See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/229018532

Utilizing the ring operation mode of medium voltage distribution feeders

Article · January 2003

CITATIONS READS
14 1,156

3 authors, including:

Sami Repo Pertti Järventausta

Tampere University of Technology Tampere University of Technology
117 PUBLICATIONS   952 CITATIONS    174 PUBLICATIONS   1,332 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Service business development related to electricity distribution View project

EL-TRAN View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sami Repo on 01 June 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
UTILIZING THE RING OPERATION MODE OF MEDIUM VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION FEEDERS
Ari NIKANDER, Sami REPO, Pertti JÄRVENTAUSTA
Tampere University of Technology - Finland
ari.nikander@tut.fi
INTRODUCTION
Medium voltage (MV) networks are traditionally used
radially. The MV networks in Finland are normally
constructed partly meshed to ensure back-up connections
during disturbances and to improve the reliability of the
system, but operated radially during normal operation mode.
The open-points of the network are often inserted at the
remote controlled disconnector stations because of the fast
back-up restoration facilities. Feeders are typically connected
temporarily into a closed ring when the open-point of the
network is changed. Interruption to customers can thereby be
avoided. Electric dimensioning of the ring-connected lines is
supposed to be taken into account in the planning of back-up
connections. In a few cases in Finland MV feeders are used
looped in some special conditions for reducing the voltage
drop during heavy load in wintertime. Some implementations
of meshed operated systems exist worldwide but normally
they need heavy investments for switching equipment and
automation system [1]. In this study MV networks including
looped feeders are compared to simple radial systems based
on features affecting the protection and dimensioning of the
medium voltage network.
In this study the viewpoint perspective taken is the ring
connection of two feeders fed during normal operation
conditions from the same primary substation. A 20 kV
switching station can also be fed via a ring connection. In
addition to ring connected feeders, the network may contain
radial feeders, whose protection is conventional. The
objective of the study is to find out when the ring connection
is advantageous and what the preconditions are. The main
attention is paid to the realization of feeder protection, fault
indication and fault location. Neutral isolated or
compensated systems are considered.
MOTIVATION FOR LOOPED OPERATION
The improvement of the quality of electricity distribution is
currently a subject of increasing interest and research. Most
outage costs are accumulated during the time taken to locate and
isolate the fault. Faults may also cause a hazard to customers and
the public. Efficient and quick methods for the identification,
location and distance estimation of earth faults are called for.
They are of high economic importance both to electricity
companies and to customers. The length of the MV feeders may
be several tens of kilometres, in rural areas even over one
hundred kilometres.
Nowadays the fault distance of short-circuit faults can be
calculated very accurately using the measured short-circuit
current. Permanent phase-to-earth faults are still problematic in
neutral isolated and compensated networks. The earth faults call
TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25
Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003
for new methods to be located. Looped operation mode offers
one possibility to improve earth fault distance calculation.
The preconditions for looped operation have improved in the
past few years. Algorithms for calculating load flow and fault
currents in meshed distribution networks have been
developed and carried out. Methods for distance estimation of
low- and high-resistance earth faults have been developed.
These algorithms can be implemented in feeder terminals and
information systems of the control room. Feeder terminals
have been developed and implementation of new protection
algorithms has been facilitated and accelerated. Novel
algorithms can be added and updated for already installed
relays because of software based protection functions. The
breaking capacity of the SF6-insulated, pole-mounted switch-
disconnectors has increased (> 600 A) and operation time has
been reduced. They can be equipped with a tripping magnet
when the open-control takes less than 100 ms. A modern
switch-disconnector can be installed as a "breaker" along the
feeder. Loads are known better than earlier through
measurements and state estimation. Data transfer techniques
are developing rapidly and the response times of the
switching devices control are being reduced. Economic
voltage and current sensors and so-called combi-sensors are
available and they can easily be installed in 20 kV substations
along the feeders [2].
The ring operation mode of MV feeders may be considered as
one alternative when the voltage drop or power losses must
be reduced in some feeders. Improving the fault distance
calculation and increased load transfer capacity of distribution
network including distributed generation (DG) may also be
the motives for looped operation. The disadvantage of ring
connection is that the protection becomes more complicated.
Voltage sag frequency and the severity of sags are increased
if the network is operated looped.
The benefits of ring connection when feeders are fed from the
same bus bar compared to meshed system including a
connection between two primary substations are:
• Vector groups of the 110/20 kV transformers or balancing
currents are not a problem
• The earth fault current of the system does not increase
• Short circuit power does not increase but the fault current
increases slightly (smaller short-circuit impedance)
• Control of the bus bar voltage can be carried out
conventionally
• Realization of the feeder protection will be relatively
straightforward.
REALIZATION OF FEEDER PROTECTION
-1-
CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
Figure 1 presents a simplified example of a faulty MV system
which contains both looped and radial feeders.
20 kV feeders
Healthy radial feeders
Substation transformer
110/20 kV
Healthy loop
Branch
Compensated or
Feeder A
isolated neutral
Faulty loop
Feeder B
Fault
U0 Branch
Figure 1. Medium voltage system including looped and radial feeders
In this study an economical solution with straightforward
protection and fault indication principles is proposed. With
ring connected feeders one task is how to indicate and locate
the faulty ring. One possibility to implement the feeder
protection is that after indication and location of the fault the
loop will be opened by a high-speed switch-disconnector and
a conventional feeder protection trips the radial faulty feeder
(Figure 1). Otherwise, both feeder circuit-breakers of the loop
must be opened, which broadens the area of the influence of
the interruption.
Over-current protection
Over-current protection can function in the same way as with
a radial feeder. In the event of a fault the breakers of both
feeders will trip. In this case the disturbance area will be
extended compared to radial operation. The other philosophy
is that the loop will be opened on account of the fault current
using a high-speed switch-disconnector. After that the
conventional over-current protection will trip the faulty radial
feeder. A switch-disconnector receives the open command on
account of the current measurement present at the
disconnector substation. Thus, the time delay of the data
transmission can be avoided. Autoreclosures operate in the
corresponding way as with radial operation. In certain
conditions, e.g. in summer with thunderstorms when many
autoreclosures may occur the large number of breakings of
the switch-disconnector must be taken into account. In
underground cable networks autoreclosures are not in use.
Instantaneous release may cause a problem with short-circuits
if the dimensioning of the lines does not allow the time
needed for opening the switch-disconnector. If simultaneous
tripping of circuit-breakers of both feeders is used the
disturbance area of influence will be extended compared to
radial operation.
Looped operation of feeders has no significant influence on
the dimensioning of the lines. The fault current of the fault
location will increase, however, due to the ring connection
TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25
Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003
because of lower impedance between the fault location and
the substation. This slightly impairs the extinction of the arc
compared to radial operation. On the one hand a network
must also be dimensioned for looped operation when using it
radially if the open-point of the feeder is changed without
interruption. With over-current protection inverse-time
1
operation could also be used when the tripping philosophy is
2 determined on account of the fault current.
3
Open-point
disconnector
Earth fault protection
The presence of an earth fault can be indicated by the neutral
Open-point
4 disconnector
voltage measurement in the corresponding way as with radial
e.g. high-speed operation. Directional information of the fault can be obtained
switch-disconnector through the same principles as with a radial feeder. Instead of
the residual current of the individual feeder, the sum of the
residual currents of the looped feeders (Feeders A and B in
Figure 1) is utilized. The sum of residual currents of the
looped feeders is later called the "total sum current". The total
sum current is referenced to the neutral voltage and the
directional information can be obtained through the direction
of the total sum current. This method requires horizontal
communication of the feeder terminals of the looped feeder
e.g. via LON bus (Local Operating Network).
The loop can be opened either via the remote control system
or on account of the neutral voltage measurement present in
the disconnector substation. Controlling the switch-
disconnector via the remote control system is normally too
slow for protection purposes. If a switch-disconnector must
be controlled independent of other load breaks, the device in
the disconnector substation must be capable of indicating the
faulty loop. The directional function, which indicates the
existence of the fault independently and sends an open
command to a switch-disconnector, is needed for the
disconnector substation. The same device can close the
switch-disconnector independently. No communication to the
disconnector substation is needed. If a 110/20 kV substation
feeds only a few looped feeders or if they are used only
temporarily during heavy load periods, all the loops can be
opened on account of the neutral voltage measurement.
Rapid autoreclosure can be used to extinguish temporary
earth faults after opening the switch-disconnector. With
temporary earth faults it is reasonable to use a long enough
time delay before tripping in any case within the touch
voltage limits [3]. The common tendency is to avoid the
voltage break of the autoreclosure and use some more
developed method (earth fault current compensation with or
without residual current compensation) for extinguishing the
earth fault arc.
The indication of the open conductor faults is easier with
looped than radial operation because the earth contact is
always on the side of the substation.
IDENTIFICATION OF VERY HIGH-RESISTANCE
EARTH FAULTS
-2-
CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

An earth fault in an isolated or compensated system leads to
very low fault current with high-resistance earth fault. Thus,
the detection of such faults is a very challenging task. Early
identification and location of very high-resistance earth faults
are of increasing importance in improving the reliability of
electricity distribution. Thus, accurate supervision of the
distribution systems in order to evaluate the actual state of the
network and make the early detection of the developing earth
faults possible is becoming increasingly important. New
methods for identifying and locating earth faults have been
studied during the past few years in the Institute of Power
Engineering of Tampere University of Technology. The novel
method developed for the identification and location of very
high-resistance faults utilizes the measuring information of
modern numerical feeder terminals and operates
independently as a relay function [4]. Thus, the fault
resistance of all feeders can be monitored separately. The
indication of the earth fault also includes information on the
faulty feeder and phase.
was about 23 A (RF = 0 Ω). The neutral voltage was only 64V
in normal operating conditions. The cable current
transformers with transformation ratio 50/1 were available at
the substation. The measurements were made using one 8-
channel Yokogawa measuring instrument and two 4-channel
Tektronix oscilloscopes. The sampling frequency used was 2
kHz, which corresponds to the sampling frequency of modern
feeder terminals. Staged resistors were used to simulate a
fault resistance. The duration of the artificial fault was
between five and ten seconds. Only fundamental waves of
voltages and currents were used for calculation.
Table 1 presents the fault resistances calculated for the faulty
looped feeder and healthy radial feeder using MATLAB-
software. The loop was arranged before a fault occurrence.
The notation ϕ U refers to phase angle of the phase-to-earth
νF
voltage of the faulty phase referenced to phasor ∆U0. The
notation ϕ∆U refers to phase angle of phasor ∆U0.
0

When developing the appropriate methods and applications TABLE 1 - Calculated fault resistances with looped feeder (faulty) and
one radial feeder (healthy). The total line length of the looped feeder was
the needs of looped operation of MV feeders are also taken 27km.
into consideration. Very high-resistance earth faults can be
indicated with looped feeder applying the same methods as Staged Looped Radial Phase Neutral Phase
those developed for radial systems [4]. Instead of the residual resistance feeder feeder angle voltage angle
current of the single radial feeder the total sum current of (faulty) (healthy)
feeders connected into a closed loop is used. This calls for RF RF RF ϕU νF ∆U0 ϕ ∆U 0
horizontal communication between the protection relays, [kΩ] [kΩ] [kΩ] [deg] [V] [deg]
which is possible nowadays with modern feeder terminals. 10.2 11.2 1343 90.2 557.3 -62.9
According to the notations of Figure 1 the change of sum 21.1 22.1 1882 90.4 289.5 -61.7
current ∆I0i and its phase angle are defined with looped 56.6 55.5 8890 91.8 120.8 -62.2
operation in the following way: 97.0 90.4 4300 91.3 73.0 -61.6
118.0 124.8 10670 90.7 54.0 -60.8
∆ I 0i = ( I 0 A2 + I 0 B 2 ) − ( I 0 A1 + I 0 B1 ) 186.0 196.9 17383 92.0 34.8 -62.1
(1)
ϕ I 0i = arg( ∆ I 0i ) − arg( ∆U 0 )
In all cases an explicit and reliable indication of the fault,
where ∆I0i is the change of the sum current of looped feeder i faulty phase and faulty looped feeder could be achieved up to
I0A1 and I0B1 are the sum currents of Feeders A and B fault resistance 186 kΩ. The calculated shunt resistances of
before a change of U0 the healthy feeder were of a totally different order of
I0A2 and I0B2 are the sum currents of Feeders A and B magnitude (over 1MΩ) and no inaccurate indication occurred.
after a change of U0 The accuracy of the calculated fault resistances was good and
ϕ I 0i is the phase angle of phasor ∆I0i referenced to completely adequate for the practical application.

phasor ∆U0. FAULT DISTANCE ESTIMATION

The only difference between the fault indication on a looped and
radial feeder is that in the looped case the phasor ∆I0i defined by
Formula 1 is used instead of ∆I0i of a radial feeder. According to
field experiments earth faults with fault resistance of a few
hundred kilo-ohms can be reliably indicated [4].
Field Experiments
The fault indication methods were tested using the measured
data collected from the field experiments. The field
experiments with staged fault resistances were carried out in
normal network conditions at one 110/20 kV substation of
Nurmijärvi Electricity, where the neutral of the 20 kV
network is isolated from the earth. The network is mainly of
overhead construction. The earth fault current of the network
Short-circuits
The calculation of the distance to a short-circuit fault with
looped operation may be based on the fault current as with
radial operation. The main difference is that with looped
operation the distribution ratio of the fault current between
looped feeders A and B (Figure 1) can also be utilized. With
this distribution ratio the fault can be located within the main
line of the ring. After that Thevenin's impedance of the circuit
can be calculated using the total fault current. Using the
distribution ratio of the fault current and Thevenin's
impedance, the estimate for the fault distance can be
calculated. The number of possible fault locations is reduced
compared to fault distance calculation with radial operation.

TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25 -3-

CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
The fault distance can also be calculated with radial operation
if the loop is opened by a high-speed switch-disconnector.
Earth faults
Estimation of the distance to an earth fault is problematic in
isolated and compensated networks. The longitudinal impedance
of the line between the fault location and the substation has
practically no influence on the magnitude of the fundamental
frequency fault current. Thus, the earth fault distance cannot be
calculated using the same methods as with short-circuits. In rural
MV networks the length of the feeders may be several tens of
kilometres, sometimes over one hundred kilometres. In urban
underground cable networks distances are small, but faults are
almost always permanent and irreversible. Thus they must be
located using some measurement technique. Computational
methods for distance estimation of earth faults reduce the time
needed for the fault clearing and the effect of the disturbance
because the trial switchings can be avoided in most cases. The
goal is to locate the faulty line section in order to reduce the time
required to remove the earth fault.
Especially in isolated systems permissible touch voltages need to
be considered [3]. If the ring operation mode is the normal
switching state then the measuring information is obtained
immediately after the fault occurrence. If radial operation is the
normal operation mode then the ring can be connected for the
earth fault distance estimation only. Then the information on the
earth fault distance up to high fault resistances can be obtained
by rearranging the faulty feeder into a closed ring over some
healthy feeder fed from the same bus bar.
Earth fault distance can be determined by measuring the sum
currents of the looped feeders and neutral voltage during an
earth fault. The sum current fed by the background network
and possible neutral-to-earth impedance distributes between
looped feeders in inverse proportion to the longitudinal
impedances between the fault location and the primary
substation. If Feeders A and B (Figure 1) are looped when the
fault occurs, the influence of the capacitive unbalance can be
eliminated by determining the earth fault current using the
change of the sum currents and neutral voltage. The distances
to a fault along both feeders can be determined by utilizing the
distribution ratio of the earth fault current between looped
feeders.
The other possibility is to deviate the zero sequence impedance
of the system. E.g. a change in the tuning of the compensation
coil during a fault produces a change in the phase-to-earth
admittances along both feeders. Alternatively some other
artificial deviation of neutral voltage can be used. The
distribution of the change of the phase-to-earth admittances
along both feeders can be determined. The distribution of the
total change of the phase-to-earth admittance is proportional to
the distance to a fault via the corresponding feeder. In practice
the estimate for the fault distance can be calculated using the
change of the sum currents when the neutral voltage changes.
The fault location takes some time and the safety regulations for
the hazard voltages must be fulfilled. The fault distance can be
TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25
Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003
determined without tripping if the fulfilling of the safety
regulations can be guaranteed. The fault resistance and fault
current can be determined by the methods used for fault
indication. The earthing voltage can be calculated when the earth
resistances of the protective earthings are known. When a fault is
caused by a tree the hazard voltage emerging cannot be
determined. If the safety regulations do not allow fault distance
estimation during a fault, the ring is connected only for the short
period needed for collecting measurement data for the
calculation. The minimum duration of the ring connection is the
time needed for the measurements for the earth fault distance
calculation. After the measurements the ring is opened and the
faulty feeder is allowed to be tripped. This practice also reduces
the time needed for the determination of the fault distance. The
hazard voltage regulations may require a compensation of the
earth fault current. In many cases, the compensation makes it
possible to locate the fault without outages to the customers.
The planned loops can be connected either by a remote or
manually controlled switching device. In many cases, even the
use of a manually controlled disconnector considerably reduces
the time needed for the determination of the fault location
compared to pure trial switchings.
VOLTAGE DROP AND POWER LOSSES
Radial MV feeders are of different length and consist of
conductors with different values of resistance and reactance.
Total loading of separate feeders is different and loads are
unevenly distributed. Thus, the universal solution or formula
when is it worthwhile to use feeders looped is difficult to
determine. The study of the voltage drop and power losses
requires more detailed network calculations. On average the
maximum voltage drop and power losses are lower in looped
than in radial operation. This is mainly a consequence of
smoother distribution of the load current. The size of the
benefit depends mainly on distribution of the load between
looped feeders, the length of the looped feeders and conductor
types.
Reducing the voltage drop incurs costs (conductor
reinforcements, construction of primary substations,
compensation of reactive power, step-up transformers). Thus,
the utilizing of the ring connection may in some cases be a
good method to postpone investments. Voltage drops vary
locally and temporarily according to load variations. Voltage
drops are normally highest in winter during heavy loading.
The use of the ring connection in wintertime can save
investment costs if network reinforcement or substation
investments can be postponed. In summer and autumn when
temporary arc-type faults appear most in overhead line
networks radial operation may be preferred. In addition the
realization of overvoltage protection affects the number of
temporary faults.
The most significant advantages of looped operation can be
achieved when there is a considerable imbalance in loading,
length or conductor cross section between looped feeders. A
significant advantage can also be achieved when the load of
Feeder A is concentrated at the end of the feeder and load of
-4-
CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
Feeder B at the beginning of Feeder B. Temporary variation
of loads must also be taken into account (e.g. industry
feeder/domestic feeder).
INCREASING THE INTEGRATION CAPACITY OF
DISTRIBUTED GENERATION
The fast propagation of DG at a distribution network will
have a major influence on distribution networks. The
structure and operating principle of the distribution network
will move towards a distribution system (active distribution
network) where there are several active components along the
network. These issues at least should be taken into account in
the most potential areas of DG in long-term planning studies
[5]. DG brings out many new factors which are not usually
considered and experience of distribution network companies
of these topics is so far quite rare. This will necessitate the
development of the existing networks and operation methods
in order to consider DG in the distribution networks.
The voltage drop of a medium voltage network has been one
of the main limiting factors in the planning of the rural
distribution networks in Finland. There are networks where
the length of 20 kV feeders is as much as 100 kilometers and
the demand in sparsely populated areas is very low. The
impedance of these feeders is very high. If a large DG unit is
installed far from a primary substation, voltage rise problems
may occur during low demand periods [5]. The voltage rise
problem is acute in coastal and skerries areas due to wind
power installations. The integration capacity of DG units on a
weak distribution network is limited by the voltage rise
problem.
Ring operation mode of certain feeders offers one option to
increase the integration capacity of DG and network transfer
capability at an existing, often weak distribution network. The
looped operation of distribution feeders will divide power
flows to the feeders more evenly than with radial operation,
losses will be reduced and voltage rise due to DG could be
limited.
The applicability of the proposed method was tested with
load-flow simulations on a real life distribution network and
planned wind power mills. The studies have proven the
capability of the proposed method to increase the integration
capacity of DG units without major network investments.
The results simulated by PowerWorld program are introduced
based on the case study of real distribution network in
archipelago of Finland in Reference [6].
CONCLUSIONS
Modern protection, telecommunication and breaker
technology forms a good basis for the realization of the
protection with ring operation mode of feeders. Load flow
and fault current calculation algorithms exist for looped
distribution networks.
TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25
Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003
Directional earth fault protection can be arranged with
modern relay technology without major modifications. A
modern high-speed switch-disconnector equipped with
tripping magnet can be opened in less than 100 milliseconds.
In the case of an earth fault, looped operation does not
normally increase the total tripping delay if a high-speed
switch disconnector is used. The earth fault current can also
be limited by various methods e.g. by Petersen coil.
Indication methods for very high-resistance earth faults
function almost equally with ring and radial operation mode.
Ring operation mode of MV feeders may offer the following
benefits:
• Optimal power flow between looped feeders
• Reduced maximum voltage drop
• Reduced power losses
• Calculation of the distance to low- and high-resistance
earth faults
• Option for dynamic use of ring connection according to
seasonal load variations
• Option to increase the integration capacity of DG at
existing network.
Major drawbacks include:
• More complicated feeder protection
− such as autoreclosures of overhead line feeders
• Opening of the ring with a fault case lengthens a tripping
delay especially in the case of instantaneous release
• Voltage sag frequency and the severity of sags are
increased compared to radial operation mode.
In an underground cable systems failure frequency is very
low. Thus voltage sags have less significance. In systems
including mainly overhead lines the situation is the opposite.
Technically the looped operation proposed in this study can
be realized if the benefits evaluated are adequate compared to
the drawbacks and the costs incurred through the investments
and the realization of the protection.
REFERENCES
[1] S. Jisheng, 1999, Study and application of ring-operated
network supply of distribution system, Proceedings of
15th International Conference on Electricity
Distribution, CIRED 1999, 190 - 194
[2] P. Mähönen, M. Moisio, T. Hakola, H. Kuisti, 1996, The
Rogowski coil and the voltage divider in power system
protection and monitoring. International Conference on
Large High Voltage Electric Systems, CIGRE, Paris,
France, Report no. 34-103, 7 p.
-5-
 CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

[3] Harmonization document HD 637 S1: Power installations

exceeding 1 kV a.c., 1999, European Committee for
Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), 107 p.

[4] A. Nikander, P. Järventausta, J. Myllymäki, 2001, Novel

algorithms for earth fault indication based on monitoring of
shunt resistance of MV feeder as a part of relay protection.
Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on
Developments in Power System Protection, IEE
Conference Publication, No. 479, 430-433.

[5] N. Jenkins, et al., 2000, Embedded generation, IEE Power

and Energy series 31, London, UK, 273 p.

[6] S. Repo, A. Nikander, P. Järventausta, 2003, A method

to increase the integration capacity of distributed
generation on weak distribution networks, Proceedings
of 17th International Conference on Electricity
Distribution, CIRED 2003, vol. 4

TUT_Nikander_A1 Session 3 Paper No 25 -6-

View publication stats