Any Protection Relay should fulfill the following functional Characteristics.
- Reliability
- Sensitivity
- Selectivity and
- Speed
Reliability
Reliability means that the relay will act when it is required to act. This is ensured by making sure
Sensitivity
Sensitivity refers to the characteristic of the relay to act when the actual fault conditions occur. Sensitivity is usually represented in terms of the minimum volt-amperes required for the relay operation.
Speed
The relay should act according to the present time delay. It should neither operate too fast or too slow. If it is too slow it can cause damage to the equipment, if it operates too fast it may unnecessarily trip equipment for transient faults.
Selectivity
Selectivity refers to the ability of the relay to discriminate between faults. This is critical as only the smallest possible section of the power system should be taken out of line in the event of a fault. The relay should be able to discriminate between a transient fault and a through fault. It should be able to differentiate between downstream faults and immediate faults.