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AccordingtotheIEC60909OpenElectrical

AccordingtotheIEC60909
FromOpenElectrical

Contents
1Introduction
1.1Whydothecalculation?
1.2Whentodothecalculation?
2CalculationMethodology
2.1Step1:ConstructtheSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
2.2Step2:CalculateEquipmentShortCircuitImpedances
2.2.1NetworkFeeders
2.2.2SynchronousGeneratorsandMotors
2.2.3Transformers
2.2.4Cables
2.2.5AsynchronousMotors
2.2.6FaultLimitingReactors
2.2.7StaticConverters
2.2.8OtherEquipment
2.3Step3:ReferringImpedances
2.4Step4:DetermineThveninEquivalentCircuitattheFaultLocation
2.5Step5:CalculateBalancedThreePhaseShortCircuitCurrents
2.5.1InitialShortCircuitCurrent
2.5.2PeakShortCircuitCurrent
2.5.3SymmetricalBreakingCurrent
2.5.4DCShortCircuitComponent
2.6Step6:CalculateSinglePhasetoEarthShortCircuitCurrents
3WorkedExample
3.1Step1:ConstructtheSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
3.2Step2:CalculateEquipmentShortCircuitImpedances
3.3Step3:ReferringImpedances
3.4Step4:DetermineThveninEquivalentCircuitattheFaultLocation
3.5Step5:CalculateBalancedThreePhaseShortCircuitCurrents
3.5.1InitialShortCircuitCurrent
3.5.2PeakShortCircuitCurrent
4ComputerSoftware
5WhatNext?

Introduction
Thisarticlelooksatthecalculationofshortcircuitcurrentsforboltedthreephaseandsinglephasetoearth
faultsinapowersystem.Ashortcircuitinapowersystemcancauseveryhighcurrentstoflowtothefault
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location.Themagnitudeoftheshortcircuitcurrent
dependsontheimpedanceofsystemundershortcircuit
conditions.Inthiscalculation,theshortcircuitcurrentis
estimatedusingtheguidelinespresentedinIEC60909.

Whydothecalculation?
Calculatingtheprospectiveshortcircuitlevelsina
powersystemisimportantforanumberofreasons,
including:
Tospecifyfaultratingsforelectrical
equipment(e.g.shortcircuitwithstand
ratings)
Tohelpidentifypotentialproblemsand
weaknessesinthesystemandassistin
systemplanning
Toformthebasisforprotection
coordinationstudies

Figure1.Lightningarc

Whentodothecalculation?
Thecalculationcanbedoneafterpreliminarysystemdesign,withthefollowingprerequisitedocuments
anddesigntaskscompleted:
Keysinglelinediagrams
Majorelectricalequipmentsized(e.g.generators,transformers,etc)
Electricalloadschedule
Cablesizing(notabsolutelynecessary,butwouldbeuseful)

CalculationMethodology
ThiscalculationisbasedonIEC609090(2001,c2002)(https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/3886),"Short
circuitcurrentsinthreephasea.c.systemsPart0:Calculationofcurrents"andusestheimpedancemethod
(asopposedtotheperunitmethod).Inthismethod,itisassumedthatallshortcircuitsareofnegligible
impedance(i.e.noarcimpedanceisallowedfor).
Therearesixgeneralstepsinthecalculation:
Step1:Constructthesystemmodelandcollecttherelevantequipmentparameters
Step2:Calculatetheshortcircuitimpedancesforalloftherelevantequipment
Step3:Referallimpedancestothereferencevoltage
Step4:DeterminetheThveninequivalentcircuitatthefaultlocation
Step5:Calculatebalancedthreephaseshortcircuitcurrents
Step6:Calculatesinglephasetoearthshortcircuitcurrents

Step1:ConstructtheSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
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Thefirststepistoconstructamodelofthesystemsinglelinediagram,andthencollecttherelevant
equipmentparameters.Themodelofthesinglelinediagramshouldshowallofthemajorsystembuses,
generationornetworkconnection,transformers,faultlimiters(e.g.reactors),largecableinterconnections
andlargerotatingloads(e.g.synchronousandasynchronousmotors).
Therelevantequipmentparameterstobecollectedareasfollows:
Networkfeeders:faultcapacityofthenetwork(VA),X/Rratioofthenetwork
Synchronousgeneratorsandmotors:perunitsubtransientreactance,ratedgeneratorcapacity
(VA),ratedpowerfactor(pu)
Transformers:transformerimpedancevoltage(%),ratedtransformercapacity(VA),rated
current(A),totalcopperloss(W)
Cables:lengthofcable(m),resistanceandreactanceofcable(
)
Asynchronousmotors:fullloadcurrent(A),lockedrotorcurrent(A),ratedpower(W),full
loadpowerfactor(pu),startingpowerfactor(pu)
Faultlimitingreactors:reactorimpedancevoltage(%),ratedcurrent(A)

Step2:CalculateEquipmentShortCircuitImpedances
Usingthecollectedparameters,eachoftheequipmentitemimpedancescanbecalculatedforlaterusein
themotorstartingcalculations.
NetworkFeeders
Giventheapproximatefaultlevelofthenetworkfeederattheconnectionpoint(orpointofcommon
coupling),theimpedance,resistanceandreactanceofthenetworkfeederiscalculatedasfollows:

Where

isimpedanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isresistanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isreactanceofthenetworkfeeder()
isthenominalvoltageattheconnectionpoint(Vac)
isthefaultlevelofthenetworkfeeder(VA)
isavoltagefactorwhichaccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)
isX/Rratioofthenetworkfeeder(pu)

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SynchronousGeneratorsandMotors
Thesubtransientreactanceandresistanceofasynchronousgeneratorormotor(withvoltageregulation)
canbeestimatedbythefollowing:

Where

isthesubtransientreactanceofthegenerator()
istheresistanceofthegenerator()
isavoltagecorrectionfactorseeIEC609090Clause3.6.1formoredetails(pu)
istheperunitsubtransientreactanceofthegenerator(pu)
isthenominalgeneratorvoltage(Vac)
isthenominalsystemvoltage(Vac)
istheratedgeneratorcapacity(VA)
istheX/Rratio,typically20for

100MVA,14.29for

100MVA,and6.67for

allgeneratorswithnominalvoltage
1kV
isavoltagefactorwhichaccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)
isthepowerfactorofthegenerator(pu)
Forthenegativesequenceimpedance,thequadratureaxissubtransientreactance
theaboveequationinplaceofthedirectaxissubtransientreactance

canbeappliedin

Thezerosequenceimpedancesneedtobederivedfrommanufacturerdata,thoughthevoltagecorrection
factor
alsoappliesforsolidneutralearthingsystems(refertoIEC609090Clause3.6.1).
Transformers
Thepositivesequenceimpedance,resistanceandreactanceoftwowindingdistributiontransformerscanbe
calculatedasfollows:

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Where

AccordingtotheIEC60909OpenElectrical

isthepositivesequenceimpedanceofthetransformer()
istheresistanceofthetransformer()
isthereactanceofthetransformer()
istheimpedancevoltageofthetransformer(pu)
istheratedcapacityofthetransformer(VA)
isthenominalvoltageofthetransformeratthehighorlowvoltageside(Vac)
istheratedcurrentofthetransformeratthehighorlowvoltageside(I)
isthetotalcopperlossinthetransformerwindings(W)

Forthecalculationofimpedancesforthreewindingtransformers,refertoIEC609090Clause3.3.2.For
networktransformers(thosethatconnecttwoseparatenetworksatdifferentvoltages),animpedance
correctionfactormustbeapplied(seeIEC609090Clause3.3.3).
Thenegativesequenceimpedanceisequaltopositivesequenceimpedancecalculatedabove.Thezero
sequenceimpedanceneedstobederivedfrommanufacturerdata,butalsodependsonthewinding
connectionsandfaultpathavailableforzerosequencecurrentflow(e.g.differentneutralearthingsystems
willaffectzerosequenceimpedance).
Cables
CableimpedancesareusuallyquotedbymanufacturersintermsofOhmsperkm.Theseneedtobe
convertedtoOhmsbasedonthelengthofthecables:

Where

istheresistanceofthecable{)
isthereactanceofthecable{)
isthequotedresistanceofthecable{/km)
isthequotedreactanceofthecable{/km)
isthelengthofthecable{m)

Thenegativesequenceimpedanceisequaltopositivesequenceimpedancecalculatedabove.Thezero
sequenceimpedanceneedstobederivedfrommanufacturerdata.Intheabsenceofmanufacturerdata,zero
sequenceimpedancescanbederivedfrompositivesequenceimpedancesviaamultiplicationfactor(as
suggestedbySKMSystemsAnalysisInc)formagneticcables:

AsynchronousMotors
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Anasynchronousmotor'simpedance,resistanceandreactanceiscalculatedasfollows:

Where

isimpedanceofthemotor()
isresistanceofthemotor()
isreactanceofthemotor()
isratioofthelockedrotortofullloadcurrent
isthemotorlockedrotorcurrent(A)
isthemotornominalvoltage(Vac)
isthemotorratedpower(W)
isthemotorfullloadpowerfactor(pu)
isthemotorstartingpowerfactor(pu)

Thenegativesequenceimpedanceisequaltopositivesequenceimpedancecalculatedabove.Thezero
sequenceimpedanceneedstobederivedfrommanufacturerdata.
FaultLimitingReactors
Theimpedanceoffaultlimitingreactorsisasfollows(notethattheresistanceisneglected):

Where

isimpedanceofthereactor()
isreactanceofthereactor()
istheimpedancevoltageofthereactor(pu)
isthenominalvoltageofthereactor(Vac)
istheratedcurrentofthereactor(A)

Positive,negativeandzerosequenceimpedancesareallequal(assuminggeometricsymmetry).
StaticConverters
Staticconvertersandconverterfeddrivers(i.e.feedingrotatingloads)shouldbeconsideredforbalanced
threephaseshortcircuits.PerIEC609090Clause3.9,staticconverterscontributetotheinitialandpeak
shortcircuitcurrentsonly,andcontribute3timestheratedcurrentoftheconverter.AnR/Xratioof0.1
shouldbeusedfortheshortcircuitimpedance.
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OtherEquipment
Linecapacitances,paralleladmittancesandnonrotatingloadsaregenerallyneglectedasperIEC609090
Clause3.10.Effectsfromseriescapacitorscanalsobeneglectedifvoltagelimitingdevicesareconnected
inparallel.

Step3:ReferringImpedances
Wheretherearemultiplevoltagelevels,theequipmentimpedancescalculatedearlierneedtobeconverted
toareferencevoltage(typicallythevoltageatthefaultlocation)inorderforthemtobeusedinasingle
equivalentcircuit.
Thewindingratioofatransformercanbecalculatedasfollows:

Where

isthetransformerwindingratio
isthetransformernominalsecondaryvoltageattheprincipaltap(Vac)
isthetransformernominalprimaryvoltage(Vac)
isthespecifiedtapsetting(%)

Usingthewindingratio,impedances(aswellasresistancesandreactances)canbereferredtotheprimary
(HV)sideofthetransformerbythefollowingrelation:

Where

istheimpedancereferredtotheprimary(HV)side()
istheimpedanceatthesecondary(LV)side()
isthetransformerwindingratio(pu)

Conversely,byrearrangingtheequationabove,impedancescanbereferredtotheLVside:

Step4:DetermineThveninEquivalentCircuitattheFaultLocation
Thesystemmodelmustfirstbesimplifiedintoanequivalentcircuitasseenfromthefaultlocation,
showingavoltagesourceandasetofcompleximpedancesrepresentingthepowersystemequipmentand
loadimpedances(connectedinseriesorparallel).
ThenextstepistosimplifythecircuitintoaThveninequivalentcircuit
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9venin%27s_theorem),whichisacircuitcontainingonlya
voltagesource( )andanequivalentshortcircuitimpedance(
).
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Thiscanbedoneusingthestandardformulaeforseriesand
parallelimpedances,keepinginmindthattherulesof
complexarithmeticmustbeusedthroughout.
Ifunbalancedshortcircuits(e.g.singlephasetoearthfault)
willbeanalysed,thenaseparateThveninequivalentcircuit
shouldbeconstructedforeachofthepositive,negativeand
zerosequencenetworks(i.e.finding(
,
and
).

Step5:CalculateBalancedThreePhaseShort
CircuitCurrents

Figure2.Thveninequivalentcircuit

ThepositivesequenceimpedancecalculatedinStep4
representstheequivalentsourceimpedanceseenbyabalancedthreephaseshortcircuitatthefault
location.Usingthisimpedance,thefollowingcurrentsatdifferentstagesoftheshortcircuitcyclecanbe
computed:
InitialShortCircuitCurrent
TheinitialsymmetricalshortcircuitcurrentiscalculatedfromIEC609090Equation29,asfollows:

Where

istheinitialsymmetricalshortcircuitcurrent(A)
isthevoltagefactorthataccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)
isthenominalsystemvoltageatthefaultlocation(V)
istheequivalentpositivesequenceshortcircuitimpedance()

PeakShortCircuitCurrent
IEC609090Section4.3offersthreemethodsforcalculatingpeakshortcircuitcurrents,butforthesakeof
simplicity,wewillonlyfocusontheX/Rratioatthefaultlocationmethod.Usingthereal(R)andreactive
(X)componentsoftheequivalentpositivesequenceimpedance
,wecancalculatetheX/Rratioatthe
faultlocation,i.e.

Thepeakshortcircuitcurrentisthencalculatedasfollows:
(fornonmeshednetworks)
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or
(formeshednetworksseeclause4.3.12b)
Where

isthepeakshortcircuitcurrent(A)
istheinitialsymmetricalshortcircuitcurrent(A)
isaconstantfactor,

SymmetricalBreakingCurrent
Thesymmetricalbreakingcurrentistheshortcircuitcurrentatthepointofcircuitbreakeropening(usually
somewherebetween20msto300ms).Thisisthecurrentthatthecircuitbreakermustberatedtointerrupt
andistypicallyusedforbreakersizing.IEC609090Equation74suggeststhatthesymmetricalbreaking
currentformeshednetworkscanbeconservativelyestimatedasfollows:

Where

isthesymmetricalbreakingcurrent(A)
istheinitialsymmetricalshortcircuitcurrent(A)

Forclosetogeneratorfaults,thesymmetricalbreakingcurrentwillbehigher.Moredetailedcalculations
canbemadeforincreasedaccuracyinIEC60909,butthisislefttothereadertoexplore.
DCShortCircuitComponent
ThedccomponentofashortcircuitcanbecalculatedaccordingtoIEC609090Equation64:

Where

isthedccomponentoftheshortcircuitcurrent(A)
istheinitialsymmetricalshortcircuitcurrent(A)
isthenominalsystemfrequency(Hz)
isthetime(s)
istheX/Rratioseemorebelow

TheX/Rratioiscalculatedasfollows:

Where
and
arethereactanceandresistance,respectively,oftheequivalentsourceimpedanceat
thefaultlocation()
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isafactortoaccountfortheequivalentfrequencyofthefault.PerIEC609090Section4.4,
thefollowingfactorsshouldbeusedbasedontheproductoffrequencyandtime(

<1

0.27

<2.5

0.15

<5

0.092

<12.5

0.055

):

Step6:CalculateSinglePhasetoEarthShortCircuitCurrents
Forbalancedshortcircuitcalculations,thepositivesequenceimpedanceistheonlyrelevantimpedance.
However,forunbalancedshortcircuits(e.g.singlephasetoearthfault),symmetricalcomponentscomeinto
play.
TheinitialshortcircuitcurrentforasinglephasetoearthfaultisasperIEC609090Equation52:

Where

istheinitialsinglephasetoearthshortcircuitcurrent(A)
isthevoltagefactorthataccountsforthemaximumsystemvoltage(1.05forvoltages<1kV,
1.1forvoltages>1kV)
isthenominalvoltageatthefaultlocation(Vac)
istheequivalentpositivesequenceshortcircuitimpedance()
istheequivalentnegativesequenceshortcircuitimpedance()
istheequivalentzerosequenceshortcircuitimpedance()

WorkedExample
Inthisexample,shortcircuitcurrentswillbecalculatedforabalancedthreephasefaultatthemain11kV
busofasimpleradialsystem.Notethatthesinglephasetoearthfaultcurrentswillnotbecalculatedinthis
example.

Step1:ConstructtheSystemModelandCollectEquipmentParameters
Thesystemtobemodelledisasimpleradialnetworkwithtwovoltagelevels(11kVand415V),and
suppliedbyasinglegenerator.Thesystemmodelisshowninthefiguretotheright.Theequipmentand
cableparameterswerecollectedasfollows:
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Equipment

GeneratorG1

Parameters
=24,150kVA
=11,000V
=0.255pu
=0.85pu

GeneratorCable
C1

Length=30m
Size=2parallelcircuits
of3x1Cx500mm2
(R=0.0506\km,X=0.0997
\km)

MotorM1

MotorCableC2

=500kW
=11,000V
=200.7A
=6.5pu
=0.85pu
=0.30pu

Figure3.Systemmodelforshortcircuitexample

Length=150m
Size=3C+E35mm2
(R=0.668\km,X=0.115
\km)

TransformerTX1

TransformerCable
C3

=2,500kVA
=11,000V
=415V
=0.0625pu
=19,000W
=0%

Length=100m
Size=3C+E95mm2
(R=0.247\km,X=0.0993
\km)

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MotorM2

=90kW
=415V
=1,217.3A
=7pu
=0.8pu
=0.30pu

MotorM3

=150kW
=415V
=1,595.8A
=6.5pu
=0.85pu
=0.30pu

Step2:CalculateEquipmentShortCircuitImpedances
Usingthepatametersaboveandtheequationsoutlinedearlierinthemethodology,thefollowing
impedanceswerecalculated:
Equipment

Resistance() Reactance()

GeneratorG1

0.08672

1.2390

GeneratorCableC1

0.000759

0.001496

11kVMotorM1

9.4938

30.1885

MotorCableC2

0.1002

0.01725

TransformerTX1(PrimarySide)

0.36784

3.0026

TransformerCableC3

0.0247

0.00993

415VMotorM2

0.0656

0.2086

415VMotorM3

0.0450

0.1432

Step3:ReferringImpedances
Wewillmodelafaultonthemain11kVbus,soallimpedancesmustbereferredto11kV.Thetwolow
voltagemotorsneedtobereferredtothisreferencevoltage.Knowingthatthetransformerissetatprincipal
tap,wecancalculatethewindingratioandapplyittoreferthe415Vmotorstothe11kVside:

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The415Vmotorimpedancesreferredtothe11kVsideistherefore:
Equipment

Resistance() Reactance()

415VMotorM2

46.0952

146.5735

415VMotorM3

31.6462

100.6284

Step4:DetermineThveninEquivalentCircuitattheFaultLocation
Usingstandardnetworkreductiontechniques,theequivalentThvenincircuitatthefaultlocation(main
11kVbus)canbederived.Theequivalentsourceimpedanceis:

Step5:CalculateBalancedThreePhaseShortCircuitCurrents
InitialShortCircuitCurrent
Thesymmetricalinitialshortcircuitcurrentis:

kA
PeakShortCircuitCurrent
Theconstantfactor

atthefaultlocationis:

Thereforeasitisasimpleradialsystem(nonmeshed),thesymmetricalpeakshortcircuitcurrentis:

kA

ComputerSoftware
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Shortcircuitcalculationsareastandardcomponentofpowersystemsanalysissoftware(e.g.ETAP,PTW,
DIgSILENT,etc)andthecalculationsarefareasiertoperformwithsoftwarethanbyhand.However
manualcalculationscouldbedoneasaformofverificationtoconfirmthatthesoftwareresultsare
reasonable.

WhatNext?
Theresultsfromtheshortcircuitcalculationscanbeusedtospecifythefaultratingsonelectrical
equipment(e.g.switchgear,protectivedevices,etc)andalsoforprotectioncoordinationstudies.
ShortCircuitCalculation
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