Similar to how the thermostat solves the problem of automating the control of the air conditioner or furnace in a home, protection relays can solve electrical problems.
The purpose of the protection relay is to detect a problem, ideally during its initial stage, and to either eliminate or significantly reduce damage to personnel and/or equipment.
The following stages illustrate how an electrical problem develops:
Stage 1: When conductors with good insulation are exposed to fault initiators such as moisture, dust, chemicals, persistent overloading, vibration or just normal deterioration, the insulation will start to slowly deteriorate. Such small changes will not be immediately obvious until the damage is severe enough to cause an electrical fault. Protective relays can detect that a problem is developing by identifying slight deviations in current, voltage, resistance, or temperature. Due to the small magnitude in change, only a sophisticated device such as a sensitive protection relay or a monitor can detect these conditions and indicate that a problem may be developing, before any further damage has occurred.
Stage 2: As the problem becomes more severe, further changes take place such as insulation breakdown, overheating, or overvoltage. Since the change from normal to abnormal is great, traditional devices can be used to interrupt power. A protection relay can also be used to provide additional protection by detecting the fault contributors (overheating, overvoltage, etc.) not possible with fuses and circuit breakers.
Stage 3: At this point, the problem has occurred and caused damage. Different types of protective relays and monitors can reduce or eliminate damage because they detect problems in advance of traditional devices.
As an example, if a facility is continually resetting circuit breakers, replacing fuses, or repairing equipment and cannot locate the problem, they may be experiencing overcurrents. If this is the case, the user can install a protection relay that has an overcurrent feature. The relay measures the current (input) and allows the user to program limits (settings) into the relay. The settings typically are more sensitive than the fuses or circuit breakers. Once these limits are exceeded, the protection relay will operate an internal switch (relay contacts). The user has the option to use the switch to turn on a light (alarm indication) or remove power (shunt-trip) before greater problems occur. The user can use the alarm indication to help identify the faulty equipment prior to the traditional device clearing the fault.