A coordinated multi-element current differential protection scheme for active distribution systems

Nikolaidis, Vassilis C. and Michaloudis, George and Tsimtsios, Aristotelis M. and Tzelepis, Dimitrios and Booth, Campbell David (2022) A coordinated multi-element current differential protection scheme for active distribution systems. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 37 (5). pp. 4261-4271. ISSN 0885-8977 (https://doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2022.3148209)

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Abstract

This paper introduces a current differential protection scheme, appropriate for application in medium voltage active distribution systems, where it is desired to keep the greatest possible number of loads and DG units energized during a fault. Conventional two-terminal percentage current differential relays are used to form successive, time-current-coordinated, differential protection zones. Multiple time-delayed differential elements in each protection zone guarantee coordination with the zone’s lateral protection devices, as well as between successive differential protection zones. Sensitive time-delayed differential elements protect against relatively high-resistance faults, while instantaneous differential elements minimize protection speed whenever possible. Additional emergency differential elements deal with post-fault topology changes and breaker failure conditions enhancing the overall scheme's performance. The proposed scheme is applied to a model of real medium voltage distribution system with distributed generation, considering a ring topology operation. A detailed simulation-based study proves the applicability and enhanced performance of the proposed scheme.