Performance Evaluation of an Enhanced Bus Differential Protection Relay

The busbar protection relays typically implements low impedance percentage differential principle using dual slope characteristics. These relays may sometimes misoperate in response to the CT saturation during close-in external faults, and the subsidence current present after clearing external faults. A primary reason for such misoperations is the fact that the traditional percentage differential principle relies exclusively on current magnitudes rather than directionality for tripping decisions. This paper evaluates the performance of an enhanced bus differential relay which uses different principles that distinguish between external and internal faults so as to enhance the security of differential protection. Extensive testing has been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the new principles in enhancing the security for external faults.