The study of transmission line protection presents many fundamental relaying considerations that apply, in one degree or another, to the protection of other types of power system protection. Each electrical element, of course, will have problems unique to itself, but the concepts of reliability, selectivity, local and remote backup, zones of protection, coordination and speed which may be present in the protection of one or more other electrical apparatus are all present in the considerations surrounding transmission line protection.
Since transmission lines are also the links to adjacent lines or connected equipment, transmission line protection must be compatible with the protection of all of these other elements. This requires coordination of settings, operating times and characteristics.
The purpose of power system protection is to detect faults or abnormal operating conditions and to initiate corrective action. Relays must be able to evaluate a wide variety of parameters to establish that corrective action is required. Obviously, a relay cannot prevent the fault. Its primary purpose is to detect the fault and take the necessary action to minimize the damage to the equipment or to the system. The most common parameters which reflect the presence of a fault are the voltages and currents at the terminals of the protected apparatus or at the appropriate zone boundaries. The fundamental problem in power system protection is to define the quantities that can differentiate between normal and abnormal conditions. This problem is compounded by the fact that “normal” in the present sense means outside the zone of protection. This aspect, which is of the greatest significance in designing a secure relaying system, dominates the design of all protection systems.
Since transmission lines are also the links to adjacent lines or connected equipment, transmission line protection must be compatible with the protection of all of these other elements. This requires coordination of settings, operating times and characteristics.
The purpose of power system protection is to detect faults or abnormal operating conditions and to initiate corrective action. Relays must be able to evaluate a wide variety of parameters to establish that corrective action is required. Obviously, a relay cannot prevent the fault. Its primary purpose is to detect the fault and take the necessary action to minimize the damage to the equipment or to the system. The most common parameters which reflect the presence of a fault are the voltages and currents at the terminals of the protected apparatus or at the appropriate zone boundaries. The fundamental problem in power system protection is to define the quantities that can differentiate between normal and abnormal conditions. This problem is compounded by the fact that “normal” in the present sense means outside the zone of protection. This aspect, which is of the greatest significance in designing a secure relaying system, dominates the design of all protection systems.