ApplicationsandCharacteristicsOfDifferentialRelays

(ANSI87)

Applications and Characteristics Of Differential Relays ANSI 87 (on photo: VAMP 265 Generator, transformer and
motor diferential protection relay)

Differentialrelayscategories
Differentialrelaysgenerallyfallwithinoneoftwobroadcategories:
1. Currentdifferentialand
2. Highimpedancedifferential

Currentdifferentialrelays
Currentdifferentialrelaysaretypicallyusedtoprotectlargetransformers,generators,andmotors.
Forthesedevicesdetectionoflowlevelwindingtogroundfaultsisessentialtoavoid
equipmentdamage.Currentdifferentialrelaystypicallyareequippedwithrestraintwindingsto
whichtheCTinputsaretobeconnected.
Forelectromechanical87currentdifferentialrelays,thecurrentthroughtherestraintwindingsfor
eachphaseissummedandthesumisdirectedthroughanoperatingwinding.Thecurrent
throughtheoperatingwindingmustbeaboveacertainpercentage(typically15%50%)ofthe
currentthroughtherestraintwindingsfortherelaytooperate.
Forsolidstateelectronicormicroprocessorbased87relaystheoperatingwindingsexistin
logiconlyratherthanasphysicalwindings.

Atypicalapplicationofcurrentdifferentialrelaysforprotectionofatransformerisshown
infigure1below.Infigure1,therestraintwindingsarelabeledasRand
theoperatingwindingsarelabeledasO.Becausethedeltawyetransformer
connectionproducesaphaseshift,thesecondaryCTsareconnectedindelta
tocounteractthisphaseshiftfortheconnectionstotherelays.
Undernormalconditionstheoperatingwindingswillcarrynocurrent.

Foralargeexternalfaultontheloadsideofthetransformer,differencesinCTperformanceinthe

primaryvs.thesecondary(itisimpossibletomatchtheprimaryandsecondaryCTsdueto
differentcurrentlevels)aretakenintoaccountbytheproperpercentagedifferentialsetting.
BecausetheCTratiosintheprimaryvs.secondarywillnotalwaysbeabletomatchthecurrent
magnitudesintherelayoperatingwindingsduringnormalconditions,therelaysareequippedwith
tapstointernallyadjustthecurrentlevelsforcomparison.

Thespecificconnectionsinthisexampleapplytoadelta
primary/wyesecondarytransformerortransformerbank
only.Theconnectionsforotherwindingarrangementwill
vary,inordertoproperlycancelthephaseshift.
Figure 1 Typical application of currentdifferential relays for deltawye
transformer protection

Formanysolidstateelectronicandmicroprocessorbasedrelays,thephaseshiftismade
internallyintherelayandtheCTsmaybeconnectedthesameontheprimaryandsecondary
sidesofthetransformerregardlessofthetransformerwindingconnections.
Themanufacturersliteratureforagivenrelaymakeandmodelmustbeconsulted
whenplanningtheCTconnections.

Percentagedifferentialcharacteristicsareavailableas
fixedpercentageorvariablepercentage.Thedifference
isthatafixedpercentagerelayexhibitsaconstant
percentagerestraint,andforavariablepercentagerelay
thepercentagerestraintincreasesastherestraintcurrent
increases.
Foranelectromechanicalrelay,thepercentagecharacteristicmustbespecifiedforeachrelayfor
solidstateelectronicormicroprocessorbasedrelaysthesecharacteristicsareadjustable.For
transformersrelayswithanadditionalharmonicrestraintareavailable.Harmonicrestraint
restrainstherelaywhencertainharmonics,normallythe2ndand5th,arepresent.
Theseharmonicsarecharacteristicoftransformerinrushandwithoutharmonicrestraint
thetransformerinrushmaycausetherelaytooperate.

Animportantconceptintheapplicationofdifferentialrelaysisthattherelaytypically
tripsfaultinterruptingdevicesonbothsidesofthetransformer.Thisisduetothefact

thatmotorsandgeneratorsonthesecondarysideoftheprotecteddevicewillcontribute
tothefaultcurrentproducedduetoaninternalfaultinthedevice.
Anexampleonelinediagramrepresentationofthetransformerdifferential
protectionfrom1isgiveninfigure2below:

Figure 2 Transformer differential relay

application from figure 1 in oneline
diagram format

Notethatthesecondaryprotectivedeviceisshownasalowvoltagepowercircuitbreaker.Itis
importantthattheprotectivedevicesonbothsidesofthetransformerbecapableoffault
interruptingdutyandsuitableforrelaytripping.
Infigure2alockoutrelayisusedtotripboththeprimaryandsecondaryovercurrentdevices.
Thelockoutrelayisdesignated86Tsinceitisusedfortransformertripping,andthedifferential
relayisdenoted87Tsinceitisprotectingthetransformer.ThewyeanddeltaCTconnectionsare
alsonoted.

Animportantconceptinprotectiverelayingisthezoneofprotection.Azoneof
protectionistheareathatagivenprotectiverelayand/orovercurrentdevice(s)areto
protect.
Whilethezoneofprotectionconceptappliestoanytypeofprotection(notetheterm
zoneselectiveinterlockingasdescribedearlierinthissection),itisespeciallyimportant
intheapplicationofdifferentialrelaysbecausethezoneofprotectionisstrictly
definedbytheCTlocations.

Infigure2thezoneofprotectionforthe87Trelayisshownbythedashedlineboxaround
thetransformer.Forfaultswithinthezoneofprotection,thecurrentsintheCTswillnotsumto
zeroattherelayoperatingwindingsandtherelayswilloperate.
Outsidethezoneofprotectiontheoperatingwindingcurrentsshouldsumtozero(orbelow
enoughthatthepercentagerestraintisnotexceeded),andthereforetherelayswillnotoperate.
GobacktoIndex

Highimpedancedifferentialrelays
Theothermajorcategoryofdifferentialrelays,highimpedancedifferentialrelays,usea
differentprincipleforoperation.Ahighimpedancedifferentialrelayhasahighimpedance
operatingelement,acrosswhichthevoltageismeasured.

CTsareconnectedsuchthatduringnormalloadorexternalfaultconditionsthe
currentthroughtheimpedanceisessentiallyzero.But,forafaultinsidethe
differentialzoneofprotection,thecurrentthroughthehighimpedanceinputisnonzero
andcausesarapidriseinthevoltageacrosstheinput,resultinginrelayoperation.

Asimplifiedschematicofahighimpedancedifferentialrelayisshowninfigure3toillustrate
theconcept.Notethattherelayonlyhasonesetofinputterminals,withoutrestraintwindings.
ThismeansthatanynumberofCTsmaybeconnectedtotherelayasneededtoextendzoneof
protection,solongastheCTcurrentssumtozeroduringnormalconditions.
AlsonotethatavoltagelimitingMOVconnectedacrossthehighimpedanceinputis
shown.Thisistokeepthevoltageacrosstheinputduringafaultfromdamagingtheinput.
Figure 3 Highimpedance differential relay
concept

Highimpedancedifferentialrelaysaretypicallyusedforbus
protection.
BusprotectionisanapplicationthatdemandsmanysetsofCTsbeconnectedtotherelays.Itis
alsoanapplicationthatdemandsthatthatrelaybeabletooperatewithunequalCTperformance,
sinceexternalfaultmagnitudescanbequitelarge.Thehighimpedancedifferentialrelaymeets
bothrequirements.
Figure4showstheapplicationofbusdifferentialrelaystoaprimaryselectivesystem.
Notethatinfigure4thezonesofprotectionforBus#1andBus#2overlap.Herethe86relayis
extremelyusefulduetothelargenumberofcircuitbreakerstobetripped.Notethatallcircuit
breakersattachedtotheprotectedbussesareequippedwithdifferentialCTsandaretrippedby
thatbussesrespective86relay.

The87relaysaredenoted87Bsincetheyareprotectingbusses.Thesameappliesfor
the86Brelays.Notealsothattheprotectivezonesoverlapthisistypicalpracticeto
insurethatallpartsofthebusworkareprotected.

Thehighimpedancedifferentialrelayistypicallysetintermsofvoltageacrosstheinput.
ThevoltagesettingistypicallysetsothatifoneCTisfullysaturatedandtheothersarenotthe
relaywillnotoperate.Byitsnature,thehighimpedancedifferentialrelayislesssensitivethanthe
currentdifferentialrelay,butsinceitistypicallyappliedtoprotectbussing,wherefaultmagnitudes
aretypicallyhigh,theadditionalsensitivityisnotrequired.
Figure 4 Highimpedance differential relaying applied to a primaryselective
system

GobacktoIndex
Reference:SystemProtectionBillBrown,P.E.,SquareDEngineeringServices