Methods and systems for ground fault detection in a power distribution system

1. A method of operating a solidly grounded, multi-source, multi-phase power distribution system having coupled neutral conductors, said power distribution system including a bus, a plurality of source protection devices coupled to the bus, and a plurality of feeder protection devices coupled to the bus, the method comprising:

receiving, for each source protection device of the plurality of source protection devices, data indicative of detected source phase currents associated with the source protection device;

receiving, for each feeder protection device of the plurality of feeder protection devices, data indicative of detected feeder neutral currents and detected feeder phase currents associated with the feeder protection device; and

determining a net source ground fault current associated with the plurality of source protection devices based on the received data indicative of source phase currents and the received data indicative of feeder neutral currents and feeder phase currents, without detecting a neutral current of any of the source protection devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising tripping at least one source protection device of the plurality of source protection devices when the determined net source ground fault current exceeds a ground fault protection threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein tripping at least one source protection device of the plurality of source protection devices when the determined net source ground fault current exceeds a ground fault protection threshold comprises tripping all source protection devices of the plurality of source protection devices when the determined net source ground fault current exceeds the ground fault protection threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

allocating the determined net source ground fault current between the plurality of source protection devices; and

tripping any source protection device of the plurality of source protection devices whose allocated portion of the net source ground fault current exceeds a ground fault protection threshold.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein allocating the determined net source ground fault current between the plurality of source protection devices comprises allocating equal portions of the determined net source ground fault current to each source protection device.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein allocating the determined net source ground fault current between the plurality of source protection devices comprises allocating the determined net source ground fault current among the plurality of source protection devices based at least in part on an operational characteristic of each source protection device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

allocating the determined net source ground fault current between the plurality of source protection devices; and

providing an indication of the allocation to each source protection device of the plurality of source protection devices to allow each source protection device to respond according to its allocated portion of the determined net source ground fault current and its own ground fault protection programming.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a net source ground fault current associated with the plurality of source protection devices comprises:

summing the source phase currents to determine a net zero sequence current for the plurality of sources;

summing the feeder neutral currents to determine a total neutral load of the system;

subtracting the summed feeder neutral currents from the net zero sequence current to determine a net system ground fault;

summing the feeder neutral currents and the feeder phase currents to determine a net feeder ground fault; and

subtracting the net feeder ground fault from the net system ground fault to determine the net source ground fault.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein receiving data indicative of detected source phase currents comprises receiving source phase current vectors, and wherein receiving data indicative of detected feeder neutral currents and detected feeder phase currents comprises receiving feeder neutral current vectors and feeder phase current vectors.

10. A solidly grounded, multi-phase power distribution system having coupled neutral conductors, the multi-phase power distribution system comprising:

a bus;

a plurality of sources;

a source protection device, said source protection device coupled between at least one source of said plurality of sources and said bus, said source protection device including a plurality of sensors configured to detect a plurality of source phase currents associated with said at least one source protection device;

a plurality of feeder protection devices coupled to the bus, each feeder protection device including a plurality of sensors configured to detect a plurality of feeder phase currents and a feeder neutral current associated with said feeder protection device;

a controller including a processor and a memory, said memory storing non-transitory instructions that configure said processor to:

receive data indicative of the detected plurality of source phase currents from said source protection device;

receive, from each feeder protection device, data indicative of the detected plurality of feeder phase currents and the detected feeder neutral current; and

determine, a net source ground fault current associated with said source protection device based on the received data indicative of source phase currents, the received data indicative of feeder phase currents, and the received data indicative of feeder neutral currents, without receiving data indicative of a detected neutral current associated with said source protection device.

11. The multi-phase power distribution system of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory instructions configure said processor to trip said source protection device when the determined net source ground fault current exceeds a ground fault protection threshold.

12. The multi-phase power distribution system of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory instructions configure said processor to determine the net source ground fault current by:

summing the source phase currents to determine a net zero sequence current;

summing the feeder neutral currents to determine a total neutral load of said system;

subtracting the summed feeder neutral currents from the net zero sequence current to determine a net system ground fault;

summing the feeder neutral currents and the feeder phase currents to determine a net feeder ground fault; and

subtracting the net feeder ground fault from the net system ground fault to determine the net source ground fault.

13. The multi-phase power distribution system of claim 10 , wherein said controller is included in said source protection device.

14. The multi-phase power distribution system of claim 10 , wherein said controller is included in one of said feeder protection devices.

15. The multi-phase power distribution system of claim 10 , wherein said controller is a central controller separate from said at least one source protection device and said plurality of said feeder protection devices.

16. A solidly grounded, multi-phase power distribution system having coupled neutral conductors, the multi-phase power distribution system comprising:

a bus;

a plurality of sources;

a source protection device, said source protection device coupled between at least one source of said plurality of sources and said bus, said source protection device including a plurality of sensors configured to detect a plurality of source phase currents associated with said source protection device;

a plurality of feeder protection devices coupled to the bus, each feeder protection device including a processor, a memory, and a plurality of sensors configured to detect a plurality of feeder phase currents and a feeder neutral current associated with said feeder protection device, said memory storing non-transitory instructions that configure said processor to:

vector sum the plurality of feeder phase currents and feeder neutral currents detected by said plurality of sensors to determine a ground fault current through said feeder protection device; and

output a blocking signal if the determined ground fault current exceeds a threshold value; and

a controller including a processor and a memory, said memory storing non-transitory instructions that configure said processor to:

receive the detected plurality of source phase currents from said source protection device;

receive the detected feeder neutral current from each feeder protection device;

determine whether any feeder protection device is outputting a blocking signal; and

determine whether to engage a ground fault protection logic of the source protection device based on the received source phase currents, the received feeder neutral currents, and the determination of whether any feeder protection device is outputting a blocking signal, without receiving a detected neutral current associated with said source protection device.

17. The power distribution system of claim 16 , wherein the non-transitory instructions configure said processor to subtract a vector sum of the received feeder neutral currents from a vector sum of the received source phase currents to determine a system ground fault current.

18. The power distribution system of claim 17 , wherein the non-transitory instructions configure said processor to engage a source ground fault protection logic of said source protection device based on the received source phase currents, the received feeder neutral currents, and the determination of whether any feeder protection device is outputting a blocking signal by:

determining to engage a primary ground fault protection logic of said source protection device when the determined system ground fault current equals or exceeds a threshold value and no feeder protection device is outputting a blocking signal;

determining to engage a secondary ground fault protection logic of said source protection device when the determined system ground fault current equals or exceeds the threshold value and any feeder protection device is outputting a blocking signal, wherein the secondary ground fault logic will take longer to cause said source protection device to trip than the primary ground fault protection logic; and

determining not to engage any ground fault protection logic of said source protection device when the determined system ground fault current is less than the threshold value.