From Practical Power System Protection
13.1 Protective Relay Systems
The basic function of protection is to detect faults and to clear them as soon as possible. It is also important that in the process the minimum amount of equipment should be disconnected. The ability of the protection (i.e. relays and circuit breakers) to accomplish the latter requirement is referred to as 'selectivity'.
Speed and selectivity may be considered technically as figures of merit for a protection scheme. In general; however greater the speed and/or selectivity, the greater is the cost. Hence, the degree of speed or selectivity in any scheme is not purely a technical matter, it is also an economic one.
13.2 Main or Unit Protection
The graded overcurrent systems described earlier do not meet the protection requirements of a power system. As seen in Chapter 10, the grading is not possible to be achieved in long and thin networks and also it can be noticed that grading of settings may lead to longer tripping times closer to the sources, which are not always desired. These problems have given way to the concept of 'unit protection' where the circuits are divided into discrete sections without reference to the other sections.
Ideally, to realize complete selectivity of protection, the power system is divided into discrete zones. Each zone is provided with relays and circuit breakers to allow for the detection and isolation of its own internal faults.
This ideal selective zoning is illustrated in Figure 13.1. The protection used in this manner -essentially for internal...
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Topics of Interest
14.1 Introduction Two commercially available systems have been chosen as typical examples to illustrate the concepts. However there are other similar products on the market using essentially the...
Overview Protective devices form a coherent whole in relation to the network structure and its earthing system. They should be looked upon as a system based on the principle of selectivity that...
Interest in complete overcurrent device selectivity has increased due to the addition of selectivity requirements to articles 700, 701, and 708 of the National Electrical Code (NFPA70). Many users,...
INTRODUCTION Figure 25.1 illustrates the overall protection scheme in a generating station. The auxiliary equipment inside the plant requires 5 to 10 percent of the power generated. The remainder...
This paper discusses analytical techniques and new technology that allow switchgear CBs to use sensitive instantaneous settings and maintain selectivity when using traditional electronic trips in...
