RESEARCH DESIGNS AND STANDARDS

ORGANISATIONS (RDSO)
MANAK NAGAR LUCKNOW - 226012

GOVT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

ON
SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION

SUBMITTED BY
PRADEEP KUMAR
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
SRMCEM, LUCKNOW

ACKNOWLEGEMENT
It is a pleasure to present this report on Electric Locomotives, Energy Management,
MRVC, Traction Installation which I had compiled during my training in RDSO, Lucknow.
There are many persons whom I would like to thank. Following in the list are Mr. (EDSE),
Mr. (Director/EM), Mr. (Director/DTI), Mr. (Joint Director/MRVC), Mr. (Joint
Director/Electric Loco), Mr. (ADE) who provided me with valuable knowledge during my
training period. I am also thankful to Mr., our training in charge for is co -operation
throughout my presence in the organization. He was very helpful & supportive throughout
my training and also helped me in preparing this report. Without the help of these
persons I would have never been able to complete this report successfully.

PRADEEP KUMAR
B. Tech. Electrical Engineering
3rd Year
SRMCEM, LUCKNOW

Introduction
The first railways in India were built in 1853 and their subsequent continent-wide
development saw the appearance of various private railway companies and state-owned
railway systems. To enforce standardization and coordination between these sometimesdisparate systems, the Central Standard Office (CSO) was established in 1930 to prepare
designs, standards and specifications. However, before Indian independence in 1947, most
of the design and manufacturing of rolling stock and infrastructure was entrusted to foreign
consultants. With the subsequent phenomenal increase in the nation's industrial and
economic activity and rising demand for railway transport, a new organization called the
Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC) was set up in1952 at Lucknow to test
and conduct applied research for development of railway rolling stock, permanent way etc.
In 1957, the CSO and RTRC were integrated as the Research Design and Standards
Organization (RDSO) under the Ministry of Railways at Lucknow.
Functions:
RDSO is the sole R&D organization of Indian Railways and functions as the technical
advisor and consultant to the Indian Railway Board, regional railways and rolling
stock works. Basically, its activities involve:
Development of new and improved designs.
Development and adoption of new technologies for use on Indian Railways.
Development of standards for materials and products especially needed by Indian
Railways.
Technical investigation, statutory clearance, testing and provision of consulting services.
Inspection of critical and safety items for rolling stock, locomotives, signals,
telecommunications equipment, and track RDSO also offers international consultancy
services on design, testing and inspection of railway equipment as well as surveys for
construction of new lines. Consultancy services have been provided to various countries
such as Iraq, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Zambia, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, etc.

ELECTRIC TRACTION
D.C TRACTION:
150V,DC Overhead current collection
750V, DC Third rail current collection
A.C TRACTION:
1-phase 25kV 50Hz Overhead current collection
2X25kV 50Hz Overhead current collection
A.C Traction Power Supply
General Manufacturer
The Single Phase 50Hz Power Supply for Railway Traction at 25kV is obtained from
220/132/110/100/66/22kV Three Phase Grid System through a Step Down/ Step Up Single
Phase Power Transformer, the Primary Winding of which is connected to two of the phase
of the Three Phase effectively Earthed Transmission line network of the State Electricity
Board. The Primary Voltage of the Traction Transformer being 220kV or 132kV or 110kV or
100kV or 66kV or 22kV and no load secondary voltage being 27kV. In order to reduce the
imbalance on the Three-Phase Grid System, the Two Phases of the Three Phase
Transmission Line are tapped in a cyclic order for feeding the successive traction substations (TSS). The distance between adjacent TSS is normally between 50km and 80km
depending upon density of traffic, gradients in the sections and other factors.
One Terminal of the 25 kV secondary winding of the Traction Transformer is connected to
the OHE through Circuit Breaker/Interrupters and the other Terminal is solidly earthed and
connected to the appropriate traction rail(s).The current flows through the OHE, to the
locomotives and returns through the rails and earth to the TSS .In sections where booster
transformers and return conductors are provided the current returns through booster
transformers; the traction rail(s)and partly through earth in the vicinity of TSS.
Approximately midway between two TSS a dead zone known as Neutral Section or Phase
break is provided separate the two sections of OHE fed by different phases. The power fed
to the OHE on one side of the TSS is controlled by feeder Circuit Breakers while the power
fed to the OHE of each track is controlled by an interrupter. In case of a fault on the OHE,
the feeder Circuit Breaker trips to isolate the faulty OHE.

It is the department of Electricity-TRD which maintains power supply system in Railway

electrification. It maintains system by receiving EHV/direct 25kV from State Electricity Board
and supply 25kV continuously to OHE (over head equipments) under control without any
interruption. Department maintains following posts:
Power Supply Installation
TRACTION SUBSTATION (T.S.S) - Incoming from state electricity board
(220/132/110/66kV) outgoing 25kV to OHE.
FEEDING POST (F.P) - Incoming from State Electricity Board or T.S.S for
distribution of 25kV to OHE.

 SECTIONING AND PARALLELING POST (S.P) Prevents phase

unbalancing, wrong phase couplings and feed exemption when adjacent
feeding system fails.
SUBSECTIONING AND PARALLELING POST (S.S.P) Helps us for fault
location and opportunities to maintain short sections.
Continuity of power supply:
EHV of double circuit transmission.
In each TSS two traction transformers are installed. One is in service and
other is 100% standby.
Voltage Regulation:
The permissible voltage regulation of the bus bar of a grid substation is +10% to -5%
between 27,500V to 23,750V. The tapping on the transformer are on the secondary winding
and are set to ensure that the voltage is maintained as high as possible but not exceeding
27,500V at the feeding post at any time.
Feeding and sectioning arrangement:
1) Generation and transmission generally adopted in case of single phase traction load
causes unbalance of supply system which affect the generation supply authorities
and other equipment consumers. Permissible voltage unbalance - 5% instantaneous,
3% 2hrs, 2% continuous.
2) To avoid unbalance of the three phase grid system power for a.c 1- phase traction is
tapped off the grid system across the different places at adjacent substation in cyclic
order.
3) Provision of S.S.P For rapid isolation of the power supply to OHE controlled by
interrupters on both sides called subsector situated between S.P at an interval 10 to
15 km.
4) Provision of neutral section at S.P to separate the phases supplied by adjacent
T.S.S between them.
Earthing
The earthing of British Railways traction equipment conforms to the recommendations of
British Standard Code of Practice C.P. 1013, 1965, the Electricity Council's Engineering
Recommendations S511 and the Institution of Electrical Engineers' Regulations. The key
parameter is to hold the potential of exposed metal to a value not exceeding 25 volts under
normal operating conditions or 430 volts under traction system fault conditions, measured
to the general mass of the earth. It is normally not necessary to use driven earth rods, as
the foundations of the overhead line structures connected in parallel by means of the
traction return current rail of the track, keep the earth resistance to an acceptable level.
Each overhead line supporting structure is generally directly bonded to the traction return
rail of the adjacent track by stranded aluminum conductor sheathed with PVC. As the
structure foundations vary in depth from two to three meters, they are little affected by

changing weather conditions; the resistance of a single footing does not exceed 20 ohms
and is normally much less. When interconnected they provide a very satisfactory distributed
earthing system having an overall resistance to earth of 1 ohm or less.
SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF TRACTION POWER FEEDING

TYPES OF TRANSFOERMERS USED IN TRD DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

1. POWER TRANSFORMERS:
Two phases are connected in primary. Secondary windings two ends are connected in between
OHE and earth to rail to allow the return current back to T.S.S transformer.
(Ratings - 10 MVA, 12.5 MVA, 13.5 MVA, 20 MVA, 21.6 MVA, 30 MVA).
2. POWER TRANSFORMER 2X25kV :
a) Scott Connection SEB supply in primary and 50kV in between main and teaser with
midpoint in rail. Two ends of each winding, one in OHE and one in feeder. 90 degree
phase difference is maintained between windings.
b) V Connection- 3 single phase transformer. Primary with SEB supply and secondary
50kV from each transformer, mid-point in rail. Alternate two phase in each primary.
Secondary two end of winding one in OHE and one in feeder. Two transformers in
service and feeding each side of N/S in front of T.S.S and any one transformer always
is switched off condition among three. Phase difference is 120 degree.
3. AUXILLARY TRANSFORMER:
It is a single phase step down transformer to reduce OHE 25kV to 230V for the use
of
lightening battery charging, filtration, signaling etc. It has a rating 10 KVA or 100 KVA. Primary
winding is connected between OHE and earth.
4. POTENTIAL TRANSFORMER:
It is a step down transformer which reduces voltage in secondary for the use of relays,
voltmeter and indication. The primary winding is connected between bus bar (phase) and
earth. (Ratings- 30/100V. Voltage ratio- 25kV / 100V or 25kV /110V)
5. CURRENT TRANSFORMER:
Basically it is a step up transformer which reduces the current in secondary for the use of relay
and ammeter. Its rating is small 30VA/60VA.The primary winding is connected in series with
the bus bar and secondary winding two ends taken out for relays and ammeter. Generally the
output is 5A at full load.

PROTECTION SCHEMES
POWER TRANSFORMER
1) Pressure relief devices- (Alarm/ trip) When the internal pressure increases beyond the
present value of PRD it operates. This may also happen if the breather connection is
choked.
2) Differential Relay- This relay detects the internal defects by comparing the input current
and the output current of the transformer. If it functions simultaneously it indicates internal
fault. It may also work due to inrush current when transformer is energized.
3) OCR and EFR- These are intended for detecting fault in power system associated for
detecting transformer. A fault in the transformer results in operation of these relays this is
accompanied by the actuation of protective devices of the transformer. Identification of fault
should therefore be made on the basis of through analysis. The combined over current
and earth-fault relay is a secondary relay to be connected to the current transformers of
the protected object. The three-phase over current unit and the earth-fault unit
continuously measure the phase currents and the neutral current of the protected
object. On detection of a fault the relay starts, trips the circuit breaker, initiates autoreclosing, provides alarm, records fault data etc. in accordance with the application and
the configured relay functions. When the phase current exceeds the set start current of
the low-set stage I>, the overcurrent unit starts delivering a start signal after a preset
~60 ms start time. When the set operate time at definite time operation or the
calculated operate time at inverse time operation elapses, the over current unit

operates. In the same way the high-set stage I>> of the over current unit starts
delivering a start signal after a preset ~40 ms start time, when the set start current is
exceeded. When the set operate time elapses, the over current unit operates. When
the earth-fault current exceeds the set start current of the low-set stage Io>, the earthfault unit starts delivering a start signal after a preset ~60 ms start time. When the set
operate time at definite time operation or the calculated operate time at inverse time
operation elapses, the earth-fault unit operates. In the same way the high-set stage
Io>> of the earth-fault unit starts delivering a start signal after a preset ~40 ms start
time, when the set start current is exceeded. When the set operate time elapses, the
earth-fault unit operates. The low-set stage of the over current unit and the low-set
stage of the earth-fault unit may be given definite time or inverse definite minimum time
(IDMT) characteristic.
4) Buchholz Relay- It is also a protection relay of the transformer. The term "buchholz"
protection denotes the gas-sampling device and relay for gas fault detection and storage for
analysis. The relay shall comprise two thresholds as follow:
- Alarm in case of minor fault such as local overheating of windings or core (small gas
discharge),
- Tripping-out in case of major fault (violent gas discharge) and excessive oil leakage.
Both transformer and load-tap changer oil circuits shall be equipped with "buchholz" protection.
The relay is placed between the conservator tank and the transformer tank. In normal
conditions the relay is filled with oil and the contact point of mercury switch is opened. When the
oil level falls below the permissible level due to either leakage of oil or collection of abnormal
gas at the top of the oil level then the switch gets closed and an alarm circuit operates. It may
also happen when a heavy internal fault like earth fault or short circuit occurs in the system, it
increases the temperature of oil because of which it expands and rushes quickly which
operates the lower mercury switch and sends a trip signal.
5) Oil level indicator/relay.
6) Oil temperature indicator/relay.
7) Winding temperature indicator relay.
8) Human sense: Discoloration or odor in insulating oil can be sensed. If pieces of insulating
material or copper are found in the oil an internal fault can be suspected. Abnormal noise or
vibration can be sensed.
AUXILLARY TRANSFORMER
These are protected only by a 25A dropout fuse on the primary side and a 63A fuse on
secondary side.
POTENTIAL TRANSFORMER
Apart from lightening surges and overheating caused due to too many relays and meters
exceeding its rated burden, a PT may get destroyed due to what is called Ferro- resonance.
This may occur when the only path to ground on a 3- phase ungrounded system or a single
phase grounded system is through the PT, and the magnetizing reactance of the PT happens to
be of such value as to resonate with the line capacitance either at power frequency or
submultiples of it. Under this condition which is certainly unusual, the PT will be subject to a
voltage far excess of its nominal value and it burns out. Another possible case for the burnout
may be due to discharge of the energy stored in the line capacitance. If switching operation first
transfers all loads to another line and then the line itself is disconnected from the source leaving
only the PT in the line circuit through which the energy stored has to be discharged, the current
flow which is then limited by DC resistance of the PT may be far in excess of its normal current.
To guard against this both primary and secondary are protected through fuses.

LIGHTENING ARRESTOR

A lightning arrester is a device used on electrical power systems and telecommunications

systems to protect the insulation and conductors of the system from the damaging effects of
lightning. The typical lightning arrester has a high-voltage terminal and a ground terminal.
When a lightning surge (or switching surge, which is very similar) travels along the power
line to the arrester, the current from the surge is diverted through the arrestor, in most
cases to earth.
Types of lightening arrestors:
1) Rod gap type: The simplest form of diverter is a plain air gap usually between square
rods. Bent at right angles at the end connection between line and earth. The rod gap
should break down 20% below the impulse spark over voltage of the insulation at the
point where it is installed. The rod gap is very cheap and simple device.

ROD GAP TYPE LIGHTENING ARRESTER

1.
2.
3.
4.

LIMITATIONS
After the surge is over, the arc in the gap is maintained by the normal supply voltage,
leading to short-circuit on the system.
The rods may melt or get damaged due to excessive heat produced by the arc.
The climatic conditions (e.g. rain, humidity, temperature etc.) affect the performance of
rod gap arrester.
The polarity of the surge also affects the performance of this arrester.

Due to the above limitations, the rod gap arrester is only used as a back-up protection in
case of main arresters.
2) Horn gap type: Fig shows the horn gap arrester. It consists of a horn shaped metal
rods A and B separated by a small air gap. The horns are so constructed that distance
between them gradually increases towards the top as shown. The horns are mounted
on porcelain insulators. One end of horn is connected to the line through a resistance
and choke coil L while the other end is effectively grounded.
The resistance R helps in limiting the follow current to a small value. The choke coil is
so designed that it offers small reactance at normal power frequency but a very high
reactance at transient frequency. Thus the choke does not allow the transients to enter the
apparatus to be protected.
The gap between the horns is so adjusted that normal supply voltage is not enough to
cause an arc across the gap.

TYPICAL HORN GAP ARRESTER

Under normal conditions, the gap is non-conducting i.e. normal supply voltage is insufficient
to initiate the arc between the gap. On the occurrence of an over voltage, spark-over takes
place across the small gap G. The heated air around the arc and the magnetic effect of the
arc cause the arc to travel up the gap. The arc moves progressively into positions 1, 2 and
3.
At some position of the arc (position 3), the distance may be too great for the voltage to
maintain the arc; consequently, the arc is extinguished. The excess charge on the line is
thus conducted through the arrester to the ground.
3) Pellet type (non linear series gap): In this type of arrestor small pellets or pills of lead
peroxide of diameter are used. These lead oxide pills are coated with litharge and
are placed in a porcelain tubes having metal electrodes at each end. The litharge film
functions as a porous spacer. When a spark occurs over the film due to huge surge
voltage, it punctures the film which again comes to its original position after discharge
and becomes ready for its next operation. These are suitable for up to 73kV.
4) Magne valve type (Thyrite): These types contain a number of discs of inorganic ceramic
compounds. These discs are placed in series having some gaps in between them and
are sealed in a porcelain tube. Thyrite is a material obtained by a special type of clay
mixed with carborundum (Silicon Carbide). Thyrite is used widely in lightning
arresters. Thyrite is a non-linear resistor. i.e. it has high resistance at low voltages and
low resistance at high voltages. A two times increase in voltage causes the current to
increase by nearly 12 times. Hence, heavy currents can be discharged during voltage
strikes and other surges. The Thyrite arresters are usually arranged in parallel with the
primary winding of the Transformer. Fig shows the various parts of a valve type arrester.
It consists of two assemblies (i) series spark gaps and (ii) non-linear resistor discs in
series. The non-linear elements are connected in series with the spark gaps. Both the
assemblies are accommodated in tight porcelain container.
The spark gap is a multiple assembly consisting of a number of identical spark gaps in
series. Each gap consists of two electrodes with fixed gap spacing. The voltage distribution
across the gap is line raised by means of additional resistance elements called grading
resistors across the gap. The spacing of the series gaps is such that it will withstand the
normal circuit voltage. However an over voltage will cause the gap to break down causing
the surge current to ground via the non-linear resistors.
The non-linear resistor discs are made of inorganic compound such as thyrite or metrosil.
These discs are connected in series. The non-linear resistors have the property of offering
a high resistance to current flow when normal system voltage is applied, but a low
resistance to the flow of high surge currents. In other words, the resistance of these nonlinear elements decreases with the increase in current through them and vice-versa.

NON- LINEAR RESISTOR DISCS

5) Expulsion type: This type of arrester is also called protector tube and is commonly
used on system operating at voltages up to 33kV. Fig below shows the essential parts of
an expulsion type lightning arrester. It essentially consists of a rod gap AA in series with
a second gap enclosed within the fiber tube. The gap in the fiber tube is formed by two
electrodes. The upper electrode is connected to rod gap and the lower electrode to the
earth. One expulsion arrester is placed under each line conductor.

EXPULSION TYPE LIGHTENING ARRESTOR

On the occurrence of an over voltage on the line, the series gap AA spanned and an
arc is stuck between the electrodes in the tube. The heat of the arc vaporizes some of the
fiber of tube walls resulting in the production of neutral gas. In an extremely short time, the
gas builds up high pressure and is expelled through the lower electrode, which is hollow. As
the gas leaves the tube violently it carries away ionized air around the arc.
This de-ionizing effect is generally so strong that the arc goes out at a current zero and will
not be re-established.
Advantages
1. They are not very expensive.
2. They are improved form of rod gap arresters as they block the flow of power frequency
follow currents.
3. They can be easily installed.

Limitations
1. An expulsion type arrester can perform only limited number of operations as during each
operation some of the fiber material is used up.
2. This type of arrester cannot be mounted on enclosed equipment due to discharge of
gases during operation.
3. Due to the poor volt/am characteristic of the arrester, it is not suitable for protection of
expensive equipment.
6) Metal oxide arrester: The MOV arrester is the arrester usually installed today. The
metal oxide arresters are without gaps, unlike the SIC arrester. This gap-less design
eliminates the high heat associated with the arcing discharges. The MOV arrester has
two-voltage rating: duty cycle and maximum continuous operating voltage, unlike the
silicon carbide that just has the duty cycle rating. A metal-oxide surge arrester utilizing
zinc-oxide blocks provides the best performance, as surge voltage conduction starts and
stops promptly at a precise voltage level, thereby improving system protection. Failure is
reduced, as there is no air gap contamination possibility; but there is always a small
value of leakage current present at operating frequency.
It is important for the test personnel to be aware that when a metal oxide arrester is
disconnected from an energized line a small amount of static charge can be retained by
the arrester. As a safety precaution, the tester should install a temporary ground to
discharge any stored energy.
Duty cycle rating: The silicon carbide and MOV arrester have a duty cycle rating in KV,
which is determined by duty cycle testing. Duty cycle testing of an arrester is performed
by subjecting an arrester to an AC rms voltage equal to its rating for 24 minutes. During
which the arrester must be able to withstand lightning surges at 1-minute intervals.
Maximum continuous operating voltage rating: The MCOV rating is usually 80 to
90% of the duty cycle rating.
RATINGS OF LIGHTENING ARRESTOR
1) EHV 132kV- 120kV, 10kA
Phase to phase voltage- RY, YB, RB =132kV
Phase to neutral voltage- 132/1.732 kV (rms)
10% allowance of peak voltage is taken as LA rating= (1.1*1.414*132)/1.732=120kV
2) OHE 27.5kV- 42kV,10kA
Phase to earth voltage= 27.5kV (rms)
Peak value=27.5*1.414=38.5kV
10% allowance given to peak value is taken as LA rating=38.5*1.1=42kV

Distance from transformer bushing terminalFor 132kV=42 meters

For 25kV=13 meters
CIRCUIT BREAKER
A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an
electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit. Its basic function is to
detect a fault condition and interrupt current flow. Unlike a fuse, which operates once and
then must be replaced, a circuit breaker can be reset (either manually or automatically) to
resume normal operation.
Types of circuit breakers used in traction systema) 220/132/110/66 kV Double pole:
-Minimum oil type
-SF6 type
b) 25kV Single pole:
-Minimum oil type
-SF6 type
-Vacuum type
MINIMUM OIL TYPE:

This type is also known as poor oil or small oil circuit breaker. In the bulk oil circuit
breakers, the oil serves as both arcs extinguishing medium and main insulation. The
minimum oil circuit breakers were developed to reduce the oil volume only to amount
needed for extinguishing the arc - about 10% of bulk oil amount. In MOCB, The current
interruption takes place inside "interrupter". The enclosure of the interrupter is made of
insulating material, like porcelain. Hence, the clearance between the line and the enclosure
can be reduced and lesser quantity of oil would be required for internal insulation. The
interrupter containers of the minimum oil circuit breakers are insulated from the ground.
This is usually referred to as live tank construction. For high voltage (above 132 KV), the
interrupter are arranged in series. There are two chambers separated from each other but
both are filled with oil. The upper chamber is the arc extinction chamber. The oil from this
chamber does not mix with that in the lower chamber. Lower chamber acts like a dielectric
support. Arc extinction device is fitted to the upper fixed contact. The lower fixed contact is
ring shaped. A resin bounded fiber glass cylinder encloses the contact assembly. This
cylinder is also filled with oil. Porcelain cylinder encloses the fiber glass cylinder. The most
important part of the breaker is its extinguishing chamber. This takes the form of an
insulating cylinder containing oil, in the exits of which moves the contact rod within which
breaking occurs.

Working model of minimum oil circuit breaker

The arcing chamber is supported at its base by a casing enclosing a mechanism whose
function is to move the contact rod according to the impulses given by the control
mechanism. In the on position, the current flows from the upper current terminal (1) to the
contact finger (2) follows the movable contact rod (7) and reach the current terminal (10)
across the lower contact fingers (8). At the beginning of the stroke and before breaking, the
contact rod strongly pulled downwards by the tripping springs, starts a high speed opening
motion. Then, an arc strikes between the contact rod tips (6) and the stationary arcing ring
(3), protecting the upper contact fingers.
At this moment gases escape without hindrance towards top of the apparatus, the
contact rod rapidly reaches a very high linear speed; it moves the arc downwards and
forces it to enter the explosion pot (5) where it is maintained rectilinear and is elongated in a

direction opposite to the release of gases towards fresh oil. Since the arc is as short as
possible the arc voltage is minimized and the energy dissipated is reduced. Still, since the
gases can no longer develop freely, they generate a considerable pressure in the explosion
pot (5), thus producing a violent upward axial blast of oil vapor, exhausting the highly
ionized gaseous mass. The optimum distance is thus obtained, the jet of oil causes the
dielectric strength to be rapidly increased, and at the following current zero, the arc is
impeded from restricting and the breaking is thus achieved. The explosion pot (5) is
intended to withstand high pressures. It is partitioned into several components by means of
discs whose function is to retain a certain quantity if fresh oil while the first break is
proceeding; this allows a second break to occur with complete safety at the full short circuit
breaker.
VACUUM TYPE CIRCUIT BREAKER: A vacuum circuit breaker is such kind of circuit
breaker where the arc quenching takes place in vacuum. The operation of opening and
closing of current carrying contacts and associated arc interruption take place in a vacuum
chamber in the breaker which is called vacuum interrupter. The vacuum interrupter consists
of a steel arc chamber in the centre symmetrically arranged ceramic insulators. The
vacuum pressure inside a vacuum interrupter is normally maintained at 10 - 6 bar. CuCr is
the most ideal material to make VCB contacts. Fig-A shows a vacuum interrupter.

The dielectric strength of vacuum is eight times greater than that of air and four times
greater than that of SF6 gas. This high dielectric strength makes it possible to quench a
vacuum arc within very small contact gap. When two face to face contact areas are just
being separated to each other, they do not be separated instantly, contact area on the
contact face is being reduced and ultimately comes to a point and then they are finally detouched. Although this happens in a fraction of micro second but it is the fact. At this instant
of de-touching of contacts in a vacuum, the current through the contacts concentrated on
that last contact point on the contact surface and makes a hot spot. As it is vacuum, the
metal on the contact surface is easily vaporized due to that hot spot and create a

conducting media for arc path. Then the arc will be initiated and continued until the next
current zero. At current zero this vacuum arc is extinguished and the conducting metal
vapor is re-condensed on the contact surface. At this point, the contacts are already
separated hence there is no question of re-vaporization of contact surface, for next cycle of
current. That means, the arc cannot be reestablished again. In this way vacuum circuit
breaker prevents the reestablishment of arc by producing high dielectric strength in the
contact gap after current zero.

SF6 GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER: A circuit breaker in which the current carrying contacts
operate in sulphur hexafluoride or SF6 gas is known as an SF6 circuit breaker. SF6 has
excellent insulating property. SF6 has high electro-negativity. That means it has high affinity
of absorbing free electron. The attachment of electron with SF6 gas molecules may occur in
two different ways:

These negative ions obviously much heavier than a free electron and therefore over all
mobility of the charged particle in the SF6 gas is much less as compared other common
gases.
The working of SF6 circuit breaker is little bit different in modern time. Innovation of puffer
type design makes operation of SF6 CB much easier. In buffer type design, the arc energy
is utilized to develop pressure in the arcing chamber for arc quenching. During opening of
the breaker the cylinder moves downwards against position of the fixed piston hence the
volume inside the cylinder is reduced which produces compressed SF 6 gas inside the
cylinder. The cylinder has numbers of side vents which were blocked by upper fixed contact
body during closed position. As the cylinder move further downwards, these vent openings
cross the upper fixed contact, and become unblocked and then compressed SF 6 gas inside
the cylinder will come out through this vents in high speed towards the arc and passes
through the axial hole of the both fixed contacts. The arc is quenched during this flow of SF 6
gas.

During closing of the circuit breaker the sliding cylinder moves upwards and as the position
of piston remains at fixed height, the volume of the cylinder increases which introduces low
pressure inside the cylinder compared to the surrounding. Due to this pressure difference
SF6 gas from surrounding will try to enter in the cylinder. The higher pressure gas will come
through the axial hole of both fixed contact and enters into cylinder via vent and during this
flow; the gas will quench the arc.
PROTECTION RELAYS
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to
mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solidstate relays. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal
(with complete electrical isolation between control and controlled circuits), or where several
circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first relays were used in long distance
telegraph circuits as amplifiers.
In traction distribution relay is engaged between power circuit and circuit breaker, which
acts automatically and opens circuit breaker when there is any fault.
Types of relay:
1. Electrical relay.
2. Mechanical relay.
ELECTRICAL RELAYS

Voltage relay

Current relay

1. Over voltage relay

2. Low or no- voltage relay
3. Voltage difference relay

1. Over current relay

2. Current differential relay

MECHANICAL RELAYS

Circulation

Pressure

Thermal

Speed

Relay

Relay

Relay

Relay

PROTECTION RELAY IN TSS

1. Transformer Protection Relay
a) HIGH VOLTAGE SIDE RELAY:

(i) Instantaneous Over current relay (Define Current): Definite current relay operate
instantaneously when the current reaches a predetermined value.

Operates in a definite time when current exceeds its Pick-up value.

Its operation criterion is only current magnitude (without time delay).
Operating time is constant.
There is no intentional time delay.
Coordination of definite-current relays is based on the fact that the fault current
varies with the position of the fault because of the difference in the impedance
between the fault and the source.
The relay located furthest from the source operates for a low current value.
The operating currents are progressively increased for the other relays when moving
towards the source.
It operates in 0.1s or less.

(ii) Inverse Time Over current Relays (IDMT Relay)

In this type of relays, operating time is inversely changed with current. So, high current will
operate over current relay faster than lower ones. There are standard inverse, very inverse
and extremely inverse types.
Discrimination by both Time and Current. The relay operation time is inversely
proportional to the fault current.
Inverse Time relays are also referred to as Inverse Definite Minimum Time (IDMT) relay.

Inverse Definite Minimum Time (IDMT)

The operating time of an over current relay can be moved up (made slower) by adjusting
the time dial setting. The lowest time dial setting (fastest operating time) is generally 0.5
and the slowest is 10.

Operates when current exceeds its pick-up value.

Operating time depends on the magnitude of current.
It gives inverse time current characteristics at lower values of fault current and
definite time characteristics at higher values.
An inverse characteristic is obtained if the value of plug setting multiplier is below 10,
for values between 10 and 20 characteristics tend towards definite time
characteristics.
Widely used for the protection of distribution lines.

(iii) Restricted earth fault relay: During internal fault the neutral current transformer
only carries the unbalance fault current and operation of Restricted Earth Fault
Relay takes place.

Restricted earth fault protection is provided in electrical power transformer for sensing
internal earth fault of the transformer. In this scheme the CT secondary of each phase of
electrical power transformer are connected together as shown in the figure. Then common
terminals are connected to the secondary of a Neutral Current Transformer or NCT. The CT
or Current Transformer connected to the neutral of power transformer is called Neutral
Current Transformer or Neutral CT or simply NCT. Whenever there is an unbalancing in
between three phases of the power transformer, a resultant unbalance current flow through
the close path connected to the common terminals of the CT secondaries. An unbalance
current will also flow through the neutral of power transformer and hence there will be a
secondary current in Neutral CT because of this unbalance neutral current. In Restricted
Earth Fault scheme the common terminals of phase CTs are connected to the secondary of
Neutral CT in such a manner that secondary unbalance current of phase CTs and the
secondary current of Neutral CT will oppose each other. If these both electric currents are
equal in amplitude there will not be any resultant current circulate through the said close
path. The Restricted Earth Fault Relay is connected in this close path. Hence the relay will
not response even there is an unbalancing in phase current of the power transformer.
b) LOW VOLTAGE SIDE RELAY:
(i)
IDMT over current relay
(ii)
Restricted earth fault relay
c) DIFFERENTIAL RELAY (Bushing CTs Connected)
d) BUCHHOLZ RELAY
e) OTHER PROTECTON DEVICES:
(i)
Pressure release device
(ii)
Silica gel breather
(All relays send command to trip both HV and LV circuit breakers through ITR except IDMT
LV side which only trips LV circuit breaker)
2. OHE Protection relays:
(i)
Instantaneous over current relay
(ii)
Distance protection relay
(iii)
Wrong phase coupling relay
(iv)
Delta I relay
(v)
Panto flashover relay

25 kV DISTRIBUTION EQUIPMENT
The major item of distribution equipment is the 25 kV Switchgear and in the interests of
economy in first cost, ease of installation and minimization of maintenance, switchgear
incorporating vacuum interrupters is now standard on British Railways. The vacuum
interrupter shows marked improvements over the bulk nil type circuit breakers previously
used, not least in removing entirely the risk of fires and explosions inherent in the presence
of quantities of oil. The small contact travel and light weight of moving pans means also that
simple, very lightly stressed, operating mechanisms can be used with consequent savings
in auxiliary power supplies for operating purposes.
HV CIRCUIT BREAKER for Railway ac Traction Sub-Station

This Specification applies to Outdoor Type, Double Pole & Triple Pole SF6 Circuit Breakers
for use in Unattended / attended Railway Traction Sub Stations in any Part of India for
Controlling Power Supply to the 25kV ac 50 Hz Single Phase Traction Overhead Equipment
(OHE).
This Specification supersedes Specification as under:
(i)
TI/SPC/PSI/CB/0000 with A&C Slip 1-5-Outdoor Circuit Breaker
(ii)
ETI/PSI/116-220kV/132kV/110kV/66kV ac 50Hz double pole and triple pole
outdoor SF6 Circuit Breaker .This Specification apply for Primary Side 66kV
/100kV/110kV/132 kV / 220kV Two Pole / Three Pole SF6 Circuit Breaker.
Nature of Faults on the OHE
OHE is prone to frequent earth faults caused by failure of insulation or by snapping
and touching the rail/earth or by a piece of wire dropped by birds which connects the
OHE to earth at over line structures/supports or by miscreant activities.

The two sections of OHE fed by different phases are sometimes inadvertently
bridged causing wrong phase coupling.

Protection Scheme
The faults in the OHE are isolated by the feeder Circuit Breaker which Operates
through either one or more of the following relays:
(i) Distance mho relay.
(ii) Instantaneous over- current relay.
(iii) Wrong phase coupling relay and
(iv) High speed inter tripping relay
The faults in the traction transformer are isolated by one of the following relays:
(i) Differential relay
(ii) IDMT over current relays for the primary (HV) as well as for the secondary (LV) side.
(iii) Instantaneous earth leakage relays on the primary (HV) as well as for the secondary
(LV) side.
(iv) Auxiliary relays for transformer faults i.e. Buchholz, excessive winding and oil
temperature trip and alarm and low oil level alarm.
The faults in the shunt capacitor bank are isolated by one of the following relays:
(i) Over current relay
(ii) Over voltage relay
(iii) Under voltage relay
(iv) Neutral current relay
In the event of the 25kV feeder as well as transformer Circuit Breakers failing to operate
under fault conditions, the Circuit Breakers on the primary side of the transformer operates
to isolate the fault.
Short circuit level
The fault level for different grid supply voltages based on a
Three Phase symmetrical short circuit fault is between 1000
MVA and 10,000 MVA depending upon the proximity of the traction sub-station to the
generating station. The fault level for various system voltages in the Vicinity of traction
substation is as under:

ITEM

NOMINAL SYSTEM VOLTAGE(KV)

FAULT 66kV

100/110kV 132kV

220kV

MVA

6000

20,000

3500

10,000

Electrical parameters
OHE is made up of a stranded cadmium copper catenary of 66sq.mm cross section or
stranded aluminum alloy catenary of 116sqmm cross section and a grooved copper contact
wire of 107sq.mm cross section, making up a total of 150sq.mm copper equivalent. For 2 x
25 AT feeding system, as a feeder wire, a stranded aluminum alloy catenary of 240sq.mm
is used. The calculated OHE impedance value of AT feeding circuit (OHE: Al 116 or Cu 107
sq.mm & feeder wire: Al, 240sq.mm) for single track line is 0.0601 + J 0.1419 ohm/km (at
25kV system impedance). The OHE impedance values for conventional 25kV system are
generally taken as under:
Sno. Description

Impedance Values

1.

Single track OHE

without BT and
Return Conductor

0.41 < 70
ohm/km.

2.

Double Track OHE

without BT and
Return Conductor

0.24 < 70
ohm/km.

3.

Single Track OHE

with BT and
Return Conductor

0.70 < 70
ohm/km.

4.

Double Track OHE

with BT and
return conductor

0.70 < 70
ohm/km.

5.

Add
Booster
Transformer
impedance

@ 0.15 ohms per

Booster
Transformer
where these are
Provided.

6.

Percentage
impedance
Traction
Transformer

(12+/ -0.5)% for

21.6 MVA at
27kV.

of