Course: Introduction to Power

Engineering
Lecture No. 26

Course Instructors: Ms. Nisma Saleem

Power System
Protection
Protection of Transformers
22.6 Protection of Transformers

Transformers are static devices, totally enclosed and generally oil immersed. Therefore,
chances of faults occurring on them are very rare. However, the consequences of even a rare
fault may be very serious unless the transformer is quickly disconnected from the system. This
necessitates to provide adequate automatic protection for transformers against possible faults.
Small distribution transformers are usually connected to the supply system through series fuses
instead of circuit breakers. Consequently, no automatic protective relay equipment is required.
However, the probability of faults on power transformers is undoubtedly more and hence
automatic protection is absolutely necessary.
Common transformer faults. As compared with generators, in which many abnormal
conditions may arise, power transformers may suffer only from :
(i) open circuits
(ii) overheating
(iii) winding short-circuits e.g. earth-faults, phase-to-phase faults and inter-turn faults.
An open circuit in one phase of a 3-phase transformer may cause undesirable heating. In practice,
relay protection is not provided against open circuits because this condition is relatively harmless. On
the occurrence of such a fault, the transformer can be disconnected manually from the system.

Overheating of the transformer is usually caused by sustained overloads or short-circuits and

very occasionally by the failure of the cooling system. The relay protection is also not provided
against this contingency and thermal accessories are generally used to sound an alarm or control the
banks of fans.

Winding short-circuits (also called internal faults) on the transformer arise from deterioration of
winding insulation due to overheating or mechanical injury. When an internal fault occurs, the
transformer must be disconnected quickly from the system because a prolonged arc in the transformer
may cause oil fire. Therefore, relay protection is absolutely necessary for internal faults.
22.7 Protection Systems for Transformers
The principal relays and systems used for transformer protection are :

(i) Buchholz devices providing protection against all kinds of incipient faults i.e. slow-developing
faults such as insulation failure of windings, core heating, fall of oil level due to leaky joints etc.
(ii) Earth-fault relays providing protection against earth-faults only.
(iii) Overcurrent relays providing protection mainly against phase-to-phase faults and
overloading.
(iv) Differential system (or circulating-current system) providing protection against both earth
and phase faults.

The complete protection of transformer usually requires the combination of these systems.
Choice of a particular combination of systems may depend upon several factors such as
(a) size of the transformer
(b) type of cooling (c) location of transformer in the network (d) nature of load supplied and
(e) importance of service for which transformer is required. In the following sections, above
systems of protection will be discussed in detail.
 22.8 Buchholz Relay
Buchholz relay is a gas-actuated relay installed in oil immersed transformers for protection against all
kinds of faults. Named after its inventor, Buchholz, it is used to give an alarm
in case of incipient (i.e. slow-developing) faults in the transformer and to disconnect
the transformer from the supply in the event of severe internal faults. It is usually installed
in the pipe connecting the conservator to the main tank as shown in Fig. 22.11. It is a universal
practice to use Buchholz relays on all such oil immersed transformers
having ratings in excess of 750 kVA.
Construction. Fig. 22.12 shows the
constructional details of a Buchholz
relay. It takes the form of a domed
vessel placed in the connecting pipe
between the main tank and the
conservator. The device has two
elements. The upper element consists
of a mercury type switch attached to a
float. The lower element contains a
mercury switch mounted on a hinged
type flap located in the direct path of
the flow of oil from the transformer to
the conservator. The upper element
closes an alarm circuit during
incipient faults whereas the lower
element is arranged to trip the circuit
breaker in case of severe internal
faults.
Operation. The operation of Buchholz relay is as follows :

(i) In case of incipient faults within the transformer, the heat due to fault causes the
decomposition of some transformer oil in the main tank. The products of
decomposition contain more than 70% of hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas being light
tries to go into the conservator and in the process gets entrapped in the upper part
of relay chamber. When a predetermined amount of gas gets accumulated, it exerts
sufficient pressure on the float to cause it to tilt and close the contacts of mercury
switch attached to it. This completes the alarm circuit to sound an alarm.

(ii) If a serious fault occurs in the transformer, an enormous amount of gas is generated
in the main tank. The oil in the main tank rushes towards the conservator via the
Buchholz relay and in doing so tilts the flap to close the contacts of mercury switch.
This completes the trip circuit to open the circuit breaker controlling the transformer.
Advantages
(i) It is the simplest form of transformer protection.
(ii) It detects the incipient faults at a stage much earlier than is possible with other forms of
protection.
Disadvantages
(i) It can only be used with oil immersed transformers equipped with conservator tanks.
(ii) The device can detect only faults below oil level in the transformer. Therefore, separate
protection is needed for connecting cables.
22.9 Earth-Fault or Leakage Protection

An earth-fault usually involves a partial breakdown of winding insulation to earth. The

resulting leakage current is considerably less than the short-circuit current. The earth-fault may
continue for along time and cause considerable damage before it ultimately develops into a
short-circuit and removed from the system. Under these circumstances, it is profitable to
employ earth-fault relays in order to ensure the disconnection of earth-fault or leak in the early
stage. An earth-fault relay is essentially an overcurrent relay of low setting and operates as
soon as an earth-fault or leak develops. One method of protection against earth-faults in a
transformer is the core-balance leakage protection shown in Fig. 22.13.
The three leads of the primary winding of power transformer are taken through the core of a
current transformer which carries a single secondary winding. The operating coil
of a relay is connected to this secondary. Under normal conditions (i.e. no fault to earth),
the vector sum of the three phase currents is zero and there is no resultant flux in the core
of current transformer no matter how much the load is out of balance. Consequently, no
current flows through the relay and it remains inoperative. However, on the occurrence of an
earth-fault, the vector sum of three phase currents is no longer zero. The resultant current
sets up flux in the core of the C.T. which induces e.m.f. in the secondary winding. This
energises the relay to trip the circuit breaker
23.1 Busbar Protection

Busbars in the generating stations and sub-stations form important link between the
incoming and outgoing circuits. If a fault occurs on a busbar, considerable damage and
disruption of supply will occur unless some form of quick-acting automatic protection
is provided to isolate the faulty busbar.

Differential protection. The basic method for busbar protection is the differential
scheme in which currents entering and leaving the bus are totalised. During normal
load condition, the sum of these currents is equal to zero. When a fault occurs, the
fault current upsets the balance and produces a differential current to operate a relay.
23.2 Protection of Lines

The probability of faults occurring on the lines is much more due to their greater length and
exposure to atmospheric conditions. This has called for many protective schemes which have
no application to the comparatively simple cases of alternators and transformers. The
requirements of line protection are :

(i) In the event of a short-circuit, the circuit breaker closest to the fault should open, all other
circuit breakers remaining in a closed position.

(ii) In case the nearest breaker to the fault fails to open, back-up protection should be
provided by the adjacent circuit breakers.

(iii) The relay operating time should be just as short as possible in order to preserve system
stability, without unnecessary tripping of circuits.
The common methods of line protection are :
(i) Time-graded overcurrent protection
(ii) Differential protection
(iii) Distance protection