The grading time is the time difference between two consecutive protection stages. Purpose: Quickly clears severe faults near the relay (e. Limitation: Covers only ~80% of the line length, leaving a “dead zone” at the far end. Stage Ⅱ (TimeDelayed Overcurrent Protection) Purpose: Protects the remaining 20% of the line and acts as backup. The pickup currents are adjusted in such a way that the protection nearest the fault operates in a shorter time than the protection in the succeeding section towards the power source. On feeders each relay backs up the one in the next section further from the power source so that the Time Current. Figure 1 shows how time-graded protection is achieved using overcurrent relays that have either inverse time or definite time characteristics. 5 s was a normal grading margin.
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