Advanced protection relay test system using a digital simulator

Today, digital type power system simulators are used within many areas of development including protection system test, in respect of its excellent track record. However, in the protective relaying system test, the operation of the test system becomes complex because numerous power system parameters and switching conditions need to be set following a predetermined sequence. And professional power system expertise is always required in order to set up the power system simulation environment. This paper describes the challenge of developing a user-friendly control system for a protection relay panel testing system using an RTDS® simulator. In this system, we have developed user-friendly interface equipment to connect to the relay system in order to control relay conditions and for recording the output signals of the relay system under test. Dedicated control software was developed to automatically control the RTDS® equipment, switch protection relay system conditions and record test results. We also developed an automatic recording and display function for test results. The system has proved to be an effective test system for the testing of protection relay systems.