An Innovative Fast Relay Coordination Method to Bypass the Time Consumption of Optimization Algorithms in Relay Protection Coordination

Relay coordination in power system is a complex problem and so far, meta-heuristic algorithms and other methods as an alternative approach may not properly deal with large scale relay coordination due to their huge time consuming computation. In some cases the relay coordination could be unachievable. As the urgency for a proper approach is essential, in this paper an innovative and simple relay coordination method is introduced that is able to be applied on optimization algorithms for relay protection coordination. The objective function equation of operating time of relays are divided into two separate functions with less constraints. As the analytical results show here, this equivalent method has a remarkable speed with high accuracy to coordinate directional relays. Two distribution systems including directional overcurrent relays are studied in DigSILENT software and the collected data are examined in MATLAB. The relay settings of this method are compared with particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm. The analytical results show the correctness of this mathematical and practical approach. This fast coordination method has a proper velocity of convergence with low iteration that can be used in large scale systems in practice and also to provide a feasible solution for protection coordination in smart grids as online or offline protection coordination.