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Setting of Distance Relays

Zone 1 of Protection
Distance relays can be classified into phase relay and ground relays. Phase relays are
used to protect the transmission line against phase faults (three phase, L-L) and ground
relays are used to protect against ground faults (S-L-, L-L-). !n this lecture, "e "ill
learn the "ays to set distance relay. #ust li$e an o%ercurrent relay, a distance relay also
has to perform the dual tas$ of primary and bac$ up protection. &or e'ample, in fig ((.1,
the distance relay
1
R has to pro%ide primary protection to line )* and bac$ up protection
to lines *+, *D and *,.
-he primary protection should be fast and hence preferably it should be done "ithout any
intentional time delay, "hile bac$ up protection should operate if and only if
corresponding primary relay fails. !n fig ((.1,
1
R bac$s operation of relays
. / 0
, , R R R
.
1ecall that distance relays are directional relays. -ypically, distance relays are pro%ided
"ith multiple 2ones of protection to meet the stringent selectivity and sensitivity
re3uirements. )t least three 2ones of protection are pro%ided for distance relays. Zone 1 is
designated by
1
Z and 2ones ( and 0 by
0 (
Z and Z
respecti%ely. Zone 1 is meant for
protection of the primary line. -ypically, it is set to co%er 456 of the line length. Zone 1
pro%ides fastest protection because there is no intentional time delay associated "ith it.
7perating time of
1
Z can be of the order of 1cycle. Zone 1 does not co%er the entire
length of the primary line because it is difficult to distinguish bet"een faults at
8 0 ( 1
9 9 F F F or F
all of "hich are close to bus *. !n other "ords, if a fault is close to a
bus, one cannot ascertain if it is on the primary line, bus or on bac$ up line. -his is
because of the follo"ing reasons.
(1) +-s and P-s ha%e limited accuracy. During fault, a +- may undergo partial or
complete saturation. -he resulting errors in measurement of apparent impedance
seen by relay, ma$es it difficult to determine fault location at the boundary of
lines %ery accurately.
(() :umerical algorithms may use a specific transmission line model. &or e'ample, a
transmission line may be modeled as a series 1 ; L circuit and the contribution of
distributed shunt capacitance may be neglected. Due to model limitation and
because of transients accompanied "ith the fault, "or$ing of numerical algorithm
is prone to errors.
(0) <ith only local measurements, and a small time "indo", it is difficult to
determine fault impedance accurately. &or e'ample, if the fault has an impedance
(
5
f
Z
), then the deri%ations of pre%ious lectures are no more e'act. -he
impedance seen by the relay
1
R (fig ((.() for fault & also depends upon the
current contribution from the remote end, thus
AF
BF
F F l R
I
I
Z Z xZ Z + + =
(8) -here are infeed and outfeed effects associated "ith "or$ing of distance relays.
1ecall that a distance relaying scheme uses only local %oltage and current
measurements for a bus and transmission line. =ence, it cannot model infeed or
outfeed properly.
+onsider the operation of distance relay 11 for fault & close to remote bus on line
*+ (fig ((.0).
Due to the configuration of generators and loads, "e see that

+ =
ED AB BF
I I I
=ence,

+ =
BC l AB R
I Z x Z I V
( 1 1

+ + =
ED l AB l
I Z x I Z x Z
( ( 1
) (

+ + =
AB
ED
l l
AB
R
I
I
xZ xZ Z
I
V
( ( 1
1
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (1)
-hus, "e see that the distance relay at 11 does not measure impedance
) (
( 1 l
xZ Z +
. !f
there is an e3ui%alent generator source at bus ,, then it feeds the fault current. -hus
AB
I
uuur
and
ED
I
uuur
are appro'imately in phase. -his is $no"n as infeed effect. &rom e3uation (1), it
is clear that infeed causes an e3ui%alent increase in apparent impedance seen by the relay
1
R .
&rom the relay?s perspecti%e, the fault is pushed beyond its actual location. -his itself
does not sacrifice selecti%ity. !n other "ords, relay
1
R percei%es fault to farther a"ay
from than its actual location.
=o"e%er, if there is an e3ui%alent load at bus ,, then !)* and !,* are in phase opposition.
-his causes an apparent reduction in the impedance seen by the relay
1
R . !n other "ords,
the relay
1
R percei%es fault to be at a point closer than its actual location. !f this
percei%ed point falls "ell in the section )*, the relay
1
R "ill operate instantaneously for
a fault on the bac$ up line, thereby compromising selecti%ity. =ence, instantaneous
primary protection 2one (
1
Z
) of distance relay is al"ays set belo" 1556 line impedance.
-ypically, 2one 1 is set to co%er 5.4 to 5.@ times the primary line length. !n other "ords,
"e e'pect errors in measurements of fault impedance to be "ithin 15-(56 accuracy. -he
remaining portion of the primary line is pro%ided "ith a time delayed protection $no"n
as
(
Z
. -he 2one ( protection is delayed at least by the coordination time inter%al, +-! to
gi%e first opportunity to relays
. / 0
9 9 R R R
to clear a close in fault if it falls into its
primary protection 2one. :ote that, relay
0
R
in fig ((.0 is immune to infeed or outfeed
effect for fault &.
Zone ( and Zone 0 for Protection
Asually 2one ( is set to 1(56 of primary line impedance
1
Z . -his pro%ides sufficient
margin to account for non-2ero fault impedance and other errors in relaying.
)lso one should note that
(
Z also pro%ides bac$ up protection to a part of the adBacent
line. 7ne "ould therefore desire that
(
Z should be e'tended to co%er as large a portion of
adBacent line as possible. -ypically,
(
Z to set to reach /56 of the shortest bac$ up line
pro%ided that
1./ 1.(
P B P
Z Z Z + >
"here ZP and Z* are the positi%e se3uence impedance of
primary and the shortest bac$ up line respecti%ely. !f the shortest bac$ up line is too short
then, it is li$ely that ZpC1./ Z* "ill be less than 1.(Zp. !n such a case,
(
Z is set to 1.( ZP.
Since, bac$ up protection has to be pro%ided to entire length of remote line, a third 2one
of protection,
0
Z
is used. !t is set to co%er the farthest (longest) remote lines (*D in fig
((.8(a) for relay
1
R acting as bac$ up relay). Since its operation should not interfere "ith
(
Z operation of relays
. / 0 1
9 9 9 R R R R
, it is set up to operate "ith a time delay of ( +-!
"here +-! is the coordination time inter%al. -he settings of relay
1
R on an 1-D plane is
%isuali2ed in fig ((.8(b). -he timing diagrams are sho"n in fig ((.8(c).
&! ((.8 (a, b, c)
7%erlap Problem for
(
Z
-here is a specific reason as to "hy
(
Z is not set to reach beyond /56 of the shortest
remote line. )s sho"n in fig ((./, if the reach of
(
Z of a relay
1
R is e'tended too much,
then it can o%erlap "ith the Z( of the relay 10.
&ig ((./ (a)
Ander such a situation, there e'ists follo"ing conflict. !f the fault is on line *+ (and in
Z( of 10), relay 10 should get the first opportunity to clear the fault. Anfortunately, no"
both
0 1
R and R
compete to clear the fault. -his means that Z( of the relay 11 has to be
further slo"ed do"n by +-!. -his leads to timing diagram (fig ((./ (b)).
&! ((./ (b)
-hus, it is clear that fault clearing time in (56 region of line )* is delayed a bit too
much, thereby degrading performance of Z( of relay 11. =ence, a conscious effort is
made to a%oid o%erlaps of Z( of relay 11and 10. Setting bac$ 2one
(
Z of
1
R to ma'imum
of 1(56 of primary line impedance or primary line impedance plus /56 of smallest bac$
up impedance usually "or$s out as a good compromise to reach as much of bac$ up
lines by
(
Z "ithout getting into
(
Z o%erlap problem. =o"e%er, under certain condition,
"hen the shortest line to be bac$ed up is too short, it may not be possible to a%oid
(
Z
o%erlap. Similarly, one may encounter
0
Z
o%erlap problem.
,'ample
En.) +onsider a protection system sho"n in fig ((.F. !dentify the primary relays for bac$
up relay
1
R .
)nsG 1elay
1
R not only bac$up?s line *+ but also parallel line )*. -herefore, for relay
1
R acting as bac$ up, the primary relays are
8 /
R and R
.
:o" assuming that pu impedance of all transmission lines in abo%e fig ((.F is

pu 9$m.
Determine the setting of 2one 1 2one ( and 2one0 relays of
1
R .
)nsG
1 1
( ) 5.4 155 45 Z R pu pu = =

( 1
( ) 155 /5 1/5 Z R pu = + =
H*ecause *) is the shortest bac$ up lineI
0 1
( ) 155 (55 055 Z R pu = + =
H*ecause *+ is the longest bac$ up lineI
-his approach for setting of distance relays presented in this fig is $no"n as $ilometric
approach because the set %alues of impedances are proportional to lengths. !n doing so,
"e ha%e neglected effect of load currents and as "ell as the effect of change in operating
condition in the system. Jore accurate settings can be computed by e%aluating fault
impedance seen by the relay for a fault by using short circuit analysis programs.
Problem of Load ,ncroachment
+onsider the steady state positi%e se3uence model of a transmission line sho"n in fig
((...
-hen, it can be sho"n that apparent impedance seen by relay 1 is gi%en by,
ij ij
i
R
Q j P
V
Z

=
(
K K
L
) (
K K
( (
(
ij ij
ij ij
i
Q j P
Q P
V
+
+
-------------------------------(()
-hus from e3uation ((), "e can deri%e follo"ing conclusionsM
1. Euadrant of the Z1 in 1 ; D plane correspond to the 3uadrant of apparent po"er (SiB) in
(PiB - EiB) plane.
(. -he apparent impedance seen by the relay is proportional to s3uare of the magnitude of
bus %oltage. !f the bus %oltage drops say to 5.@pu from 1pu, then Z1 reduces to 416 of its
%alue "ith nominal %oltage. &urther, if the bus %oltage drops say 5.4pu, then the apparent
impedance seen by the relay "ill drop to F86 of its %alue at 1pu.
0. -he apparent impedance seen by the relay is in%ersely proportional to the apparent
po"er flo"ing on the line. !f the apparent po"er doubles up, the impedance seen by relay
"ill reduce by /56.
During pea$ load conditions, it is 3uite li$ely that combined effect of (() and (0) may
reduce the apparent impedance seen by the relay to sufficiently small %alue so as to fall in
0 (
Z or Z
characteristic. -his is 3uite li$ely in case of a relay bac$ing up a %ery long line.
!n such a case,
0
Z
impedance setting can be 3uite large. !f the impedance seen by relay
due to large loads falls "ithin the 2one, then it "ill pic$ up and trip the circuit after its
time dial setting re3uirement are met. Ander such circumstances, the relay is said to trip
on load encroachment. -ripping on load encroachment compromises security and it can
e%en initiate cascade tripping "hich in turn can lead to blac$ outs. -hus, safeguards ha%e
to be pro%ided to pre%ent tripping on load encroachment. ) distinguishing feature of load
from faults is that typically, loads ha%e large po"er factor and lead to
app
Z
"ith large
X
R
ratio. !n contrast, faults are more or less reacti%e in nature and the
R
X
ratio is
3uite high. -hus, to pre%ent tripping on load encroachment, the relay characteristic are
modified by e'cluding an area in 1 ; D plane, "hich corresponds to high po"er factor. )
typical modified characteristic to account for load encroachment is sho"n in fig ((...
-he conditions of lo" %alue of
R
Z discussed in (1) and (() can also arise due to %oltage
instability or transients associated "ith electromechanical oscillations of rotors of
synchronous machines after a maBor disturbance li$e most faults. -his can also induce
nuisance tripping. Such tripping is $no"n as Ntripping on po"er s"ingsO and it "ill be
studied in the ne't lecture.

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