PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN ADAPTIVE DIGITAL DISTANCE

RELAY IMMUNE TO HARMONIC EFFECTS

M. Sanaye- Pasand , B. Arya
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran
Tehran, Iran
(msanaye@chamran.ut.ac.ir)

Abstract
Microprocessor based distance relays use digital filters to
process the input current and voltage signals and estimate
the system impedance. Distance relays current and
voltage input signals are not sinosuidal due to nonlinear
and switching loads as well as harmonic frequencies
produced by system faults. In this paper, performance of
digital distance relays in presence of harmonics is studied.
Different filters are proposed to improve the distance
relay operational performance. To achieve an adaptive
protection method, a fast Total Harmonic Distortion
(THD) measurement method is proposed. A benchmark
system is used for the development of digital protection
simulation. Power system and distance relay model
development are reported and some study results are
provided.

immune to harmonic effects. The purpose of the present

paper is to illustrate harmonic studies using a test system.
The goal of study is to determine the state and
performance of the system at harmonic frequencies and to
improve the protection system operational performance.
Such studies are important because the presence of
harmonic producing equipment is increasing. Harmonics
can interfere with control, communication and protective
equipment.

2. Test System
A 14-bus balanced transmission system is used as the test
system. This test system contains two harmonic sources.
One is a twelve-pulse HVDC terminal at bus-3 and the
other is a SVC at bus-8, (Fig. 1). The complete
information about the benchmark is provided in [4] .

Key Words
Power system harmonics, adaptive digital distance
protection, fast harmonic measurement, total harmonic
distortion

1. Introduction
Conventional ac electric power systems are designed to
operate with perfect sinusoidal voltages and currents.
However nonlinear loads, electronically switched loads
and converters cause distortion in the steady-state ac
voltage and current waveforms. Periodic steady-state
distortion can be very effectively studied by examining
the components of a Fourier series representation of the
waveforms [1-4].
Interest in the analysis of harmonics and their effects on
different system equipment dates back to the early 1990s.
Subsequent harmonic modeling and analysis techniques
were specialized to meet the requirements of High
Voltage Direct Current systems (HVDC) and Static Var
Compensators (SVC) [2-4].
An adaptive protection numerical method is applied to
study the effects of harmonics on digital protective relays.
A companion paper [1] has explored the theoretical
aspects of an adaptive digital protection scheme which is

Figure 1. Test System, 14-Bus Transmission System

In this paper, the benchmark system is used as the base of

a test system to evaluate performance of the proposed
adaptive distance relay. Some changes are applied to the
benchmark system [4]. SVC harmonic source is
eliminated as it was found it has minor effect on distance
relay studies. The SVC compensator installed at bus 8
introduces minor harmonics in comparison to the
harmonics injected by the HVDC system installed at bus
3.

Two distance relays are installed at two ends of the line

connecting bus 3 and bus 4. Using the modified test
system, distance relays performance is evaluated in
presence of noise and harmonics. Some of the
characteristics of the modified system are as follows:
1. All transmission lines are modeled using lumped PI line
model with the length of 90 km for each line.
2. Generators are modeled as a voltage source and an
impedance.
3. Transformers are modeled using short-circuit
impedances.
4. Loads are modeled as constant impedances.
5. Harmonic filters placed on some of the system buses
are modeled as shunt impedances. All filters are singletuned type.
6. One six pulse HVDC terminal is used and modeled as a
constant impedance and current sources for different
harmonics.
The modified test system is shown in Fig. 2. In Table 1,
some of this test system parameters such as bus voltage,
frequency and connected load are presented. Table 2,
presents the harmonic generation profile of the six pulse
HVDC link. Other electrical parameters for transmission
lines, transformers and static filters are listed in Table 3 in
the Appendix.

Table 1. Test system bus data

3
4
5
9
10
11
12
13
14

Nominal
Voltage
(kV)
230
230
230
115
115
115
115
115
115

Harmonic Order
1
5
7
11
13
17
19
23
25
29

Magnitude (pu)
1
0.1941
0.1309
0.0758
0.0586
0.0379
0.0329
0.0226
0.0241
0.0193

Angle (deg)
-49.56
-67.77
11.9
-7.13
68.57
46.53
116.46
87.47
159.32
126.79

3. Distance Protection
Using the test system shown in Fig. 2, different faults
were applied at transmission line between buses 3 and 4.
Performance of the distance relays protecting this line is
evaluated. The power system was simulated using
SIMULINK. Various system elements were modeled
appropriately. A combination of different faults including
phase to ground and phase to phase faults with different
amount of fault resistance were applied on the system.
The voltages and currents of the studied transmission line
from both ends are calculated and recorded.
Using MATLAB software, the proposed adaptive distance
scheme was modeled [1]. Recorded voltage and current
data with the sampling frequency of 1 kHz are presented
to the modeled distance algorithm. Three different
distance relaying algorithms are modeled in the software.
Each of these algorithms uses a specific data window to
process the current and data inputs and estimate current
and voltage phasors. These algorithms are as the follows :
Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) window
DFT window convolved with Hanning window in
frequency domain
DFT window convolved with Hanning window in time
domain

Figure 2. Final Test System

Bus #

Table 2. Harmonics generated by the six pulse HVDC

Frequency

P(MW)

Q(MVAR)

50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50

119.01
47.79
7.599
29.499
9
3.501
6.099
13.5
14.901

6.726
-3.9
1.599
16.59
5.799
1.8
1.599
5.799
5.001

The first algorithm used a simple Fourier filter to process

the input data. In the second and third algorithms, the
Fourier window is convolved by Hanning window to
obtain a combined digital filter. The combined filter has a
sharper frequency response and is able to filter out
frequency harmonics more efficiently.
A Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) measurement
algorithm is modeled in the software [3]. In the case that
THD is less than a prespecified value, the simple DFT
algorithm is used for the distance relay algorithm. If the
THD measured from the power system is greater than the
determined value, one of the combined algorithms is
selected. This procedure is depicted in Fig. 3.

Figure 3. Adaptive Digital Protection

Based on Fast THD Measurement

4. Simulation Studies
Various kinds of faults were applied on the system and
performance of the developed distance relaying algorithm
was studied. To be able to compare three different data
windows, each fault data is processed by all of the three
algorithms. Results obtained for some of the applied
faults are reported in this section.

convolved filter reduces higher order harmonics as well as

sub-harmonics and decay dc.
Estimated distance relay impedance using these combined
filters is shown in Fig. 5. As the current input of distance
relay includes considerable amount of decay dc after
occurrence of the fault, the frequency domain filter is not
able to provide a reliable impedance measurement. The
middle figure in Fig. 5 shows that impedance trajectory is
quite oscillatory. In other hand, the time domain
combined filter impedance measurement is acceptable as
shown in the last figure in Fig. 5. In this case the
impedance measurement has much less oscillations and
relay trip signal becomes stable after about 35 ms. It
shows that this filter is quite suitable for impedance
measurement in presence of high amount of harmonics.
Estimated impedance by the distance relay located at
bus 4 along with relay trip signal are shown in Fig. 7.
Obtained impedance measurement results are similar to
the results obtained by measuring of impedance at bus 3.
However, in this case the fault location is at 25 % from
bus 4. Although the measured impedance is oscillatory,
however all of its oscillations are within the first zone of
distance relay. As a result, relay trip signal for three
different data window algorithms is stable.

4.1. Phase-C to Ground Fault

(Location 75 % from bus-3, Rfault=0 ohm)
As an example, a phase to ground fault at 0.045 s was
applied at line connecting buses 3 and 4. Phase c voltage
and current as well as the zero sequence current measured
from distance relay at buses 3 and 4 are shown in Fig. 4
and Fig. 6, respectively. The measured impedance by the
distance relays along with the first zone of relays are
shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7. Results obtained for all three
data windows are compared in these figures. Relays
output trip signals are also depicted in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7.
As shown in Fig. 4, voltage and current input signals to
the distance relay contain harmonic frequencies before of
the fault. After fault occurrence, new harmonics and
decay dc waveforms are added to the signals as well. As
such, the voltage and current phasors estimated by DFT
algorithm are not quite precise. The impedance measured
by the relay is also oscillatory as shown in Fig. 5. As the
fault location is near to the first zone of distance relay,
which is set at 80% of the line, it causes that the
impedance locus enters to and leaves out the first zone
consecutively. Therefore, the relay trip signal becomes
oscillatory as well.
To solve this problem, Hanning data window is used as a
filter. This filter is combined with the DFT filter to obtain
sharper frequency response. The frequency domain
convolved filter effectively reduces higher order
harmonics while magnifies the effect of sub-harmonics
and decay dc component. However, the time domain

Figure 4. Line Current, Phase Voltage and Zero Current

Measured From Bus-3

Figure 5. Impedance Measured From Bus-3 and Trip Signal

( 3 algorithms are compared )

Figure 6. Line Current, Phase Voltage and Zero Current

Measured From Bus-4

Figure 8. Line Current, Phase Voltage and Zero Current

Measured From Bus-3

Figure 7. Impedance Measured From Bus-4 and Trip Signal

(3 algorithms are compared )

Figure 9. Impedance Measured From Bus-3 and Trip Signal

( 3 algorithms are compared )

4.2. Phase-C to Ground Fault

(Location 67 % from bus-3, Rfault =3 ohm)
In this example, a fault at 67 % from bus 3 (33 % from
bus 4) with a fault resistance of 3 ohm is simulated. The
fault voltage and current signals measured from buses 3
and 4 are shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 10, respectively.
Measured impedance and relay trip signals are also shown
in Fig. 9 and Fig. 11.
As shown in Fig. 9 , the measured impedance trajectory
crosses the first zone boundary of the distance relay a few
times if the first and second data windows are used as
impedance measurement algorithm. However, the third
data window results in a better response. The relay output
trip signal is activated about 25 ms after fault occurrence
and remains stable indicating an internal fault on the
transmission line.
Measured impedance by the distance relay located at the
bus 4 is depicted in Fig. 11. As the fault location is 33 %
from bus 4, different algorithms responses are similar.

Figure 10. Line Current, Phase Voltage and Zero Current

Measured From Bus-4

The proposed algorithm is tested on a benchmark power

system. Performance of the new distance relay algorithm
is verified for different faults and promising results are
obtained.

References
[1] M. Sanaye-Pasand, B. Arya, Theoretical studies of an
adaptive digital protection scheme immune to harmonic
effects, Submitted to European conference on Power
Energy Systems, Sept. 2003, Spain.

Figure 11. Impedance Measured From Bus-4 and Trip Signal

(3 algorithms are compared )

4.3. Discussion
As it is shown in Figs. 4 to 11 there would be an
improvement in protective system performance by using
the time domain convolved filter. However, this algorithm
has a longer time delay in comparison to the simple DFT
window. Through different studies it was found that the
convolved filter time delay is about 10 ms more than the
time delay associated with the simple DFT filter.
A THD measurement algorithm is used in the modeled
distance relay. If the measured THD becomes greater than
a prespecified value, the combined filter is used.
Otherwise the simple DFT filter is used to prevent delay
in operation of distance relay.
In addition, a small zone e.g. set at 40% of the
transmission line is defined for the distance relay. In the
case that the measured impedance is within this smaller
zone, the simple DFT is used as the filter to process input
data, although the THD measurement determines a high
value for system harmonics. This modification speeds up
the distance relay for close-in faults on transmission line.

5. Conclusion
In this paper, effect of harmonics on impedance
measurement of digital distance relaying algorithms is
studied. As power system signals include harmonics and
distortions, distance relay impedance estimation
performance degrades. Different windows are proposed to
be combined with DFT filters to decrease the sensitivity
of the algorithm to non-fundamental components in the
signal. An adaptive algorithm is proposed to choose
appropriate data window for the distance relay. Using
combined data window, could reduce the speed of digital
protection relay for about half cycle. However, this
method estimates system impedance more accurately.
Therefore, unwanted operations of the relay due to
miscalculation of impedance could be prevented and this
way a more secure relay is obtained.

[2] Modeling and simulation of the propagation of the

harmonics in electric power networks, part I : Concepts,
models & simulation techniques, Task force on harmonics
modeling and simulation, IEEE Transaction on Power
Delivery, 11(1), Jan. 1996, 452-465.
[3] Modeling and simulation of the propagation of the
harmonics in electric power networks, part II : Sample
systems and examples, Task force on harmonics modeling
and simulation, IEEE Transaction on Power Delivery,
11(1), Jan. 1996, 466-474.
[4] Test systems for harmonics modeling & simulation,
Task force on harmonics modeling and simulation, IEEE
Transaction on Power Delivery, 14(2), Apr. 1999, 579587.
[5] L. Wang, Frequency response of phasor-based
microprocessor relaying algorithms, IEEE Transaction on
Power Delivery, 14(1), Jan. 1999, 98-109.
[6] J.A.R. Macias, A.G. Exposito, Fast harmonic
computation for digital relaying, IEEE Transaction on
Power Delivery, 14(4), Oct. 1999, 1263-1268.

Appendix
Table 3. Test system branch data