Distance Relay:

MHO (ADMITTANCE OR ANGLE ADMITTANCE) RELAY

A MHO relay measures a component of admittance Y  . But its characteristic, when plotted on the

impedance diagram (R-X diagram) is a circle, passing through the origin. It is inherently a directional
relay as it detects the fault only in the forward direction. This is obvious from its circular characteristic
passing through the origin, as shown in Fig. 6.20. It is also called an admittance or angle admittance
relay. It is called a MHO relay because its characteristic is a straight line when plotted on an admittance
diagram (G-B axes).
Offset MHO Relay

In a distance protective scheme employing

MHO relays, the third unit may be an offset MHO, as shown in Fig. 6.30. The III zone unit
provides busbar zone back-up protection in such a scheme. The main applications of offset
MHO relays are:

(i) busbar zone back-up

(ii) (ii) carrier starting unit in distance/carrier blocking schemes
(iii) (iii) power swing blocking.

EFFECT OF ARC RESISTANCE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF

DISTANCE RELAYS
The arc resistance affects the performance of different types of distance relays to different
extents. This shows that the MHO relay is most affected, the impedance relay is moderately
affected and the reactance relay is least affected by arc resistance.

Reach of the Distance Relay

A distance relay operates when the impedance (or a component of the impedance) as seen by
the relay is less than a preset value. This preset impedance or corresponding distance is called
the reach of the relay. In other words, it is the maximum length of the line up to which the relay
can protect. Distance relays have underreaching and over-reaching tendencies depending on
the fault conditions.

Underreach:

When a distance relay fails to operate even when the fault point is within its reach, but it is at
the far end of the protected line, it is called under-reach. The main reason for under-reach is
the presence of arc resistance in the fault. Due to presence of arc resistance, the impedance
seen by the relay is more than the actual impedance of the line up to the fault point. Hence are
resistance causes underreach of the distance relay.

“The tendency of the distance relay to restrain (not to operate) at the preset value
of the impedance or impedances less than the preset value is known as under-
reach.”
Overreach:

The tendency of a distance relay to operate even when a fault point is beyond its preset reach
(i.e., its protected length) is known as over-reach. The important reason for overreach of the
distance relay is the presence of dc offset in the fault current wave. Because of presence of the
dc offset in the fault current, the impedance seen by the relay is smaller than the actual
impedance of the line up to the fault point.

“The tendency of a distance relay to operate at impedances larger than its preset
value, i.e., when the fault point is beyond its preset reach, is known as overreach”
These blinders are angle impedance relays. In a distance relay, "blinders" refer to a specific
function designed to prevent the relay from tripping unnecessarily during heavy load
conditions on the power line, essentially blocking the relay operation when a large load current
is present instead of a fault, thus preventing cascading outages in the power system; essentially
acting like a filter to distinguish between a fault and a heavy load. They create a specific area
on the impedance plane where the relay will not operate even if the measured impedance falls
within that region, typically used when high load currents cause impedance characteristics
similar to a fault.
Differential Relay:

A differential relay is one that operates when the phasor difference of two or more similar
electrical quantities exceeds a pre-determined value.

Differential protection is a method of protection in which an internal fault is identified by

comparing the electrical conditions at the terminals of the electrical equipment to be protected.
It is based on the fact that any internal fault in an electrical equipment would cause the
current entering it, to be different from that leaving it. This principle of protection is capable
of detecting very small magnitudes of the differential currents. The only drawback of the
differential protection principle is that it requires currents from the extremities of a zone of
protection, which restricts its application to the protection of electrical equipment, such as
generators, transformers, motors of large size, bus zones, reactors, capacitors, etc. The
differential protection is called unit protection because it is confined to protection of a
particular unit (equipment) of a power plant or substation.

• The main component of a differential protection scheme is the differential relay which
operates when the phasor difference of two or more similar electrical quantities exceeds
a predetermined value.
• A pair of identical current transformers (CTs) are fitted on both end of the protected
element (equipment). The CTs are of such a ratio that their secondary currents are equal
during the normal conditions or external (through) faults.
• The secondary of the CTs are interconnected by a pilot-wire circuit incorporating an
instantaneous overcurrent relay. While connecting CTs careful attention must be
paid to the dot (polarity) marks placed on the CTs. In order to trace the direction of
the currents, following rule can be applied: “When current enters the dot mark on the
primary side of a CT, the current must leave the similar dot mark on the secondary
side”.
• The polarity connections of the CTs are such that their secondary currents are in the
same direction in pilot wires, during normal conditions or external (through) faults. The
operating coil of the overcurrent relay is connected across the CT secondary at the
middle of pilot wires.
• Thus, the relay operates for internal faults and remains inoperative under normal
conditions or during external (through) faults. In case of bus-zone protections, CTs are
placed on both sides of the busbar.
 • Differential protection systems are unit protection systems which are instantaneous
and their time setting are independent of other protective systems.

Depending on the type of differential relay employed as the main constituent in differential
protection, the following are the various types of differential protection.

(i) Simple (basic) differential protection

(ii) Percentage (biased) differential protection
(iii) Balanced (opposed) voltage differential protection,

The construction and operation of various differential relays are described in concerned
sections of differential protection.

Simple (basic) differential protection

The main constituent of a simple differential protection scheme is a simple differential relay. A
simple differential relay is also called basic differential relay. A simple differential relay is an
overcurrent relay having operating coil only which carries the phasor difference of currents at
the two ends of a protected element. It operates when the phasor difference of secondary
currents of the CTs at the two ends of the protected element exceeds a predetermined value.
The secondary of the CTs at the two ends of the protected element are connected together by a
pilot-wire circuit. The operating coil of the overcurrent relay is connected at the middle of pilot
wires. The differential protection scheme employing simple differential relay is called Simple
differential protection or Basic differential protection. The simple differential protection
scheme is also called circulating current differential protection scheme of Merz-Price
protection scheme.
The zone between the location of the two CTs is called ‘protected zone’ of the differential
protection scheme. In practice, it is difficult to get ideal, identical, and exactly matched CTs.
CTs used in practice will not always give the same secondary current for the same primary
current, even if they are commercially identical, i.e. of the same rating and manufactured by
the same manufacturer. The difference in secondary current, even under normal conditions, is
caused by constructional errors and CT errors (ratio and phase angle errors). CT errors depend
upon the saturation characteristics of CTs and CT burdens which in turn depend on the lengths
of the pilot wires (cables) and the impedance of the relay coil.
Percentage or biased differential protection

The disadvantage of moloperation of the simple differential relay due to CT errors during heavy
external (through) faults is overcome by using percentage differential relay which is also called
biased differential relay. Percentage differential relay provides high sensitivity to light internal
faults with high security (high restraint) for external faults and makes differential protection
scheme more stable.

The schematic diagram of the percentage (biased) differential relay is shown in Fig. 8.11. This
relay has two coils. One coil is known as restraining coil or bias coil which restrains (inhibits)
the operation of the relay. Another coil is the operating coil which produces the operating torque
for the relay. When the operating torque exceeds the restraining torque, the relay operates. The
operating coil is connected to the mid-point of the restraining coil as shown in Fig. 8.11. Nr
and N0 are the total number of turns of the restraining coil and the operating coil respectively.
Since the restraining coil is tapped at the centre, it forms two sections with equal number of
turns, Nr /2. The restraining coil is connected in the circulating current path in such a way that
current I1s flows through one section of Nr /2 turns and I2s flows through another section of
Nr /2, so that the complete restraining coil of Nr turns receives the through fault current
of (I1s + I2s)/2. The operating coil, having N0 number of turns, is connected in the difference
(spill) path, so that it receives the differential (spill) current, (I1s – I2s).

The operating condition of the percentage differential relay can be derived as follows: The relay
operates if the operating torque produced by the operating coil is more than the restraining
torque produced by the restraining coil.
Thus, at the threshold of operation of the relay, the ratio of the differential operating current
(Id) to the restraining current (Ir) is a fixed percentage; and for operation of the relay the
differential operating current must be greater than this fixed percentage of the restraining
(through fault) current. Hence, this relay is called ‘percentage differential relay’. The
percentage differential relay is also known as ‘biased differential relay’. It is customary to
express the slope (or bias) of the relay as a percentage. Thus, a slope (bias) of 0.2 is expressed
as 20% slope (bias).

Ks: Spring control

Balanced (Opposed) Voltage Differential Protection
Figure 8.18 illustrates the principle of balanced (opposed voltage differential protection
scheme. In this case, the secondaries of the CTs (CT1 and CT2) are connected in such a way
that under normal operating conditions and during external (through) faults, the secondary
currents of CTs on two sides oppose each other and their voltages are balanced. Hence no
current flows in pilot wires and relays. During internal fault, however, a differential (spill)
current proportional to (I1 – I2) in case of single-end-fed system and proportional to (I1 + I2)
in case of double-end-fed system flows through the relay coils. If the differential (spill) current
flowing through the relay coils is higher than the pick-up value, the relays operate to isolate
the protected equipment from the system.
Generator and Large motor Protection
• Differential protection
• Stator ground fault protection
• Rotor earth fault protection
• Field winding protection
• Stator winding turn-to-turn fault protection,
• out-of-step protection, -loss-of-excitation protection.
Control of Active Power and Frequency
Load Frequency Control
both active and reactive power demands are never steady and they continually change with the
rising or falling trend. Steam input to turbo-generators (or water input to hydro-generators)
must, therefore, be continuously regulated to match the active power demand, failing which
the machine speed will vary with consequent change in frequency which may be highly
undesirable* (maximum permissible change in power frequency is ± 0.5Hz). In India, the
standard household voltage is 230V, with a permissible variation of ±6% at the consumer end,
meaning the voltage should ideally stay between 216.2V and 243.8V.

Active Power Control through Frequency

• Active Power (P) is the real power that does actual work, like running motors, lights,
etc.
• In an AC power system, frequency is directly linked to the balance between power
generation and load demand.
• If active power generation > load demand → frequency increases.
• If active power generation < load demand → frequency decreases.

Thus, to control active power, we control frequency:

 • Governors in generators adjust the mechanical input (steam, water, gas) based on
frequency deviations.
• If frequency drops, more mechanical power is supplied to balance the load.
• This control is called primary frequency control or governor action.
• Automatic Generation Control (AGC) is used for fine-tuning in real time (secondary
control) across multiple generators.

Reactive Power Control through Voltage

• Reactive Power (Q) is needed to maintain voltage levels and support magnetic fields
in machines like transformers, motors, etc.
• In an AC system, voltage magnitude depends on the balance of reactive power.
• If reactive power generation > reactive power demand → voltage rises.
• If reactive power generation < reactive power demand → voltage falls.

Thus, to control reactive power, we control voltage:

• Excitation systems in generators adjust the field current to control the terminal voltage.
• Capacitor banks, reactors, synchronous condensers, STATCOMs are used in the
system to inject or absorb reactive power as needed.

Load frequency (slow-governor mechanism) and excitation voltage controls (Fast acting
controls) are noninteractive for small changes and can be modelled and analysed
independently. (P-delta, Q-diff of voltage)
Model of Speed Governing System

Turbine Model
Generator Load Model

Swing equation

Complete Block Diagram Representation of Load Frequency Control of an

Isolated Power System
Methods of Voltage Control
There are several methods of voltage control. In each method, the system voltage is changed
in accordance with the load to obtain a fairly constant voltage at the consumer’s end of the
system. The following are the methods of voltage control in an a.c. power system:
(i) By excitation control
(ii) By using tap changing transformers
(iii) Auto-transformer tap changing
(iv) Booster transformers
(v) Induction regulators
(vi) By synchronous condenser
(vii) Compensation (capacitors, inductors and FACTs)