Energy and reactive power differential protection hardware-in-the-loop validation for transformer application

This article focuses on validating a time-domain power system protection solution, based on energy and reactive power algorithms, through simulations using hardware-in-the-loop. The results are compared against a commercial, off-the-shelf, intelligent electronic device. The developed protection algorithms are briefly described, followed by the description of the hardware platform responsible for its practical execution and the description of the applied tests. The obtained results show significant advantages on response times when compared to traditional protection, and the ability to securely identify delicate internal transformer faults, even during inrush condition.