Unit ii

Protection of reactors
,boosters and capacitor

Protection of Reactors

INTRODUCTION TO REACTORS:
A reactor is a coil which has large
number of turns and whose ohmic
resistance value is much greater.
Reactors are used to limit the short
circuit currents which can cause
damage to the equipments of the
power system.
The additional reactance added in
series with the system for protection,
are called reactors

Placement of reactors in power system

Generator Reactors When reactor is connected
between bus bar and generator, it is called a
generator reactor. This reactor can also be
connected in series with the generator. When a
new generator is connected with an old
generator, a reactor is added in series with the
old generator to provide protection. The value of
this reactor depends on the impedance of that
generator. Its pu value should be 0.05 or 0.06

Feeder reactors:
It is when a reactor is connected in series
with a feeder

Usually short circuits occur on feeders therefore, feeder

reactors are very important. In the absence of feeder
reactors, if a fault occurs on the nearest generating
station, the bus bar voltage will be reduced to zero and
the connected generators will lose their synchronism

 Advantages:
The voltage drop across a reactor during
faulty conditions will not affect the voltage of
bus bar, therefore, there are less chances of
losing synchronism.
A fault on a feeder will not affect any other
feeder.
Disadvantages:
Every feeder needs a reactor hence the
number or reactors increases.If the number of
generators increases, then the size of the
reactor should also be increased.
During normal operation, full load current
passes through the reactor which causes
continuous power loss.
Reactors should be connected according to
the power factor of the feeders to regulate

Bus bar reactors

These reactors are connected with bus bars. Bus bar
reactors divide the bus bar in smaller sections. If the
voltage level is same, no current passes through these
reactors and every section act as an independent bus
bar.
If a fault occurs on a section of bus bar, the reactor
prevents the fault from reaching to other sections and
only the fault section is affected. Hence a bus bar
should be large enough to protect the system but it
should not disturb the synchronism of the system. A
reactor which drops the voltage about 30 to 50% at
full current is suitable. However the reactance of a
sinlge bus bar reactor should be about 0.3 to 0.5 pu.

Ring Main system

In this system, a bus bar is divided into
different sections and these sections are
connected together through a reactor. Each
feeder is fed by a separate generator and
during normal operation each generator
supplies power to its respective load due to
which very less power loss occurs in the
reactors.

Tie bar system

In this system, the generators are connected to a

common bus bar through the reactors and feeders
are fed through the generator side of the reactors.
This system is very efficient in case of larger
systems. The reactance of the reactors in this
case is half as compared to the ring system

Shunt reactors:

These reactors are connected between

phases or between a phase and a neutral.
Reactors are added in order to
compensate the effect of line capacitance
in long transmission lines.

Neutral Reactors

These reactors are used to earth the neutral

terminal of a system. They provide a passage for
the current in case of a single phase to ground
fault. Peterson coil is also a neutral reactor. In
normal conditions, no current passes through this
reactor. These reactors are used below 70kV.

Reactors in power system

REACTORS

Series REACTOR

PURPOSE
To reduce short circuit
current
AREA OF
APPLICATION
Tie Lines

Shunt REACTOR

PURPOSE
To reduce over voltage
AREA OF
APPLICATION
Bus , Lines, Tertiary
winging of ICT

Z
Z
Acts as inductance and opposes
the flow of short circuit current.
Acts as inductive load and
reduce high voltage by
absorbing MVAR.

Classification of shunt reactors

Shunt Reactors

Dry Type
(system voltage Below
72.5 KV)

Oil immersed Type

(system voltage 72.5 KV &
above)

Delta connected
Range below 30 MVAR
Connected at the tertiary
winding of transformer

Air Core

Switch on / off type

Star connected with neutral

grounding
Range 30 to 300 MVAR
Connected at the terminals of
transmission line

Core less

Gapped Core
Permanently connected type
with thyristor controlled

Current-limiting reactor

 This reactor is series connected to the

transmission line or to the feeder for limiting the
current under system fault conditions to levels
compatible with the protection equipment of the
circuit. It is a very cost effective solution, as it
eliminates the need for upgrading the entire
switching and protection system when the shortcircuit power of the system is increased.
This reactor is designed to offer specified
impedance and to withstand the rated and fault
(short-time) currents during a specified period of
time.

Current-limiting reactor seismic

design

Working principle of current

limiting reactors
If the reactance of a circuit during fault is
X, and E voltages are given, then the short
circuit current can be calculated as:
Isc= E/X
i.e, the reactance is inversely proportional
to the current. If X increases, Isc decreases
and vice versa. Short circuit currents
depend on the generating capacity, fault
point voltage and the reactance of the
circuit. The figure illustrates the use of a
current limiting reactor:

The rating of reactors is given in KVA

and the formula for percentage
reactance
is
%X= KV drop/ KV(phase
voltage)

uses of reactors:
For arc suppression.
To filter out harmonics.
In series with low reactance auto
transformers.
In series with low reactance induction
regulators.
To protect from high voltage waves,
surges and lightning.
To control starting currents of motors.

Dry type or Air core or Open type or Unshielded

type reactors
The reactors in which no iron core or steel core is
used are called air core reactors. These reactors
are only used up to 33kv.
These reactors are larger in size. Concrete slabs
are arranged in the form of a circle and stranded
copper coil conductors are embedded in it. These
slabs provide good mechanical strength during
short circuit currents.
Post insulators made of porcelain support these
reactors. These are also called cast concrete type
reactors. Insulated conductors are used for
winding. To provide insulation between turns,
glass or porcelain material is used.

 Advantages:
These are simple, have constant current
and reactance and have greater
mechanical strength.
Disadvantages:
Not suitable for outdoor services, take
much space due to their large size,
difficult to provide cooling and can only
be used up to 33kv.

Iron core reactors:

The reactors consisting of iron core are called iron
core reactors. A coil is placed inside a standard
transformer tank and oil is filled for cooling and
insulation purposes. Shielding is provided to
prevent losses. And to prevent stray magnetic
fields, the core is laminated. Shields are made in
the form of short circuited rings and are earthed
through end plates. The mmf produced in the
rings, due to short-circuit current, keeps the flux
inside the shield.
These reactors are also called oil immersed type
reactors and can be used for any voltage level.

 Advantages:
These reactors provide greater
protection against short-circuit
currents, have high thermal capacity,
suitable for both indoor and outdoor
services and can be operated at any
voltage level.
Disadvantages:
They are costly, complex and difficult
to repair

BOOSTER IN PROTECTION

Three phase booster

transformer

Protection of capacitor
banks
Shunt capacitor banks (SCBs) are
widely used in transmission and
distribution networks to produce
reactive power support.
increased power factor, reduced
losses, improved systemcapacity and
better voltage level at load points.

Types of Protection
arrangements
Element Fuse.
Unit fuse.
Bank Protection.

Bank Protection schemes