POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION

Power system protection is an integral part of every power system. All power equipment including power generators, step-up transformers, step-down transformers, transmission lines, power capacitors, electric motors, other loads, etc needs protection. The necessity for protection is incurred by all kinds of contingencies such as equipment failure due to insulation deterioration, lightning strikes, short circuits by nature force or creature-made happenings, inappropriate operation of the power system, and other inadvertent incidences. Some power equipment is very expensive such as MW generators which could cost millions of dollars. Furthermore, an outage due to the failure of the power system causes severe damage to the economy and inconvenience to people’s daily life. A properly designed protection can ensure power supply is cut to a minimum number of users yet continue to supply power to other end users in the case that a fault occurs in the system. It is a sophisticated art that needs systematic study in order to master. All these calls for a new module for undergraduate students to learn in the field of power system protection.