Improving Operation and Maintenance of Substation Equipment Using Operational Data from Protective Relays

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Improving Operation and Maintenance of Substation Equipment Using Operational Data from Protective Relays Improving Operation and Maintenance of Substation Equipment Using Operational Data From Protective Relays Mohamed Nabil Ali Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Presented at the GCC Power 2019 Conference & Exhibition Muscat, Oman October 27–29, 2019 IMPROVING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SUBSTATION EQUIPMENT USING OPERATIONAL DATA FROM PROTECTIVE RELAYS Mohamed Nabil Ali* Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. USA Summary—Most modern digital protective relays can limited to circuit breakers, transformers, and motors. easily monitor power system equipment and provide Through monitoring of operation data archived in detailed data concerning their performance and condition. protective relays, operation and maintenance engineers can These data can be used to develop a maintenance program that ensures equipment is serviced as required and that retrieve useful information that reflects the accurate status preventive actions are taken to avoid any possible failure. of the equipment. Efficiency improvements could include Protective relays provide extensive information that “reading key equipment data from the relay and displaying can be retrieved and linked with operational and or generating work instructions; reducing unscheduled maintenance topologies, either manually or automatically. downtime from equipment failures; and improving This paper details the data that can be retrieved from maintenance effectiveness by working on equipment based modern digital protective relays only and how these data on condition instead of on a time basis [1].” can be used to develop an equipment maintenance program that saves time and money. The targeted Operation and maintenance teams can retrieve and audience for this paper is electrical power engineers, analyze a significant amount of information to enhance power system engineers, control engineers, automation system efficiency, including circuit breaker coil monitoring engineers, electrical maintenance engineers, and electrical and contact wear data, motor starting statistics, and power utility owners. transformer through-fault current monitoring. Documenting Keywords—Digital protective relay monitoring the appropriate information in work instructions can features–Automatic retrieval of operating data stored in increase the life cycle of the electrical equipment and digital protective relays–Electrical equipment decrease workload by accurately scheduling a maintenance maintenance enhancements. program for the equipment when really needed. This has the benefit of focusing maintenance teams’ efforts and time I. INTRODUCTION on tasks that provide the highest return [1]. Today, protective relays can be used for several Protective relays provide detailed information about applications outside of their original functions to protect operating characteristics, the status of vital equipment, electrical networks. Control and automation are now and maintenance indicators. Through organizing the combined in most protective relays, and the relays can monitoring features of protective relays (along with their provide data from substations, analyze events, and even data logs) and establishing communications channels prevent failures in electrical devices. between operation and maintenance systems, little or Because protective relays protect electrical systems even no-cost information can be easily retrieved from the against all types of electrical faults, a very detailed and relays to help operators and maintenance engineers well-defined interface usually exists between the relays evaluate the efficiency of electrical equipment and the and the protected equipment so that the relays perform maintenance program needs. Accordingly, these their functions accurately based on the statuses of power operators and engineers can make an informed decision system equipment. This equipment includes but is not and schedule maintenance whenever it is required. * Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc., 2350 NE Hopkins Court, Pullman, WA 99163 USA • [email protected] TABLE I PERIODIC MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE FOR POWER TRANSFORMER Periodic Inspection Schedule No. Items to Be Inspected Every Every Every Every Every Month 3 Months 6 Months Year 5 Years 1 Ambient, oil, and winding temperature X 2 Ventilation for indoor transformer X 3 Bushing X 4 Relay alarms X 5 Oil leakage X 6 Earth resistance check X 7 Oil filtration X 8 Overall inspection X This paper details the information that can be providing a maintenance program exactly when it is extracted from digital relays and how the information needed (i.e., when the equipment is likely to fail but can be used to create a robust maintenance program. before it actually fails). Hence, it maintains the highest reliability of the equipment and eliminates unplanned II. MAINTENANCE DEFINITIONS system shutdown, ensuring the maintenance program is There are many definitions used to specify the efficient without commitments with a fixed time frame. meaning of maintenance and its types, models, and C. Corrective Maintenance procedures. Put simply, maintenance can be defined as Corrective maintenance is the worst type because it the required process need executed within a specific includes tasks targeted to correct equipment failures time frame to ensure efficiency and high performance that require sudden and unplanned interruption of over the life cycle of equipment. Several actions can be service to consumers. taken based on that process, such as repairing or replacing defective or unhealthy components or IV. MAINTENANCE PROGRAM devices, to guarantee overall system efficiency. It is always best to switch from unnecessary periodic III. MAINTENANCE TYPES maintenance to preventive maintenance because it rapidly reduces the outage of live circuits. In addition, In electrical power systems, maintenance is essential maintenance is performed only when it is needed, to ensure the healthy operation of all equipment in the saving time and money. network—from generation plants to the transmission Without a proper maintenance schedule that aligns network, substations, and distribution network—so with manufacturer recommendations for each piece of power reaches consumers safely, continuously, and equipment, electrical equipment can misoperate or fail efficiently. to perform their main function, which will result in Several types of maintenance have been defined, and performing corrective maintenance. This is the least these types are differentiated by the time of execution, desirable maintenance because it takes the system out of periods, process, action required, and action taken per service suddenly and without warning, and it is very the tasks that they include. costly to return it back to service within a short period A. Periodic Maintenance of time. Power system operators try to avoid this type of Periodic maintenance is the basic maintenance of maintenance at all costs. equipment performed by equipment users. It is also There are many reasons that power system operators defined as time-based maintenance. should invest in maintenance programs, including the It includes a series of basic tasks (e.g., data following: collection, cleaning, visual inspection, and so on). An • Reduce corrective maintenance example of this model of maintenance is shown in • Reduce overtime wasted with low productivity Table I. • Improve customer service • Migrate from scheduled maintenance to B. Preventive Maintenance preventive maintenance Preventive maintenance is the best type because it guarantees the high performance of equipment by Having an efficient maintenance program requires More details on the types of protective relays and accurate monitoring of all power system equipment to their functions can found in [2]. determine whether or not equipment needs Today, a protective relay combines multiple maintenance. Today, digital protective relays can easily functions. It has a processor that can be used to perform provide this accurate information through their built-in several processes at the same time, and it communicates monitoring features. with local and remote devices installed over the power network. However, it is most often used to protect a V. POWER SYSTEM STRUCTURE specific and unique application in the power system. Power system networks consist of various types of equipment with different levels of power and functions. They contain generation, transmission, and distribution devices, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3. Protection System Structure Generators, transmission feeders, transformers, bus bars, capacitors, reactors, and motors require standalone relays with multiple protection functions to protect against any faults that may affect their performance. Fig. 1. Power System Diagram Because a protective relay already interfaces with A digital relay, a type of intelligent electronic device the protected equipment, it can also be readily used to (IED), is a computer-based system with software-based monitor the health of the equipment it protects. protection algorithms that detect electrical faults. It is a Protective relays store this information in nonvolatile smart device that receives inputs, such as analog values memory in various report formats, which can be (current, voltage, resistance, and so on) or digital values retrieved at any time to monitor the protected device. (e.g., binary digits) and compares them to set threshold Reference [3] provides further details on the highly values. It then provides outputs (virtual or physical) reliable and trustworthy information provided by digital
Recommended publications
  • Chapter – 3 Electrical Protection System
    CHAPTER – 3 ELECTRICAL PROTECTION SYSTEM 3.1 DESIGN CONSIDERATION Protection system adopted for securing protection and the protection scheme i.e. the coordinated arrangement of relays and accessories is discussed for the following elements of power system. i) Hydro Generators ii) Generator Transformers iii) H. V. Bus bars iv) Line Protection and Islanding Primary function of the protective system is to detect and isolate all failed or faulted components as quickly as possible, thereby minimizing the disruption to the remainder of the electric system. Accordingly the protection system should be dependable (operate when required), secure (not operate unnecessarily), selective (only the minimum number of devices should operate) and as fast as required. Without this primary requirement protection system would be largely ineffective and may even become liability. 3.1.1 Reliability of Protection Factors affecting reliability are as follows; i) Quality of relays ii) Component and circuits involved in fault clearance e.g. circuit breaker trip and control circuits, instrument transformers iii) Maintenance of protection equipment iv) Quality of maintenance operating staff Failure records indicate the following order of likelihood of relays failure, breaker, wiring, current transformers, voltage transformers and D C. battery. Accordingly local and remote back up arrangement are required to be provided. 3.1.2 Selectivity Selectivity is required to prevent unnecessary loss of plant and circuits. Protection should be provided in overlapping zones so that no part of the power system remains unprotected and faulty zone is disconnected and isolated. 3.1.3 Speed Factors affecting fault clearance time and speed of relay is as follows: i) Economic consideration ii) Selectivity iii) System stability iv) Equipment damage 3.1.4 Sensitivity Protection must be sufficiently sensitive to operate reliably under minimum fault conditions for a fault within its own zone while remaining stable under maximum load or through fault condition.
    [Show full text]
  • Application Guidelines for Ground Fault Protection
    Application Guidelines for Ground Fault Protection Joe Mooney and Jackie Peer Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Presented at the 1998 International Conference Modern Trends in the Protection Schemes of Electric Power Apparatus and Systems New Delhi, India October 28–30, 1998 Previously presented at the 52nd Annual Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conference, May 1998 Originally presented at the 24th Annual Western Protective Relay Conference, October 1997 APPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR GROUND FAULT PROTECTION Joe Mooney, P.E., Jackie Peer Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. INTRODUCTION Modern digital relays provide several outstanding methods for detecting ground faults. New directional elements and distance polarization methods make ground fault detection more sensitive, secure, and precise than ever. Advances in communications-aided protection further advance sensitivity, dependability, speed, and fault resistance coverage. The ground fault detection methods and the attributes of each method discussed in this paper are: • Directional Zero-Sequence Overcurrent • Directional Negative-Sequence Overcurrent • Quadrilateral Ground Distance • Mho Ground Distance Comparison of the ground fault detection methods is on the basis of sensitivity and security. The advantages and disadvantages for each method are presented and compared. Some problem areas of ground fault detection are discussed, including system nonhomogeneity, zero-sequence mutual coupling, remote infeed into high-resistance faults, and system unbalances due to in-line switching. Design and application considerations for each problem area are given to aid in setting the relay elements correctly. This paper offers a selection and setting guide for ground fault detection on noncompensated overhead power lines. The setting guide offers support in selecting the proper ground fault detection element based upon security, dependability, and sensitivity (high-resistance fault coverage).
    [Show full text]
  • Upgrading Power System Protection to Improve Safety, Monitoring, Protection, and Control
    Upgrading Power System Protection to Improve Safety, Monitoring, Protection, and Control Jeff Hill Georgia-Pacific Ken Behrendt Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Presented at the Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Conference Seattle, Washington June 22–27, 2008 Upgrading Power System Protection to Improve Safety, Monitoring, Protection, and Control Jeff Hill, Georgia-Pacific Ken Behrendt, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Abstract—One large Midwestern paper mill is resolving an shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively. Each 5 kV bus in the arc-flash hazard (AFH) problem by installing microprocessor- power plant is supplied from two 15 kV buses. All paper mill based (μP) bus differential protection on medium-voltage and converting loads are supplied from either the 15 kV or switchgear and selectively replacing electromechanical (EM) overcurrent relays with μP relays. In addition to providing 5 kV power plant buses. Three of the power plant’s buses critical bus differential protection, the μP relays will provide utilized high-impedance bus differential relays installed during analog and digital communications for operator monitoring and switchgear upgrades within the last eight years. control via the power plant data and control system (DCS) and The generator neutral points are not grounded. Instead, a will ultimately be used as the backbone to replace an aging 15 kV zigzag grounding transformer had been installed on one hardwired load-shedding system. of the generator buses, establishing a low-impedance ground The low-impedance bus differential protection scheme was source that limits single-line-to-ground faults to 400 A. Each installed with existing current transformers (CTs), using a novel approach that only required monitoring current on two of the of the 5 kV bus source transformers is also low-impedance three phases.
    [Show full text]
  • Transformer Protection
    Power System Elements Relay Applications PJM State & Member Training Dept. PJM©2018 6/05/2018 Objectives • At the end of this presentation the Learner will be able to: • Describe the purpose of protective relays, their characteristics and components • Identify the characteristics of the various protection schemes used for transmission lines • Given a simulated fault on a transmission line, identify the expected relay actions • Identify the characteristics of the various protection schemes used for transformers and buses • Identify the characteristics of the various protection schemes used for generators • Describe the purpose and functionality of Special Protection/Remedial Action Schemes associated with the BES • Identify operator considerations and actions to be taken during relay testing and following a relay operation PJM©2018 2 6/05/2018 Basic Concepts in Protection PJM©2018 3 6/05/2018 Purpose of Protective Relaying • Detect and isolate equipment failures ‒ Transmission equipment and generator fault protection • Improve system stability • Protect against overloads • Protect against abnormal conditions ‒ Voltage, frequency, current, etc. • Protect public PJM©2018 4 6/05/2018 Purpose of Protective Relaying • Intelligence in a Protective Scheme ‒ Monitor system “inputs” ‒ Operate when the monitored quantity exceeds a predefined limit • Current exceeds preset value • Oil level below required spec • Temperature above required spec ‒ Will initiate a desirable system event that will aid in maintaining system reliability (i.e. trip a circuit
    [Show full text]
  • Protection, Control, Automation, and Integration for Off-Grid Solar-Powered Microgrids in Mexico
    Protection, Control, Automation, and Integration for Off-Grid Solar-Powered Microgrids in Mexico Carlos Eduardo Ortiz and José Francisco Álvarez Rada Greenergy Edson Hernández, Juan Lozada, Alejandro Carbajal, and Héctor J. Altuve Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Published in Wide-Area Protection and Control Systems: A Collection of Technical Papers Representing Modern Solutions, 2017 Previous revised edition released October 2013 Originally presented at the 40th Annual Western Protective Relay Conference, October 2013 1 Protection, Control, Automation, and Integration for Off-Grid Solar-Powered Microgrids in Mexico Carlos Eduardo Ortiz and José Francisco Álvarez Rada, Greenergy Edson Hernández, Juan Lozada, Alejandro Carbajal, and Héctor J. Altuve, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Abstract—Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the distribution network. Each microgrid includes an integrated national Mexican electric utility, launched the White Flag protection, control, and monitoring (PCM) system. The Program (Programa Bandera Blanca) with the objective of system collects and processes data from the microgrid providing electricity to rural communities with more than 100 inhabitants. In 2012, CFE launched two projects to provide substations and sends the data to the supervisory control and electric service to two communities belonging to the Huichol data acquisition (SCADA) master of two remote CFE control indigenous group, Guásimas del Metate and Tierra Blanca del centers. The system includes local and remote controls to Picacho, which are both located in the mountains near Tepic, operate the microgrid breaker. Nayarit, Mexico. Each microgrid consists of a photovoltaic power CFE is studying the possibility of interconnecting plant, a step-up transformer bank, and a radial medium-voltage neighboring microgrids in the future to improve service distribution network.
    [Show full text]
  • Power System Selectivity: the Basics of Protective Coordination by Gary H
    Power System Selectivity: The Basics Of Protective Coordination By Gary H. Fox, PE, GE Specification Engineer The intent of this article is to provide a brief primer about the essence of coordinating the basic protective components of the electrical power system, including circuit breakers, fuses and protective relays, and to enable the reader to review a plot of time current curves and evaluate several key concerns: • How well do the devices work with each other? • Will a minimal amount of the power system be lost by a fault? • How well are the power system components protected? • Could the chosen ratings and settings cause nuisance trips? The Objectives of Protection Determining the protective devices for a power system The Intended Result and their settings usually puts two competing goals against each other. On the one hand you want the system available for use 100% of the time. To this extreme end all power outages, whether due to maintenance or failures, are to be avoided. You would want the protective device ratings and settings to be Isc as high as possible, and these settings would be further desensitized by a considerable time delay, so Page 2 that extra time is allowed before the circuit is tripped. Fig. 1 An example of short circuit On the other hand there is a concern for the protection flow in a radial system of the load and system components. The degree of damage from a short circuit fault is proportional to the amount of time that fault persists and the square of the current that flows.
    [Show full text]
  • Power System Protective Relaying: Basic Concepts, Industrial-Grade Devices, and Communication Mechanisms Internal Report
    Power System Protective Relaying: basic concepts, industrial-grade devices, and communication mechanisms Internal Report Report # Smarts-Lab-2011-003 July 2011 Principal Investigators: Rujiroj Leelaruji Dr. Luigi Vanfretti Affiliation: KTH Royal Institute of Technology Electric Power Systems Department KTH • Electric Power Systems Division • School of Electrical Engineering • Teknikringen 33 • SE 100 44 Stockholm • Sweden Dr. Luigi Vanfretti • Tel.: +46-8 790 6625 • [email protected] • www.vanfretti.com DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITIES THIS DOCUMENT WAS PREPARED BY THE ORGANIZATION(S) NAMED BELOW AS AN ACCOUNT OF WORK SPONSORED OR COSPONSORED BY KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOGSKOLAN¨ (KTH) . NEITHER KTH, ANY MEMBER OF KTH, ANY COSPONSOR, THE ORGANIZATION(S) BELOW, NOR ANY PERSON ACTING ON BEHALF OF ANY OF THEM: (A) MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, (I) WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF ANY INFORMATION, APPARATUS, METHOD, PROCESS, OR SIMILAR ITEM DISCLOSED IN THIS DOCUMENT, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR (II) THAT SUCH USE DOES NOT INFRINGE ON OR INTERFERE WITH PRIVATELY OWNED RIGHTS, INCLUDING ANY PARTY’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR (III) THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS SUITABLE TO ANY PARTICULAR USER’S CIRCUMSTANCE; OR (B) ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING ANY CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF KTH OR ANY KTH REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES) RESULTING FROM YOUR SELECTION OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR ANY INFORMATION, APPARATUS, METHOD, PROCESS, OR SIMILAR ITEM DISCLOSED IN THIS DOCUMENT. ORGANIZATIONS THAT PREPARED THIS DOCUMENT: KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOGSKOLAN¨ CITING THIS DOCUMENT Leelaruji, R., and Vanfretti, L.
    [Show full text]
  • Protective Relaying Philosophy and Design Guidelines
    Protective Relaying Philosophy and Design Guidelines PJM Relay Subcommittee July 12, 2018 Protective Relaying Philosophy and Design Guidelines Contents SECTION 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 SECTION 2: Protective Relaying Philosophy .................................................................................... 2 SECTION 3: Generator Protection .................................................................................................... 4 SECTION 4: Unit Power Transformer and Lead Protection ............................................................... 7 SECTION 5: Unit Auxiliary Transformer and Lead Protection ........................................................... 8 SECTION 6: Start-up Station Service Transformer and Lead Protection ........................................... 9 SECTION 7: Line Protection ........................................................................................................... 10 SECTION 8: Substation Transformer Protection ............................................................................. 12 SECTION 9: Bus Protection ............................................................................................................ 14 SECTION 10: Shunt Reactor Protection .......................................................................................... 15 SECTION 11: Shunt Capacitor Protection ......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Coordination of Protection System and VSC-HVDC to Mitigate Cascading Failures
    Coordination of protection system and VSC-HVDC to mitigate cascading failures RUJIROJ LEELARUJI Licentiate Thesis Royal Institute of Technology School of Electrical Engineering Electric Power Systems Stockholm, Sweden, 2010 School of Electrical Engineering Electric Power Systems TRITA-EE 2010:28 Royal Institute of Technology ISSN 1653-5146 SE-100 44 Stockholm ISBN 978-91-7415-688-1 Sweden Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av Kungl Tekniska högskolan fram- lägges till offentlig granskning för avläggande av teknologie licentiatexamen tis- dagen den 15 June 2010 kl 10.00 i V21, Kungl Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm. © Rujiroj Leelaruji, June 2010 Tryck: Universitetsservice US-AB Abstract The rapid development of the global economics has made power systems all over the world become large-scale interconnected grids. This increases the ca- pability of power grids to transfer power over the long distance to serve the de- sired power demand with the minimum cost of operation. Unfortunately, it also enables the propagation of local failures into global networks. In other words, if a blackout happens in a power system, the size and the damage may signifi- cantly increase. One of the main ways in which blackouts become widespread is cascading failures. This type of failure originates after a critical component of the system has been removed from the service by protective relaying. As a consequence, the load handled by the failed component needs to be redistributed which might cause an overloading on other components in the system. On the other hand, the high power electronics controllable devices such as Voltage Source Converters-based High Voltage Direct Current (VSC-HVDC) transmission are recently developed.
    [Show full text]
  • How Disruptions in DC Power and Communications Circuits Can Affect Protection
    How Disruptions in DC Power and Communications Circuits Can Affect Protection Karl Zimmerman and David Costello Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. This paper was presented at the 68th Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers and can be accessed at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/CPRE.2015.7102189. For the complete history of this paper, refer to the next page. Presented at the 43rd Annual Western Protective Relay Conference Spokane, Washington October 18–20, 2016 Previously presented at the 70th Annual Georgia Tech Protective Relaying Conference, April 2016, PowerTest Conference, March 2016, and 2nd Annual PAC World Americas Conference, September 2015 Originally presented at the 68th Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers, March 2015 1 How Disruptions in DC Power and Communications Circuits Can Affect Protection Karl Zimmerman and David Costello, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Abstract—Modern microprocessor-based relays are designed factors must perform correctly to ensure that the protection to provide robust and reliable protection even with disruptions in scheme correctly restrains for out-of-section faults or when no the dc supply, dc control circuits, or interconnected fault is present. communications system. Noisy battery voltage supplies, interruptions in the dc supply, and communications interference are just a few of the challenges that relays encounter.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Design Principles for Numerical Busbar Differential Protection
    Modern Design Principles for Numerical Busbar Differential Protection Zoran Gajić, Hamdy Faramawy, Li He, Klas Mike Kockott Koppari, Lee Max ABB Inc. ABB AB Raleigh, NC, USA Västerås, Sweden [email protected] Summary 6. Easy incorporation of bus-section and/or bus-coupler bays (that is, tie-breakers) with one or two sets of CTs into the For busbar protection, it is extremely important to have protection scheme. good security since an unwanted operation might have severe consequences. The unwanted operation of the bus differential 7. Disconnector and/or circuit breaker status supervision. relay will have the similar effect as simultaneous faults on all power system elements connected to the bus. On the other hand, the relay has to be dependable as well. Failure to operate Modern design for a Busbar Differential Protection IED or even slow operation of the differential relay, in case of an [10] containing six differential protection zones and fulfilling actual internal fault, can have fatal consequences. These two all of the above mentioned requirements will be presented in requirements are contradictory to each other. To design the the paper. differential relay to satisfy both requirements at the same time is not an easy task. Keywords Busbar protection shall also be able to dynamically Busbar Protection, Differential Protection, Dynamic Zone include and/or exclude individual bay currents from Selection. differential zones. Therefore it must contain so-called dynamic zone selection in order to adapt to changing topology of substation for multi-zone applications. The software based I INTRODUCTION dynamic zone selection ensures: 1. Dynamic linking of measured bay currents to the The bus zone protection has experienced several decades appropriate differential protection zone(s) as required by of changes.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Protective Relays for Microgrid Controls
    Using Protective Relays for Microgrid Controls William Edwards and Scott Manson, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Abstract—This paper explains how microprocessor-based Distributed microgrid controls being performed in protective relays are used to provide both control and protection protective relays is practical because smaller microgrids require functions for small microgrids. Features described in the paper less complicated controls, fewer features, less communication, include automatic islanding, reconnection to the electric power system, dispatch of distributed generation, compliance to IEEE and less data storage. In smaller microgrids, relays are specifications, load shedding, volt/VAR control, and frequency commonly utilized for control, metering, and protection and power control at the point of interface. functions. In larger microgrids, the functionality of the microgrid controls is predominantly performed in one or more I. INTRODUCTION centralized controllers. Protective relays in larger microgrids This paper elaborates on the most common forms of tend to only be used as metering and protection devices with microgrid control accomplished in modern protective relays for controls being performed in a central device. Centralized grids with less than 10 MW of generation. The control controls dominate in large grids because distributed controls strategies described include islanding, load and generation become impractical to maintain, develop, and test when the shedding, reconnection, dispatch, and load sharing. number of distributed relays grows into the hundreds or Multifunction protective relays are an economical choice for thousands. microgrid controls because the hardware is commonly required at the point of interface (POI) to the electric power system III. ISLANDING (EPS) and at each distributed energy resource (DER). The This section describes the automatic islanding functionality relays at the POI and DER provide mandatory protection and required at the POI between a microgrid and the EPS.
    [Show full text]