POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION

Presentation Topic:
Causes of False Differential Currents
Presented By:
Abdul Hameed
2015-EE-706
Causes of False Differential Currents

 The percentage differential relay described above takes care of the

relatively small values of differential currents which flow in the relay
during normal load flow conditions, or during an external fault.
 However, certain other phenomena cause a substantial differential current
to flow, when there is no fault, and these false differential currents are
generally sufficient to cause a percentage differential relay to trip, unless
some special precautions are taken.
 All such phenomena can be traced to the nonlinearities in the transformer
core, or in the CT core or in both. We will now consider the effects of
these nonlinearities.
 1. Magnetizing inrush
 When a transformer is first energized, a transient magnetizing or
exciting inrush current may flow. This inrush current, which appears as
an internal fault to the differentially connected relays, may reach
instantaneous peaks of 8 to 30 times those for full load.
 The factors controlling the duration and magnitude of the magnetizing
inrush are:
 Size and location of the transformer bank
 Size of the power system
 Resistance in the power system from the source to the transformer bank
 Type of iron used in the transformer core and its saturation density
 Prior history, or residual flux level, of the bank
 How the bank is energized
2. Magnetizing Inrush During Fault Removal

 When a fault external to, but near, the transformer is removed by the
appropriate circuit breaker, the conditions inside the transformer core
are quite similar to those during magnetization of the transformer.
 As the voltage applied to the transformer windings jumps from a low pre-
fault value to the normal (or larger) post-fault value, the flux linkages in
the transformer core are once again forced to change from a low pre-
fault value to a value close to normal.
 Depending upon the instant at which the fault is removed, the transition
may force a DC offset on the flux linkages, and primary current
waveforms similar to those encountered during energization would
result. It should be noted that as there is no remnant flux in the core
during this process; the inrush is in general smaller than that during the
transformer energization.
3. Initial inrush
 When the excitation of a transformer bank is removed, the magnetizing
current goes to O.
 The flux, following the hysteresis loop, then falls to some residual value
R. If the transformer were reenergized at the instant the voltage waveform
corresponds to the residual magnetic density within the core, there would be
a smooth continuation of the previous operation with no magnetic transient.
 In practice, however, the instant when switching takes place cannot be
controlled and a magnetizing transient is practically unavoidable.
Initial inrush
 If the circuit is re-energized at the instant the flux would normally be at its
negative maximum value (- ϕ max) as the residual flux would have a positive
value and since magnetic flux can neither be created nor destroyed instantly,
the flux wave, instead of starting at its normal value (- ϕ max) and rising along
the dotted line, will start with the residual value ( R) and trance the curve ( L)
Initial inrush
 Curve t is a displaced
sinusoid, regardless of the
magnetic circuit's saturation
characteristics.
 Theoretically, the value of
max is + (| R| + 2| max|).
 In transformers designedfor
some normal, economical
saturation density s, the
crest of t will produce super
saturation in the magnetic
circuit.
 The result will be a very large
crest value in the magnetizing
current.
Initial inrush

 For the first few cycles, the inrush current decays rapidly. Then, however, the
current subsides very slowly, sometimes taking many seconds if the resistance
is low.
 The time constant of the circuit (L/R) is not, in fact, a constant: L varies as a
result of transformer saturation. During the first few cycles, saturation is high
and L is low. As the losses damp the circuit, the saturation drops and L
increases. According to a 1951 AIEE report, time constants for inrush vary
from 10 cycles for small units to as much as 1 min for large units.
Initial inrush
 The resistance from the source to the bank determines the damping of
the current wave.
 Banks near a generator will have a longer inrush because the
resistance is very low.
 Likewise, large transformer units tend to have a long inrush as they represent
a large L relative to the system resistance.
 At remote substations, the inrush will not be nearly so severe, since the
resistance in the connecting line will quickly damp the current.
Initial inrush
 When there is more than one delta winding on a transformer bank, the inrush
will he influenced by the coupling between the different voltage windings.
Depending on the core construction.
 Three-phase transformer units may be subject to interphase coupling that
could also affect the inrush current.
 Similar wave shapes would be encountered when energizing the wye winding
of a wye-delta bank, or an autotransformer.
 Here, the single- phase shape would be distorted as a result of the interphase
coupling produced by the delta winding (or tertiary).
Initial inrush
 Maximum inrush will not, of course, occur on every energization.
 The probability of energizing at the worst condition is relatively low.
 Energizing at maximum voltage will not produce an inrush with no residual.
 In a three-phase bank, the inrush in each phase will vary appreciably.
 The maximum inrush for a transformer bank can be calculated from the
excitation curve if available, and Table shows a typical calculation of an inrush
current (used phase Avoltage as 0° reference).

Closing Peak value of inrush current wave (p.u.)

S
angle Ia Ib Ic Ia-Ib Ib-Ic Ic-Ia
1.40 0° 5.60 -3.73 -3.73 8.33 -3.73 -8.33
1.40 30° 5.10 — 1.87 -5.10 5.96 5.10 -9.20
1.15 0° 6.53 -4.67 -4.67 10.20 -4.67 -10.20
1.15 30° 6.03 — 2.80 -6.03 7.83 6.03 -11.06
Initial inrush
 From these calculated values it can be seen that:
 The lower the value of the saturation density S, the higher the inrush
flux peak value.
 The maximum phase-current inrush occurs at the 0° closing angle (i.e., 0
voltage).
 The maximum line-current inrush occurs at ± 30° closing angles.
 Because of the delta connection of transformer winding or current
transformers, the maximum line-current in-rush value should be considered
when applying current to the differential relay.
Closing Peak value of inrush current wave (p.u.)
S
angle Ia Ib Ic Ia-Ib Ib-Ic Ic-Ia
1.40 0° 5.60 -3.73 -3.73 8.33 -3.73 -8.33
1.40 30° 5.10 — 1.87 -5.10 5.96 5.10 -9.20
1.15 0° 6.53 -4.67 -4.67 10.20 -4.67 -10.20
1.15 30° 6.03 — 2.80 -6.03 7.83 6.03 -11.06
4. Sympathetic inrush
 When a bank is paralleled with a second energized bank, the energized
bank can experience a sympathetic inrush.
 The offset inrush current of the bank being energized will find a parallel path
in the energized bank.
 The dc component may saturate the transformer iron. creating an apparent
inrush.
 The magnitude of this inrush depends on the value of the transformer
impedance relative to that of the rest of the system, which forms an
additional parallel circuit.
 Again, the sympathetic inrush will always be less than the initial inrush.
Sympathetic inrush
 The total current at breaker C is the sum of the initial inrush of bank A
and the sympathetic inrush of bank B.
 Since this waveform looks like an offset fault current, it could cause
misoperation if a common set of harmonic restraint differential relays were
used for both banks.

 Unit-type generator and transformer combinations have no initial inrush

problem because the unit is brought up to full voltage gradually. Recovery
and sympathetic inrush may be a problem, but as indicated above, these
conditions are less severe than initial inrush.
 5. Transformer Over excitation
 During load rejection and certain other operating conditions, a transformer
may be subjected to a steady-state overvoltage at its nominal frequency.
 During over excitation, the transformer flux remains symmetric, but goes
into saturation for equal periods in the positive and the negative half-periods of
the waveform.
 When the cosine Fourier series for this current is calculated, it turns out that
all even harmonics are identically zero. The odd harmonics are twice those
given by Equation, due to the contributions from the negative half-cycle of the
current wave.
 6. CT Saturation

 For certain external faults, where the fault currents are large, it is likely that one
of the CTs may saturate.
 (We will disregard the possibility of CT remnant flux for the present discussion).
 The differential current in the relay will then equal the shaded area, which is the
difference between the unsaturated current waveform and the saturated current
waveform. The equation for the shaded current waveform is

 This being an odd function of θ, a sine Fourier series would be appropriate to

determine its harmonic content.
 It is left as an exercise for the reader to show that this waveform contains no
even harmonics, and that there is a significant third harmonic component in the
current.