 20 shows the second approach. The Figure 19 approach is applicable where the ground fault current is close to the three phase fault current levels. The Figure 20 approach is more applicable when the ground fault current level is reduced by the resistor to 50% of the three phase fault current levels. The Figure 19 method is limited in sensitivity to ground faults in excess of 10% of the phase CT tap setting. The use of the auxiliary CT in the Figure 20 approach allows for amplification of the ground current in the phase CTs, yielding increased sensitivity.

Phase Relays Medium

Tap

87N relay

Tap

OP

Fig. 19 Medium-Impedance Grounding with 87N Ground Differential Protection

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Phase Relays Medium

R Tap

87N Relay

OP

Fig. 20 Medium-Impedance Grounding with 87N Ground Differential Protection

3. The use of subharmonic voltage injection for a 100% generator stator ground fault protection As mentioned in Section III Generator Grounding, the ground faults near the neutral point of the generator produce small to no current and could go undetected using the relays previously described. The scheme shown in Figure 21, using a voltage injection at the neutral or residually in the broken-delta VT secondary can detect ground faults anywhere in the generator stator including the neutral point [4]. The security of the relay system can be improved by injecting a coded signal at a subharmonic frequency that can be synchronized with the system frequency. The reliability of this scheme depends on a subharmonic source however, providing and maintaining a reliable subharmonic source can be costly. The main advantage of this scheme is that it provides a 100% ground fault protection even when a generator is on turning-gear and during start-up.

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Fig. 21 Subharmonic Voltage Injection at Neutral [4]

V. 1.

References Whalebone, Terry. Generator with Open Commutator. 2006. Photograph. Brownlow Fold, Bolton, England, GB. Flickr. Yahoo. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/terry_wha/227259056/>. 2006 IEEE Guide for AC Generator Protection, IEEE Power Engineering Society, Sponsored by the Power Systems Relaying Committee, IEEE Std C37.102-2006. 2011, Tutorial on the Protection of Synchronous Generators, Special Publication of the IEEE PSRC, 2nd edition. 2006 IEEE Guide for Generator Ground Protection, IEEE Power Engineering Society, Sponsored by the Power Systems Relaying Committee, IEEE Std C37.101-2006. Basler Electric, 2012, Generator Protection Application Guide. Baldwin, M.S., and Schenkel, H.S., 1976, Determination of Frequency Decay Rates During Periods of Generator Deficiency, IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and System, Vol. PAS-95, No. 1, pp.26-36. Berdy, J., 1972, Protection of Large Tandem Generators, Georgia Institute of Technology Relay Conference.

2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7.

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8.

9.

10.

11.

El-Hawary Mohamed E., 2002, Principles of Electric Machines with Power Electronic Applications, IEEE Press Power Engineering Series, Wiley Interscience. Aujla, Ramandeep Kaur, 2008, Generator Stator Protection, Under/Over Voltage, Under/Over Frequency, And Unbalanced Loading, Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Coordination of Generator Protection with Generator Excitation Control and Generator Capability: Working Group J-5 of the Rotating Machinery Subcommittee, Power Systems Relay Committee. Blackburn, J. Lewis and Domin, 2007, Protective Relaying Principles and Applications Third Edition.

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If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact

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