DISTANCE PROTECTION

SCHEMES
Chapter 12
DISTANCE PROTECTION SCHEMES

12.1 Introduction 12.1 INTRODUCTION

12.2 Zone 1 Extension Scheme (Z1x Scheme) Conventional time-stepped distance protection is illustrated in
12.3 Transfer Tripping Schemes Figure 12.1. One of the main disadvantages of this scheme is

12.4 Blocking Overreaching Schemes

that the instantaneous Zone 1 protection at each end of the
protected line cannot be set to cover the whole of the feeder
12.5 Directional Comparison Unblocking length and is usually set to about 80%. This leaves two ‘end
Scheme zones’, each being about 20% of the protected feeder length.

12.6 Comparison of Transfer Trip and

Faults in these zones are cleared in Zone 1 time by the protection
at one end of the feeder and in Zone 2 time (typically 0.25 to 0.4
Blocking Relaying Schemes seconds) by the protection at the other end of the feeder.

Relay A
End Zone

Z3A
Z2A
Z1A
A B C
F

Z1B
Z2B
Z3B
Relay B
End Zone
(a) Stepped time/distance characteristics

Z1

Z2 Z2T 0
1 Trip

Z3 Z3T 0

(b) Trip logic

This situation cannot be tolerated in some applications, for two

main reasons:
. faults remaining on the feeder for Zone 2 time may
cause the system to become unstable
. where high-speed auto-reclosing is used, the
non-simultaneous opening of the circuit breakers at
both ends of the faulted section results in no ‘dead
time’ during the auto-reclose cycle for the fault to be
extinguished and for ionised gases to clear. This results

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 in the possibility that a transient fault will cause
permanent lockout of the circuit breakers at each end of
the line section
This scheme is intended for use with an auto-reclose facility, or
Even where instability does not occur, the increased duration where no communications channel is available, or the channel
of the disturbance may give rise to power quality problems, has failed. Thus it may be used on radial distribution feeders,
and may result in increased plant damage. or on interconnected lines as a fallback when no
Unit schemes of protection that compare the conditions at the communications channel is available, e.g. due to maintenance
two ends of the feeder simultaneously positively identify or temporary fault. The scheme is shown in Figure 12.2.
whether the fault is internal or external to the protected section The Zone 1 elements of the distance relay have two settings.
and provide high-speed protection for the whole feeder length. One is set to cover 80% of the protected line length as in the
This advantage is balanced by the fact that the unit scheme basic distance scheme. The other, known as 'Extended Zone
does not provide the back up protection for adjacent feeders 1’ or ‘Z1X’, is set to overreach the protected line, a setting of
given by a distance scheme. 120% of the protected line being common. The Zone 1 reach is
The most desirable scheme is obviously a combination of the normally controlled by the Z1X setting and is reset to the basic
Zone 1 setting when a command from the auto-reclose relay is
best features of both arrangements, that is, instantaneous
tripping over the whole feeder length plus back-up protection received.
to adjacent feeders. This can be achieved by interconnecting On occurrence of a fault at any point within the Z1X reach, the
the distance protection relays at each end of the protected relay operates in Zone 1 time, trips the circuit breaker and
feeder by a communications channel. Communication initiates auto-reclosure. The Zone 1 reach of the distance relay
techniques are described in detail in Chapter 8. is also reset to the basic value of 80%, prior to the auto-reclose
The purpose of the communications channel is to transmit closing pulse being applied to the breaker. This should also
information about the system conditions from one end of the occur when the auto-reclose facility is out of service.
Reversion to the Z1X reach setting occurs only at the end of
protected line to the other, including requests to initiate or
prevent tripping of the remote circuit breaker. The former the reclaim time. For interconnected lines, the Z1X scheme is
arrangement is generally known as a 'transfer tripping scheme' established (automatically or manually) upon loss of the
communications channel by selection of the appropriate relay
while the latter is generally known as a 'blocking scheme'.
However, the terminology of the various schemes varies setting (setting group in a numerical relay). If the fault is
widely, according to local custom and practice. transient, the tripped circuit breakers will reclose successfully,
but otherwise further tripping during the reclaim time is
subject to the discrimination obtained with normal Zone 1 and
Zone 2 settings.
The disadvantage of the Zone 1 extension scheme is that
external faults within the Z1X reach of the relay result in
tripping of circuit breakers external to the faulted section,
increasing the amount of breaker maintenance needed and
needless transient loss of supply to some consumers. This is
illustrated in Figure 12.3(a) for a single circuit line where three
circuit breakers operate and in Figure 12.3(b) for a double
circuit line, where five circuit breakers operate.

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 A fault F in the end zone at end in Figure 12.1(a) results in
operation of the Zone 1 relay and tripping of the circuit breaker
at end . A request to trip is also sent to the relay at end .
The receipt of a signal at A initiates tripping immediately
because the receive relay contact is connected directly to the
trip relay. The disadvantage of this scheme is the possibility of
undesired tripping by accidental operation or maloperation of
signalling equipment, or interference on the communications
channel. As a result, it is not commonly used.

12.3.2 Permissive Under-reach Transfer Tripping

(PUP) Scheme
The direct under-reach transfer tripping scheme described
above is made more secure by supervising the received signal
with the operation of the Zone 2 relay element before allowing
an instantaneous trip, as shown in Figure 12.5. The scheme is
then known as a 'permissive under-reach transfer tripping
scheme' (sometimes abbreviated as a PUTT, PUR or PUP Z2
scheme) or ‘permissive underreach distance protection’, as
both relays must detect a fault before the remote end relay is
permitted to trip in Zone 1 time.
A number of these schemes are available, as described below.
Selection of an appropriate scheme depends on the
requirements of the system being protected.

12.3.1 Direct Under-reach Transfer Tripping Scheme

The simplest way of reducing the fault clearance time at the
terminal that clears an end zone fault in Zone 2 time is to
adopt a direct transfer trip or intertrip technique, the logic of
which is shown in Figure 12.4. A contact operated by the
Zone 1 relay element is arranged to send a signal to the
remote relay requesting a trip. The scheme may be called a
'direct under-reach transfer tripping scheme’, ‘transfer trip
under-reaching scheme', or ‘intertripping underreach distance
protection scheme’, as the Zone 1 relay elements do not cover
the whole of the line.

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 The PUP schemes require only a single communications
channel for two-way signalling between the line ends, as the
A variant of this scheme, found on some relays, allows tripping channel is keyed by the under-reaching Zone 1 elements.
by Zone 3 element operation as well as Zone 2, provided the
fault is in the forward direction. This is sometimes called the When the circuit breaker at one end is open, or there is a weak
PUP-Fwd scheme. infeed such that the relevant relay element does not operate,
instantaneous clearance cannot be achieved for end-zone
Time delayed resetting of the 'signal received' element is faults near the 'breaker open' terminal unless special features
required to ensure that the relays at both ends of a single-end are included, as detailed in Section 12.3.5.
fed faulted line of a parallel feeder circuit have time to trip
when the fault is close to one end. Consider a fault F in a 12.3.3 Permissive Under-reaching Acceleration
double circuit line, as shown in Figure 12.6. The fault is close
Scheme
to end A, so there is negligible infeed from end B when the
fault at F occurs. The protection at B detects a Zone 2 fault This scheme is applicable only to zone switched distance relays
only after the breaker at end A has tripped. It is possible for that share the same measuring elements for both Zone 1 and
the Zone 1 element at A to reset, thus removing the permissive Zone 2. In these relays, the reach of the measuring elements
signal to B and causing the 'signal received' element at B to is extended from Zone 1 to Zone 2 by means of a range
reset before the Zone 2 unit at end B operates. It is therefore change signal immediately, instead of after Zone 2 time. It is
necessary to delay the resetting of the 'signal received' element also called an ‘accelerated underreach distance protection
to ensure high speed tripping at end B. scheme’.
The under-reaching Zone 1 unit is arranged to send a signal to
the remote end of the feeder in addition to tripping the local
circuit breaker. The receive relay contact is arranged to extend
the reach of the measuring element from Zone 1 to Zone 2.
This accelerates the fault clearance at the remote end for faults
that lie in the region between the Zone 1 and Zone 2 reaches.
The scheme is shown in Figure 12.7. Most quality modern
distance relays do not employ switched measuring elements,
so the scheme is likely to fall into disuse.

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 Since the signalling channel is keyed by over-reaching Zone 2
elements, the scheme requires duplex communication
12.3.4 Permissive Over-reach Transfer Tripping (POP)
channels - one frequency for each direction of signalling.
Scheme
If distance relays with mho characteristics are used, the
In this scheme, a distance relay element set to reach beyond
scheme may be more advantageous than the permissive
the remote end of the protected line is used to send an
under-reaching scheme for protecting short lines, because the
intertripping signal to the remote end. However, it is essential
resistive coverage of the Zone 2 unit may be greater than that
that the receive relay contact is monitored by a directional relay
of Zone 1.
contact to ensure that tripping does not take place unless the
fault is within the protected section; see Figure 12.8. The To prevent operation under current reversal conditions in a
instantaneous contacts of the Zone 2 unit are arranged to send parallel feeder circuit, it is necessary to use a current reversal
the signal, and the received signal, supervised by Zone 2 guard timer to inhibit the tripping of the forward Zone 2
operation, is used to energise the trip circuit. The scheme is elements. Otherwise maloperation of the scheme may occur
then known as a 'permissive over-reach transfer tripping under current reversal conditions, see Section 12.3.2 for more
scheme' (sometimes abbreviated to POTT, POR or POP), details. It is necessary only when the Zone 2 reach is set
'directional comparison scheme', or ‘permissive overreach greater than 150% of the protected line impedance.
distance protection scheme’. The timer is used to block the permissive trip and signal send
circuits as shown in Figure 12.9. The timer is energised if a
signal is received and there is no operation of Zone 2 elements.
An adjustable time delay on pick-up ( ) is usually set to allow
instantaneous tripping to take place for any internal faults,
taking into account a possible slower operation of Zone 2. The
timer will have operated and blocked the ‘permissive trip’ and
‘signal send’ circuits by the time the current reversal takes
place.

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 Signal transmission can take place even after the remote end
breaker has tripped. This gives rise to the possibility of
continuous signal transmission due to lock-up of both signals.
Timer is used to prevent this. After this time delay, 'signal
send' is blocked.
The timer is de-energised if the Zone 2 elements operate or the A variation on the Weak Infeed Echo feature is to allow
'signal received' element resets. The reset time delay of tripping of the remote relay under the circumstances described
the timer is set to cover any overlap in time caused by Zone 2 above, providing that an undervoltage condition exists, due to
elements operating and the signal resetting at the remote end, the fault. This is known as the Weak Infeed Trip feature and
when the current in the healthy feeder reverses. Using a timer ensures that both ends are tripped if the conditions are
in this manner means that no extra time delay is added in the satisfied.
permissive trip circuit for an internal fault.
The above scheme using Zone 2 relay elements is often
referred to as a POP Z2 scheme. An alternative exists that The arrangements described so far have used the signalling
uses Zone 1 elements instead of Zone 2, and this is referred to channel(s) to transmit a tripping instruction. If the signalling
as the POP Z1 scheme. However POP Z1 is unusual as it channel fails or there is no Weak Infeed feature provided, end-
requires Zone 1 to be set overreaching, which is not usual zone faults may take longer to be cleared.
practice.
Blocking over-reaching schemes use an over-reaching distance
scheme and inverse logic. Signalling is initiated only for
12.3.5 Weak Infeed Conditions
external faults and signalling transmission takes place over
In the standard permissive over-reach scheme, as with the healthy line sections. Fast fault clearance occurs when no
permissive under-reach scheme, instantaneous clearance signal is received and the over-reaching Zone 2 distance
cannot be achieved for end-zone faults under weak infeed or measuring elements looking into the line operate. The
breaker open conditions. To overcome this disadvantage, two signalling channel is keyed by reverse-looking distance
possibilities exist. elements (Z3 in the diagram, though which zone is used
The Weak Infeed Echo feature available in some protection depends on the particular relay, with a dedicated reverse zone
relays allows the remote relay to echo the trip signal back to such as Zone 4 now commonly-used in numerical relays). An
the sending relay even if the appropriate remote relay element ideal blocking scheme is shown in Figure 12.11.
has not operated. This caters for conditions of the remote end
having a weak infeed or circuit breaker open condition, so that
the relevant remote relay element does not operate. Fast
clearance for these faults is now obtained at both ends of the
line. The logic is shown in Figure 12.10. A time delay is
required in the echo circuit to prevent tripping of the remote
end breaker when the local breaker is tripped by the busbar
protection or breaker fail protection associated with other
feeders connected to the busbar. The time delay ensures that
the remote end Zone 2 element will reset by the time the
echoed signal is received at that end.

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 known as a ‘directional comparison blocking scheme’ or a
‘blocking over-reach distance protection scheme’

Operation of the scheme can be understood by considering the

faults shown at F1, F2 and F3 in Figure 12.11 along with the
signal logic of Figure 12.12.
A fault at F1 is seen by the Zone 1 relay elements at both ends
A and B; as a result, the fault is cleared instantaneously at both
ends of the protected line. Signalling is controlled by the Z3
elements looking away from the protected section, so no
transmission takes place, thus giving fast tripping via the
forward-looking Zone 1 elements.
A fault at F2 is seen by the forward-looking Zone 2 elements at
ends A and B and by the Zone 1 elements at end B. No signal
transmission takes place, since the fault is internal and the
fault is cleared in Zone 1 time at end B and after the short time
The single frequency signalling channel operates both local and
lag (STL) at end A.
remote receive relays when a block signal is initiated at any
end of the protected section. A fault at F3 is seen by the reverse-looking Z3 elements at end
B and the forward looking Zone 2 elements at end A. The
12.4.1 Practical Blocking Schemes Zone 1 relay elements at end B associated with line section B-
A blocking instruction has to be sent by the reverse-looking C would normally clear the fault at F3. To prevent the Z2
relay elements to prevent instantaneous tripping of the remote elements at end A from tripping, the reverse-looking Zone 3
relay for Zone 2 faults external to the protected section. To elements at end B send a blocking signal to end A. If the fault
achieve this, the reverse-looking elements and the signalling is not cleared instantaneously by the protection on line section
channel must operate faster than the forward-looking B-C, the trip signal will be given at end B for section A-B after
elements. In practice, this is seldom the case and to ensure the Z3 time delay.
discrimination, a short time delay is generally introduced into The setting of the reverse-looking Zone 3 elements must be
the blocking mode trip circuit. Either the Zone 2 or Zone 1 greater than that of the Zone 2 elements at the remote end of
element can be used as the forward-looking element, giving the feeder, otherwise there is the possibility of Zone 2 elements
rise to two variants of the scheme. initiating tripping and the reverse looking Zone 3 elements
failing to see an external fault. This would result in
12.4.1.1 Blocking over-reaching protection scheme using instantaneous tripping for an external fault. When the
Zone 2 element signalling channel is used for a stabilising signal, as in the
This scheme (sometimes abbreviated to ‘BLOCKING’ or BOP above case, transmission takes place over a healthy line
Z2) is based on the ideal blocking scheme of Figure 12.11, but section if power line carrier is used. The signalling channel
has the signal logic illustrated in Figure 12.12. It is also should then be more reliable when used in the blocking mode
than in tripping mode.

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It is essential that the operating times of the various relays be 12.4.1.2 Blocking over-reaching protection scheme using
skilfully co-ordinated for all system conditions, so that Zone 1 element
sufficient time is always allowed for the receipt of a blocking This is similar to the BOP Z2 scheme described above, except
signal from the remote end of the feeder. If this is not done that an over-reaching Zone 1 element is used in the logic,
accurately, the scheme may trip for an external fault or instead of the Zone 2 element. It may also be known as the
alternatively, the end zone tripping times may be delayed BOP Z1 scheme, although it is rarely used.
longer than is necessary.
If the signalling channel fails, the scheme must be arranged to 12.4.2 Weak Infeed Conditions
revert to conventional basic distance protection. Normally, the The protection at the strong infeed terminal will operate for all
blocking mode trip circuit is supervised by a 'channel-in- internal faults, since a blocking signal is not received from the
service' contact so that the blocking mode trip circuit is weak infeed terminal end. In the case of external faults behind
isolated when the channel is out of service, as shown in Figure the weak infeed terminal, the reverse-looking elements at that
12.12. end will see the fault current fed from the strong infeed
In a practical application, the reverse-looking relay elements terminal and operate, initiating a block signal to the remote
may be set with a forward offset characteristic to provide back- end. The relay at the strong infeed end operates correctly
up protection for busbar faults after the zone time delay. It is without the need for any additional circuits. The relay at the
then necessary to stop the blocking signal being sent for weak infeed end cannot operate for internal faults, and so
internal faults. This is achieved by making the ‘signal send’ tripping of that breaker is possible only by means of direct
circuit conditional upon non-operation of the forward-looking intertripping from the strong source end.
Zone 2 elements, as shown in Figure 12.13.

The permissive over-reach scheme described in Section 12.3.4

can be arranged to operate on a directional comparison
unblocking principle by providing additional circuitry in the
signalling equipment. In this scheme (also called a ’deblocking
overreach distance protection scheme’), a continuous block (or
guard) signal is transmitted. When the over-reaching distance
elements operate, the frequency of the signal transmitted is
shifted to an 'unblock' (trip) frequency. The receipt of the
unblock frequency signal and the operation of over-reaching
distance elements allow fast tripping to occur for faults within
the protected zone. In principle, the scheme is similar to the
permissive over-reach scheme.
The scheme is made more dependable than the standard
Blocking schemes, like the permissive over-reach scheme, are permissive over-reach scheme by providing additional circuits
also affected by the current reversal in the healthy feeder due in the receiver equipment. These allow tripping to take place
to a fault in a double circuit line. If current reversal conditions for internal faults even if the transmitted unblock signal is
occur, as described in Section 12.3.2, it may be possible for the short-circuited by the fault. This is achieved by allowing aided
maloperation of a breaker on the healthy line to occur. To tripping for a short time interval, typically 100 to 150
avoid this, the resetting of the ‘signal received’ element milliseconds, after the loss of both the block and the unblock
provided in the blocking scheme is time delayed. frequency signals. After this time interval, aided tripping is
permitted only if the unblock frequency signal is received.
The timer with delayed resetting is set to cover the time
difference between the maximum resetting time of reverse- This arrangement gives the scheme improved security over a
looking Zone 3 elements and the signalling channel. So, if blocking scheme, since tripping for external faults is possible
there is a momentary loss of the blocking signal during the only if the fault occurs within the above time interval of
current reversal, the timer does not have time to reset in the channel failure. Weak Infeed terminal conditions can be
blocking mode trip circuit and no false tripping takes place. catered for by the techniques detailed in 12.3.5 Weak Infeed
Conditions.

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In this way, the scheme has the dependability of a blocking
scheme and the security of a permissive over-reach scheme.
This scheme is generally preferred when power line carrier is
used, except when continuous transmission of signal is not
acceptable.

On normal two-terminal lines the main deciding factors in the

choice of the type of scheme, apart from the reliability of the
signalling channel previously discussed, are operating speed and
the method of operation of the system. Table 12.1 compares the
important characteristics of the various types of scheme.

Modern digital or numerical distance relays are provided with a

choice of several schemes in the same relay. Thus scheme
selection is now largely independent of relay selection, and the
user is assured that a relay is available with all the required
features to cope with changing system conditions.

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