Power Swings and Distance Relaying

In this lecture, we will introduce the concept of power swings. It will be shown that the
post fault power swings may encroach the relay characteristics. This can lead to nuisance
tripping of distance relays which can sacrifice the system security.
Analysis of Two Area System
Power swings refer to oscillation in active and reactive power flows on a transmission
line consequent to a large disturbance like a fault. The oscillation in the apparent power
and bus voltages is seen by the relay as an impedance swing on the ! " plane. If the
impedance tra#ectory enters a relay $one and stays there for sufficiently long time, then
the relay will issue a trip decision on power swing. Tripping on power swings is not
desirable. %e now investigate this phenomenon and then discuss remedial measures.
&et us consider a simple two machines system connected by a transmission line of
impedance '& as shown in (igure )*.+,a- .S and . are the generator voltages at two ends
and we assume that the system is purely reactive. The voltage .S leads . by an angle
so that power flows from A to / during steady state. The relay under consideration is
located at bus A end. The power angle curve is shown in (igure )*.+,b-. The system is
operating at initial steady operating point A with Pmo as output power and
0

as initial
rotor angle.
(rom the power angle curve, initial rotor angle,

=

ma1
0 +
0
sin
P
P
m

22222222222222222222222222222222222222,+-
,a- Single line diagram
,b- Power Angle curve
E
S

Z
S
A Relay B
I
relay
Z
&
Z

0
(igure ).+ Simple two machine system
3ow, suppose, a self clearing transient three phase short circuit fault occurs on the line.
4uring the fault, the electrical output power e
P
drops to $ero. The resulting rotor
acceleration advances rotor angle to
+
. After a time interval
cr
t
, corresponding to angle
+
, the fault is cleared and the operating point #umps back to the sinusoidal curve. otor
angle correspond to this instant is +. As per equal area criteria, the rotor will swings up to
ma1imum rotor angle
ma1

, satisfying the following condition,

Accelerating Area ,A+- 5 4ecelerating Area ,A)-
otor angle +corresponding to fault clearing time tcr can be computed by swing equation,

)
)
)
mo e a
s
H d
P P P
dt

= =
2222222222222222222222222222,)-
where 6 is the equivalent rotor angle inertia.
4uring fault, Pe 5 0, hence,

)
)
)
mo
s
H d
P
dt

=
222222222222222222222222222222222222222,*-
7n integrating both the sides with respect to variable t,
0
, -
)
mo s
P d
t t
dt H

= 2222222222222222222222222222222222222,8-
Prior to fault 0

is a stationary point.
The initial condition of
dt
d
is specified as follows
0
0
t t
d
dt

=
=

Integrating equation ,8- and substituting
+
= at time t 5 t+, with cr
t t t =
) + ,
)
+ 0
, -
8
mo
cr
s
P
t
H

= + 2222222222222222222222222222222222222,9-
Thus, accelerating area A+ is given by,
+
+ + 0
0
, 2 -
mo mo
P d P

= =

22222222222222222222222222222222,:-


+ 0
, -
mo
P =

Substituting in equation ,:-,
) )
+
, -
8
mo cr s
P t
H

= 222222222222222222222222222222222222222222,;-
Similarly, decelerating area, A), can be calculated as follows.
) ma1 ma1 + ma1 ma1 +
ma1
+
. , - , -
mo
P Sin d P Cos Cos P

= =

2222222,<-
Since for a stable swing,
+ )
=
+ 0 ma1 + ma1 ma1 +
, - , - , -
mo mo
P P Cos Cos P = =

22222222222222,=-
i.e.
- , cos cos
0 ma1
ma1
0
+ ma1
=
P
P
m
22222222222222222222222222222,+0-
Since >0 is function of Pmo from equation ,+- and >+ is function of Pmo as well as
cr
t
from equation ,9-, it follows from equation ,+0- that
>ma1 depends on Pmo and tcr.
i.e.
- , ,
0 ma1 cr m
t P f =
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222,++-
The variation of ma1 verses Pmo for different values of tcr is shown in (igure )*.).
(igure )*.) Plots of ma1 verses Pmo, for different values of tcr
/- 4etermination of power swing locus
A distance relay may classify power swing as a phase fault if impedance tra#ectory enters
the operating characteristic of the relay. %e will now derive the apparent impedance seen
by the relay on 2" plane. Again consider simple two machine system connected by a
transmission line of impedance '& as shown in (igure )*.+,a-, where machine / is treated
as reference.
T
R S
relay
Z
E E
I

=

2222222222222222222222,+)-
%here, R L S T
Z Z Z Z + + =
222222222222,+*-
3ow, impedance seen by relay is given by the following equation,
relay
S relay S
relay
relay
seen
I
Z I E
I
V
relay Z

= =

- ,

T
R S
S
S
Z
E E
E
Z

+ =

22222222222222222222222,+8-

+ =

S
R
T S
E
E
Z Z
+
+
&et us define
R
S
E
E
k =
. Assuming for simplicity, both the voltages as equal to +pu, i.e.
k5+,

+
+ =

+
+ =
)
cos
)
sin
)
sin
+
) sin cos +
+
- ,
)

j
Z
Z
j
Z Z relay Z
T
S T S seen

-
)
cos
)
,sin
)
sin )

j
Z
Z
T
S
+ =
-
)
cot + ,
)

j
Z
Z
T
S
+ = 2222222222222222222222222,+9-


segment line lar perpendicu
T
offset t cons a
T
S
Z
j
Z
Z
)
cot
) )
tan

+ =

(rom equation ,+9- at
=+<0
,
)
, 0 cot
T
S seen
Z
Z Z + = =
There is a geometrical interpretation of above equation. The vector component
)
T
S
Z
Z + in equation ,+9- is a constant in ! " plane. The component
)
cot
)

T
Z
j is
a straight line, perpendicular to line segment
)
T
Z
. Thus the tra#ectory of the impedance
measured by relay during the power swing is a straight line as shown in fig )*.*. The
angle subtended by a point in the locus on S and end points is angle . (or simplicity,
angle of L R S
Z and Z Z ,
are considered identical. It intersect the line A/ at mid point,
when
=+<0
. The corresponding point of intersection of swing impedance tra#ectory
to the impedance line is known as electrical center of the swing. ,(ig )*.8,a--. The angle,
between two sources can be mapped graphically as the angle subtended by source
points R S
E and E
on the swing tra#ectory. At the electrical center, angle between two
sources is +<0 . The e1istence of electrical center is an indication of system instability,
the two generators now being out of step.
If the power swing is stable, i.e. if the post fault system is stable, then
ma1

will be less
than +<0 . In such event, the power swing retraces its path at ma1

.
If
+ =k
E
E
R
S
, then the power swing locus on the ! " is an arc of the circle. ,See fig
)).8,b--
It can be easily shown that




) )
sin - cos ,
? sin - cos @,
+ - sin ,cos
- sin ,cos
+

=
+
+
=
k
j k k
j k
k
E E
E
R S
S
222222222222222,+:-
Then,
[ ]
T S seen
Z
k
j k k
Z Z


) )
sin - cos ,
sin - cos ,
+

+ =
(igure )*.8 Impedance Tra#ectories at relay point during power swing
It is also clear from (ig )*.8 ,b-, that the location of the electrical center is dependent
upon the
R
S
E
E
ratio. Appearance o f electrical center on a transmission line is a transient
phenomenon. The voltage profile across the transmission at the point of occurrence of
electrical center is shown in fig )*.9.
At the electrical center, the voltage is e1actly $ero. This means that relays at both the ends
of line perceive it as a bolted three phase fault and immediately trip the line. Thus, we can
conclude that e1istence of electrical center indicates ,+- system instability ,)- possibility
of nuisance tripping of distance relay.
3ow consider a double2end2feed transmission line with three stepped distance protection
scheme having '+, ') and '* protection $ones as shown in (igure )*.:. The mho relays
are used and characteristics are plotted on 2" plane as shown in (igure )*.;. Swing
impedance tra#ectory is also overlapped on relay characteristics for a simple case of equal
end voltages ,i.e. k 5 +- and it is perpendicular to line A/.
(ig )).9 Single line diagram showing three protection $ones
Impedance Tra#ectories entering three protection $ones
(igure)).: Three stepped distance protection to double2end2feed line
"

'one2*
'one2)
'one2+
1
T
*
'
*
'
)
T
)
T
+
'
+
everse
fault
(orward
2 3
.
A
.
/
0
7 A 3
'
&+
'
&)
(rom (igure )).:,
+ Z

,
) Z

and
* Z

are rotor angles when swing #ust enters the $one '+,
') and '* respectively and it can be obtained at the intersection of swing tra#ectory to the
relay characteristics. ecalling >ma1 is the ma1imum rotor angle for stable power swing,
following inferences can be drawn.
If * ma1 Z
<
, then swing will not enter the relay characteristics.
If
) ma1 * Z Z

, swing will enter in $one
*
Z
. If it stays in $one 2
*
Z
for larger
interval than its T4S, then the relay will trip the line.
If + ma1 ) Z Z

, swing will enter in both the $ones * )
Z and Z
. If it stays in $one ),
for larger interval than its T4S, then the relay will trip on
)
Z
If + ma1 Z

, swing will enter in the $ones * ) +
, Z and Z Z
and operate $one + protection
will operate without instantaneous delay.
.valuation of power swings on a multimachine system requires usage of transient
stability program. Bsing transient stability program, post fault the relay end node voltage
and line currents can be monitored and then the swing tra#ectory traced on impedance.
(ig)*.22 shows one such tra#ectory observed on a node system when a fault on a
line for internal

s
E
0

+
,rad- ma1