Dr Campbell Booth

University of Strathclyde
Loss of Mains Protection
Protection of Future Networks with Distributed
Generation
University of Manchester
March 2011
University of Strathclyde, 2011
OPEN
G
Interconnected
system
P
gen
Q
gen
P
sys
Q
sys
P
load
Q
load
Loss-Of-Mains LOM
Loss of Mains (or islanding) occurs when part of the public
utility network (incorporating generation) loses connection
with the rest of the system



If LOM is not detected, then
the generator could remain
connected, causing a safety
hazard within the network.

Automatic reconnection of
the generator to the network
may occur causing damage
to the generator and the
network.


Islanding is not permitted
in most countries.
Generator
network
Utility network
University of Strathclyde, 2011
OPEN
G
Interconnected
system
P
gen
Q
gen
P
sys
Q
sys
P
load
Q
load
Loss-Of-Mains LOM
Operating in islanded mode:
Unearthed?

Unsynchronised
reclose?

Live when utility
personnel believe not
energised?

Faults in islanded mode
may remain undetected

Generator
network
Utility network
University of Strathclyde, 2011
LOM performance requirements - sensitivity
LOM should be sensitive under all possible load and
generation scenarios.

The most challenging scenario is when the local load closely
follows the generator output both in terms of active and
reactive power.


} non-detection zone
Time [h]
24
P [MW]
10
20
30
load profile
generation
profile
Risk of undetected island
At
1
At
2
At
3
At
4

G
feeder
Interconnected
system
P
gen
Q
gen
P
load
Q
load
LOM
~
University of Strathclyde, 2011
G
feeder
Interconnected
system
P
gen
Q
gen
P
load
Q
load
LOM
~
LOM performance requirements - stability
LOM should be stable under remote faults cleared by the
utility system.

It is undesirable to issue a false trip as it leads to the
unnecessary disconnection of the generator.

University of Strathclyde, 2011
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
time [s]
d
e
v
i
a
t
i
o
n

f
r
o
m

s
y
n
c
h
r
o
n
o
u
s

s
p
e
e
d

[
r
a
d
/
s
]
H=2s
H=4s
e m
r
T T
dt
d
J =
e
Simplified rotor swing
equation in SI units:
where:
J inertia constant [kg m
2
]
e
r
rotor speed [rad/s]
T
m
mechanical torque [N m]
T
e
electromagnetic torque [N m]
At
Ae
n
r
S
J
power nominal machine
speed s synchronou at energy kinetic
H
2
0
2
1
e
= =
H inertia constant [s]

Generator performance during islanding
University of Strathclyde, 2011
H S
f P
dt
df
n

A
=
2
Taking into account that and initial rate of change

of frequency during islanding can be calculated as follows:
r r
f t e 2 =
T
dt
d
J
r
A =
e
(1)
2
0
2
0
2
2
1
r
n
n
r
S H
J
S
J
H
e
e

= =
(2)
T
dt
df
p
p
f
S H
dt
df S H
dt
d S H
r
n r
r
n r
r
n
A =

=

=
t
e t
t
e
e
e
2
2
2
2
2 2
0
2
0
2
0
(3)
p
f
f
r
=
P
dt
df
f
S H
T
dt
df
f
S H
n
r
n
A =

A =
2 2
0
e
(4)
Generator performance during islanding
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Generator performance during islanding
CB opens at t=1s
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
time [s]
d
e
v
i
a
t
i
o
n

f
r
o
m

s
y
n
c
h
r
o
n
o
u
s

s
p
e
e
d

[
r
a
d
/
s
]
Generator with Governor
Generator without Governor
Governor influences the
dynamic performance
during the islanding event
In the first 100-200ms the
impact can normallly be
neglected.
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
time [s]
d
e
v
i
a
t
i
o
n

f
r
o
m

s
y
n
c
h
r
o
n
o
u
s

s
p
e
e
d

[
r
a
d
/
s
]
H=2s
H=4s
Islanded
system
Exiter
Exciter
G
Exiter
Governor
LOAD
University of Strathclyde, 2011
LOM detection methods
Rate-Of-Change-Of-Frequency (ROCOF)

Voltage Vector Shift (VS)

Reverse VAR method

Direct Intertrip

Rate of Change of Power

Active methods


University of Strathclyde, 2011
Rate-Of-Change-Of-Frequency (ROCOF) Method
The ROCOF method is based on the local measurement of the
generator voltage and estimation of the rate of change of frequency.

The measured rate of change of frequency is compared with a preset
threshold.

Additional time delay can also be applied.

The rate of change of frequency following an LOM event is directly
proportional to the amount of active power imbalance between local
load and the generator output.
H S
f P
ROCOF
n

A
=
2
ROCOF estimated rate of change of frequency [Hz/s]
P change in active output power during LOM event [MW]
S
n
nominal generator rating [MVA]
f generator rated frequency [Hz]
H inertia constant of the generator [s]
University of Strathclyde, 2011
ROCOF sensitivity
DG
~
ROCOF
Relay
trip
Interconnected
Power System
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
49.7
49.75
49.8
49.85
49.9
49.95
50
50.05
50.1
time [s]
f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

[
H
z
]
Loss of grid connection
At
Af
t
f
ROCOF
A
A
=
Load
Correct ROCOF
Operation
University of Strathclyde, 2011
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
49.7
49.75
49.8
49.85
49.9
49.95
50
50.05
50.1
time [s]
f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

[
H
z
]
ROCOF stability
DG
~
ROCOF
Relay
trip
Interconnected
Power System
At
Af
t
f
ROCOF
A
A
=
Load
System fault
Fault clearance
False ROCOF
Operation
University of Strathclyde, 2011
ROCOF summary
ROCOF method is based on the local
measurement of the system frequency at the
generator terminals.

ROCOF does not require communication

It generally provides a good sensitivity to genuine
islanding events but has a small non-detection
zone

ROCOF can suffer form unwanted (spurious)
operations during remote system faults.
University of Strathclyde, 2011
30MVA Distributed Generator with a rotor inertia of J = 1285 kg m
2
is
protected by ROCOF LOM protection set to 0.4Hz/s. Due to tripping of
the feeder protection the generator has become islanded. Will the
ROCOF relay operate if the local load prior to islanding was P
load
=
20MW and the generator output was P
gen
= 22MW? Assume the
generator has one pole pair.

G
feeder
Interconnected
system
P
gen
Q
gen
P
load
Q
load
LOM
Example
University of Strathclyde, 2011
The relay measures voltage phase changes in consecutive
cycles (or half cycles) and compares the value with the preset
threshold.

Zero crossing technique is often used as method of angle
measurement

VS is very fast in comparison to other methods such as
ROCOF

VS is sensitive to network faults (both resulting in islanding
situation and remote faults cleared by the utility)

VS is not sensitive to rate of change of frequency
(recommended setting of 6-10 requires imbalance of more
than 30%S
n
to cause operation)



Voltage Vector Shift (VS) LOM Method
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Voltage Vector Shift (VS) LOM Method
Generator terminal voltage angle changes by u due to
step change in load current and the generator reactance.
Connected Islanded
X
d
I
L1
V
T1
E
d1
R
X
d

X
d

E
d1

E
d1

X
d
I
L2
V
T1
E
d2
R
X
d

X
d

E
d2
E
d2

V
T1
I
L
1R
I
L
1
I
L
1
X
d

E
d
1

1
u
V
T
2
I
L
2R
I
L
2
I
L
2
X
d

E
d
2
"

=

E
d
1
"

2
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Typical fault current on a synchronous
generator
Subtransient
period
Transient
period
Steady-state
period
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Vector Shift is used to protect a Distributed Generator. Calculate the
voltage angle change if the generator output increased from 15MW to
25MW as a result of an LOM event. Before islanding, the generator
operates at unity power factor pf
1
=1 and after LOM the power factor
changes to pf
2
=0.85 (lagging) measured with respect to the original
terminal voltage position. Assume that at the time of islanding the
generator terminal voltage was V
T1
= 1/0pu.
Generator: S
n
= 30 MVA V
n
= 33 kV
X
d

= 0.23 pu R
a
= 0.05 pu
X
d
I
L
V
T
E
d
R
X
d

X
d

E
d

E
d

Example
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Direct Intertripping
Intertripping scheme detects the opening of contacts at the
point of disconnection and transmits the signal to all the
generators that could potentially support the island.

Intertripping scheme does not depend on any measurements.

The operation is almost instantaneous.
G
Intertrip
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Direct Intertripping
G
Intertrip
Intertripping must be transmitted from every point of
disconnection where the viable island could be formed.
Cost of intertripping is comparatively high (15k-100k).
Communication media has to be reliable. Commonly used
techniques include: leased land line, radio (10km), microwave
(20km), PLC (100km), fibre optic cable (20-50km), copper
cable (10km).
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Direct Intertripping
Intertripping must be transmitted from every point of
disconnection where the viable island could be formed.
Cost of intertripping is comparatively high (15k-100k).
Communication media has to be reliable. Commonly used
techniques include: leased land line, radio (10km), microwave
(20km), PLC (100km), fibre optic cable (20-50km), copper
cable (10km).
G
Intertrip
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Direct Intertripping
Intertripping must be transmitted from every point of
disconnection where the viable island could be formed.
Cost of intertripping is comparatively high (15k-100k).
Communication media has to be reliable. Commonly used
techniques include: leased land line, radio (10km), microwave
(20km), PLC (100km), fibre optic cable (20-50km), copper
cable (10km).
G
Intertrip
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Intertripping of Open Ring Feeders
Intertripping for open ring feeders can be facilitated using
Power Line Carrier (PLC) technique.
Intertripping signal is always delivered to the correct
generators regardless of the position of the open point.
G
G
Signal send
Signal block
Signal block
Signal send
Signal receive
G
Signal receive
Signal receive
Open point
University of Strathclyde, 2011
G
G
Signal send
Signal block
Signal block
Signal send
Signal receive
G
Signal receive
Signal receive
Intertripping of Open Ring Feeders
Intertripping for open ring feeders can be facilitated using
Power Line Carrier (PLC) technique.
Intertripping signal is always delivered to the correct
generators regardless of the position of the open point.
Open point
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Satellite based LOM protection
The LOM protection algorithm
uses the difference between
the received signal and the
locally measured frequency to
estimate the voltage angle
shift according to the following
formula:


t f f
est
n n n n
A + =

) ( 2
1
t o o
o
n
calculated angle;
f
n
frequency measured locally;
f
n
est
estimated frequency received from the satellite;
At angle calculation time step.

A tripping signal is sent when o
n
exceeds the preset threshold.

DG
~
LOM
Protection
trip
Transmission
System
GPS stamped
frequency signal
University of Strathclyde, 2011
Satellite based LOM protection
The algorithm uses voltage angle rather than rate of change
of frequency as a decisive quantity.

Satellite channel latency is compensated in software








The method is less sensitive to system faults while preserving
good sensitivity to genuine LOM events

f
n
f
n
est

f
n-25
f
n-30
time

f

At

University of Strathclyde, 2011