Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.

GENERATOR PROTECTIONS
Presented By :-
AMIT VERMA
Deputy Manager- Electrical O&M, DCPP, JSPL

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 SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR – AN
OVERVIEW
 The synchronous generator or alternator is an electrical generator that converts
mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.

 A synchronous generator consists of two main parts - the stator and the rotor. The
stator is the stationary external part that contains windings, while the rotor is the
rotating internal part that revolves within the stator.

 Stator: The stator is the non-moving component of the alternator. It houses the
armature winding where the voltage is generated. The alternator’s output is derived
from the stator.

 Rotor: The rotor is the moving part of the alternator. It generates the primary
field flux.

 There are two common types of rotor construction in synchronous generators - salient pole rotor and
cylindrical rotor.

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ROTOR CONSTRUCTION

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 TYPES OF FAULTS AND PROTECTION FUNCTIONS

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 PROTECTION FUNTIONS:
I.- For insulations failures
Differential Inter-turn fault
Stator Earth Fault – (95% & 100% )
Rotor Earth fault (2 Stage)

II.– For abnormal running conditions

Loss of excitation (field failure)
Unbalanced loading (negative phase sequence) Pole slipping
Over frequency/Over speed
Over voltage Reverse/Forward power
Impedance/Over current back-up protection, etc…

III.– For Generator transformer protections

Differential protection Bias test
2nd harmonics restrained.
REF protection

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AN OVERVIEW OF GENERATOR SINGLE LINE DIAGRAM:

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 GENERATOR PROTECTIONS CLASSIFICATION

CLASS – A :- This covers all electrical protections for faults within the generating unit in
which generator field breaker, generator breaker and turbine should be tripped.

CLASS – B:- This covers all mechanical protections of the turbine in which turbine will be
tripped first and following this generator will trip on reverse power / low forward power
protections.

CLASS – C:- This covers electrical protection for faults in the system in which generator
will be unloaded by tripping of generator breaker only.

Various protections of this class are:

1. 220 KV (HV side of Generator Transformer) busbar protections.
2. Generator Transformer HV side breaker pole discrepancy.
3. Generator negative phase sequence protection
4. Generator Transformer over current / Earth fault protection
5. Reverse power protection without turbine trip.

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:
1. GENERATOR DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION (87 G): -

It is unit type protection, covering the stator winding for phase to phase faults due to breakdown of
insulation between stator phase windings. This relay is not sensitive for single line to earth faults as the earth
fault current is limited due to the high neutral earthing resistance. If CTs of identical ratios are used on neutral
and line side of generator, an operating current setting of 20% it can be adopted. It is instantaneous in
operation and it trips the generator breaker (Class – A) to eliminate the system in – feed to the fault along with
field breaker and turbines.
For all machines of ratings 10 MVA and above, this protection shall be provided.
Diagram:

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:
2. INTER TURN FAULT PROTECTION OF THE STATOR WINDING (64GIT) :

Formerly, this type of protection was considered unnecessary because breakdown of insulation between points on
the same phase winding, contained in the same slot, and between which a potential difference exists, will very
rapidly change into an earth fault, and will be detective by either the differential protections or the stator earth
fault protection. An exception is the generator designed to produce a relatively high voltage in comparison to its
output and which therefore contains a large number of conductors per slot. With the size and voltage output of
generators increasing, this form of protection is becoming essential for all generating units.

Diagram:
Each path is fitted with identical current transformers
(CTs), and their secondaries are cross-connected. This
cross-connection is because the currents at the primary of
both CTs are entering, unlike
differential protection of transformer where current enters
from one side and exits the other.

A differential relay and series stabilizing resistor are

connected across the CT secondary loop. If an inter turn
fault occurs in any path of the stator winding, it creates an
imbalance in the CT secondary circuits, triggering the 87
differential relay. Cross differential protection should be
applied individually to each phase.

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:
3. STATOR EARTH FAULT PROTECTION (0-95%) 64G1:

It is an over voltage relay monitoring the voltage developed across the secondary of the neutral grounding
transformer in case of ground faults. It covers generator, LV winding of generator transformer and HV winding
of UAT. A pickup voltage setting of 5% is adopted with a time delay setting of about 1.0 Sec. For all machines of
ratings 10 MVA and above this shall be provided. Relay application for this protection is mainly influenced by
the method of stator earthing. Two methods are in common use.

Resistor earthing and Distribution transformer earthing

With resistor earthing, the fault current is limited to 200-300Amps while with distribution transformer earthing;
it is limited to 5-10Amps. The latter method has the advantage of ensuring minimum damage to the stator core,
but it is only practicable when the stator winding is directly connected to the delta winding of the main
transformer. The two schemes for stator earth fault protection (95%) are shown below:-

1. Distribution transformer earthing (NGT) 2. Resistor earthing(NGR)

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:

Distribution transformer earthing (High impedance Resistor earthing(Low impedance earthing):

earthing):
In the resistor earthed scheme, a CT is required in the
Earth fault protection is provided by connecting an neutral to earth connection, and the relay used is an
Over voltage relay across its secondary, as shown. The inverse time current relay so that it can grade with other
maximum earth fault current is determined by the Size of earth fault relays in the system. It also provides
the transformer and the loading resistor R. The Relay protection for the neutral earthing resistor. In this
used for this Application is an inverse time or definite system, it is impossible to protect 100% of the stator
Time over voltage relay (Also known as neutral winding. The percentage of winding protected depends
displacement Relay) with a setting range Of 2.5 to 20 on the value of the neutral earthing resistor and the relay
Volts. The relay is Provided with an inbuilt third setting. In the figure below, the percentage of winding
Harmonic filter so as to avoid Unwanted operations due protector is given for various values of earthing resistor
to third Harmonic currents and the Problems associated at different relays settings, from 5-100 %.
with transformer inter winding capacitance. It is possible
to protect up to 95% of the generator stator Winding with
this relay.

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:

3. 100% STATOR EARTH FAULT PROTECTION:-

To provide 100% stator earth fault protection, an additional relay for covering 95-100% of the winding is
provided.. This is a 3rd harmonic U/V relay. It protects 100% of stator winding. During the machine running
condition there will be certain third harmonic voltage at neutral side of the generator. This 3rd harmonic voltage
will come down when a stator earth fault occurs causing this relay to operate.
This shall have voltage check or current check unit, to prevent faulty operation of the relay at generator stand
still or during the machine running down period. The third harmonic relays setting is determined from the
amount of generator neutral third harmonic neutral voltages. Calculations can be based on mission
specifications and equipment capacitances or on field measurements.
To prevent 64G2 function from false tripping when there is no voltage, or low voltage, on the generator it's
supervised by the phase under-voltage relay 27.
Set this relay at 90% of the rated voltage.

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FOR INSULATION FAILURES PROTECTIONS:
4. ROTOR EARTH FAULT (64F):

A single earth fault on the field winding or in the exciter circuit of a generator is not in itself a danger to the
machine. Should a second earth fault develop, however, part of the field winding will become short circuited,
resulting in magnetic un-balance of the filed system with subsequent mechanical damage to the machine
bearings. It is necessary to ensure that should a second rotor earth fault occur, the machine is disconnected. This
is achieved by the use of a second rotor earth fault relay which comprises adjustable resistors and a sensing
element.
Diagram:

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
5. LOSS OF EXCITATION OR UNDER EXCITATION(40G):

In case of loss of excitation (loss of field or field failure), the generator goes out of synchronism and starts
running asynchronously at a speed higher than the system, absorbing reactive power from the system. Under
these conditions, the stator end regions and part of the rotor get over heated.

The excitation system controls how much voltage the generator will produce internally, which is the same as the
Generator Terminal Voltage when the generator is energized and offline.

The Internal Generator Voltage and the Generator Terminal Voltage are different when the generator is connected
to a load.

The generator will export VARs when the Internal Generator Voltage is greater than the Generator Terminal
Voltage.

Alternatively, the generator will import VARs when the Internal Generator Voltage is less than the Generator
Terminal Voltage.

The generator becomes a synchronous condenser that imports VARs and exports watts. The excitation field
usually creates the rotor’s magnetic field, but now the rotor’s magnetic field is induced from the stator. The
generator is not designed to operate this way, so the rotor and stator will start to overheat, and the end cores of
the stator may be damaged.
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The final generator impedance after the field is lost depends on system conditions and generator loading before
the fault. If the generator was lightly loaded before the fault, the final impedance will be near the generator’s
synchronous impedance (Xd). If the generator was heavily loaded before the fault, the final impedance will be
closer to the generator’s transient impedance (X’d).

The minimum expected impedance during a loss-of-field condition will be close to the transient impedance
(X’d). The distance between the impedance diagram’s origin and the start of the impedance circle is the offset,
which is usually set at one-half of the generator’s X’d. The maximum expected impedance will be near the
steady-state impedance (Xd). Therefore, the diameter of the impedance circle should be the generator’s Xd
impedance.
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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
6. NEGATIVE PHASE SEQUENCE PROTECTION (46 G):-

It safeguards the generator rotor against over heating caused by the induced double frequency (100 Hz) currents
when negative phase sequence currents are present in the stator. The negative phase sequence current (I2) can
appear due to unbalanced single phase loads or transmission line unsymmetrical fault.

The Negative sequence current create magnetic flux in the air gap which rotates in opposition to the rotor. This
flux induce eddy current as twice the fundamental frequency in the rotor which cause overheating of rotor body,
wedged and retaining rings. The rotor body gets heated instantaneously.

Alarm stage can be set at 50% of continuous withstand capability of the machine with a time delay of 3 to 5 Sec.

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
7. BACKUP IMPEDANCE PROTECTION (21G):-

This operates for phase faults in the unit, in the HV yard or in the adjacent transmission lines, with a suitable
time delay. It operates as a backup when the corresponding main protection fails. In A.P. System the reach is set
as 120% of generator transformer with a time delay of about 1.0 to 1.5 Sec.

Under the protection, voltage and current both inputs are given to the relay. By monitoring the voltage and
current inputs, impedance is calculated by the relay. When the impedance value goes below the set value, it will
operate and isolate the system.

Z=V/I, Here, Z= Impedance of the protection zone, V=Input voltage, I= input current
• During an internal fault condition, the current will be increased and the voltage also dropped. Under the
condition, the calculated impedance value is found below the set impedance value in the relay and the relay will
operate under the protection.

• Voltage input is necessary for backup impedance protection. During the fuse fail condition, the voltage goes zero
to the relay and the relay will operate. To prevent the situation, the fuse failure block function is used in the
relay.

• Impedance protection is not as sensitive as differential or REF protection in transformer and Reactor. As a
backup of the differential and REF protection, it is used to protect the Generator, Transformer & Reactor in
Power System.
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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
8. OVER FLUXING PROTECTION V/F (24):
It is basically a relay which measures v/f of the generator and transformers. As modern power transformers are
designed to operate at very near saturation flux levels under normal operating conditions, any increase in the
voltage or decrease in the frequency, results in the saturation of the core and the additional flux tries to find its
fault through core bolts damaging the core bolt insulation. To prevent this, over fluxing relay is used.
Over Fluxing relay is used to protect the generator against overheating and the winding insulation failure.

Induced EMF of Alternator,

Eph = 4.44 Kc Kd f ΦTph volts

Hence ,

Flux Φ directly proportional to

EMF and inversely to Frequency.

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
9. LOW FORWARD POWER RELAY (37G):-
Low Forward Power means the output of Generator is sufficiently reduced. When the machine is generating and
the CB connecting the generator to the system is tripped, the electrical load on the generator is cut, the machine
enters to motoring conditions drawing power from the system. This could lead to generator over-speed if
the mechanical input power is not reduced quickly. Trapped steam in the turbine, downstream of a valve that has
just closed, can rapidly lead to over speed.
This protection detects low forward power conditions of the generator and trips generator breaker after a time
delay, avoiding motoring of generator.

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
10. REVERSE POWER RELAY (32G):-

When the input to the turbine is interrupted the machine enters into motoring condition drawing power from the
system. Under the failure of prime mover, due to motoring of turbine windage loss will be more in turbine
blades as there is no steam to cool it down. Thus it will lead to damage of turbine. In thermal machines, reverse
power condition appears subsequent to low forward power condition. For reverse power relay, a setting of
0.5% of rated active power of generator with 2 stage timer as given below.

Stage – I : - With turbine trip interlock, a time delay of 2 Sec. shall be adopted.

Stage –II:- Without ‘ turbine trip’ interlock, a time delay of about 20 Sec. can be adopted to avoid
unnecessary tripping of unit during system disturbance causing sudden rise in frequency or power swing
conditions

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
11. INADVERTENT ENERGISING or DEAD MACHINE PROTECTION (27/50)

Dead Machine Protection in a Generator is provided to ensure that Generator is not energized accidentally in
standstill condition or when the Generator is on Turning Gear. Accidental energization of Generator when the
machine is not running can cause severe damage to the machine.

Suppose the Breaker is closed when the Generator is at standstill condition, the Generator will behave as an
Induction Motor with surface of rotor core and rotor winding slot wedges acting as rotor current carrying
conductors.

This abnormal current in the rotor can cause arcing between the components like slot wedge to core leading to
rapid overheating and damage.

Generally, the time to damage the generator stator from the high in-rush currents received during energizing at
standstill is in the order of a few seconds.

The bearing, however, may be damaged more quickly due to the lack of oil pressure. Thus it is very important to
provide a fast and reliable protection to protect Generator from accidental energization at standstill condition.

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
12. OUT-OF-STEP PROTECTION OR POLE SLIP(78G):
This condition occurs when the machine is subjected to severe system disturbances involving rapid change of
voltage and frequency. If the generator goes out of synchronism for more than preset time, these relays will
disconnect the machine from the system.
Under normal condition the generator is synchronized with grid. But during some extreme fault condition such as
heavy line fault, lightning impulse, switching transient etc. the heavy transient torque may be subjected to the
generator winding. Due to that the generator may loss its synchronism and Pole slipping occurs.
Pole slipping is nothing but a generator’s rotor produces weak magnetic field or low excitation for the given
input or the physical slip occurs in the rotor’s shaft.
During normal operations of a generator, the output of electric power from the generator produces an electric
torque that balances the mechanical torque applied to the generator rotor shaft. The generator rotor therefore runs
at a constant speed with this balance of electric and mechanical torques. Under fault condition, the fault reduces
the amount of power transmission, the electric torque that counters the mechanical torque is also decreased. If the
mechanical power is not reduced during the period of the fault, the generator rotor will accelerate with a net
surplus of torque input. This mismatching of torques causes large separation of generator rotor angles, large
swings of power flows, large fluctuations of voltages and currents, and eventually lead to a loss of synchronism
between groups of generators or between neighboring utility systems

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
13. GENERATOR UNDER FREQUENCY PROTECTION (81 G):

The Under Frequency protection prevents the steam turbine and generator from exceeding the permissible
operating time at reduced frequencies. It ensures that the generating unit is separated from the network at a preset
value of frequency. It Prevents over fluxing (v/f) of the generator (large over fluxing for short times).The stator
under frequency relay measures the frequency of the stator terminal voltage.

Setting Recommendations:-
For Alarm : 48.0 Hz, 2.0 Sec. time delay.
For Trip : 47.5 Hz, 1.0 Sec. (or)
As recommended by Generator Manufacturers.

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FOR AN ABNORMAL RUNNING CONDITION:
14. GENERATOR OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION (59 G):
An over voltage on the terminals of the generator can damage the insulator of the generator, bus ducting,
breakers, generator transformer and auxiliary equipment. Hence over voltage protection should be provided for
machines of all sizes.
Over voltage protection is used to protect the synchronous Generator/transformer/alternator form high voltage.
Generally, overvoltage occurs due to sudden load through off, elevated grid synchronized voltage, AVR
malfunctioning, power transformer taps changer failure, lightning strike on the transmission line, turbine over
speed etc. the power system must be isolated when the system voltage high.
Severe overvoltage causes the winding or electrical insulation failure, over fluxing (u/f), transformer’s core
saturation etc. The over voltage protection can be considered as a backup to the Volts-per-Hertz protection (Over
fluxing).

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 THANKS

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