Power System Protection & Control SGST 9230

​The course builds on the fundamentals of three-phase power system (learned from the prerequisite courses) and teaches a practical approach to power system protection. It begins by introducing how the modern power grid is shifting from centralized to distributed generation architecture, key elements of a protection system, construction of a modern microprocessor-based relay and attributes of a reliable protection system. It then gives a brief overview of short circuit analysis, which is being covered in detail in a concurrent course. The course discusses characteristics of the modern inverter-based generators (wind, solar and battery resources) and how they differ from conventional synchronous generators (thermal and hydro electric generators). The distribution system grounding, which significantly influences protection requirements, is discussed in detail. It covers in-depth protection practices used in the traditional distribution system. New protection practices are discussed to accommodate distributed generation and its operation with the consumers as a microgrid. The course uses operational experiences from installed distributed generator resources and microgrids and relates them to the protection practices introduced in the course. ​The course laboratory exercises involves hands-on experience with a CT (current transformer) saturation simulator and industry standard short circuit simulation programs.