Fault Recorders: Qualitrol BEN 6000 and Reason RPV311

Short answer

A digital fault recorder (DFR) stores the oscillography and events of a whole substation with more channels, more memory and longer record time than a relay. Among the devices are the Qualitrol BEN 6000, the GE Vernova Reason RPV311 (recorder, PMU and traveling-wave fault locator) and SEL relays with synchrophasors, such as the SEL-487E and SEL-451. There are also meters with recording and synchrophasors, such as the Arbiter 1133A, and Elspec analyzers.

What it is and where it is used

A digital fault recorder (DFR) captures the currents, voltages and binary signals of several bays of a substation when an event occurs, with a common, synchronized time base. It serves to understand what happened, verify that the protections acted correctly and provide information to the system operator. Among the models are the Qualitrol BEN 6000 (and the IDM line), the GE Vernova Reason RPV311 and the SEL-487E and SEL-451 relays with synchrophasors. Separately there are the Arbiter 1133A and the Elspec analyzers.

They are found in transmission substations, generating stations, grid-connected renewable plants and large industrial substations. The full concept is in fault recorder and PMU. A record is only worth something if someone reads it in time: automatic download and review of the important events should be defined from commissioning.

Variants: BEN 6000, IDM, RPV311, SEL-487E, SEL-451, Arbiter 1133A and Elspec

Device	Application	Main difference
Qualitrol BEN 6000	Fault recorder	High resolution, continuous recording of more than a month and PMU per IEEE C37.118
Qualitrol IDM	Multifunction recorder	Recorder line from the same brand
GE Vernova Reason RPV311	Recorder, PMU, power quality, traveling wave	Distributed architecture; up to 64 analog inputs, 256 binary and 320 GOOSE
SEL-487E / SEL-451	Relays with synchrophasors	Protection and control with built-in PMU
Arbiter 1133A	Synchronized measurement	Meter with GPS time reference, also used for synchrophasors
Elspec	Power quality	Analyzers with continuous waveform recording

Main functions

Function	What it delivers	Standard or format
Triggered oscillography	Waveforms before, during and after the event	COMTRADE (IEEE C37.111 / IEC 60255-24)
Continuous recording	Trends and slow disturbances	Per manufacturer
Sequence of events	State changes with time stamp	SER
Synchrophasors (PMU)	Phasors with GPS time for the wide-area network	IEEE C37.118 (synchrophasor network)
Fault location	Distance to the fault, by impedance or traveling wave	—
Power quality	Sags, harmonics, flicker	IEC 61000-4-30

The RPV311 stores more than 30 GB in solid-state memory, according to GE Vernova, which lets it keep records for a long time without external storage.

Reason RPV311: what GE Vernova publishes

The RPV311 brochure and data sheet (GE Vernova, in English) allow a distributed recording architecture to be described precisely:

Separate processing and acquisition units. The RPV311 processes and stores; the Reason RA33x remote units acquire the signals and the Reason RT43x GNSS master clock provides time. This separation allows acquisition to be brought close to the primary equipment and the data carried over the network.
Capacity. Up to 64 analog inputs, 256 binary and 320 GOOSE inputs per processing unit, with more than 30 GB of solid-state memory.
Analog acquisition. The data sheet states a standard 16-bit module with 256 samples per cycle and a bandwidth from DC to 3 kHz; a separate traveling-wave module, 8-bit and with 5 MHz sampling. These figures come from revision V02 of the data sheet and may change in later revisions.
DC measurement. The RA33x units use a shunt measurement without a magnetic core, so there is no core to saturate, and GE presents it as suitable for HVDC installations and for geomagnetically induced currents.
Functions. Triggered and continuous recording, trend and sequence-of-events recording, flicker and harmonics. It includes a PMU conforming to IEEE C37.118.1/2 (2011 revision and 2014 amendment) and a waveform measurement unit (WMU) to monitor subsynchronous oscillations. It locates faults by single-ended impedance and by traveling wave.
Process bus. It subscribes to IEC 61850-9-2LE sampled values, either from the Reason MU320 field unit or from third-party merging units and digital transformers.
Communications. Modbus and DNP3, GOOSE subscriber, IRIG-B and NTP synchronization, and two Ethernet ports. The DR Manager software brings together configuration, automatic collection of records and alarms, and automatic traveling-wave location; configuration can also be done through a web interface.
Equipment standards. It declares conformity with IEC 61010-1 and IEC 60255-27.

Qualitrol BEN 6000: what the manufacturer publishes

Qualitrol presents the BEN 6000 as an extreme fault recorder that brings together in one unit fault recording, continuous recording, PMU, Class A power quality and fault location. Its product page (in English) advertises 16-bit converters with sampling of up to 12 kHz, one converter per channel and a continuous record independent of triggers that keeps more than a month of data. According to the same manufacturer, the upgrade from the BEN 5000 to the BEN 6000 adds the PMU and IEC 61850; the BEN 5000 used 12-bit conversion. Traveling-wave fault location is offered by Qualitrol with separate locators, which its iQ software integrates together with the BEN 6000; it should not be assumed that the BEN 6000 does it by itself.

Types of record and what each is for

Record	What it captures	Typical use
Triggered	Waveforms before, during and after the event	Reviewing the operation of protections, breakers and reclosers
Continuous	Uninterrupted signal over days or weeks	Slow disturbances, oscillations and events that do not cross a threshold
Trend	Values measured at intervals	Loading, voltage and historical behavior
Sequence of events	State changes with time stamp	Order in which protections, contacts and signals operated
Phasors	Magnitude and angle with GNSS time	Stability and oscillations across the whole area

The choice among them defines the memory size and the retention time the design must provide for. The exchange format for waveforms is COMTRADE, described in IEC 60255-24 and IEEE C37.111, and for phasors, IEEE C37.118.1 and C37.118.2. To read a record, see how to read an oscillography.

Communications and integration

Current recorders synchronize by GPS, IRIG-B or PTP and share the substation network. The RPV311 receives IEC 61850-9-2LE sampled values from the process bus and GOOSE messages, and publishes IEEE C37.118 synchrophasors to a concentrator (PDC). Files are downloaded in COMTRADE to be analyzed with any tool. See time synchronization in substations and IEC 61850 sampled values. How to protect a synchrophasor network (segmentation, perimeter and GNSS time) is covered in PMU and WAMS Cybersecurity.

Frequently asked technical questions

Manuals for fault recorders, such as the Qualitrol BEN 6000: each manufacturer publishes manuals and analysis software by version; identify the model and firmware.
The record does not have the correct time: it is almost always synchronization (GPS antenna, IRIG-B or PTP). Without common time, comparing events from two substations is of no use.
The record did not trigger: the trigger criteria (thresholds, assigned binaries) and the available memory are reviewed.
Grid operator requirements: the event information the system operator asks for defines which records and formats have to be delivered.
Channels and instrument transformers: the recorder measures what reaches it; a CT or VT ratio misconfigured in the device leaves all the oscillography scaled wrongly, and the analysis goes wrong.
Recorder or relay: it depends on the voltage level, the number of bays and the operator’s requirements; it is not a fixed rule.

Points of attention in design and operation

Timing accuracy. Traveling-wave location compares arrival times of the wavefront at two ends of a line, and therefore needs a very precise common time reference; with poor timing the result is no longer useful. See loss of PTP or IRIG-B time synchronization.
Capacity versus retention. A continuous record of many channels grows fast; you have to define how long it is kept and who downloads the files before they are overwritten.
Channels and scales. A wrongly loaded transformation ratio leaves all the oscillography at another scale.
Process bus. If the recorder subscribes to sampled values, network bandwidth and synchronization affect the records; see Sampled Values and GOOSE bandwidth.
Recording without analysis. A recorder only contributes if someone reviews its files after every event; we do that analysis in our trip analysis service.

How we help

At Tiza Group we configure recorders and relays with fault recording and synchrophasors, integrate them into the substation network and analyze the events they leave. We configure the device and its communications remotely, worldwide, through remote configuration. See control, protection and communications configuration. If you have an event and it is not clear what happened, we quote the trip analysis based on the COMTRADE files and the configuration. Write to us through contact.

References

IEEE C37.111 / IEC 60255-24, COMTRADE format.
IEEE C37.118, synchrophasors.
IEC 61850-9-2 (sampled values) and IEC 61000-4-30 (power quality measurement methods).
GE Vernova, Reason RPV311 brochure and specification; Qualitrol, BEN 6000 page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Reason RPV311?

It is GE Vernova's multifunction recorder for substations: fault recorder, phasor measurement unit (PMU), power quality and traveling-wave fault location. It separates the processing unit from the acquisition units, linked by fiber of up to 2 km, and supports IEC 61850-9-2LE sampled values.

What is the Qualitrol BEN 6000?

It is a high-resolution digital fault recorder from Qualitrol for generation, transmission, distribution and industry. Qualitrol highlights its continuous recording of more than a month of data and its PMU function per IEEE C37.118.

Can a relay replace the fault recorder?

In part. Modern relays record oscillography and, like the SEL-487E or SEL-451, synchrophasors. But a recorder brings many bays onto the same time base, with more channels and continuous recording, and some grid operators require it. What is needed depends on the voltage level and the operator's requirements.