OVERCURRENTRELAY

Therelayhastwosettings.Thesearethetime
settingandtheplugsetting.Thetimesetting
decidestheoperatingtimeoftherelaywhile
theplugsettingdecidesthecurrentrequired
fortherelaytopickup.

The current setting of relay is expressed in percentage

ratio of relay pick up current to rated
secondary current ofCT.
Thatmeans,
Currentsetting=Pickupcurrent*100
RatedsecondarycurrentofCT
Forexample,suppose,wewantthat,an
over current relayshouldoperatewhenthesystem
current justcrosses125%ofratedcurrent.
Iftherelayisratedwith1A,thenormalpickupcurrent of
therelayis1Aanditshouldbeequaltosecondary
rated current of currenttransformer connectedtothe
relay.
Then,therelaywillbeoperatedwhenthe current ofCT
secondarybecomesmorethanorequal1.25A.

Asperdefinition,
Currentsetting=1.25*100=125%

1
The current settingissometimesreferred
as current plugsetting.
The current settingofover current relayis
generallyrangedfrom50%to200%,insteps
of25%.Forearthfaultrelayitisfrom10%to
70%instepsof10%.

PlugSettingMultiplierofRelay
Plugsettingmultiplierofrelay isreferredasratioof
fault current intherelaytoitspickupcurrent.

SupposewehaveconnectedonprotectionCTofratio200/1A
and current settingis150%.
Hence,pickup current oftherelayis,1 150%=1.5A
Now,supposefault current intheCTprimaryis1000A.
Hence,fault current intheCTsecondaryi.e.intherelaycoilis,
1000 1/200=5A
ThereforePSMoftherelayis,5/1.5=3.33

TimeMultiplierSetting
Overcurrent relaysnormallyplaythedualrolesof
primaryandbackupprotection.
Backupactionrequiresawaitstate.
ByprovidingtheadditionalsettingfeatureofTMS,this
canbeachieved.
TMSisdefinedastheratioT/Tm,whereTisthe
desiredrelayoperatingtimeforagivenPSMandTm
isthecorrespondingoperatingtimeatTMS=1.
RelayoperatingtimecanbevariedbyvaryingtheTMS
setting.

CalculationofRelayOperationTime
Forcalculatingactualrelayoperatingtime,we
needtoknowfollowing
Currentsetting.
Fault current level.
Ratioof currenttransformer.
Time/PSMcurve.
Timesetting.

Theplugsettingmultiplier,PSM,isdefinedasfollows:

whereIrelay isthecurrentthroughtherelayoperatingcoil
andPSistheplugsettingoftherelay=pickupcurrent.
ThevalueofPSMtellsusabouttheseverityofthe
currentasseenbytherelay
APSMlessthan1meansthatnormalloadcurrentis
flowing.AtPSM>1,therelayissupposedtopickup.
HighervaluesofPSMindicatehowseriousthefaultis.
Forexample,letusconsidera1.0Arelay(i.e.arelaywith
currentcoildesignedtocarry1.0Aonacontinuousbasis)
whoseplughasbeensetat0.5A,i.e.at50%.Assume
that,foracertainfault,therelaycurrentis5.0A.The
relay,therefore,issaidtobeoperatingataPSMof
(5.0/0.5)=10.

InverseTimeOvercurrentRelay

Inversetimecharacteristicfitsinverywell,withtherequirementthat
themoresevereafaultis,thefasteritshouldbeclearedtoavoid
damagetotheapparatus

Inversedefiniteminimumtime(IDMT)overcurrentrelay

Thisispossiblythemostwidelyusedcharacteristic.
Thecharacteristicisinverseinthe
initialpart,whichtendstoadefiniteminimum
operatingtimeasthecurrentbecomesveryhigh.
Theoperatingtimeis
Veryinversetimeovercurrentrelay
Theinverseness ofthischaracteristicishigherthan
thatoftheIDMTcharacteristic.
Theoperatingtimeis
Extremelyinversetimeovercurrentrelay
Theinverseness ofthischaracteristicishigherthan
thatoftheveryinversecharacteristic.
Theoperatingtimeis

GuidelinesforSettingPickupCurrentforPhaseFault
Relays
Pickupcurrentshouldbeabovethemaximumload
current.
Pickupcurrentshouldbebelowminimumfault
current.
Pickupcurrentshouldalsobebelowtheminimum
faultcurrentofthefeederthatithastobackup.
Thebackuprelayalsoshouldprovidetimefor
primaryrelaytooperate.Thistimeintervalisknown
ascoordinationtimeinterval.

ApplicationofIDMTRelaysforProtectionofaDistributionFeeder

ThepurposeofrelayRB istoprovideprimaryprotectiontolineBC.
ThepurposeofrelayRA istoprovideprimaryprotectiontolineAB and
backuptolineBC.
Westartthesettingprocessfromthetailendofthesystem.
(a)DecidingtheCTratiosandplugsettings(pickupcurrent):
(i)AtrelayB,themaximumloadcurrent,assuming25%overloadis:
80A+(0.25x80A)=100A
Assuming1Arelaytobeused,theCTratiocanbeselectedtobe100:
1.TheplugsettingPScanbedoneat100%,i.e.PS=1.0A.

(ii)AtrelayAthemaximumloadcurrent,assuming25%
overloadis
(160+80)+0.25(160+80)=300
Assuming1Arelaytobeused,theCTratiocanbeselectedto
be300:1.Theplug
1)settingcanbedoneat100%,i.e.PS=1.0A.
(b)Decidingthetimemultipliersettings:Startingfromthe
mostremoterelayRB
(i)SinceRB doesnothavetomaintainselectivitywithany
otherrelay,itcanbemadetooperatethefastest.Thusthe
TMSofRB canbeselectedas0.1.
(ii)Now,tomaintainselectivitybetweenRA andRB,the
followingconstraintmustbemet:

TheoperatingtimeofRB formaximumfaultjustbeyondbusBcanbe
foundfrom
FormaximumfaultatB,faultcurrent=3000Aonprimarysidewhich
becomes
(3000/100)=30Asecondary.Sinceplugsettingisdoneat1.0A,

TheTMSofRB hasalreadybeensetat0.1.Substitutingthesevalues,we
get