100% Stator Ground Fault Protection of
Alternators by Low Frequency Injection and
Using Real Power Signal
Md Mizanur Rahman1 , S M Salim Reza2, Sajib Chakraborty3, Wahidul Hasan3
1
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Primeasia University (PAU), Dhaka, Bangladesh
2
Faculty of Science & Technology, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Independent University, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
salim4419@yahoo.com
Abstract- In this paper, 100% stator ground fault protection by
application of low frequency (20 Hz) injection for 6.6/132 KV
alternators have been investigated. Here, different types of faults
of alternators and possible protections by conventional means
have been discussed. It is shown why conventional method by
differential relay protection is not adequate. Modern approach of
alternator fault protection is reviewed and effective methods of
100% stator ground fault protection of alternators have been
applied. In this work, it is focused protection of alternators based
on sub-harmonic injection method using low frequency band
pass filter. The design of stator ground fault protection consists
of 20 Hz signal generator, band pass filter, 20 Hz current relay
and protection system model includes alternator, total
capacitance to ground of stator winding, grounding transformer
turns ratio, and neutral resistor. PSPICE simulation of the
protection scheme is performed and analyzed.
Keywords—Alternator; Generator; Filter; Stator; Pspise
simulation;
I. INTRODUCTION
An undetected stator ground fault on a large turbine generator
can cause millions of dollars in damage and a larger amount of
lost operating revenue during the time the generator is out of
service being repaired. Synchronous generators are very
important elements in power systems since they are in charge
of providing an uninterrupted power supply to the consumers.
Therefore their reliability and good functioning are crucial.
The construction as well as maintenance costs are high
depending on the complexity and the size of the generators.
Moreover, damaged generators usually have to be returned to
the manufacturer to restack and rewind because it is not
common that companies using generators have the skills to
repair them. [1] The important role of generators in the power
system and the cost of fixing them in case of damage require a
protection system against faults, which means, they must be
protected against the damage caused by irregular situations in
the electrical network or in the generator itself. [2]
Protection system used for generator protection should be
robust to extent that it will not interrupt the system for non-
serious faults and on the other hand should be sensitive
enough to detect all kinds of faults in the generator windings
with different degrees of seriousness. Therefore, if the
generator protection system is robust and sensitive, the
generator will not be unnecessarily shut down but it would in
case the generator is damaged. Thus, generators have to be
protected against external faults and internal faults. Generators
are protected against external faults by several circuit breakers
that isolate all faults that could occur in the network (i.e.
transformers, buses, lines)[3]. At the same time, synchronous
machines must be protected against faults that could occur
inside the machine. There are several ways to detect these
faults and avoid the damage caused by them. This work will
focus on stator ground faults and will look into different
schemes currently being used to provide 100% stator ground
fault protection in synchronous machines [4-5].This specific
protection is for alternators with multiple coils turns like in
double phase winding used in large steam turbine alternators.
The concept is that this protection scheme covers the stator
coil inter turn to turn short circuit, not coil to coil(phase to
phase) or coil to ground(phase to ground).[1,6] It’s like a local
fault in one of the coil. The protection scheme to cover stator
inter turn fault is simply basis the theory of differential theory.
In normal condition, the two coils or multi coils individually
carry same magnitude of current but with a phase
displacement. If this current is summed up in a common
circuit then the result will be zero. So we can just place some
CT’s with their secondaries shorted and primaries with
individual coils. If some fault persists, then there will be
current in the secondaries which will energize the trip circuit
[3, 7].
II. PROTECTIVE RELAY
A protective relay is a device that detects the fault and initiates
the operation of the circuit breaker to isolate the defective
element from the rest of the system. The relays detect the
abnormal conditions in the electrical circuits by constantly
measuring the electrical quantities which are different under
normal and fault conditions. The electrical quantities which
may change under fault conditions are voltage, current,
frequency and phase angle. A typical relay circuit is shown in
the fig. below this diagram shows one phase of 3-phase system
for simplicity. The relay circuit connections can be divided fault relays. Thus this scheme provides protection to the
into three parts: (i) First part is the primary winding of a greater percentage of the stator winding [2].
current transformer (C.T.) which is connected in series with
the line to be protected. (ii) Second part consists of secondary GENERATOR

winding of C.T. and the relay operating coil. (iii) Third part is
CT1 CT2
A
the tripping circuit which may be either ac or dc it consists of
a source of supply, the trip coil of the circuit breaker and the EARTHING
RESISTANCE
B
relay stationary contacts [2].
C
Bus-bar

MAIN
CIRCUIT
BREAKER
Trip coil
BALANCING
RESISTANCE

RELAY

C.B.

TO TRIP
CIRCUIT

Fig.2 Differential protection for generators

C.T.

GENERATOR

CT1 CT2
Relay coil
A

EARTHING
RESISTANCE
Fig.1 Relay structure B

III. STATOR PROTECTION

C
Differential protection is used for protection of the generator
against phase to earth and phase to phase fault. Differential MAIN
CIRCUIT
protection is based on the circulating current principle. In this BALANCING
BREAKER

type of protection scheme currents at two ends of the PHASE

BR PHASE
RESISTANCE
FAULT
protection system are compared. Under normal conditions, BR-
BALANCING
FAULT
RELAY
RELAY

currents at two ends will be same. But when the fault occurs, RESISTOR ER

current at one end will be different from the current at the end ER-EARTH
FAUL
and this difference of current is made to flow through relay RELAY

operating coils. The relays then closes its contacts and makes
TO TRIP
the circuit breaker to trip, thus isolate the faulty section. This CIRCUIT

type of protection is called the merz price circulating current
system. Limitations of this method: The earth fault is limited
by the resistance of the neutral earthing. When the fault occurs
near the neutral point, this causes a small current to flow
through the operating coil and it is further reduced by the
neutral resistance. Thus this current is not sufficient to trip the
circuit breaker. By this protection scheme, one can protect
only 80 to 85 percent of the stator winding [2]. If the relays
with low settings are used it will not provide desire stability.
This difficulty is overcome by using the modified differential
protection. In modified differential protection setting of the
earth faults can be reduced without any effect on the stability.
In this method two relays are used for the phase to phase fault
and one relay is used for the protection of earth fault. In this
method the two relays and the balancing resistance are
connected in star and the phase fault relay is connected
between the star point and the neutral pilot wire. The star
connected circuit is symmetrical in terms of impedance. So
when the fault current occurs due to the phase to phase fault, it
cancels at the star point due to the equal impedance. Thus it is
possible with this scheme to operate with the sensitive earth
Fig.3 Modified differential protection for the generators
IV. RESULT,DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS
One hundred percent stator ground fault protection is provided
by injecting a 20 Hz voltage signal into the secondary of the
generator neutral grounding transformer through a band-pass
filter. The band-pass filter passes only the 20Hz signal and
rejects out-of-band signals. The main advantage of this
protection is 100% protection of the stator windings for
ground faults including when the machine is off-line (provided
that the 20 Hz signal is present.) Fig.7.1- Illustrates a typical
application. A 20 Hz voltage signal is impressed across the
grounding resistor (RN) by the 20 Hz signal generator. The
band-pass filter only passes the 20Hz signal and rejects out-of-
band signals. The voltage across the grounding resistor is also
connected across the voltage input (V N) of the 64S relay. The
current input (IN) of the 64S relay measures the 20 Hz current
flowing on the grounded side of the grounding transformer
and is stepped down through a CT. It is important to note that
the relay does not measure the 20 Hz current flowing through V = 25 volts
the grounding resistor. The 20Hz current increase during RBPF = 8 Ω secondary
ground faults on the stator winding and an over current
element that operates on this current provides the protection
[4].
A. 20 Hz Subharmonic Alternator Schematic Diagram,
Parameter Calculation for Analysis
The following shows how to calculate the 20Hz voltage and
20 Hz Supply
current measured by the 64S relay. Generator Voltage
DC
Here, Grounding Transformer Turns Ratio (N): 20 Hz Band Pass 1A1
+ V AUX

Filter _ V AUX
Assume that the turns ratio of the grounding transformer is 1B2
1A3
equal to: 1B1 1B4 4A1
2A1
8600
N
2A3
(i) 1A1

240
1A3 1A4 Wiring
Neatural Grounding RN 3A2
Transformer Shielded
4A3
Capacitive Reactance: The total capacitance to ground of the 3A3
3A1
generator stator windings, bus work and delta connected High
transformer windings of the unit transformer is expressed as 20 Hz CT
Voltage 64s relay

C0. Generator step up transformers have delta connected 44 45

windings facing the generator so capacitance on the high side 59N VN
is ignored. The corresponding capacitive reactance is Low Voltage

calculated as follows: 52 53

1
X co  (ii) IN

2f oCo
Fig. 4 Schematic diagram and 20 Hz injection grounding network
The capacitive reactance for 1 micro-Farad is equal to:
Stator Insulation Resistance RS: RS is the insulation resistance
1
X co  (iii) from the stator windings to ground. A typical value for non-
2 (20Hz )(10 6 F ) fault condition is 50,000 ohms primary.
50000
Rs  (vi)
= 7,985 Ω primary N2
50000
Reflect the capacitive reactance to the secondary of the 
grounding transformer: (8000/ 240) 2
= 45 Ω secondary
7985
X co  (iv)
N2 Current Transformer: The current input (IN) of the 64S relay
7895 measures the 20 Hz current flowing on the grounded side of
 = 7.162 Ω
the grounding transformer and is stepped down through a CT.
(8000/ 240) 2
CTR = 80/1
Grounding Resistor (RN): The ohmic value of the grounding
resistor can be sized as follows so as to avoid high transient
over voltage due to Ferro-resonance: Grounding Network: Now there are all of the elements needed
to mathematically represent the grounding network and
X co
RN  (v) determine the 20 Hz signals measured by the 64S relay.
3
7.162 B. Total 20 Hz current Supplied by Signal Generator
 = 2.387 Ω secondary.
3 The 20 Hz signal generator looks into the band-pass filter
resistance (RBPF) which is in series with the parallel
A value of 2.5 Ω secondary is used for this example. 20 Hz combination of the following:
Signal Generator and Band-pass Filter Characteristics:  Zc0
Assume that the 20 Hz signal generator outputs 25 volts. The
band-pass filter has a resistance equal to 8 Ω.  RS
 RN
Therefore, the total loop impedance of the 20 Hz grounding
network can be expressed as follows:

ZT  R  ( R // Rs // Z co ) (vii)
BPF N
 8  2.5 // 45 //  7.162 j
= 10.135-0.706j Ω secondary

The total 20 Hz current supplied by the signal generator is

determined as follows:

V
IT  (vii)
CTR  ZT
25
IT 
80  (10.135  0.706 j )

= 30.759 mA

C. Equivalent Circuit of 20 Hz Alternator Model for Analysis

The 20 Hz current measured by the 64S relay is the ratio of the Fig.6 Neutral current measurement of equivalent circuit of 20 Hz grounding
network for low capacitance
total current that flows into the primary side of the grounding
network (Zco//RS):

RN
I N  IT  (viii)
R N  Z co // RS

2.5
IT  30.579
2.5  (7.162 j ) // 45

= 9.779 mA(Non-Faulted)

Rf

N
8

C 10u 25V
AC
Rn 2.5 20 Hz
Rs

Fig.7 Neutral current measurement of equivalent circuit of 20 Hz grounding

network for high capacitance

D. 20 Hz Current Measured by Relay during Ground Fault on

Fig.5 Equivalent circuit for 20 Hz grounding network - referred to primary of
grounding transformer
Stator Windings
A typical value to represent the insulation resistance of the
stator winding breaking down during a ground fault is 5,000
ohms primary. If the calculations for a fault resistance equal to
5,000 ohms primary ( 4.5 ohms secondary ), then the 20 Hz
current measured by the relay is as follows:
 I N  13.486mA(5,000 primaryground fault) relay voltage input (VN). The 20 Hz voltage is equal to drop
across the grounding resistor due to the ratio of the total
current flowing through this branch of the grounding network.
If the calculations for ( 7 ) through ( 9 )are repeated for a fault
resistance equal to 1,000 ohms primary (0.9 ohms secondary), F. Real Component of 20 Hz Current Measured by 64S Relay
hence the 20 Hz current measured by the relay is follows: Calculate the real component of the relay current based upon
the angle between the relay voltage and current.
I N  26.640mA (5,000 primaryground fault)   VN I N (ix)
I Re al  I N .Cos( ) (x)
Table 1 summarizes the 20 Hz current measured by the relay
for Non-faulted and faulted conditions.
As overcurrent element that operates on the real component
TABLE I. 20 HZ CURRENT MEASUREMENTS FOR LOW of 20 Hz current measured by the 64S relay can reliably
CAPACITIVE CIRCUIT (1UF) distinguish between non-faulted and ground fault conditions
when there is high-capacitive coupling to ground on the stator
winding. To decide if the real component of 20 Hz current is
Rs (primary ) IN(Peak) Condition
necessary, a good rule of thumb is if C0 is greater than 1.5
micro Farads and the grounding resistor is commissioning
1000 Ω 62 mA Fault
instructions that appear at the end of this paper to determine
5000 Ω 33 mA Probably the total capacitance to ground (C0). If the values for RN and
Fault CN do not clearly fall under the category defined by this rule
50000 Ω 23 mA Non Fault of thumb then use the equations provided earlier in this paper
to determine if the real component of neutral current is
necessary. 64S should have an overcurrent element that
Set the pickup of the 64S relay over current element above the operates on the total neural current IN and another overcurrent
current measured during normal operating conditions but element that operates on the real component of IN. The user
below the current measured for a ground fault equal to 5,000 should be able to enable either overcurrent element.
ohms primary.
G. Application of Power Relay
E. Slight Change in Fault Current There is another way to detect the distinguished between non-
A very large system capacitance (C0) and a small value for the faulted and fault conditions. Power measurements could be
grounding resistor (RN) can result in very little margin applied for the determining fault condition. Power relay able
between the fault and non-fault current measured by the relay. to measure the power change in abnormal situation. In this
Consider the following grounding network parameters: work the power measurements at normal and faulty condition
8000 has been determine below by PSPICE Simulation.
N
240
Co=10μF, Zco=-0.716j Ω secondary

Determine the 20 Hz current measured by the 64S relay for

non-faulted and ground fault conditions using the equations
presented in the application section.

TABLE II. 20 HZ CURRENT MEASUREMENTS FOR HIGH

CAPACITIVE CIRCUIT (10UF)

Rs (primary ) IN(Peak) Condition

1000 Ω 32 mA Fault
5000 Ω 28 mA Probably Fault
50000 Ω 30 mA Non Fault

The 64S relay over current element pickup cannot be set such
that it can reliably discriminate between non-faulted and
ground fault conditions. The solution is to calculate the real
component of the 20 Hz current measured by the 64S relay. Fig.8 Power measurement of equivalent circuit of 20 Hz grounding network
To do so, first determine the 20 Hz voltage measured by the for high capacitance and low resistance
 TABLE III. 20 HZ POWER MEASUREMENTS FOR HIGHLY V. CONCLUSION
CAPACITIVE CIRCUIT (10UF)
The simulation shows that 100% coverage of the stator
Rs IN(Peak) P Condition windings for ground faults including when the machine is off-
(Average) line is possible. The total capacitance-to-ground of the
1000 Ω 32 mA 350 mW Fault generator stator windings, bus work and delta-connected
5000 Ω 28 mA 150 mW Probably transformer windings of the unit transformer is a very
Fault important factor and must be known to ensure the protection
50000 Ω 30 mA 100 mW Non Fault settings are correctly determined. There are cases when it is
hard to distinguish between normal operating conditions and
an actual ground fault unless special steps are taken in the
Although Currents are almost same for high capacitance (C) design of this protection. A good rule of thumb to decide if the
and low resistance (Rn), the power measurements shows real component of 20 Hz current is necessary is when C0 is
significant difference for fault and non-fault condition. Power greater than 1.5 micro-Farads and the grounding resistor is
relay can be used to distinguished fault. less than 0.3 ohms secondary. The real component of the 20
Hz current measured by the relay for these cases has been
TABLE IV. FUNDAMENTAL VOLTAGE DROP ACROSS GROUNDING applied before. But from this thesis work it has been found
RESISTOR AND CIRCULATING CURRENT
that, power relay can be used for distinguish the difference
Fault Vs Is Is/CTR between normal and fault condition. So 100% stator protection
location for ground fault condition by using power relay is the new
100% 3630 340 A 4.25 amps possibility for generator protection system.
( phase side )
90% 3267 301 A 3.76 amps
80% 2904 272 A 3.4 amps REFERENCES
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30% 1089 102 A 1.27 amps
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