Hardware Implementation and Validation of a dc Protection Scheme Based on Local Measurements

Direct current (dc) protection hardware must measure, process, and respond to faults within tens of microseconds. Modern microcontroller processing speeds allow for devices to implement a functional dc protection scheme within this ten-microsecond span. The following paper illustrates the challenges and solutions involved in implementing a novel protection algorithm onto hardware. The paper then describes the algorithm's performance in a realtime, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environment using a 1 MHz sampling rate. By analysis of test results, the paper identifies the unique issues created due to the filter used in the relay. It assesses the impact of these issues on the accuracy of fault location and the functioning of the protection scheme. Based on the assessment future work is proposed.