tripsignal

A tripsignal is a control command used to initiate the disconnection of a circuit or system in protection schemes. In electrical power systems, a tripsignal activates protective devices such as circuit breakers to interrupt fault current and isolate equipment, reducing the risk of damage or fire and helping to maintain system stability.

A tripsignal is typically generated by protective relays or safety systems when abnormal conditions are detected, including overcurrent, short circuit, overvoltage, undervoltage, differential protection, or thermal faults. The signal is transmitted to the breaker’s trip mechanism, energizing a trip coil that releases the mechanical latch and opens the breaker contacts. Tripsignals can be local (directly from the protection relay to the breaker) or remote (from a central protection system or pilot protection scheme over signaling circuits, fiber, or digital networks). They may be instantaneous or time-delayed, depending on protection philosophy and device settings.

Reliability and safety depend on a properly designed tripsignal path, including supervision of the trip circuit, redundancy where required, and regular testing. Failures in a tripsignal path are a major concern in substation design, leading to practices such as breaker status monitoring and rigorous testing of the signaling network.

Beyond power distribution, tripsignals are used in process and industrial safety systems to halt equipment and initiate emergency shutdowns in response to detected hazards or loss of critical controls. In such contexts, standards and interlocks help ensure that a tripsignal cannot be blocked or ignored.

See also: circuit breaker, protective relay, remote trip, emergency shutdown, SCADA.