Due to the role of relay protection in the power system and its importance for the safe and continuous power supply of the power system, relay protection must have certain performance and characteristics, and corresponding requirements should also be put forward for relay protection workers. The main characteristics of relay protection and the requirements for its workers are as follows.
(1) The power system is an organic whole composed of many complex primary main equipment and secondary auxiliary equipment such as protection, control, regulation, and signaling. Each device has its unique operating characteristics and fault conditions. A fault in any device will immediately cause changes or damage to the normal operating state of the system, affecting other devices and the entire system to varying degrees. Therefore, relay protection work involves every electrical main equipment and secondary auxiliary equipment. This requires relay protection workers to have a deep understanding of the working principles, performance, parameter calculation, and fault state analysis of all these devices, as well as extensive knowledge of production and operation. In addition, they must have a clear concept of the planning and design principles of the entire power system, the basis for formulating operation modes, the theory of voltage and frequency regulation, the methods of power flow and stability calculation, as well as the principles and methods of economic dispatch and safety control.
(2) Relay protection in power systems is a comprehensive discipline, based on the basic theories of theoretical electrical engineering, electrical machinery, and power system analysis, and is closely related to new theories and technologies such as electronic technology, communication technology, computer technology, and information science. Looking at the development history of relay protection technology, it can be seen that every major advancement in power system communication technology has led to the emergence of a new protection principle, such as high-frequency protection, microwave protection, and optical fiber protection; every new electronic component has also caused a revolution in relay protection devices. The development from electromechanical relays to transistor protection devices, integrated circuit protection devices, and microcomputer protection fully illustrates this issue. Currently, the implementation of microcomputer protection components, optical fiber communication, and information networks is fundamentally changing the face of relay protection technology. New theories, concepts, and methods will emerge in the design, manufacturing, and operation of relay protection. It can be seen that relay protection workers should pay close attention to the development of new theories, technologies, and materials in adjacent disciplines, actively and prudently apply various new technological achievements, continuously develop relay protection theories, improve their technical level and reliability indicators, and enhance the performance of protection devices to ensure the safe operation of the power system.
(3) Relay protection is a discipline that emphasizes both theory and practice. To master the performance of relay protection devices and their action behavior during power system faults, it is necessary not only to use the theoretical knowledge learned in courses to analyze system fault conditions and protection device action behavior, but also to conduct laboratory tests, digital simulation analysis, tests on power system dynamic models, on-site artificial fault tests, and trial operation under on-site conditions. Theoretical analysis alone cannot be considered sufficient for understanding protection performance. Only after various rigorous tests, where the test results are basically consistent with theoretical analysis and meet predetermined requirements, can they be adopted in practice. Therefore, to do relay protection work well, one must not only be good at theoretical analysis of complex system operation and protection performance issues, but also master scientific experimental techniques, especially the techniques for debugging and experimentation under on-site conditions.
(4) Any slight error in relay protection work may cause serious impacts on the operation of the power system, bringing immeasurable losses to the national economy and people's lives. Several domestic and international power system collapses, leading to paralysis of industrial and agricultural production in vast areas and social disorder, were often caused by the incorrect action of a single relay protection device. Therefore, relay protection workers bear significant responsibility for the safe operation of the power system. This requires relay protection workers to have a high sense of responsibility, a rigorous and meticulous work style, and to establish a reliability mindset in their work. In addition, they are required to have a spirit of cooperation, actively cooperate with various planning, design, and operation departments to analyze and study the development and operation of the power system, understand the requirements for relay protection, so as to take necessary measures in a timely manner to ensure that relay protection meets the requirements of power system operation.
