ABB Relion ® 615 series REF615 feeder protection and control device

ABB Relion ®  615 series REF615 feeder protection and control device

Product overview

Positioning and Function: REF615 is an intelligent electronic device (IED) designed specifically for public substations and industrial power system feeders, used for the protection, control, measurement, and monitoring of radial, ring, and mesh distribution networks (including distributed generation). It is a Relion ®  The members of the 615 protection and control series products adopt compact and withdrawable unit designs, fully leveraging the potential of the IEC 61850 standard for communication and interoperability between substation automation equipment.

Core Capability: Provides primary protection for overhead lines and cable feeders, and can also serve as backup protection for independent redundant protection systems. Based on selected standard configurations, it is suitable for protecting overhead lines and cable feeders in isolated neutral points, resistance grounding, compensation, and solid-state grounding networks. After configuring specific parameters, it can be directly put into use and supports multiple communication protocols.

Standard configuration

Configuration type: REF615 has 8 standard configurations, and different configurations have different combinations of protection functions. For example, A and B configurations include non directional overcurrent and directional ground fault protection, while C and D configurations include non directional overcurrent and non directional ground fault protection.

Function support: The standard signal configuration can be changed through the graphical signal matrix or optional graphical application function of PCM600. Its application configuration function supports the use of various logic elements (including timers and triggers) to create multi-layer logic functions, combining protection functions with logic function blocks to adapt IED configuration to user specific application needs.

Protection function

Main protection function: Provides directional and non directional overcurrent, thermal overload protection, as well as directional and non directional ground fault protection. According to standard configuration, admittance type ground fault protection can replace directional ground fault protection, and also has sensitive ground fault, phase to phase open circuit, transient/intermittent ground fault, overvoltage and undervoltage, residual overvoltage, positive sequence undervoltage, and negative sequence overvoltage protection functions.

Additional protection function: The standard configuration H of the IED provides frequency protection (including over frequency, under frequency, and frequency change rate protection), enhanced by optional hardware and software, with three optical detection channels for metal enclosed indoor switchgear circuit breakers, busbars, and cable room arc fault protection. The arc fault protection sensor interface is on the optional communication module.

Application scenarios

Network type: Can be equipped with directional or non directional grounding fault protection. Directional grounding fault protection is mainly used for isolated neutral points or compensating networks, while non directional grounding fault protection is suitable for direct or low impedance grounded neutral point networks, and can be used for ring and mesh distribution networks as well as radial networks containing distributed generation.

Specific applications: Different standard configurations are suitable for different scenarios, such as standard configuration G containing one conventional residual current input and three sensor inputs, suitable for compact medium voltage switchgear with limited space, and standard configuration H suitable for industrial power systems, etc.

Supported ABB solutions

System integration: The 615 series of protection and control IEDs and COM600 station automation equipment form a true IEC 61850 solution for reliable power distribution in public and industrial power systems. Through the provided connection package, IEDs can be easily configured and integrated with COM600 or MicroSCADA Pro network control and management systems through the PCM600 protection and control IED manager.

Communication and Functionality: The 615 series IEDs natively support the IEC 61850 standard, including binary and analog level GOOSE message passing. The COM600 provides enhanced substation level functionality using interval level IEDs for data content, with a web-based HMI and gateway functionality, providing seamless connectivity between substation IEDs and network level control and management systems.

Control function 

Circuit breaker control: The IED provides control over a circuit breaker, equipped with dedicated buttons for opening and closing the circuit breaker. The optional large graphic LCD includes a single line diagram (SLD) indicating the position of the circuit breaker, and the interlocking scheme required for the application is configured through the signal matrix or application configuration function of PCM600.

Synchronization check: According to the standard configuration, the IED also includes a synchronization check function to ensure that the voltage, phase angle, and frequency on both sides of the disconnected circuit breaker meet the conditions for secure interconnection between the two networks.

Measurement and recording function

Measurement parameters: Continuously measure phase current, current symmetry component, and residual current. If voltage measurement is included, residual voltage, phase voltage, and voltage sequence component are also measured. According to the standard configuration, frequency measurement is also provided to calculate the current demand value within the user's selectable preset time frame, thermal overload of the protected object, and phase imbalance value based on the ratio of negative and positive sequence currents. Three phase power and energy measurement, including power factor, are provided.