Power System Protection
Fundamentals and Applications
Preface
This book contains the accumulated experiences and practices used by the authors who have each, practiced protection engineering for over forty years.
Protection engineering is a specialty within the study of power system engineering. It is generally, not taught in engineering programs except for some specialized post-graduate programs. Considering that every power system big, and small, regardless of voltage level, requires the application of protection systems; the authors felt that there was a gap in the industry, and there is a need for more protection system information and guidance for new protection practitioners.
Protection is a highly complex discipline requiring several years of specialized engineering development following graduation. Utilities typically resort to the recruitment of graduate power system engineers into the field of protection engineering. Historically, these recruits would gain the necessary experience and training while working along with seasoned engineers over many years as they gain confidence. This mentoring approach is becoming more difficult to implement. Specifically, this mentoring approach relies on several years of overlap which is becoming more difficult to attain as many experienced staff with lifelong knowledge have, or are retiring, leaving fewer, and fewer experienced mentors.
New protection practitioners to this field require resources, and the means to gain the necessary know-how. It is for this reason that we felt compelled to write this book, to provide new protection practitioners with a book they can relate with for Power System Protection Fundamentals and Applications. It is the intent of the authors, that this book facilitates knowledge transfer via the use of a structured set of fundamental protection principles, explanatory illustrations, and applications of these principles.
The authors appreciate the challenges for new protection practitioners. It is a complex field
requiring knowledge of electrical engineering, power systems, power equipment, protection engineering, telecommunications, power system analysis, control, and more recently, computer programming, and networks as the industry transforms into a digital world.
Protection practitioners are tasked with designing, maintaining, operating, compliance, managing, and diagnosing protection system applications. As such, they are accountable to make these systems work and function per design; they represent the process metaphorically, where “the rubber meets the road.”
This book is written with the approach that in this new and dynamic digital transformation,
the understanding of the underlying protection principles is key to the successful development of a protection practitioner. Fundamentally, protection practitioners are held accountable to design, operate, maintain, and implement workable solutions to support the reliable operation of the power system. It is for this purpose; we wrote this book to be a balance between theory and practical applications for the intent of being relatable