Ch2C Falts on Power Systems.docVIP

Chapter 2 Faults on Power Systems Part 1 Faults and its Damage Each year new designs of power equipment bring about increased reliability of operation. Nevertheless, equipment failures and interference by outside sources occasionally result in faults on electric power systems. On the occurrence of a fault, current and voltage conditions become abnormal, the delivery of power from the generating stations to the loads may be unsatisfactory over a considerable area, and if the faulted equipment is promptly disconnected from the remainder of the system, damage may result to other pieces of operating equipment. A fault is the unintentional or intentional connecting together of two or more conductors which ordinarily operate with a difference of potential between them. The connection between the conductors may be by physical metallic contact or it may be through an arc. At the fault, the voltage between the two parts is reduced to zero in the case of metal-to-metal contacts, or to a very low value in case the connection is through an arc. Currents of abnormally high magnitude flow through the network to the point of fault. These short-circuit currents will usually be much greater than the designed thermal ability of the conductors in the lines or machines feeding the fault. The resultant rise in temperature may cause damage by the annealing of conductors and by the charring of insulation. In the period during which the fault is permitted to exist, the voltage on the system in the near vicinity of the fault will be so low that utilization equipment will be inoperative. It is apparent that the power system designer must anticipate points at which faults may occur, be able to calculate conditions that exist during a fault, and provide equipment properly adjusted to open the switches necessary to disconnect the faulted equipment from the remainder of the system. Ordinarily it is desirable that no other switches on the system are opened, as such behavior would result in unne