Broken Conductor Protection

The majority of faults on a power system occur between one phase and
ground or two phases and ground. These are known as shunt faults and arise from
lightning discharges and other over voltages which initiate flashovers. Alternatively,
they may arise from other causes such as birds on overhead lines or mechanical
damage to cables etc. Such faults result in an appreciable increase in current and
hence in the majority of applications are easily detectable. In Broken Conductor
Protection, it is assumed that broken conductor do not touch the ground that is why,
it is also known as the Open Jumper Protection.

Another type of unbalanced fault which can occur on the system is the series
or open circuit fault. These can arise from broken conductors, maloperation of single
phase switchgear, or the operation of fuses. Series faults will not cause an increase
in phase current on the system and hence are not readily detectable by standard
overcurrent relays. However, they will produce an unbalance and a resultant level of
negative phase sequence current, which can be detected.

It is possible to apply a negative phase sequence overcurrent relay to detect

the above condition. However, on a lightly loaded line, the negative sequence
current resulting from a series fault condition may be very close to, or less than, the
full load steady state unbalance arising from CT errors, load unbalance etc. A
negative sequence element therefore would not operate at low load levels.

The Broken Conductor Protection relay incorporates an element which

measures the ratio of negative to positive phase sequence current (I2/I1). This will
be affected to a lesser extent than the measurement of negative sequence current
alone, since the ratio is approximately constant with variations in load current.
Hence, a more sensitive setting may be achieved.

In the case of a single point earthed power system, there will be little zero
sequence current flow and the ratio of I2/I1 that flows in the protected circuit will
approach 100%. In the case of a multiple earthed power system (assuming equal
impedances in each sequence network), the ratio I2/I1will be 50%.

It is possible to calculate the ratio of I2/I1 that will occur for varying system
impedances, by referring to the following equations below.

I1F = Eg(Z1+ Z0) / (Z1Z2+Z0Z1+Z2Z0)

I2F = -EgZ0/ (Z1Z2+Z0Z1+Z2Z0)

Where

Eg = System Voltage

Z0 = Zero sequence impedance

Z1 = Positive sequence impedance

Z2 = Negative sequence impedance

Thus,

I1F / I2F= Z0 / (Z0+Z2)

Therefore, for an open circuit in a particular part of the system, I 2/I1 can be
determined from the ratio of zero sequence to negative sequence impedance. It
must be noted that this ratio may vary depending upon the fault location. It is
desirable therefore to apply as sensitive a setting as possible. In practice, this
minimum setting is governed by the levels of standing negative phase sequence
current present on the system. A minimum value of 8% negative phase sequence
current is required for successful Broken Conductor relay operation.

Since sensitive settings have been employed, it can be expected that the
element will operate for any unbalance condition occurring on the system for
example, during a single pole autoreclose cycle. Hence, a long time-delay is
necessary to ensure co-ordination with other protective devices. Normally 5 second
time-delay is provided for Broken Conductor Protection.