LECTURE 05
Principles of differential protection
Engr. Akif Zia Khan
Faculty Member
USPCASE, NUST
akif@casen.nust.edu.pk 092-51-9085 5071
OUTLINE
• INTRODUCTION
• DOT MARKING
• SIMPLE DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
• ZONE OF PROTECTION FOR DIFFERENTIAL
RELAYS
• ACTUAL BEHAVIOUR OF DIFFERENTIAL RELAYS
DURING THROUGH FAULTS
• PERCENTAGE DIFFERENTIAL RELAYS
• EARTH LEAKAGE PROTECTION
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1-Introduction
• Protects equipment from fault occurring within the equipment
• Principle
• The difference of current (magnitude, phase) entering and leaving the equipment is
measured
• If the difference exceeds a predetermined value, trip output is issued
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• Only suitable for equipment's where sending and receiving end of the equipment are
physically near
• Used for equipment protection
• Transformer, Busbar e.t.c.
2-Dot markings
• A, B and C are mutually coupled coils
According to Lenz’s law current would flow in coil B in such a direction
So that the flux generated by it opposes the flux generated due to A
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• Current enters the dot mark on the
primary coil
• Current should leave the dot mark
on the secondary coils
• If currents are made to enter two dot
marked coils, their respective fluxes
would add up
3-Simple Differential Protection
AKA Merz-Price Scheme
• Current entering and leaving the equipment is
stepped down with help of CT’s
When current enters the dot marks on the primary side of CT, it should
leave the similarly marked dot mark on the secondary side and vice versa
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• During the normal load flow current in the
“spill path” would be zero
• Current would just keep circulating in the
“pilot wire”
3.1-Behavior during external faults
• During external faults or through faults the
current entering and leaving the equipment
remains unchanged
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• Therefore Differential Protection scheme
should remain stable i.e. should not generate
trip signal
3.2-Behavior during internal faults
• Fault current If,int/n will flow through spill path
• Minimum internal fault current that would
generate a trip signal would be
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3.3-Simple Differential Protection, Double End Fed: Behavior
during internal faults
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4-Zone of protection of differential relay
Differential protection
should trip during internal faults
• Any fault occurring within the two CT’s is within zone
of differential protection
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Differential protection
Should restrain during external faults/through faults
5- Actual Behavior of a Differential Protection
Scheme
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Spill current builds up as through fault current increases
CT Errors
Ratio Error
Phase Angle Error
5.1-Through fault and stability ratio
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Higher the stability ratio, better is the systems ability to discriminate
between internal and through faults
5.2-Equivalent Circuit of CT
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5.2.1-Differential Protection Scheme considering Equivalent
Circuit of CT
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6-Percentage Differential Relay
• Simple differential relay can be made more stable if
• Restraining torque proportional to the through fault current can be
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generated
• Operating torque remains proportional to the spill current
6-Percentage Differential Relay
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6-Percentage Differential Relay
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6-Percentage Differential Relay
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6.1-Block diagram of Percentage Differential Relay
• The relay has two settings
– Pick up setting
– Slope setting
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7-Earth Leakage Protection
• Due to insulation failure the chassis of equipment may become
live
• As the chassis is connected to earth, so current will start flowing
into earth
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• Earth current too small for OC relay to operate
• “Earth leakage relays”/“current balance relays”/“residual current
devices” are used to detect earth faults
• Can save the personnel when they come in contact with live
unearthed chassis.
7.1-Earth Leakage Protection for a Single-Phase
load
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7.1-Earth Leakage Protection for a Three-Phase
load
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