All Exams Questions (Theoritical)
Category 1: Protection Fundamentals & Zones
1. State the roles that should be satisfied when dividing the power system into zones?
Protective zones should be defined for each system element.
Zones must overlap around circuit breakers to ensure no part of the system is left
unprotected.
The system should provide both primary and backup protection for every zone.
2. Define and sketch: zones of protection and overlap between zones. What will happen if
there is no overlapping?
Zones of Protection: Areas of the power system assigned to specific protective relays.
Overlap: The practice of extending zones beyond circuit breakers so that every piece of
primary equipment is covered by at least two zones.
Result of No Overlap: A "blind spot" is created; faults in this area will not be detected by any
relay, leading to catastrophic failure.
3. List the main reasons for primary protection failure?
Failure of the DC tripping supply (batteries).
Failure of the protective relay itself (internal fault).
Failure of the CT or VT signals reaching the relay.
Failure of the circuit breaker mechanism to open (stuck breaker).
4. Show main points that must be considered when designing back up protection?
It must be completely independent of the primary protection.
It must have a time delay to allow the primary protection to act first.
It is often located at a different station (Remote Backup) for higher reliability.
5. List the main effects of short circuit in power system? State the main roles for power
system protection?
Effects: Heavy current flow, heating of conductors, mechanical forces, and voltage drops.
Roles: To minimize damage to equipment and maintain system stability by isolating the faulty
section.
6. What are the important aspects of protection systems? Explain two of them?
Reliability: The probability that the system will perform correctly.
Selectivity: The ability to isolate only the faulty part of the system.
Category 2: Current & Voltage Transformers (ITs)
7. Explain why the Current transformer secondary winding mustn't be left open?
In a CT, the primary current is fixed by the power system load.
If the secondary is open, the secondary counter-mmf becomes zero.
The entire primary current becomes magnetizing current, leading to core saturation and
dangerously high induced voltages.
8. Explain with aid of diagram the CT saturation? What are the current transformer errors?
Saturation: Occurs when the primary fault current is so high that the core flux cannot
increase further, leading to a loss of proportionality in the secondary.
Errors: Ratio error (magnitude difference) and Phase angle error (displacement between
primary and secondary).
9. What are the difference between measuring and protective current transformer?
Measuring CT: Designed to be highly accurate at normal load currents and saturate quickly at
low fault levels to protect instruments.
Protective CT: Designed to maintain accuracy at high fault currents (e.g., 20 times rated
current) without saturating.
10. Compare by drawings between the types of current transformers according to usage?
Includes Wound type, Bar type, and Window (Toroidal) type.
Category 3: Relay Types & Overcurrent Protection
11. List the primary requirements for overcurrent protection?
Speed of operation, reliability, and selectivity (coordination with other relays).
12. Explain the principle of operation of Thermal, Hinged Armature, and Induction relays?
Thermal: Uses a bimetallic strip that bends when heated by overcurrent to trip.
Hinged Armature: An electromagnetic relay where a coil attracts a metal lever to close
contacts.
Induction: Operates on the principle of a rotating magnetic field inducing currents in a disc or
cup (used only for AC).
13. Explain why we need directional over current relays?
Required for parallel feeders and ring mains to prevent tripping of healthy lines due to back-
feed from the fault.
14. Indicate the coordination between overcurrent relay curve and thermal relay curve?
State why?
Thermal relays protect against low-level long-duration overloads, while overcurrent relays
protect against high-level short-duration faults.
15. Explain the operation of instantaneous over current relay?
Operates without any intentional time delay as soon as the current exceeds the set value.
Category 4: Distance & Differential Protection
16. Define the following: over reach, under-reach and power swing?
Under-reach: Failure to trip for a fault within the set zone due to fault resistance.
Over-reach: Tripping for a fault outside the zone due to transient DC components.
Power Swing: Oscillations in power flow that cause temporary low impedance, tricking the
distance relay.
17. What are the problems encountered in differential protection (disadvantages)?
Difficulty in matching CT ratios exactly and the impedance of long pilot wires.
False operation due to CT saturation during heavy external faults.
18. List the types of differential relays? Explain voltage balance operation?
Types include Simple (merit-z-price), Biased (percentage), and Voltage balance.
In voltage balance, CT secondaries are connected in opposition; during external faults,
voltages cancel out, but during internal faults, they combine to trip the relay.
19. Mention the difference between PUTT and POTT for Pilot Distance Protection?
PUTT (Permissive Under-reach): The permissive signal is sent by an under-reaching zone 1.
POTT (Permissive Over-reach): The permissive signal is sent by an over-reaching zone.
20. Describe the communication ways to transfer data between distance relays?
Methods include Power Line Carrier Communication (PLCC), Fiber Optics, and Pilot Wires.
21. Explain the difference between pilot and non-pilot protection of transmission lines?
Pilot: Uses a communication link between line ends for simultaneous tripping.
Non-pilot: Relies only on local measurements (e.g., standard distance or overcurrent).
22. Is the plain impedance relay directional? State conditions for directional operation?
No, the plain impedance relay is non-directional.
It requires a separate directional unit to sense the phase angle between voltage and current.
23. Why are high voltage systems more susceptible to transient overreach?
Due to the higher $X/R$ ratio, which results in longer time constants for DC offset currents.
24. What are the types of impedance relay? Explain reactance type?
Includes Impedance, Reactance, and Mho.
Reactance relays measure only the imaginary part of impedance ($X$) and are unaffected by
arc resistance.
25. Explain with sketch the operation of directional earth fault relaying?
Senses the residual current and compares its phase with a polarizing quantity (usually residual
voltage) to determine fault direction.