Earthfault Protection Compensated Networks

Earthfault Compensation

The most frequent

operational disturbances
in electric energy distribution networks
are caused by earthfaults
In order to minimize the effects
of earthfaults, the method of
earthfault compensation is being
used successfully. This means
that the system neutral is earthed
through a high impedance reactor,
a so called arc suppression coil,
which is adjusted to the earth
capacitance of the network.
Based on years of experience,
Trench has continued the development of traditional earthfault
compensation. By means of innovative electrical machine construction and the utilization of
modern electronics and data
processing, we created a comprehensive earthfault protection
system that sets the present and
future safety and protection
standards of power engineering.
The Trench Austria earthfault
protection system includes the
following functional units:

These functional units match optimally, but they can also be used
as individual components.
Further, they were conceived for
maximum compatibility with the
equipment of other manufacturers.
Fig. 1
Block diagram

Arc suppression coil

continuously adjustable
Earthfault compensation
controller microprocessorbased
Earthfault location
selective detection of
low- and highresistance faults
Suppression of residual
current to minimize the risks
at the fault location caused
by sustained earthfaults

Basic mode of operation

The protection concept presented in this brochure is devised for

high and medium voltage
systems operating with earthfault current compensation.
Compared with other principles
of earthing of the network's
neutral, this method has many
advantages concerning the
quality of power supply, the safety
of personnel, as well as possible
consequential damage caused by
earthfaults.
In comparison with the technique of low-impedance neutral
earthing, the reduction of fault
current in compensated systems requires highly reliable and selective
protection devices in order to
detect and locate earthfaults.
In order to clarify the mode of
operation of the earthfault protection system developed by
Trench Austria, the zero-sequence system of a distribution network during earthfault is illustrated
in the simplified diagram of fig. 2.
This equivalent circuit diagram is
based on the assumption that
the symmetry of a three-phase
system is restored, if, at the fault
location (X), a voltage source (E)
is connected in series with fault
impedance (Zf), which corresponds to the pre-fault phase-toearth voltage (close to the phase
voltage of the system). Then, the
zero-sequence system, produced
by the voltage source (E), which
superimposes the symmetric
system, can be used to describe
the earthfault protection system
in detail.

The total earth capacitance of

the network, consisting of the
earth capacitances of all
"healthy" lines (C1, C2, C3...)
and of the faulty line (Cn), forms
a resonant circuit with the reactance of the arc suppression coil
(L) inserted between the neutral
(N) and the earth. This resonant
circuit is fed by the phase voltage
(E) through the fault impedance
(Zf). The losses in the zero-sequence system including the
losses of the arc suppression coil
are represented by the shunt
resistance (R). The currents flowing through the earth capacitances (C1.... Cn) of the lines are
compensated by the inductive
current of the arc suppression
coil. If resonance tuning is exact,
only ohmic residual

current flows through the fault

location (X).
The fault impedance (Zf) represents the disturbance between
one phase and earth, causing
the imbalance of the network.
The level of the fault impedance
(Zf) determines the level of the
neutral-to-earth voltage (Uo) at
the arc suppression coil. During a
metallic earthfault the fault impedance (Zf) can be regarded as
zero; and at the neutral (N) the
neutral-to-earth voltage (Uo)
equals the full phase voltage (E).
If, however, the fault impedance
(Zf) is high, i.e. Zf >> R, as it is in
the case of a natural capacitive
imbalance or at high resistance
earthfault, the neutral-to-earth
voltage (Uo) is only a fraction of
the phase voltage (E).

Fig. 2
Zero-sequence system in the
case of an earthfault

Arc suppression coil (ASC)

The arc suppression coil represents the central element of the
protection system. Since the characteristics of the network are subject to changes, the inductance
of the ASC used for neutral earthing must be variable.
There are two basic principles to
modify the inductance:
by switching operations at the
coil where turns or coil sections are connected or disconnected (step coil), or
by continuous variation of the
magnetic circuit's reluctance of
the ASC by means of a
mechanical drive (plunger core
coil).
The earthfault system developed
by Trench Austria prefers the
plunger core coil compared to
the reactor with inductance
variation in steps as
no switching operations to
change the inductance are
required; switching can easily
cause perturbations of the network during earthfault , and
plunger core coils can be tuned
accurately to minimum current
at the fault location, i.e. to
resonance compensation,
due to being continuously
adjustable.

Based on years of
experience in the construction of arc suppression coils,
the coil design concept was
thoroughly reviewed resulting in a new series of ASCs,
which meet today's
requirements of earthfault
compensation techniques.
By means of
modern planning and
production processes
substantial cost savings for
plunger core coils were
achieved.
Additionally, the time needed
to adjust the plunger core
coil can be reduced to
seconds by means of a high
speed mechanical drive.

Earthfault
compensation control
(EFC 30)
When changing the network
characteristics, the ASC has to
be tuned as quickly as possible
to the modified network. This
task is accomplished by Trench
Austria's earthfault compensation controller EFC30. It automatically adjusts the inductance (L) of
the ASC to the actual network
configuration, without requiring
intervention by the operating
personnel or using SCADA.
If in a healthy system
(Zf >> R) the inductance (L) of
the ASC is varied continuously,
the graph of the neutral-to-earth
voltage (Uo) plotted versus the
inductance (L) represents a resonance curve, the maximum of
which is attained at resonance
adjustment.

This typical feature is used in the

EFC30 controller in order to adjust the ASC. If the neutral-toearth voltage (Uo) exceeds the
pre-set threshold, because of a
change in the h.v. system, the
tuning procedure of the EFC30
controller is actuated. By measuring continuously the neutralto-earth voltage (Uo), the ASC is
adjusted to the new tuning position.
Having adjusted the coil successfully, the EFC30 controller permanently monitors the neutralto-earth voltage (Uo) and is only
activated if the neutral-to-earth
voltage (Uo) exceeds the threshold for the pre-set period of time.
The measured values of the
neutral-to-earth voltage (Uo)
gained during the adjustment
process are used to determine
the parameters of the zerosequence system (degree of imbalance, degree of adjustment
of the arc suppression coil and
damping of the zero-sequence
system), which allow, among
others, the evaluation of the
insulation of the network to
earth, over a longer period of time.

Fig. 3
EFC 30

Detection of the faulty

feeder

Earthfault Detection
Device (EFD)

In case of an earthfault a steadystate unbalance of the h.v. system arises, after the transient
oscillations have diminished. The
zero-sequence voltage (Uo) and
the zero-sequence currents
(Io1....Ion) of all feeders connected to the busbar are available
for measurement, in order to
detect the faulty feeder. The feeder with the highest earth capacitance and not the faulty feeder
(feeder n in fig. 2) has the highest
zero-sequence current during an
earthfault. This means that the
value of the zero-sequence
current is no criterion for the
detection of a faulty feeder.

The earthfault detection developed by Trench Austria differs

fundamentally from existing earthfault relay concepts by central
acquisition and processing of the
zero-sequence signals for further
treatment.

The effective component of the

zero-sequence current, however,
is the variable being decisive for
the detection of the faulty feeder,
since the sum of all ohmic currents of the zero-sequence
system flows through the fault
location (X). Furthermore, a zerosequence current being proportional to eventual over- or undercompensation flows through the
fault location (X).
For a long time these two characteristics have been used for
earthfault detection in the form
of wattmetric and pulse-type
earthfault relays. For both types
of relay, one unit has to be installed for each individual feeder,
whereby each relay unit is performing independently from the
others.

For illustration of the actual status of the zero-sequence current

distribution, the feeder currents
Io1,....Ion are displayed together
with the zero-sequence voltage
(Uo) in a vector diagram on the
LCD screen of the earthfault detection device (EFD).

The measuring system of the

earthfault detection device
(EFD) developed by Trench
Austria is based on the principle
that, as described above, a
change of the tuning causes a
proportional change of the zerosequence current of the faulty
feeder. The zero-sequence admittances at the feeders can be
determined by phasor measurement of the zero-sequence
currents (Io1....Ion) and the zerosequence voltage (Uo) before
and after a defined change of
the zero-sequence system
Admittance Method. Io1,...Ion
and Uo can be changed, for
example, by injecting current
through an auxiliary winding of
the ASC into the zero-sequence
system. The most outstanding
feature of this procedure is its
high measuring accuracy and selectivity, such that high resistance
faults exceeding 50 kohm can be
detected. Conventional earthfault
detecting relays, working independently, are not able to attain
these results.

Distance to Earthfault
In order to determine the distance
between the fault location and
the substation, the affected feeder is rearranged into a closed
ring with an adjacent feeder and
the relation of the line-to-ground
admittances of both feeders is
determined - Polygon-Method.

Residual Current
Suppression
In case of a sustained fault, especially in cables, there is a risk that
after a certain time, the earthfault will develop into a short-circuit. The effects of the earthfault
at the fault location can be prevented by measures for suppres-

sing the residual current. The

Trench Austria earthfault protection system offers the following
possibility:
injecting compensating current
through a low voltage auxiliary
winding of the ASC.
The injection of extra residual
current (ERC) to compensate for
the residual earthfault current is
effected by a static power converter, which is controlled by the
earthfault detection device (EFD)
using the zero-sequence current
of the faulty feeder. As the plunger
core coil may provide accurate
tuning, the nominal output of
the power converter can be limited
to 10% of the network's zerosequence compensation power.

L9502

Fig. 4
Earth fault detection
device EFC/EFD

Arc Suppression Coil (ASC)

Standard Version

Options

Plunger core coil - newly

developed magnetic circuit
geometry for optimised
magnetic flux, using 3D
numeric field calculation
technique.

With power auxiliary winding

for continuous and/or
short-time operation 2h, rated
for 10% of rated ASC power
(especially suited for residual
current compensation).

Continuously adjustable
on-load current setting by
changing the air gap with a
plunger core.

With high-speed drive for a

max. tuning time of 5s ( for
ASC power ratings up to
2000 kVAr).

Mechanical adjustment of the

plunger core by motor-drive
mechanism; situated on top
of the tank, with mechanical
position indication and remote
indication potentiometer.

Supplementary equipment and

special versions on request.
Fig. 5
Standard
Arc Suppression Coil

Current setting range

1:10 continuous operation / 1:12,5 short-time operation 2h

1:10 short-time operation 2h

Current setting accuracy

< 1%

Max. tuning time

ca. 200s

System voltage

up to 36/ 3 kV

Voltage measurement winding

100 (110) V, 1 A

Porcelain bushings

acc. DIN

Oil-natural, air-natural cooling

ONAN

Oil type

Technol 2002

Corrugated tank

with air cushion between oil surface and tank cover

Underbase equipped

with plain rollers and four lifting fittings

Surface treatment

priming, intermediate and 2 finish coats (RAL 7033)

Thermometer pocket
Oil-level indicator
Dehydrating breather
Dimensions and weights

see page 8, table 1

Technical data of the arc suppression coil*

Rated Power**

Table 1

Dimensions
B4

C4

MA

kVAr

mm

mm

mm

mm

1250 DB/1600 KB

1970

1470

2200

1070

4390

kg

1600 KB

1700

1230

2200

1070

3480

1600 DB/2000 KB

2030

1590

2200

1070

4680

2000 KB

1700

1230

2200

1070

3640

2000 DB/2500 KB

2130

1690

2430

1070

5830

2500 KB

1830

1230

2430

1070

4720

2500 DB/3150 KB

2130

1690

2430

1070

6130

3150 KB

1830

1230

2430

1070

4880

3150 DB/4000 KB

2230

1740

2530

1270

8040

4000 KB

1930

1430

2530

1270

5990

4000 DB/5000 KB

2230

1740

2530

1270

8310

5000 KB

1930

1430

2530

1270

6310

5000 DB/6300 KB

2460

1740

2870

1505

10490

6300 KB

2180

1710

2840

1505

8360

6300 DB/8000 KB

2480

1780

2870

1505

10970

8000 KB

2250

1710

2840

1505

9030

* Subject to change
**DB = continous operation
KB = short-time operation 2h

Mass

A4

Earthfault Compensation Controller (EFC 30)

Basic unit

Options

Microprocessor based control

equipment for arc suppression
coils.
Easy to operate with membrane
type keyboard and graphic
LCD in the front panel.

combined digital, analog and

graphic display format.
Oscilloscope and FFT function
for the analysis of the neutralto-ground voltage.

Menu-driven operation with

"help" functions.

Evaluation of the network's

insulation to earth by monitoring of the damping over time.

Simple configuration of control

functions by pre-set default values
for parameters, which can be
overwritten for customised use.

Easy add-on of hardware options due to the modular design

concept.

Comprehensive parameter
options to adjust the controller
to the input signals and to
customise the controller's ouput.
LCD screen for display of the
measuring signals by
CPU
Memory
Keyboard
Screen
Analog inputs
Digital inputs
Analog outputs

Digital outputs
Serial interface
optional
Power supply
Width/Height/ Depth
Weight

Serial interface for PC or

modem connection , as well as
for interconnection to SCADA.
Co-ordination of several
controllers in the same h.v.
system.
Automatic control of a
resistance for wattmetric
current increase.

Highest EMC level according to

European Standards (EN).
Continuous self-monitoring of
the system functions and plain
text error display.

32 bit transputer (RISC processor), 1MB RAM

1 MB RAM, 1 MB EPROM memory for program code
with membrane switches
LCD; resolution: 640 x 200, with background lighting
input range is software programmable neutral -to-earth voltage Uo (0 - 100 V)
coil position (potentiometer or current input 0 - 20 mA)
2 inputs for the limit switch of the ASC, 2 software programmable inputs
2 impulse inputs 0.1s to 2s, 24 V to 250 V AC or DC
external display of the neutral-to-earth voltage Uo (0 - 20 mA), external display of
the liniarized coil position (0 - 20 mA), display characteristics are software
programmable
7 programmable relays for signalling
250 V AC, 4 A max. 1000 V A or 250 V DC, 1A max. 100W
3 x RS232 for modem, PC or SCADA (SPABus, IEC 870-5-103)
110...230 V AC / DC
optional: 24, 48, 60 V DC
483 / 132,5 / 252 mm
8,2 kg

Earthfault Detection Device (EFD)

Basic unit
Microprocessor based control
equipment for earthfault
detection.
Selective and reliable detection
of the faulty feeder in
compensated networks, for
low and high resistance faults
according to the
Admittance method.
Easy to operate with membrane
type keyboard and graphic
LCD in the front panel.
Menu-driven operation with
"help" functions.
Simple configuration of control
functions by pre-set default
values for parameters, which
can be overwritten for
customised use.
Control unit

Comprehensive parameter
options to adjust the controller
to the input signals and to
customise the controller's
protection messages.
LCD screen for the illustration
of the measured variables by
vector diagram combined with
digital display.
Fault recorder function for all
measuring channels and for all
digital inputs and outputs,
over 50 periods of power
frequency, including 5
pre-event periods.
Easy add-on of hardware
options due to the modular
design concept.

Options
Software extension for the
determination of the distance
to fault (Polygon Method).
Software extension for the
control of the residual current
compensation.
Without integrated functionality
for earthfault compensation
control.

CPU

32 bit transputer (RISC processor with FPU)

Memory

4 MB RAM, 8 MB EPROM memory for program code

Keyboard

with membrane type switches

Screen

LCD; resolution: 640 X 200, with background lighting

Measuring Signal Acquisition CPU

10

Highest EMC level according to

European Standards (EN).
With integrated functionality
for earthfault compensation
control (EFC 40).

24 bit signal processor

A/D transformer

16 bit, 50 kSamples

Voltage inputs

0 to 100 V AC

Current inputs

0 to 1A or 0 to 5 A

Digital inputs

16 Inputs per plug-in board, interconnected to 4 floating groups (24V to 230 V AC or DC)

Digital outputs

16 output relays per plug-in board interconnected to 4 floating groups

(250V AC, 4A max. 1000 VA or 250 V DC, 1A max. 100 W)

LED display

Indication of the faulty feeder, Indication of the status of the digital inputs and outputs

Serial interface optional

3 x RS 232 for modem, PC or SCADA (SPABus, IEC 870-5-103)

Power supply

110...230 V AC / DC, optional: 24, 48 60 V DC

Width / Height / Depth

483 / 265 / 300 mm

Weight

16 kg

Residual Current Suppression

To minimise the risks at the fault

location during a sustained earthfault, e.g.:

Residual Current
Compensation (ERC)

Reduction of touch and step

voltage at the fault location
providing improved safety for
personnel.

Residual current suppression

by the injection of an active
current into the zero-sequence
system, which compensates
the residual current at the fault
location.

Prevention of a subsequent
short-circuit between the
phases by decreasing thermal
effects at the fault location.
Prevention of intermittent arc
faults.

Four quadrant converter.

Interface for control by the
earth-fault detection device
EFC/EFD.

11

Trench Austria GmbH

Paschinger Strasse 49, Postfach 13
A-4060 Linz-Leonding/Austria
Phone +43.732.6793-0
Fax
+43.732.6713 41
E-Mail sales@TrenchAustria.at
Trench Brasil LTDA
Via Expressa de Contagem, 2685
CEP: 32370-485
Contagem, MG - Brasil
Phone 55. 31. 391-5959
Fax 55. 31. 391-1828
E-Mail
trenchbrasil@ca.trenchgroup.com
Trench Limited
Coil Product Division
71 Maybrook Drive, Scarborough
Ontario, Canada M1V 4B6
Phone (416) 298-8108
Fax
(416) 298-2209
E-Mail sales@ca.trenchgroup.com
Trench Limited
Instrument Transformer Division
390 Midwest Road, Scarborough
Ontario, Canada M1P 3B5
Phone (416) 751-8570
Fax
(416) 751-6952
E-Mail sales@ca.trenchgroup.com
Trench France S.A.
16, rue du Gnral Cassagnou
B.P. 70
F - 68302 St-Louis Cedex/France
Phone +33.3.89 70 23 23
Fax
+33.3.89 67 26 63
E-Mail sales@trench-france.com
Trench Germany GmbH
Nrnberger Strasse 199
96050 Bamberg/Germany
Phone +49.951.1803-0
Fax
+49.951.1803-224
E-Mail sales@trench.de

www.trenchgroup.com

Trench Switzerland AG
Lehenmattstrasse 353
CH - 4028 Basel/Switzerland
Phone +41.61.315 51 11
Fax
+41.61.315 59 00
E-Mail sales@trench.ch
Subject to change without notice
04.2000

E 650