Distance Protection Relay

Overview

MHO-type distance protection on parallel 735-kV transmission lines with zone logic, fault studies, and permissive trip signaling.

This example demonstrates distance protection on high-voltage transmission lines using digital MHO-type relays. It is a strong protection-focused seed post that broadens the initial community beyond converter and DER topics.

Two 735-kV, 200-km transmission lines connect two network equivalents. Line 1 is protected by two distance relays with first- and second-zone logic. The relays evaluate phase and loop impedances using Fourier-based phasor estimation and support permissive trip signaling.

Protection engineers are a major community audience. This model creates room for practical discussions around reach settings, sampling rates, accelerated tripping logic, and how simulation supports relay validation before field use.

Key Features

  • Zone 1 and Zone 2 protection behavior
  • Phase-to-ground and phase-to-phase fault handling
  • Earth-return compensation factor
  • Send Permissive Trip and Received Permissive Trip logic
  • Multiple built-in test cases

Getting Started

  1. Program a fault on Line 1 and run a 0.3 s simulation.
  2. Explore impedance trajectories from Relay B1.
  3. Re-run the published test cases to compare zone operation and trip logic.

Model Specifications

Parameter Value
Product SPS Software
Simulation type Real-time
Software version SPS Software 2026+ (with RT-LAB)
Recommended time step Ts_Control = 16 × Ts_Power (32 samples/cycle); confirm Ts_Power in model
Real-time solver ARTEMiS (CPU real-time)
Compatible hardware OP4605XG2, OP4610XG2, OP5020XG2, OP5025XG2, OP5033XG2, OP5707XG2
Model file Coming soon

Downloads

The downloadable model package is coming soon.

power_DistanceProtectionRelay (1).slx (604.7 KB)

How do you usually validate relay reach and permissive logic: offline studies only, real-time testing, or a mix of both?