Introduction

In a radial feeder configuration, supplied from one end only, discrimination of faults can be
achieved by incorporating time delays at each relay point. This enables the relay closest to the fault
to trip, isolating the faulty circuit without affecting the other non-faulty circuits. A disadvantage of
this system is that for faults near the source the fault current can be much greater than at the
opposite end of the feeder due to the impedance.

For a fault at F in fig.1, the circuit breaker at C opens before those at A and B, leaving most of the
feeder operational. The relays have a time grading of 0.5s (to allow for relay and circuit breaker
operation plus error allowance), illustrating discrimination by time grading only.

The disadvantage can be overcome by employing relays with an inverse current / time
characteristic - i.e. the time delays are reduced for higher currents. These relays are known as
IDMT relays (inverse definite minimum time). A minimum time of operation is incorporated to
ensure co-ordination between the relays when the fault level does not vary along the feeder.

3.Experimental Procedure
3.1 Injection of a single IDMT overcurrent relay
3.11 Objective
To investigate the inverse characteristic and to determine the purpose of time and plug settings.
3.12 Procedure

The relay to be tested is at position A2. An ammeter was connected in series via a 10:1 current
transformer. With fault switch F1 closed and circuit breaker A2 activated, power is applied and a timer
activated. The current can be varied by the variac.
Using currents in the range 1 to 10A, obtain a family of time/current graphs for:
A) A constant ps=100% (plug setting) and a set of TM's (time multiplier) of 0.5,0.75 and 1
B) A constant TM=1 and a set of ps's of 0.5, 0.75, 1
From the above the "Standard characteristic" of the relay can be determined (i.e. t vs. p.s.m)
v) Relay C2 was disabled by setting TM very high. With the fault at F3, the TM of B2 was adjusted
by trial and error until it tripped at (t3+0.5)s. The value of B2 TM and operation time was noted
(TM=0.28 and 1.10s). B2 and C2 were now co-ordinated.


3.2 Co-ordination of 3 IDMT overcurrent relays
3.21 Objective
To attempt to achieve optimum co-ordination from the relay setting available.
3.22 Procedure



Only relays A2, B2 and C2 have timing facilities. An ammeter should be connected between the
ammeter terminals. Series resistors (representing feeder impedances) in the primary circuit are set to
give currents of 5A and 3A for the faults at F2 and F3 respectively if the variac is set to have 10A for a
fault at F1.
All timers are started by closure of A2. Circuit breakers at B2 and C2 can be prevented from tripping by
connection of the appropriate trip link. However, all timers will be stopped by the appropriate relay.
The following steps were taken:
i) Set variac to 100% o/p
ii) Set the plug setting on each relay to 1.0 (100%)
iii) Set the time multiplier of relay C2 to 0.1
iv) With the fault at F3, the time of operation of C2 was measured. (t3=0.66s)
v) Relay C2 was disabled by setting TM very high. With the fault at F3, the TM of B2 was adjusted
by trial and error until it tripped at (t3+0.5)s. The value of B2 TM and operation time was noted
(TM=0.28 and 1.10s). B2 and C2 were now co-ordinated.
vi) Relays B2 and A2 were now co-ordinated in a similar manner with the operation of relay A2
being 0.5s slower than B2. (t
2
=1.30s, t
1
=0.8s, A2 TM=0.24)
vii) The circuit was now tested to ensure correct operation and co-ordination of the relays in the
clockwise direction.

Relay
position
TM
A2 0.24
B2 0.28
C2 0.1


3.3 IDMT protection of a closed ring
In order to achieve disconnection of the faulty section only, the following procedure should be
followed.
a) Set the relays A2, B2 and C2 as per the procedure above
b) Set the relays at A1, B1 and C1 to have the same p.s. and TM as A2, B2 and C2 respectively.
c) The ring is now protected. Check for the correct tripping of the circuit breakers for faults on each
section at one time (i.e. apply fault at F3, then F2, then F1) and note the operation of the relays.
Fault at: Relays
operated:
1 A2,C1
2 B2.B1

3 C2,A1

4. Results
4.1 Tabulated results.
Current (I) Time (S) p.s.m.
2.10 13.34 4.20
3.05 7.68 6.10
4.00 5.78 8.00
5.05 4.74 10.10
6.13 4.08 12.26
7.10 3.66 14.20
8.20 3.32 16.40
9.35 3.06 18.70
10.00 2.96 20.00

Fig. 4 Current and time readings with calculated psm for tm=1 and ps=0.5


Current (I) Time (S) p.s.m.
2.24 27.70 2.99
3.30 10.98 4.40
4.40 7.72 5.87
5.40 6.22 7.20
6.40 5.32 8.53
7.55 4.66 10.07
8.70 4.22 11.60
9.90 3.82 13.20

Fig. 5 Current and time readings with calculated psm for tm=1 and ps=0.75


Current (I) Time (S) p.s.m.
2.90 28.22 2.90
4.00 12.70 4.00
5.10 8.88 5.10
6.15 7.18 6.15
7.25 6.10 7.25
8.30 5.44 8.30
9.55 4.86 9.55

Fig. 6 Current and time readings with calculated psm for tm=1 and ps=1.0
The plug setting multiplier is calculated using:
l
s

p.s.m. =
p.s. I
r

Where l
s
=secondary current in amps, p.s.=plug setting and l,=rated current (1 A)

4.2 Graphical results







Fig. 7 Current versus time graph for various values of ps
(tm=1)

Fig. 8 Current versus time graph for various values of tm
(ps=1)

Fig. 9 Time versus plug multiplier setting


Fig. 10 "Standard characteristic" of the relay derived from the
results obtained in fig. 8