© DIGITAL VISION

IEEE INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS MAGAZINE  SEPT j OCT 2008  WWW.IEEE.ORG/IAS

NVESTIGATIONS OF RECENT BLACK-

I outs indicate that the root cause of almost

all major power system disturbances is volt-
age collapse rather than the underfrequency
conditions prevalent in the blackouts of the 1960s and
1970s. Voltage relays have been used by industrial customers
to determine whether the utility circuit that supplies them
has tripped. However, voltage relays at industrial sites have
Minimizing the impact not been used to determine whether the utility system lacks
of blackouts security, leading voltage collapse. This article discusses the
causes of voltage collapse as well as the design and security
requirements for an undervoltage separation scheme.

Nature of Power System Blackouts

Power systems that supply power to industrial facilities
BY CHARLES J. MOZINA today are much more susceptible to voltage collapses than
they were 35 years ago because these systems increasingly
depend on generation sources that are located remotely

45
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2008.927531

1077-2618/08/$25.00©2008 IEEE
 from load centers. Generators in eastern prior to a complete system voltage col-
Canada and the midwestern United lapse. Voltage separation, in addition
States provide large amounts of power UNDERFREQUENCY to frequency, may be required to allow
to the east coast load centers such as the industrial system to detect utility
New York City. Generators in Wash- AND impeding system collapse. This article
ington, Oregon, and western Canada discusses the need for undervoltage as
provide substantial power to California. UNDERVOLTAGE well as underfrequency separation and
This contrasts with the operation of SCHEMES ON THE proposes secure undervoltage load sepa-
utilities 35 years ago, when each utility ration schemes that avoid false opera-
had in-house generation to supply its UTILITY SYSTEM ARE tions for such events as slow-clearing
own load. Two factors promote genera- system faults.
tion that is remote from load centers: DESIGNED TO
1) the economics of purchasing pow- Types of Power System
er from lower-cost remote sources RESTORE THE Instabilities During System
rather than more expensive local Blackouts
generation BALANCE BY
2) the public’s reluctance or refusal SHEDDING LOAD. Voltage Versus Frequency Stability
to permit new generating plants In a power system, frequency is a
to be built in urban high-load measure of the balance of MW genera-
areas, causing utilities/independ- tion and MW load. When MW gener-
ent power producers (IPPs) to build these plants re- ation and MW load are exactly in balance, the frequency is
mote from these load centers. at the normal level of 60 Hz. When the load exceeds gen-
These two fundamental changes in the operation of the eration, the frequency goes down. The rate of decline
U.S. power grid result in the transmission of power over depends on the inertia of the generators within the system.
long distances. This makes the power grid dependent on Under normal conditions, there are slight changes of
the transmission system to deliver power to the load cen- frequency when load suddenly increases or generation
ters. It also results in increased reactive power losses trips offline, which results in a slight (generally in hun-
because the impedance of transmission lines is primarily dreds of hertz) reduction in frequency until the aggregate
reactive. Thus, when transmission lines trip, the remain- generation in the system can be increased to meet the new
ing lines must carry the load, which results in much load condition. If there is a large negative unbalance
higher reactive (vars) than resistive [megawatt (MW)] between MW load and MW generation, the frequency
losses, and consequently, a voltage drop at the load center, will go down. Underfrequency schemes on the utility sys-
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whereas the frequency remains normal. tem are designed to restore the balance by shedding load.
Reactive power (vars) cannot be transmitted very far, Voltage in a power system is a measure of the balance of
especially under heavy load conditions and instead must MVAr load and MVAr capability within the system. If that
be generated close to the point of consumption. This is reactive support is not available, the voltage will drop. The
because the difference in voltage causes vars to flow. Volt- impact of reduced voltage on load depends on the nature of
age on a power system can vary only by 5% of nominal. the load. For resistive load, the load current will decrease
This small voltage change will not cause substantial var and help limit the need for local reactive support. Motor
flow over long distances. Real power (MW) can be trans- loads are essentially constant kVA devices. The lower the
mitted over long distances through the coordinated opera- voltage, the more current they draw, increasing the need for
tion of the interconnected grid. Reactive power must be local reactive support. Power system loads consist of both
generated at, or near, the load center. resistive loads as well as reactive motor loads. However, dur-
Since vars cannot be transmitted over long distances, ing hot weather, air conditioning motor loads make up a
the sudden loss of transmission lines results in an instanta- large portion of utility total load, thereby making the
neous need for local reactive power to compensate for the power system more susceptible to voltage collapse.
increased losses of transporting the same power over fewer Reactive power system support can only come from two
transmission lines. If that reactive support is not available sources: shunt capacitors and generators/synchronous con-
at the load center, the voltage will decrease. System densers. Shunt capacitors are a double-edged sword. They
frequency, on the other hand, will remain stable because do provide reactive support, but they also generate fewer
the real power from remote generators continues to flow vars as the voltage dips. The VAr output of a capacitor bank
over fewer transmission lines. is reduced by the square of the voltage. Shunt capacitor
For these reasons, voltage rather than frequency has banks cannot quickly adjust the level of reactive power.
become the key indicator that the power system is under Generation at the load center can provide a dynamic
stress. Utilities have begun to recognize this and are imple- source of reactive power. As the voltage goes down, the
menting undervoltage load shedding (UVLS) schemes to generator can quickly provide increased reactive support
complement their existing underfrequency load shedding within its capability limits. Unlike shunt capacitors, the
(UFLS). Industrial customers with in-house cogeneration amount of reactive support does not drop as system volt-
have long used underfrequency as the principle means of age goes down. The amount of reactive power is controlled
deciding when to separate from the utility system and by the generator automatic voltage regulator (AVR). It is
transfer their critical loads to their own generation. But essential that the AVR control is properly set and the gener-
46
frequency can remain normal, as voltage sags to a low level ator protection system allows the generator to contribute
the maximum reactive power to support the system with-
out exceeding the generator’s capability.
Voltage Instability
Figure 1 illustrates a simplified power system with a
remote generator supplying a substantial portion of the
load at the load center through six transmission lines. Es is
the voltage at the remote generator buses, and Eg is the
voltage at the load center buses.
Figure 2 illustrates how the voltage decays as real
power transferred to the load center increases. This type of
P-V analysis (real power relative to voltage) is an analysis
tool used by utility system planners to determine the real
power transfer capability across a transmission interface to
supply local load. Starting from a base-case system (all
lines in service), computer-generated load flow cases are
run with increasing power transfers while monitoring vol-
tages at critical buses. When power transfers reach a maxi-
mum level, a stable voltage cannot be sustained, and the Phase Angle Instability
system voltage collapses.
On a P-V curve (Figure 2), this point is called the nose and local generators (hg  hs in Figure 1) becomes too
of the curve. The shape of the nose of the curve depends on
the nature of the load at the load center. High levels of
motor load combined with capacitor bank support of load
center voltage tend to make the voltage drop very rapidly
for a small increase of power at the nose of the curve. The
set of P-V curves illustrates that for baseline conditions
shown in Curve A, the voltage remains relatively steady
(changing along the vertical axis) as local load increases.
System conditions are secure and stable to the left of Point
A1. After a contingency occurs, such as a transmission cir-
cuit tripping, the new condition is represented by Curve B,
from key transmission system substations because of a
computer problem at the system operating center.
In the case described above, voltage decay was relatively
slow and there was time for utility system operator interven-
tion to address the voltage decay problem. There have been
cases where the voltage decayed so rapidly that operator
action was not possible. These cases involve slow-clearing
multiphase transmission system faults that occur during
heat storm conditions when the utility load is primarily
made up of air conditioning motors. The extended length of
the voltage dip causes motors in the area to stall and draw
large amounts of reactive power after the fault is cleared.
The rapid change in load power factor results in low system
voltage. Since there is little reserve of reactive power during
peak load periods, the area voltage collapses. Such an event
occurred in western Tennessee and resulted in an outage to
1,100 MW of load. The entire event took less than 15 s [2].
When the voltage phase angle between remote generators
MW Power Flow
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Remote Local Load
Generation Line 4 Center
Line 5
Line 6

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with lower voltages (relative to Curve A). This is because
Eg ∠ θg Es ∠ θs
the power being transmitted from the remote generators is
now flowing through five rather than six transmission 1
lines. The system must be operated well inside the load Power system example.
level for the nose of Curve
B. If the B contingency
occurs, then the next worst
contingency must be con-
sidered. The system opera-
tors must increase local
generators to reduce the
A - No Circuits Out A1 A2 A3
power being transmitted
100%
from the remote genera-
tors to reduce losses as well B - One Circuit Out
Bus Curve A
as increase voltage at the B1
Nose
Voltage C - Two Circuits Out
load center to within the
safe zone to avoid going Curve C B2
over the nose of Curve C. Nose
In the case of the 2003 Curve B
East Coast blackout [1], Nose
three key transmission lines
were lost in rapid succes-
sion because of tree con-
tacts. The voltage at the 0%
Stable Operating Space for N – 1 Unstable N – 1 Conditions
load center was reduced A2
before the system opera- B2
tors could take effective Increasing Load (MW)
corrective action. Effective 2
operator action was inhib- Real power (MW) versus voltage (P-V) curve. A2 is the highest load level where a transition
47
ited by the lack of data to N--1 contingency (curve B) stable operating conditions may be possible.
 large, phase angle instability can occur.
In many cases, this event happens in
conjunction with the voltage collapse VOLTAGE RATHER
scenario described earlier. There are
two types of phase angle instability. THAN
FREQUENCY HAS
Steady-State Instability
Steady-state instability occurs when there BECOME THE KEY
are too few transmission lines to transport
power from the generating source to the INDICATOR THAT
local load center. Loss of transmission
lines into the load center can result in THE POWER
voltage collapse as described earlier, but
it can also result in steady-state phase SYSTEM IS UNDER
angle instability. The ability to transfer
real (MW) power is described by the
STRESS.
power transfer equation and is plotted
graphically (Figure 3).
From the power transfer equation in Figure 3, it can be
seen that the maximum power (Pmax ) that can be transmit-
ted is when hg  hs ¼ 90 , i.e., sin 90 ¼ 1. When the
voltage phase angle between local and remote generation
increases beyond 90°, the power that can be transmitted is
reduced and the system becomes unstable and usually splits
apart into islands. If enough lines are tripped between the
load center and the remote generation supplying the load
center, the reactance (X) between these two sources increases,
thereby reducing the maximum power (Pmax ), which can be
transferred. The power angle curve in Figure 3 illustrates
this reduction as Line 1 trips the height of the power angle
curve and maximum power transfer is reduced because the
reactance (X) between the two systems has increased. When
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Line 2 trips, the height of the power angle curve is reduced
further to where the power being transferred cannot be
maintained and the system goes unstable.
At this point, the power system is in deep trouble. Dur-
ing unstable conditions, the power system breaks up into
islands. If there is more load than generation within the
island, frequency and voltage go down. If there is an excess
of generation in an island, frequency and voltage generally
go up. Voltage collapse and steady-state instability occur
together as transmission line tripping increases the reactance
Pmax = Eg Es
X
Maximum
Power
Transfer
Pe
0 90°
θg – θs
48
Power angle analysis: steady-state instability.
between the load center and remote
generation. Generally, the voltage drop
at the load center is the leading indica-
tor that the system is in trouble with
low frequency occurring only after the
system breaks up into islands. Analysis
of major blackouts confirms that volt-
age is the leading edge indicator of
power system impending collapse. Wait-
ing for the frequency reduction may be
waiting too long to separate from the
utility power system.
Transient Instability
Voltage phase angle instability can
also occur because of slow-clearing
transmission system faults. This type
of instability is called transient insta-
bility. Transient instability occurs when a fault on the trans-
mission system near the generating plant is not cleared
rapidly enough to avoid a prolonged unbalance between
mechanical and electrical output of the generator. A fault-
induced transient instability has not been the cause of any
major system blackout in recent years. However, generators
need to be protected from damage that can result when
transmission system protection is slow to operate. Relay
engineers design transmission system protection to operate
faster than a generator can be driven out of synchronism,
but failures of protection systems that resulted in slow-
clearing transmission system faults have occurred. It is gen-
erally accepted [2] that loss-of-synchronism protection at
the generator is necessary to avoid machine damage. The
larger the generator, the shorter is the time to drive the
machine unstable for a system fault.
Figure 4 illustrates a typical breaker-and-a-half power
plant substation with a generator and a short circuit on a
transmission line near the substation. If the short circuit is
three phase, very little real power (MW) will flow from
the generator to the power system until the fault is
cleared. The high fault current experienced during the
short circuit is primarily reactive or VAr current. From
the power transfer equation (Figure 3), it can be seen that
Power Transfer Equation
All Lines Pe = Eg Es sin (θg – θs)
in Service
X
Line 1
Es = Voltage at the Load Center Generation
Tripped
Eg = Voltage at the Remote Generation
Pe = Electrical Real Power Transfer
Line 2
X = Reactance Between Local and
Tripped
Remote Generation
θs = Voltage Angle at Local Generation
θg = Voltage Angle at Remote Generation
180°
3
when Eg drops to almost zero, almost no real power can be Utility Load-Shedding Programs
transferred to the system. The generator AVR senses the Automatic load-shedding programs are designed into utility
reduced generator terminal voltage and increases the field cur- electrical systems to operate as a last resort, under the theory
rent to attempt to increase the generator voltage during the that it is wise to shed some load in a controlled fashion if it
fault. The AVR control goes into field-forcing mode, where can forestall the loss of a great deal of load to an uncontrolled
field current is briefly increased beyond steady-state field cir- cascading event. There are two kinds of automatic load-
cuit thermal limits. During the short circuit, the mechanical shedding installed in North America—UVLS, which sheds
turbine power (PM ) of the generator remains unchanged. The load to prevent local area voltage collapse, and UFLS,
resulting unbalance between mechanical (PM ) and electrical designed to rebalance load and generation within an electri-
power (Pe ) manifests itself with the generator accelerating, cal island once it has been created by a system disturbance.
increasing its voltage phase angle with respect to the system Automatic UVLS responds directly to voltage condi-
phase angle as illustrated in the power angle plot in Figure 5. tions in a local area. UVLS drops several hundred mega-
The speed with which the generator accelerates depends watts of load in preselected blocks within load centers,
on its inertia. If the transmission system fault is not cleared
quickly enough, the generator phase angle will advance so
that it will be driven out of synchronism with the power
system. Computer transient stability studies can be used to
establish this critical switching angle and time. The equal Power System Es ∠ θs
area criteria can also be applied to estimate the critical
switching angle (hc ). When area A1 ¼ A2 in Figure 5, the
generator is just at the point of losing synchronism with Three-Phase
the power system. Note that after opening Breakers 1 and 2 Short Circuit
to clear the fault, the resulting power transfer is reduced Substation
because of the increase in reactance (X) between the genera-
tor and the power system. This is due to the loss of the 1 2
faulted transmission line. In the absence of detailed studies,
many users establish the maximum instability angle at
120°. Because of the dynamic nature of the generator to
recover during fault conditions, the 120° angle is larger
than the 90° instability point for steady-state instability
conditions. The time that the fault can be left on the system GSU
that corresponds to the critical switching angle is called the

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‘‘critical switching time.’’ If the fault is left on longer than Es = System Voltage
that time, the generator will lose synchronism by ‘‘slipping Eg = Generator Voltage
a pole.’’ For this condition, the generator must be tripped to θs = System Voltage Phase Angle G T
avoid shaft torque damage. Out-of-step protection, which θg = Generator Voltage Phase Angle
is also called loss-of-synchronism protection (Relay Func- Eg ∠ θg
tion 78), is typically applied on large generators to trip the 4
machine, thereby protecting it from shaft torque damage
and avoiding a system cascading event [3]. Typical breaker-and-a-half power plant substation with a
generator and a short circuit on a transmission line near the
Mitigating Blackouts at Utilities substation.
and Industrial Facilities
When we analyze the causes of power system instability
that result in major system blackouts, the following ques- Pmax = Eg Es
tions arise: What can the utilities and industrial customers Maximum X
Power All Lines in Service
with in-house cogeneration do to protect them from being
Transfer Breakers 1 and 2
dragged into the blackout? Is the common practice of sep-
Tripped
arating from the utility using frequency as a measure of
utility system security adequate for the type of blackouts
that are occurring on today’s power systems? Utilities A2
themselves are beginning to recognize that frequency
alone is not a good measure of system security. A number PM = Pe
of utilities have put into service UVLS schemes to comple-
ment their existing underfrequency shedding schemes. To A1
date, North Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has not
mandated such schemes. However, a number of major util-
θc
ities have installed them on their own, while many other
utilities are considering adding such schemes. Regional 0 90° 180°
reliability groups such as the Western Electricity Coordi- θg – θs
nating Council (WECC) have developed UVLS guidelines 5
49
for their members [4]. Power angle analysis: transient instability.
 triggered in stages when local voltage installed at the primary of distribution
drops to a designated level (likely 89– THE ROOT CAUSE substations located close to key trans-
94%) with a several second delay. The mission substations. Figure 6 shows
goal of a UVLS scheme is to shed load OF MOST MAJOR a typical utility installation of both
to restore reactive power relative to de- undervoltage (27) and underfrequency
mand, to prevent voltage collapse, and POWER SYSTEM (81) relays.
to contain a voltage problem within a Because of voltage transformer (VT)
local area rather than allowing it to DISTURBANCES IS availability, underfrequency relays are
spread in geography and magnitude. usually connected on the secondary of
If the first load-shed step does not VOLTAGE the distribution station because fre-
allow the system to rebalance and volt- COLLAPSE quency is the same on both the high
age continues to deteriorate, then the and low side of the transformer. The
next block of UVLS is dropped. Use of RATHER THAN THE voltage measurement for UVLS must
UVLS is not mandatory but is done be on the transformer primary because
at the option of NERC regional area UNDERFREQUENCY transformer losses and load tap chang-
reliability councils (WECC and others) ing (LTC) controls will distort the true
as well as individual utilities. UVLS CONDITIONS. transmission system voltage level. Fig-
schemes and trigger points should ure 6 illustrates a direct tripping type
be designed to respect the local of UVLS. To add security, some UVLS
area’s system vulnerabilities on the basis of voltage col- schemes are only enabled if system conditions have occurred
lapse studies. that indicate that the power system is in a stress condition.
In contrast to UVLS, automatic UFLS is designed for Conditions such as net power import versus local genera-
use in extreme conditions to stabilize the balance between tion or undervoltage measurements at key transmission
generation and load after an electrical island has been substation buses are used to arm these UVLS schemes. Some
formed, dropping enough load to allow frequency to stabi- utilities call such schemes special protection schemes. These
lize within the island. By dropping load to match avail- schemes add an additional level of complexity and generally
able generation within the island, UFLS is a safety net that rely on communications to arm the scheme. Also, they may
helps to prevent the complete blackout of the island and not be armed quickly enough to be activated for undervolt-
allows faster system restoration afterward. UFLS is not age events caused by slow-clearing, multiphase transmis-
effective if there is a voltage collapse within the island. sion system faults that occur during heat storm conditions.
Today, UFLS installation is a NERC requirement, de-
signed to shed at least 25–30% of the load in steps within Industrial System Separation Schemes
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each reliability coordinator region. These systems are Today, most industrial facilities use frequency as a measure
designed to drop predesignated customer loads automati- of utility power system security and initiate separation
cally if frequency gets too low (since low frequency indi- when the frequency drops to a specific level for a short
cates too little generation relative to load), starting time (typically 8–12 cycles). Some industrial facilities use
generally when frequency drops to 59.3 Hz. More load is rate of change of frequency to separate from the utility.
progressively dropped as frequency levels fall farther. The The use of frequency alone will not separate the industrial
last step of load shedding is set at the frequency level just facility for cases where the voltage is collapsing. Since volt-
above the setpoint for generation underfrequency protec- age is the leading edge indicator of recent utility power sys-
tion relays (around 57.5 Hz) to prevent frequency from tem collapse, voltage as well as frequency needs to be used
falling so low that generators could be damaged. to initiate separation from the utility system. Figure 7
There are two basic types of UVLS schemes that utilities shows a typical industrial installation with both undervolt-
have installed. Both types involve the installation of under- age (27) and underfrequency (81) relays.
voltage relays at key utility substations. These relays must Because of VT availability, underfrequency relays are
measure the transmission system voltage and are typically typically connected on the secondary at the industrial
facility because frequency is the same on both the high
and low side of the transformer. In new installations, both
voltage and frequency could be measured for the VTs on
Utility Transmission System
the primary of the utility supply transformer. As in the
27
case of utility UVLS, voltage measurement for undervolt-
Typical Distribution age separation must be on the transformer primary
Trip Selected Substation Transformer because transformer losses and LTC controls will distort
Circuits (A-D) with LTC the true transmission system voltage level. Once the sig-
nal to separate from the utility is generated, the main
81 27 = Undervoltage Relay incoming breakers (A and/or B) are tripped and the facil-
81 = Underfrequency Relay
ity load is isolated on to in-house cogeneration. This may
result in a momentary overload on the in-house genera-
A B C D tion. Traditionally, after separation, some industrial fa-
cilities have used in-house UFLS schemes to match load
6 to cogeneration. In recent years, load-monitoring systems
50
Typical utility substation load shedding. that monitor in-house generation and facility loads in real
time have been used to match load to generation after
utility separation [5].
Without the use of voltage to augment frequency to
decide when to separate from the utility, the industrial
facility risks being dragged down for a voltage collapse. If
utilities are starting to implement UVLS, it makes sense
for industrials to consider installing undervoltage separa-
tion schemes.
Designing a Secure Undervoltage
Separation Scheme
The design of a secure undervoltage separation scheme that
avoids false operations for such events as slow clearing system
faults requires some logic as well as a relay that can accurately
measure voltage within acceptable limits. The undervoltage
relay needs to be highly accurate. A measurement accuracy of
0.5 V on a 120 V basis is required. Also, the undervoltage
relay that is used needs to have a high pickup-dropout ratio.
This ratio needs to be near 100% so that when voltage recov-
ers after a system fault, the relay will quickly reset to the
non-trip condition. To meet these requirements, as well as
the logic described in the following section, digital relays are
almost exclusively being used for UVLS. Industrial facilities
can benefit from the logic schemes employed by utilities that
have implemented UVLS.
To account for the 120° phase angle displacement between
phases, unit phasors (a and a2 ) are used in symmetrical
component terminology. For completely balanced three-
phase voltages, the negative sequence voltage is zero. Nega-
tive sequence voltage blocking is used to detect unbalanced
fault conditions and block the separation scheme from im-
proper operation.
Positive Sequence Separation Logic
Another logic scheme to enhance security for voltage sepa-
ration is shown in Figure 9. The scheme is similar to that
shown in Figure 8. The blocking elements are the same.
But, this logic scheme uses positive sequence rather than
individual phase-to-neutral voltages to detect an undervolt-
age condition. Positive sequence voltage is a symmetrical
component term and is defined by the following equation:
V1 ¼ 1=3 (Va þ aVb þ a2 Vc ),
where Va , Vb , and Vc are line-to-neutral voltages,
a ¼ 1=120 ,
a2 ¼ 1=240 :

Single-Phase Undervoltage Separation Logic Utility Transmission System

Logic can be used to enhance the security of an undervolt-
27 27
age separation scheme to prevent false operation due to
slow-clearing system faults. Figure 8 illustrates a scheme Transformer Separate to In-House Transformer
using single-phase voltage measurements. 1 Generation 2
The voltage collapse is generally a balanced voltage

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81 81
event with voltage on all three phases being approximately
N.O. = Normally Open
equal. Fault conditions (with the exception of three-phase A 27 = Undervoltage Relay B
faults) result in unbalanced phase voltages. This funda- 81 = Underfrequency Relay
mental difference between low voltages caused by faults
versus voltage collapse can be used to add security to a N.O.
separation scheme. Figure 8 logic requires that all three
line-to-neutral voltages must drop below Setpoint 1. G G
Additional security can be added using undervoltage 7
(27B) blocking. Since the magnitude of undervoltage due Typical industrial installation with both underfrequency and
to impending voltage collapse is 89–94%, blocking oper- undervoltage separation.
ation for low voltages that are fault induced adds more
security. Figure 8 indicates that any line-to-neutral phase
voltage that drops below Setpoint 2 will block the opera- Va < Setpoint 1
tion of the scheme. The last security measure in Figure 8 27
Vb < Setpoint 1 AND
logic is the use of negative sequence voltage (47B) to block Single-Phase
operation of the separation scheme. During unbalanced Vc < Setpoint 1
Undervoltage
fault conditions (all faults except three-phase faults), nega-
tive sequence voltage will be present. Since voltage col- Va < Setpoint 2
lapse events are balanced voltage conditions, only a very 27B
Vb < Setpoint 2 OR x AND
small level of negative sequence voltage is present. The Undervoltage Vc < Setpoint 2
equation that defines negative sequence voltage is shown Block
below [6]: Adjustable
Timer
V2 ¼ 1=3(Va þ a2 Vb þ aVc ), 47B V2 > Setpoint 3 x
Negative
where Va , Vb , and Vc are line-to-neutral voltages, Sequence Undervoltage
Overvoltage Trip
Block
a ¼ 1=120 , 8
a2 ¼ 1=240 : Single-phase undervoltage separation logic.
51
 For completely balanced three-phase develop specific settings because the
voltages, the positive sequence voltage VOLTAGE RELAYS voltage level for separation is based on
is equal to the value of the normal the area power system to which the
phase-to-neutral voltages, i.e., V1 ¼ HAVE BEEN USED industrial customer is connected. This
Va ¼ Vb ¼ Vc . Positive sequence is similar to the requirements for under-
voltage provides a single quantity as BY INDUSTRIAL frequency separation where utilities
the actuating voltage for undervoltage have provided guidance for industrial
separation and does not require that all CUSTOMERS TO customers. Undervoltage separation at
three voltages be below a given set- the industrial customer must be coordi-
point as required in the logic scheme DETERMINE THAT nated with utility UVLS. The typical
shown in Figure 8. Both schemes THE UTILITY voltage range for UVLS is between 89–
shown in Figures 8 and 9 are easily 94% of normal voltage with a time
programmed into modern digital CIRCUIT THAT delay of 1–3 s.
relays. One of the benefits of digital
relay logic is that the blocking logic SUPPLIES THEM Conclusions
can be modified to suit the user. If Investigations of recent blackouts
undervoltage and/or negative sequence HAS TRIPPED. indicate that the root cause of almost
blocking is not desired by the user, it all of these major power system dis-
can be easily eliminated in the logic. turbances is voltage collapse rather
Additional security can be provided at critical facilities than the underfrequency conditions prevalent in the
using a voting logic scheme. The voting logic means that blackouts of the 1960s and 1970s. The operation of
multiple protective relays are applied with identical set- today’s power system with generation frequently being
tings and logic at the same measuring point on the system. remote from the load centers has made the power system
A majority of the devices must agree before action is very dependent on the utility transmission system. When
taken. The purpose of voting logic is to get confirmation transmission lines trip, voltage drops at the load center,
of the system conditions from more than one protective whereas frequency may remain normal until a complete
relay, thus avoiding potential false separation based upon a system collapse occurs.
malfunctioning protective relay. If two relays are installed Utilities have begun to recognize this problem and are
at each location, two-out-of-two logic is used. This logic installing UVLS programs. Also the industrial customers
requires both relays to operate before separation is initi- that have in-house generation that operates in parallel
ated. If three relays are used, two-out-of-three logic is with the utility need to recognize the problem. These
used, which requires any two relays to confirm the trip industrial cogeneration customers should consider the use
IEEE INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS MAGAZINE  SEPT j OCT 2008  WWW.IEEE.ORG/IAS

condition. Two-out-of-three logic is common in nuclear of undervoltage separation schemes in addition to their
plant voltage separation schemes. existing underfrequency schemes to address the voltage
collapse scenario.
Setting Considerations This article proposes undervoltage separation logic
Prior to embarking on the design of an undervoltage sepa- schemes that can be easily installed within digital relays to
ration scheme, it is prudent to contact the utility to which enhance the security of an undervoltage separation to pre-
the industrial customer is connected and also the local area vent false operation due to slow-clearing system faults. The
NERC regional reliability council. Councils such as the article also indicates the required point of installation of
WECC have developed UVLS guidelines for their mem- these relays so that they properly measure system voltage.
bers [4]. It is also difficult for the industrial customer to
References
[1] U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force. (2004, Apr. 5). Final
report on the August 14, 2003 blackout in the United States and Canada:
V1 < Setpoint 1 Causes and recommendations [Online]. Available: http://www.nerc.com
27
[2] G. C. Bullock, ‘‘Cascading voltage collapse in West Tennessee,’’
Positive presented at Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conf., Atlanta, GA,
Sequence May 1990.
Undervoltage [3] IEEE Guide for AC Generator Protection, ANSI/IEEE C37.102-1992.
[4] UVLS Task Force, WECC. (1999). Undervoltage Load Shedding Guide-
Va < Setpoint 2 lines [Online]. Available: http://www.wecc.biz
27B
Vb < Setpoint 2 OR x AND [5] K. Shah, R. Hofstetter, M. S. Miguel, and M. Tiffany, ‘‘Load preserva-
Undervoltage Vc < Setpoint 2 tion systems at facilities utilizing co-generation for real time protec-
Block tion of critical loads during utility outages,’’ in Proc. IEEE Industry
Applications Society 52nd Annu. Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conf.,
Adjustable 2005, pp. 85–93.
Timer [6] J. L. Blackburn, Symmetrical Components for Power System Engineers. New
47B V2 > Setpoint 3 x York: Marcel Dekker, 1993.
Negative
Sequence Undervoltage Charles J. Mozina (cmozina@aol.com) is with Beckwith Elec-
Overvoltage Trip tric Co. Inc., Largo, Florida. He is a Member of the IEEE.
Block This article first appeared as ‘‘Power System Blackouts—Mini-
9 mizing Their Impact at Industrial Cogeneration Facilities’’ at
52
Positive sequence undervoltage separation logic. the 2006 Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference.