15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

WITH
100% GENERATOR STATOR
GROUND FAULT PROTECTION
WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESNT AND WHY

Chuck Mozina
Consultant
Beckwith Electric
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

BACKGROUND:

Until the Late 70s 100% Stator Ground

Schemes Were Not Widely Used in the US.

Users Accepted Ground Fault Coverage of

Only 90-95% of the Stator Winding.

Conventional 59G Neutral Overvoltage

Protection Used.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

BACKGROUND:

100% Schemes Using 3rd Harmonic Neutral

Undervoltage Introduced in the Late 70s.

Early 80s 100% 3rd Harmonic Ratio Scheme

was Introduced.

During this Period 100% Subharmonic Injection

Schemes Were Being Used in Europe
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

PAPER ADDRESSES:

Conventional 59G Stator Ground Fault Application and

Settings.
Undervoltage Neutral 3rd Harmonic scheme for 100%
Stator Ground Fault Protection.
3rd Harmonic Ratio Scheme for 100% Stator Ground
Fault Protection.
Limitation of These 3rd Harmonic Schemes and Some
Methods of Overcoming these Limitations.
Subharmonic Injection Method for 100% Stator Ground
Fault Protection.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

CONVENTIONAL (59G)
STATOR GROUND FAULT
PROTECTION
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Conventional Stator Ground

Fault Protection

1.0

Voltage at Neutral
pu

(60 Hz)
90-95%
0.5
pu

0
59G 0% 50% 100%
N Fault Position T
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

59G Coordination Issues

F1

CH-L

F2

59G

F1 TRANSMISSION SYSTEM GROUND FAULT

F2 VT SECONDARY GROUND FAULT
 Stator Ground Fault Protection
Calculation of Generator Neutral Voltage for a
Transmission System Ground Fault
CH-L

3RN C0 VHO
VR

Where:
VHO = High side zero sequence voltage for a transmission
system ground fault.
CH-L= Generator step-up transformer high-to-low winding
capacitance
C 0 = Generator system zero sequence capacitance per
phase
3RN = Equivalent primary resistance in generator neutral
 Stator Ground Fault Protection
VT Connection to Avoid 59G Coordination
with VT Fuses

59G
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

3 rd
HARMONIC
STATOR GROUND
FAULT DETECTION
SCHEMES
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

100% SCHEMES USING 3RD HARMONIC

Undervoltage 3rd Harmonic Scheme

3rd Harmonic Ratio Scheme

 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Level of 3rd Harmonic Voltage Depends on:

The Construction of the Generator-- The Pitch

of the Stator Windings

The MW and MVAR Output of the Generator

The Generator Terminal Capacitance

 Stator Ground Fault Protection

General 3rd Harmonic Behavior

 Stator Ground Fault Protection

3rd HARMONIC
NEUTRAL
UNDERVOLTAGE
SCHEME
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Third Harmonic Neutral Undervoltage Scheme

59G

59G
 Stator Ground Fault Protection
Overlapping of 59G and 27TN to Provide 100%
Stator Ground Fault Coverage

59G

59G
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Field Measurements of the Magnitude of Third

Harmonic Neutral Voltage
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Advantages / Disadvantages:

Low Cost and Simple.

No New Equipment.
Requires Field Testing to Determine Minimum 3rd
Harmonic.
May Have to be Blocked During Some Operating
Conditions.
Will not Work at all if 3rd Harmonic is Low False
Tripping.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

3rd HARMONIC
RATIO SCHEME
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

3rd Harmonic Ratio Scheme

3V0

59D T h ir d H a r m o n ic
R a t io R e la y

C o n v e n t io n G r o u n d
O v e r v o lt a g e R e la y

59G
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Field Measurements of the Magnitude of Third

Harmonic Voltages
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Advantages / Disadvantages:

More Secure Than Using Only Neutral 3rd Voltage.

Requires Measurement of 3rd Harmonic Terminal
Voltage.
Requires Wye Grounded Primary VT with Broken Delta
Secondary.
This Generally Requires VT Additions or Modifications
and Additional Wiring.
Requires Extensive Field Testing to Determine
Maximum 3rd Harmonic Ratio.
Will Not Work at all if 3rd Harmonic is Low But No
False Tripping.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

LIMITATIONS
OF
3rd HARMONIC
SCHEMES
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Hydro Plant Applications:

False Tripping during Load Rejection

Synchronous Condenser Operation

Performance of Third Harmonic Scheme

on Parallel Generators
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Parallel Generators on a Common GSU

BUS

G1 GSU

59G

27TN

G2
59G

27TN
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Cross Compound and Large

Generators Applications

GSU

W in d in g 2 W in d in g 1

W in d in g n o t c o v e re d b y
27TN

27TN
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Gas Turbine Third Harmonic Voltage Profile

 Stator Ground Fault Protection
Third Harmonic Neutral Undervoltage
(27TN) Blocking
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

SUBHARMONIC
VOLTAGE
INJECTION
SCHEME
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Subharmonic Voltage Injection Scheme

N a tu r a l C a p a c ita n c e

* V

C o u p lin g V o lt a g e R e la y
F ilt e r In je c t o r M e a s u re m e n ts
59G
N o te s :
S u b h a r m o n ic in je c tio n ty p ic a lly a t 1 5 - 2 0 H z
C o u p lin g filte r lo w p a s s o r n o tc h tu n e d fo r s u b h a r m o n ic fr e q u e n c y
M e a s u r e m e n t in p u ts tu n e d to r e s p o n d to s u b h a r m o n ic fr e q u e n c y
 Stator Ground Fault Protection
Coupling Filter and Voltage Injector
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

Advantages / Disadvantages:

Does Not Use 3rd Harmonic Voltage.

Independent of Gen. MW and MVAR Loading.
Can Detect Stator Ground Fault When Gen. is Off-Line.
Detects Stator Ground Faults Over the Entire Winding
No Blind Spots.
Requires Field Measurement of Subharmonic Charging
Current Off-Line Measurement.
Requires Additional Equipment in Grounding
Transformer Secondary Added Cost.
Cost have Reduced With Digital Technology.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

CONCLUSIONS
Its Important to Upgrade to 100% Stator Ground Fault
Protection.
If 3rd Harmonic Schemes are to Being Considered-- It is
Important to First Determine 3rd Harmonic Signature
of the Generator.
Recognize that 3rd Harmonic Schemes Have
Limitations.
Subharmonic Injection Provides an Viable Alternative to
3rd Harmonic Schemes.
Injection Scheme Cost have Reduced with Digital
Technology Good Choice for Important Generators.
Injection Scheme can Detect Stator Grounds Over the
Entire Stator Winding and in an Off-line Generator.
 Stator Ground Fault Protection

15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
WITH
100% GENERATOR STATOR
GROUND FAULT PROTECTION
WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESNT AND WHY

THE END

Questions ?
2008 Beckwith Electric Co., Inc.