Consideration of the IEC 61850 protocol and implications for substation engineering.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
This dissertation presented a study on the future-proof IEC 61850 communication protocol and
its implications for substation engineering. The advent of contemporary technologies has resulted
in the decentralization of substation architecture. Over the last 15 years the IEC 61850 protocol
has been contributing to the refurbishment and upgrade of conventional substations. As the aging
infrastructure of these centres has been slowly replaced, the hybrid substation has begun to
emerge. These substations have been known to contain tedious combinations of different
proprietary protocols all attempting to operate within the same substation network. Therefore, the
introduction of IEC 61850 to old substations can have an effect on automation, protection and
communication within the substations local environment. In this dissertation a multi-protocol
substation communication network and SCADA was established using DNP3, Modbus RTU and
IEC 61850. A communication network was developed between a physical nexus of connected
IEDs and end equipment. It was from this model that the operation of a typical substation
automation system was analysed. This critical assessment focussed on the workings of the remotecontrol
points as well as the response of end equipment under fault conditions such as breaker
fail, overcurrent and earth fault. In addition to the operation of the multi-protocol model,
individual inferences could be drawn from the implementation of the aforementioned protocols
themselves. These deductions related to the significance of time stamped data, the reduction of
cross-wired copper cables within substations, the obvious limitations of serial RS 485 Modbus
RTU and the convenient benefits of ‘virtual’ networks.
It was during the main research phase of this study that the principal benefits of the IEC 61850
standard were readily enforced and interpreted. Furthermore, special consideration was given to
the implications of the GOOSE message class on substation protection. It was here that GOOSEbased
breaker fail protection, arc-flash protection and blocking response were investigated. As a
result of the implementation of these protection schemes it was determined that GOOSE
messaging and by extension the IEC 61850 standard provides optimisation, economic benefits as
well as revolutionary advancements in protection and automation to substations. The IEC 61850
substation standard is current, universal, promotes the interoperability between devices and is a
leading contributor in the development of smart grids. Therefore, IEC 61850 is a standard of the
present and of the future.
Description
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2018.
Keywords
Theses - Electrical Engineering.