SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

UNIT-III
1. Discuss the different types of transformer faults. What are various
protective schemes available for transformers?

COMMON TRANSFORMER FAULTS:

1. INTERNAL FAULTS:There are again sub-divided into

(a)Short circuit’s in the T/F winding and connections: These are

electrical faults of series nature and have the potential of causing immediate
damage. The faults include line to earth faults (ph-N) or line to line faults
(ph-ph) on high tension and low tension windings.

They also include inter turn faults. Majority of these faults due to
failure of insulation. These faults are detectable from the voltage or/and
current conditions at the terminals.

(b) Incipient (slow-developing) faults:

Initially, such faults are of minor nature due to deterioration of T/F

oil, defect in cooling system, bad load sharing or core [Link] faults are
not detectable by early and corrective measures are not taken early, they
can develop into major short-circuits faults.

2. EXTERNAL FAULTS:

These are through faults and the T/F must notallowed to carry high
short circuit currents for a long time. The T/F’s must be disconnected by
back-up protective schemes if the protective schemes of the external fault
Zone fail to isolate it.

VARIOUS PROTECTIVE SCHEMES AVAILABLE FOR TRANSFORMERS:

1. Percentage Differential Protection Of Transformer:

Percentage differential protection is used for the protection of large

power transformers having ratings more than 5MVA. This scheme is used
to protect transformers against phase to ground and phase to phase
faults.

1|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

[Link] price circulating current scheme for the protection of 3- Δ/Δ Power T/F

OPERATION:

During normal operating conditions, the secondaries of CT’s carry

identical currents. Therefore the currents entering and leaving the pilot
wires at both ends are the same and no current flows through the relays.

Whenever fault (ph-ground or ph-to-ph) occurs, the currents in the

secondaries of CT’s will no longer be the same and differential current
flowing through the relay circuit will clear the breaker on both sides of the
Transformer.

2. Buchholtz Relay (Or) Gas Actuated Relay:

Buchholtz’s Relay is a gas actuated relay used for protecting oil
immersed Transformers against all-
types of internal faults. It is usually
installed in the pipe connecting
conservator to main tank (Makes use of
the fact that faults decompose oil these
generating gases).

It is Universal practice to use

Buchholtz relays on all oil-immersed
Transformers having ranging in excess
of 750 KVA.

OPERATION:

In case of incipient faults within a

T/F (Fault b/w turns, break down of
core insulation) the heat due to fault causes decomposition of some T/F oil
in the main tank.

The production of composition contains more than 70% of hydrogen

[Link] hydrogen gas being light tries to go in to conservator and in the
process gets entrapped in the upper part of relay chamber.

2|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

When a pre-determined amount of gas gets accumulated, it exerts

sufficient pressure on the float to cause it to tilt and closes the contacts of
mercury switch attached to it. This completes the alarm circuit to sound on
alarm (Rapid generation of H2 gas causing violent displacement of oil).

If a serious fault occurs in the T/F, an enormous amount of gas is

generated in the main tank. The oil in the main tank rushes towards the
conservator via Buchholtz relay and in doing so tilts the flap to close the
contacts of mercury [Link] completes the trip circuit to open the C.B
controlling the T/F.

2. Explain the significance for the protection of transformers and explain

the Buchholz relay protection with neat block diagram. (or)Explain in
detail about Bucholtz relay with a neat sketch.

BUCHHOLTZ RELAY (or) GAS ACTUATED RELAY:

Buchholtz’s Relay is a gas actuated relay used for protecting oil

immersed Transformers against all-types of internal faults. It is usually
installed in the pipe connecting conservator to main tank (Makes use of the
fact that faults decompose oil these generating gases).

It is Universal practice to use Buchholtz relays on all oil-immersed

Transformers having ranging in excess of 750 KVA.

CONSTRUCTION:

It consists of two hinged floats in

a metallic chamber ie., two
[Link] device has two elements.

The upper element consists of a

mercury type switch attached to a
float.

The lower element consists of

mercury type switch mounted on a
hinged type flap located in the direct
path of the flow of oil from T/f to
converter.

The upper element closes an

alarm circuit during incipient faults
whereas lower element is arranged to
trip the C.B. in case of severe internal
faults.

3|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

OPERATION:

In case of incipient faults within a T/F (Fault b/w turns, break down
of core insulation) the heat due to fault causes decomposition of some T/F
oil in the main tank.

The production of composition contains more than 70% of hydrogen

[Link] hydrogen gas being light tries to go in to conservator and in the
process gets entrapped in the upper part of relay chamber.

When a pre-determined amount of gas gets accumulated, it exerts

sufficient pressure on the float to cause it to tilt and closes the contacts of
mercury switch attached to it. This completes the alarm circuit to sound on
alarm (Rapid generation of H2 gas causing violent displacement of oil).

If a serious fault occurs in the T/F, an enormous amount of gas is

generated in the main tank. The oil in the main tank rushes towards the
conservator via Buchholtz relay and in doing so tilts the flap to close the
contacts of mercury [Link] completes the trip circuit to open the C.B
controlling the T/F.

ADVANTAGES:

1. It is the simplest form of Transformer protection.

2. It detects the incipient faults at a stage much earlier than is possible with
other forms of protection.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. It can only be used with oil-immersed T/F equipped with conservator

tanks.

2. The device can defect only faults below oil level in T/[Link], separate
protection is needed for connecting cables.

3. (a) Explain the protection of generators against stator faults with

neat sketch.

PROTECTION OF ALTERNATOR AGAINST STATOR FAULTS:

The most common system employed for the protection of stator windings
against earth faults and phase-to-phase faults makes use of circulating
current principle.

4|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Differential Protection:

In this scheme of protection, currents at the two ends of the protected

section are compared.
Under normal operating conditions, these currents are [Link] the
occurrence of fault these currents may [Link] difference of the currents
under faulty conditions is made to flow through the relay operating coil. The
relay then closes its contacts and makes circuit breaker to trip and thus
isolate the protected section from the system. Such a protection is called
“MERZ-PRICE CIRCULATING CURRENT SCHEME”.

Fig. Differential protection scheme for a three phase generator

Differential protective arrangement is very effective for earth faults and

faults between phases.

Construction:

• There are two sets of identical CT’s, each set is mounted on either side of
the stator phase windings. The secondaries of these transformers are
connected in star and their ends connected through pilot wires.
• The relay coils are connected in star, the neutral point being connected to
the C.T. common neutral and the outer ends one to each of the three pilot
wires.
• The relays are connected across equipotential points of the three pilot wires
so that the burden on each C.T. is the same.

5|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Operation:

Under healthy conditions, the currents at both ends of each winding

will be equal. E.M.F’s induced in secondaries of C.T’s will be equal and so
no current will flow through the operating the operating coils of relays.

When an earth fault or phase-to-phase fault occurs, this condition no

longer holds good differential current flowing through the relay operating
coil makes the circuit breaker to trip.

Case-1:

When an earth fault on phase R due to breakdown of isolation to earth. The

currents in the secondaries of the two C.T’s in phase R will become unequal
and the difference of two currents will flow through the corresponding relay
coil and circuit breaker will get tripped.

Case-2:

If there is a short circuit between the two phases Y and B it will cause fault
current to flow through two phases. The current in the secondaries of the
C.T’s in each affected phase will flow through the operating coils of the
relays connected in these phases. The relay then closes its contacts to trip
the circuit breaker.

Drawback of Differential Protection:

When differential relaying is used for protection, the C.T’s at both

ends of a generator winding must be of equal accuracy, if the error is
excessive it will cause a mal operation of the relay.

(b) Explain the inter-turn fault protection with neat block diagram.

STATOR INTER-TURN PROTECTION:

Merz-price circulating current protection system doesn’t provide

protection against turn-to-turn faults (short circuits between turns) on the
same winding of the stator.

A fault between turns on the same phase winding of the stator doesn’t
cause the unbalance(difference between the currents entering and leaving
the winding at its two ends where C.T’s are mounted) between current
transformer pairs, consequently such a fault cannot be detected by
differential protection.

The generators having double-winding (i.e., each phase winding is

divided into two halves) due to very heavy currents which they have to carry.

6|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

The circulating current scheme is used to protect inter-turn faults on the

same winding.

The relays RC provide protection against phase-to-ground and phase-to-

phase faults whereas relays R1 provide protection against inter-turn faults.

Fig. Inter-turn protection of 3-Phase Double wound Generator

Consider the duplicate stator windings

S1 and S2 of one phase only with a provision
against inter-turn faults as shown in fig.

The two C.T’s are connected on circulating

principle.

Fig. Inter-turn protection for one-phase of 3- Double wound Generator

OPERATION:

Under normal operating conditions, the currents in the stator

windings S1 and S2 are [Link] currents will flow through the
secondaries of C.T.’s. The secondary current round the loop then is the
same at all the points and no current flows through the relay R1.

When fault occurs (short circuit develops between adjacent

turns, say on S1) the currents in the stator windings S1 and S2 will no longer

7|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

be equal. Therefore, unequal currents will flow through the secondaries of

CTs and the difference of these two currents flows through the relay R1. The
relay then closes its contacts to clear the generator from the system.

4. Describe various protection schemes of an alternator for different

faults and abnormal running conditions.

The following are the various types of faults that occur in an alternator.
STATOR FAULTS:

1. Insulation failure of stator winding.

(either between phase to phase or between phase to ground).
2. Inter-turn faults in any of the phases.
3. Overloading (or over current)
4. Over-voltage at the terminals of the alternator.

These faults may lead to damage the laminations due to heat generated at
the point of fault and hence they need partial re-insulation and rebuilding of
core which is very costly and time consuming. Phase to phase faults and
inter-turn faults are less common compared to phase to ground faults.

ROTOR FAULTS:

1. Excitation failure
2. Rotor earth fault
(Ground fault or short between the turns of field winding caused by
severe mechanical and thermal stress acting upon the winding
insulation).
3. Over current in rotor circuit due to abnormally high excitation.

STATOR FAULTS PROTECTION:

1. Protection against insulation failure (phase to phase or phase to
ground):These faults are most dangerous and can cause severe damage to
the machine. The most common form of protection is the circulating
current, also named as“Merz-Price Circulating Protection Scheme”. This
type of differential protection is simple and reliable when correctly applied
and is not affected by through fault currents.

2. Stator Inter Turn Protection:A fault between turns on the same phase
winding of the stator does not cause the unbalance between current
transformer pairs,consequently such fault cannot be detected by differential

8|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

protection. Inter-turn protection is used for multi-turn coil generators, such

as large hydro-electric generators.

3. Protection against Overloads:

To protect the alternator from overloading, voltage restrained

overcurrent (IDMT) relays are used. Relay operation will be possible provided
the overcurrent element as well as the undervoltage element of the relay
operates simultaneously.

For only overcurrent operation of the relay element, the tripping signal will
not be initiated but alarm will appear .Usually, three single phase relay
elements are used in each phase employing voltage restrained over current
protection scheme.

[Link] against Overvoltage:

To protect the alternator from overvoltage, an overvoltage relay (time

delayed attracted armature type) is used. It picks up if the voltage of the
generator terminals exceeds 110-130%.If there is an overvoltage in
alternator terminals and if it persists beyond the specific time, it is not safe
for the generator to run under this condition.

ROTOR FAULT PROTECTION:

1. Protection against Excitation Failure:

Under current relays connected in series with the field circuit have
been used quite extensively for low and medium MVA rated [Link]
most selective type of relay for the protection against excitation failure is
directional distance type.

(i) The loss of excitation of a generator may result in loss of

synchronism and slightly increased generator speed since power input to
the machine remains unchanged.

(ii) When a synchronous generator loses excitation, it operates as an

induction generator, running above synchronous speed. This mode of
operation is not normally recommended as it requires large reactive powers
to be supplied to the generator operating as an induction generator.

2. Rotor Earth Fault Protection:

To protect the rotor from the ground fault, either a.c. or d.c voltage
may be impressed between the field circuit and ground through an over
voltage relay. If a ground contact, anywhere in the field circuit will pick up

9|Page
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

the relay. An alarm may be operated following a ground fault in the rotor
circuit.

3. Protection against Overcurrents:

To protect rotor circuit from overcurrent, an over current relay senses

and initiates [Link], application of this type of relay is very much
limited as relaying of [Link] is relatively uncommon and the rotor
windings are designed to tolerate over currents due to over excitation.

ABNORMAL (RUNNING) CONDITIONS:

In practice there are number of situations in which generator is

subjected to abnormal running conditions.

1. UNBALANCED LOADING:

The unbalanced loading of the generator results in circulation of negative

sequence currents in stator winding which gives rise to a rotating magnetic
field at double the synchronous speed with respect to rotor and induces a
voltage of double the frequency in the rotor winding. The circulating
currents due to the induced EMF are responsible to overheat the rotor
winding. Negative sequence current protection scheme is mostly applied in
order to sense degree of unbalancing in stator current.

2. OVER LOADING:
Over loading of stator will cause heat in the stator windings which may
damage the insulation depending upon the degree of overloading.

3. OVER SPEED:
In case of hydraulic generators, a sudden loss of a load results in over
speeding of the generator because the water flow to the turbine can’t be
stopped quickly because of (mechanical and hydraulic) inertia.

Modern alternators are usually provided with mechanical centrifugal

devices mounted on their driving shafts to trip the main valve of the prime-
mover when a dangerous overspeed occurs.

4. OVER VOLTAGE:Over voltages in an alternator occurs when speed of

prime mover increases due to sudden loss of load, and faulty operation of
the voltage regulator.

5. FAILURE OF PRIME MOVER:When input to the prime-mover fails, the

alternator runs as a synchronous motor and draws active power from the
supply system. This may leads to dangerous conditions (over heating of

10 | P a g e
 SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION (20A02504a) – ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

turbine blades) if allowed for more than 20 sec. To prevent this reverse
power relay is used.

6. FAILURE OF FIELD:

The chances of field failure of alternators are undoubtedly very rare. Even
if it does occur, no immediate damage will be caused by permitting the
alternator to run without field for a short period.

5.(b) A 10 MVA, 3-phase, 6.6 kV alternator is being produced by the use

of current balance system using 1000/5 Amps current transformer. The
neutral of the generator is earthed through a resistance of 7.5 ohms. If
the minimum operating current for the relay is 0.5 Amps, determine at
what percentage of the winding of each phase is unprotected against
earth faults when the machine operates at normal voltage.

Sol: Let X % of the winding be unprotected.

Earthing resistance, r = 7.5 Ω
Voltage per phase, Vph = ( 6.6 * 103) = 3810 V
√3
Minimum fault current which will operate the relay = (1000/5) * 0.5 = 100A
E.M.F. induced in X % of winding = Vph * ( X/100) = 3810 * X = 38.1 X volts
100
Earth fault current which X % winding will cause = 38.1 X amps
r
This current must be equal to 100 A.
100 = 38.1 X
7.5
Unprotected winding , X = 100 * 7.5 = 19.69%
38.1
Hence 19.69 % of alternator winding is left unprotected.

11 | P a g e