Phase faults in generators are rare, but they can occur and must be protected against.
Phase faults can develop in the winding end turns, where all three phase windings are in close
proximity, or in slots if there are two coils in the same slot. Phase faults often change to ground
faults, but they must be detected in either event.
The standard method of protection against phase faults is the differential relay, and
usually the percentage differential type of relay. Most of the manufacturers recommend this
type of protection for all units larger than about 1 MVA. The CT connections for a wyeconnected
generator with a unit step-up transformer are shown in Figure 18.1. If there is no
unit step-up transformer, the transformer and transformer relay are simply deleted from the
figure. Note that the neutral current transformers are used by both the generator and the step
up transformer relays.