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BUSBAR PROTECTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the early days of the electricity supply industry, protective equipment for plants connected
to a busbar installation was relied upon to clear busbar faults. This resulted in time-delayed
fault clearance by time-graded protections such as distance relays or overcurrent-time
relays. With present-day widely meshed power system networks with line sections varying in
length and numerous intermediate in feeds, fault clearance by zone 2 or zone 3 of distance
relay can be difficult plus the impossibility of selective tripping of different bus sections. In
order to maintain system stability and minimise damage due to high fault levels time-delayed
tripping for busbar faults is no longer acceptable. It is therefore necessary to detect busbar
faults selectively with a unit form of protection system.

2.0 BASIC REQUIREMENT OF A BUSBAR PROTECTION SCHEME

(i.) It must be completely reliable, since the protection may only be called to operate
once or twice in the life of the switchgear installation and failure to operate under
fault conditions would be unacceptable.

(ii.) It must be absolutely stable under all through fault conditions since failure to stabilise
would cause unnecessary widespread interruption of supply.

(iii.) It must be capable of complete discrimination between sections of the busbars to

ensure that the minimum number of circuit breakers is tripped to isolate the fault.

(iv.) It must possess high speed of operation to minimise damage and maintain system
stability.

There are two main types of busbar installation:

(i.) Indoor or metalclad type

(ii.) Outdoor type

Indoor or metalclad switchgear is mainly used on medium voltage systems, but with the
introduction of SF6 gas as an insulation medium, it is now possible to have metalclad bulbar
installations up to the highest system voltages. If the metalclad type is fully phase segregated
inter-phase faults cannot occur and only earth fault protection is required. All other types of
busbars should be protected against both phase and earth faults by various types of
protection schemes.

3.0 TYPES OF BUSBAR PROTECTION SCHEME

3.1 BASIC CIRCULATING CURRENT SCHEME

This is a simple form of unit protection which compares the current entering and leaving the
busbar as shown in Fig. 1. If the current transformers were perfect there would be no current
through the relay circuit. In practice there will be spill current through the relay circuit, which
must not exceed the relay current setting up to the maximum through fault current.
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3.2 BIASED DIFFERENTIAL CIRCULATING CURRENT SCHEME,

The basic scheme using practical current transformers cannot provide high speed operation
and guarantee through fault stability at the same time. A bias feature can be incorporated.
The principle of operation is shown in Fig. 2. The relay used has both bias and operating
circuits. The former is energised by the arithmetic sum of all the circuit currents whilst the
latter energised by the vector sum. A set of rectifiers and auxiliary summation current
transformers is required.

3.3 DIRECTIONAL COMPARISON SCHEME

The principle of operation is shown in Fig. 3a. An internal fault results in current in all feeders
connected to the bus flowing towards the bus. During an external fault, however, the current
in the faulted feeder will flow outwards. Contacts from all the directional relays are connected
in series to energise a multicontact trip relay.

An alternative arrangement is to use an additional blocking relay. The directional relay is to

have a changeover output contact. All the break contacts are paralleled and connected to the
blocking relay. All the make contacts are parallel and connected to the trip relay through a
normally closed contact from the blocking relay. This is shown in Fig. 3b. The directional
relays are arranged to look into the bus. During normal load conditions at least one feeder
will carry outgoing current so that the blocking relay will normally be energised and there will
not be contact race to prevent tripping on an external fault. A time delay in the trip relay can
be provided for this purpose.

3.4 PHASE COMPARISON SCHEME

Fig. 4 shows a simplified single phase arrangement using high speed relays A and B. Under
external fault conditions the primary fault currents are in phase, but the current transformer
secondary currents are out of phase. Both relays A and B operate, no tripping occurs. Under
internal fault conditions, the primary currents are not of phase but the secondary currents are
in phase. Relay A operates in the positive half cycle of the current waveform whilst relay B
operates in the negative half cycle.

3.5 FRAME LEAKAGE PROTECTION

This is a simple and economical form of busbar protection which is ideal for the protection of
phase segregated indoor metalclad switchgear where earth fault protection only is required.
The main basic requirement is that the frame of the switchgear must be insulated from the
true earth and between sections of the switchboard. This provision of insulation between
switchboard sections is the main disadvantage of this form of protection plus the fact that it is
not possible to discriminate between faults on two sets of busbars running through common
switchgear frames.

3.5.1 Principle of Operation,

Refer to Fig. 5. The principle of operation of a frame leakage scheme is based on the fact
that any breakdown of the switchgear insulation will raise the potential of the frame to earth
and cause a current to flow in the connection between the frame bonding bar and earth. A
current transformer connected between the bonding bar and earth will therefore measure this
earth fault current and operate a protective relay. An instantaneous current relay such as
type CAG12 is sufficient for this application.

The current transformer ratio used is not critical provided the necessary fault setting can be
obtained.
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3.5.2 Insulation Requirement and Frame Earthing

The switchgear must be insulated as a whole, usually by standing it on concrete, taking care
that the foundation bolts do not touch any steel reinforcement. No other earth connections of
any type including incidental connections to structural steelwork should be present. This is to
ensure that:

(i) The effective setting of the relay is not raised by any path shunting the principal earth
connection and current transformer.
(ii)
(iii) No spurious tripping will take place for an external earth fault with current flowing into
or out of the switchgear frame.

The insulation achieved should be greater than 10 ohms to ensure stability under external
fault conditions. This is illustrated by considering Fig. 5 which shows the current distribution
for an external earth fault. The fault current splits between the switchgear frame to earth
insulation resistance and the resistance of the earthing electrode. Since the latter has a value
which is normally less than 1 ohm the current I1 seen by the relay will be approximately 10%
of the total fault current. The relay setting should be greater than 10% of the maximum earth
fault current to achieve stability for external faults and should be 30% of the minimum earth
fault current to ensure fast operation for busbar faults.

On resistance earthed systems where the earth fault current is fairly cons tan there is no
problem. However on solidly earthed high voltage systems the difference between minimum
and maximum earth fault levels may be considerable and this may prevent the use of frame
leakage protection scheme unless especially high insulation resistance is provided.

All cable glands must be insulated to prevent circulation of spurious current produced by high
voltages induced in the cable sheaths under through fault conditions causing flashover
between gland and switchgear frame. On resistance earthed systems it is recommended to
use a common earthing electrode for both the power source neutral and the switchgear
frame. If separate electrodes are used an internal fault current has to flow through both
electrodes in series. If either or both are of high resistance or inadequate current carrying
capacity the fault current may be limited to below the relay setting.

If the electrode earthing of the switchgear frame is the offender the potential of the frame
may be raised to a dangerous value as all the fault current will flow through the frame-to-
earth insulation resistance.

Fig. 5 shows the preferred arrangement with the earthing connection from the switchgear
frame made between the bottom of the earthing resistor and the earthing electrode.

3.5.3 Types of Frame Leakage Schemes.

3.5.3.1 Single Busbar with Insulation Barriers on Both Sides of Bus Section Circuit Breaker,

The scheme is shown in Fig. 6. In this case separate zones of protection are formed with
complete discrimination between them. Faults on the zones on either side of the bus section
breaker outside the bus section zone result is in tripping of the bus section breaker and all
circuit breakers in the faulted zone. Faults on the bus section zone result in tripping of all
circuit breakers.
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3.5.3.2 Single Busbar with Insulation Barrier on Only One Side of Bus Section Circuit
Breaker.

In this arrangement the bus section breaker is insulated on one side only as shown in Fig. 7.
There will be a blind spot between the bus section breaker and the insulation barrier. Faults
on zone 1 or zone 2 will trip the bus section breaker and all breakers connected to the
busbars in the faulted zone. To cover the blind spot a sequential tripping circuit is used which
is arranged to trip circuit breakers in the non-faulted zone if the protection in the faulted zone
including the bus section breaker remains operated. A time setting in the order of 0.4
seconds is used to allow for the breakers in the faulted zone to trip and the protection in that
zone to reset (for a genuine fault in that zone) before initiating tripping of the other zone.

It is essential that an earthed source of supply is connected to the side of the busbar not
containing the bus section breaker.

3.5.3.3 Double Busbar.

It is extremely difficult to obtain discrimination between the two busbars due to the practical
difficulty in insulating between them and the fact that the circuit breakers themselves must
also be included in the zones of protection.

The scheme shown in Fig. 8 illustrates the various zones arranged to trip all circuit breakers
connected to the faulty section of the main busbars an( all breakers connected to the reserve
busbars.

3.5.4 Check Feature.

The main objection to the frame leakage protection scheme is the fact that the discriminating
relays in the various zones of protection will operate whenever the current in the current
transformer is above their effective setting irrespective of whether it is due to a genuine
busbar fault or faults in the secondary wiring.

To overcome this difficulty it is common practice to add a check feature as a second line of
defense. This takes the form of another independently operated relay to detect earth faults.
This relay is nondiscriminatory and operates for both internal and external faults. Both the
check relay and discriminating relay must operate before tripping can occur. The various
methods of obtaining a check feature are:

(i) Neutral check provided by a relay energised from a single current transformer in the
power system neutral.

(ii) Residual check provided by a relay energised from residually connected current
transformers on the incoming circuits to the busbars,

(iii) Residual voltage check provided by a voltage relay energised from an open delta
voltage transformer supply.

Check relays should be self reset to eliminate the need to manually reset the relay after each
external fault.

Fig. 9 shows a typical tripping and alarm circuit for a frame leakage protection scheme with a
check feature.
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3.6 HIGH IMPEDANCE CIRCULATING CURRENT PROTECTION

This is a unit type protective scheme in which currents entering and leaving the busbar
installation are compared continuously. The object is to provide fast operation at a low fault
setting on internal faults and yet retain stability up to the highest possible value of short
circuit current on through faults. Current transformers on each of the busbar circuits are
connected in parallel which will produce a resultant current to operate a relay for internal
busbar faults only. Theoretically such a system is unaffected by through faults, but in practice
the associated current transformers may not behave ideally when the current exceeds a
certain value. Errors in transformation due to saturation of the current transformer cores may
be sufficient to cause maloperation if special precautions are not taken.

3.6.1 Principle of Operation.

Consider Fig. 10. Under external fault conditions the current in relay R should theoretically be
zero. However, if one of the current transformers becomes fully saturated due to high flux in
its core, its secondary e.m.f. becomes zero and this can be represented by a short circuit
across its magnetising impedance. This is the worst condition for stability of the relay and the
high impedance principle is used to ensure that the relay circuit impedance is sufficiently high
to prevent its operation.

Assuming that CT 'X' becomes fully saturated and ignoring the magnetising current in CT 'Y',
the secondary current Iy will split up between the relay circuit and the saturated current
transformer. The relay circuit impedance is adjusted so that the current flowing through the
relay is less than its current setting. The necessary impedance can be calculated with a slight
safety margin by assuming the current Iy flows through the saturated current transformer
only. This will develop a voltage VR given by:

VR = IY (RCT + RLX)

The relay circuit impedance is then adjusted so that the necessary voltage to operate the
relay is greater than the voltage VR. This voltage VS called the setting voltage is given by:

VS = IRR where IR = relay current setting.

R = relay circuit impedance.

Thus VS > VR for no operation.

i.e. IRR > Iy (RCT + RLX)

Y
R (R CT R LX )
B
In order to obtain the required value of R it is usually necessary to use an additional resistor
called stabilising resistor RST in series with the relay coil RR.

Required value of stabilising resistor:

RST= R RR
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For an internal fault at F as shown in Fig.11 the current transformers will attempt to transform
the full fault current and pass this through the relay circuit. The voltage output V F from the
current transformers required to pass this current through the relay will be given by:-

VF F .R
Y
F (R CT R LX )
R
Depending on the relative values of relay setting IR and fault currents IF and Iy the value of VF
can be many KV. It is not possible for any practical current transformers to develop such a
high value and severe saturation will occur. The saturated output consists of spikes of very
high voltage around the points of zero flux. To enable fast relay operation the current
transformer should have a kneepoint voltage equal to at least twice the relay voltage setting
VS .

3.6.2 ,Fault Settings,

Consider Fig. 11 again. With a given relay current setting IR the overall fault setting of the
scheme is higher than IR due to the magnetising current taken by the current transformers.
This overall fault setting or the effective setting IS (referred to current transformer secondary
amperes) is given by:

IS = IR + 2Im where Im is the magnetising current

taken by one current transformer
at the setting voltage VS.

Or in terms of primary current the effective primary current setting IP is given by:

IP = T.IS where T = current transformer current

= T.(IR + 2Im) ratio.

For a busbar installation with n circuits:

IP = T (IR + nIm).

In addition to the relay there may be a voltage limiting device, a fault setting resistor and
supervision relay connected across the relay circuit. These will be discussed in later
sections. Therefore, in general, the effective primary current setting can be expressed as :

IP = T (IR + nIm +IM + ISR + IV)

Where: IM = current taken by voltage limiting device at VS volts.

ISR = current taken by fault setting resistor at VS volts.
IV = current taken by supervision relay at VS volts.

The value of IP should be in the order of 30% of minimum fault current available. This is to
ensure sufficient fault current flowing through the relay under internal fault conditions for high
speed operation.
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3.6.3 Through Fault Stability.

The stability limit of a busbar protection scheme is based on the maximum through fault
current. In general this takes the value of the associated switchgear rating irrespective of the
existing or anticipated fault levels. As shown previously the stability limit is governed by the
relay circuit setting voltage. This must not be less than the stability voltage of the system,
which is calculated by assuming that the maximum through fault current flows in through one
current transformer and out through a second one, the-latter being assumed to be the most
remote (in terms of secondary lead resistance) from the relay associated with the zone
concerned. It is further assumed that the d.c. component of the offset primary fault current
completely saturates the second current transformer whilst the first one continues to
transform perfectly.

3.6.4 Fault Setting Resistors.

These are used to increase the effective primary fault setting by creating a shunt resistance
across the relay circuit as shown in Fig. 12. They are useful where a standard relay with a
given setting is used for all the busbar installations to achieve a given primary fault setting
throughout.

3.6.5 Check Feature.

A second line of defense is considered good practice in most schemes of busbar protection,
not to give security against maloperation of the

primary protection due to inherent defects but to prevent incorrect tripping as a result of
damage to wiring and equipment from extraneous sources. A check feature is provided by
duplication of the primary protection using a second set of current transformers on all circuits
other than bus section and coupler units. The check system is arranged in a similar manner
to the primary protection but forms one zone only covering the whole of the busbars and
does not discriminate between faults in the various sections of the busbars.
3.6.6 Use of Non-Linear Resistors (Metrosils) to Limit Voltage Across Relay and Current
Transformer Secondary Wiring

Under in-zone fault conditions, the high impedance relay circuit constitutes an excessive
burden to the current transformers, leading to the development. of a high voltage the
waveform of which will be highly distorted with a peak value many times the nominal
saturation voltage. An approximate formula based on experimental results commonly used
for checking the magnitude of the peak voltages V P developed by a current transformer
under internal fault conditions is given by :

VP 2 2VK (VF - VK )

where VK = current transformer knee-point r.m.s. voltage.

VF = maximum r.m.s. voltage that would be produced if the current
transformer did not saturate.

This formula does not hold for the open circuit condition and is inaccurate for very high
burden resistance values that approximate to an open circuit. It only applies for values of V K
V
less than F VF. It should therefore be used as a guide to the possible peak voltage.
2
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If there are a number of current transformers in parallel the peak voltage V P as calculated
above for a single transformer will be reduced by the shunt conductance of the other current
transformers.

The insulation of the current transformer secondary winding and relay will not be able to
withstand the very high voltages that can be produced. Where necessary the voltage is
limited to less than 3kV peak by the use of non-linear resistors called metrosils connected in
parallel with the relay circuit as shown in Fig. 13.

The voltage/current characteristic of a metrosil is given by:

V C
where the voltage V and current I are peak values.

I(rms) = 0.522

C = a constant depending on the metrosil construction i.e. the size and

number of individual discs used in the metrosil and whether connected
in series or parallel.

= a constant in the range 0.2 to 0.25.

The values of C and are chosen so that the voltage across the metrosil is limited to less
than 3kV peak at the maximum fault current. The value of C must also be sufficiently high to
restrict the current taken by the metrosil at the relay setting voltage VS so as not to adversely
affect the primary fault setting. Acceptable metrosil currents are approximately 30mA for use
with 1A current transformers and 100mA for use with 5A current transformers.

An approximate value of I(rms) at relay setting voltage VS(rms) can be calculated from:
( (rms) )
2 VS C
(0.52)

(i) Suitable metrosils are chosen based on

(ii) relay setting voltage.

(iii) rated current transformer secondary current i.e. required primary current setting.

(iv) maximum current transformer secondary current under fault conditions.

3.6.7 Supervision of Busbar Protection to Cover open Circuited Current Transformers and
Wiring

When a current transformer secondary winding-or connections between current transformers

and the relay circuit become open circuited, the resultant out-of-balance current will flow
through the parallel combination of relay, metrosil, fault setting resistor and current
transformer magnetising impedance. This may cause the protection to operate for load or
through fault conditions depending on the effective primary setting.

The condition of an open circuit can be detected by measuring the voltage across the relay
circuit by a sensitive voltage-operated relay as shown in Fig. 14. This relay is set to operate
when the out-of-balance current equals about 10% of the least loaded feeder connected to
the busbars or 25 amperes whichever is the greater.
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If accurate details of current transformer magnetising characteristics are available, the

required setting can be calculated. Checks should be done on site to ensure that the relay
will not operate due to normal unbalance with the system and protection healthy.

Operation of the supervision relay is arranged to give an alarm that the busbar protection is
faulty and to short circuit the bus-wires if this is necessary to prevent damage to the
protective relay and stabilising resistors.

When the busbar protection has a fault setting below full load of the connected feeders it is
very likely to operate due to an open circuit current transformer. In this case a check feature
is required to prevent tripping. At the same time it is important that the bus-wires are short
circuited via the supervision relay to prevent thermal damage to the protective relay and
stabilising resistors which would otherwise remain continuously picks up under load
conditions.

The supervision relay must have a time delay to prevent its operation due to genuine busbar
faults. A time delay of about 3 seconds is used.

3.6.8 Current Transformer Circuits.

3.6.8.1 Current Transformer Design.

An important advantage of using high impedance relay in a circulating current system is the
ability to predict the protective scheme performance in terms of primary fault setting and
through fault stability by calculation without heavycurrent conjunctive tests. The validity of
the calculation is based on the assumption that all the current transformers are of
lowreactance type. A lowreactance current transformer is defined as one of which a
knowledge of the secondary exciting current, secondary winding resistance and turns ratio is
sufficient for an assessment of its performance. This covers current transformers with
uniformly distributed windings or whose core leakage flux is negligible.

3.6.8.2 Current Transformer Wiring

With high impedance circulating current schemes, it is of the utmost importance that the lead
burdens between the various sets of current transformer be kept as low as possible in order
to obtain the required stability and sensitivity. It is therefore advisable to run the bus-wires in
the form of a closed ring between all the circuit breaker control cabinets. This avoids the
need for numerous radial loops between the current transformers and the bus zone panel
which would be required if the bus-wires were formed in the bus zone panel.

A closed ring consisting of cores in multi-core cables affords increased security against
maloperation which may result from unbalancing of the protection due to inadvertent
disconnection of bus wires. It also provides easy extension of the protection when new
circuits are to be connected into the protection zone.

An example of running a multi-core cable ring in the case of a double busbar arrangement is
as follows:
(i) current transformers to marshalling kiosk.
(ii) Marshalling kiosk to auxiliary switches in the busbar selector isolators.
(iii) loop between marshalling kiosks.

The size of conductor normally used for the interconnecting pilots is 2.5mm2. However, it is
occasionally necessary to use parallel cores to reduce the burden.
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3.6.8.3 Busbar Selector Auxiliary Switches.

In a lot of cases such as a double bus arrangement where on-load transfer of a circuit is
possible, current transformer outputs are switched to the correct bus-wires by means of
auxiliary switches on the selecting isolators. These auxiliary switches should close before the
main isolator closes and should open after the main isolator opens to ensure stability during
switching operation. This is shown in Fig.15.

3.6.8.4 Bypass Connections

Bypass connections are used to permit work on line circuit breakers with the line kept in
service. This is achieved by using the bus coupler circuit breaker as a substitute for the line
circuit breaker.

The effect of the bypass arrangements on the busbar protection depends entirely on the
location of the current transformers and switchgear in relation to the bypass connections.
When air blast circuit breakers are used it is often possible to bypass the circuit breaker
without bypassing the current transformers. This is shown in Fig. 16.

In some installations the connections bypass both circuit breaker and current transformers.
This is the case with bulk oil circuit breakers and is shown in Fig. 17.

When only the line circuit breaker is bypassed no alteration of the bus coupler current
transformer connections are necessary. The feeder protection must be arranged to trip the
bus coupler. Under bypass conditions both isolator 'a' and 'b' will be open. When a bypass
isolator is used, a contact from this isolator should be used to connect the discriminating
zone busbar protection current transformers to the reserve bus-wires. When isolators are not
used a separate test link should be used for this purpose.

Operation of the reserve zone busbar protection will trip the bus coupler but will not isolate
fault infeed from the remote end of the feeder with bypassed circuit breaker. This will be
cleared by time delayed backup protection at the remote end of the feeder or by using inter-
tripping facility.

When both circuit breaker and current transformers are bypassed the discriminating and
check zone current transformers in the bypassed circuit breaker are disconnected and short
circuited. The feeder protection is transferred to current transformers on the bus coupler and
is arranged to trip the bus coupler.

The reserve busbar is then included within the feeder protection. The discriminating zone
current transformers on the bus coupler for the reserve bars are no longer required and are
used to replace the check zone current transformers on the line circuit breaker. Sometimes
an additional current transformer may be provided on the bus coupler specifically for this
purpose, in which case the reserve bar discriminating current transformers can be short
circuited during bypass conditions.

3.6.8.5 Current Transformer Location,

The three alternative arrangements as shown in Fig. 18 are:

(i) current transformers for feeder and busbar protection overlapping the circuit breaker.
(ii) all current transformers on line side of circuit breaker.
(iii) all current transformers on the busbar side of circuit breaker.
 - 11 -

In this arrangement faults at F 1 and F2 are cleared correctly by the busbar and feeder
protection respectively. Faults at F 3 between the circuit breaker and feeder protection
current transformers will be cleared by the busbar protection and possibly also by the
remote end of the feeder protection. No unnecessary disruption to loads will result
from this. Faults at F4 will be seen by the feeder protection but also by the busbar
protection resulting in unnecessary tripping of the busbars for what is essentially a
feeder fault. This is the main disadvantage of this arrangement.

This is the most common arrangement where all the current transformers are on the
feeder side of the circuit breaker. However, there is a blind spot at point F 3 where
faults are seen by busbar protection but not seen by the feeder protection. With this
arrangement it is therefore required to inter-trip the remote circuit breaker when
busbar protection operates.

Inter-tripping can be achieved by un-stabilising the feeder protection and can be

instantaneous or time delayed to allow clearance of faults on the busbar side of the
circuit breaker before inter-tripping. Alternatively an interlocked overcurrent relay can
be used to inter-trip the remote circuit breaker. This relay in the form of a polyphase
induction disc is interlocked with the busbar protection by means of shading winding
which is closed when the busbar protection operates.

(iii) When all the current transformers are located on the busbar side of the circuit
breaker a fault at F3 between the current transformers and circuit breaker will
continue to be fed from the busbars after the circuit breaker has been tripped by the
feeder protection. An interlocked overcurrent relay which is interlocked with the
feeder protection is required to ensure that the busbars are only tripped for this
condition and not for faults on the feeder.

3.6.9 Typical Busbar Protection Using High Impedance Circulating Current Scheme

Figure 19 shows the current transformer circuits for a typical busbar station layout comprising
one bus section and two bus coupler circuit breakers. The busbar arrangement enables three
zones of protection to be obtained, and the current transformers are connected to provide
overlapping at the bus section and bus coupler circuit breakers.

Discriminating Feature

Three current transformers are fitted on all incoming and outgoing circuits and also on both
sides of the bus section and bus coupler circuit breakers. The star points of all the current
transformers are connected to a bus-wire which is earthed via a-removable link. The other
terminals of the current transformers in the same zone are connected to three more bus-
wires, all current transformers in the same phase being connected to the same bus-wires,
thus giving a set of three bus-wires per zone and a common neutral bus-wire

One triple pole relay, type CAG34 (device 87) and stabilising resistor is connected across the
bus-wires to give phase and earth fault protection. If a fault occurs outside the protected
zone, the currents entering and leaving the zone are equal and the current transformers
affected will circulate current through the bus-wires. The scheme is so designed that the
voltage necessary to operate the relay is greater than the voltage across the bus-wires under
maximum through fault conditions, so that the relay will not operate under such
circumstances.

If a fault occurs inside the protected zone, the balance of secondary current will be disturbed
and the relay will operate.
 - 12 -

Discriminative tripping is obtained by the introduction of isolator auxiliary switches into the
current transformer circuits. The auxiliary switch contacts are silver plated, with two switches
in parallel per phase, in order to minimise the possibility of high auxiliary switch contact
resistance.

Check Feature.

This is similar in operating principle to the discriminating feature, but no current transformers
are fitted on the bus section and bus coupler circuits, and the complete busbar installation is
considered as one overall zone. The current transformers are fitted on all incoming and
outgoing circuits and again all the current transformers in each phase are paralleled onto the
bus-wires.

A triple pole relay, type CAG34 (device 87) and stabilising resistor is connected across the
bus-wires.

Continuous Bus-wire Supervision

To guard against the possibility of faults in the current transformers secondary wiring and
interconnecting pilots a static relay type VTX (device 95) is connected across the busbar
protection zone bus-wires.

The relay has a voltage setting adjustable between 2 and 14 volts, and an inherent time
delay of 3 seconds. Operation of the VTX relay sounds an alarm and takes the affected zone
out of service by shorting the appropriate bus-wires.

The following faults are covered:

Open circuited current transformers.
Broken current transformer pilots.
Crossed current transformer pilots.

Tripping Circuits:
The tripping circuits are arranged so that the accidental operation of any one of the
circulating current relays (device 87) does not cause inadvertent tripping of a group of circuit
breakers. Both the 'Discriminating' and 'Check' high impedance voltage differential relays
must be energised before the respective main tripping relays (device 96) are energised. One
main tripping relay is required for each feeder circuit breaker, and two such relays are
required for each bus section and each bus coupler circuit breaker. This method presents
several advantages:
Spare contacts are always available on the auxiliary tripping relays, and can be used
when required for inter-tripping duties.
The zone of protection may be easily extended to cover additional circuit breakers.
The front appearance of the busbar protection panel is not dependent on the number
of circuit breakers in the zone.
Alarm Circuits.
Audible and visual alarms are given under the following conditions :
Busbar fault.
Busbar protection faulty.
 - 13 -

Battery voltage low.

The 'Busbar Protection Faulty' alarm is time delayed to prevent such an alarm being given
under busbar fault conditions. Figure 20 shows a typical arrangement of the d.c. tripping,
alarm and indicating circuits.

3.6.10 Busbar Protection Using Separate Differential Relays For Each Circuit Breaker,

3.6.10.1 Basic Scheme.

Fig. 21 shows the basic arrangement. This scheme is particularly suitable for use where
individual relay rooms are used on the 400kV busbar installation in U.K. Each room
accommodates both the feeder and busbar protection on a percircuit basis. Each circuit
breaker has its own individual discriminating and check high impedance relays, coincident
operation of which trips the breaker. Each breaker also has its own individual tripping battery.
On this basis bus-wire selection is limited to the a.c. circuits with no isolator switches in the
d.c. trip circuits. This will provide greater security against maltripping and greater reliability
of tripping.

Another arrangement shown in Fig. 22 uses two tripping routes for each circuit breaker.
Direct tripping from the high impedance relays associated with each circuit breaker is via a
discrete busbar protection trip relay. The other route uses separate contacts on the individual
circuit breaker check and discriminating high-impedance relays to energise a second trip
relay associated with each circuit-breaker. In this case the separate contacts on all the high-
impedance check relays are connected in parallel, the combination of which is in series with
a single contact on the individual highimpedance-.discriminating relay associated with each
circuit breaker.

3.6.10.2 Basic Scheme with Additional Discriminating and Check Relays per Zone and
Back Tripping Facilities.

Fig. 23 shows the arrangement in a simplified form. The additional relays increase the
tripping reliability. A sectionalised back tripping system with check and discriminating back
tripping bus wires (each double pole switched) is incorporated which operates onto the
individual busbar protection trip relays. Operation of the zone-check and discriminating relays
energise the back trip receive relay through the back trip bus-wires and busbar selector
isolator auxiliary switches. The receive relays in turn pick up the busbar protection trip relay
to trip the breaker.

Further reliability of the tripping circuits is obtained by using separate back trip receive trip
relays as shown in Fig. 24. This provides virtual duplication of the fault detection and tripping
functions apart from current transformers and associated bus wiring.

3.6.10.3 Check Zone Sectionalisation

Provision of a single check zone covering all the busbars has the advantage of relative
simplicity and economy. At large busbar stations having a large number of circuits it may be
necessary to depart from this approach due to the difficulty in obtaining a suitable primary
fault setting. In these cases sectionalised check zones are used. This provision leads to
greater security and flexibility during construction, maintenance and commissioning. It
requires additional current transformers at the sectioning points and separate high
impedance relays per check zone.
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ADDENDUM

Busbar Configuration

Since the busbar is a main connecting link between the supply plant and the transformer /
distribution system, and since it will handle large amounts of power it is important that it
remains secure and serviceable even under conditions of major equipment failure or busbar
fault.

Various factors govern the choice of bulbar configuration, the most important being:

a) System Security

b) Operational Flexibility

c) Simplicity of Protection

d) Ease of Maintenance

e) Ease of Extension

f) Cost

Several switching schemes are available and there are many variants of each scheme.
When selecting a suitable scheme consideration should be given to the ability to take out any
circuit breaker or other equipment for maintenance without removing the corresponding
circuit from service, also the ability to isolate the busbar for maintenance, some schemes
being more flexible than others in this respect.

In addition to plain single and double busbar schemes, the following are some of the other
more popular arrangements:

1) Double Busbar with Transfer (Refer to Fig 25A)

With this double busbar variation, each feeder has isolators to enable switching to main
or reserve/transfer bars, and also an additional isolator to enable the feeder breaker to
be bypassed. The reserve bar may then function also as a transfer bar and the bus
coupler breaker ' takes over the function of the feeder breaker to free it for
maintenance.

To apply discriminative busbar protective, suitable auxiliary switches are required on

each isolator to select the C.Ts for the correct zone, and the trip circuits to the
appropriate relays.

2) Triple Busbar (Refer to Fig 25B) This s a double busbar scheme with a third, transfer
busbar.

Under normal conditions all bus section and bus coupler breakers are closed. During
maintenance of a feeder breaker, the transfer bus is energised from the selected main
or reserve bus by the transfer breaker and the feeder bypass isolator closed on the
transfer bar. All bus section and bus coupler breakers remaining closed. For busbar
protection isolator auxiliary switches are required as previously.
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3) Mesh Busbar Scheme (Refer to Fig 26)

The mesh busbar scheme is a frequently used EHV busbar configuration. A transformer
and a feeder are linked at each corner of the mesh and four circuit breakers used to
complete the mesh interconnection the arrangement being justified on the grounds of
economy.

The protection shown consists of a fully discriminative scheme with a relay at each
corner. A fault at any corner trips the two breakers associated with that corner and also
initiates any inter-tripping necessary to open circuit breakers at remote ends.

4) One and a Half Breaker Scheme (Refer to Fig 27)

This is a very popular and economical scheme, three breakers and two feeders being
arranged between the two busbars. Under normal conditions all breakers are closed.
During maintenance of a feeder breaker only that breaker would be kept open.

During maintenance of a busbar, all the breakers connected to that busbar would
remain open to isolate that busbar.

When busbar protection is required, then each busbar is considered individually and a
single busbar scheme applied to each as shown,4e with the protection for the mesh
busbar previously, the protection scheme does not require isolator auxiliaries for CT
zone selection or in the tripping circuits, the scheme being very simple, and this
together with the operational flexibility of this busbar configuration accounts for its
popularity.
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