Transformer

Protection
Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Bhatti
Differential Protection: Introduction

 Differential protection is based on the fact that any fault within an electrical
equipment would cause the current entering it, to be different, from that
leaving it.
 Thus, we can compare the two currents either in magnitude or in phase or
both and issue a trip output if the difference exceeds a predetermined set
value.
 This method of detecting faults is very attractive when both ends of the
apparatus are physically located near each other.
 A typical situation, where this is true, is in the case of a transformer, a
generator or a busbar.
 In the case of transmission lines, the ends are too far apart for conventional
differential relaying to be directly applied.
Types of Transformers

Range varies from palm of your hand Lo the mammoth EHV power
transformers
 Generator transformer
 Power transformer
 Distribution transformer
 Pole-mounted lighting transformer
 Grounding transformer
 Regulating transformer
 Welding transformer
 Converter transformer
 Instrument transformers (CT and PT)
Types of Transformers

 A transformer will be provided with as much protection as is

commensurate with its voltage and power rating and the importance of
its application.
 For example, over-current protection in the form of fuses may be the
only protection provided to a small 100 kVA, 11 kV/440 V distribution.
transformer.
 A 250 MVA, 15 kV/400 ky generator-transformer in a large thermal
power station, on the other hand, may be provided with very elaborate
protection.
 This may consist of percentage differential protection (with harmonic
restraint), a protection against incipient faults and a protection against
over-fluxing as primary protection. These will be backed up by the over-
current protection.
Phasor Diagram for a Three-
phase Transformer
 Three-phase transformer connections: Y-Y,Y-Delta, Delta-Y and Delta-Delta.
 The Y-Delta and the Delta-Y transformers introduce certain phase shifts between the
voltages and currents on the primary and the secondary side.
 These phase shifts have to be carefully considered while applying differential protection.
 While connecting the CT secondary windings, we can choose such connections that
nullify the phase shift.
 Further, because of transformation ratio between the primary and the secondary sides of
the power transformer, the primary currents for the CTs on the two sides will be different.
 The CTs must, therefore, have such ratio of transformation that currents in the
relay pilot wires, coming from the CTs on the two sides are equal.
 Thus, ratios of transformation of the CTs on the primary and secondary side of the
transformer, will in general, be different.
 This will ensure that during normal load flow as well as during external fault conditions,
the differential scheme remains stable.
Phasor Diagram for a Three-
phase Transformer
 Star-connected side carry the line currents I_A, I_B, I_C
 While the windings on the delta side carry
the phase currents whose magnitudes are:
Phasor Diagram for a Three-
phase Transformer
 As shown in the phasor diagram in Figure 4.2. Each line current on
the delta side is the phasor sum of two of the phase currents. Hence,
there is a phase shift of 30" between the 'line currents on the two
sides of the star-delta transformer.
 Figure 4.2 shows the schematic representation of the transformer
connection with all voltages and currents.
Equivalent Circuit of
Transformer
 Figure 4.3(a) shows the schematic representation of a single-phase
transformer.
 The circuit can be reduced to the equivalent form shown in part (b) of
the figure.
 It can be seen that the shunt branch, which represents the
magnetization and accounts for the core loss, has a much larger
impedance compared to the series branch which represents the winding
resistance and the leakage reactance.
 Hence, in the event of short circuits, it is the series branch which
essentially decides the short-circuit current.
 As shown in Figure 4.3(c), if the series impedance is 8% (i.e. 0.08 p.u.1
then the short-circuit current for a fault on the secondary terminals will
be (1.0/.08) = 12.5 p.u.
Equivalent Circuit of
Transformer
Types of Faults in Transformers

 Transformers are subject to a variety of faults.

 The most common being the winding to core faults because of weakening of
insulation.
 Phase faults inside the transformer are rare. However, such faults may take
place outside the transformer, on the transformer terminals, which fall within the
transformer protection zone.
 The variation of fault current with respect to fault location within the transformer
depends upon the type of transformer connection, the method of grounding the
transformer neutral and whether the current is being referred to the primary or
the secondary side of the transformer.
 Figure 4.4 shows the variation of fault current with respect to fault location for a
winding (phase) to ground fault for a resistance-grounded delta-star transformer,
as seen from the primary and the secondary sides.
Types of Faults in Transformers
Types of Faults in Transformers

 As shown in Figure 4.4 for a resistance-earthed star-connected

winding, a winding to-earth fault will give rise to a current dependent
on the value of the earthing resistor and the distance of the fault from
the neutral end of the winding.
 The effective ratio of transformation between the primary winding
and the short-circuited portion of the secondary winding varies with
the fault position.
 The current flowing through the transformer terminals is, therefore,
for all practical purposes, proportional to the square of the
percentage of the short-circuited winding.
Types of Faults in Transformers

 For a solidly-earthed star winding, the fault current bears no simple

relationship to the distance of the fault from the neutral end since the
effective reactance of the fault path changes with the fault position.
 As shown in Figure 4.4, the minimum value of fault current occurs for
a fault at 30% to 40% of the distance of end of winding from the
neutral end.
Types of Faults in Transformers

 For a delta-connected winding, the minimum voltage on the delta

winding is at the centre of one phase and is 50% of the normal
phase-to-earth voltage.
 The range of values of fault current is less than that of the star-
connected winding.
 The value of the fault current depends upon the system earthing
arrangements, and the curves of Figure 4.5 show that the minimum
value of fault current occurs for a fault at the centre of one phase
winding.
Types of Faults in Transformers
Types of Faults in Transformers

 Power and distribution are provided with on line tap changing (OLTC) gear.
 This is another major source of faults.
 All large transformers are of the oil-immersed type. There is a possibility
of low level of oil due to leakage. In such cases, an alarm must be raised
and the transformer may eventually have to be shut down.
 Another peculiarity of transformers is that they experience large inrush
currents at the time of switching if they happen to be unloaded.
 This is neither an abnormal condition nor a fault as far as the transformer
is concerned.
 Inrush current needs special attention while designing the protection for a
transformer.
Types of Faults in Transformers

 A transformer may develop inter-turn faults giving rise to hot-spots within

the winding.
 Seen from the terminals, such inter-turn faults may not cause appreciable
currents. Hence, inter-turn faults are difficult to detect by 'electrical means.
These are best detected by non-electrical methods.
 Transformers may suffer from over-fluxing (also called over-excitation) due
to under frequency operation at rated voltage.
 Over-fluxing may also be caused when the transformer is subjected to over-
voltage at the rated frequency.
 Since large transformers usually operate at their design limits, over-fluxing
can be dangerous and needs immediate protection.
 All these faults, abnormal operating conditions and peculiar operating
conditions are dealt with in the next sections.
Over-current Protection

 Figure 4.6 shows two numbers of phase-fault over-current relays and

one ground-fault over-current relay for providing over-current
protection to the star-delta transformer.
 Such a scheme may serve the purpose of providing either the primary
protection for smaller transformers or the back-up protection for
bigger transformers.
Over-current Protection

 The pick-up value of the phase-fault over-current units is set such

that they do not pick up on maximum permissible overload, but are
sensitive enough to pick up on the smallest phase fault.
 The pick-up of the earth fault relay, on the other hand, is independent
of the loading of the transformer. The neutral current under load
conditions is quite small. The neutral current is essentially because of
load unbalance.
 It is interesting to note that the third harmonic currents, in particular
and triple-n harmonics(harmonics of order 3, 6, 9, ...) in general,
which arise due to distortions introduced by electronic loads, also end
up as zero sequence currents and flow through the neutral.
Percentage Differential
Protection of Transformers
 Development of Connections:
 Figure 4.7 shows a delta-star transformer. Assume a turns ratio of 1 :
1. Note that the star point is grounded.
Percentage Differential
Protection of Transformers:
Connections
In order to devise the CT connections, we follow the following
sequence of steps:
 Determine the instantaneous directions of currents I_a, I_b and
I_c through the secondary windings (see Figure 4.7).
 The primary winding currents I_A, I_B and I_C are then determined. Note
that because of the turns ratio of 1 : 1, I_A = I_a , I_B = I_b, I_C = I_c (see
Figure 4.8).
 Line currents on the star side are determined. These are same as phase
currents I_a, I_b, I_c.
 Line currents on the delta side are then determined. These are (I_C – I_A),
(I_A – I_B) and (I_B – I_C) as shown in Figure 4.8.
 Note: (I_C- I_A),e tc. are all phasor differences.
Percentage Differential
Protection of Transformers:
Connections
Therefore, if we connect the secondary windings of the CTs on both
the sides in star, then the currents would not match up and
a spill current would result.
 We observe, however, that if the secondary windings of CTs on the
star side are
 connected in delta, then the line currents would exactly match with
the secondary currents of CTs on the delta side, provided that these
are connected in star.
 This is shown in Figure 4.9.
Percentage Differential
Protection of Transformers:
Connections
Phase c-to-Ground (c-g)
External Fault
Phase c-to-Ground (c-g)
External Fault
 Consider phase c-to-ground (c-g) external fault as shown in Figure
4.10.
 It can be seen that due to fault on phase c, there is an over-current in
phase c.
 This current is supplied through two of the lines on the delta side.
 Similarly, due to the delta connections of CT secondary windings on
the star side, two of the pilot wires carry the fault current, with the
result that the current circulates in two of the percentage differential
units and there is no current in the spill path.
 Thus, the scheme remains stable on c-g external fault.
Phase c-to-Ground (c-g) Internal
Fault
Phase c-to-Ground (c-g) Internal
Fault
 A c-g internal fault is shown in Figure 4.11.
 The currents on the delta side are exactly the same as those in the
case of c-g external fault.
 However, since the fault is internal there is no fault current through
the primaries of the CTs on the star side.
 The path of the fault current is shown in bold lines. It can be seen
from the figure that the fault current flows through the spill path in
two of the percentage differential units causing them to operate, thus
tripping out the transformer.
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
In rush Phenomenon
Percentage Differential relay with
Harmonic Restraint
 Percentage differential scheme tends to maloperate due to magnetizing inrush. One way to
combat this problem is to desensitize the relay for a brief period of time, just after switching on.
However, this is not desirable, since the probability of insulation failure just after switching on
is quite high, and a desensitized relay would be blind to faults taking place at that crucial time.
 A solution to this problem suggests itself, when we compare the waveforms
of internal fault current with that of the inrush current.
 The inrush waveform is rich in harmonics whereas the internal fault current
consists of only of the fundamental.
 Thus, we can develop additional restraint based on harmonic content of the
inrush current. This additional restraint comes into picture only during the
inrush condition and is ineffective during faults.
 Table 4.1 gives the harmonic content of a typical inrush waveform.
Percentage Differential relay with
Harmonic Restraint
Percentage Differential relay with
Harmonic Restraint
Percentage Differential relay with
Harmonic Restraint
 Figure 4.15 shows the conceptual scheme of a harmonic restraint
differential relay. The fundamental component of spill current is
segregated with the help of a filter and is used to develop the tripping
torque.
 The non-fundamental component of the spill current aids the
unfiltered circulating current in developing the restraining torque.
 This makes the relay stable on inrush while at the same time not
affecting its operation in case of genuine internal faults.
High Resistance Ground Faults
in Transformers
 A percentage differential relay has a certain minimum value of pick-
up for internal faults.
 Faults with fault current below this value are not detected by the
percentage differential relay.
 Winding-to-core faults, which are of the single phase-to-ground type,
involving high resistance, fall in this category
 Therefore, we must have a more sensitive relaying scheme to cater
for high resistance ground faults.
 Further, the reach of such a protection must be restricted to the
winding of the transformer; otherwise it may operate for any ground
fault, anywhere in the system, beyond the transformer.
 Hence, such protection is known as restricted earth fault protection.
High Resistance Ground Faults
on the Delta Side
 Figure 4.17 shows the earth fault protection for the delta side of a
delta-star transformer. If there is a fault on the star side then the
currents flow in the lines connected to the delta side in such a way
that there is no spill current through the relay on the CT secondary
side, thus the reach is automatically restricted to the delta side.
High Resistance Ground Faults
on the Delta Side
High Resistance Ground Faults
on the Star Side
High Resistance Ground Faults
on the Star Side
 Figure 4.18 shows the restricted earth fault protection whose reach is
limited to the star side of the transformer.
 Ground faults beyond the star side CTs, anywhere in the system, do
cause current to flow on the secondary of the CTs.
 However, the currents circulate through the CT in the neutral path
and the CT in faulted phase. Thus, no spill current flows and the
scheme remains stable on external faults.
inter-turn Faults in
Transformers
 Inter-turn faults cause heavy current to flow within the shorted turns.
However, seen from the transformer terminals, the reflected current
can be quite small.
 This can be seen from the simplified analysis of Figure 4.19.
inter-turn Faults in
Transformers
 The current that circulates within the short-circuited turns is 5000 A
whereas at the 400 kV terminals the current is only of the order of
0.11 A.
 Thus, inter-turn faults are difficult to detect using over-current or
differential principles of relaying. However, they can cause severe hot
spots resulting in deterioration of insulation.
 This has led to the development of Buchholz relay which makes use
of the heat generated and the consequent decomposition of oil to
sense the fault by purely nonelectrical means.
Incipient Faults in Transformers:
Buchholz Relay
 Faults which are not significant in the beginning but which slowly
develop into serious faults are known as incipient faults.
 Buchholz relay provides protection against such incipient faults.
 Figure 4.20 shows the position of the Buchholz relay with respect to
the transformer tank and the conservator.
Incipient Faults in Transformers:
Buchholz Relay
Incipient Faults in Transformers:
Buchholz Relay
 The conceptual diagram of the inner working of the Buchholz relay is
shown in Figure 4.21.
 When an incipient fault such as a winding-to-core fault or an inter-
turn fault occurs on the transformer winding, there is severe heating
of the oil. This causes gases to be liberated from the oil around
350°C. There is a build-up of oil pressure causing oil to rush into the
conservator.
 A vane is placed in the path of surge of oil between the transformer
and the conservator. A set of contacts, operated by this vane, is used
as trip contacts of the Buchholz relay This output of Buchholz relay
may be used to trip thetransformer.
Incipient Faults in Transformers:
Buchholz Relay
 The Buchholz relay also has another set of contacts operated by a
float. These contacts stay open when the transformer tank is filled
with oil.
 However, in case of leakage of oil or decomposition of oil, the float
sinks causing the contacts to close.
 Loss of oil will no doubt cause the transformer temperature to rise
but does not warrant immediate tripping. Hence, normally these
contacts are wired to an alarm which alerts the operator.
Analysis of Trapped Gases

 The trapped gases in the conservator can give valuable clue to the
type of damage that takes place inside the transformer.
 This is because the insulation between the winding turns, the
insulation between the stampings of the core and the oil, all liberate
specific gases when they get heated up due to a fault.
 The presence of these gases can be used as a signature of a
particular type of damage that may have taken place inside the
 transformer. Table 4.2 lists this information.
Analysis of Trapped Gases
Phenomenon of Over-fluxing in
Transformers: Protection Against Over-
fluxing
Phenomenon of Over-fluxing in
Transformers: Protection Against Over-
fluxing
 Whenever there is an over-voltage (frequency remaining constant), the transformer
core is subjected to a higher value of flux in order to be able to support the higher
applied voltage.
 By design, power transformers operate at the knee of the saturation curve at
normal voltage. Hence, any increase in applied voltage, and the consequent increase
in flux density, drives the transformer deeper into saturation.
 The transformer, therefore, draws an excessive magnetization current.
 Hence, this condition is described as ouer excitation.
 This, considerably, increases the core losses giving rise to overheating of the
 transformer. Further, saturation of the core causes the flux to flow into adjacent
structures, causing high eddy current losses in the core and adjacent conducting
materials. Such an operating condition cannot be allowed to continue for long and
the transformer should be tripped if there is a prolonged over-excitation.
 Figure 4.22 showsa typical allowable over-excitation limit curve.
Phenomenon of Over-fluxing in
Transformers: Protection Against Over-
fluxing
 It can be easily seen that over-excitation can also occur in case
of low-frequency operation of the transformer at rated voltage.
 Therefore, to keep the working flux within the ~emissiblede sign limits, the V/f ratio
must not exceed the permissible limit.
 For example, a transformer designed for a per unit voltage limit of 1.25 per unit
(125%) at rated frequency will experience over-fluxing whenever the per unit
volts/hertz exceeds 1.25 (125%), i.e. whenever the voltage exceeds 125% at rated
frequency or the frequency falls below approximately 80% (below approximately 40 Hz
on 50 Hz basis) at rated voltage.
 Thus over-excitation can be detected by measuring the V/f ratio by a so-called
volts/hertz relay.
 Microprocessor-based volt/hertz relays have been developed and are in uSe. We refrain
 from further discussion of these relays in this textbook. The interested reader may
 consult manufacturers, literature for details.
Transformer Protection
Application Chart
 Transformers are used for a very wide variety of applications.
 The type of protection that will be provided for a transformer
depends upon its kVA rating and its importance.
 The only protection that will possibly be provided to a small lighting
transformer may be in the form of fuses while a transformer
connected to a generator in a thermal power station may have very
elaborate protection. Tables 4.3 and 4.4 summarize the transformer
protection scenario and application of various protection schemes.
Transformer Protection
Application Chart
An Illustrative Numerical
Problem
 Problem: For a 45 MVA, 11 kV/66 kv star-delta transformer,
design the percentage differential scheme. What is the minimum
recommended percentage bias?
 Solution As shown in the worksheet of Table 4.5, we find that the
pilot wire currents are 6.817 A from the star side CTs while they are
3.936 A from the delta side CTs.
 Thus,we need intermediate CTs to correct this mismatch as shown in
Figure 4.23.
 Such CTs are known as interposing CTs and are usually
autotransformer types. The turns ratio of the interposing CTs is,
therefore, found out to be 6,81713,936 = 1.731 : 1.
An Illustrative Numerical
Problem
An Illustrative Numerical
Problem
An Illustrative Numerical
Problem