SEL Architect (SEL-5032): What It Is and What It Does

What it is and where it is used

Short answer: SEL Architect (acSELerator Architect, SEL-5032) is the SEL program for configuring and documenting IEC 61850 systems. It works alongside QuickSet (SEL-5030): QuickSet sets up each SEL device and Architect defines how it communicates with the rest of the substation, including devices from other manufacturers.

acSELerator is the software line of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) for its relays, meters, controllers and communications devices. Within it, acSELerator QuickSet (SEL-5030) is the everyday program used to configure each device; acSELerator Architect (SEL-5032) takes care of IEC 61850; acSELerator RTAC (SEL-5033) programs the RTAC controllers; and Grid Configurator (SEL-5037) manages and deploys settings.

With these tools, the settings that come out of the coordination study are loaded into the devices, SELogic logic is programmed, ports and protocols are configured and event reports are retrieved after a trip. Connecting to the device, by front port or over the network, is explained in connecting to a protective relay, and the comparison with tools from other brands in relay configuration software by brand. They are used in distribution and transmission substations, industrial plants and generation plants with relays such as the SEL-751, SEL-351, SEL-421 or SEL-487E.

Variants: each tool and its use

SEL also offers QuickSet Device Manager, a settings database with version control and per-user access, and SEL Compass to keep the software up to date.

What SEL Architect (SEL-5032) does

According to the official SEL page, acSELerator Architect configures and documents IEC 61850 systems for GOOSE, Sampled Values and MMS. Its main functions are:

• SCL files. It imports and exports SCL files of editions 1, 2 and 2.1 (SCD, ICD, CID and IID), validates them against the IEC 61850 requirements and reports errors. It can rebuild an SCD from several SCL files and compare two files to see what changed.
• CID files. It updates the CID of a device to a new version and loads several CIDs in a single operation.
• Data sets and reports. It allows cloning a data set to use in several devices and creating or editing buffered and unbuffered MMS reports.
• Custom logical devices. It allows creating and organizing them.
• Server model. It shows the logical devices, logical nodes and data objects of each SEL device, and edits them in the compatible devices.
• Sampled Values. It configures IEC 61850-9-2LE or IEC 61869-9 publications and subscriptions.
• Interoperability. It configures IEC 61850 communication between SEL devices and devices from other manufacturers.

For an overview of tools from other brands, see IEC 61850 system configurator.

What is done with QuickSet

• Settings. It groups related settings and checks that values are in range and allowed; templates make it possible to standardize identical devices.
• Logic. Graphical logic editor for the SELogic equations, with a printable record. It is very flexible, but a poorly understood equation can block a trip or a reclose without it being obvious.
• Operation interface. Live data from the device, local or remote.
• Firmware. A loader that upgrades or downgrades firmware while keeping the settings.
• Version comparison. With Device Manager, comparison and merge reports between what is approved and what the relay holds.

QuickSet functions not everyone knows

According to the official SEL-5030 page, besides the basics the program offers:

• Graphical Logic Editor (GLE). A CAD-like interface to develop the device logic in a format similar to IEC 61131 function block diagrams, with drag-and-drop tools that generate the SELogic equations of your application. It is only available on relays that support it.
• Template Palette. It lets you start a new device with predefined templates that follow company standards, which reduces errors when deploying identical devices at several substations.
• Central device manager. QuickSet Device Manager organizes devices and their data in one central place for teamwork; SEL delivers it as an optional add-on package.
• Logical setting groups. The program presents the settings grouped by function and checks that they are in range and allowed before sending them.

Bay Screen Builder (SEL-5036) is used to design, manage and deploy the bay screens of SEL devices with a touchscreen, instead of depending on a fixed set of screens; it includes ANSI and IEC symbols. The SEL-2240 Axion, which is programmed with acSELerator RTAC, is according to SEL a modular platform that combines the communications, built-in security and IEC 61131 logic engine of the RTAC with input, output, monitoring and control modules on an EtherCAT backplane. SEL presents it as an RTU, PLC, bay controller, digital fault recorder, SCADA data concentrator, PMU and substation gateway; it operates from -40 to +85 °C. With the SEL-735, a power quality meter, the software environment extends to energy metering, and its continuous waveform recording at 3 ksps is viewed in SEL’s Synchrowave software.

Practices that avoid problems with settings software

The following are general engineering good practices, not manufacturer requirements:

• One approved file per relay, with a version. The settings file approved after the study is the reference; what is in the relay is compared against it, not the other way around.
• Back up before touching. The relay’s settings and event report are extracted and saved before any change.
• Consistent driver and firmware. The QuickSet driver must match the model and firmware version of the device; otherwise the program may not recognize the relay or may show settings the firmware does not have.
• Change record. Who changed what, when and with what approval; it is part of the traceability that audits ask for.

Communications and integration

For IEC 61850, QuickSet configures the device and Architect generates its configuration within the system, with SCL files that are exchanged with the tools of other manufacturers. Between SEL relays, Mirrored Bits, the brand’s own protocol, is also used. DNP3 and Modbus maps are defined in QuickSet and must match those of the SEL RTAC gateway or the SCADA. Event reports are exported to COMTRADE for manufacturer-independent analysis.

Frequent technical questions

• acSELerator QuickSet download: it is downloaded from SEL or through SEL Compass; it needs the driver for the model and the firmware version.
• QuickSet does not recognize the relay: it is usually a missing driver, the baud rate or the port, or the access level (the relay’s level passwords).
• Difference between settings and logic: in SEL, SELogic logic is also part of the settings; a group change can change the active logic.
• IEC 61850 project that does not publish GOOSE: the Architect file loaded in the relay must be the same one the rest of the substation uses; see GOOSE does not arrive or arrives late.
• Event report versus SER: the first stores the oscillography and the elements around a trip; the second is the chronological list of state changes. See event report and sequence of events.

How we help

At Tiza Group we configure and review SEL devices remotely with acSELerator, worldwide: we start from the approved settings and the coordination study, leave a backup before and after the change and document what was done. See remote configuration of SEL relays. If the relay has already tripped and the reason is unclear, send us the event report and the configuration for a trip analysis, or write to us through contact.

Related guides

• SEL-751 relay
• SEL-351 relay
• SEL-421 relay
• SEL-487E relay
• SEL-710 relay
• SEL RTAC gateway
• SEL-451 controller
• Siemens DIGSI software
• SEL-311C and SEL-311L relay
• SEL-387, SEL-387E and SEL-387A relay
• SEL-849 relay
• SEL-700BT and SEL-2414 relay
• Relay configuration software by brand
• Connecting to a protective relay: ports and software
• IEC 61850 system configurator: what it is and which ones exist

References

• Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, product pages for acSELerator QuickSet (SEL-5030), SEL-735 and SEL-2240 (associated software: SEL-5032, SEL-5033, SEL-5035, SEL-5036, SEL-5601-2).
• IEC 61850-6, Substation configuration language (SCL).
• IEEE C37.111 / IEC 60255-24, COMTRADE format.

Frequently asked questions